Catholic News
- Pope Leo: In 'healthy secularism,' religion is distinct but not separate from political sphere (Dicastery for Communication)
Pope Leo XIV received members of the European Parliament’s Working Group on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue and called for a “healthy secularism.” “European institutions need people who know how to live a healthy secularism, that is, a style of thinking and acting that affirms the value of religion while preserving the distinction—not separation or confusion—from the political sphere,” Pope Leo said on September 29. “In particular, it is worth noting the examples of Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer and Alcide De Gasperi.” The Pope also called on Christian politicians to promote dialogue between cultures and religions. He said: Being men and women of dialogue means remaining deeply rooted in the Gospel and in the values that flow from it and, at the same time, cultivating openness, listening and dialogue with those who come from other backgrounds, always placing the human person, human dignity, and our relational and communal nature at the center. - Vatican foreign minister urges nuclear powers to ratify Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (Holy See Mission)
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, appealed to the United States, Russia, China, and the six other “Annex 2” nations to ratify the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which cannot enter into force until these nations ratify it. (The other Annex 2 nations are Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, and Pakistan.) “The Holy See’s consistent position is that peace cannot be secured through mutual fear or the logic of deterrence,” Archbishop Gallagher said at a September 26 UN meeting. “History has shown that even nuclear tests can have catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences, which are not limited to the affected area.” Archbishop Gallagher also warned that “the continuous expansion and modernization of nuclear arsenals, accompanied by increasingly belligerent rhetoric and threats concerning their deployment, perpetuate the dangerous illusion that security can be achieved through the threat of annihilation.” - Vatican cardinal hails late Romanian cardinal's fidelity amid Communist persecution (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, traveled to Romania to preach the homily at the September 29 funeral of Cardinal Lucian Mureşan, the most prominent prelate in the Eastern-rite Romanian Catholic Church from 1994 until his death at the age of 94. Cardinal Gugerotti paid tribute to Cardinal Mureşan, whose church suffered intense persecution under Communism, as a “great witness to Christ, to fidelity to the Church and to the Successor of Peter at the cost of immense sacrifices.” Cardinal Mureşan was “the protagonist, at the end of the dramatic events, of a rebirth full of hope for the Greek Catholic Church in Romania,” said Cardinal Gugerotti, who welcomed the presence of civil officials as “a sign of a commitment to ensure that the infamous actions of the past are never repeated.” In a telegram following Cardinal Mureşan’s death, Pope Leo XIV also paid tribute to “this faithful son of the Church, who did not falter even in times of persecution.” - Bahrain's crown prince meets with Pontiff (Vatican News)
Pope Leo XIV received Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the crown prince of Bahrain, on September 29. The crown prince subsequently met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, and Msgr. Mirosław Wachowski, the Undersecretary for Relations with States. Discussions centered on interreligious relations within Bahrain and on the “urgent need to end the war in the Middle East,” according to the Holy See Press Office. Bahrain, a nation of 1.6 million located in the Persian Gulf (map), is 78% Muslim, 12% Christian (10% Catholic), and 9% Hindu. Islam is the state religion, with religious freedom respected to a markedly greater degree than in neighboring Saudi Arabia. Pope Francis made an apostolic journey there in 2022. - Bishop discusses continued jihadist violence in Mozambique (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
Archbishop António Ferreira Sandramo of Pemba, Mozambique, told the Vatican newspaper that Cabo Delgado province continues to “bleed” because of the Islamist insurgency there. “The latest massacre occurred on September 22nd when Islamic State-linked rebels attacked the port town of Mocímboa da Praia, killing and beheading several civilians,” the newspaper reported. “Cities and villages continue to be attacked, causing an increase in the number of refugees,” said Bishop Ferreira Sandramo. “The population survives by constantly fleeing from one place to another, finding nothing but precarious and unsafe shelters.” - USCCB rues persecution of Christians in Nigeria, DR Congo (USCCB)
