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<title>OFW Today &#45; News Magazine &#45; Jim C Salonoy &#45; News Moderator</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/rss/author/jim-c-salonoy-news-moderator</link>
<description>OFW Today &#45; News Magazine &#45; Jim C Salonoy &#45; News Moderator</description>
<dc:language>en</dc:language>
<dc:rights>Copyright 2025 OFW Today &#45; All Rights Reserved.</dc:rights>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV names Archbishop Caccia papal ambassador to United States</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-names-archbishop-caccia-papal-ambassador-to-united-states</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-names-archbishop-caccia-papal-ambassador-to-united-states</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Archbishop Caccia has significant experience in the U.S., having served as the permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York since 2020. 
The post Pope Leo XIV names Archbishop Caccia papal ambassador to United States first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, names, Archbishop, Caccia, papal, ambassador, United, States</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Trump administration seeks pause on another lawsuit challenging abortion pill</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/trump-administration-seeks-pause-on-another-lawsuit-challenging-abortion-pill</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/trump-administration-seeks-pause-on-another-lawsuit-challenging-abortion-pill</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ DOJ lawyers in the Trump administration argued in the filing that the court &quot;should either stay this case until after FDA completes its review or dismiss it.&quot;
The post Trump administration seeks pause on another lawsuit challenging abortion pill first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Trump, administration, seeks, pause, another, lawsuit, challenging, abortion, pill</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pew: Americans ‘more likely’ to disapprove of their own nation’s morals</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pew-americans-more-likely-to-disapprove-of-their-own-nations-morals</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pew-americans-more-likely-to-disapprove-of-their-own-nations-morals</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Along with the U.S., Canada and Mexico, Pew included in its survey various European, Asian and South American nations, as well as Australia.
The post Pew: Americans ‘more likely’ to disapprove of their own nation’s morals first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pew:, Americans, ‘more, likely’, disapprove, their, own, nation’s, morals</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Indiana court blocks state abortion restrictions in lawsuit claiming religious objections</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/indiana-court-blocks-state-abortion-restrictions-in-lawsuit-claiming-religious-objections</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/indiana-court-blocks-state-abortion-restrictions-in-lawsuit-claiming-religious-objections</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;Indiana&#039;s Religious Freedom Restoration Act was never intended to equate taking the life of an unborn child with religious expression,&quot; a pro-life leader said.
The post Indiana court blocks state abortion restrictions in lawsuit claiming religious objections first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Indiana, court, blocks, state, abortion, restrictions, lawsuit, claiming, religious, objections</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Diocese of El Paso declares bankruptcy to settle abuse claims filed under New Mexico lookback law</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/diocese-of-el-paso-declares-bankruptcy-to-settle-abuse-claims-filed-under-new-mexico-lookback-law</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/diocese-of-el-paso-declares-bankruptcy-to-settle-abuse-claims-filed-under-new-mexico-lookback-law</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Diocese of El Paso, Texas, filed for bankruptcy March 6, citing financial strain from claims related to sexual abuse alleged to have occurred decades prior.
The post Diocese of El Paso declares bankruptcy to settle abuse claims filed under New Mexico lookback law first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Diocese, Paso, declares, bankruptcy, settle, abuse, claims, filed, under, New, Mexico, lookback, law</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo tackles topic of domestic abuse on International Women’s Day</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-tackles-topic-of-domestic-abuse-on-international-womens-day</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-tackles-topic-of-domestic-abuse-on-international-womens-day</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Responding to a woman writing to the Vatican magazine Piazza San Pietro, Pope Leo decried violence against women and emphasized that educating young people in respect is the key to preventing it. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, tackles, topic, domestic, abuse, International, Women’s, Day</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Father Pasolini at the Vatican: Conversion and humility are paths to peace in times of conflict</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/father-pasolini-at-the-vatican-conversion-and-humility-are-paths-to-peace-in-times-of-conflict</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/father-pasolini-at-the-vatican-conversion-and-humility-are-paths-to-peace-in-times-of-conflict</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ In a Lenten sermon to the pope, Roman Curia, and Vatican employees, Capuchin friar Father Roberto Pasolini drew the connection between humility, conversion, and peace in life of St. Francis of Assisi. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2026 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Father, Pasolini, the, Vatican:, Conversion, and, humility, are, paths, peace, times, conflict</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV appoints new envoy to the U.S.</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-appoints-new-envoy-to-the-us</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-appoints-new-envoy-to-the-us</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia has till now served as the Vatican&#039;s representative to the United Nations in New York. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2026 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, appoints, new, envoy, the, U.S.</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Large family with 13&#45;year&#45;old in seminary and a baby named Leo touches pope’s heart</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/large-family-with-13-year-old-in-seminary-and-a-baby-named-leo-touches-popes-heart</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/large-family-with-13-year-old-in-seminary-and-a-baby-named-leo-touches-popes-heart</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ When their 13-year-old son entered the minor seminary, his parents had no idea that one day the whole family would meet Pope Leo XIV, an encounter that was a special blessing for them all. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2026 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV warns of wider Middle East conflict</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-warns-of-wider-middle-east-conflict</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-warns-of-wider-middle-east-conflict</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ At his Sunday Angelus, the pope voiced alarm over violence and fear spreading from Iran across the region. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2026 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, warns, wider, Middle, East, conflict</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo says parishes should reflect a Church that ‘cares for her children’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-says-parishes-should-reflect-a-church-that-cares-for-her-children</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-says-parishes-should-reflect-a-church-that-cares-for-her-children</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The pontiff encouraged a Rome parish facing poverty and social challenges to show its closeness to those wounded and searching for hope. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2026 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, says, parishes, should, reflect, Church, that, ‘cares, for, her, children’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Rhode Island AG releases report on clerical abuse in Diocese of Providence</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/rhode-island-ag-releases-report-on-clerical-abuse-in-diocese-of-providence</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/rhode-island-ag-releases-report-on-clerical-abuse-in-diocese-of-providence</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ (OSV News) — Rhode Island’s attorney general has published a 284-page report on sexual abuse in the Diocese of Providence, capping a six-year investigation that began in 2019 through a…
The post Rhode Island AG releases report on clerical abuse in Diocese of Providence first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Rhode, Island, releases, report, clerical, abuse, Diocese, Providence</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Religious freedom watchdog annual report spotlights ‘terrifying crisis of religious violence’ in Nigeria</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/religious-freedom-watchdog-annual-report-spotlights-terrifying-crisis-of-religious-violence-in-nigeria</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/religious-freedom-watchdog-annual-report-spotlights-terrifying-crisis-of-religious-violence-in-nigeria</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The report was released by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom March 4. 
The post Religious freedom watchdog annual report spotlights ‘terrifying crisis of religious violence’ in Nigeria first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Religious, freedom, watchdog, annual, report, spotlights, ‘terrifying, crisis, religious, violence’, Nigeria</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Court allows subpoena of Archdiocese of Seattle in abuse investigation</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/court-allows-subpoena-of-archdiocese-of-seattle-in-abuse-investigation</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/court-allows-subpoena-of-archdiocese-of-seattle-in-abuse-investigation</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ A Washington state appeals court has ruled that the state&#039;s attorney general can subpoena religious organizations for records related to alleged sexual abuse.
The post Court allows subpoena of Archdiocese of Seattle in abuse investigation first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Court, allows, subpoena, Archdiocese, Seattle, abuse, investigation</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Bishops of the Americas meet to address migration, poverty and other shared challenges</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/bishops-of-the-americas-meet-to-address-migration-poverty-and-other-shared-challenges</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/bishops-of-the-americas-meet-to-address-migration-poverty-and-other-shared-challenges</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;Our conversations have focused on how to better guide the People of God with wisdom and courage in a time marked by profound changes and challenges.&quot;
The post Bishops of the Americas meet to address migration, poverty and other shared challenges first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Bishops, the, Americas, meet, address, migration, poverty, and, other, shared, challenges</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Cardinal Parolin questions whether missiles, bombs are solution to Iranian people’s aspirations</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/cardinal-parolin-questions-whether-missiles-bombs-are-solution-to-iranian-peoples-aspirations</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/cardinal-parolin-questions-whether-missiles-bombs-are-solution-to-iranian-peoples-aspirations</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ ROME (OSV News) — The Vatican secretary of state appealed for peace and diplomacy on the fifth day of the U.S. and Israel-Iran war, warning that recognition of any country’s right…
The post Cardinal Parolin questions whether missiles, bombs are solution to Iranian people’s aspirations first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Cardinal, Parolin, questions, whether, missiles, bombs, are, solution, Iranian, people’s, aspirations</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>A pope’s magnificent bet on a young Bernini</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/a-popes-magnificent-bet-on-a-young-bernini</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/a-popes-magnificent-bet-on-a-young-bernini</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ An exhibition in Rome traces how Pope Urban VIII backed the 25-year-old artist behind St. Peter’s soaring bronze canopy — and the decade-long project that helped define Baroque Catholicism. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>pope’s, magnificent, bet, young, Bernini</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>This is Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of March</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/this-is-pope-leo-xivs-prayer-intention-for-the-month-of-march</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/this-is-pope-leo-xivs-prayer-intention-for-the-month-of-march</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ In a video released on X, the Holy Father posed a question to the faithful: “Would you imagine what a world without wars would be like? A world without the terror of approaching explosions?” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>This, Pope, Leo, XIV’s, prayer, intention, for, the, month, March</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Holy See to UN: Christians are the most persecuted community in the world</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/holy-see-to-un-christians-are-the-most-persecuted-community-in-the-world</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/holy-see-to-un-christians-are-the-most-persecuted-community-in-the-world</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Holy See’s permanent observer to the UN provided statistics demonstrating the extent of the persecution of Christians worldwide. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Holy, See, UN:, Christians, are, the, most, persecuted, community, the, world</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope ‘cannot comment’ on Jimmy Lai’s imprisonment</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-cannot-comment-on-jimmy-lais-imprisonment</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-cannot-comment-on-jimmy-lais-imprisonment</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The pontiff spoke to reporters for the first time since Dec. 23. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, ‘cannot, comment’, Jimmy, Lai’s, imprisonment</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV explains the Church’s ‘human and divine dimensions’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-explains-the-churchs-human-and-divine-dimensions</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-explains-the-churchs-human-and-divine-dimensions</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The pope’s catechesis focused on the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium, one of the pillars of Vatican II. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, explains, the, Church’s, ‘human, and, divine, dimensions’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>International Theological Commission: Human life is a vocation</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/international-theological-commission-human-life-is-a-vocation</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/international-theological-commission-human-life-is-a-vocation</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ New Vatican-approved document weighs challenges posed by AI and social media. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>International, Theological, Commission:, Human, life, vocation</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Vatican synod report urges women’s input in preparing future priests</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-synod-report-urges-womens-input-in-preparing-future-priests</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-synod-report-urges-womens-input-in-preparing-future-priests</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The report also warns seminaries must not become an “artificial environment” detached from the ordinary life of the faithful. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<item>
<title>Vatican secretary of state warns of Iran escalation</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-secretary-of-state-warns-of-iran-escalation</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-secretary-of-state-warns-of-iran-escalation</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Cardinal Pietro Parolin says sidelining international law and embracing “preventive war” could ignite a broader conflict and deepen civilian suffering. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, secretary, state, warns, Iran, escalation</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>In the face of the mystery of evil, Christians must be signs of hope, pope says</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/in-the-face-of-the-mystery-of-evil-christians-must-be-signs-of-hope-pope-says</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/in-the-face-of-the-mystery-of-evil-christians-must-be-signs-of-hope-pope-says</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Pope Leo was visiting the Church of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the working-class neighborhood of Quarticciolo in Rome March 1.
The post In the face of the mystery of evil, Christians must be signs of hope, pope says first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260301T1500-POPE-PARISH-ROME-MAR1-1814374.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>the, face, the, mystery, evil, Christians, must, signs, hope, pope, says</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Full text: Pope Leo XIV’s Angelus address given March 1, 2026</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/full-text-pope-leo-xivs-angelus-address-given-march-1-2026</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/full-text-pope-leo-xivs-angelus-address-given-march-1-2026</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ (OSV News) — The following is the full text of Pope Leo XIV‘s Angelus address given March 1, 2026, at St. Peter’s Square. Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday! Today’s…
The post Full text: Pope Leo XIV’s Angelus address given March 1, 2026 first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260301T0803-POPE-ANGELUS-IRAN-1814343.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Full, text:, Pope, Leo, XIV’s, Angelus, address, given, March, 2026</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope warns of ‘irreparable abyss,’ if diplomacy doesn’t take over violence in Iran, Middle East</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-warns-of-irreparable-abyss-if-diplomacy-doesnt-take-over-violence-in-iran-middle-east</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-warns-of-irreparable-abyss-if-diplomacy-doesnt-take-over-violence-in-iran-middle-east</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Pope Leo XIV issued a fervent appeal for return of diplomacy in the Middle East and Iran, condemning use of weapons that cause &quot;destruction, pain, and death.&quot;
The post Pope warns of ‘irreparable abyss,’ if diplomacy doesn’t take over violence in Iran, Middle East first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260301T0803-POPE-ANGELUS-IRAN-1814342.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, warns, ‘irreparable, abyss, ’, diplomacy, doesn’t, take, over, violence, Iran, Middle, East</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Catholic clergy call for prayer, peace after US&#45;Israel attacks on Iran, retaliatory strikes</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/catholic-clergy-call-for-prayer-peace-after-us-israel-attacks-on-iran-retaliatory-strikes</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/catholic-clergy-call-for-prayer-peace-after-us-israel-attacks-on-iran-retaliatory-strikes</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Catholic clergy are calling for prayer and peace following U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran Feb. 28 that killed Iran&#039;s supreme leader and prompted counterattacks.
The post Catholic clergy call for prayer, peace after US-Israel attacks on Iran, retaliatory strikes first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026-03-01T125606Z_1637356760_RC2CVJABNP03_RTRMADP_3_IRAN-CRISIS-ISRAEL.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Catholic, clergy, call, for, prayer, peace, after, US-Israel, attacks, Iran, retaliatory, strikes</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>USCCB president: Prayer, diplomacy needed in Middle East to avert ‘tragedy of immense proportions’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/usccb-president-prayer-diplomacy-needed-in-middle-east-to-avert-tragedy-of-immense-proportions</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/usccb-president-prayer-diplomacy-needed-in-middle-east-to-avert-tragedy-of-immense-proportions</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The leader of the U.S. Catholic bishops echoed Pope Leo XIV&#039;s call for deescalation and dialogue in the Middle East March 1.
The post USCCB president: Prayer, diplomacy needed in Middle East to avert ‘tragedy of immense proportions’ first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260301T1430-1814381.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>USCCB, president:, Prayer, diplomacy, needed, Middle, East, avert, ‘tragedy, immense, proportions’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Angels don’t indulge whims, Bishop Varden tells Vatican officials</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/angels-dont-indulge-whims-bishop-varden-tells-vatican-officials</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/angels-dont-indulge-whims-bishop-varden-tells-vatican-officials</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Cistercian bishop reflected on angels as mediators of God’s providence and on St. Bernard of Clairvaux’s realism rooted in mercy. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1772188996/_RIS2084_vhfnxt.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Angels, don’t, indulge, whims, Bishop, Varden, tells, Vatican, officials</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Vatican issues stamp honoring Ukrainian Catholics as war enters fourth year</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-issues-stamp-honoring-ukrainian-catholics-as-war-enters-fourth-year</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-issues-stamp-honoring-ukrainian-catholics-as-war-enters-fourth-year</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The stamp features the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1772208462/55118885501_c781c94a35_b_btk8ko.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, issues, stamp, honoring, Ukrainian, Catholics, war, enters, fourth, year</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV thanks preacher at end of Lenten exercises</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-thanks-preacher-at-end-of-lenten-exercises</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-thanks-preacher-at-end-of-lenten-exercises</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Bishop Erik Varden closed a weeklong retreat for the Roman Curia with meditations on the cross and hope. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1772265156/_SIM2245_knyp2b.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, thanks, preacher, end, Lenten, exercises</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV urges diplomacy amid Iran tensions</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-diplomacy-amid-iran-tensions</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-diplomacy-amid-iran-tensions</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The pontiff warned that “stability and peace are not built with mutual threats” and appealed for dialogue to avert a wider crisis. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1772362913/Screenshot_2026-03-01_at_12.01.20_wbt8gi.png" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, diplomacy, amid, Iran, tensions</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV urges ‘unconditional love’ amid hardship</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-unconditional-love-amid-hardship</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-unconditional-love-amid-hardship</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Visiting a parish in Rome, the pope preached on the Transfiguration and Abraham’s journey of faith. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1772391849/_RIS6143_pkozxj.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, ‘unconditional, love’, amid, hardship</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Team USA’s hockey gold honors Catholic hockey star tragically killed with brother in 2024</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/team-usas-hockey-gold-honors-catholic-hockey-star-tragically-killed-with-brother-in-2024</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/team-usas-hockey-gold-honors-catholic-hockey-star-tragically-killed-with-brother-in-2024</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Throughout the 2026 Winter Games Olympics in Milan Cortina, Team USA kept Gaudreau&#039;s memory at the forefront, displaying his No. 13 jersey in the locker room.
The post Team USA’s hockey gold honors Catholic hockey star tragically killed with brother in 2024 first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260223T1520-OLYMPICS-GAUDREAU-BROTHERS-HONORED-1813901.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 26 Feb 2026 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Team, USA’s, hockey, gold, honors, Catholic, hockey, star, tragically, killed, with, brother, 2024</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Miami clergy, staff accompany aid to Cuba for ongoing recovery from Hurricane Melissa</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/miami-clergy-staff-accompany-aid-to-cuba-for-ongoing-recovery-from-hurricane-melissa</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/miami-clergy-staff-accompany-aid-to-cuba-for-ongoing-recovery-from-hurricane-melissa</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The fuel shortage makes distribution of aid more challenging, and garbage pickup throughout the region is &quot;almost nonexistent.&quot;
The post Miami clergy, staff accompany aid to Cuba for ongoing recovery from Hurricane Melissa first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260223T1611-CUBA-MELISSA-AID-MIAMI-CRS-1813918.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 26 Feb 2026 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Miami, clergy, staff, accompany, aid, Cuba, for, ongoing, recovery, from, Hurricane, Melissa</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Bishop Rhoades makes biblical case for Church’s response to ‘immense’ migration crisis</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/bishop-rhoades-makes-biblical-case-for-churchs-response-to-immense-migration-crisis</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/bishop-rhoades-makes-biblical-case-for-churchs-response-to-immense-migration-crisis</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Written by Elyse Maldonado, Today’s Catholic SOUTH BEND, Ind. (OSV News) — Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, and the secretary for the U.S.…
The post Bishop Rhoades makes biblical case for Church’s response to ‘immense’ migration crisis first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260220T1545-RHOADES-IMMIGRATION-CRISIS-TALK-1813782.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 26 Feb 2026 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Bishop, Rhoades, makes, biblical, case, for, Church’s, response, ‘immense’, migration, crisis</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>New initiative to form mental health professionals rooted in Church teaching</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/new-initiative-to-form-mental-health-professionals-rooted-in-church-teaching</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/new-initiative-to-form-mental-health-professionals-rooted-in-church-teaching</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ (OSV News) — A new initiative by the University of Mary and the Diocese of Phoenix promises to respond to today’s rising mental health challenges by forming mental health professionals who…
The post New initiative to form mental health professionals rooted in Church teaching first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260223T1423-UM-PHOENIX-DIOCESE-COUNSELING-PARTNERSHIP-1813942.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 26 Feb 2026 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>New, initiative, form, mental, health, professionals, rooted, Church, teaching</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>At Curia retreat, Bishop Varden warns of Gospel’s use ‘as a weapon in culture wars’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/at-curia-retreat-bishop-varden-warns-of-gospels-use-as-a-weapon-in-culture-wars</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/at-curia-retreat-bishop-varden-warns-of-gospels-use-as-a-weapon-in-culture-wars</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;The extent of the peace we embody -- that exemplary peace &#039;which the world cannot give&#039; -- bears witness to the constant presence of Jesus within us.&quot;
The post At Curia retreat, Bishop Varden warns of Gospel’s use ‘as a weapon in culture wars’ first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260223T1215-VARDEN-RETREAT-REFLECTIONS-1813912.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 26 Feb 2026 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Curia, retreat, Bishop, Varden, warns, Gospel’s, use, ‘as, weapon, culture, wars’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Cardinal Dolan: Vance ‘apologized’ for ‘out of line’ comments about US bishops and immigration</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/cardinal-dolan-vance-apologized-for-out-of-line-comments-about-us-bishops-and-immigration</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/cardinal-dolan-vance-apologized-for-out-of-line-comments-about-us-bishops-and-immigration</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan said U.S. Vice President JD Vance &quot;apologized&quot; for &quot;out of line&quot; comments he made against the nation&#039;s Catholic bishops over immigration.
The post Cardinal Dolan: Vance ‘apologized’ for ‘out of line’ comments about US bishops and immigration first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260220T0900-DOLAN-VANCE-CLAIM-BISHOPS-1813784.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 22 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Cardinal, Dolan:, Vance, ‘apologized’, for, ‘out, line’, comments, about, bishops, and, immigration</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>ICE ‘mega centers’ for mass detention ‘challenge the conscience,’ says USCCB bishop</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/ice-mega-centers-for-mass-detention-challenge-the-conscience-says-usccb-bishop</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/ice-mega-centers-for-mass-detention-challenge-the-conscience-says-usccb-bishop</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ (OSV News) — A Texas bishop and head of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ migration committee is sounding the alarm over the Trump administration’s plans to acquire massive warehouses all over…
The post ICE ‘mega centers’ for mass detention ‘challenge the conscience,’ says USCCB bishop first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260220T1645-CAHILL-USCCB-DETENTION-CENTERS-1813798.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 22 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>ICE, ‘mega, centers’, for, mass, detention, ‘challenge, the, conscience, ’, says, USCCB, bishop</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Washington Roundup: Board of Peace holds inaugural meeting; DHS funding stalemate continues</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/washington-roundup-board-of-peace-holds-inaugural-meeting-dhs-funding-stalemate-continues</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/washington-roundup-board-of-peace-holds-inaugural-meeting-dhs-funding-stalemate-continues</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ More than two dozen countries have accepted Trump’s invitation to join the Board of Peace, including Israel as well as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt.
The post Washington Roundup: Board of Peace holds inaugural meeting; DHS funding stalemate continues first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260220T1604-WASHINGTON-ROUNDUP-2-20-1813791.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 22 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Washington, Roundup:, Board, Peace, holds, inaugural, meeting, DHS, funding, stalemate, continues</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Church channels international aid to Cubans, but assistance falls short</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/church-channels-international-aid-to-cubans-but-assistance-falls-short</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/church-channels-international-aid-to-cubans-but-assistance-falls-short</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Power outages have been common for years, Archbishop García added, so even when people had food, cooking it was not easy.
The post Church channels international aid to Cubans, but assistance falls short first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260220T1523-CUBA-AID-EFFORTS-1813801.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 22 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Church, channels, international, aid, Cubans, but, assistance, falls, short</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Unmarked graves on land once owned by Catholic slaveholders trigger search for descendants</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/unmarked-graves-on-land-once-owned-by-catholic-slaveholders-trigger-search-for-descendants</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/unmarked-graves-on-land-once-owned-by-catholic-slaveholders-trigger-search-for-descendants</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ (OSV News) — Sometimes “silent as the grave” isn’t just a metaphor. A team of student and professional history detectives — led by Laura Masur, assistant professor of anthropology at The…
The post Unmarked graves on land once owned by Catholic slaveholders trigger search for descendants first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260220T1410-CUA-BRENT-SLAVERY-GRAVES-1813757.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 22 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Unmarked, graves, land, once, owned, Catholic, slaveholders, trigger, search, for, descendants</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Rev. Jesse Jackson dies at 84; Catholic leaders praise civil rights leader’s work for justice</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/rev-jesse-jackson-dies-at-84-catholic-leaders-praise-civil-rights-leaders-work-for-justice</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/rev-jesse-jackson-dies-at-84-catholic-leaders-praise-civil-rights-leaders-work-for-justice</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Catholic leaders were among those who praised the legacy of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Baptist minister and prominent civil rights leader, who died Feb. 17. He was 84.
The post Rev. Jesse Jackson dies at 84; Catholic leaders praise civil rights leader’s work for justice first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260217T1700-CATHOLIC-REAX-JESSE-JACKSON-1813402.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Rev., Jesse, Jackson, dies, 84, Catholic, leaders, praise, civil, rights, leader’s, work, for, justice</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>BREAKING: Georgia martyrs expected to be beatified in Savannah Oct. 31</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/breaking-georgia-martyrs-expected-to-be-beatified-in-savannah-oct-31</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/breaking-georgia-martyrs-expected-to-be-beatified-in-savannah-oct-31</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The beatification of five Franciscans known as the Georgia martyrs has been set for Oct. 31, according to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints&#039; website.
The post BREAKING: Georgia martyrs expected to be beatified in Savannah Oct. 31 first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260217T1631-GEORGIA-MARTYRS-BEATIFICATION-1813427.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>BREAKING:, Georgia, martyrs, expected, beatified, Savannah, Oct.</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>From foreheads to crowns: How Ash Wednesday looks different worldwide</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/from-foreheads-to-crowns-how-ash-wednesday-looks-different-worldwide</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/from-foreheads-to-crowns-how-ash-wednesday-looks-different-worldwide</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The cross traced on the forehead echoes the sign first made at baptism and repeated throughout a Catholic’s sacramental life, Father Martis said.
The post From foreheads to crowns: How Ash Wednesday looks different worldwide first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260217T1145-ASH-WED-DIFFERENCES-1813374.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>From, foreheads, crowns:, How, Ash, Wednesday, looks, different, worldwide</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Bishops, pro&#45;life leaders slam Notre Dame pro&#45;abortion appointment as ‘slap in face,’ ‘betrayal’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/bishops-pro-life-leaders-slam-notre-dame-pro-abortion-appointment-as-slap-in-face-betrayal</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/bishops-pro-life-leaders-slam-notre-dame-pro-abortion-appointment-as-slap-in-face-betrayal</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ On Feb. 16, several recipients of Notre Dame&#039;s Evangelium Vitae Medal penned an open letter of protest to Father Dowd over the Ostermann appointment.
The post Bishops, pro-life leaders slam Notre Dame pro-abortion appointment as ‘slap in face,’ ‘betrayal’ first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/useuptop20260113T1426-NOTRE-DAME-DELTA-NETWORK-1811204.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Bishops, pro-life, leaders, slam, Notre, Dame, pro-abortion, appointment, ‘slap, face, ’, ‘betrayal’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>A quick guide to fasting in Lent</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/a-quick-guide-to-fasting-in-lent</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/a-quick-guide-to-fasting-in-lent</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ (OSV News) — Lent begins Feb. 18 this year. During this holy and penitential season, fasting is required of adult Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59. The required…
The post A quick guide to fasting in Lent first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260217T1415-LENT-QUICK-FASTING-GUIDE-1791265.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>quick, guide, fasting, Lent</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Vatican official says Notre Dame controversy shows need for dialogue on abortion</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-official-says-notre-dame-controversy-shows-need-for-dialogue-on-abortion</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-official-says-notre-dame-controversy-shows-need-for-dialogue-on-abortion</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Church should engage with universities about how to take “an ethical approach” to the dignity of unborn life, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life said. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, official, says, Notre, Dame, controversy, shows, need, for, dialogue, abortion</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>‘Aventine procession’: A centuries&#45;old tradition Pope Leo XIV will lead for the first time</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/aventine-procession-a-centuries-old-tradition-pope-leo-xiv-will-lead-for-the-first-time</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/aventine-procession-a-centuries-old-tradition-pope-leo-xiv-will-lead-for-the-first-time</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The brief Ash Wednesday walk between two hilltop basilicas marks the start of Lent in Rome. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1771343638/_SIM0212_c2bqv2.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>‘Aventine, procession’:, centuries-old, tradition, Pope, Leo, XIV, will, lead, for, the, first, time</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>St. Peter’s marks 400 years with newly opened areas and digital access</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/st-peters-marks-400-years-with-newly-opened-areas-and-digital-access</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/st-peters-marks-400-years-with-newly-opened-areas-and-digital-access</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Vatican will open new parts of St. Peter’s — including the full terrace — and roll out a “SmartPass” digital entry system as it marks the basilica’s 400th anniversary. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1771347717/260216_PRESS_TOUR_BEYOND_THE_VISIBLE_PROJECT_Daniel_Ibáñez_2_tms3eb.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>St., Peter’s, marks, 400, years, with, newly, opened, areas, and, digital, access</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Cardinal Parolin: The Vatican ‘will not participate in Trump’s Board of Peace’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/cardinal-parolin-the-vatican-will-not-participate-in-trumps-board-of-peace</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/cardinal-parolin-the-vatican-will-not-participate-in-trumps-board-of-peace</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, announced that the Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace,&quot; promoted by the U.S. president to address Gaza and other conflicts. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1771363322/cardenal-pietro-parolin-daniel-ibanez-17022026-1771357010_m4twxj.webp" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Cardinal, Parolin:, The, Vatican, ‘will, not, participate, Trump’s, Board, Peace’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: ‘All lives are not equally respected’ amid war and inequality</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-all-lives-are-not-equally-respected-amid-war-and-inequality</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-all-lives-are-not-equally-respected-amid-war-and-inequality</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The pope told the Pontifical Academy for Life it is hypocritical to call health a universal value while ignoring policies that drive disparities. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1771257054/_SIM6316_uwdjjo.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, ‘All, lives, are, not, equally, respected’, amid, war, and, inequality</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV tells Opus Dei no decision yet on revised statutes</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-tells-opus-dei-no-decision-yet-on-revised-statutes</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-tells-opus-dei-no-decision-yet-on-revised-statutes</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Pope Francis moved the prelature’s Vatican oversight from the office for bishops to that of clergy, triggering an ongoing review and rewrite of its governing norms. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1771260100/PapaOcariz1_ncgdmw.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, tells, Opus, Dei, decision, yet, revised, statutes</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope appoints Catholic Harvard professor to Vatican social sciences academy</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-appoints-catholic-harvard-professor-to-vatican-social-sciences-academy</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-appoints-catholic-harvard-professor-to-vatican-social-sciences-academy</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Tyler J. VanderWeele, a Catholic, is an epidemiologist and director of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1771268389/VanderWeele021626_n60z0s.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, appoints, Catholic, Harvard, professor, Vatican, social, sciences, academy</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Apostolic vicariate in Rome dedicates its day of arts to Gaza</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/apostolic-vicariate-in-rome-dedicates-its-day-of-arts-to-gaza</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/apostolic-vicariate-in-rome-dedicates-its-day-of-arts-to-gaza</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The humanitarian situation in Gaza was the focus of a day of the arts at the Lateran Apostolic Palace on Feb. 14, drawing attention to the ongoing suffering of residents in the Gaza Strip. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1771270612/Day_of_Arts_Lateran_21_ex6j6h.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Apostolic, vicariate, Rome, dedicates, its, day, arts, Gaza</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV eliminates committee created by Francis for World Children’s Day</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-eliminates-committee-created-by-francis-for-world-childrens-day</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-eliminates-committee-created-by-francis-for-world-childrens-day</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Pope Leo XIV has eliminated the Pontifical Committee for World Children’s Day, transferring the committee’s functions to the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, eliminates, committee, created, Francis, for, World, Children’s, Day</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pew survey finds dip in Catholic support for Trump agenda</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pew-survey-finds-dip-in-catholic-support-for-trump-agenda</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pew-survey-finds-dip-in-catholic-support-for-trump-agenda</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Support for President Donald Trump&#039;s agenda has dipped across Catholic and Protestant groups, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center.
The post Pew survey finds dip in Catholic support for Trump agenda first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260211T1756-PEW-CATHOLIC-SUPPORT-TRUMP-DECLINE-1813087.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pew, survey, finds, dip, Catholic, support, for, Trump, agenda</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Lent’s CRS Lent Rice Bowl collection seen as more critical than ever after USAID cuts</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/lents-crs-lent-rice-bowl-collection-seen-as-more-critical-than-ever-after-usaid-cuts</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/lents-crs-lent-rice-bowl-collection-seen-as-more-critical-than-ever-after-usaid-cuts</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Deep slashes to USAID funding have now made the annual Rice Bowl collection more essential than ever for Catholic Relief Services.
The post Lent’s CRS Lent Rice Bowl collection seen as more critical than ever after USAID cuts first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260210T1700-CRS-RICE-BOWL-2026-1812993.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Lent’s, CRS, Lent, Rice, Bowl, collection, seen, more, critical, than, ever, after, USAID, cuts</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>In pastoral letter, Baltimore archbishop calls for renewed political culture</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/in-pastoral-letter-baltimore-archbishop-calls-for-renewed-political-culture</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/in-pastoral-letter-baltimore-archbishop-calls-for-renewed-political-culture</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The pastoral is &quot;about the qualities of mind and heart that we as citizens, believers and leaders ought to be striving to bring to our political culture,&quot;
The post In pastoral letter, Baltimore archbishop calls for renewed political culture first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20201102T1619-MCGIVNEY-BEATIFICATION-MASS-1813115.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>pastoral, letter, Baltimore, archbishop, calls, for, renewed, political, culture</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Catholic advocates speak out as ICE data shows just 14% arrested have violent criminal records</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/catholic-advocates-speak-out-as-ice-data-shows-just-14-arrested-have-violent-criminal-records</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/catholic-advocates-speak-out-as-ice-data-shows-just-14-arrested-have-violent-criminal-records</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Catholic immigration advocates are speaking out after an internal federal document showed most individuals arrested in immigration crackdowns over the past year do not have violent criminal records.
The post Catholic advocates speak out as ICE data shows just 14% arrested have violent criminal records first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260211T1500-ICE-ARRESTS-NO-CRIMINAL-RECORDS-1812973.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Catholic, advocates, speak, out, ICE, data, shows, just, 14, arrested, have, violent, criminal, records</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Bishop in British Columbia calls for prayer after mass shooting that ‘has traumatized us all’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/bishop-in-british-columbia-calls-for-prayer-after-mass-shooting-that-has-traumatized-us-all</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/bishop-in-british-columbia-calls-for-prayer-after-mass-shooting-that-has-traumatized-us-all</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ TUMBLER RIDGE, British Columbia (OSV News) — On the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes — the Church’s World Day of the Sick — Bishop Stephen Jensen of Prince George called…
The post Bishop in British Columbia calls for prayer after mass shooting that ‘has traumatized us all’ first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260211T1521-BRITISH-COLUMBIA-SCHOOL-SHOOTING-1813046.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Bishop, British, Columbia, calls, for, prayer, after, mass, shooting, that, ‘has, traumatized, all’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Cuban bishops postpone Vatican visit amid worsening national crisis</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/cuban-bishops-postpone-vatican-visit-amid-worsening-national-crisis</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/cuban-bishops-postpone-vatican-visit-amid-worsening-national-crisis</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The country’s growing economic and social instability prompts request to delay meeting with Pope Leo XIV. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1769798762/cuba-shutterstock-290126-1769712663_bcn8js.webp" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Cuban, bishops, postpone, Vatican, visit, amid, worsening, national, crisis</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope proposes Lenten ‘fast’ from hurtful words</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-proposes-lenten-fast-from-hurtful-words</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-proposes-lenten-fast-from-hurtful-words</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Pope Leo XIV urges Catholics to listen more closely to God and others — and to “disarm” their language by fasting from words that wound — in his message for Lent 2026. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770987231/_RIS8524_rhwulm.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, proposes, Lenten, ‘fast’, from, hurtful, words</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope’s visit brings hope to seaside community challenged by drugs, prostitution</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/popes-visit-brings-hope-to-seaside-community-challenged-by-drugs-prostitution</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/popes-visit-brings-hope-to-seaside-community-challenged-by-drugs-prostitution</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ A popular summer destination for tourists, Ostia will be the first of five parishes where the pope, as bishop of Rome, will celebrate Mass on Sundays in February and March. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770998735/Église_Santa_Maria_Regina_Pacis_-_Rome__IT62__-_2021-08-29_-_8_lo9gol.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope’s, visit, brings, hope, seaside, community, challenged, drugs, prostitution</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: ‘The Church is the rightful home of sacred Scripture’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-the-church-is-the-rightful-home-of-sacred-scripture</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-the-church-is-the-rightful-home-of-sacred-scripture</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Pope Leo XIV spoke about sacred Scripture during his weekly audience with pilgrims in the Vatican. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770806525/GA_Feb._11_2026_Daniel_Ibanez_anhby5.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, ‘The, Church, the, rightful, home, sacred, Scripture’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Archbishop Checchio takes helm in New Orleans as pope accepts Archbishop Aymond’s resignation</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/archbishop-checchio-takes-helm-in-new-orleans-as-pope-accepts-archbishop-aymonds-resignation</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/archbishop-checchio-takes-helm-in-new-orleans-as-pope-accepts-archbishop-aymonds-resignation</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Pope Leo XIV appointed Archbishop James Checchio coadjutor archbishop of New Orleans in September 2025 to automatically succeed the 76-year-old Archbishop Gregory Aymond upon his retirement. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1745612551/images/Image_of_Bishop_elect_James_F_Checchio_Credit_Leo_Song_Seminarian_Pontifical_North_American_College_CNA_3_8_16.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Archbishop, Checchio, takes, helm, New, Orleans, pope, accepts, Archbishop, Aymond’s, resignation</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Jubilee 2033: Rift between Moscow and Constantinople patriarchates threatens ecumenical progress</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/jubilee-2033-rift-between-moscow-and-constantinople-patriarchates-threatens-ecumenical-progress</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/jubilee-2033-rift-between-moscow-and-constantinople-patriarchates-threatens-ecumenical-progress</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The 2033 Jubilee will commemorate the bimillennium of the Redemption but the main ecumenical obstacle is the rift between the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate and the Patriarchate of Constantinople. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770759115/papa-1770302924_tnmtgz.webp" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Jubilee, 2033:, Rift, between, Moscow, and, Constantinople, patriarchates, threatens, ecumenical, progress</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Vatican bank launches 2 new equity indexes aligned with Catholic principles</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-bank-launches-2-new-equity-indexes-aligned-with-catholic-principles</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-bank-launches-2-new-equity-indexes-aligned-with-catholic-principles</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Two indexes with 50 companies each that adhere to Catholic social teachings were announced by the Vatican Bank in order to promote ethical Catholic investing. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1760627111/images/vaticanbank.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, bank, launches, new, equity, indexes, aligned, with, Catholic, principles</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Vatican offers talks with Society of St. Pius X, warns illicit consecrations would end dialogue</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-offers-talks-with-society-of-st-pius-x-warns-illicit-consecrations-would-end-dialogue</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-offers-talks-with-society-of-st-pius-x-warns-illicit-consecrations-would-end-dialogue</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Vatican’s doctrinal office told a traditionalist group that consecrating bishops without a papal mandate would mean a “decisive rupture” of communion. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770907230/SSPXVaticanMeeting021226_w0dfkm.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, offers, talks, with, Society, St., Pius, warns, illicit, consecrations, would, end, dialogue</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Hochul signs assisted suicide measure into law, making New York 13th state allowing it</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/hochul-signs-assisted-suicide-measure-into-law-making-new-york-13th-state-allowing-it</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/hochul-signs-assisted-suicide-measure-into-law-making-new-york-13th-state-allowing-it</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;We call on Catholics and all New Yorkers to reject physician-assisted suicide for themselves, their loved ones, and those in their care,&quot; the bishops said.
The post Hochul signs assisted suicide measure into law, making New York 13th state allowing it first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260208T1555-NY-ASSISTED-SUICIDE-NOW-LAW-1812803.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Hochul, signs, assisted, suicide, measure, into, law, making, New, York, 13th, state, allowing</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Full text: Pope Leo XIV’s Angelus address given Feb. 8, 2026</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/full-text-pope-leo-xivs-angelus-address-given-feb-8-2026</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/full-text-pope-leo-xivs-angelus-address-given-feb-8-2026</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;Indeed, it is gestures of openness and attentiveness to others that rekindle joy. Certainly, in their simplicity, they set us against the current.&quot;
The post Full text: Pope Leo XIV’s Angelus address given Feb. 8, 2026 first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Full, text:, Pope, Leo, XIV’s, Angelus, address, given, Feb., 2026</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Meet 5 married couples who are saints</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/meet-5-married-couples-who-are-saints</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/meet-5-married-couples-who-are-saints</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Here are five married couples who are saints today because they lived out a vocation of love for each other -- and for God.
The post Meet 5 married couples who are saints first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Meet, married, couples, who, are, saints</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Vatican confirms pope will not visit U.S. in 2026</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-confirms-pope-will-not-visit-us-in-2026</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-confirms-pope-will-not-visit-us-in-2026</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The trip seems unlikely to happen in the immediate future, given a growing divide between the Trump administration and the pope over U.S. immigration policies.
The post Vatican confirms pope will not visit U.S. in 2026 first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260208T1015-POPE-NO-VISIT-US-1812801.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, confirms, pope, will, not, visit, U.S., 2026</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>March for Life rally, national shrine, CUA among infection sites for confirmed measles cases in DC</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/march-for-life-rally-national-shrine-cua-among-infection-sites-for-confirmed-measles-cases-in-dc</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/march-for-life-rally-national-shrine-cua-among-infection-sites-for-confirmed-measles-cases-in-dc</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, measles is one of the most contagious diseases and can be dangerous in babies and young children.
The post March for Life rally, national shrine, CUA among infection sites for confirmed measles cases in DC first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260208T1206-MFL-CUA-MEASLES-CASES-1812805.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>March, for, Life, rally, national, shrine, CUA, among, infection, sites, for, confirmed, measles, cases</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV prays for victims of attacks in Nigeria</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-prays-for-victims-of-attacks-in-nigeria</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-prays-for-victims-of-attacks-in-nigeria</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ In his Angelus catechesis, the pope said true joy is found in communion with Christ and lived through concrete acts of charity. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770654991/_TRE6423_jmowtc.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, prays, for, victims, attacks, Nigeria</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV approves new statutes of Pontifical International Marian Academy</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-approves-new-statutes-of-pontifical-international-marian-academy</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-approves-new-statutes-of-pontifical-international-marian-academy</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Pope Leo XIV approved the new statutes of the Pontifical International Marian Academy, founded to promote and coordinate Mariological and Marian studies worldwide. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770671851/papa-leon-xiv-virgen-maria-mosaico-mariano-07022026-1770480002_hhjknk.webp" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, approves, new, statutes, Pontifical, International, Marian, Academy</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>‘Historic occasion’: Pope Leo XIV meets with same&#45;sex attraction ministry Courage International</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/historic-occasion-pope-leo-xiv-meets-with-same-sex-attraction-ministry-courage-international</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/historic-occasion-pope-leo-xiv-meets-with-same-sex-attraction-ministry-courage-international</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ “We talked about the importance of chastity, how it heals and strengthens and restores the person,&quot; said Courage International Executive Director Father Brian Gannon. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770396204/Father.Brian.Gannon_ehzeja.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>‘Historic, occasion’:, Pope, Leo, XIV, meets, with, same-sex, attraction, ministry, Courage, International</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Leo XIV meets with founder of Sant’Egidio Community</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/leo-xiv-meets-with-founder-of-santegidio-community</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/leo-xiv-meets-with-founder-of-santegidio-community</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Pope Leo XIV and Sant’Egidio Community founder Andrea Riccardi discussed the role Christians and the Church are called to play in promoting peace in the midst of various world conflicts. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770402405/papa-1770308036_kv8se3.webp" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Leo, XIV, meets, with, founder, Sant’Egidio, Community</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: Peace begins with dignity, not weapons</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-peace-begins-with-dignity-not-weapons</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-peace-begins-with-dignity-not-weapons</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ In a message for the Church’s Feb. 8 World Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking, the pope warns that conflict and inequality fuel exploitation. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1745614288/images/santa-bakhita-at-margheritamirabella.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, Peace, begins, with, dignity, not, weapons</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Cuba’s bishops headed to Vatican this month to meet with Pope Leo XIV</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/cubas-bishops-headed-to-vatican-this-month-to-meet-with-pope-leo-xiv</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/cubas-bishops-headed-to-vatican-this-month-to-meet-with-pope-leo-xiv</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The country’s bishops will travel to Rome from Feb. 16–20 to present to Pope Leo XIV “the vicissitudes, sorrows, joys, and hopes of the Church in Cuba.” ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1745613901/images/obispos.cubanos.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Cuba’s, bishops, headed, Vatican, this, month, meet, with, Pope, Leo, XIV</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV will not travel to the United States in 2026, Vatican says</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-will-not-travel-to-the-united-states-in-2026-vatican-says</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-will-not-travel-to-the-united-states-in-2026-vatican-says</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The pontiff is expected to travel to Africa in April, visit Peru later this year, and make a summer stop in Spain. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770418942/papa-leon-xiv-daniel-ibanez-230525-1770410448_dgmgbk.webp" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, will, not, travel, the, United, States, 2026, Vatican, says</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Catholic immigrant advocates call for humane approach as report finds child ICE detentions up 600%</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/catholic-immigrant-advocates-call-for-humane-approach-as-report-finds-child-ice-detentions-up-600</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/catholic-immigrant-advocates-call-for-humane-approach-as-report-finds-child-ice-detentions-up-600</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Catholic leaders reiterated the bishops&#039; call for &quot;humane, community-based alternatives&quot; to family detention.
The post Catholic immigrant advocates call for humane approach as report finds child ICE detentions up 600% first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260205T1545-CHILDREN-ICE-DETENTION-1812643.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Catholic, immigrant, advocates, call, for, humane, approach, report, finds, child, ICE, detentions, 600</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Human dignity at center of social justice, development, says Vatican diplomat at UN</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/human-dignity-at-center-of-social-justice-development-says-vatican-diplomat-at-un</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/human-dignity-at-center-of-social-justice-development-says-vatican-diplomat-at-un</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;Human flourishing requires meeting basic needs such as food, water, shelter, together with quality healthcare and education and also freedom.&quot;
The post Human dignity at center of social justice, development, says Vatican diplomat at UN first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260205T1556-HOLY-SEE-UN-SOCIAL-DEVELOPMENT-1812683.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Human, dignity, center, social, justice, development, says, Vatican, diplomat</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>New York archbishop from Joliet is on a mission from God to go make disciples of everyone</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/new-york-archbishop-from-joliet-is-on-a-mission-from-god-to-go-make-disciples-of-everyone</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/new-york-archbishop-from-joliet-is-on-a-mission-from-god-to-go-make-disciples-of-everyone</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ NEW YORK (OSV News) — A day before his installation as the 11th archbishop of New York, Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks gathered with the press in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a place…
The post New York archbishop from Joliet is on a mission from God to go make disciples of everyone first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260205T1200-NYC-HICKS-PRESS-MEETING-1812654.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>New, York, archbishop, from, Joliet, mission, from, God, make, disciples, everyone</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Meloni&#45;look&#45;alike angel removed from Rome church after brief viral moment</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/meloni-look-alike-angel-removed-from-rome-church-after-brief-viral-moment</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/meloni-look-alike-angel-removed-from-rome-church-after-brief-viral-moment</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Valentinetti told La Repubblica: &quot;I erased it. I don&#039;t care. I keep saying she wasn&#039;t the prime minister, but the Curia wanted it that way, and I erased it.&quot; 
The post Meloni-look-alike angel removed from Rome church after brief viral moment first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260205T1340-MELONI-ANGEL-NO-MORE-1812671.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Meloni-look-alike, angel, removed, from, Rome, church, after, brief, viral, moment</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV calls for prayers for children with incurable diseases</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-calls-for-prayers-for-children-with-incurable-diseases</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-calls-for-prayers-for-children-with-incurable-diseases</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ ROME (OSV News) —  Pope Leo XIV has called on people around the world to pray for children living with incurable diseases in a video message released by the Vatican…
The post Pope Leo XIV calls for prayers for children with incurable diseases first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260205T1410-POPE-PRAYER-KIDS-INCURABLE-DISEASES-1812637-scaled.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, calls, for, prayers, for, children, with, incurable, diseases</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Vatican to meet with SSPX after announcement of unauthorized episcopal consecrations</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-to-meet-with-sspx-after-announcement-of-unauthorized-episcopal-consecrations</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-to-meet-with-sspx-after-announcement-of-unauthorized-episcopal-consecrations</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Planned consecrations could trigger automatic excommunication and deepen rupture with Rome. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770293539/cdf_uzdrrr.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, meet, with, SSPX, after, announcement, unauthorized, episcopal, consecrations</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV laments lack of progress in protecting children</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-laments-lack-of-progress-in-protecting-children</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-laments-lack-of-progress-in-protecting-children</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The pontiff told organizers of a Vatican-backed initiative that global crises are still leaving many children in extreme poverty. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770301051/_SIM8301_1_fcrj0c.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, laments, lack, progress, protecting, children</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV, with Eastern Orthodox, urges Christians to strengthen unity</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-with-eastern-orthodox-urges-christians-to-strengthen-unity</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-with-eastern-orthodox-urges-christians-to-strengthen-unity</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The pontiff said Christians grow closer when they deepen their shared faith in Christ, “the ultimate source of our peace.” ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770309980/_RIS6159_xqdovt.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, with, Eastern, Orthodox, urges, Christians, strengthen, unity</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope warns against new arms race</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-warns-against-new-arms-race</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-warns-against-new-arms-race</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ At his general audience, Pope Leo XIV appealed for renewed nuclear arms-control efforts and asked Catholics to proclaim the Gospel in ways that speak to people’s real lives. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770203498/WhatsApp_Image_2026-02-04_at_10.51.30_AM_yvgufh.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, warns, against, new, arms, race</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo’s liturgical celebrations for February, March, and Holy Week</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leos-liturgical-celebrations-for-february-march-and-holy-week</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leos-liturgical-celebrations-for-february-march-and-holy-week</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Vatican has published the schedule of liturgies that Pope Leo XIV will celebrate in February, March, and the beginning of April, which includes the start of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770155507/papa1-1770122911_ibgiaz.webp" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo’s, liturgical, celebrations, for, February, March, and, Holy, Week</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Monastic&#45;style retreat planned for pope and Roman Curia at start of Lent</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/monastic-style-retreat-planned-for-pope-and-roman-curia-at-start-of-lent</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/monastic-style-retreat-planned-for-pope-and-roman-curia-at-start-of-lent</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Trappist Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim will preach the week of spiritual exercises, with two daily meditations beginning Feb. 22. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770216892/WhatsApp_Image_2026-02-04_at_3.52.45_PM_yrzx8m.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Monastic-style, retreat, planned, for, pope, and, Roman, Curia, start, Lent</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV tells religious: Be ‘leaven of peace’ and a ‘sign of hope’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-tells-religious-be-leaven-of-peace-and-a-sign-of-hope</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-tells-religious-be-leaven-of-peace-and-a-sign-of-hope</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The pontiff urged consecrated men and women to witness to God’s presence in a world where faith and daily life often drift apart. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770057541/WhatsApp_Image_2026-02-02_at_5.49.21_PM_ildwut.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 08:28:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, tells, religious:, ‘leaven, peace’, and, ‘sign, hope’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>St. John Henry Newman is added to the General Roman Calendar: What does it mean?</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/st-john-henry-newman-is-added-to-the-general-roman-calendar-what-does-it-mean</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/st-john-henry-newman-is-added-to-the-general-roman-calendar-what-does-it-mean</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The English saint, proclaimed a doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIV in November 2025, is honored every Oct. 9. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770138336/GettyImages-1180754232_et8db5.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 08:28:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>St., John, Henry, Newman, added, the, General, Roman, Calendar:, What, does, mean</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Rome events to highlight World Day Against Human Trafficking</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/rome-events-to-highlight-world-day-against-human-trafficking</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/rome-events-to-highlight-world-day-against-human-trafficking</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ From Feb. 4–8, the Catholic Church will mobilize with a series of activities in Rome in support of human dignity and peace. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1745614288/images/santa-bakhita-at-margheritamirabella.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 08:28:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Rome, events, highlight, World, Day, Against, Human, Trafficking</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo appoints Sister Raffaella Petrini as a member of Commission on Reserved Matters</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-appoints-sister-raffaella-petrini-as-a-member-of-commission-on-reserved-matters</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-appoints-sister-raffaella-petrini-as-a-member-of-commission-on-reserved-matters</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Pope Leo XIV has appointed Sister Raffaella Petrini as a member of the Commission for Reserved Matters, which is responsible for awarding financial contracts in confidential areas of the Vatican. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1770142187/Raffaela_Petrini_mnllk1.webp" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 08:28:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, appoints, Sister, Raffaella, Petrini, member, Commission, Reserved, Matters</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>This is the pope’s prayer intention for the month of February</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/this-is-the-popes-prayer-intention-for-the-month-of-february</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/this-is-the-popes-prayer-intention-for-the-month-of-february</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of February is for children with incurable diseases. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1764774330/images/ris4806.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 08:28:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>This, the, pope’s, prayer, intention, for, the, month, February</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>A Quaker, a Bavarian monk and a Catholic king: Exploring Catholic history in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/a-quaker-a-bavarian-monk-and-a-catholic-king-exploring-catholic-history-in-pennsylvania-new-york-and-new-jersey</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/a-quaker-a-bavarian-monk-and-a-catholic-king-exploring-catholic-history-in-pennsylvania-new-york-and-new-jersey</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ In New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Catholic life took shape unevenly, shaped as much by law and political culture as by migration and missionary effort.
The post A Quaker, a Bavarian monk and a Catholic king: Exploring Catholic history in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20150918cnsto0026.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 08:27:50 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Quaker, Bavarian, monk, and, Catholic, king:, Exploring, Catholic, history, Pennsylvania, New, York, and, New, Jersey</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>A nation within the Church: Consecrated life, lived from the inside</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/a-nation-within-the-church-consecrated-life-lived-from-the-inside</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/a-nation-within-the-church-consecrated-life-lived-from-the-inside</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The World Day for Consecrated Life is celebrated annually Feb. 2. Consecrated life reaches back to the very beginnings of the Church, to that moment when the first disciples heard Christ&#039;s call to &quot;leave everything&quot; and follow him.
The post A nation within the Church: Consecrated life, lived from the inside first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 08:27:50 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>nation, within, the, Church:, Consecrated, life, lived, from, the, inside</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Illinois pitching for funds to shore up abortion tourism denounced as ‘macabre’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/illinois-pitching-for-funds-to-shore-up-abortion-tourism-denounced-as-macabre</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/illinois-pitching-for-funds-to-shore-up-abortion-tourism-denounced-as-macabre</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;Pro-life and pro-parents&#039; rights Americans need to start paying attention to what&#039;s going on in our state, because this is officially a national problem.&quot;
The post Illinois pitching for funds to shore up abortion tourism denounced as ‘macabre’ first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260202T1639-ILLINOIS-ABORTION-SANCTUARY-1812400.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 08:27:50 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Illinois, pitching, for, funds, shore, abortion, tourism, denounced, ‘macabre’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Historic San Diego parish opens new center to help immigrants amid deportation fears</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/historic-san-diego-parish-opens-new-center-to-help-immigrants-amid-deportation-fears</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/historic-san-diego-parish-opens-new-center-to-help-immigrants-amid-deportation-fears</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ SAN DIEGO (OSV News) — Immigrants have worshipped at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church since it opened its doors more than 100 years ago in San Diego, starting with exiles…
The post Historic San Diego parish opens new center to help immigrants amid deportation fears first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260202T1551-SAN-DIEGO-POPE-FRANCIS-CENTER-1812283.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 08:27:50 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Historic, San, Diego, parish, opens, new, center, help, immigrants, amid, deportation, fears</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Happiness cannot be bought, hoarded, only shared with others, pope says</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/happiness-cannot-be-bought-hoarded-only-shared-with-others-pope-says</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/happiness-cannot-be-bought-hoarded-only-shared-with-others-pope-says</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A lack of faith in Christ leads to many delusions, such as believing the arrogant will always rule and only money can buy happiness, Pope Leo…
The post Happiness cannot be bought, hoarded, only shared with others, pope says first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20260202T0930-POPE-CUBA-ANGELUS-1812388.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 08:27:50 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Happiness, cannot, bought, hoarded, only, shared, with, others, pope, says</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Washington Roundup: Shutdown negotiations on ICE; bishops praise new Mexico City Policy; and more</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/washington-roundup-shutdown-negotiations-on-ice-bishops-praise-new-mexico-city-policy-and-more</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/washington-roundup-shutdown-negotiations-on-ice-bishops-praise-new-mexico-city-policy-and-more</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Lawmakers sought to avoid a partial government shutdown, while some U.S. bishops praised the Trump administration&#039;s expanded Mexico City Policy.
The post Washington Roundup: Shutdown negotiations on ICE; bishops praise new Mexico City Policy; and more first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260130T1815-WASHINGTON-ROUNDUP-1-30-1812298.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Washington, Roundup:, Shutdown, negotiations, ICE, bishops, praise, new, Mexico, City, Policy, and, more</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pew analysis shows ‘no clear evidence’ Christian revival in UK</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pew-analysis-shows-no-clear-evidence-christian-revival-in-uk</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pew-analysis-shows-no-clear-evidence-christian-revival-in-uk</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Claims of a Christian revival among the UK&#039;s young adults may be based on data from surveys whose methodology can&#039;t guarantee accurate results -- while two major UK studies show a downturn, rather than a resurgence, in faith, said Pew Research Center.
The post Pew analysis shows ‘no clear evidence’ Christian revival in UK first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/54317632880_bd54c8232c_o.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pew, analysis, shows, ‘no, clear, evidence’, Christian, revival</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>‘Radical’ abortion amendment passes Virginia General Assembly despite pro&#45;life advocacy</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/radical-abortion-amendment-passes-virginia-general-assembly-despite-pro-life-advocacy</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/radical-abortion-amendment-passes-virginia-general-assembly-despite-pro-life-advocacy</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Virginia General Assembly has sent a sweeping amendment enshrining a &quot;fundamental right&quot; to abortion in the Constitution of Virginia to a statewide referendum on the November ballot.
The post ‘Radical’ abortion amendment passes Virginia General Assembly despite pro-life advocacy first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260130T1511-VIRGINIA-ABORTION-AMENDMENT-1812267.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>‘Radical’, abortion, amendment, passes, Virginia, General, Assembly, despite, pro-life, advocacy</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Nicaragua prohibits parish missions, insists church activities be confined to parish premises</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/nicaragua-prohibits-parish-missions-insists-church-activities-be-confined-to-parish-premises</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/nicaragua-prohibits-parish-missions-insists-church-activities-be-confined-to-parish-premises</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Many religious congregations leaving Nicaragua have departed quietly to protect staff and avoid reprisals for communities they were previously supporting.
The post Nicaragua prohibits parish missions, insists church activities be confined to parish premises first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260130T1330-NICARAGUA-PASTORAL-VISITS-1812193.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Nicaragua, prohibits, parish, missions, insists, church, activities, confined, parish, premises</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>New book aims to help women find fruitfulness amid struggles with infertility</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/new-book-aims-to-help-women-find-fruitfulness-amid-struggles-with-infertility</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/new-book-aims-to-help-women-find-fruitfulness-amid-struggles-with-infertility</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Leigh Fitzpatrick Snead wanted to write the book she wished she had as a young woman struggling with infertility.
The post New book aims to help women find fruitfulness amid struggles with infertility first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260130T1252-SNEAD-INFERTILE-BUT-FRUITFUL-1812292.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Feb 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>New, book, aims, help, women, find, fruitfulness, amid, struggles, with, infertility</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Doomsday Clock now at 85 seconds to midnight; ‘failure of leadership’ faulted</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/doomsday-clock-now-at-85-seconds-to-midnight-failure-of-leadership-faulted</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/doomsday-clock-now-at-85-seconds-to-midnight-failure-of-leadership-faulted</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Doomsday Clock -- a model indicating humanity&#039;s risk of self-destruction -- has edged to 85 seconds to midnight, its sponsoring group announced Jan. 27.
The post Doomsday Clock now at 85 seconds to midnight; ‘failure of leadership’ faulted first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026-Doomsday-Clock-clock-and-logo-22-1-scaled.jpeg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Doomsday, Clock, now, seconds, midnight, ‘failure, leadership’, faulted</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Cardinal Parolin meets with Danish king, prime minister amid tensions over Greenland</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/cardinal-parolin-meets-with-danish-king-prime-minister-amid-tensions-over-greenland</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/cardinal-parolin-meets-with-danish-king-prime-minister-amid-tensions-over-greenland</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The cardinal celebrated Mass Jan. 25 emphasizing witness rooted in faith, not power, and warning against violations of sovereignty.
The post Cardinal Parolin meets with Danish king, prime minister amid tensions over Greenland first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/uptop20260127T1440-DENMARK-PAROLIN-ANSGAR-1812039.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Cardinal, Parolin, meets, with, Danish, king, prime, minister, amid, tensions, over, Greenland</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>‘The Bible in a Year’ podcast at 5: Father Mike Schmitz has 5 takeaways</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/the-bible-in-a-year-podcast-at-5-father-mike-schmitz-has-5-takeaways</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/the-bible-in-a-year-podcast-at-5-father-mike-schmitz-has-5-takeaways</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Father Mike Schmitz is sharing five takeaways, things he&#039;s learned, from hosting the wildly popular &quot;The Bible in a Year&quot; podcast released five years ago.
The post ‘The Bible in a Year’ podcast at 5: Father Mike Schmitz has 5 takeaways first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260127T1635-BIBLE-IN-A-YEAR-TURNS-5-1812066.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>‘The, Bible, Year’, podcast, Father, Mike, Schmitz, has, takeaways</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo: Let us raise our voices for peace</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-let-us-raise-our-voices-for-peace</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-let-us-raise-our-voices-for-peace</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ (Vatican News) — “I’ll only say that we must pray very much for peace.” Those were the words of Pope Leo XIV given in a brief statement to Italian television…
The post Pope Leo: Let us raise our voices for peace first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260127T1700-1812078.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo:, Let, raise, our, voices, for, peace</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Hispanic Pro&#45;Life Conference: ‘We must unite our voices’ against abortion</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/hispanic-pro-life-conference-we-must-unite-our-voices-against-abortion</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/hispanic-pro-life-conference-we-must-unite-our-voices-against-abortion</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ FALLS CHURCH, Va. (OSV News) — Following the National March for Life, the pro-life organization Alianza por la Vida (Alliance for Life) held its annual daylong conference to discuss ways…
The post Hispanic Pro-Life Conference: ‘We must unite our voices’ against abortion first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260126T1645-MFL26-HISPANIC-PROLIFE-CONFERENCE-1812023-e1769550368964.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Hispanic, Pro-Life, Conference:, ‘We, must, unite, our, voices’, against, abortion</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Police chief: 37&#45;year&#45;old Minneapolis resident dies in shooting involving federal agents</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/police-chief-37-year-old-minneapolis-resident-dies-in-shooting-involving-federal-agents</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/police-chief-37-year-old-minneapolis-resident-dies-in-shooting-involving-federal-agents</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Minneapolis city officials are reporting a fatal shooting involving federal agents occurred in south Minneapolis Jan. 24.
The post Police chief: 37-year-old Minneapolis resident dies in shooting involving federal agents first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260124T1130-MCC-JOINT-STATEMENT-ICE-1811888.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 25 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Police, chief:, 37-year-old, Minneapolis, resident, dies, shooting, involving, federal, agents</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>MN Catholic Conference director, other faith leaders call for ‘off&#45;ramp’ to immigration enforcement ‘crisis’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/mn-catholic-conference-director-other-faith-leaders-call-for-off-ramp-to-immigration-enforcement-crisis</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/mn-catholic-conference-director-other-faith-leaders-call-for-off-ramp-to-immigration-enforcement-crisis</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) — Urging federal, state and local elected officials in Minnesota to chart an “off-ramp from this crisis” of increased federal immigration enforcement, Minnesota Catholic Conference…
The post MN Catholic Conference director, other faith leaders call for ‘off-ramp’ to immigration enforcement ‘crisis’ first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260123T1950-HOPE-CMS-MIGRANT-REFUGEE-RESPONSE-1811628.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 25 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Catholic, Conference, director, other, faith, leaders, call, for, ‘off-ramp’, immigration, enforcement, ‘crisis’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Democrats for Life, other pro&#45;life groups launch Legislating for Human Dignity coalition</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/democrats-for-life-other-pro-life-groups-launch-legislating-for-human-dignity-coalition</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/democrats-for-life-other-pro-life-groups-launch-legislating-for-human-dignity-coalition</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;Our vision here is to restore the dignity in policymaking.&quot;
The post Democrats for Life, other pro-life groups launch Legislating for Human Dignity coalition first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260123T1317-HUMAN-DIGNITY-LEGISLATION-COALITION-1811790-e1769226399989.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 25 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Democrats, for, Life, other, pro-life, groups, launch, Legislating, for, Human, Dignity, coalition</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>‘Complex’ political moment has challenges, opportunities, March for Life president says</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/complex-political-moment-has-challenges-opportunities-march-for-life-president-says</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/complex-political-moment-has-challenges-opportunities-march-for-life-president-says</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ A “complex” political environment presents both challenge and opportunity for the pro-life movement, said Jennie Bradley Lichter.
The post ‘Complex’ political moment has challenges, opportunities, March for Life president says first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260124T1130-MFL26-OCONNOR-CONFERENCE-1811841.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 25 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>‘Complex’, political, moment, has, challenges, opportunities, March, for, Life, president, says</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>A lesson plan for holiness</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/a-lesson-plan-for-holiness</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/a-lesson-plan-for-holiness</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Over the years, the Sermon on the Mount has been called many things.
The post A lesson plan for holiness first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/20240130T0700-LENT-WITH-THE-CHOSEN-RUPPRECHT-1771943-1024x576.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 25 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>lesson, plan, for, holiness</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Archbishop Gänswein: With Pope Leo, ‘normality’ is returning to the Vatican</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/archbishop-gaenswein-with-pope-leo-normality-is-returning-to-the-vatican</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/archbishop-gaenswein-with-pope-leo-normality-is-returning-to-the-vatican</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the Vatican’s nuncio to the Baltic states, gives an exclusive interview to EWTN News in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Jan. 20, 2026. | Credit: Tim Hotzelmann/EWTN News

Jan 23, 2026 / 06:27 am (CNA).
Archbishop Georg Gänswein says last year’s change of popes has brought a “whole new positive dimension” to the Vatican.“Above all, there has been a change for the better in the atmosphere” with Pope Leo XIV, the Vatican’s nuncio to the Baltic states and Pope Benedict XVI’s former secretary told Rudolf Gehrig of EWTN News during a Jan. 20 interview in Vilnius, Lithuania.Gänswein said he met Leo twice last year, most recently in mid-December.“Both meetings went very, very well. And the intervening period has made it very clear to me that — to put it somewhat idiosyncratically — normality is slowly returning,” he said, calling it a sign for him that “faith and the Holy Spirit are indeed at work.”“I used the term normalization. For me, it is important to see that Pope Leo has simply emphasized some matters that are not new but which have been completely overlooked in recent years.”Gänswein has been nuncio to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, based out of Vilnius, since 2024. The archbishop’s diplomatic post follows 17 years as the personal secretary of Pope Benedict XVI and 11 years as the Vatican’s prefect of the Papal Household.The nuncio, originally from Germany, also praised Leo’s “clear line when it comes to proclaiming the faith,” which he does “joyfully and convincingly.”“When you read his catechesis or sermons, you can sense that this is a man who lives and proclaims the faith with an Augustinian spirit,” Gänswein said.German Synodal WayThe archbishop also addressed the Synodal Way in Germany, also known as the Synodal Path, which is set to hold its sixth and final assembly starting Jan. 29.Gänswein expressed concern that the process will lead to deeper division in society and the Church, and underlined that any possible reforms must always adhere to established Church teaching.“Anyone who has followed the events surrounding the Synodal Path from the beginning to the present day can see one important thing, namely that a number of the demands of the Synodal Path lead away from the faith,” he said.“There is no doubt that there is indeed a need to change and reform certain things here and there. I agree with that,” the nuncio said. “However, what has been shown so far on the Synodal Path is, for me, clear evidence that this is not about a return to a deepening of the faith but about a watering down of the faith.”He said any changes cannot differ from the Catholic Church’s position on morality, ethics, the sacramental structure of the Church, or the official authority of bishops.“I can only hope and pray that this wrong path will simply come to an end soon,” he added. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 24 Jan 2026 18:00:09 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Archbishop, Gänswein:, With, Pope, Leo, ‘normality’, returning, the, Vatican</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Vatican rejects claims of widespread worker discontent after internal survey</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-rejects-claims-of-widespread-worker-discontent-after-internal-survey</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-rejects-claims-of-widespread-worker-discontent-after-internal-survey</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Jan 23, 2026 / 06:50 am (CNA).
The Holy See’s labor office is pushing back on claims of widespread worker dissatisfaction after an internal survey by the Association of Vatican Lay Employees (ADLV) alleged distrust of leadership and instances of workplace bullying.In an interview with the official Vatican News outlet, Monsignor Marco Sprizzi, president of the Office of Labor of the Apostolic See (ULSA), said his office “always has its doors open” and stressed that its mission is to ensure “there are no situations in which employees’ rights are not respected or are violated in any way.”“It doesn’t seem to me that the discontent is widespread,” Sprizzi said, noting that the survey sample was “very small,” amounting to “less than 5% of employees.”According to the report, 250 people responded to the     survey, with about 80% of respondents belonging to the ADLV. The Holy See has around 4,200 workers, though Vatican News estimated the overall figure at more than 6,000 when including retirees.Sprizzi added that even a single complaint must be taken seriously. “We listen to everyone. We are a structure of dialogue,” he said.New statutes, broader representationSprizzi also pointed to new statutes for ULSA approved in December 2025 by Pope Leo XIV, which he said strengthen the office’s mission of unity, representativeness, and the promotion of labor rights in line with the Church’s social teaching.“Rowing in the same direction does not mean reducing the protection of workers but promoting it in a spirit of dialogue and mutual trust,” he said.Sprizzi said ULSA remains in constant contact with employees, Vatican administrations, and the ADLV, describing the relationship as marked by “constructive and frequent” discussions. He said technical working groups and commissions have been created to examine solutions to specific situations “in the interest of everyone: the employees and also the Holy See.”‘More positive’ overall — but wages still a concernAgainst perceptions of general dissatisfaction, Sprizzi said that, in his experience, “the most widespread feeling is rather positive.”He cited the Vatican’s decision during the COVID-19 pandemic not to lay off employees or reduce salaries despite financial difficulties. He also pointed to employee family services such as a daycare center and summer camp, as well as recent measures by Pope Leo XIV aimed at improving accessibility for persons with disabilities.At the same time, Sprizzi acknowledged areas that still need improvement, including aligning salary levels more closely with actual responsibilities. “In some cases the necessary adjustments have not been made, but we are working on it to do justice to those who have a right to it,” he said.Harassment claims: ‘I am not aware of any case’Asked about allegations of workplace harassment referenced in the survey, Sprizzi said: “Personally, I am not aware of any case.” He noted that legal mechanisms exist to report abuse and said that if such situations were present, “the first to intervene would be the Holy Father.”“One thing is rumors, another is verifying the truth,” he said, adding that the moral demands of justice in the world of work have been a priority of the Church since Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIII.A path of dialogueSprizzi insisted the Vatican’s approach is dialogue rather than conflict, saying those who work for the Holy See share a common mission.“We are like an orchestra in which each instrument must contribute to harmony,” he said, adding that ULSA aims to strengthen dialogue with workers — individually and through their associations — and to serve as a bridge with Vatican employers.“The goal is for this dialogue to be increasingly constructive and serene, rooted in the light of the Gospel and the social magisterium of the Church, in a spirit of ecclesial communion and effective respect for workers’ rights,” he said.This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 24 Jan 2026 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, rejects, claims, widespread, worker, discontent, after, internal, survey</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV to visit 5 Rome parishes during Lent</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-visit-5-rome-parishes-during-lent</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-visit-5-rome-parishes-during-lent</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV shakes hands with Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general of Rome, during a meeting with priests of the Rome Diocese at the Vatican on June 12, 2025. | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 23, 2026 / 10:04 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV will visit five Catholic parishes of Rome in February and March, in continuity with his predecessors, the Diocese of Rome announced Friday.The visits, which will take place on Sundays during the penitential season of Lent, will include the celebration of Mass.The pope will also meet with Rome’s priests for the second time on Feb. 19 at the Vatican. His     first encounter with priests of the diocese took place one month into his pontificate.The pope is not only the head of the universal Catholic Church, he is also the bishop of the Diocese of Rome, though he does not manage the diocese like a typical diocesan bishop. A cardinal vicar general, vice regent (deputy), and auxiliary bishops are responsible for the ordinary running of the diocese.Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the vicar general of Rome, said last year there were 8,020 priests and deacons in the diocese, of whom 809 were permanent Rome diocesan priests, and most of the remaining were part of religious communities or doing advanced studies.The first parishes selected for papal visits in 2026 are located in each of the five sectors of the diocese: north, south, east, west, and center. Leo reinstated the central sector in November 2025 after Pope Francis had eliminated it the year prior.Pope Leo’s predecessors also visited parishes in the Diocese of Rome during their papacies.John Paul II managed     to visit 317 of 333 parishes throughout his long pontificate. During his final years, when he was too ill to travel to them, he invited the remaining 16 parishes to come to the Vatican.Pope Francis in his 12 years as pope made     20-some pastoral visits to parishes in Rome, mostly concentrated in the city’s outskirts, part of his great attention to the peripheries, which was also reflected in his visits to many of the city’s prisons and charitable entities. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 24 Jan 2026 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, visit, Rome, parishes, during, Lent</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Christian identity vital amid aggressive secularization, ecumenism expert says</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/christian-identity-vital-amid-aggressive-secularization-ecumenism-expert-says</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/christian-identity-vital-amid-aggressive-secularization-ecumenism-expert-says</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Father Philip Goyret, an ecclesiology professor at Rome’s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Philip Goyret

Jan 23, 2026 / 12:04 pm (CNA).
Ecumenical dialogue is especially important in a time when Christian belief and practice are on the decline, said one Catholic expert during the Jan. 18–25 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.“What is happening today is that the secularization [of society] is incredibly strong … and the temptation among Christian traditions is to step back,” Father Philip Goyret, an ecclesiology professor at Rome’s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, told EWTN News.“But if [Christians] step back, we lose our identity, and we cannot be united,” he said. “That is a serious concern.”Goyret said it is evident that the theological principles of “unity” and “communion” have become important policies of Leo’s pontificate, as summarized in his papal motto, “In Illo uno unum” (“In the one Christ we are one”).“Leo, from the very beginning, has said that he wants to be the pope of unity, and that is extremely linked with ecumenism,” he added.When Leo first stepped out onto the Loggia of Blessings of St. Peter’s Basilica in May last year, he said humanity needs God and stressed the need for a “united Church” in Jesus Christ.“Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and among ourselves, let us move forward,” the pope said in his May 8 address. “We are disciples of Christ. Christ goes before us. The world needs his light.”Two months after his election, Pope Leo shed further light on his desire to forge the belief, identity, and mission of the Church.“I believe very strongly in Jesus Christ and believe that that’s my priority, because I’m the bishop of Rome and successor of Peter, and the pope needs to help people understand, especially Christians, Catholics, that this is who we are,” the pope told the Catholic website Crux in July 2025.Noting the Holy Father’s particular emphasis on Christian identity and witness as key to advancing ecumenical relations among churches, Goyret said Leo’s predecessors have also shown commitment to promoting unity among the faithful through different approaches.Pope Francis placed great attention to engaging in dialogue with Eastern and Orthodox Churches, while Pope Benedict XVI is recognized for his 2009 apostolic constitution     Anglicanorum Coetibus, which structurally supported Anglicans seeking full communion with the Catholic Church.“Pope Francis presented himself as ‘bishop of Rome,’ and that’s very significant because that title is the way that Eastern non-Catholic Christians understand the Petrine ministry,” he said, recalling the late pope’s first urbi et orbi address in 2013. “It was an invitation for dialogue.”By focusing on the Vatican II documents     Unitatis Redintegratio (Restoration of Unity) and     Lumen Gentium (Light of the Nations), Goyret said Pope Benedict’s approach to ecumenical dialogue encouraged academic study and the faithful living of Christian traditions.“If you dig and dig into these different traditions, you will eventually discover the Church as Jesus Christ wished it,” he said.Speaking on the theme of the 2026 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, “One Body, One Spirit,” Goyret said there is a great need for Christians to be united in prayer and hope to strengthen faith in God in a secularized world.“Pope Leo said that we have to pray in this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,” he said. “The Church needs our prayers especially because the unity of the Church is a gift of God.”“We don’t build it ourselves through negotiation. It’s not diplomatic and it’s not political,” he added. “If we want to restore unity to the Church, we have to ask God for it.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 24 Jan 2026 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Christian, identity, vital, amid, aggressive, secularization, ecumenism, expert, says</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo to beatify Guatemalan martyr and Italian religious who founded a new congregation</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-to-beatify-guatemalan-martyr-and-italian-religious-who-founded-a-new-congregation</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-to-beatify-guatemalan-martyr-and-italian-religious-who-founded-a-new-congregation</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Franciscan Father Augusto Ramírez Monasterio is shown after his initial interrogation and torture; he is hiding the wounds on his hands and wrists. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Ana Morales Ramirez

Jan 23, 2026 / 12:34 pm (CNA).
On Jan. 22, Pope Leo XIV approved the decree recognizing the martyrdom of Servant of God Augusto Ramírez Monasterio, a Franciscan priest murdered in Guatemala in 1983, and the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Maria Ignazia Isacchi, foundress of the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Asola in Italy.Murdered in the street during the Guatemalan Civil WarMonasterio was last seen trying to escape his killers on one of the busiest streets in downtown Guatemala City. With his hands tied, he was crying out for help while dodging traffic going in the opposite direction. His desperate efforts were in vain: He was struck by eight bullets.The future blessed thus joined the long list of priests murdered — apparently at the hands of Guatemalan security forces — during the 1960–1996 civil war that pitted the official security forces against the Catholic clergy, Marxist guerrillas, political dissidents, and the poor.His murder was the culmination of months of persecution, death threats, and torture for refusing to break the seal of confession after hearing the confession of Fidel Coroy, a catechist and member of the Kaqchikel Maya people known for his involvement in peasant organizations such as the Committee of Peasant Unity and the Guerrilla Army of the Poor.Accounts following Ramírez’s murder revealed that he had been tortured by his military captors, who stripped him naked and hung him by his wrists, subjecting him to beatings and burns and breaking several of his ribs.At the time of his death, Ramírez was the superior of the Franciscans and a priest at St. Francis the Great Parish in the city of Antigua, known for its colonial churches. He was remembered as an exemplary priest and for his service to and protection of the poor of Guatemala.Devotion of Maria Ignazia to the Sacred Heart of JesusFollowing Thursday morning’s audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the pope also approved the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Maria Ignazia Isacchi, founder of the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Asola, Italy.As highlighted by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Isacchi distinguished herself by a profound life of prayer and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, demonstrating heroic virtues of faith, hope, and charity, and dedicating her life to educational services and to those in need. Her reputation for holiness remains alive within the congregation she founded.Miracle attributed to her intercessionIn 1950, at age 23, Sister Maria Assunta became seriously ill with tuberculosis and did not respond to medical treatment. After a novena of prayer invoking Isacchi and a medal with her image was placed on Sister Maria Assunta, she experienced a sudden and complete recovery from Sept. 27–29, 1950. The healing was medically confirmed and considered miraculous, becoming one of the steps toward Isacchi’s beatification. Maria Assunta lived to be 92 years old, passing away in 2018.New venerablesThe Holy Father has also recognized the heroic virtues of Servant of God Maria Tecla Antonia Relucenti, co-founder of the Congregation of the Pious Sisters Workers of the Immaculate Conception in Italy.The pope recognized the heroic virtues of Italians Servant of God Crocifissa Militerni, a religious sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist, and Servant of God Nerino Cobianchi, a lay member of the faithful and father of a family.Pope Leo XIV also recognized on Jan. 22 the heroic virtues of Maria Immaculata of the Blessed Trinity, a Brazilian Discalced Carmelite and a key figure in the founding of the Carmel of the Holy Family in Pouso Alegre, Brazil, in 1943.This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 24 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, beatify, Guatemalan, martyr, and, Italian, religious, who, founded, new, congregation</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Reviving monasticism</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/reviving-monasticism</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/reviving-monasticism</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ As we struggle with the complexity and noise of today, the church needs monastics more, not less. And the world? Even more so.
The post Reviving monasticism first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:00:09 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Reviving, monasticism</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Washington Roundup: Senate blocks Venezuela war powers resolution; Trump health plan lacks Hyde</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/washington-roundup-senate-blocks-venezuela-war-powers-resolution-trump-health-plan-lacks-hyde</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/washington-roundup-senate-blocks-venezuela-war-powers-resolution-trump-health-plan-lacks-hyde</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ WASHINGTON (OSV News) — The Senate Jan. 14 blocked a bipartisan measure that aimed to limit President Donald Trump from taking further military action in Venezuela after two Republicans dropped their…
The post Washington Roundup: Senate blocks Venezuela war powers resolution; Trump health plan lacks Hyde first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:00:09 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Washington, Roundup:, Senate, blocks, Venezuela, war, powers, resolution, Trump, health, plan, lacks, Hyde</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Charges for pro&#45;life activists over disruption at abortion clinic dismissed in plea deal</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/charges-for-pro-life-activists-over-disruption-at-abortion-clinic-dismissed-in-plea-deal</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/charges-for-pro-life-activists-over-disruption-at-abortion-clinic-dismissed-in-plea-deal</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ A statement from William Goodman provided to OSV News called the court outcome &quot;a modest victory. But a victory nonetheless.&quot;
The post Charges for pro-life activists over disruption at abortion clinic dismissed in plea deal first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:00:09 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Charges, for, pro-life, activists, over, disruption, abortion, clinic, dismissed, plea, deal</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Vance to address March for Life rally in person; Trump to speak via video</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vance-to-address-march-for-life-rally-in-person-trump-to-speak-via-video</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vance-to-address-march-for-life-rally-in-person-trump-to-speak-via-video</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Vice President JD Vance is expected to address the 53rd annual March for Life in Washington Jan. 23, organizers of the event said Jan. 16. “We’re thrilled…
The post Vance to address March for Life rally in person; Trump to speak via video first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:00:09 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vance, address, March, for, Life, rally, person, Trump, speak, via, video</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Algeria, Angola, Spain among 2026 papal trips, with invitation to Mexico on the table</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/algeria-angola-spain-among-2026-papal-trips-with-invitation-to-mexico-on-the-table</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/algeria-angola-spain-among-2026-papal-trips-with-invitation-to-mexico-on-the-table</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Recent announcements by bishops in Angola, Algeria and Spain have indicated Pope Leo XIV will visit their respective countries this year. 
The post Algeria, Angola, Spain among 2026 papal trips, with invitation to Mexico on the table first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:00:09 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Algeria, Angola, Spain, among, 2026, papal, trips, with, invitation, Mexico, the, table</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Vatican confirms it tried to mediate with Maduro to avoid military intervention in Venezuela</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-confirms-it-tried-to-mediate-with-maduro-to-avoid-military-intervention-in-venezuela</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-confirms-it-tried-to-mediate-with-maduro-to-avoid-military-intervention-in-venezuela</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 19, 2026 / 13:02 pm (CNA).
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin confirmed Saturday that the Holy See attempted to mediate to avert U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, which culminated Jan. 3 with the capture of Nicolás Maduro.“We had tried precisely — as, among other things, has appeared in some newspapers — to find a solution that would avoid any bloodshed, trying perhaps to reach an agreement even with Maduro and with other figures in the regime, but this was not possible,” Parolin told reporters on the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 17, outside Rome’s Domus Mariae church.Parolin had just celebrated Mass there for the public veneration — for the first time — of relics of St. Pier Giorgio Frassati.In remarks reported by, among others, the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Parolin — who served as apostolic nuncio to Venezuela from 2009 to 2013 — said the Vatican has “always supported a peaceful solution,” adding: “But we, too, find ourselves faced with a fait accompli, a de facto situation.”He described Venezuela’s current moment as “a situation of great uncertainty.”“We hope it evolves toward stability, toward an economic recovery — because the economic situation is truly very, very precarious — and also toward the democratization of the country,” the cardinal said.Parolin declined to provide further details about a Jan. 9 Washington Post report stating that the Holy See had attempted to help facilitate Maduro’s departure from Venezuela by offering asylum in Russia.After that report was published, the Holy See Press Office confirmed that the conversation took place during the Christmas period, while adding that it considered it “disappointing that parts of a confidential conversation are published without accurately reflecting its content.”Pope Leo XIV has referred to the Venezuelan crisis on several occasions, most recently Jan. 9 in his address to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, when he called for respect for the will of the Venezuelan people and for peaceful solutions free of “partisan interests.”The pope also received Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado on Monday, Jan. 12 — three days before her meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, whom ACI Prensa identified as a 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Speaking afterward at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., Machado said the Holy Father “knows very well what is happening in Venezuela,” adding that he is “fully aware of what the Catholic Church is experiencing, due to the persecution and pressure on our bishops and priests.” She also said the pope is “not only concerned, but is helping and actively supporting” efforts toward a peaceful transition.This story was     first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, confirms, tried, mediate, with, Maduro, avoid, military, intervention, Venezuela</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Mexico’s Cardinal Aguiar: Pope Leo XIV would like to visit Mexico ‘soon’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/mexicos-cardinal-aguiar-pope-leo-xiv-would-like-to-visit-mexico-soon</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/mexicos-cardinal-aguiar-pope-leo-xiv-would-like-to-visit-mexico-soon</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Cardinal Aguiar and his auxiliary bishop, Francisco Javier Acero Pérez, OAR, met with Pope Leo on Jan. 14, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 16, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).
The primatial archbishop of Mexico, Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, has invited Pope Leo XIV to visit the country. The cardinal extended the invitation during their Jan. 14 meeting at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, shortly before the Wednesday general audience.According to a statement released later by the Archdiocese of Mexico, during the audience Aguiar renewed the invitation he had first extended to the pope a few days after the conclave for him to travel to the country.“In response, the Holy Father expressed his gratitude and his desire and interest in visiting our country soon to entrust his pontificate to Our Lady of Guadalupe,” the press release indicated.In addition, Aguiar shared with Pope Leo XIV the progress and development of the synodal process underway in the Mexican diocese.In this context, the pontiff expressed his gratitude for the work of the religious communities, pastoral workers, and laypeople, and encouraged them to continue strengthening this path of listening, discernment, and pastoral co-responsibility.During the meeting, the Holy Father expressed his joy at the pilgrimage that the archdiocese will make Saturday, Jan. 17, to the Guadalupe Basilica at the beginning of the pilgrimage season to the sacred shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Tepeyac.The cardinal was accompanied by Francisco Javier Acero Pérez, OAR, auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese. The communications office of the primatial archdiocese of Mexico invited all the faithful to join in prayer for the Holy Father and for the fruits of the synodal journey that the Mexican Church continues to undertake.This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by the EWTN News English Service. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 19 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Mexico’s, Cardinal, Aguiar:, Pope, Leo, XIV, would, like, visit, Mexico, ‘soon’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Former U.S. ambassador to Holy See weighs in on Vatican diplomacy in Venezuela, U.S.</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/former-us-ambassador-to-holy-see-weighs-in-on-vatican-diplomacy-in-venezuela-us</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/former-us-ambassador-to-holy-see-weighs-in-on-vatican-diplomacy-in-venezuela-us</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Former United States Ambassador to the Holy See Francis Rooney speaks to “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Catherine Hadro on Monday, May 12, 2025. | Credit: “EWTN News Nightly”/Screenshot

Jan 17, 2026 / 10:00 am (CNA).
Francis Rooney, former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, said Pope Leo XIV’s papacy marks a period of opportunity for the Church in the U.S. in an interview this week with “EWTN News In Depth.”The former diplomat and congressman highlighted Leo’s measured approach to diplomacy in light of U.S. involvement in Venezuela. “He’s always calm, he’s always careful, and he’s very judicious in his comments,&quot; Rooney said in a report that aired Jan. 16.“The Holy See has a long tradition of intervening in hostage situations and situations of marginalized people or people under great stress and change, like a regime change,” Rooney said.The Vatican’s move to host opposition leader María Corina Machado this week, he said, likely had diplomatic intentions to strengthen her standing. “I think it’s predictable that [Pope Leo XIV] would want to shore up her position on the international stage as well as he can,” Rooney said. “So a pre-Trump meeting with the Holy Father is a global expression of her importance right now.”Reacting to     a speech by Pope Leo     to diplomats at the Vatican, during which the Holy Father lamented that “peace is no longer sought as a gift and a desirable good,” Rooney pointed out that while Leo does not do so in the same manner as Pope Francis, “he speaks very clearly and says a lot of the same things.”“[Leo’s] willing to call out bad activities by world leaders. He’s willing to call out the actions of Trump undermining the post-World War II order and creating potential consequences of bad actions by other people like North Korea, Russia, China,” he said, adding: “He’s not at all like Pope Francis. He’s calm, deliberate.”Rooney served as U.S. ambassador to the Holy See from 2005 to 2008. He was a Republican member of the U.S. House from Florida from 2017 to 2021.“The Church has a love-hate relationship with the United States. They resent our power, but they love our money, and they love our number of Catholics in the United States,” he said. “So this is an opportunity for Pope Leo to close that gap, earn more respect for the United States for the important role it plays in the Church, and also in Latin America.”U.S. President Donald Trump met with Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, on Jan. 12. Rooney, whose congressional Florida district included Fort Myers and Naples, speculated the closed meeting likely revolved around immigration.“We have Alligator Alcatraz down here near where we live, and a lot of migrants are being kicked out of the country who have no criminal record,” Rooney said. “I think most Americans would agree that we need workers. If theyve been living here a long time, some of their kids have gone to school with our kids, they should be able to stay and have an orderly rational plan for citizenship like President George W. Bush tried to accomplish but didn’t get it done.”“On the other hand, if they’re criminals, they should go. I don’t think anybody would argue that we shouldn’t police the border and have a strong border,” he said, concluding that Coakley and the president likely “spoke about that a great deal.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 19 Jan 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Former, U.S., ambassador, Holy, See, weighs, Vatican, diplomacy, Venezuela, U.S.</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Report: More than 388 million Christians worldwide face ‘high levels’ of persecution</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/report-more-than-388-million-christians-worldwide-face-high-levels-of-persecution</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/report-more-than-388-million-christians-worldwide-face-high-levels-of-persecution</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ More than 388 million Christians -- or 1 in 7 believers worldwide -- face &quot;high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith,&quot; according to a new report.
The post Report: More than 388 million Christians worldwide face ‘high levels’ of persecution first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Report:, More, than, 388, million, Christians, worldwide, face, ‘high, levels’, persecution</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Vatican completes official mosaic portrait of Pope Leo XIV for papal basilica</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-completes-official-mosaic-portrait-of-pope-leo-xiv-for-papal-basilica</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-completes-official-mosaic-portrait-of-pope-leo-xiv-for-papal-basilica</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The circular mosaic, known as a tondo, will be installed in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
The post Vatican completes official mosaic portrait of Pope Leo XIV for papal basilica first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, completes, official, mosaic, portrait, Pope, Leo, XIV, for, papal, basilica</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Rubio says US closely working with Catholic Church to get Cuba humanitarian aid</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/rubio-says-us-closely-working-with-catholic-church-to-get-cuba-humanitarian-aid</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/rubio-says-us-closely-working-with-catholic-church-to-get-cuba-humanitarian-aid</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ WASHINGTON (OSV News) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Jan. 14 that the first in a series of direct humanitarian shipments to Cuba “in close partnership with the Catholic…
The post Rubio says US closely working with Catholic Church to get Cuba humanitarian aid first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260114T1730-STORM-MELISSA-CUBA-1811293.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Rubio, says, closely, working, with, Catholic, Church, get, Cuba, humanitarian, aid</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Senate hearing examines abortion pill after FDA approval of new generic version</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/senate-hearing-examines-abortion-pill-after-fda-approval-of-new-generic-version</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/senate-hearing-examines-abortion-pill-after-fda-approval-of-new-generic-version</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ A Senate committee held a hearing on the abortion pill Jan. 14 as the Trump administration faces scrutiny from some pro-lifers over the Food and Drug Administration&#039;s recent approval of a new generic form of the drug.
The post Senate hearing examines abortion pill after FDA approval of new generic version first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Senate, hearing, examines, abortion, pill, after, FDA, approval, new, generic, version</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>US bishops praise DHS policy change on wait times for religious worker visas</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/us-bishops-praise-dhs-policy-change-on-wait-times-for-religious-worker-visas</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/us-bishops-praise-dhs-policy-change-on-wait-times-for-religious-worker-visas</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;Our appreciation&quot; for efforts supporting the religious worker visas program &quot;cannot be overstated,&quot; said the USCCB&#039;s president and its migration chair.
The post US bishops praise DHS policy change on wait times for religious worker visas first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>bishops, praise, DHS, policy, change, wait, times, for, religious, worker, visas</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Mosaic bearing Pope Leo XIV’s portrait readied for St. Paul Outside the Walls</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/mosaic-bearing-pope-leo-xivs-portrait-readied-for-st-paul-outside-the-walls</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/mosaic-bearing-pope-leo-xivs-portrait-readied-for-st-paul-outside-the-walls</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV next to the new mosaic of him that will be added to St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica in Rome. | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 15, 2026 / 12:54 pm (CNA).
A mosaic bearing the official portrait of Pope Leo XIV was presented to the pontiff on Jan. 14. The mosaic will be placed in St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica at the request of the basilica’s archpriest, Cardinal James Michael Harvey.The artwork, which, according to ancient tradition, is created upon the election of each pope, was made in the     Vatican Mosaic Studio of the Fabric of St. Peter, where the basilica’s mosaics are currently being conserved through restoration work and where artwork is also produced for sale to the public.    
        Today, Pope Leo XIV was presented with the round mosaic featuring his official papal portrait — the 267th papal portrait to be placed in the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls — which will be installed at the end of the right nave of the basilica. The presentation took… pic.twitter.com/CddKjcXekt— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) January 14, 2026



    Thanks to the skill and experience of its mosaic artists, who still use ancient technical and artistic methods, mosaics are produced that are inspired by masterpieces of sacred and secular art.The mosaic “tondo” — from the Italian word meaning “round” — of the Holy Father is 54 inches in diameter and was made with glass enamels and gold on a metal structure, according to the Vatican.The mosaic is composed of more than 15,000 tesserae — the small pieces used to create the mosaic — including some that date back to the 19th century. These pieces were created using the ancient technique of cut mosaic and have been fixed with the traditional oil-based stucco of the Vatican tradition.The mosaic will be placed in the space next to the portrait of Pope Francis, in the right nave of the papal basilica, at an approximate height of 43 feet.The work is based on a pictorial sketch by the Italian artist Rodolfo Papa, an oil painting on canvas that will be preserved in the Fabric of St. Peter in the Vatican.The mosaic of Pope Leo XIV will be placed in the space next to the portrait of Pope Francis. | Credit: Vatican MediaAlso participating in the presentation were Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, and Harvey along with the abbot of the Benedictine monastery of St. Paul Outside the Walls, Donato Ogliari.At the end of the presentation, the Holy Father invited all those present to join him in a moment of prayer.This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Mosaic, bearing, Pope, Leo, XIV’s, portrait, readied, for, St., Paul, Outside, the, Walls</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Archbishop Gallagher: Surrogacy is a ‘new form of colonialism’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/archbishop-gallagher-surrogacy-is-a-new-form-of-colonialism</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/archbishop-gallagher-surrogacy-is-a-new-form-of-colonialism</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states and international organizations of the Holy See. | Credit: Santosh Digal

Jan 15, 2026 / 13:37 pm (CNA).
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states and international organizations of the Holy See, described the practice of surrogacy as a “new form of colonialism” in which the interests of adults prevail over the rights of children.The Italian Embassy to the Holy See hosted the Jan. 13 event “A Common Front for Human Dignity: Preventing the Commodification of Women and Children in Surrogacy” with the aim of fostering international debate on this practice and raising awareness of its ethical, legal, and social implications.The event, held at the Borromeo Palace in Rome, is part of an awareness campaign promoted by the Italian Ministry for Family, Birth Rate, and Equal Opportunities together with the Holy See at the United Nations.In his address, Gallagher stated that surrogacy is an issue that concerns all of humanity and therefore urged a united front to stop “the commodification of women and children.”The Vatican official emphasized that this practice “exploits bodies and takes any meaning out of relationships,” reducing the person to a mere product, as Pope Francis has denounced. He also noted that Pope Leo XIV recently warned that surrogacy sacrifices the rights of children.During his address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, the pontiff denounced that “by turning gestation into a negotiable service, the dignity of both is violated: that of the child, who is reduced to a ‘product,’ and that of the mother, by exploiting her body and the generative process and altering the original relational vocation of the family.”In this context, Gallagher warned that surrogacy — although presented as “an act of generosity” — reduces the person to an “object of transaction.” “It’s the sale of a child, handed over to the buyers by virtue of a contract that places the interests of the adults at the center, and not those of the children,” he said emphatically.He also stated that it reduces women’s bodies to a “mere reproductive instrument,” affecting the social conception of motherhood and human dignity.After recalling that feminist groups also reject surrogacy, Gallagher emphasized that it is “a new form of colonialism” that exploits the most vulnerable people and pointed out that women’s consent is often the result of “financial pressures.”Finally, the Vatican official argued for the “total abolition” of surrogacy and expressed its opposition to the creation of an international regulatory framework, which, in his view, would lead to “more children destined to be sold.”The event also included speeches by the Italian ambassador to the Holy See, Francesco Di Nitto; the dean of the diplomatic corps to the Holy See and ambassador of Cyprus, George Poulides; and Italian Minister for Family, Natality, and Equal Opportunities Eugenia Roccella.This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Archbishop, Gallagher:, Surrogacy, ‘new, form, colonialism’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>St. Peter’s Holy Door to be sealed Jan. 16</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/st-peters-holy-door-to-be-sealed-jan-16</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/st-peters-holy-door-to-be-sealed-jan-16</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The pope closed the large bronze doors of St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 6, 2025, when the Jubilee of Hope concluded. | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 15, 2026 / 17:42 pm (CNA).
With the final sealing on Jan. 16 of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, the Holy See will complete the closing — which includes the actual masonry work — of the four Holy Doors of the papal basilicas following the Jubilee of Hope.The concluding rite of closing the Holy Door of St. Mary Major Basilica took place Jan. 13. St. John Lateran Basilica’s was closed Jan. 14 and the Holy Door of St. Paul Outside the Walls was closed Jan. 15.The Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica will be sealed shut on Jan. 16. The so-called “sanpietrini,” the staff of the Fabric of St. Peter — comprising carpenters, cabinetmakers, and electricians — who normally handle the maintenance of the basilica, will repeat the process they have already carried out in the other three basilicas: They will erect a brick wall inside the church to permanently seal the Holy Door.In addition, the traditional metal capsule (“capsis”), a bronze box, will be inserted into the wall of the church. It will contain the official closing document, the coins minted during the jubilee year, and the keys to the Holy Door.These elements serve as material and symbolic testimony of the holy year, which, as the pope emphasized in the Jan. 6 ceremony in which he closed the great doors of the Vatican basilica, has concluded on the calendar but not in the spiritual life of the Catholic Church.In all the papal basilicas, the official document of closing the Holy Door has been deposited along with the key to the door and several pontifical medals from the last sealing, during the conclusion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2016 to the present day.This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1768498582/eli2380-1-1768475885_yq056w.webp" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jan 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>St., Peter’s, Holy, Door, sealed, Jan.</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV proclaims Franciscan Jubilee Year</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-proclaims-franciscan-jubilee-year</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-proclaims-franciscan-jubilee-year</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  St. Francis of Assisi. | Credit: Paolo Gallo/Shutterstock

Jan 12, 2026 / 17:21 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed a “Special Year of St. Francis” to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the saint’s death. During this time of grace, which will extend until January 2027, the faithful are granted the opportunity to obtain a     plenary indulgence.This Franciscan Jubilee Year, considered a gift for the entire Church and an occasion for authentic spiritual renewal, was inaugurated on Jan. 10 with     a decree issued by the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See.Until Jan. 10 of next year, the faithful can obtain this grace under the usual conditions — sacramental confession, Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the pope — by making a pilgrimage to any Franciscan conventual church or place of worship dedicated to St. Francis anywhere in the world.Furthermore, the elderly, the sick, and those who, for serious reasons, cannot leave their homes can obtain the plenary indulgence by spiritually joining in the jubilee celebrations and offering their prayers, pains, or sufferings to God.In a world where “the virtual takes over the real, disagreements and social violence are part of everyday life, and peace becomes more insecure and distant every day, this Year of St. Francis spurs all of us, each according to our possibilities, to imitate the poor man of Assisi, to form ourselves as far as possible on the model of Christ,” the decree states.For     the Order of Friars Minor, this time is also an opportunity for the faithful to become “models of holiness of life and constant witnesses of peace.”On the occasion of this anniversary, Pope Leo XIV addressed     a letter to the ministers general of the Franciscan Family Conference in which he emphasized that “in this era, marked by so many seemingly endless wars, by internal and social divisions that create distrust and fear, he continues to speak. Not because he offers technical solutions, but because his life points to the authentic source of peace.”In this regard, he highlighted that St. Francis reminds us that “peace with God, peace among people, and peace with creation are inseparable dimensions of a single call to universal reconciliation.”This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, proclaims, Franciscan, Jubilee, Year</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Order of Malta seeks greater UN role as hospital in Bethlehem faces operational constraints</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/order-of-malta-seeks-greater-un-role-as-hospital-in-bethlehem-faces-operational-constraints</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/order-of-malta-seeks-greater-un-role-as-hospital-in-bethlehem-faces-operational-constraints</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Grand Master Fra’ John Dunlap addresses the diplomatic corps accredited to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta at the Magistral Villa on Rome’s Aventine Hill on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. | Credit: Order of Malta

Jan 13, 2026 / 11:11 am (CNA).
The Order of Malta’s Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem is facing severe operational constraints and its mobile clinics remain unable to reach Bedouin villages in the West Bank due to movement restrictions and violence, the order’s grand master told diplomats Jan. 10.Fra’ John Dunlap said in his annual     address to the diplomatic corps that the 900-year-old Catholic order is committed to help reconstruction efforts in Gaza City led by Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, and other partners.Middle East operations centralThe ties to the Middle East are central to the order’s mission, particularly in Lebanon and the Holy Land, Dunlap told the diplomatic corps accredited to the order at the Magistral Villa on Rome’s Aventine Hill.He expressed concern about restrictions on movement, violence, and persistent shortages of essential services in the West Bank, citing the operational challenges facing Holy Family Hospital and the inability of mobile clinics to reach Bedouin communities.Latin America remains a region of paramount importance, Dunlap said, announcing a regional conference of the Order of Malta for the Americas in Buenos Aires in autumn 2026 to streamline regional humanitarian initiatives.Africa continues to receive substantial investment through specialized programs of Ordre de Malte France and Malteser International, with newly established relations with Gambia and Burundi yielding rapid progress, he said.Ukraine constituted a major focus, with Dunlap calling for hostilities to cease and full protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure. The order expressed readiness to support dialogue initiatives “in full respect of its principles of neutrality and impartiality.”UN status soughtThe order aspires to attain “enhanced status” within the United Nations that more accurately reflects the nature and breadth of its worldwide activities, Dunlap concluded.The order currently holds permanent observer status at the U.N. and maintains diplomatic relations with 115 countries.Ambassador Antoine Zanga of Cameroon, dean of the diplomatic corps, praised the order’s “humanitarian diplomacy” in     his response speech and invited Dunlap to continue promoting “charity, solidarity, peace, and defense of international humanitarian law in a world where the rules are fading.”Dunlap described 2025 as a year of exceptional intensity, marked by the jubilee, the death of Pope Francis, and the election of Pope Leo XIV, which “profoundly resonated across both the life of the universal Church and the broader international community.”“The order is truly the institution of the Gospel, which it follows as Jesus taught it through his apostles,” Bolivian Ambassador Teresa Susana Subieta Serrano shared with CNA after the speech of the grand master. She noted that the grand master mentioned Latin America as a region of paramount importance for the order.“We recognize many good things that the order is doing. I am also the special envoy of my country to Africa, so I appreciate the particular mention of this continent. My intention is to do projects in Africa together with the order,” Slovenian Ambassador Franc But told CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://res.cloudinary.com/ewtn/image/upload/v1768300393/NICU9919-copia-1536x1024_ax7afj.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Order, Malta, seeks, greater, role, hospital, Bethlehem, faces, operational, constraints</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Dozens of Charlotte priests query Vatican over bishop’s move to abolish altar rails, kneelers</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/dozens-of-charlotte-priests-query-vatican-over-bishops-move-to-abolish-altar-rails-kneelers</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/dozens-of-charlotte-priests-query-vatican-over-bishops-move-to-abolish-altar-rails-kneelers</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  St. Patrick Cathedral in the Diocese of Charlotte. | Credit: Diocese of Charlotte

Jan 13, 2026 / 11:41 am (CNA).
Reacting to Bishop Michael Martin’s Dec. 17, 2025, pastoral letter announcing the impending abolishment of altar rails and kneelers in the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, 31 of the diocese’s priests have signed a letter to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Legislative Texts containing a set of questions, or “dubia,” related to the matter.    According to The Pillar, which obtained a leaked copy of the diocesan priests’ letter last week, the priests directly question “whether a diocesan bishop may prohibit the use of kneelers to assist members of the faithful who, of their own accord, wish to receive holy Communion kneeling.” In December, Martin issued a pastoral letter saying that by Jan. 16, the use of altar rails, kneelers, and “prie-dieus” (movable kneelers) will no longer be permitted in the diocese, and any “temporary or movable fixtures used for kneeling for the reception of Communion” must be removed.In his     pastoral letter, Martin said while an “individual member of the faithful” is free to kneel to receive and should not be denied Communion, the “normative posture for all the faithful in the United States is standing,”     per guidelines from the U.S. bishops.“The faithful who feel compelled to kneel to receive the Eucharist as is their individual right should also prayerfully consider the blessing of communal witness that is realized when we share a common posture,” he wrote.In their letter to the Vatican, the diocesan priests specifically question the bishop’s actions to impede the faithful from kneeling at built-in altar rails when that is the norm for a parish, a practice the bishop has insisted upon when he celebrates Mass at such churches in the diocese, according to Brian Williams, an advocate for Charlotte’s Traditional Latin Mass community.When Martin concelebrated a Mass with several other bishops     last summer at a parish whose commmunicants usually receive at temporary kneelers, per the bishop’s direction, according to Williams, Communion was distributed in front of the kneelers to discourage parishioners from kneeling.“Since an altar rail is a common and traditional ‘structure and ornamentation’ that marks off the sanctuary from the body of the church within the Roman rite, it is asked whether a diocesan bishop has the legitimate authority to prohibit the erection of altar rails within churches or other sacred places in his diocese,” the diocese’s priests query in their letter, as reported by The Pillar.A priest in the Charlotte Diocese who wished to remain anonymous due to an alleged “atmosphere of fear, retaliation, and mistrust” told CNA that the actual number of the dubia’s supporters is “well north” of the 31, or a quarter of all priests in the diocese, who actually signed it.“Certain priests have prudentially decided to withhold their signature,” he told CNA.According to     a social media post by the Traditional Latin Mass community in Charlotte: “Several diocesan sources in Charlotte have confirmed that the actual support for the dubia is closer to 50% of priests, nearly double the number of signers.”In his December pastoral letter, Martin also specified norms for extraordinary ministers, prohibited the practice of intinction (when the consecrated bread is dipped into the wine before being placed on the tongue), and encouraged the reception of Communion under both kinds — the bread and the wine — which he says fell out of practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.In May 2025, a     draft of a letter detailing several other of Martin’s intended reforms of traditional practices in the diocese was leaked. In that letter, the bishop said that because “there is no mention in the conciliar documents, the reform of the liturgy, or current liturgical documents concerning the use of altar rails or kneelers for the distribution of holy Communion, they are not to be employed in the Diocese of Charlotte.”The diocesan priests’ Jan. 5 letter to the Vatican manifests that “both the leaked letter from this past summer and the pastoral letter of Dec. 17 have caused a great deal of concern amongst the priests and faithful of the Diocese of Charlotte, especially in those parishes that have allowed the faithful to use an altar rail or prie-dieu for the reception of holy Communion.”The diocesan priests’ letter also addresses issues from Martin’s leaked May letter in which the prelate suggested that certain liturgical practices and elements such as the use of Latin, ornately decorated vestments, certain prayers, and altar ornaments will be prohibited because they are not in accord with changes made after the Second Vatican Council.Asked about the Jan. 5 letter containing the dubia, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Charlotte told CNA that the bishop “has not ‘restricted kneeling.’”In a Jan. 8 statement to CNA, Martin stated: “My brother priests are always welcome to ask questions and seek clarification about the application of liturgical norms. To be clear, the only modifications that have been made since the Diocese of Charlotte last updated its liturgical norms in 2011 involve the distribution of holy Communion, as spelled out in my letter to the faithful in December.”Apparently referring to the leaked May letter, Martin continued: “Questions arising from the internal and confidential conversations of the Presbyteral Council are premature and lack substance, since no definitive action has taken place outside of the December 2025 letter. The norms highlighted in the letter keep our diocese aligned with the broader norms of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the universal Church.”  ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Dozens, Charlotte, priests, query, Vatican, over, bishop’s, move, abolish, altar, rails, kneelers</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV urges making time ‘to speak with God’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-making-time-to-speak-with-god</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-making-time-to-speak-with-god</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV gives the first general audience of 2026 in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Jan. 7, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 14, 2026 / 06:20 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV urged Christians on Wednesday to set aside time in their daily lives to speak with God in prayer and warned about the harm to one’s relationship with him when this is ignored.“Time dedicated to prayer, meditation, and reflection cannot be lacking in the Christian’s day and week,” the pontiff said during the catechesis at his general audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Jan. 14.The pope devoted the second week of his series of teachings on the documents of the Second Vatican Council to a closer examination of the dogmatic constitution Dei Verbum dedicated to divine revelation.Pointing to the document, he highlighted listening and dialogue with God as foundations of a Christian life.“From this perspective, the first attitude to cultivate is listening, so that the divine Word may penetrate our minds and our hearts; at the same time, we are required to speak with God, not to communicate to him what he already knows but to reveal ourselves to ourselves,” Leo said.The Holy Father also drew on the human experience of friendship to warn about the dangers of neglecting one’s spiritual life: “Our experience tells us that friendships can come to an end through a dramatic gesture of rupture, or because of a series of daily acts of neglect that erode the relationship until it is lost.”“If Jesus calls us to be friends, let us not leave this call unheeded. Let us welcome it, let us take care of this relationship, and we will discover that friendship with God is our salvation,” he said.The pope insisted that this living relationship with God is cultivated above all through prayer, understood as an authentic friendship with the Lord.This experience, he explained, is achieved first of all in liturgical and community prayer, “in which we do not decide what to hear from the Word of God, but it is he himself who speaks to us through the Church.” It is also achieved in personal prayer, which takes place “in the interiority of the heart and mind,” and which should form part of every believer’s day and week.‘Only when we speak with God can we also speak about him’The pontiff stressed that only from a personal relationship with God is it possible to bear authentic witness to the faith: “Only when we speak with God can we also speak about him.”Referring to the dogmatic constitution Dei Verbum, promulgated by St. Paul VI in 1965, Leo emphasized that Christian revelation is grounded in a living and personal dialogue between God and humanity. Through this dialogue, God reveals himself as an ally who invites each person into a true relationship of friendship.The pope noted that divine revelation has a profoundly dialogical character, proper to the experience of friendship: It does not tolerate silence but is nourished by the exchange of true words capable of creating communion.Leo XIV also distinguished between “words” and “chatter,” explaining that the latter remains on the surface and does not create authentic relationships. In genuine relationships, he said, words do not serve merely to exchange information but to reveal who we are and to establish a deep bond with the other.This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA&#039;s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, making, time, ‘to, speak, with, God’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Vatican prosecutor steps aside as London property trial appeal moves forward</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-prosecutor-steps-aside-as-london-property-trial-appeal-moves-forward</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-prosecutor-steps-aside-as-london-property-trial-appeal-moves-forward</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu in 2019. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN

Jan 14, 2026 / 11:45 am (CNA).
The Vatican’s Court of Cassation has cleared the way for the appeal phase of the Secretariat of State funds trial — commonly tied in headlines to Cardinal Angelo Becciu — rejecting last-ditch procedural challenges and accepting the recusal of Vatican Promoter of Justice Alessandro Diddi from the case.In two separate rulings — one brief and another running eight pages — the court closed the remaining disputes that had stalled the appeal proceedings over the Holy See’s investment in a luxury property on Sloane Avenue in London.The Cassation decisions mean the appeal will proceed without Diddi, and they also uphold the appeal court’s earlier finding that the promoter’s office filed its own appeal improperly and outside required procedures and deadlines. As a result, the appeal phase will now focus primarily on defense appeals — which could at most lead to reduced sentences or even acquittals for some defendants.The appeal trial is scheduled to resume Feb. 3.What the Cassation court decidedThe case reached the Court of Cassation after a series of procedural clashes in the appeal court, including:— defense motions seeking Diddi’s recusal following intercepted communications suggesting contacts with individuals involved in the wider case;— defense arguments that the promoter’s appeal was inadmissible because it failed to follow procedural rules and timelines; and— a countermove from the promoter’s office seeking to challenge the appeal court itself — effectively attempting to halt proceedings by disputing the court’s authority to declare the promoter’s appeal inadmissible.The Vatican’s Court of Cassation accepted Diddi’s decision to abstain from the case, a move that effectively ends the push to force a formal ruling against him. In its more detailed ruling, the court reaffirmed that the promoter’s appeal was filed incorrectly and that the appeal court acted properly in declaring it inadmissible.The court is presided over by Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, with Cardinals Matteo Zuppi, Augusto Paolo Lojudice, and Mauro Gambetti among the judges, alongside other members of the panel.Background: London deal and first verdictsThe broader trial centers on Vatican financial management tied to the Secretariat of State and its London real estate investment. Vatican prosecutors argued that intermediaries worked together to extract money from the Holy See as control of the property shifted between financiers.Becciu — the first cardinal tried by a Vatican civil tribunal following a decision by Pope Francis — was convicted in the first-instance verdict and sentenced to five years and six months in prison on charges including embezzlement and fraud. Other defendants received prison sentences as well, including Enrico Crasso (seven years), Raffaele Mincione (five years and six months), Cecilia Marogna (three years and nine months), and Gianluigi Torzi (six years). In total, first-instance convictions amounted to about 37 years of prison time, along with an order to confiscate 166 million euros ($193.6 million), though several defendants were acquitted on some counts.The appeal phase has unfolded in a changed Vatican context after the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV, who has signaled he intends to let Vatican justice proceed without the kinds of papal interventions that marked earlier stages of the case.This story was     first published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, prosecutor, steps, aside, London, property, trial, appeal, moves, forward</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Survivors praise pope’s words during consistory that not welcoming abuse victims is ‘scandal’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/survivors-praise-popes-words-during-consistory-that-not-welcoming-abuse-victims-is-scandal</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/survivors-praise-popes-words-during-consistory-that-not-welcoming-abuse-victims-is-scandal</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The pope warned that &quot;many times the pain of the victims has been greater because they were not welcomed and listened to.&quot;
The post Survivors praise pope’s words during consistory that not welcoming abuse victims is ‘scandal’ first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Survivors, praise, pope’s, words, during, consistory, that, not, welcoming, abuse, victims, ‘scandal’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Full text: Pope Leo XIV’s Angelus address Jan. 11, 2026</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/full-text-pope-leo-xivs-angelus-address-jan-11-2026</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/full-text-pope-leo-xivs-angelus-address-jan-11-2026</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;We confirm and renew our Baptism, the sacrament that makes us Christians, freeing us from sin and transforming us into children of God.&quot;
The post Full text: Pope Leo XIV’s Angelus address Jan. 11, 2026 first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Full, text:, Pope, Leo, XIV’s, Angelus, address, Jan., 11, 2026</media:keywords>
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<title>Parents can’t wait for children to choose baptism, says pope, baptizing 20 infants in Sistine Chapel</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/parents-cant-wait-for-children-to-choose-baptism-says-pope-baptizing-20-infants-in-sistine-chapel</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/parents-cant-wait-for-children-to-choose-baptism-says-pope-baptizing-20-infants-in-sistine-chapel</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ We wouldn&#039;t &quot;leave newborns without clothes or food, waiting for them to choose how to dress and what to eat as adults,&quot; would we?
The post Parents can’t wait for children to choose baptism, says pope, baptizing 20 infants in Sistine Chapel first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Parents, can’t, wait, for, children, choose, baptism, says, pope, baptizing, infants, Sistine, Chapel</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope embraces youth of Rome, tells them setting world ablaze requires a burning heart</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-embraces-youth-of-rome-tells-them-setting-world-ablaze-requires-a-burning-heart</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-embraces-youth-of-rome-tells-them-setting-world-ablaze-requires-a-burning-heart</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;It&#039;s very important that we try to build human relationships, good friendships, and above all, friendship with Jesus,&quot; the pope told thousands of young people.
The post Pope embraces youth of Rome, tells them setting world ablaze requires a burning heart first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, embraces, youth, Rome, tells, them, setting, world, ablaze, requires, burning, heart</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Anti&#45;trafficking advocates cite aid cuts, immigration crackdowns as key challenges</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/anti-trafficking-advocates-cite-aid-cuts-immigration-crackdowns-as-key-challenges</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/anti-trafficking-advocates-cite-aid-cuts-immigration-crackdowns-as-key-challenges</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The work of anti-trafficking advocates faces challenges due to funding downturns and fears of reprisal amid the Trump administration&#039;s immigration crackdowns.
The post Anti-trafficking advocates cite aid cuts, immigration crackdowns as key challenges first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Anti-trafficking, advocates, cite, aid, cuts, immigration, crackdowns, key, challenges</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV condemns violence in Iran, Syria, and Ukraine</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-condemns-violence-in-iran-syria-and-ukraine</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-condemns-violence-in-iran-syria-and-ukraine</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter&#039;s Square at the Vatican for the recitation of the Angelus on Jan. 11, 2026. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jan 11, 2026 / 08:25 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday lamented escalating violence in Iran and Syria and renewed his appeal for peace in Ukraine, while also offering a special blessing for children receiving baptism and praying for those born into “difficult circumstances.”Speaking after the Angelus on Jan. 11, the pope said: “My thoughts turn to the situation currently unfolding in the Middle East, especially in Iran and Syria, where ongoing tensions continue to claim many lives.” He added: “I hope and pray that dialogue and peace may be patiently nurtured in pursuit of the common good of the whole of society.”The pope’s remarks came amid unrest in Tehran, where anti-government protests that began about two weeks ago have left more than 70 people dead, according to human rights organizations.He also pointed to renewed fighting in Syria, where international media reports say clashes have erupted in Aleppo between the interim government’s army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces over control of neighborhoods in the city center. At least 14 civilians have been killed, with dozens injured and tens of thousands displaced, according to those reports.Turning to the war in Ukraine, Leo warned of the mounting toll of Russian strikes as winter intensifies.“In Ukraine, new attacks – particularly severe ones aimed at energy infrastructure as the cold weather grows harsher – are taking a heavy toll on the civilian population,” he said. “I pray for those who suffer and renew my appeal for an end to the violence and for renewed efforts to achieve peace.”Recent attacks have left more than one million homes without water or heat in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region.Earlier in the day, the pope celebrated Mass for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and baptized 20 newborns, the children of Vatican employees, in the Sistine Chapel. After the Angelus, he said he wanted to extend his blessing “to all children who have received or will receive Baptism during these days – in Rome and throughout the world – entrusting them to the maternal care of the Virgin Mary.”He added: “In a particular way, I pray for children born into difficult circumstances, whether due to health conditions or external dangers. May the grace of Baptism, which unites them to the Paschal Mystery of Christ, bear fruit in their lives and in the lives of their families.”During his Angelus reflection, Leo spoke about the meaning of Christ’s baptism and how the sacrament of baptism makes believers “children of God through the power of his Spirit of life,” encouraging the faithful to remember “the great gift we have received” and to bear witness to it “with joy and authenticity.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/mat2825-2.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, condemns, violence, Iran, Syria, and, Ukraine</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV baptizes 20 infants in Sistine Chapel, tells parents faith is ‘more than necessary’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-baptizes-20-infants-in-sistine-chapel-tells-parents-faith-is-more-than-necessary</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-baptizes-20-infants-in-sistine-chapel-tells-parents-faith-is-more-than-necessary</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV baptizes a child in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, January 11, 2026. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jan 11, 2026 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV baptized 20 infants, the children of Vatican employees, during Mass in the Sistine Chapel on Sunday for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.In his homily, the pope urged parents to see faith as essential for their children’s lives, comparing it to the basic care no newborn can do without.“When we know that something good is essential, we immediately seek it for those we love,” he said. “Who among us, in fact, would leave newborns without clothes or without nourishment, waiting for them to choose when they are grown how to dress and what to eat?”“Dear friends, if food and clothing are necessary to live, faith is more than necessary, because with God life finds salvation,” the pope said.Baptism as God’s closenessReflecting on the Gospel account of Jesus’ baptism, Leo said the Lord chooses to be found where people least expect him — “the Holy One among sinners” — drawing near without keeping distance. He pointed to Jesus’ reply to John the Baptist: “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us to fulfill all righteousness,” explaining that God’s “righteousness” is his saving action, by which the Father makes humanity righteous through Christ.The pope described Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan as a sign renewed with deeper meaning — “death and resurrection, forgiveness and communion” — and said the sacrament celebrated for the infants is rooted in God’s love.“The children you now hold in your arms are transformed into new creatures,” Leo told parents. “Just as from you, their parents, they have received life, so now they receive the meaning for living it: faith.”A word to mothers and fathersLeo emphasized the role of parents as the first witnesses and educators of faith, saying God’s provident love becomes visible on earth through mothers and fathers who ask for faith for their children.He also noted the changing seasons of family life: “Certainly, the day will come when they will become heavy to hold in your arms; and the day will also come when they will be the ones to support you.”The pope prayed that the sacrament would strengthen families in lasting love: “May baptism, which unites us in the one family of the Church, sanctify all your families at all times, giving strength and constancy to the affection that unites you.”The signs of baptismTurning to the rites themselves, Leo explained the meaning of baptism’s symbols: “The water of the font is the washing in the Spirit, which purifies from every sin; the white garment is the new robe that God the Father gives us for the eternal feast of his Kingdom; the candle lit from the paschal candle is the light of the risen Christ, which illumines our path.”“I wish you to continue it with joy throughout the year that has just begun and for your whole life, certain that the Lord will always accompany your steps,” he said.The baptism of children of Vatican employees is a tradition begun in 1981 by St. John Paul II. The first ceremonies were held in the Pauline Chapel, and since 1983 the annual celebration has taken place in the Sistine Chapel.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, baptizes, infants, Sistine, Chapel, tells, parents, faith, ‘more, than, necessary’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV to cardinals: ‘We gather not to promote personal or group agendas’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-cardinals-we-gather-not-to-promote-personal-or-group-agendas</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-cardinals-we-gather-not-to-promote-personal-or-group-agendas</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV arrives at St. Peter’s Basilica for a Mass with cardinals on Jan. 8, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 8, 2026 / 17:04 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday called on cardinals to experience the extraordinary consistory as a time of spiritual discernment in unity and warned against the temptation to put personal interests ahead of the common good.“We gather not to promote personal or group ‘agendas’ but to entrust our plans and inspirations to a discernment that transcends us — ‘as the heavens are higher than the earth’ — and which comes only from the Lord,” he said in     his homily for the Mass he celebrated Jan. 8 in St. Peter’s Basilica with the cardinals present in Rome for this important two-day ecclesial meeting convened to help him make decisions about the future of the Catholic Church.Leo XIV urged the cardinals to experience the Eucharist as the place where this discernment is purified and transformed, asking them to place all their “hopes and ideas upon the altar.”Truly listening to the voice of God“Only in this way will we truly know how to listen to his voice and to welcome it through the gift that we are to one another — which is the very reason we have gathered,” he added.The pope linked this vision to the spirituality of communion, recalling that Christian love is “Trinitarian” and “relational,” and quoted St. John Paul II, who defined it as “the heart’s contemplation of the mystery of the Trinity dwelling in us.”Pope Leo XIV during the consecration at the Mass for the consistory of cardinals on Jan. 8, 2026, at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican MediaThis extraordinary consistory — different from the ordinary ones, which are more limited and frequent — was planned to take place immediately after the Jubilee of Hope to “offer support and advice to the Holy Father in the exercise of his high and arduous responsibility of governing the Church,” according to a statement from the Holy See.St. John Paul II convened six extraordinary consistories during his 26-year pontificate, while Pope Benedict XVI chose to hold consultative meetings with the cardinals on the eve of the ordinary consistories. In total, he held three such meetings during his pontificate.During the 12 years of his pontificate, Pope Francis held only one extraordinary consistory, on Feb. 20, 2014, which focused primarily on the family and marriage, ahead of the Synod on the Family held that same year.Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass with cardinals at the consistory on Jan. 8, 2026. | Credit: Vatican MediaUnlike his predecessor, who preferred to consult with a smaller council, Leo XIV convened the entire College of Cardinals to assist him in governing the universal Church.Evangelization and synodalityThe cardinals are expected to offer the new pontiff their views on two specific topics: the Synod and synodality, and the mission of evangelization and the missionary character of the Church in light of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation     Evangelii Gaudium. Initially, the meeting topics also included discussions on the liturgy and the apostolic constitution     Praedicate Evangelium, but lack of time has limited the issues that will be addressed.The pontiff reflected on the very meaning of the consistory, recalling that the word “consistorium” in Latin refers to the idea of ​​“pausing.” “Indeed, all of us have ‘paused’ in order to be here. We have set aside our activities for a time, and even canceled important commitments, so as to discern together what the Lord is asking of us for the good of his people,” he emphasized.Not a group of experts, but a community of faithIn his homily, the Holy Father reminded those present that this gathering is not about a “mere group of experts” but “a community of faith. Only when the gifts that each person brings are offered to the Lord and returned by him, will they bear the greatest fruit according to his providence.”Cardinals arrive for the Mass during the consistory on Jan. 8, 2026, at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican MediaThe pontiff also recalled the words of St. Leo the Great to emphasize the communal dimension of ecclesial service: “In this way,” he said, “‘the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the sick visited, and no one seeks his or her own interests, but those of others.’”Referring to the challenges of today’s world, marked by profound inequalities and a widespread “hunger for goodness and peace,” the pope acknowledged the feeling of inadequacy in the face of the mission but encouraged them to face it together, trusting in providence.“We will be able to help one another — and in particular, to help the pope — to find the “five loaves and two fish” that providence “never fails to provide,” he affirmed.Leo XIV concluded his homily by offering the cardinals his “heartfelt thanks” for their service and reminding them that, even if they don’t always manage to find solutions to the problems they face.‘We may not always find immediate solutions to the problems we face’“We may not always be able to find immediate solutions to the problems we face. Yet in every place and circumstance, we will be able to help one another — and in particular, to help the pope,” he said, calling for collaboration.“Beloved brothers,” the pope noted, “what you offer to the Church through your service, at every level, is something profound and very personal, unique to each of you and precious to all.”According to what the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, reported Jan. 7, of the 245 cardinals who currently make up the College of Cardinals, 170 are in Rome participating in the closed-door meetings that concluded Thursday.This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, cardinals:, ‘We, gather, not, promote, personal, group, agendas’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>‘Pray with the Pope’: Leo XIV proposes monthly prayer for the challenges of the world</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pray-with-the-pope-leo-xiv-proposes-monthly-prayer-for-the-challenges-of-the-world</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pray-with-the-pope-leo-xiv-proposes-monthly-prayer-for-the-challenges-of-the-world</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Official image of the “Pray with the Pope” campaign for January 2026. | Credit: World Prayer Network

Jan 8, 2026 / 17:40 pm (CNA).
The Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication has launched a new prayer campaign in which Pope Leo XIV invites Catholics to pray with him for the great challenges facing the world.The “Pray with the Pope” initiative is part of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which, during the pontificate of Pope Francis, launched the project known as “The Pope’s Video,” through which the faithful were invited each month to unite in prayer for a specific intention.Continuing this mission, the new campaign not only invites people to pray but also offers a specific prayer from Leo XIV, who will present his monthly intention from a renewed perspective, encouraging an intimate and serene experience with Christ.Transforming life from withinAccording to Jesuit Father Cristobal Fones, international director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, who presented the initiative Jan. 7 in Rome alongside Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, the initiative proposes “a shared inner experience that aspires to transform life from within.”The focus of this new phase, as the Jesuit priest explained, “will be more centered on supporting a spiritual experience, which often becomes difficult amidst our busy and noise-filled daily lives.”“The pope is very aware of this and wants to help us, inviting us to pray together for others,” he added. The “update” of the initiative, according to Fones, stems “from the profound need we have to slow down in order to achieve greater depth in our decisions and relationships.”With a simple and accessible format, “Pray with the Pope” aims to allow anyone, wherever they are, to join in the Holy Father’s prayer intention, which this year 2026 begins with the invitation to “learn to pray with the most definitive Word, which is not our own, so full of empty promises, but Jesus Christ.”In this month’s video, Pope Leo XIV is seen silently reading a passage from the Bible in the presence of the Lord, and then he recites a short prayer:“Lord Jesus, living word of the Father, in you we find the light that guides our steps.“We know that the human heart lives restless, hungry for meaning, and only your Gospel can give it peace and fullness.“Teach us to listen to you each day in the Scriptures, to let ourselves be challenged by your voice, and to discern our decisions from the closeness to your heart.“May your word be nourishment in weariness, hope in darkness, and strength in our communities.“Lord, may your word never be absent from our lips or from our hearts — the word that makes us sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, disciples and missionaries of your kingdom.“Make us a Church that prays with the word, that builds upon it and shares it with joy, so that in every person the hope of a new world may be born again.“May our faith grow in the encounter with you through your word, moving us from the heart to reach out to others, to serve the most vulnerable, to forgive, build bridges, and proclaim life. Amen.”Countering the globalization of indifferenceFor Fones, this January’s intention will be the basis for the rest of the year’s intentions, which will include children with incurable diseases, the end of war, priests in crisis, respect for human life, and families experiencing the absence of a mother or father, among others.The priest explained that the initiative also seeks to “highlight important and crucial issues for everyone, opening our hearts to urgent realities and transforming our environment to counteract the globalization of indifference.”The campaign can be followed on the     pope’s prayer website in several languages, and will also be available in audio format through Vatican Radio and partner platforms such as Pray as You Go, RezandoVoy, and Hallow. The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is currently present in more than 90 countries and reaches over 22 million people.This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV to hold next consistory in June, hopes for annual meetings with cardinals</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-hold-next-consistory-in-june-hopes-for-annual-meetings-with-cardinals</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-hold-next-consistory-in-june-hopes-for-annual-meetings-with-cardinals</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Cardinals meet with Pope Leo XIV in the third session of the consistory on Jan. 8, 2025, at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 8, 2026 / 19:18 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV will be hosting a second consistory of cardinals at the end of June and wants to hold such meetings annually.The Vatican made the announcement Thursday evening at the conclusion of the Holy Father’s first extraordinary consistory of cardinals that lasted two days. The next such meeting is expected to be held on June 27–28, the vigil of Sts. Peter and Paul.Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope would like to hold annual meetings lasting three to four days, allowing more time for discussion on various topics of importance and for free interventions by the members of the Sacred College of Cardinals.Cardinal Stephen Brislin of Johannesburg, South Africa, told reporters at a closing Vatican briefing that he and the other cardinals found this consistory a “very enriching and very deepening experience.” He said they also appreciated that it also gave the opportunity for the cardinals to “get to know each other and to listen to each other.” The fact that the pope wishes to hold more meetings, he added, shows that the pope, too, “found it very important” and helpful. The cardinal said some doubts were expressed when they were told they would be split into small groups, and “certainly a concern” was that there would be insufficient opportunity for them “to express themselves and to listen to others.” Still, he said he thought the way the groups were constructed, having been split into two blocks, was “very helpful” and “gave the opportunity for every cardinal to speak,” even if it wasn’t heard by the whole assembly. The liturgy was briefly mentioned, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, archbishop emeritus of Durban, South Africa, told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner. But he said the Traditional Latin Mass and “particulars like that” were not discussed. “I think the whole thing was how do we get the whole Church onto the same level at evangelizing, I think that was the main point,” he said.” Hope was expressed by various cardinals that other topics not discussed would be covered at forthcoming consistories. Little information emerged both during and after the consistory as cardinals told reporters that Pope Leo had instructed them to keep the proceedings confidential. Nevertheless, Brislin, who was joined by Filippino Cardinal Pablo David and Colombian Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio at Thursday’s press briefing, spoke relatively freely. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, hold, next, consistory, June, hopes, for, annual, meetings, with, cardinals</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo condemns ‘zeal for war,’ weak multilateralism in speech to diplomats</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-condemns-zeal-for-war-weak-multilateralism-in-speech-to-diplomats</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-condemns-zeal-for-war-weak-multilateralism-in-speech-to-diplomats</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives to the Holy See in the Apostolic Palace on Jan. 9, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 9, 2026 / 10:17 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV condemned the weakening of international multilateralism and the increased use of force in a speech to diplomats at the Vatican on Friday.He also said states should respect fundamental human rights, such as religious freedom and freedom of speech, and comply with international humanitarian law in     the lengthiest speech to date of his pontificate.“A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies. War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading,” he told ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives to the Holy See in the Apostolic Palace on Jan. 9. Currently, 184 states have diplomatic relations with the Holy See.“Peace is no longer sought as a gift and a desirable good in itself,” the pontiff continued. “Instead, peace is sought through weapons as a condition for asserting one’s own dominion. This gravely threatens the rule of law, which is the foundation of all peaceful civil coexistence.”The Holy Father called for concern for the common good of peoples to take precedence over “the defense of partisan interests” amid escalating tensions, pointing in particular to Venezuela, for which he reiterated an appeal “to respect the will of the Venezuelan people, and to safeguard the human and civil rights of all.”Leo framed his speech, part of the annual new year greeting to the diplomatic corps, within St. Augustine of Hippo’s work of Christian philosophy “De Civitate Dei” (“City of God”).“The ‘City of God’ does not propose a political program. Instead, it offers valuable reflections on fundamental issues concerning social and political life, such as the search for a more just and peaceful coexistence among peoples. Augustine also warns of the grave dangers to political life arising from false representations of history, excessive nationalism and the distortion of the ideal of the political leader,” the pope said.He called “City of God,” written in the fifth century, highly relevant to the present time, marked by widespread migration and the “profound readjustment of geopolitical balances and cultural paradigms.”Pope Leo XIV greets ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives to the Holy See in the Apostolic Palace on Jan. 9, 2026. | Credit: Vatican MediaHuman rights short-circuitedLeo lamented what he called a “short circuit” of human rights around the world today, especially the right to life.“We firmly reiterate that the protection of the right to life constitutes the indispensable foundation of every other human right. A society is healthy and truly progresses only when it safeguards the sanctity of human life and works actively to promote it,” he said.He also called out the restriction of the right to freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, religious freedom, and the right to life in favor of other “so-called new rights,” so that “the very framework of human rights is losing its vitality and creating space for force and oppression.”“This occurs when each right becomes self-referential, and especially when it becomes disconnected from reality, nature, and truth,” he added.Christian persecutionPope Leo said     Christian persecution is one of the most widespread human rights crises today, with over 380 million believers around the world suffering high or extreme levels of discrimination, violence, and oppression.He recalled the victims of religiously motivated violence in Bangladesh, in the Sahel region, in Nigeria, and those killed or injured in the terrorist attack on the parish of St. Elias in Damascus in June.The pontiff also decried “a subtle form of religious discrimination against Christians” taking place even in Christian-majority countries in Europe and the Americas.“There, they are sometimes restricted in their ability to proclaim the truths of the Gospel for political or ideological reasons, especially when they defend the dignity of the weakest, the unborn, refugees and migrants, or promote the family,” he said.Leo also called for respect for the freedom of other religious communities and the rejection of all forms of antisemitism.Pope Leo XIV greets ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives to the Holy See in the Hall of the Blessing in the Apostolic Palace on Jan. 9, 2026. | Credit: Vatican MediaThe meaning of wordsThe Holy Father also spoke about debates over the meaning of words and how they are tied to attacks on freedom of expression.“Rediscovering the meaning of words is perhaps one of the primary challenges of our time. When words lose their connection to reality, and reality itself becomes debatable and ultimately incommunicable,” he said.“We should also note the paradox that this weakening of language is often invoked in the name of freedom of expression itself. However, on closer inspection, the opposite is true, for freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed precisely by the certainty of language and the fact that every term is anchored in the truth,” he noted.He called it painful to see the space for genuine freedom of expression rapidly shrink, especially in the West.“At the same time, a new Orwellian-style language is developing which, in an attempt to be increasingly inclusive, ends up excluding those who do not conform to the ideologies that are fueling it,” he said.A consequence of this, Leo said, is that the freedom of conscience, another fundamental human right, is increasingly questioned by states.The freedom of conscience, which “establishes a balance between the collective interest and individual dignity,” protects individuals “to refuse legal or professional obligations that conflict with moral, ethical, or religious principles deeply rooted in their personal lives,” such as military service, abortion, or euthanasia.“Conscientious objection is not rebellion but an act of fidelity to oneself,” he underlined.Life and the familyPope Leo urged states to protect the institution of the family as “the vocation to love and to life” manifested in the “exclusive and indissoluble union between a woman and a man” and implying a “fundamental ethical imperative for enabling families to welcome and fully care for unborn life.”Noting the increasing priority of raising birth rates, he emphasized life as a gift to be cherished and said “we categorically reject any practice that denies or exploits the origin of life and its development,” including abortion and surrogacy.He added that the Holy See is also concerned about projects aimed at financing cross-border mobility to increase access to abortion and “considers it deplorable that public resources are allocated to suppress life rather than being invested to support mothers and families.”Pope Leo XIV poses with ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives to the Holy See in the Sistine Chapel on Jan. 9, 2026. | Credit: Vatican MediaFor the sick and elderly, “civil society and states also have a responsibility to respond concretely to situations of vulnerability, offering solutions to human suffering, such as palliative care, and promoting policies of authentic solidarity rather than encouraging deceptive forms of compassion such as euthanasia,” he said.The pontiff underlined the inalienable dignity of every person and that migrants, as people, have “inalienable rights that must be respected in every situation.”“I renew the Holy See’s hope that the actions taken by states against criminality and human trafficking will not become a pretext for undermining the dignity of migrants and refugees,” he said.Pride and self-loveLeo recalled that in Augustine’s “City of God,” the saint interprets events and history according to a model of two cities. The city of God is characterized by God’s unconditional love and love for one’s neighbor, especially the poor, while the earthly city “is centered on pride and self-love (‘amor sui’), on the thirst for worldly power and glory that leads to destruction.”“While St. Augustine highlights the coexistence of the heavenly and earthly cities until the end of time, our era seems somewhat inclined to deny the city of God its ‘right of citizenship,’” the pope noted.“Yet, as Augustine notes, ‘Great is the folly of pride in those individuals who think that the supreme good can be found in this life and that they can become happy by their own resources,’” Leo said. “Pride obscures both reality itself and our empathy towards others. It is no coincidence that pride is always at the root of every conflict.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, condemns, ‘zeal, for, war, ’, weak, multilateralism, speech, diplomats</media:keywords>
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<title>At consistory, Cardinal Zen slams synodality as ‘ironclad manipulation’ and ‘insult’ to bishops</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/at-consistory-cardinal-zen-slams-synodality-as-ironclad-manipulation-and-insult-to-bishops</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/at-consistory-cardinal-zen-slams-synodality-as-ironclad-manipulation-and-insult-to-bishops</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun speaks at the Asianews Conference at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, Nov. 18, 2014.  -  Bohumil Petrik/CNA.

