Pope Leo XIV recalls in the Angelus that faith is strengthened in weakness: "Jesus does not abandon us"

Pope Leo XIV warned this Sunday against the temptation to trust in oneself in the face of success and to fall into despair when facing difficulties. 

During the Angelus for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Pontiff reflected on the Gospel passage in which Christ walks on the waters and recalled that the disciples had to experience their own weakness in order to truly recognize the presence of God. 

“Jesus does not abandon us,” he affirmed, pointing out that through “prayer, the Sacraments and listening to his Word” the Christian finds in Christ “peace, light and strength” for his journey.

After the Marian prayer, Leo XIV renewed his appeals for peace amid the wars in Sudan and Ukraine. The Pope called for humanitarian corridors for the Sudanese civilian population and an immediate ceasefire, while, in the face of new civilian victims in Ukraine and Russia—including children—he urged both sides to respect humanitarian law and to cease attacks on civilian targets: “War only generates more war.” 

The Pontiff concluded by asking that “the spiral of violence” be stopped and that space be given to diplomacy and dialogue, before addressing young people in particular and inviting them to know and follow the example of saints such as Saint Dominic, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Saint Lawrence and Saint Clare of Assisi.

The Pope’s Words at the Angelus Prayer:

Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday!

Today the Gospel speaks to us of Jesus who, on the Sea of Galilee, reaches the disciples in the midst of a storm, walking on the waters (cf. Mt 14:22-33).

After the miracle of the loaves and fishes (cf. Mt 14:13-21), the Master urges his own to get into the boat and put out to sea, while he withdraws to the mountain, alone, to pray. Yet, far from the shore, they find themselves at the mercy of the wind and have difficulty making headway. After an experience of success, in which they had been protagonists of a prodigious sign, they now find themselves powerless and frightened before the threat of the waves and the contrary wind.

At the end of the night, Jesus comes to meet them on the troubled waters and, frightened, they mistake him for a ghost (v. 26). But he says to them: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid!” (v. 27). The presence of the Lord changes everything: Peter even manages to take a few steps on the waves toward him; then he becomes frightened, begins to sink, and Jesus saves him. When the Master gets into the boat, the storm calms and then the profession of faith spontaneously rises from the hearts of the disciples: “Truly you are the Son of God” (v. 33).

To reach this point, it was not enough for them to have witnessed a miracle or to have had success before the people: they had to pass through the experience of their own weakness and, in it, recognize the presence of God. Only then could they truly open their eyes and hearts to his nearness, recovering peace even in the midst of the storm.

One day, some time later, Jesus would say to them: “If you have faith and do not doubt […], if you say to this mountain, ‘Move from here and throw yourself into the sea,’ it will be done” (Mt 21:21). And this is precisely what they experienced on the lake: the peace of Christ, who had been on the mountain praying, reached them in the midst of the fury of the waters.

This miracle, therefore, teaches us something important: above all, not to exalt ourselves in the face of success and never to presume on ourselves; and, at the same time, not to despair, even in moments of darkness, when we feel powerless before problems and, despite our efforts, it seems we are going backward instead of forward. In every circumstance, Jesus does not abandon us and, if we humbly welcome him into the boat of our life—with prayer, with the Sacraments, with listening to his Word—we will find in him peace, light and strength for our journey.

May Mary help us to live in this way, with trusting abandonment to God, she who was proclaimed blessed because of her faith (cf. Lk 1:45).

After the Angelus:

Dear brothers and sisters:

I continue to follow with concern the tragic situation in Sudan, especially in the city of El Obeid. While expressing my spiritual closeness to the entire people of the nation, I renew my appeal to the authorities to guarantee humanitarian corridors for the civilian population. At the same time, I urge the international community to support efforts aimed at achieving an immediate ceasefire. Let us pray that the Lord may sustain those who suffer, convert the hearts of those who sow violence, and grant the long-awaited peace.

Painful news continues to arrive of innocent people killed and wounded in Ukraine and in Russia. Tragic episodes follow one after another, indeed multiply, causing ever more civilian victims, including children. I am close to the families of the victims, the wounded, and all those who suffer because of the ongoing conflict. In the face of so much pain, I renew an earnest appeal that humanitarian law be respected and that attacks affecting civilian targets cease on both sides. War only generates more war and causes immense suffering. It is time to stop the spiral of violence and give space to diplomacy and dialogue to open the way to peace.

And now I greet all of you, Romans and pilgrims from various countries.

I greet in particular the young people of the Santa Maria Maddalena Community of the Diocese of Milan, who have walked the Via Francigena from Siena to Rome; as well as the scouts from Enna, who have held their camp in the Roman Hills, and the young people from Pernumia, Diocese of Padua.

The presence of so many youth groups who choose to dedicate some days of their vacation to formative and friendship activities is a sign of hope; as was also the meeting of the young Franciscans, whom I had the joy of meeting last Thursday in Assisi.

To all of you, boys and girls who are listening to me, I wish to remind you that in these days the liturgical calendar proposes to us some splendid figures of saints, whom I invite you to know better: yesterday, the great Saint Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers; today, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Edith Stein, Carmelite martyred in Auschwitz and co-patroness of Europe; tomorrow, Saint Lawrence, deacon of the Church of Rome; the day after tomorrow, Saint Clare of Assisi, who left a comfortable life to follow Jesus poor and humble, following the example of her fellow citizen Saint Francis. Dear young people, let yourselves be enthused by these exemplary witnesses of the Gospel!

Thank you all for your presence and happy Sunday!

Lluís Bonet, former rector of the Sagrada Familia and promoter of Gaudí's cause, dies at the age of 95

The priest Lluís Bonet Armengol, rector for 25 years of the Sagrada Familia parish in Barcelona and vice-postulator of the cause for the beatification of Antoni Gaudí, passed away this Friday, August 7, at the age of 95, according to the Archdiocese of Barcelona. 

The priest was linked for decades to the basilica and to the promotion of the Christian dimension of the life and work of the Catalan architect.

Bonet served as rector of the Sagrada Familia parish from 1993 to 2018. His connection to the basilica also had a family component: he was the son of architect Lluís Bonet i Garí, a disciple and contemporary of Antoni Gaudí, and brother of Jordi Bonet i Armengol, who for years led the construction works of the basilica.

During the 25 years in which he served as rector, Bonet accompanied a period of significant progress in the construction of the Sagrada Familia and simultaneously developed his work related to Gaudí’s cause.

Vice-postulator of the cause of Antoni Gaudí

In 1998, Lluís Bonet was appointed vice-postulator of the cause for the beatification of Antoni Gaudí, whose process had begun at the diocesan level in 1994.

From this responsibility, he participated in the investigation into the life and faith of the architect and promoted various initiatives aimed at spreading his Christian dimension. Among them is the Gaudí collection, dedicated to compiling testimonies and studies about his life, work, and faith.

The cause has advanced since then to the recognition of the architect’s heroic virtues. In April 2025, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing these virtues, making Gaudí considered venerable by the Church.

His meeting with Leo XIV two months before his death

One of Lluís Bonet’s last public appearances took place precisely on June 10, during Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Barcelona on the occasion of the centenary of Antoni Gaudí’s death.

The priest participated in the Mass celebrated at the Sagrada Familia. 

