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The military general and leader of the project to restore Notre-Dame de Paris following its devastating 2019 fire died while hiking in the Pyrenees mountains on Sunday. French President Emmanuel Macron said that French army general Jean-Louis Georgelin’s death meant “the nation lost one of its great soldiers” and “one of its great servants,” while Notre-Dame had lost “the architect of its rebirth.” Macron had appointed Georgelin to the role shortly after the fire, in April 2019. Georgelin in 2021 was confident that the restoration would be able to meet Macron’s proposed five-year working schedule. “The deadlines will be met!” he said that year during a media interview. The cathedral is scheduled to be reopened in 2024.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255142/jean-louis-georgelin-architect-of-notre-dame-s-rebirth-dies-during-hiking-trip

Albany Bishop Emeritus Howard Hubbard, who confessed to covering up clergy abuse, was accused of committing sexual abuse himself, and announced this month that he entered into a civil marriage with a woman, has died from a stroke at the age of 84, according to his publicist. Hubbard made headlines last year after he announced that he asked the Vatican if he could return to the lay state, claiming he is not able to function publicly as a priest while under investigation for sexual abuse. Following Hubbard’s announcement of his civil marriage, Albany Bishop Edward Scharfenberger said Hubbard remained a bishop and that his “marriage” was invalid. Hubbard led the Diocese of Albany from 1977 to 2014.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255146/retired-albany-bishop-accused-of-covering-up-and-committing-abuse-has-died

Pope Francis on Tuesday accepted the resignation of Bishop Michael Warfel of the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, Montana. Warfel, who will turn 75 on September 16, will be automatically succeeded by his coadjutor, 57-year-old Bishop Jeffrey Fleming, who was appointed last year. In an April 2022 statement, Warfel said that the year prior he had asked Pope Francis to appoint a coadjutor bishop “to help me in the administration of our diocese and to begin a transition for the eventual new ordinary.” Warfel, who lived for over 25 years in Alaska and has spent the last 15 years in Montana, is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys hiking and backpacking. A veteran of the U.S. Army, he served in Vietnam for 18 months and in Korea for 13 months before being honorably discharged in 1971. Fleming, who now succeeds Warfel as bishop, was born in Billings, Montana, in 1966. He studied religious education and theology at Carroll College in Helena and completed his priestly studies at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon, where he also received a master’s degree in theology. He holds a license in canon law from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255152/pope-francis-accepts-resignation-of-great-falls-billings-bishop-michael-warfel

Today, the Church celebrates Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Pope Pius XII in the Papal Encyclical Ad Coeli Reginam proposed the traditional doctrine on the Queenship of Mary and established this feast for the Universal Church. Pope Pius IX said of Mary's queenship: "Turning her maternal Heart toward us and dealing with the affair of our salvation, she is concerned with the whole human race. Constituted by the Lord Queen of Heaven and earth, and exalted above all choirs of Angels and the ranks of Saints in Heaven, standing at the right hand of Her only-begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, she petitions most powerfully with Her maternal prayers, and she obtains what she seeks."

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/queenship-of-mary-343

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Pope Francis announced during an audience with lawyers Monday that he is writing a second part to his 2015 environmental encyclical Laudato Si’. The pope said with this new writing he is updating Laudato Si’ to cover current issues. The Holy See Press Office Director, Matteo Bruni, confirmed to CNA August 21 that “the pope is working on a letter updating Laudato Si' with regard to the recent environmental crises.” He could not provide any information on when the letter will be released. Laudato Si’ is the second of three encyclicals published in Pope Francis’ pontificate thus far. It was released in June 2015. The title, which means “Praise be to you,” was taken from Saint Francis of Assisi’s medieval Italian prayer “Canticle of the Sun,” which praises God through elements of creation like Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and “our Sister Mother Earth.” The theme of the encyclical is human ecology, a phrase first used by Pope Benedict XVI. The document addresses issues such as climate change, care for the environment, and the defense of human life and dignity.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255138/pope-francis-writing-a-second-environmental-document-after-laudato-si

