The Catholic Church has a lot to say about Labor Day — why? #Catholic As the U.S. celebrates Labor Day, Catholics have a wealth of resources in biblical interpretation, Church teaching, and social thought that address the nature of work and the place of the worker in society and in God’s creation.But are Catholics, and others, aware of these resources?One Catholic leader considering such questions is Father Sinclair Oubre, a priest of the Diocese of Beaumont, Texas. He is the spiritual moderator of the Catholic Labor Network, a Catholic association that promotes Catholic teaching about work and labor unions. It also supports labor organizing.“All work, no matter what the work is, is essential,” Oubre likes to say. In his view, if a woman in janitorial work at a major software company does not show up to clean the toilets and empty the trash, all production in the office will nosedive.Centuries of Catholic teaching about labor can be found compiled in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, published in 2004 by the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace. It dedicates its entire sixth chapter to human work and labor, its place in God’s plan, its role in society, and the rights and duties of workers.“The Compendium gathers together in one place those rights that are found in Catholic social teaching, whether it’s Rerum Novarum, or Quadragesimo Anno, or Centesimus Annus, and synthesizes them,” Oubre told EWTN News, referring to the respective encyclicals of popes Leo XIII, Pius XI, and John Paul II.“It’s a beautiful reflection on human work in the world and a very mature and in-depth discussion of the place of work, the place of labor, and the communal nature of it,” Oubre said.Labor, politics, and spiritualityOubre said Catholic teaching is a challenge regardless of people’s political views.“It’s a challenge to the right, but it’s also a challenge to the left,” he said. Catholicism encourages those on the political right not simply to pray novenas and commit themselves to spiritual actions. It is a challenge not to leave other questions about work and labor to the market.For the political left, Catholic social teaching “means you have to enter into a more intimate relationship with your Church and your relationship with Jesus and not just be as a social justice person by throwing a couple of little quotes around. It requires you to enter into that deeper spiritual relationship.”Oubre stressed the importance of starting from the view of Catholic spirituality, not only social justice, because if we don’t, our approach “becomes ideological and polemic.” The spiritual approach “brings us closer to Jesus Christ.”“No matter how dirty, how uncomfortable, how awful the job is, we are participating in God’s ongoing creation. It’s important that we do that job in a way that gives glory to God,” Oubre said.God and man at workThe Compendium’s reflection on work begins with its biblical aspects: There is a human duty to “cultivate and care for the earth” and other good things created by God, it says. Work existed before the fall of Adam and Eve, and it is not a punishment or curse until the break with God transforms it into “toil and pain.” However, God’s rest on the seventh day of creation is the sign of the “fuller freedom” of the “eternal Sabbath.”The life of Jesus Christ is a mission of work, from his early life helping St. Joseph in the work of a carpenter to his ministry of preaching and healing, and most of all in his redemptive labors on the cross.The Compendium presents human labor as a way of supporting oneself and one’s loved ones but also a way to serve those in need. Work is a way to make God’s creation more beautiful, since humankind shares in God’s art and wisdom.“Human work, directed to charity as its final goal, becomes an occasion for contemplation, it becomes devout prayer, vigilantly rising towards and in anxious hope of the day that will not end,” the Compendium says.The rights of laborGod’s rest on the seventh day of creation, the Compendium says, means men and women must enjoy “sufficient rest and free time that will allow them to tend to their family, cultural, social, and religious life.”The Compendium outlines and explains the many rights of workers: the right to rest from work; the right to a working environment that is not harmful to a worker’s health or moral integrity; the right to unemployment protections; the right to a pension and insurance for old age, disability, and work-related accidents; the right to social security for working mothers; and the right to assemble and form associations; the right to just wages and remuneration; and the right to strike.Labor unions play a “fundamental role” in serving the common good and promoting social order and solidarity, though they must not abuse their role in society or become simply arms of a political party.“The recognition of workers’ rights has always been a difficult problem to resolve because this recognition takes place within complex historical and institutional processes, and still today it remains incomplete,” the Compendium says. “This makes the practice of authentic solidarity among workers more fitting and necessary than ever.”A challenge for Catholics and institutionsCatholic teaching has a lengthy paper record. But as in other areas, there is a challenge to practice it.“What I find over and over again that the Church — our Church — gives us wonderful documents of guidance… and we never go back and read them,” Oubre told EWTN News.He cited the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 1996 pastoral letter “Economic Justice for All,” which says the Church should be a model for labor rights and treating workers justly.However, Oubre said that in his experience Catholic parishes often neglect to provide unemployment insurance to employees if the law allows them to opt out. Catholic institutions often act as “at-will” employers in which management can fire employees for any reason. They may show preferences for nonunion labor over unionized labor when planning and funding construction projects.“You’re going to undercut the guy who has actually followed the Church’s teachings in regards to work by hiring somebody who may be not offering medical insurance for his employees,” the priest lamented.For Labor Day, Oubre encouraged parishes, dioceses, and other institutions to make sure to adopt policies that put Catholic labor teaching into practice.This story was first published on Sept. 4, 2023, and has been updated.
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The Catholic Church has a lot to say about Labor Day — why? #Catholic As the U.S. celebrates Labor Day, Catholics have a wealth of resources in biblical interpretation, Church teaching, and social thought that address the nature of work and the place of the worker in society and in God’s creation.But are Catholics, and others, aware of these resources?One Catholic leader considering such questions is Father Sinclair Oubre, a priest of the Diocese of Beaumont, Texas. He is the spiritual moderator of the Catholic Labor Network, a Catholic association that promotes Catholic teaching about work and labor unions. It also supports labor organizing.“All work, no matter what the work is, is essential,” Oubre likes to say. In his view, if a woman in janitorial work at a major software company does not show up to clean the toilets and empty the trash, all production in the office will nosedive.Centuries of Catholic teaching about labor can be found compiled in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, published in 2004 by the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace. It dedicates its entire sixth chapter to human work and labor, its place in God’s plan, its role in society, and the rights and duties of workers.“The Compendium gathers together in one place those rights that are found in Catholic social teaching, whether it’s Rerum Novarum, or Quadragesimo Anno, or Centesimus Annus, and synthesizes them,” Oubre told EWTN News, referring to the respective encyclicals of popes Leo XIII, Pius XI, and John Paul II.“It’s a beautiful reflection on human work in the world and a very mature and in-depth discussion of the place of work, the place of labor, and the communal nature of it,” Oubre said.Labor, politics, and spiritualityOubre said Catholic teaching is a challenge regardless of people’s political views.“It’s a challenge to the right, but it’s also a challenge to the left,” he said. Catholicism encourages those on the political right not simply to pray novenas and commit themselves to spiritual actions. It is a challenge not to leave other questions about work and labor to the market.For the political left, Catholic social teaching “means you have to enter into a more intimate relationship with your Church and your relationship with Jesus and not just be as a social justice person by throwing a couple of little quotes around. It requires you to enter into that deeper spiritual relationship.”Oubre stressed the importance of starting from the view of Catholic spirituality, not only social justice, because if we don’t, our approach “becomes ideological and polemic.” The spiritual approach “brings us closer to Jesus Christ.”“No matter how dirty, how uncomfortable, how awful the job is, we are participating in God’s ongoing creation. It’s important that we do that job in a way that gives glory to God,” Oubre said.God and man at workThe Compendium’s reflection on work begins with its biblical aspects: There is a human duty to “cultivate and care for the earth” and other good things created by God, it says. Work existed before the fall of Adam and Eve, and it is not a punishment or curse until the break with God transforms it into “toil and pain.” However, God’s rest on the seventh day of creation is the sign of the “fuller freedom” of the “eternal Sabbath.”The life of Jesus Christ is a mission of work, from his early life helping St. Joseph in the work of a carpenter to his ministry of preaching and healing, and most of all in his redemptive labors on the cross.The Compendium presents human labor as a way of supporting oneself and one’s loved ones but also a way to serve those in need. Work is a way to make God’s creation more beautiful, since humankind shares in God’s art and wisdom.“Human work, directed to charity as its final goal, becomes an occasion for contemplation, it becomes devout prayer, vigilantly rising towards and in anxious hope of the day that will not end,” the Compendium says.The rights of laborGod’s rest on the seventh day of creation, the Compendium says, means men and women must enjoy “sufficient rest and free time that will allow them to tend to their family, cultural, social, and religious life.”The Compendium outlines and explains the many rights of workers: the right to rest from work; the right to a working environment that is not harmful to a worker’s health or moral integrity; the right to unemployment protections; the right to a pension and insurance for old age, disability, and work-related accidents; the right to social security for working mothers; and the right to assemble and form associations; the right to just wages and remuneration; and the right to strike.Labor unions play a “fundamental role” in serving the common good and promoting social order and solidarity, though they must not abuse their role in society or become simply arms of a political party.“The recognition of workers’ rights has always been a difficult problem to resolve because this recognition takes place within complex historical and institutional processes, and still today it remains incomplete,” the Compendium says. “This makes the practice of authentic solidarity among workers more fitting and necessary than ever.”A challenge for Catholics and institutionsCatholic teaching has a lengthy paper record. But as in other areas, there is a challenge to practice it.“What I find over and over again that the Church — our Church — gives us wonderful documents of guidance… and we never go back and read them,” Oubre told EWTN News.He cited the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 1996 pastoral letter “Economic Justice for All,” which says the Church should be a model for labor rights and treating workers justly.However, Oubre said that in his experience Catholic parishes often neglect to provide unemployment insurance to employees if the law allows them to opt out. Catholic institutions often act as “at-will” employers in which management can fire employees for any reason. They may show preferences for nonunion labor over unionized labor when planning and funding construction projects.“You’re going to undercut the guy who has actually followed the Church’s teachings in regards to work by hiring somebody who may be not offering medical insurance for his employees,” the priest lamented.For Labor Day, Oubre encouraged parishes, dioceses, and other institutions to make sure to adopt policies that put Catholic labor teaching into practice.This story was first published on Sept. 4, 2023, and has been updated.

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“All work, no matter what the work is, is essential,” said Father Sinclair Oubre, spiritual moderator of the Catholic Labor Network.

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College Football Star Horrified He Might Be Drafted And Have To Take Huge Pay Cut #BabylonBee – TUSCALOOSA, AL — After putting on a superb performance in the season opener, young college football star Davis Mack began worrying that he could wind up in the NFL Draft and be forced to take a massive pay cut.
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College Football Star Horrified He Might Be Drafted And Have To Take Huge Pay Cut #BabylonBee – TUSCALOOSA, AL — After putting on a superb performance in the season opener, young college football star Davis Mack began worrying that he could wind up in the NFL Draft and be forced to take a massive pay cut.

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TUSCALOOSA, AL — After putting on a superb performance in the season opener, young college football star Davis Mack began worrying that he could wind up in the NFL Draft and be forced to take a massive pay cut.

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Breaking: Justice Still In The Hands Of God #BabylonBee – U.S. — As news broke that the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy would end in a mistrial, Heaven released a statement reminding everyone that justice is still ultimately in the hands of God.
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Breaking: Justice Still In The Hands Of God #BabylonBee – U.S. — As news broke that the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy would end in a mistrial, Heaven released a statement reminding everyone that justice is still ultimately in the hands of God.

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U.S. — As news broke that the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy would end in a mistrial, Heaven released a statement reminding everyone that justice is still ultimately in the hands of God.

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The dangerous journey home for Christian communities in southern Lebanon – #Catholic – Along Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, three Christian villages have found themselves caught on the front line of a war they neither chose nor supported. Ain Ebel, Rmeich and Debl, known locally as the “Delta of Resilience”, are the last inhabited Christian towns in Lebanon’s border region. Since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated into a full-scale war in 2024, residents have endured deaths, destruction and growing isolation from the rest of the country.Today, even returning home has become a grueling journey. With the usual roads damaged or inaccessible, residents must travel in organized convoys through military checkpoints and Israeli-occupied territory, an ordeal some have come to call “road to Calvary.”Convoys travel to the villages almost daily, usually accompanied by Caritas and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Carrying humanitarian assistance, they usually include approximately 30 cars and trucks. Yet a journey that once took around two hours from Beirut can now last 12 hours or more.The day begins at approximately 5 a.m., and the convoy may not reach the villages until after 6 p.m. One of the first stops is a Lebanese Army checkpoint, where residents are required to remain inside their vehicles for hours. Meanwhile, the sound of airstrikes and the sight of their impact on the surrounding hills heighten the fear and tension.The convoy then enters roads running through Israeli-occupied territory, where Israeli flags line the route. At Naqoura, residents can see the Mediterranean Sea, which they are no longer permitted to access, before another period of waiting begins. This can last for hours, with passengers prohibited from leaving their vehicles, even in the summer heat. Vehicles making the journey back to the Christian villages of southern Lebanon. | Credit: Romy Haber/ACI MENA Just feet away, Israeli soldiers can be seen inside buildings they have taken over, while Israeli military vehicles pass alongside the convoy. Many residents describe the experience as humiliating: They are in their own country, yet must wait for permission from a foreign military to reach their homes. As the hours pass, one question remains: Will the convoy be permitted to proceed, or will they be forced to return to Beirut after an entire day of waiting?If permission is finally granted, the last stage of the journey begins. Residents travel along severely damaged roads, past destroyed houses and through routes that require vehicles capable of navigating the difficult terrain, before finally reaching their villages.Many of those making the journey are elderly or ill and had been forced to travel to Beirut for medical treatment. Some underwent surgery only days earlier yet must spend long hours inside a vehicle under the sun, sometimes without enough water or access to a bathroom.Others travel to the capital for life’s most basic necessities. Pregnant women go to Beirut to give birth and then make the difficult return journey with their newborn babies, while parents travel to enroll their children in universities. The convoys often transport livestock, including pigs and cattle, some of which have died after being kept for hours in the intense heat.Maroun Louka, a father who was waiting in a convoy with his wife and children after a medical emergency forced the family to travel to Beirut, told ACI MENA the hardship begins even before the journey itself, with the registration of names and the wait for approval.“We are suffering greatly,” he said. “Sometimes we wait an entire week to receive approval and be able to return to our village.”“My uncle and my cousin were killed. Our homes were damaged, as were my brothers’ homes,” Louka continued. “I cannot even reach my olive press or my house. Life is extremely harsh and difficult.”Asked why he was determined to return, Louka said his family had no alternative. “Our parents and grandparents are deeply rooted in this village. They spent their lives here, and some were killed and buried here. Can we, today, simply come and abandon it? No. Leaving it would be extremely difficult.”While the journey reveals the harsh realities of war and occupation, it also reflects the faith, strength and resilience of those who continue to live in these villages.Father Najib al-Amil, a priest in Rmeish, told ACI MENA that the Church has played a central role in helping residents remain on their land.“Through our homilies, we encouraged the people and led them in prayer,” he said. “Every day, we prayed the rosary and held Eucharistic adoration.”The priests also encouraged parish groups to remain active by visiting the sick, checking on families and assisting the poor and others in need.Asked how the Vatican has supported the community, Father al-Amil pointed to the presence of Archbishop Paolo Borgia, the apostolic nuncio to Lebanon, whom he calls “the saintly nuncio.”“Despite the danger, the strikes and the shelling, he continued to come,” the priest said. “He insisted on reaching us here, sitting with the people, speaking with them and celebrating Mass with us.”The resilience of these communities is also sustained by Catholic organizations providing the material assistance families need to remain in their homes.Father Samir Ghaoui, president of Caritas Lebanon, said there had been a clear decision by the Maronite Church and the wider Catholic Church to stand beside these Christian villages, and ensure that their essential needs were met.“Since the beginning of the war, we have not abandoned them. Our decision was that we would stand beside every Christian household that chose to remain in its home and on its land. We will try to provide everything they need,” Father Ghaoui said. “They have the right to live with dignity in their own homes and with their families.”He expressed hope that residents would one day be able to support themselves once again through their own work.“But as long as there is war and as long as there is need, we at Caritas, in the name of the Church, will remain beside them,” he said. “Whatever the difficulties, we will continue finding a way to reach them.”This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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The dangerous journey home for Christian communities in southern Lebanon – #Catholic – Along Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, three Christian villages have found themselves caught on the front line of a war they neither chose nor supported. Ain Ebel, Rmeich and Debl, known locally as the “Delta of Resilience”, are the last inhabited Christian towns in Lebanon’s border region. Since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated into a full-scale war in 2024, residents have endured deaths, destruction and growing isolation from the rest of the country.Today, even returning home has become a grueling journey. With the usual roads damaged or inaccessible, residents must travel in organized convoys through military checkpoints and Israeli-occupied territory, an ordeal some have come to call “road to Calvary.”Convoys travel to the villages almost daily, usually accompanied by Caritas and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Carrying humanitarian assistance, they usually include approximately 30 cars and trucks. Yet a journey that once took around two hours from Beirut can now last 12 hours or more.The day begins at approximately 5 a.m., and the convoy may not reach the villages until after 6 p.m. One of the first stops is a Lebanese Army checkpoint, where residents are required to remain inside their vehicles for hours. Meanwhile, the sound of airstrikes and the sight of their impact on the surrounding hills heighten the fear and tension.The convoy then enters roads running through Israeli-occupied territory, where Israeli flags line the route. At Naqoura, residents can see the Mediterranean Sea, which they are no longer permitted to access, before another period of waiting begins. This can last for hours, with passengers prohibited from leaving their vehicles, even in the summer heat. Vehicles making the journey back to the Christian villages of southern Lebanon. | Credit: Romy Haber/ACI MENA Just feet away, Israeli soldiers can be seen inside buildings they have taken over, while Israeli military vehicles pass alongside the convoy. Many residents describe the experience as humiliating: They are in their own country, yet must wait for permission from a foreign military to reach their homes. As the hours pass, one question remains: Will the convoy be permitted to proceed, or will they be forced to return to Beirut after an entire day of waiting?If permission is finally granted, the last stage of the journey begins. Residents travel along severely damaged roads, past destroyed houses and through routes that require vehicles capable of navigating the difficult terrain, before finally reaching their villages.Many of those making the journey are elderly or ill and had been forced to travel to Beirut for medical treatment. Some underwent surgery only days earlier yet must spend long hours inside a vehicle under the sun, sometimes without enough water or access to a bathroom.Others travel to the capital for life’s most basic necessities. Pregnant women go to Beirut to give birth and then make the difficult return journey with their newborn babies, while parents travel to enroll their children in universities. The convoys often transport livestock, including pigs and cattle, some of which have died after being kept for hours in the intense heat.Maroun Louka, a father who was waiting in a convoy with his wife and children after a medical emergency forced the family to travel to Beirut, told ACI MENA the hardship begins even before the journey itself, with the registration of names and the wait for approval.“We are suffering greatly,” he said. “Sometimes we wait an entire week to receive approval and be able to return to our village.”“My uncle and my cousin were killed. Our homes were damaged, as were my brothers’ homes,” Louka continued. “I cannot even reach my olive press or my house. Life is extremely harsh and difficult.”Asked why he was determined to return, Louka said his family had no alternative. “Our parents and grandparents are deeply rooted in this village. They spent their lives here, and some were killed and buried here. Can we, today, simply come and abandon it? No. Leaving it would be extremely difficult.”While the journey reveals the harsh realities of war and occupation, it also reflects the faith, strength and resilience of those who continue to live in these villages.Father Najib al-Amil, a priest in Rmeish, told ACI MENA that the Church has played a central role in helping residents remain on their land.“Through our homilies, we encouraged the people and led them in prayer,” he said. “Every day, we prayed the rosary and held Eucharistic adoration.”The priests also encouraged parish groups to remain active by visiting the sick, checking on families and assisting the poor and others in need.Asked how the Vatican has supported the community, Father al-Amil pointed to the presence of Archbishop Paolo Borgia, the apostolic nuncio to Lebanon, whom he calls “the saintly nuncio.”“Despite the danger, the strikes and the shelling, he continued to come,” the priest said. “He insisted on reaching us here, sitting with the people, speaking with them and celebrating Mass with us.”The resilience of these communities is also sustained by Catholic organizations providing the material assistance families need to remain in their homes.Father Samir Ghaoui, president of Caritas Lebanon, said there had been a clear decision by the Maronite Church and the wider Catholic Church to stand beside these Christian villages, and ensure that their essential needs were met.“Since the beginning of the war, we have not abandoned them. Our decision was that we would stand beside every Christian household that chose to remain in its home and on its land. We will try to provide everything they need,” Father Ghaoui said. “They have the right to live with dignity in their own homes and with their families.”He expressed hope that residents would one day be able to support themselves once again through their own work.“But as long as there is war and as long as there is need, we at Caritas, in the name of the Church, will remain beside them,” he said. “Whatever the difficulties, we will continue finding a way to reach them.”This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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With the usual roads damaged or inaccessible, residents must travel in organized convoys through military checkpoints and Israeli-occupied territory, an ordeal some call “road to Calvary.”

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Sept. 6, 1618: The first comet seen through a telescope

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The fall of 1618 was a standout when it came to notable comets, boasting three visible to the naked eye. In late August, C/1618 Q1 appeared, first spotted in the skies over Hungary. Johannes Kepler observed the comet throughout the month of September, spotting it from Linz, Austria, through a small telescope on Sept. 6.Continue reading “Sept. 6, 1618: The first comet seen through a telescope”

The post Sept. 6, 1618: The first comet seen through a telescope appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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Pope Leo XIV calls for peace in Ukraine after Russian attacks – #Catholic – Pope Leo XIV on Sunday deplored the latest Russian attacks on Ukraine and voiced hopes for peace amid U.S.-led efforts to end the war.“With a sorrowful heart, I have followed the news of the latest violent attacks that have recently struck several cities and civilian infrastructures in Ukraine, causing the deaths of innocent people,” the pope told pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, following the recitation of the Angelus.Russia has intensified its missile and drone campaign against Ukraine in recent days, with attacks killing dozens in Kyiv and nearby areas and disrupting electricity for hundreds of thousands of people in the Odesa region.Leo said he hoped that “the efforts undertaken in these days to resume negotiations will bear concrete fruit and open space for diplomacy.”The pope spoke on the same day that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv, having met in Moscow with Vladimir Putin on Saturday, Sept. 5.Earlier, in his catechesis before leading pilgrims in the Marian prayer, Pope Leo reflected on the day’s Gospel reading (Matthew 18:15-20), in which Jesus instructs his disciples in fraternal correction.“This is a delicate art, too often forgotten, that calls for frankness and a gradual approach. Speaking honestly with one another — first face to face, then, if necessary, with two or three others, and finally, when required, with the whole community — means facing reality and transforming problems and conflicts into opportunities for growth. Complaining and speaking ill of others are easier, but they accomplish nothing and leave many situations paralyzed,” the pope said.The pope also said that praying together, as Jesus encourages in the Gospel passage, builds unity among Christians.“Without faith, each person might feel alone and become suspicious of others, seeing them as strangers and enemies. By grace, however, we are brothers and sisters who can live in harmony: meeting one another, forgiving one another and listening to one another in the Lord,” Leo said.
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Pope Leo XIV calls for peace in Ukraine after Russian attacks – #Catholic – Pope Leo XIV on Sunday deplored the latest Russian attacks on Ukraine and voiced hopes for peace amid U.S.-led efforts to end the war.“With a sorrowful heart, I have followed the news of the latest violent attacks that have recently struck several cities and civilian infrastructures in Ukraine, causing the deaths of innocent people,” the pope told pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, following the recitation of the Angelus.Russia has intensified its missile and drone campaign against Ukraine in recent days, with attacks killing dozens in Kyiv and nearby areas and disrupting electricity for hundreds of thousands of people in the Odesa region.Leo said he hoped that “the efforts undertaken in these days to resume negotiations will bear concrete fruit and open space for diplomacy.”The pope spoke on the same day that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv, having met in Moscow with Vladimir Putin on Saturday, Sept. 5.Earlier, in his catechesis before leading pilgrims in the Marian prayer, Pope Leo reflected on the day’s Gospel reading (Matthew 18:15-20), in which Jesus instructs his disciples in fraternal correction.“This is a delicate art, too often forgotten, that calls for frankness and a gradual approach. Speaking honestly with one another — first face to face, then, if necessary, with two or three others, and finally, when required, with the whole community — means facing reality and transforming problems and conflicts into opportunities for growth. Complaining and speaking ill of others are easier, but they accomplish nothing and leave many situations paralyzed,” the pope said.The pope also said that praying together, as Jesus encourages in the Gospel passage, builds unity among Christians.“Without faith, each person might feel alone and become suspicious of others, seeing them as strangers and enemies. By grace, however, we are brothers and sisters who can live in harmony: meeting one another, forgiving one another and listening to one another in the Lord,” Leo said.

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The pontiff also reflected on the importance of fraternal correction among members of the Church.

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The Priests: The Irish trio bringing sacred music to the world – #Catholic – Nearly two decades after becoming an international musical phenomenon, the Irish group The Priests continues to bring sacred music to stages around the world as a form of evangelization.For Father David Delargy, one of the three Irish priests who make up the group, singing does not mean setting aside his ministry, but rather living it out in a different way.“For me, I don’t leave my priesthood behind me or to the side when I’m performing or singing on the stage. My priesthood is there, and I am ministering through the means of sacred music for those who, if you like, are the congregation rather than the audience,” he explained to EWTN News.The Priests consists of priests Father Martin OʼHagan, Father Eugene OʼHagan, and Delargy, who began singing together as students at a boarding school in Northern Ireland during the 1970s and later continued to do so while studying in Rome.Their story took an unexpected turn in 2008, when a Sony representative heard them singing together and proposed that they record an album.“One of the Sony record labels, one of the leaders there, had an idea for recording an album that might involve some priests. So, they sent out a scout. When they heard the three of us singing together, they realized we had been singing together since our boyhood days. And they thought, ‘These guys, they can sound quite nice together. Let’s make an album with them,’” Delargy recounted.“So, we signed a contract with them on the steps of Westminster Cathedral and went on to make four albums together, beginning in 2008 with ‘The Priests,’” he added.The first album exceeded expectations, selling nearly two million copies worldwide.The Priests have also released the albums “Harmony” (2009), “Noël” (2010), and “Alleluia” (2016), as well as the compilation “Then Sings My Soul: The Best of The Priests” (2012).For Delargy, music has never been separate from his priesthood.“In some profound ways, music moves people, evokes emotions, feelings and thoughts that otherwise might not have been there. So, I think God will use …our poor little voices and instruments, he will use all that to his own kind purposes and ends,” he stated.A musical pilgrimage to RomeAlmost 20 years after that unexpected success, The Priests returned to Rome to mark the centenary of the Pontifical Irish College, the institution where the three men studied.“We are all former students of the Irish College and we’ve been in our diocese of Down and Connor for 35 years, each of us, and we’ve all got great love for the college and I think given the fact that the college is celebrating 100 years this year, it’s a momentous occasion for the college,” Delargy related.The celebration included a musical pilgrimage to some of Romeʼs historic churches accompanied by other priests and the faithful who had traveled from Ireland.‘Sacred music in its essence is prayer’Delargy believes music allows for the expression of things that words do not always manage to convey.“Music can express praise, it can express peace, it can express prayer for those who are full of joy, but it can also journey with those who are experiencing difficulty,” he noted.“So, sacred music in its essence is prayer. I have to go back to St. Augustine, who said when you sing, you pray twice,” he observed.The priest also believes that music can serve as a gateway to Catholicism.“Sometimes the music, sacred music I’m talking about in particular, will be for many people their only point of contact specifically with the Christian faith. And so the Lord will use all these various means to draw us to himself,” he said.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 Priests: The Irish trio bringing sacred music to the world – #Catholic – Nearly two decades after becoming an international musical phenomenon, the Irish group The Priests continues to bring sacred music to stages around the world as a form of evangelization.For Father David Delargy, one of the three Irish priests who make up the group, singing does not mean setting aside his ministry, but rather living it out in a different way.“For me, I don’t leave my priesthood behind me or to the side when I’m performing or singing on the stage. My priesthood is there, and I am ministering through the means of sacred music for those who, if you like, are the congregation rather than the audience,” he explained to EWTN News.The Priests consists of priests Father Martin OʼHagan, Father Eugene OʼHagan, and Delargy, who began singing together as students at a boarding school in Northern Ireland during the 1970s and later continued to do so while studying in Rome.Their story took an unexpected turn in 2008, when a Sony representative heard them singing together and proposed that they record an album.“One of the Sony record labels, one of the leaders there, had an idea for recording an album that might involve some priests. So, they sent out a scout. When they heard the three of us singing together, they realized we had been singing together since our boyhood days. And they thought, ‘These guys, they can sound quite nice together. Let’s make an album with them,’” Delargy recounted.“So, we signed a contract with them on the steps of Westminster Cathedral and went on to make four albums together, beginning in 2008 with ‘The Priests,’” he added.The first album exceeded expectations, selling nearly two million copies worldwide.The Priests have also released the albums “Harmony” (2009), “Noël” (2010), and “Alleluia” (2016), as well as the compilation “Then Sings My Soul: The Best of The Priests” (2012).For Delargy, music has never been separate from his priesthood.“In some profound ways, music moves people, evokes emotions, feelings and thoughts that otherwise might not have been there. So, I think God will use …our poor little voices and instruments, he will use all that to his own kind purposes and ends,” he stated.A musical pilgrimage to RomeAlmost 20 years after that unexpected success, The Priests returned to Rome to mark the centenary of the Pontifical Irish College, the institution where the three men studied.“We are all former students of the Irish College and we’ve been in our diocese of Down and Connor for 35 years, each of us, and we’ve all got great love for the college and I think given the fact that the college is celebrating 100 years this year, it’s a momentous occasion for the college,” Delargy related.The celebration included a musical pilgrimage to some of Romeʼs historic churches accompanied by other priests and the faithful who had traveled from Ireland.‘Sacred music in its essence is prayer’Delargy believes music allows for the expression of things that words do not always manage to convey.“Music can express praise, it can express peace, it can express prayer for those who are full of joy, but it can also journey with those who are experiencing difficulty,” he noted.“So, sacred music in its essence is prayer. I have to go back to St. Augustine, who said when you sing, you pray twice,” he observed.The priest also believes that music can serve as a gateway to Catholicism.“Sometimes the music, sacred music I’m talking about in particular, will be for many people their only point of contact specifically with the Christian faith. And so the Lord will use all these various means to draw us to himself,” he said.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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From singing together as students at a boarding school in the 1970s to being discovered by Sony in 2008 and making four albums, the priests have always sought to evangelize through sacred music.

