Catholic News

Voters in Missouri overwhelmingly rejected a proposal this week that would have eliminated the state's income tax, a measure the Missouri Catholic bishops had warned could adversely impact the state's poorest residents.

Results from the Missouri Secretary of State's office on Aug. 5 showed 83% of voters rejecting Amendment 5, which if passed would have reduced and eventually eliminated Missouri's income tax while allowing lawmakers to expand sales taxes.

Missouri's four Catholic bishops in July had urged voters to consider "the moral principles that should guide us in pondering any tax proposal." They had warned that the "most vulnerable" of the state's residents could face undue burdens if sales taxes increased there.

The bishops had acknowledged that supporters of the income tax repeal had "a sincere desire to promote the long-term prosperity" of Missouri. But such aims should be "weighed alongside the potential effects on those who are most vulnerable," they said.

The measure had been touted by state Republicans including Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Catholic, who said after the ruling's defeat that the measure's advocates "made the case that Missouri should think boldly about its future, challenge the status quo, and pursue policies that make our state more competitive."

"I remain committed to working with the General Assembly in the years ahead on ways to continue cutting taxes, growing our state's economy, and pursuing conservative policies that help Missouri families keep more of what they earn," the governor said.

Advocates, meanwhile, hailed the defeat of the measure. The Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy described the measure in a blog post as "a blank check to raise or expand sales taxes," one the group said would "enable enormous income tax cuts for the state's wealthiest households."

Voters who rejected the measure "set a positive example for states around the country, turning away from what would have been one of the most damaging tax policy changes in any state in recent years," the group said.

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Since July 30, the Spanish city of Ceuta has become the epicenter of one of the most significant border crises driven by migratory pressure in recent decades, as at least 70,000 people swam illegally into Spanish territory.

Below are four facts that can help shed light on the scale of the crisis.

1. It is a Spanish territory on the North African coast.

Ceuta is a Spanish city located on the North African coast, at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar. Together with the city of Melilla, it forms the European Union's only land border with Africa and is a point of critical geopolitical importance.

Conquered by Portugal in 1415, it became part of Spain under the 1668 Treaty of Lisbon. Morocco claims that both Ceuta and Melilla belong to its territory, even though both were Spanish outposts before Morocco existed as a nation.

2. It is a multicultural society.

Ceuta has a registered population of over 80,000. The majority are Spanish nationals of diverse backgrounds. In addition to a Catholic majority, some 35,000 people practice Islam, and there are also significant Jewish and Hindu communities.

Most of the city's foreign population, which accounts for 6% of the total, is of Moroccan origin.

Although Spanish is the official language, Hindi, English, Haketia (a North African dialect of Ladino or Judeo-Spanish), and Darija (the Moroccan variety of Arabic) are also commonly spoken.

3. It has been a border crossing for African migration to Europe.

The Ceuta border, like that of Melilla, separates two radically different socioeconomic realities; this disparity is evident in everything from wages to public services, such as education, healthcare, and transportation.

People arrive at this boundary intending to cross it — not only Moroccans but also individuals from across Africa who have traveled thousands of miles, driven largely by the desire for prosperity and peace. During the arduous journey, many fall prey to migrant-smuggling rings or human traffickers.

These movements have reportedly been used as a demographic weapon, a claim recently made by the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Luis Argüello.

Additionally, these movements overwhelm support services, such as the city's Temporary Immigrant Stay Center. The facility's capacity of over 500 places is routinely stretched to the breaking point. Prior to the latest surge of people, the center was already serving 200 individuals beyond its capacity, while another 500 were waiting nearby for assistance.

4. There have been tensions between Morocco and Spain.

Ceuta and Melilla have been at the epicenter of diplomatic tensions between Morocco and Spain for decades, with Morocco's ambition to annex the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara serving as the backdrop.

In recent years, there has been a significant shift in the Spanish government's stance on this issue.

In April 2021, Spain admitted Sahrawi leader Brahim Ghali for COVID-19 treatment, triggering a diplomatic crisis with Morocco that culminated in a surge of migration into Ceuta in May of that year, with over 10,000 people entering the city. Many of them were children.

