ACI MENA, Jul 14, 2025 / 05:00 am (CNA).

Six months ago last week, Lebanon broke a 14-month presidential deadlock by electing Joseph Aoun — an army commander backed by international powers and cautiously welcomed by Christian communities — to lead the country.

Aoun’s inaugural speech in January raised expectations, with firm promises to address sensitive and urgent issues like Hezbollah’s weapons and the refugee crisis. For many Christians, it sounded like a turning point. But half a year into his term, one question looms: Is Joseph Aoun fulfilling his promises, or are Lebanon’s Christians already losing faith in his leadership?

By constitutional requirement, Lebanon’s president must be a Maronite Christian. While the role is meant to serve the entire nation across sectarian lines, the Christian community traditionally sees the presidency as its highest political representation and a key channel for defending what it views as national priorities.

A young adult Christian’s perspective

Mark Elian, a Lebanese student pursuing a master’s degree in international security at Sciences Po Paris, said Aoun’s inaugural speech in January resonated deeply with him as a young Lebanese Catholic. He said he was relieved when Suleiman Frangieh, another serious contender for the presidency, lost. “He simply didn’t represent Christians. Aoun’s profile is much more reassuring.”

He added: “Joseph Aoun comes from a southern village that was the victim of a massacre perpetrated by Palestinians, so he understands very well the need to disarm the camps,” Elian said. “And as commander-in-chief of the Lebanese army, he managed to keep the institution standing during Lebanon’s worst economic and financial collapse.”

Elian pointed to several achievements that, in his view, give Aoun credibility. “He’s succeeded in renewing ties with Arab and Western countries that had lost interest in Lebanon,” he said. “He also managed to organize the municipal elections on time and facilitated the formation of a government just weeks after the nomination of Nawaf Salam.” 

Still, Elian admitted, however, that the president has fallen short on key promises. “He hasn’t delivered yet on the state’s monopoly over weapons.’’

“He must also resolve the question of a state monopoly on arms and achieve the full Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon,” Elian said. “Last but not least, he has to address the issue of people’s money trapped in the banks and restructure the banking sector. President Joseph Aoun faces many challenges; the first one being the regime that elected him.”

The banking crisis Elian refers to is one of the deepest wounds in Lebanese society. Since 2019, banks have imposed informal capital controls, blocking most citizens from accessing their savings. Life savings vanished overnight. Depositors were left with restricted access to their own money, forced to withdraw limited amounts in local currency at steep losses. The collapse destroyed trust in the financial system, shattered the middle class, and sparked mass emigration. 

Aoun has so far signaled a willingness to tackle the issue. His government passed amendments to banking secrecy laws and appointed a new central bank governor, but comprehensive banking sector restructuring remains elusive.

A lawyer’s call to action

Joy Lahoud, a Lebanese lawyer, takes a more skeptical view. He sees promising inaugural speeches as a recurring pattern in Lebanese politics, with every new president raising expectations that rarely translate into action. In his view, the failure isn’t always personal — it’s institutional. 

“Obviously most of them, if not all of them, were not capable of walking their talk because of the nature of the Lebanese constitution,” he explained. “The prerogatives of the president are limited. The executive powers are not vested with the president.”

Still, Lahoud said he believes Aoun has a historic opportunity to turn that momentum into meaningful change.

“The Lebanese president has a historical opportunity to accelerate the shift by doing more substantial actions on the ground,” he said. “The end of domination in Lebanon cannot be materialized by the mere removing of pictures but by removing the influence from the entire administration and by totally ending any military presence of the mercenaries and militias.”

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam recently stated that the Lebanese army had dismantled “more than 500 military positions and arms depots” belonging to Hezbollah in the south. While the announcement was framed as a major achievement, Lahoud views it with cautious realism.

“This is obviously an effort by the Lebanese administration to demonstrate to the international community that it is making an effort,” he said. “There should be much more done, not only on the level of installations but also on the level of light weapons and the militiamen operating under civilian cover.”

