Pope confirms second Chinese bishop in a week under Vatican-Beijing agreement
Father Francis Xavier Duan Yongkun was ordained Wednesday as coadjutor bishop of Bameng in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region after being appointed by Pope Leo XIV on June 15 under the provisional agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China.
Duan’s episcopal ordination was the second connected to appointments made public by the Vatican within the space of a week.
The pope also appointed Father Joseph Chang Yanfeng as the new bishop of Chifeng, another diocese in Inner Mongolia, on June 15. Chang was also ordained a bishop Wednesday, although the Vatican announced his appointment on July 22, while Duan’s appointment was made public this week.
The Holy See Press Office said Duan, 45, was appointed coadjutor bishop of Bameng after the Holy Father approved his candidacy through the procedures established by the Vatican-Beijing agreement governing the appointment of bishops in China.
Biography
Duan was born Dec. 6, 1980, in Hangjin Houqi, Inner Mongolia. He studied at the Hebei theological seminary from 2000 to 2007.
He later continued his academic studies at Peking University and Beijing Foreign Studies University between 2008 and 2013.
Duan was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Bameng on Jan. 1, 2011. He subsequently studied at Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan from 2013 to 2016.
After returning to his diocese, he served as director of the local formation center from 2016 to 2020. He was later appointed vicar general of the Diocese of Bameng and pastor of the diocesan cathedral, positions he held until his episcopal appointment.
Duan’s ordination represents another step in cooperation between the Holy See and Chinese authorities over the filling of episcopal sees.
The bilateral agreement, first signed in 2018, regulates the process for selecting and recognizing Catholic bishops in China.
The Holy See and China have not maintained diplomatic relations since 1951, following the rise to power of Mao Zedong’s communist government. Chinese Catholics subsequently became divided between the state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and an underground Catholic community that remained loyal to Rome.
The full text of the 2018 agreement has never been made public. It was renewed every two years until 2024, when the two sides extended it for four years, through 2028.
Under the publicly understood terms of the agreement, the pope retains the final decision on episcopal appointments in China and may reject candidates proposed by Beijing. The Holy See, for its part, agreed not to appoint bishops without the prior approval of the Chinese government.
Tensions during papal interregnum
During the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV, Chinese authorities unilaterally selected two bishops, including one for a diocese already led by a prelate recognized by the Vatican.
On April 28, 2025, Father Wu Jianlin was elected auxiliary bishop of Shanghai by Church organizations controlled by the Chinese state. The following day, Father Li Jianlin was selected as bishop of Xinxiang in Henan province.
Li’s selection caused controversy because the Holy See already recognized Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu as the legitimate bishop of the diocese.
Although the selections may have been planned before Francis’ death, their timing attracted the attention of observers.
AsiaNews reported that the decisions conveyed a clear message from the Chinese Communist Party: A vacant papal see would not affect the operation of the Catholic Church in China.
With Duan’s appointment and episcopal ordination, 16 Chinese Catholic bishops have now been ordained under the provisional agreement signed by China and the Holy See during the pontificate of Francis.
Chinese episcopal appointments under Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV has closely followed the appointment and ordination of Chinese bishops. Drawing on his years of missionary and pastoral service, the pope has shown particular concern that Catholics in China be able to practice their faith in peace, proclaim the Gospel, and help heal divisions that remain within the local Church.
He has also emphasized the importance of safeguarding ecclesial communion and unity with the successor of Peter as the visible guarantee of communion between the bishops and the universal Church.
Since the beginning of his pontificate, Leo has advanced several episcopal appointments in China and entrusted new responsibilities to bishops who had already been ordained.
On June 11, 2025, the Vatican announced the civil recognition and installation of Bishop Joseph Lin Yuntuan as auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou in Fujian province. Pope Leo XIV had made the appointment on June 5. Lin welcomed the decision and expressed his willingness to cooperate in the diocese’s pastoral mission.
On July 8, 2025, Leo suppressed the Dioceses of Xuanhua and Xiwanzi, which Pope Pius XII had established in 1946, and created the new Diocese of Zhangjiakou as a suffragan see of Beijing.
Two months later, on Sept. 10, Father Joseph Wang Zhengui, whom the pope had appointed to lead the new diocese, received episcopal ordination.
