“After the first murder recorded in the Bible, God did not end Cain’s life, but rather preserved it, warning others not to kill Cain (Gn. 4:15),” said the chairmen of the US bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development and Committee on Pro-Life Activities. “In the last 60 years, before the Trump administration restarted federal executions, there were only four federal executions. Since July, there have been five ... We say to President Trump and Attorney General Barr: Enough. Stop these executions.”

“These people came to Europe for help, and we left them as refugees in camps,” said Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, following a fire at the Lésvos refugee camp (for whose victims the Pope has expressed solidarity). “It is a shame for Europe. What is on fire is not only the camp of Moria, but also the identity of Europe. We cannot claim Europe’s Christian roots if we leave people in despair.”

Asked by a Japanese reporter to comment on the extension of provisional Sino-Vatican agreement, the spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said that the provisional agreement “has been working smoothly since it was reached two years ago” and did not comment on its potential extension.

Analyzing the Vatican’s silence on recent Middle East peace agreements brokered by President Trump, John Allen writes that “the Vatican can’t object to any step that seems to promote peace, but it also doesn’t have to go out of its way to praise figures [President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] about whom it has reservations on multiple fronts.” In addition, “the Holy See definitely wants peace in the Middle East, but this isn’t really their plan for it.”

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem issued a statement on how it will use the aid.

Pope Francis thanked the 93-year-old former Vatican Secretary of State (2001-06) and dean of the College of Cardinals (2005-19) for his “faithful and diligent service to the Church and the Holy See.” In 2000, Pope St. John Paul II wrote a letter for the 50th anniversary of the prelate’s ordination.

Cardinal Willem Eijk of Utrecht fears that the acceptance of euthanasia is growing “ever more extended” in the Netherlands. In a conversation with the Catholic News Agency, Cardinal Eijk said that he could foresee the number of euthanasia cases growing to become more than 8% of all deaths in the Netherlands by 2028.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who tested positive for Covid earlier this month, has recovered, the Filipino bishops’ conference has announced. Cardinal Tagle, the newly appointed prefect of the Congregation for Evangelization, had tested positive two weeks ago.

US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order requiring that babies who survive an attempted abortion be given appropriate medical treatment.