Pope Francis called the mother of a young man, Luca Re Sartù, 24, who passed away after apparently contracting a bacterial staph infection during his trip to Portugal for World Youth Day. The infection likely turned into septicemia leading to organ failure, and the youth died on August 11. The autopsy results are pending. On Thursday, August 17, the day before the funeral, Pope Francis called Luca’s mother. According to the auxiliary bishop of Milan, Bishop Luca Raimondi, who celebrated the youth’s funeral with 13 other priests, “the pope and Luca’s mother cried together.” Bishop Américo Aguiar, auxiliary bishop of Lisbon and the director of the World Youth Day, has offered his condolences to the family, assuring them that Portugal is mourning with them.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255135/pope-calls-grieving-mother-of-son-who-died-at-wyd-he-comforted-me-as-if-he-were-my-dad

Today, the Church celebrates Pope Saint Pius the tenth, born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, who was the first Pope elected in the 20th century. He came to the papal office in 1903 and died 11 years later in 1914, just as World War I was beginning. As Pope, he issued decrees making the age of First Holy Communion earlier (at the age of 7) and advocated frequent and even daily reception of the Eucharist. He promoted the reading of the Bible among laypeople, reformed the liturgy, promoted clear and simple homilies, and brought back Gregorian chant. He revised the Breviary, reorganized the curia, and initiated the codification of canon law.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/pope-st-pius-x-575

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Pope Francis met Thursday with the Catholic president of Madagascar, Andry Nirina Rajoelina. The president was accompanied by his wife of 23 years and three young adult children. The 49-year-old politician and businessman has led the country of Madagascar in his current term since January 2019. He also led a provisional government in the country from 2009–2014. According to the Vatican, after a 20-minute private conversation, Pope Francis invited Rajoelina and his family to pray a Hail Mary together before a Marian image he had received from the bishops of Madagascar. The pope and delegation were also photographed together next to a miniature of a ship, a gift Francis received on the occasion of his 2019 visit to the island country.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255109/pope-francis-meets-catholic-president-of-madagascar

A federal appeals court this week sided with a group of pro-life protesters who claim the city of Washington, DC, discriminated against them by arresting them for anti-abortion messages they had written with chalk in 2020. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said in its ruling Tuesday that the Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America had “plausibly” demonstrated that Washington police had violated the First Amendment rights of two protesters when they were arrested over a pro-life slogan they wrote in chalk on a city sidewalk that year. The protesters had written “Black Preborn Lives Matter” on the sidewalk at a rally that occurred outside the Planned Parenthood Carol Whitehill Moses Center in Washington, DC. The government “may not play favorites in a public forum — permitting some messages and prohibiting others,” the ruling said.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255113/appeals-court-sides-with-anti-abortion-protesters-in-dc-first-amendment-dispute

The State of Colorado’s program to fund universal preschool unconstitutionally excludes Catholic preschools that want to participate in the program, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of two Denver-area parishes and the Archdiocese of Denver. The lawsuit concerns Colorado’s universal preschool program, created in 2022, that offers eligible families at least 15 hours per week of free preschool for every participating child, according to the program website. The suit maintains that the state’s rules requiring participating schools “to accept any applicant without regard to a student or family’s religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity” violate the schools’ First Amendment rights. The lawsuit objects that the program rules are unconstitutional and exclude Catholic schools but not the preschool programs of other private schools. The Denver Archdiocese has 36 preschools with more than 1,500 preschoolers each year.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255112/colorado-can-t-exclude-catholic-preschools-from-state-program-lawsuit-says

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine who according to tradition discovered the resting place of the true cross of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-helena-740

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The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals approved additional abortion pill restrictions, including ending mail-order abortions, in a Wednesday ruling in the high-stakes abortion case Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v Food and Drug Administration. The court did not disapprove all use of abortion pills but rather ruled that the FDA must reinstate restrictions in place before 2016, most notably banning administering the pills through the mail or via telemedicine. Because of this finding, variations of the most commonly used abortion pill, such as Mifeprex and generic mifepristone, “will remain available under the safety restrictions that were in effect prior to 2016.” Once reviewed and certified by the Supreme Court, the ruling will mandate that the FDA restore its original regulations in place in 2000. This means that the mifepristone approval will be capped at seven weeks, rather than 10, and require at least three in-person doctor visits to administer the drug. Stay tuned to catholic news agency dot com for the latest on this story.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255106/breaking-5th-circuit-court-approves-abortion-pill-restrictions-ends-mail-order-abortions

