The number of people working in slavery-like conditions in Brazil is the highest in 11 years. With 1,443 identified cases from Jan. 1 to June 14, the first half of 2023 already has the highest number of such occurrences in Brazil since 2012.
International News
Following Wagner Group’s Now-Halted March On Moscow, Bishop Sees ‘Hope and Danger’ Ahead For Ukraine
While a Catholic bishop in Ukraine warned current events presented “both hope and danger” for his own country, leaders of Russia’s Orthodox Church backed President Vladimir Putin’s rule and welcomed the apparent defusing of a military rebellion.
Ukrainian Catholic University Volunteers Feed Front-Line Soldiers With Food For Body and Soul
College students often struggle in the kitchen, but at one Catholic university, they’re making food to help defend their country’s freedom.
Pope Recalls ‘Vatican Girl’ on 40th Anniversary of Disappearance
Pope Francis on Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of the disappearance of an Italian teenager, the daughter of a former Vatican employee, offering his closeness and prayers to her family and all those with a loved one who is missing.
New Religious Freedom Report Shows Attacks Growing Worldwide
A report issued June 22 by Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic international aid organization, said that religious freedom rights were violated in 61 countries, impacting more than 4 billion people.
Vatican Investigator Vows to Stay ‘Close to the Pain’ of ‘Vatican Girl’ Family
On the 40th anniversary of the disappearance of the “Vatican Girl,” whose fate over the decades since has become the Italian equivalent of the Kennedy assassination, a Vatican prosecutor has promised to continue a new investigation while remaining “close to the pain” of the girl’s family.
Fatima Visionary Declared ‘Venerable’ by Pope Francis
Sister Lúcia dos Santos, who, with her cousins, reported seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary when she was a child in Fátima, Portugal, has received a decree of heroic virtues from Pope Francis, meaning she now has the title “venerable.”
Pope Declares Mother Lange ‘Venerable’
Recognizing that she lived the Christian virtues in a heroic way, Pope Francis has declared venerable Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, founder of the first Catholic order of African American nuns.
Nicaraguan Bishop Living In Exile In Florida Inspires New Jersey Hispanic Priests At Retreat
The words of an exiled Nicaraguan bishop at a first-time retreat for Spanish-speaking priests in New Jersey were “personally very inspiring” and “reassured my priesthood,” said Father Bismarck Chau, pastor of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark.
Brazilian President Invites Pope To Visit Amazon, Discusses War
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, commonly referred to as Lula, gave Pope Francis a statue of Our Lady of Nazareth, patroness of the Amazon, and an invitation to attend the October festival that celebrates her.