Catholic News

• In consistory's 1st session, 178 cardinals ponder the contemporary world (Vatican News)
  178 of the 241 members of the College of Cardinals took part in the first session of the two-day extraordinary consistory (program), during which they pondered the question, “In what kind of world are we called to proclaim the Gospel?” According to the Vatican News’s summary of the confidential deliberations, the cardinals, gathered in groups, spoke about the following topics, among others: “increasing polarization within societies and communities, generating political tensions and violence and fueled by social divisions, misinformation and forms of communication that fail to foster encounter” “the suffering caused in many parts of the world by the lack of respect for religious and ethnic minorities, undermining religious freedom and giving rise to hostility, and at times violence, particularly against the Church” “excessive individualism, the crisis of the family, and the growing loneliness experienced by both elderly people and young people, identifying these as contributing factors to even more serious problems, including rising suicide rates and drug use” “the awareness of a widespread sense of distrust, fatalism and powerlessness towards institutions, democracy and the future, linked also to declining birth rates, the growth of criminal organizations, youth delinquency and drug trafficking” “the need to address migration in a humane and Christian way, recognizing how it is reshaping peoples, societies and communities while making effective integration policies increasingly urgent amid new forms of exclusion”
• The Good Samaritan is a model for the Church, Cardinal Ryś says at consistory (Vatican News)
  In a biblical meditation on the first day of the extraordinary consistory (program), Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś of Kraków, Poland, upheld the Good Samaritan as a model for the Church today. In summarizing the prelate’s biblical meditation, Vatican News, the news agency of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, reported that Cardinal Ryś said that “the Samaritan’s mercy, closeness and generosity reveal that charity is not the exclusive preserve of Christians but a place where the Church and the world can meet in genuine dialogue.” Vatican News also reported—inaccurately—that the prelate is the archbishop of Łódź. Pope Leo transferred Cardinal Ryś from Łódź to Kraków last year.
• Cardinal Re calls on cardinals to unite around Pope, thanks Pope for AI encyclical (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
  In his opening address on the first day of the extraordinary consistory (program), Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said that the cardinals had gathered at a “difficult moment for humanity, to seek to face, viribus unitis [with forces united] around the Successor of Peter, the challenges of this historical era of ours.” Cardinal Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, praised Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo’s encyclical on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence, as part of the “living tradition of the great documents of the Pontifical Magisterium regarding the Church’s social doctrine, analyzing today’s reality with faith and depth.” Cardinal Re concluded by thanking the Pope for his “strong words condemning the war, which for everyone is nothing but a loss and a grave, inhumane tragedy.”
• Mission is the Church's 'very reason for existing,' Pope tells world's cardinals (CWN)
  Addressing the opening session of the two-day extraordinary consistory of the College of Cardinals (program), Pope Leo said today that “mission is not merely one of the Church’s many tasks,” but “her very reason for existing and thus, it also becomes the criterion that guides our discernment.”
• The living, believing Church bears much fruit, Pope preaches to cardinals as consistory begins (CWN)
  Reflecting on Christ’s parable of the vine and the branches, Pope Leo XIV told the world’s cardinals that the living, believing Church bears much fruit.
• Report: Cardinal Müller calls for Vatican response to SSPX (CWN)
  An Italian journalist reported today that Cardinal Gerhard Müller “shook up” the extraordinary consistory of the College of Cardinals by calling for a formal response to the Society of Saint Pius X’s latest statements ahead of its scheduled episcopal consecrations.
• Prelates celebrate Border Mass 250 (Reuters)
  Bishop James Misko of Tucson was the principal celebrant at Border Mass 250 in Nogales, Arizona, on June 26. The Mass was followed by a Rosary procession to Nogales, Mexico. During the Mass and procession, prelates called for the humane treatment of migrants. Reuters reported that “more than 100” Catholics took part, including bishops, priests, religious, and lay faithful.
• Sports are an opportunity for spiritual growth, Pope Leo tells swimmers (CWN)
  Pope Leo XIV described sports as a “medicine for both body and spirit, when it is practiced well” and an “opportunity for spiritual growth.”
• USCCB committee chairman urges international assistance following deadly Venezuela earthquakes (USCCB)
  The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace called for international assistance for the victims of violent earthquakes in Venezuela. “I offer the prayers and solidarity of the Church in the United States to our sisters and brothers affected by this tragedy,” said Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, the Maronite bishop of Los Angeles. “Let us all join in prayer that Our Lady of Coromoto, patroness of Venezuela, will comfort and protect her children and that compassionate international assistance will arrive swiftly.”
• Vatican diplomat calls for legal migration routes to deter human trafficking (Holy See Mission)
  A Vatican diplomat called for the establishment of “safe and regular migration routes” to help deter human trafficking. “Human trafficking is a contemporary form of slavery and a grave violation of the God-given human dignity,” Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, said during a June 22 meeting with the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons. “My Delegation wishes to emphasize the importance of prevention, protection, liberation, and rehabilitation,” Archbishop Balestrero added. “In this context, the role of the family is vital, particularly through family reunification and guardianship for unaccompanied children.”
