The U.S. House on July 3 approved the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which would enact key provisions of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda on taxes and immigration, meaning the legislation will reach the president’s desk for his signature. Catholic leaders have alternately praised and criticized various provisions in the legislation.
An Idaho pastor told OSV News his parish turned to prayer and Eucharistic adoration, following a deliberate and deadly sniper attack on first responders as they responded to a June 29 blaze on Canfield Mountain, located just over 4 miles from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
The Vatican has officially named the judges who will oversee the canonical trial of Father Marko Rupnik, the disgraced Slovenian priest and artist accused of sexually, spiritually and psychologically abusing more than two dozen women.
Wisconsin’s Catholic bishops said that the state’s top court issued a “tragic ruling” by striking down a ban on abortion Wisconsin had in place since 1849. The 4-3 ruling, issued July 2, held that the past 50 years of “comprehensive legislation” on abortion regulation had implicitly repealed the law.
Bishops from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean urged bold climate action ahead of the November COP30 summit in a new joint statement released July 1, warning that the climate crisis is “an existential issue of justice, dignity, and care for our common home” and denouncing so-called “false solutions” like green capitalism, carbon offsets and the commodification of nature.
“The whole church needs fraternity, which must be present in all of our relationships, whether between lay people and priests, priests and bishops, bishops and the pope,” Pope Leo XIV said during his homily at Mass on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29. The feast day celebration included the traditional blessing of the pallium, the woolen band that archbishops wear around their shoulders that symbolizes their unity with the pope, and their authority and responsibility to care for the flock. The new U.S. archbishops particularly reflected on the pope’s message in interviews that weekend.
Mexican priest Father Héctor Alejandro Pérez is in critical condition after being shot four times while on his way to minister to a sick person — highlighting the growing dangers for clergy. At least 52 priests have been killed since 2006, according to the Catholic Multimedia Center.
Church leaders in Congo cautiously welcomed a U.S.-brokered peace deal aimed at ending the brutal conflict in the country’s east, where rebel group M23 has seized major cities including Goma and Bukavu. The June 27 agreement, signed in Washington, calls for a ceasefire, protection of civilians and unimpeded humanitarian aid.
Catholic priests will now be able to celebrate Mass “for the care of creation” after the Vatican announced a new formulary of prayers and Scripture readings for the Mass will be added to the Roman Missal. This announcement came the same week as the release of Pope Leo XIV’s message for the Sept. 1 World Day of Prayer for Creation.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced June 27 that the department had terminated Temporary Protected Status for Haiti, placing at risk of deportation about 500,000 Haitians previously given legal permission to be in the United States.
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