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• Vatican announces program for papal journey to France (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media)
  The Vatican today announced the program for Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming apostolic journey to France.

  The Pontiff is scheduled to visit Paris and Saint-Denis on September 25, depart for Lourdes on September 26, and depart for Metz on September 28, before returning to Rome that evening. Nineteen events are planned over the four days, including Masses celebrated at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, and Metz Cathedral.

• Cardinal Parolin, at Guadalupe, emphasizes presence, witness, and prayer (Vatican News (Spanish))
  The Secretary of State of His Holiness emphasized presence, witness, and prayer as he celebrated Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City on August 5.

  The Blessed Virgin Mary’s “presence brought comfort and security to a society that had experienced rapid and unexpected changes,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin preached. “Her apparition revealed a way to reconcile cultures and peoples within a truly universal faith, where there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, but where all are united and are one.”

  “Her example challenges us to be present, too, for the needy, the marginalized, migrants, and foreigners,” Cardinal Parolin continued. “A faithful witness to the truth of the Gospel can transform hearts and, consequently, transform the world.”

  The prelate added that “each of us is invited to set aside time to open ourselves to the Lord and truly listen to the promptings of the heart. When the Lord speaks of giving us His peace, a peace the world cannot give, He speaks of something that is found only in prayer.”

• Australian bishops issue statement, 'Living the Gospel in Times of Social Division' (Australian Catholic Bishops Conference)
  The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference today released a 15-page statement, “Living the Gospel in Times of Social Division.”

  “We are living through an era of heightened community tension and a growing normalization of abusive behavior, incendiary language and violence,” said Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, S.D.B., of Perth, the president of the bishops’ conference. “The Gospel offers a different path. It calls us back to Jesus Christ, who meets division not with hostility but with mercy; not with the logic of ‘us and them’ but with the costly love that heals and transforms.”

  The Australian bishops’ tradition of releasing an annual social justice statement dates to 1940.