Our Church in the World

As the U.S. Army approaches the 250th anniversary of its Chaplain Corps on July 29, Catholic military chaplains are in critically short supply.

“No one can turn a deaf ear to the palpable cries of anxiety and fear heard in communities throughout the country in the wake of a surge in immigration enforcement actions,” said the leader of the nation’s Catholic bishops in a June 16 statement that assured all impacted of their shepherds’ support.

The shooting happened June 10 just before 10 a.m. local time at the Dreierschützengasse high school in Austria’s second-biggest city — Graz. Nine people — mostly teenagers — were killed by a suspected perpetrator, who killed himself on the scene.

Over 20,000 young Catholics were evacuated from Lednica June 7 after a powerful storm cut short one of Central Europe’s largest annual youth prayer events. 

As Christians mark the anniversary of the council, held in 325, they celebrate their common profession of the basics of faith in the Creed adopted at Nicaea while also continuing to experience division.

Catholics are encouraged to turn out in strong numbers for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s Eucharistic processions to counter the growing number of anti-Catholic protesters who have afflicted the route’s public events from the first week.

Catholic bishops in Kenya are demanding a full investigation into the suspicious deaths of two priests within days of each other, calling the incidents deeply disturbing. On May 22, Father Allois Cheruiyot Bett was shot dead after celebrating Mass in Kenya’s volatile Kerio Valley.

In honor of National Foster Care Month in May, and ahead of Dobbs’ third anniversary, Kimberly Henkel, co-founder of Springs of Love in Pennsylvania, joined other Catholic ministry leaders to call for deeper engagement. They stressed that while not everyone is called to foster or adopt, every Catholic can support families who do.