“Nine years ago when we started the house of formation, we had no idea if it would be successful,” said Bishop Carl Kemme. “It was a bit of a risk, you know, and a lot depended on how many men would come. Over the years, our numbers have grown significantly.”

With 44 seminarians for 113,970 Catholics (one for every 2,590 Catholics), the Diocese of Wichita is among the most vocation-rich in the nation, according to a recent Catholic World Report analysis.

The Blessed Virgin Mary’s “presence brought comfort and security to a society that had experienced rapid and unexpected changes,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin preached. “Her apparition revealed a way to reconcile cultures and peoples within a truly universal faith, where there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, but where all are united and are one.”

“Her example challenges us to be present, too, for the needy, the marginalized, migrants, and foreigners,” Cardinal Parolin continued. “A faithful witness to the truth of the Gospel can transform hearts and, consequently, transform the world.”

The prelate added that “each of us is invited to set aside time to open ourselves to the Lord and truly listen to the promptings of the heart. When the Lord speaks of giving us His peace, a peace the world cannot give, He speaks of something that is found only in prayer.”

“We are living through an era of heightened community tension and a growing normalization of abusive behavior, incendiary language and violence,” said Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, S.D.B., of Perth, the president of the bishops’ conference. “The Gospel offers a different path. It calls us back to Jesus Christ, who meets division not with hostility but with mercy; not with the logic of ‘us and them’ but with the costly love that heals and transforms.”

The Australian bishops’ tradition of releasing an annual social justice statement dates to 1940.

Written by Father Massimo Fusarelli, O.F.M., the August 1 letter to the Poor Clares has six sections:

• Clare on the Path of Reconciliation and Peace
• Gazing into the Mirror: Contemplation leading to Peace
• Francis and Clare: Two different Paths towards the same Peace
• Forgiveness and Guarding the Heart
• Stories of Peace Rediscovered
• Clare, a Prophet of Peace for our Time

“As we celebrate 800 years since the blessed Transitus of Saint Francis, an evangelical man and preacher of reconciliation, the world continues to be torn apart by wars, divisions, and polarization, with little to no understanding of the Good News of ‘peace,’” Father Fusarelli began. “We feel this reality with great sorrow, as it is a challenge to all Christians but particularly to religious. And so we seek a word of hope, some light to shine and help us navigate through this time.”

Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, archbishop emeritus of Abuja, made his remarks following the July 28 meeting between President Tinubu and Nigerian prelates. Cardinal Onaiyekan said that “we knew that what the bishops had revealed was different from the kind of information our president continues to receive from the people he meets.”

Preaching in the chapel of the Palazzo di Propaganda Fide, Cardinal Tagle, one of the two pro-prefects of the Dicastery for Evangelization, concluded:

On August 6, 1945, 81 years ago, at 8:15 in the morning, a burst of light illuminated the city of Hiroshima in Japan—light from a nuclear bomb that brought the darkness of destruction, sickness, and death. Some say that day “transfigured” the world because it led to the surrender of an enemy, thereby contributing to the end of World War II.

Now we ask: Is the war really over? Can we truly call war a transformation? Why can’t we call war by its true name: disfigurement? Only God’s revelation—not war—can bring transformation to humanity.

“For decades, the U.S. bishops have advocated for the right of eligible citizens to participate fully in public life, including the protection of voting rights,” Bishop Daniel Garcia of Austin, Texas, said in an August 5 statement. “We encourage all citizens to exercise their right to vote and urge policymakers to safeguard voting rights and promote fair representation for all.”

“Let us listen attentively, not only to one another but, above all, to the voice of the Holy Spirit,” said Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, O.F.M. Cap., of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, at a seminar entitled “The Synodal Church in Africa: Journeying Towards the 2028 Ecclesial Assembly.”

The Church is currently in the implementation phase of the 2021-24 Synod on synodality, with diocesan assemblies scheduled to take place in the first half of 2027, national assemblies in the second half of 2027, and continental assemblies during the first four months of 2028. The implementation phase culminates in an ecclesial assembly in Rome in October 2028.

As he discussed the present situation of Christians in the Holy Land, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, O.F.M., said that the 541 people “are trying, in whatever way they can, to return to normal life.”

“We are working to reopen the school,” Cardinal Pizzaballa continued. “We have opened a medical center.”

The prelate added that at the parish, “there are priests, but above all very active religious sisters who run activities for children, not only Christian children. In the midst of such a devastated reality, we are trying above all to recreate an environment that is as healthy and peaceful as possible.”

Today is the optional memorial of St. Cajetan (1480-1547), cofounder of the Congregation of Clerics Regular (Theatines).