Amnesty International UK pulled a report that designated 117 organizations as “anti-rights,” including the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and organizations that defend the rights to life and religious freedom.

“Because these groups challenge core human rights principles, Amnesty International UK uses the term ‘anti-rights’ to describe their aims and impact,” the organization stated. It later stated that the report’s “use of language does not reflect the position of Amnesty International UK, which is why it was promptly removed.”

“The Catholic Church works to uphold the God-given rights of all humanity, without exception,” the bishops’ conference responded. “This includes the rights of those unjustly imprisoned, of refugees and migrants, of those who have been trafficked, and the right to life of all people from conception to natural death.”

At the conclusion of a three-day conference, most of which was held at Castel Gandolfo, some 200 Nobel laureates, AI experts, former heads of state, and Catholic prelates adopted the Rome Declaration for an Unarmed and Disarming Peace in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Nuclear and Autonomous Weapons, New Digital Protocols, and Emerging Models of Digital Development (full text).

The Rome Declaration warned that “AI built into nuclear systems leaves little time for, or even replaces, human judgement in a crisis” and called for “disarming the next arms race.”

“The Declaration presented today reminds us with great clarity that no machine, no algorithm, and no autonomous system can be placed at the center of decisions upon which the survival of humanity depends,” said Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general of His Holiness for the Diocese of Rome and archpriest of the Lateran Basilica.

The Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War, with the assistance of Domus Communis Foundation and a dozen other institutions, organized the gathering. The president of the Domus Communis (Common Home) Foundation is Cardinal Silvano Tomasi, C.S., a retired Vatican diplomat.

The Irish government lent its support to legislation that would grant paid leave to mothers who abort their children. The bill would also grant paid leave to mothers who are grieving the loss of a child through miscarriage.

“The measure is insulting to women, who know the difference between abortion and miscarriage,” said Sandra Parda of the Life Institute. “The State is increasingly setting itself up to promote abortion, which is very different from the tragedy of miscarriage.”

The Vatican newspaper devoted the most prominent article in its July 16 edition to the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to the resistance—violent at times—that health care workers face.

Dr. Mapendo Ndaliko Augustin, medical advisor for the Diocese of Butembo-Beni, told L’Osservatore Romano that “both rural and urban populations continued to oppose response teams, and some groups of youths threatened to burn down hospitals involved in the epidemic response. Fortunately, a lull has been observed since the beginning of July. But it is precarious.”

The Diocese of Albano, in which Castel Gandolfo is located, has organized a concert in honor of Pope Leo. The July 18 concert will include works by Niccolò Paganini and Vincenzo Bellini.

“The renewed presence of the Holy Father in our diocesan territory has filled our local Church and its people with joy,” said Bishop Vincenzo Viva.

Since 1626, many popes have spent time at the papal summer residence. Pope Francis did not do so after 2013; Pope Leo resumed the custom last year. Likewise, in 2013, Pope Francis skipped a classical musical concert at which he was scheduled to appear, reportedly saying, “I am not a Renaissance prince who listens to music instead of working.”

The Montfort Missionaries sold their former seminary in Bay Shore, New York, to the United American Muslim Association for $5.2 million. The 15-acre property was previously slated to sold to an assisted-living facility company, but the planned sale encountered vocal local opposition.

The Montfort Missionaries bade farewell to the property in April, after a century of presence there.

The United American Muslim Association plans to open a boarding school at the former seminary.

Updating editions published in 2001 and 2004, the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has promulgated the third edition of the postconciliar Martyrologium Romanum (Roman Martyrology), the Church’s comprehensive listing of saints and blesseds.

The January 6 promulgation was announced in the March 2026 newsletter of the US bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship. The newsletter was posted on the USCCB website on July 14, along with the January and February newsletters.

Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodríguez of Denver prayed the Rosary outside a Colorado prison that is being repurposed as an ICE facility. The bishop was joined by an advisor to the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM) and by Luca Casarini, whose organization seeks to rescue refugees whose boats have capsized in the Mediterranean Sea.

“As believers, we believe in the power of prayer,” said Bishop Rodríguez. “We acknowledge something sad and tragic may happen in this place, but for us this is just a symbolic way of expressing our concern, and to bring this concern to our most powerful God who will help us to do the right thing. That is why we are here.”

Noting that in vitro fertilization (IVF) “kills countless children and violates others’ rights and dignity,” the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops called upon the Trump administration to reconsider a proposed regulation that would expand IVF insurance coverage.

“We urge the Departments to refocus the rule on therapeutic, restorative treatments, and to abandon its inclusion of IVF, which is profoundly flawed both legally and morally,” the USCCB’s general counsel and associate general counsel wrote at the conclusion of their 17-page public comment.

The Vatican newspaper devoted the most prominent article in its July 15 edition to the plight of thousands of Afghan refugees who are being deported to their native country by officials in neighboring Pakistan.

The refugees “are sent back to their home country unceremoniously, men, women, children, and entire families alike,” Federico Piana reported. “Often, in the transit camps where they are held before being pushed across the border into the Afghan town of Spin Boldak, they are kept in chains.”

Repatriation, Piana added, is “extremely dangerous; the deportees include former employees of the previous Afghan government, former security force members, journalists, activists, judges, and women active in public life, people who, according to many humanitarian organizations, could face reprisals or discrimination from the Taliban government.”