For the first time in the history of the University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, a woman has been appointed Rector. Elena Beccalli will take over on 1 July, after the painful death on 23 May of her predecessor Franco Anelli. Beccalli was a student at the university that she is now preparing to lead for four years, from 2024 to 2028. She was appointed by the Board of Directors who met on 20 June. The decision of the Board of Directors follows the appointment of Professor Elena Beccalli, already serving as Dean of the School of Banking, Finance, and Insurance Sciences, by the University’s 12 Faculty Councils on 22 May, with 636 preferences out of a total of 685, corresponding to around 93% of those voting. 
“Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore is a ‘universal’ academic institution by vocation, where dialogue and confrontation are open, free, interdisciplinary, and oriented towards the creation of networks and strategic alliances. It is a University that can offer with accuracy, creativity, courage a forward-looking approach to contemporary challenges, thanks to the coordinated efforts of its vibrant academic community”, Professor Beccalli said in thanking the academic staff and the Board of Directors.

Father Liudger Gottschlich, a priest from the Archdiocese of Paderborn, has dedicated over three decades to supporting survivors of abuse, drawing from his own experience as a victim of abuse by a priest at the age of eleven. On Tuesday, June 25, he was part of a special audience with Pope Francis at the Pope’s residence, Casa Santa Marta, in the Vatican. The meeting, described as occurring in a “unique atmosphere,” was a poignant moment for Fr Gottschlich and his fellow priests who have also experienced abuse. “As priests who have been victims ourselves, we are in a challenging position within the Church,” Gottschlich explained in an interview with Vatican Radio. He highlighted the isolation often felt by these priests, noting that their presence serves as a constant reminder of unresolved issues within the Church, which can make others uncomfor-table. Fr Gottschlich shared that the encounter with Pope Francis was unlike their usual experiences within the Church. “Generally, we don’t receive much support or backing. There is often a desire for us to be invisible,” he said.
However, this meeting was different. Conducted in the Pope’s private living room, the conversation was intimate and personal. “We found him very interested, very open, and also very encouraging and strengthening. This is something not commonly experienced with our superiors in the dioceses.”
Reflecting on the meeting, Fr Gottschlich emphasized the Pope’s strong encouragement for their work. “The Pope urged us to use our own wounds to aid in pastoral work and to act as healers wherever possible,” he said. The Pope’s encouragement was a significant takeaway, reinforcing the importance of not remaining silent and keeping the issue of abuse alive within the Church. Father Gottschlich also addressed the common assertion that abuse predominantly occurs within families, with the Church representing only a small percentage. He argued that this perspective is too narrow.

A congolese bishop has made a fresh plea for the country’s leaders to stop the armed conflict following the massacre of around 150 people – including at least 80 Christians – by an Islamist rebel group earlier this month. Denouncing the “serious and ongoing violations of human dignity” on Tuesday (18th June), Bishop Melchisedec Sikuli Paluku of Butembo-Beni called on authorities to “put an end to the plight of the Congolese people”.
The terrorist group known as Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – which is affiliated with Daesh (ISIS) – carried out the killings in villages in North Kivu Province in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between 4th and 8th June. Media outlets reported that an on-line post by Daesh indicated that one of the attacks specifically targeted Christians. In his statement, a copy of which was sent to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Paluku condemned the atrocities committed “against the peaceful population [which has been] left defenceless”. According to the bishop the extremists “raped girls and women; kidnapped people of whom there is no trace today, and killed many others”.
He added that ADF militants torched homes, medical facilities, businesses and vehicles, forcing survivors to flee the area. The bishop went on to call on “the authorities of the country to put an end to the Calvary of the Congolese people, in general, and of the population of the Diocese of Butembo-Beni, in particular.”

