Nicaraguan dictatorship detains Bishop Abelardo Mata again
Nicaraguan police detained Bishop Emeritus Abelardo Mata again on June 30, just one day after his initial detention and subsequent release on June 29. The 80-year-old prelate is reportedly now under house arrest.
Mata, bishop emeritus of Estelí, was arrested at a clinic where he had gone for a checkup for his pacemaker. This occurred the day after he celebrated a Mass in which he prayed for the persecuted Church in Nicaragua, an act that may have provoked the ire of the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo.
Following the new detention, the bishop is reportedly under house arrest at his home in the town of Tisma, according to the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa.
In addition to the bishop, Father Francisco Morales, pastor of Calvary’s Cross Church in Estelí, where Mata celebrated Mass on June 28, and Deacon Wilfred Arauz Rodríguez were also detained. Both were released but remain subject to conditions.
“Bishop Mata holds no administrative responsibilities within the Diocese of Estelí but continues to assist that diocese with its pastoral needs. He thus went to celebrate Mass last Sunday at the request of the parish priest. However, the Sandinista dictatorship has forbidden him from being in the department of Estelí,” Martha Patricia Molina explained on July 2 to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. She is the author of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,” which documents thousands of attacks by the dictatorship against Catholics since 2018.
Molina further highlighted that “the Diocese of Estelí has always been a target of repression by the Sandinista dictatorship due to the hatred the dictatorial couple harbors toward Bishop Rolando José Álvarez, the apostolic administrator. Although Álvarez is not voicing opinions, the dictatorship views him as a constant focus of their attention.”
Álvarez, apostolic administrator of Estelí since 2021, following Mata’s resignation, currently lives in Rome after being exiled in January 2024 while serving a 26-year prison sentence. The prelate was a consistent critic of the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship.
Even though Álvarez is living in exile, Pope Francis confirmed him in his position as bishop of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of Estelí.
Molina also told ACI Prensa that the situation in Estelí “is being aggravated because Mata has been critical of the arbitrary actions committed by the Sandinista dictatorship. Currently, we only learn of 10% of the attacks committed against the Catholic Church because the rest go unreported due to the fear and caution priests and laypeople have about speaking out in the news media or on social media.”
The researcher noted that the number of reports could reach “400 a day” if Catholics were able to speak freely in public.
The ‘dire’ situation in Estelí
Molina noted that the dictatorship is now persecuting the Church in a different way: “They had stopped abducting priests, but now they have gone back to it; furthermore, there are cases of priests having to report to police stations to give statements, and also there’s the constant monitoring and harassment of priests across the countryʼs various dioceses by the police.”
The researcher pointed out that the Diocese of Estelí, “the one most persecuted by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship after Matagalpa,” is currently forced to “operate without [its bishop] and with only 42% of its clergy. This makes pastoral work difficult and places a heavier workload on the active priests.”
These priests must also take on “the duties of those who are in exile due to persecution, those who have passed away, or those who, for one reason or another, are not exercising their ministry in Nicaragua,” she pointed out.
“The situation is worsening because the Sandinista dictatorship has banned diaconal and priestly ordinations in that diocese,” she emphasized. Ordinations are also forbidden in Matagalpa, Jinotega, and Siuna. None of the four dioceses has its bishop present, as they have all been exiled from Nicaragua.
The need to be vigilant
“We have to remain vigilant regarding Bishop Mata because his health is fragile and requires professional care. What worries me is that the last individuals who have been under surveillance by the dictatorship or the police have ended up in worse condition or even dead,” Arturo McFields, Nicaragua’s former ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), told ACI Prensa on July 2.
A recent example of this situation is the case of Brooklyn Rivera, an Indigenous leader and political prisoner whom the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship held incommunicado for over 970 days. He passed away in late May at the age of 73, following several statements from the regime regarding his critical health condition.
“If the dictatorship’s actions are not strongly denounced, the regime would not hesitate to bring about the death of Bishop Mata, as they harbor deep resentment toward this man of God because of his courage and clarity for many years,” McFields emphasized.
An exiled Nicaraguan priest who prefers to remain anonymous to avoid reprisals told ACI Prensa that the situation involving Mata “is sad, but it can also be viewed as a sign of the fear the dictatorship has of an elderly bishop, an 80-year-old (with health issues) because his presence as a shepherd strengthens the lives of the faithful,” ensuring that “the faith remains alive.”
The priest emphasized that he continues to prepare “our hearts for a future in which we can rebuild the Church in Nicaragua not only socially but also through faith because spiritual and pastoral reconstruction work must also be done.”
Call for release
Félix Maradiaga, president of the Freedom for Nicaragua Foundation, issued “an urgent call to the international community, human rights organizations, the world’s democracies, and all people of goodwill to remain vigilant, demand the immediate release of Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata and all arbitrarily detained members of the clergy, and firmly condemn this new escalation of repression.”
