July 8, 2025 // National

News Briefs: July 13, 2025

OSV NEWS

USCCB President: One Big Beautiful Bill Will Cause ‘Greatest Harm’ to Poor

WASHINGTON, D.C. (USCCB) – Reacting to the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act by the U.S. Congress, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, lamented the great harm the bill will cause to many of the most vulnerable in society, making steeper cuts to Medicaid and clean energy tax credits, and adding more to the deficit. “My brother bishops and I have repeatedly and consistently urged lawmakers to use the budget reconciliation process to help families in need and to change course on aspects of the bill that fail the poor and vulnerable. The final version of the bill includes unconscionable cuts to health care and food assistance, tax cuts that increase inequality, immigration provisions that harm families and children, and cuts to programs that protect God’s creation. The bill, as passed, will cause the greatest harm to those who are especially vulnerable in our society. As its provisions go into effect, people will lose access to health care and struggle to buy groceries, family members will be separated, and vulnerable communities will be less prepared to cope with environmental impacts of pollution and extreme weather. More must be done to prevent these devastating effects.” Read more at USCCB.org/news.’

U.S. Cardinal: Safeguarding Remains a Top Priority with New Appointment

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV’s appointment of the new president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors shows that safeguarding remains a top priority for the Church, its former president said. “Our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV has affirmed the continued priority of the commission’s work for the universal Church in his thoughtful appointment” of Archbishop Thibault Verny of Chambéry, France, as the new president of the commission, said Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley. “The Holy Father’s words and deeds in these early months of his pontificate assure the world that the Church will not grow complacent in her efforts to as best possible ensure the protection of children, vulnerable adults, and all people in our communities,” he said in a written statement released on Saturday, July 5, the day Vatican officials announced the new appointment. Archbishop Verny, 58, has served as a member of the papal commission since 2022.

Church Adds Mass ‘for Care of Creation’ to Missal

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Catholic priests will now be able to celebrate Mass “for the care of creation” after Vatican officials announced that a new formulary of prayers and biblical readings for the Mass will be added to the Roman Missal – the liturgical book that contains the texts for celebrating Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. The new formulary, or specific set of texts and prayers for Mass, will be added among the “civil needs” section of the “Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions” listed in the Roman Missal. Pope Leo XIV was scheduled to use the new formulary for a private Mass on Wednesday, July 9, with the staff of Borgo Laudato Si’ ecology project – a space for education and training in integral ecology hosted in the gardens of the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo, the traditional summer residence for the popes.

Supreme Court: States Can Deny Medicaid Funds to Planned Parenthood

WASHINGTON, D.C. (OSV News) – The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Thursday, June 26, that there is not a private right to bring a lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s decision to end Planned Parenthood’s participation in the state’s Medicaid program. The ruling will likely allow other states to remove Planned Parenthood from their Medicaid programs. The case concerned a 2018 executive order signed by Governor Henry McMaster stripping two Planned Parenthood clinics in the state of Medicaid funds, a federal program for health care for people with low incomes that is administered by the states. In a statement, Zach Rogers, CEO of Right to Life of Northeast Indiana, said: “An organization that kills over 400,000 preborn children every year should never have been receiving taxpayer dollars in the first place. This is a huge win for life and another step toward ending the evil of abortion in our country.” 

NCR News Editor Carol Zimmermann Wins St. Francis de Sales Award

PHOENIX (OSV News) – Carol Zimmermann, news editor of the National Catholic Reporter, received the 2025 St. Francis de Sales Award on Friday, June 27, during the Catholic Media Association’s annual conference, which was held June 24-27 in Phoenix. It is the highest award CMA presents to an individual for “outstanding contributions to Catholic journalism.” “I’m honored to receive this and very humbled,” said Zimmermann, who joined the NCR staff as news editor in August of 2024. Before that, she was at Catholic News Service for 30 years, from 1992 to 2022, when CNS in Washington, D.C. was shut down. The other two nominees for the award were Laura Ieraci, editor of ONE magazine, the official publication of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, and Joe Towalski, former communications director of the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Locals Welcome Pope Back to Summer Home

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) – After more than a decade without its most famous vacationer, the quiet town of Castel Gandolfo once again counts the pope among its summer residents. Pope Leo XIV became the 16th pope to reside in the papal summer residence when he moved there on Sunday, July 6, following the recitation of the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square. “This afternoon, I will travel to Castel Gandolfo, where I intend to have a short period of rest,” the pope told pilgrims gathered in the square. “I hope that everyone will be able to enjoy some vacation time in order to restore both body and spirit.” The tradition of popes escaping the summer heat of Rome for the cooler Alban Hills began with Pope Urban VIII in 1626. In 2016, Pope Francis converted the papal property into a museum, opening the villa and gardens to the public.

Vatican Officials Release Document on Implementing Synod

VATICAN CITY (Vatican News) – A new document from leaders of the Synod of Bishops on synodality is intended “to provide an interpretive key for understanding the implementation phase of the synodal process.” Released on Monday, July 7, Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod offers “local Churches throughout the world a shared framework that will make it easier to walk together” and promotes “the dialogue that will lead the whole Church to the Ecclesial Assembly,” set for October of 2028 that will mark the culmination of the synodal process begun by Pope Francis in 2020. The document begins with an explanation of the implementation phase and its objectives and goes on to describe the participants of the implementation phase, along with their tasks and responsibilities; to suggest how to engage with the synod’s final document, the main point of reference for this phase of the synod journey; and to offer advice on methods and tools that “can help shape our path during the implementation phase.”

Churchgoers sing worship songs at a service in Kerrville, Texas, July 6, 2025, following deadly flooding. At least 82 people are dead and at least 41 more are missing after devastating flash floods slammed the Texas Hill Country, with water rescues taking place along the Guadalupe River, which rose rapidly early Friday morning to the height of a two-story building. Among the missing were almost a dozen from Camp Mystic in Kerr County, a children’s summer camp, officials said July 6. (OSV News photo/Sergio Flores, Reuters)