Prince of Peace Parish

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 7, 2025 / 17:51 pm (CNA).

Allies of the new Syrian government and other non-state actors have continued violence and discrimination against Christians, Druze, and Shia Muslims, according to a new report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Syrian rebels, many of whom were affiliated with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), toppled former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in late 2024. The report notes that HTS members, many of whom were foreign fighters, engaged in mass killings and other forms of persecution against religious minorities during the overthrow of Assad and have continued violations after taking control of the government.

Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, commanded HTS during the revolution. He was also previously a member of al-Qaeda. In addition to HTS, the report also noted that members of Turkish-backed political opposition and militias (TSOs) and other organizations that engaged in mass killings and religious liberty violations have been welcomed into high-ranking positions in the new Syrian government.

Despite these developments, the new Syrian government has vowed to protect religious liberty as it sets up its new government. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to work with the new leadership and has lifted sanctions and removed HTS’ designation as a terrorist organization.

The USCIRF is encouraging the Trump administration to impose conditions on sanction removals that require improvements in religious liberty. The report also encourages the U.S. government to impose targeted sanctions on people and organizations that continue violations of religious liberty. 

USCIRF Commissioner Mohamed Elsanousi told CNA that the commission’s primary concern for Syria’s Christians and other religious minorities is “that the transitional authorities’ actual policies and actions match their claims of supporting a religiously inclusive future for the country.”

“The U.S. administration must condition its lifting of sanctions with clear measures so that the emerging government fully abandons its extremist past, extends equal protection to all religious minorities, and enshrines comprehensive religious freedom into Syria’s laws and institutions,” Elsanousi said.

Religious persecution and killings

The most egregious violence after the new government took control was waged against Alawite Muslims — a Shia sect to which Assad and many of his allies belonged — and against Druze — an Abrahamic religion that is separate from Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.

According to the report, unidentified rebels burned the homes of civilian Alawites in Latakia and waged an arson attack against an Alawite shrine in Aleppo last December. It also notes that men who may have been affiliated with the new government executed Alawites and members of the Twelver Shia sect in the Hama province.

The report notes in January and February, HTS loyalists conducted “door-to-door interrogations and select executions” of Alawite Muslims around the Mediterranean coast. In March, the report adds, “the murders escalated to full-blown sectarian massacres” of Alawites in Latakia and Tartus based on allegations of “pro-Assad remnants.”

“Tallies put the confirmed death toll at between 1,700 and 2,246, with the caveat that the actual numbers might be much higher,” the report states.

The report references additional reports of civilian massacres of Alawites “with no known links to the Assad regime” during that time frame. It states that persecutions against Alawites seem to have decreased since March but that as recently as May, there were reports of fighters who may have been affiliated with the government kidnapping Alawites.

Additionally, “a new wave of killings” against Druze began in April, according to the report. This includes “militant Islamist” supporters of the new government killing 134 people in a suburb of Damascus that month.

In March, Syriac Orthodox Christians who lived near the anti-Alawite violence reported that the Christian death toll was “three people,” but other persecutions against Christians took place.

“Islamist militia members regularly intimidated and taunted Christians at checkpoints and looted the homes of Christians with no known links to the Assad regime,” the report states.

The report notes that the new government has retained many HTS fighters, including “the most militant violators of religious freedom during the Syrian civil war,” within the military. People who are associated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) hold high positions in the government as well.

For example, intelligence chief Anas Khattab is a former al-Qaeda commander. Abu Hatem Shaqra, who was given a high-level military position, personally participated in executions and other forms of religious persecution “such as recruitment of ISIS members and trafficking of Yazidi women and girls into sexual and domestic slavery,” according to the report.

The future of Syria

In spite of these religious liberty violations, the report notes that the new government has stated its intent to be “inclusive of all Syrians, including religious and ethnic minorities.”

The new government has taken credit for thwarting a planned ISIS attack against a Shia shrine and denounced an ISIS attack that killed 25 worshippers at Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus. It also held a one-day conference to speak with representatives of minority religions.

Alternatively, the new government intends to maintain HTS control for a transitional five-year period. It also notes that after the conference with the minority religions, the government expressed its intent to enshrine Islamic jurisprudence as “the major source of legislation.” After the conference, it notes that the government only expressed its intent to safeguard Christians, Muslims, and Jews, but not other religions.

“The recent bombing of the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus and massacres earlier this year targeting Alawis in Syria’s coastal areas serve as tragic reminders that these communities remain under serious threat of violence,” Elsanousi said.

Jeff King, the president of International Christian Concern, told CNA the report “exposes the failure of Syria’s transitional government … to protect its Christian minority.”

