Bishop José Antonio Satué - the Vatican-appointed pontifical delegate governing the conservative Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE) - has appointed a new general council for the community, reports the Substack.com-Account The Pillar. Furthermore, Bishop Satué introduced a new website of the institute. Founded in Argentina in 1984, the IVE operates internationally. The institute had lost close to 40% of its members since its foundation. The New General Council Bishop Satué of Málaga, Spain, appointed five members to the council in a decree dated July 25. He communicated it to the IVE members on August 18. The Vatican’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life approved the appointments. The new council includes: - Fr. Ervens Mengelle, IVE, as vicar general; - Br. Giampiero Pettenon, SDB, as treasurer general; - Fr. Diógenes Urquiza, IVE, with responsibility for contemplative monasteries; - Fr. Giampiero Gambaro, OFM Cap., with responsibilities as …Bongata
'Don't you want to become a canon at St. Peter's?'" Kröger is still stunned. "I never would have dreamed of working as a priest in St. Peter's Basilica!" For a moment, he even thought Gambetti was joking... Spiritual Conversations at the Blessing Booth Here, people can order Masses and have rosaries or Bibles blessed. "Most of the time, though, it's just a way for them to receive a blessing themselves. That's a great pastoral task because, in a very brief moment, they begin a conversation that I pick up on, and then I give them a personal blessing, ideally in their own language." This transcends denominations and religions: "I've even had Hindus and a Jewish family come to me wanting a blessing." "Of course," I say, "we humans all need God's blessing." If the lines in front of the kiosk get too long, he sometimes gives the blessing according to language groups: in Spanish, Italian, English, and—if there are several people interested—in German. "I once started a small revolution," says …Bongata
'Willst du nicht Kanoniker an Sankt Peter werden?'" Kröger ist immer noch baff. "Daran, einmal als Priester im Petersdom zu arbeiten, hätte ich im Traum nicht gedacht!" Kurz glaubte er sogar, Gambetti mache einen Scherz... Geistliche Gespräche am Segensbüdchen Hier können die Menschen Messen bestellen und Rosenkränze oder Bibeln segnen lassen. "Meistens ist das aber nur ein Medium, um sich selber segnen zu lassen. Das ist eine große pastorale Aufgabe, weil sie in einer ganz kurzen Momentaufnahme ein Gespräch beginnen, das ich aufgreife, und ihnen dann möglichst in ihrer eigenen Sprache einen persönlichen Segen gebe." Das geht über Konfessionen und Religionen hinweg: "Zu mir sind sogar schon Hindus oder auch eine jüdische Familie gekommen, die gesegnet werden wollten. Klar, sag' ich, wir Menschen brauchen alle Gottes Zuspruch." Wenn die Schlangen vor dem Büdchen allzu lang werden, erteilt er den Segen schon mal nach Sprachgruppen: Auf Spanisch, Italienisch, Englisch und – sofern mehrere …Bongata
On August 15 in Göttingen, Germany, about 20 Catholics held a registered “Public Rosary Against Abortion.” Left-wing counter-protesters disrupted the gathering with heckling and loud music as police formed a barrier between the groups. After the gathering ended, some counter-protesters attempted to break through police lines, exerting “pressure and violence” against officers.Twelve police officers suffered minor injuries from pepper spray deployed by fellow officers while pushing back counter-protesters.
Friedliche Gebetsaktion für das Leben wird von Gegendemonstranten attackiert
This is one of the dangerous speeches that has turned Charlie Kirk into a target of certain media outlets that, arrogating to themselves the role of guardians of the truth, democracy, and freedom, dictate who deserves a voice and who should be demonized - - - Este es uno de los peligrosos discursos que ha convertido a Charlie Kirk en objetivo de unos medios que, arrogándose el papel de guardianes de la verdad, la democracia y la libertad, dictan quién merece voz y quién debe ser demonizado.
