VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV remembered the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on Sunday and renewed his appeal for peace amid conflicts and violence around the world.

Speaking in English after praying the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 13, the pope recalled the 25th anniversary of the attacks, which was observed two days earlier.

“Two days ago marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks in the United States of America. I renew my prayers for those who lost their lives and for those who continue to bear the wounds of that tragic day. At a time when conflict and violence afflict so many of our brothers and sisters, I invite everyone to pray that the Lord will bestow his gift of peace upon the world,” he said.

Continuing in Italian, Leo said the memory of the tragedy should prompt a renewed commitment to peace, above all through prayer entrusted to the intercession of the Virgin Mary.

The pope then greeted the Romans and pilgrims gathered in the square, including groups from Brazil and other countries, pilgrims who had traveled from Assisi along the Way of St. Francis, and motorcyclists gathered in support of peace and life.

Earlier, in his reflection before the Angelus, Leo focused on the Sunday Gospel and the Christian meaning of forgiveness, recalling that Christ taught forgiveness and bore witness to it even on the cross, when he prayed to the Father for his persecutors.

Reflecting on Peter’s question to Jesus about how many times he should forgive someone who sins against him, the pope noted that Peter’s suggestion of seven times already indicated abundance, since the number seven symbolizes fullness in Scripture. Jesus, however, went further, telling him to forgive “70 times seven” — without limit or measure.

Leo then recalled the parable of the servant whose enormous debt was forgiven by his master but who refused to show the same mercy to a fellow servant who owed him far less.

“All things are given to us by God out of pure love, and none of us can claim to be perfect in responding to such goodness. For this reason, gratuitousness — which is the source of our existence — is also the best rule for our life together,” the pope said.

“We experience this every day. Forgiveness is indispensable, and without it, we cannot live in peace.”

Without forgiveness, Leo warned, conflicts, accusations, grudges and acts of vengeance eventually arise, destroying relationships, dividing families and unleashing wars.

“Only forgiveness sets us free and restores the light, even where human material and moral poverty has darkened the horizon and made the path uncertain. Forgiveness, like a gentle breeze, sweeps away even the thickest clouds until the sun shines once more,” he said.

The pope also pointed to St. Peter’s own experience of forgiveness after denying and abandoning Jesus during the Passion. When Peter encountered the risen Christ on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus asked him only whether he loved him and once again called him to follow.

Leo said that forgiving and healing love confirmed Peter in his mission as the first of the apostles.

Concluding his reflection, the pope asked the Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, to help Christians forgive even when taking the first step is difficult, and to spread the healing light of a love that overcomes hatred and disarms resentment.

This story was first published in two parts by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

A vegetable garden and orchard inside the Vatican walls, which historically provided food for the pope’s household, is now cultivated using exclusively organic farming techniques.

The private garden covers almost a tenth of an acre of cultivable land inside the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery property, where Pope Benedict XVI lived during his retirement and now reside cloistered Benedictine nuns from the Abbey of St. Scholastica in Victoria, Argentina.

Sometimes known as “the pope’s garden,” the vegetable plot “has always been a defining feature of the Vatican Gardens because, in fact, the Vatican Gardens were originally created primarily for that purpose — to provide sustenance for the [Apostolic] Palace,” Stefano Giampaolo, a forestry expert and head of the Gardens and Environment Service of the Vatican, told EWTN News.

Giampaolo explained that now the plot is more accurately understood as the vegetable garden of the Vatican Gardens — an area that covers roughly half of Vatican City at 57 acres.

Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, built inside Vatican City in the 1990s to house nuns who support the ministry of the pope through prayer, has an adjoining vegetable garden and orchard. | Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/EWTN News

The Benedictine nuns at Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, who pray for the pope, eat the fruit and vegetables grown in the garden and use them to make jams and other food preserves. The excess produce is given to a Vatican soup kitchen run by the Missionaries of Charity.

The move to biological farming techniques has been underway for several years, partly in response to Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, Giampaolo said.

The challenges of organic

According to Gilberto Bianchi, the gardener responsible for the orchard and vegetable patch since 2008, the Vatican has a “desire to respect nature” in how it cares for the plants and trees on its land.

But it’s far from easy.

“Clearly, running a completely organic vegetable garden presents challenges, partly because insects are aggressive, and we use natural predators in the soil to control them,” Bianchi said. “No chemical fertilizers or insecticides are used.”

He added that soil drainage and water conservation are also challenges.

“This type of soil drains very well, so to conserve water, we add coconut fiber to retain moisture. And it’s watered with a drip irrigation system specifically to target the plants and avoid wasting water,” he said.

Part of an organic agriculture also means respecting the seasons, he said. “Right now, the winter crops are being planted, while the summer crops are being harvested.”

