The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan, as “the only bishops from a country to have suffered atomic bombings in war,” is urging the international community to abolish nuclear weapons once and for all in 2025.
“As we mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II,” the bishops wrote in a June 20 statement, “[we] carry deeply engraved in our hearts the heavy history and pain that atomic bomb survivors and citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have suffered, and hereby declare our strong commitment to the abolition of nuclear weapons.”
Hiroshima is the site of the world’s first atomic attack on Aug. 6, 1945, while Nagasaki was bombed three days later. The bombings resulted in the estimated deaths of 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 74,000 people in Nagasaki by the end of 1945 alone.
In the years that followed, many of the survivors in Japan faced leukemia, cancers, and other terrible side effects from radiation, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
In their “Declaration on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons 2025,” the bishops of Japan pledged their commitment to “convey the reality of the atomic bombings to the world and declare the inhumanity of nuclear weapons” as well as to “stand in solidarity with domestic and international movements for the abolition of nuclear weapons and promote actions to achieve this goal.” The statement came amid rising tensions in the Middle East over Iran’s growing nuclear capabilities.
The bishops pointed out that many still suffer the aftereffects of the bombings and that the environmental destruction caused by the explosions has continued to have “an enormous negative impact on global ecosystems.”
The bishops further slammed nuclear deterrence as an “ineffective” tactic. “The concept of nuclear deterrence is not only an ineffective means of resolving conflicts, but it also plunges the world into a ‘security dilemma’ that in reality pushes the world toward the brink of nuclear war. We cannot tolerate this kind of thinking,” they wrote.
Church in Seoul urges end to hostility, marks progress in inter-Korean relations
More than a thousand faithful gathered at the Myeongdong Cathedral for the annual “Day of Prayer for the Reconciliation and Unity of the Korean People,” an observance held by the Korean Church on the Sunday nearest June 25—the anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War.
In his homily, Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick of Seoul said the prolonged division between North and South Korea has fuelled hostility and estrangement. “North and South have lived divided for over 80 years, nurturing hatred and animosity amid constant tension and confrontation,” he said. “In the South, indifference is growing, with people asking, ‘Why should we concern ourselves with the North?’ But we are one Korean people,” the prelate added. The Archbishop called on Catholics to take the first step toward reconciliation, citing the example of Jesus. “To overcome conflict and division, we must be the ones to reach out first, just as Jesus told us, ‘You give them something to eat,’” he said.
Archbishop Chung pointed to a recent development in inter-Korean relations, highlighting the mutual suspension of loudspeaker broadcasts along the border. He described the move as a modest yet significant step that helped ease long-standing tensions and created space for reimagining future ties between the two Koreas. He urged the faithful to begin the work of peace by abandoning animosity. He said peace on the Korean Peninsula and a new relationship between North and South “must begin by laying down hostility and hatred.”
Later in the day, the Archdiocese held a symposium at the Myeongdong Cathedral Spirituality Centre to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Reconciliation Committee, which was established in 1995 by the late Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan.
Philippines gripped by online gambling crisis, says cardinal
Filipino Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David has denounced online gambling as the cause of “a new mental health crisis” in the Philippines. David, the 66-year-old bishop of the Diocese of Kalookan, attributed the problem to recycled hardware from now-outlawed Chinese gaming operators in the country.
In a Facebook post, Cardinal David shared an Inquirer newspaper editorial titled “Online Gambling and Broken Lives,” and said he was “calling attention to a new mental health crisis plaguing our country today”. The problem, said the cardinal, involved “fully legalized online gambling platforms using the recycled digital hardware of outlawed POGOs, short for Philippine offshore gaming operators, owned by licensed casino operators.”
POGOs are controversial gambling firms that were mostly owned by the Chinese and linked to human trafficking and other crimes. POGOS, which boomed during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, have been banned by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., but are said to have resurrected in other forms.
Taking over from POGOs, online gambling is “now victimising not foreigners, but our own people, made available 24/7 online, more lucrative than traditional casinos, promoted by paid celebrities, accessible to Filipinos of all age levels, totally unregulated,” said David.
It is “wrecking the lives of poor people who get addicted to it”. “Jesus once warned those who cause the ‘little ones’ in society to stumble: ‘It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea’ (Luke 17:2),” said Cardinal David, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
Pope Leo XIV: Holiness of Curial officials should sustain Holy See
As the Church marks the Jubilee of the Holy See, Pope Leo XIV spent on May 09 Monday morning with employees and officials of the Roman Curia. The Jubilee began with a meditation offered by Sr. Maria Gloria Riva, a Sister of the Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady. The Pope then carried a Jubilee cross and led a procession of Holy See officials through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
After the procession, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass and reflected in his homily on the spiritual foundations of the Apostolic See. “The Holy See lives in a most particular way the co-presence of two poles: Marian and Petrine,” said the Pope. “It is the Marian one that ensures the fruitfulness and holiness of the Petrine one, through her motherhood, gift of Christ and the Spirit.”