Lahoud stressed that the real danger lies not only in the presence of missiles but also in the operational capacity of armed groups. “It’s more about the capability of those militiamen to create chaos, to threaten democracy and stability in Lebanon — and potentially to carry out assassinations and terrorist activities,” he warned.

Another issue that has resurfaced under Aoun is the question of disarming Palestinian refugee camps — which evokes one of the most painful chapters in Lebanon’s modern history. 

The presence of Palestinian militias in Lebanon triggered a long civil war in the 1970s bringing bloodshed, chaos, and massacres to Lebanese soil. In the face of the threat, Christian militias rose to defend their land and their people. Decades later, the weapons are still there, and the state has yet to reclaim full control.

Lahoud acknowledged the symbolic weight of the renewed efforts, especially following the Palestinian president’s visit to Lebanon and his reported agreement with Aoun that weapons in the camps are no longer needed. But Lahoud remains skeptical. 

“We haven’t seen any material progress on this front, and the only thing that would bring comfort to the Lebanese people is to see the Lebanese army entering the camps,” he said. 

While he recognizes the complexity of the situation, he said he believes in gradual but concrete steps. “There should be something done at least gradually. No one is asking for a large-scale operation, but the Lebanese army should advance step by step and take over those camps on the security level, at least gradually.”

Beyond security and sovereignty, Lahoud said he believes Aoun must also prioritize issues that directly affect Lebanon’s Christian presence — both inside and outside the country. 

“The president should be making sure that the Lebanese Christian diaspora plays a role in elections and is able to exercise its right to vote and choose its representatives,” he said.

Lahoud also warned of another looming threat: the erosion of a Christian presence in state institutions. “The president must ensure that Christians in Lebanon retain the key positions within the administration,” he said. “We’re already seeing maneuvers being plotted to take those positions away.”

Looking ahead, Lahoud said the real breakthrough will come only through deep constitutional reform. He also stressed the need for a complete overhaul of the state system.“

“Lebanon must move toward a federal system — ending the totalitarian rule of the centralized government,” he said.

Lahoud said he believes the current moment offers a rare chance — one the state cannot afford to waste.

A priest’s advice to Lebanon’s president

Father Dany Dergham, a Maronite priest, sees in Aoun a man closely tied to the Church, not just spiritually but personally and institutionally. 

“President Aoun is a son of the Maronite Church and of Bkerké,” he said. “He maintains deep and ongoing coordination with the Maronite Patriarchate. He has warm and respectful personal ties with the patriarch, as well as with several bishops he has known since childhood.” 

For Dergham, the alignment between the presidency and Bkerké (the episcopal see of the Maronite Church in Lebanon) is clear: “There is no doubt that their visions align; both are grounded in national principles, state sovereignty, and justice and equality among all communities.”

Dergham added that Aoun’s Christian identity is not performative but deeply rooted. 

“The president consistently expresses his Christian and ecclesial commitment through his visits. He is unashamed of his faith; rather, he sends a message that a leader — or a citizen — in Lebanon can be faithful and committed without being sectarian. There is a vast difference between sectarianism and faith.” 

Dergham noted that Aoun recognizes the Vatican as the “mother Church,” a central spiritual reference point for Eastern Christians, and underscored that he remains the only Christian president in the region. 

But Dergham said expecting too much from the presidency is not only unrealistic but it’s also unfair. 

“There is no doubt that President Aoun has good intentions and a strong desire to implement reforms within state institutions … However, intentions and desire are one thing; capabilities and authority are another. As everyone knows, the powers of the Lebanese president are limited — virtually nonexistent. Therefore, placing excessive hope in or blaming the president personally is misplaced,” he said.

Dergham stressed that what was promised in Aoun’s speech — no matter how sincere — cannot be delivered by the presidency alone.

“These are matters for the government and Parliament, not just the president. Lebanese experience shows that full harmony among the three branches of power is exceedingly rare.”