In an unexpected move that departed from the diplomatic stance Spain had maintained for decades, in March 2022 it was revealed that the Spanish government, in a letter sent to King Mohammed, supported Morocco's claims regarding Western Sahara.

Then, in May 2022, the Spanish government publicly acknowledged that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's phone had been intercepted between May 19 and May 31, 2021 — right in the midst of the diplomatic crisis with Morocco. This sequence of events could explain why the Spanish government has chosen to keep a low profile regarding Morocco following the arrival of more than 70,000 people in Ceuta within the span of a few hours last week.

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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Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), reflected on "the virtue of patriotism" at the opening dinner for the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention in Denver.

In the address, Coakley drew a clear distinction between authentic patriotism and distorted nationalism, emphasizing that true love of country must be rooted in virtue. "Patriotism is not first and foremost a political virtue; it's a religious one," he said at the Aug. 4 dinner, which opened the 144th Knights' convention at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center.

The archbishop of Oklahoma City, a fourth-degree member of the Knights of Columbus, said patriotism naturally "flows from the Fourth Commandment," which commands honor toward one's mother and one's father. He said "it can rightly be understood as a form of familial love extended outward."

Coakley cited St. Thomas Aquinas' writings on piety from the "Summa Theologica," in which the theologian explained the duties that one has for his or her nation, comparing them to the duties owed to one's parents.

"The principles of our being and government are our parents and our country that have given us birth and nourishment," Coakley quoted from the "Summa." "Consequently, man is chiefly debtor to his parents and his country, after God. … Just as it belongs to religion to worship God, … so it belongs to piety in the second place to give honor to our parents and to our country."

The archbishop explained that a person owes unique debts to family that he or she would not owe to a stranger "not because our family is objectively more valuable than other people, but because of the unique relationship we have with them."

"So too, patriotism is a recognition of a similar debt of gratitude owed to our country — a debt of gratitude," he said. "It is not a claim that our nation is superior to every other nation on earth. It is a claim that this nation, with all its imperfections, is the one through which God chose to give us life, language, liberty, and the countless ordinary gifts that make everything in our lives possible."

This virtue, Coakley said, applies to "all people of every nation" and cited the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "The love and service of one's country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity."

Catholic patriotism

The archbishop said a proper Catholic understanding of patriotism is not "blind allegiance" or "some sort of tribal pride" but rather "gratitude," which is "the same virtue that should animate a son toward the mother who raised him."

"The Church has never asked us to love our country instead of loving God or to love it more than we love the truth," Coakley added. "She has simply recognized that what most people already know: that we owe something real to the place that gave us life and that ignoring this debt is a form of ingratitude."

He said most people "do not choose our country," just as they do not choose their parents, but "our country has shaped so much of who we are" for better or for worse, and that "none of this is accidental" but instead "divine providence."

"Our Heavenly Father positioned each of us at this moment in these circumstances and in this place where we find ourselves for a reason," Coakley said. "Our love of country and our desire for it to be more just and more perfect is not merely sentiment. It's a participation in God's providential plan for our lives and the lives of those who will come after us."

Patriotism vs. nationalism

"A love of country can go wrong and go wrong badly," Coakley said. Patriotism "is not the same as nationalism," Coakley said.

"Patriotism, as the Knights of Columbus have always understood it, is not a matter of uncritically affirming everything our country has done in its history, excusing its injustices, or treating its power or prestige as ends in themselves. Nationalism, by contrast, tends to elevate the nation to the status of an idol, something owed a total and unconditional loyalty that properly belongs only to God. It resents correction. It rejects the suggestion that the nation could ever be wrong."

"Patriotism, by contrast, is more like the love of a good son for his mother," Coakley said. "He honors her. He defends her. He is grateful to her. And precisely because he loves her, he also tells her the truth when she has strayed and he works to help her become the woman God intended her to be."

He said a patriot can "grieve his country's sins without ceasing to love his country," which is "often the clearest sign that love is real." He said patriotism and Christian conscience "were never meant to be enemies."

