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The Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine comments on the current situation in the capital, where dozens upon dozens of Russian missiles have struck - some even in the district where the Holy See’s diplomatic mission is located.

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In his Message for the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly—celebrated each year on the Sunday nearest the feast of Jesus’ grandparents, Sts Anne and Joachim—Pope Leo reflects on hope and old age.

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An archbishop in the state of Maharashtra has spoken a politicians call for violence against Christian missionaries.

Filipino bishops called on Catholics to “combat moral indifference” over the delay in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, in a wide-ranging pastoral letter at the end of their 130th plenary assembly over the weekend.

The Little Children of Our Blessed Lady (LCBL) Sisters are gearing up for a significant milestone, their 11th General Chapter, set to take place in August 2025 in Harare.

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The Catholic University in Erbil, in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, was founded to provide an education to minority groups fleeing ISIS. Now, it aims to promote peace by teaching about Mesopotamia’s religious history.

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Two First Nations students in Rome as winners of the 2025 Francis Xavier Conaci Scholarship, speak with Vatican News about their experience and share their stories at an event at the Australian Embassy to the Holy See.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 9, 2025 / 20:19 pm (CNA).

In an atmosphere of deep recollection and sadness, but also of hope, the funeral of Portuguese soccer players Diogo Jota of the Liverpool Football Club and his brother André Silva, who died last Thursday in a traffic accident in Zamora, Spain, was held on July 5. Jota’s marriage to Rute Cardoso had been solemnized in the Church just 11 days prior. They have three children.

At the funeral, which took place in the town of Gondomar’s main church on the outskirts of Porto, Portugal, the coffins were brought in as the church bells rang. The funeral was attended by several of Jota’s teammates, including Liverpool soccer club captain Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Argentine Alexis MacAllister, Uruguayan Darwin Nuñez, and coach Arne Slot.

Father Alípio Germano Barbosa, who was the pastor of the church in Gondomar for more than 18 years and who gave Diogo and André their first Communion, fondly recalled the time the brothers were part of his parish community.

“I lived here for 18 and a half years, and closely followed the human and Christian growth of these two young men, with great affection for them and their family,” the priest who attended the funeral told AP.

“They were very well behaved, humble, and courageous boys. In fact, following in the steps of their parents and grandparents, they were deeply connected to the local community and, naturally, participated in community life, the sacraments, Christian fellowship, and communion,” Germano added.

Roberto Martínez, coach of the Portuguese national football team, told the press at the funeral: “These are very sad days, as you can imagine, but today we have shown that we are a large and united family.”

“We are Portugal, and it was essential for us to be together and the world will be united, and his spirit will be with us forever. Thank you so much for your messages, for your support, and for everything we have received from all over the world. It means a lot, and today we are all a football family,” he emphasized.

The bishop of Porto’s homily at the brothers’ funeral

The funeral Mass was celebrated by the bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda, who first addressed the children of the late Liverpool player who did not attend the funeral:

“Right now you’re suffering immensely. Or maybe you’re not, because you don’t even realize the tragedy that has befallen your family. You will become aware of it later. And it will be terrible. But I will pray to Jesus for you.”

“The one who suffers deeply,” the prelate continued, “is your mother, Rute. She is heartbroken! Likewise, your grandparents, Isabel and Joaquim, and the rest of your family. Seeing before you a coffin containing the remains of a son must be the ultimate torment. But when it’s not just one coffin, but two, belonging to two brothers... there are no words.”

“We are here to say that we too suffer greatly,” the bishop continued. “We are here with you emotionally … Yes, tears! It’s human! It would be a shame for us if we didn’t.”

Linda encouraged having “faith and hope in the Resurrection.”

“This communion of life is achieved through baptism and good works … Your father, Diogo, was married in the Church 11 days before he died.”

After highlighting the importance of sports, the bishop of Porto said that “while it’s sad to see an adult cry, it’s even more painful when it’s a child… I send a special greeting to your mother, your grandparents, and other family members. I am with you. Jesus is also with you.”

Liverpool soccer club’s tribute to Diogo Jota

In addition to retiring Jota’s No. 20 jersey, the Liverpool soccer club chartered a plane to accommodate those members who wished to travel to the funeral in Portugal.

This was confirmed by the Portuguese newspaper Record. Liverpool will keep Jota’s contract in force and will pay his salary and all bonuses to his family.

The club decided to pay out the remaining two years of Jota’s contract, meaning his widow and his three young children will receive the corresponding sum of more than 17 million euros ($19.9 million).

English journalist Tom Harrington also said on X that Liverpool will establish a fund for the children of Jota and Cardoso, specifically for their education.

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

London, England, Jul 9, 2025 / 18:55 pm (CNA).

For the first time in modern history, the apostolic nuncio to the United Kingdom has celebrated Mass in England’s most celebrated Anglican cathedral.

On Monday, July 7, which marked the feast of the Translation of St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía celebrated the holy sacrifice of the Mass at Canterbury Cathedral with hundreds in attendance, including the Vatican’s cricket team.

During his homily, Maury Buendía said: “This Mass of pilgrimage takes place within the context of the jubilee year. It highlights the Christian life as a spiritual journey, moving through life’s trials and joys with hope anchored in Christ. Having traveled as pilgrims today, we do more than just honor a figure from history.”

