Here is a roundup of world news you might have missed this past week:
Major British archdiocese announces exit from social media platform
The Archdiocese of Liverpool announced this week that it would no longer post on X “due to ethical and moral reasons.”
In the Feb. 6 post, the archdiocese said it would remain on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn. The archdiocese has not returned by the time of publication EWTN News’ request for clarification on the nature of the “ethical and moral” reasons it cited as reasons for the departure.
World Youth Day organizers use diplomatic channels to help attendees travel to Seoul
World Youth Day 2027 organizers held a meeting with ambassadors and diplomatic representatives from 25 countries across the EU and Latin America on Feb. 4 to discuss establishing pathways for young people around the world to attend the event.
The deputy director of World Youth Day, Father Fabiano Rebeggiani, said the meeting, which took place at the Catholic University of Korea and was facilitated by the apostolic nunciature, was focused on supporting “young people who are already making great efforts to attend” through travel and visa challenges. “World Youth Day Seoul 2027 will offer young people a space to seek the truth, pray for peace, and share reconciliation and hope amidst realities marked by division,” he said. The priest noted that the upcoming World Youth Day will be the first of its kind to be held in a non-Christian majority country.
Christian organizations call for release of Syrian mayor Suleiman Khalil
Marking one year since the arrest of Sadad, Syria’s mayor, Suleiman Khalil, advocacy groups In Defense of Christians (IDC) and Christian Solidarity International (CSI) have renewed calls for his immediate release, ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, reported Wednesday.
In a joint statement, the groups said Khalil remains detained in the security wing of Homs Central Prison without formal charges and has been denied access to legal counsel or evidence related to his case. The statement also cited a deterioration in his health and restrictions on religious items, including a Bible and cross.
The organizations argue that his continued detention violates both Syria’s constitutional declaration issued in March 2025 and international human rights law.
Khalil is remembered locally for his role in organizing the defense of the predominantly Christian town of Sadad during attacks by extremist groups in 2015. His daughter, speaking from the United States, described harsh prison conditions and limited family access, urging international intervention to secure his release.
New Hampshire bishop gifts Swiss Marian statue to Catholic Medical Center
Bishop Peter Libasci of the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, gifted a hand-carved Swiss depiction of the Virgin Mary to the Catholic Medical Center in Manchester on Wednesday.
Libasci commissioned the statue of Our Lady of Einsiedeln from the Abbey of Einsiedeln, Switzerland, as a personal gift, according to local reports. The gesture coincided with the World Day of the Sick on Feb. 11 and the first anniversary of the Catholic Medical Center joining HCA Healthcare, a private U.S-founded health care provider. The statue has been placed in the Catholic Medical Center’s lobby.
Patriarch Rai calls for prayers on feast of St. Maron
Presiding over the feast of St. Maron at St. George Cathedral in Beirut, in the presence of Lebanon’s three top state officials and a broad assembly of clergy and faithful, Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai underscored what he called the historic national mission of the Maronite community, ACI MENA reported Monday.
That mission, he said, is rooted in faith, attachment to the land, and a steady commitment to strengthening the foundations of the state and preserving coexistence.
Addressing political leaders directly, Rai called for the consolidation of arms under state authority, full implementation of U.N. Resolution 1701, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, and the extension of full Lebanese sovereignty across the country. He also emphasized the need to empower the Lebanese Armed Forces, advance reconstruction, and pursue structural reforms.
In his closing prayer, the patriarch asked that Lebanon remain “a land of encounter and a space of hope” for all its citizens. President Joseph Aoun, for his part, expressed hope that the feast would serve as a unifying national occasion, recalling Lebanon’s identity as a country of freedom and witness.
New Pontifical Missions building opened in Bangalore
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference in India celebrated the grand opening of a new secretariat building for the Pontifical Mission Organizations nearly 27 years after the process for the new building began, according to a Feb. 9 Licas News report.
Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli presided over the opening festivities, including the ribbon cutting and unveiling of a plaque celebrating the building’s completion. The new building has a chapel, six office rooms, a boardroom, documentation room, and media room. Over 170 bishops attended the ceremony for the building, which “is the cultivation of a process that began in 1999,” according to the report.
As Lent and Ramadan coincide, Filipino bishop calls for peace, care for poor
Bishop Jose Colin M. Bagaforo of Kidapawan, Philippines, shared a message ahead of the start of Lent and Ramadan on Feb. 18, calling for Catholic and Muslim faith communities to renew their commitments to peace and care for the poor.
“In a world marked by violence and division, this moment calls us not only to pray for peace but to live it and work for it,” said Bagaforo, who is also co-president of global Catholic peace movement PAX Christi International.
Bagaforo, who serves as chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Inter-Religious Dialogue, said the shared start date of two seasons of fasting “is a grace” that invites the faithful in both religions to prayer, repentance, and action for peace, justice, and care for the poor and the environment.
“In these sacred seasons, Muslims and Christians enter a time of prayer, fasting, repentance, and generosity. We turn our hearts to the merciful,” he said. “We learn again to see one another as brothers and sisters. Our sacred texts call us to peace: “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Mt 5:9), and God “invites all to the Home of Peace” (Qur’an 10:25).
Exposition on sacred art’s place in liturgy to be blessed by 6 Orthodox bishops
Orthodox priest, researcher, and iconographer Father Rijo Geevarghese of the Diocese of Ahmedabad of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church will host a sacred art exposition inviting viewers “to a contemplative encounter with liturgical art.”
“The artworks are rooted in the liturgical life of the Church, drawing inspiration from Scripture, the Divine Liturgy, hymnography, and the patristic tradition,” Geevarghese told EWTN News. “Rather than being merely aesthetic, each work is conceived as a visual theology, echoing the Church’s understanding of art as an extension of worship.”
Held at the Kanayi Kunhiraman Art Gallery, in Kerala, India, from Feb. 12–26, the event is titled “Mananam.” Six senior bishops of the Orthodox church will be present at the opening of the exhibit, the priest shared, noting that the event “is intended to serve as a space of reflection for families, youth, and children alike.”
