We Are Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish

A view of the damage to Holy Family Church in Gaza City following an Israeli strike on the church in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on July 17, 2025. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said an Israeli strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church killed three and injured several people on July 17, including the parish priest, as well as causing damage to the building. / Credit: OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images

Rome Newsroom, Jul 18, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

Israel said Holy Family Church in Gaza was “mistakenly” hit during a Thursday military operation and “regrets” damage done to the city’s only Catholic parish.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) shared a post on X on the evening of July 17 saying “fragments from a shell” hit the parish church, which has become a shelter for more than 500 people since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October 2023.

“The cause of the incident is under review,” the X statement read. “The IDF directs its strikes solely at military targets and makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and religious structures, and regrets any unintentional damage caused to them.”

Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, 60; Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad, 84; and Najwa Abu Daoud, 70, were fatally wounded by shrapnel that scattered across the compound after the explosion. 

Holy Family Church pastor Father Gabriel Romanelli, a native of Argentina and friend of the late Pope Francis, was also among those injured by the Israeli attack.

The Latin Patriarchate in a July 17 statement strongly condemned “this targeting of innocent civilians and of a sacred place,” adding that it “will continue to stand by the side of the community of Gaza” and other Christian communities in the Holy Land.

“The time has come for leaders to raise their voices and to do all [that] is necessary in order to stop this tragedy, which is humanly and morally unjustified,” the statement read. 

The attack occurred days after Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III spoke out on July 14 against “systemic and targeted” attacks against Christians by illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank. 

“The Church has had a faithful presence in this region for nearly 2,000 years,” the Monday statement read. “We firmly reject this message of exclusion and reaffirm our commitment to a Holy Land that is a mosaic of different faiths, living peacefully together in dignity and safety.”

null / Credit: Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 18, 2025 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

A federal court on July 18 blocked a controversial Washington state reporting law that would require priests to violate the seal of confession, siding with the state’s Catholic bishops who brought suit against the measure earlier this year.

The law, passed by the state Legislature earlier this year and signed by Gov. Robert Ferguson, added clergy to the list of mandatory abuse reporters in the state. But it didn’t include an exemption for information learned in the confessional, explicitly leaving priests out of a “privileged communication” exception afforded to other professionals.

In the ruling, District Judge David Estudillo said there was “no question” that the law burdened the free exercise of religion.

“In situations where [priests] hear confessions related to child abuse or neglect, [the rule] places them in the position of either complying with the requirements of their faith or violating the law,” the judge wrote.

Estudillo noted that the measure as passed “modifies existing law solely to make members of the clergy mandatory reporters with respect to child abuse or neglect.” 

As written, the law is “neither neutral nor generally applicable” insofar as it “treats religious activity less favorably than comparable secular activity,” he said.

The state could have made clergy mandatory reporters while allowing a narrow exception for confession, Estudillo said, as more than two dozen other states already have. 

The order bars the Washington state government from enforcing the law.

The ruling comes after the bishops sued Ferguson, state Attorney General Nicholas Brown, and more than three dozen prosecutors over the controversial reporting law. 

On July 15 those prosecutors filed a motion in the court promising not to appeal the injunction against the law or any final judgment of the court in exchange for largely being excused from the ongoing legal proceedings. Ferguson and Brown are still subject to the suit.

The lawsuit argued that the law violated the free exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment by infringing on the sacred seal of confession as well as both the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and the state constitution.

The Washington bishops’ effort drew support from a broad variety of advocates, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the U.S. Department of Justice, a coalition of Orthodox churches, and Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota.

Barron earlier this month argued to the court that a penitent who is “aware the priest might (let alone must) share with others what was given in the most sacred confidence” of confession
“would be reluctant indeed to ever approach” the sacrament. 

The Department of Justice, meanwhile, said the law “appears to single out clergy as not entitled to assert applicable privileges, as compared to other reporting professionals,” including lawyers, doctors, and social service workers. 

The law even drew international rebuke when the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy — which represents over 500 Roman Catholic priests and deacons from the U.S., Australia, and the United Kingdom — last month issued a statement criticizing the passage of laws “which attempt to compel ordained priests to disclose the identity and content of what a penitent has confessed.”

The group criticized governments for specifically targeting priests while at the same time “respect[ing] and uphold[ing] the institutions of attorney/client and doctor/patient privilege.”

Though the Washington bishops had mounted an aggressive challenge to the state law, Church leaders there assured the faithful that the seal of confession would remain inviolate regardless of any legal stipulations one way or the other. 

“[S]hepherds, bishops, and priests” are “committed to keeping the seal of confession — even to the point of going to jail,” Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly said in May. 

Church canon law dictates that a priest who directly violates the seal of confession is automatically excommunicated. Barron earlier this month told the court that “few religious practices are more misunderstood than the sacred seal of confession in the Catholic Church.”

Catholics believe that penitents who seek the sacrament of confession are “speaking to and hearing from the Lord himself” via the priest, the prelate wrote. 

