Catholic News

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Four religious sisters who were kidnapped while on their way to Mass August 21 have been released, according to their order. Sisters Johannes Nwodo, Christabel Echemazu, Liberata Mbamalu, and Benita Agu were kidnapped August 21 in Nigeria’s Imo state, located in the south of the country. After two days of seeking “intense prayer” for their “quick and safe release,” the Sisters of Jesus the Saviour announced the abductees’ “unconditional and safe release” in a statement August 23. The Sisters of Jesus the Saviour is a Nigerian order that cares for the poor, elderly, and sick. The order did not provide any details about who may have perpetrated the kidnapping. Kidnappings of Christians in Nigeria have multiplied in recent years, a situation that has prompted Church leaders to express serious concern about the security of their members and to call on the government to prioritize the security of its citizens.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252098/kidnapped-nigerian-religious-sisters-released

Father Stuart Long — the late Catholic priest recently featured in a film starring actor Mark Wahlberg — is one of seven finalists for a prestigious Catholic award called the Lumen Christi Award. The Montana boxer-turned-priest known for his dramatic conversion is the only finalist not alive today. Father Stu was diagnosed with a debilitating terminal illness around the time of his ordination in 2007, but it never deterred him from his ministry as a priest — even while in a wheelchair. The Lumen Christi Award, presented by the papal society Catholic Extension, honors “people who radiate and reveal the light of Christ present in the communities they serve.” Founded in 1905, the Chicago-based nonprofit says that it “works in solidarity with people in America’s poorest regions to build up vibrant and transformative Catholic faith communities.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252094/father-stu-honored-catholic-award-finalist-mark-wahlberg-movie

“Trigger laws” banning most abortions with limited exceptions are set to take effect in three states — Texas, Idaho, and Tennessee — on Thursday, August 25. When these laws go into effect, a dozen states in total will have banned abortion, most through “trigger laws” passed before the overturning of Roe v Wade on June 24. According to SBA Pro-life America, the laws going into effect could prevent as many as 69,000 abortions each year across the three states. Katie Glenn, SBAPLA’s state policy director, told CNA that the pro-life organization is “really excited that states can finally enact policies that reflect the values of their people.” The states in question all have provisions in their trigger laws stipulating that the laws would come into force 30 days after the US Supreme Court’s official judgment overturning Roe v Wade, the 1973 landmark decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252097/abortion-trigger-laws-three-states-take-effect-this-week

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Bartholomew. Besides being listed as an Apostle, he is not otherwise mentioned in the New Testament, at least not under the name Bartholomew: many ancient writers and Catholic tradition have identified Bartholomew as Nathaniel in the Gospel of John. He presented as honest and innocent, a just man, who devotes much time to quiet reflection and prayer "under the fig tree” and has been awaiting the Messiah, the Holy One of God. Nothing is known for sure about the life of Bartholomew after the Ascension of Jesus, but tradition holds that he preached in the East and died a martyr's death in Armenia, being flayed alive for having won converts to the Lord Jesus.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-bartholomew-apostle-569

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The Vatican released the logo and motto for Pope Francis’ September trip to Kazakhstan Tuesday. The motto of the September 13-15 visit, “Messengers of Peace and Unity,” is written in Kazakh across the top of the logo and Russian across the bottom. Russian and Kazakh are the two official languages of the Central Asian country. Pope Francis will travel to the city of Nur-Sultan for the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. The sky blue and yellow logo includes two hands forming the image of a dove with an olive branch. The blue and yellow of the logo are the colors of the Kazakhstan flag. A heart on the dove's wing “represents love, fruit of reciprocal understanding, cooperation, and dialogue.” The olive branch has been drawn in the shape of a typical Kazakh Ornament, a type of ancient folk art.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252092/motto-and-logo-of-pope-francis-trip-to-kazakhstan-released

