National Catholic Reporter

Nuns at the Infant Jesus Children's Home in Bengaluru, southern India, were at a loss this summer. While most residents of the center for children with HIV/AIDS, managed by the Dinasevanasabha (Servants of the Poor) congregation, went home for vacation, 22 stayed and had nowhere to go. Sister Veronica, the center's superior, said that no one had sponsored the children's vacation trip this year as in the past. "These children joined us as infants and grew up with us as our children.

Capuchin Mobile Ministries not only offers spiritual care and food to unhoused people in the Boston area, but it also aims to provide something that can be particularly hard to find for those experiencing homelessness: relationships. Three times a week, a van with a mix of a Capuchin Franciscan friar or two, lay chaplains and volunteers, travels to seven sites.

Poor Graham Platner. In a self-pitying 11-minute video, the now former U.S. Senate candidate for Maine seemed to think he was the victim here, not the woman whom he is alleged to have raped. And, the "establishment" won't let him ignore a credible accusation of sexual assault. He sounded like a teenager who got caught doing something bad. Platner was one of a group of candidates which aims to lead the Democratic Party's version of the Tea Party. They claim the mantle of progressivism.

Donald Trump's handpicked representative to the Vatican insists that when Pope Leo XIV said the United States-led war in Iran did not meet the criteria of a just war, he was not speaking as the moral leader of the world's largest religious denomination. The Vatican, it seems, disagrees.

In this way, the pontiff stressed, "we shall return to our usual activities renewed in body and spirit, ready to proclaim the good news of the Gospel and ever more capable of contributing to the growth of the kingdom of God." The pope prayed the Angelus standing at the gate of the Castel Gandolfo residence and used a small, motorized buggy cart to drive standing through the square and greet pilgrims after the Sunday prayer.

On this week's episode of "The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast," I speak with writer and theologian Oblate Fr. Ronald Rolheiser about his latest book,Insane for the Light: A Spirituality for Our Wisdom Years, the conclusion of his trilogy of modern spiritual classics, following The Holy Longing and Sacred Fire.

While there is growing awareness of the severe humanitarian crisis in Cuba, in large measure brought on by the U.S. fuel blockade, few are paying attention to the damage that decades of sanctions are inflicting on the Catholic Church's ability to serve the Cuban people. The United States has pressed economic sanctions on Cuba for over 60 years. Congress strengthened those sanctions through the Helms-Burton Act in 1996, extending penalties to some foreign companies doing business with Cuba.

One Saturday afternoon in May 2026, families gathered on Poklonnaya Gora, a hilltop war memorial park in western Moscow. They came for a procession and a "moleben," an Orthodox prayer service, for the well-being of Russian families. Church media billed it as the first Day of the Sanctity of the Family. May 30 is the feast of St. Evdokia of Moscow, a 14th-century princess who took monastic vows late in life after being widowed.

By now, the corn should be knee high, at least according to popular wisdom. Even if we haven't been raised on — or even spent time on — a farm, most of us know that farming is a risky business. Good soil, water and weather are the essential ingredients for helping seeds grow strong roots and become plants that feed the world. Today we hear Jesus' well-known allegory of the sower and seeds. Those who designed our lectionary selected Isaiah 55 to complement that.

Under the Italian sun of Lake Albano and the shade of Castel Gandolfo's Borgo Laudato Si' trees, Pope Leo XIV enjoyed lunch with people experiencing social vulnerability. About 200 people from the Diocese of Rome took part in the event on July 11. "Lunch with the Pope" was "a day of welcome and fraternity" within the Pontifical Gardens of Castel Gandolfo, the Vatican's Laudato Si' Center for Higher Education said in a statement.