The priest had some final advice to Aoun: “Do not remain in office if the gap between what you wish to achieve and what you’re able to do becomes too wide.”

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated for and adapted by CNA.

A Daily Quote to Inspire Your Catholic Faith “You wish to reform the world; reform yourself, otherwise your efforts will be in vain.” – Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest Image (inset) credit: Peter Paul Rubens, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (1491 – 1556), is July 14. Please help spread […]

The post Daily Quote — Saint Ignatius of Loyola appeared first on Integrated Catholic Life™.

A devout young lady and spiritual daughter of Padre Pio’s was engaged to a fellow who had abandoned the Faith. She would not plan the wedding unless he returned to the sacraments. But he scoffed at her spiritual father, Pio, calling him a scam artist who was abusing gullible people with his supposed stigmata. The […]

Jesus said to His Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.” (Mt. 10:34) Aside from His teaching on His Eucharistic flesh, these words of Jesus must be among the most difficult to comprehend—and most misunderstood—in all the Gospels. […]

Providence, the will and presence of God in each moment, is never felt by some people, is felt in moments of joy or consternation by others, is sensed at times in the minutiae of nature, is a product of intense contemplation, a sudden epiphany, is experienced in a dream, is sensed by intuitive awareness, and […]

St. Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon (present-day New York). The daughter of a Mohawk chief and a Christian Algonquin mother, she lost her parents and younger brother to a smallpox epidemic at the age of four. The illness left her face scarred and her eyesight weakened, but it […]

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 13, 2025 / 14:55 pm (CNA).

Josh Brooks, a native of Delaware County in metro Philadelphia, dreamed of following in the footsteps of his idol LeBron James and becoming a professional basketball player. However, God had other plans for him.

Today, Brooks is in his third year of university studies at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and is preparing for the priesthood.

“I don’t want to just live for myself, but I want to bring the joy God gave me to other people,” Brooks said in a recent interview with Catholic Philly, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Raised in the Baptist faith, Brooks had his first contact with Catholicism when his parents enrolled him at St. Ignatius Loyola Elementary School in West Philadelphia. Later, at Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School, his interest in the Catholic faith grew.

“And really slowly, my attention was gravitating toward my Catholic theology classes, where I learned about the identity of the priest. What really attracted me was learning about how the Catholic Church is a universal family, ‘cause I didn’t have the best family growing up, so that just made me feel like I was called to be part of something special,” Brooks shared.

Although during his teenage years he spent a lot of time practicing in order to make the high school basketball team, he ultimately failed to achieve that dream. “So this left me wondering with the question of what I was going to do with my life if basketball, which was my big dream, was no longer an option,” he recounted.

In his search for meaning, he tried to fill the void with a romantic relationship but realized his heart longed for something deeper. Uncertain of his calling, he asked the young lady: “‘Would you be able to wait for me?’ She replied, ‘I’m not going to wait for you.’ So I looked up at the crucifix and I said to the Lord, ‘If she will not wait for me, then who will?’ And then I realized the whole time he was waiting for me, for me to accept his love. He said ‘You idiot, I have the best love to give you.’”

That moment marked a turning point. “I think I just reacted without thinking. And look what that brought me. It brought me so much joy, this intense fire to just want to be for God and just be for others,” Brooks reflected.

At St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, he found not only a vocation but also brothers. “I never had any brothers, so I didn’t know what having one would be like. So when I entered seminary, you have different guys with different interests, different personalities. At the heart of it all, these guys are trying to build off each other,” he said.

Fellow seminarian Sean Barker highlighted Brooks’ fraternal spirit. At a “Come and See” retreat, “I walked right in and the first person I saw was Josh sitting in his cassock,” Barker recalled. “Just talking to him, getting to know him, I felt more at ease. He cares about and has a great respect and admiration for the deep historical spirituality of the Church.”

