Pope Leo XIV appoints Lebanese-born archbishop as permanent observer to United Nations
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Lebanese-born Archbishop Christophe-Zakhia El-Kassis to serve as the Holy See’s permanent observer at the United Nations in New York, the Vatican announced on July 25.
The Vatican is not a full member of the United Nations, but it enjoys permanent observer status. The international organization says permanent observers “have free access to most meetings and relevant documentation.”
Born in Beruit, Archbishop El-Kassis previously served as apostolic nuncio to the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. He also served as apostolic delegate to the Arabian Peninsula.
He was ordained a priest in 1994 and consecrated at St. Peter’s Basilica in 2019. He is fluent in Arabic, French, Italian, English, Indonesian, Spanish and German.
In his role at the United Nations, El-Kassis will join Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, who serves as the Holy See’s permanent observer at the organization in Geneva.
The Vatican first joined the United Nations as a non-member observer in 1964. Palestine is the only other polity that enjoys permanent observer status at the international body.
New bill would protect mothers with surrogacy contracts from forced abortions
New bill would protect mothers with surrogacy contracts from forced abortions
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tennessee, introduced on July 21 a bill designed to protect pregnant mothers who are surrogates from being forced to have abortions.
The ‘‘Preventing Forced Abortions Act of 2026” would prevent federal courts from forcing a woman to have abortion because of a surrogate contract; the act also requires that surrogate mothers still be compensated.
“No woman should ever be forced to murder a child because of a provision buried in a contract,” Ogles said in announcing the measure. “The Preventing Forced Abortions Act ensures that federal courts cannot enforce these coercive clauses or allow intended parents to withhold promised compensation when a surrogate mother chooses life.”
The pro-life advocacy group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America expressed support for the bill. Spokeswoman Marilyn Musgrave voiced support for the bill, saying: “Women should never be forced or coerced into having an abortion.”
Hawley calls for investigation of abortion group ‘Plan C’
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, is calling on Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Department of Justice to investigate Plan C, a group that has shipped abortion pills in the mail allegedly in violation of state and federal law.
In the July 17 letter, Hawley alleged that Plan C is “a left-wing dark-money operation that styles itself a ‘public health information campaign’ but functions, in practice, as the referral and logistics hub for shipping abortion drugs into states whose laws prohibit it.”
Hawley maintained that Plan C operates with abortion pill manufacturers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro.
“Plan C coaches its users on how to evade the law. Its website instructs users to protect their ‘digital footprint’ against investigations, recommending privacy-enabled browsers, virtual private networks, and encrypted email,” Hawley wrote.
Advocacy groups go to court over sidewalk chalk free speech violation
Groups that advocate for unborn babies are going to court because their free speech rights were allegedly violated in 2020 in the nation’s capital.
The Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America brought forward an opening brief July 16 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
The federal free speech lawsuit was brought in a dispute over the right to chalk messages on the city sidewalk, as police in Washington, D.C. prevented advocates from writing messages in chalk in 2020.
Other protesters associated with the Black Lives Matter movement spray-painted messages outside the city’s Chamber of Commerce but were not apprehended, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom, the nonprofit free speech law firm that is taking on the case.
“Washington officials can’t censor messages they disagree with. The right to free speech is for everyone,” said attorney John Bursch.
Advocacy group offers legal resources for abortion pill reversals
Amid an ongoing lawsuit over abortion pill reversals, the Thomas More Society is launching an online hub on abortion pill reversal litigation.
The Catholic legal group is currently litigating the case People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & RealOptions, in which California is demanding $20 million from the two pro-life groups because they offered abortion pill reversals.
The organization said its online hub “brings together everything supporters, pregnancy centers, movement partners, and the press need to follow this fight in one place.”
Judge blocks South Dakota abortion advertising ban
A U.S. district judge is temporarily blocking a South Dakota law prohibiting abortion groups from advertising abortion pills, which are largely illegal in the state.
U.S. District Judge Camela Theeler granted a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking its enforcement, saying it is likely unconstitutional after New York-based abortion group Mayday Health filed a lawsuit.
Catholic professor discusses Pope Leo’s peace efforts after Vatican’s nuclear weapon, AI conference
A Vatican-hosted summit on nuclear weapons and artificial intelligence (AI) highlighted Pope Leo XIV’s continued focus on peace-building efforts, according to a Catholic professor who participated in the event.
Maryann Cusimano Love, chair of the politics department at The Catholic University of America and scholar of international relations and peace-building, discussed the Holy Father’s focus on the subject in an interview with “EWTN News In Depth” anchor Catherine Hadro.
She also discussed a new book published by the Vatican on July 21, which compiles Leo’s writings and speeches on peace. The pontiff authored his own forward for the book, calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons globally.