“Nicaragua cannot normalize a dictatorship imprisoning priests, silencing pulpits, and persecuting the faith. The moral voice of the Church has historically stood with the Nicaraguan people during their most difficult times, and that is precisely why the regime seeks to intimidate it,” Maradiaga told ACI Prensa.
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.
Wyoming Catholic College student wins Presidential 1776 Award
Incoming Wyoming Catholic College student Miriam Washut took home a $150,000 scholarship after winning first place in the first-ever Presidential 1776 Awards, a nationwide civics competition.
Washut, who is the daughter of Wyoming Catholic College President Kyle Washut, emerged triumphant from among 20 finalists and over 8,000 students from all 50 states and territories who entered the competition.
Washut, along with the second and third place winners, met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office July 1 alongside U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
Tweet
McMahon said the award “recognizes students who have demonstrated a deep understanding of America’s founding principles and enthusiasm for learning America’s story. What better way to celebrate 250 years of this great nation than by honoring those who will carry us into the next 250!”
University of Mary launches graduate school of theology in Arizona
The University of Mary has announced it will open a graduate school of theology in Phoenix in the fall.
The satellite graduate school will offer a four-year master of divinity degree and a 36-credit master of arts in theology, taught in person at the Arizona Center, located across from St. Mary’s Basilica and the diocesan pastoral center, the university announced on June 30.
The university described the move as a further development of its “long-standing partnership with the Diocese of Phoenix and Nazareth Seminary,” and an expansion of its Arizona mission.
“What originally started as undergraduate formation for the seminarians of the diocese has blossomed into an academic program that now includes master’s-level work,” said Eric Westby, associate professor of theology at the university. “This formation will help students know their faith more deeply and be equipped to pass it on in a variety of settings,” he added.
Benedictine College to open Independence Hall-themed library July 4
Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, will hold a soft-launch opening of its new library, built to resemble Independence Hall in Philadelphia, on July 4.
The interior of the new library includes an exact replica of Independence Hall’s historic Assembly Room, where America’s Declaration of Independence was debated and signed. The Assembly Room will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to noon, the college said in a press release. Visitors to the library, which is in the final stages of construction, will also be able to view a replica of the Liberty Bell.
Visitors will also have the opportunity to view a collection of historic documents through an exhibit titled “Celebrating the American Experiment.”
“Thirty-nine documents trace the story of the American founding and its origins in centuries of Western political thought,” the exhibit page states. “Among them are works by Aristotle, Cicero, John Locke, and Algernon Sidney, as well as the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, and a rare 1788 printing of the Constitution of the United States, one of only five known copies in existence.”
DeSantis blocks funding for security improvements at Catholic schools
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has vetoed a bill that would have allocated $15 million in state funding for security improvements at Catholic schools in Miami-Dade County. The veto came after the Florida Legislature passed the bill on May 29.
The Archdiocese of Miami expressed its disappointment with the veto and thanked lawmakers for their efforts to pass legislation to protect its more than 37,000 students.
“Security enhancements are not a luxury; they are an essential component of providing safe environments where students can learn and thrive,” the Archdiocese of Miami said in a June 29 statement. The archdiocese noted that it does not receive any funding to offset security costs, despite other privately-run public charter schools in the state receiving government aid.
Filipino bishop decries government corruption as ‘grave sin’
Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, Philippines, spoke out against government corruption during a June 28 rally at the People Power Monument in Manila.
“We cannot remain silent while funds meant for the poor are being stolen. We cannot remain silent while the people’s treasury is being turned into the personal wealth of a few. We cannot remain silent while corruption continues to destroy the future of our children,” Bagaforo said at the White Ribbon March on Sunday, according to Licas News.
The chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ Commission on Interreligious Dialogue further condemned corruption as “a grave sin of theft and betrayal of the people.”
Bagaforo’s remarks come in the wake of a corruption scandal last year involving infrastructure projects worth an estimated $2 billion.
Catholic anti-trafficking leaders meet in Thailand
The sixth international Talitha Kum Leadership Training Course conference drew 30 Catholic anti-trafficking leaders from 23 countries to the Sam Phran District in Thailand this past week.
During the seven-day conference, Talitha Kum Thailand delivered a presentation on education as a form of protection against human trafficking, according to a Licas News report on Monday.
Sister Marie-Agnes Suwanna Buasap, SPC, who was present at the first training course in Rome, announced a K–12 curriculum and textbook series called “Don’t Touch Me” aimed at raising vigilance among students and teachers to prevent trafficking cases.
“Preventing human trafficking begins in the classroom, from the heart of the teacher, and from the community of love and safety that the school provides,” said Archbishop Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Thailand.