"Love of country should impel us toward peace, toward justice for the poor and the vulnerable, and toward the kind of civic friendship that has always been harder to sustain than either indifference or tribalism, which today often takes the form of an extreme partisanship," he said.

In practice, Coakley said this means voting with a properly formed conscience, being engaged civilly, and being there for one's neighbors. For some, he said, it has meant "risking your lives in the uniform of your country."

The archbishop warned that patriotism is sometimes neglected or treated with suspicion and encouraged Catholics to instill properly ordered patriotism into their children and grandchildren.

"We are called to love our country," he said. "Honor your country as you honor your parents with gratitude, with loyalty, and with honesty that never mistakes flattery for love. Put God first and let your patriotism flow from that priority rather than compete with it."

Patriotism is one of the four pillars of the Knights of Columbus, with the other three being charity, unity, and fraternity.

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Pope Leo XIV will make an apostolic trip to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from Nov. 6–17, a nearly two-week tour that will be his first papal visit to Latin America.

As reported by the Vatican on Aug. 5, the pontiff accepted the invitation of the heads of state and ecclesiastical authorities of the three countries to carry out the pastoral visit, which will include several emblematic cities of each nation.

The first stage of the trip will take place in Uruguay, where Leo XIV will stay from Nov. 6–8. During those days he will visit the cities of Montevideo, Paysandú, and Florida.

Subsequently the Holy Father will travel to Argentina, where he will visit from Nov. 8–11. The itinerary includes visits to Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and the Marian sanctuary of Our Lady of Luján, one of the main pilgrimage centers in the country.

The last portion of the trip will take place in Peru, from Nov. 11–17. In that country, in which the pope has had citizenship since 2015, he will travel to Lima, Chiclayo, Cuzco, and Pucallpa on an itinerary that will take him both to the coast and to the mountains and the Peruvian Amazon.

The Holy See said it would release a more detailed itinerary in the near future.

The visit will have a special meaning for Peru, a country where Leo XIV did extensive pastoral and missionary work for years.

The pope, then-Father Robert Prevost, lived in Peru for more than two decades in total. He arrived in the country in 1985. His first destination was Chulucanas, but it was in Trujillo and Chiclayo where his pastoral dedication took deep roots.

In 2015, already a nationalized Peruvian, he was appointed bishop of Chiclayo, where he exercised a close and committed leadership. He was there until January 2023 when he was appointed by Pope Francis as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.

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More than half of U.S. young men report feeling lonely or isolated at least some of the time, nearly half lack a sense of community, and many say the American dream feels increasingly out of reach, according to a report from the Institute for Family Studies.

The second installment of the institute's "America's Demoralized Men" study, based on a nationally representative YouGov survey of 2,000 men ages 18 to 29, examined young men's social lives, mental health, civic engagement, and online habits. Researchers said the findings revealed a generation that still desires marriage, fatherhood, and meaningful work but often struggles to achieve those goals.

"We really tried to allow young men to speak for themselves," said Michael Toscano, co-author of the report and director of the Family First Technology Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies. "They still have these honorable aspirations to be responsible men, to marry, to have children, and to contribute to society."

A generation searching for connection

Researchers described many respondents as "demoralized" — not because they have abandoned hope entirely, but because many feel powerless to reach the lives they desire.

The survey found that 61% of young men often feel they have little control over what happens to them, while 54% said they never seem to do enough to please others. More than 4 in 10 (43%) agreed with the statement "I am inclined to think that I am a failure."

Loneliness also emerged as a defining theme.

While roughly 45% of respondents said they rarely or never feel lonely, 55% reported feeling lonely at least some of the time. Similarly, 54% said they feel isolated at least occasionally, and nearly half (48%) said they lack a sense of community. About 1 in 5 respondents said they seldom or never feel loved or wanted by others.

Toscano cautioned against attributing the crisis to a single cause.

"We strive in the report not to think in a monocausal way," he said. "The loneliness crisis is something that is visiting everyone."

Still, he argued that the breakdown of family life has played a significant role.

