Appeal to Catholic Church to halt sale of community hall in Limerick

A community action group in Co Limerick are appealing to the Catholic Church to halt its planned sale of a community hall in the area.

Árus na Gaeilge is a community hall built in 1926 in Newcastle West.

It was built by the local community with the help of Conradh na Gaeilge, to facilitate community and cultural events in the town.

But the hall has been placed on the market for sale.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Limerick said: "There are two active community centres in Newcastle West parish with modern facilities that cater for the community needs- previously looked after by the 100-year-old Árus na Gaeilge building.

"Over recent years Árus na Gaeilge has been used for storage.

"As it is no longer core to the mission of the parish, a decision was taken, with the support of the Parish Trust, to sell the property.

"The property has since been sold and the proceeds will support the ongoing needs of the Newcasle West Parish."

The decision to sell the hall has been met with anger and disappointment by some members of the community.

An action group has been established to stop the sale.

Shirley O'Regan from the group said that there is huge disappointment in the community at the decision.

She said that it is unclear whether the Catholic Church has the right to sell the building.

Ms O'Regan said: "The hall was built by the community for the community. There was no public consultation on the proposed sale by the Church.

"I have written on a number of occasions to the diocese expressing our opposition to the plan and seeking clarity on whether they have the right to sell the building. I have received no reply."

Jess O'Riordan is another member of the action group.

She said that that Árus na Gaeilge is the only hall available in the community with a stage.

"The other two centres don't have a stage that local dramas could be performed in. There is a lot of disappointment and opposition in the community to these plans," she added.

A sign stating 'our community hall is not for sale’ has been erected on the building.

The local action group has started fundraising and say they will begin proceeding to legally challenge the sale.

Burke calls for defending marriage and family "to the point of martyrdom," two months before the meeting on Amoris laetitia

A little over two months before the meeting convened by Leo XIV to reflect on the ten years of the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke has issued a call to Catholics to be prepared to defend marriage and the family even at the cost of martyrdom.

The American cardinal made this exhortation during the homily for the feast of Saint James the Apostle at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Wisconsin, where he presented the Apostle as an example of fidelity unto martyrdom and proposed that same spirit for those living the vocation of marriage.

“Let us be prepared for martyrdom”

Drawing inspiration from the figure of Saint James the Greater, Burke encouraged the faithful to renew their commitment to the sacrament of marriage and to the Christian family.

“Moved by the example of Saint James the Greater and helped by his intercession, let us resolve to take up with new enthusiasm and new energy the spiritual practices by which our hearts remain fully in the Heart of Jesus for the transformation of the world through the sacrament of holy matrimony and its incomparable fruit, the family,” he said.

The cardinal then urged Catholics to be ready to bear witness to the truth of marriage even in a context of growing hostility toward the faith.

“Let us be prepared for martyrdom, if not the red martyrdom of blood, at least the white martyrdom of faithful witness to Our Lord in the face of indifference, mockery, and persecution,” he noted.

Burke further explained that the example of Saint James teaches Christians to have “one single concern”: “to serve our Lord with faithful and persevering love, trusting in his victory over sin and death, even if that service demands dying for love of Him.”

Marriage, a path of Christian perfection

A significant part of the homily was devoted to the teaching of Saint John Paul II on marriage. Burke recalled the reflections that Karol Wojtyła wrote before being elected Pope and emphasized that the sacramental grace of marriage constitutes a true path of holiness.

“The grace of holy matrimony is not an ideal to which only a few may aspire, but an objective reality, a supernatural gift, which leads the man and the woman to seek the eternal salvation of the other through the path of divine love,” he stated.

Citing the then-Bishop Karol Wojtyła, he also recalled that “Christian perfection consists in love. Love is also the moral foundation of marriage. Therefore, marriage opens the possibility of Christian perfection.”

Burke concluded this reflection by noting that “all our questions about marriage must be raised at the level of the Eucharistic Sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ, at the level of the perfection of divine love,” presenting the Eucharist as the source that sustains the fidelity of spouses.

A concern shared by Cardinal Zen

Burke’s words come just days after Cardinal Joseph Zen, Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, also called for the protection of the family to become “the principal mission” of the Church’s pastoral action.

Zen warned that the weakening of the family institution and the abandonment of the defense of life constitute some of the greatest challenges currently facing evangelization.

The meeting convened by Leo XIV

The interventions of both cardinals come on the eve of the meeting that Leo XIV has called in the Vatican from October 7 to 14 with the presidents of the episcopal conferences from around the world to reflect on the application of Amoris laetitia ten years after its publication.

The Holy See has clarified that this is not a synod, but a consultative gathering intended to study how to proclaim the Gospel to families in the current context and to understand the pastoral reality of the different particular Churches.

When announcing the convocation last March, Leo XIV explained that the goal will be to discern how “to proclaim the Gospel to families today, in the light of Amoris laetitia.”

A debate that was never closed

The apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, promulgated by Pope Francis in 2016 following the synods on the family, gave rise to one of the most intense doctrinal debates of recent pontificates, especially regarding the question of access to communion for some divorced persons who have entered into a new civil marriage.

That same year, Cardinals Raymond Burke, Walter Brandmüller, Carlo Caffarra, and Joachim Meisner addressed the so-called dubia to the Pope, requesting clarifications on various passages of the document. Those questions never received a direct response.

Subsequently, Francis confirmed as an authentic interpretation of Amoris laetitia the pastoral guidelines of the bishops of the Buenos Aires region, which allowed, in certain cases, access to the sacraments for divorced persons who have entered into a new civil marriage. 

In 2023, a response from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to Cardinal Dominik Duka reiterated that this interpretation forms part of the authentic magisterium, having been published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.

In this context, Burke’s words take on particular relevance. 

The American cardinal is, together with Walter Brandmüller, the only surviving signatory of the four who signed the 2016 dubia, and he once again insists on the need to firmly defend Catholic doctrine on marriage precisely when the Church is preparing to reflect once more on Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation.

A concern shared by Cardinal Zen

Burke’s words come just days after Cardinal Joseph Zen, Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, also called for the protection of the family to become “the principal mission” of the Church’s pastoral action.

Zen warned that the weakening of the family institution and the abandonment of the defense of life constitute some of the greatest challenges currently facing evangelization.

The meeting convened by Leo XIV

The interventions of both cardinals come on the eve of the meeting that Leo XIV has called in the Vatican from October 7 to 14 with the presidents of the episcopal conferences from around the world to reflect on the application of Amoris laetitia ten years after its publication.

The Holy See has clarified that this is not a synod, but a consultative gathering intended to study how to proclaim the Gospel to families in the current context and to understand the pastoral reality of the different particular Churches.

When announcing the convocation, Leo XIV explained that the goal will be to discern how “to proclaim the Gospel to families today, in the light of Amoris laetitia.”

A debate that was never closed

The apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, promulgated by Pope Francis in 2016 following the synods on the family, gave rise to one of the most intense doctrinal debates of recent pontificates, especially regarding the possibility that some divorced persons who have entered into a new civil marriage might have access to communion.

That same year, Cardinals Raymond Burke, Walter Brandmüller, Carlo Caffarra, and Joachim Meisner addressed the so-called dubia to the Pope, requesting clarifications on various passages of the document. Those questions never received a direct response.

Subsequently, Francis confirmed as an authentic interpretation of Amoris laetitia the pastoral guidelines of the bishops of the Buenos Aires region, which allowed, in certain cases, access to the sacraments for divorced persons who have entered into a new civil marriage. 

In 2023, a response from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to Cardinal Dominik Duka reiterated that this interpretation forms part of the authentic magisterium, having been published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.