He continued: “The stained-glass windows all around us illustrate the many miracles attributed to St. Thomas in the medieval period. This should be a living story, too. Our world, today as then, is in need of hope. We come in this jubilee year as ‘pilgrims of hope’ to be inspired by St. Thomas’ holiness and his courageous witness to Christ and his Church.”

Those in attendance on Monday also received a plenary indulgence because of the jubilee year and its customs.

While it is traditional for the Catholic Parish of St. Thomas of Canterbury to celebrate Mass at the cathedral every year on July 7, this is the first time the apostolic nuncio has presided.

St. Thomas Becket served as archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until he was murdered in 1170 by supporters of King Henry II, who clashed with Thomas over his defense of the Church and its rights.

Thomas was canonized soon after his death by Pope Alexander III and in 1220 his body was translated, or moved, from the cathedral’s crypt to the shrine behind the altar. It is believed that a papal legate was present at the time.

The crypt was destroyed by Henry VIII in 1538 in an attempt to suppress allegiance to St. Thomas Becket.

In correspondence with CNA on Wednesday, July 9, Father David Palmer, a member of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham (and a former Anglican priest), reflected on the significance of the event.

“Canterbury Cathedral is often referred to as the home of Anglicanism, the mother Church of the Anglican Communion. This obscures the fact that it is also (and originally) the mother Church of Catholicism in England. The seat of St. Augustine of Canterbury, the first archbishop of Canterbury, sent by Pope Gregory to bring the (Roman) Catholic faith to the ‘Angles,’” he said.

“For those of us who have made the journey from Anglicanism back to Rome this is an event of special significance and joy.”

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 9, 2025 / 18:25 pm (CNA).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has confirmed that the Catholic Church will not endorse political candidates for public office in any elections, despite a tax code change that has opened the door for houses of worship to make such endorsements.

On July 7, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) signed a court agreement to allow churches and other houses of worship to endorse candidates without risking their tax-exempt status. This reversed a 70-year ban that was in place based on the IRS’ interpretation of the “Johnson Amendment,” which prohibits nonprofits in the tax bracket from engaging in political campaigns.

USCCB Director of Public Affairs Chieko Noguchi, however, released a statement this week to announce that the Catholic Church will not be endorsing political candidates, even if the tax code allows it.

“The IRS was addressing a specific case, and it doesn’t change how the Catholic Church engages in public debate,” Noguchi said.

“The Church seeks to help Catholics form their conscience in the Gospel so they might discern which candidates and policies would advance the common good,” she added. “The Catholic Church maintains its stance of not endorsing or opposing political candidates.”

Noguchi told CNA that if an individual member of the clergy were to endorse a candidate, “this is a matter that is best handled by the local bishop.”

Christopher Check, the president of Catholic Answers, told CNA that the USCCB’s decision to avoid endorsements is “a wise one for our time and place.”

“The Church is not one of several political organizations or NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] competing for public opinion on the cultural and civic playing fields,” Check added. “She is the primary and divine institution through which all that public activity must be understood.”

Check pointed out that avoiding endorsements is consistent with the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which he explained “[prohibits] clergy from engaging in active participation in political parties except in cases where the rights of the Church are threatened or the ‘promotion of the common good requires it,’ and then only in the judgment of ‘competent ecclesiastical authority.’”

There have been situations historically in which clergy rightly engaged in political campaigns, such as when Marxist parties in some countries sought to “eradicate the Church,” according to Check. Yet he also cautioned that there have been times in which members of the clergy have “misled the faithful” by involving themselves in campaigns.

“Today in the United States, neither political party offers a platform that would serve as a foundation for a true home for faithful Catholics,” Check said. “As such, the obligation for the clergy and the episcopacy to form the consciences of the faithful rightly is especially critical. It is in this realm that the Church, who very much in a sense is above partisan politics, is called to operate.”

Susan Hanssen, a history professor at the University of Dallas (a Catholic institution), told CNA she believes the IRS policy to not penalize churches for political endorsements is “wise” but said the USCCB commitment to not endorse candidates “is also prudent.”

“The IRS policy is wise to leave broad leeway to religious leaders to offer guidance, even on political matters that could shape the moral and cultural atmosphere within which religious life takes place,” Hanssen said.

Hanssen added that the Church hierarchy and the clergy can still be vocal on political issues that implicate Church teaching, noting that they “should give clear principles of action” but that “it is the moral responsibility of the laity to potentially apply those principles.” 

She added that clergy should also help correct Catholic politicians whose policies do not conform to “the principles of natural law, for example, with regard to abortion, parental rights over their children’s education and medical care, euthanasia, and same-sex marriage.” 

“Thus their action would be appropriately pastoral, rather than political — a concern for souls,” Hanssen said.

Ryan Tucker, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, told CNA that the IRS decision could still have an impact on churches that do not endorse candidates, saying those entities have a “constitutional right to speak freely” and the IRS change ensures “they can do so more boldly” now.

“The government shouldn’t be able to threaten a church with financial penalties based on a requirement that the church self-censor and surrender its constitutionally protected freedom,” he said. “Pastors and clergy members have been engaged in matters of the day that affect the members of their church body since our founding.”