Vatican & World News

- In a message for the upcoming World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Leo focuses on the suffering of migrant children  - Mass is once again being celebrated in a monastery in war-torn southern Lebanon  - Church leaders are meeting in Peru to develop proposals to respond to the challenges facing the country

-   Pope Leo sends a cheque to the dioceses in Colombia struck by a deadly 7.4 magnitude earthquake on Monday -   The Holy See Press Office releases the schedule for the Pope’s upcoimg visit to the Republic of San Marino and the Italian city of Rimini -   At the General Audience, Pope Leo reflects on the liturgical year, describing Sunday as its “foundation and kernel” and urging Catholics to actively participate in the Eucharist

-   Aid groups warn of dire consequences for civilians as Sudan’s army opens new offensives against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces  -   The UN Secretary-General condemns attacks on civilian areas in both Russia and Ukraine -   Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, joins a group of young people from across the Mediterranean for five days of encounter, prayer and reflection dedicated to peace

-   Pope Leo will travel to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel in September – repeating the first outing he made as pontiff last year. -   The President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar reflects on synodality in the Church in Africa at the the first preparatory seminar for the 2028 Ecclesial Assembly. -   Caritas Cuba continues to provide access to food and basic necessities to the most vulnerable during an ongoing economic crisis in the country.

-   Pope Leo carries out a pastoral visit to Assisi, telling the thousands of young people gathered there to make courageous lifelong commitments -   Cardinal Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, decries the current situation of “neither war nor peace” in the Holy Land -   We speak to President of the Argentine Bishops’ Conference about Pope Leo’s upcoming Apostolic Visit to the country

-   Pope Leo urges Catholic communicators to shape a digital culture that serves the truth and defends human dignity  -   The Catholic Church in Tangier gets to work helping Moroccan migrants returning from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta -   An Indonesian Vatican official returns to his native village with relics from Rome, in a quest to turn it into a center for prayer and pilgrimage.

-   Pope Leo will meet thousands of young Europeans in Assisi on Thursday to mark the end of a Franciscan gathering centred on peace, forgiveness and vocation. -   The organizers of the 2027 World Youth Day in Seoul, South Korea release the event’s official hymn. -   Zanzibar gears up to host the 6th edition of the International Kitesurf Race, dedicated to bringing people together from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds.

-   Pope Leo releases his prayer intention for August, dedicated to praying "for evangelization in the city." -   As the one-year countdown to World Youth Day Seoul 2027 begins on August 3, the Local Organizing Committee shares its progress in preparing the city to welcome young pilgrims from across the world. -   The Diocese of Cádiz and Ceuta in Spain steps its response to the migration emergency unfolding, after an unprecedented surge in arrivals from neighbouring Morocco.

-   In an interview with an American broadcaster, Pope Leo XIV highlights the importance of immigration in the history of the United States -   The Holy See Press Office releases the programme of the Pope’s visit to Assisi on 6 August -   Local churches in Spain and France support thousands who have lost their homes in wildfires devastating the European continent

In the headlines this Tuesday the 28th of July:   -   Around 300,000 people are evacuated or displaced in France and Spain as firefighters continue to battle wildfires raging for at least seven days,   -   A statue of Our Lady is defaced and an outdoor altar set alight at the Marian shrine of Medjugorje,   and   -   And Pope Leo urges communicators to place every technological tool at the service of truth and the common good.

-   Pope Leo XIV encourages the Church in Asia to build bridges throughout the continent -   Israel prepares an extensive operation in the West Bank as settlers and the military continue to displace Palestinians -   Wildfires in Europe displace almost 270,000 people

-   The bishops of Venezuela appeal for post-quake reconstruction that is free from negligence and corruption -   Civilians continue to bear the brunt of Israeli attacks in Gaza nine months after the ceasefire -   Nearly 650 million people worldwide experienced hunger last year, according to the just-released State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report

-   Pope Leo XIV thanks Major Superiors of Men in the United States for 70 years of witness to Christ -   Over 140 people are dead or missing after the shipwreck of a migrant boat off the coast of Mauritania -   The death toll from Venezuela’s twin earthquakes on 24 June continues to rise

-   The Vicar General of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem speaks about the difficult living conditions in Gaza - The conflict in the Middle East threatens to drive 23 million more children into poverty -   The Holy See's Secretary for Relations with States is currently in Ukraine until July 21

-   Participants in the Nobel laureates assembly in Castel Gandolfo sign the Rome Declaration for an Unarmed and Disarming Peace -   The war between the United States and Iran continues to escalate -   A meeting with Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom with a group of religious sisters highlights the nuns' work to protect and promote vulnerable women and girls

-   On the 3rd day of his visit to Ukraine, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi prays for a just peace in the war-torn nation -   Speakers at the global Nobel laureates assembly in Castel Gandolfo offer their perspective on fixing our broken world -   Millions of people displaced by internal armed conflict in Colombia struggle to survive amid inadequate funding and limited international political engagement

-   The death toll from Venezuela’s earthquakes rises to almost 4 and a half thousand -   3.7 million children under five are at risk of malnutrition in Afghanistan -   Commenting on Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical “Magnifica humanitas," an AI expert says the Pope has shifted the global conversation about artificial intelligence from technology itself to human beings

-   Pope Leo XIV lunches with some 200 poor and socially vulnerable people in Castel Gandolfo and reaffirms the Church’s wish to express God’s love to every person -   At a UN High Level Meeting on HIV/Aids the Holy See calls for renewed global commitment to end Aids and appeals that no one be left behind -   We remember the more than 8,000 victims of Srebrenica on the 31st anniversary of the massacre

-   Pope Leo XIV will have lunch with 200 vulnerable people on Saturday -   The Catholic Church continues to help those affected by the earthquakes in Venezuela -   A month after the murder of a Mozambican prelate, the country’s bishops call for hope to prevail

- AI experts gathered in Geneva receive encouragement and words of wisdom from the Pope and from Holy See representatives - 1,600 people are killed, and one and a half million are displaced in Haiti over the past 3 months - In the aftermath of Venezuela’s deadly earthquakes, the Little Sisters of the Poor establish a field hospital for the injured in La Guaira