Category: English

Source: European Union 2

Across Europe, monasteries, churches and libraries house huge collections of medieval music that have never been fully explored. Most of the original documents have either fallen apart, disappeared completely or live in hard-to-access monastic libraries. REPERTORIUM developed AI-powered tools capable of identifying, cataloguing and analysing music buried within these archives, and created digital versions that make the manuscripts searchable.

Led by the Linares Higher Polytechnic School at the University of Jaén, Spain, REPERTORIUM brought together partners from eight countries to combine their expertise in musicology, AI and audio technologies.

Exploring Europe’s musical past

Most of the project’s work centred on a collection housed at Solesmes Abbey in France. In the late 19th century, Benedictine monks travelled across Europe photographing medieval manuscripts, creating what would become one of the world’s largest collections of liturgical music, containing an estimated 2 million melodies.

Analysing a collection of this size by hand would take decades, but REPERTORIUM had just three years. “The archive is an incredibly rich treasure,” says Julio José Carabias Orti, REPERTORIUM’s technical coordinator. “But much of this material had never been made accessible. Pieces were scattered or fragile, meaning countless melodies were essentially invisible.”

Teams of musicologists and medieval music specialists manually annotated thousands of examples, creating the training material needed for AI tools to learn. Once it was up to speed, the software could identify melodies, compare them with existing databases and help researchers navigate the collection quickly and efficiently.

“What the technology allowed us to do was create exact searchable digital versions of the scores,” adds Carabias.

As a result, the project was able to create an online repository containing more than 350 000 digitised images and 156 000 indexed chants, putting centuries of musical history at researchers’ fingertips.

Back on centre stage

One of the project’s highlights took place at Salamanca Cathedral, where a selection of the rediscovered Gregorian chants was performed live in concert. It’s thought that some of these melodies have not been heard in almost 1 000 years. For Carabias, moments such as this captured what the project was about. “European music is something we should be proud of,” he notes. “Bringing back to life things that have been lost for many years has a technical side, but also a romantic one.”

The project also contributed to the revival of a lost 18th century opera, supported the release of an album of Gregorian chants, and helped provide open access to the Solesmes archive through workshops that – for the very first time – welcomed a group of female researchers into the cloistered section of the monastery to visit the library.

The project attracted international press attention and was covered by major outlets such as BBC Music Magazine in the United Kingdom, El País in Spain, O Globo in Brazil, Austria’s Der Standard, and Italy’s Il Giornale.

Immersive experiences with 6D audio

REPERTORIUM wasn’t only about rediscovering music from the past. Using AI sound processing, the team developed immersive audio technologies that allow listeners to move through music as if they were physically inside it. REPERTORIUM’s six-degrees-of-freedom (6DoF) technology also allows listeners to change position, focus on a particular instrument and hear the music differently as they move through the virtual space.

“If you move towards the violin section, you hear the violins getting closer. If you move away, they recede,” says Carabias. “It is much closer to the experience of being in a real concert hall.”

The technology was showcased during a series of immersive classical music experiences with the Philharmonia in London and the Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt (Oder), and culminated in Vilnius with the Lithuanian Philharmonic Orchestra. 

“Usually when people think about artificial intelligence, they think about generative AI,” remarks Carabias. “But we used AI tools to understand our own history and culture.”

For REPERTORIUM, that meant using technology not just to preserve Europe’s musical heritage, but to help people experience it in a new way. Next steps involve expanding access to the tools online, and exploring further immersive experiences, allowing even more people to interact with Europe’s rich musical past. 

Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

Monday, 27 July 2026

Vatican City (Fides News Agency) – On June 10, 2026, Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization (Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches), confirmed Fr. Kizito Takaendesa Nhundu, of the clergy of the Archdiocese of Harare, as National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) in Zimbabwe for the five-year term 2026-2031 (see Fides, 10/6/2021).EG (Fides News Agency, 27/7/2026)
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Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

Bogotá (Fides News Agency) – The Archdiocese of Bogotá has carried out a humanitarian and evangelizing mission in Cuba, accompanying the communities of Guanabacoa and Regla, in Havana, with material assistance, spiritual support and a message of hope.The mission, the Archdiocese of Bogotá’s Communications Office reported, took place from 17 to 20 July and was led by Vicar Rubén Darío Hernández, Episcopal Vicar for the Territory of St. Peter, and Fr. Ricardo Pulido, Director of the Diaconia for Integral Human Development of the Church of Bogotá. They were joined by Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez, Archbishop of Havana; Redemptorist missionary Fr. José Manuel Araya; and Sisters Bernardina Montero and Concha Torres of the Congregation of the Love of God.During the visit, medicines, glasses, dental hygiene kits, food and other essential supplies were distributed to individuals and families in need. Liturgical materials were also delivered to Cuban parishes.Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez expressed his gratitude for the missionary presence, describing it as a visible sign of communion between the Churches. “This is a poor and fragile Church, like many Churches that suffer from a shortage of missionaries and priests. Yet it is fertile ground for the Gospel,” he said.”The purpose of this mission is to be the outstretched arms and hands of Jesus Christ, accompanying, comforting and proclaiming the Word of God to a people who have been deeply wounded and tried,” explained Fr. José Manuel Araya, a Redemptorist missionary serving in Cuba. “They need us to bless them and to celebrate the Holy Mass with them.” Despite the many hardships, he added, “one can sense the people’s patience—a patience sustained by faith.”Sister Bernardina Montero, who has served in Cuba for more than 25 years, highlighted the daily struggles facing Cuban families. “Today, the Cuban family lives under constant pressure, fighting simply to stay afloat and survive the many hardships that affect them every day,” she said. She stressed the importance of a missionary presence close to the people: “A door-to-door mission is immensely valuable. We have not come only to remain inside the church building; we have come to be with the people.”For the religious sister, Christian witness today begins with a fundamental message: “Helping people understand that they are not alone, that we are here to make Christ present in their lives and to walk beside them, even when the journey is painful and some of the situations we face are difficult to understand.”The Sisters of the Congregation of the Love of God carry out their mission primarily in education and social outreach. “Our way of evangelizing is through education,” explained Sister Concha Torres, who pointed to the growing challenges related to food insecurity and access to medicines. “There is so much to be done in social ministry. At present we face enormous difficulties because of the country’s situation, especially regarding food. We share, as best we can, what Caritas provides us, as well as medicines, which are among the most urgent needs today,” she said.At the conclusion of the mission, Episcopal Vicar Rubén Darío Hernández stated: “In this brief mission, we brought everything we could. We celebrated the Eucharist immersed in a reality where water, electricity, fuel and many other basic necessities for a dignified life are lacking.” Yet, he added, “we also found what matters most: hope. We witnessed joy.”The Episcopal Vicar of St. Peter concluded with an appeal to continue the missionary commitment: “We hope that in 2027 we will be able to send even more missionaries, because the Cuban people need us and are asking for our support, both material and spiritual.”(LGR) (Fides News Agency, 27/7/2026)
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Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

