Catholic News

Catholic leaders from Poland and Ukraine have issued a rare joint appeal for reconciliation between their nations, urging both peoples to reject hostility, embrace forgiveness, and preserve the Christian bonds that unite them despite growing political and historical tensions.

The statement, released June 29 from Rome and Kyiv, was signed by Cardinals Mykola Bychok, Konrad Krajewski, Kazimierz Nycz, and Grzegorz Rys, together with Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The appeal was issued while the cardinals were gathered in Rome for the recent consistory.

Opening their message, the Church leaders said they were speaking "in unity with Holy Father Leo XIV," whose first year as pope "has been marked by persistent work to build peace based on the common good and by resolute opposition to war in all its dimensions."

The signatories said the question of reconciliation between Poland and Ukraine extends beyond politics.

"We are aware that the question of reconciliation between Poles and Ukrainians concerns not only relations between the two peoples but also the authenticity of our common Christian witness," they wrote.

The appeal comes amid renewed strains in Polish-Ukrainian relations, particularly surrounding differing interpretations of World War II-era atrocities, even as Poland has remained one of Ukraine's strongest supporters since Russia's invasion in 2022.

Echoing Pope Leo XIV's repeated calls for peace, the bishops urged both nations to avoid inflammatory rhetoric.

Following Pope Leo, we are convinced that the first step toward peace is the disarmament of language."

Catholic leaders from Poland and Ukraine

"Following Pope Leo, we are convinced that the first step toward peace is the disarmament of language," they wrote. "This applies not only to words but also to gestures, signs, and symbols. They can also wound, close the path to encounter, and generate fear."

The statement also warned against allowing competing historical narratives to fuel division.

"When we impose our own vision of the past and the future on others, we succumb to the logic of a culture of violence and power," the Church leaders wrote. Instead, they urged both peoples to seek "the common good, not only of particular interests."

Quoting the Gospel's call to mercy, they added: "The Gospel in which we believe teaches us that the remedy for sin is forgiveness, and the limit that God has set for evil is mercy."

The bishops also invoked the legacy of St. John Paul II, who devoted significant efforts during his pontificate to fostering reconciliation between Poles and Ukrainians.

"We feel the duty not to abandon the common path begun with the blessing of St. John Paul II but to walk it patiently and courageously," they wrote. "Too much that unites our peoples for us to allow our common heritage to be wasted."

While acknowledging the painful chapters of history shared by both nations, the Church leaders emphasized that Christians are called to pursue reconciliation rooted in truth, forgiveness, and charity rather than resentment.

Their appeal concluded with a call to resist the culture of division and instead offer a Christian witness to a world increasingly marked by conflict.

"Together with the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV," they wrote, "we call on everyone to think primarily in terms of the common good and not only of private interests."

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One day after the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) consecrated four bishops without the permission of Pope Leo XIV, the Vatican issued a decree declaring that the bishops involved in the consecrations have incurred automatic excommunication and that the group is in schism.

In a defiant move and despite repeated pleadings from Rome not to move forward, the SSPX went ahead on July 1 with the consecration of four new bishops without a pontifical mandate — an act of open disobedience to the authority of the pope that, under canon law, carries automatic excommunication for the six bishops involved.

The SSPX is a controversial fraternity of priests known for their strict traditional celebration of the Latin Mass and opposition to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

The animating principle of the group is "the priesthood and all that pertains to it and nothing but what concerns it," SSPX says on its website. The group was founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a French prelate who was a sharp critic of many of the changes brought about by Vatican II.

In addition to the modern revisions of the Mass, Lefebvre also opposed "ecumenism — a viewpoint which considered all religions as beneficial and valid — and collegiality — which insisted that the Church be ruled primarily by the democratic process and bishops' conferences," according to the group's website.

The group runs priories, chapels, and missions around the world as well as seminaries. It commands several hundred priests and a few hundred more seminarians.

Perhaps the group's most controversial moment came in 1988 when Lefebvre consecrated four bishops in Écône, Switzerland, in explicit defiance of Pope John Paul II. Within hours the Vatican declared that Lefebvre and the four bishops had incurred excommunication on themselves.

In his motu proprio Ecclesia Dei, John Paul argued that it was "impossible to remain faithful to the tradition while breaking the ecclesial bond with him to whom, in the person of the apostle Peter, Christ himself entrusted the ministry of unity in his Church."

