Today, Leo XIV published a message for the 2026 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. He adopts the ecological vocabulary closely associated with Francis’ pontificate. Citing Laudato Si’, he speaks of an “authentic ecological conversion” and in metaphors such as “the ecosystems of the human heart.” The message also contains a naïve statement on warfare. “The true tools for building peace are not weapons of destruction,” Leo writes, listing instead “truth, dialogue, patience, goodness, justice, mercy, understanding, care and love.” Leo XIV enfolds an earthly program of disarmament, poverty reduction and ecological improvement: “Let us imagine a world in which the energies currently invested in war are directed toward integral human development, to overcoming poverty, protecting human dignity and reconciling divided peoples. Such a vision reflects faith in the coming of God’s Kingdom.” #newsUadwzxlixo
The bishop who oversees the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France has said the popular Catholic pilgrimage site will cover all of its mosaics by disgraced priest Father Marko Rupnik ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s visit next month.
The mosaics by Marko Rupnik at the Sanctuary of Lourdes will be fully covered in the coming weeks and will remain hidden permanently after Pope Leo XIV’s visit, Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes told French newspaper LaDepeche.fr on August 20. Only some of the mosaics, including those on the basilica’s doors, were covered in March 2025. The sanctuary had previously stopped illuminating Rupnik’s works during its nightly processions in 2024. Rupnik is a Slovenian priest and artist promoted by the Vatican for decades. He has been accused by around two dozen women of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse. An ongoing canonical case concerning the allegations is being drawn out in the Vatican. Bishop Micas has previously said that the continued public display of Rupnik’s work at Lourdes can cause particular pain to victims of abuse who visit the sanctuary. #newsSevwzxkaei
Nathan Cofnas, the researcher who exposed plagiarism by Cambridge professor Jason Arday, has been suspended by Ghent University in Belgium. Cofnas says "they will almost certainly fire me". The decision was taken by rector Petra De Sutter, a former Green Party leader.
Italian priest Lino Zatelli, 75, killed himself on August 12. He had been parish priest of San Carlo Borromeo in Trento for a quarter of a century. He was found dead inside the rectory of his parish after he didn’t show up to celebrate the Eucharist. Corriere del Trentino reported the death as a voluntary act. Two months earlier he had learned that he would have to leave San Carlo in November for another pastoral assignment. Zatelli publicly said he had not asked to leave. Sad detail: During his Easter homily, Don Zatelli preached about Judas's suicide. He discussed Judas as someone overwhelmed by despair who could no longer see beyond the obstacle before him, but emphasized Christ's forgiveness and imagined Jesus ultimately embracing Judas in heaven. Eucharists Beyond Rubrics A 2019 interview called him the “eternal bad boy of the Trentino Church.” A November 2020 profile describes Zatelli as working in a kind of laboratory parish. His Eucharists went beyond formulas and interpreted …Okuningi
We are obliged to pray for all of the lost, but the point is clear - current theological aberrations are poisoning the Faith and the Faithful. We are being led by those who "are like whitewashed sepulchers, which outwardly appear brilliant to men, yet truly, inside, they are filled with the bones of the dead and with all filth." Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
They’re Putting Medicine in the Flour — And Calling It Public Health In this video we examine the UK’s new mandatory folic acid fortification policy, set to take full effect in December 2026. Non-wholemeal wheat flour will be required to contain synthetic folic acid under the Bread and Flour (Amendment) Regulations 2024. We look at: What the official regulations actually say The government’s stated benefit numbers versus the more detailed assessments The difference between natural folate and synthetic folic acid How folic acid is regulated when sold as a medicine versus when it is added to food The original Hungarian trial data that is frequently cited Questions around consent, transparency, and population-wide exposure This is not medical advice. It is an examination of publicly available regulations, impact assessments, parliamentary records, and published scientific literature. Key sources referenced: Bread and Flour (Amendment) Regulations 2024 UK government impact assessments and …Okuningi
Priest Alters Words of Consecration, Nuns Appear as "Concelebrants". Worse than Germany: A video published by InfoVaticana.com shows Trinitarian nuns at the Monastery of Suesa in Cantabria, Spain, standing around the altar like concelebrants, with their hands extended during the Eucharistic Prayer. The celebrating priest altered the words of consecration, using feminine forms. He said, “Tomad y comed todas de él” (“Take and eat, all of you” — using the feminine todas). Furthermore, he prayed “for all humanity” instead of “for many.” He also replaced “Do this in memory of me” with: “Do this to remember that I am among you as one who serves.”
