At the 50th National Day of Intercession for Priests at Ireland’s International Eucharistic and Marian Shine in Knock, Co Mayo, Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin said abuse had damaged priestly fraternity, credibility and the “precious trust” between priests and their people.

There are many times, he said, when priests feel their brokenness, woundedness and their need for God, especially when they learn that some of their brother priests have committed awful sins and crimes of abuse. 

He told the assembled priests that one of the greatest challenges they face is to be “good news” for the world even though they may see their priesthood undermined or attacked.

The annual intercession for priests, he said, had helped remind priests that priesthood is not like other jobs or professions because “it is subsumed into our whole being. Our priesthood is not our own. It is a share in the priesthood of Christ.”

Separately in his homily for an open-air Mass on the Hill of Slane in Co Meath for the “Light the Fire” faith event, Archbishop Martin appealed to the faithful not to allow the flame of the Holy Spirit to be quenched in Ireland. 

Acknowledging that these are challenging times for the faith, he said many have drifted away from practicing, distracted by “a frantic world of materialism and consumerism” and the superficial promises of easy pleasure and success. 

“We must be alert to the false gods that surround us, and their empty promises, stealing away life and happiness from our people through addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling and gaming; destroying the hearts and minds of our children through unfiltered access to misinformation and harmful content online,” he warned.

Two seminarians kidnapped in Nigeria’s southern Edo State appeared in a video filmed by their captors, pleading with their parents, the Church and the general public to help secure their release. They were seized in an attack on the Diocese of Auchi’s Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary in Ivianokpodi, Agenebode, Etsako East Local Government Area on 10 July. In the video, which appeared online earlier this month and was verified by the diocesan spokesman Fr Peter Egielewa, the two teenagers appeared holding human skulls and surrounded by armed masked men who threatened to kill them.

In the video, the seminarians said: “They kill people here. Our abductors have threatened to kill us. Please, send money to them to spare our lives. They told us they have killed people and they are not afraid of killing us.” The diocese asked Catholics and all who sympathise with the seminarians, “who, out of the love of God ‘s work, have volunteered their lives for the vocation”, to come out to their rescue.

Gunmen killed a civil defence officer in their attack on the seminary on 10 July and abducted three seminarians, later releasing one. Following the abduction, the Edo State Commissioner of Police Agbonika ordered the deployment of tactical units to track the attackers and rescue the victims.

Colombia’s bishops expressed their outrage after at least 18 people died and more than 40 were injured after two attacks in Colombia attributed to different dissident factions of the former FARC guerrilla group. Bishops decried as “brutal” the “wave of violence that rocked the country,” with the Archdiocese of Cali, Colombia’s most populous city where the attacks happened, “urgently” calling for justice and peace.

Six people died when a cargo vehicle with explosives detonated near a Colombian Aerospace Force base, causing 71 further injuries, according to the mayor’s office, as reported by Reuters. Hours earlier, the agency reported, a National Police Black Hawk UH-60 helicopter participating in a coca leaf crop eradication operation was shot down in the municipality of Amalfi, in the department of Antioquia, leaving 12 officers dead.

The Colombian bishops’ conference, in an Aug. 22 statement signed by its leaders, including the conference president, Archbishop Francisco Javier Múnera Correa of Cartagena, condemned the terrorist attacks and extended its “sentiments of solidarity” to the families of the victims “at this time when violence continues to knock on the doors of Colombian homes, sowing pain and despair.”

The bishops made a direct appeal to all parties involved in the conflict to abandon “the path of death and walk the path of respect for life, which dignifies and makes true human development possible.”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro attributed the attacks to dissident groups of the former FARC guerrilla movement, which refused to accept the 2016 peace accord aimed at ending the decades-long conflict that has claimed over 450,000 lives.