Jan 10, 2026 / 11:30 am (CNA).
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun delivered a forceful critique of synodality at the extraordinary consistory of cardinals this week, decrying the process as an “ironclad manipulation” that was an “insult to the dignity of the bishops.” The bishop emeritus of Hong Kong also described the “continual reference to the Holy Spirit” during the 2021-2024 Synod on Synodality as “ridiculous and almost blasphemous.” The cardinal, 93, made his remarks during one of two free discussion periods during the Jan. 7-8 consistory that drew together 170 of the 245 members of the College of Cardinals in Pope Leo XIV’s first major meeting with the sacred college since his election.In impassioned comments, first     reported Jan. 9 by the College of Cardinals Report, the bishop emeritus criticized Pope Francis for bypassing the college of bishops while at the same time Francis was insisting it was an appropriate means for “understanding the hierarchical ministry.”The cardinal questioned the ability of any pope to listen to the entire People of God and whether the laity represent the People of God. He asked if the bishops elected to take part in the synodal process had been able to carry out a work of discernment. “The ironclad manipulation of the process is an insult to the dignity of the bishops, and the continual reference to the Holy Spirit is ridiculous and almost blasphemous,” Zen said. “They expect surprises from the Holy Spirit. What surprises? That he should repudiate what he inspired in the Church’s two-thousand-year tradition?”The cardinal also observed apparent inconsistencies in the synod’s     final document: That it was declared to be part of the magisterium and yet it said it did not establish any norms; that although it stressed unity of teaching and practice, it said these could be applied according to “different contexts;” and that each country or region “can seek solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its tradition and needs.”The cardinal also pointed to what he called “many ambiguous and tendentious expressions in the document,” and asked if the Holy Spirit guarantees that “contradictory interpretations will not arise.” Zen openly wondered whether the results of what the document calls “experimenting and testing” of these “new forms of ministeriality” will be submitted to the Synod Secretariat and, if so, whether the secretariat will be “more competent than the bishops to judge different contexts” of the Church in various countries or regions. “If the bishops believe themselves to be more competent, do the differing interpretations and choices not lead our Church to the same division (fracture) found in the Anglican Communion?” the cardinal asked.Regarding the Orthodox Church, Zen said he believes their bishops “will never accept” what he called “Bergoglian synodality” as, for them, synodality is “the importance of the Synod of Bishops.” Pope Francis, he said, “exploited the word synod, but has made the Synod of Bishops — an institution established by Paul VI — disappear.” Zen’s remark was an apparent reference to how the late pope had reshaped the institution by giving non-bishops a formal role, making the institution no longer simply an episcopal advisory body.The Vatican press office and cardinals chosen to speak to the press made no mention of Zen’s remarks during the consistory. In press statements, it was claimed there was no criticism of Pope Francis during the two-day meeting, although Cardinal Stephen Brislin did speak of a “divergence” of opinion, saying some cardinals wanted the concept of synodality to be further clarified. The consistory was a closed-door meeting to which no media were admitted, and cardinals were asked to keep the proceedings confidential. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>As Maduro faces New York trial, uncertainty lingers for Venezuelan migrants</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/as-maduro-faces-new-york-trial-uncertainty-lingers-for-venezuelan-migrants</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/as-maduro-faces-new-york-trial-uncertainty-lingers-for-venezuelan-migrants</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Millions of Venezuelans live abroad due to the situation in Venezuela, including in the U.S.
The post As Maduro faces New York trial, uncertainty lingers for Venezuelan migrants first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Maduro, faces, New, York, trial, uncertainty, lingers, for, Venezuelan, migrants</media:keywords>
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<title>Jesuit missionaries and a log chapel: Exploring the Catholic history of Delaware</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/jesuit-missionaries-and-a-log-chapel-exploring-the-catholic-history-of-delaware</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/jesuit-missionaries-and-a-log-chapel-exploring-the-catholic-history-of-delaware</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ As the nation marks the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution this year, this series will examine the origins of the church and Catholic life in each of the 50…
The post Jesuit missionaries and a log chapel: Exploring the Catholic history of Delaware first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Jesuit, missionaries, and, log, chapel:, Exploring, the, Catholic, history, Delaware</media:keywords>
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<title>New Orleans archbishop apologizes to abuse survivors as settlement takes effect</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/new-orleans-archbishop-apologizes-to-abuse-survivors-as-settlement-takes-effect</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/new-orleans-archbishop-apologizes-to-abuse-survivors-as-settlement-takes-effect</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ (OSV News) — Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans has issued a formal apology to abuse survivors in that archdiocese, following last month’s court approval of a $230 million…
The post New Orleans archbishop apologizes to abuse survivors as settlement takes effect first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>New, Orleans, archbishop, apologizes, abuse, survivors, settlement, takes, effect</media:keywords>
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<title>Vatican sees record number of visitors during Jubilee year, officials say</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-sees-record-number-of-visitors-during-jubilee-year-officials-say</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-sees-record-number-of-visitors-during-jubilee-year-officials-say</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ An estimated 33 million visitors and pilgrims came to the Vatican to celebrate the Jubilee Year, exceeding early forecasts, officials said.
The post Vatican sees record number of visitors during Jubilee year, officials say first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, sees, record, number, visitors, during, Jubilee, year, officials, say</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Indiana University running back carries Catholic values with him into playoffs</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/indiana-university-running-back-carries-catholic-values-with-him-into-playoffs</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/indiana-university-running-back-carries-catholic-values-with-him-into-playoffs</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Indiana University running back Roman Hemby is one of numerous transfers who have helped turn the 2025 Hoosiers into a No. 1-ranked, unbeaten powerhouse.
The post Indiana University running back carries Catholic values with him into playoffs first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Indiana, University, running, back, carries, Catholic, values, with, him, into, playoffs</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo names New York auxiliary bishop to lead Diocese of Rochester</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-names-new-york-auxiliary-bishop-to-lead-diocese-of-rochester</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-names-new-york-auxiliary-bishop-to-lead-diocese-of-rochester</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Rochester, New York. | Credit: DanielPenfield via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Jan 7, 2026 / 09:07 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday named New York Auxiliary Bishop John S. Bonnici to lead the Diocese of Rochester, New York.Bonnici, 60, was made an auxiliary bishop for New York in March 2022 after 30 years as a priest of the archdiocese. In Rochester, he succeeds Bishop Salvatore R. Matano, who is 79.Bonnici holds a doctorate from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute in Washington (1995) and a licentiate degree from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute (1992) in Rome, where he also studied at the Pontifical North American College and the Gregorian University (1987–1990) before his ordination.He was born in New York on Feb. 17, 1965, and earned bachelor of science degrees in biology and philosophy from St. John’s University in Queens, New York, in 1987.The Diocese of Rochester serves approximately 306,000 Catholics in the upstate region of the state of New York. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV emphasizes relevance of Second Vatican Council before meeting with cardinals</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-emphasizes-relevance-of-second-vatican-council-before-meeting-with-cardinals</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-emphasizes-relevance-of-second-vatican-council-before-meeting-with-cardinals</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV gives the first general audience of 2026 in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Jan. 7, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 7, 2026 / 09:37 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV began a series of reflections on the Second Vatican Council at his first general audience of 2026 on Wednesday.The public audience, held indoors in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall due to low temperatures, took place shortly before the start of Leo’s first consultation with cardinals, called a consistory, convened for Jan. 7–8.The pope noted that though the Second Vatican Council took place just over 60 years ago, its generation of bishops, theologians, and lay Catholics is no longer alive — necessitating a renewed study of its teachings.“While we hear the call not to let [the council’s] prophecy fade, and to continue to seek ways and means to implement its insights, it will be important to get to know it again closely, and to do so not through ‘hearsay’ or interpretations that have been given, but by rereading its documents and reflecting on their content,” the pope said on the morning of Jan. 7.He affirmed that the magisterium of Vatican II “still constitutes the guiding star of the Church’s journey today.”“As the years have passed, the conciliar documents have lost none of their timeliness; indeed, their teachings are proving particularly relevant to the new situation of the Church and the current globalized society,” he said, quoting Pope Benedict XVI.Pope Leo XIV gives the first general audience of 2026 in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Jan. 7, 2026. | Credit: Vatican MediaThe Holy Father also recalled the original impulse of this great ecclesial event, convened by St. John XXIII, which paved “the way for a new ecclesial season” following a “rich biblical, theological, and liturgical reflection spanning the 20th century.”Leo reviewed some of the council’s principal fruits, including that it “rediscovered the face of God as the Father who, in Christ, calls us to be his children.”It also led, he said, to a renewed understanding of the Church “as a mystery of communion and sacrament of unity between God and his people,” and it initiated an important “liturgical reform” by placing the mystery of salvation and the active and conscious participation of the entire people of God at its center.“It helped us to open up to the world and to embrace the changes and challenges of the modern age in dialogue and co-responsibility, as a Church that wishes to open her arms to humanity,” he explained.Quoting St. Paul VI, he stated that the Church embarked on a new path in order “to seek the truth by way of ecumenism, interreligious dialogue, and dialogue with people of goodwill.”That same spirit, he added, “must characterize our spiritual life and the pastoral action of the Church, because we have yet to achieve ecclesial reform more fully in a ministerial sense and, in the face of today’s challenges, we are called to continue to be vigilant interpreters of the signs of the times, joyful proclaimers of the Gospel, courageous witnesses of justice and peace.”“As we approach the documents of Vatican Council II and rediscover their prophetic and contemporary relevance, we welcome the rich tradition of the life of the Church and, at the same time, we question ourselves about the present and renew our joy in running towards the world to bring it the Gospel of the kingdom of God, a kingdom of love, justice, and peace,” he said.This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA&#039;s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, emphasizes, relevance, Second, Vatican, Council, before, meeting, with, cardinals</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Ahead of consistory, priest urges new canonical structure to resolve Latin Mass standoff</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/ahead-of-consistory-priest-urges-new-canonical-structure-to-resolve-latin-mass-standoff</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/ahead-of-consistory-priest-urges-new-canonical-structure-to-resolve-latin-mass-standoff</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The concluding high Mass for the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage, an annual three-day pilgrimage for devotees of the Traditional Latin Mass, on Oct. 29, 2023, celebrated by Bishop Guido Pozzo at the Church of the Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims in Rome. | Credit: Andrea Zuffellato

Jan 7, 2026 / 10:37 am (CNA).
As cardinals gather this week in an extraordinary consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV on Jan. 7–8, a French traditionalist priest has sent a memorandum to members of the Sacred College of Cardinals proposing the creation of an ecclesiastical jurisdiction specifically structured to oversee the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass in an effort to resolve the liturgical crisis that has marked the Church in recent years.The letter, dated Dec. 24, 2025, and     made public by U.S. journalist Diane Montagna, was written by Father Louis-Marie de Blignières, founder of the Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrier in 1979 and a senior figure of the post-1988 Ecclesia Dei movement who took part in dialogue with St. John Paul II following Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s illicit episcopal consecrations.“Before the consistory, where liturgy will be on the agenda, I take the filial liberty of addressing this short memorandum to you,” de Blignières, 76, wrote at the outset, explaining that his purpose is to suggest “an ecclesial solution that could provide a stable framework for these faithful who are in full communion with the Catholic hierarchy and attached to the ancient Latin rite.”In practical terms, de Blignières proposes the creation of a new Church structure — such as a personal apostolic administration or an ordinariate — similar to a diocese but not tied to a specific territory. Instead of being organized by geography, it would bring together priests and faithful attached to the traditional Latin liturgy under a single authority wherever they are located.De Blignières pointed to existing canonical models, particularly military ordinariates, which exercise what canon law calls “cumulative jurisdiction.” Under this arrangement, priests and faithful attached to the traditional rite would belong to the new jurisdiction while remaining members of their local dioceses. Diocesan bishops would therefore not be bypassed but would share pastoral responsibility with bishops appointed to oversee the proposed structure.According to the letter, this would allow bishops familiar with the 1962 liturgical books to oversee ordinations, confirmations, and other rites specific to the traditional liturgy while relieving diocesan ordinaries who may feel unprepared or reluctant to manage these matters. For the faithful, it would offer clarity and continuity in a context that has often been marked by uncertainty and conflict.“For more than 60 years, this group has continued to exist and to grow, but it lacks the support of a juridical framework adapted to its legitimate needs,” de Blignières wrote. “The creation of dedicated ecclesiastical jurisdictions would move matters forward toward stability, peace, and unity.”The proposal comes amid renewed tensions following Pope Francis’ 2021 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, which significantly restricted the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass and reversed the more permissive regime established under Benedict XVI’s 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.Implementation of Traditionis Custodes has varied widely across dioceses. In some places, bishops have sought pragmatic arrangements to preserve coexistence. In others, traditional communities and liturgical celebrations have been heavily reduced or suppressed. Critics of the current situation argue that this uneven application has contributed to pastoral instability and deepened divisions within the Church, particularly in     France and the U.S.De Blignières framed his proposal not as a challenge to papal authority but as an attempt to offer a constructive way forward. In his view, the absence of a stable juridical solution since the end of the postconciliar liturgical reform has left communities attached to the older rite in a recurring state of vulnerability.Following the illicit episcopal consecrations carried out by Lefebvre in 1988, the Holy See created the     Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei to facilitate the reconciliation of communities attached to the liturgy in use prior to the postconciliar reform.Over the decades that followed, various proposals were already advanced to provide a more stable canonical framework for these communities. One such solution was adopted in 2002 with the establishment of the Personal Apostolic Administration Saint John Mary Vianney in Campos, Brazil, which was granted the faculty to celebrate the sacraments according to the 1962 Roman rite. Other initiatives, including petitions from lay associations such as Una Voce in the United States, did not result in comparable structures elsewhere.Father Matthieu Raffray, superior of the European District of the Institute of the Good Shepherd and a popular public figure among the youth,     commented on the proposal in an interview with Montagna, describing it as a constructive contribution rather than a demand. In his view, the proposal seeks to move beyond what he calls a “sterile” opposition by offering an institutional solution capable of preserving ecclesial communion while recognizing the distinct pastoral reality of communities attached to the vetus ordo.Other Church figures, however, have already expressed reservations. Father Pierre Amar, a priest of the Diocese of Versailles near Paris who is also well known on social media,     claimed that while a dedicated jurisdiction is “one solution,” it is “not the best one” in his view, warning that it could “isolate traditionalists within a structure, where contact and interaction are a source of enrichment for everyone.”The letter was sent to a number of cardinals known for their interest in liturgical questions — 15 by post and approximately 100 by email — but not directly to Pope Leo XIV. Its author presented it explicitly as a contribution to reflection ahead of the consistory rather than as a formal request. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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</item>

<item>
<title>As consistory opens, Pope Leo XIV tells cardinals ‘I am here to listen’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/as-consistory-opens-pope-leo-xiv-tells-cardinals-i-am-here-to-listen</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/as-consistory-opens-pope-leo-xiv-tells-cardinals-i-am-here-to-listen</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The extraordinary consistory of cardinals is taking place from Jan 7-8, 2026. Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 7, 2026 / 19:12 pm (CNA).
In his opening     address at the extraordinary consistory convened for Jan. 7–8, Pope Leo XIV assured the cardinals from around the world gathered at the Vatican that “I am here to listen.”The Holy Father reminded the cardinals, assembled in the Synod Hall, that “as we learned during the two assemblies of the Synod of Bishops in 2023 and 2024,” within the framework of the so-called Synod on Synodality, “the synodal dynamic implies a listening par excellence.”“We are called to get to know one another and to dialogue so that we may work together in serving the Church,” Pope Leo XIV told the cardinals on Jan. 7, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media“Every moment of this kind is an opportunity to deepen our shared appreciation for synodality,” Pope Leo said, recalling that in the speech Pope Francis delivered on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the institution of the Synod of Bishops in 2015, the late pontiff said that it is “precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.”“We must not arrive at a text,” the pope clarified regarding the task of the consistory, “but continue a conversation that will help me in serving the mission of the entire Church.”The 4 themes of the consistoryIn his address, the Holy Father outlined the four themes that will be discussed during the extraordinary consistory. Two of them are named after papal documents of his predecessor, Francis: the apostolic exhortation     Evangelii Gaudium and the apostolic constitution     Praedicate Evangelium.Evangelii Gaudium, he noted, has to do with “the mission of the Church in today’s world,” while Praedicate Evangelium refers to “the service of the Holy See, especially to the particular Churches.”The third and fourth topics will be “synod and synodality,” as “both an instrument and a style of collaboration,” and “the liturgy, the source and summit of Christian life.”However, he clarified, “due to time constraints and in order to encourage a genuinely in-depth analysis, only two of them will be discussed specifically.”“While each of the 21 groups will contribute to the choice that we will make, the groups that will be reporting will be those nine coming from the local Churches, since it is naturally easier for me to seek counsel from those who work in the Curia and live in Rome,” he added.On Jan. 8, he said, the two chosen themes will be addressed with the following question as a guide: “Looking at the path of the next one or two years, what considerations and priorities could guide the action of the Holy Father and of the Curia regarding each theme?”As the consistory proceeds, the pope called on the cardinals to be “attentive to the heart, mind, and spirit of each; listening to one another; expressing only the main point and in a succinct manner, so that all can speak.”“The ancient Romans in their wisdom used to say: ‘Non multa sed multum!’ [Not many things, but much],” Leo pointed out, a phrase understood as prioritizing quality over quantity.“And in the future, this way of listening to one another, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit and walking together, will continue to be of great help for the Petrine ministry entrusted to me,” he affirmed.“Even the way in which we learn to work together, with fraternity and sincere friendship, can give rise to something new, something that brings both the present and the future into focus,” Leo declared.A conciliar perspectiveFrom the beginning of his address, the pope made clear the perspective of the Second Vatican Council for this consistory, quoting the first paragraph of the dogmatic constitution     Lumen Gentium, which emphasizes that “Christ is the light of the nations” and that it is the Church’s duty to ensure that “all men, joined more closely today by various social, technical, and cultural ties, might also attain fuller unity in Christ.”“We can understand the overall pontificates of St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II within this conciliar perspective, which sees the mystery of the Church as entirely held within the mystery of Christ and thus understands the evangelizing mission as a radiation of the inexhaustible energy released by the central event of salvation history,” Leo XIV said.He then noted that both Benedict XVI and Francis “summarized this vision in one word: attraction.”“Pope Benedict did this in the inaugural homily of the Aparecida Conference in 2007 when he said: ‘The Church does not engage in proselytism. Instead, she grows by ‘attraction’: Just as Christ ‘draws all to himself’ by the power of his love, culminating in the sacrifice of the cross, so the Church fulfills her mission to the extent that, in union with Christ, she accomplishes every one of her works in spiritual and practical imitation of the love of her Lord,’” Leo recalled.“Pope Francis was in perfect agreement with this and repeated it several times in different contexts,” he added.‘Unity attracts, division scatters’Pope Leo XIV also emphasized in his speech that “unity attracts, division scatters. It seems to me that physics also confirms this, both on the microscopic and macroscopic levels.”“Therefore, in order to be a truly missionary Church, one that is capable of witnessing to the attractive power of Christ’s love, we must first of all put into practice his commandment, the only one he gave us after washing his disciples’ feet: ‘Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.’”“And he adds: ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another,’” the pope emphasized.The Holy Father went on to indicate that in the consistory, “we are a very diverse group, enriched by a wide range of backgrounds, cultures, ecclesial and social traditions, formative and academic paths, pastoral experiences, not to mention personal characteristics and traits.”“We are called first to get to know one another and to dialogue, so that we may work together in serving the Church. I hope that we can grow in communion and thus offer a model of collegiality,” he said.This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<item>
<title>Pope says Christian hope doesn’t depend on human calculations</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-says-christian-hope-doesnt-depend-on-human-calculations</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-says-christian-hope-doesnt-depend-on-human-calculations</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the recitation of the Angelus on Jan. 4, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jan 4, 2026 / 05:20 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV said Christian hope “is not based on optimistic forecasts or human calculations” but on God’s decision to share humanity’s path so that no one is alone on life’s journey.Speaking Jan. 4 from the window of the Apostolic Palace to hundreds of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square despite the rain, the pope said the foundation of Christian hope is “God’s Incarnation,” pointing to the day’s Gospel reading from the Prologue of St. John: “The Word became flesh and lived among us” (Jn 1:14).On the second Sunday after Christmas, before reciting the Angelus, Leo urged believers to rethink their faith and avoid an abstract or distant spirituality. “He is not a distant deity in a perfect heaven above us, but a God who is nearby and inhabits our fragile earth, who becomes present in the faces of our brothers and sisters, and reveals himself in the circumstances of daily life,” he said.The pope also underscored that the Incarnation calls for a concrete and consistent commitment, including examining whether one’s spirituality and the ways faith is expressed are “truly incarnate.” “God has become flesh; therefore, there is no authentic worship of God without care for humanity,” he said, linking Christian faith to solidarity with those who suffer.After the Angelus, Leo reiterated his closeness to those affected by the New Year’s Eve fire in a bar in the Alpine town of Crans-Montana, Switzerland, where young people had been celebrating. Swiss authorities have confirmed at least 40 dead and about 115 injured, many of them seriously.“I wish to express once again my closeness to those suffering as a result of the tragedy in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, and to assure them of my prayers for the young people who died, for the injured, and for their families,” the pope said.He also said he was following developments in Venezuela “with deep concern” and that “the good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration.” His remarks came a day after news of the U.S. capture and arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The pope urged that the country’s sovereignty and rule of law be guaranteed.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 07 Jan 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<item>
<title>Vatican says more than 33 million pilgrims took part in jubilee</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-says-more-than-33-million-pilgrims-took-part-in-jubilee</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-says-more-than-33-million-pilgrims-took-part-in-jubilee</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Seminarians approach the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica, Tuesday, June 24, 2025 - Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Vatican City, Jan 5, 2026 / 04:00 am (CNA).
More than 33.4 million pilgrims traveled to Rome to participate in the Jubilee of Hope, surpassing initial projections, the Vatican said Monday.Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, said 33,475,369 pilgrims ultimately took part in the jubilee — nearly 2 million more than the Vatican’s initial estimate of 31.7 million.He also said the final group to pass through the Holy Door on Monday will be staff from the Dicastery for Evangelization, the principal organizers of the holy year, at 5:30 p.m. local time.The solemn closing of the holy year will take place Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. local time, when Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to close the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in a ceremony expected to be attended by Italian President Sergio Mattarella, civil authorities, and large numbers of faithful.The Holy Door is scheduled to be opened again in eight years, in 2033, for the Jubilee of the Redemption.In his assessment of the jubilee, Fisichella described the year as extraordinary in many respects and noted its unusual historical arc: The jubilee began under Pope Francis and concludes under Pope Leo XIV — a transition he said underscored the complexity of the organizational effort.He also pointed to major events that unfolded alongside the jubilee calendar, including the funeral of Pope Francis on April 26 and the election of his successor, Leo XIV, on May 8, saying those developments were integrated into the jubilee schedule amid an exceptional succession of events.Pilgrims from 185 countriesAccording to official Vatican data presented Monday, pilgrims from 185 countries took part in jubilee events. By geographic area, Europe accounted for 62.63% of participants, followed by North America (16.54%), South America (9.44%), and Asia (7.69%). The remaining pilgrims came from Oceania (1.14%), Central America and the Caribbean (1.04%), Africa (0.95%), and the Middle East (0.46%).By country, Italy represented 36.34% of pilgrims, followed by the United States (12.57%) and Spain (6.23%). Other leading countries included Brazil (4.67%), Poland (3.69%), Germany (3.16%), the United Kingdom (2.81%), China (2.79%), Mexico (2.37%), and France (2.31%). The Vatican also recorded significant participation from Argentina, Canada, Portugal, Colombia, Australia, the Philippines, Slovakia, Indonesia, and Austria.Fisichella said that beginning in May — around the time of Leo XIV’s election — Rome saw an unexpected increase in pilgrims, which he said was managed with close attention in a city that remained under international media focus throughout the year.How the count was madeFisichella said the initial projections were based on a study by the faculty of sociology at Roma Tre University and were intended as an early planning guide.He said the primary count was made at St. Peter’s Basilica’s Holy Door, where a camera automatically recorded the number of pilgrims passing through each day.For the other three papal basilicas — St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls — the Vatican applied percentages based on the flow recorded at St. Peter’s, supplemented by volunteer counts using manual clickers. Attendance at major jubilee events and audiences was also tracked and cross-checked with registrations made through the official jubilee website.Rome mayor cites lasting legacy and spendingRome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said the Jubilee of Hope has left a lasting legacy for the city, both in infrastructure and in institutional governance, pointing to what he described as a “jubilee method” of sustained cooperation among public administrations.Gualtieri said the jubilee program included 332 interventions, with 204 already completed or partially completed. He added that street works in Rome were about 90% finished, with the remaining 10% scheduled for completion in 2026.He also said government funding specifically allocated for jubilee-related works totaled 1.725 billion euros ($2.02 billion). According to Gualtieri, 75% of those resources were used for interventions completed or partially completed, while spending for essential, nondeferrable interventions reached 90%.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 07 Jan 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<item>
<title>St. Carlo Acutis’ parents helped develop new Vatican City State app</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/st-carlo-acutis-parents-helped-develop-new-vatican-city-state-app</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/st-carlo-acutis-parents-helped-develop-new-vatican-city-state-app</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The news app for Vatican City State, developed with support from the family of St. Carlo Acutis. | Credit: Vatican City State/Screenshot

Vatican City, Jan 5, 2026 / 05:20 am (CNA).
The parents of St. Carlo Acutis contributed to the development of a new official news application connected to the institutional website of the Vatican City State,     www.vaticanstate.va, an initiative presented as part of an ongoing digital renewal and as a tribute to the young saint, often held up as a model for evangelizing through new technologies.After downloading the app, users can read a message of thanks from the Governorate of Vatican City State to Andrea and Antonia Acutis, Carlo’s parents.“The Governorate of Vatican City State thanks Andrea and Antonia Acutis who, on the occasion of the canonization of their son Carlo, generously contributed to the creation and development of the News App of the official website     www.vaticanstate.va,” the message reads.The new application, officially launched over the weekend, is dedicated to the Italian saint, who died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15 and is frequently remembered for his computer prowess.The platform is designed to provide fast, intuitive access to news, notices, and official communications from the Vatican Governorate, aiming to improve navigation and accessibility to institutional information.The app includes several sections, including “saint of the day,” news, interviews, videos, and direct links to other institutions of the Governorate, such as the Gendarmerie Corps, the Vatican Museums, the Vatican Pharmacy, Poste Vaticane, the Pontifical Villas, and the Vatican Observatory.According to the report, additional features will be implemented progressively.The app’s launch comes after     the institutional website of the Holy See received a graphic overhaul following the May 8 election of Pope Leo XIV. That portal now features a more modern design, including a sky-blue background and an image of the pope greeting the faithful, updating a site that has been online since December 1995.The Vatican City State app is available as a free download for iOS and Android devices.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 07 Jan 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV closes St. Peter’s Holy Door, concluding Jubilee of Hope</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-closes-st-peters-holy-door-concluding-jubilee-of-hope</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-closes-st-peters-holy-door-concluding-jubilee-of-hope</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV closes the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, concluding the Jubilee of Hope, on Jan. 6, 2026. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jan 6, 2026 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday closed the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, bringing the ordinary holy year to an end — a time of grace that invited Catholics to conversion, reconciliation, and hope.The pontiff processed toward the Holy Door as the antiphon “O clavis David” was sung. Reaching the threshold, he knelt before the door and remained for a few minutes in silent prayer. He then rose and, at 9:41 a.m., pushed shut the two large bronze doors — a gesture that visibly marked the end of the jubilee season.“With thankful hearts we now prepare to close this Holy Door, crossed by a multitude of faithful, certain that the Good Shepherd always keeps the door of his heart open to welcome us whenever we feel weary and oppressed,” Leo XIV said in an address before the concluding gesture that ended the ecclesial event, ordinarily held every 25 years to offer the faithful the possibility of obtaining a plenary indulgence.With these words, Leo XIV emphasized that even though the jubilee has ended, God’s mercy remains ever open to believers.Before closing the doors, the Holy Father pronounced in Latin the formula prescribed by the rite, following a practice established in 1975 and later simplified by St. John Paul II during the Jubilee of the Year 2000.In keeping with the simplified celebration, the public rite did not include the portion involving the construction of a brick wall and was limited to the closing of the bronze doors. The masonry work itself will be carried out later, privately, about 10 days after this public rite.The act will be overseen by the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff. The so-called “sampietrini” — personnel of the Fabric of St. Peter, including carpenters, cabinetmakers, and electricians who normally handle basilica maintenance — will build the brick wall inside the basilica to definitively seal the Holy Door.During this private rite — without cameras or journalists — the traditional metal capsule (“capsis”) will be inserted into the wall. It will contain the official act of closure, coins minted during the jubilee year, and the keys of the Holy Door as a material and symbolic testimony of the holy year that, as the pope noted, has ended on the calendar but not in the spiritual life of the Church.Leo XIV then recited the prayer of thanksgiving for the ordinary holy year, proclaiming: “This Holy Door is closed, but the door of your mercy is not closed.”The formula concluded with an invocation that the “treasures” of divine grace would remain open “so that, at the end of our earthly pilgrimage, we may confidently knock at the door of your house and enjoy the fruits of the tree of life.”The Jubilee of Hope was instituted on Dec. 24, 2024, by Pope Francis but, after his death in April 2025, was concluded by his successor, Leo XIV — a situation not seen since the year 1700. The last ordinary jubilee (celebrated every 25 years) took place in 2000.Jubilees may also be celebrated at “extraordinary” moments, such as the Jubilee of Mercy celebrated by Francis in 2015 or the one to be convoked in 2033 to commemorate the two millennia of the death and resurrection of Jesus.After closing the Holy Door, Leo XIV presided over Mass for the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord inside St. Peter’s Basilica, bringing the day’s liturgical celebration to its conclusion.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 07 Jan 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, closes, St., Peter’s, Holy, Door, concluding, Jubilee, Hope</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV says God is found in humble places, not in prestige</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-says-god-is-found-in-humble-places-not-in-prestige</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-says-god-is-found-in-humble-places-not-in-prestige</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Jan. 6, 2026. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Jan 6, 2026 / 08:45 am (CNA).
Celebrating the solemnity of the Epiphany in St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV said God’s saving presence is revealed not “in a prestigious location” but “in a humble place” and urged Catholics to protect what is holy and newly born — “small, vulnerable, fragile” — in a world that often seeks to profit from everything.“The child whom the Magi adore is a priceless and immeasurable good. It is the Epiphany of a gift. It does not occur in a prestigious location but in a humble place,” the pope said in his homily, delivered during a Mass that also included the closing of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, the last Holy Door to be shut at the end of the jubilee year.Reflecting on the Gospel account of the Magi’s journey (Matthew 2:1-12), Leo contrasted the joy of those who seek Christ with the fear of Herod, who “tries to take advantage of the wishes of the Magi by manipulating their quest.” “Fear does indeed blind us,” he said. “Conversely, the joy of the Gospel liberates us. It makes us prudent, yes, but also bold, attentive, and creative; it beckons us along ways that are different to those already traveled.”In one of the final major liturgies of his first Christmas season as pope, Leo also warned against the spiritual dangers of a distorted economy that turns even humanity’s deepest longings into a commodity.“Loving and seeking peace means protecting what is holy and, consequently, that which is newly born like a small, vulnerable, fragile baby. Around us, a distorted economy tries to profit from everything. We see how the marketplace can turn human yearnings of seeking, traveling, and beginning again into a mere business,” he said.The pope pointed to the “stream of innumerable men and women, pilgrims of hope” who crossed the Holy Door during the jubilee and asked what the Church offered them — and what she must offer going forward.“Millions of them crossed the threshold of the Church. What did they find?” he asked, adding that “the spiritual searching of our contemporaries, much richer than perhaps we can comprehend, invites us to earnest reflection.”After the jubilee year, he continued, Catholics should examine whether they have learned to recognize God’s presence in those they encounter: “After this year, will we be better able to recognize a pilgrim in the visitor, a seeker in the stranger, a neighbor in the foreigner, and fellow travelers in those who are different?”Leo also urged Catholics not to reduce churches to museums but to ensure they are places where faith is alive and hope is born anew.“If we do not reduce our churches to monuments, if our communities are homes, if we stand united and resist the flattery and seduction of those in power, then we will be the generation of a new dawn,” he said.Angelus: Replace the industry of war with the craft of peaceFollowing the Mass, Pope Leo XIV appeared at the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to pray the Angelus and again linked the Epiphany to the end of the jubilee year, emphasizing that Christian hope must be lived concretely in the world.“Dear friends, the hope that we proclaim must be grounded in reality, for Jesus came down from heaven in order to create a new story here below,” he said.In a pointed appeal for peace, he prayed: “May strangers and enemies become brothers and sisters. In the place of inequality, may there be fairness, and may the industry of war be replaced by the craft of peace. As weavers of hope, let us journey together towards the future by another road.”After the Marian prayer, the pope greeted children and young people around the world on Missionary Childhood Day and thanked them for praying for missionaries and helping those in need. He also offered good wishes for serenity and peace to Eastern Christian communities preparing to celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar.This story was first published in two parts by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, and has been adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 07 Jan 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Washington Roundup: Trump drops National Guard deployment, Roberts says Constitution remains ‘firm’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/washington-roundup-trump-drops-national-guard-deployment-roberts-says-constitution-remains-firm</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/washington-roundup-trump-drops-national-guard-deployment-roberts-says-constitution-remains-firm</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ President Donald Trump said Dec. 31 he would drop, for now, his administration&#039;s efforts to deploy National Guard troops after a series of legal defeats.
The post Washington Roundup: Trump drops National Guard deployment, Roberts says Constitution remains ‘firm’ first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 04 Jan 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Washington, Roundup:, Trump, drops, National, Guard, deployment, Roberts, says, Constitution, remains, ‘firm’</media:keywords>
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<title>Kentucky, Wisconsin bishops issue statements affirming dignity of migrants</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/kentucky-wisconsin-bishops-issue-statements-affirming-dignity-of-migrants</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/kentucky-wisconsin-bishops-issue-statements-affirming-dignity-of-migrants</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ In separate statements, Catholic bishops in Kentucky and Wisconsin urged political leaders to seek immigration reform that upholds the dignity of migrants.
The post Kentucky, Wisconsin bishops issue statements affirming dignity of migrants first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 04 Jan 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Kentucky, Wisconsin, bishops, issue, statements, affirming, dignity, migrants</media:keywords>
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<title>Catholic influencer says son is ‘already in heaven at work’ after losing flu battle</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/catholic-influencer-says-son-is-already-in-heaven-at-work-after-losing-flu-battle</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/catholic-influencer-says-son-is-already-in-heaven-at-work-after-losing-flu-battle</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ (OSV News) — Catholic influencer Paul J. Kim announced his 5-year-old son Micah “flew into the gates of heaven like a shooting star” after succumbing to influenza and sepsis, and he…
The post Catholic influencer says son is ‘already in heaven at work’ after losing flu battle first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 04 Jan 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Catholic, influencer, says, son, ‘already, heaven, work’, after, losing, flu, battle</media:keywords>
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<title>Israel bans dozens of aid groups from Gaza, including Caritas, drawing condemnation</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/israel-bans-dozens-of-aid-groups-from-gaza-including-caritas-drawing-condemnation</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/israel-bans-dozens-of-aid-groups-from-gaza-including-caritas-drawing-condemnation</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Aid organizations whose licenses have been revoked include Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam, CARE and World Vision International.
The post Israel bans dozens of aid groups from Gaza, including Caritas, drawing condemnation first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/useuptop20260102T1501-ISRAEL-BAN-NGO-GAZA-1810407.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 04 Jan 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Israel, bans, dozens, aid, groups, from, Gaza, including, Caritas, drawing, condemnation</media:keywords>
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<title>Trump’s order and Pope Leo’s vision for regulating AI: Can they converge?</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/trumps-order-and-pope-leos-vision-for-regulating-ai-can-they-converge</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/trumps-order-and-pope-leos-vision-for-regulating-ai-can-they-converge</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ How do we balance the freedom to innovate and guard against known harms of AI? Catholic social teaching has a human-first answer.
The post Trump’s order and Pope Leo’s vision for regulating AI: Can they converge? first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 04 Jan 2026 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Trump’s, order, and, Pope, Leo’s, vision, for, regulating, AI:, Can, they, converge</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV on New Year’s Eve: The future is in God’s hands</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-on-new-years-eve-the-future-is-in-gods-hands</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-on-new-years-eve-the-future-is-in-gods-hands</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV presides over first vespers (evening prayer) in St. Peter&#039;s Basilica in anticipation of the Jan. 1 solemnity of Mary, Mother of God on Dec. 31, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media.

Dec 31, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV at a New Year’s Eve prayer service reflected on God’s divine plan of salvation for the world — and the hope of ordinary people.“The world moves forward in this way, propelled by the hope of so many simple people — unknown to the world but not to God — who, despite everything, believe in a better tomorrow, because they know that the future is in the hands of the One who offers them the greatest hope,” the pope said in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 31.Leo presided over first vespers (evening prayer) in anticipation of the Jan. 1 solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. The liturgy included hymns, Psalms, readings from Scripture, and the singing of the “Te Deum,” a Latin hymn of thanksgiving from the early Church.In his homily, the pontiff spoke about God’s plan versus the plans the world makes.“In our own time we feel the need for a wise, benevolent, merciful plan — one that is free and liberating, peaceful and faithful, like the plan that the Virgin Mary proclaimed in her canticle of praise: ‘From generation to generation his mercy is upon those who fear him’ (Lk 1:50),” he said.But, Leo noted, the world is enveloped in other plans: “Strategies aimed at conquering markets, territories, spheres of influence — armed strategies, cloaked in hypocritical rhetoric, ideological proclamations, and false religious motives.”However, the holy Mother of God sees things with God’s eyes, the pope continued. She knows that “with the power of his arm the Most High scatters the schemes of the proud, casts the mighty from their thrones and lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty.”Pope Leo XIV presides over first vespers (evening prayer) in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 31, 2025, in anticipation of the Jan. 1 solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. | Credit: Vatican MediaThe Holy Father referenced the words of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 4, that “when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.”The apostle presents the mystery of Christ as “a great plan for human history,” Leo said. “A mysterious plan, yet one with a clear center, like a lofty mountain illuminated by the sun in the midst of a dense forest: This center is the ‘fullness of time.’”On the vigil of the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, he emphasized Mary’s motherhood and her role in the revelation of the great mystery and paradox of “a God who is born of a virgin.”Pope Leo XIV presides over first vespers (evening prayer) in St. Peter’s Basilica in anticipation of the Jan. 1 solemnity of Mary, Mother of God on Dec. 31, 2025. | Credit: Vatican Media“The mother of Jesus is the woman with whom God, in the fullness of time, wrote the Word that reveals the mystery,” he said. “He did not impose it; he first proposed it to her heart, and once her ‘yes’ was received, he wrote it with ineffable love in her flesh,” he said.“Thus God’s hope became intertwined with Mary’s hope,” he added.Pope Leo pointed out that the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, concludes the Octave of Christmas and “spans the passage from one year to the next and extends over it the blessing of the One ‘who is, who was, and who is to come’ (Rv 1:8).”“The liturgy of the first vespers of the Mother of God possesses a singular richness, deriving both from the dizzying mystery it celebrates and from its placement at the very end of the solar year,” he said.Recalling that the Church is at the end of the Jubilee Year 2025, he added that the “Te Deum” prayer, to be sung at the end of the liturgy, “seems to expand so as to give voice to all the hearts and faces that have passed beneath these vaults and through the streets of this city.”Pope Leo XIV visits the Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 31, 2025. | Credit: Vatican Media“We thank God for the gift of the jubilee, which has been a great sign of his plan of hope for humanity and for the world. And we thank all those who, during the months and days of 2025, have worked in service to the pilgrims and to make Rome more welcoming,” he said.“What can we wish for Rome?” he continued. “That it may be worthy of its smallest ones: of children, of elderly people who are alone and frail, of families who struggle most to make ends meet, of men and women who have come from afar hoping for a dignified life.”After the prayer service, Pope Leo visited the Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square, a papal custom, while the Swiss Guard Band gave its annual Christmas concert.He then personally greeted the band and some of the people gathered in the square.    
        Pope Leo celebrates First Vespers of the Feast of Saint Mary, Most Holy Mother of God and Te Deum of Thanksgiving on New Year’s Eve in St. Peter’s Basilica, emphasizing in his homily the paradox of “a God born of a virgin, blessing the passing of one year to the next with Him,… pic.twitter.com/nKFQuNCDgh— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) December 31, 2025



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<pubDate>Sat, 03 Jan 2026 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, New, Year’s, Eve:, The, future, God’s, hands</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>How to obtain a plenary indulgence for the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/how-to-obtain-a-plenary-indulgence-for-the-end-of-2025-and-the-beginning-of-2026</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/how-to-obtain-a-plenary-indulgence-for-the-end-of-2025-and-the-beginning-of-2026</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Credit: Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock

Dec 31, 2025 / 16:00 pm (CNA).
On New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, and the first day of 2026, the Catholic Church offers the opportunity to obtain plenary indulgences as a sign of God’s mercy and the desire for the sanctification of all her members.A plenary indulgence is remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven.Indulgences on Dec. 31On the eve of the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the Church grants a plenary indulgence to those Christian faithful who publicly recite the “Te Deum,” thanking God for the year that is ending. This blessing is extended especially on Dec. 31.To recite the “Te Deum,” click     here.Indulgences on Jan. 1Likewise, on Jan. 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, a plenary indulgence is granted to those who publicly recite the hymn “Veni Creator,” imploring blessings for the new year that is beginning.To recite the “Veni Creator,” click     here.Additionally, those who devoutly receive the papal blessing “urbi et orbi” (“for the city and for the world”), either through radio, television, or the internet, as well as those who devoutly receive the blessing of the bishop of their diocese, will also be able to obtain these special blessings from the Church.Conditions to obtain a plenary indulgenceIn addition to performing the specific work mentioned above, the following conditions must be met:First, it is necessary to be detached from all sin, even venial sin.Second, one must make a sacramental confession, receive Communion, and pray for the pope’s intentions. These conditions can be met a few days before or after carrying out the action prescribed to obtain the indulgence, but it is suggested that Communion and prayer be performed on the same day that the action is carried out.It is important to note that several indulgences can be obtained through a single confession, although frequent participation in the sacrament of reconciliation is recommended in order to deepen one’s conversion and purity of heart.As for receiving Communion and praying for the intentions of the Holy Father, it should be noted that with just one Communion and one prayer, made on the same day, a plenary indulgence is obtained.Finally, the condition of praying for the intentions of the supreme pontiff is fulfilled by reciting one Our Father and one Hail Mary. However, each Christian is given the right to use any other formula according to his personal piety and devotion.What is a plenary indulgence?A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ to remove the temporal punishment due to sin.It is not a forgiveness of sin but the remission of punishment for sins already forgiven. It may apply either to oneself or to souls already in purgatory.In order to obtain a plenary indulgence the faithful must — in addition to being in the state of grace — both have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin (even venial sin), have sacramentally confessed their sins and received the Eucharist (either within or outside of Mass), and must pray for the intentions of the Holy Father.The conditions for a plenary indulgence can be fulfilled a few days before or after performing the actions specified to gain the indulgence, but it is appropriate that Communion and the prayer take place on the same day that the work is completed.This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 03 Jan 2026 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>How, obtain, plenary, indulgence, for, the, end, 2025, and, the, beginning, 2026</media:keywords>
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<title>Leo XIV: The world is saved by welcoming all without fear</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/leo-xiv-the-world-is-saved-by-welcoming-all-without-fear</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/leo-xiv-the-world-is-saved-by-welcoming-all-without-fear</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Jan. 1, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jan 1, 2026 / 02:05 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV called Catholics to a steadfast openness to other people, warning that peace will not be built through force or exclusion, as he celebrated his first liturgy of the new year on Thursday.“The world is not saved by sharpening swords, nor by judging, oppressing, or eliminating our brothers and sisters,” the pope said in his homily for the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Rather, he added, it is saved by “tirelessly striving to understand, forgive, liberate, and welcome everyone, without calculation and without fear.”As is customary for the Jan. 1 Mass, a large group of diplomats accredited to the Holy See attended the liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica, underlining the international scope of the Church’s prayer for peace on the World Day of Peace, observed each year on the first day of January.A blessing for a new beginningAt the start of his     homily, Leo XIV pointed to the ancient biblical blessing proclaimed in the liturgy: “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace” (Num 6:24-26). He recalled that this blessing was addressed to a people set free, Israel after slavery in Egypt, and he drew a parallel to the Christian life at the opening of a new year.“For each of us, every day can be the beginning of a new life, thanks to God’s generous love, his mercy, and the response of our freedom,” he said. The coming year, he continued, can be seen “as an open journey to be discovered,” lived with confidence “free and bearers of freedom, forgiven and bringers of forgiveness,” trusting in “the closeness and goodness of the Lord who accompanies us always.”Mary’s ‘yes’ and the human face of mercyThe pope centered his reflection on the mystery of the Incarnation and Mary’s decisive role in salvation history. “By her ‘yes,’ she helped give a human face to the source of all mercy and benevolence: the face of Jesus,” he said.Leo XIV invited the faithful to contemplate God’s love through Christ’s life: “Through his eyes — first as a child, then as a young man and as an adult — the Father’s love reaches us and transforms us.”He urged Catholics to begin the year with renewed confidence in that love: “Let us ask the Lord to help us experience at every moment, around us and upon us, the warmth of his fatherly embrace and the light of his benevolent gaze.”‘Unarmed and disarming’ peaceEchoing the theme he chose for this year’s     World Day of Peace message, Leo XIV returned repeatedly to the image of God’s humility revealed in the Nativity. Citing St. Augustine, he emphasized “the complete gratuity of his love” and described God’s approach to humanity as one of radical vulnerability.“As I emphasized in the message for this World Day of Peace, God presents himself to us ‘unarmed and disarming,’ as naked and defenseless as a newborn in a cradle,” the pope said.That divine “style,” he suggested, is the model for Christian action in a world tempted by coercion, retaliation, and fear. Christian witness, he said, should reflect a God who does not overwhelm but invites, and who heals rather than humiliates.Mary the disciple who ‘laid aside every defense’Leo XIV also reflected on Mary’s path after Bethlehem, presenting her not only as mother but also as disciple. He described her as one who followed Jesus “with the heart of a humble disciple… all the way to the cross and the Resurrection.”“To do so, she too laid aside every defense,” he said, renouncing “expectations, claims, and comforts,” and “consecrating her life without reserve to the son she had received by grace.”In Mary’s divine motherhood, the pope added, the Church sees “the meeting of two immense, ‘unarmed’ realities”: God, who “renounces every privilege of his divinity to be born in the flesh” (cf. Phil 2:6-11), and the human person who embraces God’s will, offering “the greatest power she possesses: her freedom.”A renewed missionNear the end of the homily, Leo XIV recalled a Jan. 1 homily of St. John Paul II that invited Christians to begin again with courage after the Jubilee of 2000. As the Church approaches the conclusion of the Jubilee of Hope, Leo XIV urged the faithful to return to the Nativity with faith and then step forward with renewed commitment.“Let us approach it as the place of ‘unarmed and disarming’ peace par excellence,” he said, and then, “like the humble witnesses at the grotto,” to set out once more, “glorifying and praising God” (Lk 2:20) for what they have seen and heard.“This be our commitment and our resolve for the months ahead, and, indeed, for the whole of our Christian lives,” he concluded.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 03 Jan 2026 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Leo, XIV:, The, world, saved, welcoming, all, without, fear</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV urges prayers for peace in bloodied nations and wounded families</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-prayers-for-peace-in-bloodied-nations-and-wounded-families</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-prayers-for-peace-in-bloodied-nations-and-wounded-families</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for recitation of the Angelus on Jan. 1, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jan 1, 2026 / 02:30 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday urged Catholics to pray for peace, “first, among nations bloodied by conflict and suffering,” and also “within our homes, in families wounded by violence or pain,” during the Angelus address on the first day of 2026.Greeting pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and the 59th World Day of Peace, the pope     reflected on the start of a new year as a time to renew hope and reconciliation.“While the rhythm of passing months repeats itself, the Lord invites us to renew our times by finally ushering in an era of peace and friendship among all peoples,” he said. “Without this desire for the good, there would be no point in turning the pages of the calendar and filling our diaries.”Leo also looked back on the jubilee, which he said “is about to end,” noting that it has taught the Church to cultivate hope for a new world by converting hearts to God, so as “to transform wrongs into forgiveness, pain into consolation, and resolutions of virtue into good works.”The pope then turned to the Marian feast, saying Christmas today “directs our gaze towards Mary, who was the first to experience Christ’s beating heart.” He evoked “the silence of her virginal womb,” where “the Word of life presents himself as a heartbeat of grace.”“God, the good creator, has always known Mary’s heart and our hearts,” Leo said. “By becoming man, he makes his heart known to us.” He added that the heart of Jesus “beats for every man and woman,” both for those who welcome him and for those who reject him.“His heart is not indifferent to those who have no heart for their neighbor,” the pope said. “It beats for the righteous, so that they may persevere in their dedication, as well as for the unrighteous, so that they may change their lives and find peace.”At the end of the Angelus, Leo greeted the tens of thousands of pilgrims in the square and offered “good wishes of peace.” He also returned to the theme of the World Day of Peace, recalling that it has been celebrated on Jan. 1 since 1968 at the request of St. Paul VI.In his message for the day, Leo said he wanted to repeat the wish he felt the Lord gave him at the start of his pontificate: “Peace be with you all!”“A peace that is unarmed and disarming, which comes from God, a gift of his unconditional love, and is entrusted to our responsibility,” he said.“Dear friends, with the grace of Christ, let us begin today to build a year of peace, disarming our hearts and refraining from all violence,” the pope continued.Leo also expressed appreciation for peace initiatives held around the world, mentioning a national march held the previous evening in Catania and greeting participants in a march organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio.He offered greetings as well to a group of students and teachers from Richland, New Jersey, and to the Romans and pilgrims present.Finally, the pope noted that 2026 marks the eighth centenary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, and he invoked a biblical blessing for the new year: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.”“May the Holy Mother of God guide us on our journey in the new year,” Leo said. “Best wishes to everyone!”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 03 Jan 2026 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, prayers, for, peace, bloodied, nations, and, wounded, families</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Key dates on the agenda of the pope and Vatican for 2026</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/key-dates-on-the-agenda-of-the-pope-and-vatican-for-2026</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/key-dates-on-the-agenda-of-the-pope-and-vatican-for-2026</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV waves from the popemobile in St. Peter’s Square in October 2025. Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 1, 2026 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV is preparing for a very busy year at the Vatican in 2026, with important events such as the conclusion of the Jubilee of Hope and his first consistory of cardinals since his election on May 8, 2025.1. Closing of the Jubilee of Hope — Jan. 6On Jan. 6, the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, Pope Leo XIV will celebrate the Mass and perform the rite for the closing the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica, bringing to an end the Jubilee of Hope that Pope Francis began on Dec. 24, 2024. This liturgical act officially closes a year that, according to the papal bull     Spes non Confundit, has been experienced as “a time of grace and hope” for the global Church.Pope Leo XIV walks through the Holy Door carrying the jubilee cross while leading the Holy See’s pilgrimage on June 9, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media2. Extraordinary consistory of cardinals — Jan. 7–8Following the conclusion of the jubilee, the pope has convened an extraordinary consistory of cardinals for Jan. 7–8. This type of meeting is usually reserved for discussing major doctrinal, institutional, or pastoral issues affecting the entire Church. Its scheduling in the days immediately following the close of the holy year underscores the pope’s intention to set a new course after the intense experience of the jubilee.3. Extraordinary restoration in the Sistine Chapel — JanuaryBeginning in January, the Vatican Museums will undertake extraordinary conservation work on Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment” fresco in the Sistine Chapel, which will continue until March, with the expectation of completion before Holy Week. This project addresses the need to preserve the masterpiece in light of the impact of millions of visitors each year.4. Appeal hearing in the Becciu case — Feb. 3The appeal hearing in the case concerning the management of funds by the Secretariat of State of the Holy See in the purchase of a building in London has been postponed until Feb. 3. Spanish judge Alejandro Arellano Cedillo, dean of the Roman Rota, presides over the three-judge panel hearing the appeal of 77-year-old Cardinal Angelo Becciu. On Dec. 16, 2023, the cardinal was convicted of embezzlement and barred from holding public office. He was also fined 8,000 euros ($9,400).5. Second World Children’s Day — Sept. 25–27Pope Leo XIV has announced the celebration of the second World Children’s Day, which will take place in Rome Sept. 25–27. Organized by the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, this event aims to bring together thousands of children and families from around the world for a time of encounter, prayer, and celebration for peace and the future of children.Pope Leo XIV blesses a newborn baby. Credit: Vatican MediaPossible international trips for Pope Leo XIV in 2026Although the official travel schedule is not yet finalized, the pontiff has expressed a desire to visit several countries during 2026:— Algeria, an African country with deep ties to St. Augustine, is still in the planning stages as part of a possible continental itinerary.— Argentina and Uruguay have been mentioned as possible destinations, along with an extended visit to Peru and Mexico, with a particular interest in visiting the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of the most visited Marian shrines in the world.— There is also a strong possibility of an upcoming papal trip to Spain.This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 03 Jan 2026 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Key, dates, the, agenda, the, pope, and, Vatican, for, 2026</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Dispensation in Columbus diocese for those who fear immigration crackdown pursuit</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/dispensation-in-columbus-diocese-for-those-who-fear-immigration-crackdown-pursuit</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/dispensation-in-columbus-diocese-for-those-who-fear-immigration-crackdown-pursuit</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ (OSV News) — Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio, has granted a dispensation from Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation to Catholics without authorization to stay in the…
The post Dispensation in Columbus diocese for those who fear immigration crackdown pursuit first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Dispensation, Columbus, diocese, for, those, who, fear, immigration, crackdown, pursuit</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Puerto Rico Catholic governor signs historic personhood law for the unborn</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/puerto-rico-catholic-governor-signs-historic-personhood-law-for-the-unborn</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/puerto-rico-catholic-governor-signs-historic-personhood-law-for-the-unborn</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Father Carlos Pérez Toro, a civil lawyer graduate of Inter American University of Puerto Rico School of Law, explained to OSV News the new law&#039;s implications.
The post Puerto Rico Catholic governor signs historic personhood law for the unborn first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Puerto, Rico, Catholic, governor, signs, historic, personhood, law, for, the, unborn</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Wisconsin man’s Catholic faith revived after finding bishop’s crosier in scrapyard</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/wisconsin-mans-catholic-faith-revived-after-finding-bishops-crosier-in-scrapyard</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/wisconsin-mans-catholic-faith-revived-after-finding-bishops-crosier-in-scrapyard</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) — A bishop’s golden crosier, or hooked staff symbolizing his office, found in a Minnesota scrapyard has drawn the man who discovered it into a journey…
The post Wisconsin man’s Catholic faith revived after finding bishop’s crosier in scrapyard first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Helgeson_with_Archbishop_Hebda.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Wisconsin, man’s, Catholic, faith, revived, after, finding, bishop’s, crosier, scrapyard</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>‘Knives Out’ discovers the strange, attractive light of the Christian story</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/knives-out-discovers-the-strange-attractive-light-of-the-christian-story</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/knives-out-discovers-the-strange-attractive-light-of-the-christian-story</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The new “Knives Out” movie is out on Netflix, and Catholic commentators are rightly fascinated by its winsome portrayal of a young Catholic priest, the protagonist accused of committing the…
The post ‘Knives Out’ discovers the strange, attractive light of the Christian story first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WUDM_20240806_32194_R.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>‘Knives, Out’, discovers, the, strange, attractive, light, the, Christian, story</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Why is New Year’s Day a holy day of obligation?</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/why-is-new-years-day-a-holy-day-of-obligation</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/why-is-new-years-day-a-holy-day-of-obligation</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ If the church&#039;s new year begins on the first Sunday of Advent, then why is New Year&#039;s Day a holy day of obligation?
The post Why is New Year’s Day a holy day of obligation? first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Why, New, Year’s, Day, holy, day, obligation</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: To let God work in your life, you have to empty yourself</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-let-god-work-in-your-life-you-have-to-empty-yourself</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-let-god-work-in-your-life-you-have-to-empty-yourself</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets with a group of pilgrims from St. Thomas of Villanova Parish in Alcalá de Henares, Spain, on Dec. 29, 2025, in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media

Dec 29, 2025 / 14:48 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Monday explained that in order to allow God’s action in our personal lives, people must “empty” themselves and cultivate a deep inner life.The pontiff made the observation during a Dec. 29 audience at the Apostolic Palace with a group of pilgrims from St. Thomas of Villanova Parish in Alcalá de Henares, Spain.The event took place in the context of the Jubilee Year of Hope, which the Holy Father described as “a particularly significant time for the Church.” Leo XIV thanked the pilgrims for their spiritual closeness and support for the successor of Peter “with their prayers and generosity,” emphasizing that this is “a gesture of communion and closeness.”In his greeting, the pope recalled the figure of     St. Thomas of Villanova, an Augustinian Spanish bishop and the patron saint of the pilgrims’ parish, highlighting that he was a man “open to God’s action in his life.” “That openness led him to do much good,” Pope Leo said.The pontiff invited the faithful to be inspired by some of the distinctive traits of the Spanish saint, beginning with his intense spiritual life.Recognize talents, put them at service of community“In his life and in his writings, he reveals to us an unceasing search for continuous prayer; that is, a holy restlessness to be in God’s presence at every moment,” he said. This attitude involves profound interiority, emptying yourself to listen to and allow the Lord to work.”Leo XIV also highlighted the saint’s “sobriety and simplicity” as well as “his selfless labor,” especially in the university setting, and his “apostolic zeal.” The pope emphasized that all these attitudes lead us to believe that “we must recognize the talents we have received and put them at the service of the community, with effort and dedication, so that they may multiply for the benefit of all,” especially in a world that “seems to offer us everything more and more quickly and easily.”He also highlighted the simplicity of St. Thomas of Villanova (1486–1555), historically known as the “Archbishop of the Poor” or the “Almsgiver of God” because of his immense charity. “I would like to emphasize his love for the poor,” he said.Referring to the parish life of the pilgrims, Leo XIV expressed his gratitude for their concrete sensitivity toward those most in need, reminding them that “the poor are not only someone to be helped but the sacramental presence of the Lord.”This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, let, God, work, your, life, you, have, empty, yourself</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>PHOTOS: Unforgettable moments from the 2025 papal transition</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/photos-unforgettable-moments-from-the-2025-papal-transition</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/photos-unforgettable-moments-from-the-2025-papal-transition</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The coffin of Pope Francis rests before the altar at the funeral Mass on St. Peter’s Square, April 26, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Dec 30, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
2025 began with Catholics around the world uniting in prayer for Pope Francis’ health as he entered the hospital on Feb. 14. He was admitted to Gemelli Hospital in Rome for a respiratory infection that progressed to bilateral pneumonia, requiring a prolonged hospitalization that lasted almost six weeks.Soon after, on March 29, the pontiff was readmitted into the hospital with difficulty breathing. On April 21, the day after Easter, Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88 from a stroke, coma, and irreversible cardiovascular collapse, according to the death certificate published just over 12 hours after his death.On April 26, more than 400,000 people filled St. Peter’s Square for the funeral of Pope Francis as the world said goodbye to the first Latin American pope who led the Catholic Church for 12 years. Then on May 7, 133 cardinal electors gathered from all corners of the globe in the Sistine Chapel for the start of the conclave to elect a new pope. After four ballots, Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected on May 8 as the 267th bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church. He took the name Pope Leo XIV. A Chicago native, he became the first American pope in Church history.Here are some of the most impactful images from the papal transition — beginning with Pope Francis’ last general audience before being admitted to the hospital, the start of the conclave, and the election of Pope Leo: Pope Francis greets visitors at his general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaThe first photo of Pope Francis after entering Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14, 2025. Credit: Holy See Press OfficePope Francis waves from a balcony at Gemelli Hospital in Rome on Sunday, March 23, 2025, following weeks of hospitalization for bilateral pneumonia. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAThe body of Pope Francis lies in state at the Vatican&#039;s Domus Sanctae Marthae chapel, surrounded by Swiss Guards, cardinals, and Vatican officials paying their respects before his transfer to St. Peter&#039;s Basilica for public veneration, Monday, April 21, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Francis&#039; hands are seen as his body lies in state at the Vatican&#039;s Domus Sanctae Marthae chapel, Monday, April 21, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaPallbearers carry the wooden coffin of Pope Francis, marked with a cross, into St. Peter&#039;s Square for the funeral Mass on April 26, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAAn aerial view of St. Peter&#039;s Square filled with thousands of mourners, clergy, and dignitaries gathered for Pope Francis&#039; funeral Mass under clear blue skies in Vatican City on April 26, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNATables and chairs sit in the Sistine Chapel waiting for the arrival of cardinals for the conclave to elect the next pope, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaCardinals prepare to begin the conclave to elect a new pope in the Sistine Chapel on May 7, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaWhite smoke billows from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on May 8, 2025, as the crowds cheer on St. Peter’s Square. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAPope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square shortly after his election on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAPope Leo XIV prays at the tomb of Pope Francis at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Vatican City, Saturday, May 10, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo XIV waves during the inaugural Mass of his pontificate, held in St. Peter&#039;s Square on May 18, 2025. He stands in front of a Flemish tapestry depicting the dialogue between Jesus and Peter after the miraculous catch of fish. Credit: Vatican Media ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>PHOTOS:, Unforgettable, moments, from, the, 2025, papal, transition</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV warns against gambling, which ‘ruins many families’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-warns-against-gambling-which-ruins-many-families</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-warns-against-gambling-which-ruins-many-families</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Credit: Zolnierek/Shutterstock

Dec 30, 2025 / 10:45 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV warned about the danger that gambling poses to many families during a Dec. 29 audience with members of the National Association of Italian Municipalities.At the beginning of his address, delivered in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, the Holy Father explained that “the incarnation of the Son of God brings us face to face with a child, whose gentle fragility is in stark contrast to the crushing power of King Herod.”In this context, he emphasized that “the massacre of the innocents ordered by him not only represents a loss of a future for society but is also a manifestation of an inhuman power that does not know the beauty of love because it disregards the dignity of human life.”On the contrary, the pope explained that the birth of the Lord “reveals the most authentic aspect of all power, which is above all responsibility and service,” and noted that all authority must “embody the virtues of humility, honesty, and communion.”The pontiff thus alluded to the public commitment of the Italian association, reminding them of the importance of listening “as a social dynamic that activates these virtues,” specifically “to the needs of families and individuals, especially caring for the most vulnerable, for the good of all.”Pope Leo XIV focused his attention on certain realities that require special attention, such as the difficulties faced by families and young people as well as the loneliness of the elderly and the “silent cry of the poor.”In this regard, he emphasized that “our cities are not anonymous places but rather faces and stories that must be safeguarded like precious treasures.”He also quoted     Venerable Giorgio La Pira, known as “the holy mayor” of Florence, who maintained that his fundamental duty was to care for and alleviate anyone who was suffering. In this way, the pope stated that “social cohesion and civic harmony require, first and foremost, listening to the least among us and the poor.”He then urged the members of the National Association of Italian Municipalities to “become models of dedication to the common good, fostering a social alliance for hope.”Problem of gambling addictionAfter lamenting that cities are experiencing forms of marginalization, violence, and loneliness “that demand to be addressed,” Pope Leo specifically warned against gambling, “which ruins many families.” Citing the latest report from Caritas Italy, he emphasized that this type of gambling addiction is a “serious problem of education, mental health, and social trust.”“We cannot forget other forms of loneliness from which many people suffer: mental disorders, depression, cultural and spiritual poverty, and social abandonment. These are signs that indicate how much hope is needed. To bear witness to it effectively, politics is called to forge authentically human relationships among citizens, promoting social peace,” the pontiff said.He also urged that administrative activity promote “the talents of individuals, giving cultural and spiritual depth to cities.”At the end of his address, he asked the members of the association to have “the courage to offer hope to the people, planning together the best future for their lands, in the logic of integral human development.”This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, warns, against, gambling, which, ‘ruins, many, families’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>More than 3 million people attended Vatican audiences and ceremonies in 2025</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/more-than-3-million-people-attended-vatican-audiences-and-ceremonies-in-2025</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/more-than-3-million-people-attended-vatican-audiences-and-ceremonies-in-2025</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Aerial view of St. Peter’s Square filled with thousands of mourners including clergy and dignitaries gathered for Pope Francis’ funeral Mass under a clear blue sky on April 26, 2025, in Vatican City. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Dec 30, 2025 / 15:56 pm (CNA).
During the year 2025, the participation of the faithful in audiences and liturgical celebrations at the Vatican reached a total of 3,176,620 people.The Vatican released on Dec. 30 the attendance figures for liturgical celebrations in 2025, a year marked by the Jubilee of Hope, the death of Pope Francis, and the election in May of Pope Leo XIV.Under the pontificate of Pope Francis, who died on April 21, a total attendance of 262,820 faithful was recorded. The largest crowds were at the Angelus, with 130,000 people, followed by the liturgical celebrations, which drew 62,000 faithful.The general and jubilee audiences were attended by 60,500 people, while the total for special audiences was 10,320. The months with the highest attendance were January and February, especially for the Angelus and liturgical celebrations.Pope Francis did not preside over any ceremonies or hold any meetings or audiences during the month of March due to his extended stay at Gemelli Hospital in Rome.For Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate, which began on May 8, a total of 2,913,800 faithful attended various events. General and jubilee audiences had the greatest participation, drawing 1,069,000 people, followed by the Angelus, with 900,000 in attendance, and liturgical celebrations, which drew 796,500 faithful.Special audiences brought together 148,300 people. The months with the highest attendance were September, October, and December, with October standing out for the large number of attendees at general audiences.This story     was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>More, than, million, people, attended, Vatican, audiences, and, ceremonies, 2025</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV urges families to keep the flame of love alive</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-families-to-keep-the-flame-of-love-alive</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-families-to-keep-the-flame-of-love-alive</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the recitation of the Angelus on Dec. 28, 2025. | Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 28, 2025 / 08:30 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged Christian families to “cherish the values of the Gospel” and protect the “flame of love” in their homes against modern myths of success, power, and comfort that he said often leave people isolated and divided.Speaking to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square before the Angelus on Dec. 28, the feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth, the pope     reflected on the Gospel account of the family’s flight into Egypt and contrasted the trust of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph with what he called the fear-driven cruelty of King Herod.“It is a moment of trial for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Leo said, adding that “the bright image of Christmas is suddenly almost eclipsed by the disturbing shadow of a deadly threat.”The pope described Herod as “a cruel and bloodthirsty man” who is “deeply lonely and gripped with the fear of being deposed.” After hearing from the Magi that the “king of the Jews” had been born, Herod “decrees that all children of the same age as Jesus should be killed,” the pope said.“In Bethlehem there is light and joy,” Leo noted, recalling the shepherds who “have glorified God before the manger,” but he said “none of this can penetrate the armored defenses of the royal palace, except as a distorted echo of a threat to be stifled with blind violence.”Against that backdrop, the pope said the Holy Family reveals “the only possible answer of salvation,” namely, “God who, in total gratuitousness, gives himself to men without reserve and without pretension.”Leo pointed to St. Joseph’s obedience in protecting Mary and Jesus, saying that “the gesture of Joseph is revealed in all its redemptive significance.” He added: “In Egypt, the flame of domestic love, to which the Lord has entrusted his presence in the world, grows and gains strength in order to bring light to the whole world.”Turning to families today, the pope warned that “the world always has its ‘Herods,’ its myths of success at any cost, of unscrupulous power, of empty and superficial well-being” and said societies often “pay the price in the form of loneliness, despair, divisions, and conflicts.”“Let us not allow these mirages to suffocate the flame of love in Christian families,” he said.Instead, Leo urged families to cultivate “prayer, frequent reception of the sacraments, especially confession and Communion, healthy affections, sincere dialogue, fidelity, and the simple and beautiful concreteness of everyday words and gestures.” He said such family life can make homes “a light of hope for the places in which we live; a school of love and an instrument of salvation in God’s hands.”After the Angelus, the pope greeted pilgrims from several Italian parishes and groups. He also renewed his appeal for peace, asking Catholics to remember those suffering because of conflict.“In the light of the Nativity of the Lord, let us continue to pray for peace,” he said. “Today, in particular, let us pray for families suffering because of war, especially for children, elderly, and the most vulnerable.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, families, keep, the, flame, love, alive</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV sends 3 truckloads of humanitarian aid to Ukraine</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-sends-3-truckloads-of-humanitarian-aid-to-ukraine</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-sends-3-truckloads-of-humanitarian-aid-to-ukraine</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for recitation of the Angelus on Dec. 28, 2025. | Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 28, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has sent three trucks carrying humanitarian aid to parts of Ukraine hit hardest by bombardments, where residents are facing severe shortages of electricity, water, and heat.Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the pope’s almoner, disclosed the delivery to Vatican media on Dec. 27, saying the convoy carried special food that can be dissolved in a small amount of water to produce energy-rich soups with chicken and vegetables.Krajewski described the shipment as a small gesture of closeness from the pope to Ukrainian families on the feast of the Holy Family, celebrated Dec. 28.The trucks, he said, arrived in the Vatican shortly before Christmas loaded with supplies donated by South Korean food company Samyang Foods. As had happened on previous occasions, including during the pontificate of Pope Francis, the aid was then redirected to war zones most severely affected by strikes, where basic utilities are often unavailable.Krajewski said the delivery underscores that the pope not only prays for peace but also wants to be concretely present with families who are suffering.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, sends, truckloads, humanitarian, aid, Ukraine</media:keywords>
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<title>To turn away others is to turn away God, pope says on Christmas Eve</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/to-turn-away-others-is-to-turn-away-god-pope-says-on-christmas-eve</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/to-turn-away-others-is-to-turn-away-god-pope-says-on-christmas-eve</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ If people refuse to make room for others -- like the poor, children and the stranger -- then they also refuse to make room for God, Pope Leo XIV said as he celebrated the birth of Jesus.
The post To turn away others is to turn away God, pope says on Christmas Eve first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 27 Dec 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>turn, away, others, turn, away, God, pope, says, Christmas, Eve</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Arriving at the manger with Caryll Houselander</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/arriving-at-the-manger-with-caryll-houselander</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/arriving-at-the-manger-with-caryll-houselander</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Have you ever wondered what the course of Mary&#039;s thoughts were on that first Christmas day? Just what did her contemplation reveal?
The post Arriving at the manger with Caryll Houselander first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 27 Dec 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Arriving, the, manger, with, Caryll, Houselander</media:keywords>
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<title>Barrett discusses Dobbs decision, Roe’s ‘flawed’ reasoning, life at the court, her faith</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/barrett-discusses-dobbs-decision-roes-flawed-reasoning-life-at-the-court-her-faith</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/barrett-discusses-dobbs-decision-roes-flawed-reasoning-life-at-the-court-her-faith</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;Roe told Americans what they should agree to, rather than what they have already agreed to in the Constitution,&quot; Justice Barrett said.
The post Barrett discusses Dobbs decision, Roe’s ‘flawed’ reasoning, life at the court, her faith first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 27 Dec 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Barrett, discusses, Dobbs, decision, Roe’s, ‘flawed’, reasoning, life, the, court, her, faith</media:keywords>
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<title>Bishop: To welcome immigrants is to follow God’s ‘divine command’ to care for the stranger</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/bishop-to-welcome-immigrants-is-to-follow-gods-divine-command-to-care-for-the-stranger</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/bishop-to-welcome-immigrants-is-to-follow-gods-divine-command-to-care-for-the-stranger</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;Immigration isn&#039;t politics -- it&#039;s part of our DNA as people of faith. God commands us to welcome the immigrant, to love the foreigner.&quot;
The post Bishop: To welcome immigrants is to follow God’s ‘divine command’ to care for the stranger first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 27 Dec 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Bishop:, welcome, immigrants, follow, God’s, ‘divine, command’, care, for, the, stranger</media:keywords>
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<title>Jesuit search, recovery of migrant remains finds bodies of 2 women in difficult desert terrain</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/jesuit-search-recovery-of-migrant-remains-finds-bodies-of-2-women-in-difficult-desert-terrain</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/jesuit-search-recovery-of-migrant-remains-finds-bodies-of-2-women-in-difficult-desert-terrain</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Heidi Cerneka has volunteered in searches every month in the Chihuahuan Desert for the past two years and almost every time, each site had human remains.
The post Jesuit search, recovery of migrant remains finds bodies of 2 women in difficult desert terrain first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 27 Dec 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Jesuit, search, recovery, migrant, remains, finds, bodies, women, difficult, desert, terrain</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope at Christmas Day Mass says wars fed by falsehoods send young people to their deaths</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-at-christmas-day-mass-says-wars-fed-by-falsehoods-send-young-people-to-their-deaths-10466</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-at-christmas-day-mass-says-wars-fed-by-falsehoods-send-young-people-to-their-deaths-10466</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Dec. 25, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Dec 25, 2025 / 06:35 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Christmas Day deplored the “falsehoods” used to justify wars that leave young people “forced to take up arms” and “sent to their deaths,” while also drawing attention to the humanitarian suffering of displaced people, including families living in tents in Gaza.In his first Christmas as pope, Leo celebrated Christmas Day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, reviving a practice not seen since 1994 during the pontificate of St. John Paul II. Reflecting on the prologue of St. John’s Gospel, the pope said in his homily that the Christmas liturgy highlights a striking contrast: God’s Word, which acts with power, comes into the world in utter weakness.“The ‘Word’ is a word that acts,” Leo said. Yet, he added, “the Word of God appears but cannot speak. He comes to us as a newborn baby who can only cry and babble.”Leo said the mystery Christians celebrate at Christmas cannot be separated from the vulnerability of those whose dignity is assaulted by war, displacement, and poverty. He urged Catholics to let Christ’s birth pierce complacency and move them toward tenderness and solidarity.“‘Flesh’ is the radical nakedness that, in Bethlehem as on Calvary, remains even without words — just as so many brothers and sisters, stripped of their dignity and reduced to silence, have no words today,” he said.In one of the homily’s most striking passages, Leo connected the Gospel image of the Word “pitching” his tent among humanity with the reality faced by families living in makeshift shelters amid conflict.“Dear brothers and sisters, since the Word was made flesh, humanity now speaks, crying out with God’s own desire to encounter us. The Word has pitched his fragile tent among us,” he said, before asking: “How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind, and cold; and of those of so many other refugees and displaced persons on every continent; or of the makeshift shelters of thousands of homeless people in our own cities?”The pope also described the toll of war in terms of both shattered communities and wounded consciences.“Fragile is the flesh of defenseless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds,” he said. “Fragile are the minds and lives of young people forced to take up arms, who on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths.”Leo framed Christmas as a proclamation that peace is not merely a hope for the future but a gift already present in Christ, even when few recognize it. Quoting Jesus’ words to the disciples, he said: “‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you’ (Jn 14:27).”That peace, he said, begins not in rhetoric but in concrete compassion that listens, stays close, and responds to suffering.“When the fragility of others penetrates our hearts, when their pain shatters our rigid certainties, then peace has already begun,” he said. “The peace of God is born from a newborn’s cry that is welcomed, from weeping that is heard. It is born amidst ruins that call out for new forms of solidarity.”The pope warned that believers can bury what the Gospel calls “the power to become children of God” by keeping their distance from the vulnerable.“Becoming children of God is a true power — one that remains buried so long as we keep our distance from the cry of children and the frailty of the elderly, from the helpless silence of victims and the resigned melancholy of those who do the evil they do not want,” he said.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 27 Dec 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Christmas, Day, Mass, says, wars, fed, falsehoods, send, young, people, their, deaths</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV: Christians have no enemies, only brothers and sisters</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-christians-have-no-enemies-only-brothers-and-sisters</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-christians-have-no-enemies-only-brothers-and-sisters</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the recitation of the Angelus on Dec. 26, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 26, 2025 / 07:17 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Friday urged Christians to resist the temptation to treat others as enemies, saying the mystery of Christmas calls believers to recognize the God-given dignity of every person, even in their adversaries.“Christians, however, have no enemies, but brothers and sisters, who remain so even when they do not understand each other,” the pope said Dec. 26 during his Angelus address from the Apostolic Palace on the feast of St. Stephen, the Church’s first martyr.Leo acknowledged that “those who believe in peace and have chosen the unarmed path of Jesus and the martyrs are often ridiculed, excluded from public discourse,” and sometimes even “accused of favoring adversaries and enemies.” Yet, he said Christian joy is sustained by “the tenacity of those who already live in fraternity.”Reflecting on St. Stephen’s martyrdom, the pope noted that early Christians spoke of the saint’s “birthday,” convinced “that we are not born just once” and that “martyrdom is a birth into heaven.”Citing the Acts of the Apostles, Leo recalled that those who witnessed Stephen’s trial and death “saw that his face was like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15), calling it “the face of one who does not leave history indifferently but responds to it with love.”The pope linked Stephen’s witness to the meaning of Christmas, saying “the birth of the Son of God among us calls us to live as children of God,” drawing believers through the humility of Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds of Bethlehem.At the same time, he said, the beauty of Christ and of those who imitate him can be rejected because it exposes injustice and threatens those “who struggle for power.”“To this day, however, no power can prevail over the work of God,” Leo said, pointing to people around the world who choose justice “even at great cost,” who “put peace before their fears,” and who serve the poor.“In the current conditions of uncertainty and suffering in the world, joy might seem impossible,” he added, but insisted hope still “sprouts” and “it makes sense to celebrate despite everything.”The pope said Stephen’s final act of forgiveness mirrors Jesus’ own, flowing from “a force more real than that of weapons,” a “gratuitous force” rekindled when people learn to look at their neighbor with “attention and recognition.” “Yes, this is what it means to be reborn, to come once more into the light, this is our ‘Christmas!’” he said.After the Angelus, Leo renewed his Christmas wishes “for peace and serenity,” greeted pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, and asked St. Stephen’s intercession for persecuted Christians and communities suffering for their faith. He also encouraged those working amid conflict to pursue “dialogue, reconciliation, and peace.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 27 Dec 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, Christians, have, enemies, only, brothers, and, sisters</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV on Christmas night: Make room for others</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-on-christmas-night-make-room-for-others</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-on-christmas-night-make-room-for-others</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Christmas Mass during the Night in a packed St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Dec 24, 2025 / 17:30 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV, at Christmas Mass during the Night, said Christ’s birth brings light into the world’s darkness — and where the human person is welcomed, God is welcomed too.“To enlighten our blindness, the Lord chose to reveal himself as a man to man, his true image, according to a plan of love that began with the creation of the world,” the pope said in his homily in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24.“As long as the night of error obscures this providential truth, then ‘there is no room for others either, for children, for the poor, for the stranger,’” he added, quoting Pope Benedict XVI’s homily at Christmas Mass on Dec. 24, 2012.“These words of Pope Benedict XVI remain a timely reminder that on earth, there is no room for God if there is no room for the human person,” the pontiff said.Leo celebrated the Christmas Mass, also known as midnight Mass, for a packed Vatican basilica at 10 p.m. The Vatican said an estimated 6,000 people were inside the basilica for the Mass, while another 5,000 people followed the papal Mass via jumbo screens in St. Peter’s Square.In a surprise before the Mass, the pope stepped outside St. Peter’s Basilica to greet those who were forced to stay in the rainy square because there was no more room inside.“The basilica of St. Peter’s is very large, but unfortunately it is not large enough to receive all of you,” Leo said, thanking everyone for their presence, wishing them a merry Christmas, and bestowing his apostolic blessing.Just now: Pope Leo surprised and blessed the crowd that could not get into St. Peter’s Basilica for tonight’s Christmas Eve Mass. “The basilica of St. Peter is very large, but unfortunately, it is not large enough to receive all of you. Tante grazie per venire qui questa sera.” pic.twitter.com/vMK1Zmibl8— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) December 24, 2025 The preparatory readings and the sung Proclamation of the Birth of Christ — also called the Kalenda Proclamation — preceded the Mass. The pontiff removed a cloth to reveal a wooden sculpture of the Christ Child, placed in front of the main altar of the basilica, after the chanting of the Kalenda Proclamation. A group of 10 children dressed in traditional clothing from different parts of the world brought flowers to the figure of baby Jesus.In his homily, the pope recalled that, “for millennia, across the earth, peoples have gazed up at the sky” attempting to read the future in the stars. Yet, they remained lost and in the dark, he said. “On this night, however, ‘the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light’ (Is 9:2).”“Born in the night is the One who redeems us from the night,” Leo said. “The hint of the dawning day is no longer to be sought in the distant reaches of the cosmos, but by bending low, in the stable nearby.Pope Leo invited Christians to marvel at the wisdom of Christmas, through which “God gives the world a new life: his own, offered for all.”“He does not give us a clever solution to every problem but a love story that draws us in. In response to the expectations of peoples, he sends a child to be a word of hope. In the face of the suffering of the poor, he sends one who is defenseless to be the strength to rise again. Before violence and oppression, he kindles a gentle light that illumines with salvation all the children of this world,” he said.The pontiff quoted a sermon of St. Augustine, who said “human pride weighed you down so heavily that only divine humility could raise you up again.”“While a distorted economy leads us to treat human beings as mere merchandise, God becomes like us, revealing the infinite dignity of every person,” Leo said. “While humanity seeks to become ‘god’ in order to dominate others, God chooses to become man in order to free us from every form of slavery. Will this love be enough to change our history?” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, Christmas, night:, Make, room, for, others</media:keywords>
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<title>Full text: Pope Leo XIV’s Christmas night homily</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/full-text-pope-leo-xivs-christmas-night-homily</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/full-text-pope-leo-xivs-christmas-night-homily</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV venerates a statue of the child Jesus during the celebration of Christmas Mass during the Night in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Dec 24, 2025 / 17:31 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Christmas Mass during the Night in St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday. The Mass was attended by an estimated 6,000 people inside the basilica, while around 5,000 people gathered outside in St. Peter&#039;s Square, according to the Vatican.Below is the full text of the pope’s Christmas night homily:Dear brothers and sisters,For millennia, across the earth, peoples have gazed up at the sky, giving names to the silent stars, and seeing images therein. In their imaginative yearning, they tried to read the future in the heavens, seeking on high for a truth that was absent below amidst their homes. Yet, as if grasping in the dark, they remained lost, confounded by their own oracles. On this night, however, “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined” (Is 9:2).Behold the star that astonishes the world, a spark newly lit and blazing with life: “To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Lk 2:11). Into time and space — in our midst — comes the One without whom we would not exist. He who gives his life for us lives among us, illuminating the night with his light of salvation. There is no darkness that this star does not illumine, for by its light all humanity beholds the dawn of a new and eternal life.It is the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel. In the Son made man, God gives us nothing less than his very self, in order to “redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own” (Titus 2:14). Born in the night is the One who redeems us from the night. The hint of the dawning day is no longer to be sought in the distant reaches of the cosmos, but by bending low, in the stable nearby.The clear sign given to a darkened world is indeed “a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger” (Lk 2:12). To find the Savior, one must not gaze upward, but look below: The omnipotence of God shines forth in the powerlessness of a newborn; the eloquence of the eternal Word resounds in an infant’s first cry; the holiness of the Spirit gleams in that small body, freshly washed and wrapped in swaddling clothes. The need for care and warmth becomes divine since the Son of the Father shares in history with all his brothers and sisters. The divine light radiating from this Child helps us to recognize humanity in every new life.To heal our blindness, the Lord chooses to reveal himself in each human being, who reflect his true image, according to a plan of love begun at the creation of the world. As long as the night of error obscures this providential truth, then “there is no room for others either, for children, for the poor, for the stranger” (Benedict XVI, Homily, Christmas Mass during the Night, 24 December 2012).These words of Pope Benedict XVI remain a timely reminder that on earth, there is no room for God if there is no room for the human person. To refuse one is to refuse the other. Yet, where there is room for the human person, there is room for God; even a stable can become more sacred than a temple, and the womb of the Virgin Mary become the Ark of the New Covenant.Let us marvel, dear brothers and sisters, at the wisdom of Christmas. In the Child Jesus, God gives the world a new life: his own, offered for all. He does not give us a clever solution to every problem, but a love story that draws us in. In response to the expectations of peoples, he sends a child to be a word of hope. In the face of the suffering of the poor, he sends one who is defenseless to be the strength to rise again. Before violence and oppression, he kindles a gentle light that illumines with salvation all the children of this world. As St. Augustine observed, “human pride weighed you down so heavily that only divine humility could raise you up again” (St. Augustine, Sermon 188, III, 3). While a distorted economy leads us to treat human beings as mere merchandise, God becomes like us, revealing the infinite dignity of every person. While humanity seeks to become “god” in order to dominate others, God chooses to become man in order to free us from every form of slavery. Will this love be enough to change our history?The answer will come as soon as we wake up from a deadly night into the light of new life, and, like the shepherds, contemplate the child Jesus. Above the stable of Bethlehem, where Mary and Joseph watch over the newborn Child with hearts full of wonder, the starry sky is transformed into “a multitude of the heavenly host” (Lk 2:13). These are unarmed and disarming hosts, for they sing of the glory of God, of which peace on earth is the true manifestation (cf. v. 14). Indeed, in the heart of Christ beats the bond of love that unites heaven and earth, Creator and creatures.For this reason, exactly one year ago, Pope Francis affirmed that the Nativity of Jesus rekindles in us the “gift and task of bringing hope wherever hope has been lost,” because “with him, joy flourishes; with him, life changes; with him, hope does not disappoint” (Homily, Christmas Mass during the Night, 24 December 2024). With these words, the holy year began. Now, as the jubilee draws to a close, Christmas becomes for us a time of gratitude and mission; gratitude for the gift received, and mission to bear witness to it before the world. As the Psalmist sings: “Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all the peoples” (Ps 96:2–3).Brothers and sisters, contemplation of the Word made flesh awakens in the whole Church a new and true proclamation. Let us therefore announce the joy of Christmas, which is a feast of faith, charity, and hope. It is a feast of faith, because God becomes man, born of the Virgin. It is a feast of charity, because the gift of the redeeming Son is realized in fraternal self-giving. It is a feast of hope, because the child Jesus kindles it within us, making us messengers of peace. With these virtues in our hearts, unafraid of the night, we can go forth to meet the dawn of a new day. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/christmas-night-2025-2.jpeg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Full, text:, Pope, Leo, XIV’s, Christmas, night, homily</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope, at Christmas Day Mass, says wars fed by falsehoods send young people to their deaths</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-at-christmas-day-mass-says-wars-fed-by-falsehoods-send-young-people-to-their-deaths</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-at-christmas-day-mass-says-wars-fed-by-falsehoods-send-young-people-to-their-deaths</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter&#039;s Basilica at the Vatican on December 25, 2025. / Daniel Ibañez/ EWTN News

Vatican City, Dec 25, 2025 / 06:35 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Christmas Day deplored the “falsehoods” used to justify wars that leave young people “forced to take up arms” and “sent to their deaths,” while also drawing attention to the humanitarian suffering of displaced people, including families living in tents in Gaza.In his first Christmas as pope, Leo celebrated Christmas Day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, reviving a practice not seen since 1994 during the pontificate of St. John Paul II. Reflecting on the prologue of St. John’s Gospel, the pope said in his homily that the Christmas liturgy highlights a striking contrast: God’s Word, which acts with power, comes into the world in utter weakness.“The ‘Word’ is a word that acts,” Leo said. Yet, he added, “the Word of God appears but cannot speak. He comes to us as a newborn baby who can only cry and babble.”Leo said the mystery Christians celebrate at Christmas cannot be separated from the vulnerability of those whose dignity is assaulted by war, displacement, and poverty. He urged Catholics to let Christ’s birth pierce complacency and move them toward tenderness and solidarity.“‘Flesh’ is the radical nakedness that, in Bethlehem as on Calvary, remains even without words – just as so many brothers and sisters, stripped of their dignity and reduced to silence, have no words today,” he said.In one of the homily’s most striking passages, Leo connected the Gospel image of the Word “pitching” his tent among humanity with the reality faced by families living in makeshift shelters amid conflict.“Dear brothers and sisters, since the Word was made flesh, humanity now speaks, crying out with God’s own desire to encounter us. The Word has pitched his fragile tent among us,” he said, before asking: “How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold; and of those of so many other refugees and displaced persons on every continent; or of the makeshift shelters of thousands of homeless people in our own cities?”The pope also described the toll of war in terms of both shattered communities and wounded consciences.“Fragile is the flesh of defenseless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds,” he said. “Fragile are the minds and lives of young people forced to take up arms, who on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths.”Leo framed Christmas as a proclamation that peace is not merely a hope for the future but a gift already present in Christ, even when few recognize it. Quoting Jesus’ words to the disciples, he said: “‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you’ (Jn 14:27).”That peace, he said, begins not in rhetoric but in concrete compassion that listens, stays close, and responds to suffering.“When the fragility of others penetrates our hearts, when their pain shatters our rigid certainties, then peace has already begun,” he said. “The peace of God is born from a newborn’s cry that is welcomed, from weeping that is heard. It is born amidst ruins that call out for new forms of solidarity.”The pope warned that believers can bury what the Gospel calls “the power to become children of God” by keeping their distance from the vulnerable.“Becoming children of God is a true power – one that remains buried so long as we keep our distance from the cry of children and the frailty of the elderly, from the helpless silence of victims and the resigned melancholy of those who do the evil they do not want,” he said.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/whatsapp-image-2025-12-25-at-10.40.35-am.jpeg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Christmas, Day, Mass, says, wars, fed, falsehoods, send, young, people, their, deaths</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV highlights Gaza, Yemen, migrants in first Christmas Urbi et Orbi message</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-highlights-gaza-yemen-migrants-in-first-christmas-urbi-et-orbi-message</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-highlights-gaza-yemen-migrants-in-first-christmas-urbi-et-orbi-message</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV delivers his Christmas &quot;Urbi et Orbi&quot; message at the Vatican on December 25, 2025. / Daniel Ibañez/ EWTN News