According to the Archdiocese of Barcelona, at the end of the celebration the Pope approached to greet him and they exchanged a few words.

The celebration was part of the events organized around the centenary of Gaudí and took place in the basilica where Bonet had been rector for a quarter of a century.

He donated his body to science

The Archdiocese of Barcelona has also reported that Lluís Bonet had donated his body to science. For this reason, the funeral will not be held at this time. 

A diocesan and parish celebration in his memory is scheduled for September.

Bishop of Pittsburgh applies Traditionis custodes and ends a traditional Mass: "It was only meant to be temporary"

The Bishop of Pittsburgh, Mark A. Eckman, has decided not to request from Rome the renewal of the permission that allows the celebration of the Traditional Mass at St. Titus Church in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. 

The last celebration according to the Roman Missal of 1962 will take place on the upcoming September 4, ending a liturgical presence that had been maintained for years and forcing the faithful who wish to continue attending the Vetus Ordo to travel about 27 kilometers to another parish.

The decision was communicated by Eckman himself in a letter dated August 7 and addressed to the faithful of Mary, Queen of Saints, the parish to which St. Titus Church belongs. The bishop does not state that Rome has rejected a new extension: it was he who decided not to request it, allowing the currently valid authorization to expire.

The case falls within the application of Traditionis custodes, the motu proprio promulgated by Francis in July 2021 that introduced strong restrictions on celebrations according to the 1962 Missal. Among these is the requirement to obtain authorization from the Holy See to allow such celebrations in parish churches.

A permission that Rome had already extended

Eckman’s own letter allows us to reconstruct the process followed in recent years. In February 2022, his predecessor as head of Pittsburgh, David Zubik, wrote to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments to request authorization to maintain the Traditional Mass at St. Titus.

The request included its celebration on the third Sunday of each month —except when it coincided with certain solemnities— and on the first Friday of each month. The Dicastery granted the authorization on April 21, 2022 for a period of two years.

When that deadline approached, Zubik requested an extension. Rome again authorized the celebrations on September 3, 2024, again for two years.

The situation now changes with Eckman, who succeeded Zubik as Bishop of Pittsburgh in 2025. Unlike his predecessor, he has chosen not to request a new extension.

“After consulting with experts in the matter, and after much time dedicated to prayer and discernment, I have decided that I will not request a renewal of the permission to use the Roman Missal of 1962 at Mary, Queen of Saints Parish,” he explains.

The authorization, therefore, does not end after a refusal from Rome to maintain it, but by the ordinary’s decision not to ask that it be extended again.

Eckman maintains that the permission “was only intended to be temporary”

The central argument offered by the bishop is that these authorizations were of a transitional nature.

Eckman notes that when the Dicastery granted the permission, it reminded the diocese that the Missal promulgated by St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II constitutes the “only expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite,” a formulation contained in Traditionis custodes.

The bishop then states that the permission to celebrate according to the previous rite within a parish church “was only intended to be temporary” and maintains that the Holy See’s expectation was that the need for these authorizations would eventually disappear.

According to the explanation given in his letter, the goal would be to lead these faithful toward “the celebration of the post-conciliar rite.”

The faithful will have to travel about 27 kilometers

Eckman acknowledges in the letter itself that his decision will be “difficult” for some faithful who have found “spiritual nourishment” in the celebrations at St. Titus. He also thanks them for their love of the Eucharist, their devotion to the Church, and their desire to worship God.

However, those who wish to continue attending the Traditional Mass will have to do so elsewhere.

The bishop expressly invites them to attend Most Precious Blood of Jesus, a parish located in Pittsburgh and served by priests of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, where the Traditional liturgy is celebrated daily.

For the faithful who until now attended St. Titus, the proposed alternative involves traveling approximately 27 kilometers. The existence of this second community is precisely one of the circumstances that allows Eckman to suppress the celebrations at St. Titus without the Vetus Ordo disappearing completely from the diocese.

The prelate himself praises in his letter the work carried out there by the Institute of Christ the King and states that its priests celebrate the Traditional liturgy “every day with beauty, grace, and in conformity with all the norms of the Church.”

Full letter from Bishop Mark Eckman

August 7, 2026

Mary, Queen of Saints Parish
Attention: Reverend John B. Gizler III
115 Trinity Drive
Aliquippa, PA 15001

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Throughout my ministry as your bishop, I have sought to foster the unity of our local Church and to help us all grow ever more deeply in our love for the Eucharist and the sacred liturgy. As you know, on July 16, 2021, Pope Francis promulgated the Apostolic Letter motu proprio Traditionis custodes, whose norms regulate the use of the Roman Missal of 1962. Among other things, Traditionis custodes requires permission from the Holy See to use the former Roman Missal for the celebration of Mass in parish churches.

In February 2022, my predecessor, Bishop David A. Zubik, wrote to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and requested permission to use the Roman Missal of 1962 at St. Titus Church in Mary, Queen of Saints Parish on the third Sunday of each month, excluding the dates of Easter, Christmas, and Pentecost, as well as the first Friday of each month. On April 21, 2022, the Congregation granted that permission; however, the permission was granted only for a limited time: a period of two years. Subsequently, Bishop Zubik requested an extension of the permission, which was granted on September 3, 2024 for an additional period of two years.

In granting the permission, the Dicastery reminded us that the current Roman Missal promulgated by Popes St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II is the only expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite and that, therefore, the faithful must grow in their appreciation for it. To this end, the permission to celebrate according to the former rite in a parish church was only intended to be temporary. The expectation of the Holy See has been that the continued need for the permission would eventually come to an end and that the faithful would be led toward the celebration of the post-conciliar rite.

With all this in mind, after consulting with experts in the matter and after dedicating much time to prayer and discernment, I have decided that I will not request a renewal of the permission to use the Roman Missal of 1962 at Mary, Queen of Saints Parish. Instead, I will allow the current permission to expire when the granted period of time ends. Therefore, the last Mass celebrated according to the former rite at St. Titus Church will take place on Friday, September 4, 2026.

If after that time some faithful still wish to worship the Lord according to the Roman Missal of 1962, I would like to invite and encourage them to attend Most Precious Blood of Jesus Parish. There, under the direction of their pastor, Canon William Avis, he and his fellow priests of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest celebrate the former liturgy every day with beauty, grace, and in conformity with all the norms of the Church.

I know that this decision will be difficult for some faithful who have found spiritual nourishment in these celebrations. I am sincerely grateful for your love of the Eucharist, your devotion to the Church, and your desire to worship God faithfully. I hope that, as we continue walking together in communion with the Church, we will all continue to grow in faith, charity, and unity. Be assured of my prayers for you and for the faithful of Mary, Queen of Saints Parish.

Your brother in Christ,

Mark A. Eckman
Bishop of Pittsburgh

2267: the file awaiting Leo XIV

Eight years have passed since the Holy See rewrote number 2267 of the Catechism, and eight years later the problem created by that rescript remains intact, with an aggravating factor: it is no longer only Francis’s problem. 

Leo XIV has made the formula his own this very spring—in a return flight from Africa, before DePaul University, before the OSCE—and precisely for that reason this article is addressed to him. 

Not to ask him to rehabilitate any gallows, which no one longs for, but to ask him for what his predecessor never granted: to say what the word means on which the doctrinal credibility of the Church has been mortgaged. 