In a statement of solidarity with the bishops of Africa, the chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace said that “due to the rise of extremist violence, Christians, Muslims, and other people of faith are increasingly targeted by campaigns of mass killings, abductions, and forced displacement.” “We remember, in particular, the hundreds of Christian civilians massacred in recent weeks and months in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and northern regions as well as in eastern Congo,” said Bishop A. Elias Zaidan. Bishop Zaidan added that “lifesaving and life-affirming international assistance funding is a crucial complement to these efforts. The Catholic Church and the US government have a shared responsibility to promote the international common good and respect for human life by contributing to international humanitarian and development assistance.” - Pope receives Guinea-Bissau's president (Vatican News)
Pope Leo XIV received President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau on September 29. The crown prince subsequently met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, and Msgr. Mirosław Wachowski, the Undersecretary for Relations with States. Discussions centered on the Church’s contribution to the nation’s common good, on “certain aspects of the country’s political, social, and economic situation,” and on international affairs, according to the Holy See Press Office. “This meeting represents a significant step in consolidating relations between Guinea-Bissau and the Holy See, marked by an enriching exchange and constructive discussions with Pope Leo XIV,” the president tweeted. Guinea-Bissau, a West African nation of 2.1 million (map), is 46% Muslim, 40% ethnic religionist, and 13% Christian (9% Catholic). - NY Supreme Court tosses parishioners' lawsuit against Buffalo diocese (CNA)
The New York State Supreme Court ruled that it lacked the authority to intervene in a dispute between parishioners and the Diocese of Buffalo. Parishioners from nine parishes slated for closure or merger filed suit against the diocese after the diocese announced that its parishes would contribute a collective $80 million toward its $150 million bankruptcy settlement with abuse victims. Attorneys for the parishes argued that the mandatory contributions would lead to the destruction of the parish corporations. - Accused French priest permitted to minister in Morocco, victims charge (Morocco World News)
A French victims’ group alleged that an accused priest who ministered in Dijon was permitted to minister in Morocco while he was under investigation in France. The priest, who ministered in Morocco from 2017 to 2024, was accused to committing abuse there as well. He is now in custody in France and has admitted to four assaults, according to Morocco World News. - 'Preserving human voices and faces' is theme of next World Communications Day (Dicastery for Communication)
Pope Leo XIV has chosen “Preserving human voices and faces” as the theme of the 2026 World Communications Day (background), which will take place on May 17. “Public communication requires human judgment, not just data patterns,” the Dicastery for Communication stated in announcing the theme. “Overreliance on AI weakens critical thinking and creative skills, while monopolized control of these systems raises concerns about centralization of power and inequality.” - Use God's gifts responsibly, Pope tells audience (Vatican News)
At his Angelus audience on Sunday, September 28, Pope Leo XIV reminded the faithful that “we are not the masters of our own lives or the goods we enjoy.” In a meditation on the day’s Gospel, which recounted the story of the unjust steward, the Pope emphasized that everything we have—including our very lives—comes to us as a gift from God, and these gifts are entrusted “to our care, our freedom, and our responsibility.” - Chicago archdiocese cancels board meetings amid furor over Durbin award (National Catholic Register)
A meeting of the Catholic Conference of Illinois (CCI) was abruptly cancelled of September 24, just one day before it was scheduled to take place, after CCI board members expressed opposition to the plan to present a Lifetime Achievement award to Senator Richard Durbin. Another meeting, of the Catholic bishops of Illinois, which had been scheduled for the same date, was also cancelled at the same time. The Archdiocese of Chicago, whose Cardinal Blase Cupich has steadily defended the award for Durbin, said that the last-minute cancellations were due to “unforeseen quorum/attendance issues” and not related to the controversy over the award. - Cardinal McElroy rips Trump immigration crackdown (Washington Post)
Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington, DC, denounced the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration at a Mass celebrated for National Migration Week on September 28. “We are witnessing a comprehensive governmental assault designed to produce fear and terror among millions of men and women,” the cardinal said. Cardinal McElroy conceded that every nation has the right to secure its own borders. “But that’s not what is happening,” he insisted. He said that the Trump administration “seeks to make life unbearable for undocumented immigrants.” - Archbishop Naumann chides Cardinal Cupich for Durbin award (National Catholic Register)