The fresh produce grown in the vegetable garden and orchard in Vatican City feeds the Benedictine nuns living in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery and supports the nearby Missionaries of Charity-run soup kitchen. | Credit: Governorate of Vatican City State

The end-of-summer harvest includes tomatoes, eggplants, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, and peppers, while the fall and winter crop has broccoli, spinach, lettuce, and pumpkins.

According to Vatican Media, the garden also includes garlic, basil, and a Peruvian variety of chili peppers known for its intensity. Kiwi plants were also added recently at the request of the Argentinian nuns.

Next to the garden is a small orchard of around 15 citrus trees, some of which are 150 years old.

“At this time, we’re planting savoy cabbage,” Bianchi said. “In short, whatever is in season. … So whatever is planted is because nature dictates it at that moment. The plants are grown from seed. We don’t use lab-grown plants.”

A historic collection of gardens

Bianchi, who has worked for more than three decades in the Vatican Gardens, “is the one with the most expertise in this field, and he is now passing that knowledge on to a new gardener,” Giampaolo said.

The expert gardener is part of a team of around 35 gardeners and administrators who oversee the Vatican’s green spaces and provide the flower arrangements for papal ceremonies.

Stefano Giampaolo, left, head of the Gardens and Environment Service of Vatican City, and expert gardener Gilberto Bianchi, right, the main caretaker of the orchard and vegetable garden commonly known as “the pope’s garden,” share their expertise with EWTN News in the Vatican Gardens on Sept. 9, 2026. | Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/EWTN News

“People expect to see a single garden, but in reality, as the name suggests, they are the Vatican Gardens — a collection of gardens,” Giampaolo said.

The Gardens date to the mid-13th century, when Pope Nicolas III moved the papal residence from the Lateran Palace to the Vatican, had the city state’s walls built, and ordered the creation of a lawn, orchard, and “viridarium” — a Roman-style garden with flowerbeds and a fountain.

Today, Giampaolo said, “there are countless different species, both trees and flowers. This is because, over time, the gardens have been enriched by donations and the search for specific botanical material, to the point of becoming a true botanical garden.”

“Visitors are often struck by the diversity of the spaces — so many different gardens contained within this small area.”

Ultimately, he said, the gardeners hope to one day eliminate all synthetic fertilizers and pesticides from their care of the entire Vatican territory.

“It’s a process — the transformation of all the Gardens into organic ones,” he said.

Pope Leo XIV sent greetings to Rome’s Jewish community as it prepares to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot in a telegram addressed to the city’s chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni.

“I wish to extend to you and to the entire beloved Jewish community of Rome my most heartfelt good wishes on the occasion of the solemn feasts you are preparing to celebrate. I hope that these celebrations will be an occasion of abundant blessings from the Most High and a source of joy,” the pontiff wrote.

Rosh Hashanah begins the evening of Sept. 11, followed by Yom Kippur on Sept. 20 and Sukkot on Sept. 25.

“May the arrival of Rosh Hashanah bring with it the promise of serene renewal and the sweetness of an auspicious beginning; may the sacred silence of Yom Kippur be an occasion of peace and inner light; may the feast of Sukkot be filled with joy, gratitude and fellowship,” the pontiff added.

“Renewing my esteem and that of the entire Church, I ask the Eternal One to grant that we may grow in mutual friendship, in our city of Rome and throughout the world. Shalom aleichem!” Leo XIV concluded.

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.

VATICAN CITY — For centuries, “ad limina apostolorum” visits — the periodic pilgrimage of diocesan bishops to the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul and their meetings with the successor of St. Peter — have often been perceived primarily through an administrative or canonical lens.

In response to the 2021–2024 synodal process, however, Study Group 7 of the Synod of Bishops has proposed a significant structural and spiritual renewal of the visits from what it describes as a “missionary synodal perspective.”

The study group is examining “Some Aspects of the Person and Ministry of the Bishop,” including criteria for selecting candidates for the episcopate, the judicial function of bishops, and the nature and course of ad limina visits.

A call for missionary synodality

Rooted in Pope Francis’ apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium and the final document of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, the study group argues that the ad limina visit should go beyond routine administrative reporting.

As the synod’s final document states: “The visits ad limina Apostolorum are the apex of the relation between the Bishops of local Churches and the Bishop of Rome and his closest collaborators in the Roman Curia. Many Bishops desire that the way these visits are conducted will be reviewed to make them more and more an opportunity for open exchange and mutual listening” (No. 135).

Study Group 7 says the central purpose of revising the process is to ensure that “the ad limina visit should not concern itself primarily with matters relating to the internal administration of the particular Church, matters that can be addressed just as effectively through the ordinary contacts with the Curia.”

