Stories for August 2023

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Thursday, Aug. 31

 Court rejects bankruptcy settlement in New Jersey diocese
 Bishop of Beijing prays for diplomatic ties between Vatican, China
 Pope heads to Mongolia for four-day visit
 China denies mainland bishops permission to meet Pope in Mongolia
 Dispute escalates between Carmelites, Fort Worth bishop
 Archbishop Sheen’s beatification to be rescheduled?
 Pope Francis: The ‘senseless war on our common home’ is ‘a terrible world war’
 Institutionalized child care is not ideal, says leading East African bishop
 Michigan governor vows to end waiting period for abortion
 Vatican cardinal proposes 8 concrete actions for ‘green transition’
 Bishop accountability group: Dismissal of charges against McCarrick ‘hugely disappointing’
 Ancient Christian enclave faces ‘genocide by starvation,’ Armenian Catholic bishop warns
 ‘Reclaim the dream of every South African,’ bishops urge
 Catholic commune with Bay Area hippie roots faces abuse allegations
 Calif. lawsuit attacks school-endorsed parental rights policy
 Cardinal Parolin previews Pope’s journey to Mongolia

Released Wednesday, Aug. 30

 Bishop Hubbard’s relatives complain about funeral homily
 Christians in Burkina Faso suffering ‘on a daily basis’ from Islamic terrorism
 McCarrick ruled incompetent; charges dropped
 New environmental encyclical to be released October 4
 Pro-life activists convicted, face long prison terms
 Russian government welcomes Pope’s remarks
 Papal adviser sees Jesus as ‘rigid,’ needing conversion
 Pope, at general audience, pays tribute to St. Kateri Tekakwitha
 Interfaith declaration for protection of the elderly signed in Argentina
 Cardinal Zen describes new Hong Kong cardinal as ‘excellent bishop’
 Author explores how American Jesuits profited from slavery
 Argentina’s bishops grapple with their country’s past
 Sri Lankan bishops lament rising hunger, breakdown of law and order
 Allow Catholics to continue to have a say in school governance, Scottish archbishop urges
 Cameroon bishops: Send children to school despite fears of violence

Released Tuesday, Aug. 29

 Vatican: Pope did not endorse Russian imperialism
 Pope praises entrepreneurs
 Cardinal Zen speaks on ‘uncomfortable situation’ in Hong Kong
 Canadian woman, suffering from suicidal thoughts, offered assisted suicide as option
 Churches repaired, reopening after arson attacks in Pakistan
 Catherine the Great, praised by Pope Francis, forcibly united 1.5 million Catholics to Orthodoxy
 Cardinal Dolan calls for reduction in number of US seminaries
 Accused Wyoming bishop dies at 91
 Berlin archbishop will not discipline priests who bless homosexual couples
 Nigerian high court issues restraining order to protect Christian convert
 Jesuit college’s president criticizes Massachusetts bishop’s gender policy
 Florida bishop condemns violence, bigotry after new shooting
 USCCB publishes online Family Psalter
 Fielding questions from Jesuits, Pope Francis weighs in on rigid formation, ‘curial censorship,’ homosexuality

Released Monday, Aug. 28

 Ukrainian leaders angered by papal praise for Russian empire
 Vatican issues new rules for Ukrainian Catholics in Italy
 Albany bishop eulogizes disgraced predecessor
 Pope rips ‘reactionary’ American Catholics
 Rwandan president threatens to imprison Catholic pilgrims who ‘worship poverty’
 India’s bishops ‘filled with pride’ after successful moon landing
 FBI Richmond official who oversaw memo targeting Catholics testifies to Congress
 Papal praise for Eucharistic adoration, reparation
 Bulgaria’s Grand Mufti meets with Pontiff
 ‘Be artisans of peace’: papal video meeting with young Russian Catholics
 Pope denounces ‘sins of journalism,’ asks journalists for help in narrating Synod
 Authentic Christian networks offer alternative to ‘technocratic tyranny,’ Pope tells lawmakers
 Brazilian Cardinal Agnelo, former Brazilian Primate and Vatican official, dies at age 89
 Pope encourages pilgrims to ask themselves, ‘Who is Jesus for me?’
 ‘We cannot be indifferent’ to people caught in drug addiction: papal message