Peace-building is “a theme that Pope Leo has been consistent with since the beginning of his papacy, and it really fits with the times that weʼre in right now,” Love said.
“Weʼre seeing expansion of war, weʼre seeing the expansion in the number of conflicts, the deadliness of these conflicts, and weʼre also seeing new ways in which new technologies are being used — AI drones, lethal autonomous weapons systems — that are very concerning,” she said.
“So heʼs being a voice of really the practical, and a voice of the people, saying: Look, peace is possible. Peace is practical and peace is our calling, as Catholics and people of goodwill. This is something we can do. Weʼve done it before and we can do it again,” she said.
Love was one of more than 200 academics who participated in the Vatican-hosted Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War from July 14–16. The assembly adopted the "Rome Declaration for an Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” which laid out concerns about how technological advancement affects warfare.
“The Church has been advocating for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons as long as there have been nuclear weapons, and whatʼs added to this in this last weekʼs activities and the Rome Declaration is the layer of artificial intelligence that increases the urgency with which we need to proceed to disarm nuclear weapons,” Love said.
“And it increases the ways in which we need to look at this interaction between AI and our and our military ecosystems,” she said. “So the call is specifically for the responsible use of AI, for there to be a slowing down in the integration of these systems, particularly into military systems, until we can be sure that theyʼre safe for the sharing of information between tech companies and the public about the vulnerabilities of these systems and the problem areas — the blind spots — these systems have.”
The summit was inspired by Leo’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which offers guidance on how society should approach AI. The encyclical specifically raises concerns about AI making decisions about life and death in warfare.
Catholic parents of Texas flood victims share witness to faith amid grief
The parents of Blair and Brooke Harber, the Catholic sisters who died in the 2025 Texas Hill Country flash floods, shared how their faith has sustained them through the tremendous grief and how they are honoring their daughters' legacy.
Blair Harber, 13, and Brooke Harber, 11, who attended St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas, were among the victims of the Texas Hill Country flash floods that devastated parts of the state on July 4, 2025.
“I would say after a year, itʼs almost more difficult than it has been," RJ Harber said in an interview with host Catherine Hadro on “EWTN News In Depth” alongside his wife, Annie Harber.
“The depth of the grief does not go away. It actually enhances, because this is your reality now, and you understand your children are actually gone,” he said.
“Now there is comfort knowing that they are in heaven, and we did our job as parents to prepare them to get them there. But our love for them was so deep that the grief that we have is just tremendous,” he said.
The family was vacationing with RJ Harber’s parents, Mike and Charlene Harber, on the Guadalupe River near Hunt, Texas, when the floods occurred.
The flash flood raised the river more than 22 feet in half an hour in the early morning hours of July 4, dislodging and carrying away the sisters’ cabin, in which they were staying with their grandparents.
Harbers have ‘leaned heavily’ on Catholic faith
Annie and RJ Harber detailed the challenges of navigating such a profound loss. They shared how it tested their faith, while also relying on that same faith to carry them through the past year.
It was “really important to us to instill the Catholic faith and values in our girls,” Annie Harber said. “But … after all of this, I definitely questioned God and was angry at God” and “didnʼt understand why, or how, this could happen to us.”
“We have leaned on each other and our faith to get us up every morning,” she said. “I think for me, truly, when I wake up, I tell myself Iʼm one day closer to seeing the girls, because we know theyʼre in heaven and our goal is to ultimately get there. So we have to continue to live by the Catholic faith and our values that we taught the girls.”
“I think weʼre still alive because of our faith,” RJ Harber said. “God can accept anger, but he can also help us carry this cross. And the Church has rallied around us.”
“We found the girls on Saturday, July 5, and we went to Mass Sunday, July 6. It was probably the most difficult thing Iʼve ever done. But thatʼs because we want to follow the commandments,” he said, citing the Third Commandment to keep holy the Sabbath.
“So weʼve leaned heavily … on our Catholic faith,” he said.
RJ Harber, who also lost his parents in the disaster, said his “daughters were their greatest joy.” His parents attended “every single sporting event” of their granddaughters.
The girls “were their only grandchildren, so they just doted on them,” he said. “My father was suffering from Parkinsonʼs disease, but he would just want me to drive him to Brooke’s softball game and watch her pitch, or ask to watch Blair play soccer.”
“We find solace in the fact that theyʼre watching over our girls in heaven and are just thankful that theyʼre there with them now,” he said.
‘The faith was very important to our girls’
As Annie and RJ Harber have relied on their faith through their grief, they detailed the importance the Catholic faith played in their daughters’ lives as well.
“Not only did they go to Catholic school, but we would go to Mass every Sunday,” RJ Harber said. “It was instrumental in our lives.”
