“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.

Dr. Levine is a professor at the Hartford International University for Religion and Peace and professor emerita at Vanderbilt University. In 2019, the self-described “Yankee Jewish feminist” was named to the editorial board of the Vatican newspaper’s monthly women’s magazine.

“Within the Catholic Biblical Association, she is recognized and deeply appreciated for her work in Jewish-Christian relations,” said Gregory Sterling, the association’s executive board chairman, and Archie Wright, its executive director. “Known for her keen intellect, sharp wit, and ability to speak candidly about controversial issues with grace, she has delivered nearly 1,000 lectures around the world.”

“Every citizen has the right to live, worship and serve without fear,” said Cardinal Anthony Poola of Hyderabad, as he recalled the contributions of Christians to the nation.

The South Asian nation of 1.42 billion (map), the world’s most populous, is 73% Hindu, 14% Muslim, 5% Christian, 3% ethnic religionist, and 2% Sikh.

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 (video) and preached that the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Assumption points the way to true beauty.

The court, citing an earlier decision, ruled that a legally protected confession is “a confidential acknowledgment or admission of a crime, sin, or fault to a member of the clergy, priest, or Christian Science practitioner for the purpose of absolution.”

“The dispositive question is not whether the penitent’s tradition observes a rite of absolution, but whether the communication sought spiritual absolution, consolation, or guidance,” the court continued. “Accordingly, a party invoking the Clergy-Penitent Privilege must first establish that the communication constitutes a confession.”

“At the heart of the Catholic Church’s healthcare ministry is the healing work of Christ—to stand with the suffering, to comfort the dying, and to affirm the God-given dignity of every human life,” Bishop Paprocki said. “Illinois’s assisted suicide law undermines that mission by forcing Catholic hospitals and those who serve in them to push death onto their most vulnerable patients.”

“We must be free to serve the sick and the dying according to our faith, not according to the state’s mandate,” he added.