Cardinal Burke is, together with Walter Brandmüller, the only surviving signatory of the four who signed the 2016 dubia, and he once again insists on the need to firmly defend Catholic doctrine on marriage precisely when the Church is preparing to reflect once more on Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation.

Below is the complete homily of Cardinal Burke:

The Perfection of Marital Love

July 25, 2026

Feast of Saint James the Apostle – Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

La Crosse, Wisconsin

2 Cor 4:7-15 / Ps 126:1bc-2ab. 2cd-3. 4-5. 6. / Mt 20:20-28

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Apostle Saint James the Greater, together with Saint John, the beloved disciple, his blood brother, and Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles, enjoyed the special favor of Our Lord. Our Lord chose them to be witnesses of His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor and to accompany Him in His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane before His cruel Passion and Death. Saint James the Greater also had the privilege of being the first of the Apostles to suffer martyrdom, thus fulfilling his apostolic mission with faithful and persevering love for his Master. The Acts of the Apostles tell us that King Herod Agrippa I “had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword.”

Herod Agrippa, thinking to please the Jewish people and rid himself once and for all of the trouble caused by the preaching and apostolic ministry of Saint James the Greater, had him executed. Yet James continues his apostolic ministry from the place of glory where he is with his Master, interceding for the flock. His tomb, in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, remains one of the greatest holy places of pilgrimage for Christians. We see in the life of Saint James the truth proclaimed by Saint Paul about his own apostolic ministry:

For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke”—we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Indeed, eight centuries after the burial of Saint James, his tomb in the great Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela witnessed his powerful intervention against the advance of the Arian barbarians and, later, of the Muslims against Christian Spain. His shrine continues to be a powerful place of pilgrimage to invoke his intercession in the struggle against the powerful contemporary forces of secularism, apostasy, heresy, and the Islamic persecution of Christians.

But Saint James had to undergo purification in order to give his heart ever more perfectly to the gloriously pierced Heart of Jesus in the exercise of the apostolic ministry. The Gospel recounts how his mother sought for her sons, John and James, earthly honors and power. They clearly shared the desire expressed by their mother. Let us listen to the reflection of a commentator on this episode in the life of Saint James the Greater:

The two sons of Zebedee spoke through their mother, as well as for themselves; but Christ directed His answer to them, telling them that they did not know what they were asking, because in His Kingdom dignities are not attained by the bold and ambitious, but by the most humble, the most laborious, and the most patient… Our Lord told them that, indeed, they would have their share in suffering; but He could not distribute the honors of His Kingdom otherwise than according to the measure of charity and patience of each one in suffering: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Saint James clearly learned the saving correction of his ambition and, from then on, directed all his energy according to the mind and Heart of his Master. He became a most venerable collaborator of Our Lord, faithfully bearing from the gloriously pierced Heart of Christ the graces of truth and love for the salvation of many souls. He became ambitious, no longer for himself, but only for Our Lord.

Saint James the Greater is for us a great teacher and intercessor in following Christ according to our vocation, using the gifts with which God has enriched us to love as Christ loves. We, like Saint James, need purification. We too must walk each day the path of perfection like that of Christ, trusting in the grace poured into our hearts from the gloriously pierced Heart of Jesus, remembering His words in the Sermon on the Mount: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Too often we seek recognition and admiration for the good we do. We want to make sure everyone knows how much we sacrifice and how hard we work. Too often we fall into self-pity and discouragement in the face of the challenges our vocation encounters in a culture marked by widespread secularism. Saint James teaches us that we must have one single concern: to serve our Master with faithful and persevering love, and to trust in His victory over sin and death, in His victory of eternal life, even if our service demands giving our life for love of Him. With Saint Paul, we give ourselves up to death “for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh,” thereby drawing many souls to know, love, and serve Our Lord. We are truly happy when we die more fully to self and to sin, so that others may live more fully and perfectly in Christ.

It was in this way that Saint John Paul II developed The Rule for marriages, the measure by which those called to married life must seek the perfection of the love they promised each other on their wedding day, the path by which they are to respond to the heavenly grace conferred by the sacrament of Matrimony. In his “Reflections on Marriage,” the then-Father Wojtyła teaches us:

The sacrament, as an efficacious sign of grace, creates in nature supernatural forces, forces that make possible the full life of the human being, that is, a life in accordance with the plans and designs of the Creator for humanity. These forces make that life possible for the human person, but they do not bring it about by themselves. It is necessary, therefore, to draw from them all that they contain and apply it to personal life. This is already the task of man, or of the persons who, through the sacrament, enter into the orbit of grace.

The marital covenant and conjugal life, to which nature directs man and woman, participate, through the sacrament of Holy Matrimony, in the victory over sin that Christ won for us on the Cross.

The grace of Holy Matrimony is not an ideal to which only a few attain, but an objective reality, a supernatural gift that leads the man and the woman to seek the eternal salvation of the other through the path of divine love. In the text accompanying The Rule, entitled “Love is the Moral Foundation of Marriage,” the then-Bishop Karol Wojtyła wrote:

We must clearly recognize that the sacramental grace of marriage is not simply a theory, but a true gift from which the spouses can and must build a certain Christian perfection proper to their vocation and to the multiform totality that constitutes their conjugal life…

Christian perfection consists in love. Love is also the moral foundation of marriage. Therefore, marriage opens the possibility of Christian perfection…

Modern man frequently finds himself before this fundamental challenge: you impose on me an unbearable burden and, at the same time, you compare it with that “state of perfection” in which, who knows, it may be easier to live… Above all, this raises the question of whether our whole way of thinking about marriage is not “too low,” while at the same time we demand so much of it. Perhaps it is better to raise the whole question to a much higher level…

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the heavenly Bread of our earthly pilgrimage, by which Our Lord renews His sacrifice of Calvary and in which we unite our hearts to His, gloriously pierced, in the most perfect way possible on this earth, constitutes that higher level of pure and selfless love that sustains married life. All our questions about marriage must be raised at the level of the Eucharistic Sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ, at the level of the perfection of divine love.

Inspired by the example of Saint James the Greater and helped by his intercession, let us resolve to take up with new enthusiasm and new energy the spiritual practices by which our hearts remain fully and firmly in the Heart of Jesus for the transformation of the world through the sacrament of Holy Matrimony and its incomparable fruit: the family. Let us be prepared for martyrdom, if not the red martyrdom of blood, certainly the white martyrdom of faithful witness to Our Lord in the face of indifference, mockery, and persecution.

Approaching the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Virgin Mother of God, let us entrust our hearts to Our Lord in His Eucharistic Sacrifice. Let us prepare to receive the incomparable fruit of His Sacrifice: His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. May our hearts, in the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, be purified of all sin and inflamed by His pure and selfless love. Thus we may live “always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Cardinal Raymond Leo BURKE

"The liturgy is Tradition in its most powerful and solemn form"

The auxiliary bishop of Astana (Kazakhstan), Athanasius Schneider, defended the traditional liturgy as a privileged expression of the transmission of the faith during a homily delivered on August 2 at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Limerick (Ireland), on the occasion of his visit to the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.

Throughout his preaching, the prelate maintained that since its origins the Church has remained “firmly committed” to fidelity to Sacred Tradition, both in the doctrinal and liturgical spheres. In that context, he recalled the well-known expression attributed to Pope Saint Stephen I :

“Let nothing be innovated that has not been handed down.”

The liturgy, expression of the Church’s Tradition

Schneider affirmed that the Church’s public worship possesses an essentially traditional character, since it must be celebrated “according to the norms established by divine authority and handed down by our ancestors.”

Drawing on Saint Vincent of Lérins, he recalled that “true piety admits no other rule than faithfully transmitting to our children what we have faithfully received from our fathers” and added that it is the duty of Christians “to preserve and keep what we have received from those who preceded us.”

