Federal court hears arguments on Oklahoma’s ban for religious charter schools
A federal court heard oral arguments on Aug. 5 about whether an Oklahoma law banning religious charter schools violates the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion.
Oklahoma established a charter school system in 1999, which provides public funds for privately run K–12 schools to which parents can send their children instead of a public school operated by a school district. The law only allows “nonsectarian” applicants, which prevents any participation from schools that have a religious identity.
In 2023, the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board (SCSB) approved an application from a proposed Catholic charter school — St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School — which led to a legal challenge from Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who opposed religious charter schools.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court sided against the school, finding that charter schools are public schools and that public schools must be secular. St. Isidore appealed this to the U.S. Supreme Court, but that resulted in a 4-4 deadlock with no majority opinion because Justice Amy Coney Barrett had a conflict of interest and recused herself.
Amid no clear guidance from the federal courts, a Jewish organization — National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation — filed an application to set up a charter school, which was denied. The group, represented by lawyers at the Becket Fund, filed a new lawsuit and asked a federal district court to require the SCSB to consider religious applicants.
“Oklahoma makes room in its charter program for schools of all shapes and sizes, from those focused on science and fine arts to language immersion and classical education,” Daniel Chen, a Becket attorney representing the Jewish foundation, said in a statement.
“The one it refuses to make room for is a faith-based school,” Chen added. “That is religious discrimination, plain and simple, and the state deserves a failing grade for it.”
Chen told EWTN News that Becket is asking the federal court to immediately allow National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation to set up a charter school, citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent that requires government programs to allow religious institutions the same access as secular institutions.
“They’re private actors,” he said. “And because they’re private actors, they cannot be excluded from participating in a public benefits program.”
Chen said the federal district court is not bound by the precedent of the Oklahoma Supreme Court because that is a state court, so it could rule in favor of the school. He also said if the case goes to the U.S. Supreme Court, he hopes Barrett can weigh in to break the 4-4 deadlock.
“We’re hoping that [for] our case, there wouldn’t have to be any recusals,” he said.
School board’s hands are tied
Although the charter school board denied the application from the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation, one of its lawyers at First Liberty Institute explained to EWTN News that its hands are tied by the statute and the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision.
“They’re following that order,” said Hiram Sasser, executive general counsel for First Liberty and the lawyer representing SCSB. “But [they] would be happy if the federal court didn’t [require the school board] to engage in that kind of discrimination.”
Sasser said the SCSB does not want to exclude an applicant “simply because it’s religious” and would rather evaluate applicants “just based on the merits.” But he said the order “makes them exclude religious schools just because they’re religious.”
“They want to maximize all of the various choices and opportunities for parents,” he added.
Sasser said he hopes the question goes to the U.S. Supreme Court again so “we’ll get an answer — a real answer.” He said it would provide more clarity for the school board, which “needs an answer.”
John Meiser, director of the Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic at the University of Notre Dame and the lawyer who represented St. Isidore at the Supreme Court, told EWTN News that the question ultimately comes down to whether charter schools are private or public institutions.
In Oklahoma, he said charter schools “are called public schools” and that label “introduces a confusion that I don’t think would be present if they chose any other word.”
He said Supreme Court precedent is clear that religious institutions must have equal access to government programs available to private institutions, but if a charter school is a “government school,” that “doesn’t apply” because the government “doesn’t and can’t run religious schools.”
In spite of the label, Meiser said charter schools in Oklahoma are “formed and designed and run by private groups” and people who work there “are private employees.” He said the structure “looks just like a government contract” and funding from the government “doesn’t turn all those private contractors into the government itself.”
“The dispute is really just about, ‘Well is a charter school in some way different?’” he said.
Although Meiser said he is not aware of any ongoing Catholic efforts to recreate a charter school, he said that a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation’s constitutional arguments for equal access “would presumably apply to all religious operators of schools, and so it would open the door to a Catholic charter school or other religiously based charter school.”
Attorney general stands firm
Drummond, who remains Oklahoma’s attorney general, is standing firm in opposing the creation of religious charter schools and is fighting against National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation’s efforts.
"This matter was resolved when the state Supreme Courtʼs ruling to prevent taxpayer funded religious charter schools was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last year,” Leslie Berger, press secretary for the attorney general’s office, told EWTN News.