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, the retired Archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas, criticized Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago for approving a Lifetime Achievement award to Senator Richard Durbin, saying that honoring a lawmaker who has consistently supported unrestricted legal abortion is a “source of scandal.” Archbishop Naumann added that by violating the policy established by the US bishops’ conference, barring institutional awards to public figures who flout Church teaching on the sanctity of life, Cardinal Cupich is behaving in a way that “is not synodal and serves to fracture unity.” Archbishop Naumann joins seven other American prelates in supporting the criticism of the Durbin award that was first advanced by Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois. The other bishops who have protested the award are Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco; Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska; Bishop James Wall of Gallup, New Mexico; Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin; Bishop Carl Kemme of Wichita, Kansas, Bishop James Johnston of St. Joseph-Kansas City, Missouri, and Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas. - The Catechism protects us from individualism and discord, Pope tells catechists (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Square on September 28 and told the 20,000 catechists in attendance that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is “the ‘travel guidebook’ that protects us from individualism and discord, because it attests to the faith of the entire Catholic Church.” - Bishop Zanchetta released on parole (Pillar)
An Argentine court released Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta on parole, three years after his conviction on charges of sexually abusing seminarians. The prelate spent most of his prison sentence on house arrest in a monastery. After local priests accused Bishop Zanchetta of financial mismanagement, abuse of power, and the sexual abuse of seminarians, Bishop Zanchetta resigned as bishop of Orán in August 2017. In December of that year, Pope Francis appointed Zanchetta the assessor of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), which manages the Holy See’s real estate and movable assets. (For more information, see the Catholic World News series, “The Zanchetta Affair.”) - Peruvian abuse victim: lawyer manipulated victims to accuse Pope (National Catholic Reporter)
A Peruvian woman, whose sex-abuse complaint led to accusations of a cover-up by Pope Leo XIV, has said that the canon lawyer representing her exploited the case for his own purposes. Ana Maria Quispe Diaz is one of three sisters who reported abuse in the Chiclayo diocese, and questioned whether then-Bishop Prevost had handled the complaints promptly. She has now told the National Catholic Reporter that an aggressive canon lawyer, Ricardo Coronado-Arrascue, sought international attention by claiming that the future Pontiff had engaged in a cover-up. Quispe believes that Coronado-Arrascue, a defrocked priest with a checkered record of his own, used her case to advance his own agenda. “He didn’t really want to help us; we concluded that,” she told National Catholic Reporter. “He ended up helping us, yes, but not because he wanted to help us.” - Hong Kong's Cardinal Chow questioned for praising religious freedom in China (National Catholic Register)
Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan of Hong Kong has come under scrutiny for saying that Chinese government policies are designed to preserve religious freedom in Hong Kong. The cardinal’s public statement, as reportedly delivered to an audience in Australia, contrasts sharply with the public witness of his predecessor, Cardinal Joseph Zen, who has consistently charged that China aims to curb religious freedom. The timing of Cardinal Chow’s statement—coming during the trial of the Catholic lay leader Jimmy Lai—has also drawn criticism. - Pope devotes jubilee audience to St. Ambrose and intuition (CWN)
In a jubilee audience entitled “to hope is to intuit,” Pope Leo XIV reflected on the life of St. Ambrose of Milan (340-397). - Papal encouragement for Focolare movement (Focolare Movement)
Pope Leo XIV received Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán, the president and co-president of the Focolare movement, on September 26. Pope Leo “was interested to hear about our work for peace, for ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, for the dialogue with cultures and, especially, for communion between ecclesial movements,” said Karram. “He encouraged us to continue spreading the charism throughout the world.” The Focolare movement (Work of Mary) was founded in 1943 by the Servant of God Chiara Lubich. - More...