Australian bishops call on Catholics to pray for work on the sea
The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference has called on Catholics to pray for mariners ahead of Sea Sunday on July 12.
“Sea Sunday is a time when we reflect on the lives and the work of all the seafarers of our world,” Father Tony Cox, SSC, the national director of Stella Maris Australia, said in a press release Wednesday. Cox described mariners as living on the margins of society, recalling how they were unable to set foot on dry land for over a year and a half during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, he said, they must face the war-torn Strait of Hormuz.
“One visiting seafarer said to me: ‘People do not see us and because of our invisibility they think we are not human. They do not see what we do and forget that we too have needs,’” Cox said.
Cambodia school takes name of Buddhist and Catholic leaders
A Buddhist primary school for monks in southern Cambodia has adopted the names of Buddhist and Catholic religious leaders in a display of unity between the faith communities.
The “Chomroen Olivier” school was inaugurated June 25 and combines the names of Venerable Nget Chomroeun, the Buddhist abbot of Ang Montrey Pagoda, and Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler, MEP, apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh, according to a report from Fides News Agency.
Schmitthaeusler hailed the school as "a beautiful, concrete, and living sign of collaboration between the pagoda and the Catholic Church.”
Maronite, Armenian Catholic leaders meet with Pope Leo
Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rai and Armenian Catholic Patriarch Raphael Bedros XXI Minassian shared updates about the faithful in their respective countries with Pope Leo XIV during a meeting Tuesday.
Al-Rai told Leo a new phase of dialogue for peace began after the pope’s trip to Cedar, and they emphasized the need for continued dialogue and national unity at a fragile moment for Lebanon, ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, reported.
Minassian and Leo discussed the witness of the Eastern Catholic Churches and the current state of the Armenian Catholic Church.
Irish government proposes abortion leave after removing reflection period
The Republic of Ireland’s government is considering proposals to provide paid leave for women who lose a baby before 23 weeks, including those who have an abortion.
The news comes after the Irish government voted to remove the three-day wait period for pregnant women considering an abortion of their unborn baby.
Eilís Mulroy of the Pro-life Campaign said that the government had its priorities in the wrong order. “After the way they voted recently to abolish the three-day reflection period prior to an abortion, senior members of government like Micheál Martin and Simon Harris are now, in effect, saying to women: ‘We recognize the grief and trauma you might experience after an abortion, so we believe youʼre entitled to five days' leave. However, we voted to abolish the three-day reflection period before an abortion despite the fact that it could potentially safeguard you from finding yourself in that awful situation in the first place,’” he said, adding: “The position these politicians are adopting makes absolutely no sense.”
Priest who developed video evangelization program named bishop of Arundel and Brighton
Father Stephen Wang has been appointed as the new Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, England, replacing Archbishop Richard Moth, who was recently appointed as the archbishop of Westminster.
Wang described the appointment as “a huge surprise,” adding: “I’m grateful to Pope Leo for calling me and putting his trust in me, and to Archbishop Moth for his care for the diocese over these years.”
The bishop-elect has spent the last five years as rector of the Venerable English College, one of two English and Welsh seminaries in Rome, training men for the priesthood.
Wang, whose appointment has been widely welcomed, is renowned for having developed “Sycamore,” a video-based Catholic evangelization program that explores the Catholic faith through short films and guided discussion. Designed to make the faith more accessible, “Sycamore” is now widely used by Catholic parishes, schools, and university chaplaincies across the world.
German bishops welcome apostolic nuncio from Kenya
Members of the German Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) have welcomed the former apostolic nuncio to Kenya, Archbishop Hubertus van Megen, pledging their collaboration in the Vatican diplomat’s new apostolic mission.
“We are delighted by your arrival in our country and wish you God’s abundant blessings for your new task,” GCBC Vice President Bishop Michael Gerber of the Diocese of Fulda said, according to a report from ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, on Tuesday.
Pope Leo XIV transferred van Megen, who served as the apostolic nuncio in Kenya for seven years, on April 9 to Germany after Archbishop Nikola Eterović resigned upon reaching the canonical age limit.
Cameroon diocese announces release of kidnapped priest, religious brothers
NKONGSAMBA, Cameroon — Cameroon’s Catholic Diocese of Nkongsamba has announced the safe release of a priest and two members of the Fraternity of Franciscans of Emmanuel (FFE) who were reportedly abducted in the country’s North-West Region.
In the letter that the diocesan chancellor, Abbé Luc Roger Dodo, issued on July 1, the diocese gave thanks to God for the release of Father John Bosco Bihkong and Brothers Sylvester Sewong and Marie Rodrigue, who were kidnapped on Saturday night, June 27.
