Pope Leo urges prayer, fasting on August 22 for peace in the world

 'I invite all the faithful to live the day of August 22 in fasting and prayer,' Pope Leo said at the close of his Wednesday audience.

Pope Leo XIV at the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace, Aug 21.Vatican Media

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Michael Haynes, Snr. Vatican Correspondent

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Wed Aug 20, 2025 - 2:32 pm EDT

VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo called for Catholics to join in prayer and fasting on August 22, a feast of Our Lady, for the intention of peace.

Closing his general audience today at the Vatican, Leo XIV urged all the Catholic faithful to join in a spiritual campaign this Friday for peace in the world. August 22 is the feast of the Queenship of Mary, according to the Novus Ordo liturgical calendar, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the traditional calendar of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.

Addressing the crowd, Leo said:

Mary is the Mother of believers here on earth and is also invoked as Queen of Peace. As our earth continues to be wounded by wars in the Holy Land, in Ukraine, and in many other regions of the world, I invite all the faithful to live the day of August 22 in fasting and prayer, imploring the Lord to grant us peace and justice and to dry the tears of those who suffer because of ongoing armed conflicts.

“May Mary, Queen of Peace, intercede so that peoples may find the way to peace,” he closed.

More: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-leo-urges-prayer-fasting-on-august-22-for-peace-in-the-world/

Vatican under fire for alleged money-laundering dodge

The claims come as Pope Leo is desperately trying to clean up the Catholic Church’s reputation after years of scandal.

The claims come at an awkward moment for new Pope Leo XIV as he seeks to boost the Catholic Church's reputation after decades of rolling financial scandals. | Riccardo Antimiani/EPA

AUGUST 11, 2025 4:34 AM CET

BY BEN MUNSTER

The Vatican is facing allegations it used a "skeleton key for money laundering" by illegally manipulating bank transfers.

The city state's former top financial cop ― who was forced out in 2017 ― has claimed that its payroll agency was able to alter the names and account numbers on transactions after they were made, masking the identity of recipients and senders.

The implication would be enormous because it would have made it possible for Vatican officials to wire funds to private clients without revealing who they were, possibly enabling unlimited money laundering and violating the most basic anti-fraud rules.

More: https://www.politico.eu/article/vatican-financial-obscure-transactions-claims-bank-transfers-money-laundering/

Prayer to begin the day

 

℣. O Lord, hear my prayer.
℟. And let my cry come unto thee.
Let us pray.
O Lord, our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who has safely brought us to the beginning of this day: defend us by thy mighty power; and grant that this day we fall into no sin, but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance, to do always what is righteous in thy sight.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
℟. Amen.
℣. O Lord, hear my prayer.
℟. And let my cry come unto thee.
℣. Let us bless the Lord.
℟. Thanks be to God.

- from the Breviarium Romanum 

Dozens of militants attack priests, nuns, catechist in India

 

Zach Wear / Unsplash

‘Premeditated ambush’

A violent mob ambushed two Catholic priests, two nuns, and a catechist in eastern India earlier this week, as they were leaving a village following a memorial Mass, according to an Aug. 8 report from Agenzia Fides.

The attackers, reportedly about 70 members of the militant Hindu nationalist group Bajrang Dal, accused the group of attempting religious conversions — allegations Church leaders called false and inflammatory. India’s Latin Rite bishops later condemned the assault, describing it as “disturbing and out of place,” according to Agenzia Fides.

The incident occurred Aug. 6 after Fathers Nirappel and Lijo, joined by religious sisters and a catechist, arrived at the local mission station around 5 p.m. for the second anniversary of two Catholics’ deaths. The liturgy began after 6 p.m., timed to when farmers were returning from the fields. As they left the village around 9 p.m., they were attacked.

“Less than half a kilometer from the village, in a narrow, wooded area, a group of about 70 men from the Bajrang Dal was waiting for us,” said Fr. Lijo in a statement released by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CCBI). “First, they attacked our catechist, who was riding a motorcycle. They brutally beat him, dismantled the motorcycle, emptied the fuel tank, and threw him away.”

More: https://catholicvote.org/dozens-of-militants-attack-priests-nuns-catechist-in-india/

Virginia school office bypassed parents, funded students’ abortions

A Virginia public school allegedly arranged and paid for the abortions of two pregnant high school students, bypassing their parents, according to an investigative report.

The report by Walter Curt Dispatch Investigations found that Centreville High School staff arranged abortions for two pregnant high school girls in 2021.

One of the girls had the abortion at 17, while the other girl, who was five months pregnant, ran from the clinic after a social worker allegedly told her she “had no other choice.” The girls say that the school principal knew and funded the abortions.

The local abortion clinic, Falls Church Healthcare Center, has a metal bolt across the entrance, and neighbors say it is always locked, according to Walter Curt’s report.  

The school district, Fairfax County Public Schools, said in a statement that it is “launching an immediate and comprehensive investigation” into the reports.