The Committee for Life, the Laity, and the Family of the Argentine Bishops’ Conference expressed its opposition to four bills introduced in Congress to legalize euthanasia. The committee said the country is facing “a new manifestation of the culture of death and the throwaway culture.” In an August 18 statement, the committee said that “the Gospel commits us not to be indifferent in the face of discussions on the beginning and end of life.” There are currently four bills to legalize euthanasia: two introduced last year and two this year. In its statement, the Church in Argentina warned that “we are facing a new manifestation of the culture of death and the throwaway culture” and at the same time, “we are a people that wants such important needs as health, work, housing, and land” to be taken care of.” In its statement, the Committee for Life, the Laity, and the Family pointed out that “even in cases of diseases that have no cure, all patients must be cared for and accompanied so that their lives are respected until natural death. We are not the masters of life and therefore we place ourselves at its service.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252091/catholic-church-in-argentina-opposes-legalization-of-euthanasia

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Rose of Lima. Born in Lima, Peru in 1586, at a very young age she chose to consecrate her life to God. She practiced very intense prayer and penance daily, sometimes depriving herself of food and sleep. She joined the Third Order of Saint Dominic and lived in a little hut in her parents' garden, working to help support them. She was canonized by Pope Clement X in 1671, and was the first saint of the Americas.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-rose-of-lima-577

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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The Sisters of Jesus the Saviour announced that four of their Sisters were kidnapped in Nigeria’s Imo state on Sunday while they were on their way to a Mass. Those kidnapped were Sisters Johannes Nwodo, Christabel Echemazu, Liberata Mbamalu and Benita Agu. The Sisters of Jesus the Saviour is a Nigerian order that cares for the poor, elderly, and sick. Kidnappings of Christians in Nigeria have multiplied in recent years, a situation that has prompted Church leaders to express serious concern about the security of their members and to call on the government to prioritize the security of its citizens.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252087/four-religious-sisters-kidnapped-in-nigeria

Pope Francis called for “peaceful coexistence” between people and institutions in Nicaragua Sunday, at the end of his weekly Angelus message. Pope Francis’ comments followed the abduction Friday of Bishop Rolando Álvarez by Nicaraguan police. Police forced their way into the bishop’s residence, where he had been under house arrest for two weeks, during the early hours of August 19. Álvarez is an outspoken critic of the regime of President Daniel Ortega. Since 2018, under the Ortega dictatorship, there have been more than 190 attacks against the Catholic Church, its bishops, priests, faithful, and houses of worship.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252084/pope-francis-calls-for-peaceful-coexistence-in-nicaragua

Amid the highest levels of inflation seen in the United States in four decades, food pantries across the country — many of which are run by Catholics — are seeing an increased demand for their services. Grocery prices jumped nearly 11% in July 2022 compared to the previous year. Those increases impact the food pantries themselves as well as their customers. One food bank in St. Louis saw its monthly grocery bill more than double in recent months. In Chicago, the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels food pantry said the number of families seeking help increased by 50% since last summer. And one of Louisiana’s largest food banks is reporting that the number of needy people seeking its services is increasing by 5% every month. Catholic Charities organizations in both Nashville and Gallup, New Mexico, also told CNA that their food pantries have seen a substantial increase in demand since the start of 2022.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252073/catholic-food-pantries-struggle-with-demand-as-inflation-soars

Today, the Church celebrates Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Pope Pius XII proposed the traditional doctrine on the Queenship of Mary in the Papal Encyclical Ad Coeli Reginam and established this feast for the Universal Church.

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

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Police have arrested and charged the man believed to have vandalized St. Anthony School in Washington, DC, last week. The property destruction led to national outcry and support for a Catholic school celebrating its 100th year this fall. Saint Anthony’s principal of 12 years, Michael Thomasian, believes the incident was a hate crime targeted at the school’s Catholic witness. The school serves grades Pre-K-8 in the Brookland neighborhood. The incident is being investigated as a potential hate crime, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department said, in which 32-year-old Demitrius Hansford of Northeast Washington vandalized the school’s Saint Anthony of Padua statue, stole $1,400 in cash, and trampled areas on the property in two incidents, on August 10 and August 15.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252067/man-arrested-for-burglary-property-destruction-at-catholic-school-in-dc

