Catholic News

Pope Leo XIV will make an apostolic trip to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from Nov. 6–17, a nearly two-week tour that will be his first papal visit to Latin America.

As reported by the Vatican on Aug. 5, the pontiff accepted the invitation of the heads of state and ecclesiastical authorities of the three countries to carry out the pastoral visit, which will include several emblematic cities of each nation.

The first stage of the trip will take place in Uruguay, where Leo XIV will stay from Nov. 6–8. During those days he will visit the cities of Montevideo, Paysandú, and Florida.

Subsequently the Holy Father will travel to Argentina, where he will visit from Nov. 8–11. The itinerary includes visits to Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and the Marian sanctuary of Our Lady of Luján, one of the main pilgrimage centers in the country.

The last portion of the trip will take place in Peru, from Nov. 11–17. In that country, in which the pope has had citizenship since 2015, he will travel to Lima, Chiclayo, Cuzco, and Pucallpa on an itinerary that will take him both to the coast and to the mountains and the Peruvian Amazon.

The Holy See said it would release a more detailed itinerary in the near future.

The visit will have a special meaning for Peru, a country where Leo XIV did extensive pastoral and missionary work for years.

The pope, then-Father Robert Prevost, lived in Peru for more than two decades in total. He arrived in the country in 1985. His first destination was Chulucanas, but it was in Trujillo and Chiclayo where his pastoral dedication took deep roots.

In 2015, already a nationalized Peruvian, he was appointed bishop of Chiclayo, where he exercised a close and committed leadership. He was there until January 2023 when he was appointed by Pope Francis as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.

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More than half of U.S. young men report feeling lonely or isolated at least some of the time, nearly half lack a sense of community, and many say the American dream feels increasingly out of reach, according to a report from the Institute for Family Studies.

The second installment of the institute's "America's Demoralized Men" study, based on a nationally representative YouGov survey of 2,000 men ages 18 to 29, examined young men's social lives, mental health, civic engagement, and online habits. Researchers said the findings revealed a generation that still desires marriage, fatherhood, and meaningful work but often struggles to achieve those goals.

"We really tried to allow young men to speak for themselves," said Michael Toscano, co-author of the report and director of the Family First Technology Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies. "They still have these honorable aspirations to be responsible men, to marry, to have children, and to contribute to society."

A generation searching for connection

Researchers described many respondents as "demoralized" — not because they have abandoned hope entirely, but because many feel powerless to reach the lives they desire.

The survey found that 61% of young men often feel they have little control over what happens to them, while 54% said they never seem to do enough to please others. More than 4 in 10 (43%) agreed with the statement "I am inclined to think that I am a failure."

Loneliness also emerged as a defining theme.

While roughly 45% of respondents said they rarely or never feel lonely, 55% reported feeling lonely at least some of the time. Similarly, 54% said they feel isolated at least occasionally, and nearly half (48%) said they lack a sense of community. About 1 in 5 respondents said they seldom or never feel loved or wanted by others.

Toscano cautioned against attributing the crisis to a single cause.

"We strive in the report not to think in a monocausal way," he said. "The loneliness crisis is something that is visiting everyone."

Still, he argued that the breakdown of family life has played a significant role.

"An honest assessment of where young men are today would have to begin with the breakdown of the family," Toscano said, noting that many respondents still desire marriage and fatherhood but increasingly feel those milestones are beyond reach.

Fewer friendships, less community

The survey also found many young men have few close relationships.

About 4 in 10 respondents reported having two or fewer close friends, including 34% who have just one or two close friends and 9% who said they have none at all.

Researchers found that strong institutional ties often made a difference. Young men connected to marriage, education, or religious communities were more likely to report having three or more close friends. Participation in all-male organizations during adolescence, such as sports teams or the Boy Scouts, was also associated with stronger friendships later in life.

Overall civic participation remained relatively low. Although 57% participate in at least one community activity, only 31% volunteer regularly, while fewer than one-third belong to a faith-based group, social club, or civic organization. Just one-quarter attend religious services at least monthly.

Financial worries

Economic concerns also weighed heavily on respondents.

About half agreed with the statement "No matter how hard I work, people like me will never achieve the American dream," while nearly three-quarters (72%) said personal connections matter more than ability or hard work when it comes to getting ahead.

Toscano said rising living costs were one of the clearest explanations offered by respondents.