Pope Benedict XVI lifted this excommunication in 2009, though he explained in a letter that SSPX does not have canonical status and therefore "its ministers do not exercise legitimate ministries in the Church."

Pope Francis further expanded the group's privileges, ordering during the 2015–2016 Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy that confessions heard by SSPX priests were valid; he subsequently extended this order indefinitely.

In 2017, meanwhile, he ??approved a way for the group's priests to witness marriages validly, giving diocesan bishops or other local ordinaries the ability to authorize such decisions.

Ahead of the schismatic consecrations on July 1, Pope Leo XIV issued a final appeal to the society not to proceed with the ceremony.

The Holy Father urged the group to "consider the spiritual good of the faithful carefully," as the schismatic act "would deprive them of the licit and, in some cases, even valid reception of the sacraments, which they love and seek for their sanctification."

The Dicastery for Doctrine of the Faith, meanwhile, on July 2 released guidance to bishops around the world for welcoming back former adherents to the SSPX after the schismatic act.

A priest who leaves the fraternity must find a diocesan bishop or a major superior willing to receive him, after which he must "write by hand a letter to the Holy Father" asking for the remission of the excommunication.

The priest must also provide his certificate of ordination and make both a profession of faith and a formula of adherence.

The dicastery will move to remit the censure "as soon as it receives the documents," after which the priest, under the bishop who received him, will be subject to a probationary period "of at least one year and no more than three."

Penalties for the lay faithful, meanwhile, "cannot be presumed automatically but must be assessed case by case."

Though historically the faithful have not been strictly prohibited from attending SSPX Masses, Church leaders have in several instances warned Catholics against doing so except in serious circumstances.

"The Masses they [SSPX] celebrate are also valid, but it is considered morally illicit for the faithful to participate in these Masses unless they are physically or morally impeded from participating in a Mass celebrated by a Catholic priest in good standing," Monsignor Camille Perl, then-secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, said in 1995.

A 1998 letter by Perl noted that the "schismatic mentality" of SSPX led the pontifical commission to "consistently [discourage] the faithful from attending Masses celebrated under the aegis of the Society of St. Pius X."

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Two bishops of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) — Spaniard Alfonso de Galarreta and Swiss Bernard Fellay — incurred automatic excommunication by committing the canonical offense of schism following the ordination of four bishops without the permission of Pope Leo XIV.

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on July 2 declared that the SSPX is in a state of schism following the ordinations.

With this Vatican decision, Galarreta and Fellay represent a unique case: They have each been excommunicated twice.

Against the will of St. John Paul II, both were consecrated bishops in 1988 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the SSPX, thereby incurring the penalty of schism and excommunication. Pope Benedict XVI pardoned them in 2009.

Fellay entered the Écône, Switzerland, seminary in 1977 and was ordained a priest in 1982. After serving as the society's bursar general, he was elected superior of the SSPX in 1994, a position he held until 2012.

During his tenure, a certain rapprochement took place between the SSPX and the Vatican, leading to Pope Benedict XVI's decision to lift the excommunication in January 2009.

However, this decision did not eliminate the illegitimacy of his ministry, as the Bavarian pontiff explained in a letter published in March of the same year.

De Galarreta was born in Torrelavega, Spain, and his family emigrated to Argentina, where he entered the La Plata seminary in 1975. Rejecting the reforms driven by the Second Vatican Council, he decided to transfer to the Écône seminary in 1978.

Lefebvre ordained him a priest in Buenos Aires in 1980. Five years later, de Galarreta assumed the role of superior of the fraternity's South American district.

He was subsequently assigned as superior of the Autonomous House in Spain and served as the director of the Our Lady Co-Redemptrix Seminary in La Reja, Argentina.

Following the 2018 election of Father Davide Pagliarani as superior of the SSPX, Galarreta was promoted to first assistant general of the society.

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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NKONGSAMBA, Cameroon — Cameroon's Catholic Diocese of Nkongsamba has announced the safe release of a priest and two members of the Fraternity of Franciscans of Emmanuel (FFE) who were reportedly abducted in the country's North-West Region.

In the letter that the diocesan chancellor, Abbé Luc Roger Dodo, issued on July 1, the diocese gave thanks to God for the release of Father John Bosco Bihkong and Brothers Sylvester Sewong and Marie Rodrigue, who were kidnapped on Saturday night, June 27.

"Thank you to everyone for your prayers and expressions of support, which have borne fruit," Dodo said in the letter, quoting the psalmist: "Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free."