• Prelate laments plight of Haitian mothers present illegally in Dominican Republic (CWN)
  The vice president of the Haitian Episcopal Conference lamented the plight of Haitian mothers who have fled the conflict there for the neighboring Dominican Republic (map).
• Earthquakes cause serious damage to Venezuelan seminary, churches (CWN)
  Violent earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24, causing extensive loss of human life and damage to Catholic institutions.
• Pope encourages Jesuit college presidents to help students encounter God through the Spiritual Exercises (CWN)
  Pope Leo XIV encouraged the presidents of Jesuit colleges and universities in North America to turn to the Society of Jesus’ four universal apostolic preferences to help confront the challenges of our time—and to begin by helping students encounter God.
• National Eucharistic Pilgrimage reaches Maine before turning toward Philadelphia (OSV News)
  The 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, whose theme is “One Nation Under God,” arrived in the Diocese of Portland, Maine, its northernmost point, on June 23. The pilgrimage, which began in St. Augustine, Florida, on May 24, will turn back to the south today, before concluding in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on July 5.
• US nuns' Alliance to End Human Trafficking warns of loopholes in bill (CWN)
  The Alliance to End Human Trafficking, whose members include over 200 congregations of religious sisters, warned that legislation under consideration in the U.S. Senate “could weaken safeguards against illicit finance and create vulnerabilities that traffickers and transnational criminal organizations may exploit.”
• Pope offers support, encouragement to Synod continental leaders (General Secretariat of the Synod)
  Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod, said that Pope Leo XIV offered “powerful” support and encouragement to leading prelates from around the world during a June 25 private audience. “The meeting with the Holy Father was for all the participants a powerful sign of support and encouragement as they continue their work for the Church’s synodal conversion,” said Cardinal Mario Grech. The papal audience came at the conclusion of a three-day meeting of Synod staff with leaders of continental bishops’ assemblies, in preparation for the synodal assemblies of 2027-2028. The implementation phase of the 2021-2024 Synod on synodality culminates in an ecclesial assembly in Rome in October 2028. Prior to that, diocesan assemblies are scheduled to take place during the first half of 2027; national assemblies, during the second half of 2027; and continental assemblies, during the first four months of 2028 (Towards the Assemblies 2027-2028, p. 5).
• SSPX issues profession of faith, open letter to Pope Leo (SSPX Information Service)
  The Society of St. Pius X issued an open letter to Pope Leo and the Church’s cardinals, along with a “Profession of Catholic Faith of the Society of Saint Pius X to Enlighten Souls in the Face of Modern Errors.” Referring to the scheduled ordinations of bishops without a papal mandate, the Society’s leaders said that “just days before the episcopal consecrations scheduled for 1 July in Écône, it seems to us that the time has come for the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X to make a full profession of Catholic Faith.” “We hope that one day this doctrinal text may serve as a basis for an honest discussion with the Holy See, in a spirit of peace, brotherhood, and charity,” they added. “I acknowledge in particular that modern errors represent a dreadful threat to the whole of the Catholic order, and that their penetration into the life of the Church, under the influence of the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar reforms, has provoked a crisis of exceptional gravity,” they stated in their profession.
• Italian philosopher-politician Mazzarella praises Pope's encyclical (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
  The Vatican newspaper published a reflection by Eugenio Mazzarella on Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo’s encyclical on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence. Mazzarella, a philosophy professor, Heidegger scholar, and former member of the lower house of the Italian Parliament, wrote: The Church is not only depositum fidei [deposit of faith], but also depositum humanitatis [deposit of humanity]. For reasons intrinsic to his faith in an incarnation of the divine which is both a historical and meta-historical event, it always has been. But today, in the world of globalization and technology held together in a mutual reinforcement of unprecedented possibilities and problems, this depositum humanitatis, in which to make the faith it has received bear fruit, is called to safeguard it in an eminent way, and with full awareness. Magnifica humanitas is the title of this awareness ... Magnificent humanity, one in which the Church places its trust to “illuminate” even the age of AI. This holds true provided that humanity remains true to its own innate greatness and does not escape itself by retreating into algorithmic constructs.
• Chicago archdiocese countersuit against alleged abuse settlement fraud ring gets green light (OSV News)
  A county court in Illinois ruled that the Archdiocese of Chicago may proceed with its countersuit against persons who the archdiocese alleges made false sexual abuse claims. By examining prison phone records, the archdiocese uncovered a “network of at least 30 people including convicted murderers, drug dealers, gang members and their family members involved in [abuse] filings or trying to be included in them,” OSV News reported.
• Philippine court dismisses charges against bishop, other anti-mining advocates (CBCP News)
  A Philippine court dismissed a case against Bishop Jose Elmer Mangalinao of Bayombong and other anti-mining advocates. The prelate and the other advocates had been charged with forcible entry and maintaining illegal barricades. Bishop Mangalinao described the dismissal of charges as a “victory for truth, justice, and the collective efforts of communities who courageously stand to protect our land, water and future generations.”
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