Father Ignatius Wu Jianlin was ordained auxiliary bishop of Shanghai on Oct. 15, 2025, after Leo appointed him to the position on Aug. 11.
Father Francis Li Jianlin was ordained bishop of Xinxiang in Henan province on Dec. 5, 2025, after being appointed by the pope on Aug. 11.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Michigan hospital will change LGBT policies, pay fired physician assistant $400,000 after lawsuit
A major health system in Michigan will make a six-figure payout to one of its former physician assistants whom the institution fired after she refused to adhere to LGBT-related policies there.
The University of Michigan Health-West system will also create a religious accommodation for employees who do not wish to assist with transgender-related “transitions” or procedures or use LGBT pronouns in a way that violates their religious beliefs.
The legal group First Liberty Institute announced the settlement on July 29, revealing that Valerie Kloosterman and her attorneys would receive $410,000 in damages from the health institution.
Kloosterman, a Christian, had worked at the hospital for 17 years starting in 2004. She was fired in August 2021 after she refused to use LGBT pronouns and make referrals for transgender-related “transition” drugs and surgeries, according to a 2022 lawsuit filed in U.S. district court.
The suit alleged that hospital workers “denigrated [Kloosterman’s] religious beliefs” and “blamed her for gender dysphoria-related suicides” before firing her. The hospital “had no interest in working toward a cooperative, religiously tolerant solution,” the suit said.
Kloosterman on July 29 said in her work she had wished to “provide the best care possible to my patients without being forced to violate my Christian beliefs.”
The new policy “ensures that providers of faith and employees at UMHW will receive religious accommodations so that they can provide excellent care consistent with their medical judgment, because all patients are created in the image of God,” she said.
Numerous U.S. institutions in recent years have faced lawsuits and major payouts involving disputes over LGBT ideology.
In 2025 the University of Louisville agreed to pay a former professor nearly $1.6 million after it demoted him and refused to renew his contract following off-campus expert testimony in which he spoke about the dangers of performing transgender operations on children.
The same year, United Airlines reached a settlement with a flight attendant who alleged that the airline fired him over expressing support for Catholic teachings on marriage and gender identity.
In 2022, meanwhile, a professor at Shawnee State University received $400,000 after he faced disciplinary action for refusing to use transgender pronouns for a student who identified as the opposite sex.
Ukrainian ambassador says papal visit would give major boost to peace
A potential visit by Pope Leo XIV to Ukraine could make a significant contribution to international efforts to end the war and achieve a lasting peace, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See said.
“We are absolutely sure that his possible visit would be a great input into the process of reaching peace there,” Ambassador Andrii Yurash said in an interview with “EWTN Noticias,” the Spanish-language broadcast edition of EWTN News.
He said the presence on Ukrainian soil of “probably the most respectable spiritual leader of the world,” carrying “a message of peace” and “a message of justice,” would be “the greatest input into this process.”
Yurash spoke after Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states and international organizations, said the Vatican was seriously considering the possibility of a papal visit to Ukraine.
Gallagher spent six days in the country last week. On July 20, he met in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who thanked the Holy See for its continued support for Ukraine amid the war with Russia.
“We continuously express our wish to have His Holiness as quick as possible in Ukraine,” Yurash said.
The diplomat said expectations among the Ukrainian population for a papal visit were extremely high.
“The pope is the most wanted foreign representative in Ukraine,” he said, adding that Ukrainians would like to receive and embrace him and “listen to his messages expressed directly on the Ukrainian land.”
Yurash said he was confident the pope understood those expectations.
“I hope he is thinking very seriously about that, and I hope he is looking for some really appropriate moment when it can be realized,” he said.
Repeated invitations
Pope Leo XIV has received several official invitations to visit Ukraine.
Yurash said the invitations had been extended at every level since Zelenskyy first met the pope on the day of his inauguration. The Ukrainian president and the pontiff have since held two other meetings, according to the ambassador.
The latest invitation came on Good Friday, when Zelenskyy formally asked Pope Leo XIV to make an apostolic visit to the country.