“This illegitimate regime, composed of rebranded al-Qaeda and ISIS operatives, has done little to curb radical Islam’s campaign to eradicate Christianity in Syria,” he said. King called the bombing of Mar Elias Church in Damascus, which killed 25 Christians, “a stark example” of “ongoing persecution enabled by the government’s inaction or complicity.”

“The Catholic community worldwide must advocate for Syria’s dwindling Christian population, which is now a fraction of its prewar size, and press the international community to reject the legitimacy of this jihadist-led government and demand robust protections for religious minorities,” King emphasized.

Houston, Texas, Jul 7, 2025 / 17:17 pm (CNA).

Catholic leaders and government officials on Monday continued to issue statements of solidarity and support to victims of the catastrophic flash flooding in the Texas Hill Country over the weekend. 

The death toll rose to 94 Monday afternoon, according to county officials, with Camp Mystic, the girls’ Christian camp devastated on July 4, confirming that 27 girls have perished, while 10 girls and a counselor from the camp are still unaccounted for.

Notre Dame Catholic Church in Kerrville held a memorial Mass for the flood victims on Sunday. Afterward, San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller told CNA the Church is “listening to the cry of all those who suffer, and their cry is not falling on deaf ears.”

He said that “pain and sorrow and death do not have the last word”; rather, “goodness, truth, love, and care [do], and hope never dies.” 

The Mass had already been scheduled as the installation Mass for the parish’s new pastor, Father Scott Janysek.

In his first homily as pastor at Notre Dame, Janysek said in a time of crisis, “there is only one community. Whether we’re Catholic or Protestant … at this time, boundaries do not exist. We are one community, and we are all hurting.”

“We are one Church,” Janysek continued. He asked the congregation: “What does Catholic mean?”

“Universal!” they responded eagerly.

“Yes, it means universal. It’s a description of what we are. We are the universal Church. We are one community.”

Janysek spoke of the two young girls who attended St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas who drowned and were found with their hands clasped together 15 miles from where they had been staying, saying: “We are connected to the Church in Dallas… We are connected to all the churches across our state. We hurt with them.”

Archbishop Joe S. Vasquez of Galveston-Houston released a statement on July 5 saying the archdiocese joined the Archdiocese of San Antonio in “praying for those affected by the recent severe flooding” and asking for God’s protection over and comfort for the victims, their families, and first responders.

He continued: “We entrust the souls of those who passed to the mercy of our heavenly Father, and we seek the intercession of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, imploring her assistance in the rescue of those still missing.”

Father Norm Ermis, pastor at St. Peter Catholic Church in Boerne, a town about 40 miles from Kerrville, said at the Mass on Sunday that the parish would be informed of how it could help flood victims in the coming week.

Ermis said he spends a lot of time on the Guadalupe River and was grieving with all who had lost loved ones.

San Antonio resident Bridie Chaudoir told CNA that she had almost sent her daughter to Camp Mystic in July, but she decided in the end to send her in August. Had she attended in July, she would have been in the Bubble Inn cabin, which was washed away by the swiftly moving floodwaters and whose occupants are all believed to have perished.

Chaudoir’s sons and nephews were rescued from Camp La Junta, also located in Hunt. Her son, Henry, 12, told CNA he prayed a decade of the rosary, the guardian angel prayer, and the St. Michael prayer the night before the flood.

She told CNA the Camp Mystic community’s response to its grieving members has been “overwhelmingly beautiful.” 

Gov. Greg Abbott declared Sunday, July 6, as a day of prayer for the victims. President Donald Trump declared Kerr County a federal disaster area on July 6, and the White House Faith Office issued a statement that evening, saying on social media: “May God wrap his loving arms around all of those in Texas. Psalm 34:18: ‘The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.’”

Vatican City, Jul 7, 2025 / 15:34 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has been given two electric vehicles that can be transported by air and will accompany him on his international travels.

According to a statement from the Governorate of Vatican City State, the delivery took place during a July 3 private meeting held at the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo, with the participation of a delegation from the Exelentia company and the Club Car Group, responsible for the vehicle design project.

The two vehicles are the result of collaboration between the Italian company Exelentia — founded by Domenico and Giovanni Zappia and specializing in the design, customization, and distribution of electric commuter vehicles for individuals, businesses, and public entities — and the Vatican Gendarmerie, which supervised and validated every stage of development.

The cars, based on electric models from the Garia company (part of the Club Car Group), have been completely customized by hand with high-precision technical and artisanal craftsmanship.

Designed with total sustainability criteria, the vehicles produce no environmental emissions or noise pollution. One of their main advantages is the ability to be transported by plane without having to be disassembled, which represents a logistical benefit for the pope’s travels.