The bishop insisted that this principle has guided the life of the Church throughout the centuries. “Antiquity was preserved; novelty was rejected. This is the apostolic rule,” he stated.

Citing the Benedictine Dom Prosper Guéranger, Schneider emphasized that “the liturgy is Tradition in its most powerful and solemn form,” an idea he linked to the Church’s mission of safeguarding and transmitting the deposit of faith in its entirety.

“Preserving the traditional liturgy is preserving the deposit of the faith”

During his homily, the bishop also recalled a teaching of Pius XI, who stated that the faithful receive the Church’s doctrine more effectively through the celebration of the liturgical mysteries than solely through the documents of the Magisterium, since the liturgy speaks not only to the intellect but also to the heart.

In this line, he defended that the beauty of the liturgy forms part of the transmission of the faith and rejected the idea that it constitutes a secondary or merely aesthetic element.

“Those who maintain that the Church is not a museum and that the truly pious man must be indifferent to these aspects only show their blindness to the important role played by an appropriate and beautiful expression,” he affirmed.

Schneider added that “history has shown a thousand times that there is nothing more dangerous for a religion, nothing more capable of provoking discontent, uncertainty, division, and apostasy than interfering in the liturgy and, therefore, in religious sensibility.”

For this reason, he maintained that “preserving the precious treasure of the traditional liturgy forms part of preserving the depositum fidei,” evoking Saint Paul’s exhortation to Timothy to guard faithfully the deposit of the faith.

Amid the debate on the traditional Mass

In recent months, Schneider has publicly defended the desirability of finding a stable solution for the faithful attached to the traditional Mass. After his private audience with Leo XIV last December, he explained that he had proposed to the Pontiff the publication of a document that would regularize the situation of the liturgy prior to the post-conciliar reform, with the aim of promoting “justice and peace in the Church.”

Recently, the prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship, Cardinal Arthur Roche, stated that Leo XIV would not repeal or modify Traditionis Custodes, however, the Holy See has not announced any modifications—through an official communiqué—to the motu proprio promulgated by Francis in 2021.

Below we reproduce the homily delivered by Bishop Athanasius Schneider at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Limerick, Ireland.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Dear brothers and sisters:

From its beginnings, the Catholic Church has remained firmly committed to preserving and transmitting, in all its life, both doctrinally and liturgically, its fidelity to Sacred Tradition. The phrase of Pope Saint Stephen I, who governed the Church between the years 254 and 257, became famous: “Let nothing be innovated that has not been handed down.”

Public worship is, by its very nature, traditional. That is to say, it must be celebrated according to the norms established by divine authority and handed down by our ancestors. 

The Church of the first centuries considered its liturgy as a continuation of the divinely ordered liturgy of the Old Testament. 

It shared with it its essential features: the profound sense of reverence, silence, the veil that guards the mystery of divine reality, the separation of the sanctuary and the Holy of Holies from the people, a hierarchically ordered liturgy, and the appreciation of the symbolic meaning of gestures and sacred objects.

Saint Vincent of Lérins, a Father of the Church of the fifth century, formulated a principle that he applied to a controversy related to rebaptism and that also affects the laws of divine worship. He said:

“True piety admits no other rule than faithfully transmitting to our children what we have faithfully received from our fathers. Our duty is not to lead religion where we wish, but to follow it where it leads us. Christian modesty consists not in transmitting our own opinions or practices to those who will come after us, but in preserving and keeping what we have received from those who preceded us.”

Antiquity was preserved; novelty was rejected. That has been the rule of all centuries. Antiquity was preserved; novelty was rejected. This is the apostolic rule.

Dom Prosper Guéranger stated: “The liturgy is Tradition in its most powerful and solemn form.”

Pope Pius XI left this memorable teaching:

“The faithful are instructed in the truths of the faith and come to appreciate the interior joys of religion much more effectively through the annual celebration of the sacred mysteries than solely through the official declarations of the Magisterium. These usually reach few and the more learned; the feasts reach all. The former speak once; the latter speak every year, in fact, forever. The teaching of the Church affects primarily the intellect; the feasts affect the intellect and the heart and exercise a wholesome influence on the whole person. Man is composed of body and soul, and needs these external celebrations so that the sacred rites, with all their beauty and variety, may impel him to drink more deeply from the source of God’s doctrine and to incorporate it into his own spiritual life.”

Dom Prosper Guéranger also said:

“Every heretic or sectarian who wishes to introduce a new doctrine inevitably finds himself confronted by the traditional liturgy, because the liturgy is tradition, and the strongest and best tradition.”

How mistaken is he who considers the beauty of the Church and of the liturgy as something that might distract us from the true content of the liturgical mysteries and lead us toward something superficial. Those who proclaim that the Church is not a museum and that the truly pious man is indifferent to these accidental aspects only show their blindness to the great role played by a beautiful and fitting expression. They forget that authentic beauty contains a specific message from God that elevates our souls. As Plato said: “Before beauty, our souls sprout wings.”

History has shown a thousand times that there is nothing more dangerous for a religion, nothing more capable of provoking discontent, uncertainty, division, and apostasy than interfering in the liturgy and, therefore, in religious sensibility.

Preserving the precious treasure of the traditional liturgy forms part of preserving the depositum fidei.

The Apostle Saint Paul exhorted Timothy: “Guard the deposit entrusted to you.” Saint Vincent of Lérins interpreted this exhortation also in a liturgical dimension when he asked: “Who is this Timothy today, if not the whole Church and, in a special way, those who govern it, called to preserve intact the knowledge of the worship of God and to transmit it to others?”

Yes, the liturgy is Tradition in its most powerful and solemn form.

Only the Catholic Church can say: “I handed on to you what I myself received from the Lord.”

Every true Catholic should be able to say:

“I love the beauty of the house of the Lord. I love the beauty and integrity of the immutable Catholic faith. I love the beauty of holy Tradition, the beauty of the liturgical tradition of the Church. I love the beauty and truth of the faith, of the Holy Mass, and of the holy life of all the centuries and of all the saints.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Catholic priest is hacked to death with machetes in Nigeria

Father Samuel Opeyemi Oyetoro, a priest of the Diocese of Lokoja, was murdered on July 29 after being attacked with a machete on Church Road in Ajaokuta, Kogi State, in central Nigeria. 

The news was communicated by the diocese through a statement issued by the diocesan curia and reported by the Fides Agency.

«With deep sorrow and with the hope of the resurrection, the Catholic Diocese of Lokoja announces the death of our beloved priest, Father Samuel Opeyemi Oyetoro», the statement reads, inviting priests, religious, and the faithful to commend his soul in prayer and to also pray for his family and the diocese.

Found lifeless beside a road

According to the Kogi State Police, the priest’s body was discovered on the morning of July 29 beside a road in Ajaokuta, after authorities received a report about the presence of a corpse.

Officers dispatched to the scene confirmed that the victim had severe machete wounds to the head. 

The body was taken to ASCL Hospital, where death was certified, before being transferred to the morgue for an autopsy.

Subsequently, authorities identified the deceased as Father Samuel Opeyemi Oyetoro, parish priest of St. Paul’s Church in Ayetoro Gbede, within the Ijumu Local Government Area, also in Kogi State.

Condemnation of the murder

The Governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Ododo, described the crime as «an atrocious and unacceptable act» and expressed his condemnation of the priest’s murder.

For its part, the Diocese of Lokoja has asked the entire Catholic community to remember Father Oyetoro during Eucharistic celebrations and to accompany his family and the local Church with prayer during this time of mourning.

Violence against priests continues in Nigeria

The murder of Father Samuel Opeyemi adds to the long list of priests, religious, and faithful who have fallen victim to the violence that has affected various regions of Nigeria for years. 