The French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) reported that, in 2024, 105 new priests will be ordained, 17 more priests than in 2023, when 88 new priests were ordained in the European country. An article published on the CEF website said the vast majority of priestly ordinations are celebrated during the month of June, particularly on the Sunday before the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, which the Catholic Church celebrates every year on June 29.
Of the 105 new priests, 73 are diocesan, 16 belong to religious orders, 10 are members of communities, two belong to societies of apostolic life, while the remaining four “were ordained in the institutes under the former Ecclesia Dei commission, celebrating according to the Roman Missal of 1962 [before the reform of Vatican II].”
At a press conference, Bertrand Lacombe, the archbishop of Auch and a member of the council for ordained ministers and laypeople in ecclesial mission, highlighted two aspects to be considered regarding the new priests: “the essential mission of the priest in the Church and the meaning of this mission today within an increasingly secularized French society” and “the ongoing reflections of the bishops as well as the initiatives launched in the dioceses to raise up vocations.”
The French prelate wished a “beautiful ministry to the priests who are responding to the spiritual expectations of our time: The adventure is worth the effort and gives light to the world!”

Pope Francis welcomed a delegation of leaders from the Lutheran World Federation to the Vatican, describing their visit as “an important gesture of ecumenical fraternity.” Recalling an earlier meeting with Lutherans, in 2021, Pope Francis highlighted the upcoming anniversary of the First Council of Nicea as “an ecumenical event.” The Nicene Creed “is an ecumenical bond that has its centre in Christ”, the Pope said, quoting the Common Word issued by LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Anne Burghardt and Cardinal Kurt Koch from the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity during the Federation’s recent General Assembly in Krakow. “In this context,” he said, “you rightly recalled a beautiful sign of hope, which has a special place in the history of reconciliation between Catholics and Lutherans.”
Pope Francis then turned to the earlier Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justifi-cation, signed 25 years ago, in which Catholics and Lutherans agreed on the common goal of “confessing Christ in all things.” “Jesus Christ is the heart of ecumenism,” the Pope said. “He is divine mercy incarnate, and our ecu-menical mission is to bear witness to this.” That Declaration is “another sign of hope in our history of reconciliation,” he said, as he invited Catholics and Lutherans to celebrate the anniversary of its signing “as a celebration of hope.”
Then, noting “our common spiritual ori-gin” in “one baptism for the forgiveness of sins” Pope Francis called on Lutherans and Catholics to “confidently continue as pilgrims of hope” in the ongoing dialogue “of truth and charity.” Concluding his remarks, the Holy Father recalled a story about Orthodox Bishop John Zizioulas, who would say, jokingly, that the union of Christians would be achieved only on the day of Judgment at the end of time. “But in the meantime,” Pope Francis said still quoting the late Bishop, “we have to walk together: journeying together, praying together, and performing works of charity together.”

Citizens of the European Uni-on want EU politicians to be more actively engaged in inter-national issues such as the Ukraine war, an Italian bishop said after the EU elections earlier this month.
Bishop Mariano Crociata of Latina, president of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), told EWTN News that despite low voter turnout, EU citizens have an expectation that the elected members of the 27 countries’ joint parliament will respond to the problems they are living through, including fear of widespread war in Europe.
“The [election] result denotes …in the citizens of the countries that are part of the European Union, a phase of concern, perhaps one must even say fear,” he said. He explained that there is fear regarding “the presence of a war whose outcome is not foreseen or understood” and voters are looking for greater peace of mind.
EU citizens also have the expectation, he said, that elected officials will “do something, to have their voices heard” and “to have the political strength to become more and more an international subject, a subject that at least operates, is active as much as possible, in the confrontation between the big and medium powers that have responsibilities on so many things and particularly on the war in Ukraine.”

