Pope Leo on Creation, Ukraine Nuncio Asks for Prayer and a Fête-Dieu du Teche in the Bayou

Thanks for listening! Let us know what you think. God bless!Maggie Murray of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for August 20, 2026. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.Read the stories in this episode:Pope Leo XIV called war and environmental destruction symptoms of a deeper moral crisis in his message for the World Day of Prayer for Creation, urging a spiritual conversion that redirects resources from destruction to caring for the poor.Arizona's Supreme Court issued a second ruling on clergy-penitent privilege, prompting canon law experts to clarify that while conversations outside the confessional may lose legal protection, the sacramental seal of confession itself remains absolutely inviolable.Eighty clergy from the Archdiocese of Bogotá departed on a five-day "Spiritual First Aid" mission to earthquake-devastated Colombian cities, offering prayer, pastoral support and reconciliation to survivors as the death toll reached 319.Papal nuncio Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas told OSV News that prayer remains Ukraine's "number one weapon" against Russian aggression, warning that spiritual despair would be a more tragic defeat than the war itself.Thousands gathered along Louisiana's Bayou Teche for the Fête-Dieu du Teche, a 40-mile Eucharistic boat procession retracing the path of exiled Acadian Catholics and celebrating both the Assumption and Cajun heritage.