The French Ministry of the Armed Forces and the City of Versailles have announced on July 23 that the former Récollets Convent in Versailles will be converted into a luxury hotel. Located less than 100 meters from the Palace of Versailles, the historic site is expected to reopen around 2030. Built in 1684 during the reign of King Louis XIV, the convent was designed by architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart. It originally housed the Récollets, a reformed branch of the Franciscan Order. The monks lived in poverty, prayer, and preaching while serving the people of Versailles and the royal armies. Following the French Revolution, the monks were expelled and the property was nationalized. The convent chapel was demolished in 1796, and the remaining buildings were successively used as a prison, military infirmary, army barracks, and administrative offices. The French state will retain ownership of the property but will grant a long-term emphyteutic lease to a private operator responsible for restoring …ఇంకా
Bishop Blocks Electronic Music Concerts in Church: On July 23, Bishop Alexandre de Bucy of Agen, southwestern France, barred an electronic music festival from using the Saint-Robert Church for concerts scheduled on August 7–9. The church is municipally owned under French law, but the bishop has authority over its religious use and the French law forbids a secular use of state-owned churches. Organizers had reportedly failed—for the fourth consecutive year—to seek permission from either the parish or the Diocese of Agen. Parish priest Rev. Gilles N'Goran condemned the planned concerts as a "profanation."
L’évêque d’Agen, Alexandre de Bucy, a interdit un concert de musique électronique dans l’église Saint-Robert, faute d’autorisation de la paroisse et du diocèse. Le festival, prévu du 7 au 9 août, était organisé pour la quatrième année consécutive sans consultation préalable. Le curé, le père Gilles N’Goran, a dénoncé le projet comme une « profanation ».
Jessica Rojas @VoicesUnheard 9 Officers just got arrested/fired for abusing Flock surveillance to stalk people...again! This makes it 21 cases of abuse so far that we're aware of. This is exactly why mass surveillance is dangerous. It’s not just “a few bad apples.” One person with access and a grudge can turn your every move into their personal playground - exes, coworkers, neighbors, whoever. Your 4th Amendment rights are being shredded while you’re just trying to live your life. Nobody consented to being tracked 24/7 just for existing. And when the machines get it wrong? False positives can destroy lives! The FBI will be at your door at 4AM, guns drawn screaming at you to 'get on your knees!' Real police work doesn’t need this.
Munich Liturgical Controversy Goes Around the Globe: Many Catholic media outlets across the globe - in English, French, Polish, Spanish, Italian, etc. - are reporting on the latest liturgical abuse from the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. The case centers on a Mass for the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, where Auxiliary Bishop Wolfgang Bischof delivered a "dialogue homily" together with laywoman Theresia Reischl, despite the Holy See's recent reaffirmation that the homily during Mass is reserved to an ordained minister. The celebration also featured liturgical dancing and balloons, further fueling criticism.
[Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort; XVII-XVIII Century AD; born: Montfort-sur-Meu, France/died: Saint-Laurent-sur-Sevre, France; (aged 43); Founder; Spiritual Writer] 4. The effects that this devotion produces in a faithful soul 53. Experience will teach you much more about this devotion than I can tell you, but, if you remain faithful to the little I have taught you, you will acquire a great richness of grace that will surprise you and fill you with delight. 54. Let us set to work, then, dear soul, through perseverance in the living of this devotion, in order that Mary's soul may glorify the Lord in us and her spirit be within us to rejoice in God her Saviour. Let us not think that there was more glory and happiness in dwelling in Abraham's bosom - which is another name for Paradise - than in dwelling in the bosom of Mary where God has set up his throne. (Abbot Guerric) 55. This devotion faithfully practised produces countless happy effects in the soul. The most important of them …ఇంకా
O Holy Ghost, I offer Thee the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, His most Precious Blood, the sorrowful, humble, pure, obedient and Immaculate Heart of Mary, to repair for all my offenses and negligence's. I consecrate myself unreservedly to Thee and I place all my trust in Thee. ~ Amen. (Universal Living Rosary)
"59. We are given reason to believe that, towards the end of time and perhaps sooner than we expect, God will raise up great men filled with the Holy Spirit and imbued with the spirit of Mary. Through them Mary, Queen most powerful, will work great wonders in the world, destroying sin and setting up the kingdom of Jesus her Son upon the ruins of the corrupt kingdom of the world. These holy men will accomplish this by means of the devotion of which I only trace the main outlines and which suffers from my incompetence."