"An honest assessment of where young men are today would have to begin with the breakdown of the family," Toscano said, noting that many respondents still desire marriage and fatherhood but increasingly feel those milestones are beyond reach.

Fewer friendships, less community

The survey also found many young men have few close relationships.

About 4 in 10 respondents reported having two or fewer close friends, including 34% who have just one or two close friends and 9% who said they have none at all.

Researchers found that strong institutional ties often made a difference. Young men connected to marriage, education, or religious communities were more likely to report having three or more close friends. Participation in all-male organizations during adolescence, such as sports teams or the Boy Scouts, was also associated with stronger friendships later in life.

Overall civic participation remained relatively low. Although 57% participate in at least one community activity, only 31% volunteer regularly, while fewer than one-third belong to a faith-based group, social club, or civic organization. Just one-quarter attend religious services at least monthly.

Financial worries

Economic concerns also weighed heavily on respondents.

About half agreed with the statement "No matter how hard I work, people like me will never achieve the American dream," while nearly three-quarters (72%) said personal connections matter more than ability or hard work when it comes to getting ahead.

Toscano said rising living costs were one of the clearest explanations offered by respondents.

"The main expression of doubt in the American dream was the sense that the money they earned was simply not enough to keep up with the rising costs of life," he said.

Despite those concerns, optimism has not disappeared entirely. An overwhelming 84% of respondents said having ambitious plans for the future describes them at least somewhat well.

Digital habits often deepen distress

The report also points to widespread use of electronic media, with researchers warning that many young men appear to be using technology as a substitute for genuine relationships.

Nearly half (44%) play video games many times each day, while another 42% play at least several times a week.

Pornography use was also common. About 42% reported viewing pornography daily or several times each week, including 24% of regular religious service attendees.

Online gambling likewise proved widespread, with 23% gambling daily and another 12% doing so several times a week.

Toscano said these behaviors appear to function as what the report calls "maladaptive coping."

"If the world around you is increasingly closing off your opportunity to be a successful man, what you might do is look for it in a synthetic environment," he said.

Researchers found strong links between frequent online activity and emotional distress. Among men who watch pornography many times a day, 43% reported loneliness, 36% depression, and 29% anxiety. Two-thirds of daily online gamblers reported emotional distress, while 66% of daily gamblers and 63% of daily pornography users described themselves as failures, compared with 42% of young men overall.

Toscano emphasized that the survey cannot establish cause and effect but suggests a troubling cycle in which loneliness and unhealthy digital habits reinforce one another.

A call for the Church

Although church attendance was associated with stronger social connections, Toscano noted that loneliness remains common even among churchgoers.

"The lonely might be sitting in the pew right next to them," he said.

He encouraged pastors and parish leaders to listen carefully to young men's experiences, affirm their aspirations, and create opportunities for authentic friendships and mentorship between younger and older men.

"There still remains a desire for them to get married and have kids and have good jobs," Toscano said. "We need to encourage those desires."

He also said the Church should respond to the broader loneliness crisis affecting every generation. Referencing Pope Leo's call for "digital sobriety," Toscano said Catholics of all ages — not only young people — must intentionally rebuild face-to-face relationships.

"It's time for everyone to be called out of their shell," he said.

Despite significant obstacles, he said, many young men continue to desire family, responsibility, meaningful work, and lives of service.

"Men have value as men," Toscano said. "It's important to allow them to contribute to society as men. That's not something we should be afraid of, but something we should encourage."

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A Bavaria, Germany-based investor is offering families 500 euros ($545) for every child they have baptized in a group of Catholic parishes near Munich.

The local diocese has acknowledged the donor's intentions but stressed that, from the Church's point of view, there is no financial barrier to baptism in the first place.

Peter Löw, a Starnberg-based investor and practicing Catholic, has set aside 20,000 euros ($21,800) for the initiative, which he calls "Starnberger Schutzengelchen" ("Little Starnberg Guardian Angel").

The amount is enough to cover up to 40 baptisms this year.