Bishop Joseph Brennan of Fresno joined the United Farm Workers last week for a portion of the union’s march through California’s Central Valley to support a union voting rights bill. The more than 300-mile march from Delano to Sacramento is in support of Assembly Bill 2183, the Agricultural Labor Relations Voting Choice Act. The bill would allow farmworkers to use mail-in ballots for union elections. The march passed through Fresno August 11. Bishop Brennan, along with his predecessor, Bishop Armando Ochoa, joined the march at Saint Anthony Mary Claret Church, and then spoke at a rally at Calwa Recreation & Park District, where Bishop Brennan also gave a blessing to the marchers.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252068/fresno-bishop-joins-march-for-farmworkers-union-voting-rights-bill

Today, the Church celebrates Saint John Eudes, a French missionary and the founder of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity, who was also the author of the liturgical worship of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In 1641 he founded the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge, to provide a refuge for prostitutes. In 1643 he founded the Society of Jesus and Mary for the education of priests and for missionary work. He wrote the first book ever on the devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-john-eudes-568

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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The three abortion clinics in Louisiana are leaving the state following the state’s Supreme Court August 12th decision that an abortion ban will remain in effect while it is being challenged in the judiciary. It is unclear when the clinics will have finished the process of leaving and where they will relocate. Under Louisiana’s trigger laws, abortions may be provided only when "necessary in reasonable medical judgment to prevent the death or substantial risk of death due to a physical condition, or to prevent the serious, permanent impairment of a life-sustaining organ of a pregnant woman.” The laws will continue to be challenged by the state’s three abortion clinics: Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, Women’s Health Care Center in New Orleans, and Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252060/each-of-louisiana-s-abortion-clinics-are-leaving-the-state

A new report from the United Nations on modern slavery provides further documentation of China’s mistreatment of the Uyghur ethnic group, a Muslim minority that according to some human rights groups is suffering genocide. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Dr. Tomoya Obokata, wrote that it is “reasonable to conclude” that forced labor among ethnic minorities, including the Uyghurs, “in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing has been occurring in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China.” Obokata identified two state-mandated systems that have contributed to the forced labor of the Uyghurs, one of which is a system that detains minorities and subjects them to work placements, while the other system shifts rural laborers into other forms of low-skilled, low-paid work. While the Chinese government claims that the programs provide work opportunities for minorities, the report found that “indicators of forced labor pointing to the involuntary nature of work rendered by affected communities have been present in many cases.” In recent years, Uyghurs — with estimates ranging as high as 1.8 million — have been detained in hundreds of “reeducation camps” in China’s Xinjiang, where they are reportedly subjected to torture and political indoctrination. China’s crackdown on Xinjiang also includes alleged coercion to have contraception devices inserted, forced abortions, and even full sterilization, along with systematic rape.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252059/un-china-s-mistreatment-of-the-uyghurs-amounts-to-modern-day-slavery

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.

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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Three online shops that sell rosaries have reported a boost in sales following a controversial article published Sunday in The Atlantic magazine which attempted to link the rosary to right-wing extremism in the United States. The article sparked a frenzy of comments on social media, as Catholics shared photos of their rosaries. Some observed that the article's thesis had an anti-Catholic bias. Shannon Doty, CEO of Rugged Rosaries, told CNA Monday that she saw “a pretty good boost in sales” on both of her websites, RuggedRosaries.com and MonkRosaries.com amid the reaction to the article.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252046/rosaries-atlantic-extremism

More than a dozen people, including several Catholic nuns, have been charged under the Philippines’ strict anti-terror law with allegedly financing terrorists. UCA News reported Aug. 16 that sixteen people stand accused by the country’s Justice Department of financing the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army, which is branded a terrorist organization by the Philippine government. If found guilty, those accused — whose names have not been released — would face up to 40 years in prison and a fine of between 500,000 to 1 million Philippine pesos, or 10,000-20,000 US dollars. The nuns are associated with the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, a Catholic group active in the Philippines since 1969 which works to aid and educate the poor. The RMP has consistently denied any association with Communist activities in the Philippines, saying that part of their educational mission involves teaching poor people about their rights, and not about communism.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252048/nuns-in-the-philippines-charged-with-aiding-terrorists