As long as “inadmissible” remains undefined, the entire Church is left at the mercy of the horses: those of others and, worse still, its own.

The facts are known and it is worth restating them with precision. 

On 2 August 2018 a rescript was published, approved by Francis in an audience of 11 May and signed on 1 August by Cardinal Ladaria, which replaced the 1997 text—John Paul II’s, which admitted capital punishment only as a last defensive resort against an unjust aggressor, in cases he judged already extremely rare, perhaps nonexistent—with a new teaching: the death penalty “is inadmissible, because it attacks the inviolability and dignity of the person,” with an express commitment to universal abolition. 

The only source cited was a speech by Francis himself, from October 2017, in which he had stated that capital punishment is “in itself contrary to the Gospel.” An accompanying letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith certified that the new formula “is not in contradiction with previous teachings of the Magisterium.” 

The certification was necessary because appearances suggested otherwise: from the profession of faith imposed on the Waldensians in 1208 to Pius XII in 1952, passing through the Roman Catechism of Trent, the lawfulness in principle had been the constant teaching of popes, councils, and doctors.

The reaction did not come from the hostile press but from academia. 

On 15 August 2018, forty-five theologians, philosophers, and clerics published in First Things an appeal to the cardinals asking them to advise the Pope to withdraw the revision, because its appearance of contradiction with Scripture and traditional teaching was causing scandal; within days more than thirty additional signatures were added. 

On the other side, Monsignor Paglia, president of the Academy for Life, offered the press the maximalist reading: with the new text “it has become clear that there are no exceptions.” 

Between these two poles ambiguity flourished: some read a revisable prudential judgment, others a declaration of intrinsic malice, and moralists pointed out that “inadmissible” is not a defined term in moral theology, so each understood what they wished. Eight years later, the dispersion persists. A catechism exists to settle disputes; this number founds them.

The cost is not academic. 

In 2004, Cardinal Ratzinger had drawn a clear boundary for the American bishops: among Catholics there is legitimate diversity of opinion on war and capital punishment; on abortion and euthanasia, none. That boundary protected what is essential by distinguishing it from what is debatable. 

The 2267 of 2018 erased it, and with it erased something more: it established the precedent that a centuries-old teaching can be reversed by a speech, a rescript, and a certificate of non-contradiction. Whoever wishes to apply the same template tomorrow to any other dossier already knows the way. 

One need not long for the executioner—nobody here does—to see that the teaching credibility of the Church is not lost by parcels: if the constant magisterium could have erred in this, the question of why it would not have erred in that is served, free of charge, to all its adversaries, internal and external.

Why Leo XIV? 

First, because he has assumed the formula. On 23 April, returning from Equatorial Guinea, he equated them by juxtaposition: “I condemn murder. I condemn the death penalty.” 

The next day, in his video message to DePaul for the fifteenth anniversary of abolition in Illinois, he cited the current 2267 and reproduced even its architecture: the dignity that is not lost even after the gravest crimes, and also the effective prisons that make the penalty unnecessary; the same mixture of essence and circumstance that constitutes the problem. 

In May, before the OSCE, he excluded capital punishment alongside torture and degrading treatment, while the federal government of his country announces that it is strengthening the federal death penalty. 

Second, because he himself has formulated the distinction that the current text blurs: in 2023, as bishop of Chiclayo, he made his own Bernardin’s “consistent ethic of life,” but precisely collecting the warning of the cardinal of Chicago: each life issue has its own moral character, and fusing them without attending to their relative moral importance departs from Catholic teaching. Exactly. 

We ask him to apply his own warning to number 2267. And third, because few popes have arrived better equipped for the task: doctor in canon law, and bearer by election of a name that refers to the author of Aeterni Patris, the encyclical that made Saint Thomas the common teacher of the Church; the same Thomas who taught the lawfulness of capital punishment in the Summa. 

The tools are on his table.

To remedy does not require, in its minimum degree, restoring the 1997 text; it requires answering a single question, and the Church has ordinary instruments for this: a responsum ad dubium from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. The dubium is simple: does “inadmissible” enunciate an intrinsic malice or a prudential judgment on present circumstances? 

If the former, let it be explained how it is reconciled with the Waldensian profession, with Trent, and with Pius XII, or let the rupture be admitted and its consequences borne. If the latter, let 2267 be reformulated to say what it means: the Church can commit itself to abolition, with all the prudential force in the world, without mortgaging its past or grounding the petition in a dignity that, if it were the foundation, it was also in 1208. 

None of this is unprecedented: 2267 itself was revised in 1997 after Evangelium vitae—catechetical texts are revisable by definition—and if the obstacle is that Fratelli tutti incorporated the formula in 2020, that is precisely the reason why only a Pope can do it.

Eight years, two pontificates, one word undefined. 

We do not ask Leo XIV to defend the gallows. 

We ask him to define a term. 

For that, exactly, a Pope exists.

Parish­ion­ers applaud after priest admits abuse probe

A FORMER Christian Brother turned-priest got a standing ovation after he took to the pulpit to announce he is under active Garda investigation for alleged sexual abuse, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Plain-clothes detectives were in the church when the priest made the shock announcement, prompting his diocesan office to cut the live feed from the Mass that was being broadcast online.

Despite admitting that he was under investigation, the priest appeared to receive resounding support from most of his congregation, some of whom approached him after the service and offered to raise funds to help pay his legal costs.

The revelation comes as senior sources familiar with several abuse investigations involving current or former members of the order warned that some Christian Brothers’ classrooms are turning into ‘crime scenes’ as multiple victims come forward after an initial complaint is made against an alleged abuser. 

It also comes as the order faces mounting criticism for what a Circuit Court judge described as a ‘morally bankrupt’ legal strategy to shield its vast assets and wear down abuse survivors through legal attrition.

The Christian Brothers operate as an unincorporated association, meaning the order itself is not a distinct corporate entity and cannot be sued directly.

Last week, the High Court ordered that 341 former members of the order be served with a summons by way of a newspaper advertisement, as part of a claim for damages for child sexual assault and rape.

It is not alleged that the men whose names were published in a national newspaper this week were guilty of sexual abuse.

The MoS has learned at least 35 more victims of alleged abuse will also pursue the Christian Brothers through similar newspaper ads unless the order changes its legal strategy.

The Government this weekend came under pressure to back a new law proposed by Labour leader Ivana Bacik that would ‘unblock’ the legal loophole.

The cases being taken by the 35 victims involve at least four former Christian Brothers, who have all already been before the courts.

The order’s legal strategy – and the advanced age of many of the alleged abusers – means investigations are turning into a race against time for victims and gardaí as many alleged perpetrators are already dead before a case has a chance to get to court. 

A senior source familiar with the investigations said many cases ‘spiral’ after initial complaints are made as more victims come forward, which is placing a significant ‘resource drain’ on Garda divisional protective services units. 

In the case of the Christian Brother-turned-priest, almost two dozen victims have made statements to gardaí, and the investigation was this weekend described as being at an ‘advanced stage’.

The priest made his announcement from the pulpit after he was informed by gardaí about their active investigation and told by Church authorities that he would have to step aside pending the outcome. 

Undercover detectives were in the church when he made the announcement as they thought he could say something ‘incriminating’. 