Support for families in expensive region

To qualify, a child must be no older than 3 and registered in the Catholic parish community of Starnberg, a lakeside area about 17 miles south of Munich.

Prized for its scenery and its short commute to the city, Starnberg has drawn an influx of wealthy newcomers that has made it one of the richest districts in Germany, with among the country's highest incomes and property prices. The same pressure has driven up housing costs for local families, some of whom, the parish priest said, find even the cost of a baptism celebration hard to meet.

Löw, a father of eight who ranks among Germany's wealthier businessmen, started the effort after a conversation with the Starnberg parish priest, Father Andreas Jall.

The priest had told him about families who were holding back from baptizing their children because of the cost of the celebration.

Löw told the newspaper Bild that if a modest sum nudged parents toward baptism, that was "a good thing," adding that families were free to spend the money however they wished. He also framed the gift as an incentive to bring children into the life of the parish, telling Bild: "My eight children are all baptized."

He said he would assess at the end of the year whether the initiative had been worthwhile.

Four families had already received the money by late July, Jall told the German Press Agency (dpa), noting that all four baptisms had been registered roughly six months in advance and that the offer had not triggered a sudden rush of new bookings.

The Diocese of Augsburg gave a mixed assessment in a statement to the official news portal of the German bishops' media arm.

Catholic parents are already obliged to have their children baptized as soon as possible and to raise them in the faith, a diocesan spokesman said, and because the Church charges nothing for a baptism, the financial element the initiative puts front and center is unlikely to be decisive in a family's decision.

Every believer who meets the conditions has a right to receive the sacraments, the spokesman added.

Theology and intention

The Bavarian diocese called Löw's generosity "a likeable expression of charity" but said that wherever "the reception of a sacrament and financial considerations, however well meant, move too close together," an "uneasy feeling" remains from the Church's point of view.

The diocese also questioned the theology behind the offer. Baptism presupposes a conscious decision of faith and is far more than a simple blessing, the spokesman said; if no faith is thereby awakened or strengthened, the purpose of even a "surely well-intentioned initiative" is called into question.

Jall, the local parish priest, has defended the measure. Some parishioners had objected that it risked cheapening the Church's reputation, he told the German Press Agency, but he said his own view started from the families' side. "We want to help families in this high-priced area," he said, adding that the aim clearly was not to "buy" believers but to help Catholic families.

The initiative comes as the Catholic Church in Germany keeps shrinking. It recorded a net loss of about 321,659 members in 2025, leaving roughly 19.2 million Catholics, or 23% of the population — a decline driven partly by Germans formally quitting the Church to escape its state-collected tax on members.

This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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While traveling by bus on the way back from a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, a group of pilgrims from the Diocese of Nuevo Laredo was robbed along a Mexican highway.

Bishop Luis Carlos Lerma Martínez of Nuevo Laredo announced that the pilgrims were heading toward the state of Jalisco when the bus they were traveling in was intercepted in the early hours of Saturday, Aug. 1.

"While it is true that, thank God, there were no serious injuries — let alone any loss of life — the lack of security on the highways of our country is deeply concerning," Lerma lamented.

Lerma likewise urged the pertinent authorities to "redouble their efforts to strengthen security on our roads and thus prevent these types of incidents that cause such harm to our society."

How did the robbery occur?

During an Aug. 4 press conference, Anahí Zamora, the pilgrimage organizer, provided details about the robbery. She explained that the group consisted of 47 pilgrims — including seniors, children, and several families — along with the driver and the co-driver.

She explained that around 3:45 a.m., while they were traveling along a highway in the state of Guanajuato, two men dressed in uniforms resembling those of the National Guard — a federal police force that, among other duties, patrols Mexico's highways — signaled them to stop using a flashlight.

The driver assumed it was a checkpoint, so he stopped the bus and got out along with the co-driver. That was when the men "forced them to kneel alongside the road, held them at gunpoint, and began boarding" the vehicle.

Once inside the bus, the men began threatening the passengers with their weapons. "They took everything we had with us: suitcases, bags, cellphones," Zamora recalled.