RJ reflected on his daughter Blair’s faith, sharing that she prayed the rosary “every single night.” Two weeks before the tragedy, “her rosary beads broke and she asked to borrow mine, which I received when I converted to the Catholic faith, and took those down to the river with her.”
“So we know that she died with those beads in her hands, and with Mary and God protecting her, in those last moments,” he said.
So we know that she died with those beads in her hands, and with Mary and God protecting her, in those last moments.”
RJ Harber
“We prayed every single night. And we still pray with them every single night,” RJ said.
“Prayer has been instrumental. We get messages from all over the world about people praying for us. And I think thatʼs helping us share the girls with the world. And honestly I think God, through the Holy Spirit, is using our daughters to bring people closer to the faith,” he said.
The couple said they have heard from several people who have returned to Mass and confession since hearing the sisters’ story.
“Weʼve received … messages about people converting to the Catholic faith because of Brooke and Blair. So their work is not done in this world — itʼs only beginning.”
The Blair & Brooke Harber Beloved Sisters Fund
Since losing their daughters, Annie and RJ have started a fund to continue to honor their daughters through The Blair & Brooke Harber Beloved Sisters Fund.
The fund, set up through The Catholic Foundation of Texas, supports flood and disaster relief efforts and aids Catholic after-school activities, including after-school education and Catholic sports.
Blair and Brooke “played lacrosse and there is a large barrier to entry into lacrosse,” RJ Harber said. “So weʼve been able to get hundreds of sticks donated, hundreds of goggles donated, and have allowed girls to come and try lacrosse for the first time who would otherwise never try it.”
“This February, we hosted an event. Over 200 girls came out and tried the sport for the first time. So these kindergartners, first graders, second graders are looking up to our girls and carrying their life forward. And I just think thatʼs a beautiful thing to see,” he said.
Why monks outlive other men: Inside a 30-year study of European monasteries
The lifespan gap between monks and nuns almost disappears inside the cloister, and community life with a rule of life, scheduled prayer, and purpose contributes to successful aging.
These are some of the findings of "The German-Austrian Cloister Study" conducted by Marc Luy of the Vienna Institute of Demography at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The research project to study health, aging, and life expectancy investigated the factors of health and longevity that revealed the so-called "successful aging" — that is, a long and healthy life.
The research has drawn fresh attention in Europe this month after Benedictine Brother David Steindl-Rast marked his 100th birthday on July 12, as CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News, reported.
It started in 1997 with a focus on the members of menʼs and womenʼs religious orders, as they have a very similar life and are easy to study. They resemble one another in daily regime, nutrition, living conditions, faith, and many other aspects that influence health and longevity, the study explains.
Around 16,600 order members participated (more than 9,000 nuns, with the rest monks) in Germany and Austria — with a few members living in Switzerland and Italy. The investigation included anonymous self-conducted questionnaires sent to more than 1,100 of the religious but went back as far as 1890 to consult the archives of numerous religious communities, which are helpful in providing data. Somewhat surprising results emerged.
About one year of difference in life expectancy between the two sexes is attributed to biological factors, according to the study. The bigger sex differences in life expectancy in the population are caused by non-biologically caused mortality of men and not by the low mortality of women, as is often believed.
The research also questioned the well-known saying that “women are sicker, but men die quicker.”
Luy set out two hypotheses at the start of the project. The first is that “the overall reversal in sex morbidity and sex mortality differentials occurs because conditions that figure importantly in morbidity are not very important in mortality, and vice versa.” The second is that it is “very likely that longevity is directly related to the absolute number of life years in ill health,” which means that “women show higher morbidity rates not because they are female but because they are the sex with higher life expectancy.”
Men in religious orders live on average about five years longer than men outside the cloister, and monastic life seems to reduce some of the risks that shorten life. Such communities provide an ordered daily routine and a structured schedule for work, eating, and prayer, long-term relationships, shared purpose, and the like. Therefore, one has ideal conditions for well-being both mentally and physically.
What is more, in a monastic community, people take care of one another, and physical or mental decline is usually recognized sooner. Likewise, chronic stress is reduced and prayer helps with emotional stability.
The main person behind the project, German social scientist Luy, who has been working in Austria since 2008, told EWTN News that it would be “interesting” to include religious orders from other countries. However, “this is a matter of resources,” he said.
“Nonetheless, I would not expect different results than those we have obtained from several orders in Germany and Austria,” he added.
Yet “being a monk or a nun does not necessarily mean living an easy and peaceful life,” Slovak religious Sister Cecília Kasanová told EWTN News.
The Dominican sister has been living for six years in the Monastery of St. Dominic and Sixtus of Our Lady of the Rosary in Rome, which safeguards the ancient Marian icon known as the "Advocata," carried across Rome by St. Dominic.