Released Friday, Aug. 25

 Food waste is intolerable, Vatican prelate tells FAO
 Nigerian priest, seminarian released by kidnappers
 Byzantine Catholic bishop questions Western idea of synodality
 Hungarian president meets with Pontiff
 Controversial Italian priest is laicized
 Details emerge on Father Alex Crow; questions raised in Mobile
 Hundreds of Pakistani Catholics attend Mass outside burned church days after mob attacks
 Melbourne archdiocese can be sued by family of Cardinal Pell’s accuser, Australian court rules
 Russian occupiers seize Roman Catholic church in eastern Ukraine
 4 priests removed from Syro-Malabar seminary over liturgy protest
 Texas Carmelites insist they respect Bishop Olson’s authority as local bishop
 South Carolina Supreme Court upholds heartbeat abortion ban
 How Malta just stopped legalized abortion
 USCCB official discusses vision for renewing Catholic education
 Beatification cause announced for murdered anti-Fascist priest
 Brazilian bishop who presided over vocation surge dead at 91
 ‘The world risks suffocating to death,’ Vatican newspaper warns

Released Thursday, Aug. 24

 Canadian court confirms Jordan Peterson must have ‘social media training’
 Cardinal Dolan celebrates liturgy at ‘Mass Rock’ in Ireland
 Canadian bishop says fire devastation is ‘apocalyptic’
 Weekly Mass attendance in Italy declines to 19%
 Federal appeals court upholds Alabama’s limits on transgender procedures for minors
 Indiana law banning most abortions goes into effect
 Vandals cause ‘significant damage’ at Michigan Catholic church
 Nicaragua cancels legal status of Jesuit order, confiscates all assets
 Texas Carmelites defy bishop’s order to close their doors to the faithful
 Bishop Strickland: Remain firm in the Catholic faith, whatever is proposed at the Synod
 Liberia’s bishops call for peaceful elections
 Renewed papal prayer for peace in Ukraine
 USCCB weighs in on proposed EPA emissions regulations

Released Wednesday, Aug. 23

 New Biden rule would require employers to ‘accommodate’ abortions
 Papal envoy on Ukraine: ‘dialogue is not betrayal’
 Jimmy Lai trial postponed to December
 Pope, at general audience, reflects on Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Juan Diego, and evangelization
 Wall Street Journal praises Florida’s ‘Catholic school promise’
 Catholic apple farmer unfairly barred from Michigan public market, judge rules
 Maryland can disclose more priests’ names from Catholic sexual abuse report, court rules
 3 Vatican cardinals urged USCCB official to be tougher on Trump
 Pope congratulates Australian LGBTQ+ Catholic group
 Strong family, community life fosters spread of faith in Africa, Phoenix bishop says
 Vatican newspaper denounces Texas governor’s border-protection measures
 USCCB urges Supreme Court to uphold federal gun law

Released Tuesday, Aug. 22

 Cardinal Burke sees ‘revolution at work’ in Synod process
 Mobile archbishop speaks about priest who left with teenage girl
 Major Archbishop: Ukraine should not trade territory for peace
 Retired Calgary bishop demands proof for ‘missing children’ claims
 San Francisco archdiocese declares bankruptcy amid hundreds of lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse
 Courts fail to support parental rights in trans student cases
 Papal preface to Dorothy Day’s autobiography
 Pope appeals for peaceful end to the Niger crisis
 Pope pays tribute to Blessed Pino Puglisi, priest slain by mafia
 Papal message invites Christians to join together in witnessing to the Gospel
 USCCB reports $30M operating surplus, major investment losses in 2022

Released Monday, Aug. 21

 Pope plans to add ‘second part’ to Laudato Si’
 Cologne: cardinal ‘disappointed’ that archdiocesan employees sought porn sites
 Minnesota judge blocks bid to sue Vatican for clerical abuse
 Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staffs meets with Pope
 Police arrest man in Vatican-bombing hoax
 No graves found at Manitoba residential school site
 Fort Worth bishop: Carmelite nuns might be excommunicated
 German Catholic lay group considers banning political party’s members from positions
 In wake of latest attacks, Pakistan Christians denounce ‘second-class status’
 Tanzania’s bishops oppose port agreement with Dubai-based company
 Jesuits condemn seizure of priests’ residence in Managua
 Bishop Howard Hubbard dies at 84
 Pope makes Pan-American Committee of Judges a private association of faithful
 Pope calls grieving mother of son who died at World Youth Day
 Don’t be rigid, but be ‘docile to change’ as Jesus was, Pope tells pilgrims