“Do-It-Yourself” Bishop Factory: Fr. Michael Mary, founder and superior of the Transalpine Redemptorists at Papa Stronsay, Scotland, declared himself a sedevacantist on May 7. Today, he was consecrated as a sedevacantist bishop in the dubious Thục line. The "consecration" was performed by Bishop Pierre Roy, with Bishops Rodrigo Ribeiro da Silva and Fernando Altamira serving as "co-consecrators".
Today, Father Michael Mary, F.S.S.R., was consecrated a sede-bishop by sede-bishop Pierre Roy. The co-consecrators are sede-bishops Rodrigo Ribeiro da Silva and Fernando Altamira.
I haven't follow Archbishop Vigano for awhile now. Has it been fully and completely proven he was ordained by Bishop Williamson? I haven't noticed. But I hope he wasn't.
The Dead End to Trump’s ‘Perfect’ War July 25, 2026 nytimes.com/…nion/trump-iran-saudi-arabia-war-nuc… By Nicholas Kristof Opinion Columnist “We won,” President Trump announced on March 11, less than two weeks into his Iran war. “In the first hour, it was over.” On March 24, in the Oval Office, he reiterated, “This war has been won.” On April 6, he asserted, “They are militarily defeated.” On April 11, Trump posted on Truth Social, “The United States has completely destroyed Iran’s Military.” “The war in Iran is going along swimmingly,” Trump said on April 16. “It’s perfect.” The perfection of Trump’s war has confused some of his supporters. “I don’t understand how it’s possible that Iran has the capabilities to fight this way and continue to try to lash out at Gulf countries and U.S. military bases,” Maria Bartiromo of Fox News said on air recently. “Because the U.S. has obliterated Iran’s military, and the president continues to reiterate that.” Yet Trump’s perfect war seems …ఇంకా
Today, Fr Michael Mary, superior of the sedevacantist Transalpine Redemptorists in Scotland, will be consecrated as an alleged bishop. Katholisch.de traced the long and tangled succession lines of schismatic bishops, focusing primarily on the lines of Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991) and Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục (1897–1984). Here are the key points:. Lefebvre line (FSSPX) Among the different splinter groups, only the SSPX has significant size. In 1988, Lefebvre consecrated Alfonso de Galarreta, Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, and Richard Williamson as bishops. All four later consecrated additional bishops. In 1991, Tissier de Mallerais consecrated Licínio Rangel for the Priestly Union of St. John Mary Vianney, Brazil. Rangel and his community reconciled with Rome in 2002 and became an Apostolic Personal Administration. The same year Fernando Arêas Rifan became Rangel's coadjutor, but he was consecrated by Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, with Rangel serving only as co-…ఇంకా
I used to wonder how the consecration requested by Our Lady of Fatima, in unison with all the Bishops of the world could ever take place since bishops are all over the place with their beliefs. Then I realized as these bishops ascend to heresy, they are no longer bishops so it may end up being some sede, bishops, SSPX and a few good sons of the church left in the NO. There is the manageable number.