Drummond has also criticized the charter school board in public statements surrounding this legal battle in March, accusing the SCSB of “playing politics with the taxpayers' money” and alleged it “manipulated the record [about why National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation’s application was rejected] to make that lawsuit easier to lose — not win.”
"A state agency that deliberately hobbles its own legal position is not doing its job — it is betraying Oklahoma taxpayers,” he said. “I will not allow that.”
Drummond has garnered support from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) for opposing the creation of religious charter schools.
Attorneys for FFRF are representing seven Oklahomans who oppose their tax money being used to support religious charter schools.
“The federal court should rule according to constitutional principles,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement. “A religious public charter school has no place in our secular public education system.”
It’s unclear when the federal court will issue its ruling, but National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation has asked the judge to issue a preliminary injunction against the state so it can begin operating a school while the litigation plays out.
Family learns hospice bed opened as father faced scheduled assisted suicide
As New Yorkʼs Medical Aid in Dying Act takes effect amid legal challenges, one Canadian woman is sharing her familyʼs experience with physician-assisted suicide, saying it convinced her that vulnerable patients need greater access to hospice and palliative care — not assisted death.
Speaking with “EWTN News Nightly” in an Aug. 5 interview with anchor Veronica Dudo, Colleen De Vos recounted the final months of her father’s life. He died through Canadaʼs medical assistance in dying (MAID) program in 2023 at age 85 after being diagnosed with terminal chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
“My father wasnʼt very forthcoming with his intentions, unfortunately,” De Vos said. “We did see some very fragile moments during the course of his illness.”
As his condition worsened, De Vos said her family worked to arrange hospice or in-home palliative care, believing those services would provide the compassionate support he needed.
“We were advocating very strongly for hospice care or at-home palliative program,” she said. “He seemed to agree with that.”
But the familyʼs efforts were unsuccessful.
“He was turned down on two occasions, deeming that his diagnosis wasnʼt enough to warrant hospice care,” De Vos said. “That was a surprise to us because we could see he was deteriorating very quickly.”
Instead, she said, a nurse practitioner overseeing his care at home spoke privately with her father about pursuing MAID as his symptoms worsened.
De Vos said the contrast between accessing hospice and obtaining assisted suicide was striking.
“The irony of the availability of MAID that could be arranged very quickly ... sidelined us very much,” she said.
She recalled receiving “literally the cardboard box in the mail” containing the drugs and supplies needed for the procedure.
“Obtaining [hospice care] was very difficult,” she said. “And this was very simple.”
On the day her father was scheduled to die, De Vos said the family finally learned that a hospice bed had become available.
She called it “very heartbreaking” that he declined the hospice bed.
“I think he proceeded because of his loss of hope,” she said. “We absolutely were prepared to provide him with round-the-clock care.”
Religious freedom challenge in New York
De Vos' story comes as Catholic ministries in New York are challenging the stateʼs new assisted suicide law in federal court.
Speaking on Aug. 5 with “EWTN News Nightly,” Adele Keim, senior counsel at Becket Fund, said New Yorkʼs law differs significantly from those in states such as Oregon and Washington.
“New York has created an opt-out law,” Keim said. “The presumption is youʼre in unless you opt out.”
While some providers may decline to prescribe or administer the lethal drugs, Keim argued that Catholic ministries are still required to participate in other aspects of the process.
“You canʼt opt out of your obligations to counsel patients about assisted suicide and the ‘benefits’ it would provide,” she said. Nor can Catholic providers refuse to refer patients elsewhere if they object to assisted suicide on religious grounds, she said.
Keim said those requirements prompted the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne and other Catholic ministries to seek relief in federal court.
Hope, dignity, and the court’s decision
She also spoke with hope in a federal judgeʼs decision to temporarily block New York from enforcing the law against the Catholic plaintiffs while the case proceeds.
“The right to assisted suicide is not a fundamental right,” Keim said, noting that both the U.S. Supreme Court and New Yorkʼs highest court have ruled there is no constitutional right to assisted suicide. “But... there is a fundamental right to religious freedom.”
According to Keim, the injunction ensures the state cannot enforce the law against the Catholic ministries while their constitutional claims are considered.
The Catholic Church teaches that assisted suicide and euthanasia are gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person while encouraging compassionate palliative and hospice care that accompanies patients through natural death.