Vatican City, Dec 25, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
In his first Christmas “Urbi et Orbi” message as pope, Leo XIV urged the world to embrace “responsibility” as the sure way to peace, while pointing in particular to the suffering of people in Gaza, Yemen, and those fleeing war and poverty as refugees and migrants.Before an estimated 26,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 25, the pope appeared at the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to deliver the traditional Christmas blessing “to the city and to the world,” eight months after his May 8 election.In one of the most evocative passages of the message, the pope cited at length from “Wildpeace,” a poem by Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai, contrasting “the peace of a cease-fire” with a deeper peace that arrives unexpectedly — “like wildflowers” — after exhaustion and conflict.“Responsibility is the sure way to peace,” Leo said. “If all of us, at every level, would stop accusing others and instead acknowledge our own faults, asking God for forgiveness, and if we would truly enter into the suffering of others and stand in solidarity with the weak and the oppressed, then the world would change.”The pope framed his appeal around the Christian proclamation that Christ “is our peace,” adding: “Without a heart freed from sin, a heart that has been forgiven, we cannot be men and women of peace or builders of peace.”Turning to concrete “faces” of contemporary pain, Leo said that in becoming man, Jesus “took upon himself our fragility, identifying with each one of us: with those who have nothing left and have lost everything, like the inhabitants of Gaza; with those who are prey to hunger and poverty, like the Yemeni people; with those who are fleeing their homeland to seek a future elsewhere, like the many refugees and migrants who cross the Mediterranean or traverse the American continent.”He also named those who have lost jobs, underpaid workers who are exploited, and prisoners “who often live in inhumane conditions.”Leo offered “a warm and fatherly greeting” to Christians, “especially those living in the Middle East,” recalling his recent trip to Turkey and Lebanon. “I listened to them as they expressed their fears and know well their sense of powerlessness before the power dynamics that overwhelm them,” he said.“From God let us ask for justice, peace and stability for Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and Syria,” the pope continued, as he invoked Scripture on righteousness and peace.He also prayed “in a particular way for the tormented people of Ukraine,” asking that “the clamor of weapons cease,” and that the parties involved — “with the support and commitment of the international community” — find “the courage to engage in sincere, direct and respectful dialogue.”In a wider survey of global crises, the pope said: “From the Child of Bethlehem, we implore peace and consolation for the victims of all current wars in the world, especially those that are forgotten, and for those who suffer due to injustice, political instability, religious persecution and terrorism,” naming Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He prayed as well for Haiti, asking that “all forms of violence in the country will cease,” and called for a future of reconciliation for Myanmar.Leo also included a specific appeal for Latin America, asking that “the Child Jesus inspire those in Latin America who hold political responsibilities,” so that amid the region’s challenges “space may be given to dialogue for the common good, rather than to ideological and partisan prejudices.”He concluded by urging the faithful to open their hearts to those in need: “On this holy day, let us open our hearts to our brothers and sisters who are in need or in pain,” before offering “heartfelt good wishes for a peaceful and holy Christmas!”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/whatsapp-image-2025-12-25-at-12.07.58-pm.jpeg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, highlights, Gaza, Yemen, migrants, first, Christmas, Urbi, Orbi, message</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>PHOTOS: Pope Leo meets the tiniest members of the flock — babies</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/photos-pope-leo-meets-the-tiniest-members-of-the-flock-babies</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/photos-pope-leo-meets-the-tiniest-members-of-the-flock-babies</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV blesses a baby on All Saints Day’ 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 25, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has welcomed and greeted a plethora of babies at the Vatican since his election on May 8. As Christians everywhere celebrate the birth of Jesus, who came into this world as a baby, it’s a perfect time to highlight many of these sweet “pontiff meets babies” moments.Pope Leo XIV holds a baby during an audience at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo XIV blesses a baby during his general audience  in St. Peter’s Square on June 18, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo XIV greets a young attendee at a Pentecost prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Square, Saturday, June 7, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAPope Leo XIV blesses a baby during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 6, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAPope Leo XIV blesses a baby during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Basilica on Aug. 13, 2025, at the Vatican. Due to the heat, the pope gave his address in Paul VI Audience Hall but also greeted pilgrims in other locations. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo meets a family at the general audience on Aug. 27, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo embraces a crying baby in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Sept. 6, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo ambraces a baby at his general audience on Aug. 27, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo XIV blesses a baby during the general audience on Sept. 3, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo XIV blesses a baby during his general audience on Sept. 24, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAPope Leo XIV blesses a baby during his general audience on Sept. 24, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo XIV greets a baby during his general audience on Sept. 24, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo XIV blesses a baby during his jubilee audience on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo XIV greets a family in Rome. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo XIV greets a baby at his general audience in St. Peter&#039;s Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAPope Leo XIV pauses to embrace a baby in the crowd during Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 12, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo greets young children and families in St. Peter&#039;s Basilica Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo XIV greets a baby during his general audience in St. Peter&#039;s Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo blesses a baby on All Saints&#039; Day 2025. Credit: Vatican Media ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/emblematic.baby.pope.leo.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>PHOTOS:, Pope, Leo, meets, the, tiniest, members, the, flock, —, babies</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>These are Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intentions for 2026</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/these-are-pope-leo-xivs-prayer-intentions-for-2026</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/these-are-pope-leo-xivs-prayer-intentions-for-2026</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV prays during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 13, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Dec 22, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
The pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network has released Pope Leo XIV’s list of prayer intentions for the year 2026.Every month, Pope Leo asks Catholics around the world to pray for a particular intention. This initiative is accompanied by a video in which the pontiff expresses the reasons why he has chosen that particular intention.Below is the complete list of Pope Leo’s prayer intentions for 2026.January: For prayer with the word of GodLet us pray that praying with the word of God be nourishment for our lives and a source of hope in our communities, helping us to build a more fraternal and missionary Church.February: For children with incurable diseasesLet us pray that children suffering from incurable diseases and their families receive the necessary medical care and support, never losing strength and hope.March: For disarmament and peaceLet us pray that nations move toward effective disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, and that world leaders choose the path of dialogue and diplomacy instead of violence.April: For priests in crisisLet us pray for priests going through moments of crisis in their vocation, that they may find the accompaniment they need and that communities may support them with understanding and prayer.May: That everyone might have foodLet us pray that everyone, from large producers to small consumers, be committed to avoid wasting food and to ensure that everyone has access to quality food.June: For the values of sportsLet us pray that sports be an instrument of peace, encounter, and dialogue among cultures and nations, and that they promote values such as respect, solidarity, and personal growth.July: For respect for human lifeLet us pray for the respect and protection of human life in all its stages, recognizing it as a gift from God.August: For evangelization in the cityLet us pray that in large cities often marked by anonymity and loneliness we find new ways to proclaim the Gospel, discovering creative paths to build community.September: For the care of waterLet us pray for a just and sustainable management of water, a vital resource, so that everyone may have equal access to it.October: For mental health ministryLet us pray that mental health ministry be established throughout the Church, helping to overcome the stigma and discrimination of persons with mental illnesses.November: For the proper use of wealthLet us pray for the proper use of wealth, that not succumbing to the temptation of selfishness, it may always be put at the service of the common good and solidarity of those who have less.December: For single-parent familiesLet us pray for families experiencing the absence of a mother or father, that they may find support and accompaniment in the Church, and help and strength in the faith during difficult times. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/popeleoprays081325.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>These, are, Pope, Leo, XIV’s, prayer, intentions, for, 2026</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV urges a ‘more missionary’ Roman Curia and warns against internal divisions</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-a-more-missionary-roman-curia-and-warns-against-internal-divisions</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-a-more-missionary-roman-curia-and-warns-against-internal-divisions</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses officials of the Roman Curia at the Vatican on Dec. 22, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 22, 2025 / 06:25 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Monday called on officials of the Roman Curia to deepen both mission and communion, urging Vatican offices to be “more mission-oriented” and cautioning against the “forces of division” that can take root even “beneath an apparent calm.”Speaking during his annual Christmas greetings with personnel of the Church’s central administration, the pope also paid tribute to Pope Francis, whom he described as his “beloved predecessor” who “this year concluded his earthly life.”Leo said Francis’ “prophetic voice, pastoral style, and rich magisterium” encouraged the Church “to place God’s mercy at the center, to give renewed impetus to evangelization, and to be a joyful Church, welcoming to all and attentive to the poorest.”Drawing on Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Leo focused his address on what he called “two fundamental aspects of the Church’s life: mission and communion.”“By her very nature, the Church is outward-looking, turned toward the world, missionary,” the pope said, adding that the Church exists to invite people into “the good news of God’s love.”He insisted that ecclesial structures should serve evangelization rather than slow it down. “Structures must not weigh down or slow the progress of the Gospel or hinder the dynamism of evangelization; instead, we must ‘make them more mission-oriented,’” he said.Applying that principle directly to Vatican governance, the pope said: “We need an ever more missionary Roman Curia in which institutions, offices, and tasks are conceived in light of today’s major ecclesial, pastoral, and social challenges, and not merely to ensure ordinary administration.”Leo said the mystery of Christmas highlights not only the mission of the Son of God but also the purpose of that mission: reconciliation and a new kind of fraternity. “Christmas reminds us that Jesus came to reveal the true face of God as Father, so that we might all become his children and therefore brothers and sisters to one another,” he said.Pope Leo XIV addresses officials of the Roman Curia at the Vatican on Dec. 22, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaThe pope warned that communion within the Church requires ongoing conversion, especially when tensions arise in workplaces and debates about doctrine and practice.“At times, beneath an apparent calm, forces of division may be at play,” he said. He cautioned against “swinging between two opposite extremes: uniformity that fails to value differences, or the exacerbation of differences and viewpoints instead of seeking communion.”Such patterns, he said, can lead to “rigidity or ideology” and the conflicts that follow.Yet, he continued, Christians are united in Christ even amid real diversity. “And in Christ, though many and diverse, we are one: ‘In Illo uno unum,’” he said.Leo called Curia officials in particular to be “builders of Christ’s communion,” emphasizing a synodal Church in which “all cooperate in the same mission, each according to his or her charism and role.”The pope acknowledged that long years of service can leave some Vatican employees disheartened by workplace dynamics, including “the exercise of power,” “the desire to prevail,” or “the pursuit of personal interests.”He posed the question directly: “Is it possible to be friends in the Roman Curia? To have relationships of genuine fraternal friendship?” He said it is “a grace to find trustworthy friends, where masks fall away,” where “no one is used or sidelined,” and where each person’s “worth and competence are respected.”Such relationships, he said, require personal conversion so that “Christ’s love” can be visible.The pope also linked internal communion to the Church’s public witness in a world marked by violence and polarization. He said this conversion becomes a sign “ad extra” in “a world wounded by discord, violence, and conflict,” where there is “a growth in aggression and anger,” often “exploited by both the digital sphere and politics.”“Dear brothers and sisters, mission and communion are possible if we place Christ at the center,” Leo said.He also pointed to the significance of the Church’s current jubilee year, saying it underscores that Christ “alone is the hope that does not disappoint.”The pope referenced two major anniversaries marked this year: the Council of Nicaea, which he said returns the Church “to the roots of our faith,” and the Second Vatican Council, which “strengthened the Church and sent her forth to engage the modern world.”Leo closed by recalling the 50th anniversary of St. Paul VI’s apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, highlighting its emphasis that evangelization belongs to the whole Church and that the first means of evangelization is the witness of an authentically Christian life.“Let us remember this also in our curial service: The work of each is important for the whole, and the witness of a Christian life, expressed in communion, is the first and greatest service we can offer,” he said.Quoting Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer on the humility of God revealed at Christmas, Leo prayed that the Lord would grant the Curia “his own humility, his compassion, and his love,” and he concluded by wishing all present “a holy Christmas” and asking God to “grant peace to the world.”At the close of the exchange of greetings, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, offered Christmas wishes on behalf of Curia offices, the Vatican City State Governorate, and the Diocese of Rome, and the pope presented curial personnel with a copy of “The Practice of the Presence of God,” the spiritual classic he has recently recommended.This story was first published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/popeleoromancuria2122225.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, ‘more, missionary’, Roman, Curia, and, warns, against, internal, divisions</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo in apostolic letter calls for renewed priestly formation, fraternity, and mission</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-inapostolic-letter-callsfor-renewed-priestly-formation-fraternity-and-mission</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-inapostolic-letter-callsfor-renewed-priestly-formation-fraternity-and-mission</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 20, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 22, 2025 / 12:07 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV calls for renewed priestly formation, stronger priestly fraternity, and a more missionary focus in pastoral ministry in an apostolic letter released by the Vatican on Monday.The document, “A Fidelity That Generates the Future,” reflects on two decrees of the Second Vatican Council: Optatam Totius — on priestly formation — and Presbyterorum Ordinis — on the ministry and life of priests — both promulgated in 1965. Leo urges Catholics to keep reading the two conciliar texts in Christian communities and to study them “particularly in seminaries and in all places of preparation and formation for ordained ministry.”An apostolic letter is a formal papal document, typically addressed to the Church, meant to teach, encourage, or direct pastoral priorities on a specific theme.In his new letter, Leo says the Church is not simply marking an anniversary. He writes that the council’s “desired renewal” remains closely tied to priestly ministry, quoting the council’s assessment that “the desired renewal of the whole Church depends to a great extent on a priestly ministry animated by the spirit of Christ.”The pope presents fidelity as both a grace and “a constant journey of conversion,” and he thanks priests worldwide for their ministry — from celebrating the Eucharist and proclaiming the Word to caring for those who suffer.Formation and the abuse crisisLeo writes that every vocation begins with an encounter with Christ and recalls the Lord’s call, “Follow me” (Mk 1:17). He says fidelity in “times of trial and temptation” is strengthened by remembering “the sound of the voice of the Lord who loves, chooses, and calls us,” and by seeking the accompaniment of those experienced in the spiritual life. Addressing what he calls “the crisis of trust in the Church caused by abuses committed by members of the clergy,” the pope says the scandal “has filled us with shame and called us to humility” and underscores “the urgent need for a comprehensive formation” that fosters human maturity alongside “a rich and solid spiritual life.” He urges seminarians to examine their motivations and includes a pointed line on formation of the heart: “The seminary is meant to be a training ground to help a seminarian attend to his own heart… we need to learn how to love and how to do so as Jesus did.” Priestly fraternity and lonelinessLeo describes priestly fraternity as a gift rooted in ordination itself and warns against individualism. He encourages practical steps to strengthen bonds among priests, including support for those who are isolated, sick, or elderly.The pope also flags disparities that can undermine communion, saying more remains to be done — including “economic equalization between those who serve poor parishes and those who carry out their ministry in wealthy communities.”Synodality and shared leadershipLeo calls synodality “particularly close to my heart,” arguing that the Church still has work to do in fostering healthy relationships between priests and bishops, among priests themselves, and with the lay faithful. He encourages priests to engage the Synod on Synodality’s final document and says priestly ministry should move away from “exclusive leadership” that centralizes parish life and places every responsibility on the priest alone. Instead, he points to more collegial leadership and cooperation among priests, deacons, and the whole people of God. Mission and the temptations of activism and withdrawalThe pope links priestly identity to mission and warns against two temptations: an efficiency-driven mindset that measures worth by performance, and a “quietism” that retreats from evangelization. He writes that media exposure and social networks require discernment and recalls St. Paul’s warning: “‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are beneficial” (1 Cor 6:12). The letter closes with a focus on vocations and the need for both prayer and renewed pastoral creativity. Leo entrusts seminarians, deacons, and priests to the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Good Counsel, and St. John Mary Vianney. This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.  ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/popeleojubilee122225.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, in apostolic, letter, calls for, renewed, priestly, formation, fraternity, and, mission</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV tells Vatican employees doing work well gives glory to God</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-tells-vatican-employees-doing-work-well-gives-glory-to-god</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-tells-vatican-employees-doing-work-well-gives-glory-to-god</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses employees of the Vatican on Dec. 22, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 22, 2025 / 12:37 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV told Vatican and Holy See employees to see their daily work as part of the Church’s mission, saying that doing one’s job well “gives glory to the Lord.”Meeting the workers for a Christmas greeting on Dec. 22, the pope said he is still getting to know the Vatican and experiences it as “a great mosaic” made up of many offices and services. He said he hopes, with God’s help, to meet employees as he visits different workplaces.Reflecting on the Nativity scene, Pope Leo pointed to the many figures shown at work — each carrying out a task — as a reminder that everyday activities find their full meaning in God’s plan centered on Jesus Christ. He said it is as if the Christ Child blesses everyone from the manger, giving purpose and unity to the work of each person.Even when some figures in the Nativity seem distant from the central event, he said, they participate precisely by being themselves, staying in their place and doing what they are called to do. The pope applied that image to Vatican life, saying each person can praise God by carrying out his or her responsibilities with commitment and care.The pope also linked professional dedication to family life, telling lay employees that striving to do one’s best at work — and loving one’s family and children — honors God.He urged Vatican workers to make that spirit a hallmark of the Church “in every expression,” and he asked them to convey his greetings to their relatives at home, telling them that the pope is praying for them.After giving his blessing, Pope Leo greeted some of those present individually.This story was first published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, tells, Vatican, employees, doing, work, well, gives, glory, God</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV writes preface to book that shaped his spiritual life</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-writes-preface-to-book-that-shaped-his-spiritual-life</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-writes-preface-to-book-that-shaped-his-spiritual-life</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for the Jubilee of Prisoners in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 14, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 19, 2025 / 11:05 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has written the preface to a new Vatican edition of the book “The Practice of the Presence of God,” a spiritual work he says is “one of the texts that has most shaped my spiritual life.”“The Practice of the Presence of God” is a 17th-century spiritual classic written by the Carmelite friar Lawrence of the Resurrection.The pontiff shared the personal importance of this work during the return flight to Rome at the end of his first international trip to Turkey and Lebanon earlier this month.“It’s a very simple book, by someone who doesn’t even give his last name — Brother Lawrence — written many years ago,” he said at the time.“But it describes, if you will, a type of prayer and spirituality where one simply gives his life to the Lord and allows the Lord to lead.”The book that has ‘shaped my spiritual life’In a preface to “The Practice of the Presence of God,” published by the Vatican Publishing House (LEV) in Italian, the pope goes deeper into this personal experience and places the work within his own journey of faith.“As I have had occasion to say, together with the writings of St. Augustine and other books, this is one of the texts that has most shaped my spiritual life and has formed me in what the path for knowing and loving the Lord can be,” he writes.Leo emphasizes that the small book by Brother Lawrence places at the center not merely the experience but a true “practice” of the presence of God, lived in everyday life.It is, he explains, a path that is “simple and arduous at the same time. Simple, because it requires nothing other than “constantly calling God to mind, with small, continual acts of praise, prayer, supplication, adoration, in every action and in every thought, with him alone as our horizon, source, and end.”It is demanding because it requires “a journey of purification, of ascetic discipline, of renunciation and conversion of the most intimate part of ourselves — of our mind and our thoughts, even more than of our actions,” he explains.In this context, the pontiff cites St. Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians: “Have in you the same sentiments as Christ Jesus” — to underscore that “it is not only our attitudes and behaviors that must be conformed to God, but our very sentiments, our very way of feeling.”Making daily tasks ‘easy and light’In the preface, Leo underscores that this spiritual path, in which the presence of God becomes “familiar and occupies our inner space,” is where “graces and spiritual riches blossom, and even daily tasks become easy and light.”The pope situates Brother Lawrence’s message in the context of today’s world. The writings of this Carmelite, who lived with luminous faith through a century marked by conflicts and violence — “certainly no less violent than our own” — can, he affirms, “also be an inspiration and a help for the lives of us men and women of the third millennium.”Beyond ‘moralism’The writing of Brother Lawrence shows us “that there is no circumstance that can separate us from God, that each of our actions, each of our occupations, and even each of our mistakes acquires infinite value if lived in the presence of God, continually offered to him,” the Holy Father says.The pope adds that the whole of Christian ethics “can truly be summed up in this continual calling to mind of the fact that God is present: He is here.”“This remembrance, which is more than a simple memory because it involves our feelings and affections, overcomes all moralism and every reduction of the Gospel to a mere set of rules, and shows us that truly, as Jesus promised us, the experience of entrusting ourselves to God the Father already gives us a hundredfold here on earth,” he explains. “Entrusting ourselves to the presence of God means tasting a foretaste of paradise,” Leo writes.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA&#039;s Spanish-language partner agency. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, writes, preface, book, that, shaped, his, spiritual, life</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV: The person and families must be at center of labor system</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xivthe-person-and-families-must-be-at-center-of-labor-system</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xivthe-person-and-families-must-be-at-center-of-labor-system</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses employment consultants on Dec. 18, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 19, 2025 / 14:30 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV advocated for a labor system that serves individuals and families so that the dignity of each employee is recognized and his or her real needs are met.During a Dec. 18 audience at the Vatican with members of the Order of Employment Consultants, the Holy Father highlighted three aspects that he considers particularly important in the business world: the dignity of the person, mediation, and the promotion of safety.At the beginning of his address in the Apostolic Palace, the pontiff emphasized that at the heart of any work dynamic “should neither be capital, nor the laws of the market, nor profit, but the person, the family, and their well-being, to which everything else is secondary.”Consequently, he stated that workers must “be recognized in their dignity” and receive concrete responses to their real needs, such as the needs of young families, of parents with small children, “as well as the importance of helping those who, even while working, must care for elderly and sick family members.”“These are needs,” he pointed out, “that no truly civilized society can afford to forget or neglect.” This is especially true today, when artificial intelligence and technology “increasingly manage and influence our activities.” Therefore, he emphasized the urgent need to ensure that companies are characterized “as humane and fraternal communities.”He also urged the establishment of fair mediation between managers and employees, avoiding “excessive bureaucratization of relationships” and “distance and detachment and distance from reality.”Thus, he invited employment consultants to pay close attention “to the people in front of you, especially those who are in difficulty and have fewer opportunities to express their needs and assert their interests.” Finally, he emphasized the importance of promoting workplace safety and lamented the numerous accidents that occur at work. “Prevention is better than remediating,” he remarked.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV: The, person, and, families, must, center, labor, system</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV strengthens legal protections for employees of the Vatican and Holy See</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-strengthens-legal-protections-for-employees-of-the-vatican-and-holy-see</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-strengthens-legal-protections-for-employees-of-the-vatican-and-holy-see</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  A new Vatican labor regulations decree was issued after an audience granted to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, pictured here with Pope Leo XIV. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 19, 2025 / 16:22 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV approved new labor regulations at the Office of Labor of the Apostolic See (ULSA, by its Italian acronym), the Holy See’s body responsible for managing labor relations for personnel working in the Roman Curia, the Governorate of Vatican City State, and other entities directly administered by the Apostolic See.The reform, established through a pontifical rescript signed on Nov. 25, introduces significant changes that strengthen institutional representation, improve internal coordination, and underscore the pontiff’s care for employees and the application of the Church’s social doctrine.The document that has been released — corresponding to the ULSA’s new statute — details, in precise legal language, how labor disputes should be handled in the Vatican, reinforcing protections, procedures, and deadlines for both current and former employees of the Holy See.Specifically, the text regulates the chapter dedicated to labor disputes, clearly establishing who can appeal, to which authorities, and within what time frames.The document indicates that anyone who believes they have been harmed by an administrative act in labor matters — unless it has been expressly approved by the pope — may file a complaint with ULSA or take it to the Vatican judicial authority.However, it is emphasized that attempting conciliation with the ULSA director is a mandatory condition, an indispensable requirement before pursuing any other course of action.The text also specifies that, when required by the internal regulations of each administration, the employee must first exhaust all internal remedies, failing which his or her claim will be deemed inadmissible. Only after completing this process can the procedure before ULSA or the courts of Vatican City State be initiated.Solutions through dialogue before resorting to legal actionLabor disputes — whether individual or collective — will be resolved preferably through conciliation mechanisms, and only in case of failure will they be referred to the ULSA Conciliation and Arbitration Board or the Vatican court. In this way, the system prioritizes solutions through dialogue before resorting to legal action.The document also establishes a five-year statute of limitations for rights arising from the employment relationship, although it clarifies that filing a request for conciliation interrupts this period until official notification of the document that concludes this phase.Matters falling under the jurisdiction of the Disciplinary Commissions established in the general regulations of the various Vatican administrations are expressly excluded from this procedure.Regarding deadlines, the statute stipulates that the appeal must be filed within 30 days of notification — or actual knowledge — of the contested act. The same deadline applies after a negative decision on an internal appeal or in the case of administrative silence, if the administration fails to respond within the prescribed time.Finally, the text details the formal requirements of the claim, which must include the claimant’s personal data, the identification of the administration involved,and the act being challenged, as well as the necessary elements to allow for the proper processing of the case.The decree was issued after an audience granted to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and coincides with the approval of the new general regulations of the Roman Curia.Overall, the document reflects an effort to provide greater legal certainty, transparency, and procedural order to labor relations within the Vatican, in line with the recent reform initiated by Pope Leo XIV to strengthen the protection of workers and promote a culture of conciliation before resorting to legal conflict.A more representative councilAnother major innovation of the new statute is the expansion of the ULSA Council, the advisory body responsible for developing regulatory proposals. For the first time, it will include a representative from the Secretariat of State as well as from the Vicariate of Rome, the Pension Fund, and the Healthcare Fund (FAS) used by employees of the Vatican and the Holy See. This addition brings the number of newly represented entities to four and aims to strengthen the technical expertise and effective protection of workers.The council — whose members serve a five-year term — already included representatives from various Vatican dicasteries and bodies, such as the Dicastery for Evangelization, the Secretariat for the Economy, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, and the Governorate of Vatican City State.A more ‘synodal’ working styleThe new statute also introduces a more participatory way of working. From now on, each council member will be able to propose topics for the agenda directly, a power that previously required the support of at least four members. According to Vatican sources, this measure emphasizes a more “synodal” working style and promotes the creative involvement of the various departments and staff representatives.Leo XIV has confirmed the historical responsibilities of ULSA, an organization established by St. John Paul II in 1988 and operational since 1989, and which was further updated during the pontificates of Benedict XVI and Francis.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/paro.pope.jpeg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, strengthens, legal, protections, for, employees, the, Vatican, and, Holy, See</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV highlights key virtues for final days of Advent</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-highlights-key-virtues-for-final-days-of-advent</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-highlights-key-virtues-for-final-days-of-advent</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the recitation of the Angelus on Dec. 21, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 21, 2025 / 09:15 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday highlighted four virtues of St. Joseph — “piety and charity, mercy and trust” — as guides for Catholics in the final days of Advent leading up to Christmas.Speaking during his Angelus address from the window of the Apostolic Palace on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the pope said the day’s liturgy invited the faithful to reflect on St. Joseph, especially “at the moment when God reveals his mission to him in a dream.”Calling the Gospel episode “a very beautiful page in salvation history,” Leo described Joseph as a man who is “fragile and fallible — like us — and at the same time courageous and strong in faith.”Referring to the Gospel of Matthew, the pontiff recalled that Joseph of Nazareth was a “just man,” a devout Israelite who observed the law and frequented the synagogue, while also being “extremely sensitive and human.”In the face of Mary’s mysterious pregnancy — a situation that was difficult to understand and accept — the pope noted that Joseph did not choose “the way of scandal” or public condemnation. Instead, he opted for the discreet and benevolent path of planning to divorce her quietly.In doing so, Leo said, Joseph demonstrated he had grasped the deepest meaning of religious observance: mercy.The pope added that Joseph’s purity and nobility became even clearer when the Lord revealed his plan of salvation in a dream, showing Joseph the unexpected role he would assume as the husband of the Virgin Mother of the Messiah.Leo pointed to Joseph’s “great act of faith,” saying the saint left behind the last of his certainties and set out into a future fully in God’s hands.Referring to St. Augustine, the pope said that from Joseph’s piety and charity, “a son was born of the Virgin Mary — Son at the same time of God.”“Piety and charity, mercy and trust,” Leo said, are the virtues the liturgy proposes for the faithful today so that they may accompany Christians through these final Advent days toward “holy Christmas.”The pope emphasized that these attitudes “educate the heart” for encountering Christ and one another and can help believers become for each other “a welcoming manger, a comfortable home, a sign of God’s presence.”He urged Catholics not to miss opportunities during this season of grace to put the virtues into practice — forgiving, encouraging, offering hope to those they live with and meet — and renewing in prayer a childlike trust in the Lord and in his providence.Leo concluded by entrusting the faithful to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, who were the first to welcome Jesus, the Savior of the world, “with great faith and love.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, highlights, key, virtues, for, final, days, Advent</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>With Enrique Shaw on path to sainthood, Vatican confirms you can be a holy businessman</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/with-enrique-shaw-on-path-to-sainthood-vatican-confirms-you-can-be-a-holy-businessman</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/with-enrique-shaw-on-path-to-sainthood-vatican-confirms-you-can-be-a-holy-businessman</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ ROSARIO, Argentina (OSV News) — In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples that “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for…
The post With Enrique Shaw on path to sainthood, Vatican confirms you can be a holy businessman first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Enrique_Shaw.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 19 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>With, Enrique, Shaw, path, sainthood, Vatican, confirms, you, can, holy, businessman</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>New archbishop ‘committed’ to immigration issues, accountability on abuse — and staying a Cubs fan</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/new-archbishop-committed-to-immigration-issues-accountability-on-abuse-and-staying-a-cubs-fan</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/new-archbishop-committed-to-immigration-issues-accountability-on-abuse-and-staying-a-cubs-fan</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;As a church, we can never rest in our efforts to prevent abuse, to protect children and to care for survivors.,&quot; says newly named New York archbishop.
The post New archbishop ‘committed’ to immigration issues, accountability on abuse — and staying a Cubs fan first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 19 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>New, archbishop, ‘committed’, immigration, issues, accountability, abuse, —, and, staying, Cubs, fan</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>HHS proposes new regulatory actions to prohibit gender transition procedures for minors</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/hhs-proposes-new-regulatory-actions-to-prohibit-gender-transition-procedures-for-minors</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/hhs-proposes-new-regulatory-actions-to-prohibit-gender-transition-procedures-for-minors</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Dec. 18 announced new regulatory actions that would effectively ban certain types of medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for minors who identify as transgender.
The post HHS proposes new regulatory actions to prohibit gender transition procedures for minors first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 19 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>HHS, proposes, new, regulatory, actions, prohibit, gender, transition, procedures, for, minors</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Fundraiser by cancer survivor, third&#45;grade classmates brings Christmas joy to school, community</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/fundraiser-by-cancer-survivor-third-grade-classmates-brings-christmas-joy-to-school-community</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/fundraiser-by-cancer-survivor-third-grade-classmates-brings-christmas-joy-to-school-community</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Even though Hattie&#039;s cancer is in remission, she is at Children&#039;s frequently for blood tests to monitor the remission, which is in its seventh year.
The post Fundraiser by cancer survivor, third-grade classmates brings Christmas joy to school, community first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 19 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Fundraiser, cancer, survivor, third-grade, classmates, brings, Christmas, joy, school, community</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope advances causes of Argentine businessman, Spanish martyrs</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-advances-causes-of-argentine-businessman-spanish-martyrs</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-advances-causes-of-argentine-businessman-spanish-martyrs</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The pope also signed decrees recognizing the martyrdom of 11 Spaniards and the heroic virtues of three other candidates during an audience at the Vatican Dec. 18.
The post Pope advances causes of Argentine businessman, Spanish martyrs first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 19 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, advances, causes, Argentine, businessman, Spanish, martyrs</media:keywords>
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<title>Countdown to the closing of the jubilee: When, who will close the Holy Doors in Rome?</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/countdown-to-the-closing-of-the-jubilee-when-who-will-close-the-holy-doors-in-rome</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/countdown-to-the-closing-of-the-jubilee-when-who-will-close-the-holy-doors-in-rome</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV passes through the Holy Door carrying the jubilee cross as he leads the pilgrimage of the Holy See on June 9, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 18, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Just a few weeks remain until the closing of the holy year, which was inaugurated by Pope Francis on Dec. 24, 2024. On Jan. 6, 2026, Pope Leo XIV will be the one to close the enormous bronze door of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, through which nearly 30 million pilgrims have passed during the last 12 months seeking a plenary indulgence. This Holy Door is slated to be reopened in 2033, when the Church celebrates the Extraordinary Holy Year of the Redemption.The schedule for closing rites of the Holy Doors of the main papal basilicas in Rome is as follows:The first Holy Door to be closed — and which will remain walled up until the next jubilee — is that of St. Mary Major Basilica. The rite will take place on Dec. 25, as reported by the Holy See Press Office. The ceremony will be begin at 6 p.m. local time, followed by Mass celebrated by the cardinal archpriest of the basilica, Rolandas Makrickas.Lithuanian Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, celebrates Mass on Aug. 5, 2025, to mark the anniversary of the dedication of the Marian basilica. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNATwo days later, on Dec. 27 at 11 a.m. local time, the closing ceremony at St. John Lateran Basilica will be presided over by the cardinal vicar of Rome, Baldassare Reina, who will celebrate the Eucharist, and will feature the participation of the diocesan choir, directed by Monsignor Marco Frisina.On Dec. 28 at 10 a.m. local time, the Holy Door of St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica will be closed. The solemn event will be presided over by Cardinal Archpriest James Michael Harvey.Finally, on Jan. 6, 2026, the solemnity of the Epiphany, Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to close the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica before celebrating the Mass that will mark the concluding act of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. On that occasion, the pontiff will invite pilgrims to return to Rome in 2033 for the Extraordinary Holy Year of Redemption.Detail of the bronze panels on the Holy Door of St. Peter&#039;s Basilica, highlighted during the nocturnal opening for the Jubilee of Artists, Feb. 16, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAThe Holy Doors, as is tradition, have been solely those of the four papal basilicas of Rome: St. Peter’s in the Vatican, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls. However, on Dec. 26, two days after officially inaugurating the holy year, Pope Francis made an exception by traveling to the Rebibbia prison in Rome to repeat this gesture at another door as a symbol of hope.The late pope wanted to extend this gesture of grace to prisoners by opening the door of this correctional facility in the Italian capital.The date on which the closing ceremony for this fifth Holy Door will take place has yet to be announced.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 19 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Countdown, the, closing, the, jubilee:, When, who, will, close, the, Holy, Doors, Rome</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV warns against destructive spiral of autonomous weapons and escalation</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-warns-against-destructive-spiral-of-autonomous-weapons-and-escalation</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-warns-against-destructive-spiral-of-autonomous-weapons-and-escalation</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV speaks to patients and caregivers at the De La Croix Hospital in Jal el Dib, Lebanon, on Dec. 2, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 18, 2025 / 18:28 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV warned against the destructive spiral fueled by the arms race and the development of autonomous weapons, and called for an “unarmed and disarming” peace — one that springs from the resurrection of Christ — as the only answer to the world’s challenges.“The peace of the risen Jesus is unarmed, because his was an unarmed struggle in the midst of concrete historical, political, and social circumstances,” the pontiff wrote in his message for the 59th World Day of Peace, which will be celebrated on Jan. 1, 2026. Its text was released Dec. 18 by the Holy See Press Office.The four-page document is titled “Peace Be with You All: Towards an Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” an expression that directly echoes the first words spoken by Leo XIV after his election as the successor of Peter on May 8, when he appeared on the balcony of the Apostolic Palace to greet the faithful for the first time.In the text, the pope lamented that, in the face of global challenges, the predominant response is an “enormous economic investment in rearmament.” In this regard, he noted that in 2024, global military spending increased by 9.4% compared with the previous year, confirming “the trend of the last 10 years.” According to the data cited, total spending reached $2.718 trillion, equivalent to 2.5% of the world’s gross domestic product.Beyond the statistics, the pope warned of the cultural and educational consequences of this logic. He criticized the fact that schools and universities are not adequately preserving “a culture of memory” that remembers the “millions of victims” of wars ​​and lamented that, instead, educational programs are being promoted that are based on the “perception of threats,” promoting “only an armed notion of defense and security.”The Holy Father also emphasized how technological advancements and the incorporation of artificial intelligence in the military sphere have “worsened the tragedy” of armed conflicts. He therefore warned of the risk of a growing tendency to “shirk responsibility” by political and military leaders such that “decisions about life and death are increasingly “‘delegated’ to machines.” In his view, this is an “unprecedented destructive betrayal” of the “legal and philosophical principles of humanism” upon which any civilization is based and safeguarded.The pontiff did not shy away from denouncing “the enormous concentrations of private economic and financial interests” that are driving states in this direction, but emphasized that just criticizing this would not be enough “unless we also awakened conscience and critical thought” throughout society.In his reflection, Leo XIV included an explicit warning against the religious instrumentalization of violence. The pope observed that it is part of the contemporary landscape to “to drag the language of faith into political battles, to bless nationalism, and to justify violence and armed struggle in the name of religion.” In response, he urged believers to “actively refute this, above all by the witness of their lives,” because “these forms of blasphemy profane the holy name of God.”Therefore, he emphasized that, alongside concrete actions for peace, it is increasingly necessary to cultivate “prayer, spirituality, and ecumenical and interreligious dialogue” as authentic paths to peace and as languages ​​of encounter between traditions and cultures.The Holy Father also warned of the risk of treating peace as a “distant ideal” and “disconnected from the concrete experience of people and the political life of nations.”When peace is presented as something unattainable, the pope noted in the text, “we cease to be scandalized when it is denied, or even when war is waged in its name.”According to the pontiff, there is a real risk that this logic will end up seeping into both private and public life, fueling the perception that it is almost “a fault” not to be sufficiently prepared for war, “not to react to attacks,” even going “far beyond the principle of legitimate defense.”“It is no coincidence that repeated calls to increase military spending, and the choices that follow, are presented by many government leaders as a justified response to external threats,” Leo XIV lamented.Indeed, he continued, “the deterrent power of military might, especially nuclear deterrence, is based on the irrationality of relations between nations, built not on law, justice, and trust but on fear and domination by force.”Faced with this scenario, the pope proposed a different understanding of peace that “wants to dwell within us” and has the “gentle power to enlighten and expand our understanding; it resists and overcomes violence.”‘Peace is a breath of the eternal’“Peace is a breath of the eternal: while to evil we cry out ‘Enough,’ to peace we whisper ‘Forever,’” the pope emphasized.The reflection included a cultural critique of the modern world, which he called “realistic” in its narratives but “devoid of hope, blind to the beauty of others,” and that forgets that “God’s grace is always at work in human hearts, even those wounded by sin.”In this regard, the pope recalled that the path proposed by Jesus was already perplexing even for his own disciples: “The Gospels do not hide the fact that what troubled the disciples was his nonviolent response,” a path that everyone, starting with Peter, opposed, “yet the Master asked them to follow this path to the end. The way of Jesus continues to cause unease and fear.” The Holy Father acknowledged the discouragement experienced by people of goodwill who “have hearts ready for peace” and are overwhelmed by a feeling of “powerlessness” in the face of the increasingly uncertain course of events.The World Day of Peace was instituted by St. Paul VI, who proposed it on Dec. 8, 1967, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. It was celebrated for the first time on Jan. 1, 1968, coinciding with the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and since then it has become an annual occasion for the Church to reflect on the great challenges of human coexistence.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 19 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, warns, against, destructive, spiral, autonomous, weapons, and, escalation</media:keywords>
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<title>‘Seeking Beauty’ travel show with David Henrie premieres at Vatican</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/seeking-beauty-travel-show-with-david-henrie-premieres-at-vatican</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/seeking-beauty-travel-show-with-david-henrie-premieres-at-vatican</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Catholic actor and director David Henrie speaks with EWTN News after the first episode of his new travel show, “Seeking Beauty,” premiered at the Vatican’s movie theater on Dec. 15, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Dec 16, 2025 / 10:45 am (CNA).
The first episode of a new travel show, hosted by Catholic actor and director David Henrie, premiered at the Vatican’s movie theater on Monday evening.“Seeking Beauty,” which will debut on EWTN’s free streaming platform EWTN+ on Jan. 19, 2026, is a series documenting Henrie’s exploration of the beauty of art and culture in six Italian cities.Henrie and executive producer Edmundo Reyes, with other crew members, were present for the airing of Episode 1 inside Vatican City on Dec. 15. The premiere was followed by a Q-and-A with Henrie, Reyes, and Peter Gagnon, president of EWTN Studios, moderated by Andreas Thonhauser, chief global officer of EWTN.“It’s a blessing to be able to play the show at the Vatican, which is where we [filmed] our first episode,” Henrie told EWTN News. “You can’t help but feel grateful, and feel like [it’s] a full-circle moment.”Catholic actor and director David Henrie shares just how much fun he had while filming his new travel show, &quot;Seeking Beauty,&quot; in Italy. ?The first episode premiered at the Vatican on Dec. 15, and will stream on EWTN+ (via Roku) starting Jan. 19. pic.twitter.com/4GtNvqKycn— Hannah Brockhaus (@HannahBrockhaus) December 16, 2025 In the first episode, Henrie speaks to a range of experts — including art historian Elizabeth Lev and artist Kelly Medford — to learn more about the Vatican Gardens, the Swiss Guard, St. Peter’s Basilica, and St. Peter’s Square.Reyes called it “such a special moment” to show the first episode of “Seeking Beauty” at the Vatican.“We can’t wait for people to see it,” he told EWTN News at the event. “I think it’s going to be a great, great evangelization tool.”Reyes, who had the original idea for the show, recalled visiting Spain with his family four years ago and how it was there he realized how many stories about art and faith have not been shared with a wider audience.“God put in my heart this desire … Let’s create a travel show that will be more than a travel show, that would help people encounter God through beauty,” he said.“What David has done is very special, because it’s not about going to places but retraining us or inviting us to contemplate and to look at beauty differently,” Reyes said during the Q-and-A. It’s about “God speaking to us through beauty, and not so much about, ‘Hey, here’s a cool place to visit and to put on your bucket list.’”The first episode of new travel show “Seeking Beauty” premiered at the Vatican’s movie theater on Dec. 15, 2025. It was followed by a Q-and-A with, from left, EWTN Studios President Peter Gagnon, series executive producer Edmundo Reyes, and series host David Henrie. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNAThe series is produced by EWTN Studios in partnership with Digital Continent and in association with Novo Inspire and Sacred Arthouse.“Each episode is very unique … There’s so much there that can touch people in different ways,” Gagnon said.In Season 1, Henrie will also visit Rome, Milan, Venice, Florence, and Subiaco, a place connected to St. Benedict. Season 2 of “Seeking Beauty” recently wrapped filming in Spain.“I’m not an expert. You’re just seeing it through my eyes,” Henrie told EWTN News. “The thing that will make this accessible is that you’re not sitting down for a history lesson; it’s a travel show,” he said. “When my wife and I watch travel shows, we have a glass of wine, we hang out, we relax, we watch something. It’s easy consumption, but there’s some medicine under all the sugar.”Paola Flynn, Vatican correspondent for EWTN Noticias, contributed to this report. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 18 Dec 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>‘Seeking, Beauty’, travel, show, with, David, Henrie, premieres, Vatican</media:keywords>
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<title>With special permission, prisoners travel to Rome for the jubilee</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/with-special-permission-prisoners-travel-to-rome-for-the-jubilee</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/with-special-permission-prisoners-travel-to-rome-for-the-jubilee</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV presides at the jubilee Mass for prisoners on Dec. 14, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 16, 2025 / 15:11 pm (CNA).
The last major event of the Jubilee of Hope was dedicated to prisoners around the world, some of whom during the past weekend were able to experience freedom and fulfill a dream: to go see Pope Leo XIV.Víctor Aguado, director of prison ministry in Valencia, Spain, accompanied a group of prisoners to the Eternal City, many of whom had spent more than 12 years behind bars. Thanks to special permission, they were able to travel and become living witnesses that “hope breaks down walls and that dignity cannot be taken away.”In a conversation with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Aguado recounted the details of the “intense, emotional, and spiritual” trip that will forever mark the lives of the men and women who have been incarcerated. The group was composed of a total of 13 people from Valencia, including prisoners, volunteers, and the chaplain. Six of them were inmates in the second and third degree of the prison system — regimens that combine incarceration with controlled outings — so they had to obtain a series of permits from the Treatment Board, the General Secretariat, and the Oversight Institutions. “It was a long bureaucratic process, but we didn’t have any problems,” Aguado explained.He explained that they selected the prisoners they have known for a long time. Those in the third degree of the prison system enjoy a semi-release regimen and live in halfway houses, while those in the second degree usually go to workshops and cooperate with everything the prison ministry proposes. “They are people of faith who attend Mass, and we knew that, given their situation and attitude, they needed this and wouldn’t turn it down,” he commented.&quot;With the pilgrimage, the prisoners assumed a new responsibility and embarked on a new path.&quot; Credit: Photo courtesy of Víctor Aguado“They wanted to be very well prepared, free of burdens, and participate in Sunday Mass completely cleansed and at peace with themselves,” said Aguado, who also highlighted their passing through the Holy Door as one of the most emotional moments of the jubilee. “With the pilgrimage, the prisoners assumed a new responsibility and a new path, a new life, and the feeling that now they have to do things right.”He also highlighted their excitement at seeing the pope, since for them “he is the representation of the Lord on earth.” The Sunday Mass with the Holy Father, Aguado explained, was “very simple, and although it was in Italian, it was perfectly understandable.”“Hope goes beyond, it breaks down walls wherever it may be, and the dignity of people cannot be taken away, and that is what they conveyed during the three days we were in Rome. These were very intensely personal experiences, and we could feel their joy; everyone had a look of peace,” he noted.For Aguado — who has been working with prisoners for 14 years — the fact that this event closed the Jubilee of Hope is no mere coincidence. “The world of prisons is not visible, and in some way we must begin to consider that people who have been judged eventually get out and have to reintegrate into normal life, and that depends on society.”“We know that the Lord forgives everything, so who are we to not forgive these people and keep on stigmatizing them? They are called ex-convicts, but they are nothing more than persons, with all their dignity and freedom,” he affirmed.Although he assured that the Lord “is always with them and walks with them,” he emphasized the urgency of recognizing the prisoners as living members of the Church and appealed to the responsibility of every Christian: “Sometimes we take the works of mercy for granted, but we don’t always put them into practice. The Lord challenges us: ‘I was in prison,’ and the question remains the same: ‘Did you come to see me?’”There are many lives that need to be rescuedThe Italian priest Father Raffaele Grimaldi, who left his chaplaincy at the Secondigliano prison in Naples — where he served the inmates for 23 years — to coordinate the 230 priests who minister to the nearly 62,000 detainees throughout Italy, also participated in this historic jubilee.Speaking to ACI Prensa, he noted that the event “is a strong reminder that the Church wants to bring God’s love and mercy to prisons, who goes in search of those who are lost.”Father Raffaele Grimaldi, center, with volunteers from Italian prisons at the Jubilee of Prisoners. Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Raffaele GrimaldiAccording to Grimaldi, this jubilee “has brought to light the most difficult situations we are experiencing in our prisons and the plight of the prisoners” including overcrowding, lack of resources, suicides, neglect, and “above all, the lack of acceptance from society.”The priest brought some prisoners from different Italian prisons before Pope Leo XIV, especially young people and one man sentenced to life in prison. “It was a moment of great joy for them,” he commented.“Every prisoner needs to constantly hear a word of mercy: from people who do not judge, who do not point fingers, who do not condemn, but who embrace,” he stated.He also emphasized that this jubilee has not been an isolated event, since throughout the year there has been spiritual preparation in the correctional facilities, where “proclaiming hope is a powerful message that resonates deeply in the hearts of all.”Grimaldi admitted that these individuals have “made mistakes” and are serving a sentence for them; however, he urged people to “reach out to them so that they can take up their lives again and change,” with justice accompanied by mercy, “so that justice itself does not become vengeance.”During his years of service in the prisons, he said he has encountered many people who have traveled on a beautiful spiritual journey, “like a young Albanian man who received the sacrament of baptism on Dec. 12.”“This makes us understand that in our prisons there are many lives that need to be rescued and helped, because if these opportunities don’t exist, the prisoner dies inside, and we also kill the hope that is in their heart.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 18 Dec 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>With, special, permission, prisoners, travel, Rome, for, the, jubilee</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Vogue magazine includes Pope Leo XIV on its list of best dressed of 2025</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vogue-magazine-includes-pope-leo-xiv-on-its-list-of-best-dressed-of-2025</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vogue-magazine-includes-pope-leo-xiv-on-its-list-of-best-dressed-of-2025</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV looks out from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after his election on May 8, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Although “papal fashion,” meticulously crafted down to the smallest detail, has evolved over time, the popes’ attire still holds profound symbolism that continues to capture the attention of many.Proof of this is the recent naming of Pope Leo XIV as one of the 55 best-dressed people of 2025 by Vogue magazine, one of the most prestigious and recognized fashion and beauty publications in the world.Pope Leo XIV shares this distinction with athletes, actors, singers, politicians, and models, including Rosalía, Rihanna, Bad Bunny, actress Jennifer Lawrence, and tennis player Venus Williams.Pope Leo XIV greets the crowd gathered in St. Peter&#039;s Square after the announcement of his election on May 8, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaThe American magazine, founded in 1892, highlights in its annual ranking that Leo XIV has broken “with the humble tastes of his predecessor,” Pope Francis, preserving “the papal legacy of impeccably crafted liturgical vestments.”As the “best outfit of 2025,” the magazine cites his first appearance as pope on May 8 in the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, wearing a red satin mozzetta and a wine-colored stole, embroidered in gold and with a pectoral cross held by a golden silk cord.The mozzetta is an elbow-length cape that falls over the shoulders and is worn over the rochet as a sign of authority, while the chasuble is the outer liturgical vestment worn over the alb and stole, and its color changes according to the liturgical season. Historically, the liturgical garment represents the “yoke of Christ” and is a symbol of charity.Pope Francis chose not to wear these garments after his election in 2013, a gesture of simplicity that marked his pontificate and was recognized at the time by Esquire magazine, which also included him on its list of “best-dressed men,” highlighting his understated style.The Italian Filippo Sorcinelli has established himself as one of the leading designers for recent popes, starting with Benedict XVI. Furthermore, the tailoring of the papal liturgical vestments is entrusted to the historic Gammarelli tailor shop, located near the Pantheon in the heart of the Eternal City.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 18 Dec 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vogue, magazine, includes, Pope, Leo, XIV, its, list, best, dressed, 2025</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV: True treasure is found in the heart, not ‘too much doing’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-true-treasure-is-found-in-the-heart-not-too-much-doing</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-true-treasure-is-found-in-the-heart-not-too-much-doing</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV spoke about the solution for restless hearts in his catechesis at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 17. 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Dec 17, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV said Wednesday true satisfaction is found not in the accumulation of money or things, or by “too much doing,” but by returning to Jesus Christ, the source of hope, love, and joy.“We are absorbed by many activities that do not always leave us satisfied … We have to assume responsibility for many commitments, solve problems, face difficulties,” the pope said at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 17. “Yet,” he added, “we often perceive how too much doing, instead of giving us fulfillment, becomes a vortex that overwhelms us, takes away our serenity, and prevents us from living to the fullest what is truly important in our lives.”In his catechesis, the pontiff stressed that the true value of life is not measured by “days full of activities” or economic success.“It is therefore in the heart that true treasure is kept, not in earthly safes, not in large financial investments, which today more than ever before are out of control and unjustly concentrated at the bloody price of millions of human lives and the devastation of God’s creation,” he said.Leo warned that this logic of accumulation ends up emptying life of meaning even for those who, from the outside, seem to have achieved success: “It is important to reflect on these aspects, because in the numerous commitments we continually face, there is an increasing risk of dispersion, sometimes of despair, of meaninglessness.”“Human life is characterized by a constant movement that that drives us to do, to act,” he acknowledged, adding that Jesus’ resurrection can give us insight into this human experience.“When we participate in [Christ’s] victory over death, will we rest? Faith tells us: Yes, we will rest,” the pope said. “We will not be inactive, but we will enter into God’s repose, which is peace and joy. So, should we just wait, or can this change us right now?”The true destiny of the heartLeo noted that many people, despite having so much, feel empty at the end of the day.The answer, according to the pontiff, is “because we are not machines, we have a ‘heart’; indeed, we can say that we are a heart.”He turned to the Gospel of St. Matthew to underscore the centrality of the heart, citing the words of Jesus: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6:21).He also cited the beginning of St. Augustine’s “Confessions,” where the bishop of Hippo wrote: “Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”St. Augustine, with the adjective restless, “helps us understand the human being’s yearning for fulfillment.”“The authentic approach of the heart,” he continued, “does not consist in possessing the goods of this world, but in achieving what can fill it completely; namely, the love of God, or rather, God who is Love.”The Holy Father explained that this treasure is found only by “loving the neighbor we meet along the way: brothers and sisters in flesh and blood, whose presence stirs and questions our heart, calling it to open up and give itself.”But in order to love one’s neighbor, Leo pointed out that it is necessary to “slow down” one’s pace, to “look them in the eye, sometimes to change our plans, perhaps even to change direction.”“Here is the secret of the movement of the human heart: returning to the source of its being, delighting in the joy that never fails, that never disappoints. No one can live without a meaning that goes beyond the contingent, beyond what passes away,” he concluded.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA&#039;s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 18 Dec 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, True, treasure, found, the, heart, not, ‘too, much, doing’</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV to appoint next archbishop of New York</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-appoint-next-archbishop-of-new-york</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-appoint-next-archbishop-of-new-york</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Bishop Ronald A. Hicks of Joliet, Illinois. / Credit: Diocese of Joliet YouTube video

Vatican City, Dec 17, 2025 / 09:58 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has chosen Bishop Ronald Hicks of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, to be the next archbishop of New York — the most consequential U.S. episcopal appointment of Leo’s pontificate thus far.The appointment was confirmed by EWTN News with two independent sources with direct knowledge of the appointment.Hicks, 58, will succeed Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who has led New York, the second-largest U.S. archdiocese by population — with 2.5 million Catholics — since 2009.The choice of Hicks for one of the most important U.S. archdioceses is likely to be heavily scrutinized for the insight it may give into the direction Pope Leo wishes to take the Church in the U.S.A native of Illinois, Hicks has led the Joliet Diocese since September 2020. He was an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Chicago from 2018 to 2020, following three years as the archdiocese’s vicar general from 2015 to 2018.Hicks was born on Aug. 4, 1967, in the town of Harvey, Illinois, south of Chicago, and grew up in South Holland, one suburb over from Dolton, where Pope Leo XIV grew up.“I recognize a lot of similarities between [Pope Leo] and me,” Hicks told WGN in an interview in May. “So we grew up literally in the same radius, in the same neighborhood together. We played in the same parks, went swimming in the same pools, liked the same pizza places to go to.”Ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1994, Hicks’ priestly ministry included time as an associate pastor and pastor, and dean of formation as St. Joseph College Seminary.In 2005, he began a five-year term as regional director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) in Central America. Based in El Salvador, he oversaw the care of more than 3,400 orphaned and abandoned children in nine Latin American and Caribbean countries.He returned to Chicago in 2010 to serve as dean of formation at Mundelein Seminary before Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago appointed him vicar general of the archdiocese on Jan. 1, 2015.As bishop, Hicks serves on the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations for the U.S. bishops’ conference, and as the conference liaison to the Association of Ongoing Formation of Priests and the National Association of Diaconate Directors.The Archdiocese of New York serves Catholics in the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, and in seven counties to the north. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 18 Dec 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, appoint, next, archbishop, New, York</media:keywords>
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<title>Washington Roundup: Supreme Court hears case on independent agencies; CDC abortion report delayed</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/washington-roundup-supreme-court-hears-case-on-independent-agencies-cdc-abortion-report-delayed</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/washington-roundup-supreme-court-hears-case-on-independent-agencies-cdc-abortion-report-delayed</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ U.S. Senate rejects dueling health care bills Dec. 11. The Democratic and GOP-led bills didn&#039;t reach the chamber&#039;s 60-vote filibuster threshold to advance. 
The post Washington Roundup: Supreme Court hears case on independent agencies; CDC abortion report delayed first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Washington, Roundup:, Supreme, Court, hears, case, independent, agencies, CDC, abortion, report, delayed</media:keywords>
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<title>Emergency foodstuffs from Florida Catholics delivered to people in eastern Cuba</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/emergency-foodstuffs-from-florida-catholics-delivered-to-people-in-eastern-cuba</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/emergency-foodstuffs-from-florida-catholics-delivered-to-people-in-eastern-cuba</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ “It goes to show the power of faith” that some 66 years after the Cuban Revolution still there helping the people “is the Catholic Church and people of faith.&quot;
The post Emergency foodstuffs from Florida Catholics delivered to people in eastern Cuba first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Emergency, foodstuffs, from, Florida, Catholics, delivered, people, eastern, Cuba</media:keywords>
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<title>Our Lady of Guadalupe transcends borders, brings us together, says Texas archbishop</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/our-lady-of-guadalupe-transcends-borders-brings-us-together-says-texas-archbishop</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/our-lady-of-guadalupe-transcends-borders-brings-us-together-says-texas-archbishop</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Our Lady of Guadalupe continues to bring us together at a time when the world needs &quot;our unity, our friendship and our collaboration&quot; more than ever, said San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller.
The post Our Lady of Guadalupe transcends borders, brings us together, says Texas archbishop first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Our, Lady, Guadalupe, transcends, borders, brings, together, says, Texas, archbishop</media:keywords>
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<title>Illinois legalizes assisted suicide, despite outcry from bishops, pro&#45;life advocates</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/illinois-legalizes-assisted-suicide-despite-outcry-from-bishops-pro-life-advocates</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/illinois-legalizes-assisted-suicide-despite-outcry-from-bishops-pro-life-advocates</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Illinois has become the 12th state, along with the District of Columbia, to legalize assisted suicide, amid outcry among the state&#039;s Catholic bishops and other pro-life and disability advocates.
The post Illinois legalizes assisted suicide, despite outcry from bishops, pro-life advocates first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Illinois, legalizes, assisted, suicide, despite, outcry, from, bishops, pro-life, advocates</media:keywords>
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<title>Under the mantle of Guadalupe: A miracle for a mother and her child</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/under-the-mantle-of-guadalupe-a-miracle-for-a-mother-and-her-child</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/under-the-mantle-of-guadalupe-a-miracle-for-a-mother-and-her-child</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The story of a special miracle from Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The post Under the mantle of Guadalupe: A miracle for a mother and her child first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Under, the, mantle, Guadalupe:, miracle, for, mother, and, her, child</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV urges mercy, reform as Jubilee of Prisoners closes Holy Year</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-mercy-reform-as-jubilee-of-prisoners-closes-holy-year</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-mercy-reform-as-jubilee-of-prisoners-closes-holy-year</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for the Jubilee of Hope for prisoners in St. Peter&#039;s Basilica at the Vatican on December 14, 2025. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 14, 2025 / 05:25 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday presided over the final major celebration of the Holy Year, calling for renewed commitment to justice, rehabilitation, and hope as he celebrated a Jubilee Mass dedicated to prisoners in St. Peter’s Basilica.About 6,000 pilgrims from some 90 countries took part in the Jubilee of Prisoners, including detainees and their families, prison chaplains, correctional officers, police, and prison administrators. Participants came from across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, the United States, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Australia.In his homily, the pope said that as the Jubilee Year drew to a close, significant challenges remained within prison systems worldwide.“While the close of the Jubilee Year draws near, we must recognize that, despite the efforts of many, even in the penitentiary system there is much that still needs to be done,” he said. Quoting the prophet Isaiah — “the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing” — Leo said the passage recalled that “it is God who ransoms, who redeems and liberates.”The pope acknowledged the harsh realities of incarceration, saying prison was “a difficult place and even the best proposals can encounter many obstacles.” For that reason, he said, people must not “tire, be discouraged or give up,” but continue “with tenacity, courage, and a spirit of collaboration.”Leo stressed that justice should not be reduced to punishment alone. “There are many who do not yet understand that for every fall one must be able to get back up, that no human being is defined only by his or her actions and that justice is always a process of reparation and reconciliation,” he said.Reflecting on the meaning of the Jubilee, the pope said that even in difficult conditions, the preservation of compassion, respect, and mercy could bear unexpected fruit.“When even in difficult situations we are able to maintain and preserve the beauty of feelings, sensitivity, attention to the needs of others, respect, the capacity for mercy and forgiveness, beautiful flowers spring forth from the ‘hard ground’ of sin and suffering,” Leo said, adding that “gestures, projects, and encounters, unique in their humanity, mature even within prison walls.”The pope also recalled the hopes expressed by his predecessor, Pope Francis, for the Holy Year. Leo said Francis had wanted Jubilee celebrations to include “forms of amnesty or pardon meant to help individuals regain confidence in themselves and in society” and to offer “real opportunities of reintegration” to all.“I hope that many countries are following his desire,” the pope said, noting that in its biblical origins the Jubilee was “a year of grace in which everyone was offered the possibility of restarting in many different ways.”Addressing both prisoners and those who work in the penal system, Leo said the task entrusted to them was demanding. He pointed to challenges such as overcrowding, insufficient educational and rehabilitation programs, and limited job opportunities, as well as personal burdens including past wounds, disappointment, and the difficulty of forgiveness.“The Lord, however, beyond all this, continues to repeat to us that only one thing is important: that no one be lost and that all be saved,” he said. “Let no one be lost! Let all be saved! This is what our God wants, this is his Kingdom, and this is the goal of his actions in the world.”According to organizers, delegations attending the Jubilee included inmates and staff from several Italian prisons, including Rebibbia, Casal del Marmo, Brescia, Teramo, Pescara, Rieti, Varese, and Forlì, as well as international groups coordinated by prison chaplaincies in Portugal, Spain, Malta, and Chile. A group of 500 pilgrims was accompanied by the General Inspectorate of Chaplains of Italian prisons.The Hosts used for the Mass were produced by prisoners through the “Sense of Bread” project run by the Fondazione Casa dello Spirito e delle Arti. Since 2016, the initiative has involved more than 300 inmates each year in making Communion Hosts for more than 15,000 dioceses, religious communities, and parishes in Italy and abroad.This story was first published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, mercy, reform, Jubilee, Prisoners, closes, Holy, Year</media:keywords>
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<title>Vatican to unveil Nativity scene, light up Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 15</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-to-unveil-nativity-scene-light-up-christmas-tree-in-st-peters-square-on-dec-15</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-to-unveil-nativity-scene-light-up-christmas-tree-in-st-peters-square-on-dec-15</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The fir tree and the Nativity scene are ready for the dedication in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 15, 2025. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News

Vatican City, Dec 14, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
The Governorate of Vatican City State has announced the origins of the fir tree and Nativity scenes that will adorn St. Peter’s Square and the Paul VI Audience Hall this Christmas as well as those who prepared the tree’s decorations.The decorations in St. Peter’s Square will once again have an Italian touch.The chosen tree, an imposing 80-foot Norway spruce, comes from the town of Val d’Ultimo in Ultental, one of the most picturesque and lesser-known valleys of South Tyrol in the Alto Adige region of Italy. Along with the large tree, 40 smaller trees destined for Vatican offices and buildings will arrive soon.In a novel initiative to ensure environmental sustainability and respect for nature, after Christmas, the main fir tree will be used to produce essential oils — a process that will be handled by the Austrian company Wilder Naturprodukte — and the rest of the wood will be donated to a charitable organization.The Nativity scene, which is more of a village scene and will include life-size figures, will also be monumental in size. It measures 56 feet in length and is nearly 40 feet wide with a height of 25 feet and comes from the Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno, one of the oldest in Italy whose origins date back to the third century, when Nuceria Alfaterna — the ancient Roman city in the Sarno Valley — already had an organized Christian community.The scene recreates emblematic elements of early Christian art from this region of Italy and includes a reproduction of the sixth-century baptistery from St. Mary Major Basilica, one of the best-preserved in the country. It also features an octagonal baptismal pool and frescoes that reveal Byzantine influences.Also represented is the Helvius Fountain (“Fons Helvii”), an ancient monumental Roman fountain built between the first and second centuries A.D. associated with a local aqueduct that supplied water to the Roman population.Upon this symbolic architecture unfolds a narrative that fuses sacred art, cultural heritage, and local identity.The life-size figures of the Holy Family have been created by craftsman Federico Iaccarino, and the rest of the Nativity scene will include characters inspired by saints associated with this Italian region.For example, among those represented are St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, who in 1732 founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), dedicated to evangelizing the most abandoned, especially in rural and marginalized areas; and a shepherd inspired by the Servant of God Don Enrico Smaldone, a priest who dedicated his life to caring for orphans, poor young people, and people with intellectual disabilities, for whom he created educational initiatives and welcoming spaces within the Church.Around them, shepherds and animals parade across a pavement that evokes the ancient Roman roads.In the central scene, Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus are accompanied by the ox and the donkey, the three Wise Men, and a shepherdess offering local produce — artichokes, San Marzano tomatoes, and dried fruit — as a tribute to the land that inspired the work.The ensemble includes elements that invite spiritual reflection: a pendulum clock that alludes to the passage of time, an observer leaning over a balcony representing the human perspective on the mystery, and a fisherman holding an anchor, a symbol of faith and the spiritual journey of the jubilee.The luminous star with a tail in the shape of an anchor that crowns the composition stands out, uniting the celestial and the earthly in a single gesture of hope.The dedication will take place Monday, Dec. 15, at 5 p.m. local time in a ceremony presided over by Sister Raffaella Petrini, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, accompanied by Archbishop Emilio Nappa and lawyer Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, general secretaries of the Vatican body.The day will begin with several audiences with Pope Leo XIV, who will receive in the morning the delegations that donated the tree and those responsible for the huge Nativity scene that will adorn the square.Among others, the afternoon ceremony will be attended by Bishop Ivo Muser of Bolzano-Bressanone; the mayor of Lagundo, Alexandra Ganner; and the mayor of Ultimo, Stefan Schwarz.During the morning, the official presentation of a Nativity scene from Costa Rica, which will be installed this year in the Paul VI Audience Hall, will also take place.Titled “Nacimiento Gaudium” (“Nativity of Joy”), the work by Costa Rican artist Paula Sáenz Soto, is an “affirmation of life from conception.” The piece consists of a figure of a pregnant Virgin Mary and 28,000 colored ribbons that symbolize lives preserved thanks to the support provided by Catholic organizations to pregnant women in vulnerable situations.The Nativity scene — 16 feet long, 10 feet high, and 8 feet deep — will feature two interchangeable representations of the Virgin Mary: an image of her pregnant during Advent and another of her adoring the newborn child from Christmas Eve onward. In addition, 400 ribbons with prayers and wishes from children at the National Hospital of San José, Costa Rica, will be placed in the manger on Dec. 24.The Costa Rican delegation that will meet with the pope will be composed of First Lady Signe Zeicate; her daughter, Isabel Chaves Zeicate; and the country’s ambassador to the Holy See, Federico Zamora.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, unveil, Nativity, scene, light, Christmas, tree, St., Peter’s, Square, Dec.</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV voices concern over renewed fighting in eastern Congo, urges dialogue</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-voices-concern-over-renewed-fighting-in-eastern-congo-urges-dialogue</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-voices-concern-over-renewed-fighting-in-eastern-congo-urges-dialogue</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter&#039;s Square at the Vatican for the Angelus on December 14, 2025. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 14, 2025 / 08:05 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday voiced deep concern over renewed fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, urging an immediate end to violence and a return to dialogue in line with ongoing peace efforts.After leading pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square in praying the Angelus on the Third Sunday of Advent, the pope said he was “following with deep concern the resumption of fighting in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.”“While expressing my closeness to the people, I urge the parties in the conflict to cease all forms of violence and to seek constructive dialogue, respecting the ongoing peace process,” he said.The pope’s appeal came amid reports of intensified clashes involving the M23 rebel group in the mineral-rich eastern region, despite a recently signed peace agreement between Congolese and Rwandan leaders.Pope Leo also recalled recent beatifications of martyrs in Spain and France, praising their fidelity to the faith amid persecution. “Let us praise the Lord for these martyrs, courageous witnesses to the Gospel, persecuted and killed for remaining close to their people and faithful to the Church,” he said.Earlier, in his catechesis before leading the Angelus, Pope Leo reflected on the Gospel reading for the Third Sunday of Advent, which presents John the Baptist imprisoned for his preaching yet still seeking the truth about Jesus.From prison, John hears “about the works of Christ” and sends his disciples to ask whether Jesus is truly the one who is to come, the pope noted. Jesus’ response, he said, points not to abstract claims but to concrete signs.“Christ announces who he is by what he does. And what he does is a sign of salvation for all of us,” Pope Leo said. Encountering Jesus, he explained, restores meaning to lives marked by darkness and suffering: “The blind see, the mute speak, the deaf hear… Even the dead, who are completely lifeless, come back to life. This is the Gospel of Jesus, the good news proclaimed to the poor.”“The words of Jesus free us from the prison of despair and suffering,” the pope said, adding that Christ “gives voice to the oppressed and to those whose voices have been silenced by violence and hatred” and “defeats ideologies that make us deaf to the truth.”Concluding his reflection, Pope Leo said that Advent calls Christians to unite their expectation of the Savior with attentiveness to God’s action in the world. “Then we will be able to experience the joy of freedom in encountering our Savior,” he said, echoing the Church’s celebration of Gaudete Sunday.This story was first published in two parts by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, voices, concern, over, renewed, fighting, eastern, Congo, urges, dialogue</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV, in meeting with award committee, calls for concrete acts of charity</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-in-meeting-with-award-committee-calls-for-concrete-acts-of-charity</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-in-meeting-with-award-committee-calls-for-concrete-acts-of-charity</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets with the committee that chooses recipients of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity at the Vatican on Dec. 11, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 12, 2025 / 06:52 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV urged concrete acts of charity and solidarity in a world marked by conflict as he met with the committee that chooses recipients of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity.“In a time marked by increased conflict and division, we need authentic testimonies of human kindness and charity to remind us that we are all brothers and sisters. Words are not enough,” the pope told the delegation at the Vatican on Dec. 11.Leo praised the committee for continuing the legacy of Pope Francis and Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb in promoting compassion and fraternity, calling their work a “noble service of human fraternity.”The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, named after the late United Arab Emirates president Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was established following the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity by Pope Francis and Al-Tayyeb during Francis’ 2019 apostolic journey to Abu Dhabi.“This prize not only embodies the legacy of Sheikh Zayed and these other leaders, it also emphasizes that every human being and every religion is called to promote fraternity,” Leo said.The pope stressed that ideals must be matched by action, telling the committee that building a society founded on love and respect requires “concrete actions.”“Remaining in the realm of ideas and theories, while failing to give them expression through frequent and practical acts of charity, will eventually cause even our most cherished hopes and aspirations to weaken and fade away,” he said, quoting his apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te.Leo encouraged the committee to persevere in its work, expressing confidence that its efforts would “continue to bear fruit for the good of the human family.”The Zayed Award association has received nominations from individuals and institutions worldwide whose work aims to foster solidarity and human connection across national, ethnic, and religious lines. For its 2026 edition, the award received more than 350 nominations from over 75 countries, with winners to be announced in January.Award recipients will be honored at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 4, coinciding with the anniversary of the Document on Human Fraternity and the U.N. International Day of Human Fraternity. A $1 million prize will be divided among the winners.Earlier this week, the Zayed Award delegation met with Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb in Cairo. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 14 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, meeting, with, award, committee, calls, for, concrete, acts, charity</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope warns about risks to Church when intelligence agencies ‘act for nefarious purposes’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-warns-about-risks-to-church-when-intelligence-agencies-act-for-nefarious-purposes</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-warns-about-risks-to-church-when-intelligence-agencies-act-for-nefarious-purposes</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV speaks to people who work in Italy’s intelligence sector in the Vatican’s Hall of Blessings on Dec. 12, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 12, 2025 / 09:11 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV warned that intelligence agencies in some countries work against the Catholic Church, “oppressing its freedom” by using confidential information for “nefarious purposes.”In an audience at the Vatican on Friday with people who work in Italy’s intelligence sector, the pope recalled the importance of conducting their jobs both ethically and morally.“We must be vigilant to ensure that confidential information is not used to intimidate, manipulate, blackmail, or discredit politicians, journalists, or other actors in civil society. All of this also applies to the ecclesial sphere,” he said on Dec. 12.Speaking in the Hall of Blessings, Leo urged those engaged in national security intelligence work to act with professionalism, to have respect for human dignity, and to engage in ethical communication.“Security agencies often have to collect information on individuals and therefore have a strong impact on individual rights,” he noted. “It is therefore necessary that limits be established, according to the criterion of human dignity, and that we remain vigilant against the temptations to which a job like yours exposes you.”The pope urged them to ensure that the protection of national security “always and in all cases guarantees people’s rights, their private and family life, freedom of conscience and information, and the right to a fair trial.”Leo recalled the massive changes to digital communications in recent decades and warned that the arrival of new and increasingly advanced technologies “offers us greater possibilities but, at the same time, exposes us to constant dangers.”“The massive and continuous exchange of information requires us to be critically vigilant about certain issues of vital importance: the distinction between truth and fake news, the undue exposure of private life, the manipulation of the most vulnerable, the logic of blackmail, and incitement to hatred and violence,” he said. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 14 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, warns, about, risks, Church, when, intelligence, agencies, ‘act, for, nefarious, purposes’</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo praises Christian archaeology, capable of ‘bringing to light anonymous holiness’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-praises-christian-archaeology-capable-of-bringing-to-light-anonymous-holiness</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-praises-christian-archaeology-capable-of-bringing-to-light-anonymous-holiness</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square during his Wednesday general audience on Dec. 10, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Dec 12, 2025 / 11:42 am (CNA).
On the centenary of the founding of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology, Pope Leo XIV published a new apostolic letter in which he praised Christian archaeology as a work capable of “giving a voice to the silence of history” and of “bringing to light the anonymous holiness of many faithful who have contributed to building up the Church.”“In today’s fast-paced world, there is a tendency to forget and to consume images and words without reflecting on their meaning. The Church, on the other hand, is called to educate people in memory, and Christian archaeology is one of its most noble tools for doing so — not in order to take refuge in the past, but consciously to live in the present and work towards an enduring future,” the pope stated in the document, published on Dec. 11.This is the third magisterial publication of this kind by Leo XIV in his eight months as pontiff, following “Drawing New Maps of Hope,” a document focused on education, and In Unitate Fidei on the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, in which he explored the unity of Christians.For Leo XIV, Christian archaeology allows the Church to “remember its origins” and “recount the history of salvation not only through words but also through images, forms, and spaces.” In a time that “often loses sight of its roots,” it is “a valuable instrument of evangelization.”Thus, he emphasized that archaeology speaks to believers and nonbelievers, young people, scholars, and pilgrims, because it illuminates the meaning of the journey and evokes an “echo of eternity.”‘Christianity is not an abstract concept’Each archaeological discovery, he explained, demonstrates that “Christianity is not an abstract concept but rather a body that has lived, celebrated, and inhabited space and time.”For the Holy Father, archaeology shows that faith “has already survived difficult times and resisted persecution, crises, and changes. Faith has been renewed and regenerated,” and has “flourished in new forms.” Hence, he described it as “a ministry of hope.”The pope said the discipline allows people to intuit the “power of an existence that transcends time,” to read in burials the “expectation of the Resurrection” and in apses “the orientation toward Christ.”The pope emphasized that archaeology also plays a decisive role in the theology of revelation, since God “has in time spoken through events and people.” Therefore, understanding revelation requires knowing its historical contexts: Archaeology “illuminates the texts,” he affirmed, and also “completes written sources.”In the document, the pope distanced himself from any idealization of the past and called for understanding the true history of the Church — made up of “greatness and limitation, holiness and fragility, continuity and rupture” — which will allow for a more authentic theology.‘Living memory,’ not ‘a cult of the past’Leo XIV warned against a merely conservationist vision of archaeology. “True Christian archaeology is not a matter of sterile conservation but of living memory,” he emphasized after pointing out that Christian archaeology must foster a “reconciled memory” and promote spaces for dialogue.Likewise, the pope recalled the value of academic communion and cooperation among archaeological institutions, describing this field as “a resource for everyone.”In affirming the fundamental role of Christian archaeology, the pope underscored that “theological studies that disregard archaeology run the risk of becoming disembodied, abstract, or even ideological.”According to the pontiff, archaeology not only provides historical data but also allows theology to remain rooted in the concrete reality of the people of God. Thus, he affirmed that a theology that “embraces archaeology ... listens to the body of the Church, assesses its wounds, reads its signs, and is touched by its history.”In his reflection, Leo XIV highlighted the human and pastoral dimension of archaeological work. He described it as an essentially “hands-on” profession in which researchers “are the first to handle buried material that conserves its vitality even after centuries.”But the contribution of the Christian archaeologist, Leo XIV added, goes beyond material recovery: “They study not only the artifacts but also the hands that forged them, the minds that conceived them, and the hearts that loved them.”God has truly entered history, and faith is not a philosophyThe pope recalled that from its origins, the Christian faith was transmitted through the memory of places and signs. “Christian communities safeguarded not only Jesus’ words but also the places, objects, and signs of his presence,” he stated.Places such as the empty tomb, Peter’s house in Capernaum, and the Roman catacombs not only served as historical testimony but also “all testify that God has truly entered history and that faith is not a mere philosophy but a tangible path within the reality of the world,” the Holy Father wrote.The pope affirmed that the Church needs to “search for a profound wisdom capable of preserving and passing on to future generations what is truly essential” and emphasized that archaeology has “an essential role in understanding Christianity and, consequently, its application within catechetical and theological formation.”Citing Pope Francis’ apostolic constitution Veritatis Gaudium, Leo recalled that archaeology is part of the fundamental disciplines of theological formation, because “it does not merely tell us about artifacts but about people: their homes, tombs, churches, and prayers” and about “how faith shaped their spaces, cities, landscapes, and mentalities.”The pope also emphasized that archaeology “is not just a specialized discipline reserved to a few experts” but rather a path accessible “to anyone who wishes to understand how faith is embodied in time, place, and culture.”Archaeology as a ‘school of hope’In his view, studying and narrating history helps to keep “the flame of collective conscience” alive. Otherwise, he warned, “all that remains is the personal memory of facts bound to our own interests or sensibilities, with no real connection to the human and ecclesial community in which we live.”Leo XIV recalled that the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology was established by Pius XI’s motu proprio Primitivi Cemeteri (“Primitive Cemeteries”) of Dec. 11, 1925, with the task “of directing studies on the monuments of ancient Christianity with the utmost scientific rigor” in order to “reconstruct the lives of the early communities.”The institute has participated in crucial excavations, such as that of the tomb of the apostle Peter beneath the Altar of the Confession in St. Peter’s Basilica, and in recent investigations at St. Paul Outside the Walls.The pope asked: “How fruitful can the role of Christian archaeology still be for society and the Church in an age marked by artificial intelligence and by the exploration of the innumerable galaxies of the universe?”He himself offered the answer: Contemporary methods “enable us to glean new information from findings once considered insignificant,” reminding us that “nothing is truly useless or lost.” Even the marginal, he affirmed, can “reveal profound meaning in the light of new questions and methods. In this respect, archaeology is also a school of hope.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 14 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, praises, Christian, archaeology, capable, ‘bringing, light, anonymous, holiness’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV entrusts pontificate to the Virgin of Guadalupe</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-entrusts-pontificate-to-the-virgin-of-guadalupe</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-entrusts-pontificate-to-the-virgin-of-guadalupe</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV honors Our Lady of Guadalupe during the Mass on her feast day, Dec. 12, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 12, 2025 / 17:46 pm (CNA).
On Dec. 12, Pope Leo XIV presided over his first Mass on the solemnity of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whom he asked to come to his aid “so that she may confirm in the one true path that leads to the blessed Fruit of your womb all those who have been entrusted to me.”A large number of the faithful, mostly from the Mexican community residing in Rome as well as clergy and members of the Roman Curia, attended the ceremony held in St. Peter’s Basilica at 4 p.m. local time.The Holy Father delivered a homily in Spanish in the form of a prayer addressed to the patroness of Mexico and empress of the Americas.The pontiff recalled that Mary allows the Word of God “to enter her life and transform it,” bringing “that joy wherever human joy is insufficient, wherever the wine has run out.” For the Holy Father, at Tepeyac, the Virgin Mary “awakens in the inhabitants of America the joy of knowing they are loved by God.” Thus, “amidst ceaseless conflicts, injustices, and sorrows that seek relief,” Mary of Guadalupe proclaims the core of her message: “Am I not here, I who am your mother?”“It is the voice,” the pope continued, “that echoes the promise of divine fidelity, the presence that sustains us when life becomes unbearable.”The pope then focused his message on the motherhood of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Before her image, he expressed his desire that the faithful might feel like “true children of yours,” and he asked for her guidance to maintain their faith “when strength fails and shadows grow.”“Mother, teach the nations that wish to be your children not to divide the world into irreconcilable factions, not to allow hatred to mark their history nor lies to write their memory. Show them that authority must be exercised as service and not as domination. Instruct their leaders in their duty to safeguard the dignity of every person at every stage of life. Make these peoples, your children, places where every person can feel welcome,” he continued.He also prayed to the Virgin for young people, “that they may obtain from Christ the strength to choose what is good and the courage to remain steadfast in the faith, even when the world pushes them in another direction.” He also prayed that nothing would trouble their hearts and that “they may embrace God’s plans without fear.” “Protect them from the threats of crime, addiction, and the danger of a meaningless life,” he added.The Holy Father turned to those who have distanced themselves from the Church and asked the Virgin Mary to bring them “back home” with the power of her love. He also prayed for those who sow discord, asking Mary to restore them to charity.He also implored Our Lady of Guadalupe to strengthen families and, following her example, to help “parents educate with tenderness and firmness, so that every home may be a school of faith.”He also asked her to sustain the clergy and consecrated life “in daily fidelity” and to renew their first love. “Guard their inner lives in prayer, protect them from temptation, encourage them in their weariness, and comfort those who are discouraged,” he added.“Assist us so that we may not tarnish with our sin and misery the holiness of the Church, which, like you, is a mother,” he said.In his conclusion, the Holy Father asked that the mother “of the true God for whom we live come to the aid of the successor of Peter, so that he may confirm in the one path that leads to the blessed Fruit of your womb all those entrusted to me.”“Remember this son of yours, ‘to whom Christ entrusted the keys of the kingdom of heaven for the good of all,’ that these keys may serve ‘to bind and loose and to redeem all human misery,’” he said, quoting a 1994 homily by St. John Paul II.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 14 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, entrusts, pontificate, the, Virgin, Guadalupe</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Swedish choir honors St. Lucy with songs in St. Peter’s Basilica</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/swedish-choir-honors-st-lucy-with-songs-in-st-peters-basilica</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/swedish-choir-honors-st-lucy-with-songs-in-st-peters-basilica</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Students from Nordiska Musikgymnasiet — The Nordic Music High School — in Stockholm perform traditional Swedish “Lucia songs” during an afternoon Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 11, 2025. / Credit: Bénédicte Cedergren/EWTN News

Rome Newsroom, Dec 13, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).
A Swedish youth choir marked the feast of St. Lucy by singing at a Mass at the Vatican on Thursday, Dec. 11.Students from Nordiska Musikgymnasiet — The Nordic Music High School — in Stockholm performed traditional Swedish “Lucia songs” during an afternoon Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of the Italian saint’s Dec. 13 feast day.Students from Nordiska Musikgymnasiet — The Nordic Music High School — in Stockholm perform traditional Swedish “Lucia songs” during an afternoon Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 11, 2025. Credit: Bénédicte Cedergren/EWTN News“It was just really amazing” singing in St. Peter’s Basilica, choir member Alfio Tota told EWTN News after the Dec. 11 Mass. “It’s so enormous … And the acoustics are very interesting.”The student recalled that though Sweden is a very secular country, the tradition of St. Lucia, as they call her, is quite strong.Students from Nordiska Musikgymnasiet — The Nordic Music High School — in Stockholm perform traditional Swedish “Lucia songs” during an afternoon Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 11, 2025. Credit: Bénédicte Cedergren/EWTN News“I think everyone feels quite a lot of joy and nostalgia in singing” the St. Lucy hymns, he said.Choir member Fabienne Glader told EWTN News that she always spends the feast of St. Lucy with her family.Students from Nordiska Musikgymnasiet — The Nordic Music High School — in Stockholm perform traditional Swedish “Lucia songs” during an afternoon Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 11, 2025. Credit: Bénédicte Cedergren/EWTN NewsSt. Lucy “shows courage and patience and just to never [give up] on yourself,” Glader said. “Even if you’re not really religious in any way, you can look up to her as just a wonderful person.”The choir’s conductor, Casimir Käfling, said as a Christian, the tradition of St. Lucy was always part of Christmas for his family.Students from Nordiska Musikgymnasiet — The Nordic Music High School — in Stockholm perform traditional Swedish “Lucia songs” during an afternoon Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 11, 2025. Credit: Bénédicte Cedergren/EWTN NewsHe called it “an incredible honor to be able to sing and conduct” her songs in St. Peter’s Basilica.Käfling also recalled the darkness Sweden experiences during the winter, especially in the month of December, and said St. Lucy brings light into that darkness.“The story of St. Lucy really plays with these contrasts of light and dark, and most importantly, hope and despair,” Tota said. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 14 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Swedish, choir, honors, St., Lucy, with, songs, St., Peter’s, Basilica</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>White House rejects call from key pro&#45;life group to fire FDA commissioner</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/white-house-rejects-call-from-key-pro-life-group-to-fire-fda-commissioner</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/white-house-rejects-call-from-key-pro-life-group-to-fire-fda-commissioner</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;The FDA is doing nothing while every single day abortion drugs take the lives of children, put women and girls at serious risk.&quot;
The post White House rejects call from key pro-life group to fire FDA commissioner first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>White, House, rejects, call, from, key, pro-life, group, fire, FDA, commissioner</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Boston Archdiocese tells church to remove ICE message from Nativity, but pastor refuses for now</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/boston-archdiocese-tells-church-to-remove-ice-message-from-nativity-but-pastor-refuses-for-now</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/boston-archdiocese-tells-church-to-remove-ice-message-from-nativity-but-pastor-refuses-for-now</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;The people of God have the right to expect that, when they come to church, they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship -- not divisive political messaging,&quot; the statement said.
The post Boston Archdiocese tells church to remove ICE message from Nativity, but pastor refuses for now first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Boston, Archdiocese, tells, church, remove, ICE, message, from, Nativity, but, pastor, refuses, for, now</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Archbishop Hebda sees ‘a great sign of hope that Jesus is in’ Minneapolis church</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/archbishop-hebda-sees-a-great-sign-of-hope-that-jesus-is-in-minneapolis-church</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/archbishop-hebda-sees-a-great-sign-of-hope-that-jesus-is-in-minneapolis-church</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The archbishop spoke in the hours after a special Mass and rite of reparation that restored the church for worship.
The post Archbishop Hebda sees ‘a great sign of hope that Jesus is in’ Minneapolis church first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Archbishop, Hebda, sees, ‘a, great, sign, hope, that, Jesus, in’, Minneapolis, church</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Vatican yearbook goes online</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-yearbook-goes-online</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-yearbook-goes-online</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Vatican&#039;s fat red yearbook, known as the Annuario Pontificio, will now be available and updated regularly on an app and online.
The post Vatican yearbook goes online first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, yearbook, goes, online</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Dialogue, diplomacy can lead to just, lasting peace in Ukraine, pope says</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/dialogue-diplomacy-can-lead-to-just-lasting-peace-in-ukraine-pope-says</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/dialogue-diplomacy-can-lead-to-just-lasting-peace-in-ukraine-pope-says</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Pope Leo XIV reiterated the importance of dialogue and his hopes for a just and lasting peace in the region.
The post Dialogue, diplomacy can lead to just, lasting peace in Ukraine, pope says first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Dialogue, diplomacy, can, lead, just, lasting, peace, Ukraine, pope, says</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pontifical Yearbook goes digital: What is it and what does it contain?</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pontifical-yearbook-goes-digital-what-is-it-and-what-does-it-contain</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pontifical-yearbook-goes-digital-what-is-it-and-what-does-it-contain</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV uses a tablet to navigate the website of the new digital version of the Vatican&#039;s Pontifical Yearbook, known as the &quot;Annuario Pontificio&quot; in Italian. / Credit: Vatican Media.

Vatican City, Dec 10, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).
The Vatican this week launched the first-ever digital version of its annual directory, creating an easier way to find reliable and up-to-date information about the Church’s structures and members all around the world.The red-covered Pontifical Yearbook — known in Italian as the “Annuario Pontificio” — is an important reference updated every year with Church statistics, the names and contacts of bishops, information about the departments of the Holy See, and more.The Pontifical Yearbook, in its current form, started in the early 20th century, though other versions of a book with information about the Catholic hierarchy and the Roman Curia can be traced to the 18th century or earlier.The 2025 edition of the Annuario Pontificio, also called the Pontifical Yearbook. Credit: EWTN News.The biggest benefits to users are the ability to easily search for information and the possibility for updates to be reflected in real time.Before now, to keep the directory current, one would have to cut out and glue periodic updates from the Vatican into the hardback book.The directory includes global data that is frequently changing, including statistics about Catholic dioceses and missions, and information about bishops, the members of the Church, the number of priests and religious, and the Holy See’s diplomatic representation.It also contains information about the pope and cardinals, and lists the people who lead the many different entities that make up the Roman Curia and the Vatican.Screenshot of the homepage of the digital version of the Pontifical Yearbook.On Dec. 8, the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, which is responsible for publishing the Pontifical Yearbook, unveiled the digital version, available in both web and app versions for an annual subscription of 68,10 euros ($79.20), around the same price as a printed version, which is still being published.The Vatican said in time it intends to offer the directory in languages other than Italian, “making it more accessible to a growing number of users around the world.”At a presentation of the project, Pope Leo XIV had a chance to receive a first lesson in how the digital yearbook works. He thanked those involved, calling it “a wonderful service which will be of great help.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pontifical, Yearbook, goes, digital:, What, and, what, does, contain</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV criticizes transhumanism: ‘Death is not opposed to life’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-criticizes-transhumanism-death-is-not-opposed-to-life</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-criticizes-transhumanism-death-is-not-opposed-to-life</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims in St. Peter&#039;s Square during a Jubilee audience on Nov. 22, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media.

Vatican City, Dec 10, 2025 / 11:21 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday rejected technological promises to indefinitely prolong human existence — such as those proposed by “transhumanism”— and said the resurrection of Christ “reveals to us that death is not opposed to life.”Speaking on a cold morning in St. Peter’s Square Dec. 10, the pontiff warned that numerous current anthropological visions “promise immanent immortality [and] theorize the prolongation of earthly life through technology.”That outlook, he said, is characteristic of “the transhumance scenario,” a phenomenon that “is making its way into the horizon of the challenges of our time.”In response, Leo urged people to consider two central questions: “Could death really be defeated by science? But then, could science itself guarantee us that a life without death is also a happy life?”The Holy Father explained that death and life are not opposed, and that in the Christian meaning, death is “a constitutive part of [life], as the passage to eternal life.”“The Pasch of Jesus gives us a foretaste, in this time still full of suffering and trials, of the fullness of what will happen after death,” he added.Thailand-Cambodia border clashesAt the end of his audience, Pope Leo spoke out against violent clashes at the border of Thailand and Cambodia, saying he was “deeply saddened by the news of the escalation of the conflict.”The hostilities have injured more than 100 people and displaced thousands of people in both countries. An estimated 13 people, including civilians, have been killed as the fighting entered the third day on Wednesday.“I express my closeness in prayer to these beloved populations and I ask the parties to immediately cease fire and resume dialogue,” the pope said.Death, ‘a great teacher of life’In his catechesis for the general audience, Leo XIV noted that throughout history, “many ancient peoples developed rites and customs linked to the cult of the dead, to accompany and to recall those who journeyed towards the supreme mystery.” But today, death “seems to be a sort of taboo” and “something to be spoken of in hushed tones, to avoid disturbing our sensibilities and our tranquility.”The pope lamented that this attitude often leads people to avoid visiting cemeteries.He also evoked the teachings of St. Alphonsus Liguori, recalling the enduring relevance of the saint’s work, “Preparation for Death.” The pontiff emphasized that, for the saint, death is “a great teacher of life,” capable of guiding the believer toward what is essential.As the pope explained, St. Alphonsus invited people to “to know that [death] exists, and above all to reflect on it” as a way to discern what is truly important in life.Leo also recalled that, in Alphonsian spirituality, prayer holds a central place “to understand what is beneficial in view of the kingdom of heaven, and letting go of the superfluous that instead binds us to ephemeral things.”From this perspective, he asserted that only the resurrection of Christ “is capable of illuminating the mystery of death to its full extent.”“In this light, and only in this, what our heart desires and hopes  becomes true: that death is not the end, but the passage towards full light, towards a happy eternity,” he said.The pope explained that the risen Christ “has gone before us in the great trial of death, emerging victorious thanks to the power of divine Love.”“He has prepared for us the place of eternal rest, the home where we are awaited; he has given us the fullness of life in which there are no longer any shadows and contradictions,” Leo said.This story was originally published by ACI Prensa, CNA&#039;s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, criticizes, transhumanism:, ‘Death, not, opposed, life’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>You heard of the popemobile, now meet the papal lawn mower</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/you-heard-of-the-popemobile-now-meet-the-papal-lawn-mower</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/you-heard-of-the-popemobile-now-meet-the-papal-lawn-mower</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV receives an electric lawn mower from Czech manufacturer Swardman during a general audience in mid-November 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Swardman

Rome Newsroom, Dec 7, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).
The Vatican’s gardeners have a new tool for maintaining the papal grounds: a custom-designed electric lawn mower bearing the Holy See’s coat of arms.Pope Leo XIV received the white Electra 2.0 mower during a general audience in mid-November, a gift from Czech manufacturer Swardman.The specially commissioned model features leather-lined handles and was hand-assembled at the company’s facility in Šardice, Czech Republic. “It was an incredibly powerful experience full of humility and respect,” Jakub Dvořák, the company’s sales manager who personally presented the gift, told CNA. “The pontiff appreciated the Vatican’s coat of arms placed on the appliance, listened with interest as we explained how it functions, and thanked us very politely.”The quiet, precision-cutting mower is destined for use in the Vatican Gardens or possibly at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, according to a press release from the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which facilitated the presentation.Founded in 2013, the company manufactures lawn care equipment that it describes as combining functionality with “timeless elegance” suited to historic settings. The Czech Embassy to the Holy See played a key role in arranging the gift, which Dvořák called “a moment of unmistakable magic.”Vatican gardeners will put the electric mower to work maintaining the manicured lawns that provide green respite within the world’s smallest state. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 10 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>You, heard, the, popemobile, now, meet, the, papal, lawn, mower</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>‘Peace is possible,’ Pope Leo XIV says after visits to Turkey and Lebanon</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/peace-is-possible-pope-leo-xiv-says-after-visits-to-turkey-and-lebanon</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/peace-is-possible-pope-leo-xiv-says-after-visits-to-turkey-and-lebanon</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the Angelus on Dec. 7, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 7, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday said his apostolic journey to Turkey and Lebanon showed that “peace is possible,” pointing to renewed steps toward Christian unity and powerful encounters with the Lebanese people still seeking justice after the 2020 Beirut port explosion.Speaking after the Angelus to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 7, the pope recalled praying in İznik, ancient Nicaea, with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, considered first among equals among Eastern Orthodox bishops, and representatives of other Christian communities on the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea. Marking Sunday’s 60th anniversary of the “Common Declaration” between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, Leo said: “We give thanks to God and renew our dedication to journeying towards the full visible unity of all Christians.”In Lebanon, the pope said he encountered a “mosaic of coexistence” and met people who serve the most vulnerable by welcoming refugees, visiting the imprisoned, and sharing food with those in need. He was especially moved by meeting relatives of the victims of the Beirut port blast. “The Lebanese people were waiting for a word and a presence of consolation, but it was they who comforted me with their faith and their enthusiasm,” he said.The pope also expressed closeness to communities in south and southeast Asia struck by recent natural disasters, praying for victims and urging international solidarity.Earlier, in his Advent catechesis before the Angelus, Pope Leo reflected on John the Baptist’s call to prepare the way of the Lord. John’s severe tone, he said, still resonates because it carries God’s “plea to take life seriously” and to ready the heart for the God who judges “not by appearance, but by deeds and intentions.”The pope said the kingdom manifests itself gently, in the meekness and mercy of Christ described by Isaiah as a shoot rising from a seemingly dead tree trunk. He linked this surprising newness to the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, which closed 60 years ago and continues to guide the Church on its journey toward unity and renewal.“This is the spirituality of Advent, very luminous and concrete,” he said. “The streetlights remind us that each of us can be a little light, if we welcome Jesus, the shoot of a new world.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 10 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>‘Peace, possible, ’, Pope, Leo, XIV, says, after, visits, Turkey, and, Lebanon</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>On solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, pope encourages renewing our ‘yes’ to God</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/on-solemnity-of-the-immaculate-conception-pope-encourages-renewing-our-yes-to-god</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/on-solemnity-of-the-immaculate-conception-pope-encourages-renewing-our-yes-to-god</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV prays the Angelus prayer on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 8, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV led the Angelus prayer Dec. 8 from the window of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on the occasion of the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.Addressing the faithful and pilgrims in attendance in St. Peter’s Square, the pontiff commented that on Dec. 8 we express our joy because the Father of heaven wanted her to be “preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”“The Lord has granted to Mary the extraordinary grace of a completely pure heart, in view of an even greater miracle: the coming of Christ the Savior,” he added.The pope also noted that the gift of the fullness of grace in the young woman of Nazareth “was able to bear fruit because she in her freedom welcomed it, embracing the plan of God.”He emphasized that “the Lord always acts in this way: He gives us great gifts, but he leaves us free to accept them or not.”For the Holy Father, this feast also invites us to “believe as she believed, giving our generous assent to the mission to which the Lord calls us.”In this way, he pointed out that the miracle that happened for Mary at her conception was “renewed for us in baptism: Cleansed from original sin, we have become children of God, his dwelling place and the temple of the Holy Spirit.”“The ‘yes’ of the mother of the Lord is wonderful, but so also can ours be, renewed faithfully each day, with gratitude, humility, and perseverance, in prayer and in concrete acts of love, from the most extraordinary gestures to the most mundane and ordinary efforts and acts of service. In this way, Christ can be known, welcomed, and loved everywhere and salvation can come to everyone,” he emphasized.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/dec82025pope.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>solemnity, the, Immaculate, Conception, pope, encourages, renewing, our, ‘yes’, God</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Former Hungarian ambassador reflects on 10&#45;year term at the Vatican</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/former-hungarian-ambassador-reflects-on-10-year-term-at-the-vatican</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/former-hungarian-ambassador-reflects-on-10-year-term-at-the-vatican</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Eduard Habsburg, Hungary&#039;s ambassador to the Holy See from 2015 to 2025, takes his leave during a farewell visit to Pope Leo XIV on Nov. 21, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media.

Vatican City, Dec 9, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).
Archduke of Austria Eduard Habsburg, who served as Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See since 2015, described his post at the Vatican as “the greatest 10 years of my life.”Shortly before his farewell meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Nov. 21, Habsburg told EWTN News reporter Colm Flynn that after a decade on the job, he has “seen it all” and now wants to dedicate more time to his family, particularly his parents.“I felt that 10 years is a good term. It’s far longer than ambassadors usually have here,” he said in the exclusive interview.“I think I’ve seen everything you can see here, including a conclave, visits by my prime minister, exciting moments,” he added. “In a way, I’m going to miss it but also family is important.” The former ambassador, whose term at the Vatican ended on Nov. 30, said he will likely continue to represent Hungary at future international events organized by the Church and pro-family groups.  “I’ll keep a foot in that world, so to speak, so I’m not going to totally give it up,” he said.Reflecting on his initial surprise at being asked to be Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See, Habsburg, who belongs to the prominent 850-year-old European Catholic dynasty, said he “hit the floor running” when he arrived in Rome for his first post.On Pope Francis and his love for HungaryDescribing his relationship with Pope Francis as “incredibly positive,” the former ambassador said the Argentine pontiff had a warm affection for the Central European nation and its people.“I saw it every time he met a Hungarian,” he said. “He would use Hungarian expressions. He would smile. He would be happy. He would take his time with them.”Though Pope Francis had not visited Hungary until 2021 for the 52nd International Eucharistic Conference, he told Habsburg that he “learned everything” about Hungary through three religious sisters who fled their country in 1956, during the Soviet occupation, to a monastery in Buenos Aires, Argentina.   “They have shaped Pope Francis’ outlook on Hungary and that made my work very easy,” he quipped. “He was incredibly generous.”Pope Francis visited Hungary a second time in 2023 for his apostolic journey to the country’s capital of Budapest from April 28–30.   On Pope Benedict XVI and his humorDuring the 1990s, Pope Benedict XVI, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, read Habsburg’s doctoral thesis on the topic of Thomas Aquinas and Vatican II and told him “he liked it” and that he wanted him to either make a documentary or a thriller about Thomism.After first meeting with Pope Francis, the former ambassador said he later met with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the Vatican Gardens.  “He looked at me and said, ‘So you’re ambassador now?’” Habsburg recalled. “And then he said, ‘You know you still owe me a documentary or a thriller about Thomism.” “That was the first thing he said. I was so blown away,” he said. “I still haven’t written it.”“That’s the one thing many people don’t realize about Pope Benedict XVI was the sense of humor that he had that we never got to see publicly,” he said.  Habsburg earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in 1999. On Pope Leo XIV The archduke told EWTN News he had briefly met Pope Leo XIV four times prior to his farewell visit to the pontiff on Nov. 21.  “I’m very impressed by him. I feel [he is] a very balanced and just man who is trying to do good,” he said of the first U.S.-born pope. Noting Pope Leo’s fluency in many languages, including English, Italian, Spanish, and Latin, Habsburg commented that he believes the universal Church’s new leader “has several cultures in his heart and in his mind.”“And yes, we will see the things that he’ll do. We pray for him every day,” he said.Watch the full interview with Eduard Habsburg on the EWTN News YouTube channel. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/00280-21112025.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Former, Hungarian, ambassador, reflects, 10-year, term, the, Vatican</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>The pope urges ‘continued dialogue’ after receiving Zelenskyy in Castel Gandolfo</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/the-pope-urges-continued-dialogue-after-receiving-zelenskyy-in-castel-gandolfo</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/the-pope-urges-continued-dialogue-after-receiving-zelenskyy-in-castel-gandolfo</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The Pope greets Zelenskyy in Castel Gandolfo. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 9, 2025 / 14:32 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV received the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in audience today at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, the Holy See announced in a statement.The meeting, described as &quot;cordial,&quot; focused on the situation of the war in Ukraine and the prospects for the diplomatic initiatives currently underway.During the conversation, the Holy Father reiterated “the need to continue the dialogue” and renewed his “pressing desire” that diplomatic efforts might lead to “a just and lasting peace,” according to the statement released by the Vatican.The meeting also addressed particularly sensitive humanitarian issues. During the discussions, reference was made to the “prisoners of war” situation and the urgency of “guaranteeing the return” of Ukrainian children separated from their families and illegally deported to Russia was emphasized.Following the private audience, Zelenskyy expressed his “profound gratitude” to Pope Leo XIV for the Holy See&#039;s constant support for the Ukrainian people.In a message posted on his social media after the meeting, Zelenskyy expressed particular gratitude for the humanitarian aid. During the audience, he said he thanked the pope for &quot;his constant prayers for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, as well as his calls for a just peace.&quot;The Ukrainian president also informed the pope about the diplomatic contacts and negotiations that Kyiv is conducting with the United States to pave the way for peace. &quot;I informed the pope about the diplomatic efforts with the United States to achieve peace,&quot; he said.One of the central points of the conversation was the fate of the Ukrainian children illegally deported to Russian territory. Zelenskyy emphasized that they discussed “future actions and the Vatican&#039;s mediation aimed at securing the return of our children kidnapped by Russia,” an issue that the Holy See has kept on its humanitarian agenda since the first months of the conflict.The Ukrainian president emphasized that the meeting was “an important and cordial dialogue,” focused on the protection of the civilian population and the spiritual support that the pontiff has repeatedly shown.Zelenskyy took the opportunity to renew a formal invitation to the pope to travel to Ukraine. “I invited the pope to visit Ukraine. It would be a powerful sign of support for our people,” he said.The audience took place a day after Zelenskyy traveled to the United Kingdom, where he held a meeting at Downing Street with the country&#039;s prime minister, Keir Starmer, which was also attended by the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz.That meeting focused on negotiations surrounding the peace plan and next steps for Ukraine presented by Washington. The first 28-point draft presented by the Trump administration in November proposed a resolution to the conflict that was largely favorable to Moscow.That proposal was followed by another put together in Geneva by delegations from the United States, Ukraine, and Europe. Zelenskyy arrived in Castel Gandolfo on Tuesday, Dec. 9, after three days of talks in Miami between Trump&#039;s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the Ukrainian negotiator, Rustem Umerov. Exactly one week ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Witkoff in Moscow without any significant progress.This is the third official meeting between the two, after Leo XIV received Zelenskyy in an audience following the Mass marking the beginning of his pontificate on May 18, and in a second meeting on July 9, also in Castel Gandolfo. Pope Leo usually takes Tuesday every week as a day off at Castel Gandolfo.Following today’s meeting with the pope, Zelenskyy was scheduled to meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as part of a new round of contacts with key European leaders regarding the peace process in Ukraine.Ukraine first requested the Vatican&#039;s intervention shortly after the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. Since then, the Holy See has continued its diplomatic efforts for peace, while maintaining open channels of dialogue with all parties involved.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/zelen.dec.9.2025.jpeg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>The, pope, urges, ‘continued, dialogue’, after, receiving, Zelenskyy, Castel, Gandolfo</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>6 years after Sheen’s cause was shelved, could Illinois&#45;born Pope Leo bring it back?</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/6-years-after-sheens-cause-was-shelved-could-illinois-born-pope-leo-bring-it-back</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/6-years-after-sheens-cause-was-shelved-could-illinois-born-pope-leo-bring-it-back</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ His beatification had been scheduled for Dec. 21, 2019, in Peoria, Illinois, before its postponement, a move that was  scandalous, given the stage of the cause.
The post 6 years after Sheen’s cause was shelved, could Illinois-born Pope Leo bring it back? first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/useuptop20251015T0600-FULTON-SHEEN-BIO-18031101.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 07 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>years, after, Sheen’s, cause, was, shelved, could, Illinois-born, Pope, Leo, bring, back</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Franciscan Media to close at end of 2025 amid larger downturn in Catholic news media</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/franciscan-media-to-close-at-end-of-2025-amid-larger-downturn-in-catholic-news-media</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/franciscan-media-to-close-at-end-of-2025-amid-larger-downturn-in-catholic-news-media</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ As &quot;this chapter closes,&quot; said the outlet, &quot;the friars remain committed to proclaiming the Good News and walking with people of faith in new ways.&quot;
The post Franciscan Media to close at end of 2025 amid larger downturn in Catholic news media first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/usethisonefranciscanmediafarewell.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 07 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Franciscan, Media, close, end, 2025, amid, larger, downturn, Catholic, news, media</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Cardinal McElroy of Washington says he’s ‘cancer&#45;free’ following surgery</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/cardinal-mcelroy-of-washington-says-hes-cancer-free-following-surgery</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/cardinal-mcelroy-of-washington-says-hes-cancer-free-following-surgery</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;I give thanks to all of you who have prayed to God for my healing. I believe those prayers were what led to this wonderful outcome.&quot;
The post Cardinal McElroy of Washington says he’s ‘cancer-free’ following surgery first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/uptop20251105T1041-MCELROY-CANCER-DIAGNOSIS-1807428.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 07 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Cardinal, McElroy, Washington, says, he’s, ‘cancer-free’, following, surgery</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>​​New Very Marian Advent carols premieres in concert in San Francisco, Oakland</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/new-very-marian-advent-carols-premieres-in-concert-in-san-francisco-oakland</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/new-very-marian-advent-carols-premieres-in-concert-in-san-francisco-oakland</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Modeled on a lessons and carols format, Very Marian Advent invites Catholics to &quot;wait with Mary&quot; in prayer and song during the final weeks before Christmas
The post ​​New Very Marian Advent carols premieres in concert in San Francisco, Oakland first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251205T1645-ADVENT-MARIAN-PRAYER-SERVICE-SAN-FRANCISCO-1809048.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 07 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>​​New, Very, Marian, Advent, carols, premieres, concert, San, Francisco, Oakland</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Washington Roundup: High court to hear birthright citizenship case, OKs Texas congressional map</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/washington-roundup-high-court-to-hear-birthright-citizenship-case-oks-texas-congressional-map</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/washington-roundup-high-court-to-hear-birthright-citizenship-case-oks-texas-congressional-map</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Supreme Court on Dec. 5 said it would take up a case regarding the Trump administration’s executive order to end birthright citizenship.
The post Washington Roundup: High court to hear birthright citizenship case, OKs Texas congressional map first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251205T1640-WASHINGTON-ROUNDUP-12-5-1809065.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 07 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Washington, Roundup:, High, court, hear, birthright, citizenship, case, OKs, Texas, congressional, map</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>5 things to know and share about St. Nicholas</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/5-things-to-know-and-share-about-st-nicholas</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/5-things-to-know-and-share-about-st-nicholas</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  St. Nicholas, by Jaroslav Čermák (1831-1878). / Credit: Galerie Art Praha via Wikimedia (public domain)

Vatican City, Dec 6, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).
St. Nicholas, whose feast day is celebrated on Dec. 6, is known to possibly be the real-life inspiration for the beloved Christmas character of Santa Claus.Not a lot is known about the historical Nicholas, who was bishop of Myra, a Greek city in modern-day Turkey, during the fourth century A.D. But there are many stories and legends that explain his reputation as a just and upright man, charitable gift-giver, and miracle-worker.Here are five things to know and share about St. Nicholas:1. There is a legend behind why St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children.Many people know that St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children, but they may not know why he has that title.There is a grisly legend that says that during a famine in Myra, three young boys were lured into a butcher’s shop, where they were killed and then brined in a wooden barrel with the intention of being sold as “ham.” The good bishop worked a miracle, bringing the pickled children back to life and saving them from a gruesome fate.Painting by Gentile da Fabriano, who lived in Italy from c. 1370 to 1427. Credit: Public domainThis story became the subject of many portrayals of Nicholas in art, especially during the Middle Ages. Some people believe depictions of Bishop Nicholas with the three boys led to his reputation as a protector of children.The legend of the brining may explain how he also became, oddly, the patron saint of brewers and coopers (people who make wooden casks, barrels, vats, troughs, and similar containers from timber).2. He is one of the foremost saints in the Russian Orthodox Church.St. Nicholas is a unifying figure among Catholics and Orthodox Christians since both churches venerate him.He is incredibly important in the Russian Orthodox Church, where he is known as St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for the many miracles attributed to him both during and after his life.To the Orthodox, Nicholas is principally honored for his qualities as a holy bishop and a good shepherd of his people. Also, in their weekly liturgical cycle, which dedicates different days of the week to Jesus Christ and other saints, only three are specifically named: Mary, the Mother of God; John the Forerunner (known to Catholics as St. John the Baptist); and St. Nicholas.Nicholas did not leave behind any theological writings, but when he was made a bishop, he is credited with saying that “this dignity and this office demand different usage, in order that one should live no longer for oneself but for others.”3. Was he really jolly ol’ St. Nicholas?Because of his popularity among Orthodox Christians, St. Nicholas is a favorite subject in iconography. But don’t be surprised if, among the hundreds of icons depicting him, you don’t see any merry dimples or a “round little belly.” He does have a white beard, though.An icon of St. Nicholas painted in 1294 for a Russian Orthodox church on Lipno Island in northwestern Russia. Credit: Public domain4. He is the patron saint of unmarried people, fishermen, pawnbrokers, and the falsely accused.One of the most popular legends about Nicholas is that the saint, who is said to have come from a wealthy family, secretly helped a poor man with three daughters.The father could not provide proper dowries for the girls to marry, and without husbands to support them, they might have been forced to turn to prostitution.After learning about the situation, Nicholas secretly slipped a bag of gold coins through the family’s window while they were sleeping. He later left a second bag of coins, and likewise, another bag for the third daughter, at which point, the legend says, the father, who had waited up all night, “caught” Nicholas red-handed in his gift-giving. But Nicholas made him promise to keep the secret.The story is likely the explanation for why the modern Christmas character of Santa Claus brings his gifts for children under the cover of night.In artworks referencing this legend, the three bags of coins are often depicted as three golden balls. Images of gold balls were also used to mark the shops of pawnbrokers, which is probably how Nicholas came to be their patron saint, too.A painting of St. Nicholas and Mary Magdalene by Antonello da Messina, created between 1475 and 1476. Credit: Public domainOne of many miracles attributed to St. Nicholas happened at sea as he traveled aboard a boat to the Holy Land. Nicholas is a patron saint of sailors and travelers because he calmed the stormy waters that threatened their lives.His patronage of the falsely accused can be attributed to an early story about his rescue of three innocent men moments before their execution. It is said that St. Nicholas, then bishop of Myra, boldly pushed away the executioner’s sword, released the men from their chains, and angrily reprimanded a juror who had taken a bribe to find them guilty. 5. He has two feast days.Most people know that Nicholas’ feast day is celebrated on Dec. 6, the day he died in the year 343, but for East Slavs, as well as the people of Bari, Italy, May 9 is also an important day to celebrate the saint.That date is the anniversary of the day that St. Nicholas’ relics were moved from Myra, in present-day Turkey, to Bari, not long after the Great Schism of Catholics and Orthodox in 1054 A.D.Accounts differ over whether the transmission of the relics was theft or an attempt by Christian sailors to preserve the saint’s remains from destruction by the Turks. But whatever the real reason, the relics can still be venerated today in the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari.Pope Francis visited Bari, in Italy’s southern region of Puglia, two times during his papacy. During both the 2018 and 2020 visits, he stopped in the basilica’s crypt to venerate St. Nicholas’ relics.Credit: Perrant via Wikimedia Commons CC BY 3.0The pontifical basilica is an important place of ecumenism, since the Catholic Church welcomes many Eastern Catholics and Orthodox Christians to the pilgrimage site. In the crypt, where St. Nicholas is buried, there is also an altar for the celebration of Orthodox and Eastern Catholic liturgies.For Christians who follow the Julian calendar, as the Eastern Orthodox do, St. Nicholas’ principal feast day falls on Dec. 19. An Orthodox Divine Liturgy is usually celebrated at the Basilica of St. Nicholas that morning.On Dec. 6, Catholics in Bari celebrate the beloved saint with Mass, concerts, and a procession of the saint’s statue through the city’s streets.This story was first published on Dec. 6, 2022, and has been updated.  ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 07 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>things, know, and, share, about, St., Nicholas</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>New Slovak Virgin Mary mosaic highlights spiritual bonds between Slovakia and Vatican</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/new-slovak-virgin-mary-mosaic-highlights-spiritual-bonds-between-slovakia-and-vatican</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/new-slovak-virgin-mary-mosaic-highlights-spiritual-bonds-between-slovakia-and-vatican</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Archbishop Bernard Bober of Košice, president of the Slovak Bishops’ Conference, blesses the new mosaic of Our Lady of Sorrows in the Vatican Gardens at a ceremony attended by Slovak President Peter Pellegrini and Vatican officials on Dec. 5, 2025 / Credit: Bohumil Petrík

EWTN News, Dec 6, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).
Just before the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a mosaic of Our Lady of Sorrows, Protectress of Slovakia, was inaugurated in the Vatican Gardens. Archbishop Bernard Bober of Košice, president of the Slovak Bishops&#039; Conference, blessed the artwork during a ceremony attended by Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, whom Pope Leo XIV received in audience the day before.Among other bishops and diplomats, two cardinals took part: the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Re, and Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.Slovak President Peter Pellegrini and Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti unveil the new Slovak Our Lady of Sorrows mosaic in the Vatican Gardens on Dec. 5, 2025. Credit: Bohumil PetríkThe Slovak president said he was happy to see the Slovak Virgin Mary image inside the Vatican as she &quot;is a source of hope, faith and unity.&quot; Peter Pellegrini stressed that his Central European country and the Holy See &quot;share common values, such as the dignity of human person, true liberty and open dialog.&quot;During the audience with Pope Leo XIV, the Vatican said, pontiff and president reaffirmed their commitment to supporting social cohesion, promoting justice, and safeguarding the family, and discussed the war in Ukraine, its impact on European security, and the situation in the Middle East.Each time we pass by this beautiful artwork, Cardinal Gugerotti underlined in his speech at the inauguration, &quot;we will pray for the Slovak people&quot; who suffered during atheist communism, and yet &quot;were able to maintain and renew its Christian roots.&quot;Likewise, Cardinal Giovanni Re told CNA that he is very happy for the new artwork. &quot;I have always loved Slovakia because it is still very Catholic,&quot; the prelate said.It is a great honor for us that the mosaic of Our Lady of Sorrows has reached the heart of the Church, Archbishop Bober underscored. The Slovak Virgin Mary is &quot;a symbol of the spiritual connection between Slovakia and the Vatican.&quot; It reminds us, the archbishop continued, that &quot;Our Lady of Sorrows has a special place in our nation, but also in the lives of all believers.&quot;The colorful mosaic, created by Greek Catholic priest and artist Father Kamil Dráb, is a copy of an image in the chapel of the Pontifical Slovak College of St. Cyril and Methodius in Rome and has been installed in the Vatican Gardens near the bell used during the Great Jubilee of 2000. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 07 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>New, Slovak, Virgin, Mary, mosaic, highlights, spiritual, bonds, between, Slovakia, and, Vatican</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Christ Pratt to release documentary on tomb of St. Peter</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/christ-pratt-to-release-documentary-on-tomb-of-st-peter</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/christ-pratt-to-release-documentary-on-tomb-of-st-peter</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Chris Pratt speaks at the 2016 San Diego Comic Con International for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego. / Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Dec 6, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
American actor Chris Pratt, best known for his roles in “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Jurassic World,” is currently filming a documentary on the Vatican Necropolis, which lies underneath Vatican City containing tombs dating from the first to fourth century A.D., at depths varying between 16 and 39 feet below St. Peter’s Basilica. The film, which is being produced by Vatican Media, the Fabric of St. Peter, and AF Films, will be released in 2026 for the 400th anniversary of the inauguration and dedication of the basilica. Pratt will guide viewers on a journey to discover the tomb of St. Peter through stories of faith, history, and archaeology.“It is an extraordinary honor to partner with Pope Leo and the Vatican on this project. St. Peter’s story is foundational to the Christian faith, and I’m deeply grateful for the trust and access granted to help bring his legacy to the screen,” Pratt told Vatican News in an interview. 
     While Pratt is not Catholic, he and his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, a practicing Catholic, attend Mass regularly and are raising their children Catholic. Pratt speaks openly about his faith and the importance he places on praying daily. He has also partnered with Hallow, a Catholic prayer and meditation app, on multiple occasions and been featured in its Lent, Advent, and daily prayer challenges. Through historical evidence and archaeological discoveries, viewers of the new film are invited to discover St. Peter’s burial place in the Vatican Necropolis, which was officially announced by Pope Pius XII in 1950. In 1939, Pope Pius XII had workers begin excavations under the basilica in order to try to find the location of the beloved apostle’s burial place. In 1950, the pope officially announced that the location of the tomb was found, along with bone fragments likely belonging to the saint. In 1968, Pope Pius XII announced that the bone fragments found were indeed those of St. Peter. St. Peter’s bones were publicly displayed for the first time in 2013 by Pope Francis. The late pontiff held the relics during a Mass at St. Peter’s Square, which marked the end of the Church’s Year of Faith. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/chrispratt28556109022.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 07 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Christ, Pratt, release, documentary, tomb, St., Peter</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Vatican commission rejects female diaconate, although without a ‘definitive judgment’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-commission-rejects-female-diaconate-although-without-a-definitive-judgment</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-commission-rejects-female-diaconate-although-without-a-definitive-judgment</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. / Credit: Xosema (CC BY-SA 4.0)

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 4, 2025 / 13:37 pm (CNA).
The Vatican published on Dec. 4 the summary of the work carried out by the commissions studying the possibility of admitting women to the diaconate, presented to Pope Leo XIV by Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi.Petrocchi, the president of the Study Commission on the Female Diaconate created by Pope Francis, stated that — with seven votes in favor and one against — the possibility of admitting women to the diaconate as a degree of the sacrament of holy orders is ruled out.However, he emphasized that for the moment it is not possible “to formulate a definitive judgment, as in the case of priestly ordination.”Historical investigation into so-called ‘deaconesses’This second working session — following the one held in 2021 — ended last February, and the conclusions were presented on Sept. 18 to Pope Leo XIV, who ordered that they be made public on Dec. 4.In a seven-page document, the cardinal stated that, based on a historical investigation, the commissions agree that the so-called “deaconesses” existed in the history of the Church but with diverse functions and not equivalent to the male diaconate.Petrocchi emphasized that this question cannot be resolved solely with historical data and that, ultimately, it is up to the magisterium to issue a doctrinal judgment.Following the Synod on Synodality, everyone who wished to do so was invited to submit their contributions on the topic. The cardinal revealed that “although numerous submissions were received, the individuals or groups who sent their work numbered only 22 and represented only a few countries.”“Therefore, although the material is abundant and, in some cases, skillfully argued, it cannot be considered the voice of the synod, much less of the people of God as a whole,” he noted.Christ is male and the sex of those who receive ordinationAlthough there is not enough consensus to admit women to the diaconate, the votes show divided positions, with a clear tendency to maintain caution in this regard.On the one hand, those who support the female diaconate argue for “the equal status of men and women as images of God,” while those who are against it recall “the fact that Christ is male, and therefore that those who receive ordination are male is not accidental but is an integral part of the sacramental identity, preserving the divine order of salvation in Christ.”For those who oppose it, “altering this reality would not be a simple adjustment of the ministry but a rupture of the nuptial meaning of salvation.”Despite the lack of consensus surrounding the diaconate, there is unanimity on the need to expand the ministries instituted for women, further exploring the “baptismal diaconate” (every baptized person’s call to serve) and promoting greater female co-responsibility in the life of the Church. Petrocchi concluded by recommending that Pope Leo XIV follow a line of doctrinal prudence in his discernment as well as continue the theological study of the diaconate and, at the same time, open new ministerial spaces for women without resorting to sacramental ordination.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 06 Dec 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, commission, rejects, female, diaconate, although, without, ‘definitive, judgment’</media:keywords>
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<title>Leo XIV eliminates commission for donations to Holy See created by Pope Francis</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/leo-xiv-eliminates-commission-for-donations-to-holy-see-created-by-pope-francis</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/leo-xiv-eliminates-commission-for-donations-to-holy-see-created-by-pope-francis</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  null / Credit: Yury Dmitrienko/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 4, 2025 / 16:07 pm (CNA).
The Vatican announced on Dec. 4 a new decision by Pope Leo XIV regarding fundraising for the Holy See.Through the new chirograph Vinculum Unitatis et Caritatis, the Holy Father is eliminating the current Commissio de Donationibus (Donations Commission) structure created in February by Pope Francis to raise funds, which was approved “ad experimentum” (for temporary or provisional use) for three years.This commission was tasked with encouraging donations through specific campaigns among the faithful, bishops’ conferences, and other potential benefactors.The pontiff thus repealed the rules in force until now and established that they will no longer have “any canonical or legal force,” as well as any acts adopted up to this point. Furthermore, Pope Leo XIV decreed that all the commission’s assets must be transferred to the Holy See.By means of this decree, the members of the commission are immediately dismissed. The commission was composed of Monsignor Roberto Campisi, adviser for general affairs of the Secretariat of State, who chaired it; Archbishop Flavio Pace, secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity; Alessandra Smerilli, secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; Sister Silvana Piro, undersecretary of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See; and Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, deputy secretary-general of the Governorate of Vatican City State.The decision of Leo XIV comes after consulting with experts in the field and following the recommendations of the Council for the Economy, with the aim of strengthening administrative efficiency in the financial management of the Holy See.The liquidation of the former commission will be managed by the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, while the Secretariat for the Economy will resolve any outstanding issues and must keep the Council for the Economy informed of all actions taken in this regard.The Holy Father also ordered the creation of a new working group tasked with designing a renewed and more suitable model for fundraising, whose members will be proposed by the Council for the Economy. This measure takes effect immediately upon its publication in L’Osservatore Romano.On Nov. 26, Pope Leo XIV also made an adjustment to the reforms undertaken by his predecessor with a new decree to revise the financial and administrative rules governing the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Mary Major.The pontiff placed both institutions under the ordinary supervision of the Vatican’s Council for the Economy, emphasizing that the economic and financial reform of the Holy See requires a “periodic reevaluation and redefinition” of the regulatory framework.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 06 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>How can AI serve the common good and not just the powerful? Pope Leo XIV responds</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/how-can-ai-serve-the-common-good-and-not-just-the-powerful-pope-leo-xiv-responds</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/how-can-ai-serve-the-common-good-and-not-just-the-powerful-pope-leo-xiv-responds</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets with members of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation and the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Research Universities on Dec. 5, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 5, 2025 / 14:38 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV reflected Dec. 5 at the Vatican on the challenges posed by artificial intelligence during a meeting with members of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation and participants in the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Research Universities.In his address, the Holy Father pointed out that artificial intelligence affects certain essential characteristics of the human person, “such as critical thinking, discernment, learning, and interpersonal relationships.”For the pontiff, this has a real impact “on the lives of millions of people, every day and in every part of the world.”“How can we ensure that the development of artificial intelligence truly serves the common good and is not just used to accumulate wealth and power in the hands of a few?” he then asked.To answer this question, the pope urged deeper reflection on “what it means to be human in this moment of history” — that is, those who are called to be collaborators in the work of creation and not simply “passive consumers of content generated by artificial technology.”“Our dignity,” he added, “lies in our ability to reflect, choose freely, love unconditionally, and enter into authentic relationships with others.”He also emphasized that this technology raises “serious concerns about its possible repercussions on humanity’s openness to truth and beauty, and capacity for wonder and contemplation.”Consequently, he noted that “recognizing and safeguarding what characterizes the human person and guarantees his or her balanced growth is essential for establishing an adequate framework for managing the consequences of artificial intelligence.”Leo XIV mentioned his concern about the vulnerability of children and young people in this new reality, where their freedom and spirituality are at stake, as well as their intellectual and neurological development.Therefore, he warned that “the ability to access vast amounts of data and information should not be confused with the ability to derive meaning and value from it.”In this context, he emphasized that “it will therefore be essential to teach young people to use these tools with their own intelligence, ensuring that they open themselves to the search for truth, a spiritual and fraternal life, broadening their dreams and the horizons of their decision-making.”He also emphasized the need to “restore and strengthen their confidence in the human ability to guide the development of these technologies. It is a confidence that today is increasingly eroded by the paralyzing idea that its development follows an inevitable path.”Finally, the Holy Father affirmed that these objectives can only be achieved through “widespread participation that gives everyone the opportunity to be heard with respect, even the most humble.” This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 06 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>How, can, serve, the, common, good, and, not, just, the, powerful, Pope, Leo, XIV, responds</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Michael Bublé calls meeting Pope Leo XIV ‘one of the greatest moments of my life’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/michael-buble-calls-meeting-pope-leo-xiv-one-of-the-greatest-moments-of-my-life</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/michael-buble-calls-meeting-pope-leo-xiv-one-of-the-greatest-moments-of-my-life</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Singer Michael Bublé called meeting Pope Leo XIV on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, “one of the greatest moments of my life,” adding that as he prepares to headline the Vatican’s annual Christmas concert for the poor, he hopes his example will encourage more people to speak openly about their faith. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 5, 2025 / 15:08 pm (CNA).
Michael Bublé called meeting Pope Leo XIV on Friday “one of the greatest moments of my life,” adding that as he prepares to headline the Vatican’s annual Christmas concert for the poor, he hopes his example will encourage more people to speak openly about their faith.The Grammy-winning singer, known for his velvety voice and popular Christmas albums, said faith “changes everything in my life, every single interaction.”“When you say that you have strong faith, this is shocking to people, which is sometimes hard for me to understand,” Bublé said in response to a question from CNA at a Vatican press conference on Dec. 5.“And with the platform I have, my hope is that … there’s a young person who might listen to me today who might be afraid to share their faith or to be open about it, and they look at me and they say, ‘Wow, look at Bublé. He’s not afraid to share it,’ and maybe it will give them the strength to do the same.”Michael Bublé speaks at the Vatican on Dec. 5, 2025, about preparing to sing &quot;Ave Maria&quot; for Pope Leo at the upcoming Christmas concert for the poor at the Vatican. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNABublé met Pope Leo XIV on Friday along with other artists participating in the Vatican’s sixth annual “Concert with the Poor” on Saturday, Dec. 6.“I am overwhelmed,” Bublé said. “This morning, I had the opportunity to meet the Holy Father. For me, this was something that I knew was going to be one of the greatest moments of my life.” This year marks the first time a pope will attend the Vatican concert, which is free and offered to 3,000 people in need served by volunteer organizations around Rome. They will receive a hot takeaway dinner and other necessities after the event.“We know that times are difficult for many people, and there’s a lot of darkness,” Bublé said. I feel like when you have faith, you have your own pilot light. And the lights can go out everywhere, everywhere, but if you have that faith and you have that light inside you, you can find your way.”I asked Michael Bublé about how his faith at a Vatican press conference today and this was his response: pic.twitter.com/WF80pnhNzf— Courtney Mares (@catholicourtney) December 5, 2025  The Canadian singer told EWTN News after the press conference that it was especially meaningful to introduce the pontiff to his mother, who was his childhood catechism teacher.  “A lot of people won’t know, but I was raised in the Catholic Church, and my mother was my catechism teacher,” said Bublé, who has noted in previous interviews that he does not identify with a particular organized religion.“Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ and the sacrifice that allows all of us to have an eternal life,” Bublé said, describing how music is central to his spiritual life.“Music is a gift from God,” he said. “I talk to so many people today about what a gift from God music is.”Grammy-winning singer Michael Bublé , known for his velvety voice and popular Christmas albums, said faith “changes everything in my life, every single interaction.” He met Pope Leo XIV on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Joshua MellinBublé noted that “Silent Night” and “Adeste Fideles” are among his favorite Christmas hymns. He said that he asked the pope for specific song requests for the concert, which will feature selections Pope Leo enjoys. One of them is “Ave Maria,” a piece not normally in Bublé’s repertoire. He acknowledged feeling “a bit nervous” to perform it before the pope and was coaxed into offering reporters a brief a cappella preview during the press conference.
     The concert will also feature the choir of the Diocese of Rome, the Nuova Opera Orchestra, and Catholic composer Monsignor Marco Frisina. Past editions of the concert have been conducted by composers Hans Zimmer and Ennio Morricone.“Before every show … I say, ‘Thank you, God, for giving me the ability to connect with these beautiful souls,’” Bublé said. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 06 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Michael, Bublé, calls, meeting, Pope, Leo, XIV, ‘one, the, greatest, moments, life’</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV among the most viewed and searched on Wikipedia and Google in 2025</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-among-the-most-viewed-and-searched-on-wikipedia-and-google-in-2025</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-among-the-most-viewed-and-searched-on-wikipedia-and-google-in-2025</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 5, 2025 / 15:38 pm (CNA).
The profile of Pope Leo XIV is among the most viewed pages on the digital encyclopedia Wikipedia, and his names — both the one he took upon beginning his pontificate on May 8 and his given name, Robert Francis Prevost — are among the most searched terms globally on Google during 2025.The Wikimedia Foundation, which supports Wikipedia, presented on Dec. 2 its list of “most read articles” in English. Pope Leo XIV in English holds fifth place.Wikimedia highlighted that one of the deaths that had the biggest impact during 2025 was that of Pope Francis, whom they remembered as “the first Latin American to become pope” who “served as pope for 12 years before passing away” on April 21.“The Catholic Church selected his successor, Pope Leo XIV, a few weeks later. As people rushed online to learn about Leo, traffic to all Wikimedia projects peaked at around 800,000 hits per second, more than six times over normal traffic levels and a new all-time record for us,” the foundation noted.“Plenty of people also came to learn more about Francis’ life, too,” it added, noting that his English Wikipedia page ranks 11th among the most read pages this year.Wikipedia, which defines itself as “a free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki,” is one of the most visited websites in the world. According to Statista, in 2025 it ranked fifth, just behind Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.Leo XIV and his election: Search trends in 2025Near the end of the year, the search engine Google also released its list of trends, “Year in Search 2025.” In its “people” section, Pope Leo XIV ranked fifth worldwide, and among news searches, the election of the new pope ranked fourth.In the United States, his native country, Pope Leo XIV ranked fifth among trending people searches. The election of the new pope was in seventh place among trending news searches, while Pope Francis ranked seventh on the list of searches for those who died in 2025.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 06 Dec 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, among, the, most, viewed, and, searched, Wikipedia, and, Google, 2025</media:keywords>
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<title>UPDATED: Pope Leo XIV calls Lebanon to stand up, be a home of justice and fraternity</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/updated-pope-leo-xiv-calls-lebanon-to-stand-up-be-a-home-of-justice-and-fraternity</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/updated-pope-leo-xiv-calls-lebanon-to-stand-up-be-a-home-of-justice-and-fraternity</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for an estimated 150,000 people at Beirut’s Waterfront in Lebanon on Dec. 2, 2025. / Credit: Marwan Semaan/ACI MENA

Beirut, Lebanon, Dec 2, 2025 / 04:52 am (CNA).
Beirut heard a different kind of voice on Tuesday morning. In a city still marked by the sounds of the 2024 escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, Pope Leo XIV urged Lebanon to rise above violence and division. “Lebanon, stand up. Be a home of justice and fraternity. Be a prophetic sign of peace for the whole of the Levant,” he said at a Mass attended by about 150,000 people at Beirut Waterfront.The liturgy closed the final day of the pope’s visit to a nation strained by intermittent political paralysis, economic freefall, and persistent instability. The Waterfront itself carries symbolic weight. Built on land reclaimed from the sea with rubble from downtown Beirut destroyed in the civil war, it has come to represent both loss and reconstruction.In his homily, Pope Leo spoke of praise, hope, beauty, and responsibility, calling for unity at a moment of national fracture. He acknowledged the burdens carried by the Lebanese people and said praise becomes difficult “when life is weighed down by hardship.” Lebanon, he added, has suffered “many problems” and “difficult situations” that leave people feeling powerless.The pope urged the country to rediscover gratitude. Lebanon, he said, is “the recipient of a rare beauty,” even though that beauty is often obscured by suffering. The country is also, he noted, a witness to how “evil, in its various forms, can obscure this splendor.”From the open coastal space, he recalled biblical images of Lebanon. He then pointed to the nation’s present wounds: poverty, political instability, economic collapse, and renewed fear after conflict. He mentioned his prayer earlier in the day at the Beirut port, the site of the 2020 explosion, and connected that visit to the broader national trauma. In such circumstances, he said, praise and hope can give way to disillusionment.The pope invited the faithful to look for “small shining lights in the heart of the night.” Jesus, he said, gives thanks not for extraordinary signs but for the faith and humility of “little ones.” He spoke of the “small signs of hope” found in families, parishes, religious communities, and laypeople who remain dedicated to service and to the Gospel. These lights, he said, promise rebirth.He urged the country not to yield to “the logic of violence” or the “idolatry of money” and asked all Lebanese to work together. “Everyone must do their part,” he said. He called for a “dream of a united Lebanon” where peace and justice prevail and where all recognize one another as brothers and sisters.At the end of Mass, the pope offered a spontaneous prayer for peace in the region and the world, calling on “Christians of the Levant” to be “artisans of peace, heralds of peace, witnesses of peace.”Farewell ceremonyAfter the Mass, the pope traveled to Beirut International Airport for a farewell ceremony, where he was received by the president. In brief remarks, the pope recalled the sight of the port earlier that morning and praised the resilience of the Lebanese people. “You are as strong as the cedars that populate your beautiful mountains, and as beautiful as the olive trees that grow in the plains, in the south and near the sea.”The pope also greeted regions of the country he was unable to visit and repeated his appeal for peace. “May the attacks and hostilities cease,” he said. “Armed struggle brings no benefit. Weapons are lethal. Negotiation, mediation, and dialogue are constructive.” He urged all to choose peace “as a way, not just as a goal.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:00:02 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>UPDATED:, Pope, Leo, XIV, calls, Lebanon, stand, up, home, justice, and, fraternity</media:keywords>
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<title>Official Vatican documents can now be drafted in languages ​​other than Latin</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/official-vatican-documents-can-now-be-drafted-in-languages-other-than-latin</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/official-vatican-documents-can-now-be-drafted-in-languages-other-than-latin</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Nov. 19, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 2, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
The pope has approved the new General and Personnel Regulations of the Roman Curia, which come into effect Jan. 1, 2026, and which adapt the internal functioning of the Vatican bodies to the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, promulgated by Pope Francis in 2022.The document, approved “ad experimentum” (for temporary or provisional use) for five years, seeks to consolidate “an ecclesial service marked by a pastoral and missionary character.”Documents in Latin... or in other languagesAmong the most significant innovations is a historic change in linguistic matters. For the first time, the regulations stipulate that “the curial institutions will, as a general rule, draft their documents in Latin or in another language.”Until now, Latin was used by default in the drafting of internal documents. The new rule will allow documents to be written directly in languages ​​used by the Curia, such as Italian, English — the native language of Pope Leo XIV — or Spanish, which the pontiff speaks fluently due to his extensive pastoral work in Peru.The text also introduces clear boundaries to prevent nepotism in Vatican offices. For example, it prohibits the hiring within the same entity of blood relatives up to the fourth degree and of relatives by marriage in the first and second degree. Furthermore, it requires that candidates be distinguished by their “virtue, prudence, knowledge, and appropriate experience.”For lay employees, the initial hiring will be on a probationary basis for at least one year, with no possibility of extending it beyond two years. This will require that, once this period has been completed, the employee be hired on a permanent basis or let go.No assets in ‘tax havens’The regulations also include measures that reinforce financial transparency. Officials and senior executives will be required to submit a declaration every two years confirming that they do not own assets in “tax havens” or hold shares in companies that contradict the social doctrine of the Church, such as the arms or abortion industries.Failure to submit this declaration, or the submission of false information, will be considered a serious disciplinary offense. The new legal framework regulates the organization of work within the Curia. The standard work week will be “at least 36 hours.” Maternity leave will begin three months before the expected delivery date and extend for another three months afterward. In addition, 158 hours of annual leave are granted.Staff members must observe strict professional confidentiality and may not make public statements without prior authorization.The regulations establish, for the first time, unified retirement ages for the various positions. Heads of dicasteries must retire at age 75; lay employees at age 70; and ecclesiastical and religious undersecretaries at age 72. All positions automatically terminate at age 80.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:00:02 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Official, Vatican, documents, can, now, drafted, languages, ​​other, than, Latin</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo reveals Mideast peace talks with Trump, Netanyahu, other regional players</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-reveals-mideast-peace-talks-with-trump-netanyahu-other-regional-players</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-reveals-mideast-peace-talks-with-trump-netanyahu-other-regional-players</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV speaks with reporters on his flight from Beirut to Rome on Dec. 2, 2025. / Credit: Elias Turk/EWTN