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3 young Lebanese men turn small Bible study into largest in the Middle East #Catholic A year ago, three young Lebanese men started a small Bible study group in their parish hall. Today, it has grown into what organizers describe as the largest Bible study initiative in the Middle East, with more than 3,000 people taking part in the gatherings.Each session follows a simple but carefully structured program. It begins with approximately 40 minutes devoted to explaining and exploring a passage from the Bible, followed by approximately 15 minutes of spiritual reflection. Participants then move on to an interactive segment featuring games and questions about the Bible or other topics related to the Christian faith, such as Marian apparitions. The gatherings are free and held under the supervision of Catholic priests.Behind each session, however, lies an extensive preparation process. Jimmy Chaaya, one of the initiative’s founders, explained that he seeks to vary the topics from week to week and studies the selected passage with a hermit.His research includes examining the original Greek words in Scripture, their meanings, and the cultural context in which they were used alongside the Church Fathers’ interpretations of the text. He also consults Jewish writings, geography books, papal homilies, and other sources. Once his research is complete, Chaaya submits the material to several priests for review and approval before presenting it to participants. More than 3,000 people now attend a Bible study in Lebanon, believed to be the largest in the Middle East, which was started by three young adults. | Credit: Charbel El Hajj Initially, the Bible study gatherings took place on Mondays. As attendance grew, the team added a second session on Tuesdays and is now preparing to introduce a Wednesday gathering as well. Chaaya said the team hopes to expand beyond its current location in the town of Antelias.To that end, the organizers are training people to lead similar gatherings in other parts of Lebanon while their long-term vision extends beyond the country’s borders. Charbel El Hage, another founder, said the team hopes to bring the initiative to other countries, particularly in the Middle East, where he sees considerable potential for such efforts to grow.El Hage noted that the initiative has benefited from the support of the Maronite Archdiocese of Antelias from the outset as well as broad support within the Church. This backing, he said, has helped the project develop smoothly.Attendance is not limited to Catholics. According to Chaaya, Christians from various churches and denominations — including Orthodox Christians and Protestants — have joined the gatherings, alongside people from other religious backgrounds, including Muslims. He added that a number of participants are currently preparing to receive the sacrament of baptism. More than 3,000 people now attend a Bible study in Lebanon, believed to be the largest in the Middle East, which was started by three young adults. | Credit: Charbel El Hajj Although the initiative is aimed primarily at young people, team member Majd Samia stressed that there are no strict age limits. “Everyone needs Jesus,” he said, which is why the gatherings are open to all. For Samia, the strong turnout reflects young people’s thirst to hear the word of God and explore it more deeply. This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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3 young Lebanese men turn small Bible study into largest in the Middle East #Catholic A year ago, three young Lebanese men started a small Bible study group in their parish hall. Today, it has grown into what organizers describe as the largest Bible study initiative in the Middle East, with more than 3,000 people taking part in the gatherings.Each session follows a simple but carefully structured program. It begins with approximately 40 minutes devoted to explaining and exploring a passage from the Bible, followed by approximately 15 minutes of spiritual reflection. Participants then move on to an interactive segment featuring games and questions about the Bible or other topics related to the Christian faith, such as Marian apparitions. The gatherings are free and held under the supervision of Catholic priests.Behind each session, however, lies an extensive preparation process. Jimmy Chaaya, one of the initiative’s founders, explained that he seeks to vary the topics from week to week and studies the selected passage with a hermit.His research includes examining the original Greek words in Scripture, their meanings, and the cultural context in which they were used alongside the Church Fathers’ interpretations of the text. He also consults Jewish writings, geography books, papal homilies, and other sources. Once his research is complete, Chaaya submits the material to several priests for review and approval before presenting it to participants. More than 3,000 people now attend a Bible study in Lebanon, believed to be the largest in the Middle East, which was started by three young adults. | Credit: Charbel El Hajj Initially, the Bible study gatherings took place on Mondays. As attendance grew, the team added a second session on Tuesdays and is now preparing to introduce a Wednesday gathering as well. Chaaya said the team hopes to expand beyond its current location in the town of Antelias.To that end, the organizers are training people to lead similar gatherings in other parts of Lebanon while their long-term vision extends beyond the country’s borders. Charbel El Hage, another founder, said the team hopes to bring the initiative to other countries, particularly in the Middle East, where he sees considerable potential for such efforts to grow.El Hage noted that the initiative has benefited from the support of the Maronite Archdiocese of Antelias from the outset as well as broad support within the Church. This backing, he said, has helped the project develop smoothly.Attendance is not limited to Catholics. According to Chaaya, Christians from various churches and denominations — including Orthodox Christians and Protestants — have joined the gatherings, alongside people from other religious backgrounds, including Muslims. He added that a number of participants are currently preparing to receive the sacrament of baptism. More than 3,000 people now attend a Bible study in Lebanon, believed to be the largest in the Middle East, which was started by three young adults. | Credit: Charbel El Hajj Although the initiative is aimed primarily at young people, team member Majd Samia stressed that there are no strict age limits. “Everyone needs Jesus,” he said, which is why the gatherings are open to all. For Samia, the strong turnout reflects young people’s thirst to hear the word of God and explore it more deeply. This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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More than 3,000 people have joined a growing Catholic Bible study initiative in Lebanon as organizers launch more days and times throughout the country and beyond.

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Radical DSA Candidate Explains That She is ‘Very Excited’ to Bring ‘Black Socialism’ to Congress (VIDEO) – Darializa Chevalier is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) who is running for office in New York’s 13th congressional district. The post Radical DSA Candidate Explains That She is ‘Very Excited’ to Bring ‘Black Socialism’ to Congress (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Radical DSA Candidate Explains That She is ‘Very Excited’ to Bring ‘Black Socialism’ to Congress (VIDEO) – Darializa Chevalier is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) who is running for office in New York’s 13th congressional district. The post Radical DSA Candidate Explains That She is ‘Very Excited’ to Bring ‘Black Socialism’ to Congress (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Darializa Chevalier is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) who is running for office in New York’s 13th congressional district.

The post Radical DSA Candidate Explains That She is ‘Very Excited’ to Bring ‘Black Socialism’ to Congress (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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WHAT A SHAME: City of Dallas Revokes Permits for Leftists Groups Planning to Disrupt the Republican Midterm Convention – A whole bunch of far left groups are planning to ‘protest’ (disrupt) the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas on September 10th. The post WHAT A SHAME: City of Dallas Revokes Permits for Leftists Groups Planning to Disrupt the Republican Midterm Convention appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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WHAT A SHAME: City of Dallas Revokes Permits for Leftists Groups Planning to Disrupt the Republican Midterm Convention – A whole bunch of far left groups are planning to ‘protest’ (disrupt) the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas on September 10th. The post WHAT A SHAME: City of Dallas Revokes Permits for Leftists Groups Planning to Disrupt the Republican Midterm Convention appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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A whole bunch of far left groups are planning to ‘protest’ (disrupt) the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas on September 10th.

The post WHAT A SHAME: City of Dallas Revokes Permits for Leftists Groups Planning to Disrupt the Republican Midterm Convention appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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CRAZY TOWN: Masked Woman at ‘Socialism 2026 Conference’ in Chicago Explains Why Fitness is Fascist (VIDEO) – Socialists are currently attending the ‘Socialism 2026 Conference’ in Chicago and there are dozens of insane videos from the event that are already going viral on social media. The post CRAZY TOWN: Masked Woman at ‘Socialism 2026 Conference’ in Chicago Explains Why Fitness is Fascist (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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CRAZY TOWN: Masked Woman at ‘Socialism 2026 Conference’ in Chicago Explains Why Fitness is Fascist (VIDEO) – Socialists are currently attending the ‘Socialism 2026 Conference’ in Chicago and there are dozens of insane videos from the event that are already going viral on social media. The post CRAZY TOWN: Masked Woman at ‘Socialism 2026 Conference’ in Chicago Explains Why Fitness is Fascist (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

unitedyam

Socialists are currently attending the ‘Socialism 2026 Conference’ in Chicago and there are dozens of insane videos from the event that are already going viral on social media.

The post CRAZY TOWN: Masked Woman at ‘Socialism 2026 Conference’ in Chicago Explains Why Fitness is Fascist (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Gospel and Word of the Day – 06 September 2026 – A reading from the Book of Ezekiel 33:7-9 Thus says the LORD: You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me. If I tell the wicked, "O wicked one, you shall surely die, " and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, the wicked shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself.   A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 13:8-10 Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet, " and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.From the Gospel according to Matthew 18:15-20 Jesus said to his disciples: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.  If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church.  If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."If my brother commits a sin against me I must treat him charitably and first of all, speak to him privately, pointing out that what he has said or done is wrong. This approach is known as ?fraternal correction?: it is not a reaction to the offence suffered but is motivated by love for one’s brethren. (?) And what if my brother does not listen to me? In today?s Gospel Jesus points to a gradual approach: first, speak to him again with two or three others, the better to help him realize what he has done; if, in spite of this, he still refuses to listen, it is necessary to tell the community; and if he refuses to listen even to the community, he must be made to perceive that he has cut himself off (?). Each person, aware of his own limitations and shortcomings, is called to accept fraternal correction and to help others with this specific service. Another fruit of love in the community is unanimous prayer. Jesus said: (?) where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them? (Mt 18:19-20). Personal prayer is of course important, indeed indispensable, but the Lord guarantees his presence to the community ? even if it is very small ? which is united and in agreement, because this reflects the very reality of the Triune God, perfect communion of love. (?) We should practise both fraternal correction ? which demands deep humility and simplicity of heart ? and prayer so that it may rise to God from a community truly united in Christ. (Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus, 4 September 2011)    

unitedyam

A reading from the Book of Ezekiel
33:7-9

Thus says the LORD:
You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel;
when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.
If I tell the wicked, "O wicked one, you shall surely die, "
and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way,
the wicked shall die for his guilt,
but I will hold you responsible for his death.
But if you warn the wicked,
trying to turn him from his way,
and he refuses to turn from his way,
he shall die for his guilt,
but you shall save yourself.

 

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans
13:8-10

Brothers and sisters:
Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery;
you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet, "
and whatever other commandment there may be,
are summed up in this saying, namely,
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 
Love does no evil to the neighbor;
hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
18:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples:
"If your brother sins against you,
go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. 
If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.
If he does not listen,
take one or two others along with you,
so that ‘every fact may be established
on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. 
If he refuses to listen even to the church,
then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Amen, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, amen, I say to you,
if two of you agree on earth
about anything for which they are to pray,
it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. 
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them."

If my brother commits a sin against me I must treat him charitably and first of all, speak to him privately, pointing out that what he has said or done is wrong. This approach is known as ?fraternal correction?: it is not a reaction to the offence suffered but is motivated by love for one’s brethren. (?) And what if my brother does not listen to me? In today?s Gospel Jesus points to a gradual approach: first, speak to him again with two or three others, the better to help him realize what he has done; if, in spite of this, he still refuses to listen, it is necessary to tell the community; and if he refuses to listen even to the community, he must be made to perceive that he has cut himself off (?). Each person, aware of his own limitations and shortcomings, is called to accept fraternal correction and to help others with this specific service. Another fruit of love in the community is unanimous prayer. Jesus said: (?) where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them? (Mt 18:19-20). Personal prayer is of course important, indeed indispensable, but the Lord guarantees his presence to the community ? even if it is very small ? which is united and in agreement, because this reflects the very reality of the Triune God, perfect communion of love. (?) We should practise both fraternal correction ? which demands deep humility and simplicity of heart ? and prayer so that it may rise to God from a community truly united in Christ. (Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus, 4 September 2011)

 

 

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Thousands attend annual pro-life March For Life UK event in London – #Catholic – LONDON — On Saturday, thousands of activists marched from the Emmanuel Centre, Westminster to Parliament Square as part of an annual demonstration organized by the pro-life group March For Life UK.The march comes amid an ongoing debate over abortion law in England, Scotland and Wales, with pro-life campaigners calling for greater restrictions on abortion and opposing legislation establishing buffer zones around abortion clinics and hospitals. Pro-life advocates march in London near Big Ben during the cityʼs March for Life, Sept. 5, 2026. | Credit: Elliot Hartley March For Life organizer Ben Thatcher told EWTN News: “Every single human life is made in the image and likeness of God. Abortion ends that life, and when abortion does end that life, we are looking at a great, great tragedy — something that affects not just that person, but that family and the society and culture we live in.”Under current law, abortions can generally be carried out up to 24 weeks’ gestation, subject to certain legal conditions. Buffer zones around abortion clinics and hospitals, meanwhile, restrict certain activities intended to influence, obstruct or harass people accessing abortion services.“I feel thereʼs an absolute travesty that a human life thatʼs made in the image of God can be ended and can be dressed up in this slogan of ‘abortion is healthcare’,” Thatcher said.The march was attended by 15 Catholic bishops, who also celebrated Mass at Westminster Cathedral in the morning before joining the main group.Southwark Auxiliary Bishop Paul Hendricks told EWTN News: “I support life in all its stages. We have to stand up for our values. We have our principles and we follow Jesus.” Thousands of pro-life advocates march in London near Big Ben during the cityʼs March for Life, Sept. 5, 2026. | Credit: Elliot Hartley Southwark Archbishop John Wilson told EWTN News: “Iʼm here because I believe in the beauty and the dignity of human life. … Weʼre united together in a beautiful, peaceful, joyful spirit, to say that human life matters, that every life matters, from conception to natural death.” “And in a challenging culture, when so many people, in a sense, see life as something more disposable, you just want to stand up and be a voice for the voiceless,” he said.Attendees sang Christian hymns including “He’s got the whole world in his hands” and the Salve Regina while marching through the sunny streets of London, carrying banners reading: “Abortion hurts the family,” “Abortion Bans Save Lives” and “I’ve joined the fightback.” Thousands of pro-life advocates march in London during the cityʼs March for Life, Sept. 5, 2026. | Credit: Elliot Hartley “Iʼve come here today to support life from conception to natural death, within a culture where that seems not to be valued now… I think itʼs important to stand up and say that the human dignity of every person is that theyʼre made in the image of God, no matter how small,” Military Bishop Paul Mason told EWTN News.Father Paul Grogan told EWTN News that abortion is “the most fundamental human rights issue of our time.” “And I think itʼs an important part of living out our Catholic faith that we should witness to our belief in the beauty of human life, from the moment of conception to the moments of its natural ending,” he said.Hundreds also attended a pro-choice counter-protest, chanting slogans including “abortion is a human right,” “not the church, not the state, we decide our own fate,” “Christian fascists go away,” and “keep your rosaries off our ovaries.”Tilly Middlehurst, a pro-choice activist and a Cambridge student who became widely known online after a confrontation with the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, told EWTN News that she had “come to safeguard our rights as women.” “I want to bring as many people here as possible to demonstrate that [pro-life activists] are a minority, and they donʼt belong here,” she said, referring to the thousands of activists marching in the streets.Before the march, pro-life activist Ruth Price was met with anger from counter-protesters outside the Emmanuel Centre after trying to hand out pro-life leaflets to the pro-choice advocates.Price told EWTN News: “I wanted to speak to people who are murdering young children. … I certainly meant no harm to them. I work with adults with very profound learning difficulties and they have lives that are worthwhile. They are precious in the sight of God, and I want people to know that we respect the life of the mother.”Last year the London March For Life was attended by approximately 10,000 people, according to organizers who on Friday evening were waiting to confirm expected numbers for this year.
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Thousands attend annual pro-life March For Life UK event in London – #Catholic – LONDON — On Saturday, thousands of activists marched from the Emmanuel Centre, Westminster to Parliament Square as part of an annual demonstration organized by the pro-life group March For Life UK.The march comes amid an ongoing debate over abortion law in England, Scotland and Wales, with pro-life campaigners calling for greater restrictions on abortion and opposing legislation establishing buffer zones around abortion clinics and hospitals. Pro-life advocates march in London near Big Ben during the cityʼs March for Life, Sept. 5, 2026. | Credit: Elliot Hartley March For Life organizer Ben Thatcher told EWTN News: “Every single human life is made in the image and likeness of God. Abortion ends that life, and when abortion does end that life, we are looking at a great, great tragedy — something that affects not just that person, but that family and the society and culture we live in.”Under current law, abortions can generally be carried out up to 24 weeks’ gestation, subject to certain legal conditions. Buffer zones around abortion clinics and hospitals, meanwhile, restrict certain activities intended to influence, obstruct or harass people accessing abortion services.“I feel thereʼs an absolute travesty that a human life thatʼs made in the image of God can be ended and can be dressed up in this slogan of ‘abortion is healthcare’,” Thatcher said.The march was attended by 15 Catholic bishops, who also celebrated Mass at Westminster Cathedral in the morning before joining the main group.Southwark Auxiliary Bishop Paul Hendricks told EWTN News: “I support life in all its stages. We have to stand up for our values. We have our principles and we follow Jesus.” Thousands of pro-life advocates march in London near Big Ben during the cityʼs March for Life, Sept. 5, 2026. | Credit: Elliot Hartley Southwark Archbishop John Wilson told EWTN News: “Iʼm here because I believe in the beauty and the dignity of human life. … Weʼre united together in a beautiful, peaceful, joyful spirit, to say that human life matters, that every life matters, from conception to natural death.” “And in a challenging culture, when so many people, in a sense, see life as something more disposable, you just want to stand up and be a voice for the voiceless,” he said.Attendees sang Christian hymns including “He’s got the whole world in his hands” and the Salve Regina while marching through the sunny streets of London, carrying banners reading: “Abortion hurts the family,” “Abortion Bans Save Lives” and “I’ve joined the fightback.” Thousands of pro-life advocates march in London during the cityʼs March for Life, Sept. 5, 2026. | Credit: Elliot Hartley “Iʼve come here today to support life from conception to natural death, within a culture where that seems not to be valued now… I think itʼs important to stand up and say that the human dignity of every person is that theyʼre made in the image of God, no matter how small,” Military Bishop Paul Mason told EWTN News.Father Paul Grogan told EWTN News that abortion is “the most fundamental human rights issue of our time.” “And I think itʼs an important part of living out our Catholic faith that we should witness to our belief in the beauty of human life, from the moment of conception to the moments of its natural ending,” he said.Hundreds also attended a pro-choice counter-protest, chanting slogans including “abortion is a human right,” “not the church, not the state, we decide our own fate,” “Christian fascists go away,” and “keep your rosaries off our ovaries.”Tilly Middlehurst, a pro-choice activist and a Cambridge student who became widely known online after a confrontation with the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, told EWTN News that she had “come to safeguard our rights as women.” “I want to bring as many people here as possible to demonstrate that [pro-life activists] are a minority, and they donʼt belong here,” she said, referring to the thousands of activists marching in the streets.Before the march, pro-life activist Ruth Price was met with anger from counter-protesters outside the Emmanuel Centre after trying to hand out pro-life leaflets to the pro-choice advocates.Price told EWTN News: “I wanted to speak to people who are murdering young children. … I certainly meant no harm to them. I work with adults with very profound learning difficulties and they have lives that are worthwhile. They are precious in the sight of God, and I want people to know that we respect the life of the mother.”Last year the London March For Life was attended by approximately 10,000 people, according to organizers who on Friday evening were waiting to confirm expected numbers for this year.

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The march comes amid an ongoing debate over abortion law in England, Scotland and Wales, with pro-life campaigners calling for greater restrictions on abortion.

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European bishops warn against allowing erasure of ‘theological reality’ of baptismal records – #Catholic – The European bishops’ conference is warning authorities of the dangers of allowing baptized individuals to erase the records of their baptisms from Church archives, with the bishops arguing that to do so would negatively affect Church freedom and internal governance. The Court of Justice of the European Union is currently hearing a case brought by the Brussels Court of Appeal regarding whether the Catholic Church is violating Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation by refusing to erase names from baptismal records when requested.In a Sept. 2 position paper opposing the deletion policy, the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union disputed claims that a baptismal register functions as a “list of members” of the Catholic Church. A register, the bishops said, serves instead as a “record of historical events.” “The purpose of a baptismal register is not to bear witness to the faith of individual persons, to the fact that someone is affiliated to the Church or to his/her involvement in Church life,” the bishops said. Rather, such registers function as a “fundamental evidentiary instrument” for “numerous matters relating to the internal life of the Church,” including whether or not a person has married, made a profession in a religious institute or been confirmed. It would be “impossible” to verify vital records if they are removed from the register, the bishops said. Requiring the baptismal deletions, the prelates argued, would mandate that the Church “adapt to [a person’s] feelings or opinions” in how the Church itself views baptismal records. This would require a shift in “theological reflection,” they said, which is “protected by Church autonomy.” The erasures could further “mislead” both Catholics and non-believers into being convinced that the sacrament of baptism is “repeatable and optional.” Such a policy would “constitute an infringement on the substance of the sacrament and not merely of the manner in which it is administered or carried out,” the paper said, and it would “seriously impede the proper functioning of the Church.” Alessandro Calcagno, a lawyer and assistant general secretary for the European bishops, said last year that the proceedings were “not an initiative against the Church by the European Union” but rather “a response to clarifications requested at the national level.”The issue arose in 2023 after an individual in the Diocese of Ghent in Belgium asked for all of their data to be completely removed from the local Church register. The Ghent Diocese opposed that request. The European court’s ruling is expected by the end of 2026 or sometime in 2027.
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European bishops warn against allowing erasure of ‘theological reality’ of baptismal records – #Catholic – The European bishops’ conference is warning authorities of the dangers of allowing baptized individuals to erase the records of their baptisms from Church archives, with the bishops arguing that to do so would negatively affect Church freedom and internal governance. The Court of Justice of the European Union is currently hearing a case brought by the Brussels Court of Appeal regarding whether the Catholic Church is violating Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation by refusing to erase names from baptismal records when requested.In a Sept. 2 position paper opposing the deletion policy, the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union disputed claims that a baptismal register functions as a “list of members” of the Catholic Church. A register, the bishops said, serves instead as a “record of historical events.” “The purpose of a baptismal register is not to bear witness to the faith of individual persons, to the fact that someone is affiliated to the Church or to his/her involvement in Church life,” the bishops said. Rather, such registers function as a “fundamental evidentiary instrument” for “numerous matters relating to the internal life of the Church,” including whether or not a person has married, made a profession in a religious institute or been confirmed. It would be “impossible” to verify vital records if they are removed from the register, the bishops said. Requiring the baptismal deletions, the prelates argued, would mandate that the Church “adapt to [a person’s] feelings or opinions” in how the Church itself views baptismal records. This would require a shift in “theological reflection,” they said, which is “protected by Church autonomy.” The erasures could further “mislead” both Catholics and non-believers into being convinced that the sacrament of baptism is “repeatable and optional.” Such a policy would “constitute an infringement on the substance of the sacrament and not merely of the manner in which it is administered or carried out,” the paper said, and it would “seriously impede the proper functioning of the Church.” Alessandro Calcagno, a lawyer and assistant general secretary for the European bishops, said last year that the proceedings were “not an initiative against the Church by the European Union” but rather “a response to clarifications requested at the national level.”The issue arose in 2023 after an individual in the Diocese of Ghent in Belgium asked for all of their data to be completely removed from the local Church register. The Ghent Diocese opposed that request. The European court’s ruling is expected by the end of 2026 or sometime in 2027.

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The bishops argued that allowing the baptized to erase their records would encroach on religious liberty and negatively affect internal Church matters.

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Accused killer of Kansas priest declared not competent at murder trial – #Catholic – A man accused of murdering a priest in Kansas was declared not competent at a court hearing this week, authorities said. Gary Hermesch was declared incompetent to stand trial in Nemaha County Court on Sept. 3. Hermesch had been charged with first-degree murder in the April 3, 2025 shooting death of Father Arul Carasala in the small city of Seneca. A spokesman with the state attorney general’s office confirmed the court ruling to EWTN News. The spokesman added that the court “ordered involuntary commitment proceedings [to] be initiated.”The suspect was arrested the day after the shooting. He reportedly turned himself in to authorities and confessed to the crime. TKansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann said in a Facebook post after the shooting that Carasala “was a devoted and zealous pastor” who “faithfully served our archdiocese for over 20 years.”“His love for Christ and his Church was evident in how he ministered to his people with great generosity and care,” the archbishop said. Carasala’s obituary described him as a “beloved priest” who was “grounded, compassionate, and deeply community-oriented.” He was born in Kilacheri, Tamil Nadu, India, and attended seminary in Cuddapah, Vizag and Eluru; he was ordained to the priesthood on March 4, 1994. He came to the Kansas City Archdiocese in 2004, becoming “a cornerstone of the local Catholic community.” He eventually became a U.S. citizen in 2011. He is survived by a sister and brother-in-law as well as a niece and nephew.
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Accused killer of Kansas priest declared not competent at murder trial – #Catholic – A man accused of murdering a priest in Kansas was declared not competent at a court hearing this week, authorities said. Gary Hermesch was declared incompetent to stand trial in Nemaha County Court on Sept. 3. Hermesch had been charged with first-degree murder in the April 3, 2025 shooting death of Father Arul Carasala in the small city of Seneca. A spokesman with the state attorney general’s office confirmed the court ruling to EWTN News. The spokesman added that the court “ordered involuntary commitment proceedings [to] be initiated.”The suspect was arrested the day after the shooting. He reportedly turned himself in to authorities and confessed to the crime. TKansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann said in a Facebook post after the shooting that Carasala “was a devoted and zealous pastor” who “faithfully served our archdiocese for over 20 years.”“His love for Christ and his Church was evident in how he ministered to his people with great generosity and care,” the archbishop said. Carasala’s obituary described him as a “beloved priest” who was “grounded, compassionate, and deeply community-oriented.” He was born in Kilacheri, Tamil Nadu, India, and attended seminary in Cuddapah, Vizag and Eluru; he was ordained to the priesthood on March 4, 1994. He came to the Kansas City Archdiocese in 2004, becoming “a cornerstone of the local Catholic community.” He eventually became a U.S. citizen in 2011. He is survived by a sister and brother-in-law as well as a niece and nephew.

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Gary Hermesch was arrested in April 2025 for allegedly murdering Father Arul Carasala in Seneca, Kansas.

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10 lesser-known facts about St. Teresa of Calcutta, 10 years after canonization #Catholic On Sept. 5, Catholics around the world celebrate the feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta, popularly known as Mother Teresa, and this year marks 10 years since she was declared a saint by the Catholic Church. The beloved religious sister was known globally for her work among the poorest of poor in India and for founding the Missionaries of Charity.Yet behind the familiar image of the saint there are aspects of her life that may not be as well-known — from her childhood in the Balkans and years as a teacher to her surprising friendships and spiritual struggles.Here are 10 lesser-known facts about the life of St. Teresa of Calcutta as we celebrate her 10 years as a canonized saint:1. She wasn’t born in IndiaMother Teresa was born Anjezë (Agnes) Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in 1910 in Skopje, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire and is now the capital of North Macedonia. She came from an ethnic Albanian family and was the youngest of five children — two of whom died in infancy.2. She entered religious life at 18At age 12, she felt called to serve the poor and at 18, left home to join the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish order of nuns, with the intention to serve in India. She would never again live with her immediate family.3. She chose the name Teresa after St. Thérèse of LisieuxUpon her arrival at Rathfarnham Abbey in Ireland, she took the name Teresa after St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a 19th-century French nun known as the “Little Flower” who was known for her simplicity and doing things in her “Little Way.”4. She was a teacher before she served the poorBefore beginning her work among the poor, Mother Teresa taught in India for nearly two decades. She arrived in Calcutta, India. on Jan. 6, 1929, and after making her first vows in 1931, she was assigned to the Loretto Entally community and taught at St. Mary’s Bengali Medium School for girls. In 1937, Teresa made her final vows as a Loreto nun and then reassumed her duties at the school. In 1944 she became principal of the school.5. She experienced a ‘call within a call’On Sept. 10, 1946, Mother Teresa experienced what she would refer to as the “call within a call.” Over the following weeks and months, she would receive inspiration from God asking her to establish a religious community that would serve the poorest of the poor.6. She didn’t immediately start the religious orderIn August of 1948, Teresa left the Loreto convent and went to a short medical training with the Medical Mission Sisters in Patna. In December of the same year, she returned to Calcutta and stayed temporarily with the Little Sisters of the Poor. During this time, she worked in the slums tending to the sick and dying. On Oct. 7, 1950, the congregation of the Missionaries of Charity was officially established.7. She founded branches for men and priests, tooIn order to serve the various physical and spiritual needs of the sick, Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity Brothers in 1963 and in 1984 the Missionaries of Charity Fathers. She also created groups for lay people including Co-Workers of Mother Teresa and the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, which were groups of people who shared her spirit of prayer, simplicity, and love for those most in need.8. She received the Nobel Peace Prize — and rejected the traditional banquetWhen Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, she asked that the money that would have been spent on the customary banquet instead be given to the poor. She also used her Nobel platform to speak about the dignity of human life and the need for the protection of the unborn.9. She experienced profound spiritual darknessOne of the most surprising aspects of Mother Teresa’s life is that she endured decades of what she described as profound interior darkness. Despite being a woman of deep prayer, her private letters revealed that she sometimes felt distant from God even as she continued serving him.10. Her congregation spread around the worldToday the Missionaries of Charity have 754 homes in 138 countries around the world and a little over 5,000 nuns serving the poorest of the poor.
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10 lesser-known facts about St. Teresa of Calcutta, 10 years after canonization #Catholic On Sept. 5, Catholics around the world celebrate the feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta, popularly known as Mother Teresa, and this year marks 10 years since she was declared a saint by the Catholic Church. The beloved religious sister was known globally for her work among the poorest of poor in India and for founding the Missionaries of Charity.Yet behind the familiar image of the saint there are aspects of her life that may not be as well-known — from her childhood in the Balkans and years as a teacher to her surprising friendships and spiritual struggles.Here are 10 lesser-known facts about the life of St. Teresa of Calcutta as we celebrate her 10 years as a canonized saint:1. She wasn’t born in IndiaMother Teresa was born Anjezë (Agnes) Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in 1910 in Skopje, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire and is now the capital of North Macedonia. She came from an ethnic Albanian family and was the youngest of five children — two of whom died in infancy.2. She entered religious life at 18At age 12, she felt called to serve the poor and at 18, left home to join the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish order of nuns, with the intention to serve in India. She would never again live with her immediate family.3. She chose the name Teresa after St. Thérèse of LisieuxUpon her arrival at Rathfarnham Abbey in Ireland, she took the name Teresa after St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a 19th-century French nun known as the “Little Flower” who was known for her simplicity and doing things in her “Little Way.”4. She was a teacher before she served the poorBefore beginning her work among the poor, Mother Teresa taught in India for nearly two decades. She arrived in Calcutta, India. on Jan. 6, 1929, and after making her first vows in 1931, she was assigned to the Loretto Entally community and taught at St. Mary’s Bengali Medium School for girls. In 1937, Teresa made her final vows as a Loreto nun and then reassumed her duties at the school. In 1944 she became principal of the school.5. She experienced a ‘call within a call’On Sept. 10, 1946, Mother Teresa experienced what she would refer to as the “call within a call.” Over the following weeks and months, she would receive inspiration from God asking her to establish a religious community that would serve the poorest of the poor.6. She didn’t immediately start the religious orderIn August of 1948, Teresa left the Loreto convent and went to a short medical training with the Medical Mission Sisters in Patna. In December of the same year, she returned to Calcutta and stayed temporarily with the Little Sisters of the Poor. During this time, she worked in the slums tending to the sick and dying. On Oct. 7, 1950, the congregation of the Missionaries of Charity was officially established.7. She founded branches for men and priests, tooIn order to serve the various physical and spiritual needs of the sick, Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity Brothers in 1963 and in 1984 the Missionaries of Charity Fathers. She also created groups for lay people including Co-Workers of Mother Teresa and the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, which were groups of people who shared her spirit of prayer, simplicity, and love for those most in need.8. She received the Nobel Peace Prize — and rejected the traditional banquetWhen Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, she asked that the money that would have been spent on the customary banquet instead be given to the poor. She also used her Nobel platform to speak about the dignity of human life and the need for the protection of the unborn.9. She experienced profound spiritual darknessOne of the most surprising aspects of Mother Teresa’s life is that she endured decades of what she described as profound interior darkness. Despite being a woman of deep prayer, her private letters revealed that she sometimes felt distant from God even as she continued serving him.10. Her congregation spread around the worldToday the Missionaries of Charity have 754 homes in 138 countries around the world and a little over 5,000 nuns serving the poorest of the poor.