Released Friday, Aug. 18

 US State Department condemns Nicaragua’s shutdown of Catholic university
 Cardinal Parolin to Rimini meeting: true friendship fosters peace
 Argentine upstart political candidate is critic of Church, Pope Francis
 Vandal filmed in attack on church in Turin
 Jesuit provincial in Bolivia appalled by abuse revelations
 Manila archdiocese warns faithful against schismatic churches
 Former liberation theologian says movement fueled decline of Catholicism in Brazil
 Appeals court sides with pro-life protesters in DC First Amendment dispute
 Maryland Supreme Court backs Catholic Relief Services in same-sex discrimination lawsuit
 North Carolina legislature overrides governor’s vetoes, enacts 3 laws countering transgenderism
 Archdiocese, police department cosponsor gun buyback event
 Disgraced Alabama priest believes he is married to 18-year-old, writes their running away is ‘Jesus’ will’
 ‘Nigeria currently is at risk on many fronts,’ bishops warn
 Vatican releases medal for pontificate’s 11th year
 Papal message for 150th French national Assumption pilgrimage to Lourdes

Released Thursday, Aug. 17

 Appeals court: FDA wrongly widened access to abortion pill
 Catholic schools distance themselves from Massachusetts bishop’s gender policy
 Muslim mobs burn Pakistan churches in ‘blasphemy’ protest
 Denver archdiocese sues for state support of pre-school program
 Pope meets visiting leader from Madagascar
 Archbishop Gänswein speaks of ‘slander from the shadows’
 German bishop a potential mediator in Synodal Path dispute?
 South African bishops sue corporations on behalf of miners
 Nicaraguan regime shuts down Jesuit university
 Papal delegate sets deadline for Syro-Malabar dissidents
 Jimmy Lai conviction overturned, but Hong Kong leader remains jailed
 Kenyan bishops want ‘explicit content’ in grade 7 books scrapped
 Remain in your native land and do not emigrate, archbishop tells Tunisians
 Irish Primate: Catholic community should reject any intimidation of police officers
 On Indian Independence Day, bishops reiterate Christians’ patriotism
 Ohio man arrested after vandalism, arson attempt at parish
 2 former Rhode Island parishes sold for $2.6M
 4,000 Australian Catholic school teachers to go on strike
 Leading South African bishop laments ‘invisible’ teen abortions
 Pakistan’s legislature passes bill to increase blasphemy penalties to life in prison
 Cardinal Parolin in South Sudan: Humble service can overcome ‘plague of revenge’

Released Wednesday, Aug. 16

 Syro-Malabar faction demands ouster of papal delegate
 Massachusetts diocese updates gender policy at Catholic schools
 Cardinal Dziwisz pleads for end to war in Ukraine
 German lay leader: ordain married men, don’t wait for Rome
 Refugees from Sudan violence streaming into Chad
 NJ court backs Catholic school in dispute with teacher
 Texas lawsuit could bankrupt Planned Parenthood in the state
 Vatican rejects ailing Dutch bishop’s decision to declare ‘impeded see’
 Cardinal Tagle was victim of Vatican power play, former Caritas leader charges
 New Orleans archdiocese pushes back against newspaper’s allegations
 Papal prayer for peace in Ukraine, other war-torn areas
 Serve and praise as Mary and Jesus did, Pope tells pilgrims on feast of the Assumption
 Pope merges 2 Japanese dioceses

Released Monday, Aug. 14

 Nicaraguan regime freezes bank accounts of Jesuit university
 Christ conquers all our fears, Pope assures audience
 Church must support unemployed workers, Pope says
 Lisbon appointment shows Pope’s disregard for convention
 Key figure in Vatican corruption inquiry dead at 62
 Catholic church survives wildfire in Maui
 Cincinnati archbishop urges faithful to oppose constitutional amendment
 Democratic presidential candidate Kennedy open to abortion restrictions?
 Seminary enrollments continue decline in US, but some dioceses buck trend
 Cardinal Parolin in South Sudan for peace effort
 Australian archbishop: allow married priests for indigenous peoples
 Vatican releases balance sheet for property investments