Although she admitted that a balanced lifestyle can influence longevity, “famous long-lived monks or nuns went through suffering, war, persecution because of their religious beliefs, or imprisonment.” Sister Cecília said she thinks it is “amazing” that those monks and nuns “had the strength to persevere and not give up.”
She acknowledged the good of a day proportionally divided into moments of silence: personal prayer, study, work, daily Mass, regular confession, and common meals. There are moments, too, when they talk, such as community meetings and celebrations, as well as time to relax and to receive visitors at the entrance.
Furthermore, consecrated life in a community of nuns may improve the life of visitors, Sister Cecília observed. It is “a great gift for me personally, for the Church and for the world,” as “we live exclusively for the Lord” and pray for those who come. Those faithful “often feel better because they are listened to, accepted, knowing that they are not alone in what they are experiencing, because we accompany them with prayer,” she stressed.
A monastic life thus shows that we should “put God first,” as he “gives meaning to everything we do and to who we are. He is our God and at the same time a faithful friend,” the Slovak nun said.
In a letter dated July 16 and published by the Vatican on July 22, Pope Leo XIV wrote to mark the 70th anniversary of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men in the United States. He encouraged them to consider community life “as a place of sanctification and a source of inspiration, witness, and strength in your apostolate.”
According to the pontiff, who is a member of the Augustinian order himself, “it is precisely through sharing everything in common, including material goods, spiritual experiences, apostolic ideals, and charitable service that the hidden presence of the risen Lord is made manifest among you.”
‘Historic moment’: Maronite Church prepares for Patriarch Hoyek’s beatification
The Maronite Church is entering a week of prayer, celebration, and preparation ahead of the beatification of Patriarch Elias Hoyek, a defining figure in both Maronite and Lebanese history.
Celebrations will include the screening of the film “Patriarch Elias, God Provides,” a solemn beatification Mass on Saturday in Diman, the transfer of the new blessed’s relics to his tomb in Ibrine, a concert by the Lebanese National Philharmonic Orchestra, and a Mass of thanksgiving on Aug. 1, ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, reported on Sunday.
The Maronite Patriarchate called on the faithful in Lebanon and the diaspora to prepare spiritually for what it described as “a historic moment for the Church” ahead of the beatification. The patriarchate invited Catholics to unite in prayer and light candles Friday evening as a sign of faith, hope, and ecclesial communion, and asked churches across Lebanon to ring their bells as the beatification Mass begins.
Egypt moves against alleged discrimination toward young Christian athlete
Egypt’s Ministry of Youth and Sports has intervened in what has been described as an unprecedented case involving alleged discrimination against a young Christian soccer player, ACI MENA reported Thursday.
The case began after the mother of 13-year-old Makary Younan said her son was excluded from the youth team at Alexandria’s Al Ittihad Club after a coach learned his name and allegedly said, “This name does not work here.” The club later said Makary had passed the tryouts and would be signed, but the ministry opened an investigation.
After hearing witnesses and reviewing the incident, officials said the violation had been established, ordered the club to investigate the coach within 48 hours, and referred the file to the public prosecutor. The ministry said it would not tolerate discrimination inside sports institutions and promised transparency in announcing the final penalty.
Finish parliamentarian appeals ‘hate speech’ conviction to European Court of Human Rights
Päivi Räsänen is appealing to the European Court of Human Rights to overturn the Finnish Supreme Court’s ruling in March that found her guilty of hate speech over a pamphlet she wrote more than 20 years ago.
“Appealing my conviction is about much more than a fine or a decades-old church booklet,” Räsänen said after filing an appeal this week, according to an Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International press release Friday. “My case stands to determine whether the fundamental rights of religious freedom and free speech are still protected in Finland and across Europe, and whether these societies are still willing to stand up for the rights of all — even those they disagree with.”
Irish priests press Dublin for stronger action on Gaza
Irish Catholic priests have called on their government to take a firmer position on Gaza, urging a permanent ceasefire, unrestricted humanitarian access, and stronger accountability under international law, ACI MENA recently reported.
Priests Against Genocide, a network of more than 2,400 priests — including 26 bishops and cardinals across 62 countries — called on members of Parliament in Ireland to advocate for accountability through the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice regarding Gaza.
The group also urged the government to advocate for humanitarian aid and increased diplomatic efforts to bring lasting peace to the region. The letter further underscored a growing moral concern within parts of the Irish Church over the humanitarian toll of the war and the need for political action that goes beyond statements of concern.
Improved security enables pastoral growth in South Sudan
Bishop Matthew Remijio Adam Gbitiku of the Diocese of Wau in South Sudan praised improved security in the country, which he said has allowed the Catholic Church to expand its pastoral ministry.