Following the incident, those affected managed to contact the authorities as well as representatives of the Diocese of Nuevo Laredo, who provided support to the group to continue their journey and subsequently return home.

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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As artificial intelligence drives a rapid expansion of energy-hungry data centers across the United States, Catholic environmental advocates are urging lawmakers, technology companies, and consumers to evaluate the industry's growth through the lens of Catholic social teaching.

Catholic leaders in social teaching, environmental stewardship, and advocacy said the Church is not opposed to artificial intelligence itself.

"The Church is not anti-tech. It is not, in a sense, anti-AI," Scott Hurd, vice president of leadership development and Catholic identity at Catholic Charities USA, told EWTN News. "But it is very concerned about the ethics involved in the design of these tools and the data centers."

Why data centers matter

Data centers house the computer servers that process and store information behind artificial intelligence systems. Their rapid growth, however, has also prompted concerns over electricity use, water consumption, electronic waste, and impacts on nearby communities.

Hurd said the issues can be understood in simple terms.

"They require immense amounts of energy," he said, noting that facilities also consume large quantities of water to keep servers cool. In some areas, he added, residents have reported concerns over water quality, while aging computer equipment contributes to growing amounts of electronic waste.

Hurd also pointed to local concerns including electrical grid demands and noise from cooling systems.

"Water, energy use, the type of energy being used, and e-waste are big problems," he said. "Then locally for people who live there, the noise pollution can really impact a community and the well-being of the people who live there."

Kayla Jacobs, director of advocacy and youth mobilization for the Catholic Climate Covenant, said her organization regularly hears from Catholics living in communities where data centers are planned or under construction.

"We've been hearing a lot about the huge strain on resources," Jacobs said in an interview with EWTN News. "That leads to higher energy and water bills for common people because, at the moment, those companies putting in these data centers aren't required to pay for that."

She added that residents also express concerns about air quality, construction impacts, light pollution, and the overall quality of life near the facilities.

Industry response

The Data Center Coalition, which represents many of the industry's largest operators, disputed claims that data centers are driving higher utility costs or failing to pay for the resources they consume.

"Data centers are committed to being responsible and responsive neighbors," Dan Diorio, the coalition's executive vice president for state policy and government affairs, said in a statement to EWTN News.

Data centers provide the infrastructure behind not only artificial intelligence but also online banking, hospitals, schools, manufacturing, telehealth, air travel, and other essential digital services. The group said the facilities are increasingly critical to the U.S. economy and modern daily life.

Diorio said research from states including Virginia and Arizona indicates the industry pays its full energy costs, while studies have found data centers have not been a primary driver of electricity rate increases nationally.

He also said many facilities use relatively modest amounts of water compared with other industries. In Virginia — the world's largest data center market — 83% of data centers use the same or less water than an average commercial office building.

Diorio pledged continued collaboration with local communities and policymakers on responsible resource use.

The coalition's assessment differs from concerns raised by Catholic environmental advocates, who argue that communities are already experiencing higher resource demands and other local impacts.

A question of Catholic social teaching

While environmental concerns surrounding AI infrastructure often enter political debate, environmental advocates said Catholics should view the issue primarily through the lens of Catholic social teaching.

"It is a doctrinal matter to be considered," Hurd said, noting that concern for the environment is closely tied to concern for local communities through the Church's understanding of integral ecology.

Molly Burhans, an environmental researcher and the Ignazio Danti, OP, fellow in geography at The Catholic University of America's Leonine Institute for AI and Emerging Technologies, said Catholics should resist treating the issue as a choice between embracing or rejecting technology.

"We need to distinguish where they make sense and how they can make sense," Burhans told EWTN News. "We can't really go backwards in time now. We can't get rid of this technology. How can we work with it and align it with human flourishing and the common good?"

Burhans said Catholics should evaluate AI development according to the principles of human dignity, the common good, and stewardship of creation.

Burhans also argued that environmental stewardship itself is a pro-life concern.

"Pollution almost always disproportionately falls on the vulnerable," she said, including unborn children, who are especially susceptible to environmental toxins during development.