"The main expression of doubt in the American dream was the sense that the money they earned was simply not enough to keep up with the rising costs of life," he said.

Despite those concerns, optimism has not disappeared entirely. An overwhelming 84% of respondents said having ambitious plans for the future describes them at least somewhat well.

Digital habits often deepen distress

The report also points to widespread use of electronic media, with researchers warning that many young men appear to be using technology as a substitute for genuine relationships.

Nearly half (44%) play video games many times each day, while another 42% play at least several times a week.

Pornography use was also common. About 42% reported viewing pornography daily or several times each week, including 24% of regular religious service attendees.

Online gambling likewise proved widespread, with 23% gambling daily and another 12% doing so several times a week.

Toscano said these behaviors appear to function as what the report calls "maladaptive coping."

"If the world around you is increasingly closing off your opportunity to be a successful man, what you might do is look for it in a synthetic environment," he said.

Researchers found strong links between frequent online activity and emotional distress. Among men who watch pornography many times a day, 43% reported loneliness, 36% depression, and 29% anxiety. Two-thirds of daily online gamblers reported emotional distress, while 66% of daily gamblers and 63% of daily pornography users described themselves as failures, compared with 42% of young men overall.

Toscano emphasized that the survey cannot establish cause and effect but suggests a troubling cycle in which loneliness and unhealthy digital habits reinforce one another.

A call for the Church

Although church attendance was associated with stronger social connections, Toscano noted that loneliness remains common even among churchgoers.

"The lonely might be sitting in the pew right next to them," he said.

He encouraged pastors and parish leaders to listen carefully to young men's experiences, affirm their aspirations, and create opportunities for authentic friendships and mentorship between younger and older men.

"There still remains a desire for them to get married and have kids and have good jobs," Toscano said. "We need to encourage those desires."

He also said the Church should respond to the broader loneliness crisis affecting every generation. Referencing Pope Leo's call for "digital sobriety," Toscano said Catholics of all ages — not only young people — must intentionally rebuild face-to-face relationships.

"It's time for everyone to be called out of their shell," he said.

Despite significant obstacles, he said, many young men continue to desire family, responsibility, meaningful work, and lives of service.

"Men have value as men," Toscano said. "It's important to allow them to contribute to society as men. That's not something we should be afraid of, but something we should encourage."

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A Bavaria, Germany-based investor is offering families 500 euros ($545) for every child they have baptized in a group of Catholic parishes near Munich.

The local diocese has acknowledged the donor's intentions but stressed that, from the Church's point of view, there is no financial barrier to baptism in the first place.

Peter Löw, a Starnberg-based investor and practicing Catholic, has set aside 20,000 euros ($21,800) for the initiative, which he calls "Starnberger Schutzengelchen" ("Little Starnberg Guardian Angel").

The amount is enough to cover up to 40 baptisms this year.

Support for families in expensive region

To qualify, a child must be no older than 3 and registered in the Catholic parish community of Starnberg, a lakeside area about 17 miles south of Munich.

Prized for its scenery and its short commute to the city, Starnberg has drawn an influx of wealthy newcomers that has made it one of the richest districts in Germany, with among the country's highest incomes and property prices. The same pressure has driven up housing costs for local families, some of whom, the parish priest said, find even the cost of a baptism celebration hard to meet.

Löw, a father of eight who ranks among Germany's wealthier businessmen, started the effort after a conversation with the Starnberg parish priest, Father Andreas Jall.

The priest had told him about families who were holding back from baptizing their children because of the cost of the celebration.

Löw told the newspaper Bild that if a modest sum nudged parents toward baptism, that was "a good thing," adding that families were free to spend the money however they wished. He also framed the gift as an incentive to bring children into the life of the parish, telling Bild: "My eight children are all baptized."

He said he would assess at the end of the year whether the initiative had been worthwhile.

Four families had already received the money by late July, Jall told the German Press Agency (dpa), noting that all four baptisms had been registered roughly six months in advance and that the offer had not triggered a sudden rush of new bookings.

The Diocese of Augsburg gave a mixed assessment in a statement to the official news portal of the German bishops' media arm.

Catholic parents are already obliged to have their children baptized as soon as possible and to raise them in the faith, a diocesan spokesman said, and because the Church charges nothing for a baptism, the financial element the initiative puts front and center is unlikely to be decisive in a family's decision.