In a statement issued June 30, the vicar general of the diocese announced the kidnapping of the three men.

According to Father Joseph Tchinda Dountio, Bihkong had traveled to his native village of Melim, near Ndop in the North-West Region of Cameroon, to celebrate his first Mass on Friday, June 26.

He was accompanied by Brother Sylvester Sewong, guardian of the FFE convent in Kékem, and Brother Marie Rodrigue Sop, who is preparing for a perpetual profession. The three were abducted the following night.

No details were provided regarding the identity of the kidnappers, their motives, or whether contact had been established with the abductors.

Cameroon's North-West Region is one of the two English-speaking regions that have experienced years of insecurity linked to the country's Anglophone crisis.

Clergy, women and men religious, and other civilians have periodically been targeted in abductions as violence persists in the region.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

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The Vatican has released a new documentary, "Leone a Roma," about Pope Leo XIV's early years in Rome before his election to the papacy.

Following its previous documentaries, "León de Perú" and "Leo from Chicago," the documentary premiered July 1 on the Vatican News YouTube channels in English, Italian, and Spanish.

The documentary covers the then-Father Robert Prevost's nearly two decades in the Eternal City. He first came to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas from 1981 to 1987, served as prior general of the Augustinians from 2001 to 2013, and led the Dicastery for Bishops from 2023 to 2025.

Prevost's trips and fun moments with Augustinians

Many of his former Augustinian confreres reminisce about their time with Prevost, particularly their trips with him throughout Italy. Father Giovanni Lenzi, OSA, speaking to Vatican News, reflected on those trips with fondness.

"We went on trips to various parts of Italy, both in Sicily and to the north, up in Trentino, but also to various places where our houses were located, our Augustinian houses in Liguria," Lenzi told Vatican News.

Prevost is also remembered for his lighthearted moments with his fellow Augustinians. Father Ciro Musiello, OSA, recalls a particular prank Prevost and others played on him.

"One time we were doing spiritual exercises with the Jesuit fathers. [Prevost and others] said to me, 'Here, we'd like to offer you a candy.' So I thought it was candy, but instead it was a laxative tablet."

"As a result, while I was in the chapel, I had to run to the bathroom," Musiello recounted to Vatican News.

Serving as Augustinian prior general for 12 years required Prevost to travel frequently to meet other Augustinians worldwide. Father Miguel Ángel Martín Juárez, OSA, expressed surprise that Prevost could do it all while based in Rome.

"He traveled. He had a provincial chapter in Australia, then on the way back, he would stop to visit a province, who knows which one."

"Then he would arrive here [at the Augustinian General Curia in Rome] in the afternoon, maybe after the whole night on a plane. In the afternoon, he was already working in the office. It was tremendous physical and also mental endurance," Juárez told Vatican News.

Service in helping the pope select the world's bishops

Raised to the cardinalate by Pope Francis in 2023, Prevost returned to Rome that year after serving as a bishop in Peru to serve as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. This was his most recent post before he was elected Pope Leo XIV in 2025.

María Lía Zervino, a member of the dicastery, remembers Prevost for his thoughtfulness and listening while serving as its leader.

"It was clear that he had this way of listening, of gathering what others had to say, of reasoning about it, to do with his own imprint," Zervino told Vatican News. "So he is used to working with this kind of discernment and has no problem making a decision."

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Appearing before the European Parliament's Committee on Petitions on June 23, French activist Charlène Bernard, who had launched a petition on maternity protection, recounted the ordeal that led her to undergo a forced abortion.

Bernard's petition asks whether European institutions and member states are doing enough to protect women who wish to continue their pregnancies when they face pressure from partners, medical professionals, or difficult social circumstances.

Focusing on maternity protection and support for vulnerable pregnant women, her petition has drawn backing from pro-life civil society groups including the European Centre for Law and Justice as well as support across several political groups in Parliament, most notably the European People's Party, the European Conservatives and Reformists, Patriots for Europe, and Europe of Sovereign Nations.

Her petition also lands in a French context that suggests the issue merits closer scrutiny. According to a 2024 IFOP survey, 29% of French women who underwent an abortion said they felt pressure to abort from the health professional they consulted. Applied to France's 251,270 abortions in 2024, that would suggest on the order of 72,900 women.

These figures give Bernard's appeal broader relevance and raise the question of whether Europe's institutions are doing enough to protect women who want to carry their pregnancies to term.