She described creation not as "a warehouse" for human consumption but as "a gift entrusted to us for stewardship."

What can Catholics do?

Rather than seeing the issue solely as one for lawmakers or technology companies, Catholics have a role to play, advocates said.

Hurd encouraged Catholics to become familiar with the Church's growing body of teaching on artificial intelligence, including the Vatican document Antiqua et Nova, Pope Leo XIV's recent encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' guidance on AI.

He also suggested that Catholics examine their own use of AI.

Pope Leo's call for "digital sobriety," Hurd said, challenges Catholics to use artificial intelligence intentionally rather than frivolously, recognizing that every AI interaction relies on physical infrastructure with real environmental costs.

"I think an ethical case can be made to use this with intention," he said, "understanding that there's a real environmental impact."

Jacobs likewise encouraged Catholics to think critically about their personal use of AI, not only for environmental reasons but also for the social impact it can have on humanity.

"People are using it without even thinking about it," she said. "But we really need to reduce our use of AI, not just for the environmental impacts, but also we need to consider the effect it has on human interaction," Jacobs said.

She said local governments often hold public hearings before approving projects, allowing residents to ask questions about environmental impacts, water use, and community planning.

Balancing innovation with responsibility

The advocates stressed that artificial intelligence itself offers significant opportunities, from medical advances to improved education and scientific research. The challenge, they said, is ensuring that technological progress does not come at the expense of people or the environment.

"We need an equally ambitious commitment to renewable energy, responsible water stewardship, transparency, and just economic participation," Burhans said.

For Catholics, the argument ultimately extends beyond technology.

"Caring for our common home is not just an act of environmental care," Burhans said. "It's also an act of gratitude."

As artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly permanent part of daily life, Catholic leaders say the challenge is ensuring its development serves the common good while respecting both human dignity and God's creation.

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Two prisoners — one of them a former member of Comando Vermelho, a major Brazilian criminal organization — received the sacraments of Christian initiation (baptism, Eucharist, and confirmation) on Sunday, July 26, at the Gameleira 2 maximum-security state men's penitentiary in Campo Grande, Brazil.

Both men received the sacraments after two years of catechesis provided by the prison ministry of the Archdiocese of Campo Grande.

"What is the primary objective of prison ministry? Education, celebration, and life in the faith," explained Said Brandão Sayd, the ministry's coordinator, in an interview with ACI Digital, the Portuguese-language sister service of EWTN News.

"Our principal goal is to have a Catholic community within the prison — to ensure that people, even amid all those difficulties, receive the Church's help and can effectively leave that place or live there in a state of grace," he added.

The sacraments were administered by Father Álisson Muryel, the ecclesiastical adviser for the prison ministry in the Archdiocese of Campo Grande, an area that, according to Brandão, has 11 prisons and nearly 10,000 inmates. The ministry is "present in all the prisons," he said.

Without going into details regarding the personal information of the prisoners who received the sacraments, Brandão noted that one of them is single and "due to leave soon."

"He wants to rebuild his life; he wants to do it differently," Brandão said.

The other man, "who is staying longer," is in "a stable relationship but wants to receive the sacrament of marriage."

The coordinator explained that "in the second half of the year," they are going to "prepare him for this sacrament."

Brandão told ACI Digital that there is a team of catechists, supported by a parish, at every prison in the archdiocese. "Our meetings always follow this pattern, prioritizing catechesis," he said. "Above all else, the Catholic Church needs to go in there [into the prison] and proclaim the message," he added.

According to Brandão, it is not enough simply to "offer a hug" or "be deeply concerned about human rights, important as that is ... But if you don't speak about Jesus in there, who will?"

"Without that, there is no conversion," he affirmed.

According to Brandão, there are prisons where the pastoral team is able to be present every week, while in others, due to scheduling restrictions, meetings take place every two weeks.

"Since it is organized by cellblock, the blocks cannot be mixed. So, we go in, visiting two blocks one week, another two the next, and carry out the work there in that way," Brandão explained.

Through this process, the inmates follow a program lasting one or two years, depending on the frequency of the monthly catechesis sessions.