According to the Vatican Governorate, the Italian airline ITA Airways also actively collaborated on the project, providing technical data on the vehicles’ dimensions and the means to secure them in place required for transport on intercontinental flights. 

With a compact design and great maneuverability, the two vehicles are designed to move agilely in tight spaces or with high pedestrian density, such as squares, shrines, or urban centers. Furthermore, according to the Vatican, elements such as a front handlebar and side supports under the armrests have been incorporated, ensuring greater comfort and stability for the pope inside the vehicle.

The project responds to the need to provide the Holy Father with sustainable, practical, and safe means of transportation that adapt to the demands of his pastoral trips. Its use will extend to both private trips and the public appearances that Leo XIV will make in various cities around the world.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 7, 2025 / 15:04 pm (CNA).

Two sisters who attended St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas were among the victims of the Texas Hill Country flash floods that have devastated parts of the state, the school confirmed in a statement on Saturday.

Blair Harber, 13, and Brooke Harber, 11, were vacationing with their parents and grandparents on the Guadalupe River near Hunt, Texas. The flash flood raised the river more than 22 feet in half an hour in the early morning hours of July 4, dislodging and carrying away their cabin, in which they were staying with their grandparents.

They were discovered in Kerrville, 15 miles from their cabin community, with their hands clasped together, according to reports.

Their grandparents, Charlene and Mike Harber, have yet to be found.

According to a message shared by their aunt, Jennifer, on a GoFundMe page started for the Harber family, the girls’ parents, who were staying five cabins away from their children, awoke at around 3:30 a.m. on Friday to the sound of the storm and were forced to break a window in their cabin to escape. The girls’ father, RJ, had attempted to kayak to the girls’ cabin, but the water was too high and he was forced to turn around.

The family reported receiving text messages from the girls sent as their cabin filled with water.

“Brooke texted my brother [her father], her grandmother and grandfather on Annie’s side, saying ‘I love you’ at 3:30 a.m.,” the girls’ aunt wrote. “Blair and I had a conversation about God and heaven two weeks earlier. They had their rosaries with them.” 

The two girls will have a joint funeral at St. Rita’s at a date that will be determined after their grandparents have also been found, according to the aunt’s message.

“We are beyond devastated and so heartbroken,” she concluded. “Prayers are much appreciated and what we needed at this time.”

‘Young women of deep faith’ 

“Blair and Brooke were young women of deep faith, and religion was one of their favorite subjects. On the night they died, they went to the loft of their cabin with their rosaries,” the school said in its statement. “Even in their last moments, they held tightly to each other, a powerful symbol of their lasting bond and their trust in God.”

The school remembered Blair as having “the kindest heart” and for being an “an outstanding student,” who was both “enrolled in advanced classes and actively involved in school activities.”

Blair played several sports, including volleyball, basketball, lacrosse, and cheerleading. She was also a student ambassador, a member of the yearbook committee, and was involved in the school’s speech and drama program. 

“Brooke was an excellent student who brought joy and energy wherever she went,” the school said of the younger of the two sisters. Like her sister, Brooke was also actively involved in sports, including soccer, basketball, volleyball, and lacrosse, and was “known for her spirit and determination.” Brooke also loved speech and drama, “and had a particular gift for improv that brought smiles and laughter to those around her,” the school said.

“In this time of deep sorrow, we stay grounded in our faith and united in love. We will stand with the Harber family in the days to come, surrounding them with our prayers, compassion, and unwavering support,” the school said, adding: “As a community of faith, we hold onto the hope and promise that Christ has defeated death, and that eternal life is waiting for those who love him.” 

Background

Flash flooding in the Texas Hill Country began in the early hours of July 4. Heavy rainfall filled the creeks that emptied into the several rivers that wind through the normally arid hills known as the Texas Hill Country, located north and west of San Antonio and Austin.

The Guadalupe River near where the girls had been staying rose so quickly that the National Weather Service’s evacuation orders were not issued in time to evacuate. The river swelled over 22 feet in half an hour around 4 a.m. on July 4, according to local officials, devastating parts of the towns of Hunt, Kerrville, and Comfort.

A girls’ Christian summer camp in the area, Camp Mystic, has confirmed the deaths of 27 campers and counselors that had been missing, including an entire cabin of 8- and 9- year-old girls, according to local reports, bringing the overall death toll to at least 89 people. At least 850 people have been rescued. Ten campers and one counselor from Camp Mystic remain unaccounted for, according to CNN.

Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio said a memorial Mass for the victims on July 6 at Notre Dame Catholic Church in Kerrville.

