We begin August with a very turbulent world; the terrible images of the invasion of the Spanish city of Ceuta are destroying all the do-gooder messages about illegal immigration. We may be talking about an invasion of more than 60,000 people in twenty-four hours into a city of just over eighty thousand. We do not know what past invasions were like; we have no images. The present one is very well documented and is clearly an act of war against a West that neither can nor wants to defend itself. It is incredible that the Diocese of Cádiz-Ceuta is proposing a collection to help the invaders, as if to drive them away with sticks. The world is full of useful idiots, so many and too many fools; in the curia of Cádiz, they would undoubtedly win first prize. Italy has managed to control a large part of its illegal immigration and is not willing to let it in through the back door; we greatly fear that the Spanish misgovernment is leaving a European Union with too many leaks very vulnerable. Today we can state with certainty that “there are Moors on the coast,” and not a few.
Leo with the abortionist Patti.
Patti is originally from Chicago, like Leo; she is a singer, songwriter, and poet, sometimes known as the “Godmother of Punk.” Her fame reached its peak in the late 1970s with her greatest hit, “Because the Night,” a sensual song that proclaims that “the night belongs to lust.” One of her best-known lyrics is: “Jesus died for someone’s sins, but not mine.” She does not identify with any religion and has publicly supported legal abortion, stating in 2018 that “saving the lives of young women is more important than any ideology.” She referred to her belief that legal abortion, which kills unborn babies, “saves the life” of mothers by preventing them from dying while performing abortions on themselves. In 2022, Smith called the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade “terrible” and said it broke her heart.
In 2014, Smith was invited by Pope Francis to perform at a Christmas concert at the Vatican, and she performed again at the Vatican in 2021. Spadaro says that a “spark was lit” when Smith met with Pope Leo: “When that door opened, something happened… a spark was lit, a spark that brought with it some lighthearted moments, but also a deep sense of emotion and a shared mission in this challenging world.” “Two Americans. Two Chicagoans. Two extraordinary figures whose voices instill hope in a divided world: the ‘high priestess of rock,’ as she is often called, #PattiSmith, and the Holy Father, #PopeLeoXIV.” John-Henry Westen highlighted the fact that Leo does have time to meet with the “Godmother of Punk,” but “could not meet with the FSSPX.” Leo has the opportunity to showcase rock artists who promote the Catholic faith, such as the “post-punk” band Hallowed, which promotes orthodoxy and good morals while attracting young music fans.
The APSA balance sheet.
One of the most absurd reports published by the Holy See and its conglomerate of financial bodies. It is the balance of income, leaving out the small detail of expenses, and everything looks very good. The Holy See has a chronic, unsolvable deficit, but its administration is doing very well. “The main concern of APSA is to protect its assets; the second, inseparable from the first, is to guarantee the services that support the Holy See,” and they state that it contributed “22.7 million euros” to the Roman Curia with an operating profit for the previous year of 46 million euros. It is curious that everything is very positive, but the operating profit for this year amounts to 22.8 million euros, compared to 66.2 million euros the previous year. “The comparison with the 62.2 million euros of 2024 must be interpreted with the appropriate perspective.” “The previous year was extraordinary and unique, characterized by income linked to the reorganization of the financial portfolio. 2025, on the other hand, represents a return to operational normality, and in this context, the outlook is positive.”
Net assets amounted to 2.686 billion euros, an increase of approximately 89 million euros compared to 2.597 billion euros in 2024. We are not in times of growth, and this figure was mainly due to the revaluation of physical gold in the portfolio (+40.8 million euros), the increase in the value of real estate (+39.2 million euros), and the positive contribution of securities valuations (+16.3 million euros), only partially offset by other negative components. The Administration manages 4,281 properties in Italy, in addition to approximately 1,200 abroad, in London, Paris, Geneva, and Lausanne.
The new United Nations observer.