Kidnappings, murders, and attacks on Christian communities have become a recurring reality in different parts of the country, especially in the center and north, where insecurity remains one of the main challenges for the Church and the civilian population.

Two tabernacles desecrated in a Madrid parish during a nighttime robbery

The parish of Santa Margarita María de Alacoque, located in Madrid’s Latina district, suffered a robbery during the night of July 31 to August 1 that included the desecration of the church’s two tabernacles, according to Religión en Libertad.

The assailants gained access to the parish complex after violently forcing entry into the Caritas premises. 

The gate was torn off and the door pried open, causing damage to the supporting wall. 

Once inside, they forced several doors and cabinets, including those of the church and sacristy, and searched the various rooms.

The consecrated hosts had been removed

During the break-in, both tabernacles of the parish were opened: the one normally used for the eucharistic reserve and another that houses a relic of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque.

According to the published information, the parish priest had previously removed the consecrated hosts due to the suspension of regular worship during the month of August, so the Blessed Sacrament was not inside the tabernacle at the time of the incident.

The relic of the parish’s patron saint was later found on the floor of the church, while the interior of the church and sacristy appeared completely ransacked.

The perpetrators stole the money from the offering boxes, as well as tools and paint supplies recently used in improvement work on the facilities.

A parish dedicated to social outreach

The parish of Santa Margarita María de Alacoque carries out much of its activity through Caritas and organizes training courses aimed at facilitating the job placement of unemployed people. 

It also hosts Madrid’s Coptic Orthodox community for the celebration of their religious services.

Following the break-in, the parish community continues to assess the damage and review the inventory to determine whether additional items were stolen. 

So far, no information has been released regarding the identity of those responsible for the desecration and theft, while investigations are expected to clarify what happened.

Ombudsman raises to 450 the files of the reparation system for abuses in the Church

The Office of the Ombudsman reported this Monday that the Victims Unit, created within the framework of the recognition and reparation system for victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, is currently analyzing 450 cases. 

Of these, 149 are already in the processing phase, the final stage of the procedure in which the recognition of victim status is determined and, where applicable, the corresponding reparation.

According to data provided by the institution, as of July 31 the Unit has held personalized interviews with 105 people and has rejected four applications on the grounds that they did not fit the scope of work established in the Protocol signed on March 30, 2026 between the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), the Spanish Conference of Religious (CONFER), the Government and the Ombudsman.

The figure represents an increase compared to the latest report released by the institution at the end of May, when the Unit reported that it was analyzing 317 cases.

Processing of the first cases advances

The recognition and reparation system began operating on April 15, once the Victims Unit was established, made up of independent professionals specialized in victimology, psychology, criminology and other legal disciplines. 

Since then, it has received applications forwarded by the Processing Unit of the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes.

The Protocol establishes that, after studying each case and hearing the parties involved, the Unit must prepare a proposal for recognition or denial of victim status within a maximum period of three months. 

This period may be extended by one additional month when there is an extraordinary volume of applications or the cases present special complexity.

The 149 cases that have already moved to the processing phase are in the final stage of the procedure, in which both the recognition of victim status and the reparation that, where applicable, corresponds are determined.

Symbolic, restorative and economic reparations

The Protocol contemplates different forms of reparation. These may be symbolic or restorative in nature, through institutional recognition, accompaniment of victims or the request for apologies. 

It also provides for economic reparations aimed at compensating for the damage caused and the expenses derived from the treatment of possible physical and psychological after-effects.

When presenting the operation of this system, the Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, stated that the objective of the procedure is to «recover the person and repair damages» and affirmed that «it is not a mere objectifying bureaucratic procedure but a flexible, personalized, professional and humane procedure.»

Mozambican Cardinal Júlio Duarte Langa dies at the age of 98

Cardinal Júlio Duarte Langa, bishop emeritus of Xai-Xai (Mozambique), passed away on August 3 at the age of 98 at the Central Hospital of Maputo, according to Vatican News. 

The cardinal was the second in the history of the Church in Mozambique and dedicated a large part of his episcopal ministry to accompanying the population during the civil war that marked the country and in situations of epidemics and natural disasters.

With his passing, the College of Cardinals now consists of 240 cardinals, of whom 116 are electors and 124 are non-electors.

An episcopate marked by civil war

Born on October 27, 1927, in Mangunze, Júlio Duarte Langa completed his ecclesiastical studies at the seminaries of Magude and Namaacha, then belonging to the archdiocese of Lourenço Marques, now Maputo. 

He was ordained a priest on June 9, 1957, and began his ministry as a parochial vicar and later as a parish priest in the mission of Malaisse. 

He later held responsibilities as a diocesan consultor, member of the presbyteral council, and vicar general.

On May 31, 1976, Pope Paul VI appointed him bishop of João Belo, a diocese that on October 1 of the same year was renamed Xai-Xai. 

He received episcopal ordination on October 24, 1976, and remained at the head of that particular Church for 28 years, until his retirement in June 2004.

His episcopal ministry coincided with one of the most difficult periods in Mozambique’s recent history, marked by civil war and its social consequences. 

During those years, he promoted the pastoral life of the diocese and paid special attention to communities affected by the conflict, as well as by epidemics and natural disasters.

Cardinal since 2015

Pope Francis created him a cardinal in the consistory of February 14, 2015, assigning him the title of San Gabriele dell’Addolorata. 

His appointment made him the second cardinal in Mozambique’s history.

In addition to his pastoral work, Duarte Langa stood out for his knowledge of local languages. 

He participated in the edition of the translation of the texts of the Second Vatican Council into the main languages of Mozambique, contributing to their dissemination among the country’s Catholic communities.

Spittle and stones against an Armenian church in Jerusalem

The Armenian church in the Old City of Jerusalem was the target of an attack on Saturday night, when several people spat at the temple and threw stones at the building. 

Israeli Police detained six suspects, five of them minors, in a new episode of harassment against the Christian presence in the holy city.

According to the KNA agency, the arrests took place after several citizens reported the incident. 

The Police requested pretrial detention for three of the suspects, while the other three were released under certain conditions.

A pattern of aggression against Christians

The attack is not an isolated incident. In recent weeks, various organizations and international media have warned of the increase in attacks against churches, monasteries, clergy, and Christian faithful, especially in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The Religious Freedom Data Center (RFDC) documented 83 attacks against Christians between April and June 2026, almost double the number recorded in the previous quarter. 

Most of the incidents occurred in Jerusalem and involved spitting, physical assaults, threats, insults, vandalism, and the throwing of stones and other objects at churches and monasteries.

The report also notes that many of the attackers are minors and that, in some cases, they act with the encouragement of their own parents, a detail that reappears in this latest incident, where five of the six detainees are minors.

Growing concern among Christian communities

The increase in these attacks has been repeatedly denounced by the Churches of the Holy Land. 

An extensive report published this weekend by The Wall Street Journal includes testimonies from priests and religious who claim that spitting, insults, and acts of harassment have become a daily reality for those wearing habits or displaying visible signs of their faith in Jerusalem.

Among the most serious incidents this year was the assault suffered in April by a French nun on Mount Zion, who was pushed to the ground and kicked by a Jewish extremist. 

The attacker was arrested and the incident prompted widespread international condemnation.

Police promise to act firmly

Following the attack on the Armenian church, Israeli Police stated that it “takes all forms of violence and racism very seriously” and reiterated its commitment to act “with determination” to identify those responsible, bring them to justice, and ensure public safety.

The new incident once again highlights the growing vulnerability of Christian communities in Jerusalem, where attacks on places of worship, clergy, and the faithful have become an increasingly frequent concern for the Churches present in the Holy Land.