Today, Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann, 66, of Speyer, Germany, due to health reasons. He had led the Diocese of Speyer since March 2008. Bishop Wiesemann said that "the burden of the extensive responsibility has taken a serious physical and psychological toll on me." Depression and Health Bishop Wiesemann had previously suffered from depression. In 2021, he withdrew from his duties for about seven months for health reasons, including inpatient treatment. He later publicly identified the illness as depression. In May 2026, he spoke about his experience at the Katholikentag in Würzburg during an event on depression and mental health. He attributed his depression to prolonged pressures including the demands of episcopal office, financial and structural problems in the diocese and, above all, the Catholic Church's sexual abuse crisis. Pro-Homosexual Bishop Bishop Wiesemann was among the German bishops supporting changes in the Church's approach to homosexuality …Bongata
Leo XIV appointed this guy: Peter G. Kirchschläger, 49, a social ethicist at the University of Lucerne, has called the Church’s ban on women’s ordination an unresolved human-rights problem and argued that the state should pressure the Church over it. Rejecting the argument that dissatisfied women can simply leave the Church, he responded: “That would be protecting the perpetrator.”
On 18 August 2026, Pope Leo XIV appointed twelve new consultors to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Leo XIV fills the Vatican's social-policy apparatus with mostly anti-Catholic figures. 1. Peter G. Kirchschläger, 49, Social ethicist, University of Lucerne, Switzerland In December 2018, he said that the Catholic Church has an unresolved human-rights problem regarding the impossibility of women's ordination to the priesthood. He even claimed that the state "may not look away" but has an obligation to press the Church on it. When presented with the argument that women dissatisfied with Catholic teaching can leave, he answered: “That would be protecting the perpetrator.” 2. Kathryn A. Koch, 45, Wall Street Finance Kathryn Koch spent 20 years at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, became a Goldman partner and ran its approximately $300 billion public-equity business. In 2015, Koch was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Since 2024, Koch has …Bongata
On July 20, at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, the 88th Annual Meeting of the Catholic Biblical Association (CBA) elected Amy-Jill Levine, 70, as president for 2026–2027. She is the first Jewish president in the CBA’s history. Founded in 1936, the CBA is an independent association with longstanding institutional ties to the U.S. bishops. Its constitution says it pursues biblical scholarship “in conformity with the teaching of the magisterium of the Catholic Church.” Levine is a New Testament scholar and is a longtime member of the CBA. In spring 2019, she became the first Jewish scholar to teach New Testament at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute. She has also had three audiences with Pope Francis. In a sermon at Washington National Cathedral on March 7, 2021, Levine said: “I’m a Jew. I don’t worship Jesus as Lord and Savior.” "Lectionary Revision Is Only A Start" In an interview published by The Christian Century in June 2023, Levine describes parts of the Gospel of John as …Bongata
At least 24 Christians were killed in an overnight attack on Bin Mper village in Plateau State, Nigeria, on August 18. The attackers reportedly entered the community around midnight and attacked people in their homes. Several others were injured and taken to hospital.
Mindestens 24 Tote bei neuem Angriff im christlich geprägten Plateau State. Die jüngste Gewalttat reiht sich in die anhaltenden terroristischen Angriffe ein. Seit Jahren erleben dort Christen Angriffe und die Zerstörung ihres Eigentums.
Revealed by Prodiges and France's representative at Eurovision 2026, Monroe will continue her ascent on September 26. The 17-year-old French-American soprano has been chosen to sing at the grand youth vigil presided over by Léon XIV at the Stade de France.
