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.

“As Catholics, we believe that all persons are created in the image and likeness of God and therefore, have an inherent human dignity,” Bishop Robert Gruss said in a statement issued on August 1. “Every human person, migrant or otherwise, must be treated as such.”

Bishop Gruss added that “the deportation of people without cause, the detention of immigrants without meaningful legal representation, without access to family or a supportive community, and without basic human needs being met, and the forced separation of immigrant families and incarceration of children do not represent a just and civil society.”

President Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power in a 2021 coup d’état, made his comments amid what the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom describes as “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.”

Last month, the military regime bombed the village where Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, S.D.B., of Yangon was born. Eleven Media, which operates amid severe press restrictions, reported:

Cardinal Charles Bo, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar, expressed his joy and pride at the opportunity to meet with the President and his recognition of his efforts to fulfill his duties as a state despite the challenges.

He also expressed his gratitude for the land provided for the construction of a Catholic church in Naypyidaw and wished the President and all the people of Myanmar peace and prosperity.

“Water is essential for energy production, such as in hydroelectric power plants or for cooling facilities, while energy is required to extract, treat, transport, and purify water before it reaches homes or agricultural fields,” staff journalist Valerio Palombaro wrote. “This interdependence, which extends to food, given that agriculture accounts for approximately 70% of freshwater withdrawals, highlights the growing need to adopt sustainability-focused strategies at both European and global levels.”

“Ensuring water, energy, and food security requires a systemic approach capable of integrating technological innovation, environmental protection, and social equity,” he concluded.

The sermons found in the Pelplin diocesan library address King Saul’s meeting with the witch of Endor.

The churches are located in Chambray-lès-Tours, Luynes, and Tours (the Church of St. Joan of Arc).

“This migration crisis caught us completely by surprise and prevented us from responding adequately,” Archbishop Emilio Rocha Grande, O.F.M., said in an interview. “We therefore provided the most basic assistance we could—water and food—but only within the limits of our resources.”

Archbishop Rocha told Vatican News that Morocco is “not currently a poor country in the sense that people are dying of hunger. It is a country experiencing strong economic growth.”

At the same time, “many young people feel that the economic opportunities created by development remain out of their reach,” the prelate said. “The temptation to leave is very strong. Many believe that simply arriving in Europe will solve all their problems—that they will find work, housing, and a better future.”

Pope Leo XIV encouraged participants in the 144th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus to promote unity and charity.

SIGNIS is the World Catholic Association for Communication. In the message, Pope Leo “expressed the hope that [participants’] reflections lead to communication strategies and tools guided by truth and rooted in respect for the dignity of every person,” Vatican News reported.

The colloquium’s theme is “Dialogue on the Contribution of Christianity and Confucianism to an Ideal Society: The New Heaven, the New Earth, and Datong (Great Unity).” In his August 4 address at Sogang University in Seoul, Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad accordingly discussed how both religions have “profoundly shaped the moral, cultural and social development of societies and continue to inspire lives of virtue and service to the common good,” according to Vatican News’s paraphrase of his remarks.

Cardinal Koovakad said that “for Christianity, the renewal of humanity and creation is rooted in God’s redeeming action through Christ,” according to Vatican News. “For Confucianism, by contrast, harmony arises not from divine redemption but from the moral cultivation of the individual, the guidance of virtuous rulers, education through ritual practice, and the ethical ordering of human relationships.”