De Vos said she hopes lawmakers instead “think about the sacred gift of life that we are given by God,” adding: “I donʼt believe that itʼs up to the lawmakers... to give someone the autonomy to end their life.”
French government shuts down Paris-area mosque over alleged support for terrorism
French authorities on July 27 ordered the closure of a mosque in the Paris region for six months, citing sermons and social media posts by its imams that officials say glorified terrorism, legitimized jihad, and incited violence, hatred, and discrimination.
The closure occurred in the context of growing political debates around the challenges posed by the expansion of Islam in the country.
The order targeted the “Chanteloup” mosque in Aulnay-sous-Bois, a suburb northeast of the capital in the Seine-Saint-Denis department. It was announced by the local prefecture, the regional arm of the French state administration.
The closure was ordered under a provision enacted in October 2017 that allows prefects to shut down places of worship where preaching is found to “incite violence or hatred, promote terrorism, or provoke acts of terrorism.”
A communique by the local prefect claimed that both the mosque’s regular imams and the guest speakers it hosted spread a “radical Islamist ideology” that “echoes the rhetoric of terrorist organizations, legitimizes jihad, and glorifies death as a martyr.” The administration added that the closure was warranted given the gravity and repetition of statements it judged “capable of inciting terrorist acts.”
The French news agency AFP reported that a video circulating on the social platform X earlier in the year showed an imam who had lectured at least once at the mosque urged Muslims to strike their children aged 11 and older if they failed to pray.
The mosque’s management has contested the order. Its attorney, Rafik Chekkat, announced on social media that the association had filed an emergency appeal with the Montreuil administrative court, arguing the case rested on insufficient, imprecise, and unsubstantiated evidence involving faulty interpretations of Quranic verses.
“The prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis faults an imam for having cited the Surah Al-Baqara at the Chanteloup mosque in Aulnay-sous-Bois, in order to justify its administrative closure,” Chekkat said in a tweet. “If the order is upheld by the courts, the Quran itself becomes grounds for closure.”
He said the mosque had already removed the two imams responsible for what he described as roughly 90% of the complaints against it and that mosque leaders had asked to meet with the prefect beforehand but were refused.
Regional outlet Ici Paris Île-de-France reported the association is also contesting a freeze on its bank accounts and a separate move to dissolve the managing association itself.
A hearing before the Montreuil court was held on Aug. 4; the mosque remained open pending the ruling that should be made public in the coming days.
This is the second time the mosque has faced a shutdown. In 2019, the prefecture ordered its closure after an inspection found the premises did not meet public safety requirements.
Another mosque in the department, in Pantin, closed for six months in 2020 for publicly criticizing history teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded that year after showing pupils caricatures of Mohammed, the central figure of the Islamic faith.
Since 2017, the French Senate has ordered seven houses of worship closed under the same provision in its first two years alone, following 19 mosque and prayer-hall closures carried out under France’s 2015–2017 state of emergency after the Paris terrorist attacks in 2015. A further wave followed France’s 2021 law against Islamist “separatism.”
The closure lands amid an ongoing, and polarizing, public conversation in France about the growth of Islam. Government figures put the number of Muslim places of worship nationwide — mosques and smaller prayer rooms combined — at roughly 2,600 in 2024, up from about eight mosques in 1975.
Estimates of France’s Muslim population vary by methodology; INSEE-linked survey data suggest Muslims make up roughly 10% of the metropolitan population, or 6 to 7 million people. A widely covered November 2025 survey by the polling institute IFOP put the adult Muslim share at 7% in 2025, up from 0.5% in 1985.
The closure of the Chanteloup mosque came just one day after the 10th anniversary of the murder of 85-year-old parish priest Jacques Hamel by two Islamic State-inspired attackers inside his own church during Mass on July 26, 2016.
It was the first time in France a terrorist attack had targeted worshippers during a religious service. The local Diocese of Rouen and the town of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray — where Hamel was slaughtered — held two days of commemorations July 25 and 26.
A Mass was celebrated by the president of the French bishops’ conference, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, with the homily delivered by Rouen’s Archbishop Dominique Lebrun, built explicitly around interreligious dialogue rather than security concerns.
