Catholic News
- Pope will travel to Turkey, Lebanon in November (Vatican Press Office)
The Vatican has announced plans for the first trip abroad by Pope Leo XIV: a trip that will take him Turkey and Lebanon. The Pontiff will travel to Turkey, where he will join in ecumenical celebrations marking the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, from November 27 to 30. From there he will continue to Lebanon, visiting there until December 2. The Vatican indicated that further details of the trip will be released as the date approaches. - Cardinal Parolin raps both Hamas massacre, Israeli conduct of war (Vatican News)
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, has renewed the Holy See’s condemnation of the October 7 attacks on Israel and the killing of civilians in Gaza—while also sharply criticizing Israel’s current military campaign in Gaza. In a wide-ranging interview with Vatican communications staff, Cardinal Parolin said that “those who are attacked have a right to defend themselves, but even legitimate defense must respect the principle of proportionality. Unfortunately, the resulting war has brought about disastrous and inhuman consequences.” Stating that “it is unacceptable and unjustifiable to reduce human beings to mere ‘collateral damage,’” Cardinal Parolin said that it now seems Israeli forces are “targeting a largely defenseless population, already pushed to the brink.” He called for prayer and action on behalf of peace. - Pope repeats condemnation of Hamas terror, plea for peace (CNA)
On October 7, marking the 2nd anniversary of the Hamas terror attack on Israel, Pope Leo XIV said that we “really need to think hard about how much hatred there is in the world.” In an exchange with reporters are Castel Gandolfo, the Pope renewed his condemnation of the massacre by Hamas, appealed again for the release of hostages, and— pointing out that an estimated 60,000 to 67,000 Palestinians have subsequently died in Gaza— repeated his plea for peace. Pope Leo has made it his regular practice to spend Tuesdays—when papal audiences are not scheduled—at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, and to chat briefly with reporters there. - Pope declines to comment on Trump-Chicago showdown (CNA)
When questioned by reporters at Castel Gandolfo on October 7, Pope Leo XIV declined to answer a question about the volatile situation in his native Chicago, where President Trump has said he will send in troops to protect immigration agents from mobs. Asked for his reaction to the situation, the Pope said: “I prefer not to comment at this time about choices made—political choices—in the United States.” Pope Leo has made it his regular practice to spend Tuesdays—when papal audiences are not scheduled—at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, and to chat briefly with reporters there. - Pope Leo: 'Today a new missionary age opens up in the history of the Church' (Dicastery for Communication)
During his Mass for participants in the Jubilee of the Missions, which coincided with the Jubilee of Migrants, Pope Leo XIV spoke of a “new missionary age” dawning in the Church. “We are called to renew in ourselves the fire of our missionary vocation,” Pope Leo preached during yesterday’s Sunday Mass, celebrated in St. Peter’s Square. “Brothers and sisters, today a new missionary age opens up in the history of the Church.” “If for a long time we have associated with mission the word ‘depart,’ the going out to distant lands that did not know the Gospel or were experiencing poverty, 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,” the Pope continued. “The story of so many of our migrant brothers and sisters bears witnesses to this.” Calling on “all of us to let ourselves be permanently in a state of mission,” Pope Leo called for “a renewed missionary cooperation” among dioceses of the West and the global South, as well as missionary vocations. He explained: I refer in particular to the Church in Europe: today there is a need for a new missionary effort by laity, religious and priests who will offer their service in missionary lands. - Be Christ's witnesses, Pope urges in World Youth Day message (Vatican Press Office)
In a message for the 40th World Youth Day, which will be observed in local dioceses on November 23, Pope Leo XIV told young people that there are “two two aspects of witness: our friendship with Jesus, which we receive from God as a gift, and our commitment to be builders of peace in society.” Witness, the Pope said, “is not to be confused with ideological propaganda.” Rather “it is an authentic principle of interior transformation and social awareness.” True witnesses as always missionaries, he continued, and “with the help of the Holy Spirit, you can become missionaries of Christ in the world.” Pope Leo went on to say that in those who pursue friendship with Christ, “there arises a way of life that bears the character of fraternity,” and draws closer to others. “The witness of fraternity and peace that friendship with Christ awakens in us casts off indifference and spiritual laziness, helping us to overcome closed-mindedness and suspicion.” - Papal gratitude to Knights of Columbus for funding St. Peter's restoration projects (Dicastery for Communication)
