Saint Joseph Catholic Church

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Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church bishops from around the world gathered at the Marian Spiritual Center in Zarvanytsia to discuss the challenges they face.

At the July 6 gathering, bishops who minister in Ukraine discussed the challenges that stem from the Russian invasion. Bishops elsewhere in Europe discussed “integrating newcomers into parish life, providing pastoral care in their new communities, maintaining Ukrainian identity, and educating the younger generation,” while North and South American bishops highlighted “secularization, assimilation, a shortage of vocations, and the need to reconsider pastoral models.”

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), the Speaker of the House of Representatives and a Southern Baptist, extended congratulations to Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, who was appointed in March as apostolic nuncio to the United States.

In his July 1 letter to Archbishop Caccia, Rep. Johnson wrote that Archbishop John Carroll, the nation’s first bishop, “would be proud to know that today, nearly 150 members of Congress and six of our nine justices on the U.S. Supreme Court are Catholic.”

A 60-year-old Pakistani Catholic died in prison on July 1, nearly a year after he was accused of blasphemy against Islam.

Fides, the news agency of the Pontifical Mission Societies, reported that the allegation against Amir Peter, the brother of a parish priest, was false.

“Amir Peter remained steadfast in his faith until the end,” Archbishop Khalid Rehmat, O.F.M. Cap., of Lahore preached at Peter’s funeral Mass. “He lived his entire life according to the values of the Gospel and remained faithful to the Church. His witness of fidelity to God is an example for his children and for all of us.”

The archbishop of San Francisco said that the State of California is abusing its power as it uses commercial fraud statutes against pro-life pregnancy centers.

“Using commercial fraud statutes to shut down access to full medical information and the full range of freedom of choice is an abuse of power by the state of CA, especially given zero complaints and saved lives,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone wrote in a social media post.

The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York announced that Father Jeffrey Nowak, a 46-year-old priest of the Diocese of Buffalo, was arrested and charged with receipt and possession of child pornography.

Ordained in 2012, Father Nowak was suspended in 2019 amid allegations of harassment of a seminarian and inappropriate contact with children. Father Nowak denied the allegations and has remained on administrative leave.

Bishop Fredrik Hansen of Oslo, Norway, announced that he will open the canonization cause of author Sigrid Undset (1882-1949) this fall.

Bishop Hansen said that Undset “lived a faithful Christian life in a world of turmoil. She stood firm in the Catholic faith. She challenged Nazism and strove for Norwegian freedom.”

Undset, a convert to Catholicism, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928. Best known for the trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter, she also wrote lives of saints.

The apostolic nuncio to the Philippines called on the Philippine bishops and faithful to advocate for the right to life from conception to natural death and to combat evils such as corruption.

“We need a society that works to eliminate corruption, sin, crime, discrimination, and all those things that weigh us down and degrade our earthly dreams,” Archbishop Charles Brown said during a July 8 homily in Ozamiz Cathedral, as the nation’s bishops gathered for their summer meeting, and the faithful witnessed the crowning of an 18th-century Marian image, the Blessed Virgin of the Fort.

In a detailed analysis of priesthood statistics between 2013 and 2024, the Vatican newspaper found that the total number of priests worldwide decreased 1.9% over the 11-year period to 407,421. The number of diocesan priests fell by 0.5%; the number of religious priests fell by 4.9%.

In Africa, however, the number of priests soared by 35.8% between 2013 and 2024, and in Southeast Asia, the number of priests increased by 23.2%. In contrast, the number of priests in Europe declined by 17.2%, and the number of priests in North America (classified as the United States and Canada) declined by 14.2%.

In 2024, Europe had 20.2% of the world’s Catholic population, 37.5% of the world’s priests, and only 11.7% of the world’s major seminarians. Africa, with 20.3% of the world’s Catholics, had 13.9% of the world’s priests, but 34.5% of the world’s major seminarians.