President Donald Trump declared Kerr County a disaster area on July 6.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a disaster for 15 counties on July 4, deploying more than 500 first responders, 14 helicopters, boats, high water vehicles, and drones. Abbott pledged at a press conference in Kerrville on Friday that rescuers “will stop at nothing” to find every victim of the catastrophic flooding.

Rivers continued to rise through the holiday weekend. In the early hours of Saturday, July 5, the Guadalupe River rose to a record 47.4 feet in Bergheim, Texas, about 50 miles from Kerrville.

Vatican City, Jul 7, 2025 / 14:15 pm (CNA).

The coffin holding the incorrupt body of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati will be in Rome for veneration during the Jubilee of Youth July 26 through Aug. 4.

According to the Vatican’s jubilee office, the coffin will be transferred from the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, in the Italian region of Piedmont, to the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome.

Frassati, originally scheduled to be canonized on Aug. 3 during the Jubilee of Youth, will now be declared a saint by Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, Sept. 7, together with Blessed Carlo Acutis.

Frassati’s remains will be displayed in the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome until Aug. 4 so that they can be venerated by young people attending jubilee events July 28 through Aug. 3, when Pope Leo will celebrate the youth jubilee’s closing Mass at the Tor Vergata University campus on the southeastern outskirts of Rome.

The young blessed’s relics were also present at World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, in 2008, at the request of Cardinal George Pell.

Frassati was born to a prominent family in Turin in 1901. He balanced a deep life of faith with active engagement in politics and service to the poor. He joined the Dominican Third Order, climbed Alpine peaks, and distributed food and medicine to the needy in the poorest parts of Turin.

This weekend, towns in northern Italy marked 100 years since Pier Giorgio Frassati’s death on July 4, 1925, from polio.

When Frassati’s coffin was opened during his beatification process in 1981, his body was found to be incorrupt, or preserved from the natural process of decay after death. According to Catholic tradition, incorruptible saints give witness to the truth of the resurrection of the body and the life that is to come.

National Catholic Register, Jul 7, 2025 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

With a title like “On Good Soil,” you might expect EWTN’s new series on homesteading to feature a lot of talk about living off the land and learning to farm. What you probably wouldn’t expect is a deep dive into how people in our modern society connect — or don’t connect — and how the teachings of the Catholic Church, including those of St. Thomas Aquinas, can help all of us rethink how we live, even in a big city.

The five-part series airs at 5:30 p.m. ET on Monday, July 7, through Friday, July 11, with an encore at 2:30 a.m. ET the following morning.

Each 30-minute episode explores such questions as: What is the difference between a suburban home and an intentional homestead that may or may not be in a rural setting? Why do many families today feel so disintegrated from society? Most importantly, why do so many of us, who live in a world that encourages us to be constantly on the move, find ourselves longing for community and rootedness?

Episode 5 challenges preconceptions about small-town living. Host Jason Craig says one of the benefits of living off the land is that people don’t just “like” to be around others, they actually “need” one another. Members of the community help each other out, and that creates a connectedness and a rootedness that isn’t often found in modern culture, where people tend to group themselves according to similar interests or social and financial status.

In another episode of this series, a family recounts how they spend more time together on their homestead.

Viewers will also meet Brian and Johanna Burke, whose former military family grew tired of moving every three years, so they relocated to a Catholic community in the country. 

“[W]e knew that if we were going to do this, we needed community, and we knew that if we were going to be successful in the long term, not burn out, our kids needed friends who had the same lifestyle as them, and that’s really where the Catholic farm group came in,” Johanna Burke says. 

The Burke family says they met a couple at their parish who became their mentors, and they intentionally began to create community by gathering people for monthly get-togethers on neighboring farms. Brian Burke says it’s now common for people to say: “Hey, I’m working on this thing. Does anybody know about this or have experience with this?” Other members may even teach a class on a given subject.

“When you’re really intentional about developing community, you’re also just naturally going to broaden outside of your group,” Johanna explains, adding: “Now we’re looking at connecting the farmers to those in town who are looking to source this food. We’re trying to educate [them] about the superiority of this food. … We can promote interdependence on each other and not worry about supply-chain issues. We have a small, independent grocer downtown. … Local farms provide everything.” 

Craig notes that people today talk about plugging into a community, explaining that “a power cord just plugs in to get what it needs. It’s very different from being rooted in a community. Roots penetrate the soil and actually intertwine with other creatures, and they begin to need one another. … The reason Catholics very often want to return to the homestead, therefore, is because they want to … build community. … [H]omesteading can teach you to love a place.”