The Bolivian Bishops’ Conference (CEB, by its Spanish acronym) expressed hope after Bolivia’s recent general election, which marked a change in the country’s political direction. Rodrigo Paz Pereira, the centrist Christian Democratic Party candidate for president who won the Aug. 17 election, will now face former president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in a runoff. The unexpected result is viewed as a setback for the far-left Movement Toward Socialism, the party that governed the country for two decades.

Amid food shortages, historic inflation, political confrontations, and a climate of violence in the country, Bolivians voted for change.  In an Aug. 18 statement, the bishops celebrated voter turnout on Election Day. “This demonstration of democratic commitment, hope, and responsibility on the part of the Bolivian people — who experienced a great historic occasion, marked by respect and the will to decide the country’s course — should characterize the path ahead,” they said.

They also praised the work of the institutions responsible for ensuring the integrity of the electoral process, “so that Election Day would be held within a framework of trust and respect for the will of the Bolivian people.” “We welcome with hope the election results that open a new chapter in the country’s political history,” the bishops stated, saying the election gave “a voice to all Bolivians who strive and yearn for significant change.”

The CEB congratulated the candidates who qualified for the runoff, scheduled for Oct. 19. The bishops urged the public to “continue to responsibly inform themselves about each candidate’s proposals in this new electoral phase.”

“We are appalled by what is happening in Gaza, despite the condemnation of the whole world,” Cardinal Parolin said, noting that “there is a unanimity in condemning what is taking place.” Speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Liturgical Week in Naples on 25 August, the Cardinal referred to the Israeli strike on the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which killed 20 people, including five journalists. “It makes no sense,” he said, adding that “there seem to be no openings for a solution” and that the situation is becoming “increasingly complicated and, from a humanitarian perspective, increasingly precarious, with all the consequences we are seeing day by day.”

On the war in Ukraine, the Cardinal stressed the need for “a lot of politics, because in theory there are many possible solutions and many paths that could lead to peace. But they must be put into practice, and this also requires dispositions of the spirit.”

“There is a need for hope for the whole world,” Cardinal Parolin continued, recalling that the Jubilee announced by Pope Francis, dedicated precisely to this theme, aims to be “a moment of regaining hope.” It is, he explained, “a hope against all hope,” at a time when “there are not many reasons to hope, especially at the international level.” Recent days, he said, show once again “the difficulty of setting in motion paths of peace in situations of conflict.” Yet, he insisted, “we must not give in to resignation” but rather “continue to work for peace and reconciliation.”

The Latin and Greek Orthodox Patriarchs of Jerusalem released a joint appeal for peace in Gaza on August 26, saying there is no reason to justify “the deliberate and forcible mass displacement of civilians.”

On August 27, Pope Leo XIV joined his voice to theirs, and recalled the Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace, which took place on August 22. “Today I renew a strong appeal both to the parties involved and to the international community, that an end be put to the conflict in the Holy Land, which has caused so much terror, destruction, and death,” said the Pope.

He also called for the safe entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the protection of civilians. “I appeal for all hostages to be freed, a permanent ceasefire to be reached, the safe entry of humanitarian aid to be facilitated, and humanitarian law to be fully respected—especially the obligation to protect civilians and the prohibitions against collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations,” he added.

The Pope concluded his appeal by invoking the Blessed Virgin Mary to pray for peace.

“Let us implore Mary, Queen of Peace, source of consolation and of hope,” said Pope Leo. “May her intercession obtain reconciliation and peace in that land so dear to us all.”

In their appeal, the Patriarchs of Jerusalem said the cycle of violence must end and the common good must be prioritized. “There has been enough devastation, in the territories and in people’s lives,” they said. “There is no reason to justify keeping civilians as prisoners and hostages in dramatic conditions. It is now time for the healing of the long-suffering families on all sides.” The Patriarchs prayed that hearts may be converted, “so that we may walk in the paths of justice and life, for Gaza and the whole Holy Land.”

The Diocese of Syracuse, New York, announced on Aug. 9 that Bishop Douglas J. Lucia has taken on the additional job of parish priest at three churches in Baldwinsville, New York. 

