Read & Reflect
Articles, reflections, news, and homilies — thoughtful Catholic content for the faithful, published regularly.
World News
World News
Why did Cardinal Zuppi return to Ukraine?
Vatican peace envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi returned to Ukraine this week for a four-day humanitarian mission.Cardinal Matteo Zuppi lays flowers at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine in Kyiv on July 15, 2026. Credit: Screenshot from @12porte YouTube channel.Zuppi, the president of the I...
World News
Building a culture of vocations — the strategy behind diocesan vocational success
In 2026, the Church in the United States saw 9% fewer priestly ordinations than it had 10 years earlier.According to the best numbers available, 342 men were ordained diocesan priests for U.S. dioceses this year. While that number represents a slight uptick from years prior, it also signifies a decl...
World News
Switzerland ends exemptions to mandatory military service for clergy
A new law in Switzerland that will end military service exemptions for clergy has drawn criticism from Christian groups in the country.Credit: Michael Derrer Fuchs / Shutterstock.ShareSwitzerland requires all able-bodied men to complete about eight months of military service, typically between ages...
World News
The SSPX’s unappealing canonical prospects for recourse
The Society of St. Pius X announced Monday that an appeal has been filed against the July 2 decree which declared six bishops to be excommunicated.A screenshot from the July 1 illicit consecration of SSPX bishops. Credit: SSPX News/YouTube.In an unsigned notice to media, released via the SSPX websit...
World News
Rome diocese to hold collection for Venezuela earthquake victims
Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar of the Diocese of Rome, has announced that the pope’s diocese will join an Italian bishops’ conference initiative to hold a national collection for Venezuelan earthquake victims.Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar of the Diocese of Rome. Credit: Screenshot from @Diocesi...
World News
Who could be Leo’s pick for Secretary of State, whenever it comes?
One of the remaining great unknowns of the Leonine pontificate is when the pope could choose to replace the heads of Vatican departments remaining from the Francis papacy.Pope Leo XIV and Caridnal Pietro Parolin. Credit: Vatican media.At the largest and most influential of these, the Secretariat of...
World News
Asian bishops are warning about Korea’s Naju shrine. Here’s why
The Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines urged Catholics Monday not to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Naju in South Korea.Julia Kim, the alleged visionary associated with the Naju shrine in South Korea. Credit: Screenshot from @NajuMary YouTube channel.Philippines bishops’ conference president Ar...
World News
Ontario police investigating $600,000 in missing parish funds
Police are investigating the apparent theft of more than $600,000 from a parish in Ontario, and the pastor has been removed from ministry while the investigation takes place.Subscribe nowFather David Collins, O.F.M. Conv., has served as pastor at St. John Parish in the Archdiocese of Kingston since...
World News
Spanish cardinal steps back over investigation
Spanish Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, SDB, Archbishop of Rabat, Morocco, said Monday that he will temporarily step back from public ministry, amid a Vatican investigation into allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior toward at least five women.Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, SDB. Credit: Vat...
World News
‘No one really knows’ whereabouts of Nicaragua’s Bishop Mata
Nicaraguan human rights activists have raised alarm over the welfare and whereabouts of Bishop Abelardo Mata. The bishop was briefly detained by the Nicaraguan regime on June 29 and while authorities claim he was returned home later that day, no one outside the security forces has been able to estab...
World News
July’s other illicit episcopal consecration
This month is likely to see in the Church not one but two sets of episcopal consecrations without a papal mandate, though taking place under very different circumstances.Fr. Michael Mary, F.SS.R., pictured in 2020. Credit: Screenshot from @TransalpineRedemptorists YouTube channel.The first, publiciz...
World News
Paprocki: Charter revision included ‘opportunity for input’
When the U.S. bishops’ conference met in Orlando last month, bishops voted to pass a revision to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the USCCB’s landmark safeguarding document, first issued in 2002.USCCB 2025 fall plenary assembly. Credit: Jack Figge / The Pillar.But while t...