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Pope Francis’ trip to Canada next week will be a “penitential pilgrimage” to bring healing and reconciliation, Francis said Sunday. The pope is scheduled to travel to the Canadian cities of Edmonton, Quebec City, and Iqaluit from July 24-29. There he will meet members of Canadian indigenous groups, residential school abuse survivors, and Catholics. Pope Francis is expected to issue an apology in Canada on behalf of the Catholic Church for abuses committed against indigenous students in Catholic-run residential schools. The Canadian bishops said last year that they would welcome Francis’ visit as a “pilgrimage of healing and reconciliation.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251808/pope-francis-canada-visit-will-be-a-penitential-pilgrimage
The Nigerian diocese of Kafanchan has asked for prayers after two Catholic priests were kidnapped Friday evening. Father John Mark Cheitnum and Father Denatus Cleopas were abducted at around 5:45 pm on July 15 at the rectory of Christ the King Catholic Church in the town of Lere in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna State. At least seven Catholic priests have been kidnapped in Nigeria in the month of July, according to data compiled by Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic nonprofit organization. The latest abduction brings the total up to 20 Nigerian priests kidnapped since the beginning of 2022. Three of the priests were killed.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251806/two-catholic-priests-kidnapped-in-nigeria
China is exploiting children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, forcing them to work under hazardous conditions to mine the cobalt that powers electronic devices and electric cars, witnesses at a congressional hearing on human rights violations testified this week. The Democratic Republic of Congo produces more than 70% of the world's cobalt, 15% to 30% of which is produced in artisanal mines. Congolese civil rights attorney Hervé Diakiese Kyungu testified at the hearing that children are trafficked and exploited because of their small size. He explained that Congolese artisan miners often own the mines in name only. Chinese companies are the actual owners and operators of the mines, responsible for the inhumane conditions. Father Rigobert Minani Bihuzo, a Catholic priest who has worked to expose child labor and human rights violations in the DRC’s mining sector, also testified to the dangerous working condition at the mines.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251800/congo-cobalt-mines-china-child-labor
Today, the Church celebrates Saint Camillus de Lellis, who turned from his life as a soldier and gambler to become the founder of an order dedicated to caring for the sick. In some other countries, he is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, July 14. He founded the Order of the Ministers of the Sick, or simply as the “Camillians,” and the group received papal approval in 1586 and was confirmed as a religious order in 1591. In addition to the traditional vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, they took a vow of unfailing service to the sick.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-camillus-704