Catholic News
- Pope Leo exhorts Latin American bishops to visit parishes, be prayerful, teach clearly (CWN)
In a letter for the third centenary of the canonization of St. Turibius of Mogrovejo (1538-1606), Pope Leo XIV offered advice to Latin American bishops, Pope Leo XIV wrote that “the best way to honor his memory will be to allow ourselves to be challenged by the way he lived out the ministry that we also have received, and to imitate him.” - Pope calls for evaluation of Diocese of Rome's activities, advises priests to 'do less, and do it better' (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV challenged the priests of the Diocese of Rome to “do less and do it better” at the beginning of the diocesan pastoral year. - Pope offers encouragement to Special Olympics athletes (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV offered encouragement to members of a delegation from the Special Olympics. - France has over 27,000 fewer parishes than in 1980 (Vatican Press Office)
The number of parishes in France plummeted from 38,391 in 1980 to 10,925 in 2024, according to statistics released by the Vatican ahead of the Pope’s apostolic journey to France. The number of priests fell from 38,876 to 12,590; the number of religious sisters fell from 87,044 to 17,452; and the number of baptisms fell from 513,501 to 186,165. The number of marriages fell sharply from 217,479 to 40,678. The decline in the number of major seminarians, from 1,278 to 1,075, was less stark. France’s Catholic population rose from 45,503,000 to 49,720,000 between 1980 to 2024, even as the Catholic share of the nation’s population declined, from 84.72% to 74.93%. - Lourdes shrine covers Rupnik mosaics ahead of papal visit (OSV News)
The Marian shrine of Lourdes, France, installed coverings over mosaics created by Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, who has been accused of abusing over 20 women. Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit the shrine on September 26. The mosaics will remain covered up after the papal visit. - Gaza Catholic school reopens after almost 3 years of war (Aid to the Church in Need)
The school attached to Gaza’s sole Catholic parish reopened on September 15. “For me the school is a light in the darkness,” said Father Gabriel Romanelli, I.V.E., pastor of Holy Family Church. “It means a lot to people—when they see the 1,000 students coming in their uniforms to the school it shows them that there is a future.” - In Havana's darkness, Cubans turn to faith (USA Today)
USA Today published an article on the ministry of Father Ariel Suárez Jáuregui, a Havana parish priest and Cuban bishops’ conference official. “It’s the toughest—and probably the saddest—of all the times I have lived through,” the priest said of the current situation in Cuba, amid the U.S. oil embargo. “We are witnessing a growing deterioration in recent months across every aspect of national life.” - US bishops' National Migration Week focuses on migrant children (USCCB)
The U.S. bishops’ National Migration Week (September 21-27) is focusing this year on the presence of Christ in each migrant child. “Our Church in this country and beyond has a long, inspiring history of caring for migrant and refugee children—from the days of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini and her sisters sheltering many orphaned immigrant children when few others looked their way to today’s diocesan charities providing them and their families with vital support,” said Bishop Brendan Cahill. “As we see protections for this population being undermined in various ways, including prolonged stays in detention and decreased access to legal representation, we urge governments and communities to ensure a high level of care rooted in their God-given human dignity,” Bishop Cahill added. “This requires promoting family unity and reunification whenever possible.” - Man charged with terrorist threats against St. Louis archdiocese (EWTN News)
A 32-year-old man faces a felony charge of making terroristic threats in connection with social media threats against the headquarters of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. In one post, the man allegedly said that God instructed him to kill “everyone who walks into that church.” “The safety and well-being of the men and women who serve the Church are of the utmost importance, and we pray for an end to the hatred and threats of violence that have become so regrettably prevalent on social media,” said Brecht Mulvihill, the archdiocese’s executive director of communications. - Not wars, but the weaving of peace produces civilization, Pope tells study center (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV told participants in a meeting organized by the Leo XIV International Study Center that “it is not wars, but the weaving of peace and just balances that produces civilization, with the active participation of all the social and cultural components of an open society.” - Blood of St. Januarius liquifies (Il Messaggero)
The blood of St. Januarius liquified this morning in the cathedral in Naples, at 10:04 local time. The liquefaction of the blood of the fourth-century martyr is regarded as a sign of assurance that the year will be free from disasters. The history of the liquefaction is discussed in articles in the Catholic Encyclopedia and New Catholic Encyclopedia. - New Vatican Note proclaims success of dialogue [News Analysis] (CWN)
A Journey of Hope, the new Vatican note on the growth of interfaith dialogue since Vatican II, acknowledges that “it is important to remember that ‘dialogue’ is not a magic formula.” But if it is not treated as magical, the word “dialogue”—which appears 129 times in the 60-paragraph document—is unquestionably the leitmotif of the Vatican message. - Vatican diplomat calls for greater access to technology in developing countries (Holy See Mission)
A leading Vatican diplomat told members of the UN’s Trade and Development Board that the international community’s moral responsibility to alleviate poverty entails ensuring greater access to technology. Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, said on September 14 that poverty is “not merely a lack of income or material resources; it is a condition that limits people’s ability to participate fully in economic, social, cultural, political, and spiritual life.” “As a matter of justice, the international community has a responsibility to alleviate poverty and confront the structures that perpetuate it,” he continued. “This is particularly evident in an increasingly digitalized economy. Access to technology, connectivity and digital skills is essential for development.” Archbishop Balestrero added that “existing challenges are further exacerbated by the crippling debt burden, the servicing of which significantly impairs the ability of governments to allocate resources to key social sectors, including education and healthcare. This issue should be addressed by a fairer and more equitable international financial architecture.” - Uruguay's bishops, Pontiff discuss secularism, family life (Vatican News (Italian))