Pope Leo XIV yesterday expressed gratitude to board members of the Knights of Columbus for their support of art restoration projects in St. Peter’s Basilica. During an audience in Consistory Hall of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Leo said that the restoration of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s baldacchino and of his bronze monument protecting the Cathedra of Saint Peter “help all who look upon them to contemplate two of the principal tenets of our faith: the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and the Pope as the Successor of Peter, who unites and guides the Church.” - Congo: bishops decry death penalty for former president (Fides)
The Catholic bishops of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have voiced their opposition to a military court’s decision to impose the death penalty on former President joseph Kabila. “The death penalty is not compatible with the Gospel and does not promote national cohesion,” the bishops said. They said that they were “shocked” and “horrified” by the sentence, adding that it would not promote peace and reconciliation in the war-torn country. Kabila, who ruled the DRC from 2001 to 2019, left the country in 2023 but has been spotted recently in the eastern province of Kivu, which is under the control of rebel groups. He was convicted of treason in absentia by a military court. - Pontiff notes importance of Swiss Guard oath (Dicastery for Communication (Italian))
In brief remarks at the Swiss Guard’s swearing-in ceremony on October 4, Pope Leo XIV spoke of the importance of the members’ oath. “To all of you who have taken this oath: it is a very important testimony in today’s world,” Pope Leo said at the conclusion of the ceremony. “It makes us understand the importance of discipline, of sacrifice, of living the faith in a way that truly speaks to all young people of the value of giving one’s life, of serving and thinking of others. I thank you on my behalf and on behalf of the whole Holy See for your service.” A day earlier, on October 3, Pope Leo delivered a lengthier address to the members of the Swiss Guard in which he thanked them for their service. - Pope receives accused Peruvian cardinal (Vatican Press Office)
Pope Leo XIV received Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, the retired archbishop of Lima, in an audience yesterday. In 2019, the Vatican imposed disciplinary measures on the prelate after he was accused of committing abuse in the early 1980s. Cardinal Cipriani denied the allegation. - Armenia jails Orthodox archbishop, charged with plotting coup (National Catholic Reporter)
An Armenian court has sentenced a leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church to a two-year prison sentence for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government. Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan was found guilty of calling for the removal of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Prosecutors argued that he was planning a coup. The Armenian Apostolic Church said that he was engaging only in criticism of government policies, and said that the prosecution was “one of the clear manifestations of the authorities’ anti-church campaign.” - Pope encourages Vatican Gendarmerie Corps in their service (Vatican Press Office)
Pope Leo XIV celebrated a Sunday afternoon Mass for the Gendarmerie Corps of the Vatican City State on October 5, hours after he had celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of the Missions and the Jubilee of Migrants. During the Mass, celebrated at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens, Pope Leo told the police officers that “you have the force of the law, but not to dominate; you have charity towards the little ones, but not to please authority; prudence in action, but not out of fear of your responsibilities.” “May the Virgin Mary be for you a model of faith and devotion, and Saint Michael, the Archangel who combats evil in God’s name, always protect you and your families,” the Pope concluded. “With a humble and faithful heart, you can be witnesses of peace in this tiny State, which has the world as its horizon.” - Lithuanian president thanks Pontiff for advocating for Ukraine (@GitanasNauseda)
Following a papal audience yesterday, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said that he thanked Pope Leo XIV for “his tireless calls for peace and justice, his voice in defense of Ukraine, and his compassion for war victims.” “Lithuania stands together with the Holy See in defending the values of human dignity, freedom of religion, peace, and solidarity,” the president continued. “I invited His Holiness to pay an apostolic visit.” President Nausėda subsequently met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations. According to a Vatican statement, the parties discussed “the war in Ukraine, highlighting the need to intensify the search for diplomatic solutions and to avert the risk of an escalation of the conflict that could have unpredictable and dire consequences.” - UNICEF leader: Leo XIV has 'powerful voice' on behalf of world's children (UNICEF)
Following a papal audience yesterday, the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that Pope Leo XIV “has a powerful voice in spreading the message of peace and protection of children, and we’re grateful.” Catherine Russell also “thanked the Pope for his leadership in ensuring access to education for all children, and addressing a deepening debt crisis, which is diverting resources away from children,” according to a UNICEF statement. - Interreligious dialogue is necessary for peace, Vatican cardinal says in India (Vatican News)