A source told the MoS: ‘He got a standing round of applause and they lined up after Mass to shake his hand and wish him well and offered to raise funds to pay for his legal costs. The diocesan office was up in arms. They didn’t want him saying Mass. He went rogue so they turned off the live-stream feed.’

Another source said Christian Brother classrooms are increasingly becoming the ‘scene of the crime’.

They told the MoS: ‘Gardaí get the roll books to identify potential witnesses who are approached. They inevitably become victims too. A lot of victims in these cases suppress their memories and probably never would have otherwise come forward. Some go on to have chronic addiction issues and feel because of their life choices that they won’t be believed. A lot of victims have disclosed abuse to someone in the past but got the wrong reaction. There are victims who tried to tell their parents and received beatings for suggesting such a thing.’

Gardaí are also facing a race against time to get justice for victims.

Following the establishment of the Commission of Investigation into the Handling of Historical Child Sex Abuse in Schools last year, one Garda division alone received more than 60 referrals.

In this division, a third of the cases related to a suspect who has since died.

A source noted in these cases: ‘There is no more gardaí can do for them at that point. Imagine carrying the trauma for so long and finally trust enough in the system to engage? It is not easy for men in their mid and later life to come in, open up, tell their story and ultimately the suspect is dead.’

Legal teams representing victims are also being hindered by the Christian Brothers’ controversial legal strategy to block court actions. The solicitor representing some of the 35 victims of alleged abuse this week described the order’s actions as ‘ shocking, appalling, totally unnecessary and completely avoidable’.

However, Philip Treacy of Coleman Legal said more ads, similar to the one published this week publicly naming 341 former members of the order, will be placed in the coming months.

He told the MoS: ‘There will be three applications made in the High Court in November looking for an order to publish and once we get the order we will publish again. There will be 31 applications at some stage next year. Assuming we get the order, we will publish in exactly the same way,’ he said.

‘We have approximately 35 live actions against the Christian Brothers, and as long as they do this [refuse to appoint a nominee and to provide details of the whereabouts of former Christian Brothers], if they choose not to put forward a nominee, we will have to keep doing this.’

Mr Treacy stressed this is not a ‘tactical’ approach by his firm.

He added: ‘We have to in accordance with the law. It is in the best interests of our clients. This is what you have to do because, if you pursue an unincorporated body without naming everybody, then the one person that you do name is entitled to say, “hold on, I’m only one per cent of these guys” or “there is another 400 and you’re only pursuing me so it’s your loss that you did not pursue everybody else”.

The solicitor also questioned why the Christian Brothers are taking such measures to hinder the legal process.

Mr Treacy said: ‘It is so easy for someone to act as a nominee and the other religious orders do this. You are still fully entitled to put in the strongest defence that you can imagine. I believe it is being done to dissuade and to thwart victims of sexual abuse from either starting a case or continuing with a case, but ultimately that’s just my opinion. If a plaintiff doesn’t do this, they’ll either low ball you or use it completely against you to defeat you.’

The Labour Party had accused some religious orders of using ‘lawfare’ against people who were abused in their care.

The party has since put forward a Private Members’ Bill to close these loopholes which, if imple mented, would mean abuse victims would no longer have to sue each individual member of an organisation to get compensation.

‘Dissuade and thwart victims of sexual abuse’

The Government has stalled the proposed new legislation for six months to allow the Attorney General to review the proposed new laws.

But in response to queries from the MoS, a Labour spokesman stressed: ‘This legislation is too important to delay any further than is absolutely necessary.’ Last month, 90-year-old former Christian Brother Liam Coughlan was told he will most likely die in prison after he was convicted of 31 charges of indecently assaulting nine school boys during the 1980s at St Patrick’s Christian Brothers primary school in Portarlington, Co. Laois.  

While imposing a five year sentence against Coughlan on July 24, the president of the Circuit Court, Judge Keenan Johnson, criticised the Christian Brothers order for the ‘grossly unfair’ manner in which they had dealt with civil cases.

Judge Johnson said at the time: ‘By his actions, the accused has besmirched the reputation of the entire Christian Brother community, which does a gross disservice to the very many dedicated brothers who devoted their lives to giving a good all-round education to their students.’

The judge added: ‘The reputation of the Christian Brothers has been further damaged by the failure of the congregation to designate a nominee to accept service of civil proceedings brought by victims of abuse.

‘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 congregations, which is a monumental task that appears to have been adopted to protect the assets of the congregation and wear down claimants through attrition.

‘That approach strikes me as morally bankrupt and grossly unfair not only to the victims but also to the many, many brothers who are totally innocent and blameless of any wrong doing.’

The Christian Brothers did not respond to our queries this week.

Cardinal Dziwisz denies before a court having known about the abuse suffered by a former altar boy in Poland

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who served for 27 years as personal secretary to Saint John Paul II and later as Archbishop of Krakow, testified last Monday, August 3, as a witness before the Regional Court of Krakow in the civil proceedings initiated by Janusz Szymik, 54, who suffered sexual abuse as a minor while serving as an altar boy between 1984 and 1989 by priest Jan Wodniak. 

Szymik is claiming 20 million zlotys, approximately 4.6 million euros, from the Archdiocese of Krakow and the parish where the incidents occurred.

Dziwisz, 87, denied having knowledge of the abuse during the years it took place and maintained that he was then in the Vatican serving John Paul II and had no governing responsibilities over the Archdiocese of Krakow. 

The cardinal appears solely as a witness: he is not accused nor listed as a defendant in the proceedings.

The abuse continued for five years

The incidents occurred at the parish of Międzybrodzie Bialskie, in southern Poland. At that time it belonged to the Archdiocese of Krakow; following an ecclesiastical reorganization in 1992 it became part of the Diocese of Bielsko-Żywiec.

This circumstance explains why the victim has pursued proceedings against various Church institutions connected to the case.

Wodniak acknowledged during the canonical proceedings having had sexual contact with the minor and received ecclesiastical sanctions. Szymik has for years publicly recounted the abuse he suffered and demanded accountability for what happened.

The current lawsuit seeks to determine the possible civil liability of the Archdiocese of Krakow and the parish during the period when the incidents occurred.

Dziwisz: “I had no knowledge of it”

Much of the cardinal’s questioning focused on establishing what he knew about Wodniak and when he might have become aware of the allegations.

Dziwisz explained that he knew the priest, as he knew many other members of the Krakow clergy, from his time alongside then-Archbishop Karol Wojtyła. He denied, however, that there had been a personal or friendly relationship between them.

When the abuse reported by Szymik occurred, between 1984 and 1989, Dziwisz was living in Rome as personal secretary to John Paul II. He remained with the pontiff from his election in 1978 until his death in 2005.

His situation changed later, when Benedict XVI appointed him Archbishop of Krakow. Dziwisz governed the archdiocese between 2005 and 2016, a period on which he was also questioned.

The cardinal acknowledged having received during those years an “unpleasant” letter that mentioned Wodniak and other priests, although he claimed not to remember Szymik’s name appearing in it.

Photographs and documents discussed during the interrogation

The plaintiff’s lawyers presented several old photographs during the testimony which, according to their interpretation, would place Dziwisz and Wodniak together during a vacation.