Monday, 27 July 2026

Pelph Hoters – licenza PDM 1.0 Public domain

New Delhi (Fides News Agency) – “The political victory achieved by the young activists of the Cockroach Janta Party has been remarkable. Equally significant was the support they received from the Christian community. Churches and Christian organizations issued prophetic statements condemning violence and corruption. They expressed pastoral solidarity with students, their families, and with leader Sonam Wangchuk, who had undertaken a hunger strike,” Indian Catholic journalist and analyst John Dayal told Fides following the resignation of Federal Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Dayal closely followed the protests and visited the demonstration site organized in New Delhi.After two months of street demonstrations in the capital, the youth-led “Cockroach” movement formally announced the suspension of its protest after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government accepted all of its key demands. Pralhad Joshi has replaced Pradhan as Education Minister. Protest camps in Delhi and across the country were dismantled following the official agreement with the government.Among the movement’s main achievements are a comprehensive reform of the education system; a formal commitment to overhaul the public examination system; compensation for the families of more than a dozen students who took their own lives in connection with the examination scandal; and a pledge not to prosecute those who participated in the demonstrations. The agreement also provides for the immediate removal of 47 officials from the National Testing Agency (NTA), the body responsible for administering university entrance examinations and at the centre of the controversy.The crisis erupted last May following the “paper leak” scandal, involving the illegal disclosure of answers to the national medical entrance examination. The cancellation of the test nullified the efforts of more than two million students who had spent years preparing for the exam, triggering widespread public outrage over corruption and youth unemployment.Dayal told Fides: “Several major Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical and Orthodox organizations publicly supported the students during the June-July 2026 protests against irregular examination results, leaked test papers and the police interventionin Delhi. Some Christians were also physically present in Jantar Mantar area, where they volunteered by organizing prayer services, distributing food and water, and providing medical assistance.””I would also like to recall,” Dayal continued, “that at the institutional level, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), which brings together the bishops of the country’s three Catholic rites, strongly condemned what it described as the disproportionate use of force by police against peacefully protesting students. The bishops recognized the legitimacy of the students’ demands and speaking of ‘a heartbreaking assault on the very soul of our democracy.'”Also noteworthy, Dayal added, was the intervention of the Conference of Religious of India, which represents Catholic religious congregations running numerous educational institutions whose students sit public examinations. The Conference declared that “their anguish is also ours; we stand in solidarity with them,” calling for the protection of the constitutional right to peaceful protest and supporting the urgent need for a credible, corruption-free examination system.According to Dayal, the current situation represents an important opportunity for the nation. In this context, the All India Catholic Union (AICU), Asia’s largest association of Catholic laity, for which Dayal serves as spokesperson, has called for the publication of a White Paper on Education.Elias Vaz, National President of the AICU, founded in 1919, noted that “question paper leaks affecting the NEET examination and other competitive entrance tests have become almost routine, leaving hundreds of thousands of honest students facing cancelled examinations, delayed results and careers held hostage by official incompetence and, at times, outright complicity.””The National Education Policy 2020 promised transformation,” Vaz continued, “but instead it has led to the decline of state schools through neglect, while abandoned school buildings are quietly being handed over to ideological organizations. India’s young people have taken to the streets because they refuse to accept a system that keeps changing the rules governing their future.” Vaz urged the central government to undertake a serious and comprehensive reform of the country’s education system.(PA) (Fides News Agency, 27/7/2026)
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Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

Monday, 27 July 2026

Khartoum (Fides News Agency) – Sudan’s armed forces (SAF) have announced that they have regained control of the highway linking the capital, Khartoum, to El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, reopening a strategic transport corridor for key natural resources from central Sudan.The approximately 350-kilometre highway had been under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023. Until March 2025, the RSF also controlled Omdurman, on the outskirts of Khartoum.Since then, the SAF, backed by allied militias grouped under the Joint Force of Armed Struggle Movements, have steadily advanced, pushing the RSF beyond the capital’s perimeter and forcing them to retreat toward eastern Sudan.According to the commander of the Joint Force, the SAF have recaptured at least four towns along the Khartoum–El Obeid highway—also known as the Al-Sadarat Highway—from RSF miitiamen: Bara, Umm Girfa, Umm Sayalla and Jabra al-Sheikh.The SAF and their allies are now aiming to reach El Obeid, which remains under government control but has been besieged by the RSF for years, in an effort to break the encirclement that has left the city’s population facing acute shortages of food and medical supplies, while enduring persistent shelling by RSF forces (see Fides, 6/11/2025).In recent days, the RSF have intensified drone attacks on targets in and around the city, killing at least 15 people, according to local authorities.Since the outbreak of the conflict in April 2023, the RSF have used areas north of El Obeid as forward operating bases to launch attacks, maintain pressure on the city and support operations around Omdurman. For the SAF, securing the highway represents a major strategic advantage: it allows them to reduce the distance between their positions in Khartoum and El Obeid, shortening the logistics chain and expanding the defensive perimeter west of the capital.Economically, restoring control over the Al-Sadarat Highway could also revive civilian trade. Before the war, the route served as a vital commercial artery for the transport of agricultural products, livestock, food supplies and other goods between Kordofan and the markets of Khartoum.Finally, Sudan’s internal conflict continues to take on the characteristics of a regional proxy war. The United Arab Emirates are widely regarded as the RSF’s principal backer, while Egypt and Türkiye support the SAF. Ankara, in particular, has supplied the Sudanese military with significant numbers of armed drones. (L.M.) (Fides News Agency, 27/7/2026)
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Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