“I thank the government because you can move day and night freely. There is no insecurity. So in the diocese, there is security that allows the bishop to do his pastoral work freely,” Adam told ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, at the 21st plenary assembly of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. “There is a good understanding between the Church and the state, and we are collaborating very well.”
Lebanese woman claims healing through St. Rafqa’s intercession
Samar al-Maarrawi, a Lebanese widow, mother, grandmother, theology student, catechist, and longtime member of the Focolare Movement, shared with ACI MENA that she has been healed from cancer through the intercession of St. Rafqa, a Lebanese Maronite nun who was known for her mysticism, holiness, and devotion to the Eucharist.
First diagnosed in 2017, al-Maarrawi said the illness returned in 2022 in her glands and bones. Doctors said her time was limited.
Al-Maarrawi said she turned to St. Rafqa, took soil from the saint’s tomb, and later received medical results showing no trace of the disease. She also recounted a dream in which St. Rafqa told her she had been healed not from one cancer but from seven. According to al-Maarrawi, her doctor later confirmed that there had been seven affected areas, though she had only been told of three. She said she continues to live in gratitude, entrusting her life to God and asking the Virgin Mary to accompany her.
Japanese cardinal urges Church to stand up against violence
Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo called on the Catholic Church not to be passive while fighting against violent threats to human life.
“We must not merely stand by and watch helplessly in the face of a raging storm of violence but strive to continue sowing good wheat even more widely,” Kikuchi said in a reflection on July 19, according to Licas News.
“The dominance of violence and the tragic reality of life, a precious gift, being in peril, are so glaringly obvious that one cannot help but wonder if God condones the existence of evil,” he continued. “It is the Church’s duty to look at events in the realities of society that are hindering the realization of the world God desires, to read the signs revealed therein from an evangelical perspective rather than being swayed by what is happening, and to speak with the common good in mind.”
Catholic school group in Australia says it will participate in abuse payouts
The Catholic school group Edmund Rice Education Australia has agreed to allow the large property holdings it received from Christian Brothers to be liquidated for abuse payouts.
The Trustees of the Christian Brothers announced the news in a Friday press release, noting that funds from the sale of the properties will go to a scheme fund that will in turn be used to pay creditors and abuse survivors.
The Christian Brothers transferred millions of dollars’ worth of property to the school group over the course of a decade in a series of $1 exchanges. Abuse victims had argued that the properties should be subject to the overall settlement scheme.
The Christian Brothers announced in June that its organization would come to an end in Australia amid the pending abuse settlement.
Patriarch Rai urges Lebanon to fully implement framework agreement
Speaking from the Monastery of Saint Maron in Annaya on the feast of St. Charbel, Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai said holiness does not need noise to be known but rather fidelity in order to bear fruit.
Reflecting on St. Charbel’s hidden life and worldwide spiritual influence, Rai connected Lebanon’s survival to truth, peace, and the intercession of its saints, ACI MENA reported Sunday. He also renewed his call for the full and precise implementation of Lebanon’s framework agreement, saying it is essential for strengthening state sovereignty, extending legitimate authority across the country, preserving stability, and protecting Lebanon’s national rights.
From crumbling convent to Catholic art studio: A new light in Atlantic City, New Jersey
A Catholic art studio is beginning to blossom in an unexpected place. Cappella Studio in Atlantic City, New Jersey, aspires to be a light in the darkness of the city, reaching out to those on the periphery and centering the art on the good, true, and beautiful.
“Atlantic City exists at the edge of the world. In many ways it is a forgotten- about place on the periphery,” Jim Dessicino, who founded Cappella Studio, told EWTN News. “People go there to gamble away their fortunes or to disappear into vice, and with that comes desperation, homelessness, and poverty.”
“It is in places such as this that Christ is most needed,” he continued.
The abandoned convent there was going to be sold — and likely razed to the ground. But Dessicino saw that it could be something more.
“When I entered that chapel for the first time, I knew I had the opportunity to emulate St. Francis during his special jubilee year called by Pope Leo XIV,” Dessicino said.
“In 1205, kneeling in prayer and searching for his purpose in the crumbling Church of San Damiano, St. Francis heard the voice of God say: ‘Francis, go rebuild my church, which you see has fallen into ruin!’” he recounted.
“The chapel in the convent was literally crumbling,” Dessicino recalled. “There were holes in the walls and floor. The windows were broken, and the sanctuary lamp had been extinguished 10 years prior.”
Time for renewal
Cappella’s art program is a way to train artists, to bring beauty to the city, and even to evangelize artists.
“This city has always been about hospitality and welcoming people; it has just been dominated by the vice industry for so long that it is time for a renewal,” Dessicino continued.