During the conversation, the pope expressed his closeness to Ukrainians suffering because of the war and emphasized the urgent need to guarantee humanitarian assistance. He also expressed his hope for an end to hostilities and a just and lasting peace with Russia.
Gallagher’s visit was preceded by a second mission to Ukraine by Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, the pope’s special envoy.
The archbishop of Bologna recently completed a four-day visit to Lviv and Kyiv, during which he emphasized the exchange of prisoners, the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia, and the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Yurash said the missions demonstrated the Holy See’s commitment to Ukraine.
“I think the message is very obvious,” he said.
“The message is that His Holiness understands realities of the war in Ukraine, and in this way of sending two very high representatives of the Holy See, he is trying to show that he is supporting Ukraine in general and any attempts to reach, to achieve just peace for Ukraine, as he expressed many, many times,” Yurash said. “So I think the message is absolutely clear.”
Ukraine is not alone
The ambassador also highlighted the moral and spiritual support that he said the Holy See continues to offer Ukraine.
“The Holy See shows that Ukraine is not alone, that the Holy See is trying to do everything possible to support spiritually Ukrainian people, to give some hope, to inspire people to be strong,” he said.
Yurash said that support was also rooted in the defense of international law and Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
“The value of international law is recognized by everybody, and the Holy See always repeatedly speaks that the Holy See supports territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he said.
“The Holy See, the whole civilized world, is against the violation of international law,” Yurash continued. “And in this spiritual, Church way, the Holy See expressed one more time this very concrete message for us.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Catholics in Haiti help the underserved as country prepares for elections
Despite the unchecked violence of criminal gangs and the political crisis that has been roiling Haiti for several years, a Catholic community there has set to work addressing the needs of an underserved area.
“Just two days ago, we began work to extend the village water system by about one kilometer down into the valley,” said Father Massimo Miraglio, explaining to the Fides agency the details of a project destined to “make a tangible difference” in the daily lives of the small community of Pourcine Pic Makaya.
The project aims to bring spring water to “two new distribution points,” which will make it possible to "serve three additional hamlets near the plateau where Pourcine is located,” the Camillian missionary explained.
“For many families, this will mean a real improvement in everyday life: Children and young people, who are usually responsible for carrying water for their households, will have much shorter distances to walk and a far lighter burden,” he added.
The community hired several local residents for the aqueduct expansion project. The work is expected to be completed in a few weeks. With improved water quality, the Catholic community will help “prevent many diseases linked to the use of contaminated water,” Miraglio said.
“Healthcare remains one of Haitiʼs most fragile sectors. A significant sign of hope came on July 14 with the inauguration of the new St. Camillus Hospital in Jérémie, created to provide essential healthcare services to the local population,” the priest stated.
These initiatives unfold amid a nation still locked in a profound crisis. While media coverage centers on gang violence, political instability, and migration, deeper humanitarian emergencies, such as internal displacement, hunger, and the growing vulnerability of women and children, persist unresolved.
Date set for first presidential election in a decade
On July 27, Haitiʼs electoral council set the date for the first presidential and legislative elections in a decade. The schedule sets the first round for Dec. 13, while the runoff will take place on Feb. 21, 2027.
The final results will be announced on March 7, 2027. Additionally, the electoral council specified that citizens will also be able to vote on constitutional changes and elect other local representatives. Initially, the first round of elections was scheduled for this August but was postponed due to security concerns.
The last elections in the Caribbean nation were held in 2016 and were marred by controversy. Following that process, Jovenel Moïse became president, holding office until his assassination in 2021.
Since then, Haiti has spiraled into political chaos and violence, particularly in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where armed gangs operate with free rein and control much of the territory.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Official Seoul World Youth Day song to be released Aug. 3
With roughly one year to go before World Youth Day (WYD) in Seoul, South Korea, in 2027, organizers have announced the launch dates for its official theme song.
In a July 30 press release, the local organizing committee announced the start of the event’s implementation phase, continuing preparations for services to welcome pilgrims.
Pope Leo XIV will also attend the global event, to be held Aug. 3–8, 2027. His attendance will continue the trend of a regular papal presence at WYD since St. John Paul II established it in 1985.
WYD 2027 will be the first WYD to be celebrated in a non-Christian country and only the second in Asia.