Pope Francis this week merged the Diocese of Takamatsu with the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Osaka in Japan. Cardinal Thomas Aquino Manyo Maeda, archbishop of Osaka since 2014, was named on August 15 as the first archbishop of the new Archdiocese of Osaka-Takamatsu. The last bishop of the Diocese of Takamatsu, John Eijiro Suwa, died in 2022. The two territories are on different islands: Takamatsu is on Japan’s Shikoku Island while Osaka is on Honshu. They are connected by water through the Osaka Bay and Seto Inland Sea or by land by crossing Awaji Island, already part of the territory of the former Archdiocese of Osaka. The new archdiocese has just 51,413 Catholics, less than a third of 1% of the area’s 19 million inhabitants.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255101/pope-francis-merges-two-dioceses-in-japan

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin in his visit to South Sudan this week urged the people of God in the east-central African country to continue to work toward building a united nation by embracing a spirit of peace and reconciliation. Speaking to the media after his meeting with South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Monday, August 14, Parolin underscored the importance of peace and reconciliation in building a stable country. Parolin left Juba on Tuesday, August 15, and headed to the Diocese of Malakal, where he had been invited by Bishop Stephen Nyodho to meet refugees from war-torn Sudan. Parolin will end his four-day visit to South Sudan on Thursday, August 17, in the Diocese of Rumbek, where he will preside over Mass and meet with Church leaders and more government officials.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255099/vatican-official-urges-south-sudanese-to-remain-committed-to-peace-and-reconciliation

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Hyacinth, one of the first members of the Dominicans (the Order of Preachers) and the "apostle of the North", also called the "Apostle of Poland."

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-hyacinth-566

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Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin arrived in South Sudan on Monday, August 14, to meet people fleeing violence from neighboring Sudan among other activities lined up for his four-day visit to the east-central African country. In an interview with ACI Africa, CNA’s partner news agency in Africa, ahead of the visit, the apostolic nuncio in South Sudan said the visit by Parolin is an extension of the “care and love” of Pope Francis to the people of South Sudan. Parolin is visiting South Sudan at the invitation of Bishop Stephen Nyodho of the Diocese of Malakal as a follow up to his July 2022 visit to review the situation of internally displaced persons and those fleeing violence in neighboring Sudan. In February, Pope Francis became the first pope — and the first Western leader — to visit South Sudan. Amid an enthusiastic welcome, more than 100,000 people attended his papal Mass February 5 in the capital city of Juba, during which the pope made an impassioned plea for peace in the war-torn nation.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255093/vatican-secretary-of-state-to-meet-refugees-from-sudan-in-four-day-visit-to-south-sudan

The New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld a Catholic school’s ability to enforce an employee code of conduct in line with Catholic moral teaching and to fire teachers for violating that code. The ruling in Victoria Crisitello versus Saint Theresa School further solidifies the ability of New Jersey religious schools of all types to enforce moral codes of conduct in line with their religious practice. In its ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court wrote that “the religious tenets exception allowed St. Theresa’s to require its employees, as a condition of employment, to abide by Catholic law.” Peter Verniero, counsel for Saint Theresa School, told CNA that “this is a significant validation of Saint Theresa School’s rights as a religious employer.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255094/new-jersey-court-rules-catholic-school-can-require-teachers-to-follow-catholic-teaching

Honolulu Bishop, Larry Silva, visited the town of Lahaina Tuesday to celebrate Mass and meet survivors of the wildfires that he said “shockingly devastated” the town. While the scope of the crisis has been “overwhelming,” the response from the local community has been “remarkable,” the prelate told CNA. Silva’s bishopric encompasses the entire state of Hawaii, including Maui, the second-largest of the Hawaiian islands and the third-most populated. That island has been ravaged by wildfires this month, with at least 99 lives lost and major buildings and communities burned and destroyed. The bishop told CNA via email that he celebrated Mass at Kapalua, Maui, on Sunday for about 200 Catholics gathered there. Law enforcement, including the National Guard, are keeping guard over Lahaina, the bishop said. Silva urged visitors to the diocesan website to donate to the Hawaii Catholic Community Foundation to “support the relief efforts for our fellow community members affected by the Maui wildfires.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255092/honolulu-bishop-details-shocking-devastation-on-maui-after-visit-to-lahaina

