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Hello, I'm Maggie Murray of OSV News, and this is your OSV Newscast for Thursday, July 30th, 2026. Let's catch you up on the Catholic News of the Day. Here we go. A South Texas bishop is expressing relief today after a foreign-born religious sister detained by immigration authorities was permitted to remain in the country while her case moves forward. Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville said he is grateful to God for the development involving Sister Leticia Ugbaoja, though he cautioned the outcome of her broader immigration case, including the risk of third country deportation, remains an open question. Sister Letty, a member of a Nigerian-based congregation and a registered nurse, has served in the McAllen, Texas area for more than a decade. She was detained by ICE agents on her way to Mass on June 28th and held for several hours before congressional intervention secured her release. Her 2019 asylum application had been denied, but she holds valid work authorization and has complied with all immigration requirements, her attorney confirmed. Bishop Flores urged prayer and accompaniment for the many individuals and families who live in fear and anxiety as they seek a way to resolve their immigration status. The leader of the nation's largest annual pro-life demonstration is stepping away from her role, choosing family over the front lines of the pro-life movement. Jenny Bradley Lichter announced today that she will step down as president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, effective tomorrow, July 31st. My next chapter will be a new one for me, full-time mom, she said in her statement. The March for Life, founded in protest of Roe v. Wade and now continuing its mission since that decision was overturned in 2022, will begin searching for new leadership at a critical moment for the pro-life movement. One, grappling with challenges including preserving the Hyde Amendment, a newly approved generic abortion drug, male distribution policies for abortion medication, and a rising abortion rate nationally. Bradley Lichter called the presidency the highlight of my professional life, but said it had become clear her family needed more of her time than she could give while leading the organization. And so I must step away, she said. The rule, issued Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, took effect immediately without a public comment period. Officials framed the change as an effort to reduce a backlog of 1.4 million pending asylum cases, but a government document implementing the rule estimated it could affect nearly 445,000 people, more than 30% of the current backlog. Elizabeth Carlson of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, known as Clinic, said the organization strongly opposes this new USCIS rule, criticizing the lack of public input before it took effect. The rule change comes just weeks after a religious sister was detained by ICE agents for several hours while walking to Sunday Mass near the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, a case that has drawn national attention to the human toll of hardline immigration enforcement. Catholic leaders in the United Kingdom are praising Prime Minister Andy Burnham's push to strengthen palliative and social care, calling it a far better path than legalizing assisted dying. Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool commended Burnham's commitment to properly funding end-of-life care ahead of Parliament's September 11th debate on the Terminally Ill Adults Bill, urging lawmakers to reject the measure and invest instead in compassionate care that upholds human dignity. Burnham, the UK's first Catholic-born prime minister, has repeatedly said Catholic social teaching shapes his politics, and Catholic charities are now urging him to put those values into concrete action. CAFOD is calling for the restoration of overseas aid and stronger climate leadership, while Caritas organizations are pushing for greater support for vulnerable families and the homeless. The issue of overseas aid is critical, said Neil Thorns of CAFOD. For us as Catholics, it's an expression of our solidarity with our brothers and sisters. Church leaders also urged Burnham to build a more humane asylum system. Pope Leo XIV spent yesterday evening surrounded by music and children's voices, and found in it a profound reflection on the nature of heaven itself. Following a concert at the Pontifical Gardens in Castel Gondolfo, where tenor Andrea Bocelli led 164 young singers from the Holy Land, Uganda, and Italy, the Pope told the choir, The beauty of music invites us to encounter the one who is beauty itself. He noted that scripture and the church's liturgy often describe choirs of angels and saints when depicting the joy of heaven, explaining that believers behold God together and find in him the fullness of happiness. The concert, part of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation's Voices of program, closed with Amazing Grace, while Bocelli also performed Panis Angelicus for the Pope. The evening was part of Jubilee celebrations marking the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi's death, featuring readings from The Canticle of the Sun, and concluding with the children presenting Pope Leo with gifts from their home countries. And that's your OSV Newscast for today. I'm Maggie Murray of OSV News. Check out the show notes for direct links to the stories in this episode. Make sure to subscribe to this podcast, follow us on social media, and bookmark osvnews.com. Thanks so much for listening and God bless. This has been an OSV News production. To learn more, visit osvnews.com.