Theme song and tree-planting campaign to launch Aug. 3
On Aug. 3, the WYD 2027 countdown will begin, and its official theme song will premiere on its official YouTube channel. The song, “Confidite, Ego Vici Mundum” (“Take Courage! I Have Overcome the World,” in Latin), was the winning composition from 434 submissions and was written by Korean composer Francis Jiyoon Kim.
That same day, the Breath of Life Global Tree-Planting Campaign will launch, inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’. The campaign will encourage young people to practice ecological stewardship in line with the vision laid out in that encyclical.
The registration window for WYD 2027 will open in the latter half of 2026, offering pilgrims accommodation, meals, transportation, and insurance services. Volunteers will also be able to register at that time.
WYD 2027: A celebration of Korean hospitality
In the press release, Archbishop Peter Soon-taick Chung of Seoul, president of the local organizing committee, expressed hope that the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims expected in Seoul will experience the hospitality of the South Korean people.
“We will do everything possible to make WYD Seoul 2027 a celebration of hope and a witness to the hospitality and solidarity of Korea and Seoul,” Chung said in the release.
“Over the past three years, we have concentrated on laying the foundations for the event. The year ahead will be the time to complete our preparations and welcome young people from every part of the world.”
Newly identified St. Augustine sermons explore troubling Bible passage
The diocesan library of Pelplin in the Pomerania region of northern Poland was unknowingly safeguarding a true treasure.
Situated next to the imposing Gothic cathedral where Cistercians have prayed for centuries, this depository of knowledge preserved a medieval manuscript whose significance has since come to light.
In 2024, Paul Alexander Nebauer, an independent researcher specializing in the medieval history of the former Cistercian monastery of Bad Doberan in Germany, contacted Christian Tornau, a professor of classical philology (Latin studies) at the University of Würzburg, to propose a mission to him: He had located a medieval codex containing several sermons attributed to St. Augustine and needed help identifying and translating them.
Tornau, considered one of Germany’s leading specialists on the works of St. Augustine of Hippo and Christian literature of late antiquity, accepted the challenge.
To an untrained observer, the manuscript might appear to be little more than a collection of aged pages, yellowed in hue with the smell of an ancient document.
However, the exhaustive philological research conducted by Tornau together with Clemens Weidmann, a researcher at the “Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum” (Corpus of Latin Ecclesiastical Writings or CSEL, by its Latin acronym) in Vienna, Austria, and a team of young scholars ultimately revealed a discovery of immense importance.
The manuscript was copied at the Doberan monastery during the 12th century and may have been transcribed from an older codex originating from Amelungsborn, a historic Cistercian monastery located in the present-day German state of Lower Saxony.
Of the four sermons analyzed, two were already known to specialists: one recognized as authentically Augustinian and another classified as pseudo-Augustinian. The other two, however, could not be immediately identified.
“We transcribed the new texts and began analyzing them with a view to a future edition. We were fascinated, of course, by the idea of having found new sermons by St. Augustine, but we soon became skeptical because, in some places, the sermons did not seem to have been written by Augustine,” Tornau explained to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.
2 years of research to verify authenticity
Without letting themselves get carried away by the initial rush of excitement, the researchers wanted to subject the discovery to the highest academic standards before validating it. “Our final verdict that they are authentic is the result of continuous philological work during nearly two years,” noted the German scholar.
Part of this work was carried out during a summer school organized by the CSEL in Vienna in 2025, attended by doctoral students and early-career researchers specializing in early Christian literature. Following a meticulous analysis of the texts and their transmission into a manuscript, the team concluded that there were no serious objections to attributing them to St. Augustine.
According to the researcher, although several centuries of textual transmission separate the era of St. Augustine (fifth century) from the surviving manuscript, the document offers a surprisingly reliable version.
“Several centuries lie between Augustine and this 12th-century scribe, so it is easy to imagine that errors occurred during transmission. Nevertheless, we have a very good text, and with a few critical corrections, we can largely reconstruct what St. Augustine said,” he explained.
Among the most compelling arguments are the dating of the sermons to late antiquity — between the fifth and seventh centuries — as well as the description of liturgical practices that, in Tornau’s words, “would be unimaginable in the Middle Ages.”