Saturday’s program featured a roundtable titled “Muslims and Catholics: Educating Young People to Encounter One Another.” Organizers highlighted the public friendship between Roseline Hamel, the slain priest’s sister, and Nassera Kermiche, the mother of one of his killers, as the defining symbol of the decade since the attack.
Florida bishops urge senators to back bill extending Haitian temporary protected status to 2029
The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to Florida lawmakers urging them to support legislation that would extend temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitian nationals living in the United States through 2029.
Eight Florida bishops, representing all six dioceses in the state, signed the Aug. 5 letter. They “urgently” asked Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, and Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Florida, “to bring about the passage of S. 4814.”
The legislation will “offer certainty to our Haitian brothers and sisters in the short-term, while also working toward broader legislative reforms that include opportunities for long-time residents of our communities to regularize their status,” they wrote.
The U.S. House of Representatives advanced the bill that would extend TPS for Haiti through 2029 in April, and the measure has stalled in the Senate.
The bishops further expressed “deep pastoral concern in response to the current state of our immigration system and the human realities involved.”
“The situation is especially daunting for hundreds of thousands of Haitians, Venezuelans, and others who have been relying on temporary protected status (TPS) to live and work lawfully in the United States,” they said.
“So many of these families are left without any legal status or a way to support themselves, all while returning to their country of origin remains unsafe, impractical, and unreasonable because of the ongoing conditions there.”
The letter follows Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski’s previous call for “compassionate” immigration protections for Haitians with TPS upon expiration of their automatic work‑permit extension on July 27.
Following the expiration, Wenski traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with lawmakers and advocated on behalf of the estimated 353,000 Haitian nationals who hold TPS status in the U.S.
Additional call for broader immigration reform
The bishops also called for broader immigration reform, citing Pope Leo XIV’s message on the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding.
The Holy Father said “those who have arrived seeking freedom, opportunity, and a place to belong have helped to shape the nation’s character.” He added: “To receive them into the nation with compassion and generosity is not only an act of charity but also a recognition of the dignity that belongs to every human person.”
“We do not ask you to commit yourselves to immigration reform as a rejection of the national interest but as a means of promoting it,” the bishops said.
“Beyond even the positive economic and social contributions made by immigrants, including those in our own state of Florida, the considerations warranting meaningful improvements to our immigration system are profoundly moral in nature,” they wrote.
“The Catholic Church remains committed to working with you and your colleagues in Congress to bring about bipartisan reforms of our immigration system. Please be assured of our prayers for you and your service to our nation in this 250th year of its independence,” they concluded.
Bishop Valdivia: Ceuta represents ‘historic mission’ for Spain
The apostolic administrator of the Spanish Diocese of Cádiz and Ceuta, Bishop Ramón Valdivia, analyzed the situation in Ceuta following the mass crossing of the Tarajal border by approximately 70,000 people last week.
"We are aware of the historic mission that Ceuta represents for our entire nation; we are a bastion of faith that loudly proclaims the value of the faith in the building of a country,” Valdivia said.
“That is why we wish to lift our gaze and see the Lord on our horizon — walking upon the waters of the Strait, approaching our boat, and saying to us: ‘Do not be afraid; it is I,’" he added in remarks released by the diocese in response to the numerous interview requests received in recent days.
Referring to the Ceuta’s patron saint festivities, Valdivia remarked that “centered around St. Mary of Africa, one can understand the faith of a people who have endured centuries of hardship” and that, following events like those of last week, “while it is true there is anger, fear, and at times even a desire to give up, we do not want to do so.”
“The presence of the Virgin Mary offers comfort, peace, and security in God and fosters compassion while simultaneously expressing faith in the God who, having become man, has conquered death. Offering this response entails responding with Godʼs love,” he added.
The Church has demonstrated its maturity amid an unprecedented crisis.”
Bishop Ramón Valdiviaapostolic administrator of the Diocese of Cádiz and Ceuta in Spain
The prelate further indicated that “the Church has demonstrated its maturity amid an unprecedented crisis,” even as it continues to “view with concern these events that disturb our peace,” bearing in mind that “this is the second time [such an event has occurred] since the mass influx of May 2021.”
“We feel vulnerable and, in a sense, in need of protection,” added the bishop, who, drawing inspiration from St. Paulʼs Second Letter to the Corinthians, observed: “We are troubled, but not in despair. We trust in God above all.”
