St. Luke's Episcopal Church 08.19.2026

 

 We call this SoNoGo - South Park-North Park-Golden Hill & Our Mission: to see the baptized who live in SoNoGo worship in SoNoGo

St. Luke's Episcopal Church

The Episcopal Church

St. Luke's North Park is a Christian community praising God and seeking justice and healing in this dynamic neighborhood of San Diego since 1923.  We strive to create spaces for God’s grace to form life-changing relationships with Christ and each other across lines of prejudice and privilege. In the past three decades, God has led us to a new blessing: to serve as one of the primary congregations and cultural centers for South Sudanese Americans in the city, and more recently, for former Congolese refugees. Worshiping with our diverse community is a joyous experience that includes singing in Arabic and Swahili, and individuals from around the globe and the U.S., united by our found “home” at St. Luke’s and in Christ.  Our infant, toddler, children, and youth ministries are full and thriving, thanks be to God! We are proud partners with RefugeeNet, a non-profit dedicated to the well-being of refugee families. We’re also grateful to host sixteen twelve-step support meetings on campus each week. St. Luke's North Park is a Christian community seeking justice and healing in San Diego's North Park neighborhood. We dream to be a place where all people can enter into uncomfortable and brave spaces with others different than themselves -- different races, ethnicities, classes, creeds, sexual orientations, and gender identities -- and find their perspectives and hearts transformed. We follow a God who loves each of us especially for who we are and desires that every single human among us has all she or he needs to thrive in this world. Until that day comes, we will work alongside God's powerful Spirit to do justice in this hurting world and help all people find a loving and dignified home.

Surrogate mother faces $100,000 lawsuit for refusing to abort baby

Baptisms in Ireland drop by nearly 30% in past decade, survey finds

Baptisms significantly fall in Ireland, a German bishop resigns, Asian churches rally after Indonesia earthquake, and more in this week’s Catholic world news roundup.

Surrogate mother faces $100,000 lawsuit from biological parents for refusing to abort baby

McKenna West fled to Texas to give birth to the baby after his parents demanded he be aborted due to a heart condition.

Catholic organization gathers signatures to call on world leaders to protect religious freedom

Aid to the Church in Need has launched a petition that urges international leaders to take action to end religious persecution.

Advocates warn New Jersey law could criminalize prayer outside abortion clinics

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

We Believe in the Eternal Triune God

August 21, 2026

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14 (NIV)

We believe in the Eternal Triune God. In this short statement, we have two concepts that present challenges to understand, and even more so, to explain. Everything within our experience has a beginning and an end. We must accept eternity by faith.

New website tracks accused Protestant clergy sexual abusers

11 faith groups accuse Trump administration of violating court order while spying on churches
Religion News Service: Religious groups argue that the government has committed “multiple egregious violations” of a preliminary injunction handed down in their case in February.

 

ICE detains Haitian pastor ‘beloved’ by Springfield community
Cincinnati Enquirer: “If he is being deported, the congregation will be here terrified and without their leader,” said Vilés Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Support Center. 

 

New website tracks accused Protestant clergy sexual abusers
Baptist News Global: A team of clergy sexual abuse survivors and their supporters announced the launch of a new website to help track predators and the churches that cover up for them. 

 

Lawsuit asks, ‘What does it take to be a good United Methodist church?’
Baptist News Global: The dispute is of national import because Highland Park UMC in Dallas is the second-largest congregation in America affiliated with the UMC and because the church has outsized influence due to its proximity to Southern Methodist University.

 

As buildings fell, Colombia’s churches stood up*
Christianity Today: Volunteers from across the country sent supplies, served meals, and dug through rubble after last week’s devastating earthquake.

Lourdes Shrine: Lefebvrist priests are prohibited from celebrating Mass there

A “synodality” that fails to convince: the best-articulated doubts of bishops and cardinals who are speaking out and appealing to Pope Leo XIV

Jorge Enrique Mújica

If questions concerning priestly ordination, the female diaconate, sexual morality or the nature of authority are repeatedly presented as matters awaiting discernment, some Catholics may reasonably conclude that fundamental teaching is itself awaiting a vote.

How Many Catholics Support the Death Penalty? U.S. Study Releases Findings

ZENIT Staff

A new Pew Research Center survey found that 65% of U.S. Catholics favor the death penalty for people convicted of murder, including 28% who say they support it strongly. Yet the position articulated repeatedly by Pope Leo XIV points in the opposite direction

Italian Episcopal Newspaper Calls for the Nobel Peace Prize to Be Awarded to the Children Killed in Gaza

Valentina di Giorgio

The proposal was prompted by a stark figure: 300 children and adolescents reportedly killed during the 300 days following the ceasefire that took effect on October 10, 2025 — effectively one child a day during a period that was supposed to mark an end to the violence.