Furthermore, according to the researcher, “the background is North African, as is evident from the concluding prayer of the first sermon, which is attested only in Africa of late antiquity.”
Specialists also confirmed that the author possessed a profound understanding of Augustinian thought, without, however, merely reproducing it mechanically.
“The preacher is familiar with the thought and works of St. Augustine, but he does not simply copy them — which could be a sign of inauthenticity,” he explained.
He further added that “the sermons contain nothing that could not have been said by Augustine, whether from a linguistic, exegetical, or theological standpoint.”
After comparing expressions, arguments, and textual features against the extant body of Augustinian works, the researchers reached a firm conclusion.
“Since the preacher is indistinguishable from St. Augustine, we consider it methodologically sound to accept St. Augustine’s authorship rather than inventing an anonymous ‘disciple’ or ‘follower,’” Tornau explained.
A biblical passage that posed a major theological problem
The two sermons center on one of the most complex episodes in the Old Testament: King Saul’s consultation with the medium or “witch” of Endor, recounted in Chapter 28 of the First Book of Samuel.
According to the biblical account, abandoned by God and in despair over the threat posed by the Philistines, Saul turns to a necromancer to summon the prophet Samuel. The prophet appears and foretells his imminent death.
“This narrative posed a problem for early Christian exegesis. How could a necromancer wield magical, diabolical power over Samuel, a saint of God? Is God unable or unwilling to prevent it? Evidently, this raises the question of theodicy,” Tornau explained.
According to Britannica, theodicy is “an explanation of why a perfectly good, almighty, and all-knowing God permits evil.”
Before St. Augustine, two main interpretations prevailed. The first held that Samuel had actually appeared, albeit by divine will or permission, and not as a result of magic. The second maintained that the apparition was, in reality, an evil spirit assuming the prophetʼs appearance to deceive Saul.
What is new is the emergence of two specific sermons in which the bishop of Hippo addresses the matter before his congregation without ruling out either possibility.
“In the new sermons, St. Augustine discusses both possibilities along with their advantages and drawbacks and concludes that both are acceptable because neither contradicts the Christian faith,” the professor noted.
For Tornau, this stance reflects a distinctive trait of the bishop of Hippo. “This openness to divergent interpretations of Scripture is characteristic of Augustine in general,” he observed.
According to the specialist, this doctor of the Church, one of the most significant and influential minds in the history of philosophy, adopts an attitude far more willing to dialogue than other ancient authors, who tended to engage in harsh polemics against opposing views.
The great surprise: Saul may have been saved
The most striking aspect of the new texts is a hypothesis previously unknown to the Augustinian tradition.
“The most notable element of the new sermons is the idea that Saul, after hearing Samuel’s prophecy, could have repented and been redeemed,” Tornau noted.
According to the researcher, this interpretation has no parallels in either the known works of the bishop of Hippo or in early Christian exegesis, where the figure of Saul is typically portrayed in a decidedly negative light.
In these sermons, St. Augustine seems to suggest that even a figure as controversial as Israel’s first king might have ultimately opened himself to divine grace.
“The idea may be an original invention of Augustine’s, or perhaps he had access — directly or indirectly — to Rabbinic Jewish exegesis, which is far more positive regarding Saul,” the specialist noted.
Be that as it may, Tornau said he believes this interpretation sheds light on a fundamental aspect of Augustinian thought.
“His intellectual independence and his willingness to consider that anyone, even those who seem most wicked, is capable of attaining salvation through the grace of God” is striking, Tornau commented.
For the expert, this insight accurately reflects the personality of the great Church Father who died in the year 430 and whose work has shaped European theology, philosophy, spirituality, and culture for centuries: “This combines intellectual honesty and episcopal humility in a remarkable and very Augustinian way.”
The next step is to prepare a critical edition of the Latin text with a German translation and a substantial introduction that will explain the history of the discovery; describe the manuscript, its contents and dating; and place the new sermons in the context of St. Augustine’s body of work and the history of Christian exegesis. The publication could appear in early 2027.