Every believer who meets the conditions has a right to receive the sacraments, the spokesman added.

Theology and intention

The Bavarian diocese called Löw's generosity "a likeable expression of charity" but said that wherever "the reception of a sacrament and financial considerations, however well meant, move too close together," an "uneasy feeling" remains from the Church's point of view.

The diocese also questioned the theology behind the offer. Baptism presupposes a conscious decision of faith and is far more than a simple blessing, the spokesman said; if no faith is thereby awakened or strengthened, the purpose of even a "surely well-intentioned initiative" is called into question.

Jall, the local parish priest, has defended the measure. Some parishioners had objected that it risked cheapening the Church's reputation, he told the German Press Agency, but he said his own view started from the families' side. "We want to help families in this high-priced area," he said, adding that the aim clearly was not to "buy" believers but to help Catholic families.

The initiative comes as the Catholic Church in Germany keeps shrinking. It recorded a net loss of about 321,659 members in 2025, leaving roughly 19.2 million Catholics, or 23% of the population — a decline driven partly by Germans formally quitting the Church to escape its state-collected tax on members.

This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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While traveling by bus on the way back from a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, a group of pilgrims from the Diocese of Nuevo Laredo was robbed along a Mexican highway.

Bishop Luis Carlos Lerma Martínez of Nuevo Laredo announced that the pilgrims were heading toward the state of Jalisco when the bus they were traveling in was intercepted in the early hours of Saturday, Aug. 1.

"While it is true that, thank God, there were no serious injuries — let alone any loss of life — the lack of security on the highways of our country is deeply concerning," Lerma lamented.

Lerma likewise urged the pertinent authorities to "redouble their efforts to strengthen security on our roads and thus prevent these types of incidents that cause such harm to our society."

How did the robbery occur?

During an Aug. 4 press conference, Anahí Zamora, the pilgrimage organizer, provided details about the robbery. She explained that the group consisted of 47 pilgrims — including seniors, children, and several families — along with the driver and the co-driver.

She explained that around 3:45 a.m., while they were traveling along a highway in the state of Guanajuato, two men dressed in uniforms resembling those of the National Guard — a federal police force that, among other duties, patrols Mexico's highways — signaled them to stop using a flashlight.

The driver assumed it was a checkpoint, so he stopped the bus and got out along with the co-driver. That was when the men "forced them to kneel alongside the road, held them at gunpoint, and began boarding" the vehicle.

Once inside the bus, the men began threatening the passengers with their weapons. "They took everything we had with us: suitcases, bags, cellphones," Zamora recalled.

Following the incident, those affected managed to contact the authorities as well as representatives of the Diocese of Nuevo Laredo, who provided support to the group to continue their journey and subsequently return home.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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As artificial intelligence drives a rapid expansion of energy-hungry data centers across the United States, Catholic environmental advocates are urging lawmakers, technology companies, and consumers to evaluate the industry's growth through the lens of Catholic social teaching.

Catholic leaders in social teaching, environmental stewardship, and advocacy said the Church is not opposed to artificial intelligence itself.

"The Church is not anti-tech. It is not, in a sense, anti-AI," Scott Hurd, vice president of leadership development and Catholic identity at Catholic Charities USA, told EWTN News. "But it is very concerned about the ethics involved in the design of these tools and the data centers."

Why data centers matter

Data centers house the computer servers that process and store information behind artificial intelligence systems. Their rapid growth, however, has also prompted concerns over electricity use, water consumption, electronic waste, and impacts on nearby communities.

Hurd said the issues can be understood in simple terms.

"They require immense amounts of energy," he said, noting that facilities also consume large quantities of water to keep servers cool. In some areas, he added, residents have reported concerns over water quality, while aging computer equipment contributes to growing amounts of electronic waste.

Hurd also pointed to local concerns including electrical grid demands and noise from cooling systems.

"Water, energy use, the type of energy being used, and e-waste are big problems," he said. "Then locally for people who live there, the noise pollution can really impact a community and the well-being of the people who live there."

Kayla Jacobs, director of advocacy and youth mobilization for the Catholic Climate Covenant, said her organization regularly hears from Catholics living in communities where data centers are planned or under construction.

"We've been hearing a lot about the huge strain on resources," Jacobs said in an interview with EWTN News. "That leads to higher energy and water bills for common people because, at the moment, those companies putting in these data centers aren't required to pay for that."

