News Briefs

Sri Lankan religious leaders and the United Nations have called for an investigation into the killing of Pattani Razeek, a leading human rights activist whose body was found on July 29, 17 months after he was reported missing. • Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the apostolic nuncio to the United States since 2006, “enjoyed the highest respect and deepest affection” of the U.S. bishops and the nation’s Catholics, said New York’s Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archbishop Sambi, 73, died on July 27, apparently of complications from lung surgery. • The ailing Rev. Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, 64, one of Vietnam’s best-known democracy activists, has been returned to prison more than a year after he was sent home to seek treatment for a brain tumor. • Currently 29,437 pilgrims from the United States plan to attend World Youth Day, Aug. 16 to 21, in Madrid, a record number for U.S. participation in a W.Y.D. outside of North America. • The collapsing détente between Beijing and Rome continues as the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association prepares to ordain seven more bishops without papal sanction.