During the meetings, they work on the four dimensions of the faith: the creed, the commandments, prayer, and the sacraments. That period of preparation, Brandão noted, is intended to ensure the inmate "is aware of what he is receiving, and embraces it ... it is a great responsibility to prepare them so they understand what the faith is."

However, Brandão pointed out, providing good catechesis is pointless without the sacraments, and that is why a monthly Mass is held at the prison. At Gameleira 2, Mass is celebrated once a month in one of the four cellblocks. "So, each block has three Masses a year," he explained.

Mass is preceded by a time of confession for those who have already received the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist.

After the prisoners are released from the correctional facility, pastoral care workers encourage them to continue attending a parish near their homes.

"We do not know what is happening in each person's heart, but the Word is reaching them, and the Gospel is being proclaimed," Brandão concluded.

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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Pope Leo XIV lamented Wednesday that prayer is no longer being passed on in many Christian families and urged the faithful to rediscover it as a fundamental dimension of human life.

"In our time, in contexts dominated by an efficiency-driven and consumerist mindset, prayer may seem pointless and trivial," the pope said during his Aug. 5 general audience.

"In a world where science and technology claim to provide all the answers, praying may appear to be a form of escapism," he continued.

Leo resumed his weekly public audience after suspending most of his official schedule during the traditional July summer break. Because of Rome's high summer temperatures, the audience was held inside St. Peter's Basilica.

Continuing his catechetical series on the Second Vatican Council, the pope focused on the ecclesial dimension of liturgical prayer as presented in the conciliar constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium.

He warned that prayer is increasingly misunderstood, including within Christian homes.

"Furthermore, even in many Christian families, the tradition of prayer is no longer passed on, whilst many people risk confusing it with just another technique, of a psychological nature aimed at personal well-being," he said.

"Prayer, however, as a fundamental dimension of our humanity, is worth rediscovering in its true form."

Leo said Sacrosanctum Concilium took this need seriously. He recalled the words of Pope St. Paul VI when the constitution became the first document promulgated by the Second Vatican Council on Dec. 4, 1963.

"God comes first; prayer is our primary duty; the liturgy is the primary source of the divine life communicated to us, the primary school of our spiritual life," Paul VI said at the time.

Leo explained that the word "prayer" in the constitution refers to the liturgy as a whole. This understanding, he said, proved decisive in guiding the liturgical reform and placing the active participation of the faithful at its center.

"The liturgy is presented first and foremost as the place of encounter, of God's initiative in drawing near to humanity in his Son, 'the Word made flesh, anointed by the Holy Spirit,'" the pope said.

The faithful respond "through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit," he continued, through "the very prayer which Christ Himself, together with His Body, addresses to the Father."

The importance of the Liturgy of the Hours

Leo recalled Paul VI's desire that the Liturgy of the Hours — the Church's daily public prayer, which is inseparable from the Eucharist — would permeate, enliven and guide all Christian prayer.

"For this desire to be fulfilled, the Liturgy of the Hours needs to be more fully embraced and lived out in the daily lives of the baptized and of the communities," Leo said.

The pope described the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours as "the breath of the life of the Church," through which the Holy Spirit circulates throughout the body of Christ.

He said the Liturgy of the Hours sanctifies the different moments of ordinary life.

"Bound to the Eucharist, whose light it prolongs, the Liturgy of the Hours sanctifies the time of our daily lives: in the morning, we begin the day with faith and gratitude; at midday, we ask for the strength to remain faithful amidst our labours; in the evening, once our work is done, Vespers accompany the moment of sunset; at night, we fall asleep entrusting ourselves to God's peace," he said.

"Each Hour is an act of hope: during our earthly pilgrimage, we keep watch, awaiting with the whole Church the glorious return of the Lord."

The Liturgy of the Hours can also serve as a practical school for those learning how to pray, the pope said, particularly people preparing to enter the Catholic Church.

"To the many people who wish to learn to pray, especially catechumens, it can offer the path and the school of Christian prayer," he said.

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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