“He wants me to be better, he wants me to spend more time in chapel, to take prayer life more seriously, to take academics more seriously ... I think that’s just him as a role model is what inspires me most,” Barker added.

In the interview, Josh highlighted the “rich tradition and history” of the Catholic Church but also that it’s “one big family.” He also invited others trying to rediscover their faith to come closer: “We are an imperfect people, but we are being governed by a God who transcends all things and knows us better than we know ourselves,” he said.

What most defines this young seminarian is his deep prayer life and his desire to become a priest. Although his parents are not Catholic, they support his vocation, and he prays every day for their conversion.

“At the heart of our search for the highest form of love, we’ll find it here, where we gather at the altar of God and we’ll be able to make our dwelling in him,” he said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Jul 13, 2025 / 10:05 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV recited the Angelus before a diverse and enthusiastic crowd in Castel Gandolfo on Sunday — the first time in 12 years that a pope has led the Marian prayer from the lakeside town 18 miles southeast of Rome.

The Angelus, prayed on a warm but cloudy July 13, marked the midpoint of Leo’s two-week stay for a summer break on the pontifical estate of Castel Gandolfo, a custom eschewed by Pope Francis. 

Despite sporadic light rain showers, shoulder-to-shoulder pilgrims from around the world — including Brazil, Italy, Poland, and the United States — filled the town’s main square and lined the side streets as the pope greeted them with “Happy Sunday!”

The hope of eternal life, Leo said before leading the Marian prayer, “is described as something to be ‘inherited,’ not something to be gained by force, begged for, or negotiated. Eternal life, which God alone can give, is bestowed on us as an inheritance, as parents do with their children.”

Crowds of laypeople, priests, and religious sisters alternatively opened and closed umbrellas, the sun bursting through raindrops right as Pope Leo appeared in front of the apostolic palace of Castel Gandolfo.

“That is why Jesus tells us that, in order to receive God’s gift, we must do his will,” he continued. “It is written in the law: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

“When we do these two things, we respond to the Father’s love,” the pontiff said.

A married couple from the United States celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary said they came to Castel Gandolfo hoping for the pope‘s blessing. They were happy to have received a wave from Leo when he passed by on his walk from the local parish to the apostolic palace before the Angelus.

While the pontiff spoke, a father of four took turns lifting up each of his children so they could see Pope Leo over the crowd.

Pope Leo will publicly lead the Angelus again on July 20 before returning to the Vatican in time for a slew of events for the Jubilee of Hope, including jubilees of Catholic influencers and of youth.

Leo will also come back to Castel Gandolfo, found on the hills above Lake Albano, for three days over the Italian holiday weekend of “Ferragosto,” Aug. 15–17, which celebrates the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Before the Angelus, Pope Leo celebrated a Mass for local Catholics, religious leaders, and civil authorities at the 17th-century Pontifical Parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo’s Liberty Square.

Reflecting on the parable of the good Samaritan, the pontiff called for a “revolution of love” toward those who have been hurt by life, who are “stripped, robbed, and pillaged, victims of tyrannical political systems, of an economy that forces them into poverty, and of wars that kill their dreams and their very lives.”

“Are we content at times merely to do our duty or to regard as our neighbor only those who are part of our group, who think like us, who share our same nationality or religion?” he said. “Jesus overturns this way of thinking by presenting us with a Samaritan, a foreigner or heretic, who acts as a neighbor to that wounded man. And he asks us to do the same.”

This is why this parable is so challenging for each of us, he underlined: “If Christ shows us the face of a compassionate God, then to believe in him and to be his disciples means allowing ourselves to be changed and to take on his same feelings.”

“Looking without walking by, halting the frantic pace of our lives, allowing the lives of others, whoever they may be, with their needs and troubles, to touch our heart,” the pope added. “That is what makes us neighbors to one another, what generates true fraternity and breaks down walls and barriers.”