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Sept. 5 marks the feast of Mother Teresa and the 10th anniversary of her canonization.

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Sept. 5, 2001: The Milky Way has a black hole

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NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory is the agency’s flagship mission for X-ray astronomy. On Sept. 5, 2001, NASA announced that astronomers using Chandra in October of the previous year had witnessed a fast, strong X-ray flare coming from the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. This black hole, named Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*)Continue reading “Sept. 5, 2001: The Milky Way has a black hole”

The post Sept. 5, 2001: The Milky Way has a black hole appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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With great sorrow, diocese to commemorate 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks #Catholic – With heavy hearts, the faithful of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., will join all Americans next Friday to solemnly and prayerfully commemorate the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 — a day of horror and loss that devastated the United States and forever changed the country and the world. On that sad anniversary, several parishes, including the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J., and other faith communities across the diocese will hold memorial Masses and prayer services. They will pray for the souls of the victims, God’s continued comfort for their families and friends, the safety of first responders, and for God’s peace for the world. The 25th anniversary hits especially hard for residents in the diocese and the wider Tri-State area. Many of them had loved ones —or knew people —who were murdered in the attacks on that tragic day. All those who witnessed the brutality of 9/11 will never forget it. Close to home, Father Mychal Judge, a Franciscan friar and former pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish in West Milford, N.J., was killed while serving with the N.Y. Fire Department at Ground Zero. He is buried at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Totowa, N.J. Father Daniel Murphy, now a retired diocesan priest, lost his younger brother, Edward Murphy, in the attack on the North Tower. Several priests ministered to law enforcement, fire departments, and recovery workers at Ground Zero. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. On the 25th anniversary, St. John’s Cathedral, the diocese’s mother church, will hold a Mass of Remembrance at 7 p.m. Personnel from local police and fire departments and the FBI have been invited. The liturgy will include ringing a bell and playing bagpipes to honor the victims. Information: call 973-345-4070. “We will pray for those who have died in the attacks, those who are keeping us safe, and for an end to terrorism,” said Msgr. Geno Sylva, St. John’s rector and diocesan vicar for special projects. He ministered at the Ground Zero morgue the day after 9/11 and on site thereafter. Next Friday, Bishop Sweeney will celebrate a Mass of Remembrance specifically for the diocesan pastoral staff of the chapel of St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison, N.J. It will be “an opportunity to pray for the fallen and to share some time as a diocesan family, remembering our common mission to be instruments of peace,” according to the diocese. St. Christopher Parish in Parsippany, N.J., will hold a Memorial Mass at 8:45 a.m. in the church. Parishioners, families, neighbors, and friends are invited. Information: call 973-539-7050. “As people of faith, we will gather not only to remember but also to pray for eternal rest for those who perished, for comfort for those who still carry the pain of loss, for the men and women who continue to serve our communities and country, and for God’s gift of peace throughout our nations and the world,” St. Christopher’s states in its bulletin announcement. “May we never forget the lives entrusted to God’s mercy on that September morning and may we honor their memory by building a future rooted in compassion, unity and hope, trusting in God’s enduring love,” the parish states. The Shrine of St. Joseph, operated by the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity in the Stirling neighborhood of Long Hill Township, N.J., will hold an ecumenical prayer service at 7 p.m. in the chapel. Participants will gather “to remember and pray for peace,” according to the shrine. Local clergy members who attend St. Joseph’s service will share in the prayers and reflections on peace. The shrine will also honor local first responders for their continued support of the community. After St. Joseph’s service, participants will process outside to the Tower of Remembrance, which incorporates vertical rusted steel girders from the World Trade Center’s North Tower that set between an ascending column of bells. It is a spiritual site for grieving families and annual ecumenical vigils. Information: call 908-647-0208. At 7 p.m. on the anniversary, Annunciation Parish in Wayne, N.J., will hold a Commemoration Mass, celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Manuel Cruz of the Newark Archdiocese, N.J. Information: call 973-694-5700. St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Clifton, N.J., will hold a Mass of Remembrance at 7 p.m. Earlier that day, the parish will also hold a holy hour for peace after the 9 a.m. Mass. Information: call 973-779-6200. For the anniversary, St. Jude the Apostle Parish in Hardyston, N.J., will hold a recitation of the Patriotic Rosary at 6 p.m., a Memorial Mass at 6:30 p.m. and holy hour after the Mass until 8 p.m. Information: call 973-827-8030. “We will pray for those who were lost, including the many who died of 9/11-related illnesses, many long after the attack; for the victims who are still suffering from mental illness; for the families; for our country; and for peace,” said Father Michael Rodak, pastor of St. Jude’s and diocesan pilgrimage director. He expressed hope that the 9/11 events will educate young people, many of whom were not yet born at the time of the attacks. For an BeaconNJ.org archive story about the various memorials for the victims of the 9/11 attacks in the Paterson Diocese, N.J., that can be visited, click here.  
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With great sorrow, diocese to commemorate 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks #Catholic – With heavy hearts, the faithful of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., will join all Americans next Friday to solemnly and prayerfully commemorate the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 — a day of horror and loss that devastated the United States and forever changed the country and the world. On that sad anniversary, several parishes, including the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J., and other faith communities across the diocese will hold memorial Masses and prayer services. They will pray for the souls of the victims, God’s continued comfort for their families and friends, the safety of first responders, and for God’s peace for the world. The 25th anniversary hits especially hard for residents in the diocese and the wider Tri-State area. Many of them had loved ones —or knew people —who were murdered in the attacks on that tragic day. All those who witnessed the brutality of 9/11 will never forget it. Close to home, Father Mychal Judge, a Franciscan friar and former pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish in West Milford, N.J., was killed while serving with the N.Y. Fire Department at Ground Zero. He is buried at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Totowa, N.J. Father Daniel Murphy, now a retired diocesan priest, lost his younger brother, Edward Murphy, in the attack on the North Tower. Several priests ministered to law enforcement, fire departments, and recovery workers at Ground Zero. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. On the 25th anniversary, St. John’s Cathedral, the diocese’s mother church, will hold a Mass of Remembrance at 7 p.m. Personnel from local police and fire departments and the FBI have been invited. The liturgy will include ringing a bell and playing bagpipes to honor the victims. Information: call 973-345-4070. “We will pray for those who have died in the attacks, those who are keeping us safe, and for an end to terrorism,” said Msgr. Geno Sylva, St. John’s rector and diocesan vicar for special projects. He ministered at the Ground Zero morgue the day after 9/11 and on site thereafter. Next Friday, Bishop Sweeney will celebrate a Mass of Remembrance specifically for the diocesan pastoral staff of the chapel of St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison, N.J. It will be “an opportunity to pray for the fallen and to share some time as a diocesan family, remembering our common mission to be instruments of peace,” according to the diocese. St. Christopher Parish in Parsippany, N.J., will hold a Memorial Mass at 8:45 a.m. in the church. Parishioners, families, neighbors, and friends are invited. Information: call 973-539-7050. “As people of faith, we will gather not only to remember but also to pray for eternal rest for those who perished, for comfort for those who still carry the pain of loss, for the men and women who continue to serve our communities and country, and for God’s gift of peace throughout our nations and the world,” St. Christopher’s states in its bulletin announcement. “May we never forget the lives entrusted to God’s mercy on that September morning and may we honor their memory by building a future rooted in compassion, unity and hope, trusting in God’s enduring love,” the parish states. The Shrine of St. Joseph, operated by the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity in the Stirling neighborhood of Long Hill Township, N.J., will hold an ecumenical prayer service at 7 p.m. in the chapel. Participants will gather “to remember and pray for peace,” according to the shrine. Local clergy members who attend St. Joseph’s service will share in the prayers and reflections on peace. The shrine will also honor local first responders for their continued support of the community. After St. Joseph’s service, participants will process outside to the Tower of Remembrance, which incorporates vertical rusted steel girders from the World Trade Center’s North Tower that set between an ascending column of bells. It is a spiritual site for grieving families and annual ecumenical vigils. Information: call 908-647-0208. At 7 p.m. on the anniversary, Annunciation Parish in Wayne, N.J., will hold a Commemoration Mass, celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Manuel Cruz of the Newark Archdiocese, N.J. Information: call 973-694-5700. St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Clifton, N.J., will hold a Mass of Remembrance at 7 p.m. Earlier that day, the parish will also hold a holy hour for peace after the 9 a.m. Mass. Information: call 973-779-6200. For the anniversary, St. Jude the Apostle Parish in Hardyston, N.J., will hold a recitation of the Patriotic Rosary at 6 p.m., a Memorial Mass at 6:30 p.m. and holy hour after the Mass until 8 p.m. Information: call 973-827-8030. “We will pray for those who were lost, including the many who died of 9/11-related illnesses, many long after the attack; for the victims who are still suffering from mental illness; for the families; for our country; and for peace,” said Father Michael Rodak, pastor of St. Jude’s and diocesan pilgrimage director. He expressed hope that the 9/11 events will educate young people, many of whom were not yet born at the time of the attacks. For an BeaconNJ.org archive story about the various memorials for the victims of the 9/11 attacks in the Paterson Diocese, N.J., that can be visited, click here.  

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With great sorrow, diocese to commemorate 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks #Catholic –

With heavy hearts, the faithful of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., will join all Americans next Friday to solemnly and prayerfully commemorate the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 — a day of horror and loss that devastated the United States and forever changed the country and the world.

On that sad anniversary, several parishes, including the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J., and other faith communities across the diocese will hold memorial Masses and prayer services. They will pray for the souls of the victims, God’s continued comfort for their families and friends, the safety of first responders, and for God’s peace for the world.

The 25th anniversary hits especially hard for residents in the diocese and the wider Tri-State area. Many of them had loved ones —or knew people —who were murdered in the attacks on that tragic day. All those who witnessed the brutality of 9/11 will never forget it.

Close to home, Father Mychal Judge, a Franciscan friar and former pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish in West Milford, N.J., was killed while serving with the N.Y. Fire Department at Ground Zero. He is buried at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Totowa, N.J. Father Daniel Murphy, now a retired diocesan priest, lost his younger brother, Edward Murphy, in the attack on the North Tower. Several priests ministered to law enforcement, fire departments, and recovery workers at Ground Zero.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

On the 25th anniversary, St. John’s Cathedral, the diocese’s mother church, will hold a Mass of Remembrance at 7 p.m. Personnel from local police and fire departments and the FBI have been invited. The liturgy will include ringing a bell and playing bagpipes to honor the victims. Information: call 973-345-4070.

“We will pray for those who have died in the attacks, those who are keeping us safe, and for an end to terrorism,” said Msgr. Geno Sylva, St. John’s rector and diocesan vicar for special projects. He ministered at the Ground Zero morgue the day after 9/11 and on site thereafter.

Next Friday, Bishop Sweeney will celebrate a Mass of Remembrance specifically for the diocesan pastoral staff of the chapel of St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison, N.J. It will be “an opportunity to pray for the fallen and to share some time as a diocesan family, remembering our common mission to be instruments of peace,” according to the diocese.

St. Christopher Parish in Parsippany, N.J., will hold a Memorial Mass at 8:45 a.m. in the church. Parishioners, families, neighbors, and friends are invited. Information: call 973-539-7050.

“As people of faith, we will gather not only to remember but also to pray for eternal rest for those who perished, for comfort for those who still carry the pain of loss, for the men and women who continue to serve our communities and country, and for God’s gift of peace throughout our nations and the world,” St. Christopher’s states in its bulletin announcement. “May we never forget the lives entrusted to God’s mercy on that September morning and may we honor their memory by building a future rooted in compassion, unity and hope, trusting in God’s enduring love,” the parish states.

The Shrine of St. Joseph, operated by the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity in the Stirling neighborhood of Long Hill Township, N.J., will hold an ecumenical prayer service at 7 p.m. in the chapel. Participants will gather “to remember and pray for peace,” according to the shrine.

Local clergy members who attend St. Joseph’s service will share in the prayers and reflections on peace. The shrine will also honor local first responders for their continued support of the community.

After St. Joseph’s service, participants will process outside to the Tower of Remembrance, which incorporates vertical rusted steel girders from the World Trade Center’s North Tower that set between an ascending column of bells. It is a spiritual site for grieving families and annual ecumenical vigils. Information: call 908-647-0208.

At 7 p.m. on the anniversary, Annunciation Parish in Wayne, N.J., will hold a Commemoration Mass, celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Manuel Cruz of the Newark Archdiocese, N.J. Information: call 973-694-5700.

St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Clifton, N.J., will hold a Mass of Remembrance at 7 p.m. Earlier that day, the parish will also hold a holy hour for peace after the 9 a.m. Mass. Information: call 973-779-6200.

For the anniversary, St. Jude the Apostle Parish in Hardyston, N.J., will hold a recitation of the Patriotic Rosary at 6 p.m., a Memorial Mass at 6:30 p.m. and holy hour after the Mass until 8 p.m. Information: call 973-827-8030.

“We will pray for those who were lost, including the many who died of 9/11-related illnesses, many long after the attack; for the victims who are still suffering from mental illness; for the families; for our country; and for peace,” said Father Michael Rodak, pastor of St. Jude’s and diocesan pilgrimage director. He expressed hope that the 9/11 events will educate young people, many of whom were not yet born at the time of the attacks.

For an BeaconNJ.org archive story about the various memorials for the victims of the 9/11 attacks in the Paterson Diocese, N.J., that can be visited, click here.

 

– With heavy hearts, the faithful of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., will join all Americans next Friday to solemnly and prayerfully commemorate the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 — a day of horror and loss that devastated the United States and forever changed the country and the world. On that sad anniversary, several parishes, including the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J., and other faith communities across the diocese will hold memorial Masses and prayer services. They will pray for the souls of the victims, God’s continued comfort for their families and friends,

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Lunar Occultation of Venus – On Wednesday, June 17, skywatchers across the United States—and parts of Canada—enjoyed a rare event: a daytime lunar occultation of Venus. A lunar occultation occurs when the Moon moves directly in front of another celestial object from our viewpoint on Earth, briefly hiding it from sight.
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Lunar Occultation of Venus – On Wednesday, June 17, skywatchers across the United States—and parts of Canada—enjoyed a rare event: a daytime lunar occultation of Venus. A lunar occultation occurs when the Moon moves directly in front of another celestial object from our viewpoint on Earth, briefly hiding it from sight.

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On Wednesday, June 17, skywatchers across the United States—and parts of Canada—enjoyed a rare event: a daytime lunar occultation of Venus. A lunar occultation occurs when the Moon moves directly in front of another celestial object from our viewpoint on Earth, briefly hiding it from sight.

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Guinean youth heading to West African Youth Day encouraged to be missionaries #Catholic CONAKRY, Guinea — The leader of Guinea’s Catholic Archdiocese of Conakry has urged 155 young Catholics from the country sent to represent their peers at the first West African Youth Day in Ghana to embrace the gathering as a missionary experience rather than a tourist trip.The Republic of Guinea is a French-speaking West African nation bordering the Atlantic with a population of about 13.5 million. The Guinean delegation was commissioned at Mass on Sept. 2 at St. Rita Sangoyah Parish of Conakry Archdiocese, ahead of the Sept. 7–11 youth gathering organized by the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa.In his homily, Archbishop François Sylla challenged the young Catholics to recognize their active role in the life and mission of the Church.“You are not merely beneficiaries of pastoral ministry; you are also actors in the mission of the Church,” Sylla said.The archbishop urged the delegates from the five dioceses of Guinea—Conakry, Boké, Kankan, Guéckédou and NʼZérékoré — to return from Accra transformed by their encounter with other young Catholics and ready to become witnesses of peace and hope in their communities.“You will go to Accra as ambassadors of our local Church,” Sylla said, noting that Guinea is currently marking the final phase of the 150th anniversary of evangelization in the country.He encouraged the youth to share with others what they will “see, hear and touch” during the gathering and to translate the experience into concrete service to the Church and society.“Your participation in this ecclesiastical event should not be a tourist journey,” the archbishop said.Instead, he described the encounter as an opportunity for the young people to deepen their faith, grow in conviction, and be educated in values that can foster greater commitment to the Church and society.The first West African Youth Day is being held under the theme “Take courage, young Catholics, actors of peace and hope in West Africa.”The gathering is expected to bring together youth from across the region in what has been described as a historic first for the continent.Sylla urged the delegates to return home sufficiently transformed to become “a stimulant of ecclesiastical and social engagement” for other young people searching for peace.He also challenged the youth. “The Church needs a youth who does not only say, ‘What can the Church do for me?’ But it needs a youth who also asks itself: ‘What can I do for the Church in the next few years? What is my role in the Church?’” he said.According to the archbishop, young people have a particular responsibility in a world increasingly shaped by social media, artificial intelligence, globalization, and rapid social change.He recalled Pope Francis’ appeal to young people in Venice, where the late pontiff emphasized the need for their energy, creativity, enthusiasm, and ability to dream.“The Church must not only speak to the youth today, but must learn to walk with them and to show them responsibility,” Sylla said, adding that “a youth who is responsible becomes a missionary force.”The archbishop described the young delegates as missionaries and encouraged them to see their participation in the youth day as an opportunity to become part of a wider movement of West African youth committed to peace, justice, security and hope.“You are therefore missionaries. The youth is the light of those in a West African country in search of peace, justice, security and hope,” the Catholic archbishop said.He called on the delegates to be witnesses of Christ’s hope and love in their families, communities and nation, while reminding them that they are already missionaries in the present, rather than simply future leaders.“Remind the West African youth that they are not only the leaders of your communities, but already the missionaries of today, in charge of bringing the light of Christ in all sectors of society,” Sylla said.He assured the young pilgrims of his prayers and invoked the protection of the saints as they embarked on their journey to Ghana.“We pray that peace will come and all the saints will accompany you in this pilgrimage,” he said, expressing hope that “the light of Christ will shine on you wherever you are.”This article was first published by ACI Africa, EWTN News’ sister service in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News English.
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Guinean youth heading to West African Youth Day encouraged to be missionaries #Catholic CONAKRY, Guinea — The leader of Guinea’s Catholic Archdiocese of Conakry has urged 155 young Catholics from the country sent to represent their peers at the first West African Youth Day in Ghana to embrace the gathering as a missionary experience rather than a tourist trip.The Republic of Guinea is a French-speaking West African nation bordering the Atlantic with a population of about 13.5 million. The Guinean delegation was commissioned at Mass on Sept. 2 at St. Rita Sangoyah Parish of Conakry Archdiocese, ahead of the Sept. 7–11 youth gathering organized by the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa.In his homily, Archbishop François Sylla challenged the young Catholics to recognize their active role in the life and mission of the Church.“You are not merely beneficiaries of pastoral ministry; you are also actors in the mission of the Church,” Sylla said.The archbishop urged the delegates from the five dioceses of Guinea—Conakry, Boké, Kankan, Guéckédou and NʼZérékoré — to return from Accra transformed by their encounter with other young Catholics and ready to become witnesses of peace and hope in their communities.“You will go to Accra as ambassadors of our local Church,” Sylla said, noting that Guinea is currently marking the final phase of the 150th anniversary of evangelization in the country.He encouraged the youth to share with others what they will “see, hear and touch” during the gathering and to translate the experience into concrete service to the Church and society.“Your participation in this ecclesiastical event should not be a tourist journey,” the archbishop said.Instead, he described the encounter as an opportunity for the young people to deepen their faith, grow in conviction, and be educated in values that can foster greater commitment to the Church and society.The first West African Youth Day is being held under the theme “Take courage, young Catholics, actors of peace and hope in West Africa.”The gathering is expected to bring together youth from across the region in what has been described as a historic first for the continent.Sylla urged the delegates to return home sufficiently transformed to become “a stimulant of ecclesiastical and social engagement” for other young people searching for peace.He also challenged the youth. “The Church needs a youth who does not only say, ‘What can the Church do for me?’ But it needs a youth who also asks itself: ‘What can I do for the Church in the next few years? What is my role in the Church?’” he said.According to the archbishop, young people have a particular responsibility in a world increasingly shaped by social media, artificial intelligence, globalization, and rapid social change.He recalled Pope Francis’ appeal to young people in Venice, where the late pontiff emphasized the need for their energy, creativity, enthusiasm, and ability to dream.“The Church must not only speak to the youth today, but must learn to walk with them and to show them responsibility,” Sylla said, adding that “a youth who is responsible becomes a missionary force.”The archbishop described the young delegates as missionaries and encouraged them to see their participation in the youth day as an opportunity to become part of a wider movement of West African youth committed to peace, justice, security and hope.“You are therefore missionaries. The youth is the light of those in a West African country in search of peace, justice, security and hope,” the Catholic archbishop said.He called on the delegates to be witnesses of Christ’s hope and love in their families, communities and nation, while reminding them that they are already missionaries in the present, rather than simply future leaders.“Remind the West African youth that they are not only the leaders of your communities, but already the missionaries of today, in charge of bringing the light of Christ in all sectors of society,” Sylla said.He assured the young pilgrims of his prayers and invoked the protection of the saints as they embarked on their journey to Ghana.“We pray that peace will come and all the saints will accompany you in this pilgrimage,” he said, expressing hope that “the light of Christ will shine on you wherever you are.”This article was first published by ACI Africa, EWTN News’ sister service in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News English.

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Archbishop François Sylla challenged the youth delegation to see themselves as active members of the Church as they head to the youth celebration in Ghana.

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Picture of the day Lake Coldai, an alpine lake beneath the Dolomites near village Alleghe, Italy. Today is World Lake Day, designated by the United Nations to raise awareness about the importance of lakes and to promote their sustainable management. #ImageOfTheDay

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Picture of the day
Lake Coldai, an alpine lake beneath the Dolomites near village Alleghe, Italy. Today is World Lake Day, designated by the United Nations to raise awareness about the importance of lakes and to promote their sustainable management.
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Gospel and Word of the Day – 05 September 2026 – A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to Corinthians 4:6b-15 Brothers and sisters: Learn from myself and Apollos not to go beyond what is written, so that none of you will be inflated with pride in favor of one person over against another. Who confers distinction upon you? What do you possess that you have not received? But if you have received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it? You are already satisfied; you have already grown rich; you have become kings without us! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we also might become kings with you. For as I see it, God has exhibited us Apostles as the last of all, like people sentenced to death, since we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and men alike. We are fools on Christ?s account, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clad and roughly treated, we wander about homeless and we toil, working with our own hands. When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we respond gently. We have become like the world?s rubbish, the scum of all, to this very moment. I am writing you this not to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. Even if you should have countless guides to Christ, yet you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.From the Gospel according to Luke 6:1-5 While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, ?Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?? Jesus said to them in reply, ?Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?? Then he said to them, ?The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.?This way of life, clinging to the law, distanced them from love and justice. They upheld the law, neglecting justice. They upheld the law, neglecting love. They were narrow-minded men, so attached to the law ? to the letter of the law, not to the law itself, for the law is love ? but to the letter of the law, which always shut the doors to hope, love and salvation (?) This is the path that Jesus teaches us, totally opposed to that of the doctors of the law. And this path, from love to justice, leads to God. Instead, the other path, of clinging solely to the law, to the letter of the law, leads to narrow-mindedness, to selfishness. The path from love to knowledge and discernment, to complete fulfilment, leads to holiness, to salvation, to an encounter with Jesus. This path, on the other hand, leads to selfishness, to the pride of feeling righteous, to that so-called ?holiness? of appearances, doesn?t it? (?) Jesus draws near: this closeness is precisely the proof that we are on the right path. For it is precisely the path that God has chosen to save us: closeness. He drew near to us; He became man. God who became man like one of us, and we who must become like others, like those in need, like those who need our help. (Pope Francis, Homily of 31 October 2014)

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A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to Corinthians
4:6b-15

Brothers and sisters:
Learn from myself and Apollos not to go beyond what is written,
so that none of you will be inflated with pride
in favor of one person over against another.
Who confers distinction upon you?
What do you possess that you have not received?
But if you have received it,
why are you boasting as if you did not receive it?
You are already satisfied; you have already grown rich;
you have become kings without us!
Indeed, I wish that you had become kings,
so that we also might become kings with you.

For as I see it, God has exhibited us Apostles as the last of all,
like people sentenced to death,
since we have become a spectacle to the world,
to angels and men alike.
We are fools on Christ?s account, but you are wise in Christ;
we are weak, but you are strong;
you are held in honor, but we in disrepute.
To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty,
we are poorly clad and roughly treated,
we wander about homeless and we toil, working with our own hands.
When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
when slandered, we respond gently.
We have become like the world?s rubbish, the scum of all,
to this very moment.

I am writing you this not to shame you,
but to admonish you as my beloved children.
Even if you should have countless guides to Christ,
yet you do not have many fathers,
for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.

From the Gospel according to Luke
6:1-5

While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath,
his disciples were picking the heads of grain,
rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
Some Pharisees said,
?Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath??
Jesus said to them in reply,
?Have you not read what David did
when he and those who were with him were hungry?
How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering,
which only the priests could lawfully eat,
ate of it, and shared it with his companions??
Then he said to them, ?The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.?