Speaking to representatives of other religions in Mumbai, the prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue described interreligious dialogue as “a necessary condition for peace in the world.” “As believers, we are called to be men and women of hope who bring hope to those who have lost it, especially the poor, the suffering, the marginalized, the discriminated, the persecuted and the most vulnerable in society,” said Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad. In covering the prelate’s address, Vatican News, the news agency of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, inaccurately attributed a papal statement (“religion, at its core, is not a source of conflict but a wellspring of healing and reconciliation”) to Pope Leo XIII, who reigned from 1878 to 1903. The statement was included in a message signed by Pope Leo XIV last month. - Vatican dicastery organizes visual poetry exhibition (Dicastery for Culture and Education (Italian))
The Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education has organized “Global Visual Poetry: Transnational Trajectories in Visual Poetry,” an exhibition from October 7-31 in Milan. “Particularly significant is the way in which, since the fifties and sixties, visual poets have taken a critical position towards the drifts of capitalism, choosing to use alternative languages, poor materials and non-elitist practices to formulate an art capable of listening to everyday life and its deepest demands,” according to the dicastery, led since 2022 by Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça. Among the themes addressed are “attention to the environment and the ecological question, the condition of women, criticism of anti-democratic drifts, pacifist instances, interest in the economic and social imbalances produced by modernization, attention to the human word and the rejection of its degradation to a mere means of communication,” the dicastery added. - New papal directive on investments overturns rules by Pope Francis (Vatican News)
Pope Leo has issued a motu proprio on Vatican investments, reversing some of the rules issues by his predecessor, Pope Francis. In August 2022, Pope Francis had ruled that all investments by Vatican agencies should be handled by the Vatican bank, the Institute for Religious Works (IOR). The new document, Conjuncta Cura, repeals that rule and says that investments should ordinarily be made through the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), which handles the Vatican’s investment portfolio. The new document adds, however, that individual investments might also be made through other financial institutions when “the competent bodies...deem it more efficient or convenient.” The motu proprio emphasizes “co-responsibility” for investments within “a dynamic of mutual collaboration.” This approach—recommended by the Vatican Committee for Investments—reverses the previous drive to consolidate all investment decisions in a single institution. - Leo begins to reshape Belgian hierarchy with 2 appointments (Vatican Press Office)
Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignations of two Belgian bishops yesterday and appointed their successors. The Pillar noted last month that the Pontiff has an opportunity to reshape the Belgian hierarchy, as one see (Ghent) is vacant, and two more had 77-year-old bishops. The nation has only eight territorial dioceses. The Pope yesterday accepted the resignations of those two bishops: Bishop Pierre Warin of Namur and Bishop Guy Harpigny of Tournai. He appointed as their successors two 51-year-old religious-order priests: Fathers Fabien Lejeusne, AA, and Frédéric Pierre Rossignol, CSSP. Father Lejeusne is provincial superior of Europe for the Augustinians of the Assumption; Father Rossignol, a Spiritan priest, is spiritual director of the Saint Paul the Apostle Pontifical Missionary College. - Latin Patriarch expresses cautious optimism about President Trump's Gaza peace plan (Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)
Echoing Pope Leo XIV’s cautious but positive reaction to President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem spoke of “a possible new positive development: the release of Israeli hostages, of some Palestinian prisoners and the cessation of bombing and military offensives.” “This is an important and long-awaited first step,” Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, wrote in an October 4 letter to the faithful. “Nothing is entirely clear or definite yet; many questions remain unanswered, and much still needs to be defined. We must not delude ourselves, but we are pleased that something new and positive is on the horizon.” “We await the moment to rejoice for the families of the hostages, who will finally be able to embrace their loved ones,” he continued. “We hope the same for Palestinian families, who will be able to embrace those returning from prison. We rejoice above all for the end of hostilities, which we hope will not be temporary and will bring relief to the inhabitants of Gaza.” - Polarization threatens legitimacy of US institutions, Cardinal McElroy warns (America)
Preaching at the annual Red Mass for members of the legal profession on October 5, Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington DC, said that because of severe political divisions in the US today, “the legitimacy of our very institutional infrastructure is at stake.” Cardinal McElroy told the lawyers and judges gathered in St. Matthew’s cathedral that they should play a role in defending against “a corrosive instinct to attack every major instiution.” He said: “No group in our society has a greater capacity to remold our political discourse.” - More...