The cardinal did not confirm that interpretation. He noted that, after so many years, he could not identify all the people appearing in the images and maintained that he had not had a friendly relationship with Wodniak.

The name of priest Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski, who died in 2024 and was known in Poland for his reports on abuse and for years demanding greater transparency in the Church, also came up during the interrogation.

Isakowicz-Zaleski maintained that he had personally delivered documentation to Dziwisz on cases of abuse committed by priests. The plaintiff’s side considers that these documents may be relevant to establishing when the cardinal became aware of certain allegations.

Dziwisz has denied remembering having received that documentation and has maintained that there is no record of its receipt in the curia’s registers. It will be up to the court to assess the versions and evidence presented by the parties.

The cardinal had missed two summonses

Last Monday’s testimony had generated expectation in Poland because Dziwisz had not appeared at two previous summonses.

His defense cited, among other reasons, his age, issues related to his health, and a prolonged stay in Rome during July. The cardinal even requested that his testimony be dispensed with, considering that he lacked relevant information about the facts.

He finally appeared before the Regional Court of Krakow on August 3 and gave testimony for approximately one hour.

After hearing his explanations, Szymik reacted harshly and publicly accused the cardinal of lying. This is the plaintiff’s assessment of the testimony, while it will be up to the court to determine the credibility and relevance of the statements and documents incorporated into the proceedings.

Szymik already received about 93,000 euros in another proceeding

The current trial is not the first initiated by Szymik to claim compensation for the abuse suffered.

In January 2025 he obtained a favorable ruling against the Diocese of Bielsko-Żywiec, to which the parish where the incidents occurred now belongs. The court then ordered payment of 400,000 zlotys, approximately 93,000 euros.

Now Szymik is claiming a much higher amount—about 4.6 million euros—from the Archdiocese of Krakow and the parish itself. The inclusion of Krakow is due to the fact that, during the years when the abuse occurred, the territory was under the jurisdiction of that archdiocese.

The proceedings remain open and there is still no ruling on this new claim.

The Vatican previously examined Dziwisz’s conduct

The handling of abuse cases during Dziwisz’s time as Archbishop of Krakow had already been examined by the Holy See.

In 2021, the Vatican commissioned Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop Emeritus of Genoa, to gather information on various allegations regarding Dziwisz’s conduct during the years he governed the archdiocese.

In 2022, after reviewing the documentation collected, the Holy See stated that the analysis had not identified elements that would justify new actions against the cardinal for his handling of the cases examined.

The ecclesiastical investigation must be distinguished from the proceedings currently taking place in Krakow. 

Dziwisz is not the defendant in this trial, but one of its witnesses, and the court must determine whether civil liability should be attributed to the Archdiocese of Krakow and the parish for the abuse suffered by Szymik between 1984 and 1989.

Chris­tian Broth­ers trans­ferred own­er­ship of two prop­er­ties before trial of pae­do­phile

THE Christian Brothers transferred properties to a trust and a separate registered charity before the high-profile trial of convicted abuser Liam Coughlan.

The first of these transactions was done on May 16 last year when the ownership of land at Clonturk, Coolock, in north Dublin, was transferred into a company called Christian Brothers CLG.

Until then, the registered owners of the property were Denis Gleeson, Michael Reynolds, David Bonaventure Gibson and John Kevin Mullan, who are all senior members of the religious order.

Ten months later, in March of this year, playing fields at Warren House, Dublin Road, Sutton, also in north Dublin, were transferred into a trust called the Edmund Rice School Trust CLG.

A month later, more land at Miltonsfields, in a townland near Swords in north Dublin, was transferred into a trust called Edmund Rice Trust CLG.

Until then, the registered owners of both of these properties were again listed as Denis Gleeson, Michael Reynolds, David Bonaventure Gibson and John Kevin Mullan.

Company records show that the Christian Brothers are still a very wealthy religious order.

According to the most recently available annual financial statements lodged with the Companies Registration Office, the Edmund Rice Schools Trust had net assets of €140.5million at the end of August 2025 and €1.55million in cash.

A separate company called the Christian Brothers CLG – which is a registered charity – received donations worth €3.18million between December 31, 2024, and the end of December 2025.

The same firm also received €1.81million from other unnamed sources.

However, during the same period it recorded a €7.01million deficit because, although the company had a gross income of €5.36million, its liabilities stood at €8.39million, with gross expenditure of €12.38 million. 

Last May Taoiseach Micheál Martin asked Pope Leo, during his meeting with the pontiff at the Vatican, to put pressure on religious orders in Ireland to come forward with redress for survivors of sexual abuse.

‘I asked that every effort would be made to get the religious orders to engage proactively on the matter of redress,’ Mr Martin said after the discussion in the Pope’s private library.

The Taoiseach told the pontiff the Government had established a commission of inquiry into day schools and boarding schools, but some religious orders had yet to engage on the issue.

Mr Martin said ‘some orders have come forward, but a lot of orders haven’t, and that assets are being sold, and that we want those assets allocated in revenues from them to redress’.

Twenty-two letters about Rupnik reveal accusations that had been in writing since the year 2000

Twenty-two women from the Loyola Community left written testimonies in the year 2000 about alleged spiritual, psychological, and sexual abuses attributed to Marko Ivan Rupnik. 

The letters, whose existence had not been made public until now, add a new piece to a case that remains pending resolution in the Vatican and show that numerous members of the community had already put their accusations in writing more than two decades before the scandal became public.

According to OSV News, the letters were written during Easter of the year 2000 at the instruction of Ivanka Hosta, then superior of the Loyola Community, and were addressed to Rupnik himself. The documents were preserved in the community’s archives, now under the custody of the Archdiocese of Ljubljana, in Slovenia.

The Vatican confirmed on July 22 that the canonical criminal trial remains open and described as “completely unfounded” the reports of an alleged acquittal of the former Jesuit. The representative of some of the complainants had expressed her dissatisfaction just one day earlier over the limited information received about the progress of the proceedings.

Twenty-two testimonies among about 40 religious sisters

Fabrizia Raguso, a former member of the Loyola Community and currently a professor of Psychology at the Catholic University of Portugal, is the only woman connected to these letters who has agreed to be publicly identified.

Raguso explained to OSV News that about 40 members of the community were instructed to write to Rupnik on the occasion of the Jubilee of the year 2000. Of them, 22 reportedly described different forms of abuse.

“During Easter of the year 2000, Ivanka Hosta, superior of the Loyola Community, forced us to write a letter to Marko Rupnik in which we described our relationship with him, what he had done to us, and then we had to forgive him,” she stated.

According to Raguso, the superior justified the request by the need to seek reconciliation with Rupnik on the occasion of the Jubilee. The former religious sister says she does not know whether the letters ultimately reached the priest.

The documents reportedly describe alleged situations of manipulation, abuse of authority, pressure, and physical and sexual aggression. Sources familiar with their content told the outlet that several women also described the alleged use of spiritual direction and religious language to pressure them into acts presented as expressions of purity or the will of God.

Some testimonies further claim that Rupnik allegedly used previous experiences of abuse suffered by some of the women to perpetrate new forms of abuse against them. Raguso, for her part, claims to have been a victim of spiritual abuse, but not sexual abuse.

Testimonies written long before the case became public

The date of the letters is one of the most significant elements of the revelation. The documents were written 22 years before the accusations against Rupnik became public at the end of 2022.

