The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops responded to Attorney General James Uthmeier’s warning that a refusal by Catholic schools to grant religious exemptions to vaccine mandates is “troubling and may disqualify them from state scholarships and vouchers.”

In a letter dated August 7 and released yesterday, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops’ executive director wrote that “where we differ is on your interpretation and application of Catholic teaching, an interpretation (and right) exclusively vested, by United States and Florida constitutional law, in the bishops of Florida’s dioceses.”

“Respectfully, any insinuation that a government official can dictate to the Catholic Church (or any religion) how to apply her tenets and dogma, violates well-established constitutional religious freedom rights,” executive director Michael Sheedy added. “It is beyond cavil that the bishops, not the state, decide how to interpret and apply Catholic principles and theology.”

The bishop of Columbus, Ohio, said that Catholic schools should be centers of evangelization and catechesis, rather than “cheap imitations” of secular schools.

“So if all we’re doing is imitating our secular peers, we’re only ever going to be a cheap imitation because they’re going to have greater sources of funding than we will,” Bishop Earl Fernandes said in an interview released today about his forthcoming pastoral letter on Catholic education. “And is that what we’re called to be, or are we called to be something more, something greater?”

“And so, this is what I propose, is that we make saints and we capture the best of our tradition and propose it for new generations as a way of confronting the challenges of the modern era,” he added. “I want to form disciples who are convicted in the faith and who are willing to witness to the joy of the Gospel.”

The attorney general of Pennsylvania announced that Father Gregory Madeya, a Ukrainian Catholic priest suspended by his bishop in 2024, has been charged with “theft and financial exploitation regarding more than $740,000 stolen from three churches, church affiliates, and the priest’s own mother.”

According to investigators, Father Madeya, now 69, sold a gold chalice to a jeweler, purchased a Ford Mustang, and gave it to the man who was living with him.

“In addition to the church-related thefts, investigators found that Madeya’s mother was evicted from multiple nursing home facilities because of a lack of payment,” according to the attorney general. “Investigators found that Madeya abused his position as his mother’s power of attorney to steal funds meant for her care.”

Archbishop Anthony Fisher, O.P., of Sydney filed a complaint with the ombudsman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation over its coverage of assisted suicide.

“Over a period of nine days the ABC repeatedly provided the founder of an organization established to advocate for euthanasia and assisted suicide law reform, with opportunities across television, radio, online and social media to make the case for amending a federal prohibition on the use of telehealth for euthanasia and assisted suicide,” wrote Archbishop Fisher.

“Given the significance of the issue, the imminence of the political decisions to which the coverage related, and the ABC’s particular obligation to maintain public confidence in its impartiality, I ask that these matters be carefully investigated and addressed,” he added.

The president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales lamented international violations of the right to religious freedom and called for support for Aid to the Church in Need’s petition on behalf of the right.

“Men and women are imprisoned, others are driven from their homes, or even killed, simply because of their peacefully held beliefs,” Archbishop Richard Moth of Westminster said in a statement released today. “In some countries women and girls are kidnapped, forced to renounce their faith and marry their abductors, children are denied the right to learn about their faith.”

“We need to stand up for our brothers and sisters in Christ and stand in support of all those who suffer for their beliefs, recognizing religious freedom as a universal human right,” Archbishop Moth added.

Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles led a Eucharistic procession through Skid Row, a downtown area with thousands of homeless people.

“Organized in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, that Eucharistic Procession was the penultimate act of a several days-long mission of the Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ,” according to an archdiocesan news report. “Each night of the mission, these remarkable young, brown-habited nuns were on the streets of Skid Row.”

A vandal smashed statues a broke crucifixes at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Jaffa, a neighborhood of Tel Aviv.

Israeli police arrested a man in his 20s in connection with the attack.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem visited the West Bank Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh on August 15, amid increasing harassment from Israeli settlers.

“We will continue to do everything within our power to preserve the ecclesial presence here, at every level throughout the Holy Land,” Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, O.F.M., preached during the Mass of the Assumption.

Cardinal Pizzaballa added:

We must also learn from the Virgin Mary how to guard our hearts, because this situation can contaminate our hearts. And if our hearts become contaminated, the ‘dragon’ has won.

But we want to remain a community that gives birth to life, without giving up or abandoning our rights, our right to life. So be courageous. Do not be afraid.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, pay tribute to St. Agatha during an August 16 prayer vigil marking the 900th anniversary of the return of her relics to Catania.

“After so many centuries, Agatha’s witness continues to speak to the Church,” Cardinal Parolin preached. “For those who put down their roots in the Lord can pass through even the most difficult trials without losing hope and can continue to bear fruit.”

“Faith does not eliminate trials, but it gives us a new presence and a new strength with which to face them,” the prelate added. “The Lord knows the path of His children, accompanies their steps and transforms even their wounds into places of grace.”

Vatican News, the news agency of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, published an article emphasizing longstanding papal support, dating back to Venerable Pius XII, for a two-state solution in the Holy Land.

The article follows Pope Leo’s appeal in his August 16 Angelus address: “I urgently call on the international community to work toward advancing the two-state solution, for a just and lasting peace.”

“The ‘two-State’ solution is, and remains, the only possible path to peace between Israel and Palestine,” Salvatore Cernuzio began, adding:

Popes have changed, as has the situation in the Middle East, where violence and division have intensified dramatically since 7 October 2023. Yet for almost eighty years, the Holy See’s diplomatic position has remained unshakeable: “two States” as the only prospect capable of guaranteeing justice and a just and lasting peace. Pope Leo XIV is the latest to forcefully reaffirm this historic position, which has endured through the decades despite the Israeli government’s firm rejection of it.