After more than a decade without its most famous vacationer, the quiet town of Castel Gandolfo once again counts the pope among its summer residents.

Local churches and bishops worldwide will be instrumental in helping implement the proposals and foster the spirit of the 2024 final document of the Synod of Bishops on synodality, the Vatican synod office said.

The Catholic Church “maintains its stance of not endorsing or opposing political candidates,” said U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops spokesperson Chieko Noguchi, following a recent court case in which a long-standing federal ban against such activity appeared to have been partly relaxed.

Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for July is for expanded formation in discernment.

A contested Washington state law that would require priests to violate the seal of confession to report abuse “represents an egregious violation of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment,” Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, who is a member of the U.S. Religious Liberty Commission, told OSV News.

Pope Leo XIV began his summer break July 6 at Castel Gandolfo, where he’ll stay through July 20. But don’t expect the Holy Father to simply relax.

Three North Americans are among recent appointees to Vatican dicasteries that address issues of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue.

It’s a question with profound implications for millions of Americans: With the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed into law July 4, will families thrive or languish? Will poverty increase, or decrease? Will more go hungry, or will more be fed?

Pope Leo XIV’s appointment of the new president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors shows that safeguarding remains a top priority, its former president said.

Addressing the faithful gathered for his Sunday Angelus on July 6, Pope Leo offered a reflection on the missionary nature of the church, grounded in the Gospel of Luke.