“It is often difficult to see the beauty of the city through the poverty and corruption, but if you enter our churches … you are instantaneously transported and uplifted out of the mess and towards the heavenly realm,” Dessicino said.
The program is an invitation to artists of all faiths to meet Jesus.
“Weʼre inviting artists and the community into a third space; those who might not initially feel comfortable coming into a church are not dissuaded by coming to an art studio,” Dessicino said. “Because we have an adoration chapel at the studio, people are confronted with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, even if they donʼt know it. Amazing things come from these encounters.”
“We are set apart from other art studio experiences because we have the option to invite people to meet Jesus face-to-face in the Eucharist,” Dessicino said.
“As a catechetical leader, my experience is that I think itʼs easier to bring good artists who are not yet Catholic into the fold than it is to train an entire generation of artists,” Dessicino explained. “It is simpler in my experience to help a person who is sympathetic to Catholicism to convert than it is to spend 10 years training an artist to become proficient enough at their craft to create artworks for the Church.”
Cappella offers lodging for visiting artists as well as private studios for local artists. It also offers art classes and even space for communal activities like book clubs.
The art classes are taught by both Catholic and non-Catholic artists.
“The beauty of the Catholic tradition in the arts is that there is no official style,” Dessicino said. “The artworks must be instructive and clear. They can have layered meaning, like a Shakespearean drama, but they should be understood by the average parishioner.”
Father Robert Hughes, a parochial priest involved in the project, said refurbishing the adoration chapel was their first step.
“We took a leap of faith — focusing on the need to pray that God’s will be done by calling upon parishioners to pray for our parish, our city, and success of Cappella Studio,” Hughes said. “Therefore, our first initiative was to open the Mercy Chapel.”
The daily adoration chapel, open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., has been “well attended,” according to Hughes.
“The Eucharist is the source and center of our Christian lives and must be so for our parish life and mission as well as for Cappella Studio,” Hughes said. “We hope the artist-in-residency program will give artists an opportunity to integrate prayer and meditation into their work while experiencing the vibrancy of Atlantic City and the beauty of the ocean just two blocks away.”
Water and boat imagery is an important part of Cappella Studio, especially as it’s located in a city on the ocean.
“The convent was built in the late 1930s and was conceived to look like a ship in honor of Our Lady, Star of the Sea — the name of this campus,” Hughes said. “The sisters' chapel is appropriately located in the bow.”
Dessicino sees Cappella Studio as a ship as well.
“Itʼs almost too easy to see how Cappella Studio will be a light for the city of Atlantic City: We’re connected to the church, Our Lady Star of the Sea (who is the lighthouse for this city), our convent building is shaped like a ship and inside that ship, people will be formed to go out and spread the Gospel to the world,” Dessicino said.
“There are precious few places where sacred artists can gather and focus specifically on the sacred. God is, of course, the master artist and he calls sacred artists to cooperate with him in serving the peopleʼs prayer and worship by creating beautiful works worthy of contemplation,” Hughes said. “Through art, we can touch the divine.”
UN human rights commissioner presses Nicaragua for answers on missing bishop
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk demanded that the Nicaraguan regime provide information on the whereabouts and condition of Bishop Abelardo Mata, who has been subjected to enforced disappearance since late June.
“I am concerned by reports of repression against the Catholic Church and other religious denominations, including the lack of official information regarding the fate, whereabouts, and condition of 80-year-old Bishop Abelardo Mata Guevara, who was detained on June 29,” the high commissioner stated on July 22, according to the organizationʼs website.
“I urge the authorities to release immediately all individuals who have been arbitrarily detained and to ensure that all those detained are treated with humanity and dignity in line with Nicaragua’s obligations under international human rights law,” Türk said.
Mata, the bishop emeritus of Estelí, was detained twice by police in late June after praying for the persecuted Church in Nicaragua during a Mass he celebrated on Sunday, June 28.
His whereabouts are unknown, although the dictatorship has stated that he is at home.
The Central American bishops have called on the regime to allow him to be seen by a doctor, and various notable individuals have expressed concern for the 80-year-old bishop, who suffers from diabetes and vision problems and uses a pacemaker for a heart condition.
Ortega announces there will be no elections in Nicaragua
The high commissioner also addressed the announcement made by Daniel Ortega on Sunday, July 19, during a public event commemorating the 47th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution that there would be no further elections in Nicaragua.
“I call on the authorities to reopen civic space and restore the rule of law. People of all political viewpoints must be allowed to vote and run for office, in line with the stateʼs international human rights obligations,” Türk said.
In addition to the announcement regarding the elections, the office of the high commissioner also reported that earlier this month, the Nicaraguan dictatorship revoked the credentials of several lawyers without legal basis or official explanation at a time when “at least 46 individuals remain arbitrarily detained for political reasons.”
