Read &amp; Reflect

Where Leo prayed

Pilgrims arriving at the Shrine of the Most Holy Trinity in Vallepietra approach on foot after hours of walking through the mountains, traveling in groups behind decorated banners. Inside, they touch the rock above them. When they leave, they walk backwards, unwilling to turn their backs on the imag...

Jul 27, 2026 64

Prayer app leak is latest in series of Vatican website vulnerabilities

A popular prayer app connected to the Vatican, “Click to Pray,” has been leaving user information exposed for months, the most recent in a years-long string of vulnerabilities and hacks for Vatican-related websites.St. Peter’s Basilica. public domain.Subscribe nowThe app, which is available on both...

Jul 27, 2026 61

Leo and the patriarchy

As the Ukrainian Catholic Church continues to form Catholics more than four years after the country was first invaded by Russia, there are signs that Pope Leo may be considering a long-awaited change of status for the second-largest Eastern Catholic Church in the world.Pope Leo XIV and Major Archbis...

Jul 27, 2026 75

Motor City Blues

Like many US dioceses, the Archdiocese of Detroit is going through a parish consolidation process.In the preparation, the archdiocese has posted a detailed set of presentations (one for each parish in the archdiocese) providing the data diocesan leaders are assessing as they make these decisions abo...

Jul 27, 2026 61

Transalpine Redemptorist founder excommunicated for schism

The head of a traditionalist group who was illicitly ordained a bishop on a remote Scottish island Saturday has been declared excommunicated after a diocesan canonical process found him guilty of schism.The illicit episcopal consecration of Fr. Michael Mary Sim, F.SS.R., on Papa Stronsay, on July 25...

Jul 27, 2026 137

Pope Leo XIV urges halt to Mideast attacks, return to diplomacy

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged parties across the Middle East to suspend their attacks and reopen diplomatic negotiations, warning that escalating military operations were endangering civilians and worsening shortages of drinking water and electricity.“I continue to follow with deep concern the ongoin...

Jul 27, 2026 51

Pope Leo XIV to attend musical prayer service with Andrea Bocelli

Pope Leo XIV, having just concluded his vacation at Castel Gandolfo in Italy, will return there on July 29 for a musical prayer service featuring the renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.As announced on July 27 by the Holy See Press Office, the pontiff will lead a moment of prayer at the “Canticle...

Jul 27, 2026 56

San Francisco archbishop among new members of Vatican’s highest court

Pope Leo XIV has appointed San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and Kalamazoo, Michigan, Bishop Edward M. Lohse among seven new members of the Apostolic Signatura, the Catholic Church’s highest court.Cordileone has led the Archdiocese of San Francisco since 2012. Previously an auxiliary bis...

Jul 27, 2026 62

The peace proposed by Pope Leo XIV is not a naive hippie ideal, expert says

The peace proposed by Pope Leo XIV is “not abstract, ideological, or naive” but one that “passes through the pain, contradictions, and wounds of the world,” according to Alessandro Banfi, communications director of the Oasis Foundation and coordinator of a new book collecting the pope’s teachings on...

Jul 27, 2026 55

Vatican calls for assessment of synodality implementation ahead of 2028 assembly

Ahead of the 2028 ecclesial assembly for the Synod on Synodality, the Vatican has called on dioceses to provide an assessment of their implementation of synodality.The General Secretariat of the Synod published the document “Recollecting” on July 27, providing diocesan synodal teams with a resource...

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