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

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

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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A Maronite Catholic archbishop was bringing aid back to Lebanon when he was wrongly detained by Lebanese authorities at the Israeli border, his supporters say. The US bishops have spoken in his defense, objecting to the confiscation of medical aid and hundreds of thousands of dollars in monetary aid. “The archbishop was returning from one of his regular visits to the Holy Land and bringing much-needed aid that the Lebanese diaspora in Israel wanted to send to family members in Lebanon,” the US bishops said. “All this was confiscated by Lebanese security forces, along with his cell phone and passport.” The Maronite Catholic Church is the largest Christian group in Lebanon, where Christians make up almost 35% of the country’s 7 million people. An estimated 60% of Lebanese are Muslim and are about evenly split between Shiite and Sunni adherents.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252043/after-maronite-archbishop-detained-in-lebanon-us-bishops-voice-solidarity

An article published Sunday in The Atlantic magazine suggests the rosary has become a symbol of violent, right-wing extremism in the United States. The author's contention was based, in part, on his observations about the use of the rosary on social media and rosaries sold online, such as those made from bullet casings. The article set off a frenzy of reactions among Catholics, ranging from amusement to grave concern over what some see as anti-Catholic sentiment, and experts told CNA that the rosary has no connection to physical violence. The rosary, first promoted by the Dominican Order by the 16th century, is a form of prayer based on meditations on the life of Christ. The beads are a tool to help keep track of prayers that are recited before and the meditations. Since 1571, popes have urged Catholics to pray the rosary. In doing so they have often employed military terms. More recently, Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have recommended the rosary as a powerful spiritual tool.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252038/the-atlantic-publishes-article-on-the-rosary-as-a-symbol-of-far-right-violent-extremism

Today, the Church celebrates King Saint Stephen of Hungary, the monarch who led his country to embrace the Christian faith during the 11th century.

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

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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At least 40 people — most of them children — died in a fire in a Coptic Orthodox church in Giza Governorate, Egypt, on Sunday, according to government and church officials. The cause of the blaze has so far not been established. Reuters reported that an electrical fire broke out at the church where people gathered during the Divine Liturgy celebration. The blaze reportedly blocked the exit from the church and caused a stampede.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252035/reports-of-at-least-40-people-most-of-them-children-killed-in-church-fire-in-egypt

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he spoke with Pope Francis over the phone on Friday and thanked the pope for his prayers and humanitarian support. In a tweet posted on August 12, Zelenskyy wrote that he had briefed the pope on Russia’s “horrible crimes” and aggression against Ukraine. “Our people need support of world spiritual leaders who should convey to the world the truth about acts of horror committed by the aggressor,” the Ukrainian president said. Pope Francis has repeatedly expressed his interest in a potential visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Pope Francis is scheduled to participate in September in the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan, where he could potentially meet with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, who is expected to participate in the congress.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252031/in-phone-call-president-zelenskyy-thanks-pope-francis-for-praying-for-ukraine

At least seven people have been arrested in connection with a devastating June massacre at a Catholic Church in Nigeria, the governor of Ondo State in the West African country has confirmed. Four of the arrests were made on August 1, according to General Lucky Irabor, Chief of Nigeria’s Defense Staff. One of the arrested suspects is a high-ranking member of ISWAP — the so-called Islamic State in West Africa Province and a breakaway faction of Boko Haram, a group that at least one government official had blamed following the attack. Two other suspects were arrested Aug. 9, and Ondo State’s governor, Arakunrin Akeredolu, reported that another person who housed the suspects before the attack was also arrested, Vatican News reported. It has not yet been announced if the suspects have been formally charged, and their names have not been released. On June 5, several gunmen attacked Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Nigeria, killing at least 40 people and injuring scores more with bullets and explosives. The victims spanned in age from a 2- and a 3-year-old all the way to 85.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252029/arrests-made-in-nigeria-pentecost-massacre