The discovery has already sparked numerous reactions in academic and ecclesiastical circles. “Perhaps also because the pope is an Augustinian, which has heightened interest in St. Augustine,” remarked Tornau, who said he hopes to personally present the future critical edition to Leo XIV.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Catholic prison ministry brings sacraments, mercy, and community to those behind bars
For Catholics behind prison walls, incarceration does not mean separation from the Church. Catholic prison ministers and bishops say those in jail and prison remain members of the Catholic community, and they are in particular need of the sacraments, companionship, and God’s mercy.
Prison Ministry Awareness Sunday was observed July 26, highlighting the Church’s call to remember those who are incarcerated.
William Hall, coordinator of Prison Ministry for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, and a member of the Buckingham Correctional Center ministry, said the work is rooted in Christ’s command in Matthew 25 to visit those in prison.
“We try to go in and provide sacraments, provide comfort to the men in prison,” Hall told Veronica Dudo in a July 29 interview with “EWTN News Nightly.”
‘Just as much a part of the parish’
Hall said Catholics behind bars should not be defined solely by their crimes or convictions.
“The guys in prison might just say, ‘Donʼt think of me for what I did but of who I am,’” he said.
Many incarcerated Catholics, Hall added, have discovered a deeper spiritual life through the Church’s presence in prison.
For Hall, ministry begins with a simple approach: “Listen, listen, love, love.”
“You listen to the person, understand where they are in their life, and try to do what you can to make their life better,” he said.
That ministry can bear fruit in unexpected ways.
Hall recalled a recent example in which inmates learned that a young boy outside the prison had been seriously injured when his foot was run over by a lawnmower. Although the inmates earned less than $1 an hour for their prison work, they collected more than $1,000 to send to the boy.
“That got news coverage,” Hall said, adding that the response eventually led corporations to get involved and “became a really big thing.”
For Hall, the story demonstrated how the faith of incarcerated men can move beyond the prison walls.
‘We’re all sinners’
Bishop William Wack of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, in a July 29 interview with “EWTN News Nightly” emphasized that prisoners remain part of the bishop’s flock.
Shortly after becoming bishop, Wack received a letter from an inmate reminding him that those behind bars wanted to see their shepherd.
“We’re here, and we’re your flock as well,” Wack recalled the inmate writing. “We have needs. We want Communion. We want to see you in person, and time with our shepherd.”
The letter was a “wake-up call” for Wack and renewed his desire to visit prisons, listen to inmates, and celebrate the sacraments with them.
Wack said his own experience with prison ministry began during seminary, when he chose to work with juveniles in detention centers. He later ministered in jails and prisons, including spending an entire summer in a California prison.
Those experiences helped him develop “a love for just being with our brothers and sisters who are incarcerated.”
The bishop stressed that prison ministry does not excuse criminal behavior.
“We’re never saying what you did, what you’re accused of, or what you’re convicted of is OK,” he said. “That’s not what prison ministry is all about.”
Instead, the ministry recognizes a fundamental spiritual need shared by every person.
“We’re all sinners,” Wack said. “It’s just getting to the heart of what we all need: God’s mercy, God’s forgiveness.”
‘Prayer goes a long way’
Wack acknowledged that most Catholics cannot personally enter prisons to minister to inmates. But he said they can still participate in this corporal work of mercy.
“Prayer. That goes a long way,” he said, encouraging Catholics to pray both for those who are incarcerated and for those who minister to them.
Hall said he has also found that prison ministry transforms the volunteers who enter the facilities.
“One of the things people donʼt really realize is that we volunteers who go in get as much out of this as the men in prison,” Hall said.
The Church enters prisons not merely to provide services but to bring Christʼs mercy to people who may feel forgotten and to remind Catholics outside prison walls that they, too, are called to see Christ in those society can easily overlook.
Hall said the experience reveals the deeper reality of Catholic prison ministry: “It’s a large and profitable Christian community.”
For Catholics behind bars, the Church remains a place of sacramental life, community, forgiveness, and hope.
And for those who visit them, prison ministry can become a powerful reminder of Christʼs words in Matthew 25: “I was in prison, and you visited me.”
Charles Carroll Legacy Gala to celebrate U.S. founder, support faithful‑citizenship course
The Faithful Citizenship Institute (FCI) will host its inaugural gala honoring Charles Carroll of Maryland, the only Catholic Founding Father, whose faith endured during a time Catholics faced prejudice and marginalization.