Rome, Italy, Dec 2, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has begun conversations with U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the need to halt violence and seek solutions in the Middle East, the pope told journalists on his Tuesday flight from Beirut to Rome.The wide-ranging news conference also touched on Ukraine, the Catholic Church in Germany, and Leo’s own election as pope, among other topics.In response to a question referring to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed political party and militia that holds significant influence in Lebanon, the pope said that during the trip he also held personal meetings with representatives of unnamed political groups involved in regional conflicts. “Our work is not something we announce publicly,” he said. “We try to convince the parties to put down the arms and violence and come together to the table of dialogue.” Leo also addressed concerns about Islam in Europe, saying fear is often “generated by people who are against immigration.” He said the Middle East offers an alternative model. “One of the great lessons that Lebanon can teach to the world,” he said, “is showing a land where Islam and Christianity are both present and respected, and where there is a possibility to live together.”On Ukraine, Leo repeated his appeal for a ceasefire. He acknowledged that the United States is seeking to promote a peace plan, but “the presence of Europe is important,” noting that the administration in Washington modified its first proposal after European concerns. He suggested that Italy could play “a very important role” as an intermediary.Asked about his own election, he said he had once imagined retiring. He affirmed his commitment to conclave secrecy but recalled telling a reporter the day before his election that “everything is in the hands of God.” When the reality of the vote became clear, he said, “I took a deep breath. I said, here we go, Lord, you are in charge.” Leo added that he is often amused by journalists’ interpretations of his expressions. “You think you can read my mind or my face,” he joked, “and you are not always correct.”Leo said he hopes his next trip will be to somewhere in Africa and said he wants eventually to go to Algeria to visit sites associated with St. Augustine and continue building bridges with Muslims. He said he would also like to visit Argentina and Uruguay, which have been waiting for a papal visit. He added that other Latin American countries, including Peru, are being considered, but “nothing is confirmed.”On Venezuela, Leo said the Holy See is working with the national bishops’ conference and the nuncio to calm tensions after recent threats from the United States. “We are looking for ways to calm the situation,” he said, “seeking above all the good of the people, because so often those who suffer are the people, not the authorities.”Responding to a question about the German Church’s Synodal Way, a controversial series of meetings of bishops and laity that have proposed major changes to Catholic doctrine and governance, Leo noted concerns among many German Catholics that “certain aspects of the Synodal Way … do not represent their own hope for the Church.” He stressed the need for “dialogue and listening … so that the voice of those who are more powerful does not silence or stifle” others. “I suspect there will be some adjustments made on both sides in Germany, but I’m certainly hopeful that things will work out positively,” Leo said. He added that the ongoing meetings between German bishops and the Roman Curia aim “to try and make sure that the German Synodal Way does not, if you will, break away from what needs to be considered as the pathway of the universal Church.”Asked what the Middle Eastern Church can offer the West, Leo reflected on the value of unity in an individualistic age. “Young people ask, why should I want to be one?” he said. “But unity, friendship, human relationships, communion are extremely important and extremely valuable.” Recalling the testimony of Christians and Muslims who helped one another after their villages were destroyed, he said such gestures show how “authentic peace and justice” can take root when people overcome distrust.In response to a question about how he is learning to be pope, Leo recommended a book that he said has shaped his own life by the 17th-century Carmelite friar known as Brother Lawrence. “If you want to know something about me,” he said, “read ‘The Practice of the Presence of God.’ It describes a way of prayer where one simply gives his life to the Lord and allows the Lord to lead. That has been my spirituality for many years.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:00:02 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, reveals, Mideast, peace, talks, with, Trump, Netanyahu, other, regional, players</media:keywords>
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<title>Powerful moments from Pope Leo XIV’s trip to Turkey and Lebanon</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/powerful-moments-from-pope-leo-xivs-trip-to-turkey-and-lebanon</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/powerful-moments-from-pope-leo-xivs-trip-to-turkey-and-lebanon</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV interacts with a baby before celebrating Mass in Beirut, Lebanon, on Dec. 2, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Dec 2, 2025 / 17:34 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV’s first official papal trip from Nov. 27–Dec. 2 to Turkey and Lebanon has just ended. The wide-ranging international visit included historic ecumenical encounters, deeply symbolic gestures of prayer, and pastoral visits to Christian communities under pressure. Pope Leo highlighted the importance of unity, peace, and fraternity, and brought encouragement to a region marked by ancient faith and present suffering.Here are some of the most powerful moments from Pope Leo’s trip:TurkeyUpon landing at the Esenboğa International Airport in Ankara, Turkey, Pope Leo was greeted by Turkish authorities and members of the military. Outside of the Presidential Palace, the pontiff  was welcomed by a cavalry escort, the playing of the national anthems, and 21 cannon shots.null The pope commemorated the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea on Nov. 28 alongside Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople and other Christian leaders in the Turkish city of Iznik, southeast of Istanbul, the site of the Council of Nicaea, historically known as the birthplace of the Nicene Creed.The ecumenical prayer service took place at the archaeological excavations of the ancient Basilica of St. Neophytus, built in 380 at the site of the first Christian ecumenical council, which was convened by Emperor Constantine I in 325.null While in Istanbul, Pope Leo visited the Nursing Home of the Little Sisters of the Poor, telling the community that Christian charity begins not with doing but with being — i.e., living a real communion with those one serves.Pope Leo XIV visits a care home for the elderly run by a community of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Istanbul, Turkey, on Nov. 28, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaLater that day, Pope Leo met the “little flock” of Catholics at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul. Catholics in Turkey make up roughly just 0.05% of the country’s 85 million people. The pope encouraged them to rediscover what he called the Gospel’s “logic of littleness” and not to be discouraged by their tiny numbers but to recognize in them the strength of authentic Christian witness.null In another touching moment at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul, a young child eagerly awaited and received the blessing of the Holy Father:null Pope Leo and Patriarch Bartholomew I gave a joint ecumenical blessing from the balcony of the patriarchate following the Orthodox Divine Liturgy on Nov. 30. The joint blessing recalls the fraternity and communion between the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople.Pope Leo XIV and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I give a joint blessing from the balcony of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul, Turkey, following an Orthodox Divine Liturgy on Nov. 30, 2025. Credit: Elias Turk/EWTN NewsLebanonAhead of his second day in Lebanon, a stunning rainbow appeared over the Port of Beirut, the site of the explosion that devastated the area in 2020.This morning, a stunning rainbow over the Port of Beirut opened the second day of Pope Leo’s visit to Lebanon. The pope will pray at the site of the explosion that devastated this area in 2020. What a beautiful sign of peace and hope.?Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi / EWTN News pic.twitter.com/DKqS9pclSg— EWTN News (@EWTNews) December 1, 2025 Pope Leo XIV became the first pope in history to visit the tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf when he arrived at the Monastery of St. Maron in Annaya on the second day of his apostolic journey to Lebanon.Pope Leo XIV reflects on the enduring message of St. Charbel Makhlouf at the hermit&#039;s tomb at the Monastery of St. Maron, in Annaya, Lebanon, on Dec. 1, 2025. Credit: Vatican Medianull In another beautiful moment, Pope Leo gave a Golden Rose to the Virgin Mary during his visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, Lebanon.Pope Leo XIV presents a Golden Rose to Mary at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, Lebanon, on Dec. 1, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaA little girl proudly showed off a rosary given to her by Pope Leo during the pope’s meeting with bishops, clergy, and religious at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa.null On the final morning of his trip to Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV paused before the ruins of the Beirut port explosion, praying in silence and placing a wreath in memory of the victims. In one of the most emotional moments of his trip, he also met family members of those killed and survivors still carrying the wounds of the Aug. 4, 2020, blast.Five years after the explosion, one of the largest nonnuclear blasts in history, families of the 236 people killed and more than 7,000 wounded say they are still waiting for truth and accountability.Pope Leo XIV prays in silence at the site of the 2020 port explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, on Dec. 2, 2025. Credit: AIGAV PoolPope Leo XIV greets a young child at the site of the Aug. 4, 2020, blast at the Port of Beirut on Dec. 2, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo XIV prayed in silence at the Port of Beirut, where an explosion in 2020 left hundreds of victims. He stopped before the monument honoring the dead, amid the debris that still remains, to lay a wreath of flowers and light a candle. pic.twitter.com/asEbtchn7R— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) December 2, 2025 After visiting the site of the explosion, Pope Leo celebrated Mass for an estimated 150,000 people at the Beirut Waterfront. Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for an estimated 150,000 people at Beirut&#039;s Waterfront in Lebanon, on Dec. 2, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaWhile visiting the De La Croix Hospital in Jal el Dib, north of Beirut, Pope Leo also spent time in the Saint-Dominique wing, where children with severe physical and mental disabilities are cared for, and blessed the children.Pope Leo XIV blesses a child at the De La Croix Hospital for the mentally disabled in Jal el Dib, north of Beirut, Lebanon, on Dec. 2, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaFrom there, Pope Leo boarded the papal plane for Rome, telling the Lebanese people: “Leaving this land means carrying you in my heart.”Pope Leo XIV waves goodbye to those in attendance at a farewell ceremony at the International Airport of Beirut in Lebanon on Dec. 2, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:00:02 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Powerful, moments, from, Pope, Leo, XIV’s, trip, Turkey, and, Lebanon</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo to Lebanese youth: Love, not retaliation, is the real answer to evil</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-to-lebanese-youth-love-not-retaliation-is-the-real-answer-to-evil</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-to-lebanese-youth-love-not-retaliation-is-the-real-answer-to-evil</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets a young mother and her child outside of the Monastery of St. Maron in Annaya, Lebanon, on Dec. 1, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Bkerke, Lebanon, Dec 1, 2025 / 12:34 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV told thousands of young people in Lebanon on Monday that love, not retaliation, is the real force capable of transforming their country as it continues to grapple with the wounds of conflict and social instability. “The true opposition to evil is not evil, but love,” he said, calling the nation’s youth to rebuild their homeland through reconciliation, service, and a renewed rooting in faith.The gathering took place in the square before the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch, in Bkerké, where the pope was welcomed by Patriarch Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï. After greeting the crowd in a brief tour, Pope Leo opened his address with the Arabic words “assalamu alaykum,” meaning “peace be with you,” telling the young people that this greeting of the risen Christ “sustains the joy of our meeting.”Lebanon’s young generation has endured some of the nation’s hardest years. A devastating financial collapse, the 2020 Beirut port explosion, and the 2023–2024 border war between Hezbollah and Israel have left deep physical and social scars, contributing to widespread emigration and a sense of exhaustion among the country’s youth.The pope spoke directly to their anxieties, acknowledging that many feel they have inherited “a world torn apart by wars and disfigured by social injustice,” yet insisted that hope lives within them. “You have time to dream, to plan, and to do good. You are the present, and the future is already taking shape in your hands.”Pointing to Lebanon’s national symbol, he said the country “will flourish once again, beautiful and vigorous like the cedar,” explaining that its strength lies in deep roots. In the same way, he told them, the foundation of renewal cannot rest only on ideas or agreements. “The true principle of new life is the hope that comes from above. It is Christ himself. He, the Living One, is the foundation of our trust.”Peace, he continued, cannot grow out of factional interests. “It is only genuinely sincere when I do to others what I would like them to do to me. Forgiveness leads to justice, which is the foundation of peace.”Calling them to works of charity, he reminded them that nothing reveals God’s presence more clearly than love. Renewal begins in daily choices, he said, such as welcoming “those near and far” and offering concrete help “to friends and refugees and enemies.”The pope held up several saints as companions for the journey: Carlo Acutis, Pier Giorgio Frassati, St. Rafqa, Blessed Yakub El-Haddad, and St. Charbel, whose hidden life “shines a powerful light.” He urged the youth to pray, to read Scripture, and attend Mass and adoration. “Be contemplatives like St. Charbel,” he told them.Pope Leo ended with the prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,” and assured the young people that “the Lord will always be with you, and you can be assured of the support of the whole Church.” He entrusted them to the Mother of God, Our Lady. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 02 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, Lebanese, youth:, Love, not, retaliation, the, real, answer, evil</media:keywords>
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<title>Aid to the Church in Need welcomes appointment of Cardinal Koch as its new president</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/aid-to-the-church-in-need-welcomes-appointment-of-cardinal-koch-as-its-new-president</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/aid-to-the-church-in-need-welcomes-appointment-of-cardinal-koch-as-its-new-president</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Cardinal Kurt Koch during an interview with EWTN News. / Credit: EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 1, 2025 / 16:21 pm (CNA).
The executive director of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Regina Lynch, thanked Pope Leo XIV for appointing Cardinal Kurt Koch as the new president of the pontifical foundation.“We very much look forward to having Cardinal Koch as our president and for the guidance he can bring to our mission to persecuted and suffering Christians all over the world. We are grateful to Pope Leo XIV for this appointment and for his interest in our work,” Lynch said.Koch is 75 years old and replaces Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, who is 81 years old and has led the institution since 2011.Piacenza was the first president of ACN since the organization received the title of pontifical foundation.In a Nov. 27 statement published on the ACN website, Lynch highlighted the work carried out by Piacenza, in whom the international institution “has always had a steady and trusted mentor and president.”Furthermore, Piacenza “was always a great supporter of ACN initiatives, such as the One Million Children Praying the Rosary and the Middle East campaigns, and we are very grateful for his service to suffering and persecuted Christians.”Koch is the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and has headed the Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism since 2010. He has also closely collaborated with the Catholic charity over the years, ACN reported.The organization highlighted its new president’s experience in ecumenical and interreligious relations, as these are an essential part of the pontifical foundation’s mission, “especially in countries where Christians, or Catholics, are a minority.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 02 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Aid, the, Church, Need, welcomes, appointment, Cardinal, Koch, its, new, president</media:keywords>
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<title>The Holy See closed the 2024 fiscal year with a surplus of $1.86 million</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/the-holy-see-closed-the-2024-fiscal-year-with-a-surplus-of-186-million</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/the-holy-see-closed-the-2024-fiscal-year-with-a-surplus-of-186-million</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  St. Peter’s Square during the declaration of St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the Church in November 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Dec 1, 2025 / 16:51 pm (CNA).
The Holy See closed the 2024 fiscal year with a surplus of 1.6 million euros ($1.86 million), according to the 2024 Consolidated Financial Statement published Nov. 26 by the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy. This result represents a substantial change compared with the deficit of 51.2 million euros ($59.5 million) recorded in 2023, according to the Vatican.The last public report from the Holy See was from 2020 — published in 2021 — and showed a deficit of 66.3 million euros ($77 million).The current report indicates that the financial improvement is based on a reduction in the operating deficit, which decreased by almost 50%, from 83 million to 44 million euros, ($96.4 to $51.1 million) driven by a 79-million-euro ($91.8 million) increase in revenue, mainly from donations and hospital management, and by strict cost control that partially offset inflation and rising personnel costs.The report also highlights the performance of financial management with positive results of 46 million euros ($53.4 million), higher than the previous year thanks to capital gains obtained from the sale of historical investments and the start of operations of the Investment Committee.Surplus excluding hospitalsExcluding hospital entities, the Holy See recorded a surplus of 18.7 million euros ($21.7 million), although the secretariat warns that this figure reflects extraordinary accounting effects and a one-time increase in donations, so its sustainability will depend on future fiscal years.The Holy See’s balance sheet reveals a total allocation of 393.29 million euros ($457 million) destined for the apostolic mission and the pontifical funds, not including the financing of hospitals. This budget reflects the priority of supporting the Church’s core activities worldwide and shows how resources are distributed to guarantee the continuity of the apostolic mission.Approximately 83% of the funds are concentrated in five strategic areas that underpin the pastoral and social work of the Holy See. The most significant allocation, amounting to 146.4 million euros ($170.1 million) — equivalent to 37% of the total — is dedicated to supporting local Churches in difficult situations and for evangelization, recognizing the importance of strengthening the most vulnerable communities and supporting the spread of the faith in territories where the mission faces greater challenges.Worship and evangelization constitute the second most significant category, representing 14% of the resources. This allocation supports liturgical activities, religious formation, and initiatives for spreading Church teachings worldwide. A ​​further 12% is specifically dedicated to communicating the pope’s message, ensuring that his teachings, exhortations, and statements effectively reach the faithful and the international community.Ten percent of the budget is allocated to charitable servicesLikewise, 10% of the budget is dedicated to maintaining the international presence of the Holy See through the apostolic nunciatures, which play an essential diplomatic and pastoral role in relations with states and local Churches. Another 10% is allocated to charitable services, reinforcing humanitarian and assistance initiatives that respond to the most urgent needs of the poor and marginalized.The remaining 17% finances activities such as the organization of ecclesial life, management of historical heritage, and support for academic institutions. The secretariat emphasized that these allocations reflect consistency between the Church’s pastoral mission and its financial management.The report concludes that, although the result is encouraging, the full financial sustainability of the Holy See will continue to depend on its performance in the coming fiscal years, marking 2024 as a year of economic recovery after years of deficits.Maximino Caballero Ledo, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, gave a comprehensive explanation of the results in an interview with Vatican media, highlighting both the achievements and the need for prudence and continuity in management.“The data reflect remarkable progress in consolidating the economic situation of the Holy See,” Caballero said. “It is not only about maintaining a balanced budget but also about strengthening our ability to make the best use of every contribution received, making the service to the mission of the universal Church more solid and sustainable.”The financial document presented by the Vatican shows that the structural operating deficit was reduced by almost half, from 83.5 million euros to 44.4 million euros ($97 million to $51.6 million). This is mainly due to an increase in revenue, which amounted to almost 79 million euros ($91.8 million) compared with the previous year, driven by greater donor participation, positive results from hospital activities, and progress in real estate and commercial management.Caballero emphasized that these “favorable dynamics,” combined with prudent spending control and a constant effort to improve operational efficiency, offer a positive outlook for the Vatican’s finances. However, he recalled that “the deficit of 44.4 million euros [$51.6 million] indicates that there is still a long way to go. Financial sustainability is not only a possible objective but a necessary condition to guarantee the continuity of our apostolic mission.”Growth in donations and the trust of the faithfulThe prefect noted that contributions from the faithful experienced a rebound in 2024 after years of slowdown. “This increase represents an encouraging sign of renewed participation by the faithful and local Churches in the mission of the Holy See. However, these dynamics are variable and always require prudence and realism in their interpretation,” he emphasized.The analysis of expenditures confirms, according to Caballero, that most resources continue to be allocated directly to apostolic activities, “reflecting the consistency between the priorities of the mission and the financial decisions that make it possible. This allows for the strengthening of pastoral initiatives and support for the most vulnerable communities, consolidating a balanced and responsible management of resources.”Financial management and future prospectsThe 2024 balance sheet also shows positive results of 46 million euros ($53.4 million) from financial activities, including extraordinary transactions related to the restructuring of the investment portfolio in accordance with the new policy approved by the Investment Committee. Caballero warned that “these capital gains are not repeatable with the same intensity in future years and reflect the natural volatility of financial activity.”Therefore, he emphasized that “along with prudence in spending, it is essential to continue working on the revenue side: donations, fundraising, asset valuation, and consistent investment management. The goal is not to pit these dimensions against each other but to consolidate progress and gradually strengthen a more stable economic foundation.”Toward full financial sustainabilityThe prefect concluded by highlighting that the 2024 fiscal year closed with a small surplus of 1.6 million euros ($1.86 million), an encouraging sign that, according to him, “demonstrates that the direction taken is positive. Now we must consolidate this progress, aware that some of the results come from nonrecurring elements. Financial sustainability is essential to ensure the continuity of the Holy See’s mission, which by its nature requires a stable economic foundation.”Caballero emphasized that “it is not simply a matter of balancing the budget but of strengthening our ability to optimally utilize every contribution received, making the Holy See’s service to the entire universal Church more solid and sustainable.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 02 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo urges Lebanon to place the sick at the center of society</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-urges-lebanon-to-place-the-sick-at-the-center-of-society</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-urges-lebanon-to-place-the-sick-at-the-center-of-society</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Children costumed as participants in a papal conclave await Pope Leo XIV at the De La Croix Hospital in Jal el Dib, Lebanon, on December 2, 2025. / AIGAV Pool

Jal el Dib, Lebanon, Dec 2, 2025 / 02:07 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV told hospital patients and caregivers in Lebanon that he had come to “where Jesus dwells,” adding that Christ is present “in you who are ill, and in you who care for the ailing.” He delivered the message during a Tuesday morning visit to De La Croix Hospital in Jal el Dib, one of the final stops of his trip to Lebanon as the country continues to struggle with the wounds of conflict and economic collapse.The Holy Father addressed staff, patients, and the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross who operate the institution. Pointing to the hospital’s founder, Blessed Yaaqub El-Haddad, Pope Leo described him as a “tireless apostle of charity” whose devotion to the suffering shaped the institution’s identity.“Your presence is a tangible sign of the merciful love of Christ,” Leo told the healthcare workers, comparing their service to the Good Samaritan who stopped for the wounded man. He urged them not to lose heart when fatigue or discouragement take hold. “Keep before your eyes the good you are able to accomplish. In God’s eyes, it is a great work.”Pope Leo also offered a pointed appeal to Lebanese society. A community focused only on achievement and wellbeing, he warned, risks abandoning its most vulnerable members. “We cannot conceive of a society that races ahead at full speed while ignoring so many situations of poverty and vulnerability.” Christians, he insisted, are called to make the poor a priority because “the cry of the poor,” heard throughout Scripture, continues to demand a response.Jal el Dib, a town in Lebanon’s Matn district with a largely Maronite Catholic population, grew from a small Ottoman-era stop on the Beirut–Tripoli route into a commercial hub during the French Mandate, the period of French-administered rule that shaped much of modern Lebanon after World War I. In that setting, the De La Croix institution, founded in 1919 by Blessed Yaaqub, developed into one of the region’s most significant centers for psychiatric care and mental disability services. Operated by the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross, it now includes five patient pavilions and serves more than 2,200 people each year.Turning to the patients, the pope emphasized their dignity and their place in the heart of God. “You are close to the heart of God our Father. He holds you in the palm of his hand,” he said. “Today, the Lord repeats to each one of you: &#039;I love you, I care for you, you are my child. Never forget this!&#039;” At times during the visit, Leo seemed to be holding back tears.After the public event, Pope Leo was scheduled to visit one of the hospital’s pavilions privately to meet patients and staff. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 02 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, urges, Lebanon, place, the, sick, the, center, society</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo prays at Beirut blast site, meets families seeking justice</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-prays-at-beirut-blast-site-meets-families-seeking-justice</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-prays-at-beirut-blast-site-meets-families-seeking-justice</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV prays in silence at the site of the 2020 port explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, on December 2, 2025. / AIGAV Pool

Beirut, Lebanon, Dec 2, 2025 / 03:15 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV paused on the final morning of his trip to Lebanon before the ruins of the Beirut port explosion, praying in silence and placing a wreath in memory of the victims. He also met families of those killed and survivors still carrying the wounds of the 2020 blast.The pope lit a candle and laid down a wreath of red flowers at the site, and seemed at one point to hold back tears. Afterwards, he spoke with family members of victims, some of whom who were holding photographs of their relatives killed in the blast.The pope’s silent prayer at the port unfolded against an unresolved search for justice, a grief still felt across Lebanon.Five years after the August 4, 2020 explosion, one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history, families of the 236 people killed and more than 7,000 wounded say they are still waiting for truth and accountability. Vast neighborhoods of Beirut were shattered, yet justice remains elusive. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam greeted the pope at the site.Lebanon’s investigation has been marked by political interference and long periods of inactivity. Although the probe formally resumed in 2025 after a two-year halt, it remains stalled. Successive governments have failed to ensure an independent and impartial process, leaving families of victims facing what they describe as a prolonged denial of justice.Several senior officials summoned by lead investigative judge Tarek Bitar have resisted cooperation, invoking immunity or filing legal challenges that repeatedly froze the inquiry. Some movement returned in early 2025. Judge Bitar resumed work in February after new public commitments by President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Salam to uphold the rule of law. The following month, interim top prosecutor Jamal Hajjar reversed earlier measures that had paralyzed the investigation. A number of figures, including former Prime Minister Hassan Diab and Major General Abbas Ibrahim, responded to summonses, while others, including members of parliament, continued to refuse cooperation. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 02 Dec 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Pope arrives in Turkey giving thanks, preaching peace</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-arrives-in-turkey-giving-thanks-preaching-peace</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-arrives-in-turkey-giving-thanks-preaching-peace</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Pope Leo XIV began his first papal trip speaking of dialogue, peace and thanksgiving -- referring to both the holiday and his own gratitude.
The post Pope arrives in Turkey giving thanks, preaching peace first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 29 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, arrives, Turkey, giving, thanks, preaching, peace</media:keywords>
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<title>UN report: Every 10 minutes, a woman is killed somewhere in the world</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/un-report-every-10-minutes-a-woman-is-killed-somewhere-in-the-world</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/un-report-every-10-minutes-a-woman-is-killed-somewhere-in-the-world</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Nov. 25 is observed as International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The post UN report: Every 10 minutes, a woman is killed somewhere in the world first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 29 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>report:, Every, minutes, woman, killed, somewhere, the, world</media:keywords>
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<title>Catholic bishops offer prayers for National Guard members shot in DC</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/catholic-bishops-offer-prayers-for-national-guard-members-shot-in-dc</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/catholic-bishops-offer-prayers-for-national-guard-members-shot-in-dc</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The midafternoon attack, believed to be perpetrated by a lone suspect now in custody, left the two victims in critical condition.
The post Catholic bishops offer prayers for National Guard members shot in DC first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 29 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Catholic, bishops, offer, prayers, for, National, Guard, members, shot</media:keywords>
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<title>Former business manager charged with stealing $1.1 million from suburban Philadelphia parish</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/former-business-manager-charged-with-stealing-11-million-from-suburban-philadelphia-parish</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/former-business-manager-charged-with-stealing-11-million-from-suburban-philadelphia-parish</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ PHILADELPHIA (OSV News) — A former business manager at a suburban Philadelphia parish has been charged with stealing more than $1.1 million, allegedly diverting funds through his private companies while…
The post Former business manager charged with stealing $1.1 million from suburban Philadelphia parish first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 29 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Former, business, manager, charged, with, stealing, 1.1, million, from, suburban, Philadelphia, parish</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pew: US Latinos disapprove of Trump’s immigration, economic policies</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pew-us-latinos-disapprove-of-trumps-immigration-economic-policies</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pew-us-latinos-disapprove-of-trumps-immigration-economic-policies</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Most of the nation&#039;s Latinos disapprove of President Donald Trump&#039;s hardline immigration and economic policies -- and more than half are worried that they or a loved one could be deported, including about 1 in 3 Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens by birth.
The post Pew: US Latinos disapprove of Trump’s immigration, economic policies first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2025-11-20T141531Z_11157133_RC2QRHAWKDDS_RTRMADP_3_USA-TRUMP-MIGRATION-ICE.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 29 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pew:, Latinos, disapprove, Trump’s, immigration, economic, policies</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo reminds Turkish Catholic minority of the ‘logic of littleness’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-reminds-turkish-catholic-minority-of-the-logic-of-littleness</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-reminds-turkish-catholic-minority-of-the-logic-of-littleness</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV encourages Catholic clergy, religious brothers and sisters, and lay pastoral workers to see the Catholic community’s small size as a strength during an encounter at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul, Turkey, on Nov. 28, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media.

Istanbul, Turkey, Nov 28, 2025 / 01:55 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV encouraged Turkey’s small Catholic community Friday to rediscover what he called the Gospel’s “logic of littleness,” urging them not to be discouraged by their tiny numbers but to recognize in them the strength of authentic Christian witness.The pope addressed bishops, priests, religious, pastoral workers, and laypeople at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul on his second day in the country. Catholics in Turkey make up roughly 0.05% of the nation’s 85 million people.Calling Turkey a “holy land” where the Old and New Testaments meet, the pope recalled the deep Christian roots of the region: Abraham’s journey through Harran, the early Christian communities in Antioch and Ephesus, and the long and influential history of Byzantine Christianity. He noted in particular that the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, currently led by Patriarch Bartholomew I,  remains “a point of reference” both for its Greek faithful and for other Orthodox Churches.The pope warned Christians not to treat this heritage merely as a memory of past greatness. Instead, he urged them to adopt “an evangelical vision” that sees their present reality through the Holy Spirit’s light.“When we look with God’s eyes, we discover that he has chosen the way of littleness,” he said, pointing to the mustard seed, the little ones praised by Jesus, and the quiet growth of the kingdom of God. The Church’s true strength, he explained, “does not lie in her resources or structures,” nor in numbers or influence, but in remaining gathered around Christ and sent by the Holy Spirit.Quoting Jesus’ words, “Do not be afraid, little flock,” the pope encouraged Christians in Turkey to cultivate hope. He pointed to the growing number of young people approaching the Catholic Church as a sign of promise and asked communities to continue welcoming and accompanying them.He urged particular dedication to ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, the transmission of the faith to local communities, and pastoral service to refugees and migrants—many of whom are among the most vulnerable people in the country. The pope also noted that many Catholics in Turkey come from abroad, a reality that calls for a deeper process of inculturation so that the language and culture of the country become “more and more your own.”The pope highlighted Turkey’s unique role in the history of the Church, recalling that the first eight ecumenical councils were held on its soil. Marking the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, he said the council continues to pose three questions to Christians today: What is the essence of the faith? Who is Jesus for us? And how should doctrine be expressed in ways that speak to contemporary culture?He warned against what he described as a “new Arianism,” a version of the heresy that divided Christianity in its early centuries, that reduces Jesus to a moral teacher or heroic figure while denying his divinity and lordship over history.Before concluding, the pope invoked the memory of St. John XXIII, who served in Turkey and wrote affectionately of its people. Reflecting on the saint’s image of Bosporus fishermen laboring through the night, he encouraged Turkish Catholics to persevere in the same spirit: working faithfully, joyfully, and courageously “in the Lord’s boat.”The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, where the meeting took place, was built in 1846 and houses relics of early popes, including St. Linus. A statue of Pope Benedict XV stands in its courtyard, erected in gratitude for his efforts to help victims of the 1915–1918 war. The inscription honors him as a “benefactor of peoples, without distinction of nationality or religion.”Watch Pope Leo XIV&#039;s full homily here. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/eli8351-1.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 29 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, reminds, Turkish, Catholic, minority, the, ‘logic, littleness’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo shares ‘secret of Christian charity’ with Little Sisters of the Poor</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-shares-secret-of-christian-charity-with-little-sisters-of-the-poor</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-shares-secret-of-christian-charity-with-little-sisters-of-the-poor</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV visits a care home for the elderly run by a community of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Istanbul, Turkey, on Nov. 28, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media.

Istanbul, Turkey, Nov 28, 2025 / 03:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV visited the Nursing Home of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Istanbul on Friday, telling the community that Christian charity begins not with doing, but with being, i.e., living a real communion with those one serves.“The secret of Christian charity is that before being for others, we must first be with others in a communion based on fraternity,” he said during the encounter on Nov. 28, the second day of his apostolic trip to Turkey, where he is marking the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea. A papal stop at a charitable institution has become customary during international journeys, and Pope Leo chose to spend time with the elderly as a sign of closeness to those often marginalized in modern societies.Founded in France in 1839 by St. Jeanne Jugan, the Little Sisters of the Poor serve elderly people in need around the world, including in Turkey, where they welcome residents of different religious backgrounds. The pope was greeted at the residence by the mother superior, former superior, and provincial leader before proceeding to the chapel to meet residents, staff, and benefactors.Pope Leo XIV visits a care home for the elderly run by a community of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Istanbul, Turkey, on Nov. 28, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media.Reflecting on the congregation’s name, the pope told the Sisters that their mission mirrors the life of Christ himself. “The Lord has called you not only to assist or help the poor, but has also called you to be their ‘sisters.’ You are to be like Jesus, whom the Father sent to us not only to help and serve us, but also to be our brother.” Turning to the residents, he warned that the word “elderly” risks losing its meaning in cultures driven by efficiency and materialism. Such attitudes, he said, lead societies to forget the dignity and value of older persons. Scripture and tradition, by contrast, present the elderly as bearers of memory and wisdom.“As Pope Francis loved to repeat – the elderly are the wisdom of a people, a treasure for their grandchildren, families and society as a whole,” he said. Pope Leo concluded by thanking the community for its patient, prayerful witness and prayed that the Lord would strengthen all who live and serve in the home. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/ris8030.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 29 Nov 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, shares, ‘secret, Christian, charity’, with, Little, Sisters, the, Poor</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV marks Nicaea anniversary, urges Christians to overcome divisions</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-marks-nicaea-anniversary-urges-christians-to-overcome-divisions</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-marks-nicaea-anniversary-urges-christians-to-overcome-divisions</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople at an ecumenical event marking the 1,700th anniversary of Nicene Creed, in Iznik, Turkey, on November 28th, 2025. / Screenshot: Vatican Media

Iznik, Turkey, Nov 28, 2025 / 08:05 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV commemorated the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea on Friday in the Turkish city historically known as the birthplace of the Nicene Creed, calling Christians to overcome “the scandal of divisions” and to renew their commitment to unity.The pope spoke during an ecumenical prayer service held at the archaeological site of the ancient Basilica of Saint Neophytos on the shore of Lake Iznik, southeast of Istanbul. The gathering marked one of the most symbolic moments of his apostolic visit to Turkey, which has focused heavily on ecumenical and interreligious outreach.“We are all invited to overcome the scandal of divisions,” he said, urging Christians to nurture “the desire for unity for which the Lord Jesus prayed and gave his life.”Pope Leo and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, considered first among equals among Eastern Orthodox bishops,  were welcomed by two senior Orthodox bishops before proceeding to a platform beside the submerged ruins of the basilica. The two leaders stood before icons of Christ and of the council and lit candles together.Iznik, formerly Nicaea, is located about 130 kilometers southeast of Istanbul. The remains of an early Christian basilica dedicated to Saint Neophytos, a young martyr killed in 303 during the persecutions of Diocletian, were first identified in 2014 after aerial photographs revealed the outline of a submerged church. The basilica collapsed during an earthquake in 740, and its ruins are now visible from the lakeshore.In his homily, Leo said the anniversary was “a precious opportunity to ask ourselves who Jesus Christ is in the lives of men and women today, and who he is for each one of us personally.” He cautioned against reducing Christ to “a kind of charismatic leader or superman,” recalling Arius’ denial of Christ’s divinity and the council’s defense of the full humanity and full divinity of Jesus.“If God did not become man, how can mortal creatures participate in his immortal life?” the pope asked, emphasizing what was at stake in the fourth-century debate.Leo said the Nicene confession of faith remains a foundation for unity among Christians worldwide. Quoting the creed, he underlined the proclamation of Christ as “consubstantial with the Father,” describing it as “a profound bond already uniting all Christians.” Citing St. Augustine, he added: “Although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one.”A reconciled Christianity, he continued, can “bear credible witness to the Gospel” and offer “a proclamation of hope for all.”The pope also extended his appeal for fraternity beyond the Christian world, insisting that authentic recognition of God as Father requires honoring all people as brothers and sisters. He warned against using religion “to justify war, violence, or any form of fundamentalism or fanaticism,” and called instead for “fraternal encounter, dialogue, and cooperation.”Pope Leo’s schedule in Turkey includes a series of ecumenical events, among them the signing of a joint declaration with Patriarch Bartholomew I on Nov. 29 at the Patriarchal Palace. His trip also carries an interreligious dimension. Earlier on Friday he met the Chief Rabbi of Turkey, discussing the visit as a sign of peace and support for all religious communities. On Saturday, Nov. 29, he will visit the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/screenshot-2025-11-28-at-13.57.26.png" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 29 Nov 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, marks, Nicaea, anniversary, urges, Christians, overcome, divisions</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Council of Nicaea: 1,700 years of Christian unity amid division</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/council-of-nicaea-1700-years-of-christian-unity-amid-division</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/council-of-nicaea-1700-years-of-christian-unity-amid-division</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The Council of Nicaea in 325 as depicted in a fresco in Salone Sistino at the Vatican. / Credit: Giovanni Guerra (1544-1618), Cesare Nebbia (1534-1614) e aiuti, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 28, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
In the summer of A.D. 325, more than 300 bishops gathered in Nicaea — located in modern-day northern Turkey — to promulgate a common Christian creed, settle Christological disputes that arose from the Arian heresy, and promote unity in the Church.The first ecumenical council, known as the Council of Nicaea, is still accepted as authoritative by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and many Protestant denominations. The common beliefs still offer a strong element of unity in an otherwise fractured Christianity 1,700 years later.During the council, the bishops established the initial formulation of the Nicene Creed, which is the profession of faith still recited at the Catholic Mass, Orthodox liturgies, and some Protestant services. It also rejected heretical Arian claims that Christ was a created being who lacked an eternal divine nature and rather confirmed that the Son is eternally begotten of the Father.The council was called by Emperor Constantine — a convert to Christianity — less than 15 years after the empire halted the persecution of Christians and granted them the freedom to worship. It came just 20 years after the reign of Emperor Diocletian, who brutally persecuted Christians for their rejection of paganism.“That council represents a fundamental stage in the development of the creed shared by all the Churches and ecclesial communities,” Pope Leo XIV said two weeks ago, acknowledging the 1,700th anniversary.“While we are on the path towards the reestablishment of full communion among all Christians, we recognize that this unity can only be unity in faith,” the pontiff said.The Arian heresyThe primary purpose of the council was to settle a major question about Christ’s divine nature and address Arianism, which was a heresy promoted by the priest Arius asserting that Jesus Christ was a created being and not eternal.“Arius began to preach something that was scandalous to many Christian believers and [which] seemed incompatible to the Christian faith as witnessed to in Scripture and transmitted through the tradition of the Church,” Dominican Father Dominic Legge, the director of the Thomistic Institute and professor of theology, told CNA.Arius wrote in “Thalia” that he believed the Father “made the Son” and “produced him as a son for himself by begetting him.” He wrote that “the Son was not always [in existence], for he was not [in existence] before his generation.” He asserted that Christ was not eternal but “came into existence by the Father’s will.” Arius contested that Christ “is not true God” but was rather “made God by participation.”Legge said that Arius understood that “there’s an infinite gap between God and creatures,” but where he was mistaken was that “he thought that the Son was on the ‘creature’ side of that gap” and “not equal in divinity to God.”“Therefore, he considered him to be the highest creature,” Legge added. “The first creature, but nonetheless a creature.”Legge said that at Nicaea there was “a consensus of bishops with very different approaches to the mystery of God and they could see that Arius had to be wrong and so they condemned him and they affirmed that the Son is ‘God from God, true God from true God.’”The language adopted at Nicaea expressly contradicted Arius, affirming Christ is “true God from true God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father.” It condemned Arius’ view as heresy. The vote was nearly unanimous with more than 300 bishops voting in favor of this text and only two siding with Arius.St. Athanasius, one of the most outspoken opponents of Arianism at the council and in its aftermath, wrote in his First Discourse Against the Arians in the mid-fourth century that “the Scriptures declare the Son’s eternity.”Athanasius notes, for example, the Gospel of St. John states that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” He also cites Chapter 8 of the same Gospel in which Christ declares “before Abraham was, I am,” invoking the divine name used by God to indicate his eternity when appearing to Moses as the burning bush.“The Lord himself says, ‘I am the Truth,’ not ‘I became the Truth,’ but always, ‘I am — I am the Shepherd — I am the Light‘ — and again, ‘Call me not, Lord and Master? And you call me well, for so I am,‘” Athanasius wrote. “Who, hearing such language from God, and the Wisdom, and Word of the Father, speaking of himself, will any longer hesitate about the truth, and not immediately believe that in the phrase ‘I am,‘ is signified that the Son is eternal and without beginning?”Legge noted that Athanasius also warned that Arius’ position “threatened the central truth of Christianity that God became man for our salvation.”Unifying the Church in the fourth centuryPrior to the Council of Nicaea, bishops in the Church held many synods and councils to settle disputes that arose within Christianity.This includes the Council of Jerusalem, which was an apostolic council detailed in Acts 15, and many local councils that did not represent the entire Church. Regional councils “have a kind of binding authority — but they’re not global,” according to Thomas Clemmons, a professor of Church history at The Catholic University of America.When the Roman Empire halted its Christian persecution and Emperor Constantine converted to the faith, this allowed “the opportunity to have a more broad, ecumenical council,” Clemmons told CNA. Constantine embraced Christianity more than a decade before the council, though he was not actually baptized until moments before his death in A.D. 337.Constantine saw a need for “a certain sense of unity,” he said, at a time with theological disputes, debates about the date of Easter, conflicts about episcopal jurisdictions, and canon law questions.“His role was to unify and to have [those] other issues worked out,” Clemmons said.The pursuit of unity helped produce the Nicene Creed, which Clemmons said “helps to clarify what more familiar scriptural language doesn’t.”Neither the council nor the creed was universally adopted immediately. Clemmons noted that it was more quickly adopted in the East but took longer in the West. There were several attempts to overturn the council, but Clemmons said “it’s later tradition that will affirm it.”“I don’t know if the significance of it was understood [at the time],” he said.The dispute between Arians and defenders of Nicaea were tense for the next half century, with some emperors backing the creed and others backing Arianism. Ultimately, Clemmons said, the creed “convinces people over many decades but without the imperial enforcement you would expect.”It was not until 380 when Emperor Theodosius declared that Nicene Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire. One year later, at the First Council of Constantinople, the Church reaffirmed the Council of Nicaea and updated the Nicene Creed by adding text about the Holy Spirit and the Church.Common misconceptionsThere are some prominent misconceptions about the Council of Nicaea that are prevalent in modern society.Clemmons said the assertion that the Council of Nicaea established the biblical canon “is probably the most obvious” misconception. This subject was not debated at Nicaea and the council did not promulgate any teachings on this matter.Another misconception, he noted, is the notion that the council established the Church and the papacy. Episcopal offices, including that of the pope (the bishop of Rome), were already in place and operating long before Nicaea, although the council did resolve some jurisdictional disputes.Other misconceptions, according to Clemmons, is an asserted “novelty” of the process and the teachings. He noted that bishops often gathered in local councils and that the teachings defined at Nicaea were simply “the confirmation of the faith of the early Church.”This article was first published on June 5, 2025, and has been updated. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 29 Nov 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Council, Nicaea:, 1, 700, years, Christian, unity, amid, division</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV to focus on Christian unity, relations with Islam in Turkey and Lebanon</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-focus-on-christian-unity-relations-with-islam-in-turkey-and-lebanon</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-focus-on-christian-unity-relations-with-islam-in-turkey-and-lebanon</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV blesses rosaries for EWTN News&#039; Elias Turk aboard the papal plane to Ankara, Turkey, on Nov. 27, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy Elias Turk of EWTN News.

Vatican City, Nov 27, 2025 / 04:57 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV arrived in Turkey Thursday on his first international apostolic journey. The wide-ranging trip — spanning historic ecumenical encounters, deeply symbolic gestures of prayer, and pastoral visits to Christian communities under pressure — is expected to highlight the pope’s priorities of unity, peace, and encouragement across a region marked by both ancient faith and present suffering.During his flight from Rome, the pope told reporters that he hoped his trip would be an occasion to &quot;proclaim how important peace is throughout the world, and to invite all people to come together, to search for greater unity, greater harmony, and to look for the ways that all men and women can truly be brothers and sisters.&quot;He also wished American reporters in particular a Happy Thanksgiving. The papal plane arrived in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, around 12:30 pm local time. Upon arrival, the pope was scheduled to visit the Atatürk Mausoleum, built in honor of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic. He will then travel to the Presidential Palace for a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and an address to authorities, civil society representatives, and the diplomatic corps. The pope will not remain overnight in Ankara but will continue by air to Istanbul the same day.Ecumenically focused visitThe visit to Turkey centers on the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea. The pope will participate in an ecumenical prayer service in Iznik, the site of the historic council that articulated Christian teaching on the nature of Christ and affirmed the Nicene Creed. The council also issued disciplinary norms and established a common date for Easter.During his stay, the pope will take part in several ceremonies and is expected to sign a joint declaration with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. He will also visit Istanbul’s Sultan Ahmed Mosque.A notable omission from the pope’s itinerary is Hagia Sophia, the Byzantine church-turned-mosque that the Turkish government designated a museum open to all faiths in the 20th century. Pope Francis visited the monument in 2014, on the last papal visit to Turkey, but said he was “deeply pained” when the government turned it back into a mosque six years later. Patriarch Bartholomew also protested the change.Pope Leo’s visit carries particular significance for Turkey’s small Christian community, which looks to the pope for support and encouragement. The motto for the visit is “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” The Catholic community has witnessed several attacks in past decades, such as the killing of Father Andrea Santoro in Trabzon in 2006 and the assassination of the Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia, Bishop Luigi Padovese, in 2010. In 2024, two people attacked Santa Maria Church in Istanbul’s Sariyer district during Holy Mass, leading to the death of one person attending the service. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the last attack.Christians have also been facing, like the rest of the population, the economic consequences of severe inflation in the Turkish lira, the national currency, in recent years. They have likewise endured the devastating effects of the earthquake that shook southern Turkey in February 2023.A message of peace for LebanonAfter Turkey, the pope will travel to Lebanon. Speaking to journalists last month, he said he would have there “the opportunity to proclaim once again the message of peace in the Middle East, in a country that has suffered so much.”Leo’s itinerary in Lebanon highlights both the nation’s deep Christian roots and its recent trauma. The pope will visit the tomb of St. Charbel, a revered Maronite saint, in Annaya, meet with young people outside the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke, and spend time in silent prayer at the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, which killed more than 236 people and injured over 7,000, according to Human Rights Watch.Lebanon’s Christian community has endured years of hardship — from the 2019 economic collapse to the 2020 blast, as well as ongoing clashes between Israel and Hezbollah since October 2023. Though weakened by emigration and crisis, Christians remain central to the nation’s political and social life: the president, army commander, and central bank governor must all be Maronite Catholics, and Parliament is evenly divided between Christians and Muslims.Many Lebanese Christians have left the country in search of stability and economic opportunity. For those who remain, the pope’s presence is widely seen as a sign of hope, particularly during the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/elias-aboard-papal-plane.jpeg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 28 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, focus, Christian, unity, relations, with, Islam, Turkey, and, Lebanon</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo’s prayer intention for December: for Christians in areas of war or conflict</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leos-prayer-intention-for-december-for-christians-in-areas-of-war-or-conflict</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leos-prayer-intention-for-december-for-christians-in-areas-of-war-or-conflict</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV speaks from the Vatican, Nov. 21, 2025 / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 27, 2025 / 06:28 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for December is for Christians living amidst war or conflict, especially in the Middle East:“Let us pray that Christians living in areas of war or conflict, especially in the Middle East, might be seeds of peace, reconciliation, and hope,” the Holy Father said in a video released Nov. 25 by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.Father Cristóbal Fones, international director of the Pope&#039;s Worldwide Prayer Network, emphasized that Leo XIV&#039;s request &quot;is a gesture of closeness and hope: a way of saying to the Christians of Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and so many other countries that they are not forgotten, that the universal Church walks with them; but also to remind us all that faith grows even in the midst of trials, and that seeds of reconciliation and peace can be born from wounded communities.&quot;Below is the prayer that Pope Leo XIV encourages us to pray this December:God of peace,who through the blood of Your Sonhas reconciled the world to Yourself,today we pray for Christiansliving amidst wars and violence. Even surrounded by pain, may theynever cease to feel the gentle kindness of your presenceand the prayers of their brothers and sisters in faith.For only through You, and strengthened by fraternal bonds,can they become the seeds of reconciliation,builders of hope in ways both small and great,capable of forgiving and moving forward,of bridging divides,and of seeking justice with mercy.Lord Jesus, who called blessedthose who work for peace,make us Your instruments of peaceeven where harmony seems impossible.Holy Spirit,source of hope in the darkest times,sustain the faith of those who suffer and strengthen their hope.Do not let us fall into indifference,and make us builders of unity, like Jesus.Amen.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/sim27892.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 28 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo’s, prayer, intention, for, December:, for, Christians, areas, war, conflict</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo denounces ‘might is right’ in address to Turkish authorities</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-denounces-might-is-right-in-address-to-turkish-authorities</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-denounces-might-is-right-in-address-to-turkish-authorities</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara, Turkey, on November 27, 2025. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 27, 2025 / 08:25 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV opened his first international trip on Thursday with a sweeping call for unity, renewed dialogue, and a rejection of the global drift toward division and violence.Speaking in Turkey’s capital of Ankara on Nov. 27 during his formal welcome by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the pope said he hoped Turkey could be “a source of stability and rapprochement between peoples” and serve the cause of a “just and lasting peace.” He described the country as “inextricably linked to the origins of Christianity” and a land that invites a fraternity “that recognizes and appreciates differences.”Launching a six-day trip that will also take him to Lebanon, the pope said the region’s peoples can help remind the world that peace, human dignity, and fraternity “are the only sure foundations for our common future.”The massive Presidential Palace where he spoke has become a symbol of Turkey’s contemporary political authority since Erdoğan inaugurated it in 2014. Bombed during the failed 2016 coup attempt, it remains the seat from which Erdoğan has shaped the country’s domestic and international posture. Before his meeting with Erdoğan, the pope paid his respects at the tomb of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic.In his remarks welcoming Leo, Erdoğan praised the cultural openness and interreligious harmony of Turkish society and his country&#039;s  commitment to peace and humanitarian assistance, citing its welcome to refugees from Syria&#039;s long civil war.In his speech, the pope rejected the mentality of “might is right,” urging a renewed “culture of encounter” to counter what he described as a growing “globalization of indifference.” Justice and mercy, he said, must guide political and social life. He also warned that artificial intelligence risks entrenching existing inequalities because it “simply reproduces our own preferences,” and appealed for cooperation to “repair the damage already done to the unity of our human family.”Recalling his predecessor’s description of today’s conflicts as “a third world war fought piecemeal,” Pope Leo cautioned: “We must not give in to this! The future of humanity is at stake.” He said the Vatican seeks to work with all nations committed to the integral development of each person.Calling Turkey a “crossroads of sensibilities,” the pope emphasized that the country’s social vitality depends on plurality. “Uniformity would be an impoverishment,” he said, warning that communities today risk becoming “polarized and torn by extreme positions.” Reflecting on the journey’s emblem — a bridge spanning the Dardanelles — he said it symbolizes not only a link between Asia and Europe but also a deeper call to unity: “It connects Turkey to itself.”Pope Leo recalled Saint John XXIII, remembered locally as the “Turkish Pope” because he spent nearly a decade as a Vatican diplomat in Turkey before becoming pontiff and worked to ensure Catholics were not marginalized in the early decades of the republic. Echoing the saint’s teaching, Leo dismissed isolationism as “a false logic.” He also highlighted the contributions of women to society and international life and underscored the importance of the family, where “without the ‘other’ there is no ‘I’.”Turning to the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the primary impetus for his visit, which will include ecumenical meetings and worship with Eastern Orthodox leaders, the pope said the historic 4th-century gathering still speaks of encounter and sustained dialogue.Turkey has played roles in several regional conflicts in recent years, including involvement in the Syrian war and support for Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia. At the same time, Ankara has taken part in diplomatic efforts, including mediating between Russia and Ukraine and influencing ceasefire discussions involving Hamas.Pope Leo was scheduled to continue on by air to Istanbul following the speech, and had no further public events planned for Thursday. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 28 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, denounces, ‘might, right’, address, Turkish, authorities</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pies and a baseball bat: The gifts Pope Leo XIV received on the papal flight to Turkey </title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pies-and-a-baseball-bat-the-gifts-pope-leo-xiv-received-on-the-papal-flight-to-turkey</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pies-and-a-baseball-bat-the-gifts-pope-leo-xiv-received-on-the-papal-flight-to-turkey</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV receives a Thanksgiving pie on board the papal flight to Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025 / Credit: Courtesy of Claudio Lavanga

Rome Newsroom, Nov 27, 2025 / 09:25 am (CNA).
Aboard the papal plane on Thanksgiving Day, Pope Leo XIV kicked off his first international trip — a visit to Turkey — with distinctly American gifts: a baseball bat and pumpkin pie. “To the Americans here, Happy Thanksgiving!” Leo said as he greeted about 80 journalists aboard the chartered ITA Airways flight to Ankara on Thursday morning. “It’s a wonderful day to celebrate.” Two American journalists traveling with the pope gave him pumpkin pies. “It’s not Thanksgiving if there’s not enough to share,” Crux correspondent Elise Ann Allen told the pope as she handed him the second pie. “I’ll definitely share some,” Leo responded. The pope had plenty to share as NBC News correspondent Claudio Lavanga also gave him a pecan pie.  Leo, a longtime Chicago White Sox fan, also received a baseball bat once owned by Nellie Fox, the White Sox legend who played for the team from 1950 to 1963, when Leo, then Robert Prevost, was a small child. Pope Leo XIV receives a baseball bat once owned by White Sox player Nellie Fox on board the papal flight to Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. Credit: Photo courtesy of Elisabetta Piqué / La NaciónSmiling, the pope joked, “How did it get through security?” As a collective gift from the Vatican press corps, the pope received a Byzantine-style icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe made by Spanish iconographer Débora Martínez, a missionary in Cyprus. Pope Leo XIV receives a Byzantine-style icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe made by Spanish iconographer Débora Martínez, a missionary in Cyprus, on board the papal flight to Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaThe icon, presented by Mexican journalist Valentina Alazraki, who has logged more than 170 papal trips, was crafted using classical techniques of Eastern iconography. It depicts the Virgin of Guadalupe in Byzantine style, symbolically linking Latin America’s Marian tradition with the iconography of the Christian East. At the start of the nearly three-hour flight, the pope continued a practice of his predecessor Pope Francis of walking down the aisle to greet each journalist. Pope Leo XIV wishes Americans &#039;Happy Thanksgiving&#039; as he greets journalists traveling with him aboard the papal plane bound for Ankara at the start of his Apostolic Journey to Türkiye.https://t.co/08vdNe3GQK pic.twitter.com/M27sVIW2jg— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) November 27, 2025 Among them was Elias Turk, a journalist from Lebanon who is the Vatican editor for ACI MENA and EWTN News. Turk briefly shared a personal story with the pope, recounting how he lived through part of the 2024 escalation between Hezbollah and Israel and was trapped in Lebanon during the fighting. “I told him that I lived … a traumatizing experience with my nephews during the war. We had to run and hide inside a house after being in a garden. We heard fighter jets passing in the skies and then powerful explosions,” he explained. The pope listened closely. Turk, who is godfather to his nephews, asked the pope to bless two rosaries for the children, a three-year-old and a one-and-a-half-year-old, so they could pray for peace. He also carried a third rosary for a two-year-old Polish girl who has been repeatedly hospitalized. In a light moment with another journalist, Pope Leo said he had already completed his daily Wordle game before takeoff, adding that he solved Thursday’s puzzle in three tries. According to the pope’s brother, Leo plays Wordle every day and his favorite Thanksgiving dish is stuffing. During his first apostolic trip, taking place Nov. 27–Dec. 2, Leo will visit Turkey and Lebanon.  ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 28 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pies, and, baseball, bat:, The, gifts, Pope, Leo, XIV, received, the, papal, flight, Turkey </media:keywords>
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<title>Vatican&amp;amp;#039;s 2025 Christmas tree installed in St. Peter&amp;amp;#039;s Square</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vaticans-2025-christmas-tree-installed-in-st-peters-square</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vaticans-2025-christmas-tree-installed-in-st-peters-square</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Workers erect the Vatican&#039;s 2025 Christmas tree in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025 / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 27, 2025 / 14:30 pm (CNA).
A towering Christmas tree now stands in the center of St. Peter’s Square, after the spruce arrived at the Vatican on Thursday morning. The 88-foot-tall spruce tree from Italy’s Bolzano province was erected next to the ancient Egyptian obelisk which stands in the middle of the 17th century Baroque square designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.This year, the northern Italian municipalities of Lagundo and Ultimo gifted the Christmas tree to the Vatican. The tree was harvested in the alpine valley of Ultimo.In an Oct. 20 interview published on the Vatican State website, Bishop Ivo Muser of the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone said the tree reaffirms the local church’s “spiritual and emotional bond” with the pope. “It is a way of saying: ‘We are with you, Pope Leo; we wish to pray with you and share the joy of Christmas with you,” he said.“The tree thus becomes an ‘ambassador’ of our territory, our culture, and our faith — a way of bringing a small piece of our local Church into the heart of the universal Church,” he added.The Vatican’s large-scale nativity display — donated by the Italian Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno — is currently under construction behind covered fencing in St. Peter’s Square.The highly-awaited 2025 nativity scene will honor St. Alphonus Maria de Liguori, whose remains lay in the southern Italian diocese. In Italy, St. Alponsus is famous for composing the famous Italian Christmas carol “Tu scendi dalle stelle” (“From starry skies descending”).Bishop Giuseppe Giudice of the Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno said the nativity project for the Vatican, which involved a “long period of preparation,” will also showcase local Neapolitan Christmas traditions.  “I am happy to say that everyone working on the project is from our wonderful region, and the Nativity scene will be rich in elements typical of our local Agro nocerino-sarnese area,” he said in an Oct. 24 interview published by Vatican City State.  The Vatican will hold a special ceremony on Dec. 7 at 6:30 pm local time to present  the Christmas tree and nativity scene to the public. The display will be open to the public until mid-January 2026. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 28 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican&amp;039s, 2025, Christmas, tree, installed, St., Peter&amp;039s, Square</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Jesus ‘is the king of our hearts,’ archbishop shares at NCYC closing Mass</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/jesus-is-the-king-of-our-hearts-archbishop-shares-at-ncyc-closing-mass</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/jesus-is-the-king-of-our-hearts-archbishop-shares-at-ncyc-closing-mass</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Christ the King has &quot;given us victory. We have to embrace that, internalize that and make a part of who we are. And that&#039;s the journey of our Christian life.&quot;
The post Jesus ‘is the king of our hearts,’ archbishop shares at NCYC closing Mass first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 25 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Jesus, ‘is, the, king, our, hearts, ’, archbishop, shares, NCYC, closing, Mass</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Bishops: Affordable housing, just wages, environmental safeguards reduce food insecurity</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/bishops-affordable-housing-just-wages-environmental-safeguards-reduce-food-insecurity</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/bishops-affordable-housing-just-wages-environmental-safeguards-reduce-food-insecurity</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ VANCOUVER, British Columbia (OSV News) — “Give us this day our daily bread.” With those words from the Lord’s Prayer, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is framing a new…
The post Bishops: Affordable housing, just wages, environmental safeguards reduce food insecurity first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Door-is-Open-22.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Bishops:, Affordable, housing, just, wages, environmental, safeguards, reduce, food, insecurity</media:keywords>
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<title>Chicago White Sox co&#45;owner says pope told him he’d ‘love to’ throw a season opening pitch in future</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/chicago-white-sox-co-owner-says-pope-told-him-hed-love-to-throw-a-season-opening-pitch-in-future</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/chicago-white-sox-co-owner-says-pope-told-him-hed-love-to-throw-a-season-opening-pitch-in-future</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Pope Leo&#039;s favorite sports team is the Chicago White Sox.
The post Chicago White Sox co-owner says pope told him he’d ‘love to’ throw a season opening pitch in future first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2025-06-14T212852Z_363892346_RC2I2FAMV6PC_RTRMADP_3_POPE-LEO-CHICAGO.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Chicago, White, Sox, co-owner, says, pope, told, him, he’d, ‘love, to’, throw, season, opening, pitch, future</media:keywords>
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<title>Celebrity chef ‘Lidia’ hasn’t forgotten what it’s like to be a refugee. Here’s how she’s giving back</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/celebrity-chef-lidia-hasnt-forgotten-what-its-like-to-be-a-refugee-heres-how-shes-giving-back</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/celebrity-chef-lidia-hasnt-forgotten-what-its-like-to-be-a-refugee-heres-how-shes-giving-back</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ (OSV News) — Celebrity Chef Lidia Bastianich knows what it’s like to be in a strange land, without a home. OSV News recently spoke with the Italian-American — who has become…
The post Celebrity chef ‘Lidia’ hasn’t forgotten what it’s like to be a refugee. Here’s how she’s giving back first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Lidia-Bastianich-2-1.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Celebrity, chef, ‘Lidia’, hasn’t, forgotten, what, it’s, like, refugee., Here’s, how, she’s, giving, back</media:keywords>
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<title>German bishops face new division over ‘sex identity’ guidelines for schools</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/german-bishops-face-new-division-over-sex-identity-guidelines-for-schools</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/german-bishops-face-new-division-over-sex-identity-guidelines-for-schools</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ (OSV News) — Authors of new German church guidelines for sexual identity classes at Catholic schools have declined to defend their text, after several bishops said it violated Catholic teaching and…
The post German bishops face new division over ‘sex identity’ guidelines for schools first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.osvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/210316-093-000251.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>German, bishops, face, new, division, over, ‘sex, identity’, guidelines, for, schools</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: Hope does not mean having all the answers but trusting in God</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-hope-does-not-mean-having-all-the-answers-but-trusting-in-god</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-hope-does-not-mean-having-all-the-answers-but-trusting-in-god</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims from Latvia on Nov. 24, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 24, 2025 / 15:38 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV stated that hope “does not mean having all the answers, but rather it calls us to put our trust in God.”The pontiff made his remarks during an audience granted Nov. 24 at the Vatican to faithful from Latvia, who traveled to the Eternal City to commemorate the centenary of the first official Latvian pilgrimage to Rome.After greeting Prime Minister Evika Siliņa, with whom he had met privately earlier, the Holy Father thanked the pilgrims for keeping the tradition alive and following in the footsteps “of your forebears in the faith.”He then recalled that Rome “has always been a home for all Christians, since it is here that the great apostles Peter and Paul gave the supreme witness to the Gospel by becoming martyrs for the faith.”The Holy Father also recalled Pope Francis’ visit to the country in 2018, on the occasion of the centenary of the nation’s independence, where he spoke “of the difficulties your country experienced in the past.”“While the current conflict in your region may evoke memories of those turbulent times,” Leo said, “it is important for all of us to turn to God and to be strengthened by God’s grace when faced with such tribulation.”Recalling Francis’ words, Leo emphasized the “vital role the Christian faith played in your country’s history.” He expressed gratitude for the bond between Latvia and the Holy See, whose relations have grown closer in recent years.The Holy Father also affirmed that it is necessary to unite with hope “the virtue of faith in order to keep our eyes on the present and see the many ways that God is blessing us here and now.”In this regard, he explained that a pilgrimage “has an important role in our life of faith for it gives us the time and space to encounter God more deeply.”“It takes us away from the routine and noise of everyday life,” he added, “and offers the space and silence to hear God’s voice more clearly.”Finally, he encouraged them to share what they experienced in Rome when they return home, because, he affirmed, “a pilgrimage does not end but its seeds should take root in your daily discipleship and bear fruit in your lives.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 25 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, Hope, does, not, mean, having, all, the, answers, but, trusting, God</media:keywords>
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<title>New book by Pope Leo XIV: Human fraternity is ‘the antidote against all extremism’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/new-book-by-pope-leo-xiv-human-fraternity-is-the-antidote-against-all-extremism</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/new-book-by-pope-leo-xiv-human-fraternity-is-the-antidote-against-all-extremism</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The Holy Father in a new Italian-language book states that faith “unites us beyond our personalities, our cultural and geographical origins.” / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Nov 22, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
The Vatican Publishing House published Nov. 20 a new Italian-language book by Pope Leo XIV titled “The Power of the Gospel: The Christian Faith in 10 Words,” a compilation of the pontiff’s speeches and addresses that also includes a previously unpublished text in which he invites readers to dream of a “reconciled, peaceful, and harmonious humanity.”The Holy Father affirms that faith “unites us beyond our personalities, our cultural and geographical origins, our language, and our histories” and presents the Church as “a plurality that strives for unity and that does not fall into the disorder of confusion.”In today’s world, “marked by so many wars,” the pope asks Christians “to be witnesses of this harmony, this fraternity, this closeness.”“We must look our world squarely in the face: We cannot continue to tolerate structural injustices by which those who have the most receive even more, and those who have the least become increasingly impoverished,” the pontiff says.Similarly, he warns of the risk that hatred and violence will cause “misery to spread among peoples.” “Peace is not the fruit of oppression or violence; it is not related to hatred or revenge,” he says, noting that the saints have taught that “only goodness disarms perfidy and that nonviolence can annihilate oppression.”“Precisely the desire for communion, the recognition of ourselves as brothers and sisters, is an antidote against all extremism,” he says.‘We are not condemned to live in perpetual conflict’For the pope, this model of fraternity is replicable in other areas. He thus affirms that the Church, “a home for diverse peoples, can become a sign that we are not condemned to live in perpetual conflict” and can “embody the dream of a reconciled, peaceful, and harmonious humanity.”“It is a dream that has a foundation: Jesus, his prayer to the Father for the unity of his followers. And if Jesus prayed to the Father, all the more reason we should ask him to grant us the gift of a peaceful world,” the pope writes.In this way, he emphasizes the centrality of Christ and says that faith has nothing to do with “the titanic effort to reach a supernatural God” but rather with the discovery that “the face of God is not far from our hearts.”Leo XIV recalls that Christ’s entire existence was marked by the “will” to be a bridge.“The Church is this communion of Christ that continues in history. And it is a community that, in unity, lives diversity,” he explains after using the metaphorical image of a garden that St. Augustine used to illustrate the beauty of a community of believers.In the text, the pope includes the words of the prior of the monastery of Tibhirine in Algeria, Christian de Chergé, who was kidnapped by Islamic terrorists in March 1996 and executed two months later. He was beatified along with 18 other men and women religious who were martyred.“Speaking of [the terrorist] who had violently broken into the monastery, he wrote: ‘Do I have the right to ask [God]: Disarm him, if I don’t first ask; disarm me and disarm us, as a community? This is my daily prayer,’” the pope recalls, noting that in that same land of North Africa, some 1,600 years earlier, St. Augustine remarked: “Let us live well and the times will be good. We are the times.”“We can have an impact on our time ourselves, with our witness, with our prayer to the Holy Spirit that he would make us men and women with a peace that is contagious, welcoming the grace of Christ and spreading in the world the fragrance of his charity and mercy,” the pontiff emphasizes in the new book.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>New, book, Pope, Leo, XIV:, Human, fraternity, ‘the, antidote, against, all, extremism’</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV visits Augustinian nuns he has known for years</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-visits-augustinian-nuns-he-has-known-for-years</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-visits-augustinian-nuns-he-has-known-for-years</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets with the Augustinian nuns of Montefalco on Nov. 20, 2025, in Italy. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 22, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).
“A moment of great familiarity” is how Abbess Maria Cristina Daguati of the Augustinian convent in Montefalco, Italy, described Pope Leo XIV’s visit on Thursday.After visiting the tomb of St. Francis in Assisi and meeting with the Italian bishops on Nov. 20, the pope traveled to the Italian city of Montefalco to celebrate Mass at the monastery of the Augustinian nuns, erected in the 13th century and one of the oldest and most significant spiritual centers in the Umbria region.After meeting with the Italian bishops in Assisi, Pope Leo XIV traveled to the Augustinian monastery of St. Clare of Montefalco, where he wished to spend some time with the cloistered nuns. The Holy Father spoke informally with the community, celebrated Mass, and shared lunch with the nuns.The pope arrived by helicopter in the city, known for its medieval architecture, and landed in the sports field, where he was greeted by Mayor Alfredo Gentili and Deputy Mayor Daniele Morici.At the gates of the monastery — where 13 nuns currently live — residents of this small region of Perugia gathered, awaiting his arrival with great anticipation.“We have known him for years; it was a moment of familiarity. He has a very peaceful personality,” Mother Maria Cristina explained in a statement to Vatican News.Leo XIV had already been to the convent when he served as superior of the Order of St. Augustine, and on Nov. 20, he returned as pope, becoming the first pontiff to do so.The pope spoke with the Augustinian nuns on Nov. 20, 2025, then celebrated Mass and shared lunch with them. Credit: Vatican MediaThis convent is intrinsically linked to the figure of St. Clare of Montefalco (1268–1308), also known as St. Clare of the Cross, an Augustinian mystic whose contemplative life left a profound mark on the spiritual tradition of the Catholic Church.“It’s a great friendship, because obviously we’ve known him for many years, so I would say that everything unfolded in an atmosphere of great familiarity,” the abbess said.The pope spoke with the Augustinian nuns, then celebrated Mass and shared lunch with them. For the nuns, the day was characterized by “great simplicity” spent with “a disarmed and disarming man” with a personality that sets you at ease. “Pope Leo XIV brings with him a great atmosphere of prayer. So it wasn’t that he inconvenienced us too much; it was truly beautiful,” Daguati added. Before lunch, the pope celebrated Mass in the convent church, built in the 17th century and designed by the Peruvian architect Valentino Martelli.Before returning to the Vatican, the nuns presented the pope with a 2026 calendar titled “Toward an Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” featuring texts from his speeches and homilies as well as from St. Augustine.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, visits, Augustinian, nuns, has, known, for, years</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV warns against ‘false mercy’ in marriage annulment proceedings</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-warns-against-false-mercy-in-marriage-annulment-proceedings</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-warns-against-false-mercy-in-marriage-annulment-proceedings</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV holds an audience with the Roman Rota on Nov. 21, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 22, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
In a firm call to avoid “false mercy” in marriage annulment proceedings, Pope Leo XIV reminded that compassion cannot disregard the truth.During a Friday audience with participants in the legal-pastoral training course of the Roman Rota, the Holy See’s court of appeals, the Holy Father read a lengthy speech in which he recalled the importance of the reform of marriage annulment processes initiated by Pope Francis 10 years ago.The pontiff emphasized that theology, law, and pastoral care must be understood in a harmonious way, not as separate or opposing areas, and pointed out that annulment proceedings are not merely technical procedures to obtain the “free status of persons” but rather an ecclesial service based on the search for truth and on family pastoral care.Judicial processes at the service of truthIn this context, Pope Leo stressed that ecclesial judicial processes must be “at the service of the truth” and also reiterated that “the mystery of the conjugal covenant” must be kept in mind.“A fundamental aspect of pastoral service operates in judicial authority: the diaconia [ministry] of truth. Every faithful person, every family, every community needs truth about their ecclesial situation in order to walk well the path of faith and charity. The truth about personal and community rights is situated in this context: the juridical truth declared in ecclesiastical processes is an aspect of existential truth within the Church,” he stated.Consequently, the Holy Father pointed out that “the sacred authority is participation in the authority of Christ, and its service to truth is a way of knowing and embracing the ultimate truth, which is Christ himself.”A manifestation of justice and mercyHe then recalled that in God’s judgment on salvation, “his forgiveness of the repentant sinner is always at work, but human judgment on the nullity of marriage cannot however be manipulated by false mercy.”“Any activity contrary to the service of the process of truth must certainly be deemed unjust. However, it is precisely in the proper exercise of judicial authority that true mercy must be practiced,” he emphasized.In this regard, Pope Leo XIV insisted that the process of matrimonial nullity can be seen as “a contribution by legal practitioners to satisfy the need for justice that is so deeply rooted in the conscience of the faithful, and thus to accomplish a just work motivated by true mercy.”“The aim of the reform,” he added, “which is to make the process more accessible and expeditious, but never at the expense of truth, thus appears as a manifestation of justice and mercy.”The pontiff also emphasized the urgency of ensuring realism in annulment cases and appealed to the responsibility of the judges of the Roman Rota. He thus encouraged them to view the institution of the judicial process “as an instrument of justice” in which there is “an impartial judge” and the aim is to seek “a great benefit for all concerned and for the Church herself.”He stressed the importance of making “efforts to promote reconciliation between spouses are very important, including, where possible, through the validation of the marriage.”“Behind the procedural technicalities, with the faithful application of the current legislation, the ecclesiological presuppositions of the matrimonial process are therefore at stake: the search for truth and the ‘salus animarum’ itself [the salvation of souls],” he noted.Synergy between justice and pastoral carePope Leo recalled in this regard that, in recent years, there has been “a growing awareness of the inclusion of the Church’s judicial activity in the field of marriage within the overall pastoral care of the family.”“This pastoral care,” he pointed out, “cannot ignore or underestimate the work of ecclesiastical tribunals, and the latter must not forget that their specific contribution to justice is a piece in the task of promoting the good of families, with particular reference to those in difficulty.”Thus, he emphasized that “the synergy between pastoral attention to critical situations and the judicial sphere has found significant expression in the implementation of preliminary investigations aimed at ascertaining the existence of grounds for initiating a case of nullity.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, warns, against, ‘false, mercy’, marriage, annulment, proceedings</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>New EWTN docuseries commemorates 100th anniversary of Christ the King</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/new-ewtn-docuseries-commemorates-100th-anniversary-of-christ-the-king</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/new-ewtn-docuseries-commemorates-100th-anniversary-of-christ-the-king</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Aidan Gallagher, director of EWTN Ireland, speaks at the premiere of “The Kingship of Christ” at the Vatican on Nov. 18, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News

CNA Staff, Nov 23, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Marking the 100th anniversary of the feast of Christ the King, which this year falls on Nov. 23, EWTN has released “The Kingship of Christ,” a four-part docuseries that explores some of the core aspects of the kingship of Christ. The four 30-minute episodes look at the origin of kingship in the Old and New Testaments, what type of kingship is that of Christ’s, the growth in interest and devotion to kingship in the 1800s and 1900s, and how Christ’s kingship is being realized today. Currently airing on EWTN, the docuseries features Father Bernard McGuckian, SJ; Father Dominic Holtz, OP; and Father Mark Lewis, SJ.The four-part series was filmed across five principal locations in Rome that are highly relevant to Christ’s kingship, namely St. Peter’s Basilica, the Gesù (the main Jesuit Church in Rome), the Scala Santa, the Basilica of Santa Croce Gerusalemme, and the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Christ the King. Additionally, many other churches, basilicas, and monuments are featured across many countries throughout the world that were built in honor of the kingship of Christ.Aidan Gallagher, director of EWTN Ireland, who co-produced the series alongside EWTN Studios and EWTN Vatican, told CNA in an interview that he was approached by McGuckian 18 months ago to see if he was interested in making a series on the kingship of Christ to “commemorate and celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the establishment of feast of Christ the King in 1925, which had followed Pope Pius XI’s papal encyclical Quas Primas.”From there, they worked to create a comprehensive series looking into this devotion and its importance. “At the heart of this work lies the desire that the kingship of Christ is recognized, realized, and accepted by individuals, peoples, societies, countries across the entire world so that Christ can reign in all hearts and thus be truly king of the world, leading us to peace,” he said. He explained that extensive work “has been put into researching and evidencing the fact that Jesus Christ is King, where we highlighted relevant Scripture across thousands of years from the Old Testament and New Testament. So, for thousands of years it has been there, and we hope that people will take away this fact from watching the series.”The premiere of &quot;The Kingship of Christ&quot; at the Vatican on Nov. 18, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN NewsThe film premiered at the Filmoteca Vaticano, a screening room in the Vatican, on Nov. 18. Ambassadors to the Holy See, journalists, and dignitaries were present for the screening. Gallagher shared that it was “very well received” and “there was excitement about watching the full series online.”After watching the series, he said he hopes that “people will understand the type of kingship which Christ presents and that recognition and allegiance to his kingship can ultimately lead us to peace, holiness, and the betterment of human existence — both in this life and the next.”“The Kingship of Christ” can also be viewed on EWTN Ireland’s website. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>New, EWTN, docuseries, commemorates, 100th, anniversary, Christ, the, King</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV urges Christians to move beyond outdated theological disputes</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-christians-to-move-beyond-outdated-theological-disputes</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-christians-to-move-beyond-outdated-theological-disputes</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV receives Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople at the Vatican on May 30, 2025. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 23, 2025 / 12:29 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has called on Christians to move beyond “theological controversies” that no longer serve the cause of unity and to rediscover together the faith professed at the Council of Nicaea 1,700 years ago.In a new apostolic letter, In unitate fidei (“In the Unity of Faith”), released Nov. 23, the solemnity of Christ the King, the pope links the anniversary of the first ecumenical council to the Holy Year of 2025 and to his upcoming apostolic journey to Türkiye, where he will commemorate Nicaea’s 1700th anniversary and take part in an ecumenical event with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Nov. 30 before traveling on to Lebanon.“I would like this Letter to encourage the whole Church to renew her enthusiasm for the profession of faith,” the pope writes, stressing that the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed “for centuries… has been the common heritage of Christians, and it deserves to be professed and understood in ever new and relevant ways.”In a strong ecumenical appeal, Leo XIV says the Nicene Creed “can be the basis and reference point” for a renewed journey toward full communion among Christians. “It offers us a model of true unity in legitimate diversity. Unity in the Trinity, Trinity in Unity, because unity without multiplicity is tyranny, multiplicity without unity is fragmentation,” he writes.“We must therefore leave behind theological controversies that have lost their raison d’être in order to develop a common understanding and even more, a common prayer to the Holy Spirit, so that he may gather us all together in one faith and one love,” the pope continues.“The restoration of unity among Christians does not make us poorer; on the contrary, it enriches us,” he adds, calling the goal of full visible unity “a theological challenge and, even more so, a spiritual challenge, which requires repentance and conversion on the part of all.”‘This Creed gives us hope’Linking Nicaea to today’s crises, Leo XIV notes that the Holy Year is dedicated to the theme “Christ our hope” and that the Nicene Creed remains a source of confidence amid war, injustice, and suffering.“In this Holy Year, dedicated to the theme of Christ our hope, it is a providential coincidence that we are also celebrating the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea,” he writes. That council, he recalls, “proclaimed the profession of faith in Jesus Christ, Son of God. This is the heart of the Christian faith.”“In these difficult times we are living, amid so many concerns and fears, threats of war and violence, natural disasters, grave injustices and imbalances, and the hunger and misery suffered by millions of our brothers and sisters, this Creed gives us hope,” the pope says.Leo XIV presents the letter as an invitation for all Christians “to walk in harmony, guarding and transmitting the gift they have received with love and joy,” especially through the words of the Creed: “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God… for our salvation he came down from heaven.”Nicaea and the heart of the Christian faithThe pope devotes much of In unitate fidei to explaining the historical and theological context of the Council of Nicaea, which met in 325 to address the Arian controversy over the divinity of Christ.The dispute, he notes, “concerned the essence of the Christian faith,” namely the answer to Jesus’ question in the Gospel: “Who do you say that I am?” In response, the Nicene Fathers confessed that Jesus is the Son of God “in as much as he is of the substance (ousia) of the Father… ‘begotten, not made, consubstantial (homooúsios) with the Father.’”“The Fathers of Nicaea were firm in their resolution to remain faithful to biblical monotheism and the authenticity of the Incarnation,” Leo XIV writes. By adopting terms such as “substance” and “consubstantial,” which are not found in Scripture, the Council “did not… replace biblical statements with Greek philosophy,” he explains. Rather, it sought “to affirm biblical faith with clarity and to distinguish it from Arius’ error, which was deeply influenced by Hellenism.”“The Nicene Creed does not depict a distant, inaccessible and immovable God who rests in himself, but a God who is close to us and accompanies us on our journey in the world, even in the darkest places on earth,” the pope writes. “His immensity is revealed when he makes himself small, laying aside his infinite majesty to become our neighbor in the little ones and in the poor. This revolutionizes pagan and philosophical conceptions of God.”Leo XIV also highlights the Nicene emphasis on the full humanity of Christ, noting the clarification that the Word “became man.” Against teachings that suggested the Logos only assumed a body, he recalls that later councils made explicit that “in Christ, God assumed and redeemed the whole human being, body and soul.”Quoting St. Athanasius and the patristic tradition, the pope writes: “Divinization, then, is true humanization (becoming fully human). This is why human existence points beyond itself, seeks beyond itself, desires beyond itself, and is restless until it rests in God.” Only God, he adds, “in his infinity, can satisfy the infinite desire of the human heart, and for this reason the Son of God chose to become our brother and redeemer.”A call to examine conscienceBeyond doctrine, Leo XIV insists that the Creed must shape Christian life.“Both the liturgy and the Christian life are thus firmly anchored in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed: what we profess with our mouths must come from the heart so that we may bear witness to it with our lives,” he writes. “We must therefore ask ourselves: What about our interior reception of the Creed today? Do we experience that it also affects our current situation? Do we understand and live out what we say every Sunday? What do these words mean for our lives?”“In this sense, the Nicene Creed invites us to examine our conscience,” the pope continues. “What does God mean to me and how do I bear witness to my faith in him? Is the one and only God truly the Lord of my life, or do I have idols that I place before God and his commandments?”He ties this examination to care for creation and social justice, asking: “How do I treat creation, the work of his hands? Do I exploit and destroy it, or do I use it with reverence and gratitude, caring for and cultivating it as the common home of humanity?”Echoing the Second Vatican Council, Leo XIV notes that “for many people today, however, God and the question of God have almost no meaning in their lives,” and that Christians themselves bear some responsibility, since “they do not bear witness to the true faith; they hide the true face of God with lifestyles and actions that diverge from the Gospel.”Instead of proclaiming a merciful God, he laments, “a vengeful God has been presented who instils terror and punishes.”Following Christ and loving one anotherAt the center of the Creed, the pope writes, is the confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and God.“The profession of faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and God is the center of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. This is the heart of our Christian life,” he says. “For this reason, we commit to follow Jesus as our master, companion, brother and friend.”Following Christ, he continues, “is not a wide and comfortable path,” but “this often demanding or even painful path always leads to life and salvation.”“If God loves us with all his being, then we too must love one another,” Leo XIV writes. “We cannot love God whom we do not see without loving our brother and sister whom we do see. Love for God without love for neighbor is hypocrisy; radical love for our neighbor, especially love for our enemies, without love for God, requires a ‘heroism’ that would overwhelm and oppress us.”“In the face of disasters, wars and misery, we bear witness to God’s mercy to those who doubt him only when they experience his mercy through us,” he adds.Ecumenism as ‘sign of peace and instrument of reconciliation’Recalling the teaching of Vatican II and St. John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical Ut unum sint, the pope says that in a divided world “the one universal Christian community can be a sign of peace and an instrument of reconciliation, playing a decisive role in the global commitment to peace.”He notes that, while full visible unity with Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and communities born of the Reformation has not yet been achieved, ecumenical dialogue “founded on one baptism and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed” has already helped Christians recognize each other as brothers and sisters in Christ and rediscover “the one universal community of Christ’s disciples throughout the world.”“We share the same faith in the one and only God, the Father of all people; we confess together the one Lord and true Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the one Holy Spirit, who inspires us and impels us towards full unity and the common witness to the Gospel,” he writes. “Truly, what unites us is much greater than what divides us!”‘Come, divine Comforter’The letter concludes with a prayer to the Holy Spirit for the renewal of faith and the healing of divisions among Christians.“Holy Spirit of God, you guide believers along the path of history,” Leo XIV prays. “We thank you for inspiring the Symbols of Faith and for stirring in our hearts the joy of professing our salvation in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, consubstantial with the Father. Without him, we can do nothing.”“Come, divine Comforter, source of harmony, unite the hearts and minds of believers. Come and grant us to taste the beauty of communion,” he continues. “Come, Love of the Father and the Son, gather us into the one flock of Christ. Show us the ways to follow, so that with your wisdom, we become once again what we are in Christ: one, so that the world may believe.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, Christians, move, beyond, outdated, theological, disputes</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>US Catholics urged to build culture of life, pray for end to abortion during January vigil</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/us-catholics-urged-to-build-culture-of-life-pray-for-end-to-abortion-during-january-vigil</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/us-catholics-urged-to-build-culture-of-life-pray-for-end-to-abortion-during-january-vigil</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;Together, we must pray to change hearts and build a culture of life as we advocate for the most vulnerable,&quot; said Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, Ohio.
The post US Catholics urged to build culture of life, pray for end to abortion during January vigil first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Catholics, urged, build, culture, life, pray, for, end, abortion, during, January, vigil</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Youth leaders share their hearts and faith with teens at NCYC and grow in both</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/youth-leaders-share-their-hearts-and-faith-with-teens-at-ncyc-and-grow-in-both</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/youth-leaders-share-their-hearts-and-faith-with-teens-at-ncyc-and-grow-in-both</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Even kids &quot;who I think, ‘Man, they didn&#039;t get anything out of it,&#039; months later I hear stories of how it impacted them and totally changed their faith journey.&quot;
The post Youth leaders share their hearts and faith with teens at NCYC and grow in both first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Youth, leaders, share, their, hearts, and, faith, with, teens, NCYC, and, grow, both</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Bishops’ new racial justice leader discusses healing racism, his own experience and DEI</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/bishops-new-racial-justice-leader-discusses-healing-racism-his-own-experience-and-dei</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/bishops-new-racial-justice-leader-discusses-healing-racism-his-own-experience-and-dei</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ OSV News spoke with Bishop Daniel E. Garcia of Austin, Texas, moments after the announcement of his appointment as inaugural chairman of the Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation.
The post Bishops’ new racial justice leader discusses healing racism, his own experience and DEI first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Bishops’, new, racial, justice, leader, discusses, healing, racism, his, own, experience, and, DEI</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>NJ diocese studies possible cause for CUA alum who died protecting parents from assailant</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/nj-diocese-studies-possible-cause-for-cua-alum-who-died-protecting-parents-from-assailant</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/nj-diocese-studies-possible-cause-for-cua-alum-who-died-protecting-parents-from-assailant</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Pope Francis added the &quot;offering of one&#039;s life&quot; as a new, distinct path to sainthood in his 2017 apostolic letter, &quot;Maiorem hac dilectionem.&quot;
The post NJ diocese studies possible cause for CUA alum who died protecting parents from assailant first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>diocese, studies, possible, cause, for, CUA, alum, who, died, protecting, parents, from, assailant</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Austin’s Bishop Garcia named head of now&#45;permanent racial justice committee</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/austins-bishop-garcia-named-head-of-now-permanent-racial-justice-committee</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/austins-bishop-garcia-named-head-of-now-permanent-racial-justice-committee</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The news was announced by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in a Nov. 20 media release.
The post Austin’s Bishop Garcia named head of now-permanent racial justice committee first appeared on OSV News. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Austin’s, Bishop, Garcia, named, head, now-permanent, racial, justice, committee</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Belarus pardons 2 Catholic priests after talks with Vatican</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/belarus-pardons-2-catholic-priests-after-talks-with-vatican</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/belarus-pardons-2-catholic-priests-after-talks-with-vatican</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The priests’ release was credited in part to Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, pictured here celebrating the seventh Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis on May 2, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2025 / 12:12 pm (CNA).
Two Catholic priests in Belarus will be released from prison in an act of “goodwill” after national leaders engaged in talks with the Vatican.The state media organ BelTA reported on Nov. 20 that Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko “pardoned two Catholic priests convicted of serious crimes against the state.”The pardons of Father Henrykh Akalatovich and Father Andzej Yukhnevich came after “intensification of contacts with the Vatican, as well as the principles of goodwill, mercy, and the jubilee year proclaimed by the Roman Catholic Church,” the government media organization said. A separate press release from the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Belarus expressed “gratitude to all those who contributed to the release of imprisoned priests.”The bishops thanked both Vatican officials and Belarusian Church leaders for helping maintain “a positive dynamic of bilateral relations based on traditional values, brotherhood, tolerance, and respect for believers.”Akalatovich had been sentenced on Dec. 30, 2024, to 11 years in prison for “high treason,” a charge that Lukashenko’s regime applies to political prisoners. The priest had reportedly already suffered a heart attack and undergone surgery for cancer before his arrest in November 2023.Reuters, meanwhile, reported that Yukhnevich had been sentenced to 13 years in prison earlier this year on charges of abusing minors. The priest denied those allegations. The human rights group Viasna reported on Nov. 20 that the release came in part “thanks to the visit of Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti,” who serves as prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.Akalatovich previously said his conviction of “spying on behalf of Poland at the Vatican” was a “gross provocation.” There was “not a word of truth in the case against him, not a single fact that implicates him in espionage, while the entire accusation is based on lies, threats, and blackmail,” the priest said, according to Viasna. During the prosecution of his own case, meanwhile, Yukhnevich “denied all charges and tried to prove his innocence,” Viasna said. The human rights group claimed that the alleged victims who testified against him “may have given their testimony under pressure,” though it did not offer any further information. In a 2023 report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said religious freedom conditions in Belarus “continued to trend negatively” as the government “persisted in exerting control over all aspects of society.”The report highlighted the September 2022 closure of the Church of Sts. Simon and Helena in Minsk, which it described as ”a symbol of political opposition to the Lukashenko regime” during protests in 2020. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Belarus, pardons, Catholic, priests, after, talks, with, Vatican</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV prays at tomb of St. Francis of Assisi</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-prays-at-tomb-of-st-francis-of-assisi</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-prays-at-tomb-of-st-francis-of-assisi</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV visits the tomb of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy, on Nov. 20, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 20, 2025 / 16:00 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV traveled to Assisi on Thursday to meet with Italian bishops and pay homage to St. Francis in a visit marked by silence and prayer, part of the celebrations for the eighth centenary of the death of the “saint of the poor.”According to Vatican News, the pontiff traveled from the Vatican by helicopter and arrived in the Italian city shortly after 8 a.m. local time. He landed at the Bastia Umbra stadium and from there traveled by car to the heart of Assisi, where St. Francis was born in 1182.Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio adopted his name upon becoming pope, while it was St. John Paul II who named St. Francis of Assisi the patron saint of ecology in 1979. Despite the rain and cold, a number of people waited for the Holy Father and greeted him with applause and cheers of “Long live the pope!”His first stop was the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, the burial place of the founder of the Franciscan order. Leo XIV was received by the president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI by its Italian acronym), Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, and the custodian of the Sacro Convento (Franciscan friary) Friar Marco Moroni, who accompanied him to the crypt where the relics of St. Francis are kept.Once in front of the tomb of the “Poverello” (“Little Poor Man”), the Holy Father paused for a few minutes in prayer. There he spoke his first public words of the day: “It is a blessing to be able to come to this sacred place today. We are approaching the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis; this occasion allows us to prepare to celebrate this great saint, humble and poor, while the world seeks signs of hope,” he said.He also recalled the enduring legacy of St. Francis: “His witness continues to speak to us today, inviting us to keep hope alive and to look to the future with confidence.”Afterward, Pope Leo XIV traveled to the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli (Our Lady of the Angels) where he met with the bishops of the CEI, who are holding their 81st general assembly.According to the Vatican Press Office, at the conclusion of the meeting with the bishops of the CEI, Pope Leo XIV traveled to the city of Montefalco, where he celebrated Mass in the monastery of the Augustinian nuns, which was erected in the 13th century.It is one of the oldest and most significant spiritual centers in the Umbria region. It is linked to the figure of St. Clare of Montefalco (1268–1308), also known as St. Clare of the Cross, an Augustinian mystic whose contemplative life left a profound mark on the spiritual tradition of the Church. The pontiff had lunch there before returning to the Vatican by helicopter.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2025 18:00:03 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, prays, tomb, St., Francis, Assisi</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Synod on Synodality reports reveal continued study on women, but not female diaconate</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/synod-on-synodality-reports-reveal-continued-study-on-women-but-not-female-diaconate</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/synod-on-synodality-reports-reveal-continued-study-on-women-but-not-female-diaconate</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV listens to reports from seven representatives around the world about the implementation of synodality on their continents during the jubilee of synodal teams and participatory bodies at the Vatican on Oct. 24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 19, 2025 / 13:53 pm (CNA).
Reports from the Synod on Synodality published this week reveal that expert groups continue to discuss women’s participation in the Church but not the specific question of a possible female diaconate, which has been turned over to a newly-revived 2020 commission.The reports also show that a new group on the liturgy, requested by Pope Leo XIV, is not addressing the Vatican’s controversial restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass.According to a report published Nov. 17, during the second session of the Synod on Synodality in October 2024, Pope Francis “reactivated the work” of a papal commission on the female diaconate first created in 2020.“All synodal contributions related to this subject have been forwarded to that commission for its consideration,” a one-page report from a study group on Church ministries says.The interim report on the group’s progress, published ahead of full reports, which are due at the end of the year, was signed by Father Armando Matteo, secretary of the doctrinal section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is overseeing the highly-watched expert panel.Matteo confirmed to CNA that the synod is no longer examining a possible female diaconate and the question is in the hands of the now-revived 2020 commission, whose members “respond to the Holy Father.”In April 2020, Pope Francis created a 10-person theological commission to study the question of a female diaconate, the second commission he formed on the topic during his pontificate.An original member of the 2020 commission, permanent deacon and seminary professor James Keating, told CNA that “the commission still exists ‘until Pope Leo discerns its dissolution.’”The 12 synod study groups, 10 of which were formed by Pope Francis, were established to examine topics Francis took off the table for discussion at the second session of the Synod on Synodality, held in October 2024.The committees, made up of cardinals, bishops, priests, and lay experts from both in and outside of the Vatican, have until Dec. 31 to submit the final results of their studies to Pope Leo.The brief reports published this week give a few insights into what to expect in some of the final reports next year, should they be made public.While not considering women deacons, the highly-watched study group on Church ministries is drafting a report on “the participation of women in the life and leadership of the Church,” including the personal accounts of women in Church leadership, theological perspectives on men’s and women’s roles, and the contributions of Pope Leo XIV and Pope Francis on the topic.Another group, focused on Church law, is also discussing what roles women, and the laity in general, can hold in particular Church offices, including liturgical functions and in Church tribunals.An update from an expert panel on “controversial doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues” said its final document will clarify the current paradigm shift in the Church following the Second Vatican Council and the “emerging synodal experience.” It will include “procedural” proposals for the paradigm shift, such as how to conduct conversation in the Spirit, and how to manage cognitive, emotional, and cultural “resistance” to the shift.The document will also address homosexuality, which the report says it prefers to call an “emerging issue” rather than controversial.Another potentially fraught topic being examined by the study group on ecumenical practices is intercommunion, also known as Eucharistic hospitality — the idea to allow the reception of holy Communion to people in non-Catholic Christian denominations. The topic is tied to ecumenism, the relationship between Christian churches, and is especially relevant in couples and families with members of both Catholic and non-Catholic Christian faiths.The study group on ecumenism said its mandate includes “deepening the question of Eucharistic hospitality from theological, canonical, and pastoral perspectives.”A new group on liturgy in synodal perspective, requested by Pope Leo, gave insight into what it says are the first questions it intends to address, which focus on how to make the liturgy more synodal and the Mass “better configured as the source and summit of the synodal missionary life of the Church.”Other questions the group intends to study is the increased participation of all baptized Catholics in the liturgy, liturgical formation, “the role of women in the history of salvation,” the reinterpretation of liturgical preaching in a synodal perspective, and a “healthy decentralization of liturgical authority … also with a view to the inculturation of the rites.”The report said other “relevant issues” may be added later. The study group is overseen by the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.Victoria Cardiel, Vatican reporter for ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, contributed to this report. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 20 Nov 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Synod, Synodality, reports, reveal, continued, study, women, but, not, female, diaconate</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>UPDATE: Pope Leo XIV meets with his home state’s governor</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/update-pope-leo-xiv-meets-with-his-home-states-governor</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/update-pope-leo-xiv-meets-with-his-home-states-governor</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The Vatican did not release any details about what was discussed during the Nov. 19, 2025, meeting Pope Leo XIV held with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Office of Gov. JB Pritzker

CNA Newsroom, Nov 19, 2025 / 14:23 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV met with the governor of his native Illinois, JB Pritzker, on Wednesday at the Vatican. The first lady of the U.S. state known as “The Land of Lincoln,” MK Pritzker, accompanied the governor during his visit.“It was an honor for MK and me to meet with @Pontifex — a son of Illinois — to express the pride and reverence of the people of this great state,” Pritzker, who is Jewish, said following the meeting in a social media post. A statement from the governor’s office said: “As the first American pope, a native Illinoisan, and an advocate for the poor and less fortunate, Pope Leo XIV serves as a true inspiration to people of all faiths. His message of hope, unity, compassion, and peace resonates in his home state of Illinois and across the globe.”Invitation to return to hometownIn an interview with NBC Chicago following his audience, Gov. Pritzker said that during the meeting he presented Pope Leo with an invitation to return to his hometown of Chicago. While the pope didn’t express a timetable for the prospective visit, Pritzker said the pope “was optimistic that he would be coming to Chicago.”“We share a great love of the state and the city,” Pritzker said, adding that the pope “seems like he carries his heart on his sleeve and of course he carries Chicago on his sleeve, too.”Immigration discussionDuring the 40-minute meeting, which Pritzker said was arranged by Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, the governor said that he and the pontiff also discussed the immigration enforcement actions that have been taking place in the city, with Pritzker saying that he expressed his gratitude for the pope’s “moral leadership on this issue.”Pritzker offered the pope several gifts including a framed piece of art made from an incarcerated woman at Logan Correctional Facility, the book “Lincoln: The Life and Legacy that Defined a Nation” by Ian Hunt, the book “A House That Made History: The Illinois Governor’s Mansion, Legacy of an Architectural Treasure” written by Illinois First Lady MK Pritzker, and a pack of Burning Bush Breweries’ “Da Pope” American mild ale. The Vatican itself did not release any details about what was discussed during the visit. The Democratic governor currently has before his desk the decision on whether to either sign into law or veto assisted suicide legislation that was recently approved the Illinois Legislature. The Illinois Catholic Conference is urging Gov. Pritzker to veto the bill. In an Oct. 31 statement, the conference said that “rather than signing this bill, we ask the governor to expand and improve on palliative care programs.” Such programs, the conference maintains, “represent a compassionate and morally acceptable alternative to assisted suicide.”This story was updated on Nov. 19, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. ET with additional details of the conversation provided by Gov. Pritzker. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 20 Nov 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>UPDATE:, Pope, Leo, XIV, meets, with, his, home, state’s, governor</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo appoints Nigerian priest assessor for general affairs of the Secretariat of State</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-appoints-nigerian-priest-assessor-for-general-affairs-of-the-secretariat-of-state</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-appoints-nigerian-priest-assessor-for-general-affairs-of-the-secretariat-of-state</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Father Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 19, 2025 / 14:53 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday appointed Nigerian priest Father Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo as assessor for general affairs of the Vatican Secretariat of State.Ekpo, 44, succeeds Father Roberto Campisi, who was appointed permanent observer of the Holy See to UNESCO in September. In his new role, he will be responsible for overseeing the activities of Catholic international organizations connected to the Vatican.The Nigeria-born priest first began his service with the Holy See in 2016. He worked with the Vatican’s Section for General Affairs for six years between 2016 and 2023.In 2023, Pope Francis appointed him undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development to assist the work of its prefect Cardinal Michael Czerny. Epko thanked his colleagues at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development “for their friendship and shared work over these years” and prayed for ​​the grace to carry out his new role with the Secretariat of State with “joy, passion, and dedication,” Vatican News reported on Wednesday.“My desire is to be able to collaborate with the superiors and employees of the dicastery, to advance the vision of the dicastery and the mission of the Church,” Ekpo told Vatican News.Ordained a priest for the Diocese of Umuahia, Nigeria, in 2011, Epko continued his theological training abroad. In 2013, he obtained a doctorate in systematic theology from the Australian Catholic University as well as a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 2021.He is fluent in English, Italian, French, and the Nigerian language Igbo.Earlier this month, Pope Leo appointed Nigerian priest Father Edward Daniang Daleng as vice regent of the Papal Household, the second-highest position in the Vatican office that organizes audiences with the pope. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 20 Nov 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, appoints, Nigerian, priest, assessor, for, general, affairs, the, Secretariat, State</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>How Pope Leo XIV typically spends his day off</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/how-pope-leo-xiv-typically-spends-his-day-off</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/how-pope-leo-xiv-typically-spends-his-day-off</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 19, 2025 / 15:23 pm (CNA).
In reply to journalists’ questions last night as he left Castel Gandolfo, which he now regularly visits, Pope Leo XIV described what his typical Tuesday day off is like.The pontiff shared that he does “a little reading, a little work. Every day there is correspondence, phone calls; there are some matters that are perhaps more important, more recent. A little tennis, a little swimming.”A passionate tennis fan since childhood, the Holy Father in May received at the Vatican Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, currently ranked second in the world (behind Carlos Alcaraz) and at that time was ranked first.When asked why he needs these moments of rest, Leo XIV emphasized on Nov. 19 that “to take good care of yourself, human beings… everyone, should do some activity for the body, the soul, all together.”“I think it does me a lot of good. So it’s a time, a break during the week that helps a lot,” he said.The Holy Father also addressed other topics with the journalists, such as the situation in Ukraine; his possible travel destinations, which include Peru, Portugal, and Mexico; the situation of migrants in the United States and the American bishops’ call to respect them; the massacres of Christians and Muslims in Nigeria; and the abuse allegations against a Spanish bishop, who insists on his innocence.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 20 Nov 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>How, Pope, Leo, XIV, typically, spends, his, day, off</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Outgoing Hungarian ambassador reflects on 10&#45;year term at the Vatican</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/outgoing-hungarian-ambassador-reflects-on-10-year-term-at-the-vatican</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/outgoing-hungarian-ambassador-reflects-on-10-year-term-at-the-vatican</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See Eduard Habsburg speaks to EWTN News in 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Nov 19, 2025 / 15:53 pm (CNA).
Archduke of Austria Eduard Habsburg has served as Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See since 2015 and described his post at the Vatican as “the greatest 10 years of my life.”First presenting his credentials to Pope Francis on Dec. 8, 2015, Habsburg told EWTN News reporter Colm Flynn that after a decade on the job, he has “seen it all” and now wants to dedicate more time to his family, particularly his parents.“I felt that 10 years is a good term. It’s far longer than ambassadors usually have here,” he said in the exclusive interview.“I think I’ve seen everything you can see here, including a conclave, visits by my prime minister, exciting moments,” he added. “In a way, I’m going to miss it but also family is important.” Though his term at the Vatican is drawing to a close, the outgoing ambassador said he will likely continue to represent Hungary at future international events organized by the Church and pro-family groups.  “I’ll keep a foot in that world, so to speak, so I’m not going to totally give it up,” he said.Reflecting on his initial surprise at being asked to be Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See, Habsburg, who belongs to the prominent 850-year-old European Catholic dynasty, said he “hit the floor running” when he arrived in Rome for his first post.On Pope Francis and his love for HungaryDescribing his relationship with Pope Francis as “incredibly positive,” the outgoing ambassador said the Argentine pontiff had a warm affection for the Central European nation and its people.“I saw it every time he met a Hungarian,” he said. “He would use Hungarian expressions. He would smile. He would be happy. He would take his time with them.”Though Pope Francis had not visited Hungary until 2021 for the 52nd International Eucharistic Conference, he told Habsburg that he “learned everything” about Hungary through three religious sisters who fled their country in 1956, during the Soviet occupation, to a monastery in Buenos Aires, Argentina.   “They have shaped Pope Francis’ outlook on Hungary and that made my work very easy,” he quipped. “He was incredibly generous.”Pope Francis visited Hungary a second time in 2023 for his apostolic journey to the country’s capital of Budapest from April 28–30.   On Pope Benedict XVI and his humorDuring the 1990s, Pope Benedict XVI, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, read Habsburg’s doctoral thesis on the topic of Thomas Aquinas and Vatican II and told him “he liked it” and that he wanted him to either make a documentary or a thriller about Thomism.After first meeting with Pope Francis, the ambassador said he later met with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the Vatican Gardens.  “He looked at me and said, ‘So you’re ambassador now?’” Habsburg recalled. “And then he said, ‘You know you still owe me a documentary or a thriller about Thomism.” “That was the first thing he said. I was so blown away,” he said. “I still haven’t written it.”“That’s the one thing many people don’t realize about Pope Benedict XVI was the sense of humor that he had that we never got to see publicly,” he said.  Habsburg earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in 1999. On Pope Leo XIV The archduke and ambassador told EWTN News he has briefly met Pope Leo XIV four times this year since his papal election in May.  “I’m very impressed by him. I feel [he is] a very balanced and just man who is trying to do good,” he said of the first U.S.-born pope. Noting Pope Leo’s fluency in many languages, including English, Italian, Spanish, and Latin, Habsburg commented that he believes the universal Church’s new leader “has several cultures in his heart and in his mind.”“And yes, we will see the things that he’ll do. We pray for him every day,” he said. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 20 Nov 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Outgoing, Hungarian, ambassador, reflects, 10-year, term, the, Vatican</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: Where the world sees threats, the Church sees children</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-where-the-world-sees-threats-the-church-sees-children</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-where-the-world-sees-threats-the-church-sees-children</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter&#039;s Basilica at the Vatican on November 16, 2025. / Daniel Ibáñez

Vatican City, Nov 16, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).
Celebrating Mass for the Jubilee of the Poor on the Ninth World Day of the Poor, Pope Leo XIV urged Christians not to retreat into a closed or “religious” world of their own, but to help make human society “a space of fraternity and dignity for all, without exception.”Presiding in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, the pope reflected on the “day of the Lord” and the upheavals of history, saying that Christ’s promise remains secure even amid war, violence, and deep social wounds.Quoting the prophet Malachi, he described the “day of the Lord” as the dawn of a new era in which “the hopes of the poor and the humble will receive a final and definitive answer from the Lord,” and recalled that Jesus himself is the “sun of righteousness” who comes close to every person. In the Gospel, he said, Christ assures his disciples that “Not a hair of your head will perish” (Lk 21:18), anchoring Christian hope even “when all human hope seems to be extinguished.”“In the midst of persecution, suffering, struggles, and oppression in our personal lives and in society, God does not abandon us,” the pope said, pointing to the “golden thread” of Scripture, in which God always takes the side of “the little ones, orphans, strangers and widows.”World Day of the Poor: ‘Dilexi te — I have loved you’Marking his first World Day of the Poor as pope, Leo XIV addressed his homily in a special way to those experiencing poverty and exclusion.“While the entire Church rejoices and exults, it is especially to you, dear brothers and sisters, that I want to proclaim the irrevocable words of the Lord Jesus himself: ‘Dilexi te, I have loved you,’” he said, citing the title of his recent apostolic exhortation on love for the poor. “Yes, before our smallness and poverty, God looks at us like no one else and loves us with eternal love.”In that spirit, he said, the Church today seeks to be “mother of the poor, a place of welcome and justice,” even as it continues to be “wounded by old and new forms of poverty.”The pope warned against living as “distracted wanderers,” withdrawn into “a life closed in on ourselves, in a religious seclusion that isolates us from others and from history.” Seeking God’s Kingdom, he insisted, “implies the desire to transform human coexistence into a space of fraternity and dignity for all, without exception.”Many forms of poverty, one wound of lonelinessLeo XIV noted that “so many forms of poverty oppress our world,” from material deprivation to moral and spiritual poverty that “often affect young people in a particular way.”“The tragedy that cuts across them all is loneliness,” he said. This tragedy, he continued, “challenges us to look at poverty in an integral way,” not limiting ourselves to emergency aid but developing “a culture of attention, precisely in order to break down the walls of loneliness.”“Let us, then, be attentive to others, to each person, wherever we are, wherever we live,” the pope said, inviting Christians to become “witnesses of God’s tenderness” in families, workplaces, schools, communities, and even the digital world.‘There can be no peace without justice’Looking to current conflicts, Leo XIV said that the proliferation of war “seems especially to confirm that we are in a state of helplessness,” but stressed that this resignation is rooted in a lie.“The globalization of helplessness arises from a lie, from believing that history has always been this way and cannot change,” he said. “The Gospel, on the other hand, reminds us that it is precisely in the upheavals of history that the Lord comes to save us. And today, as a Christian community, together with the poor, we must become a living sign of this salvation.”Poverty, he added, “challenges Christians, but it also challenges all those who have positions of responsibility in society.” Addressing world leaders, he said: “I urge Heads of State and the leaders of nations to listen to the cry of the poorest. There can be no peace without justice, and the poor remind us of this in many ways, through migration as well as through their cries, which are often stifled by the myth of well-being and progress that does not take everyone into account, and indeed forgets many individuals, leaving them to their fate.”He thanked charity workers and volunteers who serve those in need and encouraged them “to continue to be the critical conscience of society.”“You know well that the question of the poor leads back to the essence of our faith, for they are the very flesh of Christ and not just a sociological category,” he said, again citing Dilexi Te. “This is why, ‘the Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking. Where the world sees threats, she sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges.’”The pope also invited the faithful to take inspiration from the saints who served Christ in the poor, highlighting Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, whose life as a “vagabond of God” makes him “the patron saint of the homeless.”Poor at the center of the celebrationSeveral thousand people in situations of poverty or social exclusion, accompanied by Catholic organizations, were present for the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and in St. Peter’s Square, where others followed the liturgy on large screens.Among them, according to organizers, were some 1,500 people from France who have experienced life on the streets, prostitution, prison, or other forms of marginalization, and who traveled to Rome with volunteers and pastoral workers for the Jubilee of the Poor. Before Mass, the pope greeted those gathered in the square from the popemobile.Angelus: Persecuted Christians as witnesses of truth, justice, and hopeLater, appearing at the window of the Apostolic Palace to pray the Angelus with pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, Leo XIV returned to the day’s Gospel from Luke 21, which speaks of wars, uprisings, and persecutions.“As the liturgical year draws to a close, today’s Gospel (Lk 21:5-19) invites us to reflect on the travails of history and the end times,” he said. In the face of these upheavals, Jesus’ appeal “is very timely,” the pope said: “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified” (v. 9).“Jesus’ words proclaim that the attack of evil cannot destroy the hope of those who trust in him. The darker the hour, the more faith shines like the sun,” he said.Twice in the Gospel, Christ says that “because of my name” many will suffer violence and betrayal, the pope continued, “but precisely then they will have the opportunity to bear witness.” That witness, he stressed, belongs not only to those who face physical violence.“Indeed, the persecution of Christians does not only happen through mistreatment and weapons, but also with words, that is, through lies and ideological manipulation,” he said. “Especially when we are oppressed by these evils, both physical and moral, we are called to bear witness to the truth that saves the world; to the justice that redeems peoples from oppression; to the hope that shows everyone the way to peace.”Quoting Jesus’ promise, “By your endurance you will gain your souls” (Lk 21:19), the pope said this assurance “gives us the strength to resist the threatening events of history and every offense,” because Christ himself gives believers “words and a wisdom” to persevere in doing good.He pointed to the martyrs as a sign that “God’s grace is capable of transforming even violence into a sign of redemption,” and entrusted persecuted Christians throughout the world to the intercession of Mary, Help of Christians.Appeals for persecuted Christians, Ukraine, and Peru crash victimsAfter praying the Angelus, Leo XIV turned to current situations of suffering, beginning with Christians who face discrimination and persecution.“Christians today are still suffering from discrimination and persecution in various parts of the world,” he said, mentioning in particular Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mozambique, Sudan, and other countries “from which we often hear news of attacks on communities and places of worship.” “God is a merciful Father, and he desires peace among all his children!” the pope added, praying especially for families in Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a recent terrorist attack killed at least 20 civilians.He said he is following “with sorrow” the reports of continuing attacks on numerous Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, which have caused deaths and injuries — “children among them” — and widespread damage to civilian infrastructure, leaving families homeless as winter approaches. “We must not become accustomed to war and destruction!” he said, urging prayer “for a just and lasting peace in war-torn Ukraine.”The pope also prayed for the victims of a serious bus accident in southern Peru’s Arequipa region, in which at least 37 people died and many others were injured after a bus plunged into a ravine in the rural district of Ocoña.“I would also like to offer my prayers for the victims of the serious road accident that occurred last Wednesday in southern Peru,” he said. “May the Lord welcome the deceased, sustain the injured and comfort the bereaved families.&quot;Road safety, new blessed, the poor, and abuse survivorsIn a wider appeal for road safety, Leo XIV noted that the Church was also remembering “all those who have died in road accidents, too often caused by irresponsible behavior. Let each of us examine our conscience on this matter,” he said.The pope recalled the beatification on Saturday in Bari of Italian diocesan priest Carmelo De Palma, who died in 1961 after a life “generously spent in the ministry of Confession and spiritual accompaniment,” and prayed that his example would inspire priests to give themselves “unreservedly” in service to God’s people.Marking the World Day of the Poor once more, Leo XIV thanked dioceses and parishes that organized initiatives of solidarity with those most in need, and invited the faithful to rediscover his exhortation Dilexi Te on love for the poor, “a document that Pope Francis was preparing in the last months of his life and which I completed with great joy.”Finally, he joined the Church in Italy in observing a day of prayer for victims and survivors of abuse, calling for “a culture of respect” that safeguards the dignity of every person, “especially minors and the most vulnerable.”This story was first published in three parts by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 17 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, Where, the, world, sees, threats, the, Church, sees, children</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV shares lunch with more than 1,300 people in need at the Vatican</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-shares-lunch-with-more-than-1300-people-in-need-at-the-vatican</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-shares-lunch-with-more-than-1300-people-in-need-at-the-vatican</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV shares lunch with people in need at the Vatican on November 16, 2025. / Daniel Ibáñez

Vatican City, Nov 16, 2025 / 11:15 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV had lunch on Sunday with more than 1,300 people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, gathering with them in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall for a festive meal marking the World Day of the Poor.The hall was transformed into a vast dining room for the occasion. The event was organized by the Congregation of the Mission on behalf of Vincentian missionaries worldwide, who this year celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of their congregation and of the Daughters of Charity. Volunteers served lasagna, breaded chicken with potatoes, and the traditional Italian dessert babà.As on similar occasions in past years, the Vatican, through the papal almoner Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, invited a group of transgender people from the Roman seaside town of Torvaianica. Father Andrea Conocchia, a parish priest in Torvaianica, told ACI Prensa that he had accompanied about 50 transgender people from his community to the event.In a special effort to highlight dignity and respect, the Vatican provided full table service with proper dishes, flatware, and table linens—avoiding plastic or disposable materials. Organizers said the aim was not only to offer a meal but to create an experience of welcome and care for each guest.After the meal, the pope thanked the Vincentian family for its service to the most vulnerable. “This lunch that we now receive is offered by Providence and by the great generosity of the Vincentian Community, to whom we wish to express our gratitude,” he said.The pope also shared his joy at spending time with the poor on a day instituted by his predecessor. “With great joy we gather this afternoon for this lunch on the World Day of the Poor, which was so desired by my beloved predecessor, Pope Francis,” he said.He expressed gratitude for all who dedicate themselves to those in need: “So many priests, religious sisters, and lay volunteers devote their lives to helping people who experience various needs. We are filled with gratitude for them.”Before the meal, he prayed: “May the Lord bless the gifts we are about to receive, bless the life of each one of us, our loved ones, and all those who have accompanied us on our journey.” He also remembered those suffering around the world: “Let us invoke the Lord’s blessing upon those who suffer from violence, war, and hunger, and may we celebrate this feast today in a spirit of fraternity.”He concluded with a final blessing: “Bless our life, our fraternity. Help us always to walk united in your love. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Warm greetings and enjoy your meal!”Music added to the joyful atmosphere, with performances of classical and traditional Neapolitan pieces by 100 young people from Naples’ Rione Sanità neighborhood involved in the Sanitansamble and Tornà a Cantà educational programs of the Nova Opera ETS Foundation.At the end of the lunch, the Vincentian Family of Italy gave each participant a “St. Vincent’s Backpack” containing food and hygiene products as a sign of continued accompaniment.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 17 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, shares, lunch, with, more, than, 1, 300, people, need, the, Vatican</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV urges ‘thinking the faith’ amid risk of cultural emptiness</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-thinking-the-faith-amid-risk-of-cultural-emptiness</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-thinking-the-faith-amid-risk-of-cultural-emptiness</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV waves to those gathered at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome on Nov. 14, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 10:04 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Friday urged academics to “think the faith” in order to confront what he called an increasingly pervasive “cultural emptiness.”The pope spoke at a ceremony inaugurating the academic year at Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University, the ecclesiastical university under the direct control of the Holy See, an event that brought together more than a thousand students and professors. In his address, Pope Leo XIV highlighted what he called the Lateran University’s unique and “altogether special” bond with the successor of Peter, a characteristic that he said has shaped its identity and mission from the beginning. He recalled the contributions of various pontiffs since its founding in 1773 and described the Lateran as “a privileged center where the teaching of the universal Church is elaborated, received, developed, and contextualized.”“Today we urgently need to think the faith so that we can express it in contemporary cultural settings and challenges, but also to counter the risk of cultural emptiness, which in our time is becoming increasingly invasive,” he said.The pope noted that the faculty of theology is called “to reflect on the deposit of faith and to manifest its beauty and credibility in today’s diverse contexts,” while the study of philosophy “must be oriented toward the search for truth.”Turning to the university’s canon and civil law faculties, he encouraged students and professors “to consider administrative processes in depth, an urgent challenge for the Church.” He also pointed to the cycles of study in peace sciences and ecology and the environment, instituted by Pope Francis, describing them as “an essential part of the Church’s recent magisterium.”The “formation of people,” he said, is at the heart of the Lateran University’s mission. For this reason, he urged its members to keep “their eyes and hearts directed toward the future” and to face contemporary challenges with courage.The pope encouraged the academic community to be a “prophetic sign of communion and fraternity,” and said authentic academic formation serves as an antidote to individualism, self-reference, prejudice, and what he called “solitary leadership.”He also underlined the importance of scientific rigor, noting that it is “often not appreciated as it should be” because of “deeply rooted prejudices that unfortunately persist even within the ecclesial community.” Scientific research and intellectual effort, he said, are indispensable. “We need well-prepared and competent laypeople and priests,” he added.“The purpose of the educational and academic process must be to form people who, guided by the logic of gratuity and the passion for truth and justice, can become builders of a new, fraternal, and solidary world,” the pope said.He concluded by insisting that Catholics must take seriously the task of “thinking in faith,” and invited the university to explore the mystery of Christian belief with passion and in dialogue with the world.“The Lateran University holds a special place in the pope’s heart,” he said, “and the pope encourages you to dream big, to imagine new spaces for the Christianity of the future, and to work with joy so that all may discover Christ and in him find the fullness they seek.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 16 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, ‘thinking, the, faith’, amid, risk, cultural, emptiness</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV praises the ‘silent and hidden love’ of cloistered nuns</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-praises-the-silent-and-hidden-love-of-cloistered-nuns</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-praises-the-silent-and-hidden-love-of-cloistered-nuns</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV receives cloistered Augustinian nuns at the Vatican on Nov. 13, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 15:43 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV praised the “silent and hidden love” of cloistered nuns who, he said, are free from the slavery of society’s focus on outward appearances.Focusing on the contemplative dimension of the Augustinian nuns, Pope Leo recalled that their founder, St. Augustine, reflected in his book “Confessions” on the joy granted “to those who serve the Lord out of pure love.”In his address, delivered from the Paul VI Audience Hall on Nov. 13, the pope offered his reflection during an audience at the Vatican with participants in the Ordinary Federal Assembly of the Federation of Augustinian Monasteries of Italy.The pope highlighted the joy of those who serve the Lord &quot;out of pure love&quot; in a meeting with Augustinian nuns on Nov. 13, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaHe invited the nuns to embrace “the cloistered life with enthusiasm,” which, he assured them, will give them “peace and consolation, and to those who knock on the doors of your monasteries, a message of hope more eloquent than a thousand words.”The pope then emphasized the witness of charity of the cloistered Augustinian nuns and counseled them, in order to spread the fragrance of God throughout the world,” to strive to “to love one another with sincere affection, as sisters, and to carry in your hearts, in secret, every man and woman in this world, to present them to the Father in your prayers.”“In a society so focused on outward appearances, where people sometimes do not hesitate to violate the respect of others and their feelings in pursuit of a spotlight and applause, may your example of silent and hidden love help others to rediscover the value of daily and discreet charity, focused on the substance of loving one another and free from the slavery of appearances,” he said.At the end of his address, the pope emphasized the communal nature of the federation with the “form of association” promoted by Venerable Pius XII and reaffirmed by Pope Francis to foster fraternity among monasteries with the same charism.“It is a demanding challenge, but one we cannot shy away from, even at the cost of making difficult choices and sacrifices, and overcoming a certain temptation to ‘self-referentiality’ that can sometimes seep into our circles,” Leo XIV cautioned.The pope thanked the Augustinian nuns for all they do and promised them his prayers and heartfelt blessing.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/nuns.nov.13.2025.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, praises, the, ‘silent, and, hidden, love’, cloistered, nuns</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV visits new health clinic for the poor under St. Peter’s colonnade</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-visits-new-health-clinic-for-the-poor-under-st-peters-colonnade</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-visits-new-health-clinic-for-the-poor-under-st-peters-colonnade</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  New outpatient clinic for people in need in St. Peter’s Square. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 16:50 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Nov. 14 visited a new outpatient clinic in the Vatican, built beneath the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square, in the lead-up to the ninth World Day of the Poor, which will be celebrated on Sunday, Nov. 16.The new health center aims to strengthen assistance and increase health care services for those in need, according to a statement from the Office of the Papal Almoner, also known as the Dicastery for the Service of Charity. The center was made possible through the collaboration of the Health and Hygiene Directorate of the Governorate of Vatican City State and features two new medical consultation rooms equipped with state-of-the-art instruments and a new radiology service.This equipment, including a cutting-edge X-ray machine, will allow for the rapid and accurate diagnosis of pneumonia, bone fractures, tumors, degenerative diseases, kidney stones, and intestinal obstructions — conditions often overlooked by those living in poverty.“Early diagnosis of these conditions will make it possible to start appropriate treatments in a timely manner, contributing to improving the quality of life of those who have nothing,” the statement reads.At the Office of the Papal Almoner’s other outpatient clinic, more than 2,000 health care services are offered completely free of charge each month thanks to the work of 120 volunteers, including doctors, nurses, and health care technicians.Thanks to the two clinics located beneath Bernini’s colonnade, general and specialized medical consultations, dental visits, blood tests, and X-rays will continue to be available to the poor. In addition, removable dentures, eyeglasses, and hearing aids will be donated.Finally, the necessary medications will be delivered directly to the poor person, always completely free of charge. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity and papal almoner, emphasized that in these places dignity is restored to the poor, “in whom we see not a homeless person or a poor person, but the face of Jesus.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 16 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, visits, new, health, clinic, for, the, poor, under, St., Peter’s, colonnade</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV presents 62 indigenous artifacts to Canadian bishops</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-presents-62-indigenous-artifacts-to-canadian-bishops</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-presents-62-indigenous-artifacts-to-canadian-bishops</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets Vancouver Archbishop Richard Smith at the Vatican, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 15, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).
In a Saturday meeting, Pope Leo XIV received Monsignor Pierre Goudreault, Bishop of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière and president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, at which the Holy Father gifted dozens of artifacts that originated with Indigenous peoples of the North American country. Leo at the meeting donated 62 pieces from the ethnological collections of the Vatican Museums to the Canadian bishops. Bishop Goudreault was accompanied by Archbishop Richard Smith of Vancouver and Father Jean Vézina, secretary general of the Canadian bishops.“It is an act of ecclesial sharing, through which the Successor of Peter entrusts to the Church in Canada these objects, which bear witness to the history of the encounter between the faith and cultures of indigenous peoples,” the Vatican said. The 62 donated objects come from various indigenous communities and are part of the collection received during the 1925 Vatican Missionary Exhibition, promoted by Pope Pius XI during the Holy Year to bear witness to the faith and cultural richness of the peoples.“The Holy Father Leo XIV wanted this gift to represent a concrete sign of dialogue, respect, and fraternity,&quot; the Holy See said.“Sent to Rome by Catholic missionaries between 1923 and 1925, these objects became part of the Lateran Missionary Ethnological Museum, which later became the Anima Mundi Ethnological Museum of the Vatican Museums,” the Vatican added.Pope Leo&#039;s gift is part of the observance of the Jubilee Year 2025. All the pieces are accompanied by information from the Vatican Museums “certifying their provenance and the circumstances of their transfer to Rome for the 1925 Exhibition.”“They were handed over to the Canadian Episcopal Conference, which, in a spirit of loyal cooperation and dialogue with the Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Vatican City State, has committed to ensuring their proper care, promotion, and conservation,” the Vatican said.During a July 2022 visit to Canada, Pope Francis left a message of reconciliation and emphasized the need to “start afresh” by looking together at Christ crucified.Throughout his trip, the pope had expressed his shame and regret for the role played by the Catholic Church in the management of many of the government-sponsored residential schools for Indigenous children.These residential schools, which operated until the late 1990s, aimed to eradicate aspects of Indigenous culture, language, and religious practices. Former students have described mistreatment and even abuse at the residential schools.According to the Holy See, the meeting on Nov. 15 concludes “the path begun by Pope Francis through his Apostolic Journey to Canada in 2022, the various audiences with indigenous communities, and the publication of the Declaration on the Doctrine of Discovery in 2023.&quot;That year, the Vatican&#039;s Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development stated that the so-called “Doctrine of Discovery,” which European colonizers allegedly used to justify their actions against indigenous peoples, is not part of Catholic teaching.The Vatican agencies then specified that “many Christians have committed acts of evil against indigenous populations, for which recent popes have asked forgiveness on numerous occasions.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/sim04996.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, presents, indigenous, artifacts, Canadian, bishops</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV to movie makers: Film can portray ‘longing for the infinite’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-movie-makers-film-can-portray-longing-for-the-infinite</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-movie-makers-film-can-portray-longing-for-the-infinite</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Film director Spike Lee gives Pope Leo XIV a customized New York Knicks jersey at the Vatican on November 15, 2025. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 15, 2025 / 13:45 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV told representatives of the global film industry on Saturday that cinema is far more than entertainment, calling it a vehicle capable of expressing humanity’s deepest spiritual search and its longing for the infinite.The pope received a group of filmmakers, actors, and producers at the Apostolic Palace Nov. 15. Among those greeting him were Academy Award–winning Australian actress Cate Blanchett, American actor Chris Pine, Italian actresses Monica Bellucci and Maria Grazia Cucinotta, and Oscar-winning director Spike Lee.Ahead of the audience, the Vatican released a list of some of the pope’s favorite films, including “The Sound of Music” and “Life is Beautiful.”Addressing the artists, the pope said cinema is “still a young, dreamlike and somewhat restless art form,” and that although it began as a “play of light and shadow, designed to amuse and impress,” it soon began to convey “much deeper realities,” eventually becoming “an expression of the desire to contemplate and understand life, to recount its greatness and fragility and to portray the longing for infinity.”He told them: “It is wonderful to see that when the magic light of cinema illuminates the darkness, it simultaneously ignites the eyes of the soul. Indeed, cinema combines what appears to be mere entertainment with the narrative of the human person’s spiritual adventure.” One of cinema’s most valuable contributions, he said, is “helping audiences consider their own lives, look at the complexity of their experiences with new eyes and examine the world as if for the first time,” thus rediscovering “a portion of the hope that is essential for humanity to live to the fullest.” He added, “I find comfort in the thought that cinema is not just moving pictures; it sets hope in motion!”The cinema as the heart of community life“Entering a cinema is like crossing a threshold,” the pope said. “In the darkness and silence, vision becomes sharper, the heart opens up and the mind becomes receptive to things not yet imagined.” Through their work, filmmakers “connect with people who are looking for entertainment, as well as those who carry within their hearts a sense of restlessness and are looking for meaning, justice and beauty.”“We live in an age where digital screens are always on,” he continued. “There is a constant flow of information. However, cinema is much more than just a screen; it is an intersection of desires, memories and questions. It is a sensory journey in which light pierces the darkness and words meet silence. As the plot unfolds, our mind is educated, our imagination broadens and even pain can find new meaning.”He stressed that cultural institutions such as cinemas and theaters are “the beating hearts of our communities because they contribute to making them more human,” adding: “If a city is alive, it is thanks in part to its cultural spaces. We must inhabit these spaces and build relationships within them, day after day.”Nonetheless, he warned that “cinemas are experiencing a troubling decline, with many being removed from cities and neighborhoods,” and noted that “more than a few people are saying that the art of cinema and the cinematic experience are in danger.” He urged institutions “not to give up, but to cooperate in affirming the social and cultural value of this activity.”Resisting the ‘algorithmic logic’ of the digital age“The logic of algorithms tends to repeat what ‘works,’ but art opens up what is possible,” he said. “Not everything has to be immediate or predictable. Defend slowness when it serves a purpose, silence when it speaks and difference when evocative. Beauty is not just a means of escape; it is above all an invocation.”“When cinema is authentic, it does not merely console, but challenges,” he continued. “It articulates the questions that dwell within us, and sometimes, even provokes tears that we did not know we needed to express.”In the Jubilee Year, he told them, the Church invites everyone “to journey towards hope,” saying their presence was “a shining example” of that. He described filmmakers as “pilgrims of the imagination, seekers of meaning, narrators of hope and heralds of humanity,” whose journey is measured not in distance but in “images, words, emotions, shared memories and collective desires.”The Church, he said, “esteems you for your work with light and time, with faces and landscapes, with words and silence.” Quoting Paul VI’s words to artists — “If you are friends of genuine art, you are our friends… this world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair” — he said he wished “to renew this friendship because cinema is a workshop of hope, a place where people can once again find themselves and their purpose.”He encouraged them to remember the words of film pioneer David W. Griffith: “What the modern movie lacks is beauty, the beauty of the moving wind in the trees,” linking it to the Gospel image of the wind as a sign of the Spirit. “I invite you to make cinema an art of the Spirit,” he said.“In the present era, there is a need for witnesses of hope, beauty and truth,” he continued. “You can fulfill this role through your artistic work. Good cinema and those who create and star in it have the power to recover the authenticity of imagery in order to safeguard and promote human dignity. Do not be afraid to confront the world’s wounds.” Good cinema, he stressed, “does not exploit pain; it recognizes and explores it.” Giving voice to the complex and sometimes dark feelings of the human heart “is an act of love,” he said, and authentic art “must engage with” human frailty.Filmmaking, he reminded them, “is a communal effort, a collective endeavor in which no one is self-sufficient,” involving the contributions of countless professionals. “Every voice, every gesture and every skill contributes to a work that can only exist as a whole.”“In an age of exaggerated and confrontational personalities,” he said, they show that film requires “dedication and talent,” and that everyone’s gifts can “shine in a collaborative and fraternal atmosphere.” He prayed that cinema would “always be a meeting place and a home for those seeking meaning and a language of peace,” and that it would “never lose its capacity to amaze and even continue to offer us a glimpse, however small, of the mystery of God.”“May the Lord bless you, your work and your loved ones,” he concluded. “And may he always accompany you on your creative journey and help you to be artisans of hope.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/tom4865.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, movie, makers:, Film, can, portray, ‘longing, for, the, infinite’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope asks Benedictines to confront modern challenges with prayer, study, holiness</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-asks-benedictines-to-confront-modern-challenges-with-prayer-study-holiness</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-asks-benedictines-to-confront-modern-challenges-with-prayer-study-holiness</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass at Sant’Anselmo Church in Rome on Nov. 11, 2025, for the 125th anniversary of the church’s consecration. Sant’Anselmo Church is part of a residential college and offices of the Benedictine Confederation, the governing body of the Order of St. Benedict. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 12, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday celebrated Mass at a Benedictine monastery in Rome, where he urged the monks to confront modern challenges with prayer, study, and personal holiness.Sant’Anselmo Church, located on the Aventine Hill, was consecrated on Nov. 11, 1900. It is part of a residential college and offices of the Benedictine Confederation, the governing body of the Order of St. Benedict. St. Anselm was a Benedictine monk and doctor of the Church.Upon his arrival at Sant’Anselmo Church, Leo was welcomed by the abbot primate of the Benedictines, Jeremias Schröder, who symbolically handed over the keys of the church to the pope.The Holy Father recalled that the church was erected at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, when Pope Leo XIII “was convinced that your ancient order could be of great help to the good of all God’s people at a time full of challenges.”“The monastery,” he continued, “has increasingly come to be seen as a place of growth, peace, hospitality, and unity, even during the darkest periods of history.”Turning to the present day, Leo reflected on the challenges of the modern world, which “provoke and question us, raising issues never before encountered.”He addressed the Benedictine monks directly, inviting them to respond to the demands of their vocation by “placing Christ at the center of our existence and our mission — beginning from that act of faith that leads us to recognize in him the Savior, and translating it into prayer, study, and the commitment of a holy life.”He urged the monks of the Aventine to become “a beating heart within the great body of the Benedictine world — with the church at its center, according to the teachings of St. Benedict.”“In the industrious hive of Sant’Anselmo,” he added, “may this be the place from which everything begins and to which everything returns to be verified, confirmed, and deepened before God.”The pope also reflected on the deeper meaning of the anniversary, saying that “the dedication marks the solemn moment in the history of a sacred building when it is consecrated to be a place of encounter between space and time, between the finite and the infinite, between man and God: an open door toward eternity, where the soul finds an answer to ‘the tension between the circumstances of the moment and the light of time, of the larger horizon … which opens us to the future as a final cause that attracts.’”He went on to recall the teaching of the Second Vatican Council in Sacrosanctum Concilium, a constitution on the sacred liturgy, which “describes all this in one of its most beautiful pages, when it defines the Church as ‘human and divine, visible yet endowed with invisible realities, zealous in action and dedicated to contemplation, present in the world and yet a pilgrim; … in such a way, however, that what is human in her is ordered and subordinated to the divine, the visible to the invisible, action to contemplation, the present reality to the future city toward which we are journeying.’”“This,” the pope said, “is the experience of our lives and of the lives of all men and women of this world — searching for that ultimate and fundamental answer that ‘neither flesh nor blood’ can reveal, but only the Father who is in heaven; ultimately, a need for Jesus, ‘the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”At the end of his homily, the Holy Father recalled that Jesus “is the one we are called to seek, and to him we are called to bring all those we meet — grateful for the gifts he has bestowed upon us, and above all for the love with which he has gone before us.”“Then this temple,” Leo XIV concluded, “will increasingly become a place of joy, where we experience the beauty of sharing with others what we have freely received.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/ris3666-1.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, asks, Benedictines, confront, modern, challenges, with, prayer, study, holiness</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: Fraternity is ‘one of the great challenges for contemporary humanity’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-fraternity-is-one-of-the-great-challenges-for-contemporary-humanity</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-fraternity-is-one-of-the-great-challenges-for-contemporary-humanity</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV gives his apostolic blessing at the end of the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Nov. 12, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Nov 12, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV reflected Wednesday on the world’s need for fraternity — a gift from Christ that frees us from selfishness and division.Fraternity “is without doubt one of the great challenges for contemporary humanity, as Pope Francis saw clearly,” the pope said during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Nov. 12.“The fraternity given by Christ, who died and rose again, frees us from the negative logic of selfishness, division, and arrogance,” he added.Continuing his meditations on Christ’s death and resurrection, Leo said “to believe in the death and resurrection of Christ and to live paschal spirituality imbues life with hope and encourages us to invest in goodness.”He observed that fraternity “cannot be taken for granted, it is not immediate. Many conflicts, many wars all over the world, social tensions and feelings of hatred would seem to prove the opposite.”Fraternity “is not a beautiful but impossible dream; it is not the desire of a deluded few,” he emphasized, inviting the faithful “to go to the source, and above all to draw light and strength from him who alone frees us from the poison of enmity.”The importance of relationshipsThe pope reflected that “fraternity stems from something deeply human. We are capable of relationship and, if we want, we are able to build authentic bonds between us. Without relationships, which support and enrich us from the very beginning of our life, we would not be able to survive, grow, or learn. They are manifold, varied in form and depth. But it is certain that our humanity is best fulfilled when we exist and live together, when we succeed in experiencing authentic, not formal, bonds with the people around us.”He warned that “if we turn in on ourselves, we risk falling ill with loneliness, and even a narcissism that is concerned with others only out of self-interest. The other is then reduced to someone from whom we can take, without ever being truly willing to give, to offer ourselves.”Recalling that “disagreement, division, and sometimes hatred can devastate even relationships between relatives, not only between strangers,” the pope cited St. Francis of Assisi’s greeting of “omnes fratres,” (“all brothers”) — “the inclusive way in which the saint placed all human beings on the same level, precisely because he recognized them in their common destiny of dignity, dialogue, welcome, and salvation.”Pope Leo XIV waves at the crowds gathered in St. Peter&#039;s Square for his general audience on Nov. 12, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNALeo noted that Pope Francis had reproposed this approach in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti, emphasizing that the word “tutti” — Italian for “everyone” — “expresses an essential feature of Christianity, which ever since the beginning has been the proclamation of the good news destined for the salvation of all, never in an exclusive or private form.”He explained that “this fraternity is based on Jesus’ commandment, which is new insofar as he accomplished it himself, the superabundant fulfillment of the will of the Father: Thanks to him, who loved us and gave himself for us, we can in turn love one another and give our lives for others, as children of the one Father and true brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.”They weep and rejoice together“Brothers and sisters support each other in hardship, they do not turn their back on those who are in need, and they weep and rejoice together in the active pursuit of unity, trust, and mutual reliance,” the pope said. “The dynamic is that which Jesus himself gives to us: ‘Love one another as I have loved you’ (cf. John 15:12).”He concluded his general audience by reminding the faithful that “the fraternity given by Christ, who died and rose again, frees us from the negative logic of selfishness, division, and arrogance, and restores to us our original vocation, in the name of a love and a hope that are renewed every day. The Risen One has shown us the way to journey with him, to feel and to be ‘brothers and sisters all.’”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 13 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, Fraternity, ‘one, the, great, challenges, for, contemporary, humanity’</media:keywords>
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<title>Vatican declares alleged apparitions of Jesus in France ‘not supernatural’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-declares-alleged-apparitions-of-jesus-in-france-not-supernatural</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-declares-alleged-apparitions-of-jesus-in-france-not-supernatural</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. / Credit: Xosema (CC BY-SA 4.0)