She added that residents also express concerns about air quality, construction impacts, light pollution, and the overall quality of life near the facilities.

Industry response

The Data Center Coalition, which represents many of the industry's largest operators, disputed claims that data centers are driving higher utility costs or failing to pay for the resources they consume.

"Data centers are committed to being responsible and responsive neighbors," Dan Diorio, the coalition's executive vice president for state policy and government affairs, said in a statement to EWTN News.

Data centers provide the infrastructure behind not only artificial intelligence but also online banking, hospitals, schools, manufacturing, telehealth, air travel, and other essential digital services. The group said the facilities are increasingly critical to the U.S. economy and modern daily life.

Diorio said research from states including Virginia and Arizona indicates the industry pays its full energy costs, while studies have found data centers have not been a primary driver of electricity rate increases nationally.

He also said many facilities use relatively modest amounts of water compared with other industries. In Virginia — the world's largest data center market — 83% of data centers use the same or less water than an average commercial office building.

Diorio pledged continued collaboration with local communities and policymakers on responsible resource use.

The coalition's assessment differs from concerns raised by Catholic environmental advocates, who argue that communities are already experiencing higher resource demands and other local impacts.

A question of Catholic social teaching

While environmental concerns surrounding AI infrastructure often enter political debate, environmental advocates said Catholics should view the issue primarily through the lens of Catholic social teaching.

"It is a doctrinal matter to be considered," Hurd said, noting that concern for the environment is closely tied to concern for local communities through the Church's understanding of integral ecology.

Molly Burhans, an environmental researcher and the Ignazio Danti, OP, fellow in geography at The Catholic University of America's Leonine Institute for AI and Emerging Technologies, said Catholics should resist treating the issue as a choice between embracing or rejecting technology.

"We need to distinguish where they make sense and how they can make sense," Burhans told EWTN News. "We can't really go backwards in time now. We can't get rid of this technology. How can we work with it and align it with human flourishing and the common good?"

Burhans said Catholics should evaluate AI development according to the principles of human dignity, the common good, and stewardship of creation.

Burhans also argued that environmental stewardship itself is a pro-life concern.

"Pollution almost always disproportionately falls on the vulnerable," she said, including unborn children, who are especially susceptible to environmental toxins during development.

She described creation not as "a warehouse" for human consumption but as "a gift entrusted to us for stewardship."

What can Catholics do?

Rather than seeing the issue solely as one for lawmakers or technology companies, Catholics have a role to play, advocates said.

Hurd encouraged Catholics to become familiar with the Church's growing body of teaching on artificial intelligence, including the Vatican document Antiqua et Nova, Pope Leo XIV's recent encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' guidance on AI.

He also suggested that Catholics examine their own use of AI.

Pope Leo's call for "digital sobriety," Hurd said, challenges Catholics to use artificial intelligence intentionally rather than frivolously, recognizing that every AI interaction relies on physical infrastructure with real environmental costs.

"I think an ethical case can be made to use this with intention," he said, "understanding that there's a real environmental impact."

Jacobs likewise encouraged Catholics to think critically about their personal use of AI, not only for environmental reasons but also for the social impact it can have on humanity.

"People are using it without even thinking about it," she said. "But we really need to reduce our use of AI, not just for the environmental impacts, but also we need to consider the effect it has on human interaction," Jacobs said.

She said local governments often hold public hearings before approving projects, allowing residents to ask questions about environmental impacts, water use, and community planning.

Balancing innovation with responsibility

The advocates stressed that artificial intelligence itself offers significant opportunities, from medical advances to improved education and scientific research. The challenge, they said, is ensuring that technological progress does not come at the expense of people or the environment.

"We need an equally ambitious commitment to renewable energy, responsible water stewardship, transparency, and just economic participation," Burhans said.

For Catholics, the argument ultimately extends beyond technology.

"Caring for our common home is not just an act of environmental care," Burhans said. "It's also an act of gratitude."

As artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly permanent part of daily life, Catholic leaders say the challenge is ensuring its development serves the common good while respecting both human dignity and God's creation.

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Two prisoners — one of them a former member of Comando Vermelho, a major Brazilian criminal organization — received the sacraments of Christian initiation (baptism, Eucharist, and confirmation) on Sunday, July 26, at the Gameleira 2 maximum-security state men's penitentiary in Campo Grande, Brazil.