Pope Leo XIV appointed Lebanese Archbishop Christophe-Zakhia El-Kassis as the new permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York, the Vatican announced on July 25. The Vatican is not a full member state of the United Nations but has permanent observer status. According to the international organization, permanent observers “have free access to most meetings and relevant documentation.” Born in Beirut, Archbishop El-Kassis previously served as apostolic nuncio to the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. He was also apostolic delegate for the Arabian Peninsula. El-Kassis will work alongside Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, who is the permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations office in Geneva. The Holy See obtained non-member observer status at the United Nations in 1964. Palestine is the only other political entity that enjoys permanent observer status in the international body.
Cordileone doesn’t like Roche.
And neither do we, last night with Raymond Arroyo on EWTN’s “The World Over” he stated that the restriction imposed by the Vatican on the Traditional Mass “is not realistic” because young Catholics’ love for tradition is “unstoppable.” “To be honest, I don’t think it’s realistic. If you look at the younger generation, they all worship tradition,” “They love the more classic way the Church celebrates its worship, the traditional Mass,” he said, also citing interest in the Novus Ordo Mass celebrated “in a more traditional way, with the priest standing, sacred music, and great solemnity and reverence.” “They yearn for this deep tradition. It transports them to a very deep place.” “This is unstoppable. It is what attracts young people and will continue to do so.”
He greatly doubts that Roche knows what Leo XIV thinks: “I don’t know to what extent he knows the mind of the Holy Father, but I think something that is clear to everyone is that the Holy Father wants to unite everyone. For him, unity is fundamental.” “I am concerned that, if these restrictions continue, as I have already said in my statement, people will feel that they have no choice but to seek spiritual nourishment in the most traditional way the Church celebrates its worship; they will have to leave officially approved institutions and communities,” said the archbishop. “And they will.”
Roche declared on Wednesday to the weekly The Tablet that Pope Leo “is not going to change Traditionis Custodes, and is not going to return to Summorum Pontificum,” the 2007 document by Pope Benedict XVI that granted priests an almost unlimited license to celebrate Mass in Latin. “What previous generations considered sacred remains sacred and great for us as well, and it cannot be suddenly forbidden altogether or considered harmful,” said Benedict XVI in a letter accompanying Summorum Pontificum.
Leo has expressed his support for access to the Traditional Latin Mass, even in a letter sent in March to the French bishops. At the same time, he has so far maintained the doctrine of Traditionis Custodes and has allowed bishops around the world to continue repressing the Latin Mass and reverent liturgical practices, such as Bishop Michael Martin of Charlotte, who has banned the Traditional Latin Mass in parish churches and vetoed altar rails and kneelers. Cordileone has repeatedly called for an end to the restrictions on the traditional rite and has encouraged the reception of Holy Communion on the knees and the use of kneelers at the altar.
The Church on social media.
We see cases every day of the scandal caused by numerous religious and priests who spread all kinds of atrocities on social media, while their respective orders and bishops watch in complete silence. For years, the Church has published numerous documents, conferences, and statements on the conscious use of social media, the responsibility of the word, and the need to interact appropriately with the internet. However, when it comes to putting theory into practice, it is often the worst example of the principles it claims to teach.
Religious and priests are increasingly involved in defamation lawsuits and publicly offer devastating testimonies, while superiors and bishops prefer to turn a blind eye. The case of Father Alberto Ravagnani is just one of the most obvious examples. It is enough to read the comments on his posts to understand how far this scourge has spread within the Church. Aggression, contempt, fanaticism, and verbal abuse infiltrate precisely the message of those who should teach responsibility, truth, and the charity of the word.
The problem does not lie solely in what priests and religious post directly, but also in the digital communities they create, foster, and allow to proliferate without any kind of control. Audiences form around certain clerical figures who turn any dissent into a personal attack, any criticism into an insult, and any interlocutor into an enemy to be attacked. The priest becomes a public figure on social media, his followers a fan base, and ecclesiastical language reduced to a tool to delegitimize the opponent.