Instead, the group says, the visits should, “in keeping with the biblical witness, support the mission that the Christian community is called to carry out in the world in which it lives, becoming an instrument at the service of the missionary conversion of ordinary pastoral ministry.”

Theological grounding: The Church as the people of God and a communion of Churches

To explain the proposed renewal, Study Group 7 grounds its framework in the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, particularly Lumen Gentium and Ad Gentes.

The ad limina visit historically developed within a theological understanding of the Church as a “communion of Churches,” as described in Lumen Gentium 23. The relationship is based on reciprocal exchange between the particular Churches and the See of Rome.

The visit provides an opportunity for local pastors to give an account of the Church’s mission and to share how the Gospel is proclaimed in different cultural contexts, while ensuring that these local expressions find their proper place within “Catholic unity,” as described in Lumen Gentium and Ad Gentes.

At the same time, the visit serves the Petrine ministry by giving the bishop of Rome an opportunity to encourage his brother bishops while exercising Peter’s unique primatial service.

As Vatican II teaches, the Chair of Peter “presides over the whole assembly of charity” and “protects legitimate differences, while at the same time assuring that such differences do not hinder unity but rather contribute toward it” (Lumen Gentium, 13).

Scripturally, the study group compares this dynamic to St. Paul’s journeys to Jerusalem to meet Peter and the apostles, as recounted in Acts and Galatians, where the central concern was maintaining unity in faith while fostering missionary expansion among the nations.

Praedicate Evangelium, meanwhile, says structures such as episcopal conferences express a “Communio Episcoporum ... in service to the Communio Ecclesiae grounded in the Communio Fidelium.”

Preparation in the particular Church: Convoking the people of God

One of the most significant elements of Study Group 7’s proposal is the re-centering of the ad limina process within the entire people of God.

Rather than being an exercise restricted to the bishop and a small number of diocesan officials, preparation for the visit would begin in the local Church through a process of shared ecclesial discernment.

Study Group 7 states that before bishops travel to Rome, “it will be necessary for the Bishop to convoke the People of God so that they may engage co-responsibly in the preparation of the Preliminary Report through a process of ecclesial discernment, nourished by prayer and participation, in a manner corresponding to the various charisms, missions, and ministries.”

That communal preparation would make use of existing participatory structures and involve “Priests, Deacons, Consecrated Men and Women, and Lay faithful, particularly within the various diocesan bodies, beginning with the Presbyteral Council and the Diocesan Pastoral Council.”

By grounding the “Relatio Praevia,” or Preliminary Report, in periodic local processes of evaluation and accountability, the group says moments such as the ad limina visit “must be understood and lived as events that involve, insofar as possible, all the members of the People of God.”

The goal, it adds, is that “the People of God living within each local Church will come to perceive the ad limina visit as an event that directly concerns them.”

Roman dialogue and returning home

In Rome, the focus would shift toward spiritual revitalization and collegial dialogue.

Rather than concentrating on formal briefings, Study Group 7 envisions an “exchange of gifts.”

“The dialogue, understood as an ‘exchange of gifts’ and conducted in a collegial style, should be frank, cordial, and reciprocal rather than one-directional,” the group states. “It should be capable of bringing to light both the strengths and the needs of the local Churches, while fostering the sharing of good practices.”

To give greater expression to the participation of the people of God, the study group also says “it is desirable that a diocesan delegation accompany the Bishop during the ad limina visit, in whatever manner may seem most appropriate, giving preference to those who collaborated in its local preparation.”

After returning home, the bishop and other delegates would report back to the local Church through public meetings, allowing diocesan participatory bodies to discern concrete pastoral steps flowing from the visit.

From canonical requirement to missionary instrument

By grounding ad limina visits more firmly in the image of the Church as the people of God, Study Group 7 seeks to turn what can be perceived primarily as an authoritative or bureaucratic requirement into an instrument of missionary synodality.

Under the proposal, the local Church would discern its mission together, send its pastor — potentially accompanied by representatives of the faithful — to meet the successor of St. Peter, and then receive the fruits of that encounter as a renewed impetus for evangelization.

In this vision, the ad limina visit becomes a more visible expression of co-responsibility, Catholic unity, and missionary conversion.

Pope Leo XIV said the first task bishops must place before every other responsibility is to “remain with Jesus,” because, he emphasized, “we are bishops, but first and foremost we are disciples.”

“To speak about him, we need to be with him; to lead his people, we must allow ourselves, every day, to be led by him. Among the many things you will be called to do as bishops, this is the most important,” he explained.

On Thursday, Sept. 10, the Holy Father received at the Vatican 147 bishops from five continents who participated in formation courses in Rome aimed at strengthening ecclesial communion and providing tools for the exercise of their ministry.

