World

Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) has joined 24 other civil society organizations in calling for the release of the unlawfully detained Palestinian medical workers in Gaza and the West Bank. This includes doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals working for international humanitarian organizations such as MedGlobal and Children Not Numbers. Under International Humanitarian Law, hea... Read More

Pope Leo XIV has sent a message to the 44th session of the UN Food and Agriculture (FAO) Conference, meeting in Rome from 28 June to July, in which he condemns the use of hunger as a weapon of war and expenditures on arms production instead of eradicating poverty. In his message, to the FAO, which is marking the 80th anniversary of its founding, to combat food insecurity and malnutrition, the ... Read More

A Roman Catholic priest and his driver have been detained and held for over a week in Granada Municipality, Nicaragua, with no news given to their families of their whereabouts. According to a press release issued by the Public Relations Department of the National Police of Nicaragua (PN) on Thursday 19 June, Father Pedro Abelardo Méndez Pérez and his driver, Luis David Ñamendi Suárez , were... Read More

I am recently returned from Israel and occupied Palestine where I was for two and a half months with the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel. EAPPI is an international programme coordinated by Quakers in Britain on behalf of churches and NGOs in the UK and Ireland. The programme brings people from around the world to the occupied West Bank to serve as human rights monitors a... Read More

Channel 4 has announced it will broadcast Gaza: Doctors Under Attack on Wednesday 2nd July at 10pm. The one-off documentary, produced by Basement Films, examines allegations that Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted hospitals and healthcare workers during the Gaza conflict in breach of international law. Gaza: Doctors Under Attack is a forensic investigation into Israeli military attacks on hos... Read More

In June, the Vatican announced that Blessed Carlo Acutis' canonisation will be held on 7 September, alongside Blessed Pier Giogio Frassati. This follows the initial postponement because of the death of Pope Francis. The canonisation of these two young saints, one from the early 20th century, the other the first 21st century saint, is an occasion of great joy, especially given Bl Carlo's connection... Read More

An official delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople visited Rome from 27-29 June, led by Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, President of the Synodal Commission of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Relations with the Catholic Church accompanied by the Reverend Fathers Aetios and Ieronymos. During their meeting on Saturday Pope Leo XIV reaffirmed the Catholic Church's commitment t... Read More

The tenth anniversary of the 'Global Agreement' between the Holy See and the State of Palestine took place last Thursday. The agreement was signed on 26 June 2015, by the Holy See's Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, and the former Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riad al-Malki. The Holy See was one of the first states in Europe to recognize the character of 'stat... Read More

Dr Ezzideen, a medical doctor in Gaza (who posts on X ) has asked that beginning this weekend we share this call to action - A 30 minute silence for Gaza each day for one week. It's the ultimate internet blackout. SILENCE FOR GAZA 30 minutes of digital silence THIS IS A coordinated digital campaign of the 'Silence for Gaza' movement. We hope that it will be a growing wave. Because something can be... Read More

As part of the Jubilee of Priests, taking place from June 25-27, Pope Leo XIV held an audience on Thursday with about 1,700 priests, seminarians, and formators at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome, for an international meeting titled: 'Joyful Priests - I have called you friends.' Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, gave the opening address, pointing out th... Read More

Pope Leo XIV met with members of the Aid Agencies for Oriental Churches, (ROACO) today, Thursday 26 June, and encouraged Eastern-rite Catholics to bear witness to Christ's peace amid the destruction wrought by conflict. In his address, to ROACO members, and their annual meeting in Rome, the Pope praised their efforts to provide material and spiritual support for the faithful of Eastern-rite Cath... Read More

Conditions in the Gaza Strip are deteriorating rapidly. Israeli operations - including shelling and bombing across the Strip - continue to have a devastating impact on civilians, reportedly killing and injuring scores of people, many of whom were seeking aid. Humanitarian operations of sufficient scale are not facilitated, leaving unaddressed the critical needs of those who have so far survived. O... Read More

CAFOD has condemned the Israeli military's approach to aid delivery in Gaza, warning that the humanitarian situation is catastrophic and worsening by the day and calls for immediate, unfettered access of aid, at scale. The UN reported on Tuesday that more than 400 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while trying to collect food from controversial (GHF) aid hubs in Gaza since they... Read More

During the United Nations Security Council's Open Debate on Poverty, Underdevelopment, and Conflict in New York, the Holy See stressed the urgent moral responsibility to address the root causes of poverty, and reiterated concern regarding "the ever-growing military expenditure, which diverts significant resources from investments in development sectors such as healthcare, education and infrastruct... Read More