The personal story behind the petition

At 27, Bernard discovered she was unexpectedly pregnant and wanted to keep her child. However, instead of finding support, she encountered a chain of pressure that culminated in an abortion she never wanted.

"What still hurts so much is the absence of my child, who is the first victim in my story," Bernard told EWTN News. "I am speaking out today so that what I have experienced has meaning, to protect other women from this painful ordeal, and to protect unborn children."

Bernard said her partner repeatedly urged her to abort, despite professing to love her. "It was incomprehensible to me that someone would push the woman they love to destroy the fruit of their love," she said.

She insisted that from the beginning, her intentions were clear: "I was happy to be pregnant, I already loved my baby, I wouldn't have an abortion."

Hoping to find help navigating this tension, the couple first consulted a doctor, who, Bernard said, reacted with incomprehension to her desire to continue the pregnancy. She then turned to a psychologist at a marriage and family counseling center affiliated with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, seeking someone who could help her and her partner talk through the situation and support her wish to carry the pregnancy to term.

Instead, she said the pressure intensified. Staff repeatedly referred to her unborn child as "just a bunch of cells," and a psychologist even arranged an abortion appointment "just in case" Bernard would change her mind. "I found myself trapped from the moment I walked through the door of the family planning clinic."

The pressure reached its peak when her partner forced abortion medication into her mouth, leaving her unable to exercise her freedom.

She said the experience led to severe depression, the collapse of the relationship, and lasting trauma. "What hurt me terribly," she said, "was constantly wondering how I could have let this happen — asking myself, 'What kind of mother am I to have let this happen?'"

Her petition

Bernard said her petition is aimed at forcing European institutions to confront what she sees as a blind spot in the continent's abortion debate: women who do not want an abortion but feel pressured into one.

"The normalization of abortion is such that pregnant women sometimes end up being pressured into having an abortion," she told EWTN News. While abortion rights are strongly defended in France and across the EU, she said, lawmakers should also defend "the right to motherhood," the right of women to carry a pregnancy to term without being subjected to pressure and with meaningful support.

Bernard said many women face social, familial, or spousal pressure to abort because they are considered too young, financially unstable, or at risk of losing their jobs. "Instead of supporting them in their motherhood, the only solution promoted to them is abortion," she said.

Among other things, Bernard is calling for stronger medical, psychological, and social support, including access to counseling, maternity services, housing assistance, and other forms of aid for women who want to continue their pregnancies.

She also wants Brussels to review existing EU funding and health initiatives to determine whether they genuinely support women who carry pregnancies to term, or whether some policies and funding streams indirectly create pressure toward abortion rather than offering real alternatives.

"Today in France, who supports vulnerable pregnant women who want to keep their babies? No one," Bernard said. "On the other hand, it's very easy to find support when you want an abortion."

Testing the EU's abortion funding logic

A key backdrop to Bernard's petition is the European Citizens' Initiative "My Voice, My Choice," which called on the EU to create a financial mechanism to facilitate cross-border access to abortion across the bloc.

In its Feb. 26 response, the European Commission declined to propose a new legal instrument but said member states could already draw on existing EU funding streams, most notably the 142.7 billion-euro ($162 billion) European Social Fund Plus, to support abortion-related services.

For legal scholars at the European Centre for Law and Justice, that position has direct implications for Bernard's case. If Brussels accepts that existing EU funds can be mobilized to help women access abortion, they propose, then those same instruments should also be available to support women who wish to continue their pregnancies.

In practical terms, that could mean EU-backed funding not only for abortion access but also for maternity counseling, housing assistance, and other support services for vulnerable pregnant women facing pressure to abort.

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ABUJA, Nigeria — A new six-year study released by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) is challenging long-held assumptions about the drivers of violence in Nigeria and the religious identity of its victims, with Christians bearing the larger burden.

Released on June 30, the report, "Killings and Abductions in Nigeria (2020–2025)," analyzes violence recorded between October 2019 and September 2025, documenting 79,323 people killed and nearly 35,000 abducted in attacks linked to what ORFA describes as terror groups.

The report argues that armed groups it classifies as "Fulani Terror Groups" were responsible for far more civilian deaths than Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) during the period under review.

According to ORFA's press release, the findings "overturn long-standing assumptions" about Nigeria's violence by concluding that Boko Haram and ISWAP together accounted for only 12% of civilian killings during the six-year period, while armed groups categorized by the organization as "Fulani Terror Groups" accounted for 44%.