Participants in this yearʼs program came from numerous countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America, including Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Central African Republic, Senegal, Seychelles, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Kyrgyzstan, and Thailand.

“Together you have listened, prayed, celebrated the Eucharist, and shared the hopes and dreams that you carry in your hearts for the Churches that the Lord has just entrusted to your pastoral care. All of this will help you remember something very simple and very precious: No bishop walks alone,” the pope said.

During his address, Leo XIV shared several reflections on the theme of the meeting, “Bishops, Servants of Communion in the Church and in Today’s World.”

A heart of the Good Shepherd

The pope highlighted as a second fundamental aspect the need for bishops to have the “heart of Jesus the Good Shepherd, a heart completely turned toward the Father and, precisely because of this, wholly given to his brothers and sisters.”

Pope Leo XVI addresses a group of new bishops, participants in a formation course in Rome, during an audience on Sept. 10, 2026, in the Synod Hall of the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media

“The bishop is a man who learns each day to love his people more deeply: to know the joys and sorrows of his people, to share in their dreams, and to rejoice at the growth of their communities,” he explained.

In this regard, he entrusted them with the task of learning the names of the people who live in their dioceses.

“Learn their names, listen to their stories, enter their homes whenever possible, and pray with them. Especially in young Churches, the presence of the bishop often speaks volumes even before his words do.”

According to the pope, “a visit, a blessing, time given to a priest, listening to a family, dialogue with a young person: These are small gestures, yet they can remain in a person’s heart for a lifetime.”

Another characteristic of the bishop is what tradition calls “sollicitudo pastoralis” — that is, pastoral solicitude or concern.

“This is proper to episcopal fatherhood: having a heart large enough to make room for everyone, carrying your children within you and presenting them each day to the Lord in prayer,” he stressed.

Special care for priests

The pope also invited the prelates to take special care of their priests: “In this regard, dear brothers, I urge you to love your priests. Let each one find in you a father and a brother. Listen to them, encourage them, pray for them, rejoice in the good they accomplish, and accompany them with trust in their ministry. Give particular attention to those who are elderly and ill. Let them feel that they are precious, that the Church is grateful to them, and that the bishop does not forget them. Sometimes a telephone call, a visit, or an affectionate word from you is enough.”

Ministry as a service of love

The Holy Father also recalled another essential dimension of episcopal ministry, described by St. Augustine with a beautiful expression: “amoris officium” — that is, a service of love.

“Our preaching is an act of love, just as listening, prayer, discernment, time given to others, and our presence are acts of love. It is pastoral charity, through which Christ the Shepherd reaches the people he loves through our poor humanity,” he said.

Pope Leo XVI addresses a group of new bishops, participants in a formation course in Rome, during an audience on Sept. 10, 2026, in the Synod Hall of the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media

Leo XIV noted that humanity is living through an age marked by rapid change.

“Developments in communication technologies and artificial intelligence have opened possibilities that, until only a few years ago, we could hardly have imagined. Yet they certainly cannot free humanity from sin and its consequences; the crises through which our world is passing tragically demonstrate this,” he said.

In this context, he recalled that the Church celebrated the Jubilee of Hope last year.

“Within a complex and in some respects troubling landscape such as the present one, the Church celebrated last year the Jubilee of Hope. Was this because she lives apart from the world? On the contrary, it is because, through Christ crucified and risen, she is sent to proclaim the Gospel of salvation to everyone. And we bishops are the first recipients of this mandate,” he said.

The pope also referred to his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which he said was intended to offer “a vision and a method for addressing the great challenge of safeguarding what is human in the age of artificial intelligence.”

A Church open to everyone

Finally, Leo XIV underscored the missionary dimension of the episcopate and said that bishops must have hearts open to everyone: “not only to those who attend our parishes but also to Christians of other denominations, believers of other religions, people who profess no faith, and all men and women of goodwill.”

“He listens to and respects everyone; he draws close to everyone and knows how to recognize the good that is present in every human heart,” 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.

The General Secretariat of the Synod on Tuesday, Sept. 8, published the final report of Study Group 6, which presents concrete proposals for renewing relations among bishops, consecrated life, and ecclesial associations, including specific mechanisms to promote greater equality between men and women in Church workplaces.

The document, originally written in Italian and also available in an English translation and a Spanish summary, states: “A clear mechanism for implementing gender equality in the workplace must be developed.”

It also proposes publishing new criteria for approving the establishment of institutes of consecrated life and appointing a delegate for consecrated life in every diocese.

The nonbinding report, which will now be reviewed by Pope Leo XIV, is part of the work undertaken by the 10 study groups created by Pope Francis in 2024 in connection with the Synod on Synodality. The groups are dissolved once their respective final reports have been published.