The Vatican’s Dicastery for Education has responded to a Catholic mother involved in a parents’ campaign against a new sexual-education framework for Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Hamburg, reports LaNuovaBq.it on August 18. Hamburg is led by Archbishop Stefan Heße. The response was sent to Varinia Arauco, a Peruvian-born mother involved with the ‘Parents’ Network for Child Protection and Prevention’. Arauco and other parents have appealed to Church authorities in Germany and Rome over the Archdiocese of Hamburg’s framework “Male, Female, Diverse: Framework for Sexual Education at Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Hamburg.” The framework was published in 2025 and is intended to be implemented in the archdiocese’s 15 Catholic school locations from the 2026/27 school year. It explicitly supports the “acceptance of diversity with regard to sexual orientations and gender identity” The parents also submitted a petition to Pope Leo XIV through the Apostolic Nuncio in Germany and …Bongata
by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira We do well to read some advice from Saint Bernard about devotion to Our Lady. The advice is as follows: “Oh, whosoever thou art that perceiveth thyself during this mortal existence to be rather drifting in treacherous waters, at the mercy of the winds and the waves, than walking on firm ground, turn not away thine eyes from the splendor of this guiding star, unless thou wish to be submerged by the storm!” Passages like this are often found referring to Our Lady. Such texts represent what we might call a profoundly anti-Hollywoodian vision of life. This modern, optimistic and wrong view creates the illusion that this life can be a phase of our existence in which we can find true happiness. Earthly life is presented to us as a rose garden, in which misfortune only happens to people by chance or bad luck. Some people might also make a few unfortunate missteps, thus falling, hurting themselves, or collapsing definitively. However, if we manage to work around …Bongata
Lourdes Bans FSSPX Masses: On August 13, Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes, France, issued a statement concerning the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX) pilgrimage to Lourdes. He cited the episcopal consecrations at Écône on July 1 and the subsequent decree of the Holy See. The FSSPX is no longer authorized to celebrate Mass or other sacraments inside the Lourdes Sanctuary, nor to organize public prayers there. Individual pilgrims remain free to pray privately. Bishop Micas wrote that he was aware the decision would cause “pain” and “perhaps incomprehension.” The FSSPX had held organized public worship at Lourdes for many years, including Masses, confessions, processions and public prayers within the Sanctuary.
August 15 ~ THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. ON this festival, the Church commemorates the happy departure from life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and her translation into the kingdom of her Son, in which she received from Him a crown of immortal glory, and a throne above all the other Saints and heavenly spirits. After Christ, as the triumphant Conqueror of death and hell, ascended into heaven, His blessed Mother remained at Jerusalem, persevering in prayer with the disciples, till, with them, she had received the Holy Ghost. She lived to a very advanced age, but finally paid the common debt of nature, none among the children of Adam being exempt from that rigorous law. But the death of the Saints is rather to be called a sweet sleep than death ; much more that of the Queen of Saints, who had been exempt from all sin. It is a traditionary pious belief, that the body of the Blessed Virgin was raised by God soon after her death, and taken up to glory, by a singular privilege, …Bongata
"Tartary, and Northern China on the east, and Sweden and Norway to the west, were evangelized by him, and he is said to have visited Scotland. Everywhere multitudes were converted, churches and convents were built; one hundred and twenty thousand pagans and infidels were baptized by his hands. He worked numerous miracles, and at Cracow raised a dead youth to life."
Amy-Jill Levine was elected the first Jewish president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America on July 20, 2026. In February 2020, Levine stated: “So I'm not a Christian, I'm not a Messianic Jew, I do not worship Jesus as Lord and Savior, and for me the New Testament is not sacred scripture.” Discussing the Gospels, she continued: “I will argue, that not all the comments the gospel writers attribute to Jesus were spoken by him. I think they added some things.” She added: “My bias or my agenda is in part to help Christians stop making Jewish practice and belief look bad in order to make Jesus look good.”
1. Jüdin Präsidentin der Catholic Biblical Association Amy-Jill Levine, 1. jüdische Präsidentin der Catholic Biblical Association (USA): "I'm not a Christian. I'm not a Messianic Jew. I do not worship Jesus as Lord and Savior and for me the New Testament is not a Sacred Sripture. I will argue, I hope convincingly or at least I'm convinced that not all the comments the gospel writers attribute to Jesus were spken by him. I think they added some things." „Ich bin keine Christin. Ich bin keine messianische Jüdin. Ich verehre Jesus nicht als Herrn und Erlöser und für mich ist das Neue Testament keine Heilige Schrift. Ich werde darlegen – hoffentlich überzeugend, oder zumindest bin ich selbst davon überzeugt –, dass nicht alle Äußerungen, die die Evangelisten Jesus zuschreiben, tatsächlich von ihm gesprochen wurden. Ich glaube, sie haben einiges hinzugefügt" Amy-Jill Levine wurde am 20. Juli 2026 zur 1. jüdische Präsidentin der Catholic Biblical Association der USA gewählt: National Catholic …Bongata
Bishop Athanasius Schneider has issued his first public statement since Leo XIV declared six FSSPX bishops excommunicated on July 2, published on Diane Montagna's Substack. Schneider had previously appealed for liturgical peace, meeting with Pope Leo XIV in December 2025 and Cardinal Parolin a little over a week before the July 1 episcopal consecration. Bishop Schneider's central claim: in an extraordinary Church crisis, fidelity to unambiguous doctrine and traditional liturgy can outweigh obedience to ecclesiastical law. He opens with St. Athanasius, excommunicated by Pope Liberius in 357 for refusing communion with Arian bishops the Pope himself had recognized under imperial pressure. Athanasius was later canonized as a Doctor of the Church; Liberius was never canonized. Schneider treats Écône as a modern parallel — a forced choice between canonical obedience and doctrinal integrity. Bishop Schneider blames two distortions for narrowing this question: "legalism" (treating Church law …Bongata
US Sisters and the Macarena Retirement Tour: The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) held its 70th anniversary gathering in Orlando, Florida, from 11 to 14 August. They posted a video on Facebook showing elderly women in civilian clothes dancing the Macarena (1995). The fitting headline: "When Catholic sisters get together, watch out for the dance parties! ". Macarena was popular when the sisters were in their 50s. The LCWR represents the leaders of many women's religious congregations in the United States.
