International News

A tourist itinerary connecting dozens of landmarks associated with Pope Leo XIV's decades-long mission in Peru was launched in July by the South American country's government, in a joint effort with the Church and the tourism industry to draw national and international visitors.

Ukrainian religious leaders have rejected demands for Russia's Orthodox Church and language to be guaranteed official status in their country, although a Catholic bishop also warned against a threatened crackdown on Orthodox communities.

While noting there “will be many steps and many obstacles” on the path to peace, Fr. Andrew Onuferko said the Aug. 18 summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House offers a “glimmer of hope” that an end to the warfare between Russia and Ukraine could be on the horizon.

At the start of final submissions in his landmark trial, Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was provided with medication and a heart monitor Aug. 18, after health concerns had delayed proceedings the previous week.

U.S. President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a delegation of European leaders Aug. 18 following his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin a few days prior as he seeks a resolution to Russia's war in Ukraine.

The Alaska summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has ultimately failed to address the "fundamental moral and geopolitical questions" of Russia's multiyear war on Ukraine, said Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia.

Pope Leo XIV's dissertation — which he defended in 1987 for his doctoral degree in canon law — will soon be widely available through The Catholic University of America Press in Washington.

Nicaragua's ruling Sandinista regime has seized a prominent Catholic school, claiming without proof that it had operated a "torture" centre during past protests and renaming the education facility for a slain partisan.

Arriving in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV told reporters he hoped U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin can find a way to reach a ceasefire in Russia's war on Ukraine when they meet in Alaska.

As the Israeli-Hamas conflict continues, three more children arrived in Italy on a military transport plane late Aug. 13 for treatment at the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesù pediatric hospital.