After the Angelus, Leo XIV spoke about Francis Xavier Tru'o'ng Bǚu Diệp (1897-1946), a priest beatified on 2 July in Vietnam, killed "in hatred of the faith”. “May his intercession” helps those in “situations of persecution today.” The pope reiterated his closeness to the people of Venezuela. “God’s way” is to reveal himself “to infants,” he said commenting today’s Gospel.
Leo XIV issues a warning on the island in the heart of the Mediterranean, 13 years after Pope Francis’s historic visit. “Those who have lost their lives in this sea are victims both of decisions that were made and of decisions that were not made,” he said. The pontiff urged Europe to address this challenge “in a comprehensive manner” without fear, and called on the United States, on its 250th anniversary, not to forget migrants’ “hopes, sacrifices and contribution”.
Today, Washington and Beijing clash over tariffs, Taiwan, and technology. Yet Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and other leading figures of the American Revolution also found inspiration in the thoughts of Confucius and the meritocratic system of the Chinese empire. This forgotten story speaks to a different beginning in relations between the two powers.
India confirms the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty amid worsening relations with Pakistan. But various politicians, former diplomats, and religious leaders from both countries have signed an appeal to reopen negotiations on Kashmir and rebuild bilateral relations.
Today's news: China has launched a new sea patrol east of Taiwan. Drug traffickers are recruiting Thai aircrew members as couriers. At least 40 people died in Pakistan after a bus ended up in a ditch, with a similar incident in Afghanistan. In Japan, indigenous Ainu are denied inherent fishing rights.
By trying to impose on society a false narrative of “preventive self-defence”, Putin is attempting to completely absolve himself of personal responsibility before history for triggering a new Cold War, which has effectively isolated the country from the developed world and set its development back by decades.