The working group was coordinated by Cardinal Joseph William Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, New Jersey. Its members included Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life; Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization; and Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Sister Simona Brambilla, prefect of that dicastery, also participated.

One of the report’s main conclusions is that the Church should move toward broader participation by consecrated men and women in discernment and decision-making processes.

It therefore calls on Church leaders to “strengthen the relationship between the conferences of major superiors and the episcopal conferences to include consecrated persons in decision-making processes.”

The experts consider the distinctive charisms of religious life an indispensable contribution to the Church’s evangelizing mission and argue that consecrated people should have a greater presence in bodies where pastoral decisions are made.

The document adds that such participation should not be limited to national bodies but should also extend to the diocesan level.

Clear protocols between dioceses and religious congregations

Another issue addressed in the report is the need for clearer procedures governing institutional relations between dioceses and religious congregations.

“There is a need to develop a standard memorandum of understanding model and accompanying guidelines, taking into account current challenges,” the report states.

According to the experts, these agreements should help prevent disputes and guarantee transparent cooperation between both parties.

The group recommends that such protocols clearly define issues including pastoral responsibilities, the administration of assets, the use of property, and financial matters.

“Issues related to property and remuneration should also be clearly and fairly agreed upon in the memoranda of understanding,” the document states, with the aim of avoiding disputes and adequately protecting the rights of everyone involved.

It also says: “The timely resolution of issues, while respecting privacy and confidentiality, should be prioritized and subject to specific deadlines.”

The study group argues that every Church institution should have mandatory dispute-resolution procedures. It therefore recommends that “the establishment of procedures for resolving conflicts should be made mandatory, through the creation of conciliation committees, particularly for matters relating to property.”

These committees should include representatives of both bishops and consecrated men and women, ensuring the participation of both sides in seeking solutions.

Oversight and accountability

The report also addresses the need to establish effective oversight and accountability systems.

“Relevant statutory measures, with specific deadlines, are necessary to ensure oversight and accountability in relations between bishops and consecrated men and women,” the experts state.

They also emphasize the importance of ensuring that future priests are better acquainted with the realities of consecrated life. The report therefore calls on episcopal conferences to “ensure that the formation of the clergy includes knowledge of consecrated life, both in centers of study and in joint missions involving clergy, consecrated persons, and laity.”

Among the report’s most notable proposals is the possibility of expanding the participation of women religious in certain Church selection processes.

The document proposes allowing “women religious to participate in the process of electing bishops responsible for consecrated life at the national and diocesan levels, and in the election of chaplains for the works of communities of consecrated life.”

Although the report does not specify the mechanisms through which this participation would be implemented, the proposal is one of the most significant initiatives to emerge from Study Group 6, pointing toward a greater presence of women religious in areas traditionally reserved to the clergy.

Seven of the Synod’s 10 original study groups have now published their final reports. Reports are still pending from Study Group 1, on relations between the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church; Study Group 8, on the role of papal representatives; and Study Group 10, on ecumenism.

Final reports are also pending from two additional groups: one on “the liturgy in a synodal perspective” and another on “the status of episcopal conferences, ecclesial assemblies, and particular councils.” Both were created at the initiative of Leo XIV.

The study groups are also accompanied by three commissions: the Canonical Commission, the Eastern Canonical Commission, and the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar Commission on Polygamy, which published its final report in March. The reports of the other two commissions remain pending.

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.

Pope Leo XIV reflects on human love in the prologue to the new edition of “YouCat: Love Forever,” emphasizing that it is not a fleeting feeling but rather “a decision, a journey, and a lifelong covenant.”

This version of the catechism, aimed at young people preparing for the vocation of marriage, is scheduled for release in November. The first edition of this catechism was published one week after the passing of Pope Francis in May 2025.

“Your heart longs for love, a deep, passionate, and enduring love,” notes Leo XIV, emphasizing that this desire is no accident but rather “a sign that you were created for love.”

Reflecting on this teaching, Pope Leo emphasizes that "God himself can make his presence felt within human love and transform it," such that “he endows us with the capacity to love as he loves: by serving through a generous gift of one’s self, and if necessary, by forgiving."

Regarding love between a man and a woman, the pope says it “may pierce the heart like an arrow, swiftly and impetuously,” yet it does not stop there, for “it is not an ephemeral or fleeting sentiment.”

“It is much more,” the pope adds. “It is a profound ‘yes’ to the other, a decision, a journey, and a lifelong covenant,” when it reflects Godʼs love.

He further explains that “solid, deep relationships are built together on mutual trust, on that ‘forever’ that beats at the heart of every vocation,” with a love that “asks first: ‘How can I love as Christ has loved?’ and puts the question ‘What will I receive?’ in the background.”