Panicked-stricken people and police were seen in Russia’s volatile Dagestan region. The area plunged into mourning on June 24 following attacks against houses of worship in the regional capital, Makhachkala and Derbent, with an ancient Jewish community.
The Investigative Committee, the country’s top state criminal investigation agency, said all five attackers were killed after horrific battles. Of the 19 other people killed, 15 were police.
Among the dead was the Reverend Nikolai Kotelnikov, a 66-year-old Russian Orthodox priest at a church in Derbent. Local authorities said the attackers slit his throat before setting fire to the church. The attack came as the Orthodox faithful celebrated their Pentecost, also known as Trinity Sunday.
Shortly after the attacks in Derbent, militants reportedly fired at a police checkpoint in nearby Makhachkala. They attacked a Russian Orthodox Church and a synagogue before being hunted down and killed by special forces. Medical authorities in Dagestan said 16 people, including 13 police, were hospitalized with injuries, including four officers in grave condition. The bloodshed was the latest that officials blamed on Islamic extremists in the predominantly Muslim area in the North Caucasus.

A statement on June 24 released by the Holy See Press Office said Pope Francis has appointed Abp Georg Gänswein, Titular Abp of Urbisaglia, and Prefect Emeritus of the Papal Household, as Apostolic Nuncio to Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. Archbishop Gänswein, who is 67, served as Pope Benedict XVI’s private secretary during his entire pontificate and retirement.
In December 2012, Pope Benedict XVI also appointed him Prefect of the Pontifical Household. He was ordained as archbishop in January 2013. He continued to hold both positions after Benedict resigned from the papacy about seven weeks later, in February 2013. For about seven years, Archbishop Gänswein served both Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict.

The timing at the moment seems premature, but “if there were openness on the part of the Chinese, the Pope would also go immediately” to China, a land for which he has always shown great appreciation and esteem for its people, history and its culture. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, reiterated Pope Francis’ never-hidden desire to one day visit the great and “noble” Asian country.
The Cardinal’s comments were made on 20 June, at Rome’s Pontifical Urban University at the presentation of the book “Cardinal Celso Costantini and China – Constructor of a ‘bridge’ between the East and West” – The volume was edited by Msgr. Bruno Fabio Pighin, an Italian historian and Episcopal Delegate in the postulation of the cause of beatification and canonisation of Cardinal Celso Costantini (1876-1958), the first Apostolic Delegate to China, and published in Italian by Marcianum Press.
Once again, a month after the conference held at the Urbaniana for the 100th anniversary of the Concilium Sinense, which Cardinal Costantini inspired, promoted and organized, Cardinal Parolin found himself evoking the figure of the First Apostolic Delegate to China who laid the foundations for a dialogue, of which one of the fruits, after decades, can be considered the signing of the Agreement with the Holy See on the appointments of Bishops. That agreement was signed for the first time in 2018 and then renewed twice in 2020 and 2022.

Slightly more than a week after Pope Francis addressed the G7 Session in Bari, Italy, on artificial intelligence, the Holy Father is reaffirming that the powerful technological advancement must be used ethically, to serve humanity, and that its inherent risks must be mitigated. The Holy Father’s latest words on AI came during his audience on 22 June in the Vatican with participants in the international convention on ‘Generative Artificial Intelligence and Technocratic Paradigm,’ organized by the Vatican’s Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice.
In his remarks, the Pope thanked those before him for their commitment to exploring how AI can help promote human dignity and be at the service of the disadvantaged.
“I appreciate,” he expressed, “that the Centesimus Annus has given ample space to this subject, involving scholars and experts from different countries and disciplines, analysing the opportunities and risks related to the development and use of AI.” The Pope likewise warned against the tool acting autonomously, stressing AI “is, and must remain a tool” in human hands. Moreover, the Holy Father warned against artificial intelligence perpetrating a ‘throwaway culture,’ favouring inequality, and making decisions outside of its purview.
As he encouraged them to continue examining the true purpose of AI, he asked: “Does it serve to satisfy the needs of humanity, to improve the well-being and integral development of people?” Or does it, rather, “serve to enrich and increase the already high power of the few technological giants despite the dangers to humanity?”
This, he said, is the basic question. Since the future of humanity will be played out on the front of technological innovation, he stated, “We must not miss the opportunity to think and act in a new way, with mind, heart and hands,” in order to “direct innovation toward a configuration centered on the primacy of human dignity.” This, he underscored, is not up for discussion.