This is compounded by the fact that the ruling party controls the National Assembly, municipalities, and regional councils; that various Indigenous territories “are impacted by mining and extractive concessions”; and that many of these have been granted without genuine consultation or the consent of Indigenous peoples.
Türk noted that all these events “further deepen the severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms, the dismantling of civic space, and the steady erosion of the rule of law” in Nicaragua.
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.
Venezuela earthquakes aftermath: Church focusing on burials, aid, church repairs
The Archdiocese of Caracas has presented a report on the Church’s response following the double earthquake that struck Venezuela a month ago. At a July 22 press conference, Archbishop Raúl Biord noted that the Church “has responded promptly” to the task of assisting those most affected.
More than 5,000 people died in the tragedy, according to official figures from the interim government, while tens of thousands were injured and left homeless. Other estimates place the number of missing persons in the tens of thousands. La Guaira, Caracas, and El Junquito were among the hardest-hit areas; all of them fall within the ecclesiastical province of Caracas.
Biord explained that from the very beginning, the archdiocese “established an emergency response commission” tasked with managing spiritual, psychological, and material care for those affected. The archbishop expressed his gratitude to the “huge number of people” who have stepped up as Caritas volunteers across the country.
The report presented by the Archdiocese of Caracas focused on three main areas of action: pastoral, material, and infrastructure. Representatives responsible for each of these areas provided details regarding the work carried out over the past month.
Pastoral and spiritual care
“From the very beginning, we have been clear that our primary task is ministering to people. It’s about being close to those suffering, identifying with their pain, listening actively, and, above all, ensuring that every affected person experiences the fact that they are not alone; that the Church, as a mother, sustains and accompanies them,” stated Father Ricardo Guillén, the archdiocese’s vicar for pastoral care.
ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, asked Guillén about the missing persons and thousands of bodies left buried in the rubble with no possibility of recovery and, consequently, no possibility of receiving a burial as prescribed by the Catholic Church.
The priest noted that the bodies of the deceased, as God’s creatures, “possess immense dignity” and therefore should receive a Christian burial whenever possible. He explained that the Catholic Church has endeavored through its priests and permanent deacons to provide pastoral ministry with funeral rites for those whose bodies have been recovered from the collapsed buildings.
“Last Sunday, I had to conduct the funeral rites for a person who was sitting in front of their home when a wall collapsed on him, burying him beneath the rubble. There the family made their decision, and we had to hold the funeral service and console that family,” Guillén recounted.
“It is part of the Church’s mission to honor the bodies of the deceased and provide them with a Christian burial and of course to help their loved ones through their grief,” the priest explained, adding that in the days ahead, Christian communities are called to bear witness to this.
Seminarians from various institutions have deployed to temporary shelters to assist with relief efforts, while processions with the Blessed Sacrament have been held in shelters and areas where the buildings have collapsed, along with days of prayer and other religious activities.
Providing aid after the emergency
Father José Manuel León, auxiliary bishop-elect of Caracas and coordinator of the emergency assistance commission, reported that to date approximately 490 tons of essential supplies have been distributed.
The aid distribution network has provided supplies especially to various hospitals in Caracas, shelters in La Guaira, and devastated areas in several cities. One of the primary goals of the aid initiative is to “guarantee the operational sustainability of supplying the resources to affected families.”
León explained that the archdiocese seeks to “strengthen existing parish medicine banks” while working to “expand and coordinate the network of parish dispensaries to provide primary healthcare to those affected who are still suffering.”
The Church will also provide special support to survivors, particularly children, offering psychological care that equips them with tools to cope with grief and post-traumatic stress.
Infrastructure, condition of churches
Father Neptalí Balza, a civil engineer by profession, is responsible for inspecting the churches in the Archdiocese of Caracas that sustained damage. In his remarks, he explained that a “preliminary technical assessment” has been carried out on 27 churches in the Caracas metropolitan area.
With support from the Venezuelan College of Engineers, the churches have been marked with color-coded tags — green, yellow, and red — to indicate the level of damage sustained following the June 24 earthquakes.
In total, six parish churches were marked with the green tag (usable), representing 22% of the total. Another 16 churches were marked with the yellow tag (restricted use/precautionary) after it was determined that they exhibited minor flaws or detached ornamental elements that don’t prevent religious use but require mitigation measures. These measures include the demolition of vulnerable elements as well as filling in and smoothing over surfaces. These buildings account for 59% of the total.
Five parish churches were marked with a red tag (restricted access) due to severe structural damage. They are: St. Joseph of Ñaraulí, Our Lady of Mercy, St. John Mary Vianney, Our Lady of Lourdes, and St. Rosalía of Palermo. The red-tagged churches account for 19% of the total.