As a result, “absolutely nothing ought to stand in the way of a sinner who seeks this font of grace,” Barron said.

Pope Leo XIV called Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa on Friday, July 18, 2025, just before the cardinal entered Gaza following the July 17 attack on Holy Family Parish in Gaza. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 18, 2025 / 12:09 pm (CNA).

“It is time to stop this slaughter.” With these words, Pope Leo XIV on Friday expressed his firm condemnation of the Israeli army’s July 17 attack on the Catholic Church of the Holy Family in a call to the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

As reported by Vatican News, the pontiff placed the call to Pizzaballa as the cardinal was traveling to the Gaza Strip with Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III.

The two religious leaders entered the area — whose borders remain blocked — with hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid to assist Gazan families regardless of their religion. They also offered their comfort to the families of the victims of the attack, which directly hit the roof of the church and left three dead and 10 wounded, including the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli.

As the two made their way to Gaza to visit the stricken parish, families of the victims, and the entire community, Pizzaballa said they received the call from Pope Leo, who, as the cardinal described it, “called us to express his closeness, care, prayer, support, and desire to do everything possible to achieve not only a ceasefire but also an end to this tragedy.”

According to the prelate, during the conversation, the pope repeatedly expressed his outrage at the violence of the Israeli armed forces. “He repeatedly stated that it is time to stop this slaughter, that what has happened is unjustifiable, and that we must ensure there are no more victims,” he explained. 

Pope Leo XIV has repeatedly expressed his concern about the situation in Gaza since the beginning of the military offensive. His call on Friday added to a series of gestures of solidarity toward local Christians and the entire Palestinian people.

On Thursday, as soon as he learned of the attack, he sent a telegram signed — as is customary — by the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to lament the loss of life and injuries “caused by the military attack” and to demand a ceasefire.

For its part, the Israeli government expressed its regret over the attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza, attributing it to “a stray projectile” during the fighting in the Strip.

In a message on the social media platform X, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated his government was investigating what had happened and expressed his commitment to protecting civilians and holy sites.

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem described the attack as a “crime” against a holy site. At the time of the bombing, the Catholic parish complex was housing some 600 displaced people, including many children and people with disabilities.

Among the dead were the groundskeeper and two elderly women who were being cared for by Caritas at the time of the attack. The parish priest, Romanelli, suffered minor injuries to his leg.

This is not the first time Holy Family Parish has been attacked. In December 2023, two women inside the compound were killed by an Israeli sniper. Seven people were also injured during that shooting. At the time, the Jerusalem Patriarchate condemned the “cold-blooded” attack on the parish perimeter, where there were “no combatants.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

The joint visit is an expression of the united pastoral care of the churches of the Holy Land and their deep concern for the Gaza community, the patriarchate said in a press release.

Amid the ongoing war in Gaza, the parish has been a refuge for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

“It fell directly on the roof. The explosion occurred next to the cross atop the church and soon scattered shrapnel throughout the courtyard,” Anton Asfar, director of Caritas Jerusalem, told ACI Prensa

Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City. / Credit: Salvador alc, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Puebla, Mexico, Jul 18, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).

The Metropolitan Cathedral’s communications office in Mexico City expressed its dissatisfaction with the projection of pro-abortion messages on the façade of the church during a show organized by the capital city’s government.

The show, titled “Luminous Memory: Mexico-Tenochtitlan 700 Years,” takes place every night July 11–27 in the capital’s Zócalo (central square). It transforms the National Palace and the Cathedral into monumental screens to visually narrate the history of the capital, from its Aztec origins to the present day.

According to the Mexico City government, the narrative includes episodes such as independence, the Mexican Revolution, and "recent events such as the arrival of the first LGBTIQ+ Pride March to the Zócalo, the decriminalization of abortion, the election of two female heads of government, and the consolidation of a city of rights and freedoms."

Among the images projected onto the façade of the cathedral are women with green neckerchiefs, symbols of the feminist movement, and a sign reading "safe abortion."

Messages that ‘deeply wound and hurt the faith’

In a statement released July 15, the cathedral reported that it had not been previously consulted about the content of the show. It clarified that the Memoria Luminosa has no connection to the Archdiocese of Mexico, is produced by others and specified that no religious authority “has participated in the pre-production or the script of said show.”

The statement points out that while the cathedral property belongs to the federal government—as established by the Law of Religious Associations and Public Worship for churches built before 1992, the year in which relations between the state and the Catholic Church were reestablished — its use and administration belong exclusively to the Primatial Archdiocese of Mexico, including responsibility for the messages disseminated on its façade and atriums.

However, the religious authorities stated that they were informed only that both the cathedral façade and the adjacent Assumption parish church "would serve as canvases for said projection, taking into account the colonial and baroque periods that would supposedly be projected on these spaces."

Therefore, they deplored the inclusion of "various captions and images that deeply wound and injure the faith and fundamental principles that we Catholics profess."