Today, the Church celebrates ​​the feast day of King Saint Stephen of Hungary, the monarch who led his country to embrace the Christian faith during the 11th century. In 1038, on the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Stephen delivered his final words to leaders of the Church and state, telling them to protect and spread the Catholic faith. Stephen of Hungary died on Aug. 15, 1038. He was buried alongside his son Saint Emeric, and the two were canonized together in 1083.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-stephen-of-hungary-565

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Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr on Saturday urged Catholics in the state of Ohio to reject a November ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights under the state's constitution. The amendment, if passed, would dictate that Ohio “shall not, directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against” a woman’s attempt to get an abortion. State law currently prohibits abortion after the point at which an unborn child’s heartbeat is detected, generally around six weeks of pregnancy. Under the amendment, lawmakers could prohibit abortion “after fetal viability,” or when a child could survive outside its mother’s uterus, generally at around 24 weeks of pregnancy. The state would be prohibited from doing so, however, in cases where a doctor determined that an abortion was necessary to protect the mother’s “life or health.” The archbishop urged Catholics to pray for the amendment’s defeat, to raise awareness of the measure, and to vote against the initiative in the November 7 general election.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255086/cincinnati-archbishop-urges-catholics-to-reject-state-abortion-amendment-in-november

The Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas, has removed two of its incardinated priests from ministry after receiving substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse. Father Alejandro Ortega of St. Monica Catholic Church in Converse, and Father Jesus Eduardo “Lalo” Martinez-Solis of St. Joseph-Honey Creek church in Spring Branch were both accused of sexually abusing minors. The allegations were referred to law enforcement, the archdiocese said. Both men had their faculties removed and are prohibited from identifying themselves as priests. They are forbidden from wearing clerical clothing and using clerical titles.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255088/san-antonio-archdiocese-removes-two-priests-over-allegations-of-child-sex-abuse

The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega prohibited two priests from returning to Nicaragua from Lisbon, Portugal, where they participated in World Youth Day, a lawyer who has conducted research into the human rights abuses of the regime reported. Lawyer and researcher Martha Patricia Molina said that Father Tomás Sergio Zamora Calderón and Father William Mora were returning to Nicaragua after participating in World Youth Dayin Lisbon, August 1-6, attended by Pope Francis and more than a million young people from around the world, including a delegation from Nicaragua. In recent months the dictatorship of Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, has denied entry to Nicaragua "to more than half a dozen priests and lay people, most of them Nicaraguan citizens."

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255090/dictatorship-in-nicaragua-blocks-two-priests-who-attended-wyd-from-returning-to-the-country

Today, Catholics and many other Christians celebrate the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This significant feast day recalls the spiritual and physical departure of the mother of Jesus Christ from the earth, when both her soul and her body were taken into the presence of God. Venerable Pope Pius XII confirmed this belief about the Virgin Mary as the perennial teaching of the Church when he defined it formally as a dogma of Catholic faith in 1950, invoking papal infallibility to proclaim, “that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/the-assumption-561

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The devastating Maui fires appear to have spared Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in Lahaina, providing a symbol of hope amid catastrophic destruction. At least 93 deaths had been reported as of Sunday, August 13, making the disaster the deadliest wildfire event in the US since 1918. Authorities expect the death toll to rise. Multiple fast-moving fires, fanned by strong winds and fueled by dry vegetation, swept across the Hawaiian island. The western town of Lahaina, with fewer than 13,000 residents, was particularly devastated. Maria Lanakila Catholic Church, named for Our Lady of Victory, appears to have escaped destruction. Maria Lanakila Catholic Church serves 700 to 800 families and celebrates six Sunday Masses every weekend. It hosts many weddings from visitors from around the world.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255084/for-us-it-s-like-a-miracle-catholic-church-appears-to-survive-devastating-maui-fire

After Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was gunned down at a campaign rally this week, Pope Francis appealed for a unified effort for peace in the country plagued by drug-related violence. The pope sent a condolence telegram to Archbishop Alfredo Espinoza Mateus of Quito on August 12 in which he condemned the assassination “with all his strength” and expressed his deepest sympathy to the family of the deceased and “all of the beloved Ecuadorian people.” Villavicencio, 59, was assassinated on Wednesday night at a campaign event only ten days before the first round of voting in Ecuador’s presidential election. The politician had been an outspoken critic of the violence caused by drug trafficking. Immediately following the assassination, the Ecuadorian bishops’ conference condemned the act of violence, while pledging to support initiatives to restore public safety and to “pray and work for peace based on freedom, justice, and truth.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255081/pope-francis-condemns-assassination-of-ecuadorian-presidential-candidate