Loving to the point of death: ‘The DNA of Christianity’

The Holy Father also takes the opportunity to explain to young people that something of the divine mystery is revealed in marriage: “When a man and a woman give themselves completely to one another in love, God comes alive in their midst. Their fidelity, their forgiveness, and their daily striving for the good are a reflection of Christʼs love for his Church.”

He also encourages young people not to fear the depth of the “great love” to which they are called, because “it is strong enough to overcome difficulties and great enough to sustain you throughout your entire life.”

This love “is not perfect, but grows in the light of faith”; it is “a gift from God, and we cannot produce it on our own.” Unlike human love, often clouded by selfish desires, it “is selfless, patient, and kind, possessing all those wonderful qualities St. Paul lists in the Letter to the Corinthians.”

The pontiff writes that “we behold the most beautiful image of true love when we look at the cross of Jesus Christ,” which confirms that “he loves us so much that he was willing to die for us. This is the DNA of Christianity, the commandment of Christ.”

Finally, Pope Leo expresses his appreciation for the new edition, which features numerous testimonies from young people in over 30 countries, testifying “that the ideal to which Christ calls us is a fascinating treasure” and constitutes an invitation to open oneʼs heart “to a plan greater than any human dream.”

It serves as preparation for a “yes” that is good not just for a day, but for a lifetime; a “yes” that, like Godʼs love, is tireless and faithful, the pope explains, saying he prays that young people respond “with confidence and courage to the most beautiful of all vocations: the vocation to love.”

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.

Pope Leo XIV warned Wednesday of a “paradox” in Western societies where a growing emphasis on individual freedom coexists with an increasingly widespread fear of being judged.

Speaking to bishops from various countries who are friends of the Focolare Movement, the pontiff warned of the effects of individualism in the West, “where the once-stable networks of family, friendship, and community are giving way to greater fragmentation.”

In this context, he said, freedom “is increasingly presented as absolute autonomy — the ability to pursue happiness without any moral, natural, or even human limits,” as he noted in his recent encyclical Magnifica Humanitas.

“And yet we observe a paradox,” he continued. “For all the emphasis on individual freedom, people today frequently feel less free to be their genuine selves or follow their highest ideals out of a hidden fear of being judged or of not fitting in.”

Unity as an answer to polarization

During his address, the pope called for a renewed commitment to unity as a response to the divisions afflicting the contemporary world.

Highlighting the contribution of the movement founded by Chiara Lubich, he said that “in an age sadly marked by increasing polarization, Our Lord enabled her to give witness to both the sense and service of unity, thus becoming a sign for her own and for future generations.”

“If that was Chiara’s task 40 years ago, it is ours even more urgently today,” he said. “I think of the difficult social situations, the circumstances, the divisions which some of you, my brothers, endure in your countries, situations such as prejudice, racism, religious intolerance, even violence.”

Leo said the loss of openness to others “exacerbates a sense of disunity” and ultimately deprives people “of the happiness for which we were created, since we are made in the image of the Triune God, who is himself a communion of persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

Addressing the participants as heirs to Lubich’s spiritual legacy and ministers of the Church in a fragmented world, the pope urged them to bear witness to the unity of the human family.

“The answer to the sad divisions that plague our world lies not in forming more committees or launching more projects but in going back to the source of our unity in the Holy Trinity,” he said.

‘We must become contemplatives’

“Indeed, we must become contemplatives!” the pope told the bishops, encouraging them to strengthen their interior lives.

He urged them to do so “with generous and sustained prayer before Our Lord in the tabernacle, with a calm and attentive celebration of the Office and holy Mass, and finally by frequent contemplation of the indwelling of the Persons of the Trinity in the depth of our being.”

“In this way, you will be witnesses to each other and to those you serve of that unity which builds lasting peace,” he said.

Reform of the Focolare Movement

This was not the first time Leo had received members of the Focolare Movement, also known as the Work of Mary, which Lubich founded in 1943. In March, he met with representatives of the ecclesial movement following the conclusion of its general assembly.

Present in 182 countries, the movement has about 110,000 active members and approximately 2 million supporters and adherents, according to figures published on its official website.

The Holy See approved the Work of Mary in 1962. Its General Statutes were subsequently approved in 1990 by the then-Pontifical Council for the Laity, whose functions are now part of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life.

In recent years, the movement has also faced allegations of abuse. Revelations that a former consecrated member in France had sexually abused minors prompted the organization’s leaders to commission an official investigation by an independent body, the British firm GCPS Consulting.