Balza also presented a five-phase recovery plan:
1. Emergency response and active safeguarding: This entails tagging the main entrance of each church with one of the three traffic light colors to indicate its usability, temporarily shoring up critical areas, and centralizing reports online.
2. Assessment and preliminary studies: This phase focuses on documenting the actual condition of the churches and determining a technical roadmap, leveraging external resources such as partnerships with architecture and engineering students and thesis candidates.
3. Earthquake-resistant design and engineering: This involves calculating structural reinforcements using compatible technologies (carbon fiber, mortar injection, tensioning systems) and obtaining validation from authorities responsible for national heritage sites.
4. Execution of reconstruction and interventions: This phase entails the sorting and recovery of reusable collapsed elements (such as coffered ceilings) and the restoration of artistic features (stained glass, ornamentation, and woodwork).
5. Verifying the work done meets specifications and preventive maintenance: This is the application of an ongoing, long-term preservation protocol for historic buildings.
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.
Facing deportation, Nigerian nun in south Texas speaks out
Sister Leticia Ugboaja, the Catholic nun and nurse who was briefly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in south Texas in June, made her first public remarks after what she described as weeks of “stress, anxiety, and fear.”
At a July 23 press conference, she said she is still afraid of what may yet happen to her but is trusting in God.
“I was very much afraid, with cold sweat,” she said of her detainment by ICE officers as she walked to Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen, Texas, on June 28. “I did not expect [it]; on an ordinary Sunday morning, when people should be ready to go to Mass to worship the Lord, on the street here, just in front of the school, where I have walked … a countless number of times.”
“I will not pretend it did not hurt and it’s hurting me today,” she said, describing the two ICE agents as “armed, and Iʼm just a small woman, a nun, armless, with just my rosary, my key, and my phone.”
Though she felt afraid and hurt, she said she has been trusting in God, quoting Jesus’ admonition to “not be afraid, because I am with you always.”
Ugboaja, a member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and a registered nurse at South Texas Health System, said it was “heartbreaking” to be told “no” by the ICE agents after she asked them if she could first attend Sunday Mass and receive Communion because “as we know, Sunday Mass is obligatory … it is mandatory.”
During the press conference, Carlos Garcia, her lawyer, gave more information about her immigration status.
He said an immigration judge denied her application for asylum in 2019 but did grant her protection from removal to Nigeria under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, saying it was likely she would be tortured if she returned there.
Garcia said this protection legally bars the U.S. government from deporting her to Nigeria, though “as a technical matter,” she remains under a final order of removal.
Nevertheless, he said the religious sister and nurse, who has served in south Texas for more than a decade, is legally authorized to work in the U.S. and “has never missed an immigration appointment.”
Garcia said Ugboaja’s detainment by immigration officials is confusing: “People who’ve been granted this type of relief have generally for many years been under the impression they are OK as long as they complied … So it’s very confusing not only for her but for many others I’ve talked to as to what is going on.”
Of the way immigration enforcement actions are taking place, Garcia said “it’s hard to comprehend, because of the way it’s happening, without [people] being informed of any reasoning” by the government.
Not an isolated case
“I am not the only one,” Ugboaja said of others who are “languishing’ in the same situation in which she finds herself but who do not have the attention of the media on them.
They are “people who have been given some form of protection under our laws, who have followed every rule asked of them … who still live with uncertainty about where they might be sent and whether anyone will tell them before it happens.”
She said she is praying for them and is asking for something simple: “Before anyone is taken into custody, give them … the opportunity to be heard.”
Garcia said she has a check-in appointment with immigration officials on July 28, where Ugboaja could be detained or an ankle monitor could be placed on her.
The attorney said he hopes the appointment will be unnecessary, but if it does take place, “we are asking that she not be detained and that no ankle monitor be placed … she’s broken no rule, posed no danger, and given the country a decade of nursing and a lifetime of ministry.”
He said ICE detained her on June 28 in order to remove the nun to a third country, a practice that he said is “currently the subject of active litigation in federal courts nationwide.”
He suggested she is entitled to “notice and a meaningful opportunity to contest a proposed third country removal before she’s taken into custody and removed.”
The incident occurred amid heightened immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, which has included operations near houses of worship.
The nun’s release June 28 was facilitated by lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, who said his office communicated with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and border czar Tom Homan to secure Ugboaja’s immediate release.
By Sunday evening, Ugboaja, who serves as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at Our Lady of Sorrows, had been released from custody and returned home.
Cuellar told EWTN News at the time that “this is not the way they should have picked her up. If ICE had any questions, there would have been more appropriate ways to deal with her situation.”