Today, the Church celebrates 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. Although the bodily assumption of Mary is not explicitly recorded in Scripture, Catholic tradition identifies her with the “woman clothed with the sun” who is described in the 12th chapter of the Book of Revelation. 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

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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Experts have warned that Catholic school leaders need to be aware that their schools could be cut off from the federal government's free and subsidized lunch program if their policies don't comply with the Biden administration's revised rules against LGBTQ discrimination.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252011/catholic-schools-free-lunch-funding-threatened-by-biden-lgbt-rule-change

The Mexican Bishops’ Conference expressed its solidarity with the Church in Nicaragua, whose freedom of speech and religion is under attack by the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega. “At this time of profound suffering, the bishops of Mexico wish to convey to you our fervent prayer, closeness, and support, imploring the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, the much-longed-for peace, justice, and harmonious coexistence of your people,” the conference said in an August 8 statement. The recent wave of repression against the Nicaraguan Church began August 1, when the Ortega dictatorship ordered the closure of eight Catholic radio stations in the Diocese of Matagalpa. Later, the bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando José Álvarez, was placed under house arrest and threatened with prison for allegedly trying to “organize violent groups” to destabilize the government. The Mexican bishops also lamented “that in communities, families, consecrated life, priests, laity, children, and young people suffer from conditions that create fear, take away tranquility, and steal peace.” At the end of their message, the bishops of Mexico implored “the Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, Empress of America, her maternal intercession to find paths of dialogue that lead to respect and peace.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252012/bishops-of-mexico-stand-in-solidarity-with-nicaragua-at-a-time-of-profound-suffering

According to a new representative poll, 58% of German Catholics do not like "the fact that the Pope and the Church speak out against abortions." In July, a leading laywoman and co-president of the German "Synodal Way" demanded a "nationwide provision of abortion" across the European Union's most populous country. Germany currently permits abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, with mandatory counseling at a state-approved center, as well as later abortions in certain circumstances. The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is a grave evil and is never acceptable at any stage of pregnancy, and Pope Francis has repeatedly and strongly condemned abortion.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252014/majority-of-german-catholics-dont-like-church-being-against-abortion-poll-finds

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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An arrest has been made after an 18-year-old student in Kansas was allegedly attacked while knocking on doors to encourage citizens to vote for a pro-life amendment. 18-year-old Grace Hartsock from Austin, Texas, an incoming freshman at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, was canvassing for the amendment when a woman allegedly shoved her in the chest with both hands, began violently hitting her in the head with closed fists, and verbally assaulted her. Police said that a 37-year-old suspect was arrested and charged in Leawood Municipal Court with misdemeanor battery and released. Harstock was not injured, and said she will continue with her pro-life advocacy.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252002/kansas-woman-arrested-after-allegedly-striking-pro-life-teen-with-fists-to-the-head

A group of 500 young Catholics in Ireland have signed a letter saying they love the Church’s teaching, but that their voices had not been heard in the process leading up to the Synod on Synodality in Rome. The synodal process to prepare the synod started with consultations at the diocesan level in October 2021. Peadar Hand, one of the letter’s organizers, said, “among people who are actually practicing and trying their best to live their faith, there’s no desire for [a change in Church teaching].” They express concern that the synodal process underway might falsely give the impression that all Catholics in Ireland would like to see changes made in the areas of human sexuality, marriage and ordained ministry. CNA has reached out to the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference for comment.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252005/young-catholics-in-ireland-say-their-voices-have-not-been-heard-during-synodal-process

A lightning strike caused a roof fire Monday that severely damaged a historic Catholic church in Rockford, Illinois, and left three firefighters injured, authorities said. The Rockford Fire Department determined that lightning set the roof on fire, Mike Rotolo, the department's fire prevention coordinator, told CNA Tuesday. The damage to the church may exceed $3 million, he said. The church is located outside the Chicago metropolitan area in the far northern part of the state. No one was inside the church during the time of the fire and the pastor safely removed the Holy Eucharist from the building, the diocese said.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251999/historic-illinois-saint-james-catholic-church-roof-fire

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