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Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, and Pope Leo XIV.

Pope Leo XIV receives call from Netanyahu after Gaza church attack

Jul 18, 2025

Pope Leo XIV received a phone call Friday from Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, following yesterday’s Israeli army attack on Holy Family Church in Gaza.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, leave the church after a visit to Holy Family Parish in Gaza on July 18, 2025.

Pizzaballa, Patriarch Theophilos III visit Holy Family Church in Gaza after Israeli attack

Jul 18, 2025

Both religious leaders led an ecclesiastical delegation into Gaza to “offer condolences and solidarity” with both Christian and non-Christian families.

A view of the damage to Holy Family Church in Gaza City following an Israeli strike on the church in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on July 17, 2025. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said an Israeli strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church killed three and injured several people on July 17, including the parish priest, as well as causing damage to the building.

Israel says Holy Family Church in Gaza was ‘mistakenly’ hit, ‘regrets’ damage

Jul 18, 2025

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) shared a post on X saying “fragments from a shell” hit the parish church, which has become a shelter for more than 500 people. 

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Federal court blocks Washington law that would force priests to violate seal of confession

Jul 18, 2025

In the ruling, District Judge David Estudillo said there was “no question” that the law burdened the free exercise of religion.

Pope Leo XIV called Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa on Friday, July 18, 2025, just before the cardinal entered Gaza following the July 17 attack on Holy Family Parish in Gaza.

Pope to Cardinal Pizzaballa after Gaza church attack: ‘It is time to stop this slaughter’

Jul 18, 2025

“It is time to stop this slaughter.” With these words, Pope Leo XIV expressed his firm condemnation of the Israeli army’s attack on the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza.

Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City.

Mexico City government projects pro-abortion images on cathedral’s façade

Jul 18, 2025

The show, titled “Luminous Memory: Mexico-Tenochtitlan 700 Years,” takes place every night July 11–27 in the capital’s Zócalo (central square).

In a scene marked by deep sorrow and righteous anger, churches across Syria held funeral services for the victims of the suicide bombing that targeted St. Elias Church in the Syrian capital, Damascus. The attack claimed the lives of 25 people and left dozens injured.

Violence against Christians escalates in Syria

Jul 18, 2025

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed. 

Holy Mass at the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, led by the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli during the Advent season. December 2024.

8 things to know about the only Catholic parish in Gaza

Jul 18, 2025

Amid the ongoing war in Gaza, the Holy Family Chuch has been a refuge for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Here are eight things to know about the only Catholic parish in Gaza.

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United States Conference of Catholic Bishops headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Catholic bishops seek relief from federal abortion rule in appeals court

Jul 17, 2025

Under the rule, the USCCB can deny workplace accommodations for elective abortions but may still have to provide accommodations for abortions related to treating medical conditions.

Holy Mass at the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, led by the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli during the Advent season. December 2024.

Gaza church attack: Without warnings by priest ‘it would have been a massacre’

Jul 17, 2025

Father Yusuf Asad, 49, assistant parochial vicar at Holy Family Church in Gaza, had just celebrated morning Mass when a loud bang sounded. At around 10:20 a.m. local time, a projectile hit the building. 

Migrants aboard an inflatable vessel in the Mediterranean Sea approach the guided-missile destroyer USS Carney in 2013. Carney provided food and water to the migrants aboard the vessel before coordinating with a nearby merchant vessel to take them to safety.

Catholic youth urge European leaders to address migrant crisis with charity, understanding

Jul 17, 2025

This year’s written contribution by the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) Youth Net centers on solutions for “fostering integration of migrants in the European Union.”

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on July 15, 2025.

UPDATE: Catholic Sen. Tim Kaine blasts GOP for slashing aid funding

Jul 17, 2025

Kaine on Wednesday called the cuts an “attack on the religious organizations so that they cannot do the work that their faith in their Creator compels them to do.”

Post-Dobbs America