A report published in March 2022 as a result of that investigation detailed confirmed cases of sexual abuse as well as instances of spiritual and power abuse identified through testimony gathered during the inquiry.

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.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV at his Wednesday general audience urged people to take responsibility for the dignity of each human person and to embrace an identity centered on gift of self.

“This dignity is entrusted to the responsibility of each person: at the same time, it also demands solidarity and mutual care, overcoming the many falsifications and manipulations that still disfigure our perception of it and hinder its realization,” the pontiff said on Sept. 9.

Addressing pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, the pope continued his catechetical cycle dedicated to the Second Vatican Council’s constitution Gaudium et Spes, whose first chapter addresses the dignity of the human person.

In particular, the Church’s magisterial document underscores that human dignity is the foundation and condition for “those values which are most highly prized today,” while warning that these must not lose sight of their “divine source,” in order to avoid possible distortions arising from the “taint in man’s human heart.”

The pontiff noted that “the path ahead is not yet complete and must address the contradictions, both old and new, which prevent its full realization.”

He also recalled that the Church offers a clear contribution in this area by reaffirming that human dignity arises from the very being of the person, citing in this context his recent encyclical Magnifica Humanitas.

He explained that the infinite dignity of the human being is rooted in his identity as a creature made “‘to God’s image’ … capable of knowing and loving his Creator” and noted that “the person always implies relationship, communion, and participation in relation to God and to others.”

Pope Leo XIV waves from the popemobile as crowds of pilgrims cheer during his Wednesday general audience on Sept. 9, 2026, in St. Peter’s Square. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News Struggle between good and evil

He also emphasized that the dignity of the person “excludes self-centered isolation. To be a person means to perceive oneself as a gift to be shared, growing and maturing through acceptance, reciprocity, and service.”

The Holy Father presented decisions contrary to human dignity throughout history as one of the causes of humanity’s “inner division.”

“All of human life, whether individual or collective, shows itself to be a dramatic struggle between good and evil, between light and darkness,” he said, quoting Gaudium et Spes.

He also called for overcoming “dualistic views” that separate the body from the soul, recalling that “human dignity concerns the whole person.”

The body is not an object

“Reducing the body to an ‘object’ to be disposed of arbitrarily is always a denial of the dignity of the person,” he said.

In this context, he recalled that “man is not allowed to despise his bodily life” and “is obliged to regard his body as good and honorable since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day,” while ensuring that it does not become enslaved by “the evil inclinations of his heart,” since all are wounded by sin.

According to the pope, “it is only in him that the mystery of the human person finds true light; from him we receive light on the enigma of suffering and death; and with him we journey towards the Resurrection.”

“Dear brothers and sisters, created in God’s image, through Christ and for his sake, we have received a unique and indelible dignity. Let us commit ourselves to promoting and defending it always, with the light and strength of the Gospel,” he concluded.

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.

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday appointed a coadjutor bishop for the Diocese of Fajardo-Humacao, the third bishop nomination for the island of Puerto Rico in under three months.

Father Gerardo Antonio Vargas Cruz, OFM, as coadjutor will serve alongside Bishop Luis Francisco Miranda Rivera, OCarm, who has led the Fajardo-Humacao Diocese since 2020. Vargas will also automatically succeed Miranda upon his retirement.

Miranda, who is 72 — three years short of the typical retirement age for bishops — did not provide a reason for the appointment of a coadjutor to his diocese.

A press conference to introduce the new coadjutor bishop was scheduled to take place at St. James the Apostle Cathedral in Fajardo on Sept. 8 at 1 p.m. local time.

Vargas, 49, is from Mayagüez, a town on the western coast of Puerto Rico. He joined the Franciscan friars minor and was ordained a priest in 2006. He has served as the vicar for clergy in the Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico since 2022.

The bishop-designate also has experience as a theology professor and a prison chaplain. He also served in several roles in the Franciscan order in the Caribbean.

The Diocese of Fajardo-Humacao, erected in 2008, serves approximately 63,500 Catholics — about 30% of the area’s total population.

It has a cathedral in Fajardo and a co-cathedral in Humacao.

Father Andrew Ding Yang was ordained Tuesday, Sept. 8, as archbishop of Chongqing in southwestern China, a see that had been vacant since March 26, 2001.

It was the fourth episcopal ordination celebrated since June 15 and the eighth during the pontificate of Leo XIV under the procedures established by the agreement between Beijing and the Holy See governing the appointment of bishops.

The most recently announced appointment had been that of Bishop Paul Liu Honggang as bishop of Datong in China’s Shanxi province on Aug. 10.

However, the Holy See announced Tuesday that Leo XIV had appointed Ding on July 28, more than 10 days before Liu’s appointment.

