U.S.

On affirmative action, U.S. bishops echo call of St. Katharine Drexel

WASHINGTON — In a statement released July 7, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said that it was their “hope that our Catholic institutions of higher learning will continue to find ways to make education possible and affordable for everyone, regardless of their background.” The statement was made in response to the June 29 Supreme Court ruling that institutions of higher education can no longer take race into consideration for admission, a landmark decision overturning previous precedent supported by many Catholic universities and colleges. “Education is a gift, an opportunity, and an important aspect of our democracy that is not always within the reach of all, especially racial and ethnic groups who find themselves on the margins,” the statement, issued by Bishop Joseph N. Perry, newly appointed chair of the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, said. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 6-3 majority opinion in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, arguing admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause in a ruling dealing with affirmative action policies at those institutions. (OSV News)

Bishops praise expansion of family reunification processes for migrants

WASHINGTON — The U.S. bishops praised July 10 a recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that it would expand family reunification processes for some migrants. On July 7, the department said it would implement the new processes for eligible nationals of Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The expanded program, which began July 10, permits migrants from those countries to travel to the U.S. and gain work permits if they have family members who are U.S. citizens or legal residents, and those relatives filed visa applications on their behalf. In a statement, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, said the bishops “welcome this effort to provide a realistic opportunity for attaining family unity and reunification, which are foundational to the U.S. immigration system and central tenets of Catholic social teaching.” (OSV News)

Pope names Dominican priest as new bishop of Fairbanks, Alaska

WASHINGTON — Pope Francis has named Dominican Father Steven Maekawa, current pastor of Holy Family Old Cathedral in Anchorage, Alaska, as the new bishop of Fairbanks, Alaska. Bishop-designate Maekawa, 55, has served as pastor of the Anchorage parish since 2016. A native of Washington state, the bishop-designate was ordained to the priesthood May 29, 1998.The appointment was publicized in Washington July 11 by Cardinal-designate Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. (OSV News)

WORLD

Pope appoints hundreds to attend Synod of Bishops on Synodality

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has appointed more than 450 participants, including dozens of religious men and women and laypeople from around the world, to attend the first general assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality in October. And that list is not even complete, Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, told reporters at a Vatican news conference July 7. More names are going to be added to the list of nonvoting members, such as experts and representatives of non-Catholic Christian communities, he said. For now, the list of voting members is complete, numbering 363 cardinals, bishops, religious and lay men and women — a first in the history of the synod. Pope Francis gave women the right to vote in the synod. Out of the 364 members who can vote, which includes the pope, 54 are women — either lay or religious; the number of cardinals appointed as members also is 54. (CNS)

Vatican offers indulgence for visiting elderly on grandparents day

VATICAN CITY — Catholics who celebrate the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly July 23 can receive a plenary indulgence, which is a remission of the temporal punishment due for one’s sins, the Vatican said. In a decree issued July 5, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, said that a plenary indulgence will be extended “to grandparents, the elderly and all the faithful who, motivated by the true spirit of penitence and charity,” attend Mass or other services to celebrate the world day and that the indulgence can “also be applied as suffrage for the souls in purgatory.” The decree states that the indulgence will also apply to the faithful who dedicate adequate time to visit “elderly brothers and sisters in need or in difficulty” on July 23. To receive a plenary indulgence, a person must show detachment from sin, go to confession, receive the Eucharist and pray for the intentions of the pope. (CNS)

Bishop: Suffering in Tigray from war, hunger ‘beyond human imagination’

MEKELLE, Ethiopia — Stopping food aid in Ethiopia from the United States and United Nations caused severe hunger that has killed hundreds of people in the northern Tigray region in recent weeks, and one local bishop said the situation is “beyond human imagination.” Bishop Tesfasellassie Medhin of Adigrat stressed that the two-year war forced many to depend solely on humanitarian assistance. According to the bishop, thousands of people have been displaced into tented camps. “We are dying to live in peace,” Bishop Medhin said in an interview June 26. Tigray, a semi-autonomous state in northern Ethiopia, slid into war in November 2020. A peace treaty ended the fighting in November 2022. The bishop estimates the war killed at least 1 million people and forced 5 million to 6 million people to depend on relief aid, which has been suspended by the U.N.’s World Food Program and the U.S. Agency for International Development over allegations of widespread theft of aid. (OSV News)

Religious leaders plead for dialogue and peace as violent riots convulse France

PARIS — The leaders of the Conference of Religious Leaders in France, representing Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Buddhist communities, issued a June 30 joint statement appealing for peace, harmony and fraternity amid violent protests that have engulfed the country. The unrest broke out June 27 after Nahel M., a 17-year-old of Algerian and Moroccan descent, was shot by police during a traffic stop in Nanterre, a Paris suburb. Police violence and racism — particularly toward those who are of Arabic or black African descent in France, especially Muslims — has been alleged as playing a role in Nahel’s killing. “We share the pain of Nahel’s family and pray for them, especially for his mother. We hear the suffering and anger being expressed,” religious leaders wrote in their appeal. “We encourage our leaders and the Nation’s elected representatives to work together, with responsibility, to bring back justice and peace,” they said. The leaders said in the appeal they “call together for dialogue and peace,” affirming “with one voice that violence is never the right path.” The leaders’ statement said, “May all believers be today, more than ever, servants of peace and the common good. Together, we are ready to make our contribution.” (OSV News)

Pope: No one can be indifferent to ‘silent massacres’ of migrants

VATICAN CITY — Mourning the “silent massacres” of innocent people who died while crossing the Mediterranean Sea seeking a better life elsewhere, the world must change its attitude toward migrants and those in need, Pope Francis said. “The brother who knocks at the door deserves love, hospitality and every care,” the pope said in a letter marking the tenth anniversary of his first apostolic journey as pope to the Italian island of Lampedusa July 8, 2013. Lampedusa, which lies between Sicily and the northern African nations of Tunisia and Libya, has been for decades a major destination point for migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Asia seeking a new life in Europe. However, many migrants often make the journey in unsafe vessels or without needed provisions like food, water and floatation devices. In his letter to Archbishop Alessandro Damiano of Agrigento, Sicily, the pope said he wanted to visit the people of Lampedusa “to express my support and paternal closeness to those who, after painful ordeals, at the mercy of the sea, landed on your shores.” The Vatican published the letter July 8. “We are witnessing the repetition of grave tragedies in the Mediterranean, we are shocked by the silent massacres before which we still remain helpless and stunned. The death of innocents, mainly children, in search of a more serene existence, far from wars and violence, is a painful and deafening cry that cannot leave us indifferent,” he wrote. (CNS)