U.S. Bishops’ Initiative to Inform Communities on the Danger of Abortion Pills Includes Prayer, Education, and Advocacy

ZENIT Staff

In addition to invoking the intercession of St. Joseph, Defender of Life, participants can learn about the danger of abortion pills

Missionary and Missioned Partner: The Remarkable Brazilian Case of Two Martyrs on the Path to the Altars

Rafael Manuel Tovar

Their beatification process began in 2016. The diocesan phase opened in January 2018. Vatican authorities issued their first positive decision regarding the beatification in late 2025.

Israel Turns Archaeology into a Tool for Annexation: How It Seized the Site Linked to the Tomb of John the Baptist

ZENIT Staff

In the West Bank, archaeology is used as a weapon of conquest; in Sebastia, a site linked to John the Baptist, Israel has moved to seize control of it. The same strategy was applied in the City of David. Science is being used for propaganda purposes, while the Palestinian Authority remains bankrupt.

Catholic baptisms in Ireland drop 30pc in ten years

ZENIT Staff

Decline driven by falling births and secularisation

What should the music be like during Mass (or in the liturgy in general)? Leo XIV provides the answer

ZENIT Staff

Pope’s General Audience, August 19, 2026, on Sacred Music

Catholic President of Chile Will Not Support Pro-Life Bill Requiring Women to Hear Baby’s Heartbeat Before Undergoing An Abortion

Rafael Manuel Tovar

The «Listen to Its Heart» bill was an initiative of the party to which President José Kast belongs. However, in an interview on August 10, he stated that while it is a legitimate parliamentary motion, he had pledged during his campaign to focus his administration on security and the economy, rather than pushing measures that generate «tension in certain aspects of social life.»

Cameroon Announces the Closure of 1,400 Revivalist Churches

ZENIT Staff

A Pentecostal woman killed her daughter. A minister used the tragedy as a pretext to crack down on local Pentecostals.

Lourdes Shrine: Lefebvrist priests are prohibited from celebrating Mass there

Covadonga Asturias

Lourdes Draws a New Line With the Society of St. Pius X as Pope Leo XIV’s Visit Nears

Rome Reaffirms Catholic Teaching on Sex Education as Hamburg Parents Demand a Diocesan U-Turn

Joachin Meisner Hertz

The Vatican has now intervened with a clarification that will be closely watched by Catholic educators and parents elsewhere in Germany. Responding to concerns raised by parents over the Archdiocese of Hamburg’s framework for sex education, the Dicastery for Culture and Education reaffirmed that the Church’s established position remains that set out in its 2019 document «Male and Female He Created Them.»

The Big Tent and Its Limits

 

I have made no secret, across the life of this Substack, of where I stand. My defenses of the Novus Ordo and of Traditionis Custodes are not the reflexive nostalgia of a man clinging to the furniture of his ordination year. They flow, I hope, from something more disciplined: a lifelong effort, now in its fifty-second year of priesthood, to think with the mind of the Church — to let lex orandi and lex credendi and lex vivendi answer to one another rather than to my own preference.

