Religious quotes and news – July 19, 2026
Snippets of religious statements and highlights of events from around the world
We must love and respect, not just tolerate
Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, and Archbishop John McDowell, head of the Anglican Church of Ireland, jointly denounced the burning of a mosque replica in a bonfire.
“Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan to teach his disciples they have a duty to those who differ from them in terms of religious belief and cultural tradition. He teaches that people who differ from us are not simply to be tolerated; they are to be respected, cared for and loved.
“Targeting the Muslim community through crude symbols and threats of violence undermines these Gospel principles of respect and compassion as well as freedom of religion which is a fundamental principle of a democratic society.”
Circle of hell
L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, in a front page op-ed by Federico Piana, highlighted the human tragedy developing in El-Obeid, Sudan:
“Some young children are trying to scrape food scraps with cups from a large pot that appears almost empty. They know that, in the end, they won’t get anything to eat, yet they try anyway: the stomach pain caused by hunger has overridden reason.
“Welcome to al-Rahmaniyah refugee camp, on the outskirts of the Sudanese city of El-Obeid. Anyone setting foot there for the first time feels like they have entered a circle of hell: there, alongside those children, are 100,000 refugees who fled the violence of the war between the regular army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, a conflict that erupted back in 2023.
“Men, women and children wander the camp all day, trying to secure the last remaining humanitarian aid or rummaging through piles of trash. In the camp, basic necessities cannot reach the population, despite the efforts of humanitarian organisations, because trade routes have been cut off.”
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)