Ukrainian religious leaders have rejected demands for Russia’s Orthodox Church and language to be guaranteed official status in their country, although a Catholic bishop also warned against a threatened crackdown on Orthodox communities.

As the Trump administration seeks to end Russia’s multiyear war on Ukraine, Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians continue, said Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency tasked with enforcing laws prohibiting discrimination in hiring and employment, said Aug. 18 it has taken “robust” actions to prevent religious discrimination in the workplace within the first six months of the second Trump administration.

From a message that “dread is not of God” to a “pilgrimage of hope,” several hundred Catholic sisters and guests gathered in downtown Atlanta for the annual assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, France, said his visit to the Holy Land was intended as a gesture of solidarity with the local Christian community and a demonstration of support for “all the friends of peace.”

Jesus’ love and forgiveness do not deny the truth of pain and betrayal, but they do prevent evil from having the last word, Pope Leo XIV said.

Pope Leo XIV asked Catholics to observe Aug. 22 as a day of prayer and fasting for peace and justice, particularly in Ukraine and in the Holy Land.

Six pro-life activists, a majority of them Catholics including two recently pardoned by President Donald Trump, are now facing state charges for a July 31 Red Rose Rescue abortion clinic “rescue” in Upland, Pa., near Philadelphia, that temporarily disrupted its activities.

The Uruguay bishops’ conference expressed sadness after the country’s lower house of Congress approved a bill decriminalizing euthanasia.

Pope Leo XIV has named Father Ralph O’Donnell as the new bishop of Jefferson City, Missouri, four months after then-Bishop W. Shawn McKnight was named archbishop of Kansas City, Kan.