Stories that tell the U.S. Catholic story

“Adore Him” film combines history and testimony in promoting Eucharistic adoration By Jim Graves on Aug 21, 2026 04:00 am Spirit Filled Hearts Ministry, a Catholic evangelization apostolate founded and led by Deacon Steve Greco, director of evangelization and formation for the Diocese of Orange in California, has produced a film titled “Adore Him”. It is [...] Read in browser » In a first, Jewish scholar elected to lead Catholic Biblical Association By Tyler Arnold on Aug 20, 2026 08:00 pm The Catholic Biblical Association of America elected its first Jewish president: Amy-Jill Levine. [...] Read in browser » New published YOUCAT Love Forever is “a guide to formation for married love” By Sean Salai on Aug 20, 2026 01:00 pm Mark Brumley is the president of Ignatius Press, one of the nation’s biggest U.S. Catholic publishers and multimedia distributors, and also the publisher of the Catholic World Report. He holds a Master’s degree in theology [...] Read in browser » Lourdes bishop says shrine will cover all Rupnik mosaics ahead of pope’s visit to France By Hannah Brockhaus on Aug 20, 2026 10:22 am “My role is to ensure that the shrine welcomes everyone, especially those who are suffering,” Bishop Jean-Marc Micas said. [...] Read in browser » Florida’s Catholic Attorney General, Bishops Face Off Over Vaccines By Monica Seeley on Aug 19, 2026 12:47 pm Florida is a “school choice” state, allowing parents to pay for private school tuition with state-funded education savings accounts. But Catholic school children in the state are not given a choice enjoyed by their public [...] Read in browser » Stories that tell the U.S. Catholic story By George Weigel on Aug 19, 2026 04:00 am Fiction can often convey the human texture of a time and place better than scholarly works of history. Herewith, and in honor of the national semiquincentennial, some novels that help tell the Catholic story in [...] Read in browser » Extra, extra! News and views for Wednesday, August 19, 2026 By CWR Staff on Aug 19, 2026 03:00 am How to be a Dhimmi (The Catholic Thing): “We live in a moment when Europe’s elites have repudiated the continent’s Christian past, while revising history to soften and valorize many elements of Islam.” We Must [...] Read in browser » Opinion: Why it is significant HHS decertified an organ procurement organization By Joseph M. Eble, MD on Aug 18, 2026 01:20 pm In October 2021, Anthony Thomas “TJ” Hoover II suffered cardiac arrest after a drug overdose and was transported to Baptist Health Richmond, a hospital in Kentucky. He was subsequently declared “brain dead.” As he was [...] Read in browser » Where priestly vocations begin: The lasting impact of Steubenville Youth Conferences By Francesca Pollio Fenton on Aug 18, 2026 03:10 am A new CARA survey found that 18% of priests ordained in 2026 attended a Franciscan University of Steubenville Youth Conference, highlighting the conferences’ growing impact on priestly vocations. [...] Read in browser » Priest and nun recover sacred hosts from earthquake rubble in Colombia By Eduardo Berdejo on Aug 17, 2026 06:20 pm Despite the danger of the earthquake’s aftershocks, a priest and nun in Colombia entered a chapel in search of the hosts that were kept in the tabernacle that they found destroyed. [...] Read in browser » Islamist persecution, Christian survival, and encountering the Houthis in Yemen By David Pinault on Aug 17, 2026 03:11 pm I was idling in my room at the Arabia Felix, drinking Orange Fanta and eyeing geckos on the wall, when a message came from the lobby. I’d been granted the meeting I was hoping for [...] Read in browser » Indian Catholics released after 104 days in jail under anti-conversion law By Anto Akkara on Aug 17, 2026 08:55 am The men, held since May on charges of conversion and attempted murder, walked out of jail after the Rajasthan High Court granted bail. [...] Read in browser » “Lord, help me”: The startling humility of the Canaanite woman By Carl E. Olson on Aug 17, 2026 12:00 am On the Readings for Sunday, August 20, 2017 [...] Read in browser » Clarifying primacy for Catholic-Orthodox dialogue By Ines Angeli Murzaku on Aug 16, 2026 10:00 pm Last month, on July 13 to 15, I attended the 30th annual Orientale Lumen Conference at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C. The conference’s theme was urgent: “Ecumenism at a Crossroad: [...] Read in browser » Nigerian court bars Islamic police from arresting Christian convert over faith, marriage refusal By ACI Africa on Aug 16, 2026 03:00 pm The federal high court described the actions taken against the woman as a “flagrant violation” of her fundamental rights to human dignity and freedom of religion. [...] Read in browser » Military chaplain candidates denied financial aid due to their religious beliefs By Charles J. Russo on Aug 15, 2026 08:38 pm Military chaplains have served honorably as indispensable members of the United States armed forces throughout American history. Military chaplains, whose role is significantly different from that of traditional religious leaders serving in their local communities, [...] Read in browser » Faith over fear: The Church’s response to the escalating Ebola crisis in Congo By Ngala Killian Chimtom on Aug 15, 2026 03:00 pm The Democratic Republic of the Congo is grappling with the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in its history. It’s already killed over 2,100 people out of more than 4,500 cases, according to government figures released August 11. [...] Read in browser » The Mathematics of Morality By Father Jerry J. Pokorsky on Aug 15, 2026 11:56 am Pope John Paul II reaffirmed traditional Catholic moral teaching in his 1993 encyclical Veritatis Splendor. In particular, he rejected consequentialism and its close cousin, proportionalism, as incompatible with orthodox Catholic morality. It is worthwhile to consider [...] Read in browser » The Blessed Virgin Mary: Sinless by grace, saved by grace, assumed by grace By Carl E. Olson on Aug 15, 2026 03:00 am On the Readings for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 15, 2018 [...] Read in browser » Choosing joy, forming good habits, and living the blessed life By Susan Ciancio on Aug 14, 2026 06:47 pm “A saint who is sad is a sad example of a saint.” – St. Francis de Sales God has given us so many blessings, and He wants us to be happy. He has filled our lives [...] Read in browser » The Forgotten Virtue of Patriotism By Archbishop Paul S. Coakley on Aug 14, 2026 03:38 pm As the United States commemorates the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of its founding, I have been reflecting on the virtue of patriotism. I want to share a few comments about why patriotism is one of [...] Read in browser » Pew report: 65% of U.S. Catholics favor death penalty for those convicted of murder By Tessa Gervasini on Aug 14, 2026 11:00 am The research showed that support for the death penalty among U.S. adults is 6 percentage points higher than it was in April 2021. [...] Read in browser » St. Maximilian Kolbe’s weapon for evangelization: the Miraculous Medal By Catholic News Agency on Aug 14, 2026 08:00 am St. Maximilian Kolbe. / Credit: Nancy Bauer/Shutterstock Rome Newsroom, Aug 14, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA). As World War II raged around him in Poland, St. Maximilian Kolbe fought for souls using a printing press and another “weapon” — the Miraculou... [...] Read in browser »