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National Catholic Register

Tony Abbott: ‘Sometimes Governments Must Choose the Least Bad Option’

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaks during a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Melbourne, Australia, on Dec. 11, 2014.

In a conversation with the Register, the former Australian prime minister defends tough immigration policies, calls for stronger Catholic witness in public life, and pays tribute to Cardinal George Pell.

U.S. Ambassador Describes July 4 Dinner With Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV with U.S. Ambassador Brian Burch and his family at the ambassador’s residence in Rome on July 4, 2026.

Speaking with Italian media, Brian Burch said the informal evening showed a pontiff who is both personally at ease with his American roots and conscious of his universal mission.

Lebanon’s Christians Fear Sovereignty Will Be Traded in Regional Diplomacy

Jack Guez
This picture taken from a position in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel shows a base of United Nations in southern Lebanon near the Israel-Lebanon border on July 1, 2026. Israel’s defense minister said on July 1 that Israeli forces would remain in self-proclaimed “security zones” established in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, without any timeline for withdrawal.

For many Lebanese Christians, the central question remains whether diplomacy will finally restore the Lebanese state as the sole authority over war, peace, and national security.

Netanyahu Claims Unnamed Lebanese Christian Villages Sought Annexation

noamgalai
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb. 4, 2025.

Alberto Fernández, a former U.S. ambassador and contributor to EWTN News, said the prime minister's claim 'only makes sense within the context of him trying to look good to his own Israeli audience.'

Various US Bishops ‘Invite Home’ SSPX Attendees After Excommunications of Leadership

‘The Holy See has made clear that the clergy of the Society [of St. Pius X] are now to be regarded as schismatic,’ Bishop Frank Caggiano said in a statement.

Catholic bishops with Society of St. Pius X locations in their areas are forbidding Catholics from attending SSPX services and urging attendees and SSPX priests to return to the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church’s Summer of 1776

From left: Chester Harding, “Charles Carroll of Carrollton,” ca. 1828, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Pompeo Batoni, “Pope Pius VI,” 1775, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. “Old St. Joseph's Church in Philadelphia,” 1740, Catholic Historical Research Center of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

COMMENTARY: What were some of the events and trends that preoccupied leading Catholic statesmen and churchmen in that notable summer?