BOSTON -- While the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the postponement of many events typically held in the spring, perhaps none was so significant as the Rite of Ordination to the Order of Presbyter, which was originally scheduled for May. This much-anticipated event finally took place on Aug. 1 as Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley ordained five diocesan priests and one Jesuit priest during an invitation-only Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

Last Wednesday, I had a Zoom meeting with the bishops who were involved in the V Encuentro of Hispanic/ Latino Ministry. Our meeting was chaired by Bishop Arturo Cepeda of Detroit. The V Encuentro process was more than just a one-time gathering but was really a four-year process, taking place between 2016 to 2020. From 2016 to 2018, we had local and regional gatherings to plan and prepare.

After President Donald Trump said Sunday that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, perpetrator of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, should be put to death, the Archdiocese of Boston said justice calls for life in prison, not the death penalty.

CLEVELAND (CNS) -- The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops echoed Pope Francis' long-standing call for full nuclear disarmament as the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings in Japan approached.

SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone thanked priests of the archdiocese in a July 30 letter for their "continued pastoral care" to their people and reminded them to continue their care "always keeping with the local health orders of your county."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Let Mary inspire and guide young people today, Pope Francis told participants at the annual International Youth Festival at the Marian shrine in Medjugorje. Mary will always be "the great model of the church" because she is ready to follow Christ with vitality and docility, he said in a message to those attending the festival Aug. 1-6 in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Human lives and jobs are not the only things threatened by the coronavirus pandemic: In many countries, democracy and efforts to build a more just world also are under attack, said Father Arturo Sosa, superior general of the Jesuits.

DUBLIN (CNS) -- Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Northern Ireland, has hailed political leader John Hume as a "paragon of peace" for his key role in bringing an end to the conflict in Northern Ireland.