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Hello, I'm Gina Christian, and you're listening to our OSC Newscast for Thursday, July 23rd, 2026. Today is the feast of Saint Bridget of Sweden. She lived during the 14th century, and she was a wife and mother of eight. One of her daughters became Saint Catherine of Sweden, so it ran in the family. Saint Bridget was also a mystic and the foundress of the Bridgetine Order. St. John Paul II named her a patron saint of Europe in 1999. Saint Bridget of Sweden, pray for us. Now let's catch you up on the Catholic news of the day. Here we go. Venezuela's Catholic bishops are urging the faithful to reject claims the country's devastating earthquakes in June were a form of divine punishment. In a pastoral letter released yesterday, the Venezuelan Catholic Bishops Conference condemned such interpretations of the tragedy, and they called on Christians to instead act as compassionate Samaritans to those who are suffering. Twin quakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude struck the northern state of La Guayra on June 24th. Government officials report the death toll has risen to over 5,300, with more than 1,400 aftershocks recorded. Catholic relief agencies, including Caritas Venezuela, continue to distribute food, water, and vital medical supplies, though officials warn aid consumption is outpacing intake as thousands remain in temporary camps. The bishops also echoed civilian frustration over delayed official response times, and they cautioned leaders against corruption and apathy as rebuilding efforts in the nation move forward. Ten years after the killing of Father Jacques Amel shocked France and the world, the Catholic Church in that nation is preparing to honor his memory with prayer. On July 26, Cardinal Jean-Marc Avalin, president of the French Bishops Conference, will celebrate a televised Mass at the Normandy Church where the 86-year-old priest was murdered by two young Islamist extremists while celebrating the Eucharist in 2016. Before the Mass, worshippers will join a silent procession from the rectory to the church. Among those attending will be Father Amel's sister, Rosaline Amel, who has become a powerful witness to forgiveness. In the years since the attack, she's formed an unlikely friendship with the mother of one of the attackers, leading to their 2025 book, Sisters in Sorrow. They now speak to students together about the dangers of online radicalization and the power of reconciliation. Amel also hopes to discuss her brother's cause for beatification with Pope Leo XIV during her August visit to Rome. In 2019, the Archbishop of Luen delivered the diocesan dossier of the Beatification Cause. Amel said, Since then we have not heard anything. I will try to emphasize the fact that many people in all corners of the globe are eagerly awaiting my brother's beatification. When I went to the Holy Land a few years ago, people told me, Beatified or not, to us he is a saint. A Kansas priest and former pastor at several parishes has been arrested on a number of charges of child sexual abuse. Father Ryan McCandless, a priest of the Diocese of Salina, Kansas, was taken into custody shortly after 5 p.m. yesterday at a residence in Wichita. The arrest was made by agents from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, assisted by the Sedgwick County Fugitive Warrant Unit. That's according to a KBI media release yesterday. The KBI said the 44-year-old father McCandless was wanted on three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. The charges allege that between July and September of 2025, McCannless sexually abused a six-year-old child in Belleville, Kansas. The Salina Diocese said the priest was immediately removed from all public priestly ministry upon notice of the allegation. Father McCannless was a pastor of three parishes at the time of his removal, and the diocese said he will remain removed from ministry unless and until he is fully cleared of the allegations by all the appropriate civil, legal, and ecclesiastical authorities. And the diocese added, it remains steadfast in its commitment to the protection of children, the safety of our communities, and the pastoral care of survivors. Today, Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Bladge issued updated guidance on federal protections for religious liberty. The Department of Justice said the updates revise and expand its 2017 religious liberty guidelines in light of recent and significant U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Among the decisions cited was a 2014 ruling that hobby lobby stores could be exempt from a requirement to provide health insurance covering abortion-inducing drugs that would violate the sincere religious beliefs of the owners. The memo comes as Blanche, whose nomination as Attorney General is under consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee, faces several potential obstacles to confirmation. The memo states that the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which forbids the government from establishing an official religion or favoring one religion above another, must be interpreted in light of historical practices and understandings. The memo said, History and tradition reveal that the Establishment Clause forbids the government from coercing religious observance, discriminating against individuals on the basis of religious belief or practice, discriminating between religious groups, or abridging religious communities' autonomy or interfering in their internal affairs. And the memo added, the establishment clause does not compel the government to purge from public life anything an objective observer may think endorses religion. And finally, Anne Teresa O'Neill, whose confirmed miraculous recovery from acute lymphatic leukemia as a child helped pave the way for the canonization of St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton, has died at the age of 78. O'Neill died early on July 17th at her home in Easton, Maryland, surrounded by family after suffering a stroke a few days earlier. She was making progress before her health declined again. Her son Joseph Hoey said she had a very graceful death. He and his siblings, Gerard and Mary Alice, were with her, and they prayed the Hail Mary together. O'Neill was known as the child whose 1952 healing was recognized as the miracle that contributed to the canonization of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first U.S.-born saint. Hoey remembered his mother as a woman of deep faith and strong values, saying she taught her family the importance of compassion, integrity, and living a life rooted in faith. Archbishop William Laurie of Baltimore is scheduled to celebrate O'Neill's funeral mass on July 25th at the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Burial will follow on the grounds of the National Shrine. 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, we ask you to please subscribe to this podcast, give us a follow on social media and bookmark osvnews.com. And of course, a shout out to our listeners in the U.S., Canada, and all over the world. We see you checking in from Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, the Netherlands, home to our patron saint, St. Titus Bransma, Sri Lanka, Spain, Malaysia, Italy, and Portugal. Drop us a line, let us know what you think. Thanks so much for listening, and God bless.

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