CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News

In Barcelona, Pope addresses questions from young people about depression, family violence (CWN)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 08:06:57 GMT

Pope Leo XIV addressed questions from three young people in Barcelona last evening and preached that the nights we experience “can be an opportunity to receive new life, to change and be renewed, to be ‘born again from above,’ as Jesus tells Nicodemus.”

Cases of anti-Christian harassment on the rise in Israel (OSV News)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:06:42 GMT

Harassment against Christians in Israel is on the rise, according to a new report from the Israeli-based Religious Freedom Data Center.

Yisca Harani, the center’s founder, described harassment as “an everyday occurrence.”

“Most of the incidents, which include spitting and verbal insults, vandalism and desecration of graves, tombstones, statues and crosses, and defacement of signs and graffiti, have taken place in Jerusalem’s Old City, on Mount Zion and near the Armenian Patriarchate,” OSV News reported. “However, there have also been cases of harassment, vandalism and arson at Christian holy sites in northern Israel.”

Nigerian bishop: 'At last, killers have been held to account' (Aid to the Church in Need)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:06:12 GMT

A Nigerian bishop welcomed the conviction of four members of the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab for perpetrating the Owo church attack in 2022.

The four were sentenced to death, and “the Church does not accept the death penalty,” said the local bishop, Bishop Jude Arogundade. “But it is important that those responsible are held accountable.”

“We are pleased that, at last, the families and victims in general can move towards a kind of closure, although we realize that they will never fully reach closure, as they will carry the scars of what happened that day for the rest of their lives,” he added.

Vatican diplomat says platform economy raises ethical concerns (Holy See Mission)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:06:40 GMT

In an address to a recent session of the International Labour Conference, a Vatican diplomat said that the platform economy raises “many ethical concerns.”

“The Holy See has repeatedly questioned the fact that power over mainstream AI models is concentrated in the hands of a few companies,” said Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland.

“The power to grant or limit access to work may rest entirely with the platform operator,” he continued. “This means that workers may have to pay to access work opportunities. This reversal of the principle that no worker should ever have to pay to get a job has consequences on the dignity of work and the very foundational assumption that labor is not a commodity.”

Police arrest man for threat against Philadelphia-area parish (WPVI-TV)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:06:21 GMT

Police in Marple Township, Pennsylvania, arrested a man who posted an online threat against a parish there. The parish is part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

“I firmly believe we stopped a tragedy before it happened. He had no weapons on him, but you don’t need weapons to commit violence,” said Marple Township Police Chief Brandon Graeff.

Historic church near Milan vandalized (OIDAC Europe)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 10:06:31 GMT

A small historic church, constructed at the suggestion of St. Charles Borromeo and consecrated in 1580, was vandalized recently, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe reported.

The Church of St. Bernardine is located in Legnano, a city of 60,000 near Milan.

Bad Bunny, Pope Leo meet briefly in Madrid (OSV News)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:06:20 GMT

The popular rapper Bad Bunny, whose performances in Madrid coincided with the papal visit, met briefly with the Pontiff on June 8.

Bad Bunny “comes from a Catholic family, and he wanted to meet the Pope,” said Yago de la Cierva, the Spanish bishops’ general coordinator of the papal visit. “The deal was—meeting, yes, but no pictures—and Bad Bunny respected it.”

What the June consistory reveals about Pope Leo's style of governance [New Analysis] (CWN)

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 07:06:43 GMT

The program for consistory of cardinals scheduled for June 26-27 reveals several things about how Pope Leo XIV intends to govern the Church.

Cost of abuse scandal in US soars 82% in single year to $483.5M (CWN)

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 08:06:45 GMT

The costs of the clerical abuse scandal in the United States soared 82% in the July 2024—June 2025 reporting year, to $483,534,316, according to the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection.

USCCB president welcomes Alvarado's appointment as prefect of Dicastery for Communication (USCCB)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:06:22 GMT

The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomed the appointment of Maria Montserrat (Montse) Alvarado, the president and chief operating officer of EWTN News, as prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication.

“We are grateful for her work as a Catholic journalist, faithfully covering the work of the bishops, and also for her advocacy and dedication to upholding religious freedom and human dignity at the Becket Fund,” said Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City. “On behalf of the Conference, I assure her of our prayers as she continues to serve the universal Church with her unique talents.”

Let Eucharistic piety transform Spanish society, Pope preaches at Mass for 1.2 million (CWN)

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 03:06:10 GMT

Pope Leo XIV celebrated the Mass of Corpus Christi today in Madrid’s Plaza de Cibeles (video 1, video 2) and lauded Spain’s heritage of Eucharistic piety.

Pope addresses Spanish Parliament, urges respect for dignity of every human person (CWN)

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:06:47 GMT

Pope Leo XIV addressed the Spanish Parliament this morning in the Palacio de las Cortes and urged lawmakers to respect the dignity of every human person in their decisions about the unborn, parental rights, migration, peace, religious freedom, and the seal of Confession.

Be missionaries of the Gospel, Pope tells over 600,000 Spanish young people (CWN)

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 11:06:23 GMT

Pope Leo XIV presided at a prayer vigil with young people last evening in Madrid’s Plaza de Lima (video) and challenged the Catholic youth of Spain to “be missionaries of the Gospel amid the material and spiritual poverty of our time, knowing full well that our faith is a way of life that is lived out in charity.”

Bishop murdered in Mozambique (Agência ECCLESIA (Portuguese))

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 05:06:33 GMT

The bishop of Quelimane, Mozambique, died this morning after being shot in the heart in his residence.

Born in 1972, Bishop Osório Cîtora Afonso, I.M.C., was ordained to the priesthood in 2002, appointed auxiliary bishop of Maputo (the nation’s capital) in 2023, and became bishop of Quelimane last July, according to the Annuario Pontificio. Prior to being named a bishop, he was an an official in the Dicastery for Evangelization; previously, he earned a licentiate at the Biblicum, worked at seminaries, and held regional leadership positions in his order, the Consolata Missionaries.

The Portuguese bishops’ news agency reported that the murder was “committed with an AKM-type weapon by individuals who climbed the wall of his residence, having vandalized the electrical security ... There are no detainees so far, and the authorities are investigating the case.”

Spanish saints are examples in our own dark night, Pope tells nation's leaders (CWN)

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 03:06:03 GMT

Pope Leo XIV told Spanish lawmakers today that three Spanish saints—St. John of the Cross (1542-1591), St. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582), and St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1566)—can assist the people of our own age, which he characterized as “so dark.”

Pope Leo: Iran war does not meet just-war criteria (CWN)

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 02:06:42 GMT

In extemporaneous comments this morning on his flight from Rome to Madrid, Pope Leo XIV said that the Iran war does not meet just-war criteria.