Source: https://www.ncregister.com/cna/world-s-oldest-baby-born-through-embryo-adoption

In message to K of C Pope Leo highlights hope of salvation

 “As Catholics, we know that the source of our hope is Jesus Christ, and he has sent his followers in every age to bring the good news of his saving paschal mystery to the entire world,” the Holy Father said. “The Church has always been called to be a sign of hope through the proclamation of the Gospel in words as well as in actions.” 

Read the rest: https://www.ncregister.com/cna/pope-leo-xiv-commends-work-of-knights-of-columbus-in-message-to-supreme-convention

Dominica X post Pentecosten: INSTRUCTION ON GRACE

“Now there are diversities of graces, but the same Spirit; and there are diversities of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but the same God, who worketh all in all. And the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit. To one, indeed, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom: and to another, the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit: to another, faith in one Spirit: to another, the working of miracles: to another, prophecy: to another, the discerning, of spirits: to another, divers kinds of tongues: to another, of speeches. But all these things one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one according as he will.”

1 Cor XII 

In the epistle of this day the Apostle St. Paul speaks of the different gifts of the Holy Ghost which He distributes as He pleases. These extraordinary graces which the apostle mentions, are not necessary for salvation. But the Church teaches, that the grace of the Holy Ghost is necessary for salvation, because without it we could neither properly believe, nor faithfully observe the commandments of God. For the holy religion of Jesus teaches, and experience confirms, that since the fall of our first parents we are weak and miserable, and of ourselves, and by our own strength, we cannot know or perform the good necessary for our salvation. We need a higher aid, a higher, assistance, and this assistance is called grace. What, then, is grace? Grace is an inward, supernatural gift which God through finite goodness, and in consideration of Christ's merits, ants us to enable us to work out our salvation. Grace is a gift, that is, a present, a favor, a benefit. t is an inward and supernatural gift; an inward gift, Because it is bestowed upon man's soul to distinguish it tom external gifts and benefits of God, such as: food, clothing, health; grace is a supernatural gift, because it is above nature. In creating our souls God gives us a certain degree of light which enables us to think, reflect, judge, to acquire more or less knowledge: this is called natural light. In the same way He gives our souls the power in some measure to overcome sensual, vicious inclinations; this power is called natural power (virtue). To this natural light and power must be added a higher light and a higher power, if 'man would be sanctified and saved. This higher light and higher power is grace. It is, therefore, called a supernatural gift, because it surpasses the natural power of man, and produces in his understanding and in his will wholesome effects, which he could not produce without it. For example, divine faith, divine love is a supernatural gift or grace of God, because man of his own power could never receive as certain God's revelations and His incomprehensible mysteries with so great a joy and so firm a conviction, and could never love God above all things and for His own sake, unless God assisted him by His grace. God grants us grace also through pure benevolence without our assistance, without our having any right to it; He grants it without cost, and to whom He pleases; but He gives it in consideration of the infinite merits of Christ Jesus, in consideration of Christ's death on the cross, and of the infinite price of our redemption. Finally, grace is a gift of God, by which to work out our salvation, ,that is, it is only by the grace of God that we can perform meritorious works which aid us in reaching heaven. Without grace it is impossible for us to perform any good action, even to have a good thought by which to gain heaven. From this it follows that with the grace of God we can accomplish all things necessary for our salvation, fulfil all the commandments of God, but without it we can do nothing meritorious. God gives His grace to all, and if the wicked perish, it is because they do not cooperate with its divine promptings. How is grace divided? Into two kinds, actual and sanctifying grace. Actual grace is God's assistance which we always need to accomplish a good work, to avoid sin which we are in danger of committing, or that grace which urges us on to good, and assists us in accomplishing it; for it is God, says the Apostle Paul, (Phil. II. 13.) who worketh in you both to will and to accomplish. If a good work is to be performed by us, God must enlighten our mind that we may properly know the good and distinguish it from evil; He must rouse our will and urge it on to do the known good and to avoid the evil; He must also uphold our will and increase our strength that what we wish to do, we may really accomplish. This actual grace is, therefore, necessary for the just, that they may always remain in sanctifying grace, and accomplish good works; it is necessary for the shiner that he may reach the state of sanctifying grace. What is sanctifying grace? It is the great benefit which God bestows upon us, when He sanctifies and justifies us; in other words: sanctifying grace is the love of God, given to us by the Holy Ghost, which love dwells in us and whose temple we become, or it is the advent and abiding of God in our hearts, as promised in the words of Jesus: If any one love me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him. (John XVI. 23.) He who possesses sanctifying grace, possesses the greatest treasure that a man can have on earth. For what can be more precious than to be beautiful in the sight of God, acceptable to Him, and united with Him! He who possesses this grace, carries within himself the supernatural image of God, he is a child of God, and has a right to the inheritance of heaven. How is this sanctifying grace lost? It is lost by every mortal sin, and can only be regained by a complete return to God, by true repentance and amendment. The loss of sanctifying grace is a fax greater injury than the lass of all earthly possessions. How, terrible, then, is mortal sin which deprives us of this treasure!  - Fr Goffine