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

Vatican City, Jul 7, 2025 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

The Vatican’s synod office has said that final reports from Synod on Synodality study groups — including opinions on women deacons and controversial doctrinal issues such as LGBT inclusion — have been postponed until the end of the year.

The study groups, formed by Pope Francis to examine topics he took off the table for discussion at the second session of the Synod on Synodality, held in October 2024, will have until Dec. 31 to submit their final results — a six-month extension of the original mandate of June 30, according to the Secretariat of the Synod. 

In the meantime, synod leadership will publish brief interim reports from the study groups in July.

A spokesman for the synod secretariat told CNA that most of the 10 commissions had requested more time to complete their reports following delays due to Pope Francis’ death and the “sede vacante.” In June, they received a green light from Pope Leo XIV to proceed.

The study commissions are made up of cardinals, bishops, priests, and lay experts from both in and outside of the Vatican.

The 10 study groups were formed at Pope Francis’ request in February 2024 on themes discussed in October 2023 during the first session of the Synod on Synodality. In his letter requesting the study groups, the pope said these issues “require in-depth study,” for which there would not be time during the second session in 2024.

Francis’ decision effectively moved discussion of the synodal assembly’s most controversial topics — such as women deacons and LGBT inclusion — from the 200-plus synod participants and to small expert panels.

One of the most highly-watched study groups is on ministries in the Church, specifically the question of a female diaconate. This group, whose members have not been published, is under the direction of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

According to the Secretariat of the Synod last year, this “is the context in which the question on the possible access of women to the diaconate can be appropriately posed.”

Another group was tasked with addressing pastoral approaches to ethical and anthropological topics that were not publicly specified.

The role of the groups is consultative. Pope Leo may use the final reports to make decisions for the Church about the topics addressed.

The synod secretariat, which is responsible for coordinating the work of the study groups, on Monday published the text, “Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod.”

The booklet, addressed to diocesan bishops and local synod teams, said Pope Leo has added study groups on two topics — “the liturgy in a synodal perspective” and “the statute of episcopal conferences, ecclesial assemblies, and particular councils” — to the existing groups.

The document did not say if the two additional study groups will need to produce reports and by when, and a spokesman for the secretariat said he did not think they would be providing reports by the same Dec. 31 deadline.

“It is also the secretariat’s responsibility to ensure that the pope’s decisions, developed also on the basis of the findings of these groups, will then be harmoniously integrated into the ongoing synodal journey,” the document says.

The document, intended as guidelines for bishops to implement synodality in their dioceses, also outlines what can be expected during the synod’s next phase, which will culminate with a Church assembly in October 2028.

According to synod leaders, the period from June 2025 to December 2026 will be dedicated to “implementation paths” of synodality in local Churches and groupings of Churches.

In 2027, the synod secretariat will organize diocesan-based and then national-based evaluation assemblies before holding continental evaluations in the first part of 2028.

“It is useful to reiterate that evaluation is not a form of judgment or control, rather an opportunity to ask ourselves what point we have reached in the process of implementation and conversion, highlighting the progress made and identifying areas for improvement,” the guiding document says.

Cardinal Mario Grech, synod secretary-general, said in the introduction that “the intention is to ensure that the process moves forward with a deep concern for the unity of the Church.”

The Congregation of religious sisters of Our Lady of Peace in Ivory Coast this week concluded celebrations marking its 60 years of foundation with Holy Mass presided over by Cardinal Ignace Bessi Dogbo, Archbishop of Abidjan.

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Sister Nathalie Becquart, Undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, speaks to Vatican News about the new document "Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod," highlighting the realization of synodality within the local Churches, as well as the exchange of gifts among them.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 7, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Office for Liturgical Celebrations at the Vatican has announced Pope Leo XIV’s public Mass schedule for August and September, following his current stay through July 20 at Castel Gandolfo, the summer retreat of the pontiffs.

On Aug. 3, Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to celebrate Mass for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time at Tor Vergata University in Rome as part of the Jubilee of Youth.

Although he will be in the Vatican in August, he is also scheduled to celebrate Mass at the pontifical parish of Castel Gandolfo on Friday, Aug. 15, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to pray the Angelus in the city’s Liberty Square. 

On Sunday, Sept. 7, the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, he will celebrate the eagerly awaited Mass for the canonization of Blesseds Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, which will take place in St. Peter’s Square at 10 a.m. local time.

A week later, on Sunday, Sept. 14, he will participate in the ecumenical commemoration of the new martyrs, witnesses to the faith, in St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica at 5 p.m. local time.

On Sunday, Sept. 28, he will celebrate the Mass for the Jubilee of Catechists in St. Peter’s Square at 10 a.m. local time.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.