Valdivia further noted that the task for the near future involves “rebuilding trust, encouraging those who have suffered fear and anxiety, and working toward a dignified solution for those who entered illegally,” bearing in mind that “feelings very difficult to root out have taken hold in peopleʼs hearts, stemming from the need to care for others while simultaneously protecting the shared space.”
Gratitude to Pope Leo XIV
Meanwhile, the prelate welcomed the words of Pope Leo XIV regarding the crisis — spoken during the Angelus on Sunday, Aug. 2 — as “a balm of comfort, knowing that we are close to the popeʼs heart.”
Leo XIV expressed that he was following “the alarming situation in Ceuta” with concern and asked, through the intercession of Our Lady of Africa, that “solutions of peace, stability, and justice might be found.” These words, the prelate stated, “have helped guide our public mission amid this difficulty, fostering peace, stability, and justice.”
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.
New York Catholic church suffers fourth vandalism attack in 2 years with destruction of Mary statue
A Catholic parish in New York has suffered what the Diocese of Brooklyn says is the fourth incident of vandalism in two years after a man destroyed a statue of the Blessed Mother in an early-morning attack.
The destructive episode at St. Rita Roman Catholic Church in the neighborhood of Long Island City in Queens occurred on Aug. 1 when a man jumped a fence around the courtyard of the parish and smashed a statue of the Virgin Mother with a hammer.
Photos of the attack showed the statue of Mary knocked off its pedestal and in pieces.
The Brooklyn Diocese said in a news release that the New York Police Department is investigating the incident as a hate crime. A diocesan spokesman told EWTN News that no arrests had yet been made in the case as of the morning of Aug. 6.
The diocese said the attack was the fourth of a series of incidents of vandalism at the parish since 2024. In previous attacks vandals smashed a stained-glass window and defaced statues of both St. Francis of Assisi and St. Jude.
Numerous other New York-area parishes have also been vandalized in recent years. Among them was an October 2024 incident at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church in Brooklyn in which a man vandalized two statues, one of the Blessed Mother and one of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
Similar incidents occurred at other churches in 2023, including at two parishes also located in Brooklyn. A February 2024 report by the Family Research Council found an uptick in hostility and vandalism against churches in the U.S., particularly Catholic parishes.
In January, New York State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton called for increased security for churches after multiple crimes at Catholic parishes on Staten Island.
Church, the state senator said at the time, “is a place of peace and reflection; nobody should feel unsafe where they pray.”
Recent data from the Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe, meanwhile, showed that church arson attacks across Europe nearly doubled in 2024.
The fire attacks were part of a broader surge in anti-Christian hate crimes that included 274 personal assaults against Christians and the killing of a 76-year-old Spanish monk, according to the report.
The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ: A gift to his closest followers
At the Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John witnessed a transformative moment that reflects the life of the Christian called to his or her own transfiguration. St. Matthew described in his Gospel: “And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light.”
Of this event, Benedict XVI noted: “According to the senses, the light of the sun is the most intense ever known in nature.” Despite this fact, Benedict said, “according to the spirit, the disciples saw for a short time a brightness more intense: that of the divine glory of Jesus, which illuminates the whole history of salvation.”
Peter, James, and John experienced an intense beauty, the beauty of an experience of God, a small glimpse of the beatific vision.
The preface for Mass on the Transfiguration explains the significance of the event: “For he revealed his glory in the presence of chosen witnesses ... that the scandal of the cross might be removed from the hearts of his disciples.”
Benedict reflected this sentiment at an Angelus address on March 20, 2011, saying: “We recall the Transfiguration of the Lord and how it prepared the apostles for the coming scandal of the cross.”
The apostles’ experience at the Transfiguration gave them courage and hope in the Resurrection. As the Mass preface ends: “that he might show how in the body of the whole Church is to be fulfilled what so wonderfully shone forth first in its head.”
Christ revealed himself in a new way at the Transfiguration.
“Strengthened by our faith in Jesus, true God and true man, may we be inspired, not scandalized, by the cross given to our Savior and to our fellow Christians who suffer with him throughout the world,” Benedict added. Christ’s transfiguration inspired more faith in the apostles, giving them the strength to face the cross.
Ultimately, faith in Christ and his own transfiguration leads the Christian’s life to be transfigured.
“He is the only voice to listen to, the only one to follow,” Benedict said in a February 2010 Angelus address. “He that, going up towards Jerusalem, will give his life and one day ‘will transfigure our lowly body to conform with his glorified body.’”