Released Friday, Aug. 11

 Israeli president condemns anti-Christian violence in visit to monastery
 Canadian bishop demands proof of abuse at residential schools
 Ivory Coast: bishops’ spokesman leads prayers for peaceful elections
 Iran arresting Christian converts in new crackdown
 Pro-life Americans need new approach, Wall Street Journal editorializes
 Catholics ‘under attack’ in America, Archbishop Cordileone warns
 Pediatricians urge group to rethink support for children’s gender reassignment
 Prelate who escaped Islamic kidnappers reflects on new martyrs
 Pope offers prayers for Hawaii fire victims
 Catholic activist arrests in Hong Kong
 US dioceses taking different approaches to Traditionis Custodes
 Pennsylvania governor defunds pregnancy-help centers
 Archbishop Gänswein ‘looking for work’
 New church in Sicily dedicated to Mafia victim
 Opus Dei responds to change of canon law for prelatures

Released Thursday, Aug. 10

 Catholic population drops to 58% of Italian total
 Mexican politician convicted for reference to ‘man who self-describes as a woman’
 Analyzed: the erotic poetry of new Vatican doctrinal prefect
 English bishops seek reversal of government rule limiting Catholic-school enrollment
 Polish archbishop reports ‘significant irregularities’ in charismatic group
 Philadelphia archdiocese pays $3.5 million to settle abuse suit
 Pope names new Patriarch of Lisbon
 Spanish teen says she regained sight during World Youth Day
 USCCB: ‘Tell Congress to fund WIC for all families in need!’
 Black Brazilian group reports racist incidents during World Youth Day
 Priest, seminarian abducted in Nigeria
 Minnesota Catholic colleges announce ‘non-binary admissions policy’
 Bishops in West Africa oppose military intervention in Niger
 Ethiopians can no longer bear the sight of war, bishops say of new clashes
 Papal prayer for victims of natural disasters in Slovenia, Georgia
 Pope entrusts Ukraine to intercession of St. Edith Stein
 Bishops protest Biden administration’s addition of abortion to pregnant workers’ protections

Released Wednesday, Aug. 9

 Multiple FBI offices involved in targeting Catholics, House committee finds
 Ethiopian bishops plead for peace
 Theologian: Synod activism contradicts message of Vatican II
 Vermont pregnancy-help centers challenge new gag law
 Proposed federal legislation would offer pregnancy help
 India: priest faces charges for denying Hindu ‘god’
 Pope resumes Wednesday general audience, recalls journey to Portugal
 English bishop’s installation highlights abuse victims
 France moves to ban political party for anti-Semitism
 Malta archdiocese announces $9.7M deficit
 Pro-Beijing bishops seek ‘sinicization of Catholic seminaries’
 Lay US Synod delegate hopes to ‘plant seeds,’ ‘create processes’
 Report: New Orleans archbishop hid ‘credibly accused’ abusers
 US prelate, in Japan, calls for abolition of nuclear weapons
 Ohio voters reject Issue 1
 Work to ensure fair elections in DR Congo, USCCB committee chairman urges Blinken

Released Tuesday, Aug. 8

 Catholic couple sues Massachusetts after rejection as foster parents
 AI is focus of next papal message for World Day of Peace
 Pope updates canon law for personal prelatures
 Payments begin for 280 priest abuse survivors in Guam
 Federal appeals court upholds Connecticut’s repeal of religious vaccination exemption
 The Work receives final Vatican approval
 Syro-Malabar parishes in India refuse to read out papal delegate’s liturgy letter
 El Salvador archbishop launches sainthood process for Jesuits slain in 1989
 West African bishops express spiritual closeness to people of Niger following coup
 Nigerian prelate attributes national divisions, most sufferings to failure to listen to God
 Abortion drives Ohio ballot initiative, state’s bishops neutral; Texas bishop at Rosary rally
 Ensure food for the hungry in wake of Russian actions, USCCB committee chairman urges global leaders