A community of Norbertine priests from California is putting down roots in the Midwest by opening a new priory and educational institute in Springfield, Illinois, this summer. The Norbertine, or Premonstratensian, order was founded in 1121 in France by Saint Norbert. The new priory had its official opening July 1. The Norbertines plan to offer daily Mass and thrice-weekly confessions in the new space, located at 4867 Laverna Road, as well as host diocesan events and retreats for groups and individuals. The buildings and grounds of Corpus Christi Priory are the former site of the Chiara Center, operated by the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, who will continue to live in a convent on the property. The Norbertine fathers will serve as chaplains for the sisters. Visitors are welcome at the new priory.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255079/california-community-of-norbertine-priests-establish-new-priory-educational-institute-in-illinois

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish Franciscan priest, missionary and martyr. The saint died in the concentration camp at Auschwitz, during World War II, and is remembered as a “martyr of charity” for dying in place of another prisoner who had a wife and children. Saint Maximilian is also celebrated for his missionary work, his evangelistic use of modern means of communication, and for his lifelong devotion to the Virgin Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-maximillian-kolbe-560

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A Catholic university in the state of Washington recently announced its full divestment from holdings in fossil fuel concerns, a decision one of the school’s leaders says came about as part of a “moral imperative to action” stemming from Catholic teachings. Seattle University, a Jesuit-run school near the city’s downtown, said last month that it had fully “scrubbed its endowment portfolio of fossil fuel investments,” with the school touting itself as “the first university in Washington state and the first Jesuit Catholic university in the country” to do so. The school’s board of trustees in 2018 “became the first Jesuit university in the country to pledge 100% withdrawal from publicly traded fossil fuel investments,” with the school claiming the divestment measure was part of a broader effort at “building a sustainable community that supports human and ecological health, social justice, and economic well-being.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255062/catholic-university-divests-from-fossil-fuels-after-a-six-year-process

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia agreed to a $3.5 million settlement with a man who accused a now-deceased priest of raping him about 17 years ago and alleged that the archdiocese failed to take action when previously informed of separately alleged abuse. The lawsuit alleged that Monsignor John Close, who was ordained in 1969, sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy in 2006 when he took classes at Saint Katherine of Siena Parish in Wayne, which is within the archdiocese. The lawyers claimed that Close sexually abused the teenager after hearing his confession and warned him not to report the abuse. Although the man, who is now 30 years old, first opened up about the alleged abuse in 2018, his lawyers argued that the archdiocese failed to take proper action in response to previous allegations, which could have prevented his assault. In the 1990s, a different man accused the priest of sexual abuse allegedly occurring in 1969, but the archdiocese could not substantiate the claims.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255068/philadelphia-archdiocese-settles-for-3-dollars-5-cents-million-in-sex-abuse-lawsuit-for-deceased-priest

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Clare of Assisi. As a child she was already very strongly drawn to the things of God, praying fervently, devoutly visiting the Blessed Sacrament, and manifesting a tender love towards the poor. Saint Francis made her superior of the Poor Clares order, a post she should serve for the next 42 years of her life until her death.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-clare-of-assisi-564

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Pope Francis on Thursday named Bishop Rui Manuel Sousa Valério as patriarch of Lisbon, just days after the conclusion of World Youth Day in the capital city of Portugal. The pope on August 10 also accepted the resignation of Cardinal-Patriarch Manuel Clemente, who has led the patriarchate since May 2013.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255058/pope-francis-names-new-patriarch-of-lisbon-following-world-youth-day

Bishop Martin Igwemezie Uzoukwu of Minna, Nigeria, called for prayers for the release of a priest and a seminarian who were kidnapped by armed men on August 3 in the north-central part of the country.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255051/church-prays-for-release-of-kidnapped-priest-and-seminarian-in-nigeria

The Ecuadorian bishops’ conference on Wednesday condemned the murder of Fernando Villavicencio, 59, a candidate for president in Ecuador. In a statement, the Ecuadorian bishops expressed their “deep solidarity” with Villavicencio’s family and said: “We also condemn all forms of violence unleashed at different levels of society.” Villavicencio, who was a presidential candidate of the Movimiento Construye coalition, was shot and killed by an unidentified man while participating in a political rally on Wednesday night.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255059/ecuador-bishops-condemn-assassination-of-presidential-candidate-fernando-villavicencio