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 12, 2025 / 14:54 pm (CNA).
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) has declared that the alleged apparitions of Jesus in Dozulé, France, do not have an authentic divine origin and are therefore “not supernatural.”The prefect of the dicastery, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, confirmed the declaration based on the Norms for Discerning Alleged Supernatural Phenomena in a document released Nov. 12 and addressed to the bishop of Bayeux-Lisieux, Jacques Habert.In 1972, Madeleine Aumont claimed that Jesus had appeared to her, asking the Church to build a giant “glorious cross” in Dozulé, next to a “shrine of reconciliation.” Furthermore, the alleged visionary claimed that Jesus had announced his “imminent” return.In the document, the Vatican authority notes that the alleged apparitions in the Normandy town “have elicited spiritual interest” but also “not a few controversies and difficulties of a doctrinal and pastoral nature” that require clarification.Only the cross of Jerusalem is the universal sign of the RedemptionFirst, the DDF clarifies that it is erroneous to compare the “glorious cross” with the “cross of Jerusalem,” as Aumont did after the fifth alleged apparition. The Vatican says that “that wood, raised upon Calvary, has become the real sign of Christ’s sacrifice, which is unique and unrepeatable” and that any other “sign” of the cross “cannot be considered on the same plane.”“To compare the cross requested at Dozulé with the cross of Jerusalem risks confusing the sign with the mystery and risks giving the impression that what Christ has accomplished once and for all could be ‘reproduced’ or ‘renewed’ in a physical sense,” the letter explains.In this context, the declaration clarifies that the power of the cross “does not need to be replicated, for it is already present in every Eucharist, in every church, in every believer who lives united to the sacrifice of Christ.” Thus, it warns against the risk of fostering a “material sacrality” that does not belong to the heart of Christianity.Fernández also cautioned against the risk of this cross becoming “a symbol of an autonomous message” and pointed out that “no cross, no relic, and no private apparition can replace the means of grace established by Christ” nor be considered a “universal obligation.”The cardinal emphasized that the cross is not merely a religious ornament: It is a sign that speaks to the heart. “Those who wear the cross around their neck or keep it in their home proclaim, even without words, that the crucified Christ is the center of their life and that every joy and sorrow finds its meaning in him.”Forgiveness comes from ChristThe letter emphasizes what it considers one of the most troubling claims: the reference to the “remission of sins” through contemplation of the Dozulé cross.Aumont went so far as to claim: “All those who will have come to repent at the foot of ‘the glorious cross’ [of Dozulé] will be saved.”The Vatican points out the theological error of these statements, which are “incompatible with the Catholic doctrine on salvation, grace, and the sacraments.” Fernández clarified that “no material object can replace sacramental grace” and that forgiveness comes from Christ through the sacrament of penance.Regarding the ‘imminent return of Christ’Regarding the warnings that Jesus allegedly revealed about his “imminent” return as the Risen One, Fernández pointed out that, although the return of Christ is a truth of faith, “no one can know or predict the precise date or its signs.”Consequently, the declaration states that the Church “remains alert against millenarian or chronological interpretations, which risk setting the time or determining the modalities for the final judgment.”“The danger of reducing Christian hope to an expectation of an imminent return with extraordinary events must be firmly avoided,” the text emphasizes.With these clarifications, the DDF concludes that the phenomenon of the alleged apparitions in Dozulé “is to be regarded, definitively, as not supernatural in origin, with all the consequences that flow from this determination.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/stpeters103.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, declares, alleged, apparitions, Jesus, France, ‘not, supernatural’</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV proposes 19th&#45;century Indian religious as a model of women’s emancipation</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-proposes-19th-century-indian-religious-as-a-model-of-womens-emancipation</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-proposes-19th-century-indian-religious-as-a-model-of-womens-emancipation</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The beatification ceremony for Mother Elisva Vakha’i was held in the square in front of the Basilica-Shrine of Our Lady of Ransom in Vallarpadam, Kochi, Kerala, India, Nov. 8, 2025. / Credit: Congregation of the Teresian Discalced Carmelite Sisters; Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Nov 12, 2025 / 16:24 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV spoke of the beatification this week of Mother Elisva Vakha’i, a 19th-century Indian religious and founder of the Third Order of the Teresian Discalced Carmelites, highlighting her “courageous commitment to the emancipation of the poorest girls.”“The witness of Mother Elisva Vakha’i,” the pope affirmed during his greetings in Italian at the end of his general audience on Nov. 12, “is a source of inspiration for all who work in the Church and in society for the dignity of women.”The beatification ceremony on Nov. 8 was held in the square in front of the Basilica-Shrine of Our Lady of Ransom in Vallarpadam, Kochi, in the Indian state of Kerala, and was presided over by Cardinal Sebastian Francis, bishop of Penang, Malaysia.Before thousands of faithful and men and women religious from across the country, the cardinal emphasized that the new blessed represents “a beacon of hope” for all “consecrated women, for all mothers, and for all those who suffer in silence and yet choose to love,” according to Vatican News.A mother and widow called by GodBefore embracing religious life, Vakha’i was married and had a daughter. She decided to take religious vows after becoming a widow, an experience that profoundly shaped her vocation and endowed her with a special sensitivity to the needs of women in her time. In a society marked by rigid cultural and religious divisions, she recognized the dignity of every person and offered concrete opportunities for education and support.In the mid-19th century, she founded an orphanage and a primary school for the poorest and most marginalized young women. Her work was not limited to mere assistance: It was a genuine commitment to the integral formation of women; she was convinced that education was the key to the social recognition of their dignity and active participation in social and ecclesial life.A pioneer of consecrated life for women in IndiaVakha’i opened a new path for the women of Kerala, allowing them enter religious life in both the Latin and Syro-Malabar rites. Her project, deeply rooted in Carmelite and Teresian spirituality, united contemplation, service, prayer, and education.Her example inspired her own sister, Thresia, and her daughter, Anna, who joined her in founding the first Discalced Carmelite convent in Kerala in 1866, under the spiritual guidance of Italian Carmelite missionaries. Together, they fostered a community experience that, as Cardinal Francis emphasized in his homily during her beatification, anticipated ecclesial insights now associated with the synodal journey of the Church.An ‘inclusive” and ‘synodal’ visionDuring the homily at the beatification, the cardinal emphasized the “inclusive vision” of Vakha’i, with which she “was ahead of her time and is a true expression of synodality in action: walking together in communion.”The new blessed, he added, “shows the way” to the Church on its synodal journey “listening, discerning, and walking together.” The foundation of her “unwavering faith,” he affirmed, “lies in her spirituality, vision, and mission, all rooted in her identity as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ through baptism, the very heart of synodality.”With the official recognition of her holiness, the Church proposes Vakha’i as a model of evangelical life embodied in service to the poor, in the promotion of women, and in the building of fraternal communities.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/indianblessed.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, proposes, 19th-century, Indian, religious, model, women’s, emancipation</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV warns AI could fuel ‘antihuman ideologies’ in medicine</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-warns-ai-could-fuel-antihuman-ideologies-in-medicine</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-warns-ai-could-fuel-antihuman-ideologies-in-medicine</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday Angelus on Nov. 9, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 10, 2025 / 16:06 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV warned Monday that artificial intelligence could exacerbate “antihuman ideologies” in medicine as Catholic doctors and moral theologians raise alarms about the future of AI in health care.In a message on Nov. 10 to an international congress on “Artificial Intelligence and Medicine: The Challenge of Human Dignity,” hosted by the Pontifical Academy for Life, the pope said that ensuring “true progress” in medicine depends on keeping the dignity of every human at the forefront.“It is easy to recognize the destructive potential of technology and even medical research when they are placed at the service of antihuman ideologies,” Leo XIV said.Leo added that those responsible for integrating AI into medicine must remember that “health care professionals have the vocation and responsibility to be guardians and servants of human life, especially in its most vulnerable stages.”“Indeed, the greater the fragility of human life, the greater the nobility required of those entrusted with its care,” he said.The pope’s message came a day after another of his statements on the ethics of AI led to controversy on the social media platform X. Tech billionaire Marc Andreessen posted a mocking reference to Leo’s call on the AI industry “to develop systems that reflect justice, solidarity, and a genuine reverence for life.” After a pileup of critical replies, Andreessen apparently deleted his own post.Pro-life concerns over AI billing in medical insurance  The pope’s remarks on Monday come amid growing concern among Catholic doctors about how artificial intelligence could shape access to care and respect for human dignity in health care systems worldwide.Dr. Kathleen Berchelmann, a pediatrician and founder of My Catholic Doctor, a telehealth network that connects families seeking Catholic care with like-minded providers, told CNA she is alarmed by how insurance companies are deploying AI in the U.S.She said AI-driven billing systems are “further pushing pro-life health care providers out of the insurance market to the self-pay market, reducing access to pro-life health care in America.”“What I see in AI and health care is a technology arms race,” Berchelmann said. “And unfortunately, the people with the big money have higher tech, and … that’s the insurance companies. That’s United Health Care, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Elevance Health, Aetna, Cigna. … These are the companies that are putting billions into utilization management, which means denials.”On Oct. 1, Aetna and Cigna implemented AI-automated payments nationwide, a move that has led to what critics call “downcoding,” where insurers automatically downgrade doctors’ claims to lower reimbursement levels without reviewing visit details.“In particular, in pro-life health care, we’re seeing automatic downcoding because restorative reproductive medicine, which is health care that finds root cause of infertility and treats the root cause, takes more time than a brief workup and a referral to IVF,” Berchelmann said.“That extended time requires a higher coding. But if I do a real quick workup, I can build a lower code for that. So the predictive AI doesn’t recognize that I’m doing a better job in finding root cause of disease,” she added.Berchelmann said she sees “tremendous potential for AI in terms of diagnostic capacity and clinical use” and hopes predictive models will demonstrate that “pro-life health care is so much cheaper than IVF.” But for now, she said, “insurance companies, employers paying for health care, and pharmaceutical companies with insurance, are all heavily using AI to not pay for your care.” In his message, Pope Leo acknowledged the influence of economic interests in health care and technology. “Given the vast economic interests often at stake in the fields of medicine and technology, and the subsequent fight for control, it is essential to promote a broad collaboration among all those working in health care and politics that extends well beyond national borders,” the pope said.  AI not a substitute for ‘human encounter’ in medicine Pope Leo underlined that “technological devices must never detract from the personal relationship between patients and health care providers.”“If AI is to serve human dignity and the effective provision of health care, we must ensure that it truly enhances both interpersonal relationships and the care provided,” he said.Leo described the new technological advancements brought by AI as “more pervasive” than those brought by the industrial revolution, noting their potential to alter “our understanding of situations and how we perceive ourselves and others.”“We currently interact with machines as if they were interlocutors, and thus become almost an extension of them,” he said. “In this sense, we not only run the risk of losing sight of the faces of the people around us but of forgetting how to recognize and cherish all that is truly human.” The three-day Vatican conference on AI and medicine, running Nov. 10–12, is one of several in recent months addressing the ethics of AI — an issue Pope Leo XIV has signaled will be a priority in his pontificate.At the Builders AI Forum in Rome last week, which addressed the challenge of AI for Catholics and Catholic institutions in a variety of fields, medical school professors, health care company executives, insurance company directors, medical chaplains, and entrepreneurs in the field came together to discuss and debate the future of AI in Catholic health care. Louis Kim, the former vice president of personal systems and AI at HP, shared that the consensus among these professionals at the end of the forum was that “AI may assist but must never substitute for human encounter [in Catholic health care] and must remain clearly identifiable as non-human so that the pastoral and sacramental integrity of care is preserved.” Daniel J. Daly, executive director of the Center for Theology and Ethics in Catholic Health and an associate professor of moral theology at Boston College, told CNA he is concerned that if AI models used in Catholic hospitals are only trained to maximize “efficiency and profit” it could lead to “a massive failure for Catholic health care.” “What I worry about is that what could happen in health care is that AI replaces that embodied witness to the kingdom of God,” Daly said. “That can never happen in Catholic health care, because Catholic health care is not just about medicine. It’s also about Jesus Christ and witnessing to his healing ministry that we see in the Scripture.” “I think the most important thing is that whatever the AI does, that it frees us to do the works of mercy, it doesn’t free us from the works of mercy,” he added. “That is, it doesn’t replace the embodied care and ministerial care that we provide through medicine.”  ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/popeleoxivangelus111025.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 12 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, warns, could, fuel, ‘antihuman, ideologies’, medicine</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Vatican releases ‘Leo from Chicago’ biopic</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-releases-leo-from-chicago-biopic</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-releases-leo-from-chicago-biopic</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Image from trailer of the documentary biopic “Leo from Chicago.” / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 10, 2025 / 17:26 pm (CNA).
The Vatican has officially released the documentary “Leo from Chicago” about the life of Pope Leo XIV in the United States, coinciding with the sixth month of the pontificate of the first American and Peruvian pope in the history of the Catholic Church.The documentary premiered Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. Rome time and was screened at the Vatican Film Library for journalists accredited to the Holy See Press Office. At 6 p.m. Rome time it was published on the Vatican News YouTube channels in English, Italian, and Spanish, according to a statement from the Dicastery for Communication.The documentary was produced by the Dicastery for Communication in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Apostolado El Sembrador Nueva Evangelización (The Sower New Evangelization Apostolate.)The project was led by journalists Deborah Castellano Lubov, Salvatore Cernuzio, and Felipe Herrera-Espaliat, with editing by Jaime Vizcaíno Haro. It shows various locations, including the Dolton neighborhood in suburban Chicago where the pope lived with his family, and features the memories and stories of the Holy Father’s brothers, Louis Martin and John Prevost.Also featured are the offices, schools, and parishes run by the Augustinians, the Catholic Theological Union study center, and places frequented by Robert Prevost, such as Aurelio’s Pizza and Rate Field, the White Sox baseball stadium.The overview includes scenes from Villanova University near Philadelphia and Port Charlotte, Florida, where the pope’s older brother lives.The documentary features some 30 testimonies from people who knew Leo XIV in his childhood and youth; for example, when he marched in Washington, D.C., to support the pro-life cause. “Leo from Chicago” is the documentary that follows “Leo from Peru,” released in June, about the pope’s years in the South American country.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/leo.from.chicago.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 12 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, releases, ‘Leo, from, Chicago’, biopic</media:keywords>
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<title>‘The Sound of Music’ and ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ among Pope Leo XIV’s favorite films</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/the-sound-of-music-and-its-a-wonderful-life-among-pope-leo-xivs-favorite-films</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/the-sound-of-music-and-its-a-wonderful-life-among-pope-leo-xivs-favorite-films</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV blesses a baby in St. Peter’s Square during his general audience on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 10, 2025 / 18:32 pm (CNA).
The Vatican has revealed the names of Pope Leo XIV’s favorite films, including “The Sound of Music” and “It’s a Wonderful Life,” upon announcing the Holy Father’s upcoming meeting with the world of cinema on Saturday, Nov. 15.In total, the Vatican shared four titles of the “most significant films” for Leo XIV:‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (1946) by Frank CapraThe Christmas classic stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has sacrificed his dreams because of his sense of responsibility and generosity but feeling like a failure, he contemplates suicide on Christmas Eve. This prompts the intervention of his guardian angel (Henry Travers), who shows him all the good he has done for many people. ‘The Sound of Music’ (1965) by Robert WiseThe film tells the story of a postulant at a convent in Austria in 1938.  After discerning out, the postulant (Julie Andrews) is sent to the home of Captain Von Trapp, a widowed retired naval officer (Christopher Plummer) to be the governess of his seven children. After bringing love and music to the Von Trapp family, she eventually marries the captain. As Von Tapp refuses to accept a commission in the Nazi navy, the family is forced to leave Austria in a dramatic escape. ‘Ordinary People’ (1980) by Robert RedfordThe film tells the story of the breakdown of a wealthy Illinois family after the death of one son in an accident and the suicide attempt of the other. It stars Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, and Timothy Hutton.‘Life Is Beautiful’ (1997) by Roberto BenigniIn this film, Benigni — whose father spent two years in a prisoner-of-war camp — plays Guido Orefice, an Italian Jewish bookstore owner who uses his imagination to protect his young son from the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.Nov. 15 meeting with the world of cinema The meeting will take place on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 11 a.m. Rome time in the Apostolic Palace of Vatican City, according to a statement from the Dicastery for Culture and Education, in collaboration with the Vatican Museums.The event follows previous meetings with the world of visual arts (June 2023), comedy (June 2024), and the Jubilee of Artists and the World of Culture in February of this year.The Vatican statement highlights that Pope Leo XIV “has expressed his desire to deepen the dialogue with the world of cinema, and in particular with actors and directors, exploring the possibilities that artistic creativity offers to the mission of the Church and the promotion of human values.”Actors and directors the pope will meetAmong those who have already confirmed their participation are the Italian actresses Monica Bellucci, famous for her role as Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” and Maria Grazia Cucinotta (“Il Postino” and “The World Is Not Enough.”)Also joining the Holy Father will be, among others, American actress Cate Blanchett (“The Lord of the Rings,” “The Aviator”), the African-American director Spike Lee, the director Gus Van Sant (“Good Will Hunting,” “Elephant”), the Australian director George Miller, creator of the Mad Max saga, and the Italian Giuseppe Tornatore, director of “Cinema Paradiso,” for which he won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1989.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/popeleobaby110525.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 12 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>‘The, Sound, Music’, and, ‘It’s, Wonderful, Life’, among, Pope, Leo, XIV’s, favorite, films</media:keywords>
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<title>Soldier&#45;turned&#45;bishop St. Martin of Tours celebrated Nov. 11</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/soldier-turned-bishop-st-martin-of-tours-celebrated-nov-11</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/soldier-turned-bishop-st-martin-of-tours-celebrated-nov-11</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  St. Martin of Tours sharing his cloak with a beggar by François Joseph Thomas De Backer. / Credit: François Joseph Thomas De Backer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Nov 11, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).
On Nov. 11, the Catholic Church honors St. Martin of Tours, who left his post in the Roman army to become a “soldier of Christ.”Martin was born around the year 316 in modern-day Hungary. His family left that region for Italy when his father, a military official of the Roman Empire, was transferred there. Martin’s parents were pagans, but he felt an attraction to the Catholic faith, which had become legal throughout the empire in 313. He received religious instruction at age 10 and even considered becoming a hermit in the desert.Circumstances, however, forced Martin to join the Roman army at age 15, when he had not even received baptism. Martin strove to live a humble and upright life in the military, giving away much of his pay to the poor. His generosity led to a life-changing incident, when he encountered a man freezing without warm clothing near a gate at the city of Amiens in Gaul.As his fellow soldiers passed by the man, Martin stopped and cut his own cloak into two halves with his sword, giving one half to the freezing beggar. That night, the unbaptized soldier saw Christ in a dream, wearing the half-cloak he had given to the poor man. Jesus declared: “Martin, a catechumen, has clothed me with this garment.”Martin knew that the time for him to join the Church had arrived. After his baptism, he remained in the army for two years but desired to give his life to God more fully than the profession would allow. But when he finally asked for permission to leave the Roman army, during an invasion by the Germans, Martin was accused of cowardice.He responded by offering to stand before the enemy forces unarmed. “In the name of the Lord Jesus, and protected not by a helmet and buckler but by the sign of the cross, I will thrust myself into the thickest squadrons of the enemy without fear.”But this display of faith became unnecessary when the Germans sought peace instead, and Martin received his discharge.After living as a Catholic for some time, Martin traveled to meet Bishop Hilary of Poitiers, a skilled theologian and later canonized saint. Martin’s dedication to the faith impressed the bishop, who asked the former soldier to return to his diocese after he had undertaken a journey back to Hungary to visit his parents. While there, Martin persuaded his mother, though not his father, to join the Church.In the meantime, however, Hilary had provoked the anger of the Arians, a group that denied Jesus was God. This resulted in the bishop’s banishment, so Martin could not return to his diocese as intended. Instead he spent some time living a life of severe asceticism, which almost resulted in his death. The two met up again in 360, when Hilary’s banishment from Poitiers ended.After their reunion, Hilary granted Martin a piece of land to build what may have been the first monastery in the region of Gaul. During the resulting decade as a monk, Martin became renowned for raising two people from the dead through his prayers. This evidence of his holiness led to his appointment as the third bishop of Tours in the middle of present-day France.Martin had not wanted to become a bishop and had actually been tricked into leaving his monastery in the first place by those who wanted him to the lead the local Church. Once appointed, he continued to live as a monk, dressing plainly and owning no personal possessions. In this same spirit of sacrifice, he traveled throughout his diocese, from which he is said to have driven out pagan practices.Both the Church and the Roman Empire passed through a time of upheaval during Martin’s tenure as bishop. Priscillianism, a heresy involving salvation through a system of secret knowledge, caused such serious problems in Spain and Gaul that civil authorities sentenced the heretics to death. But Martin, along with the pope and St. Ambrose of Milan, opposed this death sentence for the Priscillianists.Even in old age, Martin continued to live an austere life focused on the care of souls. His disciple and biographer, St. Sulpicius Severus, noted that the bishop helped all people with their moral, intellectual, and spiritual problems. He also helped many discover their calling to the consecrated life.Martin foresaw his own death and told his disciples of it. But when his last illness came upon him during a pastoral journey, he felt uncertain about leaving his people.“Lord, if I am still necessary to thy people, I refuse no labor. Thy holy will be done,” he prayed. He developed a fever but did not sleep, passing his last several nights in the presence of God in prayer.“Allow me, my brethren, to look rather toward heaven than upon the earth, that my soul may be directed to take its flight to the Lord to whom it is going,” he told his followers, shortly before he died in November 397.St. Martin of Tours has historically been among the most beloved saints in the history of Europe. In a 2007 Angelus address, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his hope “that all Christians may be like St. Martin, generous witnesses of the Gospel of love and tireless builders of jointly responsible sharing.”This story was first published on Oct. 6, 2011, and has been updated. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 12 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Soldier-turned-bishop, St., Martin, Tours, celebrated, Nov.</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Vatican confirms investigation into alleged antisemitic act of Swiss Guard</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-confirms-investigation-into-alleged-antisemitic-act-of-swiss-guard</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-confirms-investigation-into-alleged-antisemitic-act-of-swiss-guard</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Swiss Guards and faithful pilgrims holding olive branches line the processional route in St. Peter’s Square for Palm Sunday celebrations, April 13, 2025. The ancient Vatican obelisk stands at the center of the square as clergy process toward the basilica. / Credit: Bénédicte Cedergren/EWTN News

Vatican City, Nov 11, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).
The Pontifical Swiss Guard this week opened an internal investigation to clarify an alleged act of antisemitism committed by one of its guards against two Jewish women in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican confirmed. “The Pontifical Swiss Guard received a complaint regarding an incident that occurred at one of the entrances to Vatican City State in which elements interpreted as antisemitic were allegedly detected,” Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni stated on Monday.The reported incident took place during Pope Leo XIV’s Oct. 29 general audience commemorating the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the 1965 declaration on the Church’s relations with non-Christian religions.According to a Nov. 7 report published in Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Israeli writer and theater director Michal Govrin said a Swiss Guard “hissed at” her and a female colleague, saying “les juifs, the Jews,” before “making a gesture of spitting in our direction with obvious contempt.”The two women were part of an international Jewish delegation in Rome to participate in Nostra Aetate anniversary celebrations, which included the Oct. 29 audience with Pope Leo in St. Peter’s Square.During that audience dedicated to interreligious dialogue, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that “the Church does not tolerate acts of antisemitism in any form” and reiterated “the Holy See’s commitment to friendship and respect towards our elder brothers in faith.”According to the Vatican’s preliminary investigation, the complaint stems from “a dispute that arose regarding a request for a photograph while on duty.” Members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard are strictly prohibited from taking photographs with tourists or pilgrims while on duty.Bruni on Monday explained that “the case is currently the subject of an internal verification procedure” and that this process “is being carried out in accordance with the principles of discretion and impartiality, in compliance with current regulations.”Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Swiss Guard, Eliah Cinotti, also confirmed that the alleged antisemitic incident involved “a photo taken at a duty station” in St. Peter’s Square.“The case remains under internal investigation,” Cinotti explained to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. “There will be no further comments on the matter,” as the proceedings must remain “confidential,” he added.In a Nov. 10 statement given to The Catholic Herald, Cinotti said: “The Pontifical Swiss Guard firmly distances itself from any expression or act of antisemitism.” ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/250413-palm-sunday-benedicte-cedergren-16.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 12 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, confirms, investigation, into, alleged, antisemitic, act, Swiss, Guard</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV meets with 15 abuse survivors at the Vatican</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-meets-with-15-abuse-survivors-at-the-vatican</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-meets-with-15-abuse-survivors-at-the-vatican</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter&#039;s Square at the Vatican on November 5, 2025. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 8, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV met on Saturday with 15 survivors of clergy sexual abuse in a meeting marked by dialogue, listening, and prayer, according to the Holy See Press Office.The encounter, described as one of “closeness with the victims, of deep and painful listening and dialogue,” lasted nearly three hours. The meeting concluded with “an intense moment of prayer” shared between the pope and the survivors.This was the second time in less than three weeks that Leo has met at the Vatican with victims of clerical abuse. On Oct. 20, he received four survivors and two representatives of the international coalition Ending Clergy Abuse, which brings together victims and advocates from more than 30 countries. That earlier meeting lasted about an hour and was described by participants as a “deeply meaningful conversation.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/tre8240.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 09 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, meets, with, abuse, survivors, the, Vatican</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: We should allow ‘ourselves to be challenged’ by those who suffer</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-we-should-allow-ourselves-to-be-challenged-by-those-who-suffer</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-we-should-allow-ourselves-to-be-challenged-by-those-who-suffer</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV receives members of the Religious of Jesus and Mary, founded by St. Claudine Thévenet, and the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo, known as the Scalabrinians, in the consistory hall at the Vatican on Nov. 6, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 7, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV said we should “allow ourselves to be challenged” by the presence of those who suffer “without fear of abandoning our own security” during an audience this week with the general chapters of two women’s religious congregations with strong missionary outreaches.The two orders present were the Religious of Jesus and Mary, founded by St. Claudine Thévenet, and the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo, known as the Scalabrinians, who are dedicated to the pastoral care of migrants and refugees.During his Nov. 6 address at the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father noted that both congregations, though they originated in different circumstances, were founded “out of the same love for the poor.”Specifically, he noted that St. Claudine Thévenet and the Religious of Jesus and Mary served “young women in difficult situations,” while St. Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, Blessed Assunta Marchetti, and Venerable Don Giuseppe Marchetti, founders of the Scalabrinians, served migrants. The pope urged the sisters to spend these days “humbly listening to God and in courageous attention to the needs of others.”“This requires courage, so as to let ourselves be challenged by the presence of those who suffer, without fear of abandoning our own security, and to venture, if the Lord asks it, onto new paths,” he noted.The pope also highlighted the profound harmony between the guiding themes chosen by both congregations for their chapters: “Jesus himself drew near” (Lk 24:15) for the Religious of Jesus and Mary, and “Wherever you go, I will go” (Ruth 1:16) for the Scalabrinian missionaries.“These are complementary themes,” the pope affirmed, “because they express the dynamics of your foundations. Indeed, they bring together God’s initiative and our response.”‘The most important insights are gained on our knees’“During these days,” the pope said, “may he always be at the center. Give plenty of space, then, to prayer and silence throughout the course of your work … the most important insights are gained ‘on our knees,’ and what matures in the meeting rooms of the chapter needs to be sown and sifted before the tabernacle and in listening to the word.”The Holy Father emphasized that listening to God and listening to one another are inseparable. “Only by listening to the Lord,” he affirmed, “do we learn to truly listen to one another.”Pope Leo also recalled the difficult circumstances in which both institutes were founded: the French Revolution for the Religious of Jesus and Mary, and an era of mass emigration for the Scalabrinians.“None of them backed down or became discouraged,” the pontiff emphasized, “even in the face of the difficulties that arose after their foundations.”He pointed out that the secret of such fidelity lies precisely in the “encounter with the risen Jesus. That is where it all began for them and also for you. That is where we begin and from where we start again, when necessary, in order to carry on with courage and tenacity in spending ourselves in charity,” he encouraged.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 08 Nov 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, should, allow, ‘ourselves, challenged’, those, who, suffer</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV calls on Catholics to lead in ethical AI development</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-calls-on-catholics-to-lead-in-ethical-ai-development</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-calls-on-catholics-to-lead-in-ethical-ai-development</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Nov 7, 2025 / 14:41 pm (CNA).
The story of a mother whose son committed suicide after interacting with a chatbot moved participants at an AI conference in Rome on Friday, underscoring what Pope Leo XIV described earlier in the day as Catholics’ moral and spiritual responsibility for the development of artificial intelligence (AI).An MIT researcher nearly broke down in tears as he recounted the experience of the woman, Megan Garcia, who herself took part in the conference and spoke there to experts in robotics and AI.“I apologize for being so emotional because it is so emotional,” said Jose J. Pacheco, co-director of the MIT Advanced Manufacturing and Design Program, speaking at the Builders AI Forum at the Pontifical Gregorian University on Nov. 7. He said Garcia&#039;s story illustrated “how urgent this conversation needs to be, how urgent this conversation is, and how much responsibility we have.”In a message to the conference, which was read aloud to participants on Friday morning, Leo said the development of AI “cannot be confined to research labs or investment portfolios. It must be a profoundly ecclesial endeavor.”He urged all AI creators to “cultivate moral discernment” and put technology at the service of every human person.AI, the pope wrote, “carries an ethical and spiritual weight” because “every design choice expresses a vision of humanity.” He called on builders of AI “to develop systems that reflect justice, solidarity, and a genuine reverence for life.”The Builders Artificial Intelligence Forum met on Nov. 7, 2025 in the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. Credit: Courtney Mares / CNA“Whether designing algorithms for Catholic education, tools for compassionate health care, or creative platforms that tell the Christian story with truth and beauty, each participant contributes to a shared mission: to place technology at the service of evangelization and the integral development of every person,” Leo XIV said.The two-day Builders AI Forum brought together Catholic ethicists, entrepreneurs, educators, technology experts, and health care professionals from more than 160 organizations across the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Vatican. Hosted by the Pontifical Gregorian University and sponsored by Longbeard, the company behind the Catholic chatbot Magisterium AI, the event aimed to form an interdisciplinary community to guide AI innovation through the lens of Catholic social teaching.In small working groups, participants discussed AI’s impact on education, health care, and business. Educators debated how much children should interact with chatbots, while health care experts questioned what the “essential role of a human” in medicine could be in an increasingly automated system.On the sidelines of the conference, young Catholic entrepreneurs pitched new AI tools and applications to potential investors, and professors exchanged ideas with practitioners over cappuccinos. Despite differences in opinion, participants broadly agreed that Catholics — with their intellectual and ethical tradition and focus on human dignity — must help shape AI’s future.Josh Thomason, CEO of TrekAI, an Atlanta-based Catholic tutoring startup, said he attended to “come together with like-minded believers to think together about where we are today and how we iterate towards what that future is.” He added that “it is critical that people of faith are ultimately working in this space to shape it.”John Johnson, CEO of Patmos Hosting and the Albertus Magnus Institute in California, urged participants to offer a “human alternative” to the commodification of people by technology.“Every tech company that invented this technology … has the same exact product and that’s you, and that’s me,” Johnson said. “The Church … is called to stand up and very aggressively, even triumphantly, pronounce … the transcendent alternative to the commodification of the human person.”Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope and a former mathematics major, has made ethical technology one of the key priorities of his papacy. He said he chose his papal name in part to honor Pope Leo XIII, who addressed the challenges of the industrial revolution in his encyclical Rerum Novarum.“In our own day,” Leo said shortly after his election in May, “the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.”Leo XIV praised the Builders AI Forum for fostering “dialogue between faith and reason renewed in the digital epoch,” saying that “intelligence — whether artificial or human — finds its fullest meaning in love, freedom, and relationship with God.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 08 Nov 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, calls, Catholics, lead, ethical, development</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV highlights role of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Blessed Juan de Palafox in Mexico</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-highlights-role-of-our-lady-of-guadalupe-blessed-juan-de-palafox-in-mexico</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-highlights-role-of-our-lady-of-guadalupe-blessed-juan-de-palafox-in-mexico</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Blessed Juan de Palafox y Mendoza and Our Lady of Guadalupe. / Credit: Public domain

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 7, 2025 / 15:11 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV praised the missionary work of the Church in Mexico throughout history, inspired by the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the example of Blessed Juan de Palafox y Mendoza.In a message addressed to the participants of the 17th National Missionary Congress of Mexico, being held in Puebla Nov. 7–9, the Holy Father noted that the greatest privilege and duty of missionaries is “to bring Christ to the heart of every person.”Taking a closer look at missionary work, the pope offered the parable of the yeast from the Gospel of Matthew: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened” (Mt 13:33).In light of this verse, the pope explained that the “leaven of the Gospel” arrived in Mexico in the hands of a few missionaries: “These were the hands of the Church, which began to knead the leaven they carried with them — the deposit of faith — with the new flour of a continent that did not yet know the name of Christ.”The Holy Father noted that the Gospel “did not erase what it found but transformed it,” until it “took root in their hearts and blossomed into works of unique holiness and beauty.”Legacy of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Blessed Juan de Palafox y MendozaThe pope referred to the message of the Virgin Mary on Tepeyac Hill as “a sign of perfect inculturation” that God bestowed upon the Church, and noted that the message of Guadalupe provided “missionary momentum” for the first evangelizers, who “faithfully took up the task of doing what Christ commanded.”He also highlighted the figure of Blessed Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, whom he described as a “pastor and missionary who understood his ministry as service and leaven.”The Holy Father recalled his visit to Puebla as prior general of the Order of St. Augustine, where, he stated, the figure of Blessed Juan “remained alive in the memory of the people of Puebla; his [spiritual] fatherhood had left such a profound mark that it is still felt today in the simple faith of the faithful.”Palafox served as bishop of Puebla in the mid-1600s. For the pontiff, the example of the bishop challenges pastors today, “for it teaches that to govern is to serve, that to provide serious formation is to evangelize, and that all authority, when exercised according to the criteria of Christ, becomes a source of communion and hope.”Furthermore, as the pope pointed out, in his life and writings Palafox “shows that the true missionary does not dominate but loves; does not impose but serves; and does not exploit faith for personal gain.”Looking at the present, he lamented that “social divisions, the challenges of new technologies, and sincere desires for peace continue to be ground together like new flours that risk being fermented with bad yeast.”Therefore, he emphasized that today’s missionaries are called to be “the hands of the Church that place the leaven of the risen Lord in the dough of history, so that hope may be fermented anew.”“We must be willing to put our hands into the dough of the world! It is not enough to talk about the flour without getting our hands messed up; we must touch it,” he emphasized. He added: “This is how the kingdom will grow — not by force or numbers but by the patience of those who, with faith and love, continue kneading alongside God.”At the end of his message, the pope noted that the Catholic Church in Mexico “strives to live this call of Christ fully” and thus thanked the missionaries for their dedication.“May the Lord Jesus make all your initiatives fruitful and may Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Star of Evangelization, always accompany you with her motherly tenderness, showing you the way that leads to God,” he prayed.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/guada.palafox.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 08 Nov 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, highlights, role, Our, Lady, Guadalupe, Blessed, Juan, Palafox, Mexico</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV warns about new addictions: pornography and internet abuse</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-warns-about-new-addictions-pornography-and-internet-abuse</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-warns-about-new-addictions-pornography-and-internet-abuse</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  null / Credit: sitthiphong/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 7, 2025 / 16:11 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Friday warned about new addictions of recent times such as compulsive gambling, betting, and pornography as consequences of excessive internet use.The Holy Father issued his warning in a video message addressed to participants in the seventh National Conference on Addictions, organized in Rome by Italy’s Presidency of the Council of Ministers.In his Nov. 7 message, the pontiff emphasized that in recent times, in addition to addictions such as drugs and alcohol — which continue to be the most prevalent — “new forms have emerged, since the growing use of the internet, computers, and smartphones is associated not only with clear benefits but also an excessive use that often leads to addictions with negative consequences for health.”These addictions, the pope explained, are related “to compulsive gambling and betting, pornography, and almost constant presence on digital platforms. The object of addiction becomes an obsession, conditioning behavior and daily life.”He emphasized that these phenomena are “a symptom of the mental or inner distress of the individual and a social decline in positive values and references, particularly in teenagers and young people.”In this context, he stressed that this time of youth “is a time of trials and questions, of the search for meaning in life,” sometimes marked by drug use, the pursuit of easy money through slot machines, or internet addiction, which demonstrates “that we live in a world without hope, where there is a lack of vigorous human and spiritual proposals.”Consequently, he lamented that many young people “think that all forms of behavior are equal, as they are unable to distinguish good from evil and do not have a sense of moral limits.”For this reason, the Holy Father urged everyone to value and encourage “the efforts of parents and various educational agencies, such as schools, parishes, and oratories, aimed at inspiring spiritual and moral values in the younger generation so that they behave responsibly.”Furthermore, he emphasized that young people “need to form their consciences, develop their inner lives, and establish positive relationships with their peers and constructive dialogue with adults in order to become free and responsible architects of their own lives.”Pope Leo made a powerful appeal to institutions, the Church, and all of society “to perceive among these young people a cry for help and a deep thirst for life, to offer an attentive and supportive presence that invites them to make an intellectual and moral effort, and helps them to forge their will.”He thus called for a commitment to prevention efforts “that translates into action by the community as a whole.” He also emphasized the urgency of “boosting the self-esteem of the younger generation in order to combat the sense of insecurity and emotional instability fostered both by social pressures and by the very nature of adolescence.”Finally, he encouraged the formulation of “practical proposals aimed at promoting a culture of solidarity and subsidiarity; a culture that opposes selfishness and utilitarian and economic logic but which reaches out to others, listening to them, on a journey of encounter and relationship with our neighbors, especially when they are most vulnerable and fragile.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/shutterstock_648266626.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 08 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, warns, about, new, addictions:, pornography, and, internet, abuse</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV plans to hold major meeting of cardinals in January</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-plans-to-hold-major-meeting-of-cardinals-in-january</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-plans-to-hold-major-meeting-of-cardinals-in-january</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Cardinals follow the ceremony during the ordinary public consistory for the creation of new cardinals at St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Dec. 7, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

National Catholic Register, Nov 7, 2025 / 17:10 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV is planning to convene an extraordinary consistory of cardinals in early January, the theme of which is not yet known. In a brief communication sent to cardinals on Nov. 6 and obtained by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, on Friday, the Vatican Secretariat of State said that “Holy Father Leo XIV has in mind to convene an extraordinary consistory for the days of Jan. 7 and 8, 2026.”“In due course, the dean of the College of Cardinals will send to Your Eminence the relevant letter with further details,” the note continued, before ending: “With profound reverence, coordinating office of the Secretariat of State.” When the Register asked Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni about the communication on Friday, he said the press office had not yet publicly “confirmed its existence” and that he did not think an announcement of such an event would be made “that far ahead.”As well as the topic remaining unknown, it is also not yet certain if all cardinals have been notified of the planned gathering. Extraordinary consistories are usually special gatherings of all cardinals, convened by the pope to discuss matters of “particular needs of the Church” or highly important issues requiring broad consultation among the world’s cardinals. News of the meeting comes after cardinals at this year’s conclave complained about a lack of meetings and collegiality under Pope Francis. Held behind closed doors, the last extraordinary consistory at the Vatican took place on Aug. 29-30, 2022, under Pope Francis. Its purpose was to bring all the cardinals together to discuss the implementation and meaning of the new apostolic constitution for the Roman Curia, titled Praedicate Evangelium. The meeting also focused on the reforms of Church governance and the Roman Curia. During that consistory, cardinals received an official report on the curial reform and then broke into language groups to debate the practical consequences and underlying principles of the new constitution before reuniting for a concluding summary discussion. The format was a departure from previous consistories, modeled instead on synodality. Pope Francis also used the opportunity to hold a consistory of new cardinals at the same time, although it is unlikely that will be Pope Leo’s intention, as the College of Cardinals already has 128 cardinal-electors, well over the advised limit of 120.Prior to that extraordinary consistory, a more famous one was held on Feb. 20-21, 2014, also under Pope Francis. That gathering brought together all the cardinals to reflect on the theme of the family and was intended to provide guidance and theological foundations for a Synod on the Family, which was held later in 2014 and again in 2015.That extraordinary consistory notably featured a controversial address by Cardinal Walter Kasper in which the German theologian launched what became known as the “Kasper Proposal” that would open the door to a “pastoral solution” for some civilly remarried divorcees to be able to receive holy Communion. The proposal, which attracted considerable criticism and controversy, significantly influenced the synod proceedings, and a form of the Kasper Proposal was included in Pope Francis’ 2016 postsynodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. A number of cardinals rose to criticize Kasper’s intervention, according to reports.That was the only extraordinary consistory of the College of Cardinals under Francis at which members were permitted to speak freely on any topic they wished. At subsequent such consistories, in February 2015 and the later one in August 2022, interventions were limited to certain subjects.Prior to Francis, Pope John Paul II convened six extraordinary consistories, three of which discussed issues pertaining to curial reform and the Holy See’s financial situation. The other three gatherings covered present-day threats to life, the proclamation of Christ as sole savior, and the threat of sects (1991); preparation for the 2000 Jubilee (1994); and the Church’s prospects in the third millennium in light of Novo Millennio Ineunte (2001), John Paul II’s apostolic letter outlining the Church’s priorities for the millennium.Benedict XVI held no formal extraordinary consistories during his pontificate, instead choosing to hold all-day meetings the day before consistories of new cardinals.This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 08 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, plans, hold, major, meeting, cardinals, January</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Vatican to release new document on polygamy at end of November</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-to-release-new-document-on-polygamy-at-end-of-november</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-to-release-new-document-on-polygamy-at-end-of-november</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  null / Credit: Tekke via Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Vatican City, Nov 4, 2025 / 14:04 pm (CNA).
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith will publish a new document on marriage in the context of ongoing discussions about polygamy in Africa.The document, titled “We Two: In Praise of Monogamy. Doctrinal Note on the Value of Marriage, Exclusive Communion, and Mutual Belonging,” will be released at the end of November, the dicastery’s secretary, Father Armando Matteo, said Tuesday.Matteo said the work is connected to a request made during the Synod on Synodality for African bishops to prepare a statement on polygamy. African bishops themselves, he noted, asked the Holy See for guidance on the issue.The Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015 — though largely dominated by questions of divorce and remarriage — also saw significant interventions from African bishops on the pastoral challenges of polygamous marriages.A press conference will be held at the Holy See Press Office when the document is released later this month. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, release, new, document, polygamy, end, November</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>This is Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of November</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/this-is-pope-leo-xivs-prayer-intention-for-the-month-of-november</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/this-is-pope-leo-xivs-prayer-intention-for-the-month-of-november</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV prays during his general audience on Sept. 24, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Nov 4, 2025 / 14:34 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of November is for the prevention of suicide. “Let us pray that those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts might find the support, care, and love they need in their community and be open to the beauty of life,” the pope said in a video released Nov. 4. According to a press release, this month’s video was made in collaboration with the Diocese of Phoenix.  In the video, Pope Leo recites an original prayer written specifically for this month’s prayer intention. Here is his full prayer:Lord Jesus,You who invite the weary and burdenedto come to you and rest in your heart,we ask you this month for all the peoplewho live in darkness and despair,especially for those strugglingwith suicidal thoughts.May they always find a communitythat welcomes them, listens to them, and accompanies them.Give all of us an attentive and compassionate heart,capable of offering comfort and support,also with the necessary professional help.May we know how to be close with respect and tenderness,helping to heal wounds, build bonds, and open horizons.Together may we rediscover that life is a gift,that there is still beauty and meaning,even in the midst of pain and suffering.We are well aware that those who follow youare also vulnerable to sadness without hope.We ask you to always make us feel your loveso that, through your closeness to us,we can recognize and proclaim to all the infinite love of the Fatherwho leads us by the hand to renew our trust in the life you give us.Amen.The video prayer intention is promoted by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which raises awareness of monthly papal prayer intentions. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>This, Pope, Leo, XIV’s, prayer, intention, for, the, month, November</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV asks Rupnik accusers to be patient</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-asks-rupnik-accusers-to-be-patient</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-asks-rupnik-accusers-to-be-patient</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Father Marko Rupnik, SJ, in an interview with EWTN in 2020. / Credit: EWTN

Rome Newsroom, Nov 4, 2025 / 16:02 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV asked accusers of Father Marko Rupnik to have patience as a trial on the priest’s alleged abuse begins at the Vatican.“A new trial has recently begun, judges were appointed. And processes for justice take a long time. I know it’s very difficult for the victims to ask that they be patient, but the Church needs to respect the rights of all people,” the pope said, addressing a question from Magdalena Wolinska-Reidi of EWTN News just outside his Castel Gandolfo residence, Villa Barberini, on Nov. 4.“The principle of innocent until proven guilty is also true in the Church,” he added. “Hopefully, this trial that is just beginning will be able to give some clarity to all those involved.”Leo answered questions from journalists as he left Castel Gandolfo to return to the Vatican. He has spent almost every Tuesday at the papal retreat, located 18 miles south of Rome, since early September.The Vatican’s doctrine office announced last month that a panel of five judges had been nominated to decide the disciplinary case against Rupnik, accused of the sexual and psychological abuse of consecrated women under his spiritual care.Rupnik — a well-known artist with mosaics and paintings in hundreds of Catholic shrines and churches around the world — is accused of having committed sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse against dozens of women religious in the 1980s and early 1990s.The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith began to investigate the abuse accusations against Rupnik in October 2023 after Pope Francis lifted the statute of limitations.In May 2019, the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith launched a criminal administrative process against Rupnik after the Society of Jesus reported credible complaints of abuse by the priest to the Vatican.One year later, the Vatican declared Rupnik to be in a state of “latae sententiae” excommunication for absolving an accomplice in a sin against the Sixth Commandment. His excommunication was lifted by Pope Francis after two weeks.The Society of Jesus expelled Rupnik from the religious congregation in June 2023 for his “stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience.”ArtLeo also told journalists Nov. 4 he is aware of calls to remove or cover up Rupnik’s artwork by some abuse survivors and their advocates.“Certainly in many places, precisely because of the need to be sensitive to those who have presented cases of being victims, the artwork has been covered up. Artwork has been removed from websites. That issue is certainly something that we’re aware of,” he said.According to the Rome-based Centro Aletti, the art and theology school founded in 1993 and previously directed by Rupnik, the workshop has 232 completed mosaic and other art projects around the world — including in some of the most prominent international Catholic shrines, such as the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in the state of São Paulo in Brazil and the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France.The Vatican has at least three original mosaics by Rupnik, including in the Redemptoris Mater chapel in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City, in the chapel of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and in the San Calisto Building in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood.Some calling for the art’s removal or concealment say that seeing the works in places of worship can have a traumatic effect on abuse victims, particularly since Rupnik’s accusers say he sexually abused them as they assisted him in the process of making his art.The bishop of Lourdes, Jean-Marc Micas, announced earlier this year that the shrine would cover mosaics by Rupnik on the entrances to the shrine’s main church.In June, the official Vatican News outlet removed images of the priest’s distinctive works, inspired by artistic traditions from Eastern Christianity, from its website, after years of criticism for its use of them to illustrate pages dedicated to saints and feast days.Centro Aletti last year called the pressure to remove works of art by the studio part of “cancel culture” and the “criminalization of art.”The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors sent a letter to top Vatican officials last year urging them not to display artwork, like Rupnik’s, “that could imply either exoneration or a subtle defense” of those accused of abuse. In an interview with Crux in July, Pope Leo said how to respond to the Church’s abuse crisis is “one of the many challenges that I’m trying to find a way to deal with.”And while it remains unresolved, it cannot be the Church’s sole focus, he said. He also drew attention to the difficulty of striking a balance between providing help and justice for victims with respect for the rights of the accused. “We’re in kind of a bind there.”Leo put the issue of clerical sexual abuse into the context of his views on the wider role of the Church in the world: “We can’t make the whole Church focus exclusively on this issue, because that would not be an authentic response to what the world is looking for in terms of the need for the mission of the Church.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, asks, Rupnik, accusers, patient</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV says spiritual needs of detained migrants deserve attention</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-says-spiritual-needs-of-detained-migrants-deserve-attention</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-says-spiritual-needs-of-detained-migrants-deserve-attention</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Auxiliary Bishop Jose María García-Maldonado with eight spiritual leaders including Sister JoAnn Persch attempt to bring Communion to detainees at the Broadview, Illinois, facility and were not admitted Nov. 1, 2025. / Credit: Bryan Sebastian, courtesy of Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 4, 2025 / 16:52 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday said the spiritual rights of migrants in detention must be considered.“Many people who’ve lived for years and years and years, never causing problems, have been deeply affected by what’s going on right now,” he said Nov. 4 outside Castel Gandolfo. “I would certainly invite the authorities to allow pastoral workers to attend to the needs of those people. Many times they’ve been separated from their families for a good amount of time. No one knows what’s happening, but their own spiritual needs should be attended to.”Catholic leaders in Chicago sought to bring holy Communion to detainees Nov. 1 at a Chicago-area building that holds people detained in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Auxiliary Bishop Jose María García-Maldonado and others were not admitted despite requesting access weeks in advance and attempting to follow U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s guidelines.A federal judge heard testimony Nov. 4 about conditions at the building, the Broadview facility operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Immigration advocates say conditions are inhumane, with people being kept at the Broadview facility for days, sleeping on floors, having medications withheld, with no showers. ICE has not responded to a request for comment.The pope said the situation of migrants in detention warrants attention.“I think in the first place, the role of the Church is to preach the Gospel. And just a couple days ago, we heard Matthew’s Gospel chapter 25, which says Jesus is very clearly, at the end of the world, we’re going to be asked, ‘How did you receive the foreigner? Did you receive him and welcome him or not?’” Leo said.  “There’s a deep reflection that needs to be made in terms of what’s happening” regarding migrants in detention, the pope said.  ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, says, spiritual, needs, detained, migrants, deserve, attention</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV urges dialogue on Venezuela tensions</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-dialogue-on-venezuela-tensions</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-dialogue-on-venezuela-tensions</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo answers questions from journalists as he leaves Castel Gandolfo to return to the Vatican on Nov. 4, 2025. / Credit: EWTN News

Rome Newsroom, Nov 4, 2025 / 17:17 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV said dialogue is the solution to rising tensions with Venezuela.There have been more than a dozen U.S. strikes on vessels in the Caribbean, often of Venezuelan origin. Dozens of deaths have been reported as a result, and the U.S. has increased its military presence in the Caribbean in recent months.“A country has the right to have its own military to defend peace, to build peace,” Pope Leo XIV said Nov. 4 outside Castel Gandolfo. “In this case, however, it seems a bit different, with the tension increasing… Just five minutes ago I read some news saying that they are getting closer and closer to the coast of Venezuela. I think that with violence we do not win. The thing to do is to seek dialogue, to look for a just way to find solutions to the problems that may exist in a country. A country has the right to have its own military to defend peace, to build peace.”The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 61 other civil society organizations in sending a letter to Congress on Nov. 4 to express alarm at “illegal military strikes and extrajudicial killings of civilians on boats off of the coast of Venezuela.”“The Trump administration has not provided any valid legal justification for these strikes or any evidence to substantiate its claims that the victims were an imminent threat to the security of the United States,” the letter said. “We fear that, barring decisive action by members of Congress, there will be more strikes, more extrajudicial killings, and potentially a full-blown limitless war with one or more countries in the region, with likely devastating humanitarian and geopolitical consequences.”President Donald Trump called for mobilizing U.S. military assets against drug-trafficking organizations during the 2024 campaign. The administration began classifying regional drug cartels and criminal organizations as “foreign terrorist organizations” in 2025.  ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, dialogue, Venezuela, tensions</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Drawing inspiration from Newman: ‘Without his legacy, perhaps I would not be Catholic today’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/drawing-inspiration-from-newman-without-his-legacy-perhaps-i-would-not-be-catholic-today</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/drawing-inspiration-from-newman-without-his-legacy-perhaps-i-would-not-be-catholic-today</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Ryan Marr is an expert on the English saint John Henry Newman and is a former associate editor of the Newman Studies Journal. / Credit: Courtesy of Ryan Marr

Vatican City, Nov 1, 2025 / 11:50 am (CNA).
St. John Henry Newman, the Anglican clergyman who converted to Catholicism but whom many in both London and Rome distrusted for years, stands today as a beacon that continues to inspire many to embrace the Catholic faith as he did.“I am personally grateful for the testimony of Newman’s life, because without his legacy I might not be Catholic today,” confessed Ryan “Bud” Marr, a renowned scholar of the English saint, upon whom Pope Leo XIV conferred Saturday the title of doctor of the Church.Newman’s memorable quote “to be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant” was pivotal in Marr’s personal conversion. When he first read it, he “was studying to be a Protestant pastor,” he revealed in a conversation with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.“I immediately understood that I had to read the rest of Newman’s essay to put to the test the truth of his statement. I couldn’t simply ignore that challenge and continue on the path I was on,” he explained.The expert, a former associate editor of the Newman Studies Journal, added that “there are countless similar testimonies” to his and that they will continue to grow in the coming years in light of Newman’s designation as the 38th doctor of the Church.For Marr, Newman possessed a singular gift: “Expressing fundamental truths in brief and memorable phrases,” capable of transcending time and touching consciences. This is why so many people, over more than a century, have found in his writings a path to conversion, he said.Development of doctrine, a decisive contributionFor Marr, Newman’s most significant contribution to contemporary Catholic theology is on the subject of the development of doctrine. “It’s not that Newman wrote something entirely new,” he explained.“Other Catholic theologians, especially St. Vincent of Lérins, had already addressed the topic of doctrinal development. But Newman synthesized diverse ideas into a unified and compelling theory so that any subsequent theologian has had to start from his ‘Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine’ when addressing this topic,” he pointed out.This vision, he added, was decisive for 20th-century thought. Newman showed that “the Church’s understanding of revealed truths deepens over time.” “In some cases, the Church offers new formulations — as happened with the Nicene Creed — but these developments always affirm and clarify what has been handed down,” he emphasized.“The deposit of faith is immutable, but our understanding of that deposit actually expands,” he added. Each generation, Marr emphasized, must “proclaim the truth of the faith within its own linguistic categories” but always preserve the “essential while facing the challenges of its time.”Conscience and ‘sensus fidei’ as means of Christian discernmentWhen it was announced that Newman would be proclaimed a doctor of the Church, Marr recalled, “some observers predicted that Pope Leo XIV might bestow upon him the title of ‘doctor of conscience.’” This is no coincidence. Newman, he noted, dedicated some of his most influential writings to the “centrality of conscience in the journey to God,” both during his Anglican period and in his new life as a Catholic.Like St. Thomas Aquinas, Marr explained, “Newman believed that a person should never act against the dictates of their conscience,” because doing so “would undermine the very coherence of the moral life.”However, the former champion of Anglicanism, who converted to Catholicism at the age of 45, also warned about the human tendency toward “self-deception,” Marr explained. The scholar noted that Newman insisted on the need to “form the conscience according to divine and natural law.”In his 1874 “Letter to the Duke of Norfolk,” one of his most celebrated essays, Newman cautioned against a “false notion of conscience,” identified with the right to one’s own will, an idea that, according to Marr, “reflects the modern mindset” that values ​​subjective independence over objective truth.He therefore pointed out that “as Catholics, we must work to restore the true vision of conscience, in line with the teaching of theological giants like Aquinas and Newman.”‘Sensus fidei’ is not ‘a populist counterweight to the hierarchy’This theme, he said, is intertwined with the concept of the “sensus fidei,” the supernatural sense of the faith bestowed upon the baptized: “Newman was ahead of his time in recognizing that the lay faithful have an essential role in the defense and transmission of tradition. The priesthood of all believers means, in part, that the baptized possess a special sense of the faith, a capacity that we must strengthen through devotion and study.”Marr noted that, for Newman, this sense also had a communal dimension, the “sensus fidelium,” or sense of the faithful. “He did not understand it as a populist counterweight to the hierarchy,” he clarified. “He knew that the pope and the bishops exercise a divinely instituted authority, but he remembered that there have been times in history — such as during the Arian controversy — when the laity defended the faith, even when some pastors wavered.”A prophet in the face of modern apostasyWith prophetic clarity, the expert noted, Newman “foresaw the growing irreligion of the modern world.” In his 1873 sermon “The Infidelity of the Future,” Newman warned that the trials of the future would be so great “that they would shake even hearts as valiant as those of St. Athanasius or St. Gregory the Great,” Marr said.Newman, he explained, perceived that the greatest danger of modernity would be precisely the spread of unbelief, a society that is “simply irreligious.”However, faced with this bleak outlook, “Newman neither called for retreat nor proposed authoritarian strategies.” He courageously confronted the philosophical ideas of his time and offered a compelling explanation of the “reasonableness of the Christian faith,” deeply rooted in Catholic tradition and in dialogue with modern philosophy, he noted.Newman and the intellectual mission of the laityNewman, the expert continued, understood the life of the Catholic Church as something “dynamic,” where “all members of the body of Christ have an active role in the proclamation of the truth.”The fathers of the Second Vatican Council took up this vision, presenting it as an urgent call to contemporary Catholics. The expert warned that it is important to understand this call well: “The laity do not fulfill their vocation by becoming more clerical but by sanctifying the world according to their own specific mission, bringing the Gospel to education, law, medicine, and culture.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Drawing, inspiration, from, Newman:, ‘Without, his, legacy, perhaps, would, not, Catholic, today’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>CNA explains: What does it mean to be a doctor of the Church?</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/cna-explains-what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-doctor-of-the-church</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/cna-explains-what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-doctor-of-the-church</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  St. Peter’s Basilica. / Credi: cinemavision/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 2, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
The Vatican on Saturday named St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the Church. The 19th-century English saint — a former Anglican priest who converted to Catholicism — joined 37 other saints who have been given the same honor.Born in London and baptized into the Church of England in 1801, Newman was a popular and respected Anglican priest, theologian, and writer among his peers prior to his conversion to Catholicism in 1845. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1847 and later made a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879.As a Catholic, Newman deepened and contributed to the Church’s teaching, thanks to his broad knowledge of theology and his keen insight into modern times, grounded in the Gospel. His body of work includes 40 books and more than 20,000 letters.He died in Edgbaston, England, in 1890. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on Sept. 19, 2010, and canonized by Pope Francis on Oct. 13, 2019.What is a ‘doctor of the Church’?The title “doctor of the Church” recognizes those canonized men and women who possessed profound knowledge, were superb teachers, and contributed significantly to the Church’s theology.Traditionally, the title has been granted on the basis of three requirements: the manifest holiness of a candidate affirmed by his or her canonization as a saint; the person’s eminence in doctrine demonstrated by the leaving behind of a body of teachings that made significant and lasting contributions to the life of the Church; and a formal declaration by the Church, usually by a pope.While their teachings are not considered infallible, being declared a “doctor” means that they contributed to the formulation of Christian teaching in at least one significant area and this teaching has impacted later generations. Not quite half of the saints revered as doctors in the Catholic Church are also honored in the Orthodox church since they lived before the Great Schism in 1054.The most recent doctor of the Church to be named was St. Irenaeus of Lyon, with the title “doctor unitatis” (“doctor of unity”), in 2022. Pope Francis had previously in 2015 named as a doctor of the Church St. Gregory of Narek, a 10th-century priest, monk, mystic, and poet beloved among Armenian Christians.Other notable saints who are doctors of the Church include St. Teresa of Ávila, St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Anthony of Padua, and St. Francis de Sales, among others.This story was first published on Aug. 1, 2025, and has been updated.  ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>CNA, explains:, What, does, mean, doctor, the, Church</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV urges ceasefire in Sudan, condemns post&#45;election violence in Tanzania</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-ceasefire-in-sudan-condemns-post-election-violence-in-tanzania</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-ceasefire-in-sudan-condemns-post-election-violence-in-tanzania</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV leads the faithful in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in reciting the Angelus on Nov. 2, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 2, 2025 / 10:50 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV issued urgent appeals for peace and humanitarian access in Sudan and Tanzania on Sunday, decrying escalating violence that has left civilians dead and aid blocked in parts of Africa.“With great sorrow I am following the tragic news coming from Sudan, especially from the city of El Fasher in the war-torn region of North Darfur,” the pope said after leading the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square on Nov. 2. He condemned “indiscriminate violence against women and children, attacks on unarmed civilians, and serious obstacles to humanitarian aid,” and called for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors.“I renew my heartfelt appeal to all parties involved to agree to a ceasefire and to urgently open humanitarian corridors,” he said, urging the international community “to act with determination and generosity” to support relief efforts.Turning to Tanzania, the pope expressed sadness over deadly clashes following recent elections, encouraging citizens “to avoid all forms of violence and to follow the path of dialogue.”The pope also greeted pilgrims from Italy and abroad, including youth and religious groups, and said he would celebrate Mass that afternoon at Rome’s Verano Cemetery in remembrance of the faithful departed. “In spirit, I will visit the graves of my loved ones, and I will also pray for those who have no one to remember them,” he said. “Our heavenly Father knows and loves each of us, and he forgets no one.”Earlier, before the recitation of the Angelus, the pope reflected on the meaning of All Souls’ Day, telling the faithful that “the resurrection of the crucified Jesus from the dead sheds light on the destiny of each one of us.”Quoting from the Gospel of John, he said: “This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me but raise it up on the last day.” From this, the pope explained, “the focus of God’s concerns is clear: that no one should perish forever and that everyone should have their own place and radiate their unique beauty.”He linked this hope to the previous day’s feast of All Saints, calling it “a communion of differences that extends God’s life to all his daughters and sons who wish to share in it.” Citing Pope Benedict XVI, he described eternal life as “being so immersed in an ocean of infinite love that time, before, and after no longer exist.”Concluding his reflection, the pope invited Christians to live this day as a remembrance filled with hope. “Let us commemorate, therefore, the future,” he said. “We are not enclosed in the past or in sentimental tears of nostalgia. Neither are we sealed within the present, as in a tomb.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, ceasefire, Sudan, condemns, post-election, violence, Tanzania</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: Death is ‘a hope for the future’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-death-is-a-hope-for-the-future</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-death-is-a-hope-for-the-future</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass commemorating the faithful departed at Rome’s Verano Cemetery on Nov. 2, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 2, 2025 / 12:40 pm (CNA).
Celebrating Mass for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed at Rome’s Verano Cemetery, Pope Leo XIV invited Catholics to contemplate death “not so much as a recollection of the past but above all as a hope for the future.”The pope said the Christian vision of death is not one of despair or nostalgia but of confident expectation rooted in the resurrection of Christ. “Our Christian faith, founded upon Christ’s paschal mystery, helps us to experience our memories as more than just a recollection of the past but also, and above all, as hope for the future,” he said in his homily.He encouraged the faithful not to remain “in the sorrow for those who are no longer with us” but instead to look forward “towards the goal of our journey, towards the safe harbor that God has promised us, towards the unending feast that awaits us.”“This hope for the future brings to life our remembrance and prayer today,” the pope continued. “This is not an illusion for soothing the pain of our separation from loved ones, nor is it mere human optimism. Instead, it is the hope founded on the resurrection of Jesus who has conquered death and opened for us the path to the fullness of life.”Pope Leo emphasized that love is the key to this journey. “It was out of love that God created us, through the love of his Son that he saves us from death, and in the joy of that same love, he desires that we live forever with him and with our loved ones,” he said.He urged Christians to anticipate eternal life by practicing charity in their daily lives. “Whenever we dwell in love and show charity to others, especially the weakest and most needy, then we can journey towards our goal, and even now anticipate it through an unbreakable bond with those who have gone before us.”“Love conquers death,” he said simply. “In love, God will gather us together with our loved ones. And, if we journey together in charity, our very lives become a prayer rising up to God, uniting us with the departed, drawing us closer to them as we await to meet them again in the joy of eternal life.”Concluding his homily, the pope invited those mourning loved ones to turn to the risen Christ as their sure source of comfort and promise. “Even as our sorrow for those no longer among us remains etched in our hearts, let us entrust ourselves to the hope that does not disappoint,” he said. “Let us fix our gaze upon the risen Christ and think of our departed loved ones as enfolded in his light.”“The Lord awaits us,” he added. “And when we finally meet him at the end of our earthly journey, we shall rejoice with him and with our loved ones who have gone before us. May this promise sustain us, dry our tears, and raise our gaze upwards toward the hope for the future that never fades.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/251102-commemoration-of-all-the-faithful-departed-daniel-ibanez-18.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, Death, ‘a, hope, for, the, future’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in suffrage for deceased prelates</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-celebrates-mass-in-suffrage-for-deceased-prelates</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-celebrates-mass-in-suffrage-for-deceased-prelates</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV leads the Church’s commemoration for his papal predecessor and 142 other bishops who died in the past year on Nov. 3, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 3, 2025 / 11:04 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Monday presided over a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in suffrage for the late Pope Francis and for deceased cardinals and bishops.One day after celebrating Mass for all the faithful departed at Verano Cemetery in Rome, the Holy Father led the Church’s commemoration for his papal predecessor and 142 other bishops who died in the past year.In the presence of members of the Roman Curia and hundreds of Catholic faithful, the pope said his first Mass commemorating the Church’s deceased cardinals and bishops had the “savor of Christian hope” because their ministry had guided many “on the path of the Gospel.”“Dear friends, our beloved Pope Francis and our brother cardinals and bishops for whom we offer the Eucharistic sacrifice today have lived, witnessed, and taught this new paschal hope the Lord called them to,” Leo said in his Nov. 3 homily.“The Lord called them and established them as shepherds of his Church,” he said. “Through their ministry they — to use the language of the Book of Daniel — have led many to righteousness.”Though saddened by their deaths, Leo said their guidance and teaching helped transmit Christ’s “wisdom, justice, sanctification, and redemption” to the Church’s faithful spread throughout the world.“We are saddened, of course, when a loved one leaves us,” he told the congregation. “As Christians, we are called to bear with Christ the weight of these crosses.”“But we are not saddened like those without hope, because even the most tragic death cannot prevent Our Lord from welcoming our soul into his arms and transforming our mortal body, even the most disfigured, into the image of his glorious body,” he said.Entrusting the souls of Pope Francis and the deceased prelates to God, Leo prayed for their intercession and “spiritual encouragement” for Christians “who are still pilgrims on earth.”Using the Book of Psalms, Leo at the end of his homily prayed: “Hope in God; I will still praise him, the salvation of my face and my God.” ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/mass.03.nov.2025.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, celebrates, Mass, suffrage, for, deceased, prelates</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope to make St. John Henry Newman co&#45;patron of Catholic education with St. Thomas Aquinas</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-to-make-st-john-henry-newman-co-patron-of-catholic-education-with-st-thomas-aquinas</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-to-make-st-john-henry-newman-co-patron-of-catholic-education-with-st-thomas-aquinas</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  St. Thomas Aquinas/St. John Henry Newman. / Credit: Public domain

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 31, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV declared St. John Henry Newman, along with St. Thomas Aquinas, as a patron saint of the Catholic Church’s educational mission in his recent apostolic letter on education, “Drawing New Maps of Hope.”In the letter, the pontiff draws a connection between the two saints, separated by six centuries but united by the same mission: teaching within the Catholic Church.Paul Gordon, professor of Catholic social doctrine and contemporary history and literature at the Ángel Ayala Institute of Humanities, reflected on the Holy Father’s letter in a recent conversation with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.Union between faith and reasonAs the Scottish professor noted, both Newman and Aquinas were theologians who promoted dialogue between the sciences, especially between faith and reason, positioning the gift of faith as a guide in the search for truth. In the apostolic letter, published on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration Gravissimum Educationis, the pope recalls the words of Newman, who will also be declared a doctor of the Church on Nov. 1: “Religious truth is not only a part, but a condition of general knowledge.”According to Pope Leo, this involves an invitation to “renew the commitment to knowledge that is as intellectually responsible and rigorous as it is profoundly human.”A keen insight into modern timesAquinas, known as the “angelic doctor,” plumbed the depths of the Christian faith “in the light of Aristotle’s philosophy” and Christianized the ideas of the Greek philosopher, Gordon explained.“St. Thomas Aquinas introduced Aristotle’s philosophy into the Catholic Church at the beginning of the modern world, in the 13th century,” he added.For his part, Newman, who was the first rector of the Catholic University of Ireland, “unified faith and reason” with his keen insight into modern times.Gordon also noted that Newman is one of the most celebrated converts to Catholicism in recent times, making the pope’s gesture “another milestone marking the return to Rome” that Newman himself experienced.Though criticized by many at the time, Newman “was among the first” who ”dared to leave Anglicanism, which is still the official and established Church” in Great Britain, and go “over to the Catholic Church because he knew that’s where the truth resided,” Gordon said.Newman’s conversion paved “the way for many other converts in my country and in English-speaking countries.”Gordon said he thinks Pope Leo XIV intends to emphasize the importance of ecumenism in light of Newman’s courageous and brave example: “He shows us that we must pray for the unity of the body of Christ, because division is a sin.” A light for teaching todayBoth saints can serve as a light for the teaching profession in today’s world, Gordon emphasized, where “education, especially at the university level, has become a kind of utilitarian vocational training where spirituality has no place.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/aquinasnewman.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 01 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, make, St., John, Henry, Newman, co-patron, Catholic, education, with, St., Thomas, Aquinas</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>The lifesaving miracle that led to St. John Henry Newman’s canonization</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/the-lifesaving-miracle-that-led-to-st-john-henry-newmans-canonization</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/the-lifesaving-miracle-that-led-to-st-john-henry-newmans-canonization</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Melissa Villalobos suffered severe bleeding while pregnant. St. John Henry Newman interceded and saved her and her daughter Gemma, now 11 years old. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Villalobos family

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 31, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
The sainthood of John Henry Newman, who will be declared a doctor of the Church on Nov. 1, rested on two inexplicable healings that the Catholic Church officially recognized as miracles that paved the way for his beatification in 2010 and his canonization in 2019.The second and most recent of these miracles was lifesaving. During her fifth pregnancy, Melissa Villalobos, a lawyer from Chicago, suffered severe internal bleeding caused by a partial placental abruption, a condition that seriously endangered both her life and that of her unborn child.The day it happened, Villalobos, alone at home and without the strength to call for help, turned to prayer. “Please, Cardinal Newman, stop the bleeding,” she said with difficulty. As she later recounted: “Just as I finished those words, the bleeding stopped, and I noticed in the bathroom the strongest scent of roses in my life. When it stopped, I asked, ‘Cardinal Newman, did you do this?’ and the scent returned a second time. I knew it was him.”St. John Henry Newman is very present in the daily life of this American family. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Villalobos familyThat same afternoon, the doctors confirmed what they could not explain: The tear in the placenta had disappeared. Months later, Villalobos gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby girl, whom she named Gemma.Five years later, Gemma and her entire family participated in the canonization ceremony for Newman officiated by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 13, 2019.For Sister Kathleen Dietz, FSO, a renowned specialist on St. John Henry Newman, the healing of the pregnant woman should be seen as a “sign of the times” when “the culture of death permeates everything.”“He performed this miracle for the sake of life, not only the life of the young mother but also that of her child. It’s very significant,” she told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.Unexplained healing of a debilitating spinal disorderThe first miracle attributed to Newman’s intercession was on behalf of American deacon Jack Sullivan, who was suffering from a severe degenerative spinal cord disease that had left him almost paralyzed.In great pain and with little hope of recovery, he prayed for Newman’s intercession. According to his own testimony, on Aug. 15, 2001, he experienced a sudden and complete recovery, which allowed him to walk unaided and shortly afterward to be ordained a permanent deacon.The Congregation for the Causes of Saints officially recognized the healing as scientifically inexplicable, and on July 3, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI officially announced that it constituted a genuine miracle. It led to Newman’s beatification on Sept. 19, 2010, in Birmingham, England, the city where the saint lived for much of his ministry.Deacon Jack Sullivan was cured of a debilitating spinal disorder after praying for the intercession of Cardinal John Henry Newman. Credit: Photo courtesy of Deacon Jack SullivanSullivan served as deacon and read the Gospel at the Mass celebrated by Benedict in Rednal, England, very near Newman’s burial site.Sullivan, who has the only first-class relic of Newman outside the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in England, has given numerous presentations with it and has held healing prayer services. Dietz — who has collaborated on various studies on the spirituality and legacy of St. John Henry Newman — emphasized that miracles authenticate Newman’s holiness and reflect his ongoing mission within the Church.“Miracles show that Newman continues to have a role as an example and intercessor. He will soon be named a doctor of the Church and thus will also be a teacher of truth,” she noted.Inspiration for daily lifeFor the religious, Newman can inspire the faithful in their daily lives with a faith “lived in everyday circumstances.”Dietz cited Newman’s 1856 work “A Short Road to Perfection” in which he points out that to be saints, “we need nothing more than to fulfill the ordinary duties of the day well.”“It’s not a matter of heroic or extraordinary feats but of performing the actions of each day with rectitude and consistency: getting up on time, dedicating one’s first thoughts to God, visiting the Blessed Sacrament, praying the Angelus and the rosary, keeping one’s thoughts in order, examining oneself daily, and going to bed at a reasonable hour. If this is done consistently, one is already on the path to perfection,” the saint counseled.Joy: An essential Christian virtueDietz emphasized that Newman saw joy as an essential Christian virtue, even in the midst of sadness, and that his example can guide believers to live their faith in a “practical, tangible, and consistent” way in daily life.For Dietz, Newman’s life and miracles remind us that holiness is not an unattainable ideal but a “reality accessible to all” through faithfulness to small daily acts and trust in God’s providence.“His teaching combines theological depth with pastoral application, showing how a saint can be a model and guide for the contemporary Church and for every believer in their daily life,” she explained.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/newmanmiracles.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 01 Nov 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>The, lifesaving, miracle, that, led, St., John, Henry, Newman’s, canonization</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV gives Catholic educators lessons from St. Augustine</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-gives-catholic-educators-lessons-from-st-augustine</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-gives-catholic-educators-lessons-from-st-augustine</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  As part of Jubilee of the World of Education, Pope Leo XIV held an Oct. 31, 2025 audience with teachers. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 31, 2025 / 16:20 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV said Catholic educators can learn four fundamental values from St. Augustine’s teachings: interiority, unity, love, and joy.  During his Oct. 31 audience with teachers in Rome for the Oct. 27 to Nov. 1 Jubilee of the World of Education, the Holy Father said these four values, taught by the “Doctor of Grace,” are key elements to be incorporated into the mission and work of all educators. Regarding the value of interiority, Pope Leo said both teachers and students need to “get in touch with their inner selves” in order to discover truth and overcome superficiality in a world dominated by “technological screens.”According to the Holy Father, the lack of material resources in classrooms is not the main obstacle for teachers, but rather the “real risk” is becoming “tired and overburdened with bureaucratic tasks.”“Truth does not spread through sounds, walls, and corridors, but in the profound encounter between people, without which any educational endeavor is doomed to fail,” he said.On the value of unity, Pope Leo said the “dimension of ‘with’ is consistently present in the writings of St. Augustine” and is fundamental as it challenges educators to “de-center” themselves and focus on their pupils.“‘Your soul belongs not just to you but to your brothers and sisters,’” he said, quoting St. Augustine.According to Pope Leo, the third value, love, should never be separated from teaching.“Sharing knowledge is not enough for teaching: Love is needed. Only then will knowledge be beneficial to those who receive it, in itself and above all, for the charity it conveys,” he said.“The love of God is the First Commandment, the love of neighbor is the first practice,” he said, quoting St. Augustine’s work, “Ten Sermons on the First Epistle of John.”The fourth and last value Pope Leo asked teachers to consider during their jubilee journey was joy. He said true teachers “educate with a smile” in order to “awaken smiles in the depths of their students’ souls.” Noting the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and its capacity to impart knowledge in a technical, cold, and standardized way, the pontiff warned teachers to not “further cut off students who are already isolated.”“The role of educators, on the other hand, is a human endeavor; and the very joy of the educational process is a fully human engagement, a ‘flame to melt our souls together, and out of many to make but one,&#039;” he said, quoting St. Augustine’s “Confessions.”Australian pilgrim Clare Andreallo, a senior institutional researcher and insights analyst for the University of Notre Dame Australia, attended the papal audience and said it was “affirming to see Catholic education academics, professional staff, students from around the world come together” in St. Peter’s Square on Friday morning.    ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 01 Nov 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, gives, Catholic, educators, lessons, from, St., Augustine</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: ‘The Church does not tolerate antisemitism’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-the-church-does-not-tolerate-antisemitism</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-the-church-does-not-tolerate-antisemitism</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV arrives in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience on Oct. 29, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Oct 29, 2025 / 08:55 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday strongly condemned antisemitism during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square marking the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council document on the Church’s relations with other religions.The pope underlined that since the publication of Nostra Aetate, “all of my predecessors have condemned antisemitism with clear words.” “And so I too confirm that the Church does not tolerate antisemitism and fights against it, on the basis of the Gospel itself,” Leo said on Oct. 29.The pope expressed thanks for what has been achieved in the past 60 years of Jewish-Catholic dialogue while acknowledging the challenges that have arisen along the way. “We cannot deny that there have been misunderstandings, difficulties, and conflicts in this period, but these have never prevented the dialogue from continuing,” he said. “Even today, we must not allow political circumstances and the injustices of some to divert us from friendship, especially since we have achieved so much so far.”Pope Leo was joined by Jewish rabbis, Muslim imams, Buddhist monks, and other religious leaders for the general audience. He called on them to act together to alleviate human suffering, care for the planet, and restore hope.Pope Leo XIV was joined by leaders of other religions at his general audience in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Oct. 29, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News“More than ever, our world needs our unity, our friendship, and our collaboration,” he said. “Each one of our religions can contribute to alleviating human suffering and taking care of our common home, our planet Earth.”Those present included representatives of Hinduism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, and Taoism, along with Christian leaders. Many had participated the previous evening in a peace ceremony at the Colosseum organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio, which brought together about 300 representatives of world religions and cultures.Pope Leo also prayed for those affected by Hurricane Melissa, which hit Jamaica on Tuesday as the strongest Category 5 storms on record to hit the Caribbean island before sweeping across Cuba.“Thousands of people have been displaced, while homes, infrastructure, and several hospitals have been damaged,” he said. “I assure everyone of my closeness, praying for those who have lost their lives, for those who are fleeing, and for those populations who, awaiting the storm’s developments, are experiencing hours of anxiety and concern.”Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims in St. Peter&#039;s Square from the popemobile at the general audience on Oct. 29, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTNThe pope’s catechesis centered on Nostra Aetate, issued Oct. 28, 1965, during the Second Vatican Council, which opened what Leo called “a new horizon of encounter, respect, and spiritual hospitality.”“This luminous document teaches us to meet the followers of other religions not as outsiders but as traveling companions on the path of truth; to honor differences affirming our common humanity,” he said.Recalling the document’s historical importance, Leo noted that Nostra Aetate offered for the first time “a doctrinal treatise on the Jewish roots of Christianity … which on a biblical and theological level would represent a point of no return.”Quoting the council text, he added: “The Church, ‘mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of antisemitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.’”The pope warned against religious extremism and fundamentalism. He told the leaders of different religions present: “Our respective traditions teach truth, compassion, reconciliation, justice, and peace.”“Together, we must be vigilant against the abuse of the name of God, of religion, and of dialogue itself, as well as against the dangers posed by religious fundamentalism and extremism.”Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims in St. Peter&#039;s Square from the popemobile at the general audience on Oct. 29, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTNHe also called on religious leaders to work together on the challenges posed by artificial intelligence. “We must also face the responsible development of artificial intelligence because, if conceived as an alternative to humans, it can gravely violate their infinite dignity and neutralize their fundamental responsibilities,” he said.Leo underlined that religion can play a fundamental role in promoting peace and restoring hope to the world. “This hope is based on our religious convictions, on the conviction that a new world is possible,” he said. “Sixty years ago, Nostra Aetate brought hope to the world after the Second World War. Today we are called upon to rekindle that hope in our world, devastated by war and our degraded natural environment.”At the end of the audience, Leo led those gathered in a moment of silent prayer. “Prayer has the power to transform our attitudes, our thoughts, our words, and our actions,” he said. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/251029-ga-daniel-ibanez-20.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 31 Oct 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, ‘The, Church, does, not, tolerate, antisemitism’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Mar Awa III gives Pope Leo XIV a Chicago Cubs jersey, rivals of the pope’s White Sox</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/mar-awa-iii-gives-pope-leo-xiv-a-chicago-cubs-jersey-rivals-of-the-popes-white-sox</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/mar-awa-iii-gives-pope-leo-xiv-a-chicago-cubs-jersey-rivals-of-the-popes-white-sox</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Mar Awa III presents a Chicago Cubs jersey to Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 27, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 29, 2025 / 16:29 pm (CNA).
His Holiness Mar Awa III, Catholicos-patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, traveled to Rome this week to participate in a ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Church’s declaration on building relations with non-Christian religions.During his stay in the Eternal City, Mar Awa III, born David Royel to Assyrian immigrant parents, met Oct. 27 with Pope Leo XIV in a private audience. The two share the same hometown of Chicago.During the meeting, the pope urged the two churches to seek “full communion,” proposing synodality as the path to achieving it.However, it seems that this communion does not extend to the realm of sports.The leader of the Assyrian Church is a fan of the Chicago Cubs, while the Roman pontiff supports their eternal rivals, the White Sox.In his luggage, Mar Awa III made sure to include a Cubs jersey, which he presented to Pope Leo XIV as a gift at the end of his audience at the Vatican.During the gift exchange, the Cubs fan wore a satisfied smile, while the Holy Father, with an expression of resignation, held up the dark blue jersey with the name “Leo” and the number 14 printed in red. Mar Awa III posted a photo of the moment on his Instagram profile, where he wrote: “During the exchange of gifts, I presented the pope with a customized Cubs jersey and hat (in honor of all our North Side Chicagoans). Needless to say, the pope loved the gift,“ he recounted with evident irony.null Pope Leo XIV has demonstrated his love for baseball on several occasions. During one of his usual tours through St. Peter’s Square in the popemobile before a general audience, he surprised onlookers by spontaneously joining a group of pilgrims in chanting “White Sox!”, making it clear which team he supports.Chicago’s North Side Cubs have annually played the city’s South Side White Sox in the interleague “Crosstown Classic.” As of July of this year, the Cubs have an all-time edge of 77-75 over the White Sox since the series began, Yahoo News reported.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/leocubs.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 31 Oct 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Mar, Awa, III, gives, Pope, Leo, XIV, Chicago, Cubs, jersey, rivals, the, pope’s, White, Sox</media:keywords>
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<title>Vatican to weigh in on Mary’s role in salvation with doctrine document on Nov. 4</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-to-weigh-in-on-marys-role-in-salvation-with-doctrine-document-on-nov-4</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-to-weigh-in-on-marys-role-in-salvation-with-doctrine-document-on-nov-4</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, presides over a press conference on Friday, May 17, 2024, on the Vatican’s new document on Marian apparitions. / Credit: Rudolf Gehrig/EWTN News

Vatican City, Oct 30, 2025 / 09:14 am (CNA).
The Vatican’s doctrine office announced Thursday it will release a document on Nov. 4 about titles of Mary that refer to her “cooperation in the work of salvation.”Mary’s contribution to human salvation, specifically the title of “Co-Redemptrix” (“Co-Redeemer”) has been a point of theological debate for decades — with proponents calling for Mary’s role in redemption to be declared a dogma but critics saying it exaggerates her importance and could damage efforts for unity with other Christian denominations.Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, will present the doctrinal note on the topic, titled “Mater Populi Fidelis” (“Faithful Mother of the People”), at the Jesuit Curia in Rome.Fernández told journalists in July the dicastery was working on a text on “various Marian themes” but did not reveal more about its content.Theologian Father Matteo Armando, secretary of the dicastery’s doctrine department, will also speak at the presentation Nov. 4, along with an expert consulter of the dicastery, Father Maurizio Gronchi, who teaches Christology — the Church’s teaching on the person, nature, and role of Christ — at Rome’s Pontifical Urban University.Recent popes have held varying positions on the use of the title “Co-Redemptrix” for Mary.In 2017, the International Marian Association submitted a request to Pope Francis for public recognition of the title of Mary as “Co-Redemptrix with Jesus the Redeemer,” one of multiple petitions sent to the Vatican in the last century.But the pope expressed his reservations about the title on more than one occasion during his pontificate.In his general audience address on March 24, 2021, Francis said that while Christians had always given Mary beautiful titles, it was important to remember that Christ is the only redeemer, and that Mary was entrusted to us “as a mother, not as a goddess, not as co-redeemer.”As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 2000, Pope Benedict XVI said he thought the title “Co-Redemptrix” was too far from Scripture and could cause misunderstandings about Christ’s status as redeemer — though supporters of the Marian formula felt he showed more openness to the devotion in his pontificate, despite never explicitly using the term.St. John Paul II, instead, publicly used the word “Co-Redemptrix” at least six times during his pontificate, renewing hopes in an imminent declaration of the dogma in the 1990s.The title can be traced back to the 10th century, when some Marian litanies included the title of Mary as Redemptrix, along with her son. The prefix of “co-” was added by the 15th century, to clarify that Mary was not the Redeemer but rather someone who uniquely cooperated in the work of redemption.“Co-Redemptrix” received magisterial recognition only centuries later, in 1908, when the Sacred Congregation for Rites used it in a decree elevating the rank of the feast of the Seven Sorrows of Mary.Since then, it has been referenced multiple times in Church teaching, including during the Second Vatican Council, which ultimately decided against any formal recognition of the title in the document Lumen Gentium. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 31 Oct 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV to offer All Souls’ Day Mass at Rome’s largest cemetery</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-offer-all-souls-day-mass-at-romes-largest-cemetery</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-offer-all-souls-day-mass-at-romes-largest-cemetery</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV prays during a Mass on Oct. 27, 2025, marking both the start of the academic year at Rome’s pontifical universities and the opening day of the Jubilee of the World of Education. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 30, 2025 / 13:05 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV will celebrate All Souls’ Day with Mass for the faithful departed at Rome’s largest cemetery as well as a Mass for the soul of the late Pope Francis and deceased cardinals the following day. The Vatican has announced that Pope Leo will offer Mass at Campo Verano Cemetery near the Basilica of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls on Sunday, Nov. 2, at 4 p.m., continuing the practice of Pope Francis, who made a point of visiting a cemetery each year on All Souls’ Day. On Monday, Nov. 3, at 11 a.m. Leo will also offer Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis, who died in April, and for the bishops and cardinals who have died over the past year, following a long papal custom of commemorating deceased Church leaders at the beginning of November, a month the Church devotes to praying for the dead. All Souls’ Day, observed annually on Nov. 2, is a day of prayer for the souls of all who have died, especially those believed to be in purgatory, undergoing final purification before entering the presence of God. The Church encourages the faithful to offer prayers, sacrifices, and Masses for the souls in purgatory. Pope Francis, the first pope from Latin America, offered All Souls’ Day Mass in the Campo Verano cemetery for the first three years of his papacy before choosing to pray at other cemeteries in and around Rome, including in the Roman catacombs, at a cemetery for American personnel killed in World War II, and at a cemetery for unborn babies.Visiting cemeteries is a prominent custom in parts of Latin America at this time of year, exemplified by the famous celebration of Día de los Muertos in Mexico on Nov. 1–2. Before his election as pope, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, served for two decades as an Augustinian missionary and later as a bishop in Peru, where Catholics customarily mark All Souls’ Day by visiting cemeteries, cleaning and decorating tombs with flowers and candles, and praying for their loved ones who have died.Pope Leo XIV will mark the feasts of All Saints and All Souls this weekend with three consecutive days of papal liturgies in Rome.On Saturday, Nov. 1, the solemnity of All Saints, Pope Leo will preside over a 10:30 a.m. Mass in St. Peter’s Square, during which he will declare St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the Church. Tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected to take part, many of them participating in the Vatican’s Jubilee of Education, which Pope Leo opened earlier in the week. All Saints’ Day is a solemnity honoring all who have reached heaven and enjoy the beatific vision — the saints both canonized and uncanonized.After the Mass, Pope Leo XIV will lead the Angelus, a traditional Marian prayer, at noon Rome time, as he does on every holy day of obligation. Because the feast falls on a Saturday this year, the U.S. bishops’ conference has lifted the obligation for American Catholics to attend Mass that day.Before heading to Campo Verano cemetery for the All Souls’ Day Mass on Sunday afternoon, Pope Leo will pray the Angelus at noon from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 31 Oct 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, offer, All, Souls’, Day, Mass, Rome’s, largest, cemetery</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>‘Don’t let the algorithm write your story,’ Pope Leo XIV exhorts young people</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/dont-let-the-algorithm-write-your-story-pope-leo-xiv-exhorts-young-people</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/dont-let-the-algorithm-write-your-story-pope-leo-xiv-exhorts-young-people</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  “Use technology wisely, but don’t let technology use you,” Pope Leo XIV said during his address to hundreds of university students gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Oct. 30, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 30, 2025 / 16:20 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday urged young people to cultivate their “interior life” and to listen to their restlessness without “fleeing from it” or “filling it” with things that don’t satisfy, lest they fall into existential emptiness.“Having a great deal of knowledge is not enough if we do not know who we are or what the meaning of life is,” the pope told the hundreds of university students he received Oct. 30 in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican for an event held as part of the Jubilee of the World of Education.In his message, he invited the students to rediscover the inner dimension of life and pointed out that “without silence, without listening, without prayer, even the light of the stars goes out.”“We can know a great deal about the world and still ignore our own hearts,” he noted, while encouraging the students to constantly strive “toward the heights,” being “the beacon of hope in the dark hours of history.”Leo XIV acknowledged that many young people experience a sense of emptiness or inner restlessness and emphasized that this disorientation is not solely due to personal reasons.“In the most serious cases, we see episodes of distress, violence, bullying, and oppression — even young people who isolate themselves and no longer want to relate to others,” the pope observed. In his view, these deep wounds are “the reflection of “a void created by a society that has forgotten how to form the spiritual dimension of the human person, focusing only on the technical, social, or moral aspects of life.”The pope was especially approachable and relaxed with the young people, with whom he shared several spontaneous moments. He introduced himself to them twice as a “former math and physics teacher,” recalling his teaching past, and even joked with them: “Perhaps you have a math exam soon?” he asked, going off script and eliciting laughter and applause.The pope affirmed that a life that remains “stifled by fleeting pleasures will never satisfy us.” Instead, he asked each person to say in his or her heart: “I dream of more, Lord, I long for something greater, inspire me!”“This desire is your strength and expresses well the commitment of young people who envision a better society and refuse to be mere spectators,” he emphasized after noting that the “desire for the infinite” is the compass they should use.Instead of looking at your phone, ‘look to the sky, to the heights’He urged the university students to not be satisfied “with appearances or fads” and instead of “being fixated on your smartphones, to look to the sky, to the heights.”“How wonderful it would be if one day your generation were remembered as the ‘generation plus,’ remembered for the extra drive you brought to the Church and the world,” he exclaimed.During his address, Pope Leo cited as role models St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, who had “the courage to live life to the fullest” and “to the heights,” and St. Carlo Acutis, “who did not become a slave to the internet but rather used it skillfully for good.” The pontiff canonized these two young saints together on Sept. 7.The pope also cited St. Augustine as an example, describing him as “brilliant but deeply unsatisfied” because he found “neither truth nor peace until he discovered God in his own heart.”The Holy Father focused much of his address on the challenges posed by the digital world and the development of artificial intelligence, urging that these areas not become “a cage where you lock yourselves in” nor “an addiction or an escape.”“You live in [digital education] and that’s not a bad thing; there are enormous opportunities for study and communication. But don’t let the algorithm write your story! Be the authors: Use technology wisely, but don’t let technology use you,” he urged.‘It is not enough to silence weapons, we must disarm hearts’Leo XIV emphasized the urgency of a “disarmed and disarming education” that forms new generations in respect, justice, and equality.“You can see how much our future is threatened by war and hatred, which divide people. Can this future be changed? Certainly! How? With an education for peace that is disarmed and disarming,” the pope said. Furthermore, he warned that it is not enough to “silence the weapons,” but rather “we must disarm hearts, renouncing all violence and vulgarity.”As in his recent document on education, “Drawing New Maps of Hope,” Leo XIV called for avoiding all forms of exclusion or privilege in education, “recognizing the equal dignity of every young person, without ever dividing young people between the privileged few who have access to expensive schools and the many who do not have access to education.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 31 Oct 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>‘Don’t, let, the, algorithm, write, your, story, ’, Pope, Leo, XIV, exhorts, young, people</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV on the gifts of women and synodality: ‘Women are already better’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-on-the-gifts-of-women-and-synodality-women-are-already-better</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-on-the-gifts-of-women-and-synodality-women-are-already-better</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV speaks to participants in the Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies on Oct. 24, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 27, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV drew laughter and applause on Oct. 24 when he recalled asking his mother in the 1970s whether she wanted equality with men. “No,” she replied, “because we’re already better.”The pope shared the memory during a discussion on the role of women in the Church at the opening of the Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies, a three-day gathering for representatives involved in implementing the global synodal process.The story, he explained, came from a time when debates about equality between men and women were just beginning to take hold in his native United States. His mother’s response, he said, was not a joke but an affirmation of women’s distinctive gifts. “There are many gifts that women have,” he added, recalling their vital roles in family and parish life.Pope Leo then described a community of sisters in Peru whose charism is to serve where there are no priests. “They baptize, assist at marriages, and carry out a wonderful missionary work that is a testimony even for many priests,” he said.But the pope warned that in many parts of the world, cultural barriers still prevent women from exercising their rightful roles. “Not all bishops or priests want to allow women to exercise what could very well be their role,” he said. “There are cultures where women still suffer as if they were second-class citizens.” The task of the Church, he added, is to help transform those cultures “according to the values of the Gospel,” so that discrimination can be eliminated and “the gifts and charisms of every person are respected and valued.”Turning to the wider synodal process, the pope insisted that synodality “is not a campaign, it is a way of being and a way of being for the Church.” He said the goal is not to impose a “uniform model” but to foster a spirit of conversion and communion through listening and mission.Responding to questions from representatives of the Church in Africa, Oceania, and North America, Pope Leo emphasized the importance of patience and formation. “Not all things move at the same rhythm or speed,” he said. “Oftentimes, the resistances come out of fear and lack of knowledge.” Without proper formation, he warned, “there are going to be resistances and a lack of understanding.”On the environment, he called for courage in responding to the “cry of the earth,” urging Catholics not to remain passive but to “raise our voice to change the world and make it a better place.” ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/popeleosynodjubilee102725.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 28 Oct 2025 18:00:09 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, the, gifts, women, and, synodality:, ‘Women, are, already, better’</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo to pray at tomb of St. Charbel during first apostolic journey to Turkey, Lebanon</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-to-pray-at-tomb-of-st-charbel-during-first-apostolic-journey-to-turkey-lebanon</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-to-pray-at-tomb-of-st-charbel-during-first-apostolic-journey-to-turkey-lebanon</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday Angelus on Oct. 26, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 27, 2025 / 12:30 pm (CNA).
The Vatican on Monday released the full program for Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic journey, which will take him to Turkey and Lebanon from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2.The trip will center on two key moments: a pilgrimage to İznik (ancient Nicaea) to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea and a visit to the tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf in Lebanon.The Council of Nicaea, convened in 325 by Emperor Constantine, was a turning point in Christian history. It produced the original formulation of the Nicene Creed — later adopted as the universal profession of faith — and set out to unify the date of Easter across the Church.Turkey: Honoring Christian unity and dialogueThe pope will depart from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport on Thursday, Nov. 27, arriving in Ankara at midday. Following an official welcome, he will visit the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic, and meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and members of civil society and the diplomatic corps.That evening, he will travel to Istanbul.On Friday, Nov. 28, the Holy Father will begin the day with prayer alongside bishops, priests, deacons, and pastoral workers at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. Later, he will visit a home for the elderly run by the Little Sisters of the Poor.In the afternoon, he will travel by helicopter to İznik for an ecumenical prayer gathering near the ruins of the ancient Basilica of St. Neophytus, recalling the First Council of Nicaea, which affirmed Christ as “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.”Back in Istanbul that evening, the pope will meet privately with the country’s bishops.Saturday’s schedule includes visits to the Blue Mosque and the nearby Hagia Sophia, symbols of interreligious dialogue and Christian heritage. He will meet privately with leaders of other Christian Churches at the Syriac Orthodox Church of Mor Ephrem, then join Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I for a doxology and the signing of a joint declaration at the Patriarchal Church of St. George.The day will conclude with Mass at the Volkswagen Arena, where the pope will deliver his homily.Lebanon: Prayer at St. Charbel’s tomb and solidarity with a wounded nationOn Sunday, Nov. 30, the pope will visit the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral in Istanbul before departing for Beirut. There he will be welcomed by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun — elected in January after more than two years of political stalemate — and meet with other national leaders.Lebanon’s confessional political system, established by the 1943 National Pact and reaffirmed in the 1989 Taif Agreement, reserves the presidency for a Maronite Christian, the premiership for a Sunni Muslim, and the parliamentary speakership for a Shiite Muslim.On Monday, Dec. 1, Pope Leo will travel to Annaya to pray at the tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf, the 19th-century Maronite monk venerated for his holiness and miracles. Later that morning, he will meet with clergy and pastoral workers at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa and with the Catholic patriarchs at the apostolic nunciature.That afternoon, he will join an ecumenical and interreligious gathering in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square and meet with young people outside the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerké.The final day of the trip, Tuesday, Dec. 2, will begin with a visit to De la Croix Hospital in Jal ed Dib, followed by a moment of silent prayer at Beirut’s port, the site of the devastating 2020 explosion.Pope Leo will celebrate the closing Mass of his journey at the Beirut Waterfront before returning to Rome, where he is scheduled to arrive at 4:10 p.m. local time. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 28 Oct 2025 18:00:09 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, pray, tomb, St., Charbel, during, first, apostolic, journey, Turkey, Lebanon</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV urges university students to feed ‘hunger for truth and meaning’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-university-students-to-feed-hunger-for-truth-and-meaning</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-university-students-to-feed-hunger-for-truth-and-meaning</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses the audience in his homily at a Mass on Oct. 27, 2025, marking both the start of the academic year at Rome’s pontifical universities and the opening day of the Jubilee of the World of Education. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 27, 2025 / 14:53 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV urged university students on Monday to feed their “hunger for truth and meaning,” lamenting that modern education often loses sight of the “big picture.” “Today we have become experts in the smallest details of reality, but we have lost the capacity of seeing the big picture again, a vision that holds things together through a greater and deeper meaning,” Pope Leo XIV said. “Christian experience, on the other hand, wants to teach us to look at life and reality with a unified gaze.”The pope presided over a Mass for students from Rome’s pontifical universities on Oct. 27, marking both the start of the academic year and the opening day of the Jubilee of the World of Education, a weeklong celebration that runs through Nov. 1 as part of the Jubilee of Hope. The jubilee highlights the global reach of Catholic education with more than 231,000 schools and universities in 171 countries serving nearly 72 million students worldwide, according to the Vatican. Pope Leo described education as “a true act of charity.” He said: “Feeding the hunger for truth and meaning is a necessary task because without truth and authentic meaning one can fall into emptiness.”  Pope Leo XIV prays during a Mass on Oct. 27, 2025, marking both the start of the academic year at Rome’s pontifical universities and the opening day of the Jubilee of the World of Education. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA“What we receive as we seek the truth and engage in study, therefore, helps us discover that we are not creatures thrown into the world by chance but that we belong to someone who loves us and has a plan of love for our lives,” the pope added.A pontifical university is a Catholic university under the authority of the Vatican. In Rome, several such universities, including the Jesuit-run Gregorian University and the Dominican University of St. Thomas Aquinas, educate seminarians, priests, religious sisters, and Catholic lay students from around the world in theology, philosophy, canon law, and other disciplines.In his homily, Pope Leo XIV encouraged students and educators to integrate their intellectual work with their spiritual lives.“Looking at the example of men and women such as Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Teresa of Ávila, Edith Stein, and many others … we too are called to carry on intellectual work and the search for truth without separating them from life,” he said.“It is important to cultivate this unity so that what happens in university classrooms … becomes a reality capable of transforming life and helps us to deepen our relationship with Christ, to understand better the mystery of the Church, and makes us bold witnesses of the Gospel in society.”Pope Leo also told the university students that the truth found in Christ can free us from self-absorption. “When human beings are incapable of seeing beyond themselves, beyond their own experiences, ideas, and convictions, beyond their own projects, then they remain imprisoned, enslaved, and incapable of forming mature judgments,” he said.Pope Leo XIV presents his signature on a new document — to be published Oct. 28, 2025 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the conciliar declaration Gravissimum Educationis — at a Mass on Oct. 27, 2025, marking both the start of the academic year at Rome’s pontifical universities and the opening day of the Jubilee of the World of Education. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA“Yet, in reality, many of the things that truly matter in life — we might say, the most fundamental things — do not come from ourselves; we receive them from others. They come to us through our teachers, encounters, and life experiences. This is an experience of grace, for it heals us from self-absorption … This especially happens when we encounter Christ in our lives.”“Those who study are ‘lifted up,’ broadening their horizons and perspectives in order to recover a vision that does not look downward but is capable of looking upward: toward God, others, and the mystery of life.” Pope Leo XIV said. “This is the grace of the student, the researcher, the scholar.”As part of the Jubilee of the World of Education, Pope Leo XIV will meet with students on Thursday and with educators on Friday. The jubilee will conclude on Saturday, when the pope will declare St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the Church.Pope Leo XIV will also designate Newman as a co-patron saint of Catholic education alongside St. Thomas Aquinas in a document to be published Oct. 28, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis, the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on Christian education. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 28 Oct 2025 18:00:09 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, university, students, feed, ‘hunger, for, truth, and, meaning’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV meets with Viktor Orbán at the Vatican</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-meets-with-viktor-orban-at-the-vatican</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-meets-with-viktor-orban-at-the-vatican</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Oct. 27, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 27, 2025 / 17:49 pm (CNA).
In separate audiences on Monday, Pope Leo XIV received two political leaders with very different views on the migration issue. In the morning, he met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and in the afternoon he met with Magnus Brunner, European Union Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration.Orbán maintains a restrictionist stance on migration and has repeatedly criticized the migrant redistribution policies promoted by the European Union. For his part, Brunner defends a common migration policy and supports the implementation of the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, an agreement the Hungarian leader firmly rejects.Orbán arrived promptly at 9 a.m. at the Courtyard of San Damaso in the Apostolic Palace for his first official meeting with the Holy Father. He later met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state of the Holy See, and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states and international organizations.The Vatican did not provide details on the content of the private audience with the pope nor did it specify whether the migration issue was among the topics discussed. For his part, the Hungarian prime minister stated on his X account that he requested the pope’s support in his country’s efforts for peace.During the meeting at the Secretariat of State, the strong bilateral relations and appreciation for the Catholic Church’s commitment to promoting social development and the well-being of the Hungarian community were highlighted.According to the Vatican, special attention was paid to the role of the family and the formation and future of young people as well as the importance of protecting the most vulnerable Christian communities.The discussions also addressed European issues, especially the conflict in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East.Last Thursday, during his meeting with delegates from popular movements, Pope Leo XIV defended each state’s right and duty to protect its borders, which he said must be balanced with “the moral obligation to provide refuge” and warned against “inhumane” measures that treat migrants as if they were “garbage.”CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed authorship to another correspondent.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 28 Oct 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<item>
<title>Why is St. Jude the patron saint of lost causes?</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/why-is-st-jude-the-patron-saint-of-lost-causes</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/why-is-st-jude-the-patron-saint-of-lost-causes</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  A candle of St. Jude. / Credit: Francesca Pollio/CNA

CNA Staff, Oct 28, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).
On Oct. 28, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Jude, also known as Thaddeus, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles.He is believed to have written the Letter of Jude, one of the shortest books of the Bible, and is thought to have been martyred in Beirut around 65 A.D. He is typically depicted with a club or axe, symbolizing the way he died, as well as with a flame above his head, which refers to Pentecost.Although Jude is not mentioned much in the Bible and only had one quote attributed to him in the Gospel of John (14:22), this quiet apostle is extremely popular among Catholics today. His popularity probably stems from his patronage of lost causes. An experience Jude had while in the city of Edessa is said to be the reason why he is associated with “impossible” situations.According to the ancient Church historian Eusebius, while Jesus was still alive, the ruler Abgar V of Edessa was afflicted with an incurable and painful disease. He had heard of the miracles of Jesus and wrote him a letter requesting a visit. Jesus responded that he would send one of his disciples.After Jesus’ ascension into heaven, Jude went to evangelize near the city of Edessa and went to visit Abgar. Jude laid his hands on the sick ruler, and he was reportedly instantly healed.Many people choose to carry the image of St. Jude on a medal or as a pendant on a necklace for comfort and call on him in their time of need and healing.His feast is shared with St. Simon, who was also said to be a cousin of Jesus and is believed to have traveled to Persia with Jude, where they were both martyred.Prayer to St. JudeThe following prayer can be prayed on the feast of St. Jude or at any time when his intercession is needed:Most holy Apostle St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally as the patron of difficult cases, of things almost despaired of. Pray for me; I am so helpless and alone.Intercede to God for me that he brings visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need, that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly [make your request here], and that I may praise God with you and all the saints forever.I promise, O Blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor granted me by God and to always honor you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you. Amen.This story was first published on Oct. 27, 2021, and has been updated. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 28 Oct 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Why, St., Jude, the, patron, saint, lost, causes</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: There’s no template for synodality across all countries</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-theres-no-template-for-synodality-across-all-countries</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-theres-no-template-for-synodality-across-all-countries</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV sits next to Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the Vatican&#039;s synod office, during the jubilee of synod teams and participatory bodies in the Vatican&#039;s Paul VI Hall on Oct. 24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 25, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
There is no single model for what synodality should look like in all countries and cultures, Pope Leo XIV said in a discussion with synod leaders from around the globe, held at the Vatican on Friday.“We have to be very clear, we’re not looking for a uniform model. And synodality will not come with a template where everybody and every country will say this is how you do it,” the pope said in the Paul VI Hall Oct. 24. “It is, rather, a conversion to a spirit of being Church, and being missionary, and building up, in that sense, the family of God.”Leo spoke about synodality in unscripted remarks in English, Spanish, and Italian during the opening session of a meeting for the jubilee of synodal teams and participatory bodies, taking place in Rome Oct. 24-26, part of the Church’s wider 2025 Jubilee of Hope.Around 2,000 people are attending the synod-focused jubilee, which includes a two-day meeting “aimed at translating the orientations of the [Synod on Synodality’s] Final Document into pastoral and structural choices consistent with the synodal nature of the Church,” according to the Vatican’s synod office.Pope Leo XIV listens to reports from seven representatives around the world about the implementation of synodality on their continents during the jubilee of synodal teams and participatory bodies at the Vatican on Oct. 24, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media.The pope joined part of the program on Friday evening to listen to representatives from different regions give reports on the implementation of synodality in their parts of the world, and to answer their questions about the synodal process. Synodality, Leo said, “is to help the Church fulfill its primary role in the world, which is to be missionary, to announce the Gospel.”He added that synodality “is not a campaign. It’s a way of being and a way of being Church. It’s a way of promoting an attitude, which begins with learning to listen to one another.”The pope recalled the value of listening, “beginning with listening to the Word of God, listening to one another, listening to the wisdom we find in men and in women, in members of the Church, and those who are searching who might not yet be members of the Church.”He also addressed resistance to the synodal process, such as worry by some that it is an attempt to weaken the authority of the bishop.“I would like to invite all of you … to reflect upon what synodality is about and to invite the priests particularly, even more than the bishops, to somehow open their hearts and take part in these processes,” Leo said. “Often the resistance comes out of fear and lack of knowledge.”He emphasized the need to prioritize formation and preparation at every educational level.“Sometimes ready answers are given without the proper, necessary preparation to arrive at the conclusion that maybe some of us have already drawn, but others are not ready for or capable to understand,” he said.“We have to understand that we do not all run at the same speed. And sometimes we have to be patient with one another,” Leo said. “And rather than a few people running ahead and leaving a lot behind, which could cause even a break in an ecclesial experience, we need to look for ways, very concrete ways at times, of understanding what’s happening in each place, where the resistances are or where they come from, and what we can do to encourage more and more the experience of communion in this Church which is synodal.”Asked if groupings of churches, such as regional bishops’ conferences, will continue to grow in the life of the Church, Leo said, “the brief answer is yes, I do expect that, and I hope that the different groupings of churches can continue to grow as expressions of communion in the Church using the gifts we are all receiving through this exercise if you will, this life, this expression of synodality.”The pontiff also weighed in on the topic of women and their participation in the Church, though he set aside the most controversial questions, which he said are being examined in a separate study group.“So leaving aside the most difficult themes,” he said, “there are cultural obstacles, there are opportunities, but there are cultural obstacles. And this has to be recognized, because women could play a key role in the Church, but in some cultures women are considered second-class citizens and in some realities they do not enjoy the same rights as men.”“In these cases, there is a challenge for the Church, for all of us, because we need to understand how we can promote the respect for the rights of everyone, men and women,” he encouraged.The Church can promote a culture in which there is co-participation of every member of society, each according to their vocation, Leo continued. “We have to understand how the Church can be a strength to transform cultures according to the values of the Gospel.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, There’s, template, for, synodality, across, all, countries</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV gives advice for living with hope in a ‘troubled era’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-gives-advice-for-living-with-hope-in-a-troubled-era</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-gives-advice-for-living-with-hope-in-a-troubled-era</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV claps with pilgrims during an audience for the Jubilee of Hope in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Oct. 25, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media.

Vatican City, Oct 25, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Saturday said the key to living in a difficult time, when the Church’s teachings are often challenged, is to embrace the hope that is “not knowing.” “As pilgrims of hope, we must view our troubled times in the light of the resurrection,” the pope said in an audience with jubilee pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 25.Leo brought attention to Nicholas of Cusa — a Catholic cardinal and theologian from Germany, who lived in the 15th century — as a model for how to live one’s faith “during a turbulent era that involved serious spiritual divisions.”The pope described Nicholas of Cusa as “a great thinker and servant of unity” who “can teach us that hoping is also ‘not knowing.’”“As St. Paul writes, ‘How can one hope for what one already sees?’” Leo said. “Nicholas of Cusa could not see the unity of the Church, shaken by opposing currents and divided between East and West. He could not see peace in the world and among religions, at a time when Christianity felt threatened from outside.”But instead of living in fear like many of his contemporaries, Nicholas chose to associate with those who had hope, the pontiff explained.Nicholas, Leo said, “understood that there are opposites to be held together, that God is a mystery in which what is in tension finds unity. Nicholas knew that he did not know, and so he understood reality better and better. What a great gift for the Church! What a call to renewal of the heart! Here are his teachings: make space, hold opposites together, hope for what is not yet seen.”Pope Leo said the Church is experiencing the same thing today: questions challenging the Church’s teaching, from young people, from the poor, from women, from those without a voice or who are different from the majority.“We are in a blessed time: so many questions!” he said. “The Church becomes an expert in humanity if it walks with humanity and has the echo of its questions in its heart.”“To hope is not to know,” Leo underlined. “We do not already have the answers to all the questions. But we have Jesus. We follow Jesus. And so we hope for what we do not yet see.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, gives, advice, for, living, with, hope, ‘troubled, era’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>PHOTOS: Cardinal Burke celebrates Latin Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/photos-cardinal-burke-celebrates-latin-mass-in-st-peters-basilica</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/photos-cardinal-burke-celebrates-latin-mass-in-st-peters-basilica</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pilgrims participate in a Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, celebrated by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke at the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter, the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 25, 2025 / 14:00 pm (CNA).
Cardinal Raymond Burke celebrated a special Traditional Latin Mass for hundreds of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 25 — a return to a prior custom, suspended since 2022, of an annual pilgrimage of Catholics devoted to the ancient liturgyBurke celebrated the Solemn Pontifical Mass, a high Latin Mass said by a bishop, at the Altar of the Chair on the second day of the Oct. 24–26 Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage. The cardinal also celebrated a Latin Mass at the Altar of the Chair for the pilgrimage in 2014.Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke celebrates a Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, at the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter, the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAThe Mass was preceded by a half-mile procession from the Basilica of Sts. Celso and Giuliano to St. Peter’s Basilica.The Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, in its 14th year, brings people “ad Petri Sedem” (“to the See of Peter”) to give “testimony of the attachment that binds numerous faithful throughout the whole world to the traditional liturgy,” according to the pilgrimage website.Pilgrims participate in a Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, celebrated by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke at the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter, the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAThe pilgrimage began on the evening of Oct. 24 with vespers in Rome’s Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina, presided over by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna. A solemn closing Mass of Christ the King will be celebrated at the Church of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini on the final day of the pilgrimage, Oct. 26.In 2023 and 2024, the pilgrimage was not able to receive authorization to celebrate the Latin Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica from the basilica’s liturgy office, according to organizer Christian Marquant. Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke distributes Holy Communion at a Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite at the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter, the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAThe Office of Liturgical Ceremonies of St. Peter’s Basilica and the director of the Holy See Press Office did not respond to CNA’s request in September for comment on this assertion.Burke — a champion of the Traditional Latin Mass and one of the most prominent critics in the hierarchy of the late Pope Francis, under whom he fell conspicuously out of favor — met Pope Leo in a private audience on Aug. 22.Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke elevates a host at a Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite at the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter, the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNALeo sent a letter of congratulations for Burke’s 50th anniversary of priestly ministry in July.Pilgrims participate in a Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, celebrated by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke at the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter, the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNARorate Caeli, a prominent website for devotees of the Traditional Latin Mass, called the celebration of a Solemn Pontifical Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica again an “important sign” of increased tolerance for the traditional liturgy. Pope Francis severely restricted the use of the Latin Mass in 2021 and with subsequent legislation. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Pope Leo: Don’t let tension between tradition, novelty become ‘harmful polarizations’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-dont-let-tension-between-tradition-novelty-become-harmful-polarizations</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-dont-let-tension-between-tradition-novelty-become-harmful-polarizations</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies on the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Oct. 26, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 26, 2025 / 08:10 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV said at a Mass on Sunday that no one in the Church “should impose his or her own ideas” and asked that tensions between tradition and novelty not become “ideological contrapositions and harmful polarizations.”“The supreme rule in the Church is love. No one is called to dominate; all are called to serve,” Leo said in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 26.“No one should impose his or her own ideas; we must all listen to one another,” he continued. “No one is excluded; we are all called to participate. No one possesses the whole truth; we must all humbly seek it and seek it together.”The pontiff celebrated Mass on the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time for the closing of the Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies, part of the Church’s wider Jubilee of Hope in 2025. In a call for communion, Pope Leo addressed all the participants in the synodality meeting and asked for their help to expand “the ecclesial space” and make it “collegial and welcoming.”Leo also spoke about synodality with the jubilee pilgrims during an Oct. 24 event at the Vatican.The Holy Spirit transforms ‘harmful polarizations’“Being a synodal Church means recognizing that truth is not possessed but sought together, allowing ourselves to be guided by a restless heart in love with Love,” he emphasized.The pontiff called on Christians to live “with confidence and a new spirit amid the tensions that run through the life of the Church: between unity and diversity, tradition and novelty, authority and participation. We must allow the Spirit to transform them, so that they do not become ideological contrapositions and harmful polarizations.” It is not a question of resolving these tensions “by reducing one to the other, but of allowing them to be purified by the Spirit, so that they may be harmonized and oriented toward a common discernment,” he said.He also made it clear that, “prior to any difference, we are called in the Church to walk together in the pursuit of God, clothing ourselves with the sentiments of Christ.”Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter&#039;s Basilica on Oct. 26, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNAResolving tensions in the ChurchIn his homily on the day’s Gospel passage, the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector, the pope warned of the danger of spiritual pride displayed by the pharisee: “The pharisee is obsessed with his own ego, and in this way, ends up focused on himself without having a relationship with either God or others.”Leo pointed out that this can also occur in the Christian community.For example, “when the ego prevails over the collective, causing an individualism that prevents authentic and fraternal relationships,” he said.He also criticized “the claim to be better than others, as the pharisee does with the tax collector, [because it] creates division and turns the community into a judgmental and exclusionary place; and when one leverages one’s role to exert power rather than to serve.”The pope highlighted the tax collector’s humility as an example for the entire Christian community: “We too must recognize within the Church that we are all in need of God and of one another, which leads us to practice reciprocal love, listen to each other, and enjoy walking together.”Leo urged Catholics to dream of and build a more humble Church, capable of reflecting the Gospel in its way of living and relating.“A Church that does not stand upright like the pharisee, triumphant and inflated with pride, but bends down to wash the feet of humanity; a Church that does not judge like the pharisee does the tax collector but becomes a welcoming place for all,” he said.He also invited the entire ecclesial community to commit itself to building a Church that is “entirely synodal, ministerial, and attracted to Christ,” dedicated to serving the world and open to listening to God and to all the men and women of our time.AngelusAfter the Mass on Oct. 26, Pope Leo led the Angelus prayer in Latin from a window of the Apostolic Palace, which overlooks St. Peter’s Square.In his message following the Marian prayer, he expressed his closeness to the people of eastern Mexico, who were hit earlier this month by devastating floods and landslides, leaving 72 dead and dozens still missing.“I pray for the families and for all those who are suffering as a result of this calamity, and I entrust the souls of the deceased to the Lord, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin,” the pope said.Leo also renewed his call to “unceasingly” pray for peace, especially through the communal recitation of the rosary. “Contemplating the mysteries of Christ together with the Virgin Mary, we make our own the suffering and hope of children, mothers, fathers, and elderly people who are victims of war,” he said. “And from this intercession of the heart arise many gestures of evangelical charity, of concrete closeness, of solidarity. To all those who, every day, with confident perseverance carry on this commitment, I repeat: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers!’”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo:, Don’t, let, tension, between, tradition, novelty, become, ‘harmful, polarizations’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: The first lesson for every bishop is humility</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-the-first-lesson-for-every-bishop-is-humility</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-the-first-lesson-for-every-bishop-is-humility</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates a Mass of episcopal consecration at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter&#039;s Basilica on Oct. 26, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA.

