“I hope that the administration will provide security to the Garo Indigenous of this village and that the villagers will maintain good relations with each other so that peace can prevail in the future,” said Father Simon Hacha, vicar general of the Diocese of Mymensingh.

Located in South Asia, Bangladesh (map), a nation of 170 million—the world’s 8th most populous—is 89% Muslim and 9% Hindu.

The Archdiocese of Olomouc in the Czech Republic cancelled its second annual LGBTQ+ pilgrimage because of threats, a leading Czech news site reported.

Pope Leo XIV today invoked the Blessed Virgin Mary’s intercession for the people of the Holy Land, Ukraine, Russia, and Colombia.

Pope Leo XIV said today that iconography of the Dormition and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary “allows us to contemplate our ultimate destiny.”

Two Peruvian prelates who minister in Peruvian Amazonia predicted that Pope Leo XIV’s scheduled November visit to the Amazonian city of Pucallpa could prove decisive for the Church in the region.

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass at the Pontifical Parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo this morning and preached that the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Assumption points the way to true beauty.

Pope Leo XIV called for a greater emphasis on liturgical formation during Sunday Mass, as well as fidelity to the rubrics of the Roman Missal.

The bishops also launched a national fundraising campaign to “make solidarity and Christian charity visible, accompany those who suffer,” and “sustain hope together, especially in the communities that face the greatest impacts.”

In its August 12 statement, the bishops’ conference also discussed damage to churches in eleven dioceses.

Bishop David Oakley of Northampton was charged with two counts of rape of a girl under 16; the rapes allegedly took place in the early 2000s, when the prelate was a parish priest. Bishop Oakley was released on bail on condition that he does not contact the alleged victim or her family.

The Vatican newspaper marked the fifth anniversary of fall of Kabul to the Taliban with the publication of three articles in its August 13 edition.