by Father John Mi Shen*Jakarta (Fides News Agency) – The XII Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), held in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 20 to 26 July 2026, brought together more than 120 participants, including bishops from across Asia, representatives of the Holy See, theologians, religious, and lay collaborators, for a week of prayer, discernment, and dialogue on the future of the Church in Asia.Guided by the theme, “Synodal Conversion and the Mission to Be Bridges and Bridge-Builders in Asia,” inspired by the Gospel of John (1:50), the Assembly reaffirmed the Church’s commitment to walking together in communion, participation, and mission amid the continent’s rich cultural, religious, and social diversity.Throughout the week, participants engaged in Eucharistic celebrations, theological reflections, keynote addresses, regional consultations, and “Conversation in the Spirit,” discerning how the local Churches can respond more effectively to contemporary pastoral realities. Particular attention was given to strengthening synodal leadership, fostering dialogue with other religions and cultures, accompanying young people, caring for creation, promoting justice and peace, and embracing the opportunities and challenges presented by the digital age and artificial intelligence.The Assembly was enriched by the presence of Cardinal Oswald Gracias as the Holy Father’s Special Envoy, Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão, President of the FABC, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Cardinal Mario Greck, Msgr. Tomáš Halík, Dr. Choong Pui Yee, and numerous Church leaders whose reflections helped shape the common discernment of the Asian Churches. A message from Pope Leo XIV further encouraged participants to remain faithful witnesses of hope and communion.One of the significant outcomes of the Assembly was the approval of its Final Message and the Vademecum on Synodality in Asia, (understood as the Implementation Framework), offering pastoral directions for the Churches in Asia as they continue to deepen synodal conversion and missionary outreach in the years ahead.The closing Eucharist at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, followed by a symbolic visit through Jakarta’s Friendship Tunnel to the Istiqlal Mosque, reflected the Assembly’s vision of building bridges—not only within the Church but also with people of other religions, cultures, and traditions, embodying Asia’s longstanding vocation to dialogue and peaceful coexistence.Reflecting on the Assembly, I would describe it as “a moment for the Churches of Asia to listen to one another, discern together, and renew our shared missionary commitment.” He noted that through the collaborative coverage of Radio Veritas Asia and its media partners, the voices and hopes emerging from the Assembly were shared with Catholics throughout Asia, strengthening communion among the local Churches and making the fruits of the synodal journey accessible to the wider People of God. (Fides News Agency) (27/7/2026)* Executive Secretary of the FABC Office of Social Communication
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Source: European Union 2

Nearly half a tonne of cocaine, dropped in open water for smaller boats to scoop up before it reached European shores, was seized after 14 countries spent a month targeting drug traffickers at sea in Operation White Sea VI, co-led by Frontex.

Source: European Union 2

Source: European Parliament

REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2023/956 as regards the extension of its scope to downstream goods and anti-circumvention measures
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Mohammed Chahim

Source : © European Union, 2026 – EP

Source: EuroStat – European Statistics

European Commission Press release Brussels, 27 Jul 2026 New guidance from the European Commission shows how State aid rules allow EU Member States to provide social support and social investment. This guidance assists Member States in designing State aid measures for social support and social investment, as set out in the Clean Industrial Deal.