Complaints about his behavior date back even further. In the early 1990s, reports had already reached superiors of the Society of Jesus and the then Archbishop of Ljubljana, Alojzij Šuštar. Rupnik was removed from the Loyola Community in 1993 and later moved to Rome, where he founded the Aletti Center.

His artistic career, however, continued to grow. When the letters were written in 2000, Rupnik had already created the mosaics for the Redemptoris Mater Chapel in the Vatican Apostolic Palace. In the following years, he received commissions for some of the main Catholic churches and shrines in the world, including Lourdes and Fátima, the Basilica of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina in San Giovanni Rotondo, the National Shrine of Saint John Paul II in Washington, and the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid.

The timeline thus raises a question that goes beyond the specific content of the new letters: for years, complaints and testimonies about the priest’s conduct existed while his prestige and presence in top-level Church institutions continued to grow.

Nine of the 22 testified again in 2021

The letters were not entirely disconnected from later investigations. Nine of the 22 women who reportedly described abuses in 2000 gave testimony in a preliminary investigation commissioned by the Jesuits in 2021 and conducted by an external person outside the Society of Jesus.

That investigation concluded in January 2022, finding the accusations received to be substantiated, according to the order itself.

By then, Rupnik had already been the subject of another proceeding for an offense related to the sacrament of Penance. In 2018, the Jesuits received an accusation that he had sacramentally absolved a woman after committing a sin against the sixth commandment with her.

The preliminary investigation found the complaint credible, and the matter was referred to the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Rupnik was found guilty of the offense of absolving an accomplice and was excommunicated in 2020. The excommunication was later lifted after his repentance was confirmed.

The subsequent course of the case has been marked by successive decisions and long periods of limited information. In October 2022, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith considered the facts reported by former members of the Loyola Community to be time-barred. A year later, Pope Francis decided to lift the statute of limitations to allow Rupnik to be tried.

Are the letters part of the case file?

The revelation now raises a specific question: whether these 22 letters are being examined by the tribunal judging Rupnik.

When it confirmed in July that the process remained open, the Holy See explained that the judges were studying documentation from dioceses, the Society of Jesus, the parties involved, and other sources. However, the Vatican has not made public an inventory of the evidence included in the case file.

Sources close to the case consulted by OSV News presume that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is aware of the existence of the letters, but there is no official confirmation yet that the 22 documents form part of the proceedings being examined by the judges.

The issue is not minor. Nine of the authors later testified in the 2021 investigation, and the accounts contained in the letters reportedly show similarities with accusations that other women, including Gloria Branciani, have publicly made against Rupnik.

Twenty-six years later

Rupnik was expelled from the Society of Jesus in 2023 after refusing to comply with the restrictions imposed by his superiors regarding the accusations of sexual, spiritual, and psychological abuse. The priest has denied committing abuse, and the canonical tribunal must determine his responsibility regarding the accusations submitted to trial.

As of August 6, 2026, he continues to appear on the website of the Aletti Center as president of the Atelier of Theology.

The 22 letters now known force, in any case, an expansion of the temporal perspective of the scandal. These are not testimonies reconstructed only after the case gained public notoriety: dozens of women were asked to write about their relationship with Rupnik in 2000, and 22 of them reportedly recorded alleged abuses at that time.

The sentence must establish the facts and the corresponding responsibilities. But, regardless of its outcome, a question remains that also affects the functioning of Church institutions: how complaints and testimonies of this gravity could accumulate for decades while Rupnik developed one of the most relevant and well-connected artistic careers in the contemporary Church.

Valdivia calls on the entire diocese to pray for Ceuta after days marked by "fear" and "lack of protection"

The apostolic administrator of Cádiz and Ceuta, Ramón Valdivia, has called on all parishes of the diocese to hold a prayer vigil for “peace, stability and justice in Ceuta” on the night of 14 August, the eve of the Solemnity of the Assumption. 

The call comes after the serious events experienced in the autonomous city, which the prelate describes as a “humanitarian disaster” caused by “ambition and corruption”, amid “misgovernment”, fear among families and a sense of “lack of protection” among the people of Ceuta.

Valdivia made public this Saturday, 8 August, a letter addressed to priests, religious and faithful after allowing more than a week to pass in order to “reflect and understand” the scope of what happened. 

His diagnosis does not avoid responsibilities or the consequences of the crisis, but neither does it dwell on them: faced with a situation he sees as revealing a deeper cultural change, he proposes to Catholics a response centred on prayer and once again places Saint Mary of Africa, patroness of Ceuta, at the centre of the city’s life.

The full letter follows: 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

More than a week has passed since the human and institutional drama our Diocese in Ceuta has experienced. I have needed to rest and understand the scope of what we have suffered and, at the same time, try to grasp, with my own lights, the repercussions beyond what the media have shown. Now, I wish to share with you what I have lived through and, at the same time, what I propose as a measure for the whole Diocese, insofar as each one can carry it out. These are also days of rest after an intense year, full of uncertainties, that has affected us all.

First, I look at the humanitarian disaster generated by ambition and corruption. Nothing new under the sun. On one side of the border were young people without a future who threw themselves into the unknown, driven only by political slogans or malicious promises; adults who took advantage of the misgovernment to flee from criminal responsibilities in their country, perhaps through some premeditated pardon devised for this occasion; boys and girls abandoned by their families who become cannon fodder for predators; and, on the other side, people who have felt their space violated, families fearful that, at nightfall or in broad daylight, someone might enter their homes and demand food or a mobile-phone battery recharge; closed shops, fear in their eyes, uncertainty at the possibility that they might return, and above all, the anger caused by the lack of protection that those who govern are supposed to guarantee. As you can imagine, a whole cocktail of emotions that could have exploded into a greater conflict and that, thanks to the serenity of the people of Ceuta, did not occur.

Secondly, gratitude for the faith wells up in my heart. From the very first moment, Saint Mary of Africa has been the bulwark where refuge is consolidated, the gentle breeze of Elijah, who, in the midst of persecution, gives the answer we all ask: Where is God? Not in the hurricane, not in the earthquake… He is in the gentleness of a Mother, who weeps at the death of her Son while holding Him in her lap. I have been able to perceive how the Mother and Patroness of Ceuta, once again in history, has become the beacon that guides us as we sail the stormy seas.

But my gratitude also goes to the Pope who, in his message last Sunday, made it clear that he carries Ceuta in his heart, to the priests, to the parishes, to the religious men and women of Ceuta, to the volunteers of Casa San Antonio and also to those of Cáritas, and especially to the Brotherhood of the Patroness. Together we have tried to give an example of unity amid so much tension. It is only right that we all send a message of gratitude to this small Christian community, so that they may receive strong encouragement from the rest of the Diocese, so that they may keep the witness of faith alive. I want to believe that the Floral Offering, the Function and the Procession with the Image of Saint Mary of Africa have not been a fleeting sigh, but a catalyst to break the inertia generated by fear, the spark to become aware of what faith contributes to the re-building of the city, the greatest challenge facing society and the Church in this time the Lord grants us.