Ohio voters on Tuesday night rejected a proposed initiative that would have made it more difficult to adopt constitutional amendments via citizen-led ballot initiatives, which will make it easier for a proposed abortion referendum to succeed in November. A yes vote was a vote in favor of raising the threshold required for adopting a constitutional amendment through a citizen-led ballot initiative. The proposal would have required 60% of the vote for an initiative to pass. With the amendment’s defeat, a simple majority is all that is required for a ballot initiative to win. This referendum comes just three months before Ohioans will vote on another referendum that will decide whether to establish a constitutional right to “reproductive freedom,” which would include abortion up to the point of viability. Abortion is currently legal in Ohio up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. Amid the high stakes on a variety of issues, out-of-state organizations funneled money into the campaigns to either support or oppose Issue 1. Interest groups spent about $20 million in total on the campaign, more than 80% of which came from outside of Ohio.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255044/ohio-rejects-initiative-to-change-amendment-process-easing-way-for-abortion-referendum

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Lawrence, who was martyred on August 10, 258 during the persecution of the emperor Valerian along with many other members of the Roman clergy. He was the last of the seven deacons of Rome to die. After the pope, Sixtus II, was martyred on August 6, Lawrence became the principal authority of the Roman Church, having been the Church's treasurer. When he was summoned before the executioners he was ordered to bring all the wealth of the Church with him. According to tradition, he showed up with a handful of crippled, poor, and sick men, and when questioned, replied that "These are the true wealth of the Church." He was immediately sent to his death, being cooked alive on a gridiron.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-lawrence-563

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Pope Francis changed canon law on Tuesday regarding the governance of Opus Dei and any future personal prelatures. In a motu proprio issued August 8, the pope assimilated the personal prelature to “public clerical associations of pontifical right with the faculty of incardinating clerics.” It also further defined the role of the prelate as a “moderator endowed with the faculties of an ordinary.” The motu proprio modifies canons 295 and 296 of the Code of Canon Law on personal prelatures and immediately entered into force on the day of its publication. The updated canons now state that the statutes that govern a personal prelature can be “approved or issued by the Apostolic See.” To date, the international Catholic organization Opus Dei is the only personal prelature in the Catholic Church. The group’s statutes have yet to be approved by the Holy See following its extraordinary congress in April.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255038/pope-francis-changes-canon-law-on-opus-dei-and-any-future-personal-prelatures

The father of Jimena, the 16-year-old Spanish World Youth Day pilgrim who reported she recovered her sight during a Mass in Fátima, described the healing as a “gift from the Virgin Mary.” On Saturday, Aug. 5, in Fátima, Portugal, Jimena said she was cured of a serious eye problem — which the doctors called incurable — after completing a novena to Our Lady of the Snows and receiving holy Communion at a Mass. Jimena’s father said that “thousands of people” participated in the novena, which really took off. The father explained that “when you take a leap in faith, you don’t look back, you only look forward.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255042/father-of-girl-reportedly-cured-of-blindness-says-it-was-a-gift-of-the-virgin-to-wyd

A Texas judge ordered Southwest Airlines to take religious freedom training from the faith-based legal advocacy organization Alliance Defending Freedom, after the airline failed to inform employees of their freedom to practice their religion. Southwest flight attendant Charlene Carter had been fired by the airline after criticizing the president of her worker’s union for attending the pro-abortion Women’s March in Washington, DC, in 2017. Carter sued and won a combined $5 million from the airline and the Transport Workers Union Local 556 in the dispute, with the court finding that her speech against the union president was protected under federal statute. She was also subsequently reinstated as a flight attendant for the company. The US District Court for the Northern District of Texas further ordered Southwest to inform its workers that the company “may not discriminate against Southwest flight attendants for their religious practices and beliefs.” In its ruling on Monday, the district court said Southwest “didn’t come close to complying with the court’s order.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255037/court-orders-lawyers-for-southwest-airlines-to-take-religious-freedom-classes

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as Saint Edith Stein. Saint Teresa converted from Judaism to Catholicism in the course of her work as a philosopher, and later entered the Carmelite Order. She died in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz in 1942.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-teresa-benedicta-of-the-cross-edith-stein-557