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Jul 13, 2025 / 10:05 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV recited the Angelus before a diverse and enthusiastic crowd in Castel Gandolfo on Sunday — the first time in 12 years that a pope has led the Marian prayer from the lakeside town 18 miles southeast of Rome.

The Angelus, prayed on a warm but cloudy July 13, marked the midpoint of Leo’s two-week stay for a summer break on the pontifical estate of Castel Gandolfo, a custom eschewed by Pope Francis. 

Despite sporadic light rain showers, shoulder-to-shoulder pilgrims from around the world — including Brazil, Italy, Poland, and the United States — filled the town’s main square and lined the side streets as the pope greeted them with “Happy Sunday!”

The hope of eternal life, Leo said before leading the Marian prayer, “is described as something to be ‘inherited,’ not something to be gained by force, begged for, or negotiated. Eternal life, which God alone can give, is bestowed on us as an inheritance, as parents do with their children.”

Crowds of laypeople, priests, and religious sisters alternatively opened and closed umbrellas, the sun bursting through raindrops right as Pope Leo appeared in front of the apostolic palace of Castel Gandolfo.

“That is why Jesus tells us that, in order to receive God’s gift, we must do his will,” he continued. “It is written in the law: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

“When we do these two things, we respond to the Father’s love,” the pontiff said.

A married couple from the United States celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary said they came to Castel Gandolfo hoping for the pope‘s blessing. They were happy to have received a wave from Leo when he passed by on his walk from the local parish to the apostolic palace before the Angelus.

While the pontiff spoke, a father of four took turns lifting up each of his children so they could see Pope Leo over the crowd.

Pope Leo will publicly lead the Angelus again on July 20 before returning to the Vatican in time for a slew of events for the Jubilee of Hope, including jubilees of Catholic influencers and of youth.

Leo will also come back to Castel Gandolfo, found on the hills above Lake Albano, for three days over the Italian holiday weekend of “Ferragosto,” Aug. 15–17, which celebrates the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Before the Angelus, Pope Leo celebrated a Mass for local Catholics, religious leaders, and civil authorities at the 17th-century Pontifical Parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo’s Liberty Square.

Reflecting on the parable of the good Samaritan, the pontiff called for a “revolution of love” toward those who have been hurt by life, who are “stripped, robbed, and pillaged, victims of tyrannical political systems, of an economy that forces them into poverty, and of wars that kill their dreams and their very lives.”

“Are we content at times merely to do our duty or to regard as our neighbor only those who are part of our group, who think like us, who share our same nationality or religion?” he said. “Jesus overturns this way of thinking by presenting us with a Samaritan, a foreigner or heretic, who acts as a neighbor to that wounded man. And he asks us to do the same.”

This is why this parable is so challenging for each of us, he underlined: “If Christ shows us the face of a compassionate God, then to believe in him and to be his disciples means allowing ourselves to be changed and to take on his same feelings.”

“Looking without walking by, halting the frantic pace of our lives, allowing the lives of others, whoever they may be, with their needs and troubles, to touch our heart,” the pope added. “That is what makes us neighbors to one another, what generates true fraternity and breaks down walls and barriers.”

Ottawa, Canada, Jul 13, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Bishop Scott McCaig of the Roman Catholic Military Ordinariate of Canada returned home recently after leading a spiritual retreat for military chaplains in Ukraine, saying that the weight of what he witnessed during his week in Lviv still looms large in his mind. 

“ I’m still processing it, to be honest,” McCaig told Canada’s Catholic Register. “On the Eastern equivalent of  All Souls’ Day, I visited the graves of thousands upon thousands of fallen soldiers and prayed with their families, little children, people all grieving their fathers, children, brothers and sisters. The grief and senselessness of it all were heart-wrenching and made vivid how the destruction is so unnecessary. It was a trip that truly left its mark.”

He added: “ These are people who just want to live in peace but have been illegally invaded by a foreign nation, regardless of the complexities of the history and the politics of the situation. Their houses are being bombed, and they are losing their children to a war they don’t want to fight.”