This way of life, clinging to the law, distanced them from love and justice. They upheld the law, neglecting justice. They upheld the law, neglecting love. They were narrow-minded men, so attached to the law ? to the letter of the law, not to the law itself, for the law is love ? but to the letter of the law, which always shut the doors to hope, love and salvation (?) This is the path that Jesus teaches us, totally opposed to that of the doctors of the law. And this path, from love to justice, leads to God. Instead, the other path, of clinging solely to the law, to the letter of the law, leads to narrow-mindedness, to selfishness. The path from love to knowledge and discernment, to complete fulfilment, leads to holiness, to salvation, to an encounter with Jesus. This path, on the other hand, leads to selfishness, to the pride of feeling righteous, to that so-called ?holiness? of appearances, doesn?t it? (?) Jesus draws near: this closeness is precisely the proof that we are on the right path. For it is precisely the path that God has chosen to save us: closeness. He drew near to us; He became man. God who became man like one of us, and we who must become like others, like those in need, like those who need our help. (Pope Francis, Homily of 31 October 2014)

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U.S. bishops offer pre-midterms guidance on faithful citizenship #Catholic The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published a guide for dioceses that outlines how they can train priests to better assist members of their congregation to be “faithful citizens.”It comes about two months before the midterm elections, which will decide control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. It does not instruct people how to vote, but does note principles of Catholic teaching that should be considered when making that decision.Faithful citizenship, the guide explains, embraces “the fullness of the Church’s teachings and is a way of living the Gospel in attending to specific duties in the public square, which sit alongside a wide array of other duties.” It emphasizes that faith must come before politics.The guide, titled “Outlines for Clergy Formation on Faithful Citizenship,” offers sample outlines for clergy formation sessions, which includes the options of a a 3-5 hour session and a concise 1-hour session.It was developed following internal dialogue among bishops after some had requested a guide on the subject. It focuses on Catholic Social Teaching, how it applies to modern politics in the U.S. and how to help priests communicate those teachings to their congregations.“We are supposed to be agents of transformation of society according to the principles of the Gospel and the profound dignity and the life of every human person,” Archbishop Alexander Sample of the Archdiocese of Portland said in a video message that the USCCB provided to dioceses to accompany the guide.“The church and the laity,” he said, “we need to have a seat at the table to help form a society where every individualʼs dignity is recognized and everybodyʼs right to life is recognized.”The document includes five guiding principles of Catholic Social Teaching, which derive from Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas.First, it points to the common good, noting the obligation for every person “to act in a manner that serves the whole of society” and be “a neighbor to all.” It cites the Second Vatican Council’s definition of the term: “the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment.”Second, it points to the Universal Destination of Goods. It notes that God “created the world and entrusted it to the care of humanity.” It pointed to Pope Leo XIII’s teachings in Rerum Novarum, which defends the right to private property, but not one that is absolute. The right is “subordinate to the duty to ensure that all can live in dignity,” it explains.It points to subsidiarity, which is the principle that “issues should be addressed at as local a level as possible.” It notes “natural justice forbids a government from intruding on the dignity of the family.”The fourth principle is solidarity, which it explains “puts into practice our Lord’s vast definition of neighbor given in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.”Fifth, the guide states, is social justice. It states the term is often “incorrectly perceived as ‘woke,’” but stems from the cardinal virtues. It cites Pope Leo XIV, who explained it as “looking beyond one-on-one relationships … to the structural elements that lead to injustice in society.”Bishop Daniel Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, said in the video message that Catholics are “called to be faithful, faithful citizens, faithful people in the building up of a society and a community that is somehow reflective of the very things that God Himself has shown us in Christ.”“And the rest is in Godʼs hands,” he said. “I think as Catholics, our first role in political life and in social life is to give an authentic witness that we that we carry within ourselves, the person of Christ and all that that implies.”The guide refers to faithful citizenship as “a way of life, not merely something exercised when marking a ballot.”“Although it addresses specific moral issues — abortion, racial equality, economic inequities, criminal justice, euthanasia, family life, immigration, participation in the political process, war and peace, and many more — faithful citizenship fundamentally is a way of seeing the world in the light of the Gospel and allowing Gospel truth to point the way to prudential judgements and concrete decisions,” it explains.
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U.S. bishops offer pre-midterms guidance on faithful citizenship #Catholic The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published a guide for dioceses that outlines how they can train priests to better assist members of their congregation to be “faithful citizens.”It comes about two months before the midterm elections, which will decide control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. It does not instruct people how to vote, but does note principles of Catholic teaching that should be considered when making that decision.Faithful citizenship, the guide explains, embraces “the fullness of the Church’s teachings and is a way of living the Gospel in attending to specific duties in the public square, which sit alongside a wide array of other duties.” It emphasizes that faith must come before politics.The guide, titled “Outlines for Clergy Formation on Faithful Citizenship,” offers sample outlines for clergy formation sessions, which includes the options of a a 3-5 hour session and a concise 1-hour session.It was developed following internal dialogue among bishops after some had requested a guide on the subject. It focuses on Catholic Social Teaching, how it applies to modern politics in the U.S. and how to help priests communicate those teachings to their congregations.“We are supposed to be agents of transformation of society according to the principles of the Gospel and the profound dignity and the life of every human person,” Archbishop Alexander Sample of the Archdiocese of Portland said in a video message that the USCCB provided to dioceses to accompany the guide.“The church and the laity,” he said, “we need to have a seat at the table to help form a society where every individualʼs dignity is recognized and everybodyʼs right to life is recognized.”The document includes five guiding principles of Catholic Social Teaching, which derive from Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas.First, it points to the common good, noting the obligation for every person “to act in a manner that serves the whole of society” and be “a neighbor to all.” It cites the Second Vatican Council’s definition of the term: “the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment.”Second, it points to the Universal Destination of Goods. It notes that God “created the world and entrusted it to the care of humanity.” It pointed to Pope Leo XIII’s teachings in Rerum Novarum, which defends the right to private property, but not one that is absolute. The right is “subordinate to the duty to ensure that all can live in dignity,” it explains.It points to subsidiarity, which is the principle that “issues should be addressed at as local a level as possible.” It notes “natural justice forbids a government from intruding on the dignity of the family.”The fourth principle is solidarity, which it explains “puts into practice our Lord’s vast definition of neighbor given in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.”Fifth, the guide states, is social justice. It states the term is often “incorrectly perceived as ‘woke,’” but stems from the cardinal virtues. It cites Pope Leo XIV, who explained it as “looking beyond one-on-one relationships … to the structural elements that lead to injustice in society.”Bishop Daniel Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, said in the video message that Catholics are “called to be faithful, faithful citizens, faithful people in the building up of a society and a community that is somehow reflective of the very things that God Himself has shown us in Christ.”“And the rest is in Godʼs hands,” he said. “I think as Catholics, our first role in political life and in social life is to give an authentic witness that we that we carry within ourselves, the person of Christ and all that that implies.”The guide refers to faithful citizenship as “a way of life, not merely something exercised when marking a ballot.”“Although it addresses specific moral issues — abortion, racial equality, economic inequities, criminal justice, euthanasia, family life, immigration, participation in the political process, war and peace, and many more — faithful citizenship fundamentally is a way of seeing the world in the light of the Gospel and allowing Gospel truth to point the way to prudential judgements and concrete decisions,” it explains.

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The guide is meant to assist in priestly formation on Catholic Social Teaching, so they can better communicate those teachings to their congregations.

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Cana launches wedding registry storefront, partnering with Catholic businesses #Catholic Cana has launched its own registry storefront, partnering with brands for traditional wedding gifts and also working with Catholic businesses to offer couples everything from Catholic jewelry to sacred home decor.The storefront launched on Sept. 4, putting “Catholic vendors front and center,” Cana founders told EWTN News.Cana is a faith-focused wedding-planning platform designed for Catholic and Christian couples to build their websites. The Cana site helps engaged couples manage registries, guest lists, RSVPs, and it connects users with a diverse range of vendors.It is intended to help couples plan a beautiful, reverent, and personalized wedding, the founders said. It is free of charge to the thousands of couples who use it.Bringing Christ and ‘intentionality’ to wedding registries “Up until this point, Cana essentially was just an affiliate partner for pretty much any online retailer. The most popular provider was Amazon, but also Target, Crate & Barrel, and Williams-Sonoma,” James Reichert, co-founder of Cana, told EWTN News.“Then couples could take an individual link from a Catholic retailer and add that item to their registry. But we were essentially an affiliate partner for the big retailers,” he said.Cana didnʼt want to be “a Catholic version” of the secular wedding websites, but rather “we wanted to be something truly, radically different,” Reichert said. “So we built our own registry storefront.”The storefront puts “our Catholic vendors front and center,” Gabe Gessler, co-founder of Cana, added.“We’ve partnered with big brands. Couples can add ultra high quality kitchenware and bedding items and they can create a full scale wedding registry through the service,” Reichert said.Reichert said they also partnered with “incredible Catholic retailers: West Coast Catholic, The Little Catholic, The Catholic Company…,House of Joppa, and Darling & Divine.”“For the first time, Catholic and Christian couples donʼt just have to register for their home goods, all the cookware, dinnerware, bedding things, that they would typically do on a regular wedding registry,” he said.Now, “they can also register for sacred arts, sacred jewelry, beautiful wall mounts, and icons from all of these incredible brands that have been trusted for decades,” Reichert said. Cana is hoping to be a “central point for all those different brands on one beautiful wedding registry experience,” he said.“So many of our brides, they desire intentionality,” Gessler said. “They desire an intentional experience that points them towards the person that matters the most, which is Jesus Christ.”To give couples a better experience, Cana is “placing forward, front and center, really high quality, what we truly believe are world-class companies, that are able to meet this intersection of commerce and the faith all in one,” Gessler said.“We believe itʼs going to bless our partners more,” he said.“Really what we want to do is help create this ecosystem where a Catholic bride doesnʼt need to go scour the internet for all these different partners, or these different registries. But actually she can just have it all in one place,” Gessler said.“Then also she can come and support these incredible Catholic businesses,” Gessler said.CanaLaunched in September 2025, “Cana really exists to help couples focus on Christ from their engagement to eternity,” Reichert said. “Our biggest desire is to just help create holy couples and holy marriages.”“Weʼve now been around for a year,” Gessler said. “Weʼve had more than 8,000 brides join Cana.”“Itʼs not just a registry experience. Itʼs a digital wedding planning experience that is totally holistic and centered around Christ and the sacrament of marriage rather than just …the excitement of the day,” Gessler said.“When you get married to your spouse … itʼs an opportunity to enter into this new stage of your life and to place Christ at the center of it,” he said.“We are praying for every single couple who uses us every day,” Reichert said. “To any couple who has the courage to use us to plan their wedding, we genuinely are so grateful for every single one.”
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Cana launches wedding registry storefront, partnering with Catholic businesses #Catholic Cana has launched its own registry storefront, partnering with brands for traditional wedding gifts and also working with Catholic businesses to offer couples everything from Catholic jewelry to sacred home decor.The storefront launched on Sept. 4, putting “Catholic vendors front and center,” Cana founders told EWTN News.Cana is a faith-focused wedding-planning platform designed for Catholic and Christian couples to build their websites. The Cana site helps engaged couples manage registries, guest lists, RSVPs, and it connects users with a diverse range of vendors.It is intended to help couples plan a beautiful, reverent, and personalized wedding, the founders said. It is free of charge to the thousands of couples who use it.Bringing Christ and ‘intentionality’ to wedding registries “Up until this point, Cana essentially was just an affiliate partner for pretty much any online retailer. The most popular provider was Amazon, but also Target, Crate & Barrel, and Williams-Sonoma,” James Reichert, co-founder of Cana, told EWTN News.“Then couples could take an individual link from a Catholic retailer and add that item to their registry. But we were essentially an affiliate partner for the big retailers,” he said.Cana didnʼt want to be “a Catholic version” of the secular wedding websites, but rather “we wanted to be something truly, radically different,” Reichert said. “So we built our own registry storefront.”The storefront puts “our Catholic vendors front and center,” Gabe Gessler, co-founder of Cana, added.“We’ve partnered with big brands. Couples can add ultra high quality kitchenware and bedding items and they can create a full scale wedding registry through the service,” Reichert said.Reichert said they also partnered with “incredible Catholic retailers: West Coast Catholic, The Little Catholic, The Catholic Company…,House of Joppa, and Darling & Divine.”“For the first time, Catholic and Christian couples donʼt just have to register for their home goods, all the cookware, dinnerware, bedding things, that they would typically do on a regular wedding registry,” he said.Now, “they can also register for sacred arts, sacred jewelry, beautiful wall mounts, and icons from all of these incredible brands that have been trusted for decades,” Reichert said. Cana is hoping to be a “central point for all those different brands on one beautiful wedding registry experience,” he said.“So many of our brides, they desire intentionality,” Gessler said. “They desire an intentional experience that points them towards the person that matters the most, which is Jesus Christ.”To give couples a better experience, Cana is “placing forward, front and center, really high quality, what we truly believe are world-class companies, that are able to meet this intersection of commerce and the faith all in one,” Gessler said.“We believe itʼs going to bless our partners more,” he said.“Really what we want to do is help create this ecosystem where a Catholic bride doesnʼt need to go scour the internet for all these different partners, or these different registries. But actually she can just have it all in one place,” Gessler said.“Then also she can come and support these incredible Catholic businesses,” Gessler said.CanaLaunched in September 2025, “Cana really exists to help couples focus on Christ from their engagement to eternity,” Reichert said. “Our biggest desire is to just help create holy couples and holy marriages.”“Weʼve now been around for a year,” Gessler said. “Weʼve had more than 8,000 brides join Cana.”“Itʼs not just a registry experience. Itʼs a digital wedding planning experience that is totally holistic and centered around Christ and the sacrament of marriage rather than just …the excitement of the day,” Gessler said.“When you get married to your spouse … itʼs an opportunity to enter into this new stage of your life and to place Christ at the center of it,” he said.“We are praying for every single couple who uses us every day,” Reichert said. “To any couple who has the courage to use us to plan their wedding, we genuinely are so grateful for every single one.”

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“Catholic and Christian couples don’t just have to register for their home goods,” but can “also register for sacred arts, sacred jewelry, beautiful wall mounts, and icons,” James Reichert said.

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Scottish Catholic bishop: Scotland ‘must stand with both mother and child’ – #Catholic – Scottish Catholic bishop: Scotland ‘must stand with both mother and child’President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland John Keenan is urging the Scottish government to reform the country’s expansive abortion law, calling on the government to reject efforts to expand the abortion regime there.While the government doesn’t plan to change abortion law from 2026-2027, it intends to follow through with recommendations made by a pro-abortion advisory group and to fund late-stage abortion.“Every unborn child is a unique human life deserving of protection, and every mother should be supported in ways that uphold her dignity and the dignity of her child,” Keenan said in a statement. “I therefore make a direct appeal to all elected representatives who recognize the inherent dignity of every human life, to reject any further liberalization of abortion provisions in Scotland and to oppose measures that would remove essential safeguards or further weaken protection for unborn children.”The advisory group “excluded prolife voices and … adopted a principle of ‘non-regression’ on abortion provision,” the bishop said, arguing that the group “lacks both legitimacy and credibility.”“It has made radical recommendations to the Scottish Government which, if implemented, would effectively permit abortion up to birth for any reason and remove the current requirement for two doctors to approve abortions up to 24 weeks.”“It is astonishing that the report also recommends that future legislation should make no reference to sex-selective abortion, paving the way for unborn babies to be aborted simply because they are deemed to be the wrong sex,” he said.“The establishment of later-stage abortion provision in Scotland, alongside proposals to weaken existing legal safeguards, raises grave moral and social questions,” he said.Canada doctors’ group voices support for infant euthanasiaThe Quebec College of Physicians recently voiced support for euthanasia of newborn babies in some circumstances.“The CMQ reiterates that medical assistance in dying may be an appropriate treatment for babies suffering from extreme pain that cannot be relieved and who have severe malformations or serious polysymptomatic syndromes that destroy any prospect of survival,” the group said in a statement to the Daily Mail.“The CMQ believes that parents should have the opportunity to obtain this care for their infant under these well-defined circumstances,” the group continued.Kentucky brings lawsuit against abortion nonprofitThe state of Kentucky has filed a civil lawsuit against an “activist organization” over its advertisements for abortion pills. Mayday Health, a pro-abortion nonprofit, recently advertised abortion-inducing drugs via a banner flown by plane over the Kentucky State Fair.Attorney General Russell Coleman in a post on X said: “It appears abortion activists are flying over Louisville advertising illegal drugs. They are breaking the law.”“Since January, our Office has been investigating mail order abortion pills,” Coleman said. “We will not tolerate this illegal danger.”Coleman’s office announced a civil suit against Mayday Health on Sept. 3, arguing that the “out of state activists” were breaking Kentucky law.
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Scottish Catholic bishop: Scotland ‘must stand with both mother and child’ – #Catholic – Scottish Catholic bishop: Scotland ‘must stand with both mother and child’President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland John Keenan is urging the Scottish government to reform the country’s expansive abortion law, calling on the government to reject efforts to expand the abortion regime there.While the government doesn’t plan to change abortion law from 2026-2027, it intends to follow through with recommendations made by a pro-abortion advisory group and to fund late-stage abortion.“Every unborn child is a unique human life deserving of protection, and every mother should be supported in ways that uphold her dignity and the dignity of her child,” Keenan said in a statement. “I therefore make a direct appeal to all elected representatives who recognize the inherent dignity of every human life, to reject any further liberalization of abortion provisions in Scotland and to oppose measures that would remove essential safeguards or further weaken protection for unborn children.”The advisory group “excluded prolife voices and … adopted a principle of ‘non-regression’ on abortion provision,” the bishop said, arguing that the group “lacks both legitimacy and credibility.”“It has made radical recommendations to the Scottish Government which, if implemented, would effectively permit abortion up to birth for any reason and remove the current requirement for two doctors to approve abortions up to 24 weeks.”“It is astonishing that the report also recommends that future legislation should make no reference to sex-selective abortion, paving the way for unborn babies to be aborted simply because they are deemed to be the wrong sex,” he said.“The establishment of later-stage abortion provision in Scotland, alongside proposals to weaken existing legal safeguards, raises grave moral and social questions,” he said.Canada doctors’ group voices support for infant euthanasiaThe Quebec College of Physicians recently voiced support for euthanasia of newborn babies in some circumstances.“The CMQ reiterates that medical assistance in dying may be an appropriate treatment for babies suffering from extreme pain that cannot be relieved and who have severe malformations or serious polysymptomatic syndromes that destroy any prospect of survival,” the group said in a statement to the Daily Mail.“The CMQ believes that parents should have the opportunity to obtain this care for their infant under these well-defined circumstances,” the group continued.Kentucky brings lawsuit against abortion nonprofitThe state of Kentucky has filed a civil lawsuit against an “activist organization” over its advertisements for abortion pills. Mayday Health, a pro-abortion nonprofit, recently advertised abortion-inducing drugs via a banner flown by plane over the Kentucky State Fair.Attorney General Russell Coleman in a post on X said: “It appears abortion activists are flying over Louisville advertising illegal drugs. They are breaking the law.”“Since January, our Office has been investigating mail order abortion pills,” Coleman said. “We will not tolerate this illegal danger.”Coleman’s office announced a civil suit against Mayday Health on Sept. 3, arguing that the “out of state activists” were breaking Kentucky law.

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Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

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Prayer platform marks St. Teresa’s canonization anniversary by taking petitions to her tomb – #Catholic – Sept. 4 marks the 10th anniversary of the canonization of St. Teresa of Calcutta, an occasion the prayer platform Hozana is commemorating by taking prayer intentions from people around the world to her tomb.The platform will collect the intentions and deliver them to the Motherhouse of the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta (Kolkata), India, where the saintʼs remains are laid to rest.As Sharael Sánchez, head of Hozana’s Spanish-language division, explained to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, the initiative is being carried out in collaboration with the Missionaries of Charity and is seeking to enable “those who cannot travel to Kolkata to entrust what they carry in their hearts to that place.”The response to this initiative has been significant. Last year alone, more than 700 intentions were submitted, written in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.“How many hearts, from so many different places, will have commended themselves to St. Teresa in this way?” wondered Sánchez, who hopes that even more people will send in their petitions this year.As Sánchez noted, the tomb of St. Teresa of Calcutta has become “a place of prayer and pilgrimage for the faithful from various countries.” Inscribed on the tombstone are words from Christ that encapsulate the heart of her mission: “Love one another as I have loved you.”A life dedicated to poorest of poorSt. Teresa of Calcutta was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in 1910 and is of Albanian origin. She entered religious life and later moved to India, where she dedicated her life to serving the poor, the sick, orphans, and the dying.In 1950, she founded the Missionaries of Charity, a congregation that expanded its presence to numerous countries over the years. Her work and the witness of her service to the most needy earned her international recognition, and in 1979, she received the Nobel Peace Prize.St. Teresa died on Sept 5, 1997, which is the day the Church celebrates her liturgical memorial. Her remains were laid to rest at the motherhouse of the Missionaries of Charity, the very place where Hozana now seeks to deliver the prayers of those from various countries who wish to entrust their intentions to the saint.Pope Francis canonized her on Sept. 4, 2016, during a Mass celebrated in St. Peterʼs Square in Rome.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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Prayer platform marks St. Teresa’s canonization anniversary by taking petitions to her tomb – #Catholic – Sept. 4 marks the 10th anniversary of the canonization of St. Teresa of Calcutta, an occasion the prayer platform Hozana is commemorating by taking prayer intentions from people around the world to her tomb.The platform will collect the intentions and deliver them to the Motherhouse of the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta (Kolkata), India, where the saintʼs remains are laid to rest.As Sharael Sánchez, head of Hozana’s Spanish-language division, explained to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, the initiative is being carried out in collaboration with the Missionaries of Charity and is seeking to enable “those who cannot travel to Kolkata to entrust what they carry in their hearts to that place.”The response to this initiative has been significant. Last year alone, more than 700 intentions were submitted, written in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.“How many hearts, from so many different places, will have commended themselves to St. Teresa in this way?” wondered Sánchez, who hopes that even more people will send in their petitions this year.As Sánchez noted, the tomb of St. Teresa of Calcutta has become “a place of prayer and pilgrimage for the faithful from various countries.” Inscribed on the tombstone are words from Christ that encapsulate the heart of her mission: “Love one another as I have loved you.”A life dedicated to poorest of poorSt. Teresa of Calcutta was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in 1910 and is of Albanian origin. She entered religious life and later moved to India, where she dedicated her life to serving the poor, the sick, orphans, and the dying.In 1950, she founded the Missionaries of Charity, a congregation that expanded its presence to numerous countries over the years. Her work and the witness of her service to the most needy earned her international recognition, and in 1979, she received the Nobel Peace Prize.St. Teresa died on Sept 5, 1997, which is the day the Church celebrates her liturgical memorial. Her remains were laid to rest at the motherhouse of the Missionaries of Charity, the very place where Hozana now seeks to deliver the prayers of those from various countries who wish to entrust their intentions to the saint.Pope Francis canonized her on Sept. 4, 2016, during a Mass celebrated in St. Peterʼs Square in Rome.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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In collaboration with the Missionaries of Charity, the prayer social network Hozana has created a way to have petitions placed on St. Teresa’s tomb in India.

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Nashville schools offer AI safety talk for Catholic families – #Catholic – The Diocese of Nashville’s Catholic Schools Office is raising awareness among Tennessee Catholic families about how to protect their children from risks posed by AI.The Sept. 17 talk, titled “Catholic Family’s Guide to AI Safety,” will be given by Megan Garcia, a Catholic mother whose son took his own life while using an AI chatbot. Garcia’s talk will center on the “growing dangers of AI, chatbot risks, and protecting children at home.” “After the heartbreaking loss of her 14-year-old son, Sewell Setzer III, following an intense relationship with an AI companion chatbot, Garcia transformed her grief into a mission to protect other children and families,” the diocese said in a Sept. 2 press release. Sewell Setzer III, a 14‑year‑old Florida student whose death followed his involvement with an AI companion chatbot, is set to be remembered during a diocesan presentation on digital safety Sept. 17, 2026 at Christ the King School in Nashville, Tennessee. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Megan Garcia Garcia is an attorney and child safety advocate and serves as chair of the Blessed Mother Mary Foundation. She met with Pope Leo XIV in November 2025 during an audience with participants in a conference on child dignity and AI ethics.DePaul University partners with Vatican Laudato si’ Center for Higher EducationDePaul University has announced it will serve as the Chicago-based partner for the Vatican’s Laudato si’ Center for Higher Education.The university will also launch the DePaul Institute for a Sustainable Future “to drive the collaboration, expanding a shared commitment to advancing integral ecology and human development,” according to a Sept. 2 press release from the university. “As a Catholic, Vincentian university, DePaul recognizes that caring for our common home is inseparable from caring for one another,“ Robert L. Manuel, president of DePaul University, said. ”The health of our planet directly affects the well-being of people and communities around the world, particularly those most vulnerable to a changing environment.”The university will collaborate with more than 60 research and higher education institutions across 35 countries through its participation in the Global Alliance for Laudato si’, according to the release.National Catholic Bioethics Center launches master’s degree with Catholic University of AmericaThe National Catholic Bioethics Center has announced its partnership with the Catholic University of America for a master’s degree in moral theology and ethics.Starting with the 2026-2027 academic year, “students who complete the NCBC’s National Catholic Certification Program in Health Care Ethics can transfer six credits toward CUA’s master’s degree in moral theology/ethics,” according to an Aug. 24 press release from the bioethics center.“This is a great opportunity for our students to further their graduate education with a trusted, faithful institution of higher education following completion of our Certification Program,” Joe Zalot, director of education at the NCBC, said in the release. “CUA is now the sixth academic partner to which our students can transfer credits.” Graduates of Catholic colleges more prepared for AI, national study findsA study carried out on behalf of the Center for Catholic Studies at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, has found that graduates of Catholic colleges report higher levels of preparedness in dealing with AI than graduates of secular institutions.The findings came as part of the Center’s third Holistic Impact Report, carried out in partnership with YouGov, according to a Sept. 3 press release from the university.About 44% of Catholic college graduates said they use AI at least daily, compared with 36% of secular college graduates, while 33% said their college moderately or better prepared them to use AI, compared with 23% of secular graduates, according to the study. Catholic college graduates were also slightly more likely to use AI at all and more likely to view it as beneficial to society, with 36% expecting significant or transformative benefits compared with 28% of secular graduates.“After three studies, we are seeing a remarkably consistent picture of what Catholic higher education contributes to graduates’ lives,” Jason King, Beirne chair and director of the Center for Catholic Studies at St. Mary’s University, said in the release. “The findings on AI are particularly interesting because the greater confidence graduates of Catholic colleges express in engaging this new technology is accompanied by a stronger sense of meaning and purpose in their lives and work.”
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Nashville schools offer AI safety talk for Catholic families – #Catholic – The Diocese of Nashville’s Catholic Schools Office is raising awareness among Tennessee Catholic families about how to protect their children from risks posed by AI.The Sept. 17 talk, titled “Catholic Family’s Guide to AI Safety,” will be given by Megan Garcia, a Catholic mother whose son took his own life while using an AI chatbot. Garcia’s talk will center on the “growing dangers of AI, chatbot risks, and protecting children at home.” “After the heartbreaking loss of her 14-year-old son, Sewell Setzer III, following an intense relationship with an AI companion chatbot, Garcia transformed her grief into a mission to protect other children and families,” the diocese said in a Sept. 2 press release. Sewell Setzer III, a 14‑year‑old Florida student whose death followed his involvement with an AI companion chatbot, is set to be remembered during a diocesan presentation on digital safety Sept. 17, 2026 at Christ the King School in Nashville, Tennessee. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Megan Garcia Garcia is an attorney and child safety advocate and serves as chair of the Blessed Mother Mary Foundation. She met with Pope Leo XIV in November 2025 during an audience with participants in a conference on child dignity and AI ethics.DePaul University partners with Vatican Laudato si’ Center for Higher EducationDePaul University has announced it will serve as the Chicago-based partner for the Vatican’s Laudato si’ Center for Higher Education.The university will also launch the DePaul Institute for a Sustainable Future “to drive the collaboration, expanding a shared commitment to advancing integral ecology and human development,” according to a Sept. 2 press release from the university. “As a Catholic, Vincentian university, DePaul recognizes that caring for our common home is inseparable from caring for one another,“ Robert L. Manuel, president of DePaul University, said. ”The health of our planet directly affects the well-being of people and communities around the world, particularly those most vulnerable to a changing environment.”The university will collaborate with more than 60 research and higher education institutions across 35 countries through its participation in the Global Alliance for Laudato si’, according to the release.National Catholic Bioethics Center launches master’s degree with Catholic University of AmericaThe National Catholic Bioethics Center has announced its partnership with the Catholic University of America for a master’s degree in moral theology and ethics.Starting with the 2026-2027 academic year, “students who complete the NCBC’s National Catholic Certification Program in Health Care Ethics can transfer six credits toward CUA’s master’s degree in moral theology/ethics,” according to an Aug. 24 press release from the bioethics center.“This is a great opportunity for our students to further their graduate education with a trusted, faithful institution of higher education following completion of our Certification Program,” Joe Zalot, director of education at the NCBC, said in the release. “CUA is now the sixth academic partner to which our students can transfer credits.” Graduates of Catholic colleges more prepared for AI, national study findsA study carried out on behalf of the Center for Catholic Studies at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, has found that graduates of Catholic colleges report higher levels of preparedness in dealing with AI than graduates of secular institutions.The findings came as part of the Center’s third Holistic Impact Report, carried out in partnership with YouGov, according to a Sept. 3 press release from the university.About 44% of Catholic college graduates said they use AI at least daily, compared with 36% of secular college graduates, while 33% said their college moderately or better prepared them to use AI, compared with 23% of secular graduates, according to the study. Catholic college graduates were also slightly more likely to use AI at all and more likely to view it as beneficial to society, with 36% expecting significant or transformative benefits compared with 28% of secular graduates.“After three studies, we are seeing a remarkably consistent picture of what Catholic higher education contributes to graduates’ lives,” Jason King, Beirne chair and director of the Center for Catholic Studies at St. Mary’s University, said in the release. “The findings on AI are particularly interesting because the greater confidence graduates of Catholic colleges express in engaging this new technology is accompanied by a stronger sense of meaning and purpose in their lives and work.”

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“A Catholic Family’s Guide to AI Safety,” DePaul University partners with the Vatican on sustainability, and more in this week’s education roundup.