A blasphemous work in Germany crucifies a whale and parodies the Holy Mass

A theatrical work premiered at the Ernst Deutsch Theater in Hamburg has turned the Passion of Christ and the Holy Mass into a blasphemous parody. TIMMY: Die Hope stirbt zuletzt («Timmy: hope is the last thing to die») features a crucified humpback whale, celebrates a supposed «mass» in its honor, and replaces the «Alleluia» with the cry «Walleluja», drawing on some of the most sacred symbols of Christianity to construct its stage proposal.

The play’s director, Alexander Klessinger, describes the production as a «modern Passion story» and even as a «mass for Timmy». 

In his view, the whale has become a «kind of salvific figure» onto which millions of people project their longings for meaning, hope, and redemption.

A whale turned into a «figure of salvation»

The work takes as its starting point the case of Timmy, the humpback whale that became stranded and whose rescue attempt sparked intense public and media attention in Germany.

Building on that story, the performance constructs a parallel with the Passion of Christ. The cetacean appears nailed to a cross, is placed on an altar while an actor dressed as a priest celebrates a supposed «Holy Mass for Timmy», and its «resurrection» is greeted with cries of «Walleluja», a deliberate distortion of the Christian «Alleluia».

The director himself maintains that his intention is not to ridicule Jesus Christ, but to question the need of secularized societies to create new «figures of salvation» when traditional religious references disappear. 

According to this interpretation, the whale would have become a screen onto which to project ecological guilt and the hope of redemption through environmental commitment.

A new profanation of Christian symbols

The production joins a long series of artistic works that resort to the profanation of the Cross and Catholic liturgy as a provocative device. 

In this case, the play replaces Jesus Christ with a whale turned into a «figure of salvation» and transforms the Eucharistic celebration into a «mass for Timmy», using the altar, liturgical vestments, and the Church’s own language for parodic purposes.

For the Christian faith, the Cross is not an interchangeable symbol of suffering nor a dramatic device applicable to any cause. It is the sign of the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ, while the Holy Mass sacramentally renews that unique sacrifice. 

The use of both as theatrical elements to construct a satire constitutes a trivialization of what millions of Christians consider sacred.

Although the director claims to intend to criticize certain social phenomena and new forms of «secular religion», the work ultimately uses precisely the central symbols of Christianity as the vehicle for that critique. 

The Passion of Christ, the Cross, and the Eucharist cease to be objects of veneration and become instruments of a stage provocation that would hardly have achieved the same impact without resorting to the parody of the sacred.

Blasphemy as a means of attention

This is not the first time that contemporary art has used Christian symbols to ensure media impact. 

Among the best-known precedents are the sculpture of the crucified toad by Martin Kippenberger, which provoked the protest of Benedict XVI, or the production SANCTA by Florentina Holzinger, in which a nun engaged in sexual relations with a crucifix.

The Cross is not an interchangeable symbol of suffering nor a dramatic device applicable to any cause. 

It is the sign of the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ, while the Holy Mass sacramentally renews that unique sacrifice.

With the crucifixion of a whale, the celebration of a false Mass, and the replacement of Christ by an animal elevated to a «figure of salvation», TIMMY: Die Hope stirbt zuletzt joins the list of productions that resort to blasphemy and the parody of Christian symbols as their main element of provocation.

Names of 341 former Christian Brothers published following court order in sex abuse case

The names of 341 former Christian Brothers who are being joined as defendants to a case where a man who was sexually abused in primary school in the 1970s is suing the congregation, have been published in a national newspaper.

The men on the list, who were all Christian Brothers between September 1974 and December 1979, are not alleged to have anything to do with the sexual assault, but find themselves being joined to the case because of the controversial legal strategy being adopted by the congregation.

The litigant is suing the Christian Brothers for abuse he suffered when attending the CBS school on Stephen Street, Kilkenny, where he was sexually assaulted by former brother Liam Coughlan.

Coughlan (90) was jailed in 2023 for sexually assaulting the man and 23 other former pupils in the 1970s. 

More recently, he was convicted of the sexual assault of nine former pupils of the CBS primary school on Patrick Street, Portarlington, Co Offaly, in the 1980s, following a trial by jury at Portlaoise Circuit Criminal Court.

Because the congregation is opting not to put forward a nominee for the purposes of litigation in cases where litigants are seeking damages for past sexual abuse, the men have to sue all members of the congregation at the time of the abuse in order to progress their case.

There are at least 50 such cases lodged in the High Court, court filings indicate. Lawyers acting for the litigants believe the strategy adopted by the congregation is designed to protect its assets.

In order to facilitate one such litigant, Judge Mary Rose Gearty of the High Court last week ordered that 341 former members of the order could be served with their summons by way of a newspaper advertisement, after the congregation told the court it did not have contact details for the men. Another approximately 100 men who are still in the congregation are also being joined as defendants.

In a letter in The Irish Times today, a former Christian Brother, Seán Ó Díomasaigh, from Dunsany, Co Meath, who is named in today’s advertisement, expressed his “profound disappointment and dismay” at the stance being adopted by the congregation.

“I am astonished that those charged with embodying Christian brotherhood have so clearly failed the most basic test of the Christian faith: to show humility, accept responsibility and stand unequivocally with victims,” he said.

“By abrogating responsibility to those harmed and adopting legal tactics that shield assets rather than confront wrongdoing, the leadership has allowed a reprehensible minority of Christian Brothers to tarnish the good name and lifetime service of many faithful brothers.”

When sentencing Coughlan to five years in jail last month for the Portarlington offences, the president of the Circuit Court, Keenan Johnson, said it was likely Coughlan would die in jail.

He also said the legal strategy being adopted by the Christian Brothers in civil cases where victims are seeking damages “strikes me as morally bankrupt and grossly unfair not only to victims but also to the many, many brothers who are totally innocent and blameless of any wrongdoing”.

The law firm representing the litigant in the Coughlan case, Coleman Legal, is to ask Gearty in the autumn for permission to serve summonses by way of newspaper advertisements in three other cases where the clients were sexually abused by then members of the Christian Brothers who are now in jail for the offences, and where the congregation has similarly opted not to put forward a nominee for the purposes of the litigation.

Philip Treacy, of Coleman Legal, described the decision to place an advertisement in a national newspaper as “unfortunately a necessary step”.

“It is a significant step – it is an unprecedented step, I believe. And it is unfortunately a necessary step in circumstances where no member of the organisation of the Christian Brothers has confirmed that they will act as nominee to represent the congregation,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

“The Christian Brothers is an unincorporated body, so it’s not like pursuing a legal entity. In circumstances where none of the members of an unincorporated body put themselves forward to represent the body as a whole in litigation, you must pursue all of the relevant members,” he said.

Treacy called on the Government to address the legal loophole where the Christian Brothers refused to put forward a nominee. 

“I believe the Law Reform Commission have looked into this and they would be in favour of a reform of that, but I believe the only way that this strategy will be prevented once and for all, will be shut down, is where Leinster House looks at this and amends the legislation.”

Treacy acknowledged that the Christian Brothers had done a lot of good in communities and were widely respected as educators. 

“Unfortunately, they had some of their members abusing children, but now many years later they’re finding that their names are being printed and they are now full defendants in these cases – they are now legally being pursued.”

Archdiocese of Bombay: Anti-conversion law could target Christian ministry

The Archdiocese of Bombay has voiced “deep concern” over a new anti-conversion law that it says could penalize the work of the Church in the state of Maharashtra, and reflects an ongoing effort to intimidate religious minorities — including Christians — across much of India.

The archdiocese said in a statement last week that while the Catholic Church “has always unequivocally condemned conversion through force, fraud, coercion or inducement,” similar laws in other Indian states have been “used more often to intimidate religious minorities than to address genuine instances of wrongdoing.”