Ein Video, das InfoVaticana vorliegt, zeigt, wie im Trinitarierkloster von Suesa (Kantabrien) die Nonnengemeinschaft während des eucharistischen Gebets mit ausgestreckten Händen als "Konzelebranten" fungieren.
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 …Okuningi
It’s Already Too Late to Stop This Food Crisis as More American Farmers Quit American farmers are staring down massive losses this year, hundreds of thousands of dollars per operation as skyrocketing diesel, fertilizer, insurance and tariff costs collide with lost export markets and a punishing drought. Quality is collapsing across the Midwest, Europe, Russia, Ukraine and beyond which results in the world’s food supply is tightening fast. This is the real reason your food is about to get more expensive and why many family farms may not plant next year at all.
German-born Abbot Maximilian Heim, 65 will step down as head of Heiligenkreuz Abbey on September 14, ending more than 15 years at the helm of the monastery. Founded in 1133 southwest of Vienna, Austria, it is one of Europe’s best-known Cistercian monasteries. The monastery still uses Latin and the Gregorian chant for its liturgies. It is strictly Novus Ordo with only few monks preferring the Roman rite. They had a difficult life under Abbot Heim. Abbot Heim said the time had come to place the responsibility “in younger hands,” pointing to the heart problems he suffered last year. Heim intends to return to pastoral ministry and theological work. His resignation comes roughly a year before the scheduled end of his second term. The monks are expected to elect new leadership in September. In consultation with the Vatican, however, the community will initially elect an administrator for a three-year term rather than an abbot for the customary longer mandate. The resignation comes only months …Okuningi
Leo XIV met Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the Vatican on Thursday for talks focused on Lebanon’s deteriorating security situation and efforts to implement the Trilateral Framework Agreement. Aoun asked the pope to continue pressing for an end to Israeli attacks and withdrawal from Lebanese territory, while seeking Vatican support for a diplomatic path toward peace. The two leaders also discussed strengthening Lebanese state authority and placing decisions of war and peace solely in the hands of the state amid renewed violence in the country’s south.
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 …Okuningi
"The foolishness of man. For nothing is more foolish than to live in idleness in the present life, where a man ought to work for himself so that he may live in eternity. He found them idle in the market place. (Matt. 20:3) This market place is the present life. The market placee, or forum, is called the place in which lawsuits are conducted and in which buying and selling take place; and it signifies the present life, which is full of disputes, of buying and selling, and in which even the benefits of grace, progress, and heavenly glory are sold in exchange for good works. And those men were idle because they had already lost part of their life. And they are called idle not only those who do evil, but also those who do not do good. And just as the idle do not attain their end, neither do these. The end of man is eternal life. Therefore, he who works in the way he ought will obtain it, provided he is not idle." — St. Thomas Aquinas, Serm. in Dom. Septuages. St. Thomas Aquinas (@aquinaswisdom)
Samuel the Patriarch - August 20 Memorial 20 August Profile The last Judge of Israel, described in the Old Testament book of 1 Kings. The son of Elcana and Hannah, who vowed before his birth to give him to God. Delivered the Israelites from the rule of the Philistines (1 Kings 7). Believed by some to be the author of the books of Judges and Ruth, and the first 24 verses of 1 Kings. In his old age he appointed his sons judges over Israel, but they displeased the ancients, who asked him for a king, and the Lord told him to anoint Saul (1 Kings 8). Born c.1132 BC at Ramatha in the moutains of Ephraim Name Meaning God hath heard (hebrew) Canonized Pre-Congregation
20. August – Heiliger des Tages: Heiliger Samuel, Priester, Prophet & Richter von Israel Der Prophet, der schon als Kind Gottes Stimme vernahm … und nach seinem Tod ein letztes Mal sprach. Die Geschichte des heiligen Samuel liest sich wie ein Drehbuch: Das verzweifelte Gebet einer kinderlosen Mutter wird mit einem Wundersohn erhört. Eine Stimme ruft in der Nacht und zwingt einen Jungen, ihr zuzuhören. Donner kracht mitten in der Schlacht auf ein feindliches Heer. Zwei Könige werden gesalbt, eine Blutlinie führt direkt nach Bethlehem. Ein römischer Kaiser trägt seine Gebeine im Jahr 406 n. Chr. durch sein Reich. Seine berühmten Worte berühren uns in einer Welt, die sich ständig im Wandel befindet, noch immer aufs Neue: „Sprich, Herr, denn dein Diener hört.“ Und Gottes Worte an ihn treffen uns vielleicht noch tiefer: „Der Mensch sieht, was vor Augen ist, aber der Herr sieht das Herz an.“ Die vollständige, tiefgründige Geschichte, inklusive der wohl ungewöhnlichsten …Okuningi