A priest, like any believer, retains the right to publicly express his opinion on matters concerning the good of the Church and society. This right does not authorize insults. Calling a speaker “despicable” or “miserable” and invoking Satan to denigrate political opponents is to abandon the realm of legitimate criticism. In these cases, form is as important as content. The proliferation of incidents involving members of the clergy highlights a clear deficiency in priestly formation. Seminaries teach theology, liturgy, philosophy, and canon law, but rarely pay due attention to digital education and public communication. Seminary rectors are accustomed to simply telling young people not to use their mobile phones too much.
Bishops constantly monitor the lives of priests, their acquaintances, friendships, movements, and even the most insignificant aspects of their daily lives. However, when a priest commits a crime against others, their sudden concern is shocking. Their vigilance becomes relentless when it serves to defend their own power or to overthrow an undesirable priest; however, it disappears when they must answer for the public conduct of one of their own clerics, or when that cleric is feared for being unpredictable and harboring compromising information even about the bishop.
Holding dioceses and superiors jointly liable in lawsuits for damages produces much faster results than letters, reports, and requests for intervention. When someone becomes financially involved, prudence disappears and the awakening is immediate. In some cases, it takes on the appearance of true institutional complicity: the superior is aware, remains silent, protects, and leaves the affected person to face the consequences of the priest’s conduct alone. Fortunately, this behavior does not apply to the entire clergy. They remain isolated cases, but their recurrence and the silence that systematically accompanies them make it impossible to dismiss them as mere individual incidents.
Abortion with blessings.
Andorra is experiencing, almost unnoticed from the outside, one of the most unique diplomatic processes in Europe. A democratic government negotiates with the Holy See, year after year and with almost no public noise, the scope of a penal reform. The reason is unique on the continent: one of the two heads of state of the Principality is, by definition, the Bishop of Urgell. Any law that touches on abortion not only requires a parliamentary majority; it also needs, in practice, not to blow up the unique system of the Co-Principality. Seven years after it all began, the Andorran government confirmed that it will bring a proposal to reform the Penal Code to the Consell General in September. Andorra is, along with Malta and the Vatican, one of the few European territories where abortion is completely banned, without exceptions even in cases of rape or fetal inviability.
The government commissioned jurists Manuel Pujadas and Tomás Gui Mori to study the feasibility of modifying criminal legislation without jeopardizing the country’s constitutional balance. The resulting document, The Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy in the Principality of Andorra, was not limited to a criminal analysis: it also addressed the compatibility of a possible reform with the institutional role of the episcopal co-prince. The objective is to find a legal formula acceptable both to Andorran society and to the Church, without encroaching on areas that would jeopardize the continuity of the system.
Pope Francis conveyed in his final stage that he would not oppose a limited reform aimed at removing criminal punishment for women, in line with the pastoral orientation that characterized his pontificate. That shift in tone—intact doctrine, but more open pastoral accompaniment—was what allowed the debate with Andorra to cease being framed in theological terms and to be discussed as a problem of legal and institutional engineering. In September 2023, Parolin traveled to Andorra and visited the Meritxell sanctuary with the head of government. He then appeared before the media and was explicit about the difficulty of the matter: he described the reform as a very delicate and complex issue that required discretion and prudence, and recalled that, for the Holy See, the defense of life in all its stages is an inalienable principle, although accompanied by the desire to be close to women in difficulty. During that same visit, he warned that any change in the criminal consideration of abortion also posed a constitutional problem, by directly compromising the figure of the episcopal co-prince.
The text that was expected to be presented in November 2025 was not limited to removing prison sentences and professional disqualification: it also contemplated a system to refer women to clinics in France or Spain, with medical accompaniment coordinated from Andorra, and economic compensation mechanisms—through CASS, the Andorran social security—for people in vulnerable situations. The Holy See asked for more time and discretion before any public step, and the text never entered the Consell General on the scheduled date.