"The data makes this very difficult to ignore," Frans Vierhout, senior research Analyst at ORFA, said. "We look at how killing occurs. Who they target, where they operate, the seasonal fluctuations of killings — and the evidence points strongly in one direction."

Vierhout continued: "Violence linked to Fulani militias is the dominant force behind Nigeria's death toll. The Western preoccupation with Boko Haram is, at best, misleading."

He further warned that the West African nation "is incubating a terror network which the outside world has yet to acknowledge."

Christians disproportionately affected

Beyond identifying the actors involved, the report places significant emphasis on what it describes as the religious dimension of Nigeria's violence.

ORFA says that after accounting for victims whose religious identity could not immediately be established, an estimated 28,551 Christians were killed during the study period compared with 13,224 Muslims.

The report further states that, relative to local population sizes in affected states, Christians were killed at approximately 4.4 times the rate of Muslims.

The report explains that it includes the religious affiliation of civilian victims because "a variety of contradictory analyses exist concerning the causes of violence in Nigeria."

"ORFA is not taking sides," the researchers say. "The observatory wants to let the data speak for itself without purposefully steering towards one or the other of these narratives."

The researchers argue that identifying victims' religious backgrounds is necessary for understanding patterns of violence and assessing whether particular communities are disproportionately affected.

Community attacks accounted for most civilian deaths

According to ORFA, approximately three-quarters of civilians killed died during raids on communities rather than in isolated attacks.

The report records 42,033 civilian deaths among the 79,323 people killed during the study period and notes that 75% of civilian fatalities occurred during attacks on farming communities, which often involved abductions, destruction of property, and displacement.

The study also documents 34,773 civilian abductions over the same period.

While Christian and Muslim civilians were abducted in nearly equal numbers overall, ORFA's accompanying field research argues that the treatment of hostages differed according to religion.

"The field research reveals lesser value is assigned to a Christian life," said Steven Kefas, senior research analyst and author of "Captivity by Creed: The Religious Sorting System Nobody Talks About."

"From the moment of capture, Muslim and Christian hostages enter different realities. It is not about individual captors. It is a system — consistent across multiple states, armed groups, and multiple years of survivor testimony," Kefas said.

According to the researchers, Christian captives faced higher ransom demands, longer periods in captivity, greater likelihood of execution, and, in the case of women, sexual violence, forced conversion, and forced marriage.

Report distinguishes armed groups from Fulani population

ORFA stresses throughout both the report and accompanying press release that it distinguishes between armed groups and the wider Fulani community.

The organization says the category "Fulani Terror Groups" refers to armed actors and "is careful to distinguish between armed Fulani terror groups and the Fulani people as a whole, the vast majority of whom are not involved in violence."

The report also notes that many Muslim victims were themselves targeted.

"It is important to understand this shift because FEM has not only targeted Christian civilians but also non-Fulani Muslim civilians," the researchers say in the report.

They add: "It follows that Christian civilians were killed or abducted for being Christians, while Muslim civilians were killed or abducted for being non-Fulani."

Call for greater attention to religious freedom

ORFA concludes the report by urging governments, policymakers, civil society organizations, and international partners to engage closely with the findings and incorporate the religious dimension into efforts to address insecurity in Nigeria.

Among its recommendations, the organization calls for greater attention to freedom of religion or belief, improved community security, stronger protection for vulnerable populations, and an end to what it describes as impunity for perpetrators of violence.

The ORFA researchers argue that overlooking the religious dimension risks producing incomplete responses to security challenges in Africa's most populous nation.

"We strongly encourage the reader to study the full report," they say. "It provides vital context and offers a roadmap for addressing the ongoing challenges in Nigeria."

This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

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One day after the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) consecrated four bishops without the permission of Pope Leo XIV, the Vatican issued a decree declaring the excommunication of all bishops involved in the ceremony and stating that the group is in schism.

Published on July 2 by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the decree specified that the consecrating bishops, Bishops Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay, as well as the four bishops consecrated, Bishops Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Hanappier, have incurred excommunication latae sententiae for performing the consecrations. These excommunications, according to canon law, can only be removed by the pope.

The decree also warned Catholic clergy and lay faithful not to adhere to the SSPX's "schism," under penalty of automatic excommunication.

The dicastery, in an explanatory note, lamented that doctrinal discussions between the Holy See and the SSPX, since the time of St. Paul VI, have not resulted in the society's full communion with the Holy See.