As a proposal for ecclesial action in response to this humanitarian and confidence crisis, I believe it is necessary to turn our gaze to God. When neighbouring powers threatened the fragility of Israel, the Patriarchs and Prophets raised their hands and begged for divine mercy. Likewise, Jesus Christ wept over the destruction of Jerusalem. Therefore, I exhort you that, in all the parishes of the Diocese, a Vigil of prayer for Peace, Stability and Justice in Ceuta be held, as suggested by Pope Leo XIV, on the night of the eve of the Assumption of Mary.

It will be held in this way at the Shrine of Saint Mary of Africa, and I wish it may be done, in the most appropriate way possible, so that all Catholics of our Diocese may pray, from the first Vespers, with the intention not only of asking for the protection of the City of Ceuta, but also that we may become aware of the importance of maturing the faith we have received, and ask for the light necessary so that, united, we may live these moments as a new cultural beginning, and not simply as a crisis, which we hope will be passing. These events seem to me to show the depth of the cultural change that is taking place; therefore, now more than ever we need to raise our eyes and pray together the Our Father, saying: Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!

With my blessing

+ Ramón

Armenian patriarch, before the courts: Karekin II faces two years in prison along with six bishops

Karekin II, the highest authority of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and six other bishops have been brought before the courts accused of failing to comply with a judicial ruling that ordered the reinstatement of a prelate removed by the Church itself. 

The seven face possible fines or prison sentences of up to two years in a new episode of the serious confrontation between the ecclesiastical hierarchy and the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The trial began this Friday in Vagharshapat, a city located about 20 kilometers from Yerevan and also historically known as Echmiadzin, where the Holy See of the Armenian Apostolic Church is located. Dozens of faithful welcomed Karekin II with applause upon his arrival at the courthouse, located just one kilometer from his residence.

The case directly affects the internal governance of the Church: the Armenian judiciary had provisionally ordered the reinstatement of a bishop dismissed by the ecclesiastical authorities, while they maintain that it is exclusively up to the Church to decide on the ministry and discipline of its prelates.

The conflict over the dismissal of a bishop

The origin of the case lies with Arman Saroyan, whose ecclesiastical name is Bishop Gevorg, who had called for the resignation of Karekin II.

Saroyan went to the civil courts on January 15 to challenge the measures taken against him. The following day, a court issued an injunction preventing the Holy See of Echmiadzin from obstructing the exercise of his episcopal functions and his control over the finances of the diocese.

Subsequently, the Supreme Spiritual Council recommended his deposition and Karekin II ratified the decision. The Prosecutor’s Office considers that the Catholicos and the other six members of this body thereby violated the court’s ruling.

The Church rejects this approach because it believes that civil courts have no jurisdiction to determine who should serve as a bishop or to intervene in matters of ecclesiastical discipline.

The case thus goes beyond the personal dispute with Saroyan. At its center is a particularly sensitive issue for the freedom of the Armenian Church: whether a state court can compel a religious authority to maintain or reinstate one of its own bishops against a decision made in accordance with its internal governance.

The first hearing is interrupted after 30 minutes

The first day of the trial ended, moreover, with an unexpected turn. Just half an hour after the hearing began, Judge Hakob Manukyan decided to recuse himself from the proceedings.

The Prosecutor’s Office had raised doubts about his impartiality due to a previous professional relationship with Ara Zohrabyan, one of the defense lawyers. The magistrate agreed to recuse himself, so the case must be assigned to another judge before it can continue.

The seven defendants must now wait for the appointment of the new magistrate and the setting of another date for the trial. In the meantime, they are prohibited from leaving Armenia.

After the hearing was suspended, Karekin II returned to the Holy See of Echmiadzin accompanied by numerous faithful. There he participated in a religious celebration and described the accusations against the hierarchy as «unfounded and false.»

The bishops denounce interference in the life of the Church

The trial has also provoked reactions outside Armenia. Serovpe Isakhanyan, bishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Germany, along with two other prelates from Syria and Iraq, warned on the eve of the trial that the situation is harming «the normal functioning of our Church.»

The three bishops denounced a climate of «tensions and mutual distrust» between the State and the Church and rejected that conflicts of this nature can be resolved through «legal pressure, criminal prosecution, acute confrontation or interference in the internal life of the Church.»

In their view, continuing down this path could increase social tensions, deepen existing divisions and harm Armenians’ trust in democratic and judicial institutions.

Karekin II was already prohibited from leaving Armenia

The trial against the seven prelates is not an isolated episode. Last February, the Attorney General’s Office already brought criminal charges against Karekin II and prohibited him from leaving the country, a measure that prevented him from traveling to Austria to participate in an assembly of the Armenian Church.

The action added to a series of proceedings against prominent members of the episcopate. Among them are Archbishops Bagrat Galstanyan and Mikael Ajapahian and Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, detained or prosecuted in various cases during the escalation of tension between the Government and the Church.

Although each proceeding responds to specific accusations that must be examined individually by the courts, the accumulation of actions against members of the hierarchy has fueled accusations of state interference in the autonomy of the Church.

From Nagorno-Karabakh to the confrontation with Pashinyan

The crisis has as its backdrop the defeats suffered by Armenia against Azerbaijan and the deep debate opened in the country about the policy subsequently followed by Pashinyan.

The 2020 war over Nagorno-Karabakh —an enclave disputed with Azerbaijan and historically inhabited by a predominantly Armenian population— ended with significant territorial losses for Armenia. In September 2023, an Azerbaijani offensive allowed Baku to take full control of the territory and caused the exodus of tens of thousands of Armenians.

Pashinyan’s subsequent efforts to reach a peace agreement with Azerbaijan, including territorial and border concessions, met with strong opposition from sectors of society and the Church.

Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan became one of the main leaders of the protests against those concessions in 2024. He was later detained on charges of participating in the preparation of an attempted coup d’état. Other prelates have been arrested or prosecuted since then.

The confrontation has ended up directly affecting the highest political and religious authorities in the country. Pashinyan has called for the departure of Karekin II, while the Catholicos has in turn called for the resignation of the prime minister.

A Church closely linked to Armenian identity

The conflict takes on a particular dimension due to the historical and social weight of the Armenian Apostolic Church. According to the 2022 census, around 90% of the country’s population belongs to it.

Armenia is traditionally considered the first nation to officially adopt Christianity as the state religion, at the beginning of the 4th century. The Armenian Church traces its origins to the preaching of the apostles Saint Jude Thaddeus and Saint Bartholomew and for centuries played a decisive role in the preservation of the language, culture and national identity.

Karekin II, 74 years old, has held the position of Catholicos of All Armenians since 1999, a title that designates the highest authority of the Armenian Apostolic Church. His see is located in Echmiadzin, the spiritual center of Armenian Christianity.

The judge’s recusal now forces a delay in a trial that had barely begun. When his replacement is appointed, the court will have to determine whether Karekin II and the other six bishops incurred criminal liability by disobeying the judicial ruling.

From seven seminarians to a new seminary: the growth of priestly formation in a small diocese in the United States

The Diocese of Wichita, in the state of Kansas, United States, will officially establish the St. Philip Neri Seminary on August 26, a new institution for priestly formation that emerges from the transformation of St. Joseph’s House of Formation, opened in 2017. 

The project began with seven young men and a two-year program and, after nine years of development, expects to have 42 or 43 seminarians for the upcoming academic year.