The Holy Father noted that the Jubilee of the Holy See takes place on the liturgical memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, a day after the Solemnity of Pentecost.
The Gospel reading from John, he said, recounts that Jesus entrusted His mother to the Beloved Disciple from the Cross. Pope Leo added that the Church’s fruitfulness is “the very fruitfulness of Mary,” which is realized in the lives of the Church’s individual members.
Each Christian, he said, is called to live the love of Jesus, as experienced on the Cross.
“This fruitfulness of Mary and of the Church is inseparably linked to her holiness, that is, her conformity to Christ,” said the Pope. “The Holy See is holy as the Church is holy, in her original core, in the fabric from which she is woven.”
Pope Leo XIV said the Apostolic See safeguards the holiness of her roots, just as she is safeguarded by that holiness. “It is no less true that she also lives in the holiness of each of her members,” he said. “Therefore, the best way to serve the Holy See is to strive to be holy, each of us according to his or her state of life and the task entrusted.”
Pew report: How the global religious landscape changed from 2010 to 2020
While Christianity remained the largest global religion from 2010 to 2020, the latest Pew Re-search study found that followers of Islam outpaced every world religion in population over the course of the decade.
The recently released report, “How the Global Religious Landscape Changed from 2010 to 2020,” includes data from over 2,700 sources, including national census, demographic surveys, and population registers. Some of the estimates made in the report originate from data about 2020 that was not made available till 2024 due to the COVID-19 pande-mic, which delayed census data in at least 65 countries. The report covered 201 countries, focusing on seven religious categories: Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, people who be-long to other lesser-known reli-gions, and religiously unaffiliated.
According to the report, the total number of Christians rose by 122 million from 2010 to 2020, while the total number of Muslims rose by 327 million – “more than all other religions combined.” The global Christian population rested at 2.3 billion in 2020, while the global Muslim population came to 2 billion.
Apart from Muslims, the only other group that grew as a per-centage of the global population were those who identify as having no religion, known as “nones.” The report described this pheno-menon as “striking” because reli-giously unaffiliated people are typically older and have lower fertility rates, putting them at a “disadvantage” for population growth. By the end of 2020, how-ever, “nones” made up 24.2% of the global population, making it the third-largest group in the study, following Christians and Muslims.
Vatican News removes Rupnik art from website
The Vatican on May 09 removed artwork by former Jesuit Father Marko Ivan Rupnik from its official web-sites. Digital images of the Slovenian priest’s sacred art, which were frequently used by Vatican News to illustrate articles of the Church’s liturgical feast days, are no longer found on the digital news service.
Catholic writer Amy Welborn took to X to show screenshots of Vatican News’ “Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church” article before and after Rupnik’s accompanying artwork was removed from the website on June 9.
Rupnik, who was expelled by the Society of Jesus in June 2023 for his “stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience,” is accused by about two dozen women, mostly former nuns, of spiritual, psychological, and sexual abuse they allege has occurred over the past three decades. The recent changes to the Vatican News and the Dicastery for Communication websites came soon after Pope Leo XIV met with members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors on June 5.
Toronto Cardinal Leo tells Catholics to avoid using ‘symbols that do not represent us’
Archbishop of Toronto Cardi-nal Francis Leo called on the faithful to honour the most Sacred Heart of Jesus throughout the month of June rather than “using symbols that are contrary to God’s divine revelation.”
“This year the solemnity of the Sacred Heart is commemo-rated on June 27, though the entire month is dedicated to this long-standing and much appreciated devotion in the Church,” Leo said in a statement.
The month of June is a time to reflect on Jesus’ “loving, burn-ing, sacrificial, and life-giving heart,” which Leo called “one of the most profound and enduring symbols in Catholic devotional life.”
For Catholics, symbols “help us to deepen our faith and shape our prayer life, not to mention the lives we lead and the choices we make,” the cardinal said. “They are like bridges joining together the material and spiritual worlds and reveal to us the Gospel truths.”
Leo called on the faithful in Toronto to use symbols this month that “are consistent with our Catholic faith and not borrowed from ideological fora, promoted by lobby groups and endorsed by political movements.”
He said: “We ought to honour and respect our traditions and not compromise the integrity of the faith by using symbols that are contrary to God’s divine revelation.”
“We do good to use our own symbols to tell our own story without resorting to trendy, misguided, and inadequate symbols that do not represent us as Catholics but rather contribute to confusion, distortions, and ambiguities about what the Catholic faith truly teaches regarding the human person, human nature, and natural moral law.”