Both men received the sacraments after two years of catechesis provided by the prison ministry of the Archdiocese of Campo Grande.

"What is the primary objective of prison ministry? Education, celebration, and life in the faith," explained Said Brandão Sayd, the ministry's coordinator, in an interview with ACI Digital, the Portuguese-language sister service of EWTN News.

"Our principal goal is to have a Catholic community within the prison — to ensure that people, even amid all those difficulties, receive the Church's help and can effectively leave that place or live there in a state of grace," he added.

The sacraments were administered by Father Álisson Muryel, the ecclesiastical adviser for the prison ministry in the Archdiocese of Campo Grande, an area that, according to Brandão, has 11 prisons and nearly 10,000 inmates. The ministry is "present in all the prisons," he said.

Without going into details regarding the personal information of the prisoners who received the sacraments, Brandão noted that one of them is single and "due to leave soon."

"He wants to rebuild his life; he wants to do it differently," Brandão said.

The other man, "who is staying longer," is in "a stable relationship but wants to receive the sacrament of marriage."

The coordinator explained that "in the second half of the year," they are going to "prepare him for this sacrament."

Brandão told ACI Digital that there is a team of catechists, supported by a parish, at every prison in the archdiocese. "Our meetings always follow this pattern, prioritizing catechesis," he said. "Above all else, the Catholic Church needs to go in there [into the prison] and proclaim the message," he added.

According to Brandão, it is not enough simply to "offer a hug" or "be deeply concerned about human rights, important as that is ... But if you don't speak about Jesus in there, who will?"

"Without that, there is no conversion," he affirmed.

According to Brandão, there are prisons where the pastoral team is able to be present every week, while in others, due to scheduling restrictions, meetings take place every two weeks.

"Since it is organized by cellblock, the blocks cannot be mixed. So, we go in, visiting two blocks one week, another two the next, and carry out the work there in that way," Brandão explained.

Through this process, the inmates follow a program lasting one or two years, depending on the frequency of the monthly catechesis sessions.

During the meetings, they work on the four dimensions of the faith: the creed, the commandments, prayer, and the sacraments. That period of preparation, Brandão noted, is intended to ensure the inmate "is aware of what he is receiving, and embraces it ... it is a great responsibility to prepare them so they understand what the faith is."

However, Brandão pointed out, providing good catechesis is pointless without the sacraments, and that is why a monthly Mass is held at the prison. At Gameleira 2, Mass is celebrated once a month in one of the four cellblocks. "So, each block has three Masses a year," he explained.

Mass is preceded by a time of confession for those who have already received the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist.

After the prisoners are released from the correctional facility, pastoral care workers encourage them to continue attending a parish near their homes.

"We do not know what is happening in each person's heart, but the Word is reaching them, and the Gospel is being proclaimed," Brandão concluded.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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Pope Leo XIV lamented Wednesday that prayer is no longer being passed on in many Christian families and urged the faithful to rediscover it as a fundamental dimension of human life.

"In our time, in contexts dominated by an efficiency-driven and consumerist mindset, prayer may seem pointless and trivial," the pope said during his Aug. 5 general audience.

"In a world where science and technology claim to provide all the answers, praying may appear to be a form of escapism," he continued.

Leo resumed his weekly public audience after suspending most of his official schedule during the traditional July summer break. Because of Rome's high summer temperatures, the audience was held inside St. Peter's Basilica.

Continuing his catechetical series on the Second Vatican Council, the pope focused on the ecclesial dimension of liturgical prayer as presented in the conciliar constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium.

He warned that prayer is increasingly misunderstood, including within Christian homes.

"Furthermore, even in many Christian families, the tradition of prayer is no longer passed on, whilst many people risk confusing it with just another technique, of a psychological nature aimed at personal well-being," he said.

"Prayer, however, as a fundamental dimension of our humanity, is worth rediscovering in its true form."

Leo said Sacrosanctum Concilium took this need seriously. He recalled the words of Pope St. Paul VI when the constitution became the first document promulgated by the Second Vatican Council on Dec. 4, 1963.

"God comes first; prayer is our primary duty; the liturgy is the primary source of the divine life communicated to us, the primary school of our spiritual life," Paul VI said at the time.