According to the diocese itself, the new seminary will allow canonical recognition and consolidation of the priestly formation work that Wichita has been carrying out over these years. Father Chad Arnold, current director of St. Joseph’s House of Formation and responsible for the diocesan seminarians, will continue to lead it and will formally assume the role of rector.

“It is very exciting to take this step, because it formally recognizes the hard work of our diocese,” Arnold explains. In practice, much of the work will continue as before, but the priest believes the transformation confirms the fruits obtained during these years: “It is a testimony that the Lord has been working in this and has shown us many good fruits.”

From seven young men to a complete four-year program

St. Joseph’s House of Formation opened its doors in August 2017 under the direction of Father Mike Simone, with Arnold as the first associate director. During that first academic year, seven young men resided there, and the diocese initially envisioned a program of only two years.

The seminarians completed their first four semesters of university studies at Newman University, a Catholic university in Wichita, before continuing their formation at another seminary. However, the results obtained quickly led the diocese to reconsider the project.

“After that first year, we moved to a four-year program because we clearly saw the good fruits and the action of the Holy Spirit,” Arnold recalls. It was then that he began to consider that the house of formation could one day become a seminary.

Bishop Carl A. Kemme of Wichita has explained that the growth in the number of candidates and collaboration with Newman University made it possible to develop the full four years of the university stage. The propaedeutic stage was later added, conceived as an introduction to seminary life for those who have already completed their university studies.

The diocese has chosen, however, not to incorporate the subsequent pre-theology stage, which will continue to be carried out in major seminaries, in order not to overload the facilities or the human resources available in Wichita.

A diocese leading the United States in priestly vocations

The transformation of St. Joseph’s House of Formation takes place in an especially favorable vocational context. A national report published in January 2025 by Vocation Ministry placed Wichita at the head of U.S. dioceses in two indicators related to vocations to the priesthood.

In the so-called priestly replacement rate, which compares the number of seminarians with the priests who must be replaced through new ordinations, Wichita reached 195%. A result of 100% means that a diocese has enough seminarians to replace its priestly population. The second U.S. diocese in this indicator was Nashville, with 111%, followed by Lincoln, with 107%.

A second indicator, which analyzes the same phenomenon taking into account the previous decade, again placed Wichita in first position, this time with 255%. Nashville reached 170% and Springfield, in the state of Illinois, 160%.

The study classified Wichita among the U.S. dioceses serving a population of between 100,000 and 300,000 Catholics. However, its results not only led that category but surpassed those of all dioceses in the country.

Bishop Kemme has linked Wichita’s vocational strength to various elements of diocesan life, including eucharistic adoration, Catholic schools, Mass attendance, the presence of young priests, and specific work promoting vocations. The bishop especially highlighted eucharistic adoration and noted that numerous young men have told him they perceived the call to the priesthood during it.

More than 40 seminarians next academic year

This context is also reflected in the dimensions reached by the institution that will now become a seminary. Bishop Kemme estimates that during the next academic year there will be 42 or 43 young men at St. Philip Neri, although not all belong to Wichita.

The new seminary will be primarily intended for candidates to the priesthood from this diocese, but it currently also receives seminarians from Salina and Dodge City, the other two dioceses located wholly or partially in western and central Kansas.

Kemme does not intend, however, to turn St. Philip Neri into a large institution or actively recruit candidates from other parts of the country.

“I don’t want St. Philip Neri Seminary to be too large,” he explained. His intention is to maintain dimensions that allow for the proper development of formative life without losing individual accompaniment and preventing the young men from ending up being treated “more as numbers than as persons.”

The bishop believes the institution has currently reached an appropriate balance between both needs.

Collaboration with Newman University

Academic formation will continue to develop in collaboration with Newman University, a relationship Arnold considers fundamental to explaining the growth of St. Joseph’s House of Formation.

“The collaboration with Newman has been wonderful,” the priest states, particularly highlighting the work of the departments of Theology, Philosophy, and Languages.

“Newman enriches the education of our men, and I believe our men enrich the community and Catholic identity of Newman,” he adds.

The erection of the seminary will therefore not entail a transfer or radical transformation of daily life. The seminarians will continue in the same buildings, with the same formation team, and maintaining the model developed over the past years.

The transition from house of formation to seminary

The main difference will be canonical and institutional in nature. Bishop Kemme explains that the new status will give the institution an ecclesial recognition that goes beyond the diocese itself and will allow the work already being done in Wichita to be identified more clearly.

According to the bishop, there are just over twenty university-level seminaries in the United States, many of them historically linked to large archdioceses. Smaller dioceses usually send their candidates to institutions located outside their territory.

“That Wichita is among a number like that is almost unheard of,” Kemme noted.

The new status will also allow the institution to be recognized before the Holy See in relation to the Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Dicastery for the Clergy, as well as before the other bishops and seminaries in the country.

For Arnold, the designation will also resolve a practical difficulty: outside Wichita, it was not always understood what exactly a “house of formation” was or what preparation candidates for the priesthood received there. The word seminary, on the other hand, immediately identifies the purpose of the institution.

Father Chad Arnold will be the first rector

The transformation will also involve the formalization of Arnold’s responsibilities. With the erection of St. Philip Neri, he will cease to be director of the house of formation and will become rector of the seminary.

Bishop Kemme explained that the bishop is the primary person responsible for priestly formation in his diocese, but he delegates this task to the rector. The new position will also entail specific canonical obligations: Arnold will publicly make the profession of faith and take the oath of fidelity to the Church.

“He is the right man for the position. He has proven it,” Kemme stated, highlighting the trust that both priests and the seminarians themselves have placed in him.

For Arnold, many of his responsibilities will remain the same. The difference will be in “greater clarity, precision, and official recognition” of the mission he already carries out.

St. Philip Neri, patron of the new seminary

The name of the seminary was chosen after a process involving the bishop, priests, and seminarians. Kemme and Arnold had separately considered St. Philip Neri and later confirmed that his name was also one of the most proposed when they consulted the rest of the diocese.

“We didn’t tell anyone we were thinking of St. Philip Neri, but his name was recommended by a wide margin over any other,” Arnold relates. “We felt it was a confirmation.”

The diocese wants to especially highlight the joy, humility, and evangelizing zeal of the sixteenth-century saint. The seminary will adopt as its motto the Italian expression attributed to St. Philip Neri Siate umili, state bassi, which can be translated as “Be humble, remain small.”

Arnold also related the priestly model the institution wishes to transmit to another phrase attributed to the saint: “The world is your parish, but my parish is my world.”

“That is really how we want our diocesan priests to be: the parish is the world where we live, love, serve, and sacrifice,” he explained.

Nine years later, a seminary of its own

Bishop Kemme will canonically erect St. Philip Neri Seminary on August 26 by reading the corresponding decree. The new institution will thus begin its formal activity on the foundations built during the nine years of operation of St. Joseph’s House of Formation.

The bishop has asked the faithful to pray for the new seminary and to continue encouraging young people to consider discerning a possible priestly vocation. Kemme says he continues to encounter young people during his pastoral activity who tell him they are considering entering the seminary.

In this way, the project that began in 2017 with seven young men and a program of barely two years will reach its tenth academic year converted into a seminary, with a complete university program, candidates from three dioceses, and more than 40 young men expected for the next academic year.

“We hope to make this the best university seminary in the country,” Bishop Kemme concluded.