Pope Leo XIV appointed Joseph Chang Yanfeng bishop of Chifeng, in Inner Mongolia, a diocese of 50,000 Catholics without a bishop for two decades, approving his candidacy under the Holy See's China agreement. He was ordained bishop July 22, after serving as the diocese's administrator since 2021.
Pope Leo XIV appointed seven new members to the Apostolic Signatura, the Church's highest court, for five-year terms, including Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco and Bishop Edward Lohse of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The other five are canon lawyers from Spain, Germany, Poland and Italy. Cardinal Dominique Mamberti leads the tribunal, which hears challenges to Roman Rota rulings.
Pope Leo XIV will lead a moment of prayer July 29 during the "Canticle of Peace" concert at Castel Gandolfo, featuring tenor Andrea Bocelli and a choir of 164 children from war-affected regions. The Holy See Press Office announced the event July 27, sponsored by the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. It marks the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi.
The federal government filed a May 7 lawsuit claiming eminent domain over 14 acres at Mount Cristo Rey, a century-old shrine in Sunland Park, New Mexico, that the Diocese of Las Cruces says is protected under the First Amendment. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, introduced the "Mount Cristo Rey Protection Act" July 20 to bar federal funds for the border wall and the case against the diocese.
Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski said July 24 that Haiti remains unsafe for migrants, as work permits for Haitians with temporary protected status expired July 27. About 353,000 Haitians hold TPS in the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security says, after the Supreme Court ruled June 25 that DHS could end it. A Miami archdiocesan ministry said 40 to 50 employees may be affected.
Bosnia and Herzegovina — Authorities investigated the desecration of a Virgin Mary statue and a fire at the Medjugorje shrine overnight, after photos showed the statue painted black with an inscription reading "Devil in a skirt." A banner nearby, in Polish, called the visionaries "fraudsters." The Vatican approved pilgrimages there in 2024 without declaring the apparitions authentic.
Zambia — Archbishop Alick Banda of Lusaka said in a July 24 memorandum that the "Minoresses of Divine Providence" and the "Sisters of Divine Providence" have no ecclesiastical recognition, ordering their members to stop presenting as religious sisters. The Vatican expelled 21 members of the original group in 2016 after failed reconciliation; a second splinter group formed in 2023.
Poland — A 55-meter statue of the Virgin Mary under construction in the village of Konotopie is the tallest Marian statue in Europe, funded by industrialist Roman Karkosik at a cost local media put at 100 million zlotys. The statue is set to be blessed on Assumption Day, Aug. 15, though it remains unfinished. Some residents said the money should have gone to a hospital or an orphanage.
The General Secretariat of the Synod published "Recollecting" on July 27, asking diocesan teams to draft reflections on their progress since October 2021, naming "resistance to renewal" and "unsuccessful attempts." Cardinal Mario Grech, the synod's secretary-general, said evaluation is "an experience of gratitude and truth." It is the first of four stages before the 2028 assembly.
The Vatican Publishing House released "Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift" last week, the first collection of Pope Leo XIV's speeches on peace since his 2025 election. Alessandro Banfi, the volume's coordinator, told ACI Prensa the pope's peace "is not the abstract, naive, or ideological concept of the hippies" but "passes through the pain, contradictions, and wounds of the world."
Federal authorities charged the operator of several Los Angeles hospice businesses in June with a $27 million fraud scheme using dead people's identities, in a $31 billion-a-year industry. Wesley J. Smith of the Center on Human Exceptionalism said hospice workers could also face penalties under New York's Medical Aid in Dying Act, effective Aug. 5, for refusing to discuss assisted suicide.
Egypt — A crowd threw stones at a church in Upper Egypt on July 8, injuring Christians and damaging a priest's vehicle, and a group attacked Father Matta Roushdy, 49, in South Sinai on July 12. A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. "will always defend the right of every person to live out their faith." Christians, 10% of Egypt's population, hold 2 of 31 cabinet posts.
Asif Mahmood, new chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, told OSV News that if asked to "pick one place," it would be Nigeria, where Christians face escalating violence from Boko Haram and other groups. President Trump redesignated Nigeria a "country of particular concern" in 2025, and Mahmood said its government "continues to tolerate and fail to respond to" the attacks.
Pope Leo XIV offered prayers July 26 for victims of wildfires that have forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate in Spain and France, as two firefighters died battling a blaze near Bordeaux. OSV News
A stray bullet passed through a wall of a Catholic Charities office in Brockton, Massachusetts, on July 21 while staff and clients were inside; police said the building was not the intended target and no one was hurt. The Boston Globe
"The Chosen" released the first teaser for its sixth season on July 27, covering the 24 hours of Good Friday; the season begins on Prime Video Nov. 15, with a stand-alone theatrical finale set for March 12, 2027. National Catholic Register
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Paweł Szczabel
Editor, CatholicNews
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