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Hello, I'm Gina Christian, and you're listening to our OSV newscast for Wednesday, August 19th, 2026. Let's catch you up on the Catholic news of the day, and here we go. In the Philippines, a shooting at a Jesuit school has sparked shock and reignited alarm over juvenile delinquency and campus security. The incident took place yesterday inside a classroom at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior School in Mindanao, Southern Philippines. The student behind the attack, who was reportedly armed with a pistol and a rifle, not only shot a fellow student and killed himself, but also livestreamed the violence on Facebook. Several other students were injured and rushed to local hospitals for treatment. Zamboanga City Mayor Khmer Adan Olaso said preliminary information indicated the shooter wore a body camera. The video has since gone viral on various social media platforms. The school shooting is the second such incident in a Southeast Asian country in little over a week. Back on August 7th, a 14-year-old boy in Thailand killed his grandparents before shooting dead five more people at a school and then killing himself. The bus, which was carrying 57 passengers, veered off a highway and overturned on August 16th near Mejokorestesz. Hungarian prosecutors suspect the driver fell asleep due to fatigue, and a court ordered him detained for a month pending an investigation into negligent homicide. In a telegram sent on the Pope's behalf, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the Holy Father is offering special prayers for those who completed their earthly pilgrimage, invoking Our Lady of Chestehova for the grieving families. Bishop's conference presidents, Archbishop Tariusz Wojja of Poland and Bishop Jano Szekeli of Hungary, alongside civic leaders from both nations, also expressed deep sorrow and solidarity, praying for comfort for the bereaved and a swift recovery for the dozens injured. Singing and playing music during the Mass is a necessary part of the celebration. That's what Pope Leo XIV said during his general audience today at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The Pope said that in the liturgy, to sing and to play music means to pray, attuning one's heart to that of our sisters and brothers and to God through active participation in the mystery that is being celebrated. Far from being merely decorative, therefore, sacred music is a treasure of profound value. It should always be dignified, draw inspiration from sacred scripture, and reflect the grandeur of the mystery celebrated. Pope Leo continued his series of talks on the Second Vatican Council, focusing on the importance of sacred music as outlined in the Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. The Pope said that singing and playing a musical instrument are acts of prayer. Music thus fosters our unity in praising God and opens our hearts to be fashioned by his grace. The Pope said that to guarantee the dignity and excellence of new compositions, they should be at the service of the liturgy, while respecting contemporary sensibilities and the different cultural traditions. The Pope quoted St. John Paul II's 2003 document on sacred music, citing the need to purify worship from ugliness of style, from distasteful forms of expression, from uninspired musical texts which are not worthy of the great act that is being celebrated. Well, apart from classical or Montessori schools, technology use is commonplace in U.S. Catholic schools. But as more studies show the harms of heavy tech use in the classroom and beyond, some schools are starting to pull back. This summer, the Erie Catholic school system announced that students in kindergarten through fifth grade will no longer participate in the take-home Chromebook program. Instead, students in the five Pennsylvania schools will have access to technology through shared classroom technology carts and dedicated technology instruction. In Virginia, Holy Family School in Dale City stopped providing digital devices to students last year, instead, offering occasional computer time through shared computer carts. Jay Jesse, Holy Family School's assistant principal, said, We found kids have actually learned more. They are retaining more. I think we learn better from human beings than we do from machines. Regina Pachis Academy, a preschool to eighth grade independent Catholic school in Norwalk, Connecticut, was founded as a tech-free classical school. Instead of smartboards, devices, and a computer lab, the Academy has chalkboards, textbooks, and a well-stocked library. And finally, Pope Leo XIV has appointed three U.S.-based consultors, all with ties to the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, to the Vatican's Dicastery for promoting integral human development. The three are among a dozen newly named consulters to the Vatican Department, which was created by Pope Francis in 2016. Yesterday, the Holy See Press Office announced the appointments of the twelve, who include Father Emmanuel Cotangole, a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame, Catherine Koch, president and CEO of the Los Angeles-based international investment firm Trust Company of the West, and Clemens Sedmack, Director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame. The Dicastery supports the church's work in the areas of human dignity and human rights, economic justice, care for creation, migration and displacement, as well as peace, conflict, and humanitarian crises. 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. As always, please 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 around the world. It's good to see you checking in. Drop us a line, let us know what you think. Thanks so much for listening, and God bless.

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