Dance party of "nuns": The LCWR 70th Anniversary Gathering was held August 11–14, 2026, in Orlando, Florida. The event brought together Catholic women and men religious from the United States, Canada, Latin America and other parts of the Americas for prayer, worship, talks, discussion and community events.
And you wonder why vocations to the nunnery have collapsed. People who have a religious vocation take their lives seriously and look for serious opportunities
2. Historical Context and "Dance Manias" Catholic history records instances where mass dancing was interpreted through the lens of spiritual affliction or divine punishment. [1, 2] St. Vitus’ Dance (Chorea): In the Middle Ages, outbreaks of compulsive, uncontrollable dancing (now understood as a neurological or psychological phenomenon) swept through Europe. [1, 2, 3, 4] Spiritual Intercession: Victims were sent to shrines of St. Vitus, a Christian martyr, to pray for deliverance and healing from what many at the time feared was a demonic curse or affliction. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] 3. Ritual Dancing and Entry Points Catholic moral theology warns against practices that willingly open a person up to the influence of evil spirits. Trance Induction: Repetitive, frenzied, or rhythmic dancing used in occult or neo-pagan rituals is designed to lower conscious defenses and alter the state of mind. [1, 2, 3] The Danger of Invitation: Exorcists warn that participating in dances meant to invoke …Bongata
Can You Say, Thy Will Be Done? The reading from Ezekiel highlights the need for purification within the church and ourselves. It emphasizes the importance of following God’s commandments and being willing to do His will, even when it is difficult or requires sacrifice. Fr. Altier urges us to examine our prayer life, moral life, and willingness to conform to God’s will, especially in challenging times. Fr. Altier is a Priest at Holy Trinity Parish in South St. Paul: Home | Holy Trinity Parish You can also find Fr. Robert Altier’s homilies and talks on: catholicparents.org: Daily Homilies | Catholic Parents Online Rumble: rumble.com/user/CatholicParentsOnLine Twitter: Catholic Parents Online (@CatholicPa42753) on X For access to a library of talks by Fr. Robert Altier, go to: podia.com To order Fr. Altier's book, God's Plan for Your Marriage, go to the website: God's Plan For Your Marriage Book – God's Plan … An Exploration of Holy Matrimony from Genesis to the Wedding of the Lamb by …Bongata
A depiction of Our Lady by Romanian artist Teodora Axente has sparked controversy in Siena, Italy. The Virgin on this year's Palio banner os androgynous and departs from any Marian iconography. The Municipality of Siena commissioned Axente to create the Drappellone, the painted silk banner awarded to the winning contrada, one of Siena's historic districts, in the city's centuries-old Palio horse race. Axente was appointed by the city government on the proposal of Mayor Nicoletta Fabio. The banner was unveiled on August 10. It places the Virgin above Siena and its contrade, protecting the Golden Rose associated with Pope Pius II, and commemorates the 500th anniversary of the 1526 Battle of Camollia. Axente called the figure her personal vision of the Madonna and said the figures in the work were “more androgynous” and therefore “universal characters.” On August 13, the Archdiocese of Siena published a statement by Father Enrico Grassini, rector of the Collegio dei Correttori. He rejected …Bongata