Released Monday, Aug. 7

 Pope warns Rome’s priests against clericalism, ‘spiritual worldliness’
 Pope seen consolidating authority in Rome
 Vatican dismisses reports of Pope’s eyesight failing
 Father Perrone returns to ministry after suspension
 Pope at in-flight press conference: all are welcome in Church, and those inside follow Church’s legislation
 Judge halts law that would restrict Illinois pro-life pregnancy centers
 With visitation of Peruvian movement underway, suppression seems unlikely
 Bankruptcy for Archdiocese of San Francisco is ‘very likely,’ Archbishop Cordileone says
 Pilgrims brave scorching heat for Pope’s vigil in Lisbon after Francis ditches Fátima peace prayer
 Indian police investigate priest over remarks on 17th-century Indian ruler
 Leading Nigerian bishop opposes military intervention in neighboring Niger
 ‘Do you cry?’ Pope asks 800,000 young people at Stations of the Cross; so does Jesus, he says
 Don’t be afraid to change the world, Pope tells youths at World Youth Day closing Mass

Released Friday, Aug. 4

 Oregon hospital refuses treatment to cancer patient over ‘transgender’ complaint
 Alabama parents complain archdiocese ignored warnings on priest’s behavior
 Pope again assails ‘rigid’ young priests in new interview
 Vatican officials spying on each other
 In Lisbon, Pope meets with leaders of other faiths
 Our ‘new battle of New Orleans’ is ‘against violence, murder and racism,’ prelate says
 Famed Brazilian shrine struggles with fate of mosaics by accused Jesuit abuser
 6% of US children now homeschooled
 ‘We are on our own’: Christians in Nigeria are convinced some soldiers are working with Islamists
 12% of Americans support violence to ‘restore abortion rights’
 Mother Elvira Petrozzi, foundress of Cenacolo Community, dies at 86
 Pope holds surprise meeting with Ukrainian youth at World Youth Day
 Cardinal Dolan: India’s ruling party encourages persecution of Christians
 Federal appeals court upholds Guam’s ban on virtual prescriptions of abortion pills
 USCCB office renews criticism of Biden administration’s asylum restrictions
 USCCB committee chairman lauds Blinken’s Sudan policy
 Pope to young people at World Youth Day: God calls your authentic, not virtual, self

Released Thursday, Aug. 3

 Iraqi cardinal sets out conditions for return to Baghdad
 Vatican investigators meet Peru prelate accused of land trafficking
 New cardinal in Hong Kong says red hat will help ‘build bridges’ with China
 Santa Fe archbishop asks US Catholics for ‘urgent conversation’ about nuclear weapons’ risks
 Missionary priest discusses Senegal protests, discounts possibility of civil war
 Nigerian bishop decries communal clashes, calls for ‘a breathing space’
 Virginia bishops welcome new state policies on parental rights, transgender students
 Ukraine moves official Christmas Day holiday to Dec. 25, denouncing Russian-imposed traditions
 Middle-aged Americans aren’t going back to church
 Pope Francis blasts scandal of clergy sex abuse in Portugal and meets with survivors
 Awaken the ‘weary’ Church by becoming ‘restless,’ Pope tells Portugal’s clergy, religious

Released Wednesday, Aug. 2

 Kyrgyzstan: Church raided, nuns fined for reading Scriptures
 Pope, in Lisbon, urges ‘a different path’ for Europe
 Pope promises to ‘stir things up’ at World Youth Day
 Building-collapse tragedy ‘difficult to bear,’ says Cameroon archbishop
 Post-lockdown ‘baby boom’ never came; decline in birth continues
 St. Louis archdiocese suspends parish mergers, awaiting Rome’s decision
 Retired Albany bishop enters civil marriage after Vatican refuses to laicize him
 Royal Commission finds Church failed to act on horrific sexual abuse in New Zealand institutions
 ‘Sinuous minimalism’ marks altar, other furnishings for the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris
 Vatican relaunches Global Compact on Education at World Youth Day
 World Youth Day opens in Lisbon with Mass for thousands of pilgrims
 CDC says transgendered people can ‘chestfeed’ babies; critics warn of health risks
 220 churches have been destroyed in Manipur since May
 Indian officials detain Catholic teens who want to be nuns
 Bishop laments Netanyahu government’s weak response to growing anti-Christian violence
 USCCB committee chairman: ‘A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’

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