U.S.
Arizona court issues ruling on clergy-penitent privilege in confession
PHOENIX — Just shy of two weeks after ruling on clergy-penitent privilege, the Arizona Supreme Court issued another unanimous decision Aug. 12 setting legal precedent for what qualifies as “confession,” again creating legal implications for the Catholic Church’s confessional seal. While in Doe v. Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the court ruled on when a clergyperson may invoke the privilege, Rodriguez-Ramirez v. Arizona focused more on the penitent. Although the specific case does not involve Catholic clergy, the precedent could impact how priest-penitent privilege is viewed in the future. While the sacramental seal of confession remains inviolable, conversations outside the confessional or spiritual direction would not fall under the privilege. (OSV News)
More than 270 faith leaders urge Trump administration to extend TPS for El Salvador
WASHINGTON— Hundreds of faith leaders and organizations urged the Trump administration to extend Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador before it expires in September. A TPS designation grants the U.S. government the power to shield eligible migrants from deportation if they are from countries experiencing dangerous conditions such as war, disaster or other unrest. El Salvador’s TPS designation is scheduled to expire Sept. 9, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The removal of that status would impact the legal status of more than 170,000 El Salvadoran nationals in the U.S., according to the Congressional Research Service. In an Aug. 21 letter to President Donald Trump and other administration officials, more than 270 faith leaders and organizations — including several U.S. bishops — argued that Mullins should extend El Salvador’s TPS designation due to remaining dangerous conditions in that country. (OSV News)
WORLD
Pope calls for end to West Bank violence, pursuit of two-state solution
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy — Pope Leo XIV is renewing his urgent appeal for an end to escalating violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, calling on the international community to decisively advance a two-state solution alongside Israel. Speaking after the Aug. 16 Angelus, the pontiff warned of worsening unrest across the region. The appeal follows a surge in attacks by Israeli settlers, notably targeting Taybeh, one of the West Bank’s last remaining Christian villages. Father Bashar Fawadleh, pastor of Christ the Redeemer Church in Taybeh, warned that the harassment is designed to pressure Palestinian families off their land, pleading with the global Church not to forget its vulnerable brothers and sisters. Pope Leo also met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the Vatican on Aug. 20 as Church officials voiced deep concern over stalled efforts to secure peace along the Lebanon-Israel border. Following their meeting, Aoun conferred with the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and its foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher. Talks centered on the U.S.-brokered Trilateral Framework Agreement aimed at stabilizing southern Lebanon. (OSV News)
Pope Leo appoints Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly to Vatican dicastery
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV on Aug. 25 appointed Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly as a member of the Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, adding the leader of the world’s largest Catholic fraternal organization to a body that helps guide the Church’s outreach to laypeople, families and young people. Kelly has served as supreme Knight and CEO of the Knights of Columbus since 2021. The organization has about 2.1 million members worldwide. As a member of the laity dicastery, he will contribute to the dicastery’s mission promoting the lay apostolate, family life, youth ministry, the protection of human life and the dignity of older adults. (OSV News)
Three U.S.-based leaders named to Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Pope Leo XIV has appointed three U.S.-based consultors, all with ties to the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. They are among a dozen newly-named consultors to the Vatican department created by Pope Francis in 2016. The Holy See Press Office on Aug. 18 announced the appointments of the 12 including Father Emmanuel Katongole, a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame; Kathryn Koch, president and CEO of the Los Angeles-based international investment firm Trust Company of the West (TCW); and Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame. (OSV News)
Pope offers prayers for Zimbabwe ferry disaster as death toll passes 90
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV has expressed deep sorrow and offered prayers following an overloaded ferry capsizing on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, which has claimed at least 92 lives. In a Vatican telegram sent Aug. 18 on the pope’s behalf, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the pontiff entrusted the deceased to God’s mercy and invoked “consolation, healing and strength” for the victims’ families and emergency rescue workers. Police reported the vessel was carrying more than 150 passengers — well over its 90-person capacity — when it overturned Aug. 11 amid rough waters. Zimbabwe’s Catholic bishops called for national solidarity and prayer, describing the disaster as a wound for the entire nation. Bishop Patrick Ngwenya of Chinhoyi, whose diocese includes the accident site and several victims, said local parishes are actively coordinating pastoral aid and relief for grieving families. (OSV News)
