It’s the feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, a.k.a. St. Edith Stein, and today I learned she’s co-patroness of Europe with St. Bridget of Sweden and St. Catherine of Siena.
Pope St. John Paul II’s motu proprio “Spes Aedificandi” named them as such when I was just a few years old, and in it he notes they significantly contributed “to the growth of the Church and the development of society.”
The witness of these saints’ lives elaborated in the document, and John Paul II’s reasoning for naming them special intercessors for Europe ahead of the turn of the millennium, make for edifying reading. I think it also shines light on hot-topic news of today.
We covered some of these issues in stories this week. Read a selection of our coverage below, and keep an eye out for OSV News in your local Catholic newspaper and online @OSVNews.
Megan Marley
Digital Editor
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UK Catholics voice ‘shock and concern’ at new outbreak of nationwide disorder
Prominent Catholics have joined church leaders in condemning a wave of riots across the United Kingdom, while also urging greater understanding of current social grievances.
7 exiled Nicaraguan priests arrive in Rome as Ortega regime continues to target church
Seven priests expelled from Nicaragua arrived in Rome Aug. 8. The had been detained in a wave of arrests, mostly targeting the Diocese of Matagalpa, where exiled Bishop Rolando Álvarez is still the recognized church leader.
In university summer program, students do hands-on research, learn faith and science not at odds
For David Ronderos, a biology professor at the University of Mary in Bismarck, and his aspiring scientist students, the fruit fly may hold the clues to unlocking the genetic causes of human blindness. Ronderos directs University of Mary’s Summer Undergraduate Research Vocation Experience, or SURVE, a 10-week annual program from late May through early August providing paid, science-research internships.
Baltimore police make arrest in brutal 2023 assault of elderly pro-life Catholic activists
Baltimore City police confirmed that after more than a year they have made an arrest in an assault of two elderly Catholic pro-life activists outside a downtown Planned Parenthood center.
Cardinal’s successor as Boston’s archbishop says his first job ‘is just to be a listener’
Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley’s newly named successor as archbishop of Boston said at a press conference Aug. 5 that he is “humbled by the size and history of this archdiocese.”
‘Abundant data’ shows elective induced abortion is not ‘health care,’ says OB-GYN
According to Dr. Ingrid Skop, a board-certified OB-GYN with more than 30 years of experience, abortion not only fails the principles of medical ethics toward the unborn child but also meets none of the criteria established by the American Medical Association for identifying health care that physicians should support. In the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, the number of abortions in the United States have increased, even as some states implemented near-total bans on the procedure, according to a recent report by #WeCount, a research project by the Society of Family Planning, a group that supports legal abortion.
Parents win appeal in death of daughter forced off life support by British court
The parents of a young woman branded “delusional” for wanting continued hospital treatment instead of palliative care have won a court battle over the legality of the ruling that led to their daughter’s death. Sudiksha Thirumalesh, who was 19 at the time, died Sept. 12, 2023, shortly after she was put on an end-of-life care pathway against her will and stating clearly to an examining psychiatrist, “I want to die trying to live … we have to try everything.”
Priests say ‘edifying’ Eucharistic congress has called the church ‘to something more’
EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL: Father Patrick Hyde said that he was inspired by “the desire from everyone I spoke to about ‘how can this experience be taken beyond this congress?'”
300 religious leaders call on State Department to address religious persecution in India
Bishop Joy Alappatt of the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Chicago is among more than 300 signatories of an open letter to the State Department, asking Secretary Antony Blinken to designate India as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, due to significant violations of religious freedoms against Christians, Muslims, Dalits and Indigenous peoples.
Catholic summer camps help youth meet Jesus serving others struggling under poverty
Catholic summer mission camps in the U.S., such as Arlington Diocese WorkCamp, Baltimore WorkCamp, and Catholic Heart Workcamps, are helping youth live out the corporal works of mercy by alleviating poverty and hardship in local communities rather than traveling abroad. These camps involve Catholic teens working alongside contractors and chaperones to improve living conditions for those in need, emphasizing the motto of making homes “safer, warmer, and dryer.”
Those who sing pray twice
COMMENTARY: Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York, reflects on the role of the choir in church.
Iraq marks 10th anniversary of ‘collective’ tragedy under Islamic State group’s terror
As Iraq marked 10th anniversary of Islamic State group-induced terror recognized by the United Nations as genocide, and subsequent tragic Christian exodus, a top Iraq cardinal said that evil will not last and Christians called for more support for Iraq’s ancient Yezidi community still struggling for restitution and justice.
“It Ends With Us“
MOVIE REVIEW: The sober drama “It Ends With Us” (Columbia) takes on the grim problem of spousal abuse. While the film has its lighter moments, it also has defects that lessen its impact and moves toward a conclusion that requires careful assessment from a Catholic perspective. OSV News classification is A-III – adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned.