The diocese announced a number of changes to pastoral assignments that went into effect on Aug. 1, including Lucia serving as pastor at St. Augustine Church, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, and St. Mary of the Assumption Church. The three churches are part of the same parish and share various initiatives and resources.

“Certainly, a crucial component in our parishes is the priest. Without the priest, there is no Mass; and without the Mass there is no Eucharist, no food for the journey,” Lucia wrote in a recent letter to the churches’ parishioners.

After announcing that the previous pastor, Father Joe O’Connor, received seminary work as a new assignment, Lucia wrote to parishioners: “I know you have been wondering what is next for the Baldwinsville parishes.”

“I am able to share the news that I will be your new pastor,” Lucia said. “Although I was called to be the bishop of the Diocese of Syracuse six years ago, it has always been with the hope of continuing to be a parish priest and I guess God has taken me at my word.”

The quiet Sunday rhythms of the village parish of Blessed Anuarite were shattered on July 27 when militants stormed the church during worship. Armed with machetes and fire, they left behind not just burned walls and desecrated pews, but the bodies of more than 43 worshippers—nine of them children. Others were abducted, homes and shops in the area reduced to ash. The attackers were members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist militia aligned with the so-called Islamic State. For residents of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern provinces, this is not an isolated nightmare. It is part of a relentless cycle of massacres, abductions, and displacement that has continued despite the region’s prolonged “state of siege.”

In the days following the attack, the country’s Catholic bishops issued a statement that was both grief-stricken and accusatory. The National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) demanded answers—not only about the attack itself, but about the absence of protection for the population. “Security forces were nearby,” said Bishop Dieudonné Uringi of Bunia, “but they did not act in time. They should have intervened more quickly to protect the people.” CENCO’s communiqué was even more pointed: “This massacre is one of many in a province under military control for years. Killings and kidnappings happen repeatedly, and no credible explanation has been offered to reassure the people. Who are these serial killers serving? Who benefits from these crimes against peaceful citizens?” The aftermath is visible not only in the charred remains of the church but in the swelling numbers of displaced people. Many survivors fled to Bunia, where the diocese is struggling to house and feed them. “We welcome them, but we have no means to sustain them,” Bishop Uringi said, appealing for continued aid from international partners like the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need.

What does it mean to be a Church that is authentically “of the Pacific”? That was the question on the agenda when bishops from around the region gathered in early August for a week of prayer and reflection in Pago Pago, American Samoa.

The meeting, which ran from the 5th to the 11th August, was held under the auspices of CEPAC, the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific—which is, by area, the largest episcopal conference in the world.

As well as time for prayer and discussion, the gathering featured a traditional Samoan welcome ceremony, ‘conversations in the Spirit’ using synodal methodology, and an address from Archbishop Gábor Pintér, the Apostolic Nuncio to CEPAC.

In his speech, Archbishop Gábor Pintér described the Pacific as “region of breathtaking natural beauty, imbued with a profound sense of spirituality, and shaped by deep-rooted, resilient cultures.” It also, the nuncio admitted, faces “significant challenges”: climate change, economic disparities, social injustice, and youth disempowerment. These realities are “not distant concerns”, Archbishop Pintér said, but rather “woven into the very fabric of our daily lives”.

At the “very core” of CEPAC’s vision, the apostolic nuncio said, is a “deep desire to be a Church that is authentically ‘of the Pacific’ … a Church that courageously recognizes, respects, and seamlessly integrates the rich cultural heritage, ancestral wisdom, and communal values of our island nations into its very life.”
With this in mind, he suggested a number of areas for the Church in the region to focus on: care for the oceans, synodality, formation for mission, social activism, and empowerment of women and young people.

Archbishop Pintér brought his address to a close by outlining a vision of the Church in the Pacific as  “Christ-centred”, passionately committed to justice, peace, and environmental care, and “deeply rooted and flourishing within the rich cultural tapestries of our islands”.