Today, Pope Leo XIV has appointed Lebanese Archbishop Christophe Zakhia El-Kassis, 58, as the Holy See's new Permanent Observer to the United Nations in New York. A Maronite priest and canon lawyer from Beirut, El-Kassis has served in the Vatican's diplomatic corps since 2000. He had spent eleven years (2007–2018) in the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State. Career in Muslim-Majority Countries Francis appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan in 2018. In 2023, he became the first resident Apostolic Nuncio to the United Arab Emirates. In 2024, Francis expanded his responsibilities by naming him Nuncio to Yemen and Apostolic Delegate for the Arabian Peninsula. At the UN, he now succeeds Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, 68, from Milan. Leo XIV had appointed him as the Nuncio to the USA in March. Ecology as Priority During the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), held in Dubai in 2023, El-Kassis told Vatican News that religions have "a big role to play" in …ఇంకా
Today, Leo XIV has appointed seven new Members (judges) of the Apostolic Signatura. The new Members are: - Conservative Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone of San Francisco (United States); - Conservative Bishop Krzysztof Nitkiewicz of Sandomierz (Poland); - Archbishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru, former Secretary of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts; - Bishop Edward M. Lohse of Kalamazoo (United States); former Signatura official - Fr. Eduardo Baura de la Peña, professor of canon law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Opus Dei); - Fr. Gianpaolo Montini, professor of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University; - Fr. Ulrich Rhode, S.J., professor of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University. The appointments replace Members whose five-year mandates, conferred in June 2021, have now concluded. Among those completing their service are Cardinals Joseph Tobin, Mario Grech, and Gerhard Ludwig Müller. German Jesuit Fr. Ulrich Rhode is the only appointee …ఇంకా
Polish President Pardons Woman in High-Profile Free Speech Case: Polish President Karol Nawrocki pardoned in April 2026 Weronika Krawczyk, ending a widely debated free speech case. Krawczyk, a mother of three from the Starogard Gdański area (Pelplin diocese, near Gdańsk), was convicted over online posts warning other women about a gynecologist who, she said, had misdiagnosed her unborn son with Down syndrome and repeatedly urged her to have an abortion. Her son was born healthy in 2016. Krawczyk also refused a court-ordered apology to the doctor. The pardon lifted the order to publicize the verdict and the obligation to apologize. Her case had received support from pro-life and Catholic organizations, including Catholic Action in Poland and Bishop Ryszard Kasyna of Pelplin.
O sprawie pani Weroniki Krawczyk słyszała chyba cała Polska. Kobieta została skazana tylko za to, że odradziła na forum internetowym korzystanie z usług ginekologa, który chciał zabić jej nienarodzone dziecko. Lekarz ten proponował jej aborcję, twierdząc, że dziecko urodzi się z zespołem Downa. Ostatecznie urodziła zdrowego synka, a lekarz nie poniósł żadnej odpowiedzialności karnej. Pani Weronika natomiast została ukarana za opinię, w której wyraziła sprzeciw wobec jego działań. Sąd w Gdańsku skazał kobietę na 60 godzin prac społecznych oraz karę finansową, a także zobowiązał do przeprosin. Ponieważ nie wyobrażała sobie możliwości przeproszenia abortera, który chciał zabić jej dziecko, groziło jej realnie więzienie. Za Weroniką Krawczyk wstawiły się liczne środowiska pro-life, a później również biskup diecezji pelplińskiej. Jako matka trójki dzieci, w tym jednego z niepełnosprawnością, także ze względu na ich dobro wnioskowała do Prezydenta RP o ułaskawienie. Znają już Państwo szczęśliwe …ఇంకా
We must learn to "dig"... Liturgy of Sunday, July 26 - XVII of Ordinary Time Dear brothers and sisters, the fear that hovers in the cultural, social, and political atmosphere of this confused and turbulent beginning of the third millennium could push many of our brothers and sisters to live superficially and disengagedly; it could push them to carve out their own small, protected space in which to take refuge and survive... In the passage from the Gospel of Matthew that we’re going to listen to on Sunday, July 26, Jesus reveals to us that there is a precious treasure hidden in the "field" of the world. That's why it is worth “getting out" of our “confort zone" to find it, for it is capable of making the hearts of those who possess it explode with joy for the new, surprising opportunities it offers and for the undisappointing hope it shows on the horizon. In fact, since God became incarnate in His Word made Man, the world no longer instills fear in us because it hides the treasure of His …ఇంకా