“Thank you to everyone for your prayers and expressions of support, which have borne fruit,” Dodo said in the letter, quoting the psalmist: "Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.”
In a statement issued June 30, the vicar general of the diocese announced the kidnapping of the three men.
According to Father Joseph Tchinda Dountio, Bihkong had traveled to his native village of Melim, near Ndop in the North-West Region of Cameroon, to celebrate his first Mass on Friday, June 26.
He was accompanied by Brother Sylvester Sewong, guardian of the FFE convent in Kékem, and Brother Marie Rodrigue Sop, who is preparing for a perpetual profession. The three were abducted the following night.
No details were provided regarding the identity of the kidnappers, their motives, or whether contact had been established with the abductors.
Cameroonʼs North-West Region is one of the two English-speaking regions that have experienced years of insecurity linked to the countryʼs Anglophone crisis.
Clergy, women and men religious, and other civilians have periodically been targeted in abductions as violence persists in the region.
This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.
2 SSPX bishops hold dubious distinction of being excommunicated twice
Two bishops of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) — Spaniard Alfonso de Galarreta and Swiss Bernard Fellay — incurred automatic excommunication by committing the canonical offense of schism following the ordination of four bishops without the permission of Pope Leo XIV.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on July 2 declared that the SSPX is in a state of schism following the ordinations.
With this Vatican decision, Galarreta and Fellay represent a unique case: They have each been excommunicated twice.
Against the will of St. John Paul II, both were consecrated bishops in 1988 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the SSPX, thereby incurring the penalty of schism and excommunication. Pope Benedict XVI pardoned them in 2009.
Fellay entered the Écône, Switzerland, seminary in 1977 and was ordained a priest in 1982. After serving as the societyʼs bursar general, he was elected superior of the SSPX in 1994, a position he held until 2012.
During his tenure, a certain rapprochement took place between the SSPX and the Vatican, leading to Pope Benedict XVIʼs decision to lift the excommunication in January 2009.
However, this decision did not eliminate the illegitimacy of his ministry, as the Bavarian pontiff explained in a letter published in March of the same year.
De Galarreta was born in Torrelavega, Spain, and his family emigrated to Argentina, where he entered the La Plata seminary in 1975. Rejecting the reforms driven by the Second Vatican Council, he decided to transfer to the Écône seminary in 1978.
Lefebvre ordained him a priest in Buenos Aires in 1980. Five years later, de Galarreta assumed the role of superior of the fraternityʼs South American district.
He was subsequently assigned as superior of the Autonomous House in Spain and served as the director of the Our Lady Co-Redemptrix Seminary in La Reja, Argentina.
Following the 2018 election of Father Davide Pagliarani as superior of the SSPX, Galarreta was promoted to first assistant general of the society.
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.
What is the SSPX? A look at the traditionalist Catholic group in schism with the Church
One day after the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) consecrated four bishops without the permission of Pope Leo XIV, the Vatican issued a decree declaring that the bishops involved in the consecrations have incurred automatic excommunication and that the group is in schism.
In a defiant move and despite repeated pleadings from Rome not to move forward, the SSPX went ahead on July 1 with the consecration of four new bishops without a pontifical mandate — an act of open disobedience to the authority of the pope that, under canon law, carries automatic excommunication for the six bishops involved.
The SSPX is a controversial fraternity of priests known for their strict traditional celebration of the Latin Mass and opposition to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
The animating principle of the group is “the priesthood and all that pertains to it and nothing but what concerns it,” SSPX says on its website. The group was founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a French prelate who was a sharp critic of many of the changes brought about by Vatican II.
In addition to the modern revisions of the Mass, Lefebvre also opposed “ecumenism — a viewpoint which considered all religions as beneficial and valid — and collegiality — which insisted that the Church be ruled primarily by the democratic process and bishops’ conferences,” according to the group’s website.
The group runs priories, chapels, and missions around the world as well as seminaries. It commands several hundred priests and a few hundred more seminarians.
Perhaps the group’s most controversial moment came in 1988 when Lefebvre consecrated four bishops in Écône, Switzerland, in explicit defiance of Pope John Paul II. Within hours the Vatican declared that Lefebvre and the four bishops had incurred excommunication on themselves.
In his motu proprio Ecclesia Dei, John Paul argued that it was “impossible to remain faithful to the tradition while breaking the ecclesial bond with him to whom, in the person of the apostle Peter, Christ himself entrusted the ministry of unity in his Church.”
Pope Benedict XVI lifted this excommunication in 2009, though he explained in a letter that SSPX does not have canonical status and therefore “its ministers do not exercise legitimate ministries in the Church.”
Pope Francis further expanded the group’s privileges, ordering during the 2015–2016 Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy that confessions heard by SSPX priests were valid; he subsequently extended this order indefinitely.
