Catholic News Service

When Pope Francis apologized to Canadian Indigenous for the ways in which many members of the church and of religious communities cooperated in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation at residential schools, Native Americans, like many Canadian Indigenous, said forgiveness was hard -- despite their Catholic faith.

The chairmen of four U.S. bishops committees said July 27 that proposed regulations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on abortion, transgender services and other procedures threaten the Catholic Church's ability "to carry out our healing ministries" and others' ability "to practice medicine."

As the church prepares to commemorate the World Day of Migrants and Refugees in September, Pope Francis launched a video campaign meant to highlight the spiritual and cultural contributions that migrants bring to people's lives.

New York's Catholic Charities has spoken out against what it called a "chaotic approach" to dealing with asylum-seekers coming into the country who are being sent from Texas officials by bus to cities around the nation.

Sr. Myrna Tordillo expressed her hope for the participants at the National Catholic Burmese-American Conference in Owensboro: "That they continue to live the faith, with the hierarchy and with their faith communities."

Ahead of Guatemala's upcoming election season, the country's bishops said religious gatherings in the coming months should "not fall into the temptation of mixing political propaganda with apparent prayer."

Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington promulgated liturgical norms July 22 for implementing Pope Francis' apostolic letter "Traditionis Custodes" ("Guardians of the Tradition"), which limits celebrations of the Mass according to the rite used before the Second Vatican Council.

After a flight of more than 10 hours from Rome, Pope Francis landed in Edmonton on July 24 and met briefly at the airport with Indigenous leaders, Canada's governor general and prime minister before heading to the local seminary for a rest.

Saying he wanted to highlight the spiritual gifts of Opus Dei and its contributions to the Catholic Church's evangelizing activities, Pope Francis said it will now work with and answer to the Dicastery for Clergy, rather than the Dicastery for Bishops.

The Portland-based Catholic Sentinel and El Centinela newspapers will close Oct. 1, reflecting a national transition in Catholic communications, according to a news release issued jointly July 21 by the Archdiocese of Portland and Oregon Catholic Press.

Rare documentation of the Portuguese Inquisition with detailed information about the sentencing trials which took place 500 years ago have been digitized for the first time in the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People Jerusalem's National Library of Israel.

"It seems necessary to make it clear that the 'Synodal Path' in Germany does not have the power to compel bishops and the faithful to assume new modes of governance and new approaches to doctrine and morals," said an unsigned "declaration of the Holy See."

For Andrii Yurash, Ukraine's ambassador to the Holy See, Francis' consistent reminder of "the barbarism of war" is needed because "four months of war has made a lot of people around the world accustomed to this situation."

The Vatican released a new policy consolidating the investment portfolios of all offices and keeping all current and future investments in line with the social doctrine of the Catholic Church.

The Texas Catholic bishops urged immigration reform, saying it is necessary to prevent what happened to 53 migrants discovered dead and dying inside a trailer June 27 from happening again.

Catholic communicators need to use extra care and educational efforts to combat a situation where some media "become places of toxicity, hate speech and fake news," Pope Francis said.

Despite their pro-life bona fides, a five-member panel at a July 14 Georgetown University forum voiced their hesitancies with the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision that overturned the court's landmark Roe v. Wade ruling 49 years earlier.

Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, July 10–18 under the shadow of some of the worst recorded ecological disasters in the region, the bishops from the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa are examining ways to help communities that are struggling to adapt to the effects of a changing climate.

The U.S. bishops' annual report on compliance with the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" shows that 2,930 victim survivors came forward with 3,103 allegations during the audit year of July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.

Immigration supporters expressed a mix of gratitude and disappointment with a Biden administration decision on Temporary Protected Status with regard to Venezuelans.