As Pope Francis said at an Angelus address on March 1, 2015, speaking about the Transfiguration: “The way of Jesus always leads us to happiness; do not forget it!”
On this year’s feast of the Transfiguration, Pope Leo XIV was in Assisi, Italy, with thousands of young people from across Europe who gathered for GO!, the 2026 Franciscan Youth Meeting.
In his homily at Mass in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels on Aug. 6, Leo said Jesus was “transfigured precisely in conversation with the Father, with those who preceded him — Moses and Elijah — and with his contemporaries, the disciples.” He went on to say that the Church exists “to draw us into this dynamic of listening and deciding, helping us understand for whom to live and how to live.”
This story was first published on Aug. 6, 2021, and has been updated.
Chiclayo, Peru, prepares for papal visit
The Diocese of Chiclayo has confirmed the principal locations Pope Leo XIV will visit in the city during his Nov. 11–17 apostolic visit to Peru. The Holy Father’s visit will mark his return to the diocese where he exercised his episcopal ministry for several years.
According to a diocesan press release, the pontiff will visit Chiclayo Cathedral, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Peace, Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo Catholic University, the districts of Santa Cruz and Zaña, and the open grounds of the Reque Industrial Park, where the main gatherings and celebrations of his visit to the region will take place.
The diocese noted that the return of Leo XIV will represent a moment of great significance for the people, “who will welcome the successor of Peter with faith, hope, and a spirit of unity.” The visit to Chiclayo will be part of his overall apostolic journey to Peru, which will also include the cities of Lima, Cusco, and Pucallpa.
The Peruvian Episcopal Conference (CEP, by its Spanish acronym) has expressed its “immense joy” at the official confirmation of the apostolic visit and is inviting the faithful to prepare themselves spiritually for it.
“His presence among us will be a true gift for our people and an opportunity to renew our faith, strengthen hope, and walk united as a Church in the service of the Gospel,” conference president Bishop Carlos García Camader stated.
The country’s bishops specifically called upon all the faithful and people of goodwill to join in prayer as a form of preparation.
In an interview with Vatican News, Cardinal Carlos Castillo, archbishop of Lima and primate of Peru, said the pontiff’s upcoming trip is generating “enormous anticipation” among Peruvians.
“We receive this news not only with great pleasure but also with a vital surge of encouragement that prepares us to commit ourselves generously to our faith, so that we may welcome him and better invigorate our Christian and Catholic experience,” Castillo remarked.
The president of Peru, Keiko Fujimori, wrote on her X account that she received “the confirmation with profound joy,” adding that it is “news that fills millions of Peruvians with excitement.”
Fujimori added that the pontiff’s arrival “will be a moment of encounter for our faith and a message of hope for our country.”
“Holy Father, we await you with open hearts to welcome you back to your home, Peru,” she said.
Castillo also noted that the papal visit is taking place during a time marked by challenges such as insecurity, violence, and social difficulties, and that the Holy Fatherʼs presence could foster a necessary reflection.
“May the Holy Father disarm us and make it possible for a peace that is both unarmed and disarming to unfold with full clarity,” Castillo concluded.
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.
OAS council may seek emergency foreign‑ministers session over Nicaragua crackdown
The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) may summon hemispheric foreign ministers for an emergency session on Nicaragua after President Daniel Ortega’s vow to end elections and deepening concerns over crackdowns against the Catholic Church.
At a special meeting on Aug. 5, the formal U.S. representation at the OAS presented the draft resolution, titled “Convocation of a Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs to Consider the Situation in Nicaragua.” The Permanent Mission of the United States’ resolution was cosponsored by the Permanent Missions of Argentina, Panama, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
The Permanent Mission of the United States called for the meeting to take place before Sept. 1, when the Ortega regime is set to codify its latest policy reforms.
The move would invoke one of the OAS’ highest‑level diplomatic tools, signaling that member states view Nicaragua’s political rupture as a regional concern with direct human rights implications. Ortega’s announcement, paired with constitutional changes aimed at blocking opposition figures from power, prompted the United States and Paraguay to request the extraordinary meeting.
Commissioner Rosa María Payá, rapporteur for Nicaragua at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, expressed concern at the OAS Permanent Council meeting over ongoing human rights abuses against Nicaraguans, including arbitrary detentions and forced disappearances.