During a unique spiritual retreat from June 13–20, McCaig and Father Terry Cherwick, lieutenant colonel of the 3rd Canadian Division, walked alongside Ukrainian chaplains who have endured over three years of frontline service since Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine, offering them spiritual tools to navigate the “unseen warfare” of faith, hope, and charity while serving a nation under siege.

Supported by Bishop Wiesław Lechowicz, the military bishop of Poland, the weeklong mission saw the two meet with roughly 40 military chaplains, many of whom have been dealing with constant frontline service and funerals.

Due to the reality many of them are facing, McCaig addressed the chaplains’ exposure to the horrible reality of war, offering a multitude of spiritual tools to combat growing despair while maintaining resiliency. 

“I spoke to them about this battle of faith in dealing with all of the death and how they can recognize the Lord Jesus as the one who triumphs over death. The Book of Revelation, which we took as a theme, talks about Jesus as dead, but now alive, as the Alpha and the Omega, the living one, and him holding the keys of death and Hades,” McCaig said. 

“We wanted them to truly grasp that there is something bigger going on here and to keep their eyes focused on the Lord, who is ultimately the one who has the last word. It is never death that has the last word, but Our Lord Jesus. That reminder alone was felt deeply.”

Through  a mixture of preaching at conferences, Divine Liturgy, times of personal reflection and plenty of table sharing, McCaig and Cherwick  explored the difference between optimism and theological hope, citing God working even amid a broken, fallen world that is all too full of sin, suffering, and death. 

McCaig also emphasized the importance of forgiveness and overcoming evil through good, with the bishop alluding to St. Augustine’s notion — “A Catholic soldier fights to secure a just and lasting peace.” 

“The goal is always peace and charity, and so even when the temptation to hate is so strong, we have to continue to remind ourselves of this. One can justly defend the country while at the same time forgiving our enemies,” he clarified during the trip.

“ Author G.K. Chesterton put it very succinctly when he said that a Christian soldier does not fight because they hate what is in front of them, they fight because they love what is behind them.”

While there wasn’t a lot of spare time to reflect himself, having been woken up on multiple occasions by air raid sirens signaling drone and missile attacks, McCaig said the journey reinforced the critical importance of Catholic chaplains and their resilience. He spoke to the importance of a strong, faith-rooted approach, drawing from the Catholic tradition’s emphasis on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, something he feels is far too valuable to be discredited or forgotten. 

“Chaplains are trained to provide a sort of generic role of assistance and counseling, but the conviction was very strong that while that is good and important, it’s simply not enough. What these chaplains were telling us was that they want and need to reach into the deepest places of meaning and purpose in their lives, and that is something that can only come from a relationship with the living God,” he said.

“Encouraging words and optimism are great, but they’re not enough in those sorts of situations. The risen Christ, who is alive, has power over death and the ultimate last word on everything; that’s what we need to receive — that’s how we get the spiritual resiliency that is necessary in those situations.”

Now back in Canada, he also shared his hopes that his insight on the military chaplain situation in Ukraine can serve as a reminder to Catholics on home soil. As there hasn’t been a wartime situation for Canada since the end of the country’s involvement in Afghanistan, McCaig fears Canadians have forgotten the critical importance of spiritual resilience in the military chaplaincy. That is the specific liturgical faith, hope, and charity that come from the depth of the Catholic faith.

And while most are unable to stand in the trenches, both proverbial and literal, with soldiers around the world as military chaplains do, they can support them through the vital act of prayer.

“ Pope Francis and now Pope Leo XIV are calling the country the martyred Ukraine. They truly do need our prayers. There’s a lot of pressure for them to just surrender themselves to Russian political and cultural domination, which is a reality they’re facing. [They are] begging for prayers not to forget them, and we can  remember them as we pray the rosary,” McCaig said.

This story was first published by the The Catholic Register in Canada and has been reprinted here with permission.