“Experience in other States raises serious concerns that such legislation can place a disproportionate burden on Christian communities, inter-faith couples and others exercising the constitutionally protected freedom to profess, practise and propagate their faith,” the archdiocese said.

The archdiocese released its statement following reports that Indian President Droupadi Murmu had approved the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, paving the way for it to go into effect.

The second most populous state in India, Maharashtra will become the 13th state to adopt an anti-conversion law, with the stated aim of preventing coerced conversions.

But the laws’ critics have consistently argued that they are also used to discourage voluntary conversions from Hinduism, India’s main religion, to minority faiths, including Christianity.

Christians make up less than 1% of the population in Maharashtra.

The Archdiocese of Bombay objected in particular to the legislation’s “vague and overbroad terminology,” as well as a provision allowing the blood relative of a new convert to lodge a “first information report” with the police. A first information report is a crucial initial step in a criminal investigation in India.

This provision, the archdiocese said, “raises concerns about an adult’s right to make an independent decision of conscience. It also creates the possibility of misuse by families opposed to an inter-faith marriage or to a person’s decision to change one’s religion.”

Additionally, the archdiocese warned, the law enables police officers “to take cognisance on their own initiative, ahead of any complaint from an affected person, [which] creates scope for undue scrutiny or surveillance of prayer meetings, schools, hospitals and social-service centres run by minority institutions.”

In March, when the bill passed the legislature, bishops in Maharashtra warned that it could lead to the risk of imprisonment for OCIA leaders.

While the OCIA program, which prepares adults to join the Catholic Church, is specifically crafted to avoid forced conversions and ensure that adults make a free and informed decision to become Catholic, the wording of the legislation could allow for the prosecution of OCIA leaders, they said.

“If family members, who may naturally oppose such a decision, raise objections, the clergy and others involved in the process risk being accused of coercion or of ‘brainwashing’ as mentioned in 2(p) of the bill,” the bishops said at the time.

“In such circumstances, they face the threat of severe and disproportionate penalties, including imprisonment of up to seven years and heavy fines, despite the absence of any wrongdoing. This effectively criminalizes legitimate religious activity and places an unreasonable burden on both the individual and the religious institution.”

In its statement last week, the Archdiocese of Bombay noted that the local Christian community has experienced a recent increase in intimidation directed at its educational and social work.

“There is a genuine concern that ordinary acts of charity and pastoral service could be misconstrued as inducement, placing religious congregations and Christian institutions in the position of having to defend their work before the police and courts, rather than being able to focus on serving the communities they were established to uplift,” the archdiocese said.

It added that in other states, similar laws have been used to harass minority religions and couples in inter-faith marriages.

“More broadly, religious minorities face the risk of a law intended to prevent coercion could instead be weaponised as an instrument of harassment, social boycott and vigilante action. In such circumstances, an accused person may be presumed guilty in the court of public opinion long before any judicial finding has been made,” the statement said.

It asked the state government to consider the law’s effect on religious minorities and to ensure that “adequate safeguards, clear definitions and procedural protections are put in place to prevent its misuse against minority communities.”

Experts maintain that the license for the Seville mosque complies with the law despite neighborhood opposition

The granting of the building permit for the construction of the future mosque and Islamic cultural center in Seville’s Polígono Sur district continues to generate reactions. 

While Vox maintains its appeal against the municipal authorization and part of the neighborhood continues to show its rejection of the project, experts in Ecclesiastical Law consider that the file meets the legal requirements and that any eventual revocation would have little legal scope.

According to ABC Sevilla, María del Mar Leal, professor of Ecclesiastical Law of the State at the University of Seville, maintains that the City Council verified during the processing the compliance with urban planning regulations, the classification and use of the land, as well as accessibility and safety requirements before granting the permit.

The jurist points out that these checks differentiate the file from the failed Los Bermejales project, which was annulled at the time by the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia after problems related to urban classification were identified. 

In her opinion, if the permit complies with the requirements established by the regulations, the main obstacle to the development of the project would not be legal, but the social and political pressure generated around the future mosque.

Vox maintains its objections

The party maintains the appeal filed against the permit, considering that the urban planning regime applied does not correspond to the intended use of the building. 

During the processing of the file, Vox argued that the main use of the property would be as a place of worship and not as a cultural center, an argument that prompted the City Council to request new technical and legal reports before finally granting the authorization.

Against that interpretation, Leal considers that the project contemplates both a religious use and community facilities use, so she understands that the permit complies with urban planning.

The Archdiocese maintains the same position

On the ecclesiastical level, there have been no new developments regarding the position expressed by the Archdiocese of Seville during the processing of the project.

Last July, the Archbishop of Seville, Monsignor José Ángel Saiz Meneses, avoided commenting on the advisability of building the mosque and framed the issue within the right to religious freedom. 

In his statements, he recalled Article 16 of the Spanish Constitution and the conciliar declaration Dignitatis humanae, emphasizing that the exercise of that right must be carried out in accordance with current legislation.

Along the same lines, the diocesan delegate for Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue, Miguel Ángel Núñez, now states that “from a Catholic point of view, there is no possible religious objection” and also refers to the declaration Nostra aetate, dedicated to the Church’s relations with non-Christian religions.

A debate that moves to the social sphere

With the permit already granted, the debate surrounding the future mosque has moved beyond the administrative phase and continues mainly in the political and neighborhood spheres.

The project, promoted by the Seville Mosque Foundation, plans the construction of an Islamic complex next to Polígono Sur that will include a place of worship, a cultural center, and various spaces for community use. 

If carried out, it would become the first large newly built mosque in Seville after more than two decades of projects that never materialized.

Who would envy Pope Leo his life's work? (Contribution)

Pope Leo is a busy man. 

On a visit to Rome last year and a fleeting glimpse of the hectic round of appointments, meetings and Masses that mark his day, I got some sense of the daily and weekly schedule that is the lot of Pope Leo XIV. It was a privilege and an instruction to see him up close. 

Like so many others I found the experience unusually moving. Clearly a man of prayer and reflection, he seemed unusually placid and unself-absorbed as he took in his stride responsibilities that could easily overwhelm a less composed personality.

Extraordinarily calm and self-assured, here was the man who challenged Trump when others were indulging his childish fantasies. A man who up close looks extraordinarily young for a pope – even though he is 70. 

A polyglot, he has a high efficiency in a number of languages, easing out of one and seamlessly into another as he famously exhibited immediately after his election as pope. 

And, for the English-speaking world, crucially the first pope who speaks fluent English – his native language – and whose every comment we can understand clearly without the questionable benefit of Vatican bureaucrats mangling in translation some obscure indeed unintelligible version of King’s English.

It was a relief to hear too that Leo has, in so far as it is possible to achieve it in a crazily busy place like Rome, a determination to balance his impossible work-load by taking a full day away from his desk every week. 

Apparently, he has designated Tuesdays as his day off. 

He leaves Rome for Castel Gandolfo (25 km away) every week where he spends his Tuesdays, which includes a sleepover and a day relaxing by indulging his passion for tennis, swimming and (unusually) for horse-riding, a skill he acquired in his years in the diocese of Chiclayo in northern Peru when he visited villages that were only accessible on horse-back.

Unlike Pope Francis, who rarely visited Castel Gandolfo unless fleetingly, Leo realises the need to have an oasis of calm, a refuge in which to escape periodically from a busy and stressful life - and in the process to give a sensible example to bishops and priests who sometimes foolishly imagine that their dioceses or parishes couldn’t possibly survive their absence for one day a week. 

Francis never took a day off and that was his right but most Catholics I imagine are more than happy that on Tuesdays Pope Leo enjoys a necessary temporary relief from his demanding workload – playing tennis, swimming in the pool and galloping on his Arab stallion, Proton, in the grounds of Castel Gandolfo.

