The previous cathedral, damaged in earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, was demolished in 2020.

The new cathedral will have “an ancient design, a Romanesque and Gothic hybrid model,” said Bishop Michael Gielen. “So that’s drawing on the best of humanity’s learnings over the centuries”

“The flood emergency demonstrates once again just how closely environmental and humanitarian crises are linked,” staff journalist Francesco Citterich reported. “When an already vulnerable region is struck by an extreme event, the consequences fall most heavily on the poorest segments of the population, who lack safeguards and the means to rebuild.”

“For Afghanistan, the immediate priority remains saving lives and delivering aid, but it will be equally necessary to support reconstruction and strengthen the country’s capacity to handle future emergencies,” he added.

Pope Pius XI designated the church as a basilica in 1926—the first of over 90 churches in the United States to receive the honor.

In a July 25 video message to a Peruvian prelature’s youth conference, Pope Leo XIV said that “Jesus does not want young people settled into their armchairs, lulled to sleep or content with the comfort of ‘that’s how it’s always been done.’“

The commemorations culminated in a July 26 Mass in Father Hamel’s parish in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray (video); the celebrant was Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, France, president of the French episcopal conference.

The murder victim divulged information that had led to the priest’s suspension, East News Uganda reported.

“Presenting this ticket is a slap on the face of Christians in Nigeria; the implication is that the [ruling] party cannot find any Christian worthy to vie for the vice presidential ticket,” Auxiliary Bishop Ernest Obodo of Enugu said in his capacity as chairman of the Enugu State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria.

The nation of 243 million (map), the most populous in Africa and sixth most populous in the world, is 47% Muslim, 46% Christian (11% Catholic), and 7% ethnic religionist.

Father Michael Mary Sim, founder and rector major of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer (Transalpine Redemptorists), was illicitly consecrated a bishop on July 25 on the Scottish island of Papa Stronsay.

“Every corner of this land suffers violence and destruction every day; every inhabitant endures deprivation, restrictions, suffering, and humiliation that grow worse with each passing day,” said Father Ibrahim Faltas, O.F.M., of the Custody of the Holy Land. In an article distributed by Vatican media, Father Faltas added:

People are dying in an unofficial war, undeclared but that continues, constant and widespread. There have been countless fires in homes and on land.

It is no longer possible to travel from one city to another—even if they’re very close—whether for medical emergencies, to work, to help relatives, or to defend small family properties that have been illegally occupied and seized by aggressive and violent settlers.

“We should not discount the role of friendship in making the face of Jesus, the face of the Church, real to people,” Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, one of the two pro-prefects of the Dicastery for Evangelization, said on July 24, during a public discussion. “What brought us together here is our common friendship with the Lord, who was the first to consider us His friends.”

“Mary reminds us that, in true friendship, love never forces but simply accompanies,” Cardinal José Advincula of Manila preached at the conference’s opening Mass.

“Jesus has called us to be His friends, not His slaves,” he added. “We are friends who share in His mission.”