Vatican City, Oct 26, 2025 / 18:24 pm (CNA).
Bishops should be humble servants and men of prayer — not possession, Pope Leo XIV said at a Mass to consecrate a new bishop on Sunday.“This is the first lesson for every bishop: humility. Not humility in words, but that which dwells in the heart of those who know they are servants, not masters; shepherds, not owners of the flock,” the pontiff said Oct. 26.The pontiff personally consecrated Mons. Mirosław Stanisław Wachowski a bishop during a Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica.Wachowski was appointed apostolic nuncio — the pope’s diplomatic representative — to Iraq in September. Nuncios are usually also archbishops.The 55-year-old Wachowski, originally from Poland, has been in the diplomatic service of the Holy See since 2004. He has also served in the Secretariat of State in the section for relations with states, and was appointed undersecretary for relations with states — similar to a deputy foreign minister — in October 2019.Reflecting on Wachowski’s background growing up in a farming family in the Polish countryside, the pope said, “From your contact with the earth, you have learned that fruitfulness comes from waiting and fidelity: two words that also define the episcopal ministry.”“The bishop is called to sow with patience, to cultivate with respect, to wait with hope,” Leo continued. “He is a guardian, not an owner; a man of prayer, not of possession. The Lord entrusts you with a mission so that you may care for it with the same dedication with which the farmer cares for his field: every day, with constancy, with faith.”Pope Leo XIV places the bishop&#039;s miter on Archbishop Mirosław Stanisław Wachowski, the new apostolic nuncio to Iraq, as part of his episcopal ordination during a Mass in St. Peter&#039;s Basilica on Oct. 26, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA.The pontiff also reflected on the role of a nuncio, who, as the papal representative is “a sign of the concern of the Successor of Peter for all the Churches.”“He is sent to strengthen the bonds of communion, to promote dialogue with civil authorities, to safeguard the freedom of the Church, and to foster the good of the people,” he underlined.“The Apostolic Nuncio is not just any diplomat: he is the face of a Church that accompanies, consoles, and builds bridges,” he added. “His task is not to defend partisan interests, but to serve communion.”The pope said, Wachowski is being asked to be a father, a shepherd, and a witness of hope in Iraq, “a land marked by pain and the desire for rebirth.”“You are called to fight the good fight of faith, not against others, but against the temptation to tire, to close yourself off, to measure results, relying on the fidelity that is your hallmark: the fidelity of one who does not seek himself, but serves with professionalism, with respect, with a competence that enlightens and does not flaunt itself.”He remarked on the longstanding presence of Christianity in Mesopotamia, which, according to tradition, can trace its roots to St. Thomas the Apostle, and his disciples Addai and Mari.“In that region, people pray in the language that Jesus spoke: Aramaic. This apostolic root is a sign of continuity that the violence, which has manifested itself with ferocity in recent decades, has not been able to extinguish,” the pope said.“Indeed, the voice of those who have been brutally deprived of their lives in those lands does not fail,” he added. “Today they pray for you, for Iraq, for peace in the world.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, The, first, lesson, for, every, bishop, humility</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III make history with first joint prayer since Reformation</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-and-king-charles-iii-make-history-with-first-joint-prayer-since-reformation</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-and-king-charles-iii-make-history-with-first-joint-prayer-since-reformation</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III walk together in the Sistine Chapel during a historic meeting that included a prayer service at the Vatican, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 23, 2025 / 09:34 am (CNA).
History was made in the Sistine Chapel on Thursday as Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III prayed side by side, marking the first time since the Protestant Reformation that a reigning British monarch and a pope have prayed together during a royal state visit to the Vatican.Pope Leo XIV led the midday prayer of the Divine Office, standing beneath Michelangelo’s fresco of “The Last Judgment” and flanked by Anglican Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, King Charles, and Queen Camilla.Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III pray together in the Sistine Chapel during a historic meeting at the Vatican, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaThe ecumenical prayer service featured the Sistine Chapel Choir along with the choirs from St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle and His Majesty’s Chapel Royal.The choirs sang “Come, Holy Ghost, Who Ever One,” a hymn by St. Ambrose translated into English by St. John Henry Newman. Pope Leo will declare Newman, the 19th-century English cardinal and Anglican convert, a doctor of the Church on Nov. 1. King Charles attended Newman’s canonization in 2019 and recently became the first British monarch to visit the Birmingham Oratory, which Newman founded in 1848.King Charles III and Queen Camilla pray in the Sistine Chapel alongside Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaDuring the prayer, the choirs sang verses of Psalms 8 and 64 in Latin and English. A reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (8:22–27) was read aloud before Pope Leo and Cottrell offered the closing prayer together in English.Cardinals, bishops, and Anglican representatives attended the prayer service, which was the highlight of the king’s first state visit to the Holy See since his accession in 2022.As part of the state visit, Pope Leo approved the conferral of a new title on the monarch: “Royal Confrater” of the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. Cardinal James Michael Harvey, the basilica’s archpriest, will formally bestow the honor during an afternoon ecumenical service at the tomb of St. Paul. In return, Pope Leo XIV was offered the title of “Papal Confrater” of St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, an invitation Pope Leo accepted.“These mutual gifts of ‘confraternity’ are recognitions of spiritual fellowship and are deeply symbolic of the journey the Church of England (of which His Majesty is Supreme Governor) and the Roman Catholic Church have traveled over the past 500 years,” the British Embassy to the Holy See said in a statement. Pope Leo XIV greets King Charles III at the Vatican, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaBefore the prayer service, King Charles and Queen Camilla met privately with Pope Leo in the Apostolic Palace. The king also met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister. The Vatican said discussions focused on environmental protection, fighting poverty, and promoting ecumenical dialogue.“Particular attention was given to the shared commitment to promoting peace and security in the face of global challenges,” the Holy See Press Office said.King Charles also conferred on the pope the honor of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Bath, while the pope conferred on the king the honor of Knight Grand Cross with the Collar of the Vatican Order of Pope Pius IX and on Queen Camilla the honor of Dame Grand Cross of the same order.The royal visit comes as King Charles continues treatment for cancer, first diagnosed in early 2024. Buckingham Palace said that the king’s state visit — postponed earlier this year due to the poor health of Pope Francis — celebrates both the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year and “the ecumenical work between the Church of England and the Catholic Church, reflecting the jubilee year’s theme of walking together as ‘Pilgrims of Hope.’” Following the Sistine Chapel service, Pope Leo and King Charles met business and church leaders in the Apostolic Palace’s Sala Regia for a discussion on environmental sustainability and care for creation.After the Vatican meetings, King Charles is scheduled to visit the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, reviving the historic ties between England and the papal basilica. After the arrival in England of Roman monk-missionaries such as St. Augustine of Canterbury and St. Paulinus of York in the sixth and seventh centuries, Saxon rulers including Kings Offa and Æthelwulf contributed to the upkeep of the apostles’ tombs in Rome. By the late Middle Ages, the kings of England were recognized as “protectors” of the Basilica of St. Paul and abbey, and its heraldic shield came to include the insignia of the Order of the Garter. That tradition was interrupted by the Reformation and the ensuing centuries of estrangement. A newly commissioned chair bearing the royal coat of arms and the Latin phrase “Ut unum sint” (“That they may be one”) has been installed in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls for King Charles and his successors to use during future visits.King Charles visited the Vatican several times as Prince of Wales, including for the funeral of John Paul II and for Newman’s canonization. His last papal audience was with Pope Francis in April, shortly before Francis’ death, though that was not an official state visit.Queen Elizabeth II, Charles’ mother, met five popes during her 70-year reign but never participated in a public prayer with any of them. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/screenshot-2025-10-23-at-8.38.09-am.png" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, and, King, Charles, III, make, history, with, first, joint, prayer, since, Reformation</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV criticizes pharmaceutical industry’s role in scourge of opioid addiction</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-criticizes-pharmaceutical-industrys-role-in-scourge-of-opioid-addiction</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-criticizes-pharmaceutical-industrys-role-in-scourge-of-opioid-addiction</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets with participants of the fifth World Meeting of Popular Movements on Oct. 23, 2025, in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 23, 2025 / 15:26 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday decried the devastating impact of opioid addiction in the U.S., criticizing the pharmaceutical industry for its lack of “a global ethic” for the sake of profits.In an Oct. 23 meeting with participants of the fifth World Meeting of Popular Movements held inside the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall, the pope directly spoke out against “unbridled consumerism” and its negative impacts on people living in both poor and wealthy nations.“In the current culture, with the help of advertising and publicity, a cult of physical well-being is being promoted, almost an idolatry of the body and, in this vision, the mystery of pain is reduced to something totally inhuman,” he said.“This can lead also to dependence on pain medications, the sale of which obviously goes to increasing the earnings of the same pharmaceutical companies,” he continued. “This also leads to dependence on opioids, as has been devastating particularly in the United States.” Describing fentanyl as the “drug of death” and the “second most common cause of death among the poor” in the U.S., the pope said the harm of such synthetic drugs extends beyond the country’s borders.“The spread of new synthetic drugs, ever more lethal, is not only a crime involving trafficking of drugs but really has to do with the production of pharmaceuticals and their profit, lacking a global ethic,” he said on Thursday.Besides the pharmaceutical industry, the Holy Father also criticized the influence of big tech in promoting unhealthy, consumerist behaviors among people of all ages.“How can a poor young person live with hope and without anxiety when the social media constantly exalt an unbridled consumerism and a totally unrealizable level of economic success?” he said.“Another problem not often recognized is represented by the dependency on digital gambling,” he continued. “The platforms are designed to create compulsive dependence and generate addictive habits that create addiction.” Throughout the Oct. 23 gathering, the Holy Father expressed his solidarity with social leaders who are “moved by the desire of love” in order to “find solutions in a society dominated by unjust systems” present in the world today.“Your many and creative initiatives can become new public policies and social rights. Yours is a legitimate and necessary effort,” he told those present at the audience.“This makes you champions of humanity, witnesses to justice, poets of solidarity,” he added. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/p.leo.nun.23.oct.2025.jpeg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, criticizes, pharmaceutical, industry’s, role, scourge, opioid, addiction</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV encourages Order of the Holy Sepulchre in its mission in the Holy Land</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-encourages-order-of-the-holy-sepulchre-in-its-mission-in-the-holy-land</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-encourages-order-of-the-holy-sepulchre-in-its-mission-in-the-holy-land</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre at the Vatican on Oct. 23, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 23, 2025 / 17:34 pm (CNA).
In an audience with the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Pope Leo XIV thanked them for their humble service to the communities of the Holy Land, where they are called to bear witness “that life conquers death.”At the beginning of his address, the pope recalled the mission with which the order was established in 1098: to protect the Holy Sepulchre, care for pilgrims, and sustain the Church of Jerusalem.The Holy Father thanked the members of the order present for continuing the work they do “with the humility, dedication, and spirit of sacrifice that characterize chivalric orders,” especially for their witness and solidarity with the Christians of the Holy Land.In particular, the pontiff emphasized that even today they help the communities of the Holy Land “without any fanfare or seeking publicity” and support the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in its various activities, such as charitable works and humanitarian projects.“You show that protecting the sepulchre of Christ does not simply mean preserving a historical, archaeological, or artistic heritage — no matter how important that may be — but rather sustaining a Church made of living stones, which was born around it and still lives today as an authentic sign of Easter hope,” he noted.Leo XIV then reflected on the order’s mission and affirmed that remaining at the sepulchre of the Lord “means renewing one’s faith in the God who keeps his promises, whose power no human force can overcome.”“In a world where arrogance and violence seem to prevail over charity,” he continued, “you are called to bear witness that life conquers death, that love conquers hatred, that forgiveness conquers revenge, and that mercy and grace conquer sin.”He also exhorted the members of the order to preside over the holy places with faith, thus helping the faithful “to pause with their hearts at Christ’s tomb, where pain finds its answer in trust.”To achieve this, he advised them to have an “intense sacramental life” as well as to listen to and meditate on the word of God through personal and liturgical prayer and spiritual formation.The pope also reflected on the hope embodied in the women who went to the tomb to seek Jesus, which he described as “the face of service,” reiterating his gratitude to the order “for the great good you do, following the ancient tradition of assistance that characterizes you.” “How often, thanks to your work, a ray of light opens for individuals, families, and entire communities who risk being overwhelmed by terrible tragedies, at every level, especially in the places where Jesus lived,” he noted.He also noted that the image of St. Peter and St. John rushing to the sepulcher and finding Jesus’ tomb empty represents “the gesture of pilgrimage, a symbol of the search for the ultimate meaning of life.”Pope Leo thus invited them to experience their pilgrimage to Rome “as a stage from which to resume the journey toward the only true and definitive goal: full and eternal communion with God in paradise.”The pontiff asked them to bear witness and to invite the faithful “to experience the things of this world with the freedom and joy of those who know they are on their way toward the infinite horizon of eternity.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/fra9571-1.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2025 18:00:04 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, encourages, Order, the, Holy, Sepulchre, its, mission, the, Holy, Land</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Fact check: Did the Vatican Library open a prayer room for Muslims?</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/fact-check-did-the-vatican-library-open-a-prayer-room-for-muslims</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/fact-check-did-the-vatican-library-open-a-prayer-room-for-muslims</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  A view of the Vatican Apostolic Library in 2021. / Credit: Franco Origlia/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 15:56 pm (CNA).
Reports circulating in media outlets and on social media in October 2025 allege that the Vatican has opened a prayer room for Muslims in the Apostolic Library.Claim: The Vatican Library has opened a prayer room for Muslims.CNA finds: The library does allow Muslim scholars a room in which to pray while they are on site doing research in the Vatican’s extensive archives.Breakdown: In mid-October 2025, sensational news coverage rocketed around internet media outlets and social media feeds: The Vatican is “allow[ing]” a “designated Muslim prayer room” in its Apostolic Library (National Review); the library has “add[ed] a Muslim prayer room” (The Dallas Express); the Vatican has “[set] up [a] dedicated Muslim prayer room at [the] heart of [the] pope’s 500-year-old library” (GB News); the Holy See has “open[ed]” a “Muslim prayer room in [the] Apostolic Library” (EuroWeekly News).The headlines are not technically inaccurate. But they appear to suggest a sort of proactivity on the Vatican’s part, as if the Holy See opened up a Muslim prayer room in order to cater to Rome’s Islamic population. And readers could be forgiven for thinking the endeavor is more significant than it appears to be. Indeed, the reports generated passionate criticism online; one deacon, for instance, claimed the prayer room constitutes “a total betrayal of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” while the news outlet Zenit noted the policy had sparked a “quiet storm” in response.The truth appears to be somewhat more mundane. The prayer room’s existence became widely known after the Oct. 8 publication of an interview between the Italian newspaper La Repubblica and the priest Father Don Giacomo Cardinali, the vice prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library.In the wide-ranging interview, Cardinali described the library as a “universal institution” and “the most secular of the entire Holy See.”“Our interlocutors are research centers, public universities, the Louvre, the Metropolitan, NASA,” the priest told the newspaper. “They don’t really know what a priest is, much less how to distinguish him from a bishop or a cardinal.” Asked if “scholars of other religions” ever come to the library, the priest responded: “Of course.”“Some Muslim scholars asked us for a room with a carpet to pray, [so] we gave it to them: We have incredible ancient Korans,” the priest said. “We are a universal library,” he added. “There are Arabic, Jewish, Ethiopian collections, unique Chinese pieces. Years ago we discovered that we have the oldest medieval Japanese archive that exists outside the Rising Sun.”The verdict: The Vatican Apostolic Library does indeed allow Muslims a room for prayer. But, importantly, it does not appear to be a generally accessible Islamic prayer space but rather one designated for the “Muslim scholars” that may be on site at the time. Further, it was only opened at the request of scholars themselves.And though it is understandable that a Muslim prayer room in the Holy See may inspire a bit of cognitive dissonance, the vice prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library describes the space as nothing more than “a room with a carpet.”Amid the sensational news coverage, Britain’s Daily Mail may have said it best when it reported, simply: “The Vatican has granted Muslim scholars’ request for a prayer room.”We rate this claim true, with important context. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/vaticanlibrary061724.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 23 Oct 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Fact, check:, Did, the, Vatican, Library, open, prayer, room, for, Muslims</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>5 ways St. John Paul II changed the Catholic Church forever</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/5-ways-st-john-paul-ii-changed-the-catholic-church-forever</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/5-ways-st-john-paul-ii-changed-the-catholic-church-forever</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  In 1984, Pope John Paul II met in Rome with 300,000 young people from all over the world in a meeting that laid the foundations for today’s World Youth Day. / Credit: Gregorini Demetrio, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Oct 22, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).
You probably know that St. John Paul II was the second-longest-serving pope in modern history with 27 years of pontificate, and he was the first non-Italian pontiff since the Dutch Pope Adrian VI in 1523.But did you know that he also changed the Catholic Church in lasting ways during those 27 years? Here are five ways he did that:1. He helped bring about the 1989 fall of communism in Eastern Europe.The pope’s official biographer, George Weigel, who for decades chronicled the pope’s engagement with civic leaders, noted that the way Pope John Paul II influenced the political landscape was enormous. His political influence is seen best in the way his engagement with world leaders assisted the downfall of the U.S.S.R.Just days before President Ronald Reagan called on Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down” the Berlin Wall, he met with the pope. According to historian and author Paul Kengor, Reagan went so far as to call Pope John Paul II his “best friend,” opining that no one knew his soul better than the Polish pontiff who had also suffered an assassination attempt and carried the burden of world leadership.In the course of 38 official visits and 738 audiences and meetings held with heads of state, John Paul II influenced civic leaders around the world in this epic battle with a regime that would ultimately be responsible for the deaths of more than 30 million people. “He thought of himself as the universal pastor of the Catholic Church, dealing with sovereign political actors who were as subject to the universal moral law as anybody else,” Weigel said. “He was willing to be a risk-taker, but he also appreciated that prudence is the greatest of political virtues. And I think he was quite respected by world political leaders because of his transparent integrity. His essential attitude toward these men and women was: How can I help you? What can I do to help?”More than anything, John Paul II understood his role primarily as a spiritual leader.According to Weigel, the pope’s primary impact on the world of affairs was his central role in creating the revolution of conscience that began in Poland and swept across Eastern Europe. This revolution of conscience inspired the nonviolent revolution of 1989 and the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, an astounding political achievement. 2. He beatified and canonized more saints than any of his predecessors, making holiness more accessible to ordinary people.One of John Paul II’s most enduring legacies is the huge number of saints he recognized. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies, during which he proclaimed 1,338 blesseds, and celebrated 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints. That is more than the combined tally of his predecessors over the five centuries before.St. Teresa of Calcutta is perhaps the best-known contemporary of John Paul II who is now officially a saint, but the first saint of the new millennium and one especially dear to John Paul II was St. Faustina Kowalska, the fellow Polish native who received the message of divine mercy. “Sister Faustina’s canonization has a particular eloquence: By this act I intend today to pass this message on to the new millennium,” he said in the homily of her canonization. “I pass it on to all people, so that they will learn to know ever better the true face of God and the true face of their brethren.”St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, whom Pope John Paul II beatified in 1990 and nicknamed the “man of the beatitudes,” is another popular saint elevated by the Polish pope who loved to recognize the holiness of simple persons living the call to holiness with extraordinary fidelity. At the time of his death, the 24-year-old Italian was simply a student with no extraordinary accomplishments. But his love for Christ in the Eucharist and in the poor was elevated by John Paul II as heroic and worthy of imitation.It bears noting that Pope Francis would later surpass John Paul II when he proclaimed 800 Italian martyrs saints in a single day.3. He transformed the papal travel schedule.John Paul II visited some 129 countries during his pontificate — more countries than any other pope had visited up to that point.He also created World Youth Days in 1985 and presided over 19 of them as pope.Weigel said John Paul II understood that the pope must be present to the people of the Church, wherever they are.“He chose to do it by these extensive travels, which he insisted were not travels, they were pilgrimages,” Weigel said.“This was the successor of Peter, on pilgrimage to various parts of the world, of the Church. And that’s why these pilgrimages were always built around liturgical events, prayer, adoration of the holy Eucharist, ecumenical and interreligious gatherings — all of this was part of a pilgrimage experience.”In the latter half of the 20th century — a time of enormous social change and upheaval — John Paul II’s extensive travels and proclamation of the Gospel to the ends of the earth were just what the world needed, Weigel said.4. He made extraordinary contributions to Church teaching.John Paul II was a scholar who promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1992, reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law during his pontificate, and authored 14 encyclicals, 15 apostolic exhortations, 11 apostolic constitutions, and 45 apostolic letters.This is why Weigel said the Church has only begun to unpack what he calls the “magisterium” of John Paul II in the form of his writings and his intellectual influence.For example, John Paul’s theology of the body remains enormously influential in the United States and throughout the world, though Weigel said even this has yet to be unpacked.5. He gave new life to the Catholic Church in Africa.John Paul II’s legendary evangelical fervor took fire in Africa. He had a particular friendship with Beninese Cardinal Bernardin Gantin and visited Africa many times. His visits would inspire a generation of JPII Catholics in Africa as well as other parts of the globe.“John Paul II was fascinated by Africa; he saw African Christianity as living, a kind of New Testament experience of the freshness of the Gospel, and he was very eager to support that, and lift it up,” Gantin said.“It was very interesting that during the two synods on marriage and the family in 2014 and 2015, some of the strongest defenses of the Church’s classic understanding of marriage and family came from African bishops; some of whom are first-, second-generation Christians, deeply formed in the image of John Paul II, whom they regard as a model bishop,” Gantin said.“I think wherever you look around the world Church, the living parts of the Church are those that have accepted the magisterium ... as the authentic interpretation of Vatican II. And the dying parts of the Church, the moribund parts of the Church are those parts that have ignored that magisterium.”John Paul II’s influence in Africa and around the globe transformed the world. It also forever transformed the Church.This story was first published on Oct. 22, 2021, and has been updated. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 23 Oct 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>ways, St., John, Paul, changed, the, Catholic, Church, forever</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV to name St. John Henry Newman a patron saint of Catholic education</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-name-st-john-henry-newman-a-patron-saint-of-catholic-education</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-name-st-john-henry-newman-a-patron-saint-of-catholic-education</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  St. John Henry Newman near the end of his life, in 1887. / Credit: Babouba, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Oct 22, 2025 / 09:07 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV will name St. John Henry Newman a patron saint of Catholic education in a document to be published on Oct. 28 for the 60th anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis, the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on Christian education.The Holy Father will designate Newman as an official co-patron saint of education, together with St. Thomas Aquinas, during the Vatican’s Jubilee of the World of Education from Oct. 27 to Nov. 1, which is expected to draw 20,000 pilgrims.The saint will also be declared the 38th doctor of the Church by Leo at the jubilee’s closing Mass on Nov. 1, the solemnity of All Saints. Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, the prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, announced the upcoming designation during an Oct. 22 press conference.Newman, de Mendonça said, is an “extraordinary educator and great inspiration for the philosophy of education.”The pope will also publish a document on Oct. 28 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis.Leo’s document will “reflect on the topicality of the declaration and on the challenges that education must confront today, in particular the Catholic schools and universities,” de Mendonça said.Gravissiumum Educationis, the cardinal said, is a “fundamental document with a strong impact on the contemporary vision of education. The document had a fundamental role in and outside of the Church, and it should be recognized.”In addition to reaffirming the universal right to education, the Vatican II declaration marked “an important change in the language, that is, the mentality, for speaking about school, not in terms of institutions but rather in terms of educational communities,” he added.The cardinal quoted at length from the pope’s document to be published Oct. 28, which says that Gravissimum Educationis “has lost none of its bite” since its publication. “Since its reception, a constellation of works and charisms has been born ... a spiritual and pedagogical heritage capable of crossing the 21st century and responding to the most pressing challenges,” the pope says in the document.“This heritage is not set in stone: It is a compass that continues to point the way,” Leo says. “Today’s expectations are no less than those the Church faced 60 years ago. Indeed, they have expanded and become more complex. ... History challenges us with new urgency. Rapid and profound changes expose children, adolescents, and young people to unprecedented fragility. It is not enough to preserve: We must relaunch.” “I ask all educational institutions to inaugurate a season that speaks to the hearts of the new generations, recomposing knowledge and meaning, competence and responsibility, faith and life.”According to the latest Vatican statistics shared at the Oct. 22 press conference, there are 230,000 Catholic universities and schools present across 171 countries, serving almost 72 million students. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/stjohnhenrynewman080725.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 23 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, name, St., John, Henry, Newman, patron, saint, Catholic, education</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Cardinal, Vatican journalists condemn threat to free press after assaults on journalists</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/cardinal-vatican-journalists-condemn-threat-to-free-press-after-assaults-on-journalists</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/cardinal-vatican-journalists-condemn-threat-to-free-press-after-assaults-on-journalists</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Cardinal Pietro Parolin celebrates a Mass for peace in Ukraine on Nov. 17, 2022, in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 22, 2025 / 10:54 am (CNA).
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and an organization of Vatican-accredited journalists have spoken out in support of a free press after the recent attacks on two journalists in Italy.In a statement released Tuesday, the International Association of Journalists Accredited to the Vatican (AIGAV) condemned last week’s assault on Venezuelan Vatican journalist Edgar Beltrán by businessman Ricardo Cisneros, a member of the Venezuelan government delegation present in Rome for the Oct. 19 canonization of two Venezuelan saints.During an Oct. 17 event at the Vatican-connected Lateran University in Rome, Beltrán’s interview with the Vatican’s substitute for the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Edgar Robinson Peña Parra, was forcibly interrupted by Cisneros after the prelate was asked about the Maduro government’s “apparent politicization” of the canonizations, according to Catholic news outlet The Pillar.In its statement, AIGAV condemned “this act of violence against a fellow journalist who was simply doing his job.” “The recent incident, which occurred during an official reception attended by various civil and ecclesiastical representatives, confirms the need to continue supporting the free gathering of news. We therefore call upon all individuals and competent authorities to defend and promote this freedom,” it continued.The statement was sent to event organizers — the Pontifical Lateran University and the Archdiocese of Caracas — and to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication.The Holy See has not yet issued an official comment on the incident. However, several Vatican-accredited correspondents expressed their concern over what they consider a serious and unprecedented event in an environment generally characterized by respect and open reporting.Parolin also weighed in on the issue on the sidelines of a Rome event promoting religious freedom Oct. 21.Asked about the recent violent intimidation on Italian journalist Sigfrido Ranucci, host of the investigative TV program “Report,” he said: “We are increasingly at risk of living in a climate of intolerance where free expression is no longer accepted.”“It is a source of great concern that acts of intimidation against the press may occur,” Parolin added, expressing his solidarity with the journalist, who was threatened when bombs exploded on his car outside his home on the evening of Oct. 16.“I’m truly concerned; I express my sympathy to anyone who has been the target of this intimidation. We want everyone to be able to express their point of view without falling victim to this type of threat,” the cardinal added.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 23 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Cardinal, Vatican, journalists, condemn, threat, free, press, after, assaults, journalists</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: Sadness in life can be healed through Christ</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-sadness-in-life-can-be-healed-through-christ</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-sadness-in-life-can-be-healed-through-christ</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets a baby during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025 / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 22, 2025 / 11:24 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV at his general audience on Wednesday said sadness and disappointments can give rise to unexpected joys and hope when one discovers that Christ “walks with us and for us” in life.   Continuing his jubilee catechesis on “Jesus Christ Our Hope” in a rain-soaked St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father said the mystery of Christ’s resurrection can “change one’s outlook on the world,” especially in times when one experiences a “paralysis of the soul.”Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims during his general audience in St. Peter&#039;s Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA“It is the Risen One who radically changes our perspective, instilling the hope that fills the void of sadness,” he said in his Oct. 22 catechesis.“On the paths of the heart, the Risen One walks with us and for us. He bears witness to the defeat of death and affirms the victory of life, despite the darkness of Calvary,” he continued.In his reflection on the two disciples of Emmaus who had left “behind the hopes they held in Jesus” after his crucifixion and death, the Holy Father said the Gospel passage recorded by St. Luke can “be a gentle reminder to us when the going gets tough.”Pope Leo XIV surveys a crowd of pilgrims underneath the banners of two recently canonized saints in St. Peter&#039;s Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA“History still has much goodness to hope for,” he said.Addressing thousands of pilgrims donning raincoats and holding umbrellas in St. Peter’s Square and the Via della Conciliazione, the pope said sadness, which he described as one of the “malaises of our time,” can be healed when one is able to recognize the presence of the risen Christ in our lives.“Intrusive and widespread, sadness accompanies the days of many people,” he said. “It is a feeling of precariousness, at times profound desperation, which invades one’s inner space and seems to prevail over any impetus to joy.”“Sadness robs life of meaning and vigor, turning it into a directionless and meaningless journey,” he added.Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims from the popemobile during his general audience in St. Peter&#039;s Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNANoting that Christians can at times have “sadness clouds their gaze,” Leo said Jesus can rekindle their hearts with the “warmth of hope,” like what he had done through a gentle, humble, and hidden way for his two followers from Emmaus.Toward the end of his Wednesday audience, the Holy Father urged Christians, particularly families, to be “missionaries of the Gospel” and to offer their support to those who dedicate their lives to the service of evangelization.“Dear friends, the month of October invites us to renew our active cooperation in the Church’s mission with the strength of prayer, with the potential of married life, and with the youthful energy that is yours,” he said. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 23 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, Sadness, life, can, healed, through, Christ</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV canonizes 7 new saints, including first from Venezuela and Papua New Guinea</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-canonizes-7-new-saints-including-first-from-venezuela-and-papua-new-guinea</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-canonizes-7-new-saints-including-first-from-venezuela-and-papua-new-guinea</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  A Venezuelan priest who concelebrated the canonization Mass with Pope Leo XIV celebrates his country&#039;s first saints in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Oct. 19, 2025. / Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN

Vatican City, Oct 19, 2025 / 08:15 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV proclaimed seven new saints on Sunday before an estimated 70,000 people in St. Peter’s Square, including the first saints from Venezuela and Papua New Guinea and a former Satanist who underwent a dramatic conversion to become an “apostle of the rosary.”“Today we have before us seven witnesses, the new saints, who with God’s grace, kept the lamp of faith burning,” Pope Leo XIV said in his homily on Oct. 19. “Indeed, they themselves became lamps capable of spreading the light of Christ.”“May their intercession assist us in our trials and their example inspire us in our shared vocation to holiness,” he said.Pope Leo XIV declares 7 new saints at the canonization Mass in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Oct. 19, 2025. Daniel Ibáñez/EWTNThe canonization Mass unfolded under a bright Roman sun, with Venezuelan flags waving across the square as the pope declared two of the country’s beloved figures saints: St. José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros, known as “the doctor of the poor,” and St. María del Carmen Rendiles Martínez, a religious sister born without her left arm who went on to found the Servants of Jesus in Caracas in 1965.Venezuelan pilgrims celebrate the canonization of their country&#039;s first saints in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Oct. 19, 2025. Daniel Ibáñez/EWTNAmong the new saints were also two martyrs. St. Peter To Rot, a lay catechist martyred in Papua New Guinea during the Japanese occupation in World War II, became the country’s first saint. To Rot defied Japanese authorities who permitted polygamy, defending Christian marriage until his death. St. Ignatius Maloyan, an Armenian Catholic archbishop, was executed during the Armenian genocide after refusing to convert to Islam. “I consider the shedding of my blood for my faith to be the sweetest desire of my heart,” Maloyan said before his death. “If I am tortured for the love of him who died for me, I will be among those who will have joy and bliss, and I will have obtained to see my Lord and my God.”After the crowd prayed the Litany of the Saints, Pope Leo XIV pronounced the canonization formula in Latin, greeted by enthusiastic cheers.An estimated 70,000 people were present in St. Peter&#039;s Square by the end of the canonization Mass on Oct. 19, 2025, according to the Vatican. Daniel Ibáñez/EWTNAmong the most well known of the new saints is St. Bartolo Longo, a 19th-century Italian lawyer who abandoned his Catholic faith for Satanism before returning to the Church with zeal. After his conversion, Longo dedicated his life to promoting the rosary and built the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, now one of Italy’s most beloved Marian pilgrimage sites.In his homily, Pope Leo XVI said that “what is most precious in the Lord’s eyes” is “faith, namely, the bond of love between God and man.”“Our relationship with God is of the utmost importance because at the beginning of time he created all things out of nothing and, at the end of time, he will save mortal beings from nothingness,” the pope said. “A world without faith, then, would be populated by children living without a Father, that is, by creatures without salvation.”Pope Leo XIV proclaimed 7 new saints  at the canonization Mass in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Oct. 19, 2025. Daniel Ibáñez/EWTNThree women were also declared saints. In addition to Venezuela’s St. María del Carmen Rendiles Martínez, the Italian foundress St. Vincenza Maria Poloni was also canonized. Poloni founded the Sisters of Mercy of Verona and is remembered for her tireless service to the poor, including at the risk of her life during the cholera epidemic of 1836. Pope Leo also canonized St. Maria Troncatti, an Italian Salesian sister who spent 44 years as a missionary among the Indigenous Shuar people in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest. Known affectionately as “Madrecita,” or “little mother,” she served as a nurse, surgeon, and catechist with missionary zeal.Religious sisters celebration the canonization of Saint Maria Troncatti, an Italian Salesian sister, who spent nearly five decades as a missionary in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest, at the canonization Mass in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Oct. 19, 2025. Daniel Ibáñez/EWTNThe canonization coincided with World Mission Sunday. Before praying the Angelus, Pope Leo XIV, who was once an Augustinian missionary himself in Peru, urged the faithful to pray for today’s missionaries. “The Church is entirely missionary, but today we pray especially for those men and women who left everything to bring the Gospel to those who do not know it. They are missionaries of hope among the people. May the Lord bless them,” he said.Pope Leo XIV greets the crowd in the popemobile, including pilgrims who carried an image of Señor de los Milagros in procession into St. Peter&#039;s Square before the canonization Mass on Oct. 19, 2025. Daniel Ibáñez/EWTNThe pope also made a heartfelt plea for peace, expressing sorrow over renewed violence in Myanmar.“The news coming from Myanmar is sadly distressing,” he said. “I renew my heartfelt appeal for an immediate and effective ceasefire. May the instruments of war give way to those of peace, through inclusive and constructive dialogue.”Pope Leo XIV entrusted his prayer for peace to the intercession of the new saints, praying in particular for the Holy Land, Ukraine, and other places of conflict. &quot;May God grant all leaders wisdom and perseverance to advance in the search for a just and lasting peace,” he said. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, canonizes, new, saints, including, first, from, Venezuela, and, Papua, New, Guinea</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV asks Catholics in Russia to be an example of love, brotherhood, and respect</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-asks-catholics-in-russia-to-be-an-example-of-love-brotherhood-and-respect</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-asks-catholics-in-russia-to-be-an-example-of-love-brotherhood-and-respect</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets Catholic pilgrims from Russia during an audience in the Vatican&#039;s Apostolic Palace on Oct. 17, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media.

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 17, 2025 / 12:42 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Friday asked a group of Catholic pilgrims from Russia, in Rome on a Jubilee pilgrimage, to be an example of love and brotherhood upon their return home.In his Oct. 17 address at the Vatican, the Holy Father emphasized that the presence of the Russian pilgrims “is part of the journey of so many generations” who have traveled to Rome. For the Holy Father, “this city can be a symbol of human existence, in which the ’ruins’ of past experiences, anguish, uncertainty, and anxiety are intertwined with the faith that grows every day and becomes active in charity.”“And with the hope that does not disappoint and encourages us, because even on the ruins, despite sin and enmity, the Lord can build a new world and renewed life,” he added.Bishop Joseph Werth of the Diocese of the Transfiguration in Novosibirsk, Russia, told EWTN News after the meeting that Pope Leo took the time to greet the entire group of around 100 pilgrims, despite being scheduled to only greet the people in the front rows. “It’s a sign that the pope wanted to dedicate time to us,” Werth said.Leo encouraged the Catholics from Russia to continue the path of Christian life upon returning home, appealing to their responsibility in their local Church.“From your families, from your parish and diocesan communities, may an example of love, fraternity, solidarity, and mutual respect emerge for all the people among whom you live, work, and study,” he urged them. In this way, he affirmed that “the fire of Christian love can be kindled, capable of warming the coldness of hearts, even the most hardened.”In Rome, the pontiff specified, “the heart of the Christian soul beats” and it is where “the events of the faith — received and transmitted since apostolic times, from which so many peoples and nations have drunk abundantly and from which they still live today — are intertwined with the concerns and commitments of daily life.”Leo XIV also pointed out the monuments scattered throughout the Eternal City, “tangible signs of living faith, rooted in the hearts of people, capable of transforming consciences and motivating them to do good.” He emphasized that every Catholic “is a living stone in the building of the Church” who, even if small, placed by the Lord in the right place, “plays an important role in the stability of the entire structure.”Alexey Gotovskiy of EWTN News contributed to this report. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 19 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, asks, Catholics, Russia, example, love, brotherhood, and, respect</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Meet the 7 saints Pope Leo XIV will canonize on Oct. 19</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/meet-the-7-saints-pope-leo-xiv-will-canonize-on-oct-19</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/meet-the-7-saints-pope-leo-xiv-will-canonize-on-oct-19</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV will canonize seven new saints on Sunday including an Italian lawyer who renounced Satanism and became “an apostle of the Rosary,” a martyred Armenian archbishop, and a Venezuelan considered the “doctor of the poor.” Banners of the new saints are on display on St. Peter&#039;s Basilica for all to see in St. Peter&#039;s Square. / Credit: Courtney Mares / CNA

Vatican City, Oct 18, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV will canonize seven new saints on Sunday including an Italian lawyer who renounced Satanism and became “an apostle of the rosary,” a martyred Armenian archbishop, and a Venezuelan considered the “doctor of the poor.”The canonizations, previously approved by the late Pope Francis, will be presided over by Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 19 at the Vatican. The group includes three women and four men, with two martyrs, three laypeople, and two founders of religious orders. Among them are Papua New Guinea’s first saint and the first two saints from Venezuela. Let’s get to know these soon-to-be saints:Once an “ordained” Satanic priest, Bartolo Longo underwent one of the most dramatic conversions in recent Church history, and will be canonized a saint on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025 in St. Peter&#039;s Square. Credit: Courtney Mares / CNABartolo Longo (1841–1926)Bartolo Longo underwent one of the most dramatic conversions in recent Church history. He grew up in a Catholic household, but after studying law at a university in Naples, Italy, he went from being a practicing Catholic to taking part in anti-papal demonstrations to becoming an atheist, then a Satanist, and eventually being “ordained” to the Satanist priesthood.Through the prayers of his family and the influence of devout friends, particularly Professor Vincenzo Pepe and Dominican priest Father Alberto Radente, Longo experienced a profound conversion, renouncing his past and returning wholeheartedly to the Catholic Church.Following his conversion, Longo dedicated his life to promoting the rosary and the message of mercy and hope through the Virgin Mary. He settled in the poverty-stricken town of Pompeii  where he began restoring a dilapidated church and tirelessly worked to build a Marian shrine dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. With support from benefactors and the local community, he transformed Pompeii into a thriving center of Catholic devotion. His efforts culminated in the construction of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii, which continues to be a major pilgrimage site to this day.In addition to his religious work, Longo was a tireless advocate for social justice. He founded schools, orphanages, and charitable institutions, especially for the children of prisoners, believing in the power of education and mercy to transform lives. For the last 20 years of his life, Longo had constant health issues. He died on Oct. 5, 1926, and in 1980 was beatified by Pope John Paul II, who called him the “Apostle of the Rosary.”Ignatius Maloyan was an Armenian Catholic archbishop of Mardin in the Ottoman Empire who was executed during the Armenian genocide for refusing to convert to Islam and renounce his Christian faith. He will be canonized a saint in St. Peter&#039;s Square by Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025. Credit: Courtney Mares / CNAIgnatius Choukrallah Maloyan (Ottoman Empire, 1869–1915)Ignatius Maloyan was an Armenian Catholic archbishop of Mardin in the Ottoman Empire who was executed during the Armenian genocide for refusing to convert to Islam and renounce his Christian faith.At the age of 14, Maloyan was sent to the convent of Bzommar-Lebanon. In 1896, he was ordained a priest in the Church of Bzommar convent and took the name Ignatius in honor of the beloved martyr of Antioch. From 1892 to 1910, Maloyan was a parish priest in Alexandria and Cairo, where his good reputation was widespread. On Oct. 22, 1911, he was named archbishop of Mardin. Soon after, the first World War broke out and Armenians in Turkey began to endure great suffering. On June 3, 1915, Turkish soldiers dragged Maloyan in chains to court with 27 other Armenian Catholic figures. During the trial, Mamdooh Bek, the chief of the police, asked Maloyan to convert to Islam. The archbishop answered that he would never betray Christ and his Church and was prepared to endure all types of punishments for his fidelity. He was imprisoned and frequently beaten. On June 10, the Turkish soldiers gathered 447 Armenians and took them to a deserted area. During the ordeal, the archbishop encouraged those gathered to remain firm in their faith and prayed with them that they would accept martyrdom with courage. After a two-hour walk, naked and chained, the prisoners were killed by the soldiers in front of Maloyan. Bek once again asked the archbishop to convert to Islam. He refused and was shot and killed by Bek on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Before he was killed, Maloyan said: “I consider the shedding of my blood for my faith to be the sweetest desire of my heart, because I know perfectly well that if I am tortured for the love of him who died for me, I will be among those who will have joy and bliss, and I will have obtained to see my Lord and my God up there.” He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on Oct. 7, 2001.Peter To Rot, a lay catechist in Papua New Guinea, will be canonized by Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025. To Rot was martyred during the Japanese occupation during World War II. Credit: Courtney Mares / CNAPeter To Rot (Papua New Guinea, 1912–1945)Peter To Rot, a lay catechist in Papua New Guinea, was martyred during the Japanese occupation in World War II. When the Catholic priest in his village was taken to a Japanese labor camp, the priest left To Rot in charge of catechizing the village and told him before he was taken: “Help them, so that they don’t forget about God.”Despite Japanese oppression, To Rot worked in secret to keep the faith. He was a great defender of Christian marriage, working to defy Japanese law, which allowed men to take a second wife. Toward the end of the war, the rules against religious freedom became even stricter, with any kind of prayer being forbidden. To Rot was arrested and sent to a manual labor camp in 1944 for his continual disobedience. In 1945 he was killed by lethal injection and is considered a martyr for the Catholic faith. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on Jan. 17, 1995. He will be Papua New Guinea’s first saint.José Gregorio Hernández, a Venezuelan physician, scientist, and layman who is revered as the “doctor of the poor&quot; will be canonized by Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025 at the Vatican. Credit: Courtney Mares / CNAJosé Gregorio Hernández (Venezuela, 1864–1919)José Gregorio Hernández, a Venezuelan physician, scientist, and layman, is revered as the “doctor of the poor.” Born on Oct. 26, 1864, in Isnotú in the Venezuelan state of Trujillo, he lost his mother at the age of 8. He studied medicine in Caracas and received government funding to continue his studies in Paris in 1889 for two years. After returning to Venezuela, he became a professor at the Central University of Caracas, where he started each lesson with the sign of the cross.Hernández attended daily Mass, brought medicine and care to the poor, and made a profession as a Third Order Franciscan. In 1908 he gave up his profession and entered a cloistered Carthusian monastery in Farneta, Italy. However, nine months later he fell ill and his superior ordered him to return to Venezuela to recover. After some time, Hernández concluded that it was God’s will for him to remain a layman. He decided then to promote sanctification as an exemplary Catholic by being a doctor and giving glory to God by serving the sick. He devoted himself to academic research and deepened his dedication to serving the poor.One day, as the doctor went to pick up medicine for an elderly poor woman, he was hit by a car. He died in the hospital on June 29, 1919. He was beatified by Pope Francis on April 30, 2021.Maria Troncatti, an Italian Salesian sister, spent nearly five decades as a missionary in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest among the Indigenous Shuar people. She is one of three women being canonized by Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025 at the Vatican. Credit: Courtney Mares / CNAMaria Troncatti (Italy/Ecuador, 1883–1969)Maria Troncatti, an Italian Salesian sister, spent nearly five decades as a missionary in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest among the Indigenous Shuar people. Growing up in Italy, Troncatti showed an interest in religious life from a young age. She made her first profession as part of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, also known as the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco, in 1908.During World War I, Sister Maria trained in health care and worked as a Red Cross nurse in a military hospital. In 1925 she began her mission serving the Shuar Indians in the Amazon forest in the southeastern part of Ecuador. For 44 years, she was known as “Madrecita,” or “little mother,” by everyone in the village. Not only did she serve as a surgeon, dentist, nurse, orthopedist, and anesthesiologist, she was also a faithful catechist sharing the Gospel with all those she served. Sister Maria died at the age of 86 on Aug. 25, 1969, in a plane crash. She was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.Carmen Elena Rendiles Martínez was born in Caracas without her left arm and was given a prosthetic arm that she used for her entire life. She founded the Servants of Jesus in Caracas and served as the Superior General of the congregation. She will become Venezuela’s first female saint on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, when she will be canonized by Pope Leo XIV. Credit: Courtney Mares / CNAMaría del Carmen Rendiles Martínez (Venezuela, 1903–1977)Carmen Elena Rendiles Martínez was born in Caracas, Venezuela, without her left arm and was given a prosthetic arm that she used for her entire life. In 1918, Martínez began to feel a call to religious life, but having a disability was considered a reason for rejection from some religious congregations at that time. Eventually, she joined the Servants of the Eucharist in 1927 and took the name María Carmen. She once said: “I want to be holy. I want to say like St. Paul: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” When her religious community sought autonomy from its French motherhouse in 1965, she went on to found the Servants of Jesus in Caracas to continue its mission of Eucharistic devotion. She served as the superior general of the congregation from 1969 when she was appointed until her death in 1977 from influenza. She was beatified by Pope Francis in 2018 and will become Venezuela’s first female saint. Vincenza Maria Poloni, an Italian religious sister, founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of Verona to care for the poor, sick, and the elderly. She will be canonized a saint on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025 in St. Peter&#039;s Square by Pope Leo XIV. Credit: Courtney Mares / CNAVincenza Maria Poloni (Italy, 1802–1855)Vincenza Maria Poloni, an Italian religious sister, founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of Verona to care for the poor, sick, and elderly. Born the youngest of 12 siblings, she discerned her vocation under the guidance of Blessed Charles Steeb as she devoted her time to working with the poor, the elderly, and chronically ill.In 1836, during the cholera epidemic of 1836, she worked tirelessly in the emergency wards, putting her own health at risk. In 1840 she devoted herself full time to the care of the sick and elderly and began to live a similar lifestyle to that of a religious sister — fervent prayer, strict schedules, and total service of charity toward others. On Sept. 10, 1848, Poloni founded the Sisters of Mercy of Verona and took the name Vincenza Maria. Her motto, “Serving Christ in the Poor,” became the foundation of her congregation, which can be found today on three continents. She died on Nov. 11, 1855, from a tumor that had spread throughout her body. She was beatified in 2008. Pope Leo XIV will canonize seven new saints on Sunday including an Italian lawyer who renounced Satanism, a martyred Armenian archbishop, and a Venezuelan considered the “doctor of the poor.” Banners of the new saints are on display on St. Peter&#039;s Basilica for all to see in St. Peter&#039;s Square. Credit: Couttney Mares / CNA ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 19 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Meet, the, saints, Pope, Leo, XIV, will, canonize, Oct.</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV says first canonized couple give example of ‘marriage as a path to holiness’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-says-first-canonized-couple-give-example-of-marriage-as-a-path-to-holiness</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-says-first-canonized-couple-give-example-of-marriage-as-a-path-to-holiness</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Louis and Zelie Martin. Public Domain image. / null

Vatican City, Oct 18, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
At a time when the world offers “many counter-examples” of what a healthy marriage should look like, Pope Leo XIV has urged couples to look to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin — the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux — as a model of a joyful and holy marriage. In an Oct. 18 message marking the 10th anniversary of the Martins’ canonization, Pope Leo said their lives show “marriage as a path to holiness” and provide an example that the world today urgently needs of how to help one’s children discover God’s “boundless love and tenderness and strive to make them love Him in return as He deserves.” “Among the vocations to which men and women are called by God, marriage is one of the noblest and most elevated,” the pope wrote. Yet, he added, “in these troubled and disoriented times, when so many counter-examples of unions, often fleeting, individualistic and selfish, with bitter and disappointing fruits, are presented to young people, the family as the Creator intended it could seem outdated and boring.”The pope described the Martins as a couple who found “profound happiness” in giving life, transmitting the faith, and “seeing their daughters grow and flourish under the gaze of the Lord.” Their example, he said, reveals the “ineffable happiness and profound joy that God grants, both here on earth and for eternity, to those who embark on this path of fidelity and fruitfulness.”“Dear couples, I invite you to persevere courageously on the path, sometimes difficult and laborious, but luminous, that you have undertaken,” Pope Leo wrote. “Above all, put Jesus at the center of your families, your activities and your choices,” he said. The message was addressed to Bishop Bruno Feillets of Séez, France, whose diocese includes the Martins’ first family home in the town of Alençon, where celebrations are taking place for the anniversary.Louis and Marie-Azélie (Zélie) Martin were married in 1858 at Notre Dame Basilica in Alençon. Before marrying, both had sought religious life — Louis with the Augustinians and Zélie with the Sisters of Charity — but each discerned that God was calling them to marriage.Zélie prayed for children who would consecrate their lives to God, and the couple was blessed with nine. Four died in infancy, and the remaining five became religious sisters, including Thérèse, who would later become one of the Church’s most beloved saints and a Doctor of the Church.Thérèse said that God had given her “a mother and a father more worthy of heaven than of earth.”Zélie died of breast cancer in 1877 at age 45. After Zelie’s death, Louis moved the family to Lisieux, where four of his daughters went on to become Carmelite nuns. The Martins were canonized together by Pope Francis on Oct. 18, 2015, becoming the first married couple in Church history to be declared saints together — a testament, Pope Leo said, to the enduring truth that marriage, lived faithfully, “leads to the glory of heaven.” ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/Louis_and_Zelie_Martin_CNA.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 19 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, says, first, canonized, couple, give, example, ‘marriage, path, holiness’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Worldwide Catholic population up, vocations down</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/worldwide-catholic-population-up-vocations-down</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/worldwide-catholic-population-up-vocations-down</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV is seen here at the Jubilee of Youth on August 3, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 18, 2025 / 11:48 am (CNA).
On the occasion of the 99th World Mission Day, to be celebrated on Sunday, Oct. 19, with the theme &quot;Missionaries of Hope among all Peoples,&quot; the Vatican news agency Fides presented some statistics that offer a general overview of the Catholic Church worldwide.The study is based on numbers from 2023, in which the world population rose to 7,914,582,000, with a positive trend on all continents, including Europe. The increase in Catholics was 15,881,000 over the previous year.The most notable growth in Catholics is in Africa, with an increase of 8,309,000; and the Americas with 5,668,000; followed by Asia with 954,000; Europe with 740,000; and Oceania with 210,000.The percentage of Catholics in the world&#039;s population increased by 0.1% compared to the previous year, reaching 17.8%.The total number of bishops worldwide increased by 77 compared to the previous year&#039;s survey, reaching 5,430. Diocesan bishops also increased by 84, while religious order bishops decreased by seven. In total, there are 4,258 diocesan bishops and 1,172 bishops belonging to religious orders.Falling number of priestsThe number of priests worldwide continues to decline. According to data from Fides, in 2023 it decreased by 734 compared to the previous year, leaving a total of 406,996 priests.The most significant decrease was again recorded in Europe, with 2,486 fewer priests, followed by the Americas, where the number fell by 800, and Oceania, with 44 fewer. However, the number of priests increased in Africa, with 1,451 more, and in Asia, which added 1,145 new priests.The number of diocesan priests decreased by 429, leaving a total of 278,742. Religious order priests also registered a decline — reversing the previous year&#039;s trend — and now total 128,254, 305 fewer than in the last survey.Meanwhile, the number of permanent deacons continues to increase, reaching a total of 51,433. Growth is mainly concentrated in the Americas (+1,257) and Oceania (+57), while slight declines are recorded in Asia (-1), Africa (-3), and Europe (-27).The number of men in religious orders who are not priests also decreased, with 736 fewer than the previous year, standing at 48,748. The decreases are in Europe (-308), the Americas (-293), Asia (-196), and Oceania (-46), although Africa shows a slight increase (+107).Likewise, the number of women in religious orders continued its years-long decline. Currently, there are 589,423, which means 9,805 fewer than in the previous report. They have increased in Africa (+1,804) and Asia (+46), but continue to decline in Europe (–7,338), the Americas (–4,066), and Oceania (–251).Declining number of seminariansThe number of major seminarians, both diocesan and religious, also decreased, totaling 106,495 (the previous year was 108,481). Africa alone recorded an increase of 383.Minor seminarians, both diocesan and religious, also decreased, reaching 95,021, a decrease of 140. Furthermore, Africa went from an increase in the 2022 survey to a slight decrease of 90.Education and charitable worksFides also reported that the Catholic Church operates a total of 74,550 kindergartens worldwide with 7,639,051 students; 102,455 primary schools with 36,199,844 students; 52,085 secondary schools with 20,724,361 students; 2,688,625 students in higher education institutions; and 4,468,875 students in Catholic universities.In addition, in the field of health care and charitable works, there are 103,951 institutions affiliated with the Catholic Church, including 5,377 hospitals and 13,895 dispensaries; 504 leper colonies;. There are 15,566 homes for the elderly, chronically ill, or disabled; 10,858 daycare centers; 10,827 marriage counseling centers; 3,147 education or social reintegration centers and 5,184 other types of institutions.Data on the total world population and the number of baptized Catholics are updated as of June 30, 2023, while other data are updated as of December 31, 2023.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/pope.jubilee.platform.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 19 Oct 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Worldwide, Catholic, population, up, vocations, down</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV hails Roma, Sinti, and Travelers’ faith amid marginalization</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-hails-roma-sinti-and-travelers-faith-amid-marginalization</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-hails-roma-sinti-and-travelers-faith-amid-marginalization</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV hugs a man during the Jubilee of Roma, Sinti, and Travelers on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 18, 2025 / 13:10 pm (CNA).
At the Vatican’s Jubilee of Roma, Sinti, and Travelers, Pope Leo XIV praised pilgrims for their deep trust in God despite centuries of exclusion, telling thousands of participants that their witness renews the Church’s own faith.“Today we all feel renewed by the gift you bring to the pope: your strong faith, your unshakeable hope in God alone, your solid trust that does not yield to the hardships of a life often lived on the margins of society,” Pope Leo said during the jubilee audience in the Paul VI Hall on Saturday.About 4,000 pilgrims from more than 70 countries in Europe and beyond took part in the event, according to the Vatican. Musicians and dancers from Italy, Romania, France, Spain, and Slovenia filled the Vatican hall with lively music during the vibrant Jubilee celebration. Pope Leo urged participants to continue placing their faith and hope entirely in God, saying they “can be living witnesses to the centrality of these three things: trusting only in God, not attaching yourself to any worldly possessions, and demonstrating exemplary faith in words and deeds.”He added that the “heart of the Church, by its very nature, is in solidarity with the poor, the excluded, and the marginalized, with those considered society’s ‘discard.’”Pope Leo XIV greets participants in the Jubilee of Roma, Sinti, and Travelers in the Vatican&#039;s Paul VI Hall on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media“For nearly a thousand years, you have been pilgrims and nomads in a context that has progressively constructed development models that have proven to be unjust and unsustainable in many respects,” Leo said. He added that so-called “progressive” societies have often relegated them “to the margins of cities, the margins of rights, the margins of education and culture,” even while those same societies have created “enormous economic inequalities… financial crises, environmental disasters, and wars.”During the audience, the pope also spoke to pastoral workers who serve Roma, Sinti, and Caminanti communities, urging them “to carry forward with renewed energy the objectives formulated by the Fifth World Congress on the Pastoral Care of Gypsies,” particularly in education, family ministry, and intercultural dialogue. He said he hopes “every diocese will develop adequate pastoral attention dedicated to the Roma, Sinti and Caminanti communities, for true integral human growth.”At the end of his speech, Pope Leo took the time to answer a few questions from children taking part in the Jubilee. When asked how young people can be better friends with Jesus, he said that “seeking the help of the Church is a very important path to always being a friend of Jesus.”“Jesus, through the Church, presents himself to us, and therefore loving Jesus, being a friend of Jesus, means being a friend in the Church: and so life in the Church, the Sacraments, the Holy Mass,” he said. A young boy in the Jubilee of Roma, Sinti, and Travelers gives Pope Leo XIV a hug after asking him a question on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaTo another child who asked how it could be possible for children to grow up in a world without war, Pope Leo said peace begins with us. “If we want to change the world, we must start with ourselves, with our friends, our classmates, in our families,” he said. “It’s very important that we always seek this capacity for dialogue, for mutual respect, and to promote the values that help us build a world of peace.”Pope Leo XIV greets musicians participating in the Jubilee of Roma, Sinti, and Travelers in the Vatican&#039;s Paul VI Hall on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaThe Jubilee of Roma, Sinti, and Traveling Peoples was organized in collaboration with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Migrantes Foundation, the Community of Sant’Egidio, the Vicariate of Rome, and representatives of the Pastoral Care of Roma and Sinti.Celebrations will continue Sunday with a Mass at Rome’s Sanctuary of Divine Love, presided over by Cardinal Fabio Baggio and accompanied by Roma and Sinti musicians. A prayer service will follow in honor of Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla, the first Roma martyr of the faith.  ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/screenshot-2025-10-18-at-9.53.59-am.png" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 19 Oct 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, hails, Roma, Sinti, and, Travelers’, faith, amid, marginalization</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV introduces significant reform to Holy See’s investments</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-introduces-significant-reform-to-holy-sees-investments</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-introduces-significant-reform-to-holy-sees-investments</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), popularly known as the Vatican Bank. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 15, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Last week, Pope Leo XIV introduced a significant reform to the financial architecture of the Holy See.With the motu proprio Coniuncta Cura, (“Shared Responsibility”) the Holy Father revoked the exclusive right that the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR by its Italian acronym) — popularly known as the “Vatican Bank” — had until then for investment management, opening the door to the use of other foreign financial intermediaries if deemed more efficient or appropriate.The new regulations do not seek to remove investments from the Vatican purview but rather to open the possibility of management to accredited financial intermediaries. “If there is a sum to be invested, it was previously done only through the IOR; but now it can also be done through the APSA [Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See]. This does not mean that investments will be made outside [of the Vatican] but rather that external financial organizations can step in to assist the Vatican,” Mimmo Muolo, an expert on Holy See finances and a journalist for the Italian Bishops’ Conference’s newspaper, Avvenire, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.Pope Leo XIV — who has practical experience in financial management as superior of the Order of St. Augustine — “wanted to apply the economic principle of diversification in the Vatican,” Muolo noted.Reactivating the Vatican’s other economic-financial lungThis decision effectively means “reactivating the Vatican’s other economic-financial lung,” he explained. The APSA, in fact, is the body responsible for managing the Vatican’s real estate assets, which total some 2,400 apartments, most of them located in Rome and Castel Gandolfo. In addition, there are another 600 units rented to businesses or used as offices.The expert explained that, in reality, the IOR — a small financial institution with just over 100 employees — “is not a bank” but rather “a large investment fund that has made it possible to channel financial resources.”“The true Vatican bank is APSA, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, which manages both the real estate assets — the Vatican apartments and palaces — and the securities, shares, and financial resources,” he pointed out.The core of the reform, Muolo pointed out, is pragmatic: ensuring the economic sustainability of the Holy See, whose operation requires a significant staffing structure.“You have to keep in mind,” he explained, “that between the Holy See and the Vatican City State, which are legally distinct but connected, there are about 5,000 employees.”“Just guaranteeing the monthly salary of those 5,000 workers requires quite a large amount of resources. This amount also comes from the profits from the investments that have been made to date,” he noted.Reorganizing to improve performanceMuolo interprets the pope’s decision as an attempt to reorganize management and is based on the “determination to maximize and improve performance.”“Previously, there was a monopoly regime, with the IOR as the sole actor doing everything. Now, however, the stimulus will also come from the outside because instead of being carried away by inertia, new avenues, new partners, and new solutions will be sought,” he explained.The expert believes this decision by Pope Leo will stimulate “a certain internal competition between APSA and the IOR to find the best solutions and increase revenue.”The measure, which repeals the Rescriptum ex Audientia promulgated by Pope Francis in August 2022, represents a change of direction in Vatican financial policy.The Argentine pontiff had centralized all fund and asset management in the IOR and APSA, forcing the Curia institutions to transfer their resources to accounts managed by these bodies: “We know well that the internal needs for the functioning of the Holy See have increased but resources have not. Moreover, during the COVID years, there was also a major crisis in revenues.”“That’s why I believe Pope Leo is moving in this direction: seeking new vehicles, new financial operators who can, while always respecting the Holy See’s rules on ethical investments, increase revenues,” he added.No scandal in reversing Pope Francis’ reformFinally, Muolo emphasized the realistic and evolving nature of the reform, which he considers a reasonable correction of the framework established by Francis: “Not all reforms that are implemented necessarily produce the expected results,” he said.“If a reform doesn’t work, it’s good to change it. And I think Pope Leo did not act solely out of his own personal will. He probably received reports, saw accounting records, consulted with experts in the field, and deemed it appropriate to slightly correct the course set by Pope Francis. I don’t see anything scandalous in this: It’s normal that over time, reforms are made to reforms,” ​​he noted.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/vaticanbank.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, introduces, significant, reform, Holy, See’s, investments</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV explains why Christian hope is better than optimism</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-explains-why-christian-hope-is-better-than-optimism</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-explains-why-christian-hope-is-better-than-optimism</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV waves from the popemobile during an Oct. 15, 2025 public audience in St. Peter&#039;s Square. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA.

Rome Newsroom, Oct 15, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).
Optimism can disappoint us, but Christian hope “promises and fulfills” our hearts’ desire for fullness, Pope Leo XIV said at his weekly audience on Wednesday.Addressing thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 15, the pope said, “This deep desire in our hearts can find its ultimate answer not in roles, not in power, not in having, but in the certainty that there is someone who guarantees this constitutive impulse of our humanity; in the awareness that this expectation will not be disappointed or thwarted. This certainty coincides with hope.”“This does not mean thinking in an optimistic way: often optimism lets us down, causing our expectations to implode, whereas hope promises and fulfills,” he added in his weekly message.The Holy Father continued his reflections on the mystery of Christ, which culminates in the Resurrection, but this time he linked it to “current human and historical reality, with its questions and challenges.”“From Christ’s Resurrection springs that hope that gives us a foretaste, despite the fatigue of living, of a deep and joyful calm: that peace that only he can give us in the end, without end,” the pope explained.Leo recalled that human existence is full of contrasts — joy, sadness, gratitude, and stress — but that only in the Risen Christ does the heart find the fullness it seeks.“We live busy lives, we concentrate on achieving results, and we even attain lofty, prestigious goals. Conversely, we remain suspended, precarious, awaiting success and recognition that are delayed or do not arrive at all,” he continued.The pope acknowledged that this tension between the desire for fulfillment and the experience of limitation defines much of the human condition: “We find ourselves experiencing a paradoxical situation: we would like to be happy, and yet it is very difficult to be happy in a continuous way, without any shadows. We come to terms with our limitations and, at the same time, with the irrepressible urge to try to overcome them. We feel deep down that we are always missing something.”However, the pontiff said, this feeling of “lack” is the call to find fulfillment in the Risen One.“In truth,” he said, “we were not created for lack, but for fullness, to rejoice in life, and life in abundance, according to Jesus’ expression in the Gospel of John [10:10],” which says, “A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”Leo emphasized that the Risen Christ “is the wellspring that satisfies our thirst, the infinite thirst for fullness that the Holy Spirit imbues into our hearts. Indeed, the Resurrection of Christ is not a simple event of human history, but the event that transformed it from within.”The Holy Father noted that spiritual thirst is a permanent condition of the human heart, and only Jesus, who died and rose again, can answer our deepest questions, such as, “is there really a destination for us? Does our existence have any meaning? And the suffering of so many innocents, how can it be redeemed?”“The Risen Jesus does not bestow upon us an answer ‘from above,’ but becomes our companion on this often arduous, painful and mysterious journey. Only He can fill our empty flask when our thirst becomes unbearable,” he explained.“We are fragile creatures,” Leo added. “Mistakes are part of our humanity; it is the wound of sin that makes us fall, give up, despair. To rise again instead means to get up and stand on our feet.” ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/251015-ga-daniel-ibanez-3.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, explains, why, Christian, hope, better, than, optimism</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Vatican appoints judges to decide Rupnik sexual abuse case</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-appoints-judges-to-decide-rupnik-sexual-abuse-case</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-appoints-judges-to-decide-rupnik-sexual-abuse-case</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Father Marko Rupnik, SJ, in an interview with EWTN in 2020. / Credit: EWTN

Vatican City, Oct 13, 2025 / 12:23 pm (CNA).
The Vatican’s doctrine office announced Monday that a panel of five judges has been nominated to decide the disciplinary case against Father Marko Rupnik, accused of the sexual and psychological abuse of consecrated women under his spiritual care.The judges, appointed Oct. 9, do not hold any position in the Roman Curia — the Vatican’s governing body — to ensure their autonomy and independence in the penal judicial procedure, according to an Oct. 13 press release from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF).Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, the head of the DDF, told journalists in July that the judges for the Rupnik case had been selected. The panel of judges includes both women and clerics.Fernández had said in an interview at the end of January that the dicastery had finished gathering information in the disciplinary case, had conducted a first review, and was working to put together an independent tribunal for the penal judicial procedure.Rupnik — a well-known artist with mosaics and paintings in hundreds of Catholic shrines and churches around the world — is accused of having committed sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse against dozens of women religious in the 1980s and early 1990s.In May 2019, the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith launched a criminal administrative process against Rupnik after the Society of Jesus reported credible complaints of abuse by the priest to the Vatican.One year later, the Vatican declared Rupnik to be in a state of “latae sententiae” excommunication for absolving an accomplice in a sin against the Sixth Commandment. His excommunication was lifted by Pope Francis after two weeks.The Society of Jesus subsequently expelled Rupnik from the religious congregation in June 2023 for his “stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience.”The DDF began to investigate the abuse accusations against Rupnik in October 2023, after Pope Francis lifted the statute of limitations. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/microsoftteams-image-53.png" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, appoints, judges, decide, Rupnik, sexual, abuse, case</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>World Mission Day: Leo XIV calls for supporting those who bring Christ to ends of earth</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/world-mission-day-leo-xiv-calls-for-supporting-those-who-bring-christ-to-ends-of-earth</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/world-mission-day-leo-xiv-calls-for-supporting-those-who-bring-christ-to-ends-of-earth</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality on Oct. 12, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 13, 2025 / 14:12 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV called on Catholics to support missionaries on World Mission Day, which will be celebrated on Oct. 19.In a video message released Oct. 13, the Holy Father — who served as a missionary bishop in the Peruvian Diocese of Chiclayo — stated that this day is an opportunity for the entire Catholic Church to unite in prayer for missionaries “and for the fruitfulness of their apostolic labors.”He shared his experience as a missionary in Peru, where he saw firsthand “how the faith, the prayer, and the generosity shown on World Mission Sunday can transform entire communities.”The pope invited every Catholic parish in the world to participate in World Mission Sunday, emphasizing that their prayers and support help proclaim the Gospel, “provide for pastoral and catechetical programs, help to build new churches, and care for the health and educational needs of our brothers and sisters in mission territories.”The pontiff also urged the faithful to reflect on their baptismal call “to be missionaries of hope among the peoples” and to renew their commitment “to the sweet and joyful task of bringing Christ Jesus our hope to the ends of the earth.”Pope Leo concluded his message by thanking the faithful for their support for Catholic missionaries around the world.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>World, Mission, Day:, Leo, XIV, calls, for, supporting, those, who, bring, Christ, ends, earth</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Cardinal presides over act of reparation in St. Peter’s following desecration of altar</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/cardinal-presides-over-act-of-reparation-in-st-peters-following-desecration-of-altar</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/cardinal-presides-over-act-of-reparation-in-st-peters-following-desecration-of-altar</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The main altar at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, which was desecrated on Oct. 10, 2025. / Credit: Jorge Royan (CC BY-SA 3.0)

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 13, 2025 / 17:43 pm (CNA).
Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and vicar general of the pope for Vatican City, presided Oct. 13 over a penitential rite of reparation at the main altar of the church following a serious act of desecration that had taken place on Oct. 10.After a penitential procession that began at 12:45 p.m. local time, Gambetti sprinkled the altar with holy water and incensed it to purify it.The rite, attended by members of the chapter of the Vatican basilica, emphasized asking God for “forgiveness” for the desecration, Father Enzo Fortunato, director of communications for St. Peter’s Basilica, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.On Friday, Oct. 10, a man whose identity has not been revealed was arrested by security guards after he climbed onto the Altar of the Confession, located under Bernini’s baldachin, and urinated on it while tourists looked on in astonishment.Pope Leo XIV expressed his consternation upon learning of the incident and asked Gambetti to perform an act of reparation to restore the sanctity of the place and ask forgiveness for what had happened.This is the second instance of desecration in St. Peter’s Basilica in less than a year. In February, a man severely damaged part of the main altar, breaking several candelabras. In June 2023, an individual of Polish origin stripped naked in the same place as a form of protest against the war in Ukraine. This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/altarstpeter.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Cardinal, presides, over, act, reparation, St., Peter’s, following, desecration, altar</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV sends antibiotics to children in Gaza</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-sends-antibiotics-to-children-in-gaza</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-sends-antibiotics-to-children-in-gaza</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets a baby at his general audience in St. Peter&#039;s Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 14, 2025 / 08:41 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has sent 5,000 doses of antibiotics to the Gaza Strip in a humanitarian gesture aimed primarily at children and made possible by the recent reopening of key border crossings allowing the entry of aid.According to Vatican News, the shipment of the medicines began this week, following the ceasefire and the start of the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace deal.Israel is allowing the entry of up to 600 aid trucks per day, operated by the United Nations and authorized by international organizations, private sector actors, and donor countries. On Oct. 12, more than 170 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid crossed into Gaza, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).The shipment of antibiotics to Gaza was coordinated by the Office of the Papal Almoner, the Vatican dicastery charged with carrying out charitable works for the poor and those in need on behalf of the pope, and led by Cardinal Konrad Krajewski.“We are putting into practice the words of the apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te, dedicated to the poor,” Krajewski explained to Vatican News. “It is necessary to act, to pay attention to those in need.”Infant formula delivered to GazaCaritas Jerusalem has become one of the first humanitarian organizations to respond to the ceasefire in Gaza, quickly mobilizing to address the urgent needs of families and children throughout the Gaza Strip.Following the ceasefire, Caritas Jerusalem deployed its medical teams to deliver 10,000 bottles of infant formula to families with newborns and young children who had been deprived of basic nutrition during the months of conflict.The distribution was carried out through Caritas’ network of medical centers in Gaza, ensuring that the aid reached the most vulnerable communities quickly and safely, the Catholic organization reported.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/251008-ga-daniel-ibanez-4.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, sends, antibiotics, children, Gaza</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV meets Italian President Sergio Mattarella in first state visit to Italy</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-meets-italian-president-sergio-mattarella-in-first-state-visit-to-italy</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-meets-italian-president-sergio-mattarella-in-first-state-visit-to-italy</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets Italian President Sergio Mattarella during his first state visit to the country that surrounds Vatican City State on Oct. 14, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Oct 14, 2025 / 12:06 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV met with Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace in Rome on Tuesday, highlighting the strong ties between the two states and the need to work toward lasting peace in every part of the world. Mattarella welcomed the Holy Father and his delegation, which included Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State Sister Raffaella Petrini, to his residence in Rome to strengthen the historic political ties between the Holy See and Italy.The Holy Father spoke of the “sincere friendship and fruitful mutual collaboration” between Italy and the popes and emphasized the need for the two states to contribute to multilateral peace processes in regions, including the Middle East and Europe.I “renew my heartfelt appeal that we continue to work to reestablish peace in every part of the world and that the principles of justice, equity, and cooperation among peoples — principles which form its irreplaceable foundation — be ever more cultivated and promoted,” he said in his Oct. 14 speech. Leo XIV commended the Italian government’s commitment to “alleviating situations of hardship caused by war and poverty,” particularly its efforts to support children in Gaza. “These are strong and effective contributions to building a dignified, peaceful, and prosperous coexistence for all members of the human family,” he said.Pope Leo XIV walks down a hall of the Quirinal Palace, the residence of Italian President Sergio Mattarella, during the pontiff&#039;s first state visit to Italy on Oct. 14, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaOn Tuesday, the Holy Father donated 5,000 doses of antibiotics for children in Gaza following the opening of key humanitarian corridors into the city after the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal came into effect Monday.In light of the 800th anniversary of the death of Italy’s patron St. Francis of Assisi, in 2026, Leo also spoke about the “urgent issue of caring for our ‘common home.’”“St. Francis taught us to praise the Creator through respect for all creatures, proclaiming his message from the geographical heart of the [Italian] peninsula and transmitting it — through the beauty of his writings and the witness of his life and that of his brothers — across the generations down to us,” he said.“For this reason, I believe Italy has received, in a special way, the mission of transmitting to the nations a culture that recognizes the earth as ‘a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us,’” he continued, quoting Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato Si’.Earlier this month, the Italian Senate approved a bill reinstating the Oct. 4 feast day of St. Francis of Assisi as a national holiday.Toward the end of his speech, the Holy Father noted Italy’s declining birth rate and called for a “concerted effort” to promote choices at all levels in favor of the family and to uphold and protect life “in all its phases.”“In particular, I wish to emphasize the importance of guaranteeing all families the indispensable support of dignified work, in fair conditions and with due attention to the needs related to motherhood and fatherhood,” he said.“Let us do everything possible to give confidence to families — especially young families —  so that they may look to the future with serenity and grow in harmony,” he continued.Italian President Sergio Mattarella spoke about the “unbreakable bond” between Italy and the Vatican in his welcome speech at the Quirinal Palace in Rome on Oct. 14, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaIn his welcome speech, Mattarella spoke about the “unbreakable bond” between Italy and the Vatican and commended the work of the European Union’s founding fathers, “many of whom had a Christian background” and who rebuilt peace in the region after World War II. Recalling Pope Leo’s consistent messages of peace since his election, the Italian president said political leaders have the responsibility to “reject the glorification of conflict” and “foster dialogue and mutual understanding.”“This peace, as you emphasized, begins with each of us, and that is why it is so essential to disarm, unarm our hearts and disarm our words,” he said. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, meets, Italian, President, Sergio, Mattarella, first, state, visit, Italy</media:keywords>
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<title>Thousands of pilgrims join Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square to pray the rosary for peace</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/thousands-of-pilgrims-join-pope-leo-xiv-in-st-peters-square-to-pray-the-rosary-for-peace</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/thousands-of-pilgrims-join-pope-leo-xiv-in-st-peters-square-to-pray-the-rosary-for-peace</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV stands before the original Our Lady of Fatima statue at a Marian vigil in St. Peter&#039;s Square, Rome, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 11, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).
Tens of thousands of people joined Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday to pray for peace in the world.Before the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which was brought to Rome from Portugal for the Oct. 11–12 Jubilee of Marian Spiritualities, the pope entrusted believers to the Mother of God to guide the Church in its “pilgrimage of hope.”Pope Leo XIV stands near the original Our Lady of Fatima statue at a Marian vigil in St. Peter&#039;s Square, Rome, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNADuring the special prayer vigil, which included a contemplative recitation of the rosary and time for Eucharistic adoration, the Holy Father delivered a short address and encouraged those present to ask the Mother of God for the gift of a “listening heart.”“Our hope is guided by the gentle and persistent light of Mary’s words as recounted in the Gospel,” the pope said.“Her last words at the wedding feast in Cana [‘Do whatever he tells you’] are particularly precious,” he said. “These words, which almost seem to be a testament, must be treasured by her children, as any mother’s testament would be.”A pilgrim prays the rosary at a Marian vigil in St. Peter&#039;s Square, Rome, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNASharing reflections on the life of Christ, which are included in the rosary prayer, Leo said peace in the world is not achieved through “power and money” but through prayer, listening, and living the Gospel message.“Disarm your hands and, even more importantly, your hearts. As I have said before, peace is unarmed and disarming,” he said. “It is not deterrence, but fraternity; it is not an ultimatum, but dialogue,” he continued. “Peace will not come as the result of victories over the enemy, but as the fruit of sowing justice and courageous forgiveness.”The original Our Lady of Fatima statue is processed in during a Marian vigil in St. Peter&#039;s Square, Rome, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAAddressing the “powerful of the world,” the pope said it is necessary to “lay down your sword” and have the “courage to disarm” to achieve peace.“At the same time, it is an invitation to each one of us to recognize that no idea, faith or policy justifies killing,” he added.Encouraging those who desire peace and the end of conflict and violence, the Holy Father said “take courage” and “never give up.”“Blessed are you: God gives joy to those who spread love in the world and to those who choose to make peace with their enemies rather than defeat them,” he said.Pope Leo XIV prays before the original Our Lady of Fatima statue at a Marian vigil in St. Peter&#039;s Square, Rome, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA“Peace is a journey, and God walks with you,” he continued. “The Lord creates and spreads peace through his friends who are at peace in their hearts, and they in turn become peacemakers and instruments of his peace.”Towards the end of the prayer vigil, the Holy Father turned to Mary, the “Queen of Peace” to whom the Church can turn in time of need.“Teach us to live and bear witness to Christian love, by welcoming everyone as brothers and sisters; to renounce the darkness of selfishness in order to follow Christ, the true light of humanity,” he said.“Virgin of peace, Gate of Sure Hope, accept the prayers of your children!” he prayed. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 12 Oct 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Thousands, pilgrims, join, Pope, Leo, XIV, St., Peter’s, Square, pray, the, rosary, for, peace</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Man desecrates altar of St. Peter&amp;amp;#039;s Basilica</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/man-desecrates-altar-of-st-peters-basilica</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/man-desecrates-altar-of-st-peters-basilica</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  A view of St. Peter&#039;s Basilica during the Mass for the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, with Bernini&#039;s baldachin and the papal altar decorated with white flowers, Dec. 8, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Staff, Oct 11, 2025 / 16:28 pm (CNA).
A man urinated on the Altar of Confession of St. Peter&#039;s Basilica on Friday before being taken away by security officers in the famous basilica, according to news reports.The man climbed the altar and &quot;urinated under the stunned gaze of hundreds of tourists,&quot; according to the newspaper Corriere della Sera&#039;s Rome edition. Video of the desecration was widely shared on social media.Il Tempo reported that the man &quot;was promptly reached by plainclothes police officers present in the basilica&quot; and was escorted out of the church.The latter newspaper claimed Pope Leo XIV was &quot;shocked to learn of the news,&quot; though the Holy See Press Office had not released a statement about the incident as of Oct. 11.This is not the first time this year that a vandal has attacked the altar from which the pope says Mass.In February, a man desecrated the altar by climbing on top of it and throwing six candelabras that were on the altar to the ground.In June 2023, meanwhile, a Polish man approached the high altar as the basilica was about to close, undressed, and climbed onto the altar. Photos posted online showed the words &quot;Save children of Ukraine&quot; written in marker on his back. The Vatican performed a penitential rite after that act of desecration. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 12 Oct 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Man, desecrates, altar, St., Peter&amp;039s, Basilica</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV addresses immigration policies in meeting with Chicago labor leaders</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-addresses-immigration-policies-in-meeting-with-chicago-labor-leaders</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-addresses-immigration-policies-in-meeting-with-chicago-labor-leaders</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets with Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich at the Vatican on Oct. 9, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Oct 9, 2025 / 12:25 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV addressed immigration policies and respect for vulnerable migrants in a meeting with Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago and labor leaders at the Vatican on Thursday. “Please know of my appreciation for your welcome of immigrants and refugees, especially your support of food pantries and shelters. While recognizing that appropriate policies are necessary to keep communities safe, I encourage you to continue to advocate for society to respect the human dignity of the most vulnerable,” the pontiff said. In his meeting with Chicago union leaders, the pope also praised their important work to “enhance the common good and help to create a society where all can flourish.” Pope Leo receives a T-shirt that notes his Chicago roots in a meeting with American labor leaders on Oct. 9, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaBy respecting the dignity of the weak, Leo noted, “you are putting into practice the call of my beloved predecessor, Pope Francis, who urged every union to be reborn each day at the peripheries.”The group traveled to Rome for the Jubilee of Hope. “In addition to passing through the Holy Doors and participating in other spiritual exercises, you are also spending time studying important issues related to the rights and obligations of workers,” Leo said. “I pray that this time may be fruitful for both your minds and hearts.” The pope’s remarks came amid an ongoing debate in the U.S. regarding immigration and deportation, with the Trump administration aggressively pursuing severe immigration enforcement nationwide in its first months.  Chicago has in recent days become the center of protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has lately carried out enhanced enforcement measures in that city against immigrants in the country illegally. The Trump administration has dubbed the undertaking “Operation Midway Blitz.” The federal agency has reportedly detained approximately 1,000 immigrants there, using helicopters and aggressive door-to-door enforcement to arrest those allegedly in the U.S. illegally. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has claimed the agents are “making [the city] a war zone.”Tensions heightened on Oct. 6 when Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an order that prohibited immigration officials from “using any city-owned property in their ongoing operations in Chicago.” The Trump administration has since deployed National Guard troops to the city to protect federal property.ICE officials have engaged in several high-profile conflicts with residents, meanwhile, including the firing of nonlethal rounds at a Presbyterian minister, who is currently suing the Trump administration over the incident. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 11 Oct 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, addresses, immigration, policies, meeting, with, Chicago, labor, leaders</media:keywords>
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<title>Immigration is a ‘Gospel issue’ before a ‘political issue,’ U.S. bishop says</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/immigration-is-a-gospel-issue-before-a-political-issue-us-bishop-says</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/immigration-is-a-gospel-issue-before-a-political-issue-us-bishop-says</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, speaks with EWTN News on Oct. 9, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: EWTN News

Vatican City, Oct 9, 2025 / 13:25 pm (CNA).
Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, said immigration is a “Gospel issue” before it is a “political issue” in the United States. In an exclusive interview with EWTN News reporter Valentina Di Donato, Seitz said the Church has a responsibility to reaffirm Catholic social teaching regarding the preferential option for the poor. “It’s always the role of the bishop to speak the Gospel, to reflect on that Gospel and its implications for our daily lives,” the prelate told EWTN News. “We have a task to form people based on that teaching of love and mercy and compassion that applies not just in exceptional cases, not just to certain people, but in a special way to the poor and the vulnerable, and that includes immigrants,” he said. Speaking about the “inalienable rights” every person is endowed with by God, the bishop said the rights of immigrants should not only be a concern of the Church but should also be “respected in law.”“While we are not politicians — it’s not our task to develop rules and laws — we are responsible to help form consciences and bring people back to the basic underlying principles, which, by the way, are principles upon which our country was built,” he said.According to the bishop, U.S. asylum law is not being respected “right now,” as several migrant families living in the El Paso Diocese, located near the U.S.-Mexico border, no longer feel protected and fear deportation. “We should practice that [respect for] human dignity when we are dealing with a person who simply fled here because they had no other option,” he told EWTN News.Having ministered to families who have felt threatened by criminal drug gangs, Seitz said it is unjust to deny asylum or security for those seeking protection outside of their countries of origin, especially when the gangs’ activities are “supported by our drug addiction in the United States.” Earlier this week, Pope Leo XIV met with Seitz, El Paso Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Celino, and Dylan Corbett of Hope Border Institute in a private Oct. 8 meeting at the Vatican. During the meeting, the bishop shared a four-minute video and handwritten letters from migrant families expressing their faith as well as their fears about the future.“I said, ‘Holy Father, we’re so happy to stand with you,’” Seitz said, recalling the encounter. “Later on in the meeting [the pope] came back to that and he said, ‘In matters of injustice, the Church has to speak and, in that, I stand with you.’” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 11 Oct 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Immigration, ‘Gospel, issue’, before, ‘political, issue, ’, U.S., bishop, says</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV urges consecrated persons to be ‘hungry for holiness’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-consecrated-persons-to-be-hungry-for-holiness</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-consecrated-persons-to-be-hungry-for-holiness</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets those gathered for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 9, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 9, 2025 / 15:01 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Square on the occasion of the Jubilee of Consecrated Life.Since Wednesday, religious men and women, monks and contemplatives, members of secular institutes, consecrated virgins, hermits, and members of various institutes throughout the world have participated in the jubilee event, which concluded Thursday afternoon.‘Abandon yourself like children in the Father’s arms’After greeting all the jubilee participants, the Holy Father began his homily by reflecting on the phrase from the Gospel of St. Luke: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you” (Lk 11:9). With these words, he explained, “Jesus invites us to turn with confidence to the Father in all our needs.”Addressing consecrated persons in particular, the pontiff reminded them that “living one’s vows means abandoning oneself like children in the Father’s arms.”In this regard, he emphasized that “to ask” is to recognize, in poverty, “that everything is a gift from the Lord and to give thanks for everything”; “to seek” is to open oneself, “in obedience, to discover each day the path we must follow to attain holiness, according to God’s designs”; and “to call” is to ask and offer to the brothers “the gifts received with a pure heart, striving to love everyone with respect and gratuity.”Pope Leo XIV then exhorted them to remember the gratuitousness of their vocation, “beginning from the origins of the congregations to which they belong to the present moment, from the first steps of their personal journey to this moment.”Thus, he reminded them that God “has willed and chosen us from the beginning” and that it is essential “to look back on one’s own life, bringing to mind and heart all that the Lord has done over the years to multiply talents, to increase and purify faith, to make charity more generous and free.”He clarified that although this has sometimes happened in joyful circumstances, other times through paths more difficult to understand, “and even through the mysterious crucible of suffering,” it has always been “in the embrace of that paternal goodness that characterizes his action in us and through us, for the good of the Church.”‘The Lord is everything’In this context, he affirmed that God is the fullness and meaning of our lives: “The Lord is everything. He is everything in different ways, whether as creator and source of existence, as love that calls and challenges, as a force that impels and encourages self-giving.”Two religious sisters bring the gifts to the altar at the Mass for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life on Oct. 9, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media“Without him, nothing exists, nothing has meaning, nothing is worthwhile, and your ‘asking,’ ‘seeking,’ and ‘knocking,’ both in prayer and in life, refer to this truth,” he noted.As is customary in his homilies, Pope Leo XIV evoked St. Augustine to remind consecrated persons “of the need for the infinite that dwells in the heart of every man and woman in this world.”Precisely for this reason, he insisted that the Church entrusts them with the task of being, by stripping themselves of everything, “living witnesses to the primacy of God in their lives, also helping as much as they can the other brothers and sisters they will meet to cultivate their friendship with him.”He also affirmed that “history teaches us that generous impulses of charity always spring from an experience of God,” as has happened in the lives of its founders.In response to the current trend of those who claim that it is “useless to serve God,” the pope explained that it is “a way of thinking that leads to a true paralysis of the soul, whereby one is content with a life made up of fleeting moments, superficial and intermittent relationships, passing fads — all of which leave the heart empty.”“To be truly happy, man does not need these things, but rather consistent, lasting, and solid experiences of love,” he affirmed.Finally, the Holy Father reflected on the eschatological dimension of Christian life, “which wants us to be committed to the world but at the same time constantly oriented toward eternity.”Consecrated as witnesses of ‘future good things’In this regard, he cited the Second Vatican Council, which states that “consecrated persons are called in a particular way to be witnesses of ‘future good things.’”The pope noted that the Lord, to whom they have given everything, “has responded to them with such beauty and richness,” and he urged them to treasure and cultivate this, recalling the words of Paul VI: “Preserve the simplicity of the least of the Gospel.”“Know how to find it in the most intimate and cordial relationship with Christ or in direct contact with your brothers and sisters. You will then know ‘the overflowing of joy through the action of the Holy Spirit’ that belongs to those who are introduced to the secrets of the kingdom,” he said.Finally, he invited them to be “truly poor, meek, hungry for holiness, merciful, pure of heart; be those through whom the world will know the peace of God.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 11 Oct 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, consecrated, persons, ‘hungry, for, holiness’</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV to consecrated men and women: ‘The Church needs you’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-consecrated-men-and-women-the-church-needs-you</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-consecrated-men-and-women-the-church-needs-you</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets men and women religious during an audience for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Oct. 10, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 10, 2025 / 09:33 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV met with participants in the Jubilee of Consecrated Life in the Vatican on Friday, thanking them for their fidelity to Christ and their witness of faith in the “most remote corners of the earth.” During the audience, the Holy Father said the Church and the world need men and women consecrated to Jesus to reveal God’s presence and his “great plan of peace and salvation” for humanity.“Recalling what Pope Francis has already said to you, I too wish to declare that the Church needs you and all the diversity and richness of the forms of consecration and ministry that you represent,” he said Oct. 10 in the Paul VI Hall.“With your vitality and the witness of a life where Christ is the center and the Lord, you can contribute to ‘awakening the world,” he added, quoting his predecessor.Expressing gratitude for the numerous good works and ministries carried out by consecrated men and women in different countries, Leo XIV stressed their need to “return to the heart” to “rediscover the spark” of the beginnings of their vocation journey. “It is in fact in the heart that the ‘paradoxical connection between self-esteem and openness to others, between the most personal encounter with oneself and the gift of oneself to others’ is produced,” the pope said, citing Pope Francis’ last encyclical letter Dilexit Nos.Pope Leo XIV smiles during an audience with religious sisters and brothers, and other members of consecrated life, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Oct. 10, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaDuring the private gathering, the Holy Father stressed the importance of consecrated men and women cultivating their interior lives. According to Leo, the “best fruits of goodness take root” as a result of “prayer and communion with God.”   With the conclusion of the two-day Jubilee of Consecrated Life in Rome, the Holy Father said it is necessary for men and women returning to their missions and daily duties abroad to reflect deeper on synodality, which he described as an “important theme for the Church of our time.”“St. Paul VI spoke of it in beautiful terms,” Leo told those present at the Friday audience. “[St. Paul VI] wrote: ‘How much we would like to enjoy this domestic dialogue in the fullness of faith, charity, and works.”Emphasizing the need for “domestic dialogue” within the Church, the Holy Father said consecrated men and women belonging to different institutes are in a privileged position to be “experts in synodality” and live values such as “mutual listening, participation, sharing of opinions and abilities, and the common search for paths according to the voice of the Spirit” on a daily basis.“Today, the Church asks you to be special witnesses to all of this in the various dimensions of your lives, first and foremost by walking in communion with the whole great family of God,” he said.Toward the end of the audience, Pope Leo expressed his gratitude for their “fidelity and for the great good you do in the Church and in the world.” “I promise you a special remembrance in my prayers and I bless you from my heart!” he said. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 11 Oct 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, consecrated, men, and, women:, ‘The, Church, needs, you’</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV: Right to religious freedom is not optional but essential</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-right-to-religious-freedom-is-not-optional-but-essential</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-right-to-religious-freedom-is-not-optional-but-essential</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets with members of Aid to the Church in Need at the Vatican on Oct. 10, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 10, 2025 / 13:21 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Friday received at the Vatican members of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), a pontifical foundation that supports the Catholic Church in its evangelizing work in the world’s most needy, discriminated-against, and persecuted communities.In his initial greeting, the Holy Father emphasized the importance of their work, especially in a world that continues to “witness growing hostility and violence against those who hold different beliefs, including many Christians.”According to the pope, ACN’s mission — which funds more than 5,000 pastoral and humanitarian emergency projects in 137 countries — proclaims that, as one family in Christ, “we do not abandon our persecuted brothers and sisters.”Pope Leo XIV emphasized that “the suffering of any member of the body of Christ is shared by the entire Church.” ACN was founded in 1947, the Holy Father recalled, to defend religious freedom and as a response to the “immense suffering left behind by the war,” with the aim of promoting forgiveness and reconciliation.The Holy Father firmly stated that “the right to religious freedom is not optional but essential,” referring to it as “a cornerstone of every just society, as it safeguards the moral space in which conscience can be formed and exercised.”In this regard, he indicated that religious freedom “is not merely a legal right or a privilege granted by governments” but “a fundamental condition that makes authentic reconciliation possible.”Consequently, he clarified that when this freedom is denied, “the human person is deprived of the capacity to respond freely to the call of truth.” He warned: “What follows is a slow disintegration of the ethical and spiritual bonds that sustain communities; trust gives way to fear, suspicion replaces dialogue, and oppression breeds violence.”He then thanked the members of this foundation for their reports on Religious Freedom in the World, “a powerful tool for raising awareness.”“Wherever Aid to the Church in Need rebuilds a chapel, supports a religious sister, or provides a radio station or a vehicle, they strengthen the life of the Church, as well as the spiritual and moral fabric of society,” he continued.He also highlighted that their assistance helps “small and vulnerable minorities” such as those in the Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, and Mozambique.Concluding his remarks, he thanked each of them for this work of charity, as their service “bears fruit in countless lives and gives glory to our heavenly Father.” “Do not tire of doing good,” he concluded.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/acn.oct.10.2025.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 11 Oct 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, Right, religious, freedom, not, optional, but, essential</media:keywords>
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<title>UPDATE: Pope Leo XIV to make first international trip, to Turkey and Lebanon</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/update-pope-leo-xiv-to-make-first-international-trip-to-turkey-and-lebanon</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/update-pope-leo-xiv-to-make-first-international-trip-to-turkey-and-lebanon</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered for the Mass for the Jubilee of Catechists on Sept. 28, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 7, 2025 / 07:08 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV will visit Turkey and Lebanon in the first apostolic journey of his pontificate, to take place from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2, the Vatican announced Tuesday.Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni said the pope accepted the invitations of the “Head of State and Ecclesiastical Authorities” of both countries in an Oct. 7 statement released by the Vatican.During the six-day papal trip, the Holy Father will visit the Turkish city of Iznek to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, an ecumenical milestone in Church history that led to the formulation of the Nicene Creed.According to a media release published by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on Tuesday, Pope Leo will undertake a joint pilgrimage with Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople to Nicaea on Nov. 28 before spending two days in the Phanar, the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul, where he and Bartholomew will celebrate the feast day of St. Andrew the Apostle on Nov. 30.Leo will be the fifth pope to visit Turkey. Early in his pontificate, Pope Francis visited the Middle Eastern nation in 2014 to strengthen the Church’s interreligious dialogue with Orthodox and Muslim leaders.The last papal visit to Lebanon was made by Pope Benedict XVI from Sept. 14–16, 2012, more than one year after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war.The Assembly of the Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon issued a statement on Tuesday expressing their gratitude to Pope Leo for his “fatherly love and special concern” for the Lebanese people.“We receive this historic event with great joy and renewed hope, praying this apostolic visit may bring Lebanon peace and stability, and that it may be a sign of unity for all Lebanese Christians and Muslims alike, in this delicate phase of our nation’s history,” the statement read.Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the pope’s visit will deepen the “unwavering trust” between Lebanon and the Vatican and a sign of peace in a country of diverse religions and cultures.“All Lebanese — Christians and Muslims alike, from every sect and community — are preparing to receive him with sincere joy and rare national unity that reflects the true image of Lebanon,” Aoun said on Tuesday.“Lebanon — its leadership and its people — looks to this visit with great hope at a time when challenges are growing on every level,” he added.According to a 2024 UNHCR (U.N. refugee agency) report, Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees per capita and per square kilometer in the world, including approximately 1.5 million Syrian refugees.This story was updated on Oct. 7, 2025, at 9:19 a.m. ET. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 08 Oct 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>UPDATE:, Pope, Leo, XIV, make, first, international, trip, Turkey, and, Lebanon</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>UPDATE: Pope Leo XIV recalls Palestinians killed since Oct. 7 Hamas attack</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/update-pope-leo-xiv-recalls-palestinians-killed-since-oct-7-hamas-attack</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/update-pope-leo-xiv-recalls-palestinians-killed-since-oct-7-hamas-attack</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV answers questions from the media outside Castel Gandolfo in Italy on Oct. 7, 2025. / Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Oct 7, 2025 / 11:58 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV called Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, an act of terrorism that cannot be tolerated and lamented the large number of Palestinian lives lost during “a painful two years.”Addressing a group of journalists just outside his Castel Gandolfo residence, Villa Barberini, on Oct. 7, the pope said: “Two years ago it was a terroristic attack. ... more than 200 people killed.”“We really need to think hard about how much hatred there is in the world and start with ourselves, asking why it exists and what we can do about it,” he added. “Then, in two years, 60,000–67,000 Palestinians have been killed. It really makes you think about how much violence there is and how good it is to promote peace.”Leo answered questions from journalists as he left Castel Gandolfo to return to the Vatican. He has spent every Tuesday at the papal retreat, located 18 miles south of Rome, since Sept. 9.“It is certain that we cannot accept groups that cause terrorism; we must always reject this style of hatred in the world,” the pope said, noting as well that antisemitism is also on the rise.He pointed out that he has asked the Church to pray in a special way for peace during the month of October.“We must respect the dignity of everyone. This is the message of the Church,” he said.The pope declined to answer a question about ICE raids in Chicago. “I prefer not to comment at this time about choices made, about political choices, in the United States,” he said.In the three-and-a-half minute exchange with journalists, Leo also commented briefly on his first international trip to Turkey and Lebanon Nov. 27–Dec. 2, announced by the Vatican on Tuesday.The visit to the historic site of Nicaea in Turkey for the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea will be a “historic moment,” he said, “but it is not to look back, it is to move forward.”He called it a moment “of unity in the faith for all Christians” and pointed out that his predecessor, Francis, was hoping to make the trip to Turkey himself. In Lebanon, there will be “the opportunity to proclaim once again the message of peace in the Middle East, in a country that has suffered so much,” Leo said.“Pope Francis wanted to go there too,” the pontiff added, “he wanted to reach out to the people who are living after the explosion, after all they have suffered. We will try to bring this message of peace and hope.”Looking ahead to the Oct. 9 release of his first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te, which will be on the topic of poverty, Leo said, “that is the message of the Gospel.”“Ultimately, whatever the pope says or announces must always be rooted in the Gospel. That is what we want to try to do,” he said.This story was updated on Oct. 7, 2025, at 12:35 p.m. ET. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 08 Oct 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>UPDATE:, Pope, Leo, XIV, recalls, Palestinians, killed, since, Oct., Hamas, attack</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope decries rise of antisemitic hatred, urges ceasefire and hostage release amid Gaza talks</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-decries-rise-of-antisemitic-hatred-urges-ceasefire-and-hostage-release-amid-gaza-talks</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-decries-rise-of-antisemitic-hatred-urges-ceasefire-and-hostage-release-amid-gaza-talks</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Oct. 5, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 5, 2025 / 07:50 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday condemned the resurgence of antisemitic hatred and appealed for renewed commitment to peace in the Middle East while also assuring prayers for victims of a devastating earthquake in the Philippines.“I express my concern about the rise of antisemitic hatred in the world, as unfortunately we saw with the terrorist attack in Manchester a few days ago,” the pope said from St. Peter’s Square before leading the Angelus prayer. He added that he “continue[s] to be saddened by the immense suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza.”The pope said that “in the dramatic situation in the Middle East, some significant steps forward have been taken in peace negotiations,” and he urged all leaders “to commit themselves to this path, to bring about a ceasefire, and to release the hostages.” He also invited the faithful “to remain united in prayer, so that the ongoing efforts may put an end to the war and lead us towards a just and lasting peace.”Turning to the Philippines, where a strong earthquake struck the central region on Sept. 30, Pope Leo expressed closeness “to the dear Filipino people” and said he prays “for those who are most severely affected by the consequences of the earthquake.” “Faced with any danger,” he added, “let us remain united and supportive in our trust in God and in the intercession of our Blessed Mother.”Call to pray for peaceThe pope invited Catholics to join spiritually with those gathered at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii for the traditional supplication held each October. “In this month of October, as we contemplate with Mary the mysteries of Christ Our Savior, let us deepen our prayer for peace: a prayer that becomes concrete solidarity with those people tormented by war,” he said. “Thank you to the many children around the world who have committed themselves to praying the rosary for this intention. You have our heartfelt thanks!”Pope Leo also greeted participants in the jubilee for missionaries and migrants, thanking them for their witness. “The Church is entirely missionary and is one great people journeying towards the kingdom of God,” he said. “But no one should be forced to flee, nor exploited or mistreated, because of their situation as foreigners or people in need! Human dignity must always come first.”‘A new missionary age opens in the Church’Earlier that morning, the pope celebrated Mass for the Jubilee of the Missionary World and the Jubilee of Migrants in St. Peter’s Square, inviting Catholics to renew their missionary vocation through compassion and welcome.“Today we celebrate the jubilee of the missions and of migrants,” he began. “This is a wonderful opportunity to rekindle in ourselves the awareness of our missionary vocation, which arises from the desire to bring the joy and consolation of the Gospel to everyone, especially those who are experiencing difficult and painful situations.”Recalling the prophet Habakkuk’s lament — “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?” — the pope said that faith transforms lives and “makes of them an instrument of the salvation that even today God wishes to bring about in the world.” True faith, he said, “does not impose itself by means of power and in extraordinary ways” but “carries within it the strength of God’s love that opens the way to salvation.”Pope Leo said the missionary calling today means responding to suffering close at hand as well as far away. “If for a long time we have associated with mission the word ‘depart’ … today the frontiers of the missions are no longer geographical, because poverty, suffering, and the desire for a greater hope have made their way to us,” he said.“Those boats which hope to catch sight of a safe port, and those eyes filled with anguish and hope seeking to reach the shore, cannot and must not find the coldness of indifference or the stigma of discrimination!” he warned. “Mission is not so much about ‘departing’ but instead ‘remaining’ in order to proclaim Christ through hospitality and welcome, compassion and solidarity.”The pope encouraged renewed cooperation among churches, noting that migration from the Global South can “renew the face of the Church and sustain a Christianity that is more open, more alive, and more dynamic.” He also called for “new missionary effort by laity, religious, and priests who will offer their service in missionary lands,” especially in Europe.Concluding, Pope Leo offered his blessing “to the local clergy of the particular churches, to missionaries and those discerning a vocation,” and told migrants: “Know that you are always welcome!”Throughout his homily and his Angelus address, Pope Leo returned to a single message: faith expressed in prayer, compassion, and hospitality remains the seed of peace — whether in war-torn regions, along migration routes, or in the hearts of those who choose to welcome others.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 07 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, decries, rise, antisemitic, hatred, urges, ceasefire, and, hostage, release, amid, Gaza, talks</media:keywords>
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<title>Vatican and other Catholic libraries turn to AI and robotics to digitize collections</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-and-other-catholiclibraries-turn-to-ai-and-robotics-to-digitize-collections</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-and-other-catholiclibraries-turn-to-ai-and-robotics-to-digitize-collections</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The Sistine Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Library. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 6, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Long before cloud servers and computers, medieval Catholic monks preserved the intellectual inheritance of the ancient world by handwriting Greek and Latin manuscripts. Centuries later, the Vatican Library and other Catholic institutions in Rome are turning to new technologies, including digitization, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI), to ensure that patrimony endures.  The Vatican Apostolic Library, formally founded in the 15th century, is digitizing about 80,000 handwritten manuscripts, part of a collection that also includes 2 million books, 100,000 archival documents, and hundreds of thousands of coins, medals, and graphics.  “People often think of the Vatican Library as a dusty old place, but actually it has tended to be sort of on the cutting edge,” Timothy Janz, the library’s former vice prefect and now “Scriptor Graecus,” told CNA.To underscore his point, Janz pointed to one of the many Renaissance frescoes on the walls of the Vatican Library’s Sistine Hall depicting books stored upright on open shelves — a novelty at a time when volumes were usually laid flat. “Being a public library at all was something unusual in the 16th century,” he said, adding that Pope Nicholas V first described in a letter in 1451 his desire for a library “for the common convenience of scholars.” Timothy Janz, the Vatican Library’s former vice prefect and now Scriptor Graecus. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNAThe Vatican Library’s mission, Janz said, has always been twofold — “to make works available to readers and also to keep them for future readers.” Digitization, then, is “a new way of doing what the founder actually wanted the library to be for, to make these works available.” The Vatican’s digitization efforts are focused on their one-of-a-kind historic manuscript collection as well as some of its oldest books, incunabula books printed during the earliest period of typography before 1500.One of the oldest manuscripts in the Vatican collection is the “Hanna Papyrus,” which is from the third century A.D., which has already been digitized, as has the fourth-century “Codex Vaticanus,” one of the earliest complete manuscripts of the Bible in Greek. The digitization project began in 2012 and has so far put about 30,000 manuscripts online. The vision is “to have a real digital library that is really usable and user-friendly,” Janz said. The Sistine Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Library, which include many manuscripts that have been digitized. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNAElsewhere in Rome, other historic Catholic institutions are going even more high tech.  At the Alexandria Digitization Hub in Rome’s historic center, a robotic scanner turns the fragile pages of centuries-old books from the Pontifical Gregorian University’s library collection at a rate of up to 2,500 pages per hour. Within minutes, the texts — some that had only been accessible to scholars traveling to Rome — can be searched, translated, and even fed into an artificial intelligence model trained to reflect Catholic teaching. The initiative is led by Matthew Sanders, CEO of a Catholic technology firm called Longbeard, which is using robotics and AI to digitize Catholic collections in some of Rome’s historic pontifical universities and institutes. The project began when the rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute asked whether its 200,000-volume library on Eastern Catholic and Orthodox traditions could be made accessible to scholars in the Middle East, Africa, and India without requiring travel to Rome. The request was simple: digitize the books, make them readable on any device, and allow them to be instantly translated. Since then, the Alexandria Digitization Hub’s workload has grown. Longbeard is currently working to digitize the historic collections of the Salesian Pontifical University and the Pontifical Gregorian University and plans to work with the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Venerable English College, as well as several religious orders, to digitize some or all of their collections. Digitized works can be folded into a growing Catholic dataset, training Longbeard’s AI systems such as Magisterium AI and an upcoming Catholic-specific language model, Ephrem. Institutions can choose to make their texts public or keep them private. Scholars can search across collections, generate summaries, or trace an AI-generated answer back to its source. A robotic scanner used in the Alexandria Digitization Hub courtesy of Longbeard. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNAThe system also enables translation through Vulgate AI. Sanders recounted stumbling upon an untranslated papal document on St. Thomas More: “I never knew this existed. It was in Latin. It hadn’t been translated. We ingested it through Vulgate, and suddenly I was able to read it.”“When you actually go to the hub and see a book being scanned, and an hour later that work is available to anyone in the world to query in any language — that’s when you realize what this really means,” he said.For now, the Vatican Library is taking a more cautious approach to artificial intelligence and robotics. Janz explained why he believes manuscripts in particular require a human touch rather than automation.For scholars, he said, “the reason this manuscript is interesting is because in this specific place, it has a word which is different from other manuscripts — maybe it’s just one letter that changes it from a word into a different word,” Janz explained. “It’s that little difference that makes this book so valuable.” This type of work requires 100% accuracy, he added. Even if automated AI transcription reaches “99.9% accuracy … it’s basically useless.” Sanders said he “wholeheartedly” agrees that for “the deep, meticulous work of textual criticism, the original manuscript is the ultimate authority, and a human expert is irreplaceable,” but he added that “to limit the role of AI to mere transcription is to miss its revolutionary potential.”“AI, even with a 99.9% accuracy rate, transforms these silent collections into a dynamic, queryable database of human knowledge,” he said. “It allows a researcher to ask, ‘Show me all 15th-century manuscripts that discuss trade with the Ottoman Empire,’ and get instantaneous results from collections across the globe. It can identify patterns and conceptual links that were previously undiscoverable. The AI finds the needles in the haystack; the scholar is then free to perform the exacting analysis on the invaluable originals.”A manuscripts on display in the Sistine Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Library. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNAFor the Vatican Library, the digitization effort has also been integrated into its conservation efforts of these historic texts. “Every manuscript that goes to the scanners first goes to our conservation workshop and is thoroughly examined to make sure that ... it can stand the strain of being digitized,” Janz said. “When the digitization is done, it goes back to the conservation workshop again, and they check to see if anything has changed.”“We’ve discovered many manuscripts that needed to be fixed, needed conservation work as a result of going through each and every one and looking at it,” he said.Still, the Vatican Library is not ignoring AI altogether. It is developing a project to catalog illustrations from medieval manuscripts, making images searchable by theme. In partnership with Japanese researchers, it is also training machine learning models to transcribe medieval Greek handwriting. “It will make mistakes and we tell it what the mistakes are … maybe eventually it will get to a point where it can do things reliably,” Janz said.In the future, Janz said he would love to see technology make it possible to have transcriptions of all of their manuscripts in the historic languages available for scholars.As for AI, he remains cautious. “I think we’re pretty open to it. I think we shared the same concerns about AI that everyone else has.”Inside the Vatican Library’s Sistine Hall, an ornate series of frescoes traces the long history of libraries and learning: Moses receiving the Law, the library of Alexandria, the apostles recording the Gospels. Sanders sees his AI project as continuing in the mission of ensuring that the wisdom from the past is “shared as broadly as possible.”“If we are going to progress as a civilization, we have to learn from those who came before us,” he said. “Part of this project is making sure their reflections and insights are available today.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 07 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, and, other, Catholic libraries, turn, and, robotics, digitize, collections</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV allows outside banks to manage Holy See investments</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-allows-outside-banks-to-manage-holy-see-investments</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-allows-outside-banks-to-manage-holy-see-investments</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV waves from the popemobile at the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square for Mass on Pentecost Sunday on June 8, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 6, 2025 / 09:35 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has permitted the Holy See’s main financial body to use financial institutions outside the Vatican for its investment activities, reversing Pope Francis’ 2022 instruction to move all funds to the so-called Vatican bank.In the legal order, published Monday, Leo said the Vatican’s asset management body, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), should generally use the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) — better known as the Vatican bank — for its investment activities, unless the competent bodies “deem it more efficient or convenient to use financial intermediaries established in other countries.”The pope said he consulted experts and evaluated recommendations from the Council for the Economy for the rescript, called Coniuncta Cura (“Shared Responsibility”).Pope Francis in August 2022 had ordered the Holy See and connected entities to move all financial assets out of other banks and solely into the IOR in the wake of controversy over investments by the Secretariat of State.The papal rescript was Francis’ interpretation of Article 219, paragraph 3 of Praedicate Evangelium, the constitution of the Roman Curia promulgated in March 2022, which says “the execution [of APSA’s management of real estate and moveable assets] is carried out through the Institute for the Works of Religion.”In Leo’s rescript, which repeals his predecessor’s, the investment activities must also conform to policies from the Vatican’s investment oversight committee, established in 2022 and chaired by Cardinal Kevin Farrell.“Co-responsibility in communio is one of the principles of service of the Roman Curia, as desired by Pope Francis and established in the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium of March 19, 2022,” the pontiff wrote.“This shared responsibility, which also concerns the curial institutions responsible for the Holy See’s financial investment activities, requires that existing provisions be consolidated and the roles and responsibilities of each institution be clearly defined, enabling everyone to converge in a dynamic of mutual collaboration,” he said.  ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 07 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, allows, outside, banks, manage, Holy, See, investments</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo thanks Knights of Columbus for generosity to Vatican, service to communities</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-thanks-knights-of-columbus-for-generosity-to-vatican-service-to-communities</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-thanks-knights-of-columbus-for-generosity-to-vatican-service-to-communities</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV shakes hands with Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly during an audience with Knights of Columbus leadership at the Vatican on Oct. 6, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 6, 2025 / 12:24 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Monday met with leaders of the Knights of Columbus, whom he thanked for their generosity to the Vatican and their dedicated service to local communities in the United States. He also expressed his “profound gratitude” for the Knights’ funding of the restorations of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s baldacchino and monument of the Chair of St. Peter in St. Peter’s Basilica, completed last year. Such contributions are “a visible sign of your continued devotion to the vicar of Christ,” the pontiff said, addressing members of the board of directors and their families in the Apostolic Palace’s Hall of the Consistory. “Throughout its history, the order has supported the charitable work of the Roman pontiff in a variety of ways, including through the ‘Vicarius Christi’ Fund, which allows him to express solidarity with the poor and most vulnerable throughout the world,” Leo continued.  The pope noted that local Knights councils “seek to bring the compassion and love of the Lord into your local communities, including through your efforts to uphold the sanctity of human life in all of its stages, to assist victims of war and natural disasters, and also to support priestly vocations.”  The Knights of Columbus is a lay Catholic men’s organization with more than 2.1 million members worldwide. It was founded by Blessed Michael McGivney in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1882. The pope also sent a video greeting to the Knights of Columbus during their 143rd Supreme Convention in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 5. On July 4, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore met Pope Leo for the first time in a private audience at the Vatican. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 07 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, thanks, Knights, Columbus, for, generosity, Vatican, service, communities</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV joins Australian community in Rome for evening prayer</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-joins-australian-community-in-rome-for-evening-prayer</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-joins-australian-community-in-rome-for-evening-prayer</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV joins the Australian community for evening prayer at Domus Australia Catholic Chapel in Rome on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 6, 2025 / 16:43 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV joined the Australian community for evening prayer at Domus Australia Catholic Chapel in Rome on Monday.Before praying vespers with approximately 150 people, the Holy Father blessed a restored painting of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii that was gifted to the chapel by soon-to-be saint Bartolo Longo.“Indeed, this devotion to our Blessed Mother holds a special place in my heart, so I am also happy to share this occasion with the Australian community,” the Holy Father said in a short homily.“It is my hope that this image … will inspire an ever greater devotion to her among the residents of the Domus and those who visit as pilgrims, as well as the members of the local community,” he added.Pope Leo XIV joins the Australian community for evening prayer at Domus Australia Catholic Chapel in Rome on Oct. 6, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaIn light of the Church’s jubilee year dedicated to the theological virtue of hope, Leo encouraged those praying with him on Monday to be inspired by the example of the Mother of God.“Mary embodied that virtue through her trust that God would fulfill his promises,” he said. “This hope, in turn, gave her the strength and courage to spend her life willingly for the sake of the Gospel and abandon herself entirely to God’s will.”In his homily, the Holy Father emphasized the significance for “daily fidelity” to God even though “we do not know what the future holds.”“God never delays; we are the ones who have to learn to trust, even if it requires patience and perseverance. God’s timing is always perfect,” he said.“God always comes to save and liberate us,” he added.Turning to the writings of St. Augustine, Leo said the early Church Father reminds Christians that God’s plan and purpose for each person is salvation and eternal life. “God created us without us, but he will not save us without us,” he said, quoting St. Augustine. “Thus, we are called to cooperate with him by living out a life of grace as his sons and daughters, making our own contribution to the plan of salvation.”Moreover, the Holy Father said God did not “come simply to redeem us from slavery to sin” but to become children of God and “free our hearts” to accept his love. “God our Father ‘chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world … he destined us in love to be his sons and daughters through Jesus Christ,’” he said, citing a passage of St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians.Before concluding vespers, Leo entrusted the Australian community living in Rome to the Blessed Virgin Mary.“As you venerate Our Lady of Pompeii at the Domus Australia, it is my prayer that you also will be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in your own service to the Lord and his Church, and that you may bear much fruit, fruit that will last,” he said.  ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 07 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, joins, Australian, community, Rome, for, evening, prayer</media:keywords>
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<title>Swiss Guards, protectors of the pope, don new uniforms</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/swiss-guards-protectors-of-the-pope-don-new-uniforms</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/swiss-guards-protectors-of-the-pope-don-new-uniforms</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Swiss Guards model the new military dress uniform in a courtyard of the Swiss Guards’ Vatican barracks during an Oct. 2, 2025, presentation. The uniform, an updated version of a historic uniform used from the late 1800s to 1976, will be used at important events. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 3, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
The Swiss Guards, who have protected popes for the last five centuries, now have a new uniform.The mostly wool uniform is the recreation of a historic military dress for use at galas and other important dinners and will not replace the iconic red, orange, and blue “grand gala” uniforms for which the guards are famous.The Swiss-made garments were paid for by a benefactor and cost 2,000 euros (around $2,300) apiece. According to Swiss Guard Commander Christoph Graf, they represent “a link between the present and the past.”Examples of the 2015 version (left) and late 19th-century version (right) of the updated dress uniform presented by the Swiss Guards at the Vatican on Oct. 2, 2025. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNAThe 135 guards in the world’s smallest but oldest army will don the new uniforms for the first time at a dinner the night before the Oct. 4 ceremony to swear in this year’s recruits.The swearing-in ceremony, when the new guards promise to protect the pope, if necessary with their lives, was postponed from the traditional date of May 6 due to the timing of the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV, who is expected to attend.The May 6 date marks the 1527 battle known as the Sack of Rome, when 147 guards lost their lives defending Pope Clement VII from the army of the mutinous Holy Roman Empire. It is the most significant and deadly event in the history of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, which was established by Pope Julius II in 1506 and is responsible for Vatican security together with the Vatican gendarmes.The new dress uniform presented Thursday is an update of one used from the late 1800s until 1976. In 2015, the Swiss Guards reintroduced a version of the same uniform, but the latest interpretation, according to Graf, “is more faithful to our tradition.”Pope Leo thanks new recruitsThe pope met the recruits and their families at the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 3, ahead of the swearing-in ceremony.Pope Leo XIV meets the Swiss Guards&#039; 27 new recruits and their families at the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 3, 2025, ahead of the Oct. 4 swearing-in ceremony. Credit: Vatican Media“From the first steps of my pontificate, dear Swiss Guards, I have been able to count on your faithful service,” he said. “The successor of Peter can fulfill his mission in service to the Church and the world in the certainty that you are watching over his safety.”He encouraged the new guards to draw inspiration from the stories of the first Christian martyrs in Rome to deepen their relationships with Jesus and to cultivate their interior lives “amid the frenzy of our society.”Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter, who will attend the ceremony, also had a private audience with Pope Leo on the morning of Oct. 3.Swearing-in ceremonyThe ceremony in the San Damaso Courtyard of the Vatican on Oct. 4 will be preceded by Mass. The day before there will also be a prayer service and an award banquet. The two days’ events will be attended by representatives of the Swiss army, Swiss government, and Swiss bishops’ conference. Former guards, and family and friends of the new recruits, will also participate.Press officer and guard Eliah Cinotti said 4,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony, during which recruits take an oath “to faithfully, loyally, and honorably serve the reigning pontiff and his legitimate successors, to devote myself to them with all my strength, sacrificing, if necessary, even my life in their defense.”Press officer and guard Eliah Cinotti answers journalists&#039; questions about the Swiss Guards in a room of the Swiss Guards&#039; barracks on Oct. 2, 2025. He said the admission of women to the Swiss Guards is not up for discussion at the moment, but if it were, it would be the pope&#039;s decision. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNADuring the hourlong event, punctuated by music and drumming from the Pontifical Swiss Guard Band, each new guard places his left hand on the flag of the Swiss Guard while raising his right hand with three fingers open as a sign of his faith in the Holy Trinity.He then proclaims in a loud voice: “I, Halberdier [name], swear to observe faithfully, loyally, and honorably all that at this moment was read to me. May God and our patron saints assist me!”Cinotti told journalists this week that 27 new guards in 2025 is an “OK” number, but they are continuously working to recruit more — including by visiting Swiss military bases and attending job fairs.When it comes to papal security, since the election of Pope Leo, the guards have noticed “an increase in objects being thrown” at the pope, he said, and “it bothers us a bit.”But, Cinotti added, though it “is very difficult to anticipate the throwing of an object,” guards are trained to spot potentially dangerous items, most of which are confiscated at security before entering St. Peter’s Square.Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has also been an increase in what he called “incivility,” including isolated security threats mostly from people under the influence of drugs or alcohol.“Our weapon is the word,” he said, emphasizing that guards work to avoid ever needing to use deadly force, though he acknowledged, “without giving away all our secrets,” that they are also armed.‘That’s our job’The biggest challenge for a recruit, Cinotti said, is to “set aside his life and dedicate himself to a cause greater than himself.”Dario, one of the new guards who will take the oath to protect the pope on Oct. 4, 2025, told journalists what surprised him the most in his first six months on the job is “the effect of the pope on the people.” Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNADario, 25, is one of the new guards who will take the oath to protect the pope on Oct. 4. The Swiss Guards declined to give the full name of the recruit citing security reasons.Now, six months into his service, he called it an “amazing experience.”Dario, who started just a few weeks before Pope Francis’ death, said that with the conclave and a jubilee year, it has been a very intense time for the Pontifical Swiss Guard.“What we have experienced this year, other guards haven’t experienced in their whole service time,” he said.“What surprised me the most was the effect of the pope on the people, seeing people overwhelmed with feelings when they see him,” Dario, whose father also served as a Swiss Guard, told CNA. “And you just stand there, protect the pope, but you see how much respect he gets from the people.”You can watch a livestream of the Swiss Guards swearing-in ceremony at the Vatican on Oct. 4 at 11 a.m. ET here. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/251002-gsp-2025-oath-ceremony-press-presentation-of-the-dress-uniform-daniel-ibanez-9.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 04 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Swiss, Guards, protectors, the, pope, don, new, uniforms</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo: Old age a gift and challenge; requires response of missionary pastoral ministry</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-old-age-a-gift-and-challenge-requires-response-of-missionary-pastoral-ministry</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-old-age-a-gift-and-challenge-requires-response-of-missionary-pastoral-ministry</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets an elderly woman at the Vatican on Oct. 3, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 3, 2025 / 15:08 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Friday said that old age is both a gift and a challenge, and in response the Catholic Church is called to develop missionary pastoral care that involves the elderly as witnesses of hope.On Oct. 3, the pontiff received at the Vatican Apostolic Palace participants in the Second International Congress on Pastoral Care of the Elderly, organized by the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life.In his address, Leo XIV emphasized that the theme of the meeting, “Your Elders Shall Dream Dreams,” taken from the book of the prophet Joel, contains words dear to his predecessor, Pope Francis, who often spoke “of the need for an alliance between young and old.”The pontiff explained that in this biblical passage, “the prophet announces the universal outpouring of the Holy Spirit, who creates unity among generations and distributes different gifts to each person.” He also lamented that today, “relationships between generations are often marked by divisions and conflicts that pit them against each other.”Specifically, he referred to two criticisms: that the elderly “do not leave room for young people in the workforce” or that they are “consuming too many economic and social resources to the detriment of other generations, as if longevity were a fault.”In this regard, Leo XIV expressed his conviction that “the elderly are a gift, a blessing to be welcomed,” and that longevity “is one of the signs of hope in our time, everywhere in the world.”At the same time, the pontiff emphasized that this is “a challenge, because the growing number of elderly people is an unprecedented historical phenomenon that calls us to discern and understand the reality in new ways.”In this sense, in the face of the current mentality that “tends to value existence if it produces wealth or success, if it exercises power or authority, forgetting that the human being is always a limited creature with needs,” Pope Leo XIV emphasized that the fragility that appears in the elderly is “hidden or removed by those who cultivate worldly illusions, so as not to have before their eyes the image of what we will inevitably become.”However, he added, “it is healthy to realize that aging is part of the marvel of creation,” as he expressed during the Jubilee of Youth last August.The pope invited people to stop being ashamed of human weakness so that “we will in fact be led to ask for help from our brothers and sisters and from God, who watches over all his creatures as a Father.”“The Church is called to offer times and tools for understanding old age, so that we can live it in a Christian way, without pretending to remain forever young and without letting ourselves be overcome by discouragement,” continued the pope, who recommended the catechesis Pope Francis dedicated to this topic as “very valuable.”Active participants in evangelizationPope Leo XIV valued the presence of older people who, once their working life is over, “have the opportunity to enjoy an increasingly long period of good health, economic well-being and more free time” and who are often “the ones who attend Mass assiduously and lead parish activities, such as catechesis and various forms of pastoral service.”“It is important to find an appropriate language and opportunities for them, involving them not as passive recipients of evangelization but as active subjects, and to respond together with them, and not in their place, to the questions that life and the Gospel pose to us,” he added.Coming from different life experiences and relationships with the faith, the pontiff noted: “For all of them, the pastoral care of the elderly must be evangelizing and missionary, because the Church is always called to proclaim Jesus Christ the Savior to every man and woman, at every age and stage of life.”This involves, first and foremost, bringing “them the good news of the Lord’s tenderness, to overcome, together with them, the darkness of loneliness, the great enemy of the lives of the elderly” in a missionary task that “challenges all of us, our parishes, and, in a particular way, young people, who can become witnesses of closeness and mutual listening to those who are further along in their lives.”“In other cases, missionary evangelization will help older people to encounter the Lord and his word. With advancing age, in fact, many people begin to question the meaning of existence, creating an opportunity to seek an authentic relationship with God and to deepen their vocation to holiness,” the pontiff noted.Finally, Leo XIV recalled that “proclaiming the Gospel is the primary task of our pastoral ministry: By involving older people in this missionary dynamic, they too will be witnesses of hope, especially through their wisdom, devotion, and experience.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 04 Oct 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo:, Old, age, gift, and, challenge, requires, response, missionary, pastoral, ministry</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV says he will not interfere in Cardinal Becciu court case</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-says-he-will-not-interfere-in-cardinal-becciu-court-case</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-says-he-will-not-interfere-in-cardinal-becciu-court-case</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Italian Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu (right) waits prior to the start of a consistory during which 20 new cardinals are to be created by Pope Francis on Aug. 27, 2022, in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. / Credit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Oct 1, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV said he will not interfere in the court case of Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the former deputy Vatican secretary of state convicted of embezzlement, aggravated fraud, and abuse of office.In response to a journalist who asked the pontiff about the “Becciu trial” on Tuesday evening outside Castel Gandolfo, Leo said “the trial must go forward” and that “he has no intention of interfering” in the legal proceedings underway.  The pope’s comments were made about one week after the commencement of Becciu’s hearing before the Vatican Court of Appeal on Sept. 22, nearly two years after his conviction by the Vatican City State criminal court.In December 2023, after a two-and-a-half-year trial, the Italian cardinal and former deputy Vatican secretary of state was convicted, alongside eight other defendants, of financial malfeasance. Becciu, the first cardinal to be tried by the Vatican tribunal, was dealt a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence, an 8,000 euro (about $9,400) fine, and a permanent disqualification from holding public office.The other defendants who were also tried and found guilty were also given a variety of sentences. Five of those defendants — Raffaele Mincione, Enrico Crasso, Gianluigi Torzi, Fabrizio Tirabassi, and Cecilia Marogna — also received prison sentences of varying length.The former Vatican deputy secretary of state has consistently protested his innocence, maintaining that he acted with papal approval or authority when he invested money or issued payments using Vatican funds.The Vatican realized a $200 million loss following a highly speculative real estate deal in London’s Sloane Avenue negotiated by the Vatican Secretariat of State in 2014 while Becciu was in office.The cardinal was also found guilty of making at least 125,000 euros (about $148,000) in unauthorized payments to his brother’s charity in Sardinia as well as approving more than 500,000 euros (about $590,000) be paid to geopolitical expert Marogna who, instead of using it for intelligence and a humanitarian mission to help free a kidnapped religious sister in Mali, was accused of spending the funds on luxury goods and travel.Last October, the Vatican released its reasons for convicting Becciu, stating he was involved in the illicit use of Holy See funds despite having no “profit-making purpose” and stressing that the trial was fair. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 03 Oct 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, says, will, not, interfere, Cardinal, Becciu, court, case</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV, Arnold Schwarzenegger promote care for the earth at climate conference</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-arnold-schwarzenegger-promote-care-for-the-earth-at-climate-conference</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-arnold-schwarzenegger-promote-care-for-the-earth-at-climate-conference</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV and actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger address the opening day of the “Raising Hope for Climate Justice” conference held at a center near the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo on Oct. 1, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Oct 1, 2025 / 14:05 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV encouraged the world to unify around care for the planet as he took the stage at a climate justice conference headlined by actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger outside of Rome on Wednesday.“We are one family, with one Father, who makes the sun to rise and sends rain on everyone (Mt 5:45),” Leo said Oct. 1 at a conference center in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. “We inhabit the same planet and must care for it together. I therefore renew my strong appeal for unity around integral ecology and for peace!”The pontiff and Schwarzenegger addressed the opening day of the Oct. 1–3 “Raising Hope for Climate Justice” conference, held at a center near the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo.Speakers at the gathering, promoted by the Laudato Si’ Movement in collaboration with international organizations, will include bishops, heads of international organizations, Indigenous leaders, climate and biodiversity experts, and representatives of civil society.In remarks before the pope’s speech, Schwarzenegger cited the Catholic Church’s 1.4 billion members, 400,000 priests, and 200,000 churches as a “power … involved in our movement, in our environmental movement to terminate pollution.”“And of course, I’m very honored to be here, because I am next to an action hero,” he added, gesturing toward Pope Leo. “The reason I call him an action hero is because as soon as he became pope, he ordered the Vatican to put solar panels on the buildings. This will be one of the first states to be carbon neutral. Let’s give him a big, big hand for this action.”Pope Leo XIV encourages the world to unify around care for the planet during an address on the opening day of the Oct. 1–3, 2025, “Raising Hope for Climate Justice” conference in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNAThe “Terminator” actor suggested more people talk about the problem of pollution over “climate change” as an easier concept for people to understand: “We have to talk to the heart so people understand it.”“I have a very clear vision that we can [terminate pollution] together,” he added.The pope, in comments before his prepared remarks, said “there is indeed an action hero with us today, it’s all of you.”Call to conversionIn his message, Leo praised Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si’ as a source of inspiration and dialogue that has prompted action to care for our common home.“As with every anniversary of this nature, we remember the past with gratitude, but we also ask ourselves what remains to be done,” he said.The pontiff said that in the 10 years since the publication of Laudato Si’, the focus has moved from studying the encyclical to putting it into practice.“What must be done now to ensure that caring for our common home and listening to the cry of the earth and the poor do not appear as mere passing trends or, worse still, are seen and felt as divisive issues?” he asked.Pope Leo’s speech also emphasized a need for spiritual renewal.“The challenges identified in Laudato Si’ are in fact even more relevant today than they were 10 years ago,” he said. “These challenges are of a social and political nature, but first and foremost of a spiritual nature: They call for conversion.”He encouraged people to grow in relationship with God, others, nature, and themselves, because “we cannot love God, whom we cannot see, while despising his creatures. Nor can we call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ without participating in his outlook on creation and his care for all that is fragile and wounded.”The pope expressed the hope that upcoming international summits at the United Nations, such as the 2025 Climate Change Conference (COP 30), the 53rd Plenary Session of the Committee on World Food Security, and the 2026 Water Conference, “will listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, families, Indigenous peoples, involuntary migrants, and believers throughout the world.”He encouraged everyone, from young adults and parents to politicians, to do their part to find solutions to educational, cultural, and spiritual challenges. “There is no room for indifference or resignation,” he underlined. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/leo-climate-2.jpeg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 03 Oct 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, Arnold, Schwarzenegger, promote, care, for, the, earth, climate, conference</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>At UN, archbishop faults nations for ‘turning a blind eye’ to persecution of Christians</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/at-un-archbishop-faults-nations-for-turning-a-blind-eye-to-persecution-of-christians</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/at-un-archbishop-faults-nations-for-turning-a-blind-eye-to-persecution-of-christians</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican aecretary for eelations with atates. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 1, 2025 / 15:05 pm (CNA).
The Holy See’s secretary for relations with states, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, decried that attacks on Christians have intensified in recent years and accused the international community of “turning a blind eye.”“The data show that Christians are the most persecuted religious group worldwide, and yet the international community seems to be turning a blind eye to their plight,” the English archbishop declared during his Sept. 29 address to the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly.“Christians across the world are subjected to severe persecution, including physical violence, imprisonment, forced displacement, and martyrdom,” he added.The Vatican diplomat noted that more than 360 million Christians live in areas where they experience high levels of persecution or discrimination, “with attacks on churches, homes, and communities intensifying in recent years.”In his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the archbishop emphasized defending life from practices such as abortion and euthanasia.In his speech, he insisted that the right to life, from conception to its natural end, is a “fundamental prerequisite for the exercise of all other rights” and condemned “the illegitimacy of every form of procured abortion and of euthanasia.”‘Culture of death’The Vatican diplomat criticized what he called a “culture of death” and called for international resources to be allocated to protecting life and supporting those in difficult situations so they can make life-affirming choices.In particular, he emphasized the need to “enable those mothers to give birth to the child in their womb” and to “ease the burden of human suffering during illness through adequate health and palliative care.”The archbishop also warned of the risks of a conception of freedom disconnected from objective and universal truth: “When freedom shuts out even the most obvious evidence of an objective and universal truth, which is the foundation of personal and social life, then the person ends up by his subjective and changeable opinion or interest.”Gallagher stated that this vision of freedom leads to a “serious distortion” of life in society. “At that point, everything becomes negotiable and open to bargaining, even the first of the fundamental rights, the right to life,” he stated.‘Deplorable practice’ of surrogacyThe representative of the Holy See also addressed the practice of surrogacy, highlighting it as another threat to human dignity: “Another issue that endangers the inviolable dignity of human beings by reducing them to mere products is the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child. The Holy See renews its call for an international ban of this deplorable practice.”Gallagher also denounced the fact that in a world marked by “unprecedented wealth and technological advancement,” millions of people “still lack access to basic necessities.”“The persistence of extreme poverty, particularly in regions afflicted by conflict, climate change, and systemic inequality, demands immediate and collective action,” he stated.Foreign debt cancellationSimilarly, Gallagher called for the cancellation of the foreign debt of the poorest countries, emphasizing that these financial burdens “trap nations in poverty and must be canceled as a matter of justice.”In this context, he said the Holy See urges the international community to “prioritize integral human development in a spirit of solidarity, ensuring that economic policies and development programs place the human person at their core and foster not only material well-being but also spiritual and social growth.”In the words of the Vatican diplomat, the poor must be seen “not as a problem but as people who can become the principal builders of a new and more human future for everyone.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/paul.gallag..jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 03 Oct 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>UN, archbishop, faults, nations, for, ‘turning, blind, eye’, persecution, Christians</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV on Trump’s Gaza peace plan: ‘A realistic proposal’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-on-trumps-gaza-peace-plan-a-realistic-proposal</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-on-trumps-gaza-peace-plan-a-realistic-proposal</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV answers questions during an impromptu Q&amp;A with journalists outside Castel Gandolfo on Sept. 30, 2025. / Credit: EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 1, 2025 / 16:05 pm (CNA).
Late Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV answered several questions from journalists at Villa Barberini, the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, where he addressed various issues.Asked about the plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump to resolve the crisis in Gaza, the pontiff stated: “We hope they accept it. So far, it seems to be a realistic proposal.”“It’s important, nonetheless, that there be a ceasefire and the release of the hostages. But there are elements there that I think are very interesting, and I hope Hamas will accept it within the established time frame,” he added.Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sept. 29 that they have agreed on a plan to end the war, although it is unknown whether Hamas will accept the terms. The 20-point plan seeks to halt the war between Israel and Hamas through a temporary governing body in Gaza, headed by Trump and also including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.The plan does not require population displacement and calls for an immediate end to hostilities if both sides agree. It also demands that the remaining hostages be released within 72 hours of Israel’s acceptance of the agreement. Trump assured that Israel would have the “full support” of the United States to defeat Hamas if the armed group rejects the proposal.The Holy Father also referred to the arrival on the coast of Gaza of vessels from the Global Sumud Flotilla, sent with humanitarian aid and with the purpose of breaking the naval blockade imposed by Israel, despite warnings from the Israeli government, which has demanded the suspension of the mission.“It’s very difficult. There’s a desire to respond to a true humanitarian emergency, but there are many elements [involved] there, and all sides are saying that we hope there will be no violence and that people will be respected. That’s very important,” he noted.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/leo.30.sept.2025.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 03 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, Trump’s, Gaza, peace, plan:, ‘A, realistic, proposal’</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV: ‘Culture of reconciliation’ needed to support migrants, displaced people</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-culture-of-reconciliation-needed-to-support-migrants-displaced-people</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-culture-of-reconciliation-needed-to-support-migrants-displaced-people</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets participants attending the Oct. 1-3 Migrants and Refugees in Our Common Home summit in Rome on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 2, 2025 / 11:10 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV said a “culture of reconciliation” is necessary to support more than 100 million people affected by migration and displacement across the world during his Thursday meeting with participants attending the Oct. 1–3 Migrants and Refugees in Our Common Home summit in Rome.“Just as Pope Francis spoke of the culture of encounter as the antidote for the globalization of indifference, we must work to confront the globalization of powerlessness by fostering a culture of reconciliation,” Leo told summit participants gathered inside the Vatican’s Clementine Hall.Pope Leo XIV meets with participants attending the Oct. 1-3 Migrants and Refugees in Our Common Home summit in Rome on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media“In this particular way of encountering others, we ‘meet one another by healing our wounds, forgiving each other for the evil we have done and also that we have not done, but whose effects we bear,’” he said, quoting his predecessor.“This requires patience, a willingness to listen, the ability to identify with the pain of others and the recognition that we have the same dreams and the same hopes,” he continued.Speaking to approximately 200 people from 40 countries taking part in the three-day conference, the Holy Father encouraged participants to create “action plans” based on the four core pillars of “teaching, research, service, and advocacy” to alleviate the sufferings of those impacted by migration and displacement.Pope Leo XIV views a painting while meeting with participants attending the Oct. 1-3 Migrants and Refugees in Our Common Home summit in Rome on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaDuring the meeting, the Holy Father emphasized the need for concrete “gestures and policies of reconciliation,” particularly in “lands where there are deep-seated wounds from long-standing conflicts.”“I pray that your efforts may bring about new ideas and approaches in this regard, seeking always to put the dignity of every human person at the center of any solution,” he said. The international summit, organized by Villanova University’s Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration, aims to bring together educational institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and local groups through a three-year initiative to sustainably respond to the needs of vulnerable communities.     In light of the Jubilee of Migrants and the Jubilee of Missions taking place over the Oct. 4-5 weekend, the Holy Father asked summit participants to integrate two themes in their action plans: “reconciliation and hope.”“In formulating your action plans, it is also important to remember that migrants and refugees can be privileged witnesses of hope through their resilience and through their trust in God,” he said.“I encourage you to lift up such examples of hope in the communities of those whom you serve,” he added. “In this way, they can be an inspiration for others and assist in developing ways to address the challenges that they have faced in their own lives.”The Migrants and Refugees in Our Common Home summit is supported by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and Dicastery for Culture and Education. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/sim5853.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 03 Oct 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, ‘Culture, reconciliation’, needed, support, migrants, displaced, people</media:keywords>
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<title>Catholics must respond to AI threat to authentic, human communication, Vatican says</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/catholics-must-respond-to-ai-threat-to-authentic-human-communication-vatican-says</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/catholics-must-respond-to-ai-threat-to-authentic-human-communication-vatican-says</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered for the Mass for the Jubilee of Catechists on Sept. 28, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 29, 2025 / 10:50 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has put a spotlight on the risks of artificial intelligence in his choice of theme for next year’s World Day of Social Communications, as the Vatican emphasizes the important role of Catholics in media and AI literacy.The pope’s choice of theme for the 60th World Day of Social Communications 2026, published Monday, is “Preserving Human Voices and Faces.” The day is celebrated every year on Jan. 24, the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists and writers.The Vatican’s explanatory note emphasizes the risks of AI, including that it “can generate engaging but misleading, manipulative, and harmful information, replicate biases and stereotypes from its training data, and amplify disinformation through simulation of human voices and faces.”The theme of the World Day of Social Communications was released as the Vatican’s communication department is struggling to stem the tide of “deepfakes,” false images and videos of Pope Leo XIV saying and doing things he did not say or do.Pope Leo XIV signaled at the beginning of his pontificate that the challenge of AI would be a significant theme of his teaching.The Vatican announcement on Monday urged the introduction of media and artificial intelligence literacy into educational systems to combat the risk of misinformation.“As Catholics we can and should give our contribution, so that people — especially youth — acquire the capacity of critical thinking and grow in the freedom of the spirit,” the document says.The Vatican message underlines that “public communication requires human judgment, not just data patterns.”“The challenge is to ensure that humanity remains the guiding agent,” it says. “The future of communication must be one where machines serve as tools that connect and facilitate human lives rather than erode the human voice.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 30 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Catholics, must, respond, threat, authentic, human, communication, Vatican, says</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: ‘European institutions need people who know how to live a healthy secularism’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-european-institutions-need-people-who-know-how-to-live-a-healthy-secularism</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-european-institutions-need-people-who-know-how-to-live-a-healthy-secularism</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets with members of the European Parliament’s Working Group on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue on Sept. 29, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 29, 2025 / 14:52 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Monday said European institutions need “people who know how to live a healthy secularism” while urging recognition that religion has value both on a personal and social level.“When the religious dimension is authentic and well cultivated, it can greatly enrich interpersonal relationships and help people live in community and society. And how important it is today to emphasize the value and importance of human relationships!” he noted.Leo XIV made his remarks on Sept. 29 when receiving at the Vatican the European Parliament’s Working Group on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue. The objective of this structure, an initiative of the European People’s Party (EPP) coaltion, is to promote dialogue between different cultures, religions, philosophical beliefs, and nondenominational communities within Europe.The pope also emphasized that participation in interreligious dialogue, by its very nature, “recognizes that religion has value both on a personal level and in the social sphere.”“Being men and women of dialogue means remaining deeply rooted in the Gospel and the values ​​derived from it and, at the same time, cultivating openness, listening, and dialogue with those from other contexts, always placing the human person, human dignity, and our relational and communal nature at the center,” the pope explained in his address.The Holy Father emphasized that promoting dialogue between cultures and religions is a “fundamental objective for a Christian politician” and cited as examples Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer, and Alcide De Gasperi, considered the founding fathers of what eventually became the European Union, who also lived their faith as a sociopolitical commitment.Thus, he urged the cultivation of a style of thought and action that affirms the value of religion, while “preserving its distinction — not separation or confusion — with respect to the political sphere.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 30 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, ‘European, institutions, need, people, who, know, how, live, healthy, secularism’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV marks Jubilee of Catechists: Teach relationship with Jesus</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-marks-jubilee-of-catechists-teach-relationship-with-jesus</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-marks-jubilee-of-catechists-teach-relationship-with-jesus</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sept. 27, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Sep 27, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV marked the Jubilee of Catechists on Saturday, urging practitioners of the Church’s lay teaching ministry to hand on the faith in a way that helps others encounter Christ personally, rooted in humility and hope.In his general catechesis, the pope spoke to all the faithful: “God reveals himself to those who are simple and humble of heart because they are open to receiving him,” he said.Leo recalled the election of St. Ambrose as bishop of Milan, chosen by popular acclaim while still preparing for baptism. “It was also docility that led Ambrose to respond to that call, trusting in the grace of God,” he said. Christians today, he added, are likewise invited “to become childlike. Whether we are parents, students, or catechists; businesspeople, priests, or religious, we are all called to live our Christian faith authentically by humbly following the Lord’s inspirations.”The Jubilee of Catechists is one of a series of themed celebrations during the Holy Year 2025, which centers on the theme of hope. Each gathering highlights how different vocations and ministries can bear witness to the renewal of the Church and the world. This weekend, more than 20,000 pilgrims from 115 countries have come to Rome for the celebration dedicated to catechists.The jubilee opened Friday evening with a prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica following a day of pilgrimages to the Holy Door. It will conclude Sunday morning with a Mass in St. Peter’s Square at 10 a.m., during which the pope will confer the lay ministry of catechist on 39 men and women. Among them is Catherine Miles-Flynn, an American mother of eight serving in the Arabian Peninsula, profiled here.At the end of the Saturday audience, the pope offered a special word to catechists: “As you instruct others in the faith, keep in mind the importance of teaching them to cultivate a relationship with Jesus. May his love revive in all of us the hope that does not disappoint.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, marks, Jubilee, Catechists:, Teach, relationship, with, Jesus</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo chooses theme for 34th World Day of the Sick: ‘The compassion of the Samaritan’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-chooses-theme-for-34th-world-day-of-the-sick-the-compassion-of-the-samaritan</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-chooses-theme-for-34th-world-day-of-the-sick-the-compassion-of-the-samaritan</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets an audience at the Jubilee of Catechists at the Vatican, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 27, 2025 / 09:50 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has chosen as the theme for World Day of the Sick 2026: “The Compassion of the Samaritan: Loving by Bearing the Pain of Others.”The theme focuses on the Gospel figure of the Good Samaritan, “who shows love by taking care of the wounded and abandoned man on the road,” according to a press release issued by the Holy See. The Vatican said the theme is meant to emphasize an essential aspect of love of neighbor, one requiring concrete gestures of closeness while being capable of assuming the fragility and suffering of others, particularly those who experience illness accompanied by poverty, isolation, or loneliness.The Holy See also recalled that today, Christ, the “Good Samaritan,” continues to draw close to wounded humanity and, through the sacraments of the Church, pours out “the oil of consolation and the wine of hope.” In this way, he “[inspires] actions and gestures of help and closeness for those who live in conditions of fragility due to illness,” the Holy See said. The upcoming World Day of the Sick will take place on Feb. 11, 2026. This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, chooses, theme, for, 34th, World, Day, the, Sick:, ‘The, compassion, the, Samaritan’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV appoints new personal secretary</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-appoints-new-personal-secretary</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-appoints-new-personal-secretary</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Father Marco Billeri with Pope Leo XIV. / Credit: Diocese of San Miniato