Church in Mexico supporting families of the ‘disappeared’
No longer relying on the State or police to find their missing loved ones, more than 200 groups of mothers and fathers, known as searchers, now dig with their own hands in vacant lots across Mexico. These families, living in anguish, act on anonymous tips about the locations of clandestine graves. Many such leads come through so-called “Peace Boxes,” installed in parishes throughout the country, where people can submit information anonymously. According to Mexico’s Ministry of the Interior, over 125,000 people have disappeared since 2006.
The Catholic Church, along with other organisations, accompanies these families in their pain and struggle, knowing that most of the disappeared have likely fallen victim to drug cartels or narco-political retaliation. Others may have been caught in the illegal human organ trade, which would explain the high number of young people, including children and infants, among the missing.
In March, national shock followed the discovery in Jalisco State of a site used by criminal groups as both a training ground and an extermination camp, complete with crematory ovens. Hundreds of charred human remains and over 1,800 personal items—including clothing, shoes, backpacks, and notebooks—were recovered at the so-called “Ranch of Horror.” Families were outraged to learn that police had previously dismissed the site’s significance. Mexico’s Episcopal Conference swiftly condemned the crimes as crimes against humanity, calling on authorities to break ties between drug trafficking and political sectors.
Bishop Acero, who in 2024 helped launch peace dialogues in Mexico, meets monthly with groups of searching mothers, creating spaces for empathy, mutual support, and the sharing of new
information.
Peruvian Officials Claim Pope Leo XIV Updated His Peruvian Identity Card
Pope Leo XIV has reportedly updated his Peruvian national identity document (DNI) in the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (RENIEC) of the South American country. Four Peruvian registrars from RENIEC visited the Pope on May 30th at the Vatican, and took his photograph for the Holy Father’s ID, which was taken that same Friday, the 30th. Robert Prevost Martinez’s previous ID number indicated the address in Chiclayo where he resided as Bishop. The new ID number will indicate the new Vatican address. Robert Prevost acquired Peruvian nationality in 2015 and obtained his first DNI in Lima. He obtained a DNI with a chip in 2016, which does not require renewal due to his age of 69. Peru’s Andina News Agency reported that Pope Leo XIV’s new update is the electronic DNI 3.0, issued by the Peruvian Government on April 15 and costing just over US$10. Pope Leo XIV has dual U.S. and Peruvian nationality. RENIEC officials also recorded the fingerprints and signature of «citizen Robert Prevost,» which would have been automatically entered into the administrative system for Peruvian citizens.
The Head of RENIEC, Carmen Velarde, told the Peruvian press: “What Pope Leo XIV has done confirms his attachment to the country and is also an act of responsibility. It is a message to all Peruvians to keep their national identity cards up to date. I thank the Holy Father for taking the time to update his document.” For her part, President Dina Boluarte emphasized that the granting of a Peruvian passport to Bishop Prevost in 2015 was obtained through the agreement between Peru and the Vatican, which establishes that Bishops in the country must have Peruvian nationality. However, the act was not “a merely formal gesture, but a profoundly spiritual and human one,” given that the new Pope dedicated a large part of his life to serving the country’s poorest. She also recalled that his pastoral work in Peru “sowed hope, walked with the most needy, and shared the joys of the Peruvian people.”
Israel blocks entry of popemobile-turned-ambulance donated by Pope Francis to Gaza
The vehicle, transformed with medical equipment and child-friendly interiors, was a final gesture of solidarity from the late Pope Francis before his death in April 2025. He entrusted it to Caritas Jerusalem with a simple but powerful mission: to reach Gaza’s youngest and most vulnerable–those wounded not only in body, but in spirit. It was once a symbol of joyful encounter. In May 2014, Pope Francis rode through the streets of Bethlehem in a white open-roofed vehicle, waving to crowds in the birthplace of Christ. That very papal car, now retrofitted into a mobile medical unit, was meant to become a lifeline for the children of Gaza. Today, it sits idle outside the border, blocked by war, diplomacy, and despair. The vehicle, transformed with medical equipment and child-friendly interiors, was a final gesture of solidarity from the late Pope Francis before his death in April 2025. He entrusted it to Caritas Jerusalem with a simple but powerful mission: to reach Gaza’s youngest and most vulnerable–those wounded not only in body, but in spirit. But the borders remain sealed. The Rafah crossing from Egypt is shut tight. Israel’s permissions are scarce and slow. The roads into Gaza are bottle-necks of desperation. For now, the papal ambulance has become a ghost of mercy that cannot yet cross into the inferno. “We are still trying to coordinate with au-thorities,” says Harout Bedrossian of Caritas Jerusalem. “But nothing moves. The frontiers are closed, and hope–however persistent–is thinning.”