"Regardless of the fact that, given the division between religious freedom and public policies, both protected by our constitution, the free expression of ideas is respected within their respective premises and spaces, it is objectionable that messages specifically contrary to Catholic principles should be projected on this holy cathedral," the statement pointed out.

Finally, the cathedral’s communications office called on Mexico City authorities, in the exercise of their powers, to provide the necessary instructions so that on the façade of the church "it is avoided at all times projecting messages contrary to the Catholic faith, which in the deepest way  are hurtful to the devotion of the Mexican people."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

In a scene marked by deep sorrow and righteous anger, churches across Syria held funeral services for the victims of the suicide bombing that targeted St. Elias Church in the Syrian capital, Damascus. The attack claimed the lives of 25 people and left dozens injured. / Credit: Mohammad Al-Rifai/ACI MENA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 18, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed. 

Violence against Christians escalates in Syria

Christian communities in Syria continue to experience escalating violence, with one church severely damaged and another narrowly escaping what would have been a fatal car bombing attack, according to CNA’s Arabic-language news partner ACI MENA.

Vandals desecrated the altar at Mar Michael (Saint Michael) Church in the southern Syrian province of Sweida, smashed Christian symbols, and set fire to its ceiling and walls, charring the upper icons and the central cross above the altar. 

In a parallel development, security forces thwarted an attempt to bomb the Maronite Church of Mar Elias (Saint Elias) in eastern rural Tartus. Three individuals who planned to detonate a car bomb loaded with roughly 44 pounds of explosives have been arrested. The attacks come amid escalating armed clashes in southern Syria between Druze and Bedouin militias. 

Sako appeals to Iraqi prime minister to protect Christian heritage in Najaf

Chaldean Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako has issued an urgent appeal to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, calling on him to avert the threat of encroachment on sacred Christian historical sites in Najaf province dating back to the sixth century, ACI MENA reports. 

In a July 15 statement, Sako cited “trusted sources in Najav” who warned of “attempts to allocate historic Christian cemeteries for investment” despite their status as archeological sites. The Chaldean patriarch further noted that “oil will one day run out,” and the historic sites could one day become a destination for religious tourism, bringing in substantial revenues.

Among them are the al-Manathira Cemetery, burial site of great Patriarchs of the Church of the East, and Umm Khishm Cemetery, which dates back to the time of the Kingdom of al-Hira.

Chinese bishop encourages faithful to abandon burdensome dowry custom 

In a wedding Mass homily on July 13, Archbishop Meng Ningyou of Taiyuan invited the faithful to abandon the still-widespread custom of wedding dowries, a practice which has caused couples in rural areas to break up due to the financial burden it places on families, according to a report from Fides. 

Bishop Meng reportedly described the sacrament of marriage as “a union of free, mutual self-giving blessed by God” and “called on spouses to accept one another, support each other in the Christian upbringing of their children, and care for one another, following the example of the Good Samaritan.” 

Filipino cardinal slams government for promoting online gambling addictions 

The president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, delivered a sharp criticism of the government in a homily on July 13 for promoting online gambling addictions, according to a local Catholic news report. 

“We fail to see the real culprit: a government that grants licenses and expands online gambling platforms just to earn revenue for public spending — spending that often becomes a tool for political power,” he declared, adding: “The Word opens our eyes to see the hidden victims on these digital highways. … It urges us to take concrete steps to help these vulnerable ones whom society often ignores.”

Vietnamese bishop celebrates the abolition of the death penalty for eight crimes 

Bishop Joseph Nguyen Dec Cuong of Thanh Hóa, president of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam, is celebrating the country’s decision to end the death penalty for crimes against the state, bribery, and drugs. 

“The decision marks an encouraging step forward in legal awareness, in line with the spirit of international treaties,” the bishop said, adding that the occasion marked a significant step towards “a modern constitutional state, in which life is protected, human dignity is respected, and opportunities for rehabilitation are open.” 

Religious freedom group calls on EU to create position to combat Christian hate crimes 

The Observatory for Religious Freedom in Spain has called on the president of the European Commission to create a Special Coordinator position to combat anti-Christian hate crimes, according to a Christian Daily report. 

“It is imperative that the European Commission act with the same commitment it shows in the fight against other forms of religious hatred,” OLRC President María García said in a press statement. Equivalent positions exist to combat anti-semitism and Islamophobia in the EU already.

Charity pledges continued support for seminarians in Nigeria as vocations rise

The pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need International (ACN) has expressed its commitment to continue supporting the formation of priests in Nigeria, where the foundation has observed exponential growth in vocations, ACI Africa reports. 

ACN said on Monday it would move forward in its support for one more year for the 76 members of the Sons of Mary, Mother of Mercy, who are currently studying to be priests.

“Nigeria is a dangerous country for priests,” the organization stated. “In the last 10 years, more than 150 have been kidnapped and more than a dozen murdered. However, the number of vocations has not decreased, but has even increased, and many young men aspire to become diocesan or religious priests.”