In 2017, meanwhile, he approved a way for the group’s priests to witness marriages validly, giving diocesan bishops or other local ordinaries the ability to authorize such decisions.
Ahead of the schismatic consecrations on July 1, Pope Leo XIV issued a final appeal to the society not to proceed with the ceremony.
The Holy Father urged the group to “consider the spiritual good of the faithful carefully,” as the schismatic act “would deprive them of the licit and, in some cases, even valid reception of the sacraments, which they love and seek for their sanctification.”
The Dicastery for Doctrine of the Faith, meanwhile, on July 2 released guidance to bishops around the world for welcoming back former adherents to the SSPX after the schismatic act.
A priest who leaves the fraternity must find a diocesan bishop or a major superior willing to receive him, after which he must “write by hand a letter to the Holy Father” asking for the remission of the excommunication.
The priest must also provide his certificate of ordination and make both a profession of faith and a formula of adherence.
The dicastery will move to remit the censure “as soon as it receives the documents,” after which the priest, under the bishop who received him, will be subject to a probationary period “of at least one year and no more than three.”
Penalties for the lay faithful, meanwhile, “cannot be presumed automatically but must be assessed case by case.”
Though historically the faithful have not been strictly prohibited from attending SSPX Masses, Church leaders have in several instances warned Catholics against doing so except in serious circumstances.
“The Masses they [SSPX] celebrate are also valid, but it is considered morally illicit for the faithful to participate in these Masses unless they are physically or morally impeded from participating in a Mass celebrated by a Catholic priest in good standing,” Monsignor Camille Perl, then-secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, said in 1995.
A 1998 letter by Perl noted that the “schismatic mentality” of SSPX led the pontifical commission to “consistently [discourage] the faithful from attending Masses celebrated under the aegis of the Society of St. Pius X.”
Catholic leaders urge Poland and Ukraine to pursue reconciliation, disarm language
Catholic leaders from Poland and Ukraine have issued a rare joint appeal for reconciliation between their nations, urging both peoples to reject hostility, embrace forgiveness, and preserve the Christian bonds that unite them despite growing political and historical tensions.
The statement, released June 29 from Rome and Kyiv, was signed by Cardinals Mykola Bychok, Konrad Krajewski, Kazimierz Nycz, and Grzegorz Ryś, together with Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The appeal was issued while the cardinals were gathered in Rome for the recent consistory.
Opening their message, the Church leaders said they were speaking “in unity with Holy Father Leo XIV,” whose first year as pope “has been marked by persistent work to build peace based on the common good and by resolute opposition to war in all its dimensions.”
The signatories said the question of reconciliation between Poland and Ukraine extends beyond politics.
“We are aware that the question of reconciliation between Poles and Ukrainians concerns not only relations between the two peoples but also the authenticity of our common Christian witness,” they wrote.
The appeal comes amid renewed strains in Polish-Ukrainian relations, particularly surrounding differing interpretations of World War II-era atrocities, even as Poland has remained one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters since Russia’s invasion in 2022.
Echoing Pope Leo XIV’s repeated calls for peace, the bishops urged both nations to avoid inflammatory rhetoric.
Following Pope Leo, we are convinced that the first step toward peace is the disarmament of language.”
Catholic leaders from Poland and Ukraine
“Following Pope Leo, we are convinced that the first step toward peace is the disarmament of language,” they wrote. “This applies not only to words but also to gestures, signs, and symbols. They can also wound, close the path to encounter, and generate fear.”
The statement also warned against allowing competing historical narratives to fuel division.
“When we impose our own vision of the past and the future on others, we succumb to the logic of a culture of violence and power,” the Church leaders wrote. Instead, they urged both peoples to seek “the common good, not only of particular interests.”
Quoting the Gospel’s call to mercy, they added: “The Gospel in which we believe teaches us that the remedy for sin is forgiveness, and the limit that God has set for evil is mercy.”
The bishops also invoked the legacy of St. John Paul II, who devoted significant efforts during his pontificate to fostering reconciliation between Poles and Ukrainians.
“We feel the duty not to abandon the common path begun with the blessing of St. John Paul II but to walk it patiently and courageously,” they wrote. “Too much that unites our peoples for us to allow our common heritage to be wasted.”
While acknowledging the painful chapters of history shared by both nations, the Church leaders emphasized that Christians are called to pursue reconciliation rooted in truth, forgiveness, and charity rather than resentment.
Their appeal concluded with a call to resist the culture of division and instead offer a Christian witness to a world increasingly marked by conflict.
“Together with the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV,” they wrote, “we call on everyone to think primarily in terms of the common good and not only of private interests.”