Pope Leo XIV received Uruguay’s bishops on September 18, seven weeks before his scheduled apostolic journey there. The bishops, who were in Rome for their ad limina visit, discussed with the Pontiff the challenges facing the Church in Uruguay, including secularism, family life, the defense of human life, drug trafficking, and violence. Two Uruguayan prelates interviewed by Vatican News described the audience as particularly warm. Located in South America, the nation of 3.4 million is 82% Christian (49% Catholic). - New West Virginia bishop expands traditional Latin Mass (EWTN News)
The bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, announced that the extraordinary form of the Mass will be celebrated on Sundays at a new site beginning tomorrow, in addition to the two current churches in which it is offered. Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, who was installed in July, also announced that the traditional Latin Mass will be offered in a fourth church, whose location is to be determined. - Pope confirms election of Olivetan Benedictine abbot (Vatican Press Office)
Pope Leo XIV confirmed the election of Dom Antonio Bran Tecun, O.S.B. Oliv., as the abbot general of the Olivetan Benedictines and appointed him ordinary of the Territorial Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Italy. Born in 1973 in Guatemala, Abbot Tecun professed temporary vows in the institute in 1995 and solemn vows in 2000. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2002, taught math and physics at an Olivetan school, and served as director of the abbey’s farm. Founded in 1313, the Olivetan Benedictine Congregation has 18 religious houses and 181 members, 107 of whom are priests, according to the online edition of the Annuario Pontificio (2024 data). The Territorial Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, whose ordinary is the abbot general, is one of the world’s smallest ecclesiastical jurisdictions: it covers a territory of 19 square miles, with 510 Catholics in four parishes. - New USCCB resource discusses AI data centers (USCCB)
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published “Magnifica Humanitas and Integral Ecology,” a two-page resource with five sections: “Environmental Impacts,” “The Human Impact of AI Development,” “Hyperscale Data Centers,” “Community Impacts,” and “Where Can We Find Hope?” Magnifica Humanitas is the title of Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence. The bishops’ conference posted the resource on its website on September 15. - Cardinal Cupich: AI presents 'unique challenges and serious threats' (Chicago Catholic)
Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago warned that AI “presents unique challenges and serious threats, and the Holy Father calls each one of us and society as a whole to act responsibly.” Cardinal Cupich wrote in a September 17 newspaper column: We must candidly ask questions such as: What safeguards will protect children who may develop parasocial relationships with AI chatbots? The anticipated job displacement cannot be ignored, as this too could have profound effects on labor. What limits should govern AI in surveillance, biological research and warfare? How do data-center projects strain water and energy resources, and how do they affect the communities that host them? The Church “neither opposes AI in general, nor mistakes it for a panacea,” he added. “Relying on ‘the algorithm’ cannot become a moral alibi. Human beings remain accountable for decisions affecting people’s livelihood, freedom, health, environment or life.” - Vatican diplomat decries hate speech, says it 'cannot claim the protection of liberty' (Holy See Mission)
A Vatican diplomat said that the inviolable dignity of every human person, created in the image of God, leads to the “moral imperative to reject every form of intolerance, discrimination, and hate speech that wounds the human family and undermines the conditions for peaceful coexistence.” “Hate speech—whether directed against individuals or communities on the basis of their religion, ethnicity, nationality, or any other characteristic—contradicts the commandment to love one’s neighbor, poisons public discourse, inflames division, and too often prepares the ground for violence and persecution,” Archbishop Christophe-Zakhia El-Kassis, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said yesterday at a UN conference (part 1, part 2). “Freedom of expression is a fundamental right that must be protected. Yet this freedom carries corresponding responsibilities,” he added. “Speech that deliberately incites hatred or violence cannot claim the protection of liberty; rather, it erodes the very conditions in which genuine freedom can flourish.” Archbishop El-Kassis’s statement yesterday was his first since his appointment as Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. In 2018, one of his predecessors, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, also decried hate speech but warned that some governments were using regulations against “hate speech” and “hate crimes” as pretexts for “discriminatory or repressive measures against those, for example, who defend the dignity of every human life or uphold the dignity of marriage and the family.” Likewise, in 2023, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, told the UN General Assembly that “the term ‘hate crime’ or ‘hate speech’ is now being used subjectively and manipulated to keep people from expressing their religious beliefs, equating the practice of religion to violence. This purposefully dishonest, politically motivated agenda, especially egregious in the West, must end.” - Holy Land Franciscan laments deadly Gaza building collapse (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
A prominent Holy Land Franciscan lamented the collapse of a building in Gaza that left at least 21 people dead. In an article published on the front page of the Vatican newspaper, Father Ibrahim Faltas, O.F.M., wrote that “about 100 people remain beneath the massive piles of debris; more than 20 have already been pulled out, and over half of them are children.” The former vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land added: A mother and child died in each other’s arms; they were lying on a dusty mattress that could not cushion the weight of death, yet it allowed for one last, warm embrace, a tender love that could no longer give the gift of life. The image of compassion buried in Gaza, the image of a mother embracing her son, leads me to see Mary in that image, to try to understand her heart, broken with grief over the death of her Son. - More...