Leo explained that the word "prayer" in the constitution refers to the liturgy as a whole. This understanding, he said, proved decisive in guiding the liturgical reform and placing the active participation of the faithful at its center.

"The liturgy is presented first and foremost as the place of encounter, of God's initiative in drawing near to humanity in his Son, 'the Word made flesh, anointed by the Holy Spirit,'" the pope said.

The faithful respond "through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit," he continued, through "the very prayer which Christ Himself, together with His Body, addresses to the Father."

The importance of the Liturgy of the Hours

Leo recalled Paul VI's desire that the Liturgy of the Hours — the Church's daily public prayer, which is inseparable from the Eucharist — would permeate, enliven and guide all Christian prayer.

"For this desire to be fulfilled, the Liturgy of the Hours needs to be more fully embraced and lived out in the daily lives of the baptized and of the communities," Leo said.

The pope described the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours as "the breath of the life of the Church," through which the Holy Spirit circulates throughout the body of Christ.

He said the Liturgy of the Hours sanctifies the different moments of ordinary life.

"Bound to the Eucharist, whose light it prolongs, the Liturgy of the Hours sanctifies the time of our daily lives: in the morning, we begin the day with faith and gratitude; at midday, we ask for the strength to remain faithful amidst our labours; in the evening, once our work is done, Vespers accompany the moment of sunset; at night, we fall asleep entrusting ourselves to God's peace," he said.

"Each Hour is an act of hope: during our earthly pilgrimage, we keep watch, awaiting with the whole Church the glorious return of the Lord."

The Liturgy of the Hours can also serve as a practical school for those learning how to pray, the pope said, particularly people preparing to enter the Catholic Church.

"To the many people who wish to learn to pray, especially catechumens, it can offer the path and the school of Christian prayer," he said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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Pope Leo XIV will make an apostolic trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6-17, a nearly two-week tour that will be his first papal visit to Latin America.

As reported by the Vatican on Aug. 5, the pontiff accepted the invitation of the heads of state and ecclesiastical authorities of the three countries to carry out the pastoral visit, which will include several emblematic cities of each nation.

The first stage of the trip will take place in Uruguay, where Leo XIV will stay from November 6-8. During those days he will visit the cities of Montevideo, Paysandú and Florida.

Subsequently the Holy Father will travel to Argentina, where he will visit from November 8-11. The itinerary includes visits to Buenos Aires, Córdoba and the Marian sanctuary of Our Lady of Luján, one of the main pilgrimage centers in the country.

The last portion of the trip will take place in Peru, from November 11-17. In that country, in which the pope has had citizenship since 2015, he will travel Lima, Chiclayo, Cuzco and Pucallpa, on an itinerary that will take him both to the coast and to the mountains and the Peruvian Amazon.

The Holy See said it would release a more detailed itinerary in the near future.

The visit will have a special meaning for Peru, a country where Leo XIV did extensive pastoral and missionary work for years.

The pope, then Father Robert Prevost, lived in Peru for more than two decades in total. He arrived in the country in 1985. His first destination was Chulucanas, but it was in Trujillo and Chiclayo where his pastoral dedication took deep roots.

In 2015, already a nationalized Peruvian, he was appointed bishop of Chiclayo, where he exercised a close and committed leadership. He was there until January 2023 when he was appointed by Pope Francis as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.

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Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane, Washington, is urging prayers and support for those affected by major wildfires near the diocese and throughout Washington state.

Data from the Washington state government as of Aug. 4 showed more than a dozen "large fires" throughout the state with more than 13,500 acres burned since July 31. The state has seen more than half a million acres burn to date in 2026.

Several large fires were burning mostly north and west of Spokane, which is located in the eastern part of the state just several miles from the Idaho border. The blazes have consumed hundreds of structures and forced thousands of local residents to evacuate.

In an Aug. 3 letter to the diocese, Daly — who has served as the bishop there since 2015 — urged locals to "join me in praying for our neighbors who have been forced to evacuate, those who have lost homes or property, and all whose lives have been disrupted by these fires."

The bishop also urged prayers for emergency responders including firefighters, doctors, and volunteers, whose "courage and selfless service" he described as "a profound witness to the goodness that shines even in moments of great uncertainty."

Full scale of crisis 'yet to unfold,' bishop says

Speaking to EWTN News on Aug. 4, Daly said he and Diocese of Spokane Vicar General Father Darrin Connall toured parts of the devastated region with a police escort on Aug. 3.