The Vatican generally does not announce episcopal appointments in China when they are made but instead waits until the day of the bishop’s ordination. In this case, the chronological order of the appointments differed from the order in which they were announced.

The eight episcopal ordinations held during Leo XIV’s pontificate do not mean that all eight bishops were appointed by him.

Among these cases are two prelates who had already been ordained bishops and belonged to the so-called underground Church — the Catholic community not officially recognized by Chinese authorities. Both were subsequently recognized by the communist government, regularizing their ecclesiastical and civil status.

Educated at a pontifical university in Rome

Ding was born Sept. 16, 1981, in Hechuan District, part of the Chongqing municipality. He entered the Beijing seminary in 2000 and completed his priestly formation there in 2006.

He was ordained a priest on May 24, 2007, after a year of pastoral service at St. Joseph Parish in Yuzhong, Chongqing, where he later served as parochial vicar.

From 2009 to 2011, he pursued further theological studies at the University of St. Joseph in Macao. From 2012 to 2014, he served as a formator at the National Seminary of the Catholic Church in China in Beijing.

In March 2014, he moved to Rome to continue his studies at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, returning to China the following year.

After his return, he held several pastoral assignments as a parish priest in Tongliang, Tongnan, Tongguanyi, and Jiulongpo in the Archdiocese of Chongqing. Pope Leo XIV appointed him archbishop of Chongqing in July.

Appointments under Leo XIV

The process that led to Ding’s appointment and episcopal ordination took place entirely during Leo XIV’s pontificate, signaling the pope’s intention to continue dialogue between Rome and Beijing.

Drawing on the missionary outlook he developed during years of pastoral ministry, Leo has approved several episcopal appointments in China and entrusted new responsibilities to some prelates who had already been ordained bishops.

On June 11, 2025, the Vatican announced the civil recognition and installation of Bishop Joseph Lin Yuntuan as auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou in Fujian province.

Lin was not ordained a bishop during Leo’s pontificate, having received episcopal ordination in 2017. Pope Leo XIV appointed him auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou on June 5, 2025, after which Chinese authorities granted him civil recognition.

The prelate welcomed the decision and expressed his willingness to assist in the diocese’s pastoral mission.

On July 8, 2025, Leo suppressed the Dioceses of Xuanhua and Xiwanzi, which Pope Pius XII had established in 1946, and created the new Diocese of Zhangjiakou as a suffragan see of Beijing.

Two months later, on Sept. 10, Father Joseph Wang Zhengui, whom the pontiff had appointed to lead the new diocese, received episcopal ordination.

China recognizes 2 underground bishops

On Sept. 12, 2025, the Chinese government recognized two underground bishops — prelates loyal to Rome who had been appointed by the pope.

Bishop Joseph Ma Yanen, 65, formerly the underground bishop of Xiwanzi, became an auxiliary bishop of the new Diocese of Zhangjiakou in Hebei province.

Bishop Augustine Cui Tai, 75, had served as the underground bishop of Xuanhua, the other diocese suppressed by Pope Leo XIV when he created the Diocese of Zhangjiakou. Because Cui is over the age of 70, the Vatican considers him bishop emeritus.

Appointments in 2026

In 2026, Father Francis Xavier Duan Yongkun was ordained coadjutor bishop of Bameng in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region after Pope Leo XIV appointed him on June 15 under the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China.

His was the second episcopal ordination connected with appointments approved by the pontiff on June 15. According to the Vatican, Leo also appointed Father Joseph Chang Yanfeng that day. Chang was subsequently ordained the new bishop of Chifeng, another diocese in Inner Mongolia.

On Aug. 10, Father Paul Liu Honggang was ordained bishop of Datong in Shanxi province. Ding has now joined that list.

Tensions during the papal interregnum

During the period when the Holy See was vacant following the death of Pope Francis, Chinese authorities unilaterally selected two bishops, including one for a diocese already led by a prelate recognized by the Holy See.

On Oct. 15, 2025, Father Ignatius Wu Jianlin was ordained auxiliary bishop of Shanghai after Leo officially appointed him on Aug. 11 of that year. His ordination at St. Ignatius Cathedral marked another chapter in the complex relationship between Beijing and the Vatican.

Chinese authorities had previously announced that an assembly of priests and laypeople had elected Wu on April 28, during the interregnum following Francis’ death.

The Holy See later revealed that the pope had approved the nomination on Aug. 11. Although the appointment was not immediately made public, the Vatican announcement indicated that it ultimately proceeded under the mechanisms established by the agreement between China and the Holy See.

On Dec. 5, 2025, Francis Li Jianlin was ordained bishop of the Apostolic Prefecture of Xinxiang in Henan province after Pope Leo XIV appointed him on Aug. 11, 2025.

Li was the second