Vatican City, Sep 27, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA).
Bishop Giovanni Paccosi of San Miniato announced Sept. 27 that Pope Leo XIV has named Father Marco Billeri, a priest of the Italian diocese, as his second personal secretary.Billeri, ordained in 2016, continued his studies in Rome where he earned a doctorate in canon law. He has served as a judge at the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Tuscany, defender of the bond at the diocesan tribunals of San Miniato and Volterra, episcopal master of ceremonies, and secretary of the presbyteral council. Until now he has been associate pastor of the Parish of Sts. Stephen and Martin in San Miniato Basso.In a statement, Paccosi called the appointment “a great gift” for the diocese. He recalled receiving a personal phone call from the pope the previous week asking his consent to release Billeri for this new mission. “I felt both joy and a sense of vertigo, thinking that Father Marco will now be at the heart of the Church of Christ,” the bishop said. He invited the faithful to pray for Billeri and for the diocese, noting that closer ties with the pope and the universal Church should strengthen awareness of their own mission.Billeri will work alongside the pope’s first personal secretary, Peruvian Father Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga.This story was first published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, appoints, new, personal, secretary</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV to proclaim St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the Church on Nov. 1</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-proclaim-st-john-henry-newman-a-doctor-of-the-church-on-nov-1</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-to-proclaim-st-john-henry-newman-a-doctor-of-the-church-on-nov-1</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  St. John Henry Newman near the end of his life, in 1887. / Credit: Babouba, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Sep 28, 2025 / 06:25 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV announced on Sunday that he will proclaim St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the Church on Nov. 1, the solemnity of All Saints.“I will confer the title of doctor of the Church on St. John Henry Newman, who gave a decisive contribution to the renewal of theology and to understanding Christian doctrine in its development, in the context of the Jubilee of the World of Education,” the pope said after celebrating Mass for the Jubilee of Catechists in St. Peter’s Square.With the proclamation, Newman will become the 38th doctor of the Church, joining a select group of saints recognized for their enduring contribution to Catholic theology and spirituality. He is especially noted for his insights on the development of doctrine and the role of conscience.A 19th-century English theologian, Newman was first a renowned Anglican priest before entering the Catholic Church in 1845 under the guidance of Blessed Dominic Barberi. Ordained a Catholic priest two years later, he founded the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in England and was created a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879.This story was first published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/stjohnhenrynewman080725.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, proclaim, St., John, Henry, Newman, doctor, the, Church, Nov.</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV entrusts ministry of catechist to 39 at jubilee celebration</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-entrusts-ministry-of-catechist-to-39-at-jubilee-celebration</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-entrusts-ministry-of-catechist-to-39-at-jubilee-celebration</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV hands a crucifix to a newly instituted catechist during Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sept. 28, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 28, 2025 / 07:15 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday entrusted the ministry of catechist to 39 men and women in St. Peter’s Square, personally handing each one a crucifix as a sign of their mission during the Jubilee of Catechists.The candidates, representing several countries, were called by name and responded “Here I am” before receiving the crucifix. The rite took place during a Mass that highlighted both the vocation of teaching the faith and the Church’s universal call to hand it on.Among those commissioned was Catherine Miles-Flynn, an American mother of eight who has lived in the United Arab Emirates since 1995. For two decades she has served as director of Christian formation in the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. “There is a lot of joy in my work because I get to talk about Jesus all day,” she told reporters ahead of the jubilee, noting that Catholic churches in Abu Dhabi are “packed all the time.”The Jubilee of Catechists is one of several thematic celebrations taking place during the Holy Year 2025, which has as its central theme hope. More than 20,000 pilgrims from 115 countries traveled to Rome for the weekend gathering, which included a prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica and pilgrimages to the Holy Door before Sunday’s Mass.Preaching in his homily on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the pope said that “the words of Jesus convey to us how God sees the world, at every moment and in every place.” He warned that the passage remains “very relevant today” as “at the doorstep of today’s opulence stands the misery of entire peoples, ravaged by war and exploitation.”The pope reminded the catechists that their ministry is rooted in witness: “The name of your ministry comes from the Greek verb ‘katēchein,’ which means ‘to teach aloud, to make resound.’ This means that the catechist is a person of the word — a word that he or she pronounces with his or her own life. Just as we learned our mother tongue, so too the proclamation of the faith cannot be delegated to someone else; it happens where we live, above all in our homes, around the family table.”Leo also described the catechism as a “travel guidebook” that protects believers from “individualism and discord” because it expresses the faith of the entire Church. He urged Christians not to fall into greed and indifference, saying the “many ‘Lazaruses’ of today remind us of Jesus’ words” and serve as a catechesis of conversion, forgiveness, and hope.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, entrusts, ministry, catechist, jubilee, celebration</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Catholic artist’s Taiwanese&#45;inspired Christian art on display near the Vatican</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/catholic-artists-taiwanese-inspired-christian-art-on-display-near-the-vatican</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/catholic-artists-taiwanese-inspired-christian-art-on-display-near-the-vatican</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Taiwanese Catholic artist Hsieh Sheng-Min drew inspiration from traditional Chinese woodblock printing to create this depiction of the Sermon on the Mount, which includes a large Chinese character of the word “blessing” at its center. / Credit: Embassy of the Republic of China to the Holy See

Vatican City, Sep 23, 2025 / 14:42 pm (CNA).
Catholic artist Hsieh Sheng-Min’s colorful art, currently featured in an exhibition near the Vatican, draws inspiration from traditional Chinese woodblock printing and blends Eastern cultural motifs with biblical scenes.“As a Catholic, I study the Bible. When I come across passages in the Bible that move me, I seek to create art inspired by them,” Hsieh said in an interview with CNA.“I also ask priests about their interpretations of Scripture. I try to find in the Bible the passages that can be visualized — the ones that touch me — and then I attempt to create from them.”Catholic artist Hsieh Sheng-Min points out details in his depiction of the joyful mysteries of the rosary during an interview with CNA at the opening of his art exhibition at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. Credit: Embassy of the Republic China to the Holy SeeThe art exhibition, hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the Holy See, opened at the Pontifical Urbaniana University on Sept. 18. It includes around 30 original pieces, including some specifically created for the 2025 Jubilee. Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi, the pontifical delegate of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and other Vatican officials attended the opening.Taiwanese Catholic artist Hsieh Sheng-Min&#039;s depiction of Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey. Credit: Embassy of the Republic China to the Holy SeeHsieh, a professor of digital media design at Asia University in Taiwan, said his art draws on what he calls “Taiwanese Biblical Iconography,” a genre he said exemplifies how Christianity can take root in different cultural traditions. “We learn from others, because when we look back to the Ming dynasty, when Matteo Ricci and the missionaries first came to China, they immediately adopted Chinese clothing and learned the Chinese language, hoping that the Church could spread more widely,” he said. “In the same way, in Taiwan, I also use Taiwanese elements, hoping that most people in Taiwan will understand that this Western religion can, in fact, be integrated with Taiwanese traditions.” Among the works on display is a Chinese-style depiction of the Sermon on the Mount. “I am deeply moved by the Beatitudes found in the Gospel, the so-called Sermon on the Mount, because here Jesus identifies eight types of people as blessed,” Hsieh said. “The East also places great emphasis on blessings. Thus, we transformed the Eight Immortals of Eastern mythology — eight divine beings — into the eight figures of the Beatitudes. This truly represents a distinctly Chinese approach to spiritual interpretation.”Hsieh Sheng-Min&#039;s depiction of the Sermon on the Mount includes St. Peter holding a key, St. Paul holding a sword, and eight personified figures of the Beatitudes. Credit: Embassy of the Republic of China to the Holy See“This also represents the continuity of the Church’s tradition — from the earliest times of Peter, through later figures such as Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi — a single unbroken line of inheritance, which is also the tradition of the Church,” he added.Another piece depicts the Virgin Mary in an Eastern style surrounded by scenes from the joyful mysteries of the rosary.Catholic artist Hsieh Sheng-Min portrays the Virgin Mary in an Eastern style surrounded by scenes from the joyful mysteries of the rosary and verses from Scripture in Chinese characters. Credit: Embassy of the Republic China to the Holy See“Scripture verses are written directly into the artwork” in Chinese characters, Hsieh explained.  Other works show Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey and as the Good Shepherd.  Hsieh’s work is inspired by traditional woodblock printmaking. He begins with brush outlines, layering colors one by one, and then digitally assembles and enlarges the images. He said he hopes that viewers will see in his art the “blessing that comes from the grace of God.” This work by Hsieh Sheng-Min is inspired by Matthew 19:14: &quot;Jesus said, &#039;Let the children come to me.&#039;&quot; Credit: Embassy of the Republic China to the Holy See“This exhibition reminds me that art itself is a form of prayer, a form of pilgrimage,” he said. Taiwanese Ambassador to the Holy See Anthony C.Y. Ho praised Hsieh’s work at the opening, saying it “reveals not only his personal faith as a Catholic but also his deep love for his homeland.”The exhibition remains on display at the Taiwanese Embassy to the Holy See, just steps from St. Peter’s Basilica. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/screenshot-2025-09-23-at-3.31.39-pm.png" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 26 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Catholic, artist’s, Taiwanese-inspired, Christian, art, display, near, the, Vatican</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Vatican struggles against spread of ‘deepfake’ images of Pope Leo XIV</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-struggles-against-spread-of-deepfake-images-of-pope-leo-xiv</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-struggles-against-spread-of-deepfake-images-of-pope-leo-xiv</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  AI-generated photographs of Pope Leo XIV appearing to fall down a flight of stairs outside St. Peter’s Basilica circulated on the internet in June. / Credit: CNA/Screenshot

Vatican City, Sep 25, 2025 / 09:57 am (CNA).
Did you hear what Pope Leo XIV said about Charlie Kirk or President Donald Trump? What about his thoughts on the Rapture or whether it’s OK to be cremated? These are just a few of the topics the pontiff has appeared to speak about at length in videos popping up every day on social media. The problem is the videos are not real, and the Vatican is struggling to fight their spread.The Vatican’s communications team said it has reported hundreds of accounts, mostly on YouTube, posting fake, AI-created videos — called deepfakes — of Pope Leo since the start of his pontificate. But it’s an uphill battle with new accounts, videos, and images appearing as quickly as others are removed.“We are witnessing the exponential proliferation of a series of YouTube channels with fake videos, all similar to one another, some speaking in the voice of Leo XIV, others in that of his translators, still others in the third person. All use artificial intelligence to make the pope say things he never said,” the Dicastery for Communication said in a statement to CNA.A search for “Pope Leo” on YouTube turned up dozens of fake videos of the Holy Father purportedly making statements that range from the plausible, such as reflections on the Eucharist, to the unlikely, such as the announcement of his resignation.Most of the videos have received no more than a few hundred views, but some of the deepfakes have started to go viral. A 25-minute video claiming the pope has broken his silence on Charlie Kirk’s murder garnered over 445,000 views in the first seven days after it was posted.One of the first fake videos to go viral after Leo’s election appeared to show the pope reading a statement denouncing colonialism and praising Burkina Faso’s interim president, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, a military leader who came to power in a 2022 coup. CNA and the official Vatican News outlet ran fact-checking articles to warn readers about the false information. The 36-minute video, posted shortly after the pope’s election in May, received at least a million views before YouTube terminated the account that posted it.The monthly email newsletter of the Vatican&#039;s Dicastery for Communication warns readers about the spread of fake videos of Pope Leo XIV online. Credit: Dicastery for Communication/ScreenshotDeepfakeThe term “deepfake,” coined less than a decade ago, refers to videos, photos, or audio recordings altered to show people doing or saying things they have never said or done. Leo, of course, is not the first pope to have his likeness altered in videos. In 2015, the TV host Ellen Degeneres shared a video on her show of Pope Francis pulling a white cloth out from under the candles on an altar. A still image of Francis sporting a longline white puffer coat went viral in 2023.With technology quickly advancing to produce ever more realistic images, innocent viewers can be forgiven for mistaking fiction for fact.Pope Leo himself recently noted an example of such confusion. In an interview with journalist Elise Ann Allen, the pope recalled his surprise when an acquaintance asked him with concern if he was all right. AI-generated photographs of the pope appearing to fall down a flight of stairs outside St. Peter’s Basilica had circulated on the internet in June. The images, which caught the attention of the fact-checking website Snopes, were “so good that they thought it was me,” Leo said. The Vatican’s communications team warned about the proliferation of deepfakes in its monthly email newsletter in August and invited readers to report suspicious posts and videos to the dicastery.“Unfortunately, our dicastery receives dozens of reports every day about fake accounts that use the pope’s image and voice in a very realistic way, increasingly using artificial intelligence to make the pope say words he never uttered, to portray him in situations he never actually found himself in,” the newsletter said.“Much of our time is spent reporting, silencing, and requesting the removal of these accounts,” the message continued. “Given the sheer volume of fake material, it is impossible to publicly refute each and every one of them.”The dicastery’s statement to CNA said that the Vatican is not only reporting fake accounts to their platforms but also is “working to raise our audience’s awareness of this new phenomenon. We believe it is essential to invest in media literacy.” The Vatican also reminded readers to rely on official sources, such as the Vatican’s own websites, to check quotes: “If it is not there, it is most probably a fake.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 26 Sep 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, struggles, against, spread, ‘deepfake’, images, Pope, Leo, XIV</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: ‘It’s going to be very difficult to discover the presence of God in AI’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-its-going-to-be-very-difficult-to-discover-the-presence-of-god-in-ai</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-its-going-to-be-very-difficult-to-discover-the-presence-of-god-in-ai</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  In Pope Leo XIV’s first sit-down interview, published in Spanish on Sept. 18, 2025, the pope warned of the loss of humanity in the digital world of artificial intelligence (AI). / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Sep 22, 2025 / 14:09 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV revealed in his first interview since being elected pontiff that it’s going to be “very difficult to discover the presence of God” in artificial intelligence (AI), noting that he recently refused a proposal to create an avatar of himself.He pointed to the loss of humanity in the digital realm and warned that “extremely wealthy” people are investing in AI and “totally ignoring the value of human beings and humanity.”“The danger is that the digital world will follow its own path and we will become pawns, or be brushed aside,” he warned.“I think the Church needs to speak out in this regard,” he stated.During the interview, held on July 10 at Villa Barberini, the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, and published on Sept. 18 in the Spanish-language book “Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the 21st Century,” Pope Leo made it clear that the Church “is not against technological advances,” but the “incredible pace” at which the technology is developing is “worrying.”“In the world of medicine, great things have happened thanks to AI, and in other fields as well,” he said in the book. “However, there is a danger in this, because you end up creating a false world and then you ask yourself: What is the truth?”However, he noted the problems created by AI fabrications in an era plagued by deepfakes (AI-created images, videos, or audio recordings) and even spoke of a personal case in which he was the victim of a fake video.“In these few short three months as pope, one day, talking to someone, [the person] asked me: ‘Are you OK?’ And I said: ‘Yes, I’m fine. Why do you ask?’ ‘Well, you fell down a flight of stairs.’ I said: ‘No, I didn’t fall,’ but there was a video somewhere where they had created this artificial pope, me, falling down a flight of stairs as I was walking, and apparently it was so good that they thought it was me,” he said.The Holy Father warned of the “great challenge” of fake news because “the temptation is for people to believe it, and they believe it because there seems to be a need in some people to receive it.” “Why are all these people consuming this fake news? Something is going on there. People want to believe in conspiracies, people want to seek out all these false things, and that is very destructive,” he added.Similarly, he also revealed that someone recently asked him for permission to create an artificial version of himself, so “that anyone could go to a website and have a personal audience with ‘the pope,’ and this pope created by artificial intelligence would give them answers to their questions. I said, ‘I’m not going to authorize that.’ If there’s anyone who shouldn’t be represented by an avatar, it seems to me, it’s the pope,” he emphasized.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, ‘It’s, going, very, difficult, discover, the, presence, God, AI’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Cardinal Becciu’s Vatican appeal hearing begins</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/cardinal-beccius-vatican-appeal-hearing-begins</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/cardinal-beccius-vatican-appeal-hearing-begins</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu in 2019. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN

National Catholic Register, Sep 22, 2025 / 17:51 pm (CNA).
The appeal hearing for Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the former deputy Vatican secretary of state who was convicted in December 2023 of embezzlement, aggravated fraud, and abuse of office, began on Monday.Heard by a six-judge Vatican Court of Appeal, the appeal is expected to revisit both factual and procedural objections from the first trial, including evidence, court transcripts, and all submissions from both Becciu’s defense and the Vatican prosecution.After the so-called “Trial of the Century” lasting two and a half years, Becciu, 77, was convicted of financial malfeasance and sentenced to five years and six months in prison. He was also handed a fine of 8,000 euros (about $9,400) and permanently disqualified from holding public office.The cardinal’s appeal will be heard alongside those of eight other defendants who were also tried, found guilty, and given a variety of sentences. Five of those defendants — Raffaele Mincione, Enrico Crasso, Gianluigi Torzi, Fabrizio Tirabassi, and Cecilia Marogna — also received prison sentences of varying length.Becciu was the first cardinal to be tried by a Vatican tribunal and has remained free pending the outcome of his appeal. Despite initially claiming he was eligible to vote in the May conclave, he decided to withdraw his participation for the “good of the Church” and out of “obedience” to Pope Francis.The Vatican court said the cardinal’s conviction was based on “full and irrefutable evidence” that he was investing Vatican money in a highly speculative real estate deal in London’s Sloane Avenue with “total disregard” for Vatican policies. Due to the way the deal was structured and restructured, it ended up losing the Vatican more than $200 million. The Italian cardinal was deputy Vatican secretary of state at the time when the secretariat began negotiating the property deal using the secretariat’s funds in 2014.The cardinal was also found guilty of making at least 125,000 euros (about $148,000) in unauthorized payments to his brother’s charity in Sardinia as well as funneling more than 500,000 euros (about $590,000) from Vatican funds to geopolitical expert Marogna who, instead of using it for intelligence and a humanitarian mission to help free a kidnapped religious sister in Mali, was accused of spending the funds on luxury goods and travel.60 Sloane Ave., London, as it is today. The Vatican court said Cardinal Angelo Becciu&#039;s conviction was based on “full and irrefutable evidence” that he was investing Vatican money in a highly speculative real estate deal in London’s Sloane Avenue with “total disregard” for Vatican policies. Credit: Edward PentinBecciu has consistently protested his innocence, maintaining that he acted with papal approval or authority. He has insisted that donations were for humanitarian or ecclesial purposes and that there was procedural misconduct during the investigation and trial.He has stressed that his office as “sostituto” (deputy in the secretariat of state) required acting on papal trust and this role gave him broad discretion for diplomatic and humanitarian missions, such as the ransom effort to free the kidnapped religious sister.The cardinal has insisted the money sent to the Sardinian charity was requested by the local bishop for social projects, remained in diocesan coffers, and was not used for personal or family benefit. Regarding Marogna, Becciu has claimed that all payments were for legitimate diplomatic and security services, not for improper or private ends.Arguing for his defense, his lawyers have said the prosecution benefited from undisclosed papal decrees that included permitting secret wiretaps and warrantless detentions, and that witnesses were coached by Vatican police, undermining fair-trial guarantees.Becciu also has alleged new evidence of outside manipulation and collusion with Vatican prosecutors, reiterating a claim of being “framed” by a campaign built on falsehoods and media pressure — claims that have been strenuously denied.He has also said he was unjustly presumed guilty from the outset and that key exculpatory evidence was ignored or overlooked at trial — accusations the Vatican tribunal dismissed. His defense intends to challenge both the factual findings and legal procedures in his appeal.Last October, the Vatican released its reasons for convicting Becciu, stating he was involved in the illicit use of Holy See funds despite having no “profit-making purpose” and stressing that the trial was fair.Commenting on the court’s 800-page judgment in an editorial in L’Osservatore Romano, Andrea Tornielli, Vatican Media’s editorial director, reasserted the judgment’s assessment of a fair trial. He added that the trial’s outcome showed the need for prelates and those in charge of Vatican finances to be held accountable for their actions.Although Tornielli did not name Becciu, the cardinal criticized the editorial for its “vaguely moralistic tone” and again protested his innocence. He acknowledged that the sums involving the London property were “enormous” but insisted they were not without precedent and had the “approval of the superior at the time,” namely the head of the Vatican’s administrative office, Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, who, as a star witness in the trial, avoided prosecution.As in the trial, Becciu was accused of seeking to shift responsibility to others, including Pope Francis, whom he said knew all about the London property deal, although the extent of the pope’s involvement has never been fully known.This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA&#039;s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.  ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Cardinal, Becciu’s, Vatican, appeal, hearing, begins</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Catholic artist’s Chinese&#45;inspired Christian art on display near the Vatican</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/catholic-artists-chinese-inspired-christian-art-on-display-near-the-vatican</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/catholic-artists-chinese-inspired-christian-art-on-display-near-the-vatican</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Taiwanese Catholic artist Hsieh Sheng-Min drew inspiration from traditional Chinese woodblock printing to create this depiction of the Sermon on the Mount, which includes a large Chinese character of the word “blessing” at its center. / Credit: Embassy of the Republic of China to the Holy See

Vatican City, Sep 23, 2025 / 14:42 pm (CNA).
Catholic artist Hsieh Sheng-Min’s colorful art, currently featured in an exhibition near the Vatican, draws inspiration from traditional Chinese woodblock printing and blends Eastern cultural motifs with biblical scenes.“As a Catholic, I study the Bible. When I come across passages in the Bible that move me, I seek to create art inspired by them,” Hsieh said in an interview with CNA.“I also ask priests about their interpretations of Scripture. I try to find in the Bible the passages that can be visualized — the ones that touch me — and then I attempt to create from them.”Catholic artist Hsieh Sheng-Min points out details in his depiction of the joyful mysteries of the rosary during an interview with CNA at the opening of his art exhibition at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. Credit: Embassy of the Republic China to the Holy SeeThe art exhibition, hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the Holy See, opened at the Pontifical Urbaniana University on Sept. 18. It includes around 30 original pieces, including some specifically created for the 2025 Jubilee. Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi, the pontifical delegate of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and other Vatican officials attended the opening.Taiwanese Catholic artist Hsieh Sheng-Min&#039;s depiction of Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey. Credit: Embassy of the Republic China to the Holy SeeHsieh, a professor of digital media design at Asia University in Taiwan, said his art draws on what he calls “Taiwanese Biblical Iconography,” a genre he said exemplifies how Christianity can take root in different cultural traditions. “We learn from others, because when we look back to the Ming dynasty, when Matteo Ricci and the missionaries first came to China, they immediately adopted Chinese clothing and learned the Chinese language, hoping that the Church could spread more widely,” he said. “In the same way, in Taiwan, I also use Taiwanese elements, hoping that most people in Taiwan will understand that this Western religion can, in fact, be integrated with Taiwanese traditions.” Among the works on display is a Chinese-style depiction of the Sermon on the Mount. “I am deeply moved by the Beatitudes found in the Gospel, the so-called Sermon on the Mount, because here Jesus identifies eight types of people as blessed,” Hsieh said. “The East also places great emphasis on blessings. Thus, we transformed the Eight Immortals of Eastern mythology — eight divine beings — into the eight figures of the Beatitudes. This truly represents a distinctly Chinese approach to spiritual interpretation.”Hsieh Sheng-Min&#039;s depiction of the Sermon on the Mount includes St. Peter holding a key, St. Paul holding a sword, and eight personified figures of the Beatitudes. Credit: Embassy of the Republic of China to the Holy See“This also represents the continuity of the Church’s tradition — from the earliest times of Peter, through later figures such as Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi — a single unbroken line of inheritance, which is also the tradition of the Church,” he added.Another piece depicts the Virgin Mary in an Eastern style surrounded by scenes from the joyful mysteries of the rosary.Catholic artist Hsieh Sheng-Min portrays the Virgin Mary in an Eastern style surrounded by scenes from the joyful mysteries of the rosary and verses from Scripture in Chinese characters. Credit: Embassy of the Republic China to the Holy See“Scripture verses are written directly into the artwork” in Chinese characters, Hsieh explained.  Other works show Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey and as the Good Shepherd.  Hsieh’s work is inspired by traditional woodblock printmaking. He begins with brush outlines, layering colors one by one, and then digitally assembles and enlarges the images. He said he hopes that viewers will see in his art the “blessing that comes from the grace of God.” This work by Hsieh Sheng-Min is inspired by Matthew 19:14: &quot;Jesus said, &#039;Let the children come to me.&#039;&quot; Credit: Embassy of the Republic China to the Holy See“This exhibition reminds me that art itself is a form of prayer, a form of pilgrimage,” he said. Taiwanese Ambassador to the Holy See Anthony C.Y. Ho praised Hsieh’s work at the opening, saying it “reveals not only his personal faith as a Catholic but also his deep love for his homeland.”The exhibition remains on display at the Taiwanese Embassy to the Holy See, just steps from St. Peter’s Basilica. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Catholic, artist’s, Chinese-inspired, Christian, art, display, near, the, Vatican</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV reaffirms 2&#45;state solution for Holy Land, warns of escalating war in Ukraine</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-reaffirms-2-state-solution-for-holy-land-warns-of-escalating-war-in-ukraine</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-reaffirms-2-state-solution-for-holy-land-warns-of-escalating-war-in-ukraine</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV waves from the popemobile in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican during his weekly general audience on Sept. 24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 24, 2025 / 07:24 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV renewed the Holy See’s support for a two-state solution in the Holy Land and voiced concern over rising tensions in Ukraine, speaking with reporters Tuesday before returning from Castel Gandolfo to the Vatican.“The Holy See has supported the two-state solution for many years,” the pope recalled, pointing out that the Vatican formally recognized Palestine in 2015 with the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement. “The Holy See recognized the two-state solution some time ago. That is clear: We must seek a path that respects all peoples.”Asked whether broader international recognition of Palestine might help, he said: “It could help, but right now there is no real willingness to listen on the part of the other side; dialogue is broken.”The pope confirmed that he had spoken by phone the same day with the Catholic parish in Gaza. “Thank God, the parish is fine, although the incursions are getting closer and closer... This afternoon I got in touch with them,” he said.On Ukraine, he cautioned: “Someone is seeking an escalation. It’s getting more and more dangerous. I continue to insist on the need to lay down arms, halt military advances, and return to the negotiating table.” He stressed the importance of European unity, saying: “If Europe were truly united, I believe it could do a lot.”Pressed on whether rearmament in Europe is necessary, the pope declined to weigh in directly: “These are political matters, also influenced by external pressure on Europe. I prefer not to comment.”Regarding Vatican diplomacy, he explained: “We are in constant dialogue with ambassadors. We also try to speak with heads of state when they come, always seeking a solution.”Rosary for peace in OctoberAt his weekly general audience on Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV called on Catholics around the world to dedicate October to praying the rosary for peace.“Dear brothers and sisters, the month of October is now approaching, and in the Church it is dedicated in a special way to the holy rosary. Therefore, I invite everyone, every day of the coming month, to pray the rosary for peace: personally, in the family, in the community,” he said.The pope asked Vatican employees to join in this prayer daily at 7 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica. He also announced that on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 6 p.m., he will lead a rosary in St. Peter’s Square during the vigil for the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality, marking as well the anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.Catechesis: Christ descends to the depthsContinuing his catechesis for the Jubilee of 2025 on the theme “Jesus Christ Our Hope,” the pope reflected on the mystery of Holy Saturday and Christ’s descent into the realm of the dead.“Today, again, we will look at the mystery of Holy Saturday. It is the day of the paschal mystery in which everything seems immobile and silent, while in reality an invisible action of salvation is being fulfilled: Christ descends into the realm of the dead to bring the news of the Resurrection to all those who were in the darkness and in the shadow of death,” he said.“This event, which the liturgy and tradition have handed down to us, represents the most profound and radical gesture of God’s love for humanity,” the pope said. “Indeed, it is not enough to say or to believe that Jesus died for us: It is necessary to recognize that the fidelity of his love sought us out where we ourselves were lost, where only the power of a light capable of penetrating the realm of darkness can reach.”He noted that Christ’s descent is not just a past event but one that touches every believer today: “The underworld is not only the condition of the dead but also of those who live death as a result of evil and sin. It is also the daily hell of loneliness, shame, abandonment, and the struggle of life. Christ enters into all these dark realities to bear witness to the love of the Father. Not to judge, but to set free. Not to blame, but to save.”The pope concluded: “Dear brothers and sisters, to descend, for God, is not a defeat but the fulfillment of his love. It is not a failure but the way by which he shows that no place is too far away, no heart is too closed, no tomb too tightly sealed for his love. This consoles us, this sustains us. And if at times we seem to have hit rock bottom, let us remember: that is the place from which God is able to begin a new creation.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, reaffirms, 2-state, solution, for, Holy, Land, warns, escalating, war, Ukraine</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV sends message to exorcists gathered in Rome</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-sends-message-to-exorcists-gathered-in-rome</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-sends-message-to-exorcists-gathered-in-rome</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Members of the International Association of Exorcists gather for their 15th international gathering in Rome from Sept. 15–20, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the International Association of Exorcists

Vatican City, Sep 24, 2025 / 15:27 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV addressed a message to the approximately 300 exorcist priests who came together Sept. 15–20 for the 15th International Gathering of the International Association of Exorcists (IAE) at the Fraterna Domus House of Spirituality in Sacrofano, near Rome.The Holy Father expressed his appreciation for the priests who dedicate themselves to the “delicate and necessary ministry of the exorcist.” The pontiff urged them to carry it out “both as a ministry of liberation and as a ministry of consolation.”In a message signed by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the pope also exhorted pastors to provide spiritual support to the faithful who are suffering.Victory over SatanPope Leo emphasized the need to “support the faithful truly possessed by the evil one with prayer and the invocation of Christ’s effective presence, so that through the sacramental of exorcism the Lord may grant victory over Satan.”The pope’s words were read at the opening of the event — held every two years — by Father Francesco Bamonte, vice president of the IAE and moderator of the conference. During the presentations, Monsignor Karel Orlita, president of the IAE and exorcist for the Diocese of Brno in the Czech Republic, highlighted the beauty of the ecclesial communion in which this ministry, firmly rooted in the Gospel, is embedded, and underlined the importance of the ongoing formation that the association promotes in Italy and abroad.He also recalled the official approval of the new IAE statutes by the Dicastery for the Clergy on March 25 as a sign of support for the mission of the association, which recently surpassed 1,000 members.During the conference, topics of great theological and practical relevance were addressed, the organizers stated in a press release.During his address, the undersecretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Bishop Aurelio García Macías, presented a review of the Rite of Exorcisms, including types of extraordinary diabolical action, the role of the exorcist, the richness of the signs, and the correction of errors, always emphasizing the centrality of Christ in the rite.Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the dicastery, celebrated the opening Mass of the conference, highlighting the Church’s support for the faithful suffering from the action of the devil.Father Gabriele Amorth, founder and first president of the IAE, who died nine years ago, was also remembered.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/exor.2025.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, sends, message, exorcists, gathered, Rome</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Vatican urges faithful to revive efforts for sainthood cause of Cardinal Van Thuan</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-urges-faithful-to-revive-efforts-for-sainthood-cause-of-cardinal-van-thuan</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-urges-faithful-to-revive-efforts-for-sainthood-cause-of-cardinal-van-thuan</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Then-Archbishop Van Thuan meets St. Teresa of Calcutta during her first visit to Vietnam as mother superior of the Missionaries in Charity in 1991. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Elisabeth Nguyen

Vatican City, Sep 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
The beatification cause of Venerable Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan is receiving renewed attention from the Vatican 50 years after he was first imprisoned by the communist government of Vietnam, according to the cardinal’s sister.Elisabeth Nguyen Thi Thu Hong, Van Thuan’s youngest sister and last living sibling, told CNA that the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints is encouraging Catholics to revive their efforts toward the cause as it launches a new webpage devoted to the Vietnamese cardinal, whose meditations on hope and forgiveness have inspired Catholics for decades.The next stage in the canonization process “is up to the faithful … to pray to God through the intercession of the cardinal to get an approved miracle,” Nguyen said during a visit to Rome this week.Cardinal Van Thuan poses with members of his family, including siblings, nieces, and nephews, during the consistory to make him a cardinal in Rome in 2001. His youngest sister, Elisabeth Nguyen, is pictured on the bottom right. Credit: Photo courtesy of Elisabeth NguyenAn official at the dicastery for saints confirmed to CNA the department is working on Van Thuan’s cause and reiterated the importance of a verified miracle for the process to proceed.Van Thuan — declared venerable, the step before beatification, in 2017 — was a prisoner of the communist government of Vietnam for 13 years, spending nine of those in solitary confinement. His spiritual messages, smuggled out during his imprisonment, were collected and published in the book “The Road of Hope: A Gospel from Prison.”After he was freed, Van Thuan was forced to leave his home country, spending his final years in Rome where he served at the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. In 2001, Pope John Paul II made Van Thuan a cardinal.Van Thuan was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer soon after, but four months before his death on Sept. 16, 2002, he made a final visit to Australia to see his family for his mother’s 100th birthday.Cardinal Van Thuan visits his family in Sydney, Australia, for the 100th birthday of his mother (seated) in April 2002, a few months before his death in Rome from stomach cancer on Sept. 16, 2002. Credit: Photo courtesy of Elisabeth NguyenWitness of hope in GodNguyen, the youngest of Van Thuan’s nine siblings, has written about her brother’s witness in the book “Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan: Man of Joy and Hope,” coauthored by Father Stefaan Lecleir and published by Ignatius Press in April.After writing the book, Nguyen said she was glad to contribute to the glory of God through sharing her brother’s life: “Especially in these recent times in our society when there’s so much anger and not accepting to forgive … I decided to write with Father Lecleir about the fact that [Van Thuan’s] message is really to forgive and hope in God through God’s love.”Nguyen attended a Mass at her brother’s tomb at the Basilica of Santa Maria della Scala in Rome on Sept. 16, the anniversary of his death. The Mass also marked 50 years since his arrest and his composition of the spiritual messages that became “The Road of Hope” — immortalized in a newly-discovered photo of the Vietnamese cardinal from 1975.A photo of Van Thuan recently found in Vietnam shows the archbishop writing at a table when he was under house arrest in 1975. Credit: Photo courtesy of Elisabeth NguyenThe photo, which shows Van Thuan writing at a table in 1975, was taken by a man who served at the house where the bishop was under house arrest in communist Vietnam. A friend of Nguyen found it hanging on a family’s kitchen wall in Vietnam.‘A mini dad’Nguyen, who was a baby when Van Thuan was ordained a priest, said for her he was “more than a brother; he was like a mini dad.”She shared some of her memories of her older brother, including the influence his clandestine letters had on her life and faith journey.“For a long time, I never wanted to write [about Van Thuan] because it’s going back to some darker times,” Nguyen said. She described Van Thuan as a very attentive son and sibling who always made time to visit his family or to write during his long imprisonment and subsequent exile.Following the Vietnam War and the North Vietnamese Army’s invasion of South Vietnam, Van Thuan’s parents and most of his siblings fled to Australia, Canada, and the U.S. In a postcard he sent to his parents in Australia in 1982, Van Thuan wrote to inform them of the recent death of two of their relatives in Vietnam. He added: “I am in good health. I pray for you and mom each day. This year, our village, Phú Cam, celebrates 300 years of becoming a Catholic village. Let’s pray a lot for each other.”A postcard Van Thuan sent to his parents in 1982. Credit: Photo courtesy of Elisabeth NguyenAs a young man, Van Thuan would help watch over his baby sister, Elisabeth. As she grew up, she cared for his pet guinea pigs and birds. Nguyen recalled the loving guidance her priest-brother gave during her school years.‘Are you happy?’Growing up during the Vietnam War made Nguyen cynical about the goodness of God, she said, and in her young adulthood, she “turned away from the Church because I said, ‘God is love, but look at all of this atrocity and death in the family, and the whole country is really in pieces.’”But her older brother, more than two decades her senior, was instrumental in her return to belief in the Catholic faith, she explained — starting with when she was finishing her master’s degree in philosophy at Sydney University in Australia in 1974.Her master’s thesis was on the existentialist philosophers, such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Van Thuan read the thesis to give her feedback, at her request. Because he was visiting Australia for a meeting with bishops, they had a chance to meet to discuss it.“He said, ‘So you found the way for life now? Are you happy?’” Nguyen recalled. “And I burst out crying, because I said, ‘No, I’m not.’ I said, ‘I’m still searching, but what am I going to do now? I’m done with the thesis, I can’t go back now.’ He said, ‘No, professors accept freedom of thought. You can go and tell them, ‘I thought I really believed in this, but now that I’ve written it, did all the research, I’m not happy.’”“He never condemned me or was judgmental,” she noted.The following year, the Vatican named Van Thuan, already the bishop of Nha Trang for eight years, archbishop coadjutor of what was then known as Saigon. Shortly afterward, Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese Army and in August, Van Thuan was arrested by the communist government.In 1979, he was transferred from a reeducation camp to house arrest, which is when he began to write messages on the back of page-a-day calendar leaves and sneak them out through a local boy, Nguyen told CNA.Nguyen was captivated by the strength of faith she encountered in her brother’s letters. He “wrote a meditation on the logic of the cross, and that really, really [moved] me,” she said. She was struck that he seemed to have met Jesus so deeply. “I need to find out what that’s like, to be able to meet God like him,” she thought. “That’s the one who changed my diapers, that’s the one who took me to the candy store.” ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/mother-teresa-in-vietnam-1991.jpeg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 22 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, urges, faithful, revive, efforts, for, sainthood, cause, Cardinal, Van, Thuan</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV on Palestinians: ‘Those who truly love them work for peace’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-on-palestinians-those-who-truly-love-them-work-for-peace</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-on-palestinians-those-who-truly-love-them-work-for-peace</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV waves to those gathered in St. Peter&#039;s Square to pray the Angelus and listen to his Sunday message on Sept. 21, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media.

Vatican City, Sep 21, 2025 / 10:34 am (CNA).
Those who really love the people living on the Gaza Strip will work to achieve peace in the Holy Land, Pope Leo XIV said on Sunday in his Angelus message.The pontiff expressed his closeness to all those “suffering in that tormented land,” after leading the Marian prayer from a window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square Sept. 21.Leo also thanked the Catholic associations who are helping the people of the Gaza Strip: “Together with you and with the pastors of the Churches in the Holy Land, I repeat: there is no future based on violence, forced exile, or revenge. The people need peace; those who truly love them work for peace,” he said.Pilgrims hold a sign reading, &quot;Peace for Gaza,&quot; during the Angelus of Sept. 21, 2025, in St. Peter&#039;s Square. Credit: Vatican Media.Sunday AngelusIn his message before the Angelus, which he leads weekly on Sundays, Pope Leo reflected on the use of material goods, and “how we administer the most previous good of all, our very life.”In a parable in the Gospel of Luke, a steward who has only sought his own profit must give a report to his master of how he has managed his master’s property.The Holy Father explained that, like the steward in the parable, “we are not the masters of our lives or of the goods we enjoy; everything has been given to us as a gift by the Lord, who has entrusted this to our care, our freedom, and our responsibility.”“One day,” he continued, “we will be called to give an account of how we have managed ourselves, our possessions and the earth’s resources — before both God and humankind, before society, and especially before those who will come after us.”In the parable, the steward realizes his mistake, so before he loses his job, he renounces the part of people’s debts that would go to him — giving up the profit, but gaining friendships instead.“The parable invites us to ask ourselves: how are we managing the material goods, the resources of the earth and our very lives that God has entrusted to us?” Leo said. We can choose selfishness, putting wealth and ourselves before all else, becoming isolated and spreading “the poison of competition,” he said, or “we can recognize everything we have as a gift from God, to be managed and used as an instrument for sharing — to create networks of friendship and solidarity, to work for the common good, and to build a world that is more just, equitable and fraternal.”Mass at the Parish Church of St. Anne in the VaticanIn the morning, Pope Leo celebrated a Mass at the Parish Church of St. Anne in the Vatican, which, he pointed out in his homily, is in a special location “on the border” of the Vatican.Pope Leo is pictured here speaking with a couple  at the Parish Church of St. Anne in the Vatican on Sept. 21, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media“Almost all those entering and leaving Vatican City pass by St. Anne’s,” he said. “Some pass for work, some as guests or pilgrims, some in a hurry, some with trepidation or serenity. May everyone experience that here are doors and hearts open to prayer, to listening, and to charity.”He pointed out that the Gospel of the Day challenges us to examine our relationship with the Lord and with others.“Jesus presents a stark alternative between God and wealth, asking us to take a clear and consistent position,” he said, because, “’No servant can serve two masters,’ therefore ‘you cannot serve both God and wealth.’”“This is not a contingent choice,” Leo underlined. “We need to decide on a true lifestyle. It’s about choosing where to place our heart, clarifying whom we sincerely love, whom we serve with dedication, and what is truly our good.”The pope also spoke about nations and wealth, and said, “the Church prays that leaders of nations may be freed from the temptation to use wealth against humanity, transforming it into weapons that destroy peoples and monopolies that humiliate workers.”“Those who serve God become free from wealth, but those who serve wealth remain its slaves,” the Holy Father emphasized. “Those who seek justice transform wealth into the common good; those who seek domination transform the common good into the prey of their own greed. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/tom9059.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 22 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, Palestinians:, ‘Those, who, truly, love, them, work, for, peace’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Justice Alito speaks at the Vatican about justice and mercy</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/justice-alito-speaks-at-the-vatican-about-justice-and-mercy</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/justice-alito-speaks-at-the-vatican-about-justice-and-mercy</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., shares his perspective on how a legal system can provide for mercy during a conversation with Msgr. Laurence Spiteri (left) at the Vatican&#039;s judicial headquarters on Sept. 20, 2025. / Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA.

Vatican City, Sep 21, 2025 / 14:24 pm (CNA).
United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., spoke about the role that mercy can play in the legal system during an event at the Vatican on Saturday.The Sept. 20 discussion at the Vatican’s judicial headquarters was organized by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, the U.S. bishops’ conference, and the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization. The event was part of the Jubilee of Justice, part of the Church’s yearlong Jubilee of Hope.Earlier in the day, Alito, a Catholic, greeted Pope Leo XIV following an audience for the Jubilee of Workers of Justice in St. Peter’s Square.During a one-hour afternoon conversation with Msgr. Laurence Spiteri, an American priest and retired judge on the Vatican’s appeals court for marriage cases, Alito shared his perspective on how a legal system can provide for mercy.“Justice is what everyone has a right to, it is what they are due … Mercy is something that we don’t necessarily merit,” Alito said. “The complete reconciliation of those two things, I think, is a mystery that we can only dimly, perhaps, perceive in this world.”The 75-year-old Alito, who has served on the Supreme Court since 2006, said, “Mercy should be built into the laws … the authority to make the laws rests with Congress and Congress should build in mercy when it enacts laws.”“The responsibility of the executive [branch], headed by the president, is to enforce the law,” he continued. “But the enforcement of the law often involves a measure of discretion and someone who has discretion to enforce the law should enforce the law with mercy. Judges have to follow the law. Sometimes the law is framed in a way that allows the judge to exercise mercy,” for example, in criminal sentencing.“A legal system, of course, is supposed to promote justice, and in human terms, completely reconciling mercy with justice is probably impossible. I think probably only God can do that,” he said.The audience at Alito’s talk included Vatican officials, including Cardinal Raymond Burke, former prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura and Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Legislative Texts.Catholic lawyers on pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee of Justice were also in attendance for the discussion, held in a chamber of the Cancelleria, a 16th-century building in the center of Rome that is home to the Holy See’s three tribunals: The Apostolic Penitentiary, the Apostolic Signatura, and the Roman Rota. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/justice-alito-20-sept-2025-brockhaus.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Mon, 22 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Justice, Alito, speaks, the, Vatican, about, justice, and, mercy</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Vatican expects 15,000 attendees for Jubilee of Justice  </title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-expects-15000-attendees-for-jubilee-of-justice</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-expects-15000-attendees-for-jubilee-of-justice</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  As part of the Jubilee of Justice, an evening event will be held at the Chancellery Palace in Rome featuring a colloquium with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, pictured here delivering the 2024 commencement address at Franciscan University of Steubenville. / Credit: Franciscan University of Steubenville

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 19, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
The Jubilee of Justice, to be celebrated Saturday, Sept. 20, will bring together some 15,000 pilgrims from around the world, necessitating the relocation of the events to St. Peter’s Square.This is the first time in the history of jubilees that a single event is dedicated to those who, performing various functions, are involved “in the world of secular, canonical, ecclesiastical justice, the Vatican City State, and the Roman Curia, as judges, prosecutors, magistrates, lawyers, legal practitioners, and administrative staff,” along with their families, according to the Holy See Press Office.Registered participants will come from approximately 100 countries around the world, with the largest delegations coming from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, France, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Australia, Nigeria, Peru, and the Philippines.Among the pilgrims will be representatives of important legal institutions, from the law schools of various pontifical universities or those affiliated with various Catholic institutions, and from professional associations and official entities.The presence of representatives from Italy’s Ministry of Justice, the Constitutional Court, the Superior Council of the Judiciary, and the Supreme Court of Cassation has been confirmed, as have representatives from the Confederation of Catholic Jurists of France and the Supreme Courts of the United States, Brazil, Colombia, and Spain.Likewise, there will be representatives from the Vatican Judiciary, the Court of Accounts, the presidency of the Italian Council of State, the International Union of Catholic Jurists, and the Union of Italian Catholic Jurists, among other entities.Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, will welcome pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square and present the “lectio divina” prepared by Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, secretary of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, on the theme “Iustitia Imago Dei: The Worker of Justice, Instrument of Hope.”Pilgrims will have access to simultaneous translation through the Vatican Vox app, which is available for free download. At noon Rome time, Pope Leo XIV will hold the jubilee audience and address his remarks specifically to those working in the justice system. Following these events, pilgrims will proceed to the Holy Door of the papal basilica.As part of the Jubilee of Justice, an evening event will be held at the Chancellery Palace in Rome featuring a colloquium with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, organized by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See.Rome’s Palazzo Altemps will host another event organized by the French Embassy to the Holy See and the Pious Establishments of France in Rome and Loreto, led  by French priest Patrick Valdrini, a professor at the Pontifical Lateran University.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/samuelalitofranciscangraduation051424.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 21 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, expects, 15, 000, attendees, for, Jubilee, Justice  </media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: Family is ‘a gift and a task’ for the Church, society</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-family-is-a-gift-and-a-task-for-the-church-society</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-family-is-a-gift-and-a-task-for-the-church-society</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets the families of the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 19, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Friday said the Church and public institutions need to better support families in social and political life.“Public institutions and the Church have a responsibility to seek ways to promote dialogue and strengthen the elements in society that favor family life and the education of its members,” the pontiff said Sept. 19 in reference to the encyclical letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis of St. John Paul II.“In this context,” he continued, “we can understand the family as a gift and a task. It is crucial to foster the co-responsibility and protagonism of families in social, political, and cultural life, promoting their valuable contribution to the community.”Leo addressed the participants of a Sept. 17–19 Rome meeting on the future of the family during an audience in the Hall of the Consistory in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.The Rome gathering used a synodal method “to listen, discern, and imitate processes of cultural and structural transformation in response to the challenges faced by families in the peripheries, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, in dialogue with other regions of the world,” according to organizers.Pope Leo XIV meets on Sept. 19, 2025, with participants in a Rome synodal-style gathering on challenges faced by families in Latin America and the Caribbean. Credit: Vatican Media“Living synodality in the family requires ‘walking together,’ sharing sorrows and joys, dialoguing respectfully and sincerely among all its members, learning to listen to one another and to make important family decisions together,” the pope told meeting participants.Referencing Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, he said threats to the dignity of the family today include “problems related to poverty, lack of work and access to health care, abuse of the most vulnerable, migration, and war.”“In every child, in every wife or husband, God entrusts us with his Son, his Mother, as he did with St. Joseph, so that together with them we may be the foundation, the leaven, and the witness of God’s love among men,” the Holy Father said.The Jubilee of Hope, he noted, includes an invitation to think about the roots of one’s faith as received from parents and grandparents: “The persevering prayer of our grandmothers as they prayed the rosary, their simple, humble, and honest lives which, like leaven, sustained so many families and communities.”The family is called “to be a domestic Church and a home where the fire of the Holy Spirit burns, spreading its warmth, contributing its gifts and experiences for the common good, and calling everyone to live in hope,” he said.The “Jubilee and Synodal Meeting for Hopeful Discernment on the Future of Life and the Family” was organized by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, the Latin American Episcopal Council, the Pontifical Academy for Life, and the  John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences.“Through this Jubilee and Synodal Meeting, the Church wishes to renew its commitment to defending life and the family, building bridges of fraternity and hope for the new generations,” organizers said in a press release. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/mom.baby.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 21 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, Family, ‘a, gift, and, task’, for, the, Church, society</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV highlights the value of the vow of obedience </title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-highlights-the-value-of-the-vow-of-obedience</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-highlights-the-value-of-the-vow-of-obedience</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV receives members of various religious congregations on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 19, 2025 / 15:31 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday highlighted the value of the vow of obedience in institutes of religious life as “a school of freedom in love” that lays the foundations of fidelity beyond “the ‘feelings’ of the moment.”During a Sept. 18 meeting with participants in the general chapters and assemblies of various congregations and institutes, the pontiff reflected on “some unifying characteristics” of the legacy of the founders of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, the Society of Mary (Marists), the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Conception, and the Ursulines of Mary Immaculate.First, he emphasized the importance of community life “as a place of sanctification and a source of inspiration, witness, and strength in your apostolate.”In this regard, Leo XIV explained to those present that “it is no coincidence that the Holy Spirit inspired those who preceded you to join the sisters and brothers whom Providence placed on their path, so that goodness would multiply and grow through the communion of good people. This was the case at the beginning of your foundations and throughout the centuries, and the same continues to take place today.”Second, Leo XIV emphasized the value of “obedience as an act of love” in the context of religious consecration.Drawing on the words of St. Augustine, he recalled that obedience is the daughter of charity: “I do not trust what is stuck in the soil unless I can see what’s hanging from the branches. You have charity, do you? Show me its fruit. Let me see obedience,” the saint of Hippo said.Leo: Talk of obedience ‘is not very fashionable today’Leo XIV admitted that “talking about obedience is not very fashionable today,” because it is considered to involve a renunciation of one’s own freedom.“But that is not the case,” he affirmed before explaining that “obedience, in its deepest meaning of active and generous listening to others, is a great act of love by which we accept dying to ourselves so that our brothers and sisters may grow and live.”“When it is professed and lived with faith, obedience reveals a luminous path of self-giving that can help the world rediscover the value of sacrifice, the capacity for lasting relationships, and the maturity in community that goes beyond the “feelings” of the moment by establishing itself in fidelity. Obedience is a school of freedom in love,” he explained.The third characteristic highlighted by the pontiff is related to “being attentive to the signs of the times,” which he defined as “an open and perceptive gaze toward the real demands of our brothers and sisters,” without which the present congregations would not have existed.“Your founders were capable of observing, evaluating, loving, and then setting out, even at the risk of great suffering and failure, to serve the real needs of their brothers and sisters, recognizing the voice of God in the poverty of their neighbors,” the pontiff noted, encouraging the participants “to move forward in the living memory of those courageous beginnings” to identify their potential, “perhaps still unexplored, in order to put them to good use in the service of the ‘here and now.’”In his parting words to the religious, Leo XIV praised the hidden work they do: “Dear friends, I know how much good you do every day in so many parts of the world — good that is often unseen by human eyes but not by God’s! I thank you and bless you from my heart, encouraging you to continue your mission with faith and generosity.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/relig.obedience.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 21 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, highlights, the, value, the, vow, obedience </media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Documentary brings Father Marko Rupnik abuse allegations to big screen</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/documentary-brings-father-marko-rupnik-abuse-allegations-to-big-screen</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/documentary-brings-father-marko-rupnik-abuse-allegations-to-big-screen</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  “Nuns vs. The Vatican” includes the detailed stories of Gloria Branciani (left) and Mirjam Kovac, two of three former members of the Loyola Community in Slovenia in the 1980s and early 1990s, when Father Marko Rupnik, a co-founder of the community, is accused of having committed sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse against dozens of women religious. / Credit: Filippo Piscopo/Film2 Productions

CNA Staff, Sep 20, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
A documentary on Father Marko Rupnik’s alleged abuse of consecrated women, the personal fallout for two of his alleged victims, and what happened when the claims became public decades later premiered at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month.“Nuns vs. The Vatican” includes the detailed stories of Gloria Branciani, Mirjam Kovac, and Klara (identified only by her first name), three former members of the Loyola Community in Slovenia in the 1980s and early 1990s, when Rupnik, a co-founder of the community, is accused of having committed sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse against dozens of women religious.Through the stories of Branciani and Klara, the film, which premiered Sept. 6, argues that Rupnik’s alleged abuse was inextricably linked to his religious art. It also claims he was protected in the Catholic Church, in which he shot to stardom in the 1990s, and interviews experts who say the Vatican’s response has been inadequate.Branciani was part of the Ignatius Loyola Community in Slovenia, which was co-founded by Rupnik in the 1980s. In the documentary, she recalls how Rupnik allegedly groomed and then sexually and psychologically abused her in the early ’90s and how the abuse was intricately connected with the creation of his art. According to Branciani, her complaints about Rupnik went unanswered, she was punished by the community’s mother superior at the time, Ivanka Hosta, and forced out of religious life by Father Tomáš Špidlík, a Czech cardinal and Jesuit who died in 2010. Špidlík, who was close to Rupnik and the priest’s art and spirituality center in Rome, the Centro Aletti, allegedly wrote the resignation letter on her behalf.In addition to testimony from the alleged victims and their lawyer, it includes the voices of journalists, psychologists, and other abuse experts, including Barbara Dorris, a former director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), who was sexually abused by a priest between the ages of 6 and 13.Dorris and Laura Sgrò, a lawyer for some of Rupnik’s alleged victims, are highly critical of the Church hierarchy’s response to clerical sexual abuse throughout the documentary.No one from the Vatican participated in the documentary. The film said requests for comment from Rupnik and the former head of the Loyola Community, Hosta, were ignored.Sarah Pearson, a spokesperson for SNAP, said in a statement to CNA that “SNAP is proud of the legacy of Barbara Dorris, a longtime leader and tireless advocate for the 1 in 3 nuns who experience sexual abuse by priests.”Pearson continued: “The case of Jesuit priest Father Marko Rupnik illustrates this catastrophe with tragic clarity. Despite overwhelming reports of abuse, Rupnik was shielded for years — kept in ministry through the Vatican’s intervention under Pope Francis. Only after prolonged public outrage was he finally subjected to a canonical process.”Italian Lorena Luciano directed the film. It was produced by Filippo Piscopo. “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” star Mariska Hargitay is among the documentary’s executive producers.A spokesperson for “Nuns vs. The Vatican” told CNA the documentary will continue to be shown at film festivals in North America, and they are working on getting a screening at the Vatican.“We are also waiting to see whether Pope Leo will push for the ecclesiastical trial against Rupnik to happen in the fall,” a spokesperson for the production company added.Earlier this year, the Vatican removed artwork by Rupnik from its official websites. Digital images of the Slovenian priest’s sacred art, which were frequently used by Vatican News to illustrate articles of the Church’s liturgical feast days, are no longer found on the digital news service.The changes to the Vatican News and the Dicastery for Communication websites came soon after Pope Leo XIV met with members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors on June 5. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/nunsvsvatican1091925.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 21 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Documentary, brings, Father, Marko, Rupnik, abuse, allegations, big, screen</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Forgiveness is fundamental to justice, Pope Leo XIV tells legal professionals at Jubilee</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/forgiveness-is-fundamental-to-justice-pope-leo-xiv-tells-legal-professionals-at-jubilee</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/forgiveness-is-fundamental-to-justice-pope-leo-xiv-tells-legal-professionals-at-jubilee</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses thousands of Church and civil lawyers, judges, and others who work in the legal environment during the Jubilee of Workers of Justice, part of the yearlong Jubilee of Hope, in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Sept. 20, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media.

Vatican City, Sep 20, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).
Forgiveness is fundamental to the virtue of justice, Pope Leo XIV said to thousands of legal professionals gathered in Rome for the Jubilee of Workers of Justice on Saturday.“It is the power of forgiveness, which is proper to the commandment of love, that emerges as a constitutive element of a justice capable of combining the supernatural with the human,” the pope said in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 20.Leo, who has a doctorate in Church law, explained that the evangelical virtue of justice is not a distraction from human justice, but “questions and redesigns it: It provokes it to go even further, because it pushes it towards the search for reconciliation.”“Evil, in fact, must not only be punished, but also repaired, and to this end, a profound gaze toward the good of individuals and the common good is necessary,” he urged Church and civil lawyers, judges, and others who work in the legal environment.“This is an arduous task, but not impossible for those who, aware that they are performing a more demanding service than others, are committed to leading an irreproachable life,” the pope added.Pope Leo XIV addresses thousands of legal professionals gathered in St. Peter&#039;s Square for the Jubilee of Workers of Justice on Sept. 20, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media.An estimated 20,000 people from 100 countries took part in the Jubilee of Workers of Justice, part of the yearlong Jubilee of Hope, including a large number of pilgrims from the United States and Canada. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was also in attendance.Joshua McCaig, a lawyer and founding president of the Catholic Bar Association, traveled to Rome for the jubilee with a delegation of over 50 legal professionals from the U.S.He told EWTN News he hopes the event “will be an opportunity for us all to reflect on what more we can do for the common good.”“The Catholic Church brings resources, brings hope, brings community, brings values that are instilled in the teachings of Jesus Christ to help all individuals — but also those in the legal profession — further develop an understanding of how this world should be and the role we should play in it,” he said.Before the audience with the pope, Archbishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, secretary of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, gave a lecture on the theme of “Iustitia Imago Dei: the operator of justice, instrument of hope.”“Those who administer justice in the Church must also be pastors. … They must respect justice, but they are pastors who must also watch over the good of souls,” Arrieta told EWTN News this week.In his message, Pope Leo emphasized that the function of justice “is indispensable both for the orderly development of society and as a cardinal virtue that inspires and guides the conscience of every man and woman.”“Striving for justice, therefore, requires being able to love it as a reality that can only be achieved through constant attention, radical disinterest, and assiduous discernment,” he said.He noted that the Jubilee of Workers of Justice is a chance to also reflect on an overlooked aspect of justice, the reality that many countries and people “hunger and thirst for justice” because their living conditions are gravely unjust and inhuman.The pontiff cited St. Augustine, calling the saint’s words “timeless truths” to apply to the current international situation.“&#039;Without justice,&#039;” the pope quoted, “&#039;the state cannot be administered; it is impossible to have law in a state where there is no true justice. An act performed according to law is certainly performed according to justice, and it is impossible to perform an act according to law that is performed against justice [...] A state where there is no justice is not a state. Justice is, in fact, the virtue that distributes to each his due. Therefore, it is not human justice that takes man away from the true God.&#039;”“May the challenging words of St. Augustine inspire each of us to always express the exercise of justice in the service of the people to the best of our ability, with our gaze turned to God, so as to fully respect justice, law, and the dignity of persons,” Leo said.Matteo Ciofi, EWTN News Nightly Vatican producer, and Victoria Cardiel, Vatican Correspondent for ACI Prensa/EWTN News, contributed to this report. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/sim0835.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 21 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Forgiveness, fundamental, justice, Pope, Leo, XIV, tells, legal, professionals, Jubilee</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>The blizzard, the volcanoes, and our brother Sylvester</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/the-blizzard-the-volcanoes-and-our-brother-sylvester</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/the-blizzard-the-volcanoes-and-our-brother-sylvester</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Tuesday Pillar Post ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5ce416d2-e879-4516-92be-d805af582b50_370x369.png" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>The, blizzard, the, volcanoes, and, our, brother, Sylvester</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Nigerian bishop: Priest murder ‘not isolated tragedy’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/nigerian-bishop-priest-murder-not-isolated-tragedy</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/nigerian-bishop-priest-murder-not-isolated-tragedy</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Fr. Sylvester Okechukwu was killed last week, amid a rising tide of violence against priests in northern Nigeria ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Nigerian, bishop:, Priest, murder, ‘not, isolated, tragedy’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Starting Seven: March 11, 2025</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/starting-seven-march-11-2025</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/starting-seven-march-11-2025</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Welcome to Starting Seven, The Pillar’s daily newsletter. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Starting, Seven:, March, 11, 2025</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Bishop sets out stakes for future of Steubenville diocese</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/bishop-sets-out-stakes-for-future-of-steubenville-diocese</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/bishop-sets-out-stakes-for-future-of-steubenville-diocese</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Bishop Edward Lohse did not rule out the prospect of a merger in the near future. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Bishop, sets, out, stakes, for, future, Steubenville, diocese</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>A new era of acephality?</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/a-new-era-of-acephality</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/a-new-era-of-acephality</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ What happens to clerical religious in suppressed religious institutes? ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>new, era, acephality</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV decries ‘unacceptable conditions’ in Gaza, urges release of hostages</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-decries-unacceptable-conditions-in-gaza-urges-release-of-hostages</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-decries-unacceptable-conditions-in-gaza-urges-release-of-hostages</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sept. 17, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 17, 2025 / 10:18 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday condemned the “unacceptable conditions” faced by civilians in Gaza and called for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and renewed efforts toward a negotiated diplomatic solution.“I express my profound closeness to the Palestinian people in Gaza, who continue to live in fear and to survive in unacceptable conditions, forcibly displaced — once again — from their own lands,” the pope said at his weekly general audience. “Before God almighty, who commanded ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ and in the sight of all of human history, every person always has an inviolable dignity, to be respected and upheld.”“I renew my appeal for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and a negotiated diplomatic solution, fully respecting international humanitarian law. I invite you all to join in my heartfelt prayer that a dawn of peace and justice may soon arise,” he added.Speaking to reporters on Tuesday evening before returning to the Vatican from the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo, Leo XIV said he had been in contact with Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest of Holy Family Parish in Gaza. “Many have nowhere to go, and that is a great concern,” the pope said. “For now they want to stay, they are still resisting, but a real solution must be found.”The pope also dismissed claims from Moscow that NATO had begun a war against Russia, noting Poland’s concerns about violations of its airspace. “The concern is great,” he said.Catechesis about Holy SaturdayIn his catechesis at the audience on Wednesday, part of his series on “Jesus Christ our Hope” for the Jubilee 2025, the pope reflected on the mystery of Holy Saturday, when Christ lay in the tomb.Pope Leo XIV greets a child wearing a &quot;mini pope&quot; costume before his weekly public audience in St. Peter&#039;s Square at the Vatican on Sept. 17, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media“The Son of God lies in the tomb. But this ‘absence’ of his is not emptiness: It is expectation, a restrained fullness, a promise kept in the dark. It is the day of the great silence, in which the sky seems mute and the earth immobile, but it is precisely there that the deepest mystery of the Christian faith is fulfilled. It is a silence laden with meaning, like the womb of a mother who carries her unborn but already living child,” he said.Recalling that Jesus was laid in a garden tomb, the pope said the scene recalls the lost Eden and signals a new creation: “That tomb, never used, speaks of something that has still to happen: It is a threshold, not an end.”He explained that Holy Saturday is also a day of rest: “The Son too, after completing his work of salvation, rests. Not because he is tired, but because he loved up to the very end. There is nothing left to add. This rest is the seal on the completed task; it is the confirmation that what should have been done has truly been accomplished. It is a repose filled with the hidden presence of the Lord.”The pope contrasted this with the demands of modern life. “We struggle to stop and rest. We live as if life were never enough. We rush to produce, to prove ourselves, to keep up. But the Gospel teaches us that knowing how to stop is an act of trust that we must learn to perform.”Pope Leo XIV blesses an elderly woman during his general audience on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media“In the tomb, Jesus, the living Word of the Father, is silent. But it is precisely in that silence that the new life begins to ferment. Like a seed in the ground, like the darkness before dawn. God is not afraid of the passing time, because he is also the God of waiting. Thus, even our ‘useless’ time, that of pauses, emptiness, barren moments, can become the womb of resurrection,” he said.The pope described Jesus in the tomb as “the meek face of a God who does not occupy all space. He is the God who lets things be done, who waits, who withdraws to leave us freedom. He is the God who trusts, even when everything seems to be over.”“At times we seek quick answers, immediate solutions. But God works in depth, in the slow time of trust,” he added. “The Sabbath of the burial thus becomes the womb from which the strength of an invincible light, that of Easter, can spring forth.”“Christian hope is not born in noise but in the silence of an expectation filled with love. It is not the offspring of euphoria but of trustful abandonment. The Virgin Mary teaches us this: She embodies this expectation, this trust, this hope,” he said. “When it seems to us that everything is at a standstill, that life is a blocked road, let us remember Holy Saturday. Even in the tomb, God was preparing the greatest surprise of all.”The pope concluded that “true joy is born of indwelt expectation, of patient faith, of the hope that what has been lived in love will surely rise to eternal life.”As is customary, Leo greeted pilgrims from his popemobile in St. Peter’s Square, where many families gathered for his blessing. The day coincided with the feast of St. Robert Bellarmine, patron saint of Leo XIV, which is a holiday in the Vatican.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, decries, ‘unacceptable, conditions’, Gaza, urges, release, hostages</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>2 widows at Jubilee of Consolation: Our husbands ‘are with God, in a joy not of this world’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/2-widows-at-jubilee-of-consolation-our-husbands-are-with-god-in-a-joy-not-of-this-world</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/2-widows-at-jubilee-of-consolation-our-husbands-are-with-god-in-a-joy-not-of-this-world</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Widows Norma Pérez and Olga Pallares. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News

Vatican City, Sep 17, 2025 / 17:19 pm (CNA).
Norma Pérez, a widow for five years, and Olga Pallares, a widow for two, have experienced the piercing visceral pain of losing a loved one.Friends for over 30 years, they have managed to cast a light on something as dark as the death of their husbands. “I know he is with God, without suffering, in a joy that is not of this world,” said Pérez, whose grief did not completely break her; on the contrary, she said it strengthened her faith.‘A part of him has remained with us’Together, the two friends participated in this week’s Jubilee of Consolation in Rome to bear witness that death does not have the last word. “A part of him has remained with us. We are not completely empty. We widows are filled with the other half of the other person who has passed away,” Pérez told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, just before participating in a vigil with Pope Leo XIV.Norma Perez and her husband, Juan, gave marriage preparation talks at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Pérez familyPérez and Pallares met at Maranatha (“the Lord is coming” in Aramaic), a group that accompanies young couples in marriage preparation courses. “We gave retreats to strengthen marriages,” Pérez explained.Through these activities, they taught others how to live the word of God as a couple, how to pray the rosary, and how to prepare to build a solid marriage based on faith.But eventually, they became widows. Now, they dedicate themselves to “helping others until God calls me, too,” Pérez said.The two couples sharing faith and life. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Perez familyThese two friends have had very different experiences in their lives of faith, as different as their marriage experiences.Pallares met her husband as a teenager, but they came from different worlds. “They were well off, I wasn’t,” she recalled. Her husband’s family always looked down on her, she said, but the couple managed to build a strong love despite the difficulties: “We fought every day for our love.”Rejected by her in-laws One of the most painful experiences they experienced was his parents’ rejection of their daughters: “They never loved my daughters and even ended up disinheriting my husband. That was terrible.”In addition to retreats, Olga Pallares and her husband, Rubén, had a house of prayer for young married couples. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Pallares familyDespite family difficulties, Pallares and her husband shared a journey of faith and service. He even served as an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist at the Avellaneda Cathedral in Argentina: “Rubén taught me that painful experiences are best navigated hand in hand with Jesus.”In the final years of their marriage, illness entered their lives. Her husband was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, which took him in just a few years: “Those were very hard times. I had to do everything: lift him, wash him, insert the IV, remove the IV… But God gave me incredible strength. I managed to lift him as if he weighed little, and he was twice my size.”Despite the pain, faith sustained them until the end. Pallares recalled how her husband maintained a constant closeness to the Eucharist: “He was in front of Jesus 24/7 praying. He always told me: ‘We are you, Jesus, and me.’”Rubén Pallares was an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Pallares familyPérez, on the other hand, wasn’t baptized when she met Juan. She grew up in a nonbelieving family. In fact, they were first married in a civil ceremony in 1999. But in 2008, everything changed.Her husband, Juan, was diagnosed with prostate cancer after a biopsy and, fearful of undergoing surgery, opted for alternative and natural treatments.“We were a couple who had been trying to have children for eight years, and the treatments weren’t successful. Then the disease hit,” she recalled.Discovering God’s caressThen, through suffering, she discovered God’s caress. “My faith truly began from zero. It was a total conversion, brought on by my husband’s illness,” she said in a calm voice.It was then that they both began to draw closer to God and the Catholic community founded by Father Elías Cavero Domínguez in Argentina. “That’s when I began to understand what faith was and I was baptized. Everything changed for us: We were married in the Church in 2010. It was a profound transformation in our lives,” she said.Norma and Juan Perez were married in the Church in 2010. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Perez familyFor the next 10 years, Juan experienced moments of relative stability. However, in 2018, the cancer had spread throughout his body, and the pain became unbearable. Despite this, they experienced what she describes as “a year of grace.”From mid-2019 to 2020, Juan was pain free and able to spend time peacefully with his wife.However, the COVID-19 pandemic further complicated the situation. In June 2020, they were both hospitalized, and despite health restrictions, she was able to be with him until the end. Juan passed away on Aug. 22, 2020.“I went through everything with him and through prayer. I was even able to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet at the exact moment of his departure. It was an immense consolation; I felt the Virgin Mary was coming to get him,” she recounted with emotion.Their participation in the Jubilee of Consolation was another step in the spiritual healing process for these two Argentinians. In Rome, surrounded by people who had also experienced loss, they were able to experience Christian consolation.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/two.widows.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>widows, Jubilee, Consolation:, Our, husbands, ‘are, with, God, joy, not, this, world’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV meets with his Augustinian brothers in Rome</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-meets-with-his-augustinian-brothers-in-rome</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-meets-with-his-augustinian-brothers-in-rome</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV is pictured here with his Augustinian brothers in Rome on Sept. 15, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of Augustinian Foundation Worldwide

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 15, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Monday received the participants of the general chapter of the Order of St. Augustine, with whom he said he felt “at home.” In his address, he reflected in particular on the theme of love, which the order’s founder, St. Augustine, “placed at the center of his spiritual quest.”At the beginning of his Sept. 15 address, the Holy Father expressed his gratitude to Father Alejandro Moral, OSA, for his years of service and extended a warm welcome to the newly-elected prior general, Father Joseph Farrell, OSA.Referring to the general chapter as an opportunity to reflect on the gift received, the challenges, and the current situation of the order, he reminded the Augustinians of the importance of “interiority in the journey of faith.”He emphasized that this interiority is not “an escape from our responsibilities” but rather “a return to ourselves and then emerge with greater motivation and enthusiasm for the mission.”“Returning to ourselves,” he added, “renews our spiritual and pastoral drive: We return to the source of religious life and consecration so that we may offer light to those the Lord places on our path.”Vocations and the formation of young peopleHe then reflected on what he considers “a fundamental theme”: vocations and initial formation. Pope Leo XIV advised “not to fall into the error of imagining religious formation as a set of rules to observe, things to do, or even as a ready-made habit to be worn passively.”On the contrary, he clarified that love is at the heart of everything and that “the Christian vocation, and in particular the religious vocation, is born only when one perceives the attraction of something great, of a love that can nourish and satisfy the heart.”Therefore, he reiterated that it is essential to help young people in particular “to glimpse the beauty of the call and to love what, by embracing the vocation, they can become.” He added: “Vocation and formation are not predetermined realities: They are a spiritual adventure that involves a person’s entire history, and it is above all an adventure of love with God.”Thus, he emphasized that love, which St. Augustine “placed at the center of his spiritual quest,” is also a fundamental criterion for the dimension of theological study and intellectual formation.“In the knowledge of God, it is never possible to reach him only with our reason or with a set of theoretical information; it is, above all, a matter of allowing ourselves to be surprised by his greatness, of questioning ourselves and the meaning of events to discover in them the traces of the Creator, and above all, of loving him and making him loved,” he noted.He also exhorted his Augustinian brothers to be generous and humble, two qualities that are born precisely from love, to have as their reference the “ineffable gift of divine charity,” and to be “faithful to evangelical poverty.”Finally, he asked them not to forget “our missionary vocation,” recalling that since 1533 the Augustinians have proclaimed the Gospel throughout the world.“This missionary spirit must not be extinguished, because it is sorely needed today as well. I urge you to revive it, remembering that the evangelizing mission demands the witness of humble and simple joy, availability to service, and participation in the life of the people to whom we are sent,” he emphasized.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, meets, with, his, Augustinian, brothers, Rome</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV at Jubilee of Consolation: Where pain is deep, hope in Jesus must be stronger</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-at-jubilee-of-consolation-where-pain-is-deep-hope-in-jesus-must-be-stronger</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-at-jubilee-of-consolation-where-pain-is-deep-hope-in-jesus-must-be-stronger</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates the prayer vigil for the Jubilee of Consolation on Sept. 15, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 15, 2025 / 15:06 pm (CNA).
With a call to trust that Jesus is the one who dries the tears of those who suffer, Pope Leo XIV celebrated the prayer vigil for the Jubilee of Consolation in St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday, Sept. 15.“Redemption is mercy and can make our future better, while we still await the Lord’s return. Only he will wipe away every tear and open the book of history, allowing us to read the pages that today we cannot justify or understand,” the Holy Father told the faithful gathered in the Vatican basilica.The pope delivered his homily after hearing two testimonies: that of Lucia Di Mauro, an Italian woman whose husband was murdered by a group of young men but who, with God’s grace, was able to forgive and help one of them recover; and that of Diane Foley, the mother of journalist James Foley, beheaded by Islamic State terrorists in 2014.The Holy Father said that both stories convey the certainty that “where pain is deep, even stronger must be the hope born of communion” — a hope that “never disappoints.”In this sense, he added, “that pain should not generate violence,” because this is not the final word, but rather “it is overcome by the love that knows how to forgive.”Diane Foley, mother of the late American journalist James Foley, gives her testimony at the Jubilee of Consolution prayer vigil celebrated by Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 15, 2025, in St. Peter&#039;s Basilica at the Vatican. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News“What greater liberation can we hope to achieve than that which comes from forgiveness, which, through grace, can open the heart despite having suffered all kinds of brutality? The violence suffered cannot be erased, but the forgiveness granted to those who caused it is a foretaste of the kingdom of God on earth; it is the fruit of his action that puts an end to evil and establishes justice,” he affirmed.In his homily, the pope also invited everyone to “share God’s consolation with so many brothers and sisters who live in situations of weakness, sadness, and pain,” for the Lord does not leave those who suffer alone. “On the contrary, precisely in these circumstances we are called more than ever to hope in the closeness of the Savior who never abandons.”Leo XIV indicated that it is true that sometimes words “are useless and become almost superfluous” in the ability to console, and “perhaps in such moments only the tears of weeping remain,” for these express the deepest feelings of a wounded heart.“Tears are a silent cry that implores compassion and consolation. But even before that, they are liberation and purification of the eyes, of feelings, of thoughts. We should not be ashamed of crying; it is a way of expressing our sadness and the need for a new world; it is a language that speaks of our humanity, weak and tested, yet called to joy,” he affirmed.The pope recalled that, in his “Confessions,” St. Augustine also wondered about the origin of evil and found the answers in Scripture.“There are questions that draw us back in on ourselves, divide us internally, and separate us from reality. There are thoughts from which nothing can be born. If they isolate us and drive us to despair, they also humiliate our intelligence. It is better, as in the Psalms, for the question to be a protest, a lament, an invocation of that justice and peace that God has promised us.”He explained that in this way, “we build a bridge to heaven, even when it seems mute. In the Church, we seek the open heaven, which is Jesus, God’s bridge to us. There is a consolation that reaches us when that faith, which seems to us to be “formless and wavering,” like a boat in a storm, “takes root in the heart.”Before concluding his homily, Pope Leo XIV encouraged people to also seek consolation in the Virgin Mary, who keeps repeating: “I am your mother.” He also recalled that, as St. Paul suggests, “when one receives consolation from God, one is then capable of offering consolation to others.”“Those we love and who have been taken from us by sister death are not lost nor have they disappeared into nothingness. Their life belongs to the Lord, who, as the good shepherd, embraces them and holds them close to himself and will return them to us one day so that we may enjoy eternal and shared happiness,” he affirmed.As part of the program, Pope Leo XIV blessed wax medals depicting the paschal lamb, the “agnus Dei,” a symbol “to remember that the mystery of Jesus, of his death and resurrection, is the victory of good over evil.”“He is the lamb who gives the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who never leaves us, comforts us in need, and strengthens us with his grace,” the pope told them.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, Jubilee, Consolation:, Where, pain, deep, hope, Jesus, must, stronger</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Armenian patriarch invites Pope Leo XIV to visit Armenia</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/armenian-patriarch-invites-pope-leo-xiv-to-visit-armenia</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/armenian-patriarch-invites-pope-leo-xiv-to-visit-armenia</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets with Catholicos Karekin II, the patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, at Villa Barberini, the papal residence overlooking Lake Albano in Castel Gandolfo, Italy on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 16, 2025 / 13:06 pm (CNA).
The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church during a meeting Tuesday at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo invited Pope Leo XIV to visit Armenia.Catholicos Karekin II, the patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, met Pope Leo for the first time at Villa Barberini, the papal summer residence overlooking Lake Albano. Leo has recently begun spending Tuesdays, the pope’s traditional day off, in Castel Gandolfo while the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City undergoes renovations.The two discussed the need for a peace based on justice, according to Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, the Armenian Church’s representative to the Holy See, in comments to the Armenian-language edition of Vatican Media.The invitation would mark a continuation of ecumenical dialogue and papal outreach to Armenia, the first state to adopt Christianity as its state religion in A.D. 301. Karekin II has previously traveled to the Vatican for meetings with John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis.Pope Leo XIV greets Catholicos Karekin II, the patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaJohn Paul II became the first pope to set foot on Armenian soil in 2001, visiting for celebrations of the 1,700th anniversary of the country’s Christian heritage. Pope Francis followed with a three-day trip to Armenia in 2016.The Armenian Apostolic Church, sometimes known as the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, is the national church of Armenia and part of the family of Oriental Orthodox Churches. It is distinct from the much smaller Armenian Catholic Church, which is in full communion with Rome. The Armenian Church formally broke with Rome after the Council of Chalcedon in 451, though relations have deepened in recent decades. In 1996, John Paul II and then-Patriarch Karekin I signed a declaration affirming their shared Christian origins.Pope Leo XIV meets with Catholicos Karekin II and a delegation from the Armenian Apostolic Church at  the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaIn addition to his audience with the pope, Karekin II met in Rome with Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education. He also prayed at the Basilica of St. Mary Major before the tomb of Pope Francis and the Marian icon of Salus Populi Romani.Karekin II’s first visit to Rome dates back to November 2000, when, newly elected, he was received by John Paul II during celebrations for the jubilee of 2000. On that occasion, John Paul presented him with relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator, the patron saint credited with converting Armenia’s king to Christianity in the fourth century.Armenians worldwide maintain strong ties to their church, shaped in part by the 1915 genocide, known in Armenia as the Medz Yeghern (“Great Evil Crime”). Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, according to the Associated Press. Pope Francis in 2015 called it the “first genocide of the 20th century,” drawing a strong protest from Turkey.The Vatican has yet to announce any international trips for the new pope, although many expect his first journey abroad will be ecumenical in nature, a trip to Turkey to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/sza1432.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Armenian, patriarch, invites, Pope, Leo, XIV, visit, Armenia</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Jubilee of Consolation: Mother who lost her only son never reproached God for anything</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/jubilee-of-consolation-mother-who-lost-her-only-son-never-reproached-god-for-anything</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/jubilee-of-consolation-mother-who-lost-her-only-son-never-reproached-god-for-anything</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Silvia Toma before participating in the vigil with Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 15, 2025. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News

Vatican City, Sep 16, 2025 / 15:50 pm (CNA).
Silvia Toma has a scar on her soul: Four years ago she buried her 34-year-old only son, who had two little daughters. “It was sudden leukemia. He was admitted on May 25, 2021, and died on June 3,” she said, still choked up by the pain.At that time, the COVID-19 pandemic regulations allowed no visitors. Safety measures prevented her from caressing his hand in his slow agony.“They never let us visit him. He was hospitalized in the coronary care unit completely alone,” she recalled. They could only communicate minimally through WhatsApp messages.Praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet at his sideThe day before he died, they let her in to see him. “His wife spent 15 minutes with him and I for another 15. I took the opportunity to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet with him.” The doctors then asked them to leave the room and a few hours later asked them to return to the clinic.“When we arrived, they told us he had suffered three cardiac arrests. He had survived two, and he hadn’t survived the third,” Toma explained, her eyes welling with tears but with a big, maternal smile that communicated she would be all right. Holding on to faith is the only thing that kept her going in the most difficult moments. “We are not prepared to lose a son, but I am extremely grateful for the faith,” said Toma, who, the day after her son was hospitalized, knelt before the tabernacle in her parish church, St. John the Baptist, in the Diocese of Avellaneda Lanús, Buenos Aires province.Once before the Blessed Sacrament, “I told him that he already knew what was in my heart, but that his will be done. And his will was for my son to be with him.”Toma and her son, Gabriel, shared a love for the Racing Club de Avellaneda soccer team. Credit: Courtesy of Silvia TomaToma still doesn’t understand God’s reasons, but she’s not seeking answers either. On Sept. 15, she participated in the Jubilee of Consolation in Rome and testified that death doesn’t have the last word.“I often break down and cry, but, thank God, never once did I utter a word of reproach. I believe he must know why, and one day I will understand,” she added.She said that going through this soul-searing pain, for which there isn’t even a word to define it in the dictionary, “has been like sharing a little bit in what the Virgin Mary felt at the foot of the cross.” “I ask her to always hold him close and kiss him for me,” she said.Pope Francis prayed for herToma is divorced but maintains a good relationship with her ex-husband, who is a Jehovah’s Witness. Her son had received all the sacraments — baptism, Communion, confirmation — but in his adolescence, “he turned to Jehovah’s Witnesses,” she said. “He even signed the document expressing his refusal to receive a blood transfusion, as required by that religious denomination,” she explained.In 2019, she was able to share the suffering her son’s actions caused her with Pope Francis, whom she greeted after a general audience. “When he finished listening to me, he told me he would pray for Gabriel’s return to the Catholic Church,” she related.And little by little, this began to take shape. For Toma, there is no doubt that it was a small gift the Argentine pontiff gave her.Pope Francis blesses Silvia Toma after a general audience in 2019. Credit: Courtesy of Silvia Toma“I believe God worked in him,” she said. “Before he died, he spoke with the priest from our parish, something he hadn’t done in a long time. They texted each other on WhatsApp, they chatted. I believe his heart was opening again,” she added.The situation became critical when he was admitted. “On the last day, the doctor told us that if they didn’t give him the transfusion, he would die. He was conscious. His wife, a Jehovah’s Witness, said, ‘I can’t sign.’ Then they asked me. I entered the room, looked him in the eyes, and asked him if he really wanted the transfusion, because I couldn’t override his personal decision either. He said yes.”At that moment, mother and son signed the consent form together: “As I was signing, he touched his head and said to the doctor, ‘The thing is, my mother is a catechist.’”For this mother, that decision, although it didn’t save her son&#039;s life, signified an inner reconciliation. “I believe God gave him the opportunity to return to him at the most important moment,” Toma said. For her, this final gesture was also a true consolation.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/silvia.toma.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>St. Hildegard of Bingen’s gifts served the whole Church, Pope Benedict said</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/st-hildegard-of-bingens-gifts-served-the-whole-church-pope-benedict-said</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/st-hildegard-of-bingens-gifts-served-the-whole-church-pope-benedict-said</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  St. Hildegard of Bingen. / Credit: Lettera43.it, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Sep 17, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).
Every gift from the Holy Spirit is meant for the edification of the community of believers, Pope Benedict XVI said in a general audience back in 2010 when he focused his catechesis on the life of St. Hildegard of Bingen, whose feast is celebrated Sept. 17 in the universal Church. Benedict praised her as a model for modern women religious and noted that she benefited the faithful by her willingness to submit her supernatural visions to the interpretation of the Church.Referring first to St. John Paul II’s apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem on the role of women in the life of the Church, Benedict XVI noted that the letter “gives thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine ‘genius’ which have appeared in the course of history.” He then highlighted the figure of St. Hildegard of Bingen as one of the saintly women who stood out nearly a millennium ago.Born into a noble German family in the year 1098, Hildegard began her studies in human and Christian formation at a Benedictine convent in the town of Bingen, took her vows to cloistered life and, 30 years after she began her formation, became a mother superior.Carrying out this role competently, she was able to found an additional convent nearby where she spent a great part of her life. The way she exercised authority there continues to be an example for religious communities today, Benedict said, explaining that she was able to create an atmosphere of “holy emulation in the practice of the good, so much so that ... the mother and daughters competed in respecting and serving each other.”Benedict XVI also recalled her mystical visions, which she first shared with people in confidence, including her spiritual director, a fellow sister, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux. “As always happens in the lives of the true mystics,” the pope said, “Hildegard also wished to submit herself to the authority of wise people to discern the origin of her visions.”St. Bernard, whom Benedict said held “maximum esteem” in the Church at the time, “calmed and encouraged” the sister about the visions, and eventually Pope Eugene III gave her the authorization to write and speak about the visions publicly.“This,” the former pope taught, “is the seal of an authentic experience of the Holy Spirit, source of every charism: the person (who is the) repository of supernatural gifts never boasts, does not flaunt them and, especially, shows total obedience to the ecclesiastical authorities.”He added: “Every gift distributed by the Holy Spirit, in fact, is destined for the edification of the Church, and the Church, through its pastors, recognizes their authenticity.”In 2012, Hildegard was canonized and named a doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XVI. This story was first published on Sept. 1, 2010, and has been updated. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<item>
<title>New Vatican interfaith team to meet Russian patriarch, leading imam in Kazakhstan</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/new-vatican-interfaith-team-to-meet-russian-patriarch-leading-imam-in-kazakhstan</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/new-vatican-interfaith-team-to-meet-russian-patriarch-leading-imam-in-kazakhstan</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The venue of the VIII Congress of  Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. / Credit: N. Nazarbayev Center for Development of Interfaith and Inter-Civilization Dialogue

Vatican City, Sep 13, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Religious leaders from China, Russia, the Middle East, and the Vatican are converging in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Sept. 17–18 for the VIII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. The gathering brings together some of the world’s most diverse spiritual voices at a moment of heightened global tensions. This year’s congress will focus on the theme “Dialogue of Religions: Synergy for the Future.” The congress is convened by the government of Kazakhstan under the patronage of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who will formally open the gathering. Organizers also expect Pope Leo XIV to send a special message, following the tradition of papal support for the congress. For the Vatican, it marks the first major interfaith event under Pope Leo XIV and the debut of an entirely new papal delegation. Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, newly-appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, will deliver a keynote at the plenary session and read the final declaration at the closing ceremony.He is joined by Father Laurent Basanese, SJ, secretary for Religious Relations with Muslims. The French Jesuit, known for his expertise in Christian-Muslim dialogue, will contribute to a working group, attend the secretariat meeting, and address the Forum of Young Religious Leaders.“Since its founding, it has become a privileged space for promoting peace and mutual understanding among religions and cultures,” Basanese told CNA.The Vatican delegation also includes Father Vincenzo Marinelli, deputy apostolic nuncio to Kazakhstan, and Professor Tiziano Onesti, president of the Vatican’s pediatric hospital Bambino Gesù, who will lead medical cooperation talks with Kazakh institutions.One notable first this year is the participation of the Sovereign Order of Malta. Representing the order will be Pasquale Ferrara, diplomatic adviser to the order’s advisory council, who will take part in the congress on Sept. 18.One of the most anticipated figures in Astana is Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, whose participation has been officially confirmed. He last attended the congress in 2012. His presence raises the prospect of the highest-level Vatican-Moscow encounter since the war in Ukraine. Earlier this summer, Pope Leo received Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk in Rome, and Metropolitan Anthony will return to the Eternal City on Sept. 14 for an ecumenical commemoration of the new martyrs at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls. Four days later, Patriarch Kirill will preside over a prayer service in Astana’s Assumption Cathedral for the new martyrs and confessors of Kazakhstan. The twin commemorations — one in Rome, the other in Astana — underscore how the memory of Christian martyrdom is providing common ground for dialogue.Another high-profile participant is Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar. In 2019, he co-signed with Pope Francis the historic Document on Human Fraternity in Abu Dhabi, which inspired the United Nations to establish Feb. 4 as the International Day of Human Fraternity just days before the congress. Rome hosted the World Meeting on Human Fraternity on Sept. 12–13, where Pope Leo XIV greeted participants on Friday. Basanese told CNA that for him the gathering in Astana is more than symbolic: “Interreligious dialogue, which often requires inexhaustible patience, cannot be reduced to superficial consensus or a sterile ‘diplomacy of smiles.’ In reality it is central to the Church’s mission. In 2025 we mark the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, which affirmed that the Church ‘rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions.’ Dialogue does not mean giving up the truth but bearing witness with respect, listening, and charity.” The congress was first convened in 2003 on the initiative of Kazakhstan’s first President Nursultan Nazarbayev, inspired by the interreligious meeting at Assisi in 1986 and strengthened by Pope John Paul II’s visit to Kazakhstan in 2001. Since then, it has been held every three years in Astana, bringing together leaders of major religions to foster peace and mutual understanding. The Holy See has participated since the beginning, and Pope Francis himself attended the previous congress in 2022.  ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 14 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>New, Vatican, interfaith, team, meet, Russian, patriarch, leading, imam, Kazakhstan</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>New U.S. ambassador to the Vatican presents credentials to pope</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/new-us-ambassador-to-the-vatican-presents-credentials-to-pope</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/new-us-ambassador-to-the-vatican-presents-credentials-to-pope</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Brian Burch, the new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, presents his credentials to Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican&#039;s Apostolic Palace on September 13, 2025. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 13, 2025 / 11:03 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Saturday morning received Brian Burch, the new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace for the formal presentation of his letters of credence.According to a U.S. embassy statement, the two men discussed the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as &quot;protecting religious freedom, the Vatican’s relationship with China, and the AI revolution.&quot;Regarding this week&#039;s assassination of the conservative Christian activist Charlie Kirk, &quot;Pope Leo underscored that our political differences can never be resolved with violence and told Ambassador Burch that he was praying for the widow of Mr. Kirk and his children,&quot; the embassy said.The ambassador also presented the pope, who turns 70 on Sunday, with a personalized birthday cake.Burch, 50, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Aug. 2 in a 49-44 vote. He was nominated by President Donald Trump in December 2024 and succeeds former ambassador Joe Donnelly, who served under the Biden administration.In a statement following his confirmation, Burch said he was “profoundly grateful” to the president and Senate for the opportunity to serve, and asked for the prayers of Catholics across the United States “that I may serve honorably and faithfully in the noble adventure ahead.”A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Burch is married and the father of nine children. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dallas in 1997 and began his career in business before moving into Catholic nonprofit leadership. From 2005 until his confirmation this year, he was president of CatholicVote Civic Action and the CatholicVote Education Fund, organizations dedicated to promoting Catholic engagement in public life.During his time with CatholicVote, Burch became a nationally recognized figure in Catholic political advocacy, encouraging American Catholics to participate in the democratic process and to defend religious liberty and the sanctity of life. CatholicVote’s new president, Kelsey Reinhardt, said in August that the group “joyfully celebrates” his confirmation, praising his 17 years of leadership.On the occasion of his confirmation, Burch noted a point of personal significance for him in his new role. “In a remarkable coincidence, or what I prefer to attribute to providence, Pope Leo XIV is from Chicago, which is also my hometown,” he said.After meeting the pope on Saturday, the embassy said, &quot;Ambassador Burch described the meeting as extraordinarily friendly, like talking to a friend back home in Chicago.&quot; ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 14 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>New, U.S., ambassador, the, Vatican, presents, credentials, pope</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo approves new measures to include people with disabilities in Vatican workforce</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-approves-new-measures-to-include-people-with-disabilities-in-vatican-workforce</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-approves-new-measures-to-include-people-with-disabilities-in-vatican-workforce</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Ferrara, Italy resident Davide Andreoli and his family visit St. Peter&#039;s Square for the Jubilee of People with Disabilities, Monday, April 28, 2025. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Vatican City, Sep 13, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has approved new measures to promote the hiring of people with disabilities in the Vatican, saying their condition does not prevent them from serving in Church institutions.The updated regulations require Vatican offices to welcome and support employees with disabilities, including by providing accommodations where needed, “since the condition of disability does not preclude suitability for work,” the new provision states.Health requirements for job candidates have also been revised. Instead of demanding perfect health, the focus will be on whether a person is fit for the specific duties of the job, with certification provided by Vatican health services.The changes apply both to the Holy See and to Vatican City and take effect immediately. They follow another papal decision in August expanding family benefits for employees, including paternity leave and extra support for parents caring for children with disabilities ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 14 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV urges theologians to defend creation and human dignity in the age of AI</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-theologians-to-defend-creation-and-human-dignity-in-the-age-of-ai</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-theologians-to-defend-creation-and-human-dignity-in-the-age-of-ai</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets participants in a seminar organized by the Pontifical Academy of Theology, at the Vatican on September 13, 2025. / Pope Leo XIV greets participants in a seminar organized by the Pontifical Academy of Theology, at the Vatican on September 13, 2025.

