Pope Francis has urged young people gathered in Medjugorje to imitate the Virgin Mary by abandoning themselves to God.

He issued the appeal in a message to an annual youth meeting in Medjugorje, read out Aug. 1 by Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto, Apostolic Nuncio in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“The great example of the Church that is young in the heart, ready to follow Christ with new freshness and fidelity, always remains the Virgin Mary,” the pope said in the message, sent in Croatian and released by the Holy See press office Aug. 2.

St. Paul asks questions that never lose their relevance: “Brothers and sisters: What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?” (Romans 8:35). Maybe today we might ask: Will viruses, unemployment, political and social division, or anxiety? The answer for the follower of Christ remains: “No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). Yet do we believe this?

I wish, dearly wish, that as the letter to the Romans says, nothing could separate us from the love of Christ. It is difficult, if I am honest, to express what I mean by my own love for Christ, but how I experience his love is something else, elusive, there, but intangible.

Catholic education and human civilization are two faces of the same coin. Over the past centuries the Catholic universities and schools, run by Catholic clergymen and women religious, have produced to the world renowned scientists and educated people who contributed greatly to scientific research and politics, thus serving the advancement of societies in various fields.

Man may experience the darkest nights, endure the worst outrages, confront the most tragic situations, yet God is with him. Often man forgets that God is present…. Confronted with evil, man gets organized by gathering the means necessary for his defense. His action is just, but sometimes it provokes greater evils. Our true grandeur lies in the humility of faith; the purer our belief, the more profound it is and the closer it brings us to God, who is infinitely great.

Since 2013, the United Nations Organizations observed July 30 as the World Day against Human Trafficking, which is a crime and serious violation of human rights.

Over the past decade, the Middle East has been plagued by a state of turbulence instability, violence, poverty and local wars which debilitate societies, drive them to abysmal failures, and bring them on the verge of collapse.

July 26 marks the fourth anniversary of the martyrdom of Fr. Jacques Hamel. Fr. Hamel was brutally slain while celebrating Holy Mass July 26, 2016 after two armed gunmen stormed his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in Normandy.

Press reports indicate that the assailants entered the church and took the 85-year-old priest and four others hostage. Later, the Hamel’s throat was slit in the attack, and that both of the armed gunmen were shot dead by police. The attackers were identified as extremists.

Prayers are always answered once they are sincere and represent a wish to fulfill an urgent need. The divine fulfillment of prayers may be immediate, but it sometimes takes some time depending on the will of the Lord.

This is a real-life story that took place in 1853, when the Sisters of Loretto opened a school for girls in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Following is the text of statement issues by "Religions for Peace Speaks" on Hagia Sophia on Friday, July 24, titled,
"Living Together with Peace and Respect":