Martyrs of Damascus

Feast date: Jul 10

Beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1926, these eight Franciscan friars and three Maronite laymen were offered the choice of converting to Islam or suffering death in Damascus on July 9, 1860.

Thousands of Maronite Christians had already been killed by the Druz in Southern Lebanon in that year and the Druz, an offshoot sect of Shiite Islam, had turned their attention to Damascus where they killed nearly two thousand more.

When they had reached the Franciscan convent there, the superior, a spaniard named Fr. Emmanuel Ruiz, who had sheltered the Christians that lived around the convent inside the chapel, was threatened with death if he did not convert immediately.

He refused and they cut him to pieces and killed the rest of his community and the three Maronites who, refusing to flee with the other Christians, chose to die rather than deny their faith.

St. Amalberga

Feast date: Jul 10

St. Amalberga, otherwise Amelia, was born at Brabantrelated, and was in some way related to Pepin of Landen. Whether she was a sister or niece, the Bollandists are not sure. She was married to Witger and became the mother of three saints: Gudila, Reinelda, and Emembertus.

The Norman chroniclers speak of her as having been married twice, which seems to be erroneous. Nor are Pharailda and Ermelende admitted by the Bollandists to have been her children. She and her husband ultimately withdrew from the world; he becoming a monk, and she a nun. There is very great confusion in the records of this saint, and of a virgin who came a century after. To add to the difficulty a third St. Amalberga, also a virgin, appears in the twelfth century. The first two are celebrated simultaneously on July 10.

She died in 690 and is buried beside her husband at the Lobbes monastery. Her relics have been in Saint Peter's abbey church in Ghent, Belgium since 1073. She is known to protect people against arm pain, bruises, and fever.

In art she is represented holding a palm and open book with a crown at her feet, standing on a giant sturgeon or other fish.

“I am clear-sighted that this path is the only path that will allow us to handle claims of sexual abuse with fair, equitable compassion while simultaneously ensuring the continuation of ministry within our Diocese, Bishop Joseph Brennan said in an open letter.

In January 2020, the State of California enacted legislation lifting the statute of limitations for abuse suits until December 2022. The Diocese of Fresno faces 153 abuse claims.

“The Catholic Church teaches that parents are the first and primary educators of their children and, therefore, have the right to select the best educational environment for their child,” Cardinal Robert McElroy and Bishop David O’Connell, CM, of Trenton, New Jersey, wrote in a recent letter to leaders of the House Appropriations Committee. “To assist them with this sacred duty, the Church has clearly articulated that the state has a fundamental obligation to support parents in fulfilling such a right.”

The prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has authorized the head of an Eastern Catholic church to grant a nihil obstat to alleged Marian apparitions in Litmanová, Slovakia, between 1990 and 1995.

Citing a recent papal address, Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, then sounded a cautionary note about AI:

AI poses complex challenges to IP [intellectual property] systems, pushing the boundaries of traditional IP frameworks and raising questions about authorship, inventorship, and the protection of human creativity. In this regard, the Holy See reiterates that “AI must function as a tool for the good of human beings, not to diminish them, not to replace them.” As AI reshapes the very landscape of innovation, safeguarding the God-given human dignity becomes increasingly vital.

“We’re grateful that the court acted swiftly to block this unconstitutional law attacking Planned Parenthood providers and patients,” Planned Parenthood stated after the ruling by Judge Indira Talwani, who was appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama.

The halt on the defunding of Planned Parenthood lasts until July 21, when the judge will decide whether to issue another injunction.

Citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church (426-429), the Pontiff encouraged the catechists “to renew, from this loving knowledge of Christ, the wish to proclaim Him, to ‘evangelize,’ and to bring to others the ‘yes’ of faith in him, [and] to manifest his living presence.”

Responding to a letter from a mother expressing anguish at the lack of peace, Pope Leo XIV called for prayer and dialogue and said that “children have the right to an authentic, just, and lasting peace.”

Jewish settlers in the West Bank attacked the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh (Taibeh) and set fires near the cemetery and a fifth-century church. The priests of the village’s three churches—Latin-rite Catholic, Melkite Catholic, and Greek Orthodox—appealed to the international community for an “immediate and transparent investigation.”