Vatican City, Sep 13, 2025 / 12:30 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Saturday urged Catholic theologians to embrace a “theology of wisdom” capable of addressing urgent global challenges, from environmental crises to the ethical questions posed by artificial intelligence (AI).In his address to participants of an international seminar organized by the Pontifical Academy of Theology, the pope said that “environmental sustainability and the care of creation are essential commitments to ensure the survival of the human race” and have a direct impact on peaceful human coexistence. Leo emphasized that theology is at the heart of the Church’s missionary work, but must be “incarnate, imbued with the human pains, joys, expectations and hopes of the women and men of our time.” Citing the examples of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, he said the great masters of the past modeled a synthesis of faith and reason that can guide theology today.Turning to contemporary matters, Pope Leo warned that the Church must not limit itself to moral reflections when considering AI. “An exclusively ethical approach to the complex world of artificial intelligence is not enough,” he said, stressing the need for an anthropological vision rooted in human dignity. “What is a human being? What is his or her inherent dignity, which is irreconcilable with a digital android?”Leo recalled 2023 legislation by his predecessor Pope Francis that reformed the academy, highlighting its three “faces”: academic rigor, contemplative wisdom, and solidarity expressed in acts of charity. Theology, Leo said, should remain rooted in an encounter with Christ while engaging philosophy, science, economics, law, literature, and the arts. Dialogue within the Church must also lead to dialogue with other cultures and religions, so that theology may serve both the Church and the wider world, the pope said. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 14 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, theologians, defend, creation, and, human, dignity, the, age</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV defends crying: ‘It can even be the extreme form of prayer’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-defends-crying-it-can-even-be-the-extreme-form-of-prayer</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-defends-crying-it-can-even-be-the-extreme-form-of-prayer</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets a young child before his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 10, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 10, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).
In his general audience on Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV explained that cries of pain, like those of Jesus in his final moments on the cross, instead of a sign of weakness, can express desire, surrender, and prayer.A rainy morning in Rome prevented the Holy Father from spending much time greeting the faithful in St. Peter’s Square. Aboard the popemobile, he toured the square amid applause and cheers, stopping to give his blessing, especially to children.The pope dedicated his catechesis at the weekly audience, which began just over five minutes late, to reflecting on the value of crying.“At times, what we are unable to say in words, we express with the voice,” Leo said. “When the heart is full, it cries. And this is not always a sign of weakness; it can be a profound act of humanity.”Although we are accustomed to thinking of crying as something disorderly to be repressed, the Gospel gives our cry a value, reminding us it can be “an invocation, a protest, a desire, a surrender,” the pope said.“It can even be the extreme form of prayer, when there are no words left,” he continued.“One cries not out of desperation, but out of desire. Jesus did not cry out against the Father, but to him. Even in silence, he was convinced that the Father was there,” the pontiff said. “And, in this way, he showed us that our hope can cry out, even when all seems lost.”Pope Leo XIV waves at the crowds of people who braved a rainy morning for the general audience in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Sept. 10, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaA cry that manifests the greatest loveAddressing pilgrims huddled under umbrellas in protection against sporadic rain showers, Pope Leo meditated on the “culmination of Jesus’ life in this world: his death on the cross.”Specifically, he highlighted an important detail worthy of faithful contemplation: That “on the cross, Jesus does not die in silence.”The pontiff explained that after fulfilling his mission on earth, from the cross, “Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.” For the Holy Father, “that cry contains everything: pain, abandonment, faith, offering. It is not only the voice of a body giving way, but the final sign of a life being surrendered.” He also recalled that the cry was preceded by a question, “one of the most heartrending that could be uttered: ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’”Pope Leo XIV emphasized that, in that final moment, Jesus experiences silence, absence, and the abyss. However, according to the pontiff, “it is not a crisis of faith but the final stage of a love that is given up to the very end.”“Jesus’ cry is not desperation, but sincerity, truth taken to the limit, trust that endures even when all is silent,” he emphasized.He added that “it is there, in that broken man, that the greatest love manifests itself. It is there that we can recognize a God who does not remain distant but who traverses our pain to the very end.”Pope Leo XIV spoke about the value of crying during his weekly audience with the public in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Sept. 10, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaJesus teaches us not to fear cryingThe pope also explained that to cry can be a “spiritual gesture,” since it is often one’s first act after birth and a way to stay alive.“One cries when one suffers, but also when one loves, one calls, one invokes. To cry out is saying who we are, that we do not want to fade away in silence, that we still have something to offer,” he added.Leo invited those listening not to hold back their tears, because keeping everything inside “can slowly consume us.”The pontiff insisted that “Jesus teaches us not to be afraid to cry out, as long as it is sincere, humble, addressed to the Father. A cry is never pointless if it is born of love.”At the end of his message, Pope Leo XIV encouraged the faithful to learn from the Lord to give a “cry of hope when the hour of extreme trial comes.”“Not to hurt, but to entrust ourselves. Not to shout at someone, but to open our hearts. If our cry is genuine, it can be the threshold of a new light, of a new birth,” he said.Pope Leo XIV greets newlyweds and sick and disabled people, including a young child in a wheelchair, in the Vatican&#039;s Paul VI Hall after the Wednesday general audience on Sept. 10, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaThis story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 13 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV: Israeli attack in Qatar a ‘very serious’ development</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-israeli-attack-in-qatar-a-very-serious-development</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-israeli-attack-in-qatar-a-very-serious-development</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV preaches at the historic Rotonda church in Albano, Aug. 17, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 10, 2025 / 13:18 pm (CNA).
On the evening of Sept. 9, when leaving Castel Gandolfo, where he had spent the day, Pope Leo XIV described Israel’s attack earlier Tuesday against leaders of the Hamas terrorist group in Doha, Qatar, as “very serious.”Referring to the growing tension in the Middle East conflict, the pontiff stated: “We must pray a lot and keep working, searching, insisting on peace.” On Wednesday, at the end of the general audience in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father encouraged the faithful to remember “in their prayers and in their humanitarian projects also the children of Ukraine, Gaza, and other regions of the world affected by war.”At Castel Gandolfo, the pontiff specifically expressed his concern about the situation in Gaza, after Israel ordered the immediate evacuation of residents in anticipation of an imminent intensification of military operations.Pope Leo XIV explained that he had unsuccessfully attempted to contact Father Gabriel Romanelli, pastor of Holy Family Church, the only Catholic church in Gaza.“I tried to call the parish priest just now; I have no news,” he said. “They were certainly OK before, but after this new [Israeli army evacuation] order, I’m not sure.” Hours later, Romanelli reported on X that he had finally managed to speak with the Holy Father. “He asked us how we’ve been and what the situation was like. He sent us his blessing and is praying for us and for peace,” the priest wrote.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 13 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, Israeli, attack, Qatar, ‘very, serious’, development</media:keywords>
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<title>Cardinal Parolin on Charlie Kirk death: ‘We are against all types of violence’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/cardinal-parolin-on-charlie-kirk-death-we-are-against-all-types-of-violence</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/cardinal-parolin-on-charlie-kirk-death-we-are-against-all-types-of-violence</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  A general view of a wreath laid by mourners outside the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria on Sept. 11, 2025, following the fatal shooting of U.S. youth activist and influencer Charlie Kirk while speaking during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. / Credit: PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Sep 11, 2025 / 12:11 pm (CNA).
In response to the Sept. 10 fatal shooting of Christian conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the Vatican’s secretary of state condemned the use of violence against those with whom one disagrees.“The Vatican stand is that we are against all types of violence. And we think that we have to be very, very tolerant, very respectful of everybody, even though we don’t share the same view,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin told journalists at the sidelines of a conference at the Vatican on Sept. 11.“If we are not tolerant and respectful, and we are violent, this will produce a really big problem inside the international community and the national community,” he added.Parolin’s comments were made one day after the 31-year-old Kirk was shot dead during the first stop of his American Comeback Tour at Utah Valley University on the afternoon of Sept. 10.Kirk, who often debated students on campus, strongly defended free speech at colleges and was an outspoken critic of discrimination against Christians and of gender ideology. He founded Turning Point USA in 2012 to promote free speech and conservative values on college campuses. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 13 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Cardinal, Parolin, Charlie, Kirk, death:, ‘We, are, against, all, types, violence’</media:keywords>
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<title>Catholic Church’s new bishops complete formation in Rome</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/catholic-churchs-new-bishops-complete-formation-in-rome</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/catholic-churchs-new-bishops-complete-formation-in-rome</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets with new bishops in Rome on Sept. 11, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 11, 2025 / 16:57 pm (CNA).
Every September, the new bishops of the Catholic Church gather in Rome to participate in a formation course, an initiative that, since its inception in 1994, has become a genuine tradition.During these sessions, the prelates receive from the Dicastery for Evangelization and the Dicastery for Bishops guidance and tools to carry out with greater clarity and responsibility the mission entrusted to them by the Church, through conferences, discussions, and various working groups.A total of 192 bishops from around the world gathered on Sept. 4 to participate in these sessions, which concluded Sept. 11, when the prelates were received by Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.Dominican Xabier Gómez García, bishop of San Feliú de Llobregat in Spain since October 2024, is one of the prelates participating in this year’s course. Having been a bishop for only 10 months, from Rome he explained to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that during this time he has become aware “of what this service means.”A time of hope and missionary conversionHe noted that the new bishops were appointed in the context of the jubilee year and at the end of the synodal process, so their service “is marked by a time of hope and missionary conversion, in a Church that journeys alongside its people.”Bishop Xabier Gómez García, OP, is among the new bishops in attendance. Credit: Courtesy of Spanish Bishops ConferenceHe explained that this year’s course offers tools to “become witnesses and heralds of hope founded in Christ” and sees it as an opportunity to “deepen our understanding of catholicity, live together, pray, celebrate together, share a meal, and learn firsthand about the experiences of the Church spread throughout the world and in so many and diverse dioceses.”Gómez, who was also prior of St. Thomas Aquinas–El Olivar Convent in Madrid, expressed his gratitude for having been able to share time with bishops representing the five continents, who have come from places such as Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Russia, Poland, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, France, Poland, Portugal, and the United States.Among the presentations given during the course, what most caught the Spanish prelate’s attention was the “‘Decalogue of Hope for a Bishop in the Jubilee Year,’ which was the first introduction to the course.”He explained that in general, all the presentations were in some way “tied together by the unifying theme of hope and have also helped us deepen this sense of communion and what communion means in the service of the people of God.”The presentations also noted the importance of being “a Church that goes forth as a servant of the Gospel in the midst of the world.” Ultimately, the bishop explained, “we learn to listen with a heart that resembles Christ’s.”“We must nurture our relationship with God and with our fellow bishops, with our collaborators the priests, and with the people of God in general. We are called to be instruments of communion and also signs of hope,” he added.Abuse preventionDuring the formation sessions, they also tackled the issue of abuse prevention within the Church.“It must be recognized that mistakes may have been made in caring for victims and also in the lack of prevention. We also reflected on the support provided to individuals and the great efforts the Church has made to put the abused person at the center were emphasized.” A bishop you must “make that pain your top concern, empathize with it, and always seek truth, justice, and comprehensive reparation for the good of these people who have been hurt, and for the community, and to do so with a certain sense of the call to conversion, so that this itself may become a sign of light and hope,” he added.Gómez, who before assuming his position as bishop was director of the migration department at the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, explained that another topic addressed was migration and its challenges “in order to work on the reception, protection, advancement, and integration of migrants” and to be able to make a faithful reading of this reality.“We also,” the bishop continued, “asked ourselves what young people need from the Church and what God wants to tell us through them.”What should a bishop be like?According to the Spanish prelate, a bishop must “be close to the people, have a passion for God and also a missionary spirit. I believe it is also important to cultivate, as a spiritual attitude, humility, simplicity, allowing oneself to be accompanied, and also great trust in providence and in the Spirit, who guides his people.”After expressing his “excitement” for finally meeting with the Holy Father, he also emphasized the need to share “humbly and simply” what they experienced in Rome and to continue to deepen [our understanding] “when we return to our dioceses, with our people, in the service of our people.”Cardinals’ presentationsDuring this period of formation, there were two courses available for the new bishops: “Opening a Door to Hope: Calls to the Episcopate in a Jubilee Context,” given by the Dicastery for Evangelization, which took place at the Pontifical College of St. Peter, and a course by the Dicastery for Bishops, given at the Pontifical College of St. Paul. On Sept. 8–9, the participants of both courses met at the Pontifical Urbaniana University and shared a time of fellowship.Among the speakers were Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle — who made it clear that bishops are “stewards” and not “lords” of God’s flock — and Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, who emphasized the importance of the bishop being close to seminarians and priests, who “must feel that the bishop appreciates, esteems, and loves them.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 13 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Catholic, Church’s, new, bishops, complete, formation, Rome</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV tells World Meeting on Human Fraternity to welcome migrants, care for poor</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-tells-world-meeting-on-human-fraternity-to-welcome-migrants-care-for-poor</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-tells-world-meeting-on-human-fraternity-to-welcome-migrants-care-for-poor</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets participants in the third edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity at the Vatican on Sept. 12, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 12, 2025 / 11:51 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV spoke out on Friday against what he called the business of wars, while condemning attitudes of rejection and indifference toward migrants and the poor, as he received some of the participants in the third edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity at the Vatican.Among those present were several Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including Iraqi activist Nadia Murad, American Jody Williams, Liberian Leymah Gbowee, Yemeni Tawakkol Karman, Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, Ukrainian lawyer Oleksandra Matviichuk, Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, and Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege.In his remarks, the pontiff reflected on the need for fraternity and reconciliation in a world where wars “shatter the lives of young people forced to take up arms; target defenseless civilians, children, women, and elderly people; devastate cities, the countryside, and entire ecosystems, leaving only rubble and pain in their wake.”The pope decried the plight of many “migrants who are despised, imprisoned, and rejected, among those who seek salvation and hope but find walls and indifference.” He also lamented that, on many occasions, the poor are “blamed for their poverty, forgotten and discarded, in a world that values profit more than people.”Faced with all these injustices, Leo XIV insisted that “the answer cannot be silence.”“You are the answer, with your presence, your commitment, and your courage. The answer is choosing a different direction of life, growth, and development,” he said.The pope also called for the establishment of a broad “covenant of humanity, founded not on power but on care; not on profit but on gift; not on suspicion but on trust.”“Care, gift, and trust are not virtues to be practiced only in one’s spare time: They are pillars of an economy that does not kill but deepens and broadens participation in life,” he said.Thus, the Holy Father invited everyone to recognize the other as a brother or sister, which in practice means “freeing ourselves from the pretense of believing that we are isolated individuals or from the logic of forming relationships only out of self-interest.”The pope said the planet is marked by conflicts and divisions, and emphasized that the participants of this new edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity are “united by a strong and courageous ‘no’ to war and a ‘yes’ to peace and fraternity.”Leo XIV cited an encyclical of his predecessor Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti, to reiterate that social friendship and universal fraternity necessarily require the “acknowledgement of the worth of every human person, always and everywhere.”He also emphasized that Pope Francis taught that “war is not the right way to resolve a conflict” and praised the “willingness to face conflict head on, to resolve it and to make it a link in the chain of a new process,” which he called “the wisest path, the path of the strong.”The pope connected his reflections with the biblical account of Abel’s murder at the hands of his brother Cain and reflected on how this fraternal relationship immediately became conflictual.However, he stressed that this first homicide “should not lead us to conclude that ‘it has always been this way.’ No matter how ancient or widespread, Cain’s violence cannot be tolerated as ‘normal.’”“The norm is revealed in God’s question to the guilty party: ‘Where is your brother?’ It is in this question that we find our vocation, the rule and measure of justice,” he stated.For the pope, that same question continues to echo in history and “today more than ever, we must make this question our own as a principle of reconciliation. Once internalized, it will resonate in this way: ‘Brother, sister, where are you?’”Leo emphasized that the great spiritual traditions and the maturing of critical thought allow us to go “beyond blood or ethnic ties, beyond those kinships that recognize only those who are similar and reject those who are different.”For the Holy Father, it is also significant that in the Bible, as scientific exegesis has shown, it is the more recent and mature texts that narrate a “fraternity that transcends the ethnic boundaries of God’s people and is founded on a common humanity.”“The stories of creation and the genealogies bear witness that all peoples, even enemies, have the same origin, and the Earth, with its goods, is for everyone, not just for some,” he said.He also stressed that fraternity is “the most authentic name for closeness. It means rediscovering the face of the other. For those who believe, they recognize the mystery: the very image of God in the face of the poor, the refugee, and even the adversary.”The pope called on his listeners to identify paths, both local and international, that develop “new forms of social charity, alliances between different areas of knowledge and solidarity between generations.”On the other hand, he called for “community-based approaches that also include the poor, not as recipients of aid, but as subjects of discernment and discourse.”The Holy Father encouraged them to continue this work of “silent sowing. This can give rise to a participatory process focused on humanity and fraternity, which is not limited to listing rights, but also includes concrete actions and motivations that make us different in our everyday lives.”The organizers of the third edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity structured this international event, promoted by St. Peter’s Basilica on Sept. 12 and 13, around 15 thematic tables.These are spaces of dialogue that will function as laboratories for the exchange of ideas on various themes, such as the world of information, the environment and sustainability, the economy and finance, and artificial intelligence.In this context, St. Peter’s Square will host a free concert open to the public this Saturday, one that promises to mark a turning point in the relationship between culture, faith, and entertainment.Under the name “Grace for the World,” the Vatican square will become an open-air stage bringing together international artists such as Karol G, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, and other singers like Pharrell Williams, John Legend, Teddy Swims, Jelly Roll, BamBam, and Angélique Kidjo.This evening will be broadcast live on Disney+, Hulu, and ABC News Live, allowing millions of viewers to follow the event in real time.The concert will also bring together the voices of an international choir of 250 people, including members of the Choir of the Diocese of Rome. The entire event will be orchestrated by world-renowned music producer Adam Blackstone.But the show will go beyond music. The company Nova Sky Stories will present a visual creation that will light up the sky of Rome with a choreography of more than 3,000 drones, inspired by the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.This innovative staging will turn the night into a true living fresco of sounds and lights, an unprecedented sensory experience in the heart of Christendom, according to the Vatican.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 13 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, tells, World, Meeting, Human, Fraternity, welcome, migrants, care, for, poor</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Vatican establishes feast days of St. Carlo Acutis and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-establishes-feast-days-of-st-carlo-acutis-and-st-pier-giorgio-frassati</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-establishes-feast-days-of-st-carlo-acutis-and-st-pier-giorgio-frassati</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  St. Carlo Acutis (left) and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati. / Credit: Diocese of Assisi/Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Sep 9, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
The Catholic Church will commemorate the liturgical memorial of St. Carlo Acutis on Oct. 12 and of St. Pier Giorgio Frassati on July 4. The two young men were canonized Sept. 7 by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.In the case of St. Carlo Acutis, the Italian teenager who died in 2006 and was beatified in Assisi in October 2020, his feast day was set for Oct. 12, coinciding with the anniversary of his death from fulminant leukemia at the age of 15.The decree of the then-Congregation — now Dicastery — for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, promulgated after the beatification, set the date for the calendars of the dioceses of Assisi and Milan in addition to authorizing its celebration in other communities that requested it.Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young man from Turin who died in 1925 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1990, will be commemorated every year on July 4, also coinciding with the day of his death. His memorial Mass is celebrated especially in Italy and in youth communities that consider him a patron and spiritual role model.Both saints, commemorated on the date they passed into eternal life, have become role models of faith and commitment for young people. Acutis is known for his witness of faith in the digital world and his love for the Eucharist, and Frassati was described by St. John Paul II as a “man of the Beatitudes.” Their intense spiritual life and commitment to charitable works continue to inspire new generations of Catholics around the world.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 10 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, establishes, feast, days, St., Carlo, Acutis, and, St., Pier, Giorgio, Frassati</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Castel Gandolfo renaissance as Pope Leo XIV spends day at papal retreat</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/castel-gandolfo-renaissance-as-pope-leo-xiv-spends-day-at-papal-retreat</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/castel-gandolfo-renaissance-as-pope-leo-xiv-spends-day-at-papal-retreat</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV feeds fish during the Sept. 5, 2025, inauguration of Borgo Laudato Si’, an ecological village on the papal estate of Castel Gandolfo, 18 miles south of Rome. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 9, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV is at his Castel Gandolfo residence for the day on Tuesday as he brings back regular use of the papal retreat after the estate spent 12 years in the shadows.The Vatican said the pontiff “will continue his activities” from Villa Barberini — his residence in Castel Gandolfo, 18 miles south of Rome — from the evening of Sept. 8 to the afternoon of Sept. 9.Tuesday is usually the one day a week the pope does not hold formal audiences, allowing him the freedom to spend time at the hilltop property sometimes known as the “second Vatican City.”During his pontificate, Pope Francis eschewed the papal summer residence, preferring to remain in Vatican City.Under Leo, the Castel Gandolfo property is enjoying a renaissance — most recently with the inauguration of the ecological village, Borgo Laudato Si’, a project inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’.The pontiff toured the revamped 35-acre estate in a golf cart on Sept. 5 before celebrating a Liturgy of the Word in a greenhouse complex.Now open to visitors, the ecological compound, divided between gardens and agricultural and farming land, includes state-of-the-art insulation, photovoltaic, and circular water management systems as well as spaces for educational activities for students.But Borgo Laudato Si’ is just a portion of the full 135-acre pontifical property, where Pope Leo also stayed in July and August.Continuing a centuries-old papal tradition of summer rest, the pope spent the holiday weekend of the solemnity of the Assumption of Mary from Aug. 15–17 at Castel Gandolfo.He also stayed there for 16 days in July for what he told journalists was a “working holiday” and a chance for “a change of scenery.”After the 12 years of Francis’ pontificate, in which the Castel Gandolfo property went unused, the Vatican renovated Villa Barberini, the palace now being occupied by Leo, and refreshed the swimming pool used by St. Pope John Paul II during his vacations.A tennis court was also installed near the Villa Barberini residence for the tennis-loving Leo. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 10 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Castel, Gandolfo, renaissance, Pope, Leo, XIV, spends, day, papal, retreat</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Cardinal Burke to celebrate Traditional Latin Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/cardinal-burke-to-celebrate-traditional-latin-mass-in-st-peters-basilica</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/cardinal-burke-to-celebrate-traditional-latin-mass-in-st-peters-basilica</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Cardinal Raymond Burke gives the final blessing after celebrating a Traditional Latin Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica during the third edition of the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage in Rome on Oct. 25, 2014. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Sep 9, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).
Cardinal Raymond Burke will celebrate a special Traditional Latin Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 25 in a return to a prior custom, suspended since 2022, of an annual pilgrimage of Catholics devoted to the Latin Mass.Burke will celebrate the Solemn Pontifical Mass, a high Latin Mass said by a bishop, at the Altar of the Chair on the second day of the Oct. 24–26 Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, the event’s official website says. The cardinal also celebrated a Latin Mass at the Altar of the Chair for the pilgrimage in 2014.In 2023 and 2024, the pilgrimage was not able to receive authorization to celebrate the Latin Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica from the basilica’s liturgy office, according to organizer Christian Marquant.The Office of Liturgical Ceremonies of St. Peter’s Basilica and the director of the Holy See Press Office did not immediately respond to CNA’s request for comment on this assertion.The Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, in its 14th year, brings people “ad Petri Sedem” (“to the See of Peter”) to give “testimony of the attachment that binds numerous faithful throughout the whole world to the traditional liturgy,” according to the pilgrimage website.Burke, a champion of the Traditional Latin Mass and one of the most prominent critics in the hierarchy of the late Pope Francis, under whom he fell conspicuously out of favor, met Pope Leo in a private audience on Aug. 22.Leo sent a letter of congratulations for Burke’s 50th anniversary of priestly ministry in July.Rorate Caeli, a prominent website for devotees of the Traditional Latin Mass, called the celebration of a Solemn Pontifical Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica again an “important sign” of increased tolerance for the traditional liturgy. Pope Francis severely restricted the use of the Latin Mass in 2021 and with subsequent legislation.The Mass on Oct. 25 will be preceded by a half-mile procession from the Basilica of Sts. Celso and Giuliano to St. Peter’s Basilica. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 10 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Cardinal, Burke, celebrate, Traditional, Latin, Mass, St., Peter’s, Basilica</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV proclaims Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati saints</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-proclaims-carlo-acutis-and-pier-giorgio-frassati-saints</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-proclaims-carlo-acutis-and-pier-giorgio-frassati-saints</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo canonizes Sts. Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 7, 2025 / 06:37 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV proclaimed Italians Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis as saints of the Church on Sunday, decreeing their veneration among the Catholic faithful.The canonizations of the two men, promulgated before an estimated 70,000 people in St. Peter’s Square, were the first of Leo’s pontificate.The congregation, which included the family of Acutis, applauded after Pope Leo pronounced the rite of canonization and declared the two patrons of young people as the Church’s newest saints. In his homily, the Holy Father reflected on a passage from the Book of Wisdom, which was read by Acutis’ younger brother Michele, during the Mass celebration.“[Lord], who has learned your counsel, unless you have given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high?” Leo said, quoting the Old Testament passage. “This question comes after two young blesseds, Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, were proclaimed saints.” “This is providential because in the Book of Wisdom, this question is attributed to a young man like them: King Solomon. Upon the death of his father David, he realized that he had many things: power, wealth, health, youth, beauty, and the entire kingdom,” he continued.Leo spoke extensively about the two new saints in his homily, departing from his predecessor’s practice. Pope Francis normally said little on such occasions about the people he had just canonized.Pilgrims gather at the canonization Mass for Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaLike Solomon, Leo said, the new saints Carlo and Pier Giorgio understood that friendship with Jesus and faithfully following “God’s plans” is greater than any other worldly pursuits.God “calls us to abandon ourselves without hesitation to the adventure that he offers us with the intelligence and strength that comes from his Spirit,” Leo said Sunday. “We can receive to the extent that we empty ourselves of the things and ideas to which we are attached, in order to listen to his word,” he continued.The Holy Father also spoke of other young saints throughout history, including St. Francis of Assisi, who saw it was wise to prefer the love of God and others over riches.“Today we look to St. Pier Giorgio Frassati and St. Carlo Acutis: a young man from the early 20th century and a teenager from our own day, both in love with Jesus and ready to give everything for him,” he said.“Dear friends, Sts. Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis are an invitation to all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives but to direct them upwards and make them masterpieces,” he added.Describing their “winning formula” for holiness, the Holy Father spoke about the ordinary circumstances through which they dedicated their lives to God.“Pier Giorgio encountered the Lord through school and church groups — Catholic Action, the Conferences of St. Vincent, the FUCI [Italian Catholic University Federation], the Dominican Third Order — and he bore witness to God with his joy of living and of being a Christian in prayer, friendship, and charity,” he said.“Carlo, for his part, encountered Jesus in his family, thanks to his parents, Andrea and Antonia — who are here today with his two siblings, Francesca and Michele — and then at school, and above all in the sacraments celebrated in the parish community,” he added.According to the pope, the two Italian saints cultivated their love for God and for their brothers and sisters through “simple acts” of “daily Mass, prayer, and especially Eucharistic adoration,” which are available to every Catholic.Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims following the canonization Mass for Saints Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaAt the end of the Mass, which he concelebrated with approximately 2,000 other priests, Pope Leo invoked the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary for peace, “especially in the Holy Land and in Ukraine and in every other land that is facing blood.”“I invite all the authorities to listen and to put down the weapons that lead to destruction and death … they never bring peace and security,” he said. “God does not want war. God wants peace. God sustains those who fight for peace and who follow the path of dialogue,” he added, before leading the congregation in praying the Angelus. Leo closed out the event by making a circuit of the square in his popemobile, waving at the crowd and stopping frequently to bless babies handed to him by his bodyguards.One pilgrim present in the square, Australian Caroline Khouri, told CNA the celebration was one she would “remember forever.”“The joy in the atmosphere here is incredible,” she said. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 18:00:09 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, proclaims, Carlo, Acutis, and, Pier, Giorgio, Frassati, saints</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Canonization of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, the first saints of Pope Leo XIV</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/canonization-of-carlo-acutis-and-pier-giorgio-frassati-the-first-saints-of-pope-leo-xiv</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/canonization-of-carlo-acutis-and-pier-giorgio-frassati-the-first-saints-of-pope-leo-xiv</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Blessed Carlo Acutis (left) and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. / Credit: Diocese of Assisi/Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Sep 7, 2025 / 06:49 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV proclaimed the Italians Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis as saints of the Church on Sunday.Note: CNA has concluded this live blog. Please visit our main website for ongoing coverage and other Catholic news. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Canonization, Carlo, Acutis, and, Pier, Giorgio, Frassati, the, first, saints, Pope, Leo, XIV</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Vatican experts say Minneapolis shooting victims could qualify as ‘new martyrs’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-experts-say-minneapolis-shooting-victims-could-qualify-as-new-martyrs</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-experts-say-minneapolis-shooting-victims-could-qualify-as-new-martyrs</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  People attend a vigil at Lynnhurst Park to mourn the dead and pray for the wounded after a gunman opened fire on students at Annunciation Catholic School on Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. / Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Vatican City, Sep 8, 2025 / 09:15 am (CNA).
Vatican experts said on Monday that the two children killed in last month’s shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic church could one day be included on a list they are compiling of “new martyrs and witnesses of the faith.”Harper Moyski, 10, and Fletcher Merkel, 8, were killed while attending a parochial school Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church on Aug. 27 — prompting some to ask whether they could be considered martyrs killed “in hatred of the faith.”“If the diocese or other local ecclesial entities present these figures to us as witnesses of the faith, we will examine them and see if we can include them in the list,” said Archbishop Fabio Fabene, president of the Vatican Commission of New Martyrs — Witnesses of the Faith.The commission, created by Pope Francis in 2023 under the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, is compiling an archive of the lives of Christian martyrs, both Catholic and non-Catholic, who have been killed in the new millennium.As Fabene and other experts explained on Sept. 8, the commission’s selection criteria are not the same used by the Church to formally recognize a martyr through beatification and canonization. “They are two totally distinct things,” the archbishop said.From left, Father Marco Gnavi, Archbishop Fabio Fabene, and Andrea Riccardi give information Sept. 8, 2025, on an ecumenical liturgy to be led by Pope Leo XIV at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls on Sept. 14, 2025. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNAAndrea Riccardi, commission vice president and founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio, said the work of the commission is “to preserve stories and names in the heart of the Church, so that their memory is not lost.” Inclusion on the commission’s list of “new martyrs” does not qualify as a beatification, he said.Riccardi and experts spoke about the Minneapolis shooting victims, in response to a reporter’s question, during a news conference to present an ecumenical prayer service to be led by Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 14.The service, commemorating martyrs and witnesses of the faith of the 21st century, will be held at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross — which also happens to be Leo’s 70th birthday.Sept. 14 was chosen for the liturgy “because it is the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross,” Fabene said. “We are very happy about this [coincidence of the pope’s birthday] also to wish him a happy birthday.”Delegates from 24 Christian churches and traditions will attend the ecumenical service, including Metropolitan Anthony Sevryuk, the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations for the Russian Orthodox Church.The Sept. 14 event recalls a similar ecumenical liturgy held in the Colosseum during the 2000 Jubilee Year.When Francis established the new martyrs commission in 2023, he wrote that “the martyrs ‘are more numerous in our time than in the early centuries’: They are bishops, priests, consecrated men and women, laypeople and families, who in the different countries of the world, with the gift of their lives, have offered the supreme proof of charity.”Looking ahead to the 2025 Jubilee of Hope, Pope Francis asked the commission to compile an updated list of Christian men and women who were killed for their faith in the first quarter of the 21st century.Experts said on Monday that their catalog, which they hope eventually to publish, consists so far of 1,640 Christians killed in different circumstances of persecution and hatred around the world.“The heart of this work is memory,” Riccardi said. “As St. John Paul II said, the names of those who died for their faith should not be lost.” ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/minneapolisprayervigil082825.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, experts, say, Minneapolis, shooting, victims, could, qualify, ‘new, martyrs’</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV highlights importance of witness of families in today’s world</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-highlights-importance-of-witness-of-families-in-todays-world</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-highlights-importance-of-witness-of-families-in-todays-world</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets the families of the Vatican / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 8, 2025 / 14:13 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 6 participated in the Vatican’s Festival of Families, where he highlighted the importance of the witness of families in today’s world.The event took place in the plaza of the Governorate of Vatican City, a beautiful esplanade located behind St. Peter’s Basilica.Although originally scheduled for May, the festival had to be postponed due to the death of Pope Francis.In a brief impromptu address, reported by Vatican News, the Holy Father asked for applause for all the families and their children, expressing his joy at being able to gather with them in a festive atmosphere.The Sept. 6, 2025, Festival of Families was also attended by Sister Rafaella Petrini, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State. Credit: Vatican MediaHe also invited those present to live “this beautiful moment” with an open heart, to celebrate “the joy of being a family, the joy of being all united, of becoming friends with one another, of celebrating the gifts, especially the gift of life, the gift of family that the Lord has given us.”“This witness of families is so important in our world today!” the Holy Father then emphasized.Finally, he thanked the Vatican employees for their witness, their presence, and “for all they do, sometimes at great sacrifice, to live united as a family, transmitting this message, thus sharing in the spirit that Jesus Christ left us.”The Governorate of Vatican City hosted the Festival of Families event dedicated to families on Sept. 6, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaHe then prayed a Hail Mary and imparted his blessing to those present. The event was also attended by Sister Rafaella Petrini, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State.Also present were the two secretaries-general, Archbishop Emilio Nappa and Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, along with the two emeritus presidents, Cardinal Fernando Vergéz Alzaga and Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello.Pope Leo XIV had the opportunity to personally greet all the families and spend some time with them. The Italian pizzeria O’ Zi Aniello even presented him with a pizza bearing his name.Workers from the Italian pizzeria O&#039; Zi Aniello present Pope Leo XIV with a pizza bearing his name. Credit: Vatican MediaThe festival continued into the evening, with an outdoor dinner for Vatican employees, who were also able to enjoy various entertainment.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/mom.baby.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, highlights, importance, witness, families, today’s, world</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Andrea Bocelli: Pope Leo XIV is ‘a beacon to guide us in these complex times’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/andrea-bocelli-pope-leo-xiv-is-a-beacon-to-guide-us-in-these-complex-times</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/andrea-bocelli-pope-leo-xiv-is-a-beacon-to-guide-us-in-these-complex-times</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets Italian singer Andrea Bocelli at the inauguration of the Laudato Si’ ecological village at Castel Gandolfo, Italy, on Sept. 5, 2025. / Credit: EWTN/Screenshot

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 8, 2025 / 14:43 pm (CNA).
Following the inauguration of the Laudato Si’ ecological village, Italian singer Andrea Bocelli highlighted “the honor of singing before the Holy Father” and said he felt at that moment “the power of divine providence and a renewed serenity in celebrating the universal Church” under the guidance of its “new and steadfast pastor,” Leo XIV.Borgo Laudato Si’ is an environmental project located in Castel Gandolfo and inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “On Care for Our Common Home.”The ecological complex includes state-of-the-art insulation, photovoltaic, and circular water management systems as well as areas for educational activities for students.This is “one of the Church’s initiatives aimed at fulfilling this ‘vocation to be stewards of God’s work,’” Pope Leo XIV said during the liturgical celebration of the inauguration.In this context, the famous Italian lyric tenor Andrea Bocelli, along with his son Matteo, offered the Holy Father a musical interpretation of “Dolce è Sentire” (“It’s Sweet to Feel”) based on St. Francis’ “Canticle of the Sun.” The singer referred to that moment on social media, commenting: “It was deeply moving to witness firsthand the tangible expression of what Pope Francis so powerfully advocated in his encyclical Laudato Si’: the urgent need for an ecological conversion for our common earthly home.”A decade later, the project bearing the same name on the grounds of Castel Gandolfo stands as an example of this vision — a true miracle of goodwill, where the splendor of nature and human endeavor meet: “a creature among creatures,” as Pope Leo XIV underlined, entrusted with the sacred duty of care (for nature “cannot but speak to us of God”), the singer reflected.Bocelli also shared that “the joy of witnessing the inauguration of Laudato Si’ Village — a virtuous center of advanced education, inclusion, hospitality, and sustainability — was further enhanced by the honor of singing before the Holy Father, a man of God and a figure of the highest spiritual and intellectual stature.”Finally, he was moved to acknowledge: “When, together with my son Matteo, we intoned ‘Dolce Sentire’ — a prayer that evokes the sacredness and harmony of creation — I felt, as I had not in a long time, the strength of divine providence and a renewed serenity in celebrating the universal Church, which in Pope Leo XIV has found a new and steadfast shepherd, a beacon to guide us through these complex times.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/bocelli.pope.leo.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Andrea, Bocelli:, Pope, Leo, XIV, ‘a, beacon, guide, these, complex, times’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati: Church’s young, ‘ordinary’ holy patrons</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/blesseds-carlo-acutis-and-pier-giorgio-frassati-churchs-young-ordinary-holy-patrons</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/blesseds-carlo-acutis-and-pier-giorgio-frassati-churchs-young-ordinary-holy-patrons</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Blessed Carlo Acutis (left) and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. / Credit: Diocese of Assisi/Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Sep 5, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
The Sept. 7 canonizations of Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati will be a crucial step in a decades-long effort to attract people to the Catholic faith through young, holy patrons.“Their canonization confirms that holiness is not an abstract ideal but can manifest itself in contemporary ways, close to the sensibilities of young people, in the present and now … through friendship, study, family, the challenges of today, and even through illness faced with Christian hope,” said Leticia Arráez, a communications researcher at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.According to Arráez, the last 40 years have seen youth become “major protagonists” in shaping the Church’s identity and spearheading its evangelical mission throughout the world.During the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, young people were given priority and a privileged place of recognition within the Church, especially after the pope publicly entrusted the Cross of the Jubilee Year of the Redemption to young people on Easter Sunday in 1984.Before the close of the 1983-1984 jubilee, John Paul II expressed confidence in young people as credible leaders. During the gathering in Rome, he said they had a “right and duty” to respond to the challenges they see in the world.“You have a sort of prophetic role: You can denounce today’s ills by speaking out, first and foremost, against that widespread ‘culture of death,’” John Paul told the gathering.“​​It is up to you, with your innate sensitivity to the values ​​proclaimed by Christ, and your aversion to compromise, to work, together with your elders who have not resigned themselves to such compromises, to overcome persistent injustices and all their multifaceted manifestations, which, like the evils mentioned above, have their roots in the human heart,” he added.Throughout the 1980s, youth issues gained international attention within the Church and across other international platforms. During the 1985 U.N. Year of Youth, Pope John Paul II addressed young people in Rome to mark the occasion and to announce the creation of World Youth Day (WYD).According to Arráez, the pope’s decision to create an annual global gathering dedicated to youth changed the perception that young people are primarily “recipients” of the Catholic faith, emphasizing instead their role as “privileged interlocutors” capable of building up the universal Church.Acutis and Frassati were selected as patrons of WYD and, through these annual gatherings, devotion to these two blesseds have spread far and wide, beyond Italy, to every continent among people inspired by their examples of holy living.Devotion to Acutis, who died Oct. 12 on the feast day of Brazil’s patroness, Our Lady of Aparecida, reached international level during the 2013 WYD in Rio de Janeiro as young Catholics began to hear more about his story and the miraculous healing, attributed to his intercession, of a 4-year-old Brazilian boy, Matheus Vianna, who had a rare pancreatic condition.Beatified in 1990 by Pope John Paul II, Frassati became known as the “Man of the Beatitudes” and was made an official WYD patron by the pope ahead of the 2002 WYD in Toronto. He has since remained a WYD patron and his remains have traveled twice outside of Italy for the 2008 WYD in Sydney and the 2016 WYD in Krakow, Poland.During a time when religious belief and practice have been under pressure from rapid secularization as well as scandals of abuse and corruption in the Church, the Church has chosen two young holy patrons who, through their lives, have shown the attractiveness of being real and authentic in their love of God and other people.“The Church intends to propose accessible and credible models of Christian life for our time,” Arráez said. “Frassati with his social commitment, his charity toward others, and his joyful spirituality lived in the world, [as did] Acutis with his innovative use of technology as a means of evangelization.” Arráez said the recent focus on young ordinary saints, who were neither martyrs nor mystics, is in keeping with Vatican II’s message on the “universal call to holiness” promulgated in Pope Paul VI’s Lumen Gentium, which teaches that “all the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord, each in his own way, to that perfect holiness.”“Through [Acutis and Frassati] the Church demonstrates that holiness, living the meaning of life in the present, is possible at a young age and does not require extraordinary conditions or waiting to grow up or for ideal circumstances … but rather an authentic lifestyle, rooted in faith and in the message of Christ that the Gospel teaches us, lived today, in 2025,” Arráez said.Viewers can tune in to “EWTN News Nightly” and “EWTN News In Depth” for an exclusive preview of the canonizations. “EWTN News Nightly” airs at 6 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 5; and “EWTN News In Depth” airs at 8 p.m. ET the same day.Viewers can also follow here to watch the canonizations live on YouTube. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 06 Sep 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Blesseds, Carlo, Acutis, and, Pier, Giorgio, Frassati:, Church’s, young, ‘ordinary’, holy, patrons</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Peace starts in our hearts, Pope Leo tells Mediterranean Youth Council</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/peace-starts-in-our-hearts-pope-leo-tells-mediterranean-youth-council</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/peace-starts-in-our-hearts-pope-leo-tells-mediterranean-youth-council</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets young adults from the Mediterranean Youth Council in the Hall of the Consistory in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on Sept. 5, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 5, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
Real peace, often used as a slogan, begins in our own hearts and communities, Pope Leo XIV told a group of young adults from the Mediterranean region at the Vatican on Friday.In a speech in both Italian and English on Sept. 5, the pope called young people the “generation that envisions a better future and chooses to build it. You are the sign of a world that does not give in to indifference and complacency,” he added, “but rolls up its sleeves and works to transform evil into good.”Leo met with around 50 members of the Mediterranean Youth Council, which was founded in 2022 and includes young adults from European and Middle Eastern countries bordered by the Mediterranean Sea.“Peace is on the agenda of international leaders, it is the subject of global discussions, but sadly, it often gets reduced to a mere slogan,” the pontiff said. “What we need is to cultivate peace in our own hearts and in our relationships, to let it blossom in our daily actions, to work for reconciliation in our homes, our communities, our schools and workplaces, in the Church, and among the Churches.”Pope Leo tells young adults from the Mediterranean Youth Council at the Vatican on Sept. 5, 2025, “to cultivate prayer and spirituality, together with action, as sources of peace and points of encounter between traditions and cultures.” Credit: Vatican MediaBeing a peacemaker is not easy, Leo said, and he denounced the use of religious traditions to justify violence instead of bringing peace, fraternity, care for creation, and openness to others. “We need to reject these forms of blasphemy that dishonor God’s holy name, and to do so by the way we live our lives,” he underlined. “We are called to cultivate prayer and spirituality, together with action, as sources of peace and points of encounter between traditions and cultures.”“For believers, the future is not one of walls and barbed wire but one of mutual acceptance,” he added.The pope encouraged the young people to not give up, even if someone does not understand them or what they are working for: “St. Charles de Foucauld said that God also uses headwinds to bring us to port.”“Do not be afraid: Be seeds of peace where the seeds of hate and resentment grow; be weavers of unity where polarization and enmity prevail; be the voice of those who have no voice to ask for justice and dignity; be light and salt where the flame of faith and the taste for life are dying out,” he said. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 06 Sep 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Peace, starts, our, hearts, Pope, Leo, tells, Mediterranean, Youth, Council</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>New animated movie depicts the life of soon&#45;to&#45;be saint Carlo Acutis</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/new-animated-movie-depicts-the-life-of-soon-to-be-saint-carlo-acutis</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/new-animated-movie-depicts-the-life-of-soon-to-be-saint-carlo-acutis</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  “Carlo Acutis, God’s Influencer” brings to life the story of the Church’s first millennial saint who used his passion for technology and the internet to spread his love for the Eucharist and his Catholic faith to people around the world. / Credit: CCC of America

CNA Staff, Sep 5, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
A new animated movie depicting the life of Carlo Acutis will be released on Sept. 7 — the same day the young boy, beloved by Catholics around the world, will be declared a saint by the Catholic Church.“Carlo Acutis, God’s Influencer” brings to life the story of the Church’s first millennial saint who used his passion for technology and the internet to spread his love for the Eucharist and the Catholic faith to people around the world.The animated film offers children and their families a way to learn about the life of Acutis, depicting his perseverance in faith and the importance of placing one’s talents in the service of God and others.The film was made by CCC of America in association with the Augustine Institute and will be available for streaming on Formed, a digital platform run by the Augustine Institute that provides faith-informed content for Catholics.“Carlo Acutis, God’s Influencer” brings to life the story of the Church’s first millennial saint who used his passion for technology and the internet to spread his love for the Eucharist and his Catholic faith to people around the world. Credit: CCC of AmericaThe movie will join several other films on Acutis including documentaries such as EWTN’s “Blessed Carlo Acutis — From London to the World” and “I Am With You — A Documentary on Carlo Acutis,” which can be streamed on EWTN OnDemand, as well as a book by CNA Vatican Reporter Courtney Mares called “Blessed Carlo Acutis – A Saint in Sneakers.”Juan Carlos Carredano, the executive producer of the film, told CNA in an interview that CCC of America has been creating films based on the lives of the saints since 1983 and they “continually receive requests from people to share more stories.”“That is why we decided to bring Carlo Acutis’ amazing story to the new generations,” he said. “Today, it is more important than ever to share real stories about people who made a difference — true saints and heroes who changed the world [and] recent stories that teenagers can relate to,” he added. “And who better than Carlo to show us that sainthood is for everyone?”“Carlo is transforming thousands of hearts through his life and testimony, which revealed the true presence of God. I believe that is what makes him a real influencer,” he said. “His witness is an urgent call for each of us to share the good news, to reflect the beauty of the Gospel and of creation, to serve the truth, and to ‘live as originals, not photocopies,’ as Carlo said.”Carredano said he hopes viewers “will receive the key messages that [Carlos’ mother] Mrs. Antonia Acutis recommended for this film: a true belief that Christ is present in the Eucharist, a deep love and closeness to Our Lady, the importance of living in a state of grace, and the call to love everyone — especially those in need.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 06 Sep 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>New, animated, movie, depicts, the, life, soon-to-be, saint, Carlo, Acutis</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV inaugurates ecological Laudato Si’ Village in Castel Gandolfo</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-inaugurates-ecological-laudato-si-village-in-castel-gandolfo</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-inaugurates-ecological-laudato-si-village-in-castel-gandolfo</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, officially inaugurated the Laudato Si’ Village in Castel Gandolfo with a liturgical celebration highlighting the “vocation” of every person to care for creation, including a performance by Andrea Bocelli. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Sep 5, 2025 / 16:06 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Friday afternoon officially inaugurated the Laudato Si’ Village in Castel Gandolfo with a liturgical celebration highlighting the “vocation” of every person to care for creation. Before celebrating a special Liturgy of the Word in a greenhouse complex, the Holy Father toured the estate in a golf buggy and stopped to greet staff and students collaborating on the environmental project inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’.Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, who was among the guests invited to the inauguration of the Laudato Si&#039; Village in Castel Gandolfo on Sept. 5, 2025, offers the Holy Father a song to mark the occasion. Credit: Vatican MediaIn his reflection on St. Matthew’s Gospel, the Holy Father said each human person has the great responsibility and privilege of respecting the “Creator’s plan.”“Jesus emphasizes the special place reserved, in the creative act, for the human being: the most beautiful creature, made in the image and likeness of God,” Leo said in his short homily. Pope Leo XIV inaugurated Borgo Laudato si’ Friday afternoon. The Holy Father said the village “presents itself as one of the Church’s initiatives aimed at realizing this ‘vocation to be guardians of God’s work.’” pic.twitter.com/CZyersGm1Q— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) September 5, 2025 “The care of creation, therefore, represents a true vocation for every human being, a commitment to be carried out within creation itself, without ever forgetting that we are creatures among creatures, not creators,” he added.Speaking about his predecessor Pope Francis — who initiated the project and the liturgy for the Mass for the Care of Creation — Leo said the village is a “seed of hope” for those committed to fostering humanity’s “ecological conversion” through education and catechesis.“It is important, as my predecessor wrote, to ‘recover a serene harmony with creation, to reflect on our lifestyle and our ideals, to contemplate the Creator, who lives among us and in all that surrounds us,’” Leo said, quoting Francis’ 2015 encyclical letter.Andrea Bocelli plays the flute for Pope Leo XIV and guests on the occassion of the official inauguration of the Laudato Si&#039; Village in Castel Gandolfo on Sept, 5, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media“The Laudato Si’ Village, which we inaugurate today, is one of the Church’s initiatives aimed at realizing this ‘vocation to be custodians of God’s handiwork,’” he said.The ecological complex includes state-of-the-art insulation, photovoltaic, and circular water management systems as well as spaces for educational activities for students.At the end of the liturgy, Pope Leo blessed the village with holy water and all those present at the liturgy.Italian singer Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo, who were among the guests invited to the celebration, offered the Holy Father a song to mark the occasion. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/eli6500.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 06 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, inaugurates, ecological, Laudato, Si’, Village, Castel, Gandolfo</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>The pope who was first called &amp;amp;#039;servant of the servants of God&amp;amp;#039;</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/the-pope-who-was-first-called-servant-of-the-servants-of-god</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/the-pope-who-was-first-called-servant-of-the-servants-of-god</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  A statue of Pope Gregory I, also known as Saint Gregory the Great, with his famous Catholic iconography of a dove sitting on his shoulder, sits outside of St. Stephen&#039;s Basilica in Budapest, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024 / Credit: Alexander Ruszczynski/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Sep 3, 2025 / 07:15 am (CNA).
St. Gregory the Great, a central figure of the medieval western Church and one of the most admired popes in history, is commemorated in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Catholic liturgy. He was the first of the bishops of Rome to popularize the now-traditional papal title &quot;servant of the servants of God,&quot; which referred to Christ&#039;s command that those in the highest position of leadership should be “the last of all and the servant of all.” Born near the middle of the sixth century into a noble Roman family, the future St. Gregory the Great received a classical education in liberal arts and the law. He also had strong religious formation from his devout family, particularly from his mother, Silvia, also a canonized saint. By around age 30, Gregory had advanced to high political office in Rome, during what was nevertheless a period of marked decline for the city.Some time after becoming the prefect of the former imperial capital, Gregory chose to leave the civil administration to become a monk during the rise of the Benedictine order. In reality, however, the new monk&#039;s great career in public life was yet to come.After three years of strict monastic life, he was called personally by the pope to assume the office of a deacon in Rome. From Rome, he was dispatched to Constantinople, to seek aid from the emperor for Rome&#039;s civic troubles, and to aid in resolving the Eastern church&#039;s theological controversies. He returned to Rome in 586, after six years of service as the papal representative to the eastern Church and empire.Rome faced a series of disasters caused by flooding in 589, followed by the death of Pope Pelagius II the next year. Gregory, then serving as abbot in a monastery, reluctantly accepted his election to replace him as the Bishop of Rome.Despite this initial reluctance, however, Pope Gregory began working tirelessly to reform and solidify the Roman liturgy, the disciplines of the Church, the military and economic security of Rome, and the Church&#039;s spreading influence in western Europe.As pope, Gregory brought his political experience in Rome and Constantinople to bear, in the task of preventing the Catholic Church from becoming subservient to any of the various groups struggling for control of the former imperial capital. As the former abbot of a monastery, he strongly supported the Benedictine movement as a bedrock of the western Church. He sent missionaries to England, and is given much of the credit for the nation&#039;s conversion.Even as he undertook to consolidate papal power and shore up the crumbling Roman west, St. Gregory the Great maintained a humble sense of his mission as a servant and pastor of souls, from the time of his election until his death in 604.This article was first published on Aug. 19, 2010, and has been updated. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/shutterstock-2575705867.jpg" length="49398" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 05 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV pleads for help for ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ in Sudan</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-pleads-for-help-for-humanitarian-catastrophe-in-sudan</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-pleads-for-help-for-humanitarian-catastrophe-in-sudan</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV appealed for help for Sudan during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Sept. 3, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media.

Vatican City, Sep 3, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday pleaded for international assistance for the North African country of Sudan, which is experiencing violence, famine, natural disasters, and disease.“I am closer than ever to the Sudanese population, in particular families, children and the displaced,” Leo said at the end of his general audience at the Vatican Sept. 3.“I pray for all the victims,” the pontiff added. “I make a heartfelt appeal to leaders and to the international community to guarantee humanitarian corridors and implement a coordinated response to stop this humanitarian catastrophe.”The dramatic situation in Sudan, marked by months of armed clashes, mass displacement, and the threat of cholera, has prompted multiple warnings from humanitarian organizations.In his appeal, Leo drew attention to the civilians trapped in the city of El Fasher, where they are experiencing famine and violence, and to a deadly landslide in Tarsin, which it is believed killed up to 1,000 people, with others still missing.“And, as if that were not enough,” the pontiff added, “the spread of cholera is threatening hundreds of thousands of already stricken people.”“It is time to initiate a serious, sincere and inclusive dialogue between the parties to end the conflict and restore hope, dignity and peace to the people of Sudan,” Leo urged.Pope Leo XIV rides in the popemobile before his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Sept. 3, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media.After three weeks indoors, the pope’s public audience returned to St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday following a dip in Rome’s soaring August temperatures.‘No-one can save themselves’In his spiritual message at the audience, Leo reflected on Jesus’ final moments on the cross as narrated in the Gospel of John, where the crucified Christ utters the phrase: “I thirst.”The pope said the thirst of the Crucified One is not only the physiological need of a tortured body, but above all, the expression of a profound desire for love, relationship, and communion. His cry, Leo XIV asserted, is that of a God “who is not ashamed to beg for a sip, because in that gesture he tells us that love, in order to be true, must also learn to ask and not only to give.”The pontiff then stated that “Jesus does not save with a dramatic twist, but by asking for something that he cannot give himself.” This, according to the Holy Father, opens a door to true hope: “If even the Son of God chose not to be self-sufficient, then our thirst too — for love, for meaning, for justice — is a sign not of failure, but of truth.”“Jesus’ thirst on the cross is therefore ours too,” he added. “It is the cry of a wounded humanity that seeks living water. And this thirst does not lead us away from God, but rather unites us with him. If we have the courage to acknowledge it, we can discover that even our fragility is a bridge towards heaven.”Thus, the pope said, on the cross, Jesus teaches us that human beings are not realized “in power, but in trustful openness to others, even when they are hostile and enemies.”It is precisely through the acceptance of fragility that we achieve salvation, he emphasized, which “is not found in autonomy, but in humbly recognizing one’s own need and in being able to express it freely.”“None of us can be self-sufficient. No-one can save themselves. Life is ‘fulfilled’ not when we are strong, but when we learn how to receive,” Leo said.A difficult truth“We live in a time that rewards self-sufficiency, efficiency, performance,” he said. “And yet the Gospel shows us that the measure of our humanity is not given by what we can achieve, but by our ability to let ourselves be loved and, when necessary, even helped.”Leo XIV invited the faithful to rediscover the simple joy that is born of fraternity and free gift of self. He emphasized that in everyday gestures, such as “asking without shame” and “offering without ulterior motives,” lies a profound happiness, distinct from that which the world proposes.“It is a joy that restores us to the original truth of our being: we are creatures made to give and receive love,” the pontiff affirmed.He encouraged those listening to not be afraid or ashamed to reach out, even when they feel undeserving. “It is right there, in that humble gesture, that salvation hides,” he concluded.  ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 05 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, pleads, for, help, for, ‘humanitarian, catastrophe’, Sudan</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Jesus Bikers rev up support for charity with motorcycle for Pope Leo XIV</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/jesus-bikers-rev-up-support-for-charity-with-motorcycle-for-pope-leo-xiv</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/jesus-bikers-rev-up-support-for-charity-with-motorcycle-for-pope-leo-xiv</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV poses on a custom BMW R 18 papal motorcycle gifted to him by the Christian Jesus Bikers at the Vatican, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 3, 2025 / 12:30 pm (CNA).
A group of black-clad bikers rumbled into St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday to present Pope Leo XIV with a custom cruiser motorcycle destined for charity.The pope met members of the Christian Jesus Bikers at the end of his general audience at the Vatican on Sept. 3. The motorcycle club rolled into Rome for a Jubilee of Hope pilgrimage after a three-day day ride from Schaafheim, Germany.Father Karl Wallner, OCist, stands next to Pope Leo XIV as he signs a custom-made BMW R 18 motorcycle after the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Sept. 3, 2025. The cruiser will be sold at auction to raise funds for children in Madagascar. Credit: Rudolf Gehrig/EWTN NewsThe pope blessed and signed the white BMW R 18 motorcycle before briefly climbing onto the seat to the bikers’ applause.The custom-designed papal motorcycle will be auctioned off in Munich on Oct. 18, and the funds will benefit children working in mica mines in Madagascar through Missio Austria.The director of Missio Austria, Father Karl Wallner, OCist, told EWTN News on Wednesday that the point of the pilgrimage was “not just fun and coming to see the pope but also to help the poorest of the poor” through the project for exploited children.Wallner said Pope Leo appeared to like the motorcycle a lot. At the audience, “he told the CEO of BMW that he himself liked to drive the motorcycle. So I think we have the first motorcycling pope.”The custom BMW R 18 papal motorcycle gifted to Pope Leo XIV by the Christian Jesus Bikers stands outside St. Magdalena Church, Altötting, Germany, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. Credit: Rudolf Gehrig/EWTN NewsThe two-cylinder boxer engine cruiser was given a papal redesign by the Witzel company in Germany before taking to the road for the biker pilgrimage, which included daily Mass in churches along the way to Rome.Around 30 members of the Jesus Bikers club also processed through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica before attending Mass together on Sept. 3.One of the motorcyclists at the Sept. 3 audience, a Protestant from Berlin who goes by the name Rocky, told EWTN News he joined the Jesus Bikers after finding the club on the internet.Members of the Jesus Bikers club link arms in St. Peter&#039;s Square on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. Credit: Rudolf Gehrig/EWTN News“The honesty and freedom attracted me,” Rocky said. “It’s not like other motorcycle clubs, where I have to prove myself for a year and perform certain rituals. I was accepted here, and a year later, I received my robe. You just have to be baptized, believe in Jesus Christ, and have a motorcycle. We want to pray, ride, and do good.”Claus Dempewolf, who is responsible for those interested in joining the motorcycle club, expressed his satisfaction with the first leg of the ride in an interview with EWTN News earlier this week.“The weather was perfect, the roads were good,” he said. When asked who ultimately decides whether or not someone can become a member of the Jesus Bikers, Dempewolf replied: “That’s decided by our president and our road captain; our president is Jesus Christ, our road captain is the Holy Spirit.”Pope Francis was an honorary member of the Jesus Bikers, which has over 100 members worldwide. The Argentinian pope also received a white motorcycle from the group in 2019.Pope Francis also received two Harley-Davidson motorcycles and a motorcycle jacket in 2013 from Harley owners who gathered at the Vatican during a Rome celebration of the 110th anniversary of the iconic American street bikes.One of the Harley-Davidsons, with papal autograph, and the leather jacket brought in more than $350,000 for a Rome charity at an auction in 2014. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 05 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Jesus, Bikers, rev, support, for, charity, with, motorcycle, for, Pope, Leo, XIV</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV discusses Gaza, 2&#45;state solution with Israeli president</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-discusses-gaza-2-state-solution-with-israeli-president</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-discusses-gaza-2-state-solution-with-israeli-president</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets with Israel President Isaac Herzog in a private audience at the Vatican on Sept. 4, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 4, 2025 / 12:14 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV discussed the conflict in Gaza, including a two-state solution, with Israel President Isaac Herzog in a private audience at the Vatican on Thursday morning. According to a Vatican statement after the meeting, the talks focused on the political and social situation in the Middle East and the need to guarantee “a future for the Palestinian people and peace and stability in the region, with the Holy See reiterating the two-state solution as the only way out of the ongoing war.”The Israeli president also met with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Vatican Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher.The Sept. 4 Vatican audience was the first closed-door meeting between Leo and Herzog, 64, who has been Israel’s president since 2021.Pope Leo XIV meets with Israel President Isaac Herzog in a private audience at the Vatican on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. The talks focused on the political and social situation in the Middle East and the need to guarantee “a future for the Palestinian people and peace and stability in the region, with the Holy See reiterating the two-state solution as the only way out of the ongoing war.” Credit: Vatican MediaIn a post on X following the encounter, Herzog thanked Leo for a “warm welcome today at the Vatican” and said he looked forward to strengthening Israel’s cooperation with the Holy See “for a better future of justice and compassion.”The Vatican communique on Leo’s meeting with Herzog — a longer and much more detailed statement than those usually issued after audiences with heads of state — repeated Pope Leo’s regular public pleas for a resumption of negotiations, a permanent ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages, respect for humanitarian law, and the safe entry of aid into Gaza.The Vatican said the hope was also expressed that the “legitimate aspirations” of both Israeli and Palestinian people can be guaranteed.“Reference was also made to the situation in the West Bank and the important question of the city of Jerusalem” and to issues in the relations between Israeli state authorities and the local Church, the statement added.In addition to a two-state solution for Palestine, Vatican diplomacy has called for an international status for the city of Jerusalem, where the Latin patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, is the Catholic leader of not only Israel but also the Palestinian Territories of Gaza and the West Bank.During a visit to the town of Taybeh in the West Bank in July, Pizzaballa and other Church leaders said they hold Israeli authorities responsible for “facilitating and enabling” attacks on Palestinian Christians by Israeli settlers.Israeli President Isaac Herzog meets with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher (in back) on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaThursday’s conversation between Leo and Herzog also touched on the importance of ensuring the continued presence of Christian communities throughout the Middle East, the Vatican said.After the talks, a statement from Herzog said the pope’s reception of Israel’s president reflected “the great significance of the relationship between the Holy See and the State of Israel, and of course with the Jewish people, and the importance of the very sensitive issues and challenges we experience today.”There was some tension surrounding the meeting due to a Sept. 2 statement from Herzog’s office stating that the president’s one-day visit to the Vatican came at the invitation of Pope Leo. The Vatican contradicted that claim hours later with a statement that “it is the Holy See’s practice to agree to requests for an audience with the pope from heads of state and government; it is not its practice to extend invitations to them.”Vatican-Israel relations were marked by tension toward the end of the last pontificate owing to Pope Francis’ criticism of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, which was sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Israeli citizens and others by Hamas militants.Pope Francis called Israel’s actions in Gaza “terrorism” and on two occasions said what was happening there might qualify as genocide.Pope Leo has taken a more restrained approach, calling for ceasefires and the release of hostages and emphasizing the need for dignified humanitarian aid and respect for law. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 05 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, discusses, Gaza, 2-state, solution, with, Israeli, president</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Carlo Acutis’ teachers share their memories of him at school</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/carlo-acutis-teachers-share-their-memories-of-him-at-school</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/carlo-acutis-teachers-share-their-memories-of-him-at-school</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Sister Miranda Moltedo was the principal of Carlo’s elementary school when he was a student. / Credit: EWTN News

Rome Newsroom, Sep 4, 2025 / 13:57 pm (CNA).
Before he was known as a soon-to-be-saint, Carlo Acutis was simply a boy in a school uniform, lugging his backpack through the hallways of the Tommaseo Institute in Milan. His teachers remember him as joyful, a bit of a prankster, and passionate about his Catholic faith.“He was certainly not a perfect student,” Sister Monica Ceroni, Acutis’ middle school religion teacher, recalled. He sometimes forgot his homework or showed up late. But he had a “healthy curiosity” and “and wanted to get to the bottom of things.”“When he became passionate about something, he didn’t give up,” she told EWTN News.Exterior shot of Carlo Acutis&#039; elementary and middle school the Tommaseo Institute. Credit: Courtney Mares/EWTNAcutis spent nearly eight years at the Tommaseo Institute, a Catholic elementary and middle school run by the Marcelline Sisters in central Milan. Located just across the street from his parish church of Santa Maria Segreta, the school became the setting for his daily routine of classes, soccer games with friends in the courtyard, and visits to the chapel to pray.  “What is striking in his report cards … is that religion was the only subject he did well in,” Ceroni said. “He was someone who liked to be involved in the classroom conversations, especially in religion,” she added. “He was also a real joker,” she added, recalling some of the pranks he played with his classmates. The Acutis family hired a tutor named Elisa to help Carlo with his homework, and Carlo would sometimes invite Elisa her to come with him to Mass afterward. Elisa, like so many others in Carlo’s life, later said that she grew in her faith because of her relationship with Carlo. An interior of the Tommaseo Institute, Carlo Acutis’ elementary and middle school. Credit: Anthony Johnson/EWTNHis teachers also noticed that Carlo gravitated toward classmates who struggled or were left out.  Sister Miranda Moltedo, who was the principal of Carlo’s elementary school when he was a student, recalled a boy in the class whose mother had abandoned him. “Carlo had taken him under his wing, protecting him,” she said. “We knew that he was a child who needed special attention, affection, and love, and Carlo cared about him.” Carlo also stood up to bullies. When a classmate with mental disabilities was being teased and bullied, Carlo defended him. A teacher observed that, as a result, sometimes that classmate could be overly clingy with Carlo. When she the teacher asked Carlo about it, he replied: “He is a great friend of mine, and I want to help him.” “I think this ability to be inclusive as an 11- or 12-year-old boy was extraordinary. … It was a natural gift of his,” Ceroni said. “My strongest memory of Carlo is of a cheerful, lively boy. He was a typical boy his age, with a great zest for life and many dreams,” she said. A photo of Carlo Acutis and some of his classmates at the Tommaseo Institute that was pinned to one of the bulletin boards outside of his classroom in the school when CNA&#039;s reporting team visited. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tommaseo InstituteAfter graduating from the Tommaseo Institute, Carlo entered the Jesuit-run Leo XIII Institute in Milan. There, his faith stood out even more. “Carlo used to go to the chapel in the morning before entering the classroom and during breaks and would stop to pray. Nobody else did that,” said Father Roberto Gazzaniga, the school’s chaplain.Classmates who testified in Carlo’s cause for canonization described him as respectful but unafraid to voice his convictions — on the Eucharist, baptism, pro-life issues, and the teachings of the Church. He also helped peers with homework, especially when computers were involved.Carlo “never concealed his choice of faith,” Gazzaniga said. “Even in conversations and discussions with his classmates, he was respectful of the positions of others but without renouncing the clear vision of the principles that inspired his Christian life.”Carlo Acutis&#039; middle school diploma from the Tommaseo Institute in Milan. Credit: Anthony Johnson/EWTNThe chaplain described Carlo as having had a “a transparent and joyous interior life that united love for God and people in a joyful and true harmony.”“One could point to him and say: Here is a happy and authentic young man and Christian,” he said. Unlike many at the private Jesuit school, Carlo paid little attention to what was trendy or popular. When his mother bought him new sneakers, he asked her to return them so they could give the money to the poor instead.Acutis also asked a cloistered religious order to join him in praying for his high school classmates who partied in clubs and used drugs and spoke to his friends about the importance of chastity.Carlo’s high school years were cut short when he was diagnosed with leukemia at age 15. He died in October 2006, just as his second year of studies was beginning, offering up his suffering from cancer for the pope and the good of the Catholic Church.Sister Monica Ceroni, Carlo Acutis’ middle school religion teacher, recalled that sometimes Carlo forgot his homework or showed up late. But he had a “healthy curiosity” and “and wanted to get to the bottom of things.” Credit: Credit: Anthony Johnson/EWTNSister Monica remembered vividly the last time she saw him a few weeks before he died. “We met right in front of the parish church,” she said. “We were going in and he was coming out of the church … He was happy to be back at school. He said he wanted to focus on computer science. I will always remember him this way.”She returned to the parish for Carlo’s funeral not long after. “Carlo’s funeral ceremony was extraordinary. There were a lot of people, also poor people,” Ceroni said.Today, both Sister Monica and Sister Miranda tell Carlo’s story to inspire their young students in the same classrooms where he once studied. “Carlo is presented as a child who was a friend of Jesus and found joy, because Christianity is joy,” Moltedo said. Veronica Giacometti from ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner, contributed to this report. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 05 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Carlo, Acutis’, teachers, share, their, memories, him, school</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>From Malawi to Houston: Catholic schools around the world named after Carlo Acutis</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/from-malawi-to-houston-catholic-schools-around-the-world-named-after-carlo-acutis</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/from-malawi-to-houston-catholic-schools-around-the-world-named-after-carlo-acutis</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  The logo for a new high school that Catholics in Houston’s Bay Area are fundraisingor for, projected to open in 2027 with a mission to be “unapologetically Catholic” and “academically excellent.” / Courtesy of Carlo Acutis Catholic High School, Houston

Rome Newsroom, Sep 1, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
As Pope Leo XIV prepares to proclaim Blessed Carlo Acutis a saint in Rome on Sept. 7, thousands of miles away at the foot of Michiru Mountain in Malawi, students at a Catholic high school bearing his name are preparing a celebration of their own.“Our students look up to him as a model in their faith,” Grace Matumba, a leader in campus ministry at Carlo Acutis Catholic High School in Blantyre, Malawi, told CNA. “He was a young man who gave his life for Christ.”Carlo Acutis Catholic High School in Blantyre, Malawi, forms part of a Catholic education complex that includes a nursery, primary, and college — each under the patronage of modern Catholic figures such as Mother Teresa, John Paul II, and now Carlo Acutis, who will soon be the Church’s first millennial saint. Credit: Photo courtesy of Carlo Acutis Catholic High School in Blantyre, MalawiThe high school, which opened in 2022 with just 90 students, has since grown to accommodate 300, with boarding facilities for girls and a dedicated computer lab. It forms part of a Catholic education complex that includes a nursery, primary, and college — each under the patronage of modern Catholic figures such as Mother Teresa, John Paul II, and now Acutis, who will soon be the Church’s first millennial saint.From African cities to American suburbs and from Australia to Wales, schools named after the Italian teenager known for his Eucharistic devotion and computer savvy are multiplying rapidly. More than a dozen schools already bear his name, many of which will soon be undergoing a name change from “Blessed” to “St. Carlo Acutis.”Carlo Acutis Catholic High School in Blantyre, Malawi, opened in 2022 with just 90 students and has since grown to accommodate 300, with boarding facilities for girls and a dedicated computer lab. Credit: Photo courtesy of Carlo Acutis Catholic High School in Blantyre, MalawiVirtual schools embrace digital saint In the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, Blessed Carlo Acutis Academy is a virtual Catholic school that serves students in grades 5–12 across 11 largely rural counties, where Catholic high schools are scarce. Assistant Superintendent Therese Milbrath said the online structure has been a blessing for diverse families. “We have home-school families who reach out and say … ‘Math has gotten to the point where I can’t teach it to my child anymore,’” she said. Others include students with autism who find it easier to focus outside a classroom, military families on the move, and even an ambitious young hockey player looking for more ice time.“It’s interesting because we’re just seeing a lot of different needs pop up,” Milbrath said. “The bulk of our students are in the Diocese of Madison, but we do take students from outside of the diocese.” While virtual, the school named for the Church’s first computer-coding saint remains distinctly Catholic: Live sessions begin with prayer, religion is required every semester for full-time students, and Catholicism is infused throughout the curriculum. The Archdiocese of Miami has gone a step further with the Carlo Acutis Virtual Academy, or CAVA, the country’s first archdiocese-sanctioned online Catholic school that is Cognia-accredited, meaning it meets rigorous, internationally-recognized standards of education. Offering K–12 education, CAVA was inspired by the life and legacy of Acutis and his use of technology in “recognizing its potential to spread the message of faith to the digital generation.” “We bring students closer to one another and closer to Jesus,” the virtual academy states in its mission. Carlo Acutis Catholic Primary School in Melbourne, Australia, opened in 2025 — just months before Carlo Acutis’ canonization. Founding Principal Damian Howard traveled 10,000 miles to Italy to meet Acutis’ mother in Assisi while planning the school. Credit: Photo courtesy of Carlo Acutis Catholic Primary School in Melbourne, AustraliaAustralia looks to AssisiOn the other side of the globe, Carlo Acutis Catholic Primary School in Melbourne, Australia, opened in 2025 — just months before Acutis’ canonization. Founding Principal Damian Howard traveled 10,000 miles to Italy to meet Acutis’ mother in Assisi while planning the school.“That took me on a journey of a lot of discovery in terms of finding out about Carlo, coming up with the colors of the school … navy and red, which were his favorite colors, and also just happens to be the colors of the town flag of Assisi,” Howard said.The Carlo Acutis Catholic Primary School’s design echoes the brickwork of the Assisi church where soon-to-be canonized Carlo Acutis is buried. Credit: Photo courtesy of Carlo Acutis Catholic Primary School in MelbourneThe school’s design echoes the brickwork of the Assisi church where Acutis is buried, St. Mary Major. Howard said the school’s values — faith, service, generosity, and courage — were chosen to mirror the life of the young Italian who once stood up to bullies and cared for the homeless.“We’re indelibly entwined with Assisi and with Carlo’s story, our little school all the way out here in Australia,” Howard said.The new school already has 110 students, with an 80-person waiting list, and plans to expand to 550 students in coming years. Acutis’ family even gave the school a first-class relic of their son for the school chapel.In Melbourne, Australia, the Carlo Acutis Catholic Primary School opened in 2025 — just months before Acutis’ canonization. Credit: Photo courtesy of Carlo Acutis Catholic Primary School in MelbourneSchool openings coincide with canonization In the United States, the Chesterton Academy of Blessed Carlo Acutis in Grand Junction, Colorado, is scheduled to open this fall as part of the Chesterton Schools Network. Inspired by Acutis’ joy-filled embrace of faith and technology, local Catholic families said they had long dreamed of a high school but only found the way forward after the pandemic.In Alberta, Canada, Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic High School in Camrose opens its doors Sept. 2. The Elk Island Catholic Schools district says the name will soon change to “St. Carlo Acutis” once the canonization is official.Acutis has also become a unifying figure as Catholic schools consolidate under his patronage. Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, announced that three Catholic schools will merge this fall as the Academy of Carlo Acutis, following a process that allowed students themselves to propose and vote on potential names.In Santiago, Chile, four schools serving 4,500 students are uniting under the new Carlo Acutis Educational Network, while in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, a Catholic school created from the merger of several campuses has already made a pilgrimage from the United Kingdom to Rome in the hope of attending his canonization in April before it was rescheduled due to the death of Pope Francis.  Elsewhere, Catholic schools in Argentina, Mexico, Italy, and even a joint Catholic-Anglican academy in England have adopted his name. In Cheshire, England, the Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic and Church of England Academy became the first joint-faith school to take on his patronage. In the Philippines, St. Peter the Apostle School has recently launched the Blessed Carlo Acutis Artificial Intelligence Immersive Learning Center.Coming soon Looking ahead, Edmonton Catholic Schools in Edmonton, Canada, is building a $51 million Carlo Acutis Catholic High School for 1,300 students, due to open in fall 2026.Catholics in Houston’s Bay Area are fundraising $50 million for a new Catholic high school projected to welcome its first freshman class in 2027 with a mission to be “unapologetically Catholic” and “academically excellent.”“Our auxiliary bishop, Bishop Italo Del’Oro, introduced us to Blessed Carlo after he read our mission statement where we emphasize being a school ‘centered on the Eucharist,’” Maria Jose Valladares, the vice president of the Houston school’s board of directors, told CNA.As the canonization approaches, schools across the globe are preparing for a simple but significant update — changing their names. Uniforms, letterheads, and signage will all soon bear witness to the Church’s first computer-coding saint.“There’s a lot of changes that will have to be made, but how exciting that we can call it St. Carlo Acutis Catholic Primary School,” Howard said.At Carlo Acutis Catholic High School in Malawi, celebrations of Acutis’ canonization will kick off with a special Mass and culminate in the performance of a school play about the life of their patron saint. “Carlo Acutis is an inspiration to many people, especially the youth,” Matumba said.“We are extremely excited for the upcoming canonization,” Valladares in Houston said. “We consider ourselves privileged to have a patron that our students will be able to directly relate to and emulate — from his love for his friends to his temperance with video games to his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>From, Malawi, Houston:, Catholic, schools, around, the, world, named, after, Carlo, Acutis</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV praises Italian society for works done in spirit of St. Francis of Assisi</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-praises-italian-society-for-works-done-in-spirit-of-st-francis-of-assisi</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-praises-italian-society-for-works-done-in-spirit-of-st-francis-of-assisi</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Members of St. Francis’ Work for the Poor, wearing T-shirts with the phrase “a helping hand to man every day,” meet with Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 1, 2025, in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 1, 2025 / 09:47 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Monday welcomed members of the Opera San Francesco per i Poveri (“St. Francis’ Work for the Poor”) to the Vatican, thanking the society for its witness of charity according to the Franciscan tradition.“When you see a poor person,” the Holy Father said, recalling the words of St. Francis of Assisi, “you are placed before the mirror of the Lord and his poor Mother.”“Likewise, in the sick, know how to see the infirmities with which Jesus took on himself,” he added.Each year, the Opera San Francesco per i Poveri provides a wide variety of services to more than 30,000 people. Their charitable works include managing cafeterias and health clinics as well as providing job counseling and psychological support for those in need.Thanking the society for nearly 70 years of service, Pope Leo highlighted the spirit of fraternity and faithfulness that continues to guide its members since its foundation.“Your institution has been committed to ‘ensuring assistance and hospitality to people in need and ... promoting the comprehensive human development of the person in accordance with Christian tradition, especially Franciscan tradition, the doctrine of the Church, and its magisterium,&quot; Leo said, quoting the society’s statutes.Several men and women, wearing white shirts with the society’s logo and the phrase “a helping hand to man every day,” had the opportunity to individually greet the Holy Father in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall following his short address.Describing the Milan-based society’s founder Venerable Fra Cecilio Maria Cortinovis as a “humble doorman” with a generous heart, Pope Leo said the Lord answered his prayers by placing other generous people alongside him in order to better serve the poor.“Thus began the beautiful adventure of which all of you are witnesses and protagonists today,” he said.To celebrate the “story of charity” born from the faith of Cortinovis, Pope Leo told the Franciscan society to be faithful to the three “fundamental aspects of charity” outlined in their statues: to assist, to welcome, and to promote.“Assisting means being present for the needs of others,” he said. “And in this regard, the quantity and variety of services you’ve managed to organize and offer to those who turn to you over the years is impressive.”“This is accompanied by welcoming, that is, making room for others in our hearts and lives, offering time, listening, support, and prayer,” he added.Emphasizing the teaching of Pope John Paul II on the dignity and creativity of each person, Pope Leo advised his listeners to help others to discover God and their own vocation in life.“And so we come to the third point: promoting,” he said. “Here, the selflessness of giving and respect for the dignity of people come into play, so that we care for those we encounter simply for their good, so that they can grow to their full potential and proceed on their own path, without expecting anything in return and without imposing conditions.”The Holy Father imparted his blessing at the end of the private Monday audience and assured them of his prayerful accompaniment.“Thank you for what you do and for the witness you give by your journey together!” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV expresses condolences for 800 dead left by earthquake in Afghanistan</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-expresses-condolences-for-800-dead-left-by-earthquake-in-afghanistan</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-expresses-condolences-for-800-dead-left-by-earthquake-in-afghanistan</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for more than 1 million young pilgrims at the University of Rome Tor Vergata in Rome’s outskirts on Aug. 3, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Sep 1, 2025 / 11:05 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV expressed his condolences for the more than 800 dead left by the earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan on Sunday night, with a magnitude of 6 on the Richter scale, also causing widespread destruction.According to local authorities, more than 800 people died and 1,500 were injured, especially in the districts of Nurgal, Sawkay, Watapur, Dara Pech, and Chapi Dara.“Deeply saddened by the significant loss of life caused by the earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV offers fervent prayers for the souls of the deceased, the wounded, and those still missing,” read the telegram sent on behalf of the pontiff.The telegram, signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, stated that the pontiff entrusts “all affected by this disaster to the providence of the Almighty.”The pope also expressed “his heartfelt solidarity in particular with those who mourn the loss of loved ones and with the emergency personnel and civil authorities involved in rescue and recovery efforts.”The main quake, recorded around midnight, was followed by two magnitude 5.2 aftershocks. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the epicenter was located 27 kilometers (16.7 miles) east of Nangarhar province, at a depth of eight kilometers (about five miles), which normally amplifies the destructive power.Mud and stone houses facilitated the collapseAccording to the Afghan news agency Khaama Press, the earthquake destroyed several entire villages because the epicenter was close to the surface and many homes were built with stone and mud.For now, rescue teams continue working to locate survivors among the rubble, although they say operations are being hampered by landslides that have blocked key roads.Deputy information minister and Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on his social media account X that “local officials and residents are involved in the rescue efforts, and all available resources will be used to save lives.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV supports ‘important and urgent’ Creation Day Sept. 1</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-supports-important-and-urgent-creation-day-sept-1</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-supports-important-and-urgent-creation-day-sept-1</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for the Care of Creation at Castel Gandolfo on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 1, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has voiced his support for the Sept. 1 celebration of the World Day of Prayer for Creation, an ecumenical initiative encouraged by Pope Francis.“It is more important and urgent than ever,” Leo said during his Sunday Angelus message on Aug. 31. “This year’s theme is ‘Seeds of Peace and Hope.’”Pope Francis in 2015 established the day of prayer for creation as a universal celebration in the Catholic Church. It had been commemorated by other Christian churches since 1989.Also known as “Creation Day,” the day of prayer marks the start of a monthlong “Season of Creation,” which ends on Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. “In the spirit of the ‘Canticle of Brother Sun,’ composed by [St. Francis] 800 years ago, we praise God and renew our commitment not to ruin his gift but to take care of our common home,” Leo said at the Aug. 31 Angelus.In a message for the World Day of Prayer for Creation 2025, released earlier this year, the pope emphasized “that the destruction of nature does not affect everyone in the same way. When justice and peace are trampled underfoot, those who are most hurt are the poor, the marginalized, and the excluded.”He also criticized the reduction of nature into a bargaining chip and commodity to be bartered for economic or political gain.“God’s creation turns into a battleground for the control of vital resources. We see this in agricultural areas and forests peppered with landmines, ‘scorched earth’ policies, conflicts over water sources, and the unequal distribution of raw materials,” the pontiff said. “These various wounds are the effect of sin,” he said. “This is surely not what God had in mind when he entrusted the earth to the men and women whom he created in his image.”In July, Pope Leo approved new Mass prayers to support the Church’s appreciation for God’s creation. The “Mass for the Care of Creation” was inspired by Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si’, which marks 10 years this year.Bishops in some countries plan to celebrate the new Mass formulary to mark the World Day of Prayer for Creation. Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, president of the commission for social action of the Philippines bishops’ conference, said: “We started promoting Creation Day back in 2003, so it has become immensely popular.”“This year, for the first time in history, we have a Mass formulary — the Missa pro custodia creationis — that allows us to celebrate Creation Day around the altar, with tailored liturgical texts for the occasion. Our bishops’ conference is animating all parishes across the Philippines to mark the day with the new Mass,” he told The Feast of Creation, an initiative coordinated by the World Council of Churches.In a press release for Creation Day, the Feast of Creation said the day has roots in ancient Orthodox liturgical tradition from the fifth century: “It is a day to praise God as creator, commemorate the mystery of creation in Christ, and inspire Christians to care for the created world.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV opens Augustinians’ general chapter with call to listening, humility, and unity</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-opens-augustinians-general-chapter-with-call-to-listening-humility-and-unity</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-opens-augustinians-general-chapter-with-call-to-listening-humility-and-unity</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV speaks at the Mass for the opening of the general chapter of the Order of St. Augustine on Sept. 1, 2025, at the Basilica of St. Augustine in Rome. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 1, 2025 / 14:38 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV celebrated the Mass for the opening of the general chapter of the Order of St. Augustine on Monday evening, invoking the Holy Spirit to guide the religious community’s Sept. 1–18 assembly.Nearly 100 Augustinian priests from around the world, who are participating in this year’s chapter, attended the pope’s Mass held inside the Basilica of St. Augustine in Rome’s city center. Religious sisters belonging to Augustinian orders also attended the Mass. Though the sisters will not participate in the chapter, the Holy Father extended his invitation to them to pray for the “gift of the Holy Spirit” and the “gift of listening” for the fruits of the religious assembly.  During the Sept. 1 homily, Pope Leo — who wore red vestments for the votive Mass dedicated to the Holy Spirit — invited his confreres to focus on “listening, humility, and unity” and respond to God’s grace during the period of prayer and discernment within the order.“The Holy Spirit speaks, today as in the past,” he said. “He does so in the ‘penetralia cordis’ and through the brothers and the circumstances of life.” “This is why it is important for the atmosphere of the chapter, in harmony with the centuries-long tradition of the Church, to be an atmosphere of listening: of listening to God and to others,” he continued.Reflecting on the teachings of St. Augustine, the Holy Father said the Church doctor highlighted the need for unity and collaboration among Christian faithful for the “common good.” “Each single believer was speaking in all languages; and now the unity of believers is speaking in all languages,” he said, quoting St. Augustine. “And so even now all languages are ours, since we are members of the body in which they are to be found.” “Live these days, therefore, in a sincere effort to communicate and to understand, and do so as a generous response to the great and unique gift of light and grace that the Father of heaven gives you by summoning you here, specifically you, for the good of all,” he added.While encouraging his brothers to “openly share what they have” during the 18-day chapter, he emphasized the importance of doing so with humility.“Let no one think they have all the answers,” Leo said Monday.  “Only in this way will the Spirit be able to teach and remind us of what Jesus said, inscribing it in our hearts so that its echo may spread from them, in the uniqueness and unrepeatability of every beat,” he added. In his reflection on the “miracle of Pentecost,” Pope Leo said St. Augustine observed that the Holy Spirit is the “protagonist” who creates unity amid diversity. “Just as spiritual people … take pleasure in unity, so worldly people are ever ready to wrangle,” the Holy Father said, referring to St. Augustine’s writings. “The time you can be sure you have the Holy Spirit is when you consent through sincere charity firmly to attach your minds to the unity,” he continued. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<item>
<title>Andrea Bocelli, Pharrell Williams to direct Vatican concert for human fraternity</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/andrea-bocelli-pharrell-williams-to-direct-vatican-concert-for-human-fraternity</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/andrea-bocelli-pharrell-williams-to-direct-vatican-concert-for-human-fraternity</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pharrell Williams (left) and Andrea Bocelli. / Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images; Jakub Janecki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Aug 29, 2025 / 11:51 am (CNA).
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and American songwriter Pharrell Williams will direct a concert featuring musicians John Legend, Teddy Swims, Jelly Roll, Karol G, BamBam, and Angélique Kidjo in St. Peter’s Square next month.The Sept. 13 concert, which is free and open to the public, will also include a drone light show and talks on themes including peace, justice, food, freedom, and humanity.Called “Grace for the World,” the show will close the third edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, organized by the Fratelli Tutti Foundation and St. Peter’s Basilica, and will be preceded by roundtables on social issues in Rome and Vatican City on Sept. 12–13.Pope Francis established the Fratelli Tutti Foundation at the end of 2021. It is named after his 2020 encyclical on fraternity and social friendship, which expanded on themes in the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” signed with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar, in Abu Dhabi in 2019.The final event of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity 2025 is intended “to communicate to the whole world, with a symbolic embrace, the joy of fraternal love,” Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, president of the Fratelli Tutti Foundation and archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, said at an Aug. 29 press conference at the Vatican.Gambetti said organizers tried to “broaden our international scope” with the choice of music artists.In the press conference, the cardinal said Karol G — a Grammy-winning Colombian reggaeton and urban pop artist — was asked to take part because she is Latin American and “because she is involved in important social work” with women and children. “It seemed relevant to the theme we are trying to address,” Gambetti said.Prominent U.S. artists will also take the stage in front of the Vatican basilica: rapper Jelly Roll and singer-songwriters John Legend, Teddy Swims, and Pharrell Williams.Thai rapper BamBam, who is also a member of the South Korean boy band Got7, will perform, as well as Angélique Kidjo, a Beninese-French singer, actress, and activist. The concert will also feature the choir of the Diocese of Rome and the Voices of Fire Gospel choir.Andrea Bocelli, who has performed in St. Peter’s Square on previous occasions, shared in a video message Aug. 29 that his participation in the concert is “a great honor.”“I sincerely hope that it will truly succeed in spreading, in everyone’s hearts, a sense of brotherhood and great humanity, which is so badly needed,” the world-famous singer added.The World Meeting on Human Fraternity 2025 will start with a meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 12. The program will then focus on roundtables on topics including artificial intelligence, education, economics, literature, children, health, and the environment. Sept. 13 will include an assembly on the topic of “What It Means to Be a Human Today” and a visit to St. Peter’s Basilica and the Holy Door of the Jubilee of Hope.“While the world suffers from wars, loneliness, even new poverty, we have decided to stop and ask ourselves what it means to be human today,” Father Francesco Occhetta, SJ, Fratelli Tutti Foundation secretary-general, said Aug. 29.“It is not an easy question, it even seems a little naive, but it is the only one that can save us if we ask it together,” he added. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 01 Sep 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV appoints new auxiliary bishop for Diocese of San Jose, California</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-appoints-new-auxiliary-bishop-for-diocese-of-san-jose-california</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-appoints-new-auxiliary-bishop-for-diocese-of-san-jose-california</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV on Aug. 29, 2025, appointed Father Andres Ligot as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of San Jose, California. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Diocese of San Jose

Vatican City, Aug 29, 2025 / 14:06 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Friday appointed Father Andres Ligot as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of San Jose, California.The bishop-elect is currently parish priest of St. Elizabeth of Portugal and vicar general of the San Jose Diocese.Prior to his 2021 appointment to St. Elizabeth of Portugal, Ligot, 59, served as judicial vicar of the diocese from 2008 to 2021. Bishop Oscar Cantú expressed his gratitude for Ligot’s elevation to bishop in an Aug. 29 statement published on the diocesan website.“His priestly heart, pastoral experience, and steady leadership will bless our parishes, schools, and ministries,” Cantú said. “I invite the faithful to keep him in prayer as he prepares for episcopal ordination.”Ligot said he was “humbled” by the trust and support he has received from Pope Leo and Cantú and asked people to pray that he will continue to be a “faithful servant” within the diocese. “I renew my promise to serve Christ and his people with joy — especially those most in need,” he said in a statement published by his diocese. Ordained a priest in 1992 by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome for the Diocese of Laoag City, Philippines, Ligot was incardinated into the Diocese of San Jose on March 30, 2004.Before his incardination to the California diocese, Ligot served as parish vicar for St. John Vianney Parish, San Jose, from 2003 to 2005. He was also a chaplain at the Veterans Medical Center in San Francisco and a visiting priest at the Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park.From 2005 to 2009, the bishop-elect was parish priest of St. Lawrence the Martyr Catholic Parish in Santa Clara.Ligot attended San Pablo College Seminary in Baguio City, Philippines, and later continued his priestly studies at the Bidasoa International Seminary in Navarra, Spain, where he obtained a master’s degree in theology. He later obtained a doctorate in canon law from the University of Navarra in Spain.Ligot, who is fluent in English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Ilocano, will become the second auxiliary bishop appointed to the Diocese of San Jose and the sixth U.S. prelate from the Philippines. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 01 Sep 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, appoints, new, auxiliary, bishop, for, Diocese, San, Jose, California</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo prays for Minneapolis school shooting victims, laments ‘pandemic of arms’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-prays-for-minneapolis-school-shooting-victims-laments-pandemic-of-arms</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-prays-for-minneapolis-school-shooting-victims-laments-pandemic-of-arms</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV speaks from a window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square during the Sunday Angelus on Aug. 24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 31, 2025 / 07:10 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday prayed for the victims of a shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis and deplored a worldwide “pandemic of arms” that has left many children dead or injured.“Our prayers for the victims of the tragic shooting during a school Mass in the American state of Minnesota,” the pontiff said in English on Aug. 31 after leading the weekly Angelus prayer from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.“We include in our prayers,” he added, “the countless children killed and injured every day around the world. Let us plead to God to stop the pandemic of arms, large and small, which infects our world.”An Aug. 27 shooting at a school Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis left two children dead and 17 others wounded.Leo turned to Mary, the Queen of Peace, to ask for her intercession “to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.’”A large crowd gathers in and outside of St. Peter&#039;s Square to listen to Pope Leo XIV&#039;s message during the Sunday Angelus on Aug. 31, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaIn his other appeals after the Angelus, delivered in Italian, Pope Leo repeated his calls for an immediate ceasefire and “a serious commitment to dialogue” in the Middle East, and for prayer and concrete gestures for the victims of the ongoing war in Ukraine.“The voice of arms must be silenced, while the voice of brotherhood and justice must be raised,” he said.The pope said his heart is also wounded for those who have died or are missing after a boat carrying migrants from Africa to the Canary Islands capsized off the coast of Mauritania. According to the BBC, at least 69 people have died and many others are missing.“This mortal tragedy repeats every day everywhere in the world,” Leo said. “Let us pray that the Lord teaches us, as individuals and as a society, to put fully into practice his word: ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me.’”“We entrust all our missing, injured, and dead everywhere to our Savior’s loving embrace,” the pontiff said both in English and in Italian.In his spiritual message before the Angelus prayer, Pope Leo spoke about encounter, which requires openness of heart and humility.Pope Leo XIV waves to the large crowds in a sunny St. Peter&#039;s Square after delivering a message and leading the Angelus prayer on Aug. 31, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media.“Humility is really freedom from ourselves,” he emphasized. “It is born when the kingdom of God and its righteousness become our real concern and we allow ourselves to lift up our eyes and look ahead: not down at our feet, but at what lies ahead!”Leo said people who put themselves before others tend to think they are more interesting than anything else, “yet deep down, they are quite insecure.”“Whereas,” he continued, “those who know that they are precious in God’s eyes, who know they are God’s children, have greater things to be worried about; they possess a sublime dignity all their own.”The pope reflected on Jesus’ example of how to be a good guest, as described in the day’s Gospel reading; Jesus “acts with respect and sincerity, avoiding merely polite formalities that preclude authentic encounter,” Leo explained.To extend an invitation to another person also shows “a sign of openness of heart,” he added.The pontiff encouraged everyone to invite Jesus to be their guest at Mass so that he can tell them how it is he sees them.“It is very important that we see ourselves through his eyes: to see how frequently we reduce life to a competition, how anxious we become to obtain some sort of recognition, and how pointlessly we compare ourselves to others,” he said.We experience the freedom Jesus wants for us, he added, when we stop to reflect and let ourselves “be taken aback by a word that challenges our hearts’ priorities.” ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 01 Sep 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, prays, for, Minneapolis, school, shooting, victims, laments, ‘pandemic, arms’</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV urges Catholic politicians to follow the Gospel in public life</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-catholic-politicians-to-follow-the-gospel-in-public-life</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-catholic-politicians-to-follow-the-gospel-in-public-life</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses a delegation of political representatives and civic leaders from the Diocese of Créteil, France, on Aug. 28, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 28, 2025 / 12:30 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday encouraged Catholic politicians to live coherently as Christians and follow the Gospel, even when performing their public duties in a secular polity. During an Aug. 28 meeting with a delegation of political representatives and civic leaders from the Diocese of Créteil, France, accompanied by Bishop Dominique Blanchet, the Holy Father stated that “a more just, more human, more fraternal world” can only be “a world more imbued with the Gospel.”Thus, he added, “in the face of the various deviations present in our Western societies, we can do nothing better, as Christians, than to turn to Christ and ask for his help in carrying out our responsibilities.”For this reason, the pope highlighted the importance of political and social leaders being committed to acting in coherence with their faith, because “beyond mere personal enrichment, it carries great importance and usefulness for the men and women they serve.” In this regard, he underlined that such determination “is all the more praiseworthy considering that, in France, due to a sometimes-misunderstood secularism, it is not easy for an elected representative to act and decide consistently with their faith.” ‘Christianity cannot be reduced to a mere private devotion’ Because the Christian message embraces every dimension of the human person, Leo XIV stressed that “Christianity cannot be reduced to a mere private devotion, since it entails a way of living in society infused with love for God and neighbor, who in Christ is no longer an enemy but a brother.” To face social challenges, the Holy Father said Catholic politicians must rely “on the virtue of charity that dwells within them since baptism,” a gift of God that, as he cited from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, constitutes a “force capable of inspiring new paths to address today’s problems and to renew profoundly from within structures, social organizations, and legal norms,” bringing charity from the personal realm into the social and political one because “it makes us love the common good and leads us to effectively seek the good of all.” Pope Leo XIV also noted that the Christian politician “is better prepared to face the challenges of today’s world, provided, of course, that he lives and bears witness to his faith in him, to his personal relationship with Christ.” In this sense, he warned against the temptation to promote values “however evangelical they may be, but ‘emptied’ of Christ, their author,” since they will be “incapable of changing the world.” Responding to Blanchet’s request for advice to Catholic politicians, Leo XIV replied: “The first and only one I will give you is to unite yourselves more and more to Jesus, to live and bear witness to him.” Coherence in public life “There is no split in the personality of a public figure: There is not, on one side, the politician and, on the other, the Christian. Rather, there is a politician who, under God’s gaze and before his conscience, lives his commitments and responsibilities as a Christian!” he added.To achieve such coherence of life, the pope recalled the call for Catholic politicians “to strengthen themselves in faith, to deepen their knowledge of doctrine — especially social doctrine — that Jesus taught the world, and to put it into practice in carrying out their duties and in drafting laws.” He also affirmed the enduring validity of natural law, a norm “that all can recognize, even non-Christians. Therefore, we should not fear proposing it and defending it with conviction: It is a doctrine of salvation that seeks the good of every human being, the building of peaceful, harmonious, prosperous, and reconciled societies.”Courage in the face of difficulties At the end of his address, the pope acknowledged that “an openly Christian commitment by a public official is not easy, especially in certain Western societies where Christ and his Church are marginalized, often ignored, and at times ridiculed.” Such a commitment also means facing political pressures, including that of “ideological colonization,” Leo said, using a term coined by his predecessor Pope Francis to refer to campaigns by wealthy countries and organizations to influence the values of developing nations.  Leo said that Christian public officials “need courage: the courage sometimes to say ‘no, I cannot,’ when the truth is at stake.” “Only union with Jesus — Jesus crucified! — will give you that courage to suffer for his name,” the pontiff declared, recalling Christ’s words: “In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage: I have overcome the world.” In conclusion, the pope expressed his support for Catholic politicians and encouraged them not to lose hope in a better world: “Remain certain that, uni ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 29 Aug 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV accepts Medal of St. Augustine: ‘It’s an honor held dearly’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-accepts-medal-of-st-augustine-its-an-honor-held-dearly</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-accepts-medal-of-st-augustine-its-an-honor-held-dearly</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV accepts the Medal of St. Augustine from Fr. Robert P. Hagan, O.S.A., prior provincial of the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova (R) and Fr. Joseph Farrell, O.S.A., vicar general of the Order of St. Augustine (L) in a video released on Aug. 28, 2025. / Credit: Screenshot from the YouTube page of the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 29, 2025 / 05:10 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV expressed his gratitude to receive the Medal of Saint Augustine, awarded by the United States Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, and affirmed that the spirituality of the Doctor of the Church has marked his life and ministry.“To be recognized as an Augustinian, it’s an honor held dearly. So much of who I am I owe to the spirit and the teachings of St. Augustine,” he said in a video message shared on St. Augustine’s feast day, Aug. 28.The Augustinian Province said on Facebook that the Medal of St. Augustine is the highest honor the province can bestow, “given to those who embody the spirit and teachings of St. Augustine, living with deep commitment to Truth, Unity, and Charity.”The province added: “From his early years in formation to his decades of service in Peru, leadership as Prior General, and now as the first Augustinian pope, Pope Leo XIV has witnessed to a life of generosity, faith, and service. In him, we see a true son of Augustine — dedicated to building unity in the Church, teaching with wisdom, and shepherding with a heart rooted in love. We are honored to bestow upon him this award.”In his video message, recorded from Castel Gandolfo, where he spent a few days of prayer and rest in mid-August, the pope recalled that the life of St. Augustine still inspires the faithful today.“His life was full of much trial and error, like our own lives. But through God’s grace, through the prayers of his mother, Monica, and the community of good people around him, Augustine was able to find the way to peace for his restless heart,” he said.Leo emphasized that the example of St. Augustine invites us to put our talents at the service of others: “The life of St. Augustine and his call to servant leadership, reminds us that we all have God given gifts and talents, and our purpose, fulfillment, and joy comes from offering them back in loving service to God and to our neighbor.”He assured the members of the Augustinian province that they are called to continue the legacy of the first Augustinians in the United States — such as Fr. Matthew Carr and Fr. John Rossiter — whose missionary spirit led them to proclaim the Gospel to immigrants in Philadelphia: “Jesus reminds us in the Gospel to love our neighbor, and this challenges us now more than ever to remember to see our neighbors today with the eyes of Christ: that all of us are created in the image and likeness of God through friendship, relationship, dialogue and respect for one another.”He also encouraged the U.S. Augustinians to become instruments of reconciliation. “As a community of believers and inspired by the charism of the Augustinians, we are called to go forth to be peacemakers in our families and neighborhoods and truly recognize God’s presence in one another.”The pope emphasized the importance of listening, following the advice of St. Augustine: “It is within our hearts where God speaks to us.” He added: “The world is full of noise, and our heads and hearts can be flooded with many different kinds of messages. These messages can fuel our restlessness and steal our joy. As a community of faith … may we strive to filter the noise, the divisive voices in our heads and hearts, and open ourselves up to the daily invitations to get to know God and God’s love better.”The pontiff expressed his confidence that, like Augustine, every believer can find in God the strength to overcome anxiety, darkness, and doubt, and “through God’s grace, we can discover that God’s love is truly healing. Let us strive to build a community where that love is made visible.”Leo XIV concluded his message by asking for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Good Counsel, and by offering a prayer for the Church: “May God bless you all and bring peace to your restless hearts, and help you continue to build a community of love, one in mind and heart, intent upon on God.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 29 Aug 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, accepts, Medal, St., Augustine:, ‘It’s, honor, held, dearly’</media:keywords>
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<title>Vatican announces theme for 2026 World Day of Peace</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/vatican-announces-theme-for-2026-world-day-of-peace</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/vatican-announces-theme-for-2026-world-day-of-peace</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims during his general audience on July 30, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 26, 2025 / 12:53 pm (CNA).
“Peace Be With You All: Towards an Unarmed and Disarming Peace” will be the theme for the 2026 World Day of Peace, the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development announced Aug. 26.This theme, according to a statement from the Vatican Press Office, “invites humanity to reject the logic of violence and war, to embrace an authentic peace, based on love and justice.”The statement continues: “It is a peace that is unarmed — that is, not based on fear, threats, or weapons; and disarming, because it is capable of dissolving conflicts, opening hearts, and generating trust, empathy, and hope. It is not enough to invoke peace; it must be embodied in a lifestyle that rejects all forms of violence, visible or structural.”“The greeting of the risen Christ, ‘Peace be with you’ (cf. Jn 20:19), is an invitation to all — believers, nonbelievers, political leaders, and citizens — to build the kingdom of God and to construct together a humane and peaceful future,” the statement concludes.The World Day of Peace was instituted by Pope Paul VI, who proposed it on Dec. 8, 1967, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The Church first celebrated it on Jan. 1, 1968, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.The observance came amid the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and other conflicts.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2025 18:00:09 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Vatican, announces, theme, for, 2026, World, Day, Peace</media:keywords>
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<title>‘Let there be peace!’: Book of Pope Leo XIV’s discourses to be published Aug. 27</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/let-there-be-peace-book-of-pope-leo-xivs-discourses-to-be-published-aug-27</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/let-there-be-peace-book-of-pope-leo-xivs-discourses-to-be-published-aug-27</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV, whose recent discourses will be published in a book on Aug. 27, waves during his Wednesday audience Aug. 20, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 26, 2025 / 15:27 pm (CNA).
On Aug. 27 the Vatican will publish a compilation of Pope Leo’s discourses from the first months of his pontificate in a book signed by the pontiff titled “Let There Be Peace! Words to the Church and the World.”According to the Vatican publishing house, the 160-page volume, which will be published in Italian, English, and Spanish, “is a valuable book: It collects the first discourses of Pope Leo XIV, through which we can better understand the pontiff through his own words.”The book’s title underscores the Holy Father’s emphasis on calling for peace, which began from the very moment of his election on May 8, when he exclaimed from St. Peter’s: “Peace be with you all! Dear brothers and sisters, these are the first words spoken by the risen Christ, the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for God’s flock. I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world. Peace be with you! It is the peace of the risen Christ. A peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering. A peace that comes from God, the God who loves us all, unconditionally.”According to information provided by the Vatican, the ideas that stand out in the first discourses of Leo XIV’s pontificate include “the primacy of God, communion in the Church, the search for peace.”The pontiff has also emphasized the fundamental importance of “an irrevocable commitment for anyone who exercises a ministry of authority in the Church: to disappear so that Christ may remain, to become small so that he may be known and glorified.”Also notable in the book’s first pages are his calls to strive for “a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which may become leaven for a reconciled world.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>‘Let, there, peace’:, Book, Pope, Leo, XIV’s, discourses, published, Aug.</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Pope Leo XIV: ‘Christian hope is not evasion, but decision’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-christian-hope-is-not-evasion-but-decision</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-christian-hope-is-not-evasion-but-decision</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pilgrims reach out to Pope Leo XIV at the general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican City, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 27, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).
We find true hope when we give of ourselves freely and with love — encountering suffering, not running away from it, Pope Leo XIV said at his weekly audience with the public on Wednesday.Addressing thousands of pilgrims in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall, the pope emphasized Jesus’ embrace of suffering, when he gave himself up to be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion.Pope Leo XIV greets a young pilgrim at the general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican City, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaJesus “is not the victim of an arrest but the giver of a gift,” Leo said on Aug. 27. “In this gesture, he embodies a hope of salvation for our humanity: to know that, even in the darkest hour, one can remain free to love to the end.”The pontiff said Jesus’ actions show us what it is to be free.“In life, it is not necessary to have everything under control. It is enough to choose to love freely every day,” he underlined.Pope Leo XIV speaks to pilgrims at the general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican City, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaLeo’s general audience message centered on the scene that begins Jesus’ passion: his arrest. Despite knowing what is going to happen to him, the Lord does not retreat but “gives himself up” out of love to the soldiers who have come to arrest him.“In the middle of the night, when everything seems to be falling apart, Jesus shows that Christian hope is not evasion, but decision,” the pope said.Speaking to a packed hall, he recalled that Jesus prepared every day of his life for the moment of his arrest and subsequent passion and death. “For this reason, when it arrives, he has the strength not to seek a way of escape. His heart knows well that to lose life for love is not a failure.”“Jesus too is troubled when faced with a path that seems to lead only to death and to the end,” Leo continued. “But he is equally persuaded that only a life lost for love, at the end, is ultimately found.”Pope Leo XIV hugs a newlywed couple at the general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican City, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media“This,” the pontiff said, “is what true hope consists of: not in trying to avoid pain but in believing that even in the heart of the most unjust suffering, the seed of new life is hidden.”He asked those listening to reflect on their lives and to think about how often they defend themselves and their own plans, without realizing that it leaves them, ultimately, alone.“The logic of the Gospel is different: Only what is given flourishes; only the love that becomes free can restore trust even where everything seems lost,” he said, adding that “this is true hope: knowing that, even in the darkness of trial, God’s love sustains us and ripens the fruit of eternal life in us.”Pope Leo encouraged English-speaking pilgrims at today&#039;s Audience that &quot;God&#039;s love is ever present as a source of spiritual fruitfulness and the promise of eternal life.&quot; pic.twitter.com/mm51BYBxmg— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) August 27, 2025 During his greeting to Spanish-speaking pilgrims, Pope Leo recalled the Church’s Aug. 27 celebration of the feast of St. Monica and the Aug. 28 feast of St. Augustine, Monica’s son.“Let us ask the Lord, through the intercession of these beloved saints, that we may know — following the logic of the Gospel — how to love and give our lives freely and generously, as Christ, our hope, did,” he said.A crowd of thousands gathers at the general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican City, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaAt the end of the Wednesday audience, the pope added an appeal for the end of wars, especially the conflict in the Holy Land.“I implore that all hostages be released, that a permanent ceasefire be reached, that safe access for humanitarian aid be facilitated, and that humanitarian rights be fully respected: in particular, the obligation to protect all civilian areas and the prohibition of collective punishment, indiscriminate use of force, and forced displacement of the population,” he said.“We implore Mary, Queen of Peace, source of consolation and hope, to intercede for reconciliation and peace in that land so dear to us all,” Leo added. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV:, ‘Christian, hope, not, evasion, but, decision’</media:keywords>
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<item>
<title>Augustinian priests: St. Monica had ‘great interior strength’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/augustinian-priests-st-monica-had-great-interior-strength</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/augustinian-priests-st-monica-had-great-interior-strength</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  St. Augustine and St. Monica stained glass at St. Augustine Cathedral Catholic Church Basilica in Tucson, Arizona. / Credit: Bill Perry/Shutterstock

Rome Newsroom, Aug 27, 2025 / 13:40 pm (CNA).
Since the fourth century, Christians have revered St. Monica, the mother of Church Father St. Augustine, as a woman of unwavering faith in God.In an interview with EWTN News reporter Valentina Di Donato, two Augustinian priests living in Rome explain why the woman they refer to as their “grandmother” continues to be a source of hope and inspiration, especially for Catholic wives and mothers.Father Angelo Di Berardino, OSA, who has worked and lived at the Augustinian International College of Santa Monica in Rome for 50 years, said St. Monica had a great interior strength that influenced all members of her family.“Respecting her husband, she was able to convert him,” Di Berardino told EWTN News. “Then, she was a strong woman to educate her three children, especially Augustine.”“I think she was so strong in her life, in her prayer, that she had a great influence on the great theologian Augustine,” he added.According to Order of St. Augustine procurator general Father Edward Daleng Daniang, OSA, St. Monica is the saint to turn to for spouses who feel alone in their desire to create a Christian family home.“St. Monica did not have it easy with her husband Patrick,” he said. “She tried to win him with her love, with her patience and endurance and tolerance and, above all, bringing her husband to God through prayer.”Describing the ancient saint as a “living example” of a mother who does not give up on her children, Daniang said those struggling with their children can have hope that their prayers, and tears, are never wasted.“St. Monica was struggling with her son St. Augustine who wandered away from home,” he said. “He left Monica, his mother, to come to Italy in those days and Monica did not give up.”“He left the faith which she tried to transmit to him but she did not give up,” he emphasized.Following her son to Italy, Daniang said her main intention of leaving Africa was not to bring her son back home but to lead her son to Jesus Christ for the salvation of his soul.“St. Monica stands as someone who led her husband to God, to Christ, and also brought her son St. Augustine to Christ,” he said.“That’s bringing the unity of family together,” he added. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Augustinian, priests:, St., Monica, had, ‘great, interior, strength’</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo prays for victims of ‘terrible tragedy’ in Minneapolis Catholic school shooting</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-prays-for-victims-of-terrible-tragedy-in-minneapolis-catholic-school-shooting</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-prays-for-victims-of-terrible-tragedy-in-minneapolis-catholic-school-shooting</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV prays during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 13, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Aug 27, 2025 / 15:30 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday said he was offering prayers for the victims of the Minneapolis Catholic school shooting, one he described as an “extremely difficult” and “terrible” tragedy.Two children were killed in a shooting incident at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis on Aug. 27, with the gunman taking his own life after the deadly attack during the parochial school Mass.Law enforcement were still working to determine a motive to the shooting on Wednesday afternoon. In his telegram to Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop Bernard Hebda, meanwhile, Leo said he was “profoundly saddened” at the news of the killings.The pope “sends his heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness” to the victims of the shooting, said the telegram, signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Leo “sends his heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness to all those affected by this terrible tragedy, especially the families now grieving the loss of a child,” the message said. “While commending the souls of the deceased children to the love of Almighty God, His Holiness prays for the wounded as well as the first responders, medical personnel, and clergy who are caring for them and their loved ones,” the message continued. The pope offered an apostolic blessing to the archdiocese “as a pledge of peace, fortitude, and consolation in the Lord Jesus.”U.S. bishops: ‘Let us all beg the Lord for protection’Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a statement lamenting the loss of life in the deadly shooting. “Whenever one part of the Body of Christ is wounded, we feel the pain as if it were our very own children,” USCCB Vice President Archbishop William Lori said in the statement. “Let us all beg the Lord for the protection and healing of the entire Annunciation family.”The remarks from the pope and the U.S. bishops come amid an outpouring of grief and support from around the U.S. and the world.President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning said the White House was monitoring the situation. “Please join me in praying for everyone involved!” he wrote. The president subsequently ordered the U.S. flags at the White House to be lowered to half staff in honor of the victims of the shooting.Numerous other U.S. bishops responded to the tragedy as well. “Please join me in praying for all those who were injured or lost their lives — along with their families,” Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron said. “Let us also pray for the students, faculty, and entire parish community.”The New York State Catholic Conference, meanwhile, wrote that the state’s bishops were “devastated” by the shooting. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, prays, for, victims, ‘terrible, tragedy’, Minneapolis, Catholic, school, shooting</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV calls Christians to ecumenism to be architects of reconciliation and peace</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-calls-christians-to-ecumenism-to-be-architects-of-reconciliation-and-peace</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-calls-christians-to-ecumenism-to-be-architects-of-reconciliation-and-peace</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV meets with a U.S. ecumenical group led by Cardinal Joseph Tobin and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elpidophoros of America on July 17, 2025, at the Vatican, encouraging them to “return to the roots of our faith” in their pilgrimage to Italy and Turkey. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 22, 2025 / 15:07 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has issued an ecumenical appeal to all Christians to be architects of reconciliation and peace throughout the world on the occasion of Ecumenical Week, which is being celebrated in Stockholm Aug. 18–24.In a message published Aug. 22 by the Vatican press office, the pontiff recalled that this initiative, in which Christians of different denominations participate, coincides with the centenary of the Christian Conference on Life and Work held in Stockholm in 1925 and the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.Regarding the council held in 325, Leo XIV explained that with the formulation of the Creed, the Council Fathers “articulated the faith that continues to bind Christians together,” making that occasion “a courageous sign of unity amid difference — an early witness to the conviction that our shared confession can overcome division and foster communion.”Regarding the meeting convened in Stockholm 100 years ago, the pope emphasized that its proponent “the pioneer of the early ecumenical movement, Archbishop Nathan Söderblom, Lutheran archbishop of Uppsala,” held the conviction that “service unites” and proposed joining forces in “‘practical Christianity’ — to serve the world together in the pursuit of peace, justice, and human dignity.”Leo XIV noted that, although the Catholic Church was not present at that first meeting, “we stand with you today as fellow disciples of Christ, recognizing that what unites us is far greater than what divides us.”He emphasized that since the Second Vatican Council, “the Catholic Church has wholeheartedly embraced the ecumenical path,” reflected in the decree Unitatis Redintegratio, which called “dialogue in humble and loving fraternity, grounded in our common baptism and our shared mission in the world.”“We believe that the unity Christ wills for his Church must be visible and that such unity grows through theological dialogue, common worship where possible, and shared witness in the face of humanity’s suffering,” the pontiff said in his message.Leo XIV also highlighted the theme of this year’s meeting, “Time for God’s Peace,” as a message that “could not be more timely” as we contemplate “the deep scars of conflict, inequality, environmental degradation, and a growing sense of spiritual disconnection.”Peace, the Holy Father emphasized, “is not merely a human achievement but a sign of the Lord’s presence with us. This is both a promise and a task, for the followers of Christ are summoned to become artisans of reconciliation: to confront division with courage, indifference with compassion, and to bring healing where there has been hurt.”In reference to the ecumenical work carried out by his predecessors, Leo XIV said he is pleased that during the ecumenical meeting “my delegation is able to be present as a sign of the Catholic Church’s commitment to continuing the journey of praying and working together, wherever we can, for peace, justice, and the good of all.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 25 Aug 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, calls, Christians, ecumenism, architects, reconciliation, and, peace</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV urges Catholic legislators to look to Augustine’s ‘City of God’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-catholic-legislators-to-look-to-augustines-city-of-god</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-urges-catholic-legislators-to-look-to-augustines-city-of-god</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV views a gift from an attendee at the International Catholic Legislators Network meeting at the Vatican, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 23, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Saturday urged Catholic lawmakers to draw inspiration from St. Augustine’s “City of God” as they navigate shifting global politics, warning against reducing the idea of human flourishing to mere wealth or consumer comfort.Speaking to the International Catholic Legislators Network in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, the pope called on parliamentarians to ensure that “power is tamed by conscience and law is at the service of human dignity.”“Authentic human flourishing is seen when individuals live virtuously, when they live in healthy communities, enjoying not only what they have, what they possess, but also who they are as children of God,” he told the lawmakers.Pope Leo XIV addresses the International Catholic Legislators Network at the Vatican, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media“It ensures the freedom to seek truth, to worship God, and to raise families in peace. It also includes a harmony with creation and a sense of solidarity across social classes and nations.”The International Catholic Legislators Network, founded in 2010 by Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schönborn and British peer David Alton, gathers Catholic parliamentarians annually in Rome to discuss religious liberty, Church-state relations, the protection of life, and the role of Catholic thought in politics.This year’s four-day meeting in Rome took up the theme “The New World Order: Major Power Politics, Corporate Dominions, and the Future of Human Flourishing.”Pope Leo XIV poses with the International Catholic Legislators Network at the Vatican, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaIn his speech, Pope Leo pointed to St. Augustine of Hippo, who wrote “The City of God” during the collapse of the Roman Empire.“To find our footing in the present circumstances — especially you as Catholic legislators and political leaders — I suggest that we might look to the past, to that towering figure of St. Augustine of Hippo,” he said.“As a leading voice of the Church in the late Roman era, he witnessed immense upheavals and social disintegration. In response, he penned ‘The City of God,’ a work that offers a vision of hope, a vision of meaning that can still speak to us today.”The pope shared how Augustine taught that there are two “cities” intertwined in human history that signify two orientations of the human heart: “The City of Man, built on pride and love of oneself, is marked by the pursuit of power, prestige, and pleasure; the City of God, built on love of God unto selflessness, is characterized by justice, charity, and humility.”Leo said that lawmakers are called to act as “bridge-builders between the City of God and the City of Man.”Addressing Catholic lawmakers, Pope Leo drew on St. Augustine’s City of God, written as the Roman Empire fell, urging leaders today to build on charity, justice &amp; truth. “The future of human flourishing,” he said, “depends on which love we choose — selfish love, or the love of… pic.twitter.com/oSbXVFuG4A— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) August 23, 2025 “Augustine encouraged Christians to infuse the earthly society with the values of God’s kingdom, thereby directing history toward its ultimate fulfillment in God, while also allowing for authentic human flourishing in this life,” he said.“The future of human flourishing depends on which ‘love’ we choose to organize our society around — a selfish love, the love of self, or the love of God and neighbor.”Pope Leo also challenged prevailing cultural notions of progress and development. “We must clarify the meaning of human flourishing. Today, a flourishing life is often confused with a materially wealthy life or a life of unrestricted individual autonomy and pleasure,” he said.“The so-called ideal future presented to us is often one of technological convenience and consumer satisfaction. Yet we know that this is not enough. We see this in affluent societies where many people struggle with loneliness, with despair and a sense of meaninglessness.”Instead, he insisted, true flourishing stems from what the Church calls “integral human development,” or “the full development of a person in all dimensions: physical, social, cultural, moral, and spiritual.”“This vision for the human person is rooted in natural law, the moral order that God has written on the human heart, whose deeper truths are illuminated by the Gospel of Christ,” he said.Pope Leo XIV is the first pope from the Order of St. Augustine, also known as the Augustinians, an ancient religious order with thousands of members worldwide. Leo served as the head of the order from 2001 to 2013.In the first months of his pontificate, Pope Leo has cited his spiritual father, St. Augustine, on multiple occasions, establishing a pastoral approach deeply rooted in the Augustinian ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 25 Aug 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, urges, Catholic, legislators, look, Augustine’s, ‘City, God’</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV: Jesus challenges presumption of those who think they are already saved</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-jesus-challenges-presumption-of-those-who-think-they-are-already-saved</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-jesus-challenges-presumption-of-those-who-think-they-are-already-saved</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd during his Angelus address on Aug. 24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 24, 2025 / 08:20 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV said Sunday that Jesus calls Christians to enter through the narrow gate and challenges the presumption of those who assume they are already saved.Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Aug. 24, the pope reflected on the day’s Gospel reading in which Jesus says: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able” (Lk 13:22-30).Jesus, the pope said, “did not choose the easy path of success or power; instead, in order to save us, he loved us to the point of walking through the ‘narrow gate’ of the cross.”There are times when following the Lord, he added, will require “making difficult and unpopular decisions, resisting our selfish inclinations, placing ourselves at the service of others, and persevering in doing what is right when the logic of evil seems to prevail.”Among those attending Pope Leo XIV’s Angelus address on Aug. 24, 2025, were U.S. seminarians from the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Credit: Vatican MediaIn his Angelus address, Pope Leo said that Jesus calls into question what he described as “the security of believers” and added that the Lord’s words about the “narrow gate” are “meant primarily to challenge the presumption of those people who think they are already saved, who perform religious acts and feel that is all that is needed.”“Our faith is authentic when it embraces our whole life, when it becomes a criterion for our decisions, when it makes us women and men committed to doing what is right and who take risks out of love, even as Jesus did,” he said.“Jesus is the true measure of our faith; he is the gate through which we must pass in order to be saved (cf. Jn 10:9) by experiencing his love and by working, in our daily lives, to promote justice and peace,” Leo added.“Let us ask the Virgin Mary to help us find the courage to pass through the ‘narrow gate’ of the Gospel, so that we may open ourselves with joy to the wide embrace of God our loving Father.”Pope Leo at today’s Angelus reflects on Jesus as the “Narrow Gate,” reminding us that “our faith is authentic when it embraces our whole life,” that “Jesus is the true measure of our faith, the gate to pass through in order to be saved.” pic.twitter.com/z6s1sNGH2n— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) August 24, 2025 After leading the crowd in the Angelus prayer in Latin, the pope turned his thoughts to Christians suffering violence in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province.“I express my closeness to the people of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, who have become victims of an unsecure and violent situation that continues to cause death and displacement. In asking you not to forget these brothers and sisters of ours, I invite you to pray for them, and I express my hope that the efforts of the country’s leaders will succeed in restoring security and peace in that territory,” he said.He also renewed prayers for Ukraine, days after calling for a worldwide day of prayer and fasting for peace. “Today, we join our Ukrainian brothers and sisters who, with the spiritual initiative ‘World Prayer for Ukraine,’ are asking the Lord to grant peace to their tormented country,” he said.Earlier Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on X a letter from the pope in which Leo assured him of his prayer for the people suffering in Ukraine and that a path to peace for the good of all will be opened. I am sincerely grateful to His Holiness for his thoughtful words, prayer, and attention to the people of Ukraine amid devastating war. All of our hopes and efforts are for our nation to achieve the long-awaited peace. For good, truth, and justice to prevail. We appreciate… pic.twitter.com/QeO2u43jiY— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 24, 2025  ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 25 Aug 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Zelenskyy shares letter from Pope Leo XIV on Ukraine’s Independence Day </title>
<link>https://ofw.today/zelenskyy-shares-letter-from-pope-leo-xiv-on-ukraines-independence-day</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/zelenskyy-shares-letter-from-pope-leo-xiv-on-ukraines-independence-day</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV gives his Sunday Angelus address from the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square on Aug. 24, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 24, 2025 / 10:10 am (CNA).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked his country’s Independence Day on Sunday by posting a letter from Pope Leo XIV in which the pope assured him of prayers for Ukrainians suffering in the war and urged that “the clamor of arms may fall silent and give way to dialogue.”“With a heart wounded by the violence that ravages your land, I address you on this day of your national feast,” the pope wrote in the letter, which Zelenskyy shared on the social media platform X on Aug. 24. The Vatican’s official media outlet, Vatican News, published an article attributing the message to Pope Leo XIV.“I wish to assure you of my prayer for the people of Ukraine who suffer from war — especially for all those wounded in body, for those bereaved by the death of a loved one, and for those deprived of their homes,” the pope said. “May God himself console them; may he strengthen the injured and grant eternal rest to the departed.”The pope said he was entrusting Ukraine “to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace,” and prayed that “the path to peace for the good of all” would be opened.Zelenskyy, in his X post, thanked the pope: “I am sincerely grateful to His Holiness for his thoughtful words, prayer, and attention to the people of Ukraine amid devastating war. All of our hopes and efforts are for our nation to achieve the long-awaited peace. For good, trust, and justice to prevail. We appreciate @pontifex’s moral leadership and apostolic support.”The papal message was one of a flurry of Independence Day letters Zelenskyy posted online from world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, King Charles III of Britain, Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter, French President Emmanuel Macron, and King Felipe VI of Spain.Ukraine’s Independence Day, celebrated annually on Aug. 24, commemorates the country’s 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.The pope’s message came two days after he called for a worldwide day of fasting and prayer for peace, coinciding with the Aug. 22 feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.In July, Zelenskyy met Pope Leo at Castel Gandolfo, the pope’s summer residence, in their second encounter since the pope’s inauguration Mass in May. According to the Vatican, they discussed “the urgency of pursuing just and lasting paths of peace,” and Pope Leo reaffirmed his willingness to host representatives of Russia and Ukraine for possible negotiations.I am sincerely grateful to His Holiness for his thoughtful words, prayer, and attention to the people of Ukraine amid devastating war. All of our hopes and efforts are for our nation to achieve the long-awaited peace. For good, truth, and justice to prevail. We appreciate… pic.twitter.com/QeO2u43jiY— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 24, 2025  ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 25 Aug 2025 18:00:06 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV could visit Lebanon before the end of the year, patriarch says</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-could-visit-lebanon-before-the-end-of-the-year-patriarch-says</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-could-visit-lebanon-before-the-end-of-the-year-patriarch-says</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Lebanese Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, the head of the Maronite Catholic Church, gives a homily during the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 9, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 20, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV could visit Lebanon before the end of the year, the leader of the country’s Maronite Catholics said Tuesday.In an interview with the Saudi-based television station Al Arabiya, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Raï, patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church, said Pope Leo XIV “will come to visit Lebanon sometime between now and December,” adding that he was not sure when the trip would be. “The visit will happen after a decision from the Vatican about when it will take place, so until now it’s not yet determined. But preparations for the visit are underway, though the exact timing is still unknown, waiting for the Vatican to announce it,” Raï said. The Vatican has not yet announced any official international trips for the new pontiff, but speculation has swirled for months about where his first journeys abroad may take him. According to veteran Middle East expert and EWTN News contributor Alberto Fernández, the expected visit will likely be connected to a papal trip to Nicaea — located in modern-day İznik in northwestern Turkey — to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council. The most likely date is Nov. 30, St. Andrew’s Day, when a Catholic delegation traditionally visits Turkey. Reports have also suggested that Pope Leo XIV could add other stops to a Turkey visit. The National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, reported last month that a papal visit to Algeria — following in the footsteps of St. Augustine, who was bishop of Hippo in what is now Annaba — was among itineraries under consideration. Lebanon has now emerged as another possible destination.A papal trip to Lebanon was long discussed under Pope Francis, but the country’s political and economic crises complicated planning. Francis publicly expressed his desire to visit Lebanon during an in-flight press conference returning from Iraq in March 2021. A few months later, Vatican officials said a visit would depend on the formation of a government.In April 2022, then-President Michel Aoun announced that Francis would travel to Lebanon that June, but the trip never materialized. Lebanon was also floated as a potential meeting place between Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill after the start of the Ukraine war, an encounter that never happened.Lebanon endured a prolonged political vacuum after Aoun’s term ended in October 2022. The country remained without a head of state until Joseph Aoun was elected president on Jan. 9, 2025.The last papal visit to Lebanon was in September 2012, when Pope Benedict XVI visited Beirut and other parts of the country. Since then, Lebanon has been battered by the Syrian civil war, which brought in more than 1.5 million refugees, a financial collapse that saw the Lebanese pound lose 97% of its value against the U.S. dollar since 2019, and the devastating Beirut port explosion in 2020. Electricity outages left citizens with power for only hours a day during the worst of the crisis.Tensions also remain high along Lebanon’s southern border. During the Gaza war, Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs in September and October 2024. Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Sept. 27, 2024, heightening fears of a broader conflict with Hezbollah.Lebanon’s population of nearly 6 million is about 68% Muslim, divided between Sunnis and Shiites, and about 28% Christian, most of whom are Maronite Catholics, according to 2020 statistics from the Pew Research Center.While the Vatican has not responded to a request for comment on Raï’s remarks, speculation continues about where Pope Leo XIV may travel in coming years. Spanish Catholics have expressed hope that Leo could visit Barcelona, Spain, next year for the completion of the Sagrada Família. Trips to Peru and the United States have also been discussed for 2026 — a year that will mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.ACI MENA correspondent Elias Turk provided the translation from Arabic of the cardinal’s remarks for this article. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 22 Aug 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Pope, Leo, XIV, could, visit, Lebanon, before, the, end, the, year, patriarch, says</media:keywords>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV invites Church to pray and fast for peace on Queenship of Mary feast day</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-invites-church-to-pray-and-fast-for-peace-on-queenship-of-mary-feast-day</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-invites-church-to-pray-and-fast-for-peace-on-queenship-of-mary-feast-day</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets a young papal admirer in St. Peter’s Basilica during the general audience on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 20, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday continued his catechesis on “Jesus Christ Our Hope” and invited Catholics around the world to dedicate the Aug. 22 feast of the Queenship of Mary to a day of prayer and fasting for world peace.After delivering his Aug. 20 catechesis to approximately 6,000 international pilgrims gathered inside the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall, the Holy Father urged his listeners to ask the Mother of God and “Queen of Peace” to intercede for those suffering due to war and violence.Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims in the Paul VI Audience Hall during the general audience on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media“As our world continues to be wounded by wars in the Holy Land, in Ukraine, and in other parts of the world, I invite all the faithful to live the day of Aug. 22 as a day of prayer and fasting, imploring the Lord to grant us peace and justice, and to wipe away the tears of those who suffer because of ongoing armed conflicts,” he said.“May Mary, Queen of Peace, intercede so that peoples may find the path of peace,” he prayed.‘Forgiveness frees those who give it’In his Wednesday catechesis, the Holy Father emphasized the power of forgiveness shown through the example of Jesus Christ when faced with the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, one of his 12 disciples.“Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass ... he loved them to the end,” the pope said, citing Chapter 13 of St. John’s Gospel.Pope Leo XIV blesses rosaries in St. Peter’s Basilica during the general audience on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media“To love until the end: Here is the key to understanding Christ’s heart,” he said. “A love that does not cease in the face of rejection, disappointment, even ingratitude.”Speaking about the link between love and freedom, the Holy Father said Jesus was not blindsided by Judas’ decision but chose to reach out to him even though “his love must pass through the most painful wound” of betrayal.“Instead of withdrawing, accusing, defending himself ... he continues to love: He washes the feet, dips the bread and offers it,” the pope said during the catechesis.Pope Leo XIV in today&#039;s General Audience said that Jesus shows us the power of true forgiveness, offering it first as a gift even to those who betray or wound us, inviting us to respond with love and so discover the freedom and peace of a forgiving heart. pic.twitter.com/ovxSepG7hH— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) August 20, 2025 “He knows that true forgiveness does not await repentance but offers itself first, as a free gift, even before it is accepted,” he added.According to Leo, the gift of forgiveness is not a sign of “weakness” or “forgetfulness” but a manifestation of “the true face of hope” and salvation.Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims in St. Peter’s Basilica during the general audience on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media“It is the ability to set the other free, while loving him to the end,” he said. “Jesus’ love does not deny the truth of pain, but it does not allow evil to have the last word.” “This is the mystery Jesus accomplishes for us, in which we too, at times, are called to participate,” he said.Pope Leo spent more than one hour greeting groups of pilgrims who came to the Vatican to see him on Wednesday. After the catechesis, the Holy Father imparted his apostolic blessing to those gathered inside the Paul VI Audience Hall, then walked to Piazza del Sant’Uffizio and St. Peter’s Basilica to meet with pilgrims and share a condensed version of his catechesis in Italian, Spanish, and English. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 22 Aug 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Leo XIV calls theologians to find ‘balanced synthesis’ between God’s law, human freedom</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/leo-xiv-calls-theologians-to-find-balanced-synthesis-between-gods-law-human-freedom</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/leo-xiv-calls-theologians-to-find-balanced-synthesis-between-gods-law-human-freedom</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV waves during his Wednesday audience Aug. 20, 2025. In a telegram dated the same day, he called moral theologians meeting in Colombia to  “find a balanced synthesis” between “the laws of God” and the “dynamics of man’s conscience and freedom” in the spirit of St. Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 20, 2025 / 12:56 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday invited participants attending the 17th International Congress of Moral Theology in Colombia to reflect on the world’s challenges and conflicts in light of divine revelation revealed through Jesus Christ.The theme of the two-day congress, held at the San Alfonso University Foundation in the country’s capital, Bogotá, from Aug. 20–21, is “Ethics of the 21st Century: Changes and Conflicts in Society, Gender, AI, and Integral Ecology.”In an Aug. 20 telegram signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Leo expressed his hope that the international congress will give theologians an opportunity to “find a balanced synthesis” between “the laws of God” and the “dynamics of man’s conscience and freedom” in the spirit of St. Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori.According to the Holy Father, the Italian saint and Church doctor was a “visible sign of God’s infinite mercy” who assumed a “charitable, understanding, and patient attitude” toward others. At the end of the short telegram, Pope Leo invoked the Blessed Virgin Mary, “Seat of Wisdom,” to protect the men and women from various countries participating in the conference.The 16th edition of the Redemptorist university’s moral theology congress took place in 2023 and focused on the topic of ethical and bioethical challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 22 Aug 2025 18:00:08 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV looks to Ukraine with hope: ‘We must work hard, pray hard’</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-looks-to-ukraine-with-hope-we-must-work-hard-pray-hard</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-looks-to-ukraine-with-hope-we-must-work-hard-pray-hard</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful at the gates of Castel Gandolfo on Aug. 19, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 20, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).
Speaking to reporters at Castel Gandolfo on Aug. 19, Pope Leo XIV expressed hope for an end to the war in Ukraine but noted that hard work and prayer are needed so that the peace negotiations may bear fruit. According to Vatican News, before returning to the Vatican after his morning visit to the shrine of Our Lady of Mentorella, Mother of Graces, the pontiff spoke with journalists waiting outside the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo about the conflict in the heart of Europe: “There is hope, but we still need to work hard, pray hard, and truly seek the way forward to find peace.” Leo XIV made these comments just after 9 p.m. local time after greeting hundreds of pilgrims gathered in the street, some of whom were able to speak briefly with the pontiff.First 100 days, ‘a blessing from God’Asked about his first 100 days as bishop of Rome and successor to St. Peter, the pontiff simply said that they have been “a blessing from God.”“I receive so much, I believe deeply in the Lord’s grace, and I am very grateful for the welcome I have received. I thank you all,” he said before leaving for the Vatican. Before that, Pope Leo XIV did not miss the opportunity to express his gratitude for the opportunity to enjoy Castel Gandolfo, where he hopes to return soon: “Being here is a blessing; I am very happy with the welcome I have received from the people.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 22 Aug 2025 18:00:07 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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<title>Pope Leo XIV calls for fasting and prayer for peace on Friday, Aug. 22</title>
<link>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-calls-for-fasting-and-prayer-for-peace-on-friday-aug-22</link>
<guid>https://ofw.today/pope-leo-xiv-calls-for-fasting-and-prayer-for-peace-on-friday-aug-22</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  
  Pope Leo XIV prays during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 13, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 21, 2025 / 12:42 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has called for a day of fasting and prayer for peace on Friday, Aug. 22, coinciding with the liturgical feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.The Holy Father made the announcement Aug. 20 during his greeting to Italian-speaking pilgrims at the conclusion of the catechesis for the general audience, recalling that Our Lady, in addition to being queen, is “also invoked as Queen of Peace.”“While our earth continues to be wounded by wars in the Holy Land, in Ukraine, and in many other regions of the world, I invite all the faithful to devote the day of Aug. 22 to fasting and prayer, imploring the Lord to grant us peace and justice and to dry the tears of those who suffer as a result of the ongoing armed conflicts,” the pontiff said.“Mary, Queen of Peace, intercede so that peoples may find the path to peace,” he prayed.On Tuesday evening at Castel Gandolfo, Leo XIV expressed his hope for a solution to the crisis of the war in Ukraine but emphasized the need to continue to “work hard, pray hard” for peace. This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Fri, 22 Aug 2025 18:00:05 +0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator</dc:creator>
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