OSV News

Pope Francis has designated the provincial city of Santiago del Estero as Argentina's primatial see in a move described by Catholic leaders as a historic "reparation" and a reflection of his preference for putting the peripheries at the center of church attention.

On an emotional note, Edmonton Archbishop Richard W. Smith said: "We share the sense of loss with all of those who live in the town, who care for it and who have helped build it. And to those in Alberta and around the world who have experienced the magic of Jasper: The magic is not lost, and it never will be."

Hundreds of Mexicans have fled drug cartel violence in southern Chiapas state to neighboring Guatemala, causing the bishop of a Mexico border diocese to ask local authorities: "How long will they live trying to hide a sad and painful reality that we carry day by day?" The trend is a reversal of past decades, when Indigenous Guatemalans fleeing genocide and civil war sought shelter in Mexico.

The Archdiocese of Seattle's 136 parishes have officially became 60 parish families as part of Partners in the Gospel, the archdiocese's strategic pastoral planning initiative. The July 1 move comes after two years of planning and consultation with clergy, parish and school staffs and the laity, the archdiocese said. Each parish family will be led by a pastor or pastoral coordinator, and many will have at least one parochial vicar.

Ethiopian Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel of Addis Ababa has expressed deep sorrow at the deadly landslide in Gofa Zone, in the southern part of Ethiopia, where the death toll has reportedly reached 257. Humanitarian agencies, including those that are faith-based, have scrambled to rush emergency relief to Kencho Shacha Gozdi, a remote village in the Gofa Zone, following the first landslide that struck July 22.

Catholic immigration and anti-trafficking advocates are expressing grave concern over alleged systemic sexual abuse of unaccompanied migrant children by staff of a private contractor for the U.S. government. The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit July 17 against Southwest Key Programs, an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit that provides housing for unaccompanied minors, as well as services for youth, family and job seekers.

One of Poland's most influential prelates has been asked to stay on beyond retirement by Pope Francis, days after the Vatican suspended his orders dismissing a prominent pastor and naming an overseer of the finances of the prominent Wawel Cathedral chapter in a dispute with local Catholics.

Newhart was pursuing a less-than-stellar business career when he suddenly shot to showbiz stardom in 1960 with his first album, "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart." The LP went on to earn a Grammy Award as Album of the Year — a first for a comedy recording.

The Bolivia province of the Society of Jesus failed to follow instructions from the Jesuit curia in Rome by allegedly not publicly disclosing the findings of an investigation into a pedophile priest, deepening a series of clerical sexual abuse scandals engulfing the order in the South American country.

The Brazilian bishops' Indigenous Missionary Council, known by its Portuguese acronym CIMI, released its 2023 annual report on the situation of Indigenous peoples July 22 "with deep sadness" in view of the increased number of violent attacks, explained Cardinal Leonardo Steiner of Manaus in presenting CIMI's report in Brasilia, the nation's capital.

Cardinal Gérald C. Lacroix is resuming his duties as Quebec's archbishop, six months after stepping aside when he was accused of sexual misconduct for which a Vatican-mandated investigation found no evidence to support.

The president's announcement brings to an end several weeks of speculation about his political future, including both his viability in the November election and his ability to serve another four years in the White House.

"I do not teach Catechism. I let the works speak for themselves. The cathedral is a Catechism in itself," said 80-year-old Notre Dame de Paris volunteer guide Marie-Françoise Ousset. 

Last year was the hottest year on record for the world, since global records began in 1850, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported. In recent weeks, Western states such as Arizona, California, Oregon and Nevada have all posted record-breaking heat — but in the East, North Carolina and Maryland have also shattered records.

 

A judge ruled July 12 that the Washington state attorney general does not have legal authority to enforce a subpoena for clergy abuse records against the Archdiocese of Seattle, specifically noting that the religious exemption in the state Charitable Trust Act stands.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a direct appeal July 15 to the Texas Supreme Court seeking to revive his effort to shut down Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas,

Bishop Clyde Harvey of St. George's in Grenada arrived by boat to the island of Carriacou July 12 to find a traumatized community and at least two diocesan churches that suffered catastrophic damage from Hurricane Beryl.

On July 16, the youth staged more demonstrations across the country, with police using tear gas to break up the marches. The Kenyan youth protests ignited in June in opposition to a controversial tax law dubbed a finance bill for 2024. But after protesting for nearly a month, the youth have since expanded their demands to more reforms in the political, governance and economic sectors, while rejecting government calls for dialogue.

Both the American and British open letters came after a traditionalist website, Rorate Caeli, said June 17 that opponents of the traditional Mass, "especially in the United States and France," were seeking a "wide, final and irreversible" ban in a document under preparation by the divine worship dicastery, although the claim was contested by other Catholic news media saying that no such document was under preparation in Rome.

In an interview with NC Catholics ahead of the Tekakwitha Conference, Father David Miller, chaplain to the Native American Catholic community in the Raleigh Diocese, said the annual gathering is an important event for faith, culture and awareness and is for all "friends," Native American and non-Native American.