That’s not to say that the memory of his predecessor will be in any way compromised by Leo’s style. 

Far from it. 

Francis will forever be identified with bringing the vision and the teaching of the Second Vatican Council back on the agenda of the Catholic Church and in so doing has resurrected hope for the future of our church. 

During my Rome visit I had the privilege of visiting Francis’ grave, marked by a simple stone with one word FRANCISCUS in capitals. It was for me an emotional release of sheer gratitude to Francis for re-setting the agenda for the future and in so doing putting into due perspective the pontificates of his predecessors when Vatican Two was casually and (for the Church) shamefully relegated to the sidelines. 

I will remember that visit to his grave for as long as I live.

Meanwhile back in Leo’s office the recent challenge was what to do about the impending threat of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) to ordain without papal permission four priests as ‘Catholic’ bishops. The (SSPX) was founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebre. 

A French bishop, he believed that the reforms of the Second Vatican Council had lost touch with what he (and his followers) were convinced was the authentic Catholic tradition. 

Even though the documents of ‘Vatican Two’ (as that Council came to be known) were discussed by representatives of the bishops of the Catholic world in tandem with the pope and thus became the official teaching of the Catholic Church, Lefebre and others refused to accept or even recognise the documents of Vatican Two.

At first the breakaway group was regarded as little more than an interesting hissy fit on the sidelines of church history but in 1988 Lefebre decided to consecrate four bishops without papal approval and this led to a number of excommunications and an immediate break with Rome.

Later Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications as a way of drawing the group back into the Catholic fold and later again Pope Francis I granted SSPX priests faculties to validly hear confessions and to celebrate marriages in an effort to heal the division. 

But the more concessions were offered, the more confident and rigid in their beliefs the SSPX became.

Leo appealed to them – in effect, begged them – not to ordain any more bishops without a papal mandate. He described that decision as the equivalent of ‘tearing the seamless garment of Jesus Christ’.

The SSPX ignored him and went ahead with the ordinations. 

The following day the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome announced a decree of automatic excommunication for the ordaining bishop, for the more than 700 priests of the SSPX society who ‘are in schism and who must therefore be considered schismatic’ as well as lay-people who ‘formally adhere’ to the society.

Who would want to be a bishop? is a cry not unknown in Catholic dioceses – especially when ‘difficult’ priests or ‘awkward’ parishioners, like the SSPX society, insist on having their own way regardless of the consequences – because they are always right! 

But who would want to be pope? must ring out late at night in the corridors of the Vatican.

Who would envy Leo his life’s work? 

Apart from possibly those who know it all but often, like the SSPX, don’t know how little they know and the damage they do.

Leo deserves his swim and his horse Proton.

Vatican Increases Net Worth by $3 Billion in 2025

The Vatican’s financial investments and assets rose to a net worth of approximately $3 billion (2.686 billion euros) in 2025.

According to the annual report released on July 31 by the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), the profit increased by $102 million (89 million euros) compared with 2024. 

The profit was also mainly due to the revaluation of physical gold, the increase in the value of real estate, and the positive valuation of financial securities.

Speaking to Vatican Media, APSA President Archbishop Giordano Piccinotti said that comparing profits in 2024 and 2025 should be done with caution, as 2025 was marked by extraordinary income from the reorganization of financial flows, a situation he described as unrepeatable.

“APSA’s purpose is not to generate an annual profit, but rather to preserve and strengthen the patrimony entrusted to it,” he stated.

According to the 2025 report, real estate management was APSA’s main economic driver that year, with a profit of $51 million (44.5 million euros), an improvement of $10.8 million (9.4 million euros) over the $40.3 million (35.1 million euros) recorded in 2024.

This growth was driven by higher income from properties directly managed by APSA in Italy. APSA also manages approximately 1,200 properties abroad, including residential and commercial units, primarily in London, Paris, Geneva, and Lausanne, Switzerland.

APSA also made profits from its stakeholdings in several companies, including the Société Sopridex in France, the British Grolux Investments in the United Kingdom, and Profima S.A. in Switzerland.

Cardinal Becciu and the London property sale

For investments, APSA reported that it continues the financial and legal procedures for the divestment of the Luxembourg fund U.K. Opportunities (Sloane & Cadogan), in compliance with a 2020 motu proprio issued by Pope Francis to strengthen transparency and control of Vatican investments.

The fund is linked to the controversial real estate deal involving the Sloane Avenue building in London, which led to one of the Vatican’s biggest financial scandals in recent years. 

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, was at the center of this scandal, and the Vatican sentenced him to five years and six months in prison.

Since his conviction in 2023, Becciu has pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied any wrongdoing.

The Vatican court ordered a retrial of Becciu’s case on March 17 after the initial sentence was overturned due to a "relative nullity" caused by violations of the right to defense. On Sept. 30, the appeal process against Becciu and other defendants will resume.

Growth by gold, money in reserves, and supporting Roman Curia

The growth in assets was mainly driven by the revaluation of physical gold in the portfolio, which contributed $46.9 million (40.8 million euros), as well as by the increase in the value of real estate by $45.1 million (39.2 million euros) and the appreciation of financial securities by $18.8 million (16.3 million euros).

Financial management showed a negative accounting result of $4.3 million (3.7 million euros) in 2025, compared with a positive $43.8 million (38.1 million euros) in 2024. However, APSA explained that this figure is mainly due to the application of the new Holy See accounting standards, the Vatican Financial Management Policy.

In 2025, APSA allocated a total of $26.1 million (22.7 million euros) to cover the financial needs of the Roman Curia, fully complying with the contribution requested by the Holy See.

Jewish Settlers Attack Armenian Church in Occupied Al-Quds, Hurling Stones and Spitting at Entrance

Jewish settlers attacked the Armenian Church in Occupied Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday, in the latest assault targeting Christian holy sites in the occupied city.

The Jerusalem Governorate said a group of Jewish settlers attacked the Armenian Church, throwing stones at its entrance and collectively spitting on its doors.

Footage circulating from the scene showed settlers hurling stones at the church while spitting on its entrance during the attack.

Churches and Christian holy sites in Occupied Jerusalem have been subjected to repeated attacks by extremist settlers, alongside violations committed by Israeli forces.

Diocese of Buffalo releases investigative findings regarding three priests

The Diocese of Buffalo announced Monday that Bishop Michael Fisher has reviewed and accepted the findings of the Diocese's Independent Review Board pertaining to allegations against three local priests.

In two instances — regarding Reverend Patrick O'Keefe and Reverend Jeffrey Nowak — the investigation determined the allegations were substantiated.

Allegations made by a mother of a teenager who died in 2017 against Reverend Joseph Gatto were determined by the investigation to be unsubstantiated.

The investigation into Gatto was carried out by Julie Ledwin, a retired detective from Buffalo Police's Sex Offense Squad. Her report determined that any allegation that Gatto had an inappropriate relationship with the teenager or did anything to contribute to his death is unsubstantiated. The report determined that Gatto "maintains the ability to carry out his priestly ministry."

Allegations of inappropriate conduct toward adults made against O'Keefe were investigated by retired police detective Jacqueline Sullivan. Her report concluded the allegations are substantiated and recommended that O'Keefe not be allowed to resume active ministry.

In the case of Nowak, who was arrested and charged last month with possession of child sex abuse material, the review board did not conduct its own investigation, instead relying on the findings of the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI. 

Based on those findings, the IRB recommended Nowak "be removed from the 'clerical state' in an expedited manner."

Has the Christian Brothers’ ‘grossly unfair’ legal strategy backfired? (Opinion)

The controversial legal strategy adopted by the Christian Brothers in claims for damages taken by victims may have backfired.