Vatican official to Catholic journalists: Be ‘disciples before influencers’
Editor’s Note: The following is the keynote address delivered by Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization, to young Catholic media professionals and guests during the closing dinner of the 2026 EWTN Summer Academy on July 1 in Rome.
Gratitude and hope
Allow me to begin by expressing my heartfelt gratitude for the invitation to address you at the Summer Academy 2026. This gathering fills me with much hope and joy. It gladdens my heart to see young Catholic photographers, writers, filmmakers, reporters, editors, broadcasters, content creators, storytellers, and media influencers coming together, not merely to improve their technical and professional skills in media and journalism but to discern how they can use their talents and gifts to serve Christ and his Church. The concept note you shared with me clearly reflects your desire to uphold the truth, promote human dignity, and proclaim the Gospel.
The digital highway and the importance of Catholic journalists
We live in an age where communication shapes public opinion, forms worldviews, influences values, and even determines how many people understand themselves. The internet has collapsed geographical boundaries and made the world a global village. A young journalist in Nairobi can influence someone in São Paulo and shape the imagination of another young person thousands of miles away. A podcast recorded in Manila can inspire a student in Rome. A short video uploaded in Lagos can be watched in Sydney within minutes.
Your generation has been entrusted with something unprecedented. Never before has a generation possessed such extraordinary power to shape minds, influence culture, and connect people across the world. A smartphone today is more than a device; it is a newsroom, a publishing house, a television studio, a camera, a library, and a doorway into the lives of millions. That is a remarkable gift. It is also a profound responsibility. That is why the Church needs grounded and properly formed Catholic journalists. The Church needs communicators who are competent, credible, courageous, creative, and rooted in Christ.
Disciples first: Communicating truth in a digital age of trends
For this keynote, I would like to invite us to reflect on the theme, “Disciples Before Influencers: Communicating Truth in a Digital Age of Trends.” I can think of no more fitting place to begin than with the final commission of the risen Lord: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). These words were never intended only for priests, bishops, religious, or catechists. They express the missionary vocation of the whole Church. Every baptized Christian is sent to bear witness to Christ. More than 2,000 years have passed since Jesus entrusted the Church with this mission, yet those words have lost none of their urgency, none of their relevance, and none of their power.
The mission has not changed. What has changed is not the mission but the roads that lead to the nations. In the first century, the apostles traveled by foot and by sea. Today, “all nations” are also found on the digital highway. They gather on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, X, podcasts, blogs, news platforms, and countless online communities. The digital world has become one of the great mission fields of our time, where ideas are exchanged, cultures are shaped, public opinion is formed, and millions of people search each day for truth, hope, meaning, and belonging. If this is where people gather, then this is where the disciples of Christ must also be present, not merely to attract attention but to bear witness to the Gospel with wisdom, integrity, and love.
Our greatest challenge today is not technology. It is truth. We live in a culture fascinated by what is trending. Every day we ask what is going viral, what is gaining attention, what everyone is talking about. These are not unimportant questions, but they are not the most important question. The Christian disciple must ask a deeper question: Is it true? Trends come and go. They change with every season, every algorithm, and every generation. Truth does not.
Jesus prayed to the Father: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (Jn 17:17). Truth is not simply what receives the most likes or the loudest applause. Truth is that which corresponds to God’s reality and reflects God’s character. Because God is faithful, truth remains faithful. Because God is just, truth remains just. Because God is merciful, truth is never separated from compassion. Christians therefore do not choose between truth and love. We speak the truth in love because both have their source in God.
This is why your vocation as young Catholic journalists and communicators matters so deeply. Your task is not merely to produce content but to cultivate trust; not merely to report events but to help people see reality clearly; not merely to increase traffic but to increase understanding. The world does not simply need faster news. It needs wiser voices. It needs communicators whose credibility is rooted not only in professional competence but also in moral integrity. Before the Church asks us to become communicators, she asks us to become disciples. Discipleship always comes before influence.
Moses and the digital age: When we sit, walk, lie down, and rise
Moses understood this long before the invention of the internet. In Deuteronomy, he tells Israel: “You shall teach them diligently … and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise” (Dt 6:7). He was describing a life in which God’s truth fills every ordinary moment. Today we still sit, walk, lie down, and rise, but often with a screen in our hands. We sit before our laptops, walk with our phones, lie down after scrolling, and wake up to notifications. The platforms have changed; the mission has not. We are still called to carry God’s truth into every space where people live, search, question, and communicate. The digital world is not outside the mission of the Church; it has become one of its principal frontiers.