In September 2025, around the time of the meeting that Espot and Baró would have with Parolin at the Vatican in October, Baró himself told a media outlet that the decriminalization text was ready to enter parliamentary proceedings in November. That leak directly stated that the Vatican had yielded to the decriminalization of abortion and set off all the alarms within the Holy See. Communicating the timetable publicly and hastily broke the institutional discretion that had been maintained until then in negotiations with the episcopal co-prince, the Pope, and the apostolic nuncio, and provoked an immediate change of attitude among the ecclesiastical authorities involved.
The consequence was a halt that lasted for almost a year: the Holy See expressly asked for more time and more discretion, and the text that had already been drafted was left in suspense while the government rebuilt the channel of trust with the Vatican. The turning point in the whole process came with the death of Pope Francis. The election of Leo XIV brought with it a different sensitivity within the Vatican: from the beginning of his pontificate, the new Pope has placed the defense of life as one of the central axes of his magisterium, with a firmer doctrinal tone against abortion than that of his predecessor.
At the beginning of 2026, Minister Baró publicly admitted that the change of pontificate had complicated conversations with the Holy See and announced that the proposal would no longer include reimbursement through CASS. The model was reduced, essentially, to eliminating the criminal liability of the woman who aborted outside Andorra, without public funding or coverage for healthcare professionals. The government spokesperson himself, Guillem Casal, has insisted that Leo XIV’s statements in defense of life have not surprised the Executive, as they respond to the constant doctrine of the Church, and has emphasized that the government’s objective remains to advance women’s rights without overstepping the institutional framework.
The new bishop-co-prince, Serrano Pentinat, opted for dialogue and support for those who suffer, especially women in difficult situations, a change of register that numerous observers interpreted as a sign of greater openness to understanding with the government. The bishop has generally avoided speaking directly on the substance of the debate: when asked by the media in October 2025, he went so far as to respond that it was not up to him to make decisions or speak on the matter.
While the Holy See slowed the pace, the other co-prince pushed in the opposite direction. During his official visit to Andorra in April 2026, Emmanuel Macron once again raised the decriminalization of abortion, this time with a more decisive tone than in his previous trip in 2019. For now, perhaps decriminalization is possible, but it has been ruled out that abortion will be legalized, which in practice means that the termination of pregnancy will continue to be impossible to perform within Andorran territory. The paradox of the process is that none of the actors involved admit to having changed their position. The Andorran government maintains that it has never intended to legalize abortion, but rather to advance women’s rights without breaking the institutional framework. The Holy See maintains its doctrine on the defense of life from conception intact, publicly reinforced by Leo XIV from the beginning of his pontificate.
And yet, the result of seven years of conversations points to a conclusion that is difficult to dispute: the Vatican has accepted, or at least has not blocked, Andorra’s removal from the Penal Code of the prosecution of women who abort, something that just five years ago seemed politically unfeasible in a country with a bishop as head of state. Francis opened that door with a strategy of discreet dialogue and pastoral gestures; Leo XIV, despite hardening the doctrinal discourse and significantly reducing the final scope of the reform, has not closed it.
The profanations of Medjugorje.
The history of the profanations in Medjugorje cannot be considered closed, for where God manifests himself, the devil also intervenes, wanting to frustrate the divine plans. It is no coincidence that the events occurred just before the Youth Festival, to which the Virgin Mary has repeatedly directed words of salvation. It cannot be reduced to the mere human or earthly consideration of the criminal act committed by the individual who, to date, is the only one responsible for what happened in Medjugorje. Many recall these days a message that Our Lady delivered to Medjugorje through the visionaries on August 7, 1986: “Dear children, you know that I promised you an oasis of peace, but you know that next to the oasis there is a desert, where Satan lurks and tries to tempt each one of you. Dear children, only through prayer can you overcome every influence of Satan in the place where you live. I am with you, but I cannot take away your freedom. Thank you for responding to my call!”
“Give me here, on a platter, the head of John the Baptist.”
Good reading.