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Pope Leo XIV made a surprise, nearly four-hour pilgrimage to the Benedictine Abbey of Montecassino, praying at the tomb of St. Benedict for peace in the world's conflict-torn regions.
Hello, I'm Maggie Murray of OSV News, and this is your OSV Newscast for Tuesday, July 21st, 2026. Let's catch you up with the Catholic News of the Day. Here we go. As Lebanon's president Joseph Aun heads to the White House today for high-stakes talks with President Trump, the country's top Catholic leader is calling the faithful to prayer. Cardinal Bekara Rai, Lebanon's Maronite patriarch, urged national unity and peace during recent celebrations for the feast of St. Sharbell Maklouf as Aun prepares to present a plan to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia while seeking U.S. support to secure Israel's withdrawal from Lebanese territory under a U.S. brokered framework. Cardinal Rai renewed his backing for the agreement, saying any deal that strengthens the authority of the state deserves support. The stakes could hardly be higher. More than 4,300 people have been killed in the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, including nearly 800 children, women, and medics, with hundreds of thousands displaced from southern Lebanon. The Catholic Church has continued providing humanitarian aid and spiritual support throughout the crisis. Nations are not built through disputes or hate speech, Cardinal Rye said, but through reconciliation, solidarity, and cooperation among all their people. Ukrainian leaders are holding on to hope that Pope Leo XIV will one day visit their war-torn country, and a meeting in Kiev this week kept that possibility alive. Yesterday, President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican's foreign minister, capping a five-day trip during which the Archbishop led prayers for peace, celebrated Ukraine's first outdoor mass since the 2022 full-scale invasion, and survived a major Russian missile barrage that struck near the Apostolic Nunciature in Kiev. While the Holy See has not formally confirmed a papal trip, Ukraine's ambassador to the Vatican, Andriy Yurosh, told OSV News that a visit is possible, noting both the Pope and Archbishop Gallagher have received hundreds of invitations from government and church officials. Zelensky expressed gratitude for the Vatican's ongoing diplomatic support, including its help repatriating deported Ukrainian children and its willingness to host potential peace talks between warring parties. Pope Leo XIV made a quiet but deeply meaningful pilgrimage yesterday, a surprise, nearly four-hour visit to the historic Benedictine Abbey of Monte Cassino, kept confidential until after his departure. Inside the Abbey Basilica, the Pope prayed at the tombs of Saint Benedict, patron saint of Europe, and Saint Scholastica. According to the Holy See Press Office, the Pope paused at St. Benedict's tomb to entrust to him his plea for peace in those regions of the world marked by bloodshed and conflict. He joined the monks for midday prayer and lunch, toured the Abbey's archive, library, and museum, and stopped at an exhibit recalling the monastery's destruction during World War II. Before leaving, Pope Leo greeted and blessed surprised pilgrims visiting the Abbey, which was founded by Saint Benedict in the year 529 and remains one of the most storied sites in the history of Western monasticism. Outside a vacant correctional facility in eastern Colorado, a small but committed group of Catholics gathered earlier this month to pray for those who will one day be detained there. On July 10th, roughly 30 miles northeast of Denver, faith leaders and human rights advocates prayed the Rosary outside the Hudson Correctional Facility, set to reopen as a 1,200-bed ice detention center. The gathering, hosted by Denver Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodriguez, included a delegation from the Vatican-linked World Meeting of Popular Movements, which had been touring U.S. cities affected by immigration enforcement since June 20th. Together, the group prayed for greater respect for human dignity amid the Trump administration's expanding use of large detention centers. As believers, we believe in the power of prayer, Bishop Rodriguez said. We acknowledge something sad and tragic may happen in this place, but for us, this is just a symbolic way of expressing our concern. The October 31st Mass honoring the Georgia martyrs, five 16th-century Franciscan friars from Spain who died defending the sanctity of marriage, will now be held in a space at the Savannah Convention Center, large enough for roughly 12,000 people, up from the 2,000 originally planned. Pedro de Corpa, Blas Rodriguez de Cuacos, Miguel de Añon, Antonio de Badajos, and Francisco de Verascola traveled from Spain to minister to the native Guale people in present-day Georgia in the late 1500s before being killed in 1597. Their martyrdom began after Friar Pedro de Corpa forbade a baptized Guale heir from taking a second wife under tribal custom. The martyrs stood up for the sanctity of marriage, said Bishop Stephen Parks of Savannah, calling the beatification an opportunity to reinforce the church's teaching on marriage. And that's your OSV Newscast for today. I'm Maggie Murray of OSV News. Check out the show notes for direct links to the stories in this episode. Make sure to subscribe to this podcast, follow us on social media, and bookmark osvnews.com. Thanks so much for listening and God bless. This has been an OSV News production. To learn more, visit osvnews.com.
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