“When we dance together, we teach our young people to appreciate who they are, respect one another, and value the beauty of our diversity,” said Bishop Edward Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio. “Let us preserve our cultures, learn from one another, and celebrate our diversity, not as a reason to divide us, but as a gift that makes South Sudan stronger and more beautiful.”

A repentant gang member had painted a mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Corpus Christi.

“We have a lot of hope that the person who did this [vandalism] will repent, and we will continue to pray for them,” said Father Carlos Delarosa.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has documented over 400 acts of vandalism, arson, and other destruction at parishes and other Catholic sites in the United States since 2020. A tracker at CatholicVote.org lists additional attacks.

Archbishop José Miguel Gómez Rodríguez of Manizales told Vatican News that “in particular, the emblematic image of all this was Manizales Cathedral, a very important symbol of this region of the country.”

“It is a Neo-Gothic building that suffered severe damage,” he explained. “One of its secondary towers collapsed and came to rest against the main structure of the church. We are waiting for an assessment by professionals because, for now, that area is closed to the public and even to priests.” Archbishop José Miguel Gómez Rodríguez of Manizales, Colombia, said in an interveiw

A retired Australian bishop was convicted today of sexually abusing two young men.

The charter, first approved by the U.S. bishops at their 2002 meeting in Dallas, was subsequently revised in 2011, in 2018, and in June. On August 11, the bishops’ conference posted the latest edition online.

At his August 12 general audience, Pope Leo XIV offered prayers for the victims of the severe earthquake there.

The Holy See Press Office released a detailed program of Pope Leo XIV’s August 22 pastoral visit to the nation of San Marino and to the Italian city of Rimini.

In the message to Archbishop Josef Nuzík of Olomouc, the Pontiff encouraged the young people to “welcome with fervor the living presence of Christ and the light of his word, so that you may bear witness to his love in your families, in society, and in the various settings of life, work, and study.”

Pope Leo XIV recalled the Battle of Warsaw (1920), also known as the Miracle on the Vistula, and attributed Poland’s victory over the Soviet Union there to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Father Qaisar Feroz, spokesman for the bishops’ conference, told the Vatican newspaper that the nation’s founding vision, articulated by Mohammed Ali Jinnah (1876-1948), was “the vision of a Pakistan where citizenship took precedence over religious affiliation; an approach in which Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and members of other minorities held equal dignity and could contribute to building the country.”

“Over the decades, however, that vision has had to contend with the rise of fundamentalist currents, social discrimination, and laws that have left non-Muslim communities vulnerable,” said Father Feroz.

Islam is the official religion of the South Asian nation of 257 million (map), the fifth most populous in the world. 95% of Pakistan’s people are Muslim, 2% are Christian, and 1% are Hindu.