OSV News

The Aug. 9 passenger plane crash in the city of Vinhedo, Brazil killed all 62 on board, greatly touching different Catholic communities in the country.

"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."

North Dakota's University of Mary's Summer Undergraduate Research Vocation Experience, or SURVE, is a 10-week annual program from late May through early August providing paid, science-research internships.

An Aug. 2-4 conference in Chicago on the life of the Catholic Church in China covered both the difficulties and strengths of being a church under a heavily regulatory communist government. The event included presentations from four clergy members registered with the Chinese government's Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, marking the first time this many officially registered Chinese clergy led talks at a conference hosted by the Berkeley, California-based US-China Catholic Association.

Around 87,000 Australians have been sexually abused in faith-based organizations during their childhood, with nearly three-quarters of those taking place in Catholic settings, according to new research. Yet the new study from the Australian Catholic University’s Institute of Child Protection Studies showed a significant decline in the prevalence of abuse in the last five decades, falling from 2.2% of men aged 65 and older, down to 0.2% of men now aged 16-24.

Venezuela's two most senior clergy warned that harassment of priests from pro-government politicians has the country following in the footsteps of Nicaragua, where democracy has disappeared and the church is persecuted.

"As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he's delivered for working families like his. It's great to have him on the team," Harris wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The Indian government is leaving no stone unturned to trace people still missing following the massive landslide in southern Kerala state in the last days of July, while local priests decried a disastrous hygienic crisis in the landslide areas.

The square in front of Notre Dame Cathedral was bathed in sunshine Aug. 4 as representatives of the five major religions involved in the Paris Olympic Games met. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus came to talk about their experiences at the multifaith center in the Olympic Village and discuss the values of faith and sports.

Bishop Joy Alappatt of the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Chicago is among more than 300 signatories of an open letter to the U.S. State Department, asking Secretary Antony Blinken to designate India as a "country of particular concern," or CPC, due to significant violations of religious freedoms against Christians, Muslims, Dalits and Indigenous peoples.

Martha Patricia Molina, a Nicaraguan lawyer in exile who tracks persecution of the Catholic Church, shared figures with OSV News showing 70 priests were serving the diocese — 57 Nicaraguans and 13 foreigners — prior to the regime's attacks on the church. Just 22 priests remain to cover a diocese of 615,858 Catholics and 29 parishes. Four of the priests died; two have retired, but continue to celebrate the sacraments; five were "kidnapped," while three are missing. Thirty of the priests were forced into exile.

A pastor of an Archdiocese of Cincinnati parish has resigned from his post following complaints from parishioners over his admitted effort to destroy evidence of a fellow priest's possession of pornographic images, including material that possibly involved the sexual abuse of children.

A retired FBI agent will head up the U.S. bishops' consultative safe environment body, while a clergy abuse survivor, a nursing professor and two clinical social workers are also among the board's Aug. 1 appointments.

The tax relief would have had a substantial direct impact on U.S. Catholic households. According to Pew Research, 55% of Catholic households make under $50,000, including 36% making under $30,000.

In a statement published July 24, Maria Campatelli, director of the Centro Aletti, said that while the center has remained silent as it awaits the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith's investigation into the accusations, it viewed calls for the removal of the priest's artwork as an attack against art and also a "desire for destruction."

Bishops in Venezuela called July 30 for the results of the nation's heavily disputed presidential election to be verified as protests break across the South American country over the official vote count — which gave President Nicolas Maduro a third consecutive term.

 

The three-judge tribunal — Francesco Paolo Pitarresi, Elisa D'Aveni and Maria Rosaria Santoni — stated that Bishop Rosario Gisana of Piazza Armerina was "well aware for many years of the reports made concerning the abuse suffered by" Antonio Messina, who was 16 at the time.

President Joe Biden July 29 called for legislation and a constitutional amendment that would result in massive changes to the U.S. Supreme Court, including term limits for justices and an enforceable ethics code.

Pope Francis has designated the provincial city of Santiago del Estero as Argentina's primatial see in a move described by Catholic leaders as a historic "reparation" and a reflection of his preference for putting the peripheries at the center of church attention.

On an emotional note, Edmonton Archbishop Richard W. Smith said: "We share the sense of loss with all of those who live in the town, who care for it and who have helped build it. And to those in Alberta and around the world who have experienced the magic of Jasper: The magic is not lost, and it never will be."