She noted that about 838,363 Nicaraguans have fled the country since 2018 and that many face transnational repression. Representatives for several member states said during the meeting that the forced migration of Nicaraguans constitutes a migration crisis and a threat to national security.
Payá, a Catholic of Cuban descent, also highlighted persecution of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, citing the disappearance of Bishop Emeritus Juan Abelardo Mata Guevara of Estelí, Nicaragua. Mata was detained by police on two occasions in late June after praying for the persecuted Church in Nicaragua during a Mass he celebrated on Sunday, June 28.
“We are very concerned about the situation of the persecution of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua and the persecution of the faith in general, and the practice and the exercise of the faith,” Payá told EWTN News. “We have been very vocal about our concerns and alarm about the disappearance of Monsignor Abelardo Mata Guevara.”
In October 2023, the Permanent Council unanimously approved the resolution “Rejection of the Repressive Measures of the Government of Nicaragua Against Educational Institutions and the Catholic Church in Nicaragua.” Nicaragua withdrew from the OAS in November 2023.
“When we talk about the Nicaraguan regime, we actually see a systematic continued behavior in the direction of violating freedom of religion, from the situation that took place with Monsignor [Rolando] Alvarez years ago — heʼs now forced to live in exile — to the situation of Monsignor Mata and many other priests and members of the Catholic communities that are afraid to practice their faith,” she said.
Payá said the Ortega regime’s suspension of elections has prompted a “collapse of democracy,” which she said “creates an environment of fear that impacts people of faith.”
“Iʼm Catholic myself and I also come from a society that has suffered the violation of human rights,” she said. “So I deeply understand what it is to to be afraid to speak your mind, what it is to be afraid of practicing and voicing your faith, which is a very primary human exercise.”
Payá is the daughter of Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, a Catholic dissident who founded the Christian Liberation Movement (CLM), a peaceful democratic movement inspired by Catholic social teaching in 1988. He was killed during the Cuban Spring in 2012.
“All of my solidarity is with the Nicaraguan people,” Payá said. “And I believe that also all the solidarity of the commission is too, and we will keep following the issue and we will keep engaging in the political dialogue with the member states.”
Pope Leo XIV’s face featured on new set of Vatican coins
Pope Leo XIV’s image features for the first time in a new set of commemorative euro coins for Vatican City.
As announced by the Vatican City State Governorate on July 30, these coins are part of a new Vatican euro collector coin set honoring the new pontificate. This also marks the first time since 2014 that the papal image has appeared on the coins, following Pope Francis’ personal request that his face not be used.
Except for the 5-euro coin, the Vatican coins can be used to buy things in the 21 European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency.
A unique design in the history of Vatican coin-making
Although these new coins with Leo are not the first to feature the pope’s face, they are part of an entirely unique design.
Leo’s coat of arms appears on the 1-cent, 2-cent, and 5-cent euro coins, while his face appears on the larger denominations.
The pope’s image has appeared on minted coins since the Middle Ages, when pontiffs held temporal power over the Papal States. Shortly after the establishment of Vatican City in 1929, the sovereign state issued lira coins (the Italian currency before the euro) bearing the papal image. The Vatican stopped making lira coins after it adopted the euro in 2001.
According to the European Central Bank, the first Vatican coins for the euro were issued in 2002 with the face of St. John Paul II. From 2006–2013, another set of coins was issued with the face of Pope Benedict XVI.
The coins featuring Francis in 2014 were the last until Leo to feature the pope’s face.
Francis’ refusal to be depicted on Vatican coins
For the 2017 issue of Vatican coins, Francis personally requested that his face not be used. Instead, they featured his coat of arms.
In a 2017 interview for Radio Vaticana, Mauro Olivieri, the then-director of the Philatelic and Numismatic Office for Vatican City State, explained the difficulties in accommodating his request.
“[Francis] asked that he no longer appear on coins, medals in general — and especially on those issued by his state — and we did everything we could to accommodate him,” Olivieri said. “We succeeded, despite some difficulties with the EU authorities, which were later resolved, and so the 2017 coinage features the popeʼs coat of arms.”
The newest Vatican coins can be purchased for 59 euros through the Vatican’s Philatelic and Numismatic Office, responsible for its coins and stamps.