A legal ruling this week means hundreds of former brothers now find themselves about to be publicly named regarding legal claims for damages for child sex abuse crimes they had no knowledge of.

The congregation has not said why it has adopted its highly obstructive strategy, but one of the State’s most senior judges expressed the belief last week it was intended to protect the congregation’s assets – which remain considerable.

Lawyers representing claimants have long believed that the congregation is making it so time-consuming, difficult and expensive to take a case for damages in the hope that claimants will be inclined to settle for lower amounts, while those considering making claims will be put off doing so.

One of the State’s most senior judges, the president of the Circuit Court, Keenan Johnson, said the Christian Brothers had adopted their obstructive strategy in order to protect their assets.

The congregation is an unincorporated association, as are most religious organisations. This means there is no incorporated entity that can be taken to court and sued.

Most religious orders put forward a nominee for the purposes of litigation but the Christian Brothers, for the past number of years, have chosen not to do so.

When delivering sentence in a criminal case last week involving a former Christian Brother, Johnson referred to the approach being adopted by the congregation in civil cases.

‘A monumental task’

“That approach has the effect of frustrating the claims of victims, as proceedings have to be served on each individual member and former member of the congregation, which is a monumental task that appears to have been adopted to protect the assets of the congregation and wear down claimants through attrition,” he said.

He made the remarks while sentencing Liam Coughlan (90), who was already serving time in jail for child sex abuse in a Kilkenny school, to a further five years for the sexual abuse of nine primary school pupils in Portarlington in the 1980s.

The congregation’s approach in the civil courts “strikes me as morally bankrupt and grossly unfair not only to victims but also to the many, many brothers who are totally innocent and blameless of any wrongdoing”, Johnson said.

“I merely mention it because it is so unfair to victims and, in this case, the court has nine victims to consider.”

Judge Mary Rose Gearty, in the High Court, made an order this week that will allow a claimant seeking damages for being sexually abused by Coughlan in a primary school in Kilkenny in the 1970s to progress his case by way of what is called substitute service. Other claimants are now likely to be granted similar orders.

Normally, a summons must be served directly on a defendant in a civil claim. In the case before Gearty, the judge has ruled that instead of having to track down 341 former brothers who were members of the congregation at the time the claimant was sexually assaulted by Coughlan, the man’s law firm, Coleman Legal, can instead put a notice in a national newspaper listing all the men’s names.

The notice will also include details of the case and a warning that, if the men do not put in an appearance within a stated time, judgment may be given against them in default of appearance.

The notice is expected to be published next week.

Former members of the Christian Brothers who are still alive will suffer the stress of being publicly named in connection with a child sex abuse case with which they have otherwise no connection.

They also face the worry that they may have damages awarded against them.

It means the claimant’s name will be published, something that might not otherwise occur because the case involves child sex abuse.

Under the Civil Liability Act, in cases where an unincorporated association is being sued, its members at the time of the material event can each be held liable for damages.

Although it is not likely that any former member of the Christian Brothers will end up having to pay out for crimes committed by others in the congregation, it is a legal possibility and, therefore, presumably a source of stress for the men involved.

Court files indicate there have been 50 or more sets of legal proceedings lodged in the High Court against the congregation in recent years involving claims of historical child sex abuse.

The head of the congregation in Ireland, Br David Gibson, despite opting not to put himself forward as a nominee for the purposes of litigation, has in the past put himself forward as the congregation’s nominee for the purposes of mediation talks. However, to date, this has been a rare occurrence.

Settlements agreed against that backdrop are settled out of the congregation’s finances.

According to the Charities Regulator, the Congregation of Christian Brothers European Province-Republic of Ireland had net assets of €44 million at the end of 2024.

Gibson’s next move will be watched with great interest by a significant number of people.

"The sex is not a spectrum": Caribbean bishops publish a guide to confront gender ideology in schools, parishes and families

The bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference have published a comprehensive pastoral guide to help Catholic schools, parishes, catechists, and families address the challenges posed by gender ideology.  

The document, one of the most complete issued in recent years by an episcopal conference on this matter, combines a solid doctrinal exposition with practical guidelines to respond to situations increasingly common in educational and pastoral life.

The pastoral letter, titled Pastoral Letter on Sexual and Gender Identity, starts from the conviction that the Church is called to respond «with truth and charity» to a cultural context that presents human identity as fluid and self-determined. 

In response, the bishops recall that «identity is received, not invented; the body has meaning, it is not malleable,» and warn that separating personal identity from bodily reality leads to a mistaken understanding of the human person.

«Sex is not a spectrum»

The bishops recall Catholic doctrine on sexual difference, drawing on both Christian anthropology and biological data.

«Sex is not a spectrum. It is a binary reality, inscribed in our nature, affirmed by biology, and upheld by faith«

The letter adds that «there is no third gamete nor a spectrum of possible gametes» and notes that intersex conditions, while requiring appropriate medical and pastoral accompaniment, «do not constitute a third sex.»

The document insists that the human being was created «male and female» and that the body is not a secondary element of personal identity. «The body is not a prison from which the self must escape, but an expression of the gift received from God,» the prelates emphasize.

A guide for schools, parishes, and families

Far from limiting itself to stating doctrinal principles, the letter offers concrete guidelines for addressing situations already arising in schools, parishes, and catechetical groups.

The bishops urge Catholic schools to «resist any curriculum or external influence that promotes gender ideology» and call for forming students in a Christian vision of the person. They also defend parents’ right to educate their children according to their convictions and demand protection for minors from any form of premature social or medical transition.

Among the recommendations is also the use of language. The document calls for avoiding expressions that, in the bishops’ view, incorporate the assumptions of gender ideology.

«Avoid and reject terminology that affirms gender ideology, for example ‘sex assigned at birth,’ ‘gender identity’ separate from sex, and ‘cisgender’, and always use language that affirms biological truth and the unity of the human person,» the guide states.

How to respond when a student identifies as trans or non-binary

The episcopal conference’s publication includes an extensive appendix of real-life situations addressed to teachers, catechists, and pastoral agents.

When a female student states, «I think I’m a boy, not a girl,» the proposed response invites listening with respect, acknowledging any suffering she may be experiencing, and accompanying her with closeness, but without reinforcing an identity different from her biological sex. 

«Do not refer to her with male pronouns or a new name, as that would reinforce the confusion,» the bishops advise.

In another scenario, a student communicates that he no longer considers himself either male or female. The guide recommends avoiding «invented pronouns or labels» and gently reminding that «each of us has been created male or female. That is something sacred; it is not something we invent.»

The document also addresses the case of a teacher required to use pronouns chosen by a student. 

In that situation, it proposes explaining that «using inaccurate pronouns affirms a false identity, something I cannot do in conscience» and, when possible, addressing the student by name to avoid unnecessary conflict.

The bishops thus emphasize that it is possible to combine respect and welcome for each person with fidelity to the truth about human nature, offering concrete pastoral criteria for addressing issues that increasingly arise in the life of the Church.

A call to intervene in the public debate as well

The letter does not limit these guidelines to the ecclesial sphere. 

The bishops explicitly encourage parents, educators, healthcare professionals, and policymakers to participate in the public debate to defend a Christian vision of the person and the family.

«Our voice must not remain within the sanctuary. It must reach the halls of power,» they state. Therefore, they urge the promotion of laws and policies that protect the dignity of every person, educational freedom, and parents’ rights, while rejecting initiatives inspired by gender ideology.

Published on July 26, the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, the pastoral letter constitutes one of the most complete and clear episcopal responses issued to date on sexual identity and gender ideology. 

In addition to reaffirming Catholic doctrine, it offers concrete criteria for education, pastoral care, healthcare, and the presence of Catholics in the public debate.