FCI, which brings policymakers together to infuse Catholic social teaching (CST) into their work, said it plans to make the event an annual gathering dedicated to preserving and advancing Carroll’s legacy.
The Charles Carroll Legacy Gala will be at Charles Carroll House in Annapolis, Maryland, on Aug. 2, the anniversary of Carroll signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Proceeds from the evening will support scholarships and the expansion of the FCIʼs CST Certification Course, which is working to equip policy workers to bring faith, reason, and the common good into civic leadership.
Carroll was “quite persecuted as a Catholic, but he chose to put his name on a piece of paper that was very dangerous to his career, his family, his life,” Jennifer Daniels, founder and president of FCI, told EWTN News.
He “chose to say, ‘I want to, and I will, sign this document.’ Now today weʼre trying to uphold that legacy in the same manner, saying, ‘If youʼre Catholic, you want to live your Catholic faith publicly,’” she said.
The event will include Mass and a reception on the grounds of Carroll’s birthplace. Upon his passing, the property was sold to the Redemptorist order, which also built St. Maryʼs Church on the property.
The event will feature tours of the grounds, and attendees will hear from Bradley Birzer, Hillsdale College history professor and author of “American Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll.”
In the 250th year of the United States, the event will highlight Catholics in America and how “the Church approaches issues, which is not ideological and nonpartisan, very different from the way that the average policymaker in Washington does,” Daniels said.
“While the parties may argue about this and that, the first and foremost prime principle is human dignity,” she said. “If we just get Catholics … talking about human dignity as the prime principle, that translates into all kinds of policy areas.”
“If weʼre leading with human dignity and our result is the common good, weʼre certainly setting ourselves up for some better policy solutions,” Daniels said.
The Faithful Citizenship Institute
FCI, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., grew from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) teaching document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility,” calling for the faithful to understand political responsibilities as Catholics.
After working in politics and policy for more than 20 years, Daniels started FCI in 2024.
“Our mission is to bring the beauty and wisdom of Catholic social teaching to policymakers and really help them to kind of infuse these foundational principles, so that they can lead with their faith in their policymaking,” Daniels said.
The institute started by “doing some briefings on Capitol Hill,” she said. “Weʼd bring in some great Catholic leaders from various Catholic national organizations that work in Washington, D.C.,” Daniels said.
“The more we started talking to people, the more we started learning that people wanted a deeper dive. They wanted a more comprehensive understanding, not just of the current political event or the current hot-button issue, but a better foundation for all the principles,” she said.
This led the institute to create its CST Certification Course — a graduate-level course designed for Catholic public policy professionals.
“We launched the course last year in the fall of 2025. We had 15 participants from basically all three branches of government, advocacy, think tanks,” Daniels said.
Over the seven-month course, “we walked through the four principles of Catholic social teaching, as well as a history of Catholic social teaching,” she said. The group worked to answer: “What is Catholic social teaching meant for within the context of civic engagement and public policy?”
The course grew into a partnership with The Catholic University of America (CUA). By completing the certification course, students become eligible for up to three credit hours toward a Master of Public Policy at CUA.
Almost all the professors are from CUA, who “do the theological and the academic course instruction, but we added something different … which is the public policy application,” Daniels said.
“With that, we brought in leaders — policy practitioners that work for groups like USCCB, Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Health Association, Catholic Climate Covenant,” that discussed “in that nonideological, nonpartisan way, that we want to help to elevate the conversation,” she said.
The institute is going through its 2026-2027 applications and has double the number of applicants since the first year. Applicants include people from the executive branch, Capitol Hill staffers, advocacy workers, and people who work for Church organizations.
With the growing interest in the course, FCI is adding new aspects. For this yearʼs course, which will begin in September, “we are going to put a focus on Pope Leoʼs document Magnifica Humanitas,” Daniels said.
“Pope Leo went through so much of Catholic social teaching in the document. It wasnʼt just about AI. It was really a very comprehensive document about all kinds of elements of Catholic social teaching,” she said.