"We're used to fires, but mostly wildfires — it's usually the countryside and the forest," the bishop said. But in the latest conflagration, "blocks and blocks" of residential homes have been completely leveled.

"The reality is that home after home after home — they're completely gone," he said.

Local Church leaders, he said, are now confronted with the major task of not just attending to the immediate emergency needs of displaced residents but helping them figure out what their lives will look like weeks or months from now.

"Where are the people going to live? What about schools starting in a few weeks?" he said. "What's it like to have Thanksgiving with no place to go? Clearly it's going to be a couple years before homes are rebuilt."

"There's a lot still that will be a source of stress and difficulty for people. We're beginning to see how to respond to the immediate needs and how we're going to respond to the struggle that is yet to unfold."

The bishop said no lives have yet been reported lost and that the two Catholic parishes in the affected region have been spared.

'We're not equipped to fight these fires'

Shane Stocking, the fire chief of South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue near Spokane, said in an interview with EWTN News on Aug. 4 that the region has suffered "apocalyptic devastation."

The fires burning in the area, he said, are "wind-driven" and unpredictable.

"We're talking about the type of fire that will spare one home and take two, spare another home and take three," he said. "It's picking and choosing. It's not casually running up to houses. It's ember- and wind-driven. It's spreading half a mile or more ahead of itself and picking homes to ignite."

Stocking said that as of Aug. 4 firefighters estimate that they have stopped the "forward progression" of the several large fires in the area. "It doesn't mean they're out or contained," he said. "It means we're going to hold them where they're at."

He described the chaos of the fire's advance as "unprecedented."

"It's run-and-gun for our homes and run-and-gun for our lives," he said. "There are no resources that exist that are going to stop these fires. It's super abnormal."

The chief said firefighters in the field are forced to make grim calculations when attempting to stay ahead of the blaze.

"As a leadership officer, you're having to choose which homes you're going to let burn down and which ones you're going to save," he said. "It's very, very tough for me, and very, very tough for our firefighters. Some homes are going off half a mile away."

"We're very good at fighting house fires in the Spokane region," he said. "But we're not equipped to fight three wind-driven fires burning ahead of us all at the same time. I have no words."

In his letter to the diocese, Daly urged residents to follow guidance from local leaders and to "heed evacuation orders" if they are given. He further called on Catholics in the diocese to be "people of hope."

"Even amid tragedy and uncertainty, Christ remains with us. May he bring comfort to those who are suffering, strength to those serving on the front lines, and peace to every anxious," he said.

Also in Spokane, Catholic Charities Eastern Washington appealed for donations to respond to the crisis. The charity group, which operates near downtown Spokane, said "many of [its] clients and residents have been affected," including some Catholic Charities staff.

The group said it had set up an emergency fund to help provide essential supplies, housing, and long-term assistance to those affected by the fire.

"This is a moment where we are asking for our entire community to lean in with us during this very difficult time," the group said.

On Aug. 3 the Spokane County Sheriff's Office announced that it had arrested a 37-year-old local man on arson charges in connection with one of the fires in the area.

The individual is suspected of starting the "Old Trails Fire" located west of Spokane. That fire started on Aug. 1 and has consumed around 3,600 acres so far. It was still listed as "active" on Aug. 4.

Stocking, meanwhile, urged homeowners around the country to be aware of the "new normal" of major, fast-spreading fires.

He pointed to the 2025 Palisades fire in California and the 2023 fire that laid waste to Lahaina in Hawaii as examples.

"We need to prepare our homes," Stocking said. "Make your homes defensible, clean up, take out brush, and you have to be ready to leave. No amount of firefighters can stop a fire like this."

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In response to increased immigration enforcement measures throughout the country, two U.S. Catholic bishops have issued fresh statements affirming the human dignity of immigrants as children of God and calling for immigration reform.

Both prelates said Americans should understand why people flee their home countries in search of a better life while acknowledging the nation's right to enforce its immigration laws. The current situation, however, is unjust, immoral, and must be fixed, both men emphasized.

On Aug. 3, the centennial anniversary of the elevation of San Antonio to a metropolitan archdiocese, Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller released a pastoral letter expressing the Church's solidarity with migrants and calling for the "careful and well-formed moral discernment of every Catholic conscience" in response.

