Pope appoints religious sister to lead Dicastery on Human Development (Vatican News) The Pope has appointed Sister Alessandra Smerilli,  FMA, as the interim Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and as a delegate of the Vatican Covid-19 Commission. She will “replace Msgr. Bruno Marie Duffé and Fr. Augusto Zampini, respectively Secretary and Assistant Secretary of the same Dicastery, both of whom have returned to their dioceses.” The Italian religious sister has served as an Undersecretary at the Dicastery since March 2021…

Chicago archdiocese mandates vaccine for all clerics, employees (CNA) The Archdiocese of Chicago will require all archdiocesan employees and clergy to receive the vaccine for COVID-19 within the next six weeks, and will only allow exemptions for medical reasons. “We have made this decision convinced that this is the best way to stop the spread of this deadly illness,” Blase Cardinal Cupich of Chicago, said in an Aug. 19 email sent to clergy and staff…

Church leaders decry Supreme Court decision on Remain in Mexico policy (Crux) In Tijuana, on the Mexico side of the U.S.-Mexico border, Father Pat Murphy assesses at least 2,000 migrants camping on a cement pavilion outside of an immigration facility. His migration shelter is full, and even more people are living on the streets. Murphy and other immigration advocates now fear Mexico border cities will become even more overwhelmed after the Supreme Court on Aug. 24 upheld a lower court ruling ordering the Biden administration to reinstate a Trump administration policy that forces asylum seekers to stay in Mexico until their case is decided…

Lay people join religious order in “ministry of presence” to the sick (CNS) There are nine Sisters Servants of Mary living at the congregation’s motherhouse in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, but the demands for their service far exceed their ability to care for all of those who request their presence. To expand the reach of their ministry, the Sisters Servants of Mary in early August invested five laypeople — four women and one man — into the Fraternity of the Lay Sons and Daughters of St. Maria Soledad…