4 frontiers for the digital disciple
As you prepare to enter this world, allow me to leave you with four fraternal invitations. First, build your mind before you build your platform. Read Scripture before you scroll. Study deeply. Learn continuously. A shallow mind cannot communicate a profound Gospel. Second, let every digital road become a road to Christ. Every article, photograph, interview, or documentary can defend human dignity, inspire hope, and serve the common good. Third, protect your interior life. Do not allow constant connectivity to rob you of silence, prayer, and reflection. A communicator who never listens to God will eventually have little of worth to say to the world. Finally, begin each day as a disciple before you become a journalist, a content creator, or an influencer. Your identity is not determined by followers, algorithms, or statistics. It is rooted in your baptism and your friendship with Jesus Christ.
Disciples first before influencers
Dear friends, the future of Catholic communication will not be decided by technology alone. It will be decided by the kind of people we become. The world does not need more noise. It needs more light. It does not need more influencers; it needs credible witnesses. Go, therefore, into the digital world with professional excellence, intellectual honesty, moral courage, and living faith. But above all, go as disciples. For when disciples communicate with truth, humility, and love, they do more than inform minds: They open hearts to an encounter with Jesus Christ, who is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6).
Finally, a word about artificial intelligence. It is one of the greatest technological developments of our time, and like every great tool, it should be welcomed with wisdom and used responsibly. Let it assist your work, but never replace your thinking. Let it expand your research, but never substitute your judgment. Above all, never outsource your memory, your conscience, your imagination or your capacity for wonder. Machines can process information, but they cannot love. They can generate text, but they cannot bear witness. They can imitate intelligence, but they cannot become disciples. Use artificial intelligence as a tool, but never surrender your agency, your gifts, your creativity, or your responsibility. Place every technology at the service of truth, humanity, and the Gospel.
Above all, remember that Catholic is not a label; it is an identity you embody. And a disciple is a living example and indeed a sample of Christ. May others encounter Christ through you, dear Catholic journalists and communicators.
Pope Leo XIV to spend July 4 with migrants on Italian island of Lampedusa
Pope Leo XIV will follow in his predecessor Pope Francis’ footsteps with a visit to a major migrant landing point, the Italian island of Lampedusa, on July 4.
Continuing his summer of day trips in Italy, the first U.S.-born pope will spend the U.S. Independence Day greeting immigrants, celebrating Mass, and visiting the tombs of Africans who have died at sea while making the dangerous boat crossing to Europe.
Lampedusa, which is part of the Italian region of Sicily, is only about 80 miles from Tunisia and a main gateway for Africans escaping poverty and violence to enter the continent of Europe.
When Pope Francis traveled to Lampedusa on July 8, 2013, his first official trip outside of Rome, the small island was experiencing frequent landings of boats carrying hundreds of migrants and refugees from Africa — those who managed to survive the deadly crossing in search of a better life.
During his visit, Francis celebrated Mass at an altar made from a migrant boat and threw a wreath of white and yellow flowers into the sea to remember those who had lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea.
Commenting on the capsize of a dingy carrying migrants in the Strait of Sicily just weeks beforehand, the pope said he was saddened by a tragedy that “has been repeated so many times.”
“I felt I had to come here today to pray. To show my solidarity, but also to awaken our consciences, so that what happened will not happen again. Please, let it not happen again,” he urged.
Just months later, in October 2013, at least 300 people died when a boat carrying more than 500 migrants, mostly from Eritrea and Somalia, sank off the coast of Lampedusa.
The same year, one of the island’s southern beaches was voted the world’s best beach by travel site TripAdvisor, underlining Lampedusa’s contrasting identities as both a migrant landing point and popular summer beach destination.
Now, Pope Leo will fly to the same island, whose 6,000 permanent inhabitants are inundated every year by tens of thousands of immigrants who arrive on boats run by people smugglers — the same human traffickers Leo forcefully denounced last month during a visit to another major European port of entry, the island of Tenerife, in Spain.
“Repent while there is still time,” he said, “for God’s mercy can reach even the most hardened sinner, but it enters only through the narrow gate of truth, justice, and conversion.”
The day before, the Holy Father also addressed immigration at the port of Arguineguín, on the coast of Gran Canaria. Human dignity, he said, “requires legal and safe routes, rescue and assistance, real cooperation against traffickers, effective protection for victims, serious processes of welcome and integration, and policies that allow each person to live with dignity in his or her own land.”
While the numbers are lower than the height of the migrant crisis more than a decade ago, Lampedusa continues to be the main port of disembarkation for migrants in Italy, with more than 49,500 refugees and migrants landing on its coasts in 2025, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.
Leo will mark this reality on July 4 with a stop at the Gateway to Europe memorial, a 16-foot-tall terracotta and iron arch situated on the tip of Cavallo Bianco, a cliff facing south toward Tunisia, not far from the island’s commercial port.
He will also leave flowers at the tombs of shipwreck victims and address migrants at Favaloro Pier, which will be renamed in honor of Pope Francis.