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Bishop celebrates Jubilee Year of St. Francis with Mass #Catholic – Dominick Cortellessa said it was a moving experience. He wasn’t alone in that feeling as his church honored its namesake on a landmark feast day. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 10 seminarians and pews filled with pilgrims at St. Francis of Assisi Church in the Haskell neighborhood of Wanaque, N.J., on Aug. 29 to celebrate the Year of St. Francis. They gathered for a Mass to mark 800 years since the Transitus of St. Francis — when he died and went to God. “It was a very warm, wonderful feeling that God was with us,” said Cortellessa, a 20-year parishioner of St. Francis who is a lector and extraordinary minister of the Eucharist. The Mass came at a near-center of the Jubilee Year of St. Francis, which Pope Leo XIV declared in a decree on Jan. 10. It honors one of the most well-known saints, one who lived in 11th- and 12th-century Italy. He dedicated his life to under-resourced people, to protecting and promoting God’s creation, and to starting the Franciscan spirituality that has spawned countless religious orders. The late Pope Francis chose his papal name partly because of St. Francis of Assisi, along with St. Francis Xavier. “My sisters and brothers, thank you for your ‘yes’ for being here today,” Bishop Sweeney said to the pilgrims who came to the Mass that Saturday. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Pope Leo XIV’s decree allows Catholics to receive plenary indulgences if they make a pilgrimage to parishes connected to St. Francis of Assisi. Indulgences offer special pardons from temporal punishment after Catholics experience the Sacrament of Confession. St. Francis of Assisi in Wanaque is one of five parishes in the diocese that Bishop Sweeney declared on April 29 as locations where people can receive plenary indulgences. The others are St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Butler, N.J., St. Clare Parish in Clifton, N.J., St. John Kanty Parish in the Athenia neighborhood of Clifton, and St. Mary’s Parish in Pompton Lakes, N.J. “I’m so grateful, Father Greg [Golba, the pastor of St. Francis], for this opportunity. I am grateful the seminarians are here. What a blessing to be here together today to celebrate this Mass in honor of our patron,” Bishop Sweeney said at the Mass at St. Francis. Bishop Sweeney offered the decree of Pope Leo XIV during his homily, illuminating St. Francis’ life and encouraging those in attendance to mirror his saintly path. “‘Hold fast to the memory of our father and brother Francis, for the praise and glory of him who made him great among us, and glorified him in the sight of the angels. Pray for him as he once asked us, and pray to him that God may make us sharers with him of his holy grace,’” Bishop Sweeney said, quoting Brother Elias, an early follower of St. Francis, in a letter to the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, which St. Francis started. Bishop Sweeney also cited the Gospel reading of the day from St. Matthew, relating St. Francis’s simplicity to how Jesus gives wisdom. “Jesus gives thanks to the Father because he is revealed, not to the wise and the learned but to the simple, the truths of the kingdom of heaven, and perhaps no one better than St. Francis,” Bishop Sweeney said. After the Mass, Father Golba said, “We were so happy having our bishop. We knew from the beginning that it would be something special for us, because we’re the one parish in the diocese with that title of saint with our patron.” Father Golba said the Mass was a powerful reminder of St. Francis’ life calling, one he personally encountered on his pilgrimage to experience St. Francis’ life. He saw similarities between his time in St. Francis’ holy places and the Mass the bishop celebrated with him. “Years ago as a young priest, I went to Assisi. When I was in the Basilica of Saint Francis, it was a similar experience,” he said. “This time, the beating of my heart was stronger, like I was in Assisi.” Bishop Sweeney urged the pilgrims in attendance to live lives that emulate the compassion and dedication to the Lord that St. Francis’s life showcased. “Spend time in prayer, pious meditation, and raise prayers to God so that following the example of St. Francis, feelings of Christian charity towards their neighbors and authentic vows of harmony and peace, among all peoples, may spring forth in their hearts, in our hearts,” said Bishop Sweeney, quoting Pope Leo XIV. Bishop Sweeney will return to St. Francis of Assisi Parish on Oct. 4 for Confirmations and a further celebration of the Jubilee Year of St. Francis. Click here for a list of Masses and confessions at pilgrimage sites in the Diocese of Paterson for the Year of St. Francis. BEACON PHOTOS | MATTHEW GIGLI [See image gallery at beaconnj.org]  
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Bishop celebrates Jubilee Year of St. Francis with Mass #Catholic – Dominick Cortellessa said it was a moving experience. He wasn’t alone in that feeling as his church honored its namesake on a landmark feast day. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 10 seminarians and pews filled with pilgrims at St. Francis of Assisi Church in the Haskell neighborhood of Wanaque, N.J., on Aug. 29 to celebrate the Year of St. Francis. They gathered for a Mass to mark 800 years since the Transitus of St. Francis — when he died and went to God. “It was a very warm, wonderful feeling that God was with us,” said Cortellessa, a 20-year parishioner of St. Francis who is a lector and extraordinary minister of the Eucharist. The Mass came at a near-center of the Jubilee Year of St. Francis, which Pope Leo XIV declared in a decree on Jan. 10. It honors one of the most well-known saints, one who lived in 11th- and 12th-century Italy. He dedicated his life to under-resourced people, to protecting and promoting God’s creation, and to starting the Franciscan spirituality that has spawned countless religious orders. The late Pope Francis chose his papal name partly because of St. Francis of Assisi, along with St. Francis Xavier. “My sisters and brothers, thank you for your ‘yes’ for being here today,” Bishop Sweeney said to the pilgrims who came to the Mass that Saturday. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Pope Leo XIV’s decree allows Catholics to receive plenary indulgences if they make a pilgrimage to parishes connected to St. Francis of Assisi. Indulgences offer special pardons from temporal punishment after Catholics experience the Sacrament of Confession. St. Francis of Assisi in Wanaque is one of five parishes in the diocese that Bishop Sweeney declared on April 29 as locations where people can receive plenary indulgences. The others are St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Butler, N.J., St. Clare Parish in Clifton, N.J., St. John Kanty Parish in the Athenia neighborhood of Clifton, and St. Mary’s Parish in Pompton Lakes, N.J. “I’m so grateful, Father Greg [Golba, the pastor of St. Francis], for this opportunity. I am grateful the seminarians are here. What a blessing to be here together today to celebrate this Mass in honor of our patron,” Bishop Sweeney said at the Mass at St. Francis. Bishop Sweeney offered the decree of Pope Leo XIV during his homily, illuminating St. Francis’ life and encouraging those in attendance to mirror his saintly path. “‘Hold fast to the memory of our father and brother Francis, for the praise and glory of him who made him great among us, and glorified him in the sight of the angels. Pray for him as he once asked us, and pray to him that God may make us sharers with him of his holy grace,’” Bishop Sweeney said, quoting Brother Elias, an early follower of St. Francis, in a letter to the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, which St. Francis started. Bishop Sweeney also cited the Gospel reading of the day from St. Matthew, relating St. Francis’s simplicity to how Jesus gives wisdom. “Jesus gives thanks to the Father because he is revealed, not to the wise and the learned but to the simple, the truths of the kingdom of heaven, and perhaps no one better than St. Francis,” Bishop Sweeney said. After the Mass, Father Golba said, “We were so happy having our bishop. We knew from the beginning that it would be something special for us, because we’re the one parish in the diocese with that title of saint with our patron.” Father Golba said the Mass was a powerful reminder of St. Francis’ life calling, one he personally encountered on his pilgrimage to experience St. Francis’ life. He saw similarities between his time in St. Francis’ holy places and the Mass the bishop celebrated with him. “Years ago as a young priest, I went to Assisi. When I was in the Basilica of Saint Francis, it was a similar experience,” he said. “This time, the beating of my heart was stronger, like I was in Assisi.” Bishop Sweeney urged the pilgrims in attendance to live lives that emulate the compassion and dedication to the Lord that St. Francis’s life showcased. “Spend time in prayer, pious meditation, and raise prayers to God so that following the example of St. Francis, feelings of Christian charity towards their neighbors and authentic vows of harmony and peace, among all peoples, may spring forth in their hearts, in our hearts,” said Bishop Sweeney, quoting Pope Leo XIV. Bishop Sweeney will return to St. Francis of Assisi Parish on Oct. 4 for Confirmations and a further celebration of the Jubilee Year of St. Francis. Click here for a list of Masses and confessions at pilgrimage sites in the Diocese of Paterson for the Year of St. Francis. BEACON PHOTOS | MATTHEW GIGLI [See image gallery at beaconnj.org]  

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Bishop celebrates Jubilee Year of St. Francis with Mass #Catholic –

Dominick Cortellessa said it was a moving experience. He wasn’t alone in that feeling as his church honored its namesake on a landmark feast day.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 10 seminarians and pews filled with pilgrims at St. Francis of Assisi Church in the Haskell neighborhood of Wanaque, N.J., on Aug. 29 to celebrate the Year of St. Francis. They gathered for a Mass to mark 800 years since the Transitus of St. Francis — when he died and went to God.

“It was a very warm, wonderful feeling that God was with us,” said Cortellessa, a 20-year parishioner of St. Francis who is a lector and extraordinary minister of the Eucharist.

The Mass came at a near-center of the Jubilee Year of St. Francis, which Pope Leo XIV declared in a decree on Jan. 10. It honors one of the most well-known saints, one who lived in 11th- and 12th-century Italy. He dedicated his life to under-resourced people, to protecting and promoting God’s creation, and to starting the Franciscan spirituality that has spawned countless religious orders. The late Pope Francis chose his papal name partly because of St. Francis of Assisi, along with St. Francis Xavier.
“My sisters and brothers, thank you for your ‘yes’ for being here today,” Bishop Sweeney said to the pilgrims who came to the Mass that Saturday.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Pope Leo XIV’s decree allows Catholics to receive plenary indulgences if they make a pilgrimage to parishes connected to St. Francis of Assisi. Indulgences offer special pardons from temporal punishment after Catholics experience the Sacrament of Confession.
St. Francis of Assisi in Wanaque is one of five parishes in the diocese that Bishop Sweeney declared on April 29 as locations where people can receive plenary indulgences. The others are St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Butler, N.J., St. Clare Parish in Clifton, N.J., St. John Kanty Parish in the Athenia neighborhood of Clifton, and St. Mary’s Parish in Pompton Lakes, N.J.
“I’m so grateful, Father Greg [Golba, the pastor of St. Francis], for this opportunity. I am grateful the seminarians are here. What a blessing to be here together today to celebrate this Mass in honor of our patron,” Bishop Sweeney said at the Mass at St. Francis.

Bishop Sweeney offered the decree of Pope Leo XIV during his homily, illuminating St. Francis’ life and encouraging those in attendance to mirror his saintly path.

“‘Hold fast to the memory of our father and brother Francis, for the praise and glory of him who made him great among us, and glorified him in the sight of the angels. Pray for him as he once asked us, and pray to him that God may make us sharers with him of his holy grace,’” Bishop Sweeney said, quoting Brother Elias, an early follower of St. Francis, in a letter to the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, which St. Francis started.

Bishop Sweeney also cited the Gospel reading of the day from St. Matthew, relating St. Francis’s simplicity to how Jesus gives wisdom.

“Jesus gives thanks to the Father because he is revealed, not to the wise and the learned but to the simple, the truths of the kingdom of heaven, and perhaps no one better than St. Francis,” Bishop Sweeney said.

After the Mass, Father Golba said, “We were so happy having our bishop. We knew from the beginning that it would be something special for us, because we’re the one parish in the diocese with that title of saint with our patron.”

Father Golba said the Mass was a powerful reminder of St. Francis’ life calling, one he personally encountered on his pilgrimage to experience St. Francis’ life. He saw similarities between his time in St. Francis’ holy places and the Mass the bishop celebrated with him.

“Years ago as a young priest, I went to Assisi. When I was in the Basilica of Saint Francis, it was a similar experience,” he said. “This time, the beating of my heart was stronger, like I was in Assisi.”
Bishop Sweeney urged the pilgrims in attendance to live lives that emulate the compassion and dedication to the Lord that St. Francis’s life showcased.

“Spend time in prayer, pious meditation, and raise prayers to God so that following the example of St. Francis, feelings of Christian charity towards their neighbors and authentic vows of harmony and peace, among all peoples, may spring forth in their hearts, in our hearts,” said Bishop Sweeney, quoting Pope Leo XIV.

Bishop Sweeney will return to St. Francis of Assisi Parish on Oct. 4 for Confirmations and a further celebration of the Jubilee Year of St. Francis.

Click here for a list of Masses and confessions at pilgrimage sites in the Diocese of Paterson for the Year of St. Francis.

BEACON PHOTOS | MATTHEW GIGLI

– Dominick Cortellessa said it was a moving experience. He wasn’t alone in that feeling as his church honored its namesake on a landmark feast day. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 10 seminarians and pews filled with pilgrims at St. Francis of Assisi Church in the Haskell neighborhood of Wanaque, N.J., on Aug. 29 to celebrate the Year of St. Francis. They gathered for a Mass to mark 800 years since the Transitus of St. Francis — when he died and went to God. “It was a very warm, wonderful feeling that God was with us,” said Cortellessa, a 20-year

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The aftermath of a solar flare

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Mark Johnston from Scottsdale, Arizona On Aug. 21, 2026, an unusually long-lasting M-class flare erupted from a sunspot group near the Sun’s west limb. As the flare’s stretched magnetic field lines reconnected and relaxed, they filled with hot plasma that cooled and drained along the loops, producing the glowing arcade seen here in Hydrogen-alpha (Hα)Continue reading “The aftermath of a solar flare”

The post The aftermath of a solar flare appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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Igniting Roman’s Journey – Now on a three-month, million-mile journey to its final orbit, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will soon reveal the universe’s darkest secrets. The mission launched at 7:26 a.m. EDT on Aug. 30 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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Igniting Roman’s Journey – Now on a three-month, million-mile journey to its final orbit, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will soon reveal the universe’s darkest secrets. The mission launched at 7:26 a.m. EDT on Aug. 30 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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Now on a three-month, million-mile journey to its final orbit, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will soon reveal the universe’s darkest secrets. The mission launched at 7:26 a.m. EDT on Aug. 30 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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Human rights group calls Nicaragua’s constitutional reforms a ‘usurpation of power’ #Catholic Nicaragua’s National Assembly, controlled by the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president, Rosario Murillo, “unanimously” approved a constitutional reform barring “traitors to the homeland” (the term the regime uses for its political opposition) from participating in elections. The measure has sparked widespread domestic and international condemnation.The reform was “unanimously approved in general terms,” ​​Assembly President Gustavo Porras stated on Sept. 1 during a special session held in the city of León, according to the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa.The reform amends the constitution, which extends the presidential term, as well as those of other high-ranking officials, from six to seven years, with the possibility of renewal.Ortega has governed Nicaragua for about 30 years: since 2007, and previously, from 1979 to 1990. On July 19, he stated that there would be no further elections in Nicaragua, and on July 31, he proposed the reform — set to take effect in 2027 — that excludes “coup plotters” and “terrorists,”, terms he uses to refer to the political opposition, from participating in elections.Reforms are a ‘formalization of the usurpation of power’Ruta del Cambio (Pathway for Change), an organization which defends human rights and the rule of law, declared in a Sept. 2 statement that it “categorically rejects and and gives no legal recognition to the partial reform to the Political Constitution [of the Republic of Nicaragua] approved during the first legislative session on Sept. 1, 2026, by a National Assembly stripped of all independence and reduced to a mere rubber stamp for the will of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.”Ruta del Cambio counts among its leaders Félix Maradiaga, a former presidential candidate and former political prisoner now living in exile.“What has been approved is not a constitutional reform. It is the formalization of the usurpation of power through a text drafted in secret, approved without opposition, and voted for with unanimous obedience by those who owe their positions, privileges, and impunity to the couple that has hijacked the state,” Ruta del Cambio charged.“Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have turned the constitution into a family’s title deed. They have transformed the state into personal property, the law into an instrument of vengeance, and the republic’s [law enforcement apparatus] into tools of terror against the very people they swore to serve,” the organization emphasized.Ruta del Cambio called for “rejecting the legal validity of this reform and of any act, mandate, extension, or appointment derived from it, and formally declaring it without force under international law.”Elections ‘without legitimacy’“What we are seeing in Nicaragua right now is a reform attempting to hold elections without competition, without legitimacy, and without any possibility of change. In other words, Ortega controls the judges and the playing field, and seeks to firmly establish his authoritarian model without any competition,” stated Arturo Mcfields Yescas, Nicaragua’s former ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), in a Sept. 3 interview with EWTN Noticias, the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News.“This further undermines not only civil and political freedoms but also another fundamental freedom: religious freedom,” he pointed out.McFields explained that when the regime speaks of “traitors to the homeland,” it is referring to those who dissent from its rule. “People who questioned Ortega’s authority immediately became traitors to the homeland,” as did those who “simply thought differently” or called for “international mediation.”“This means,” he charged, “that anyone who does not applaud Ortega becomes a traitor to the homeland.”U.S. reactionOn Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on X that “the Murillo-Ortega’s National Assembly gutted what remained of Nicaragua’s democracy in the second constitutional rewrite in two years. The U.S. will implement measures at the next @OAS_official [meeting of foreign ministers] to ensure that our hemisphere stops business as usual with this dictatorship.”Regarding the United States’ call for countries to sever diplomatic and commercial ties with Nicaragua, McFields called it “an extraordinary start.” “For the first time, Ortega is facing pressure of this nature. For the first time, the OAS has approved a resolution on Nicaragua almost unanimously,” by convening a meeting of foreign ministers to address the situation, McFields said.Likewise, neighboring Costa Rica expressed its “deep concern regarding the ongoing deterioration of democracy in Nicaragua, exacerbated by the recent constitutional reform that further limits political and electoral participation,” and stated that it “will support a firm and coordinated response” with the OAS.The government of Peru, led by President Keiko Fujimori, also rejected the approval of the constitutional reform. In a Sept. 2 statement, it declared that it “will stand with the Nicaraguan people, their political prisoners, their exiles, and all those who are currently persecuted for dreaming of free elections.”Persecution of the Catholic Church in NicaraguaMcFields questioned the stance of countries like Brazil and Mexico, which did not support the resolution against Nicaragua, stating that “it’s surprising, painful, and something that ought to change. There should be empathy for the suffering of the Nicaraguan people, for persecuted politicians, for priests who have been imprisoned, exiled, or banished, and for the churches that have, at times, been burned down. It is truly grotesque, yet ideology seems to be prevailing over democracy.”Since 2018, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship has waged a fierce campaign of persecution against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua. Its latest known victim is the bishop emeritus of Estelí, Abelardo Mata (80), who suffers from diabetes, a heart condition, and vision problems. His condition remains uncertain, despite the regime’s claim that he is at home. In mid-August, the regime released a video of an interview with the prelate, who recently celebrated his 50th anniversary as a priest, without specifying when the footage was recorded.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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Human rights group calls Nicaragua’s constitutional reforms a ‘usurpation of power’ #Catholic Nicaragua’s National Assembly, controlled by the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president, Rosario Murillo, “unanimously” approved a constitutional reform barring “traitors to the homeland” (the term the regime uses for its political opposition) from participating in elections. The measure has sparked widespread domestic and international condemnation.The reform was “unanimously approved in general terms,” ​​Assembly President Gustavo Porras stated on Sept. 1 during a special session held in the city of León, according to the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa.The reform amends the constitution, which extends the presidential term, as well as those of other high-ranking officials, from six to seven years, with the possibility of renewal.Ortega has governed Nicaragua for about 30 years: since 2007, and previously, from 1979 to 1990. On July 19, he stated that there would be no further elections in Nicaragua, and on July 31, he proposed the reform — set to take effect in 2027 — that excludes “coup plotters” and “terrorists,”, terms he uses to refer to the political opposition, from participating in elections.Reforms are a ‘formalization of the usurpation of power’Ruta del Cambio (Pathway for Change), an organization which defends human rights and the rule of law, declared in a Sept. 2 statement that it “categorically rejects and and gives no legal recognition to the partial reform to the Political Constitution [of the Republic of Nicaragua] approved during the first legislative session on Sept. 1, 2026, by a National Assembly stripped of all independence and reduced to a mere rubber stamp for the will of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.”Ruta del Cambio counts among its leaders Félix Maradiaga, a former presidential candidate and former political prisoner now living in exile.“What has been approved is not a constitutional reform. It is the formalization of the usurpation of power through a text drafted in secret, approved without opposition, and voted for with unanimous obedience by those who owe their positions, privileges, and impunity to the couple that has hijacked the state,” Ruta del Cambio charged.“Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have turned the constitution into a family’s title deed. They have transformed the state into personal property, the law into an instrument of vengeance, and the republic’s [law enforcement apparatus] into tools of terror against the very people they swore to serve,” the organization emphasized.Ruta del Cambio called for “rejecting the legal validity of this reform and of any act, mandate, extension, or appointment derived from it, and formally declaring it without force under international law.”Elections ‘without legitimacy’“What we are seeing in Nicaragua right now is a reform attempting to hold elections without competition, without legitimacy, and without any possibility of change. In other words, Ortega controls the judges and the playing field, and seeks to firmly establish his authoritarian model without any competition,” stated Arturo Mcfields Yescas, Nicaragua’s former ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), in a Sept. 3 interview with EWTN Noticias, the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News.“This further undermines not only civil and political freedoms but also another fundamental freedom: religious freedom,” he pointed out.McFields explained that when the regime speaks of “traitors to the homeland,” it is referring to those who dissent from its rule. “People who questioned Ortega’s authority immediately became traitors to the homeland,” as did those who “simply thought differently” or called for “international mediation.”“This means,” he charged, “that anyone who does not applaud Ortega becomes a traitor to the homeland.”U.S. reactionOn Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on X that “the Murillo-Ortega’s National Assembly gutted what remained of Nicaragua’s democracy in the second constitutional rewrite in two years. The U.S. will implement measures at the next @OAS_official [meeting of foreign ministers] to ensure that our hemisphere stops business as usual with this dictatorship.”Regarding the United States’ call for countries to sever diplomatic and commercial ties with Nicaragua, McFields called it “an extraordinary start.” “For the first time, Ortega is facing pressure of this nature. For the first time, the OAS has approved a resolution on Nicaragua almost unanimously,” by convening a meeting of foreign ministers to address the situation, McFields said.Likewise, neighboring Costa Rica expressed its “deep concern regarding the ongoing deterioration of democracy in Nicaragua, exacerbated by the recent constitutional reform that further limits political and electoral participation,” and stated that it “will support a firm and coordinated response” with the OAS.The government of Peru, led by President Keiko Fujimori, also rejected the approval of the constitutional reform. In a Sept. 2 statement, it declared that it “will stand with the Nicaraguan people, their political prisoners, their exiles, and all those who are currently persecuted for dreaming of free elections.”Persecution of the Catholic Church in NicaraguaMcFields questioned the stance of countries like Brazil and Mexico, which did not support the resolution against Nicaragua, stating that “it’s surprising, painful, and something that ought to change. There should be empathy for the suffering of the Nicaraguan people, for persecuted politicians, for priests who have been imprisoned, exiled, or banished, and for the churches that have, at times, been burned down. It is truly grotesque, yet ideology seems to be prevailing over democracy.”Since 2018, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship has waged a fierce campaign of persecution against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua. Its latest known victim is the bishop emeritus of Estelí, Abelardo Mata (80), who suffers from diabetes, a heart condition, and vision problems. His condition remains uncertain, despite the regime’s claim that he is at home. In mid-August, the regime released a video of an interview with the prelate, who recently celebrated his 50th anniversary as a priest, without specifying when the footage was recorded.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 Ortega-Murilla regime has approved reforms that bar the opposition from participating in elections, drawing strong opposition from exiled leaders, the United States, Costa Rica and Peru.

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Gospel and Word of the Day – 04 September 2026 – A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to Corinthians 4:1-5 Brothers and sisters: Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.  Now it is of course required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; I do not even pass judgment on myself; I am not conscious of anything against me, but I do not thereby stand acquitted; the one who judges me is the Lord. Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts, and then everyone will receive praise from God.From the Gospel according to Luke 5:33-39 The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, ?The disciples of John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but yours eat and drink.? Jesus answered them, ?Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.? And he also told them a parable. ?No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Otherwise, he will tear the new and the piece from it will not match the old cloak. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins. And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ?The old is good.???For new wine, new wineskins?. This ?is the newness of the Gospel?. ?What does the Gospel bring us? Joy and newness?. However, ?these doctors of the law were locked up in their commandments, in their rules?. So much that ?St Paul, speaking about them, tells us that before faith came ? that is, Jesus ? we were all held as prisoners under the law?. (?) When Jesus reproaches these people, these doctors of the law, He admonishes them for not having safeguarded the people with the law but for having made them ?slaves of so many little laws, of so many little things that they had to do?. (?) St Paul ?makes a good distinction: sons of law and sons of faith. To new wine, new wineskins?. This is why ?the Church asks us, all of us, for a few changes. She asks us to leave aside fleeting structures; they aren?t necessary! And get new wineskins, those of the Gospel?. It is not possible to understand the mentality, for example, of these doctors of the law, these Pharisee theologians, with the spirit of the Gospel. They are different things?. In fact, ?the Gospel?s approach is a different approach, which leads to the fulfillment of the law?. But ?in a new way: it is the new wine in new wineskins?. (Pope Francis, Santa Marta, 5 September 2014)    

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A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to Corinthians
4:1-5

Brothers and sisters:
Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ
and stewards of the mysteries of God. 
Now it is of course required of stewards
that they be found trustworthy.
It does not concern me in the least
that I be judged by you or any human tribunal;
I do not even pass judgment on myself;
I am not conscious of anything against me,
but I do not thereby stand acquitted;
the one who judges me is the Lord.
Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time,
until the Lord comes,
for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness
and will manifest the motives of our hearts,
and then everyone will receive praise from God.

From the Gospel according to Luke
5:33-39

The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,
?The disciples of John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers,
and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same;
but yours eat and drink.?
Jesus answered them, ?Can you make the wedding guests fast
while the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
then they will fast in those days.?
And he also told them a parable.
?No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one.
Otherwise, he will tear the new
and the piece from it will not match the old cloak.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins,
and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined.
Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.
And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new,
for he says, ?The old is good.??

?For new wine, new wineskins?. This ?is the newness of the Gospel?. ?What does the Gospel bring us? Joy and newness?. However, ?these doctors of the law were locked up in their commandments, in their rules?. So much that ?St Paul, speaking about them, tells us that before faith came ? that is, Jesus ? we were all held as prisoners under the law?. (?) When Jesus reproaches these people, these doctors of the law, He admonishes them for not having safeguarded the people with the law but for having made them ?slaves of so many little laws, of so many little things that they had to do?. (?) St Paul ?makes a good distinction: sons of law and sons of faith. To new wine, new wineskins?. This is why ?the Church asks us, all of us, for a few changes. She asks us to leave aside fleeting structures; they aren?t necessary! And get new wineskins, those of the Gospel?. It is not possible to understand the mentality, for example, of these doctors of the law, these Pharisee theologians, with the spirit of the Gospel. They are different things?. In fact, ?the Gospel?s approach is a different approach, which leads to the fulfillment of the law?. But ?in a new way: it is the new wine in new wineskins?. (Pope Francis, Santa Marta, 5 September 2014)

 

 

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Maine high court says father can prevent daughter from attending mother’s church – #Catholic – A Maine father will be allowed to prevent his daughter from attending a local Christian church with her mother, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court said in a ruling this week. The decision from the high court upheld a lower court ruling in favor of Matthew Bradeen that found it was “psychologically unsafe” for Emily Bickford to take their daughter to Calvary Chapel in the Portland region. The young girl reportedly suffered from panic attacks and psychological distress after attending the church; she reportedly became fixated on the rapture (an end-times belief held by some Christians) as well.The Maine high court said in its ruling that at one point the church’s pastor openly prayed about the dispute between Bickford and Bradeen, including referencing both the parents and the child “by name almost 30 times.” The court dismissed Bickford’s constitutional claims in the dispute. The father “is better suited to determine whether certain religious activities are in the child’s best interest,” it held. In a press release, the legal group Liberty Counsel, which represented Bickford in the dispute, said it would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case. Mat Staver, the group’s chair, said the ruling “rejects the First Amendment right” of Bickford and goes against U.S. court precedent. “Depriving one parent their right to instill their religious views into their child and granting sole authority to the other parent fails to give proper protection to parental rights and religious freedom under the First Amendment,” Staver argued. He claimed that the ruling “pose[s] a serious threat to religious freedom” in the U.S.
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Maine high court says father can prevent daughter from attending mother’s church – #Catholic – A Maine father will be allowed to prevent his daughter from attending a local Christian church with her mother, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court said in a ruling this week. The decision from the high court upheld a lower court ruling in favor of Matthew Bradeen that found it was “psychologically unsafe” for Emily Bickford to take their daughter to Calvary Chapel in the Portland region. The young girl reportedly suffered from panic attacks and psychological distress after attending the church; she reportedly became fixated on the rapture (an end-times belief held by some Christians) as well.The Maine high court said in its ruling that at one point the church’s pastor openly prayed about the dispute between Bickford and Bradeen, including referencing both the parents and the child “by name almost 30 times.” The court dismissed Bickford’s constitutional claims in the dispute. The father “is better suited to determine whether certain religious activities are in the child’s best interest,” it held. In a press release, the legal group Liberty Counsel, which represented Bickford in the dispute, said it would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case. Mat Staver, the group’s chair, said the ruling “rejects the First Amendment right” of Bickford and goes against U.S. court precedent. “Depriving one parent their right to instill their religious views into their child and granting sole authority to the other parent fails to give proper protection to parental rights and religious freedom under the First Amendment,” Staver argued. He claimed that the ruling “pose[s] a serious threat to religious freedom” in the U.S.

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The mother will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court over the ruling from the state court, attorneys said.