Meanwhile, on Aug. 1, Bishop Robert Gruss of the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan, issued a statement in which he reminded the faithful of the "inherent human dignity" of every person.

Gruss said the current "challenge" facing the United States, which has "consistently received immigrants, refugees, exiles, and the persecuted from other lands" throughout its history, is "how to deal with a situation when one administration has allowed individuals and families to migrate … freely and the next administration wants their removal."

The bishop wrote that the removal of "immigrants who have caused harm to society by participating in criminal activity" is understandable, but asked if it is "fair to remove those who are and have been contributing to society in a positive way, oftentimes for many years?"

He said that a "just and civil society" would not allow the deportation or detention of people "without cause" or "meaningful legal representation, without access to family or a supportive community, and without basic human needs being met."

He urged the faithful to "push for public policy changes that secure civil rights for all immigrants" and "humane border enforcement policies" that simultaneously uphold national security while protecting the "safety and dignity" of those who come to the country to work.

'We will come to you'

García-Siller promulgated his letter, titled "We Will Come to You: United in Solidarity with Our Brothers and Sisters in Migration," at a Mass at San Fernando Cathedral in downtown San Antonio.

"We are living in a world of war," the letter began. "Across continents, people are dying every day. Across borders, survivors are forced to migrate. They do not leave by choice, but because of violence, hunger, fear, and oppression."

In the 56-page letter, composed of five sections and concluding with a prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe, García-Siller said he prayed "for a long time" before writing, saying he wanted to write from "the right place, one of accompaniment and solidarity."

He said the letter addresses an "unprecedented" time in the country, writing that "a convergence of structural and legal tactics … calls for the careful and well-formed moral discernment of every Catholic conscience."

"I write to comfort the afflicted, to ignite the comfortable, and to confront injustice with the full conviction of the Gospel."

He went on to cite his personal experience of "years walking alongside" migrants, many of whom are living in so much fear they rarely leave their homes, as well as his own story as a migrant himself.

The archbishop wrote that he has witnessed a "fear that has taken root" across the archdiocese, saying he and other pastors "pray with parents who embrace their children each morning unsure if they will be home at night," and describing parents who avoid taking children to the doctor or to go to work "because each mile carries risk."

"The community bears this cross, and the Church cannot be silent," he wrote, describing declining Mass attendance and the worsening physical health of those who suffer fear related to immigration.

"The people have not lost their faith," he wrote. "Many, however, have lost their sense of safety and belonging."

The Church must "defend the dignity of those caught in the machinery of removal," he emphasized.

García-Siller described visiting three detention centers in the area, including the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, the largest family detention center in the nation, saying he's witnessed "firsthand, violations of human dignity within their walls."

He went on to quote Bishop Steven Biegler of the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming, who wrote in a pastoral letter in April that "'the current campaign of mass detention and deportations is immoral.'"

García-Siller accused private corporations of profiting from the processing and movement of large numbers of detained immigrants from one site to another.

He also cited an investigation by U.S. Sen. John Ossoff, D-Georgia, which documented more than 1,000 "credible reports of human rights abuses since January 2025, including "medical neglect, denial of food and water, overcrowding, sleep deprivation, and the separation of breastfeeding mothers from their infants," as well as similar abuses in privately-run sites.

García-Siller called the public narrative that only criminals are being removed "misleading," writing that "73% of those in immigration detention have no criminal conviction, and only 5% have been convicted of a violent crime."

He described how pastors, deacons, extraordinary ministers, and trained catechists are developing "active ministries of accompaniment" in the archdiocese, visiting migrants in their homes, bringing the sacraments along with medicines and other supplies, as well as in detention centers.

"If your family has been detained, tell us. We will go to them. The Body of Christ does not abandon its members in chains," García-Siller declared.

The archbishop went on to lament that existing legal pathways take years to navigate, years that families cannot afford to wait as they seek safety and stability. He called for more accessible legal pathways, saying migrants would take those pathways if they were available. Migrants' "contribution to the common good of our nation" demands such, he wrote.

At the end of the letter, García-Siller entrusted the situation to Our Lady of Guadalupe, who herself crossed borders of culture and race and walked the road of exile with the Holy Family: "Long before she was Queen of Mexico … she was a mother who crossed a border. She knows this road; she walked it with her own feet."

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