The morning will conclude with the celebration of Mass, where an image of the island’s patroness, Our Lady of Portosalvo (“safe port” in English), will be present.
6-year study challenges violence narrative in Nigeria, finds Christians bore heavier toll
ABUJA, Nigeria — A new six-year study released by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) is challenging long-held assumptions about the drivers of violence in Nigeria and the religious identity of its victims, with Christians bearing the larger burden.
Released on June 30, the report, “Killings and Abductions in Nigeria (2020–2025),” analyzes violence recorded between October 2019 and September 2025, documenting 79,323 people killed and nearly 35,000 abducted in attacks linked to what ORFA describes as terror groups.
The report argues that armed groups it classifies as “Fulani Terror Groups” were responsible for far more civilian deaths than Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) during the period under review.
According to ORFA’s press release, the findings “overturn long-standing assumptions” about Nigeriaʼs violence by concluding that Boko Haram and ISWAP together accounted for only 12% of civilian killings during the six-year period, while armed groups categorized by the organization as “Fulani Terror Groups” accounted for 44%.
“The data makes this very difficult to ignore,” Frans Vierhout, senior research Analyst at ORFA, said. “We look at how killing occurs. Who they target, where they operate, the seasonal fluctuations of killings — and the evidence points strongly in one direction.”
Vierhout continued: “Violence linked to Fulani militias is the dominant force behind Nigeriaʼs death toll. The Western preoccupation with Boko Haram is, at best, misleading.”
He further warned that the West African nation “is incubating a terror network which the outside world has yet to acknowledge.”
Christians disproportionately affected
Beyond identifying the actors involved, the report places significant emphasis on what it describes as the religious dimension of Nigeriaʼs violence.
ORFA says that after accounting for victims whose religious identity could not immediately be established, an estimated 28,551 Christians were killed during the study period compared with 13,224 Muslims.
The report further states that, relative to local population sizes in affected states, Christians were killed at approximately 4.4 times the rate of Muslims.
The report explains that it includes the religious affiliation of civilian victims because “a variety of contradictory analyses exist concerning the causes of violence in Nigeria.”
“ORFA is not taking sides,” the researchers say. “The observatory wants to let the data speak for itself without purposefully steering towards one or the other of these narratives.”
The researchers argue that identifying victims' religious backgrounds is necessary for understanding patterns of violence and assessing whether particular communities are disproportionately affected.
Community attacks accounted for most civilian deaths
According to ORFA, approximately three-quarters of civilians killed died during raids on communities rather than in isolated attacks.
The report records 42,033 civilian deaths among the 79,323 people killed during the study period and notes that 75% of civilian fatalities occurred during attacks on farming communities, which often involved abductions, destruction of property, and displacement.
The study also documents 34,773 civilian abductions over the same period.
While Christian and Muslim civilians were abducted in nearly equal numbers overall, ORFAʼs accompanying field research argues that the treatment of hostages differed according to religion.
“The field research reveals lesser value is assigned to a Christian life,” said Steven Kefas, senior research analyst and author of “Captivity by Creed: The Religious Sorting System Nobody Talks About.”
“From the moment of capture, Muslim and Christian hostages enter different realities. It is not about individual captors. It is a system — consistent across multiple states, armed groups, and multiple years of survivor testimony,” Kefas said.
According to the researchers, Christian captives faced higher ransom demands, longer periods in captivity, greater likelihood of execution, and, in the case of women, sexual violence, forced conversion, and forced marriage.
Report distinguishes armed groups from Fulani population
ORFA stresses throughout both the report and accompanying press release that it distinguishes between armed groups and the wider Fulani community.
The organization says the category “Fulani Terror Groups” refers to armed actors and “is careful to distinguish between armed Fulani terror groups and the Fulani people as a whole, the vast majority of whom are not involved in violence.”
The report also notes that many Muslim victims were themselves targeted.
“It is important to understand this shift because FEM has not only targeted Christian civilians but also non-Fulani Muslim civilians,” the researchers say in the report.
They add: “It follows that Christian civilians were killed or abducted for being Christians, while Muslim civilians were killed or abducted for being non-Fulani.”
Call for greater attention to religious freedom
ORFA concludes the report by urging governments, policymakers, civil society organizations, and international partners to engage closely with the findings and incorporate the religious dimension into efforts to address insecurity in Nigeria.
Among its recommendations, the organization calls for greater attention to freedom of religion or belief, improved community security, stronger protection for vulnerable populations, and an end to what it describes as impunity for perpetrators of violence.
The ORFA researchers argue that overlooking the religious dimension risks producing incomplete responses to security challenges in Africa’s most populous nation.
"We strongly encourage the reader to study the full report," they say. "It provides vital context and offers a roadmap for addressing the ongoing challenges in Nigeria.”
This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.