SPEAKER_01 0:01

Hello, I'm Gina Christian, and you're listening to our OSV newscast for Friday, July 17th, 2026. Let's catch you up on the Catholic news of the day, and here we go. This Sunday, Spain and Argentina will meet up in the World Cup final, and the match highlights the Catholic faith shared by both footballing nations. Spain is led by Coach Luis de la Fuente, whose public witness to the faith has drawn praise from the Spanish bishops. Images of him praying before a crucifix ahead of Spain's 2024 European Championship victory became a symbol of his emphasis on humility, teamwork, and trust in God. Argentina has also embraced visible signs of faith throughout the 2026 tournament. The team's dressing room includes a prayer altar honoring Our Lady of Lujan, while players have carried Marian images and received religious gifts from their supporters. Captain Lionel Messi has repeatedly spoken about his gratitude to God, saying, after reaching the final, I am grateful for everything he has given me. The tournament itself has Catholic roots. French Catholic Jules Rimé founded the World Cup with a vision of promoting human dignity, social justice, and unity through sport. Isabel du Chatelu is program director for sports at the French Bishops Conference, and told OSV News that Rimé's vision of the tournament was shaped by Catholic social teaching and a desire to promote human dignity and social cohesion through sport, particularly among the working classes. In Peru, President-elect Keiko Fujimori met with church leaders yesterday, pledging full government cooperation for the upcoming papal trip. The country's bishops conference confirmed the future administration wants to ensure the U.S.-born pope connects with as many local communities as possible to spread his message of unity. The Vatican hasn't yet released an official itinerary, but outgoing Peruvian president José Maria Balcazar previously indicated the early November trip could last up to 10 days, with stops including Lima and Cusco. In Uruguay, Cardinal Daniel Storla of Montevideo announced the Vatican is expected to confirm the schedule by late July. He said, almost 40 years ago, we experienced the unforgettable visit of St. John Paul II. Now we welcome Pope Leo with enormous anticipation. It is a joy for the Church, but also for all of Uruguay. The proposed itinerary features a potential stop in the marginalized Casavage Basin, highlighting the Pope's characteristic closeness to communities on the margins. While there's more than one way to promote a cause for sainthood, and for Blessed Solanus Casey, the Capuchin Franciscan province of St. Joseph in Detroit decided on a scholarly path with an essay prize for graduate students. This was the second year for the contest, with cash prizes awarded to Kaylee Kilner and Barry Mark O'Keyou, both of whom are studying at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and Cesar Cruz, a doctoral student at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. Blessed Solanus was born in 1870 to an Irish immigrant family in Oak Grove, Wisconsin, and he was famed for his good works and help for the poor in Detroit, Huntington, Indiana, Yonkers, New York, and New York City. According to the website for his sainthood cause, he proved that holiness is attainable, and he demonstrated that an ordinary person can live an extraordinarily faithful life. He died in 1957, but his inspiration continues, said Capuchin Father Edward Foley, who is the vice postulator of the cause. Father Foley said, This year's winning essays remind us how many fresh insights remain to be drawn from the life and ministry of Blessed Solanus. He said the Capuchins chose to draw attention to the cause through an essay contest in order to advance scholarship as well as devotion. And there's a possibility that the winning essays will appear in a future book. Nobel laureates who gathered in Rome yesterday praised Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas as they signed the Rome Declaration on an unarmed and disarming peace in the age of artificial intelligence and nuclear weapons. The declaration urges a global treaty banning AI from nuclear launch systems and insists that meaningful human control remain over any decision to use nuclear weapons. Nobel laureates described the encyclical as a document for humanity, with Maria Orassa calling it a clarion call for leadership, and James E. Mueller calling its critique of nuclear deterrence a giant step forward. The declaration warns that humanity faces a defining moment as AI and nuclear weapons converge, and it concludes, we appeal as human beings to human beings. Remember your humanity and forget the rest, adding that our survival and the survival of future generations are at stake. Cardinals participating in the summit underlined that life and death decisions must never be left to autonomous systems. Father Andrea Ciucci, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said he was proud of the event because, as he put it, the leaders of the different religions demonstrate that we can work together in favor of humanity. And finally, a theology of migration moves us toward communion with God and with one another. That's according to Holy Cross Father Daniel Grudy. He's a member of the Vatican's Dicastery for the promotion of integral human development, and he participated in Pope Leo XIV's July 4th visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa, where tens of thousands of migrants arrive each year, following dangerous and often deadly sea crossings. Father Grudy is a scholar and a leader at the University of Notre Dame, and he explained the theology of migration in his 2022 book of the same title. I spoke with Father Grudy earlier this week, and he stressed that amid polarizing debates over immigration, we need to remember that all the world belongs to God, and we're stewards and not owners. He described Christ as the primordial migrant, the son of God who left his homeland, came into our sinful and broken territory, and died on a cross to reconcile us to God, to help us migrate back to becoming citizens in God's kingdom again. He said, if Christians are to be conformed to Christ, then we have no choice but to really evaluate the way we relate to one another. And he added, if we don't see that we are connected to these people who are labeled as different or other, then we've deported our soul. And we actually have bigger problems than immigration that we're dealing with. And that's your OSV Newscast for today. I'm Gina Christian. Check out the show notes for a link to our website. That's where you can find the stories in this episode. As always, do make sure to subscribe to this podcast. Give us a follow on social media and bookmark osvnews.com. A shout out to our listeners in the U.S., Canada, and all over the world. Let's see who's in the house. We have Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, Italy, Guyana, Poland, Uganda, Singapore, Kenya, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. Drop us a line and let us know what you think. We'll be back on Monday. Thanks so much for listening and God bless.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

This has been an OSV News production. To learn more, visit osvnews.