Jonathan Luxmoore

In the weeks following the conclusion of the synod on synodality, Europe's bishops have been pondering its practical implications, especially in more conservative countries where some reform ideas have faced resistance.

As the superior general of the Sacred Heart order appealed to Polish authorities to ensure an arrested Polish priest's "dignity" is "respected," defenders have accused the country's government of using Father Michal Olszewski as a political prisoner and urged the Catholic Church to speak up on his behalf.

The Irish government is to set up an official commission of investigation into sexual abuse at schools run by Catholic religious orders after a preliminary inquiry highlighted widespread complaints over decades.
 

With Kyiv's forces now occupying Russian territory, Catholics in both countries are reeling from the sudden turnaround, and pondering what it may portend for Vladimir Putin, and for the chance of a negotiated end to the war.

"We are astonished — we never thought such a thing could happen," said Gerard Kieffer, press officer for the Luxembourg Archdiocese. "But Caritas is legally and juridically independent of the church, so while we can anticipate negative consequences, reflections are underway as to how these might be limited."

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

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

The first bishop of a special diocese in Great Britain created for Catholics of the Anglican tradition has welcomed the pope's show of support and predicted the fledgling Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham will continue growing and strengthening.

Opposition to abortion and aid in dying, and support for the "poor, marginalized and vulnerable" are among issues U.K. Catholic leaders cite as priorities for voters to consider in the July 4 elections. 

Leaders of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate have deplored an information blackout surrounding the arrest of two of their priests in Belarus.

Britain's Catholic Church has condemned a government-backed law allowing migrants in the country illegally to be forcibly deported to Rwanda in East Africa.

In its first detailed analysis of the Vatican's pre-Christmas declaration "Fiducia Supplicans," Russia's Orthodox Church has accused Pope Francis of "rejecting the Christian moral ideal" by allowing the blessing of same-sex couples.

Russia's Catholic archbishop has echoed condemnations of a March 22 terror assault which left dozens dead and injured at a Moscow concert venue, although a bishop from war-torn Ukraine warned the atrocity should also remind Russians of what his country was suffering at their hands.

A senior priest in Russia has said he fears uncertain conditions for local Catholics after March 15-17 presidential elections, in which Vladimir Putin claimed a landslide victory after the forced elimination of effective opponents.

A senior Russian Catholic has urged church leaders abroad to commemorate the opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, as armed police dispersed citizens mourning his death at age 47 in a remote prison camp.

Mounting evidence of Russia's mass deportation of Ukrainian children is stoking outrage, not least in Ukraine's Catholic Church. "Alongside the occupation, repression and injustice, this has inflicted yet another painful wound," one bishop told NCR.

As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is celebrating its 75th birthday, the Vatican's Permanent Representative in Geneva, Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, organized a symposium that aimed to focus on both human rights and care for creation.

The president of the Spanish bishops' conference has appealed for calm following mass protests against the planned release of jailed Catalan separatists under a deal with the new socialist-led government.

The president of the Polish bishops' conference has bitterly criticized demands for liberal change by the church in neighboring Germany and urged the pope not to allow them to dominate the Rome Synod on Synodality.

Victims' advocates are expressing dismay at the fact that Rupnik was readmitted to a diocese in the first place, and debate continues over whether his artwork should be withdrawn from churches worldwide.