The note also stated that SSPX clergy "administer the sacraments illicitly and that the sacrament of penance administered by them and the marriage assisted by them are invalid."

Pope Francis had granted SSPX priests special permission to hear confessions and conduct marriage ceremonies as part of his outreach to the group.

The Vatican stated on May 13 that the consecrations would be a schismatic act, resulting in automatic excommunication for the consecrating bishops and those consecrated. The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, later called the SSPX's act "schismatic".

Pope Leo XIV even issued a final appeal to the society not to proceed with these consecrations.

"In this spirit, and filled with Christian affection, I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: Please turn back," Leo wrote in his letter.

In 1988, after Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the founder of the SSPX, consecrated bishops without a papal mandate, the Vatican responded two days later, notifying him and the consecrated bishops of their automatic excommunication.

The SSPX exclusively celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass and has rejected certain teachings and reforms of the Second Vatican Council, particularly regarding religious freedom and the Church's approach to other faiths.

The SSPX did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.

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The Sovereign Military Order of Malta's humanitarian outreach assisted 9 million people in 2025 across conflict- and disaster-affected regions, including Gaza and Ukraine, and has launched an emergency response in Venezuela.

Speaking for the nearly 1,000-year-old humanitarian order, Josef Blotz, its grand hospitaller, told "EWTN News Nightly" about "the sobering degree of need" and the "requirements amidst destruction" in Gaza after the Israel-Hamas conflict.

As grand hospitaller, Blotz supervises the order's health and social affairs offices. He has served in the position since February 2025.

Blotz oversaw the opening of a health clinic in Gaza City on June 22 in partnership with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Calling it an "honor" to open the facility alongside Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Blotz said it was "a wonderful opportunity to live up to the order's charism" by serving "the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable" in Gaza City.

"It's very important for me to outline that we are not only looking after our Catholic people in this parish or of the Christians," he said of the clinic located on the premises of Holy Family Church in Gaza City. "We are absolutely ready to help everyone irrespective of ethnicity or religion."

Order provides aid in Ukraine

Blotz said of Ukraine's humanitarian situation amid its war with Russia that "the crisis is ongoing."

Active in about 74 locations in Ukraine, the order's work in the country includes caring for orphans and children as well as wounded soldiers, Blotz said.

The order provides prosthetic limbs for soldiers injured during combat, producing the prosthetics "with the help of artificial intelligence," according to Blotz.

"We are modern by tradition," Blotz said. "And this is something you can witness in Ukraine where we really try — and actually achieved — making a difference in people's lives."

Venezuela mission assessed

Blotz said the order is preparing to send an assessment team to Venezuela "to find out where the need is."

"We are very experienced in setting up activities like these not only in crisis areas but also in terms of disaster-relief operations," he said, noting that he will know more in the coming days about how the order will lend its support.

"We have to understand the situation and also set up networks and partnerships," he said. "Because together with others, the Church, Caritas, and many other governmental organizations, we would be even more successful."

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NKONGSAMBA, Cameroon — The Catholic Diocese of Nkongsamba in Cameroon has appealed for prayers for the safe release of a priest and two members of the Fraternity of Franciscans of Emmanuel (FFE) who were abducted in the country's North-West Region.

In a June 30 statement, the vicar general of the diocese announced that Father John Bosco Bihkong, a priest serving in the Diocese of Nkongsamba, and two FFE members were kidnapped the night of June 27.

According to Father Joseph Tchinda Dountio, Bihkong traveled to his native village of Melim, near Ndop in the North-West Region of Cameroon, to celebrate his first Mass on Friday, June 26.

He was accompanied by Brother Sylvester Sewong, guardian of the FFE convent in Kékem, and Brother Marie Rodrigue Sop, who is preparing for perpetual profession. The three were abducted the following night.

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way," Dountio said.

He said the local ordinary, Bishop Dieudonné Espoir Atangana, is appealing for prayers for their safe release.

"Bishop Dieudonné invites the people of God, as well as all people of goodwill, to pray and support the Franciscan Brothers of Emmanuel for the release of these servants of God," he said.

No details were provided regarding the identity of the kidnappers, their motives, or whether contact had been established with the abductors.

Cameroon's North-West Region is one of the two English-speaking regions that have experienced years of insecurity linked to the country's Anglophone crisis.

Clergy, women and men religious, and other civilians have periodically been targeted in abductions as violence has persisted in the region.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

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