“Then weʼll end the course with a retreat on Magnificat Humanitas and Catholic principles regarding AI policy. That will be our last event at the end of the course,” she said.
Pope Leo XIV: I still have a great love for America
Leo XIV, the first pope born in the United States, has emphasized his continued love for his native country, even as head of the global Catholic Church.
The pontiff made these remarks in an interview with Tom Llamas of NBC News on July 29 at Castel Gandolfo. The interview followed the “Canticle of Peace” music prayer service for peace at the Borgo Laudato Si’, part of the Pontifical Gardens at Castel Gandolfo, featuring music by the renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.
Leo, in discussing his love for America, clarified that his identity is now of a universal pastor.
“I have great love for America,” Leo told NBC News. “But I understand my mission as having a very important dimension, which is precisely being pastor of a universal church.”
“I think of myself more as the pope who happens to be American.”
The pope also acknowledged the historic significance of being the first U.S.-born bishop of Rome.
“I will acknowledge that for myself, as well as for the people of the United States… that there is great significance in being the first American pope,” Leo said.
He also outlined his favorite aspects of the U.S., including a sense of freedom and opportunity for generations of migrants, including his ancestors, some of whom were enslaved.
“We have people who were both slaves and slave owners.”
“I come from a family [where] my grandparents were immigrants on my motherʼs side,” the pope said. “There’s a history, if you will, of growing up in the kind of experience that helps me recognize myself, one of the greatest wealths of the United States.”
Addressing the likelihood of a future visit to the U.S., Leo explained that the Vatican was considering the timing of such a visit.
“Today we were looking at the calendar for the next couple of years. Nothing is set in stone yet, but I certainly hope to be there soon,” Leo said.
The pontiff briefly returned to Castel Gandolfo on July 29 for the “Canticle of Peace” after recently concluding his vacation there from July 5–27 and returning to the Vatican.
‘Canticle of Peace’: Leo XIV presents the beauty of music as a path to God
Pope Leo XIV stated Wednesday that “the beauty of music invites us to encounter the One who is beauty itself” during the “Canticle of Peace” prayer and fraternal gathering held at Castel Gandolfo’s Borgo Laudato Si’ gardens.
Leo XIV also prayed for peace to reign “in all those places in the world that continue to suffer from violence.
The gathering, organized by the Laudato Si’ Center for Higher Education and the Andrea Bocelli Foundation (ABF), took place as part of the celebrations marking the eighth centenary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi.
Addressing the young members of the ABF Voices Of choir who came from Uganda, the Holy Land, and Italy, Leo XIV assured them: “Know also that the Holy Father loves you and prays for you, for your families, and for your countries.”
After listening to the performance by tenor Andrea Bocelli and the choir, the pope thanked them for the effort put into preparing the recital and congratulated their conductors, noting that “music has the extraordinary capacity to bring different voices together in unison, where each contributes something unique to the whole.”
“In this sense, the choir becomes an ideal symbol of harmony and cooperation,” he added.
In his message, Leo XIV noted the significance of the fact that sacred Scripture and the Church’s liturgy speak of “choirs of angels and saints” when describing the joy of heaven.
This does not mean, he explained, that they are “literally singing all the time” but rather that, “united in love, they contemplate God together and find the fullness of happiness in him.”
The Holy Father then invited the young people to reflect on what had taken place during their performance: “As you sang, did you notice how music drew all of us into a new experience — something greater than anything any one of us could have created alone?”
“This is the experience of beauty. It opens up a new horizon before us and awakens within us the desire to move towards it,” he continued.
The pope explained that “when we journey toward that horizon, we do not simply discover something, but Someone. We encounter God, our Creator.”
Leo XIV encouraged the young people to continue cultivating the gifts God has bestowed upon them and to allow those talents to lead them to him, for “he is all we seek in life, the only one who can calm our restless hearts.”
The pontiff also reminded them that “you were made for great things and that the whole world is not enough to satisfy your thirst for meaning and happiness.”
Before concluding, Leo XIV thanked the Andrea Bocelli Foundation for its work on behalf of young people facing educational and social disadvantages, and highlighted that “through the power of music, you are contributing to the Church’s mission of promoting the integral development of every human person in service of the common good. May God bless your efforts.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.