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Cardinal Cupich, Catholic religious sisters sue Illinois to halt assisted suicide law – #Catholic – A coalition of religious sisters has joined Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich in suing the state of Illinois to prevent enforcement of its assisted suicide law.The law, which was signed by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker in December 2025, allows doctors in the state to prescribe lethal doses of medication to patients in order to help them end their own lives. Among other rules, patients must have a terminal illness in order to qualify for receiving help to kill themselves. The rule has received strong criticism from Catholic bishops in the state. On Sept. 3, meanwhile, the religious liberty law firm Becket announced that Cupich and two orders of religious sisters had filed a lawsuit against the state seeking to halt enforcement of the law against the Catholic plaintiffs. The suit, filed in U.S. district court, argues that the sisters — who belong to the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm and the Little Sisters of the Poor — will be forced to either “abandon their religious beliefs regarding the sanctity of life or face significant fines and penalties” if they refuse to participate in the suicide regime. The suit notes that by Sept. 12, healthcare providers in Illinois, including the sisters through their care homes, will have to proactively discuss the “option” to commit suicide with those in their care. Caregivers will also “have to allow patients to commit suicide in their facilities,” the suit says. The suit argues that the First Amendment prohibits the state from requiring the Catholic caregivers to violate their faith by participating in the suicide regime. In a statement announcing the filing, Cupich said the Catholic Church “oppose[s] efforts to undermine human dignity by pushing our brothers and sisters toward suicide.” “We pray that the courts will protect our freedom to continue advocating and caring for the sick and dying as our faith demands,” he said. Mother Mary Rose Heery, O. Carm., prioress general of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, said patients in their care “come to us at one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives” and that the sisters have a vocation “to give witness to them, through everything we do, that their lives remain precious and that they will never be abandoned.” “Illinois cannot ask us to replace that promise with help ending their lives,” she said. Becket President Mark Rienzi described the suicide law’s provisions as “awful.” “The state should stop trying to make Catholic nuns help patients kill themselves,” he said, arguing that sick patients “deserve the freedom to seek healing, hope, and accompaniment without the government forcing suicide into the conversation.” This is not the first lawsuit filed against a state assisted suicide measure, nor the first in Illinois. In August, Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki joined a Lutheran nursing home and a group of doctors to sue the state over the assisted suicide law, with the coalition arguing that the state’s suicide regime abandons “nearly two millennia of medical practice” while requiring objectors to participate in it. The state agreed to a temporary block of the law later in the month, though the block only applied to the plaintiffs in that suit. In July, meanwhile, Rockville Centre Bishop John Barres joined several communities of New York religious sisters in suing the state over its own assisted suicide law. Those plaintiffs also won a temporary block of the state’s suicide law.Separately, groups of disability advocates have filed lawsuits against the suicide laws in New York and Illinois, as well as in Colorado and Delaware, alleging that those laws discriminate against people with disabilities.
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Cardinal Cupich, Catholic religious sisters sue Illinois to halt assisted suicide law – #Catholic – A coalition of religious sisters has joined Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich in suing the state of Illinois to prevent enforcement of its assisted suicide law.The law, which was signed by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker in December 2025, allows doctors in the state to prescribe lethal doses of medication to patients in order to help them end their own lives. Among other rules, patients must have a terminal illness in order to qualify for receiving help to kill themselves. The rule has received strong criticism from Catholic bishops in the state. On Sept. 3, meanwhile, the religious liberty law firm Becket announced that Cupich and two orders of religious sisters had filed a lawsuit against the state seeking to halt enforcement of the law against the Catholic plaintiffs. The suit, filed in U.S. district court, argues that the sisters — who belong to the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm and the Little Sisters of the Poor — will be forced to either “abandon their religious beliefs regarding the sanctity of life or face significant fines and penalties” if they refuse to participate in the suicide regime. The suit notes that by Sept. 12, healthcare providers in Illinois, including the sisters through their care homes, will have to proactively discuss the “option” to commit suicide with those in their care. Caregivers will also “have to allow patients to commit suicide in their facilities,” the suit says. The suit argues that the First Amendment prohibits the state from requiring the Catholic caregivers to violate their faith by participating in the suicide regime. In a statement announcing the filing, Cupich said the Catholic Church “oppose[s] efforts to undermine human dignity by pushing our brothers and sisters toward suicide.” “We pray that the courts will protect our freedom to continue advocating and caring for the sick and dying as our faith demands,” he said. Mother Mary Rose Heery, O. Carm., prioress general of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, said patients in their care “come to us at one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives” and that the sisters have a vocation “to give witness to them, through everything we do, that their lives remain precious and that they will never be abandoned.” “Illinois cannot ask us to replace that promise with help ending their lives,” she said. Becket President Mark Rienzi described the suicide law’s provisions as “awful.” “The state should stop trying to make Catholic nuns help patients kill themselves,” he said, arguing that sick patients “deserve the freedom to seek healing, hope, and accompaniment without the government forcing suicide into the conversation.” This is not the first lawsuit filed against a state assisted suicide measure, nor the first in Illinois. In August, Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki joined a Lutheran nursing home and a group of doctors to sue the state over the assisted suicide law, with the coalition arguing that the state’s suicide regime abandons “nearly two millennia of medical practice” while requiring objectors to participate in it. The state agreed to a temporary block of the law later in the month, though the block only applied to the plaintiffs in that suit. In July, meanwhile, Rockville Centre Bishop John Barres joined several communities of New York religious sisters in suing the state over its own assisted suicide law. Those plaintiffs also won a temporary block of the state’s suicide law.Separately, groups of disability advocates have filed lawsuits against the suicide laws in New York and Illinois, as well as in Colorado and Delaware, alleging that those laws discriminate against people with disabilities.

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The state recently began allowing doctors to help patients kill themselves by prescribing lethal doses of medication.

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Hong Kong judges uphold Cardinal Zen’s conviction over fund to help protesters – #Catholic – A panel of three appellate judges in Hong Kong this week upheld convictions for retired Cardinal Joseph Zen and four other pro-democracy advocates who operated a legal defense and medical fund that supported people engaged in widespread protests in 2019 and 2020.In a Sept. 3 decision, the judges dismissed the appeals filed by Zen, Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, Hui Po-keung, Cyd Ho Sau-lan, and Denise Ho Wan-see. They were found guilty of failing to legally register the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund as a “society” under the Societies Ordinance, which carries monetary fines. It’s unclear whether they will face additional charges.Zen and his co-defendants created the fund to support Hong Kong protesters who opposed the 2019 extradition bill, which would have streamlined the process of extraditing people from Hong Kong to mainland China for prosecution. Protesters opposed subjecting people to prosecutions under the Chinese Communist Party.Lawmakers ultimately withdrew the bill, but more than 10,000 protesters were arrested and nearly 3,000 people faced charges.Zen and the co-defendants argued they did not believe the fund qualified as a “society” when they established it to help the protesters, and that they did not believe they had to register it under the Societies Ordinance. This ordinance provides civil authorities broad discretion to control, monitor, or dismantle private associations.In its decision, the court ruled that a “society” under the ordinance has “an expansive definition” and cited the text, which includes “any club, company, partnership or association of 10 or more persons, whatever its nature or object.” It notes some exemptions, such as charities, religious organizations, and social clubs, but that organizers must apply for an exemption.The judges rejected objections to the registration scheme on a constitutional basis, asserting the law maintains a “reasonable balance” between freedom of association and public safety, public order, and national security.“Self-evidently, the societal benefits arising from the aim are enormous,” they ruled. “Nothing in the evidence suggests that any individual including the appellants would be subject to an unacceptably harsh burden by the restrictions imposed by the registration scheme on their exercise of the right to freedom of association.”“We are satisfied that the prosecution has proved the charge against each of the appellants beyond reasonable doubt,” the judges decided unanimously.Penalty and legal fightsThe convictions under the Societies Ordinance carries fines for each person equivalent to about 0. However, Zen and the other defendants were initially arrested on suspicion of violating a 2020 national security law, which could have carried penalties of up to life in prison.Although all five defendants were arrested on that suspicion, none faced charges. Those initial arrests were based on the allegation they colluded with foreign forces when they set up a fund to help the protesters.Officials defended the 2020 law on the basis of national security, but critics allege it is primarily used to punish political dissidents, such as Jimmy Lai — a Catholic pro-democracy activist who was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the age of 78 on claims he colluded with foreign forces.Lai operated the newspaper Apple Daily, where he openly criticized the Chinese Communist Party. Hong Kong shut down the organization based on authority under the national security law. The government also used the national security law to justify its investigation of the fund operated by Zen and the other pro-democracy advocates.
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Hong Kong judges uphold Cardinal Zen’s conviction over fund to help protesters – #Catholic – A panel of three appellate judges in Hong Kong this week upheld convictions for retired Cardinal Joseph Zen and four other pro-democracy advocates who operated a legal defense and medical fund that supported people engaged in widespread protests in 2019 and 2020.In a Sept. 3 decision, the judges dismissed the appeals filed by Zen, Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, Hui Po-keung, Cyd Ho Sau-lan, and Denise Ho Wan-see. They were found guilty of failing to legally register the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund as a “society” under the Societies Ordinance, which carries monetary fines. It’s unclear whether they will face additional charges.Zen and his co-defendants created the fund to support Hong Kong protesters who opposed the 2019 extradition bill, which would have streamlined the process of extraditing people from Hong Kong to mainland China for prosecution. Protesters opposed subjecting people to prosecutions under the Chinese Communist Party.Lawmakers ultimately withdrew the bill, but more than 10,000 protesters were arrested and nearly 3,000 people faced charges.Zen and the co-defendants argued they did not believe the fund qualified as a “society” when they established it to help the protesters, and that they did not believe they had to register it under the Societies Ordinance. This ordinance provides civil authorities broad discretion to control, monitor, or dismantle private associations.In its decision, the court ruled that a “society” under the ordinance has “an expansive definition” and cited the text, which includes “any club, company, partnership or association of 10 or more persons, whatever its nature or object.” It notes some exemptions, such as charities, religious organizations, and social clubs, but that organizers must apply for an exemption.The judges rejected objections to the registration scheme on a constitutional basis, asserting the law maintains a “reasonable balance” between freedom of association and public safety, public order, and national security.“Self-evidently, the societal benefits arising from the aim are enormous,” they ruled. “Nothing in the evidence suggests that any individual including the appellants would be subject to an unacceptably harsh burden by the restrictions imposed by the registration scheme on their exercise of the right to freedom of association.”“We are satisfied that the prosecution has proved the charge against each of the appellants beyond reasonable doubt,” the judges decided unanimously.Penalty and legal fightsThe convictions under the Societies Ordinance carries fines for each person equivalent to about $500. However, Zen and the other defendants were initially arrested on suspicion of violating a 2020 national security law, which could have carried penalties of up to life in prison.Although all five defendants were arrested on that suspicion, none faced charges. Those initial arrests were based on the allegation they colluded with foreign forces when they set up a fund to help the protesters.Officials defended the 2020 law on the basis of national security, but critics allege it is primarily used to punish political dissidents, such as Jimmy Lai — a Catholic pro-democracy activist who was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the age of 78 on claims he colluded with foreign forces.Lai operated the newspaper Apple Daily, where he openly criticized the Chinese Communist Party. Hong Kong shut down the organization based on authority under the national security law. The government also used the national security law to justify its investigation of the fund operated by Zen and the other pro-democracy advocates.

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Zen and four others face monetary fines, but it’s unclear whether they will face further prosecution.

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Abuse prevention, liturgy central to Vatican courses for new bishops #Catholic The Vatican is hosting its annual formation course for newly appointed bishops from Sept. 2-10, bringing together 147 prelates from five continents to strengthen ecclesial communion and provide practical tools for the exercise of episcopal ministry.The program has been a fixture of the Church calendar since 2000, when it was launched by St. John Paul II. Described by Vatican media as a condensed “master’s program” for new bishops, it is designed to foster the exchange of experiences among pastors from widely differing cultural, social, and ecclesial contexts while offering practical guidance for governing local churches.This year’s participants come from countries across Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America, including Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Central African Republic, Senegal, the Seychelles, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Kyrgyzstan, and Thailand.Most of the world’s bishops fall under the jurisdiction of the Dicastery for Bishops, which oversees the creation of dioceses, episcopal appointments, and matters related to episcopal governance in the Latin Church. Bishops serving in missionary territories, however, are under the Dicastery for Evangelization, specifically its Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches.Of the 147 participants, 98 are following the program organized by the Dicastery for Bishops under the theme, “In Christ, Guardians of the Magnifica Humanitas in Times of Transformation.” The remaining 49 are participating in a course sponsored by the Dicastery for Evangelization titled, “Servants of Communion in the Church.”Both tracks combine lectures, liturgical celebrations, fraternal gatherings, and working sessions led by cardinals, archbishops, and senior officials of the Roman Curia.Instagram postLiturgy, mission, and safeguarding against abuseThe program addresses key issues facing the Church, including liturgy, evangelization, child protection, financial administration, transparency, priestly formation, synodality, interreligious dialogue, the growth of new sects, and the handling of clergy-related crises.The course organized by the Dicastery for Bishops includes presentations by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, who will reflect on episcopal ministry, and Archbishop Vittorio Viola, secretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, who will discuss liturgical matters.On Sept. 4, Archbishop Luis Javier Argüello García, president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, will offer reflections on the bishop’s mission within the family and society.That afternoon, attention will turn to safeguarding minors, promoting a culture of prevention, and handling abuse cases, with a presentation by Archbishop Thibault Verny, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.The day will conclude with a lecture by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, on the Holy See’s role in a globalized world and its efforts to promote peace.On Sept. 5, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, will examine the cultural changes reshaping the contemporary world.Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, as head of the Church tribunal responsible for matters of conscience, will provide a detailed explanation of the norms, theology, and limits of the Church’s absolute seal of secrecy, particularly regarding sacramental confession.Tribalism, sects, and missionary challengesThe program for bishops from territories under the Dicastery for Evangelization is being held at the Pontifical Missionary College of St. Peter the Apostle.Formal activities began Sept. 3 with a session focused on missionary work and the services provided by the dicastery to churches in mission territories.Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is serving as host, while Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu will address issues such as tribalism, caste discrimination, racism, and exclusionary regionalism in the contemporary Church.Topics scheduled for the opening days also include clergy discipline, consecrated life, administration of Church property, associations of the faithful, and other pastoral challenges unique to missionary churches.The Sept. 4 session will focus on faith and inculturation. Speakers include Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, who will reflect on interreligious dialogue in the current context, and Archbishop Aurelio García Macías, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship, who will discuss liturgical continuity and developments in territories of first evangelization.Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, will close the day with a presentation on sects and new religious movements.Episcopal governance and canon lawOn Sept. 5, participants will delve into legal aspects of episcopal governance. Archbishop Anthony Randazzo, prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, will discuss diocesan structures of communion and collaboration, as well as the operation of ecclesiastical tribunals.Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy, secretary of the disciplinary section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, will provide guidance on handling cases involving delicta graviora, the most serious crimes prosecuted within the Catholic Church.The day will also include reflections on pastoral accompaniment and the formation of lay faithful, led by Archbishop Dario Gervasi and Dr. Gabriella Gambino, secretary and undersecretary, respectively, of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.Pilgrimage to Assisi and joint sessionsParticipants will have a free day on Sunday, with the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Assisi during the Jubilee Year marking the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis.Activities will resume Sept. 7 at the Pontifical Urbaniana University with joint sessions bringing together participants from both programs. For the third consecutive year, this format is intended to foster fraternity and the exchange of experiences among bishops from very different pastoral realities.Among the topics to be discussed is Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which will be presented by Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, and Cardinal Roberto Repole, archbishop of Turin, will offer reflections on synodal ecclesiology.On Sept. 8, the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the newly appointed bishops will participate in a Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, celebrated by Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar of the Diocese of Rome.During the final days of the course, sessions will focus on priestly formation, the relationship between local churches and the Holy See, and the Church’s responsibility to protect minors and vulnerable adults.Experts from the Institute of Anthropology at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, including Archbishop Peter Beer and Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, one of the Church’s leading international voices on safeguarding, will participate in these discussions.The program will conclude Sept. 10 with Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, followed by an audience with Pope Leo XIV. The papal meeting will bring to a close several days of formation, prayer, and fraternity in the Italian capital.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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Abuse prevention, liturgy central to Vatican courses for new bishops #Catholic The Vatican is hosting its annual formation course for newly appointed bishops from Sept. 2-10, bringing together 147 prelates from five continents to strengthen ecclesial communion and provide practical tools for the exercise of episcopal ministry.The program has been a fixture of the Church calendar since 2000, when it was launched by St. John Paul II. Described by Vatican media as a condensed “master’s program” for new bishops, it is designed to foster the exchange of experiences among pastors from widely differing cultural, social, and ecclesial contexts while offering practical guidance for governing local churches.This year’s participants come from countries across Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America, including Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Central African Republic, Senegal, the Seychelles, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Kyrgyzstan, and Thailand.Most of the world’s bishops fall under the jurisdiction of the Dicastery for Bishops, which oversees the creation of dioceses, episcopal appointments, and matters related to episcopal governance in the Latin Church. Bishops serving in missionary territories, however, are under the Dicastery for Evangelization, specifically its Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches.Of the 147 participants, 98 are following the program organized by the Dicastery for Bishops under the theme, “In Christ, Guardians of the Magnifica Humanitas in Times of Transformation.” The remaining 49 are participating in a course sponsored by the Dicastery for Evangelization titled, “Servants of Communion in the Church.”Both tracks combine lectures, liturgical celebrations, fraternal gatherings, and working sessions led by cardinals, archbishops, and senior officials of the Roman Curia.Instagram postLiturgy, mission, and safeguarding against abuseThe program addresses key issues facing the Church, including liturgy, evangelization, child protection, financial administration, transparency, priestly formation, synodality, interreligious dialogue, the growth of new sects, and the handling of clergy-related crises.The course organized by the Dicastery for Bishops includes presentations by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, who will reflect on episcopal ministry, and Archbishop Vittorio Viola, secretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, who will discuss liturgical matters.On Sept. 4, Archbishop Luis Javier Argüello García, president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, will offer reflections on the bishop’s mission within the family and society.That afternoon, attention will turn to safeguarding minors, promoting a culture of prevention, and handling abuse cases, with a presentation by Archbishop Thibault Verny, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.The day will conclude with a lecture by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, on the Holy See’s role in a globalized world and its efforts to promote peace.On Sept. 5, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, will examine the cultural changes reshaping the contemporary world.Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, as head of the Church tribunal responsible for matters of conscience, will provide a detailed explanation of the norms, theology, and limits of the Church’s absolute seal of secrecy, particularly regarding sacramental confession.Tribalism, sects, and missionary challengesThe program for bishops from territories under the Dicastery for Evangelization is being held at the Pontifical Missionary College of St. Peter the Apostle.Formal activities began Sept. 3 with a session focused on missionary work and the services provided by the dicastery to churches in mission territories.Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is serving as host, while Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu will address issues such as tribalism, caste discrimination, racism, and exclusionary regionalism in the contemporary Church.Topics scheduled for the opening days also include clergy discipline, consecrated life, administration of Church property, associations of the faithful, and other pastoral challenges unique to missionary churches.The Sept. 4 session will focus on faith and inculturation. Speakers include Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, who will reflect on interreligious dialogue in the current context, and Archbishop Aurelio García Macías, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship, who will discuss liturgical continuity and developments in territories of first evangelization.Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, will close the day with a presentation on sects and new religious movements.Episcopal governance and canon lawOn Sept. 5, participants will delve into legal aspects of episcopal governance. Archbishop Anthony Randazzo, prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, will discuss diocesan structures of communion and collaboration, as well as the operation of ecclesiastical tribunals.Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy, secretary of the disciplinary section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, will provide guidance on handling cases involving delicta graviora, the most serious crimes prosecuted within the Catholic Church.The day will also include reflections on pastoral accompaniment and the formation of lay faithful, led by Archbishop Dario Gervasi and Dr. Gabriella Gambino, secretary and undersecretary, respectively, of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.Pilgrimage to Assisi and joint sessionsParticipants will have a free day on Sunday, with the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Assisi during the Jubilee Year marking the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis.Activities will resume Sept. 7 at the Pontifical Urbaniana University with joint sessions bringing together participants from both programs. For the third consecutive year, this format is intended to foster fraternity and the exchange of experiences among bishops from very different pastoral realities.Among the topics to be discussed is Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which will be presented by Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, and Cardinal Roberto Repole, archbishop of Turin, will offer reflections on synodal ecclesiology.On Sept. 8, the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the newly appointed bishops will participate in a Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, celebrated by Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar of the Diocese of Rome.During the final days of the course, sessions will focus on priestly formation, the relationship between local churches and the Holy See, and the Church’s responsibility to protect minors and vulnerable adults.Experts from the Institute of Anthropology at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, including Archbishop Peter Beer and Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, one of the Church’s leading international voices on safeguarding, will participate in these discussions.The program will conclude Sept. 10 with Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, followed by an audience with Pope Leo XIV. The papal meeting will bring to a close several days of formation, prayer, and fraternity in the Italian capital.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 program has been a fixture of the Church calendar since 2000, when it was launched by St. John Paul II.

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Catholics cannot be ‘unengaged spectators’ amid current events, pope says #Catholic – VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The faithful are called to leave behind “all passivity and indifference” toward current events and the lives of others, especially amid the “rapid and profound changes we are experiencing today,” Pope Leo XIV said at his weekly general audience. “We cannot remain as unengaged spectators; rather, we must listen with our hearts, allow ourselves to be challenged, and become involved,” the pope said Sept. 2 in St. Peter’s Square. “With Christ and sustained by the power of His Spirit, believers are called to take on the burdens of their brothers and sisters, especially those who are crushed by injustice, discrimination and violence,” he said. Pope Leo began a new series of reflections on the Second Vatican Council’s pastoral constitution “Gaudium et Spes,” which examines the relationship between the Church and the modern world. Recalling St. John XXIII’s warning against the “prophets of doom,” who regarded their own times as worse than the past, Pope Leo said Christians are instead called to share in the life of humanity as Christ did. Such closeness to humanity, the pope said, also opens the way to a deeper understanding of events and of Revelation itself. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. “This is not, in fact, merely a moral imperative,” he said. Addressing English-speaking pilgrims, Pope Leo said it is the Church’s pastoral responsibility to engage with the contemporary world, share in its joys and sorrows and advocate for the poor and marginalized. The Church, he said, also must remain “attentive to the signs of the times,” confronting “pressing issues such as the technological progress that benefits only some and the persistence of widespread poverty.” His remarks came months after the publication of his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” which detailed his account of the global implications of artificial intelligence and warned against allowing technological development to proceed without prioritizing human dignity. “In our own day, marked by profound change and much injustice, each of us, then, is called to play our part in welcoming and listening to the deepest questions and longings of the human heart, making present to all the merciful love of Christ our Savior,” the pope told English speakers. During a period of profound change that is producing “worrying imbalances,” Pope Leo said the Church is called to serve the human person by listening to “the deepest questions of their heart and the longings that dwell within them.” The Church must point people toward Christ, he said, as “the key, the focal point and the goal of all human history.”  
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Catholics cannot be ‘unengaged spectators’ amid current events, pope says #Catholic – VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The faithful are called to leave behind “all passivity and indifference” toward current events and the lives of others, especially amid the “rapid and profound changes we are experiencing today,” Pope Leo XIV said at his weekly general audience. “We cannot remain as unengaged spectators; rather, we must listen with our hearts, allow ourselves to be challenged, and become involved,” the pope said Sept. 2 in St. Peter’s Square. “With Christ and sustained by the power of His Spirit, believers are called to take on the burdens of their brothers and sisters, especially those who are crushed by injustice, discrimination and violence,” he said. Pope Leo began a new series of reflections on the Second Vatican Council’s pastoral constitution “Gaudium et Spes,” which examines the relationship between the Church and the modern world. Recalling St. John XXIII’s warning against the “prophets of doom,” who regarded their own times as worse than the past, Pope Leo said Christians are instead called to share in the life of humanity as Christ did. Such closeness to humanity, the pope said, also opens the way to a deeper understanding of events and of Revelation itself. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. “This is not, in fact, merely a moral imperative,” he said. Addressing English-speaking pilgrims, Pope Leo said it is the Church’s pastoral responsibility to engage with the contemporary world, share in its joys and sorrows and advocate for the poor and marginalized. The Church, he said, also must remain “attentive to the signs of the times,” confronting “pressing issues such as the technological progress that benefits only some and the persistence of widespread poverty.” His remarks came months after the publication of his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” which detailed his account of the global implications of artificial intelligence and warned against allowing technological development to proceed without prioritizing human dignity. “In our own day, marked by profound change and much injustice, each of us, then, is called to play our part in welcoming and listening to the deepest questions and longings of the human heart, making present to all the merciful love of Christ our Savior,” the pope told English speakers. During a period of profound change that is producing “worrying imbalances,” Pope Leo said the Church is called to serve the human person by listening to “the deepest questions of their heart and the longings that dwell within them.” The Church must point people toward Christ, he said, as “the key, the focal point and the goal of all human history.”  

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Catholics cannot be ‘unengaged spectators’ amid current events, pope says #Catholic –

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The faithful are called to leave behind “all passivity and indifference” toward current events and the lives of others, especially amid the “rapid and profound changes we are experiencing today,” Pope Leo XIV said at his weekly general audience.

“We cannot remain as unengaged spectators; rather, we must listen with our hearts, allow ourselves to be challenged, and become involved,” the pope said Sept. 2 in St. Peter’s Square.

“With Christ and sustained by the power of His Spirit, believers are called to take on the burdens of their brothers and sisters, especially those who are crushed by injustice, discrimination and violence,” he said.

Pope Leo began a new series of reflections on the Second Vatican Council’s pastoral constitution “Gaudium et Spes,” which examines the relationship between the Church and the modern world.

Recalling St. John XXIII’s warning against the “prophets of doom,” who regarded their own times as worse than the past, Pope Leo said Christians are instead called to share in the life of humanity as Christ did.

Such closeness to humanity, the pope said, also opens the way to a deeper understanding of events and of Revelation itself.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

“This is not, in fact, merely a moral imperative,” he said.

Addressing English-speaking pilgrims, Pope Leo said it is the Church’s pastoral responsibility to engage with the contemporary world, share in its joys and sorrows and advocate for the poor and marginalized.

The Church, he said, also must remain “attentive to the signs of the times,” confronting “pressing issues such as the technological progress that benefits only some and the persistence of widespread poverty.”

His remarks came months after the publication of his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” which detailed his account of the global implications of artificial intelligence and warned against allowing technological development to proceed without prioritizing human dignity.

“In our own day, marked by profound change and much injustice, each of us, then, is called to play our part in welcoming and listening to the deepest questions and longings of the human heart, making present to all the merciful love of Christ our Savior,” the pope told English speakers.

During a period of profound change that is producing “worrying imbalances,” Pope Leo said the Church is called to serve the human person by listening to “the deepest questions of their heart and the longings that dwell within them.”

The Church must point people toward Christ, he said, as “the key, the focal point and the goal of all human history.”

 

– VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The faithful are called to leave behind “all passivity and indifference” toward current events and the lives of others, especially amid the “rapid and profound changes we are experiencing today,” Pope Leo XIV said at his weekly general audience. “We cannot remain as unengaged spectators; rather, we must listen with our hearts, allow ourselves to be challenged, and become involved,” the pope said Sept. 2 in St. Peter’s Square. “With Christ and sustained by the power of His Spirit, believers are called to take on the burdens of their brothers and sisters, especially those who are

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Pope Leo says, ‘It is not yet too late’ to care for creation #Catholic – VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Leo XIV began the five-week Season of Creation by calling on the faithful to step away from the frenzy of daily life to “hear the melodious voice of creation,” stressing that “it is not yet too late” to repair humanity’s relationship with the environment. Celebrating Mass on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the gardens of the papal villa and the Borgo Laudato Si’ ecology project in Castel Gandolfo, Sept. 1, the pope said contemplating creation and its Creator should lead people to recognize their responsibility for protecting it. “Thus, as we become conscious of our shortcomings and failures, we can renew our commitment to restoring the relationships among all creatures according to the will of their Creator,” he said. The theme chosen for the 2026 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation echoes the biblical call to “beat swords into plowshares” and connects armed conflict with environmental destruction. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. In a June 2 statement, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development said that “the now widespread awareness of the impact of war on natural resources has not led to the creation of adequate institutions or to responsible decisions aimed at preventing conflicts and resolving disputes peacefully.” In his homily during the Mass, Pope Leo said the call to transform weapons into instruments that sustain life remains urgent. “What has been used for destruction can be redirected toward life, toward the care of the poor, the nourishment of the hungry, and the safeguarding of creation,” he said, quoting his message for the day. Militaries account for about 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to water pollution, soil contamination and waste generation, according to a joint study by the UK-based Scientists for Global Responsibility and the Conflict and Environment Observatory. The World Wide Fund for Nature estimated that the first three years of the Russia-Ukraine war alone generated the equivalent of about 230 million metric tons of carbon dioxide — a greenhouse gas that traps heat from sunlight, warming the planet. Pope Leo also focused on access to clean water in his September prayer intention, released Sept. 1 by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. Thanking God for the gift of water, the pope prayed for the “right of every brother and sister to drink without fear and without inequality.” “Forgive us for turning it into a commodity, forgetting that it is a universal gift, a right without borders, meant for all your children,” he prayed. “We see with pain so many brothers and sisters who lack clean water, who walk for miles to find it, who become ill due to its scarcity.” During the Mass, Pope Leo said passages from the Book of Wisdom and Psalm 18 encourage Christians to recognize God through the “beauty and power of creation.” “All creation speaks to us of the greatness of its Creator, if only our eyes and hearts remain open to such a great mystery,” he said. By looking with wonder at the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, the pope said, Christians can better understand the greatness of God’s love for humanity. “If the Lord does not fail to bestow such splendid beauty upon plants and animals and provide for all their needs, how much more attentive will he be to the needs of his beloved sons and daughters,” he said. The Season of Creation runs from Sept. 1 through Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. The Catholic Church’s observance of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation was established by Pope Francis in response to an initiative of Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. The Orthodox Church has observed Sept. 1 as a day of prayer for creation since 1989. The 2026 season will conclude as the Church marks the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, who is the patron saint of ecology. Pope Leo closed his homily by reciting portions of St. Francis’ Canticle of the Creatures: “Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun… Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars… Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Wind… Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Water… Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Fire… Praised be you, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us.”  
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Pope Leo says, ‘It is not yet too late’ to care for creation #Catholic – VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Leo XIV began the five-week Season of Creation by calling on the faithful to step away from the frenzy of daily life to “hear the melodious voice of creation,” stressing that “it is not yet too late” to repair humanity’s relationship with the environment. Celebrating Mass on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the gardens of the papal villa and the Borgo Laudato Si’ ecology project in Castel Gandolfo, Sept. 1, the pope said contemplating creation and its Creator should lead people to recognize their responsibility for protecting it. “Thus, as we become conscious of our shortcomings and failures, we can renew our commitment to restoring the relationships among all creatures according to the will of their Creator,” he said. The theme chosen for the 2026 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation echoes the biblical call to “beat swords into plowshares” and connects armed conflict with environmental destruction. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. In a June 2 statement, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development said that “the now widespread awareness of the impact of war on natural resources has not led to the creation of adequate institutions or to responsible decisions aimed at preventing conflicts and resolving disputes peacefully.” In his homily during the Mass, Pope Leo said the call to transform weapons into instruments that sustain life remains urgent. “What has been used for destruction can be redirected toward life, toward the care of the poor, the nourishment of the hungry, and the safeguarding of creation,” he said, quoting his message for the day. Militaries account for about 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to water pollution, soil contamination and waste generation, according to a joint study by the UK-based Scientists for Global Responsibility and the Conflict and Environment Observatory. The World Wide Fund for Nature estimated that the first three years of the Russia-Ukraine war alone generated the equivalent of about 230 million metric tons of carbon dioxide — a greenhouse gas that traps heat from sunlight, warming the planet. Pope Leo also focused on access to clean water in his September prayer intention, released Sept. 1 by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. Thanking God for the gift of water, the pope prayed for the “right of every brother and sister to drink without fear and without inequality.” “Forgive us for turning it into a commodity, forgetting that it is a universal gift, a right without borders, meant for all your children,” he prayed. “We see with pain so many brothers and sisters who lack clean water, who walk for miles to find it, who become ill due to its scarcity.” During the Mass, Pope Leo said passages from the Book of Wisdom and Psalm 18 encourage Christians to recognize God through the “beauty and power of creation.” “All creation speaks to us of the greatness of its Creator, if only our eyes and hearts remain open to such a great mystery,” he said. By looking with wonder at the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, the pope said, Christians can better understand the greatness of God’s love for humanity. “If the Lord does not fail to bestow such splendid beauty upon plants and animals and provide for all their needs, how much more attentive will he be to the needs of his beloved sons and daughters,” he said. The Season of Creation runs from Sept. 1 through Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. The Catholic Church’s observance of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation was established by Pope Francis in response to an initiative of Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. The Orthodox Church has observed Sept. 1 as a day of prayer for creation since 1989. The 2026 season will conclude as the Church marks the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, who is the patron saint of ecology. Pope Leo closed his homily by reciting portions of St. Francis’ Canticle of the Creatures: “Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun… Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars… Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Wind… Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Water… Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Fire… Praised be you, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us.”  

