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Hello, I'm Gina Christian, and you're listening to our OSV Newscast for Monday, July 27, 2026. Today at OSV News, we're celebrating the feast of Saint Titus Brandsma, our patron saint. He was a Dutch Carmelite priest, theologian, scholar, and journalist. He was martyred at the Dachau concentration camp in 1942 for opposing the Nazi regime, urging Catholic newspapers not to print Nazi propaganda. Before he was executed, he gave his rosary to the nurse who administered the fatal injection, and he prayed God would lead her to repentance. Years later, she asked the Carmelites for forgiveness, and she testified at St. Titus Beatification in 1985. St. Titus Bransma, pray for us. Now let's catch you up on the Catholic news of the day, and here we go. Pope Leo XIV renewed his urgent appeals for peace in the Holy Land and across the Middle East during his Angelus address in Castel Gandalfo yesterday, where he expressed deep concern over the escalating violence and called for an immediate return to dialogue. He said, I make a heartfelt appeal for a return to negotiations to achieve a just political solution, founded on the equal dignity and equal rights of every human person. At the same time, I urge the rejection of further military actions and unilateral decisions, especially those that violate the respect for and the status quo of the holy places of every religion. The Associated Press reported late July 25th that the U.S. military had paused its airstrikes in Iran after nearly two weeks of intensifying bombing, while diplomatic efforts have pushed forward to try to avert a return to all-out war. On July 24th, in the occupied West Bank, Reuters said four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed near a Palestinian village in a confrontation that added to a growing toll over recent weeks as Israeli settler violence has intensified against Palestinians. Religious persecution mostly affecting Christian communities in Nigeria remains a key concern for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. That's what the Commission's new chair, Asif Mahmoud, told OSV News in a July 24th interview. Mahmoud was recently elected chair of the independent bipartisan U.S. Federal Government Commission, which monitors religious freedom around the globe. And Mahmoud told OSV News that the top priority, if you asked him to pick one place, would be Nigeria. Violence against Christians in Nigeria has escalated in recent years from Islamic extremist groups such as Boko Haram. However, Muslim communities have also been gravely impacted by the violence. Disputes between farmers and herders have also led to violence and displacement. Mahmoud is one of two commissioners who were reappointed after the previous commissioner terms expired in May. But three vacancies for commissioners nominated by the White House remain, as the Trump administration has not yet made those appointments. A key related role at the Department of State, the ambassador at large for international religious freedom, also remains vacant. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the remaining vacancies. Pope Leo XIV called for prayers yesterday as massive wildfires rage across Spain and France, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate their homes. Speaking from Castel Gandalfo, the Pope expressed his closeness to victims and urged support for emergency crews. In France, fast-moving blazes near Bordeaux have claimed the lives of two firefighters. The French Catholic bishops have called on parishes to open their halls as shelters and to offer respite from the extreme heat. In Spain, flames have scorched over 200,000 acres. Church leaders in both nations are stepping up relief efforts. In Madrid, Cardinal Jose Cobo visited evacuees in Alcobendas, where church bells had sounded emergency evacuation warnings for local residents. Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged political unity to confront the climate emergency, as church leaders throughout the region stressed the need for solidarity, practical aid, and continued prayer. Pope Leo XIV has appointed Archbishop Christoph Sakya El Cassis, Apostolic Nuncio to the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, as the Holy See's new permanent observer to the United Nations in New York. The Lebanese-born Archbishop, who's also Apostolic Delegate to the Arabian Peninsula, succeeds Archbishop Gabriele Kaccia, who is now the Papal Nuncio to the United States. Archbishop Kaccia had been the UN Nuncio since 2019 until he was named to his new post by the Pope on March 7th. The appointment of Archbishop Al Qasis was announced on July 25th by the Holy See Press Office. The Archbishop was appointed nuncio to the United Arab Emirates back in January of 2023, and he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Yemen and Apostolic Delegate to the Arabian Peninsula in July of 2024. Prior to those assignments, he'd been the nuncio to Pakistan since November of 2018. He was born in Beirut on August 24, 1968, and ordained a priest on May 21, 1994, incardinated in the Maronite Archeparchy of Beirut. He entered the Vatican's diplomatic service in June of 2000, and he was ordained an archbishop in Rome in January of 2019, with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, as the principal consecrator. And finally, about 300 Catholics gathered on July 25th at St. Augustine Church in Philadelphia for a solemn Vespers service that revived the sights, sounds, and prayers of early American Catholic life. The event was held in Thanksgiving for the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding. The service began outside the historic church, with Father Robert Paisley leading a procession of six priests, Revolutionary War reenactors, and fife and drum musicians. The Declaration of Independence, which had been signed less than a mile away, was recited, while a choir sang English language hymns of the time, calling for God's providence upon the revolutionary cause. Inside the church, worshippers took part in nearly two hours of 18th century Latin Vespers, offering a glimpse of how Catholics in the nation's earliest years would have prayed. Father Paisley, the lead officiant and rector of Matre Ecclesiae Chapel in nearby Berlin, New Jersey, told OSV News that Vespers is one of the offices of great praise and rejoicing. So it's appropriate to celebrate the founding of our country. And that's your OSV Newscast for today. I'm Gina Christian. Check out the show notes for a link to our website where you can find the stories in this episode. Make sure to subscribe to this podcast, give us a follow on social media and bookmark osvnews.com. As always, a shout out to our listeners in the U.S., Canada, and all over the world. And in the house, we have the United Kingdom, Norway, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Kenya, Malta, United Arab Emirates, Poland, Brazil, Germany, Uganda, Guatemala, Spain, Colombia, Malaysia, Italy, Vietnam, and Bulgaria. Drop us a line, let us know what you think. Thanks so much for listening, and God bless.

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