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Pope Leo says, ‘It is not yet too late’ to care for creation #Catholic –

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Leo XIV began the five-week Season of Creation by calling on the faithful to step away from the frenzy of daily life to “hear the melodious voice of creation,” stressing that “it is not yet too late” to repair humanity’s relationship with the environment.

Celebrating Mass on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the gardens of the papal villa and the Borgo Laudato Si’ ecology project in Castel Gandolfo, Sept. 1, the pope said contemplating creation and its Creator should lead people to recognize their responsibility for protecting it.

“Thus, as we become conscious of our shortcomings and failures, we can renew our commitment to restoring the relationships among all creatures according to the will of their Creator,” he said.

The theme chosen for the 2026 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation echoes the biblical call to “beat swords into plowshares” and connects armed conflict with environmental destruction.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

In a June 2 statement, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development said that “the now widespread awareness of the impact of war on natural resources has not led to the creation of adequate institutions or to responsible decisions aimed at preventing conflicts and resolving disputes peacefully.”

In his homily during the Mass, Pope Leo said the call to transform weapons into instruments that sustain life remains urgent.

“What has been used for destruction can be redirected toward life, toward the care of the poor, the nourishment of the hungry, and the safeguarding of creation,” he said, quoting his message for the day.

Militaries account for about 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to water pollution, soil contamination and waste generation, according to a joint study by the UK-based Scientists for Global Responsibility and the Conflict and Environment Observatory. The World Wide Fund for Nature estimated that the first three years of the Russia-Ukraine war alone generated the equivalent of about 230 million metric tons of carbon dioxide — a greenhouse gas that traps heat from sunlight, warming the planet.

Pope Leo also focused on access to clean water in his September prayer intention, released Sept. 1 by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.

Thanking God for the gift of water, the pope prayed for the “right of every brother and sister to drink without fear and without inequality.”

“Forgive us for turning it into a commodity, forgetting that it is a universal gift, a right without borders, meant for all your children,” he prayed. “We see with pain so many brothers and sisters who lack clean water, who walk for miles to find it, who become ill due to its scarcity.”

During the Mass, Pope Leo said passages from the Book of Wisdom and Psalm 18 encourage Christians to recognize God through the “beauty and power of creation.”

“All creation speaks to us of the greatness of its Creator, if only our eyes and hearts remain open to such a great mystery,” he said.

By looking with wonder at the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, the pope said, Christians can better understand the greatness of God’s love for humanity.

“If the Lord does not fail to bestow such splendid beauty upon plants and animals and provide for all their needs, how much more attentive will he be to the needs of his beloved sons and daughters,” he said.

The Season of Creation runs from Sept. 1 through Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. The Catholic Church’s observance of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation was established by Pope Francis in response to an initiative of Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. The Orthodox Church has observed Sept. 1 as a day of prayer for creation since 1989.

The 2026 season will conclude as the Church marks the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, who is the patron saint of ecology.

Pope Leo closed his homily by reciting portions of St. Francis’ Canticle of the Creatures:

“Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun… Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars… Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Wind… Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Water… Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Fire… Praised be you, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us.”

 

– VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Leo XIV began the five-week Season of Creation by calling on the faithful to step away from the frenzy of daily life to “hear the melodious voice of creation,” stressing that “it is not yet too late” to repair humanity’s relationship with the environment. Celebrating Mass on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the gardens of the papal villa and the Borgo Laudato Si’ ecology project in Castel Gandolfo, Sept. 1, the pope said contemplating creation and its Creator should lead people to recognize their responsibility for protecting it. “Thus,

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A dream, strong faith and a health struggle inspire teen’s winning essay on priesthood #Catholic – NEWARK, N.J. (OSV News) — Dominic Auricchio was 4 when he said he heard God’s voice in a dream telling him to become a priest. The now-13-year-old does not remember the dream too well, but he has felt drawn to the Catholic priesthood ever since. That dream, his strong faith and a struggle with a life-threatening health issue in recent months inspired his winning essay on the priesthood. When Dominic decided to enter the Archdiocese of Newark’s Cardinal Joseph Tobin Essay and Video Contest — which asks seventh graders to explain why priests are important — he knew exactly what to say: Priests are important because they share God’s Word, celebrate the sacraments, and love everyone as Jesus did. The archdiocesan Office of Priestly Vocations, which administers the contest, said the judges stated Dominic’s work stood out among the 49 submissions they reviewed. He won first place, receiving a plaque and ,500, presented to him this summer by Father Patrick Seo, director of priestly vocations, at a gathering attended by family and classmates. “I was really happy when I won,” Dominic told Jersey Catholic, Newark’s archdiocesan news outlet. “Becoming a priest is important to me, so I worked hard on everything. Accepting the award in front of so many people made me feel very accomplished.” Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Dominic’s achievement came during a particularly trying time in his life. In December, he began experiencing seizures for which he is still seeking treatment. In fact, when he first learned about the contest, he was in the hospital. Despite these struggles, Dominic was determined to do his best, writing and polishing his essay over a few weeks until he was sure every one of his 642 words conveyed his admiration for the priesthood. He even drew on his health issues to offer a unique perspective on the subject. “(My medical problems) helped me understand how other people feel when they are scared, different, or going through something difficult,” Dominic wrote. “Because of this, I feel called to help people who are hurting. … A priest walks with people during sickness, grief and fear, and I want to be someone who brings comfort and hope.” As required by the contest, Dominic, with the help of his mother, Maria, and brother Vincenzo, also crafted a four-minute video in which he shared that he was 9 years old when a mass developed on his brain. While his doctors and parents contemplated the best treatment options, he says he experienced an apparition. Dominic believes that the woman who appeared in his bedroom, wearing blue and a head covering, was the Virgin Mary. According to Dominic, she told him not to worry and that everything would be OK. Soon thereafter, a CAT scan revealed that his brain mass had begun to shrink. Today, Dominic’s mass has shrunk to a tiny size. While his recovery cannot be confirmed as miraculous — because he was taking medication that may have caused the improvement — Maria believes God healed her son. She said the mass began shrinking immediately after Mary’s visit, a timing she believes is too remarkable to be mere coincidence. Dominic, too, believes that something more than medicine was at work. He also feels fortunate to be able to share his experience with the world. “I like telling other people because it reminds them that God is always there,” Dominic said. “It gives them hope.” In his essay, he also explained how his time as an altar server at St. Helen’s Parish in Westfield has brought him close to the Eucharist and helped him “see how important the priest’s role is.” He also talks about experiences such as giving alms during Lent and serving as a “buddy” to a young girl with autism during St. Helen’s inclusive Masses, which have taught him “patience and kindness,” qualities he believes all priests should possess. “I think a priest should always make people feel like they belong,” Dominic wrote in his essay. His pastor, Msgr. Thomas Nydegger, said that Dominic certainly possesses the empathy that is an essential quality of priests. “From what I’ve seen of Dominic and the way he lives, he’d bring some very special gifts and talents to the priesthood,” Msgr. Nydegger said. “With his sensitivity and unique perspective, I think he’d be able to truly touch people’s lives in a deep way that we don’t often see in the world.” Maria — who works in multiple roles at St. Helen Parish and Holy Trinity School — said she would feel “honored” to be the mother of a priest. At the same time, she said her son is the only one who can decide whether the priesthood is right for him. She has told him he should not feel obligated to become a priest if he ever changes his mind. “I just want him to be happy and find where God is calling him to be,” said Maria, who noted that there are many ways to serve God. Dominic, who also loves hockey and hopes to one day follow in his father’s and great-grandfather’s footsteps by enlisting in the Marines, wrote in his essay that “I do not know exactly where God will lead me, but I trust that He is guiding me step by step.” Still, he strongly feels that he will ultimately fulfill his dream of becoming a priest. “The Roman Catholic priesthood is a life of service, sacrifice, and joy centered on Jesus,” he writes. “That is why I believe God is calling me to become a priest, and why I hope to answer that call one day.” Sean Quinn is on the communications staff of the Archdiocese of Newark and contributes to Jersey Catholic, the archdiocese’s news site.  
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A dream, strong faith and a health struggle inspire teen’s winning essay on priesthood #Catholic – NEWARK, N.J. (OSV News) — Dominic Auricchio was 4 when he said he heard God’s voice in a dream telling him to become a priest. The now-13-year-old does not remember the dream too well, but he has felt drawn to the Catholic priesthood ever since. That dream, his strong faith and a struggle with a life-threatening health issue in recent months inspired his winning essay on the priesthood. When Dominic decided to enter the Archdiocese of Newark’s Cardinal Joseph Tobin Essay and Video Contest — which asks seventh graders to explain why priests are important — he knew exactly what to say: Priests are important because they share God’s Word, celebrate the sacraments, and love everyone as Jesus did. The archdiocesan Office of Priestly Vocations, which administers the contest, said the judges stated Dominic’s work stood out among the 49 submissions they reviewed. He won first place, receiving a plaque and $1,500, presented to him this summer by Father Patrick Seo, director of priestly vocations, at a gathering attended by family and classmates. “I was really happy when I won,” Dominic told Jersey Catholic, Newark’s archdiocesan news outlet. “Becoming a priest is important to me, so I worked hard on everything. Accepting the award in front of so many people made me feel very accomplished.” Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Dominic’s achievement came during a particularly trying time in his life. In December, he began experiencing seizures for which he is still seeking treatment. In fact, when he first learned about the contest, he was in the hospital. Despite these struggles, Dominic was determined to do his best, writing and polishing his essay over a few weeks until he was sure every one of his 642 words conveyed his admiration for the priesthood. He even drew on his health issues to offer a unique perspective on the subject. “(My medical problems) helped me understand how other people feel when they are scared, different, or going through something difficult,” Dominic wrote. “Because of this, I feel called to help people who are hurting. … A priest walks with people during sickness, grief and fear, and I want to be someone who brings comfort and hope.” As required by the contest, Dominic, with the help of his mother, Maria, and brother Vincenzo, also crafted a four-minute video in which he shared that he was 9 years old when a mass developed on his brain. While his doctors and parents contemplated the best treatment options, he says he experienced an apparition. Dominic believes that the woman who appeared in his bedroom, wearing blue and a head covering, was the Virgin Mary. According to Dominic, she told him not to worry and that everything would be OK. Soon thereafter, a CAT scan revealed that his brain mass had begun to shrink. Today, Dominic’s mass has shrunk to a tiny size. While his recovery cannot be confirmed as miraculous — because he was taking medication that may have caused the improvement — Maria believes God healed her son. She said the mass began shrinking immediately after Mary’s visit, a timing she believes is too remarkable to be mere coincidence. Dominic, too, believes that something more than medicine was at work. He also feels fortunate to be able to share his experience with the world. “I like telling other people because it reminds them that God is always there,” Dominic said. “It gives them hope.” In his essay, he also explained how his time as an altar server at St. Helen’s Parish in Westfield has brought him close to the Eucharist and helped him “see how important the priest’s role is.” He also talks about experiences such as giving alms during Lent and serving as a “buddy” to a young girl with autism during St. Helen’s inclusive Masses, which have taught him “patience and kindness,” qualities he believes all priests should possess. “I think a priest should always make people feel like they belong,” Dominic wrote in his essay. His pastor, Msgr. Thomas Nydegger, said that Dominic certainly possesses the empathy that is an essential quality of priests. “From what I’ve seen of Dominic and the way he lives, he’d bring some very special gifts and talents to the priesthood,” Msgr. Nydegger said. “With his sensitivity and unique perspective, I think he’d be able to truly touch people’s lives in a deep way that we don’t often see in the world.” Maria — who works in multiple roles at St. Helen Parish and Holy Trinity School — said she would feel “honored” to be the mother of a priest. At the same time, she said her son is the only one who can decide whether the priesthood is right for him. She has told him he should not feel obligated to become a priest if he ever changes his mind. “I just want him to be happy and find where God is calling him to be,” said Maria, who noted that there are many ways to serve God. Dominic, who also loves hockey and hopes to one day follow in his father’s and great-grandfather’s footsteps by enlisting in the Marines, wrote in his essay that “I do not know exactly where God will lead me, but I trust that He is guiding me step by step.” Still, he strongly feels that he will ultimately fulfill his dream of becoming a priest. “The Roman Catholic priesthood is a life of service, sacrifice, and joy centered on Jesus,” he writes. “That is why I believe God is calling me to become a priest, and why I hope to answer that call one day.” Sean Quinn is on the communications staff of the Archdiocese of Newark and contributes to Jersey Catholic, the archdiocese’s news site.  

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A dream, strong faith and a health struggle inspire teen’s winning essay on priesthood #Catholic –

NEWARK, N.J. (OSV News) — Dominic Auricchio was 4 when he said he heard God’s voice in a dream telling him to become a priest.

The now-13-year-old does not remember the dream too well, but he has felt drawn to the Catholic priesthood ever since.

That dream, his strong faith and a struggle with a life-threatening health issue in recent months inspired his winning essay on the priesthood.

When Dominic decided to enter the Archdiocese of Newark’s Cardinal Joseph Tobin Essay and Video Contest — which asks seventh graders to explain why priests are important — he knew exactly what to say: Priests are important because they share God’s Word, celebrate the sacraments, and love everyone as Jesus did.

The archdiocesan Office of Priestly Vocations, which administers the contest, said the judges stated Dominic’s work stood out among the 49 submissions they reviewed. He won first place, receiving a plaque and $1,500, presented to him this summer by Father Patrick Seo, director of priestly vocations, at a gathering attended by family and classmates.

“I was really happy when I won,” Dominic told Jersey Catholic, Newark’s archdiocesan news outlet. “Becoming a priest is important to me, so I worked hard on everything. Accepting the award in front of so many people made me feel very accomplished.”

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Dominic’s achievement came during a particularly trying time in his life. In December, he began experiencing seizures for which he is still seeking treatment. In fact, when he first learned about the contest, he was in the hospital.

Despite these struggles, Dominic was determined to do his best, writing and polishing his essay over a few weeks until he was sure every one of his 642 words conveyed his admiration for the priesthood. He even drew on his health issues to offer a unique perspective on the subject.

“(My medical problems) helped me understand how other people feel when they are scared, different, or going through something difficult,” Dominic wrote. “Because of this, I feel called to help people who are hurting. … A priest walks with people during sickness, grief and fear, and I want to be someone who brings comfort and hope.”

As required by the contest, Dominic, with the help of his mother, Maria, and brother Vincenzo, also crafted a four-minute video in which he shared that he was 9 years old when a mass developed on his brain.

While his doctors and parents contemplated the best treatment options, he says he experienced an apparition. Dominic believes that the woman who appeared in his bedroom, wearing blue and a head covering, was the Virgin Mary.

According to Dominic, she told him not to worry and that everything would be OK. Soon thereafter, a CAT scan revealed that his brain mass had begun to shrink.

Today, Dominic’s mass has shrunk to a tiny size. While his recovery cannot be confirmed as miraculous — because he was taking medication that may have caused the improvement — Maria believes God healed her son. She said the mass began shrinking immediately after Mary’s visit, a timing she believes is too remarkable to be mere coincidence.

Dominic, too, believes that something more than medicine was at work. He also feels fortunate to be able to share his experience with the world.

“I like telling other people because it reminds them that God is always there,” Dominic said. “It gives them hope.”

In his essay, he also explained how his time as an altar server at St. Helen’s Parish in Westfield has brought him close to the Eucharist and helped him “see how important the priest’s role is.”

He also talks about experiences such as giving alms during Lent and serving as a “buddy” to a young girl with autism during St. Helen’s inclusive Masses, which have taught him “patience and kindness,” qualities he believes all priests should possess.

“I think a priest should always make people feel like they belong,” Dominic wrote in his essay.

His pastor, Msgr. Thomas Nydegger, said that Dominic certainly possesses the empathy that is an essential quality of priests.

“From what I’ve seen of Dominic and the way he lives, he’d bring some very special gifts and talents to the priesthood,” Msgr. Nydegger said. “With his sensitivity and unique perspective, I think he’d be able to truly touch people’s lives in a deep way that we don’t often see in the world.”

Maria — who works in multiple roles at St. Helen Parish and Holy Trinity School — said she would feel “honored” to be the mother of a priest. At the same time, she said her son is the only one who can decide whether the priesthood is right for him. She has told him he should not feel obligated to become a priest if he ever changes his mind.

“I just want him to be happy and find where God is calling him to be,” said Maria, who noted that there are many ways to serve God.

Dominic, who also loves hockey and hopes to one day follow in his father’s and great-grandfather’s footsteps by enlisting in the Marines, wrote in his essay that “I do not know exactly where God will lead me, but I trust that He is guiding me step by step.”

Still, he strongly feels that he will ultimately fulfill his dream of becoming a priest.

“The Roman Catholic priesthood is a life of service, sacrifice, and joy centered on Jesus,” he writes. “That is why I believe God is calling me to become a priest, and why I hope to answer that call one day.”

Sean Quinn is on the communications staff of the Archdiocese of Newark and contributes to Jersey Catholic, the archdiocese’s news site.

 

– NEWARK, N.J. (OSV News) — Dominic Auricchio was 4 when he said he heard God’s voice in a dream telling him to become a priest. The now-13-year-old does not remember the dream too well, but he has felt drawn to the Catholic priesthood ever since. That dream, his strong faith and a struggle with a life-threatening health issue in recent months inspired his winning essay on the priesthood. When Dominic decided to enter the Archdiocese of Newark’s Cardinal Joseph Tobin Essay and Video Contest — which asks seventh graders to explain why priests are important — he knew exactly what

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‘I remember like it was yesterday’: Catholics describe ministering in aftermath of 9/11 #Catholic – (OSV News) — On Sept. 11, 2001 — the date of the worst terrorist attack in American history, when four hijacked jets became deadly weapons — there was no shortage of heroic first responders who confronted danger instead of avoiding it. Many Catholic clergy and religious ministered among them — including priests, friars and sisters. Some of their stories are perhaps less well known — but the help and healing they also brought to those who experienced the devastating losses of 9/11 are worth remembrance as the 25th anniversary approaches. “I remember like it was yesterday,” Father Brian Jordan told OSV News. A Franciscan friar of his order’s Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the priest is the current pastor of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi on West 31st Street in New York City. That morning, Father Jordan was at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Hearing of the strike, he returned to the Franciscan friary on 31st Street — attached to St. Francis of Assisi Parish — where he lived, determined to go to the disaster site. Uncertain what he might find — but expecting both victims and perpetrators — he retrieved holy water and a pair of brass knuckles. “I said, ‘I’ll bless them with one hand, and just in case there’s any bad guys, I’ll bless them with the other hand.” Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Before he left, another friar had devastating news: Their fellow Franciscan, Father Mychal Judge, was dead. Still, Father Jordan knew what Father Judge would want him to do — go help. After stopping at Manhattan’s St. Vincent’s Hospital — the only patients were those being treated for dust inhalation after the Twin Towers collapsed — Father Jordan headed to ground zero, encountering a police captain he knew. “He gave me a mask; he gave me a pair of gloves. He said, ‘Father, put the mask on, put on the gloves and go to work.’ And so I went up and down for a couple blocks, and there were bodies and body parts. I just blessed them all.” On Sept. 16, Father Jordan said his first Mass at ground zero; he would continue to have Mass there for nearly 10 months. Then on Sept. 23, there was a surprise. “A big burly construction worker from Local 731 comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, Father, you want to see God’s house?’” “So we go into the ruins of 6 World Trade Center,” recalled Father Jordan. “I had like 25 fighters next to me, and the construction worker says, ‘What do you see there, Father, right in the middle?’ I said, ‘I can’t believe this … I see a cross.’” Two intersecting steel beams had been sheared into a crucifix, as 6 WTC was struck by debris from the collapse of the North Tower. The stunning artifact became known as the “Cross at Ground Zero” and eventually became part of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum collection. It was excavated, placed on a concrete abutment, and blessed. On Oct. 7, a Mass was celebrated near it, at the corner of Vesey and West streets. “It gave a boost of energy to people at the time,” explained Father Jordan, who wrote his own memoir — “The Ground Zero Cross” (Xlibris) — and was given the distinction of being its unofficial guardian. On 9/11, Sister Margaret O’ Brien, a Sister of Charity working in the Sisters of Charity Health Care System, was in her office at the Bayley Seton Hospital on Staten Island, briefing a colleague just returned from vacation. “Her secretary came in and said, ‘I just got a call. A plane went into the World Trade Center,’” Sister Margaret remembered. “We went down the hall to a window we could see from, and we realized, this is going to be bad.” The sisters quickly prepared to go to St. Vincent’s Hospital “to set up the emergency and trauma response,” explained Sister Margaret. “And the doctors were there, the stretchers were there, all waiting at the entrance — but after a short while, nobody came.” Sister Margaret worked the hotline in the sisters’ hospital command center, taking calls from people searching for loved ones. “The telephone was really hard,” she reflected. “Because people would give you a name and you’d check your list, and you didn’t have them. … It was very, very emotional the whole time — and for the first couple of days, the phone just kept ringing.” Nonetheless, she found a reason to be thankful. “I remember being so grateful I had something to be part of, to help,” said Sister Margaret, now assistant to the president of the Sisters of Charity New York. Trauma was a persistent feature of the sisters’ shifts — especially for one colleague who assisted first responders sent for care from recovery work at ground zero. “Sometimes people would talk, but most of the time they just couldn’t,” Sister O’Brien explained. Her colleague “remembered one person — he was very quiet — and then he said, ‘I can take the arms and the legs. But when I turned over a stone and saw a face, just a head, flattened into the ground.’” “He lost it,” said Sister O’Brien. Father Stephen McGraw — at the time a priest in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington — also saw unspeakable sights. On the morning of 9/11, he had just concluded a school Mass — and was on his way to Arlington National Cemetery for a burial when he missed the appropriate exit. “I remember about 9:35, I’m just sitting in this traffic, right in front of the Pentagon.” He was distressed that he would now almost certainly be late for the burial. “And then without warning, the plane came roaring right over the tops of our cars — very, very low,” Father McGraw said. “I can’t say which of my senses was most impacted — there was the vibration and roar of the plane, and a light pole was clipped and fell over on a taxi driver’s car just a few cars away.” Looking to his right, he watched as American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon. “I saw it crashing, disappearing, with a huge fireball billowing out from the building in the moment after the crash.” Because his radio wasn’t on to hear what was happening in New York City, “I just assumed it was a terrible, tragic accident.” Commuters came to a frozen stop, and Father McGraw leapt from his car — stole, anointing oils and prayer book in hand — vaulting the highway guardrail to the lawn of the Pentagon to reach the victims. “Basically, my message to them was, ‘Jesus is with you.’ That’s what I kept saying to the several victims I attended,” said Father McGraw. One victim who identified himself as Catholic — Juan Cruz, the civilian accounting division manager in the Office of the Administrative Assistant for the Secretary of the Army — was given the sacraments. Another — Antoinette Sherman, an Army budget analyst, who later died — lay face down on the grass, severely burned on her back, a single shoe on one foot. Father McGraw gently removed it at her request. “Then she just said, to perhaps whomever could hear her, ‘Tell my mother and father that I love them.’ And so I assured her that I would.” Father McGraw — now a missionary priest and church pastor in the Diocese of Arlington’s Bánica Mission in the Dominican Republic — doesn’t think his unplanned detour was a coincidence. “I had a strong sense of divine providence,” he told OSV News. “I was meant to be there.” The attacks killed 2,977 people and injured thousands more: 2,753 people died in the Twin Towers collapse, brought down by two hijacked commercial airliners; 184 people died when a third hijacked airliner flew into the Pentagon; and 40 people died in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, when passengers and crew fought back against hijackers on a fourth airliner, forcing it to crash in a field near Shanksville. Officials believe the fourth plane was headed for the U.S. Capitol or the White House. The 25th anniversary of 9/11 will not only be a time of solemn remembrance — it also leaves some longing for the national unity Americans once demonstrated. “We saw evil at its worst,” declared Father Jordan. “But we also saw goodness at its best. New York City came together. The country came together. The world came together.” Kimberley Heatherington is an OSV News correspondent. She writes from Virginia.  
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‘I remember like it was yesterday’: Catholics describe ministering in aftermath of 9/11 #Catholic – (OSV News) — On Sept. 11, 2001 — the date of the worst terrorist attack in American history, when four hijacked jets became deadly weapons — there was no shortage of heroic first responders who confronted danger instead of avoiding it. Many Catholic clergy and religious ministered among them — including priests, friars and sisters. Some of their stories are perhaps less well known — but the help and healing they also brought to those who experienced the devastating losses of 9/11 are worth remembrance as the 25th anniversary approaches. “I remember like it was yesterday,” Father Brian Jordan told OSV News. A Franciscan friar of his order’s Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the priest is the current pastor of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi on West 31st Street in New York City. That morning, Father Jordan was at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Hearing of the strike, he returned to the Franciscan friary on 31st Street — attached to St. Francis of Assisi Parish — where he lived, determined to go to the disaster site. Uncertain what he might find — but expecting both victims and perpetrators — he retrieved holy water and a pair of brass knuckles. “I said, ‘I’ll bless them with one hand, and just in case there’s any bad guys, I’ll bless them with the other hand.” Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Before he left, another friar had devastating news: Their fellow Franciscan, Father Mychal Judge, was dead. Still, Father Jordan knew what Father Judge would want him to do — go help. After stopping at Manhattan’s St. Vincent’s Hospital — the only patients were those being treated for dust inhalation after the Twin Towers collapsed — Father Jordan headed to ground zero, encountering a police captain he knew. “He gave me a mask; he gave me a pair of gloves. He said, ‘Father, put the mask on, put on the gloves and go to work.’ And so I went up and down for a couple blocks, and there were bodies and body parts. I just blessed them all.” On Sept. 16, Father Jordan said his first Mass at ground zero; he would continue to have Mass there for nearly 10 months. Then on Sept. 23, there was a surprise. “A big burly construction worker from Local 731 comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, Father, you want to see God’s house?’” “So we go into the ruins of 6 World Trade Center,” recalled Father Jordan. “I had like 25 fighters next to me, and the construction worker says, ‘What do you see there, Father, right in the middle?’ I said, ‘I can’t believe this … I see a cross.’” Two intersecting steel beams had been sheared into a crucifix, as 6 WTC was struck by debris from the collapse of the North Tower. The stunning artifact became known as the “Cross at Ground Zero” and eventually became part of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum collection. It was excavated, placed on a concrete abutment, and blessed. On Oct. 7, a Mass was celebrated near it, at the corner of Vesey and West streets. “It gave a boost of energy to people at the time,” explained Father Jordan, who wrote his own memoir — “The Ground Zero Cross” (Xlibris) — and was given the distinction of being its unofficial guardian. On 9/11, Sister Margaret O’ Brien, a Sister of Charity working in the Sisters of Charity Health Care System, was in her office at the Bayley Seton Hospital on Staten Island, briefing a colleague just returned from vacation. “Her secretary came in and said, ‘I just got a call. A plane went into the World Trade Center,’” Sister Margaret remembered. “We went down the hall to a window we could see from, and we realized, this is going to be bad.” The sisters quickly prepared to go to St. Vincent’s Hospital “to set up the emergency and trauma response,” explained Sister Margaret. “And the doctors were there, the stretchers were there, all waiting at the entrance — but after a short while, nobody came.” Sister Margaret worked the hotline in the sisters’ hospital command center, taking calls from people searching for loved ones. “The telephone was really hard,” she reflected. “Because people would give you a name and you’d check your list, and you didn’t have them. … It was very, very emotional the whole time — and for the first couple of days, the phone just kept ringing.” Nonetheless, she found a reason to be thankful. “I remember being so grateful I had something to be part of, to help,” said Sister Margaret, now assistant to the president of the Sisters of Charity New York. Trauma was a persistent feature of the sisters’ shifts — especially for one colleague who assisted first responders sent for care from recovery work at ground zero. “Sometimes people would talk, but most of the time they just couldn’t,” Sister O’Brien explained. Her colleague “remembered one person — he was very quiet — and then he said, ‘I can take the arms and the legs. But when I turned over a stone and saw a face, just a head, flattened into the ground.’” “He lost it,” said Sister O’Brien. Father Stephen McGraw — at the time a priest in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington — also saw unspeakable sights. On the morning of 9/11, he had just concluded a school Mass — and was on his way to Arlington National Cemetery for a burial when he missed the appropriate exit. “I remember about 9:35, I’m just sitting in this traffic, right in front of the Pentagon.” He was distressed that he would now almost certainly be late for the burial. “And then without warning, the plane came roaring right over the tops of our cars — very, very low,” Father McGraw said. “I can’t say which of my senses was most impacted — there was the vibration and roar of the plane, and a light pole was clipped and fell over on a taxi driver’s car just a few cars away.” Looking to his right, he watched as American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon. “I saw it crashing, disappearing, with a huge fireball billowing out from the building in the moment after the crash.” Because his radio wasn’t on to hear what was happening in New York City, “I just assumed it was a terrible, tragic accident.” Commuters came to a frozen stop, and Father McGraw leapt from his car — stole, anointing oils and prayer book in hand — vaulting the highway guardrail to the lawn of the Pentagon to reach the victims. “Basically, my message to them was, ‘Jesus is with you.’ That’s what I kept saying to the several victims I attended,” said Father McGraw. One victim who identified himself as Catholic — Juan Cruz, the civilian accounting division manager in the Office of the Administrative Assistant for the Secretary of the Army — was given the sacraments. Another — Antoinette Sherman, an Army budget analyst, who later died — lay face down on the grass, severely burned on her back, a single shoe on one foot. Father McGraw gently removed it at her request. “Then she just said, to perhaps whomever could hear her, ‘Tell my mother and father that I love them.’ And so I assured her that I would.” Father McGraw — now a missionary priest and church pastor in the Diocese of Arlington’s Bánica Mission in the Dominican Republic — doesn’t think his unplanned detour was a coincidence. “I had a strong sense of divine providence,” he told OSV News. “I was meant to be there.” The attacks killed 2,977 people and injured thousands more: 2,753 people died in the Twin Towers collapse, brought down by two hijacked commercial airliners; 184 people died when a third hijacked airliner flew into the Pentagon; and 40 people died in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, when passengers and crew fought back against hijackers on a fourth airliner, forcing it to crash in a field near Shanksville. Officials believe the fourth plane was headed for the U.S. Capitol or the White House. The 25th anniversary of 9/11 will not only be a time of solemn remembrance — it also leaves some longing for the national unity Americans once demonstrated. “We saw evil at its worst,” declared Father Jordan. “But we also saw goodness at its best. New York City came together. The country came together. The world came together.” Kimberley Heatherington is an OSV News correspondent. She writes from Virginia.  

unitedyam

‘I remember like it was yesterday’: Catholics describe ministering in aftermath of 9/11 #Catholic –

(OSV News) — On Sept. 11, 2001 — the date of the worst terrorist attack in American history, when four hijacked jets became deadly weapons — there was no shortage of heroic first responders who confronted danger instead of avoiding it.

Many Catholic clergy and religious ministered among them — including priests, friars and sisters. Some of their stories are perhaps less well known — but the help and healing they also brought to those who experienced the devastating losses of 9/11 are worth remembrance as the 25th anniversary approaches.

“I remember like it was yesterday,” Father Brian Jordan told OSV News.

A Franciscan friar of his order’s Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the priest is the current pastor of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi on West 31st Street in New York City.

That morning, Father Jordan was at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Hearing of the strike, he returned to the Franciscan friary on 31st Street — attached to St. Francis of Assisi Parish — where he lived, determined to go to the disaster site.

Uncertain what he might find — but expecting both victims and perpetrators — he retrieved holy water and a pair of brass knuckles. “I said, ‘I’ll bless them with one hand, and just in case there’s any bad guys, I’ll bless them with the other hand.”

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Before he left, another friar had devastating news: Their fellow Franciscan, Father Mychal Judge, was dead. Still, Father Jordan knew what Father Judge would want him to do — go help.

After stopping at Manhattan’s St. Vincent’s Hospital — the only patients were those being treated for dust inhalation after the Twin Towers collapsed — Father Jordan headed to ground zero, encountering a police captain he knew.

“He gave me a mask; he gave me a pair of gloves. He said, ‘Father, put the mask on, put on the gloves and go to work.’ And so I went up and down for a couple blocks, and there were bodies and body parts. I just blessed them all.”

On Sept. 16, Father Jordan said his first Mass at ground zero; he would continue to have Mass there for nearly 10 months.

Then on Sept. 23, there was a surprise.

“A big burly construction worker from Local 731 comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, Father, you want to see God’s house?’”

“So we go into the ruins of 6 World Trade Center,” recalled Father Jordan. “I had like 25 fighters next to me, and the construction worker says, ‘What do you see there, Father, right in the middle?’ I said, ‘I can’t believe this … I see a cross.’”

Two intersecting steel beams had been sheared into a crucifix, as 6 WTC was struck by debris from the collapse of the North Tower.

The stunning artifact became known as the “Cross at Ground Zero” and eventually became part of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum collection.

It was excavated, placed on a concrete abutment, and blessed. On Oct. 7, a Mass was celebrated near it, at the corner of Vesey and West streets.

“It gave a boost of energy to people at the time,” explained Father Jordan, who wrote his own memoir — “The Ground Zero Cross” (Xlibris) — and was given the distinction of being its unofficial guardian.

On 9/11, Sister Margaret O’ Brien, a Sister of Charity working in the Sisters of Charity Health Care System, was in her office at the Bayley Seton Hospital on Staten Island, briefing a colleague just returned from vacation.

“Her secretary came in and said, ‘I just got a call. A plane went into the World Trade Center,’” Sister Margaret remembered. “We went down the hall to a window we could see from, and we realized, this is going to be bad.”

The sisters quickly prepared to go to St. Vincent’s Hospital “to set up the emergency and trauma response,” explained Sister Margaret. “And the doctors were there, the stretchers were there, all waiting at the entrance — but after a short while, nobody came.”

Sister Margaret worked the hotline in the sisters’ hospital command center, taking calls from people searching for loved ones.

“The telephone was really hard,” she reflected. “Because people would give you a name and you’d check your list, and you didn’t have them. … It was very, very emotional the whole time — and for the first couple of days, the phone just kept ringing.”

Nonetheless, she found a reason to be thankful.

“I remember being so grateful I had something to be part of, to help,” said Sister Margaret, now assistant to the president of the Sisters of Charity New York.

Trauma was a persistent feature of the sisters’ shifts — especially for one colleague who assisted first responders sent for care from recovery work at ground zero.

“Sometimes people would talk, but most of the time they just couldn’t,” Sister O’Brien explained. Her colleague “remembered one person — he was very quiet — and then he said, ‘I can take the arms and the legs. But when I turned over a stone and saw a face, just a head, flattened into the ground.’”

“He lost it,” said Sister O’Brien.

Father Stephen McGraw — at the time a priest in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington — also saw unspeakable sights.

On the morning of 9/11, he had just concluded a school Mass — and was on his way to Arlington National Cemetery for a burial when he missed the appropriate exit.

“I remember about 9:35, I’m just sitting in this traffic, right in front of the Pentagon.”

He was distressed that he would now almost certainly be late for the burial.

“And then without warning, the plane came roaring right over the tops of our cars — very, very low,” Father McGraw said. “I can’t say which of my senses was most impacted — there was the vibration and roar of the plane, and a light pole was clipped and fell over on a taxi driver’s car just a few cars away.”

Looking to his right, he watched as American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon.

“I saw it crashing, disappearing, with a huge fireball billowing out from the building in the moment after the crash.”

Because his radio wasn’t on to hear what was happening in New York City, “I just assumed it was a terrible, tragic accident.”

Commuters came to a frozen stop, and Father McGraw leapt from his car — stole, anointing oils and prayer book in hand — vaulting the highway guardrail to the lawn of the Pentagon to reach the victims.

“Basically, my message to them was, ‘Jesus is with you.’ That’s what I kept saying to the several victims I attended,” said Father McGraw.

One victim who identified himself as Catholic — Juan Cruz, the civilian accounting division manager in the Office of the Administrative Assistant for the Secretary of the Army — was given the sacraments.

Another — Antoinette Sherman, an Army budget analyst, who later died — lay face down on the grass, severely burned on her back, a single shoe on one foot. Father McGraw gently removed it at her request.

“Then she just said, to perhaps whomever could hear her, ‘Tell my mother and father that I love them.’ And so I assured her that I would.”

Father McGraw — now a missionary priest and church pastor in the Diocese of Arlington’s Bánica Mission in the Dominican Republic — doesn’t think his unplanned detour was a coincidence.

“I had a strong sense of divine providence,” he told OSV News. “I was meant to be there.”

The attacks killed 2,977 people and injured thousands more: 2,753 people died in the Twin Towers collapse, brought down by two hijacked commercial airliners; 184 people died when a third hijacked airliner flew into the Pentagon; and 40 people died in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, when passengers and crew fought back against hijackers on a fourth airliner, forcing it to crash in a field near Shanksville. Officials believe the fourth plane was headed for the U.S. Capitol or the White House.

The 25th anniversary of 9/11 will not only be a time of solemn remembrance — it also leaves some longing for the national unity Americans once demonstrated.

“We saw evil at its worst,” declared Father Jordan. “But we also saw goodness at its best. New York City came together. The country came together. The world came together.”

Kimberley Heatherington is an OSV News correspondent. She writes from Virginia.

 

– (OSV News) — On Sept. 11, 2001 — the date of the worst terrorist attack in American history, when four hijacked jets became deadly weapons — there was no shortage of heroic first responders who confronted danger instead of avoiding it. Many Catholic clergy and religious ministered among them — including priests, friars and sisters. Some of their stories are perhaps less well known — but the help and healing they also brought to those who experienced the devastating losses of 9/11 are worth remembrance as the 25th anniversary approaches. “I remember like it was yesterday,” Father Brian Jordan told

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Pope prays for dead, missing following catastrophic mudslides, floods in Nepal #Catholic – (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV expressed his sadness by the devastation wrought by a glacial collapse in the Nepal-China border, causing a deadly wave of floods and mudslides that killed 168 people with hundreds more feared dead. In a telegram sent on the pope’s behalf Aug. 27, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, expressed the pontiff’s condolences upon learning “of the loss of life and devastation caused by the flash floods in Nepal.” “Commending the souls of the deceased to the clemency of the Almighty, His Holiness sends heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved, together with the assurance of his spiritual closeness to those affected by this tragedy,” Cardinal Parolin wrote. “Likewise offering prayers for the emergency personnel engaged in the ongoing rescue efforts, he invokes upon all divine assistance and protection,” he added. According to The Associated Press, the U.S. Geological Survey initially reported an earthquake 41 miles north of Kathmandu Aug. 26. However, further analysis revealed that the seismic event was caused by a 5.2 magnitude glacial collapse. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. The disaster was a grim confirmation of warnings given earlier this year regarding the effects of climate change on nearby glaciers. In March, researchers from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) released a report revealing that glaciers across the Himalayas were melting at an accelerating rate and warned that concrete action was needed to avoid further disasters to communities in the area. “This isn’t a distant problem; it’s a crisis unfolding in real-time, with new disasters every summer and monsoon,” said Pema Gyamtsho, the director general of ICIMOD. “The fact that ice loss rates have doubled this century should shock us all into action.” In an interview with the Vatican’s missionary news agency, Fides, published Aug. 27, Father Silas Krishna Bogati, the apostolic administrator of Nepal, called the catastrophic event as “the worst disaster in the country’s history.” “It was terrible. A flood coming from the mountains, and directed violently towards the valley, overwhelmed everything: people, homes, bridges, structures. Villages, markets, and roads were swept away. It is a serious wound for the nation,” Father Bogati told Fides. Father Bogati told Fides he was “shocked” and offered prayers for the dead, the missing, and “those suffering because of this catastrophe.” “We have about 25 Catholic families in the disaster area; they appear to be safe, but we are very worried about them,” he said. “We entrust them to God, we pray for their safety, and we will do everything we can to help them.” The apostolic administrator of Nepal also said that a priest of the vicariate, Father James Britto, was stranded after “he had gone to celebrate Mass on the other side of the river and was stranded.” According to Father Bogati, the bridge the priest had crossed was swept away by the floods. As of Aug. 27, more than 1,300 people are missing in Nepal and Tibet, more than a hundred of whom were visiting Mount Kailash, a pilgrimage site sacred to several Eastern religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, AP reported. “There are Nepalese, but also foreigners and tourists who were in these areas on an excursion: it is a pilgrimage route to Mansarovar, a sacred Hindu site that is also a trail for hikers and trekkers,” Father Bogati explained. The priest told Fides this was “the second time a disaster of this kind has occurred in that area, but this time it is of enormous proportions.” He also said the local Church’s Caritas office was launching an appeal “to partners around the world” for assistance. “We will do our part,” Father Bogati said. Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the U.S. Catholic Church’s international aid agency, said it was closely monitoring the situation in Nepal and announced it was “coordinating with Caritas Nepal and local partners to assess urgent needs and determine how best to support affected communities.” Junno Arocho Esteves is an international correspondent for OSV News. Follow him on X @jae_journalist.  
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Pope prays for dead, missing following catastrophic mudslides, floods in Nepal #Catholic – (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV expressed his sadness by the devastation wrought by a glacial collapse in the Nepal-China border, causing a deadly wave of floods and mudslides that killed 168 people with hundreds more feared dead. In a telegram sent on the pope’s behalf Aug. 27, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, expressed the pontiff’s condolences upon learning “of the loss of life and devastation caused by the flash floods in Nepal.” “Commending the souls of the deceased to the clemency of the Almighty, His Holiness sends heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved, together with the assurance of his spiritual closeness to those affected by this tragedy,” Cardinal Parolin wrote. “Likewise offering prayers for the emergency personnel engaged in the ongoing rescue efforts, he invokes upon all divine assistance and protection,” he added. According to The Associated Press, the U.S. Geological Survey initially reported an earthquake 41 miles north of Kathmandu Aug. 26. However, further analysis revealed that the seismic event was caused by a 5.2 magnitude glacial collapse. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. The disaster was a grim confirmation of warnings given earlier this year regarding the effects of climate change on nearby glaciers. In March, researchers from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) released a report revealing that glaciers across the Himalayas were melting at an accelerating rate and warned that concrete action was needed to avoid further disasters to communities in the area. “This isn’t a distant problem; it’s a crisis unfolding in real-time, with new disasters every summer and monsoon,” said Pema Gyamtsho, the director general of ICIMOD. “The fact that ice loss rates have doubled this century should shock us all into action.” In an interview with the Vatican’s missionary news agency, Fides, published Aug. 27, Father Silas Krishna Bogati, the apostolic administrator of Nepal, called the catastrophic event as “the worst disaster in the country’s history.” “It was terrible. A flood coming from the mountains, and directed violently towards the valley, overwhelmed everything: people, homes, bridges, structures. Villages, markets, and roads were swept away. It is a serious wound for the nation,” Father Bogati told Fides. Father Bogati told Fides he was “shocked” and offered prayers for the dead, the missing, and “those suffering because of this catastrophe.” “We have about 25 Catholic families in the disaster area; they appear to be safe, but we are very worried about them,” he said. “We entrust them to God, we pray for their safety, and we will do everything we can to help them.” The apostolic administrator of Nepal also said that a priest of the vicariate, Father James Britto, was stranded after “he had gone to celebrate Mass on the other side of the river and was stranded.” According to Father Bogati, the bridge the priest had crossed was swept away by the floods. As of Aug. 27, more than 1,300 people are missing in Nepal and Tibet, more than a hundred of whom were visiting Mount Kailash, a pilgrimage site sacred to several Eastern religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, AP reported. “There are Nepalese, but also foreigners and tourists who were in these areas on an excursion: it is a pilgrimage route to Mansarovar, a sacred Hindu site that is also a trail for hikers and trekkers,” Father Bogati explained. The priest told Fides this was “the second time a disaster of this kind has occurred in that area, but this time it is of enormous proportions.” He also said the local Church’s Caritas office was launching an appeal “to partners around the world” for assistance. “We will do our part,” Father Bogati said. Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the U.S. Catholic Church’s international aid agency, said it was closely monitoring the situation in Nepal and announced it was “coordinating with Caritas Nepal and local partners to assess urgent needs and determine how best to support affected communities.” Junno Arocho Esteves is an international correspondent for OSV News. Follow him on X @jae_journalist.  

unitedyam

Pope prays for dead, missing following catastrophic mudslides, floods in Nepal #Catholic –

(OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV expressed his sadness by the devastation wrought by a glacial collapse in the Nepal-China border, causing a deadly wave of floods and mudslides that killed 168 people with hundreds more feared dead.

In a telegram sent on the pope’s behalf Aug. 27, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, expressed the pontiff’s condolences upon learning “of the loss of life and devastation caused by the flash floods in Nepal.”

“Commending the souls of the deceased to the clemency of the Almighty, His Holiness sends heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved, together with the assurance of his spiritual closeness to those affected by this tragedy,” Cardinal Parolin wrote.

“Likewise offering prayers for the emergency personnel engaged in the ongoing rescue efforts, he invokes upon all divine assistance and protection,” he added.

According to The Associated Press, the U.S. Geological Survey initially reported an earthquake 41 miles north of Kathmandu Aug. 26. However, further analysis revealed that the seismic event was caused by a 5.2 magnitude glacial collapse.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

The disaster was a grim confirmation of warnings given earlier this year regarding the effects of climate change on nearby glaciers.

In March, researchers from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) released a report revealing that glaciers across the Himalayas were melting at an accelerating rate and warned that concrete action was needed to avoid further disasters to communities in the area.

“This isn’t a distant problem; it’s a crisis unfolding in real-time, with new disasters every summer and monsoon,” said Pema Gyamtsho, the director general of ICIMOD. “The fact that ice loss rates have doubled this century should shock us all into action.”

In an interview with the Vatican’s missionary news agency, Fides, published Aug. 27, Father Silas Krishna Bogati, the apostolic administrator of Nepal, called the catastrophic event as “the worst disaster in the country’s history.”

“It was terrible. A flood coming from the mountains, and directed violently towards the valley, overwhelmed everything: people, homes, bridges, structures. Villages, markets, and roads were swept away. It is a serious wound for the nation,” Father Bogati told Fides.

Father Bogati told Fides he was “shocked” and offered prayers for the dead, the missing, and “those suffering because of this catastrophe.”

“We have about 25 Catholic families in the disaster area; they appear to be safe, but we are very worried about them,” he said. “We entrust them to God, we pray for their safety, and we will do everything we can to help them.”

The apostolic administrator of Nepal also said that a priest of the vicariate, Father James Britto, was stranded after “he had gone to celebrate Mass on the other side of the river and was stranded.” According to Father Bogati, the bridge the priest had crossed was swept away by the floods.

As of Aug. 27, more than 1,300 people are missing in Nepal and Tibet, more than a hundred of whom were visiting Mount Kailash, a pilgrimage site sacred to several Eastern religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, AP reported.

“There are Nepalese, but also foreigners and tourists who were in these areas on an excursion: it is a pilgrimage route to Mansarovar, a sacred Hindu site that is also a trail for hikers and trekkers,” Father Bogati explained.

The priest told Fides this was “the second time a disaster of this kind has occurred in that area, but this time it is of enormous proportions.”

He also said the local Church’s Caritas office was launching an appeal “to partners around the world” for assistance.

“We will do our part,” Father Bogati said.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the U.S. Catholic Church’s international aid agency, said it was closely monitoring the situation in Nepal and announced it was “coordinating with Caritas Nepal and local partners to assess urgent needs and determine how best to support affected communities.”

Junno Arocho Esteves is an international correspondent for OSV News. Follow him on X @jae_journalist.

 

– (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV expressed his sadness by the devastation wrought by a glacial collapse in the Nepal-China border, causing a deadly wave of floods and mudslides that killed 168 people with hundreds more feared dead. In a telegram sent on the pope’s behalf Aug. 27, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, expressed the pontiff’s condolences upon learning “of the loss of life and devastation caused by the flash floods in Nepal.” “Commending the souls of the deceased to the clemency of the Almighty, His Holiness sends heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved, together with the assurance of

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Los católicos no pueden ser ‘espectadores desinteresados’ ante los acontecimientos actuales, dice el Papa León #Catholic – CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) — Los fieles están llamados a dejar atrás “toda pasividad e indiferencia ante los acontecimientos que se producen, ante la historia y la vida de las personas, sobre todo ante el cambio rápido y profundo que experimentamos hoy”, dijo el Papa León XIV en su audiencia general. “No es posible permanecer como espectadores desinteresados, es necesario, en cambio, escuchar con el corazón, dejarse interpelar, involucrarse”, dijo el Papa el 2 de septiembre en la Plaza de San Pedro. “Con Cristo y sostenidos por la fuerza de su Espíritu, los creyentes están llamados a hacerse cargo de las dificultades de los hermanos, sobre todo de aquellos que se ven oprimidos por la injusticia, por la discriminación, por la violencia”, afirmó durante su catequesis principal. Para suscribirse a nuestro boletín electrónico semanal, haga click aquí. El Papa León inició una nueva serie de reflexiones sobre la constitución pastoral del Concilio Vaticano II “Gaudium et Spes”, que examina la relación entre la Iglesia y el mundo moderno. Recordando la advertencia de San Juan XXIII contra los “profetas de calamidades”, quienes consideraban que su propia época era peor que el pasado, el Papa León afirmó que, por el contrario, los cristianos están llamados a compartir la vida de la humanidad tal como lo hizo Cristo. Esa cercanía a la humanidad, señaló el Papa, también abre el camino a una comprensión más profunda de los acontecimientos y de la propia Revelación. “No se trata, de hecho, de una disposición simplemente moral”, afirmó. Dirigiéndose a los peregrinos de habla inglesa, el Papa León afirmó que es responsabilidad pastoral de la Iglesia relacionarse con el mundo contemporáneo, compartir sus alegrías y tristezas, y defender a los pobres y marginados. La Iglesia, dijo, también debe escrutar a fondo los signos de la época, enfrentando “problemas urgentes como el progreso tecnológico que solo beneficia a unos pocos y la persistencia de la pobreza generalizada”. Sus comentarios se produjeron meses después de la publicación de su primera encíclica, “Magnifica Humanitas”, en la que detallaba su visión sobre las implicaciones globales de la inteligencia artificial y advertía contra permitir que el desarrollo tecnológico avance sin dar prioridad a la dignidad humana. “En nuestros días, marcados por profundos cambios y mucha injusticia, cada uno de nosotros está llamado, pues, a desempeñar su papel al acoger y escuchar las preguntas y anhelos más profundos del corazón humano, haciendo presente ante todos el amor misericordioso de Cristo nuestro Salvador”, dijo el Papa a los angloparlantes. Durante un período de profundos cambios que está generando “desequilibrios preocupantes”, el Papa León afirmó que la Iglesia está llamada a servir a la persona humana al escuchar “los interrogantes más profundos de su corazón y los anhelos que lo habitan”. La Iglesia debe orientar a las personas hacia Cristo, dijo, como “la clave, el centro y el fin de toda la historia humana”.  
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Los católicos no pueden ser ‘espectadores desinteresados’ ante los acontecimientos actuales, dice el Papa León #Catholic – CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) — Los fieles están llamados a dejar atrás “toda pasividad e indiferencia ante los acontecimientos que se producen, ante la historia y la vida de las personas, sobre todo ante el cambio rápido y profundo que experimentamos hoy”, dijo el Papa León XIV en su audiencia general. “No es posible permanecer como espectadores desinteresados, es necesario, en cambio, escuchar con el corazón, dejarse interpelar, involucrarse”, dijo el Papa el 2 de septiembre en la Plaza de San Pedro. “Con Cristo y sostenidos por la fuerza de su Espíritu, los creyentes están llamados a hacerse cargo de las dificultades de los hermanos, sobre todo de aquellos que se ven oprimidos por la injusticia, por la discriminación, por la violencia”, afirmó durante su catequesis principal. Para suscribirse a nuestro boletín electrónico semanal, haga click aquí. El Papa León inició una nueva serie de reflexiones sobre la constitución pastoral del Concilio Vaticano II “Gaudium et Spes”, que examina la relación entre la Iglesia y el mundo moderno. Recordando la advertencia de San Juan XXIII contra los “profetas de calamidades”, quienes consideraban que su propia época era peor que el pasado, el Papa León afirmó que, por el contrario, los cristianos están llamados a compartir la vida de la humanidad tal como lo hizo Cristo. Esa cercanía a la humanidad, señaló el Papa, también abre el camino a una comprensión más profunda de los acontecimientos y de la propia Revelación. “No se trata, de hecho, de una disposición simplemente moral”, afirmó. Dirigiéndose a los peregrinos de habla inglesa, el Papa León afirmó que es responsabilidad pastoral de la Iglesia relacionarse con el mundo contemporáneo, compartir sus alegrías y tristezas, y defender a los pobres y marginados. La Iglesia, dijo, también debe escrutar a fondo los signos de la época, enfrentando “problemas urgentes como el progreso tecnológico que solo beneficia a unos pocos y la persistencia de la pobreza generalizada”. Sus comentarios se produjeron meses después de la publicación de su primera encíclica, “Magnifica Humanitas”, en la que detallaba su visión sobre las implicaciones globales de la inteligencia artificial y advertía contra permitir que el desarrollo tecnológico avance sin dar prioridad a la dignidad humana. “En nuestros días, marcados por profundos cambios y mucha injusticia, cada uno de nosotros está llamado, pues, a desempeñar su papel al acoger y escuchar las preguntas y anhelos más profundos del corazón humano, haciendo presente ante todos el amor misericordioso de Cristo nuestro Salvador”, dijo el Papa a los angloparlantes. Durante un período de profundos cambios que está generando “desequilibrios preocupantes”, el Papa León afirmó que la Iglesia está llamada a servir a la persona humana al escuchar “los interrogantes más profundos de su corazón y los anhelos que lo habitan”. La Iglesia debe orientar a las personas hacia Cristo, dijo, como “la clave, el centro y el fin de toda la historia humana”.  

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Los católicos no pueden ser ‘espectadores desinteresados’ ante los acontecimientos actuales, dice el Papa León #Catholic –

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) — Los fieles están llamados a dejar atrás “toda pasividad e indiferencia ante los acontecimientos que se producen, ante la historia y la vida de las personas, sobre todo ante el cambio rápido y profundo que experimentamos hoy”, dijo el Papa León XIV en su audiencia general.

“No es posible permanecer como espectadores desinteresados, es necesario, en cambio, escuchar con el corazón, dejarse interpelar, involucrarse”, dijo el Papa el 2 de septiembre en la Plaza de San Pedro.

“Con Cristo y sostenidos por la fuerza de su Espíritu, los creyentes están llamados a hacerse cargo de las dificultades de los hermanos, sobre todo de aquellos que se ven oprimidos por la injusticia, por la discriminación, por la violencia”, afirmó durante su catequesis principal.

Para suscribirse a nuestro boletín electrónico semanal, haga click aquí.

El Papa León inició una nueva serie de reflexiones sobre la constitución pastoral del Concilio Vaticano II “Gaudium et Spes”, que examina la relación entre la Iglesia y el mundo moderno.

Recordando la advertencia de San Juan XXIII contra los “profetas de calamidades”, quienes consideraban que su propia época era peor que el pasado, el Papa León afirmó que, por el contrario, los cristianos están llamados a compartir la vida de la humanidad tal como lo hizo Cristo.

Esa cercanía a la humanidad, señaló el Papa, también abre el camino a una comprensión más profunda de los acontecimientos y de la propia Revelación.

“No se trata, de hecho, de una disposición simplemente moral”, afirmó.

Dirigiéndose a los peregrinos de habla inglesa, el Papa León afirmó que es responsabilidad pastoral de la Iglesia relacionarse con el mundo contemporáneo, compartir sus alegrías y tristezas, y defender a los pobres y marginados.

La Iglesia, dijo, también debe escrutar a fondo los signos de la época, enfrentando “problemas urgentes como el progreso tecnológico que solo beneficia a unos pocos y la persistencia de la pobreza generalizada”.

Sus comentarios se produjeron meses después de la publicación de su primera encíclica, “Magnifica Humanitas”, en la que detallaba su visión sobre las implicaciones globales de la inteligencia artificial y advertía contra permitir que el desarrollo tecnológico avance sin dar prioridad a la dignidad humana.

“En nuestros días, marcados por profundos cambios y mucha injusticia, cada uno de nosotros está llamado, pues, a desempeñar su papel al acoger y escuchar las preguntas y anhelos más profundos del corazón humano, haciendo presente ante todos el amor misericordioso de Cristo nuestro Salvador”, dijo el Papa a los angloparlantes.

Durante un período de profundos cambios que está generando “desequilibrios preocupantes”, el Papa León afirmó que la Iglesia está llamada a servir a la persona humana al escuchar “los interrogantes más profundos de su corazón y los anhelos que lo habitan”.

La Iglesia debe orientar a las personas hacia Cristo, dijo, como “la clave, el centro y el fin de toda la historia humana”.

 

– CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) — Los fieles están llamados a dejar atrás “toda pasividad e indiferencia ante los acontecimientos que se producen, ante la historia y la vida de las personas, sobre todo ante el cambio rápido y profundo que experimentamos hoy”, dijo el Papa León XIV en su audiencia general. “No es posible permanecer como espectadores desinteresados, es necesario, en cambio, escuchar con el corazón, dejarse interpelar, involucrarse”, dijo el Papa el 2 de septiembre en la Plaza de San Pedro. “Con Cristo y sostenidos por la fuerza de su Espíritu, los creyentes están llamados a hacerse cargo de

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Sept. 3, 1976: Viking 2 reaches Mars

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Only a little over a month after Viking 1 landed on Mars, Viking 2 followed suit. Though the two Viking landers touched down in different locations, they used identical spacecraft and had the same mission: to create global maps of Mars, observe weather patterns, investigate the surface, measure temperatures, and search for life. Viking 2Continue reading “Sept. 3, 1976: Viking 2 reaches Mars”

The post Sept. 3, 1976: Viking 2 reaches Mars appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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August Lunar Eclipse Rises Over Louisiana – A lunar eclipse is visible over southern Louisiana. The lunar eclipse was visible throughout much of North and South America and part of Europe and Africa between Aug. 27-28. The Full Moon slipped through Earth’s shadow on Aug. 27, continuing into Aug. 28 for some parts of the world, resulting in the lunar eclipse. At maximum eclipse, the Moon takes on a dramatic dark, ruddy or coppery tint along the covered edge. New Orleans is home to NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, where stages for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and structures for Orion spacecraft are produced for the Artemis missions.

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A lunar eclipse is visible over southern Louisiana. The lunar eclipse was visible throughout much of North and South America and part of Europe and Africa between Aug. 27-28. The Full Moon slipped through Earth’s shadow on Aug. 27, continuing into Aug. 28 for some parts of the world, resulting in the lunar eclipse. At maximum eclipse, the Moon takes on a dramatic dark, ruddy or coppery tint along the covered edge. New Orleans is home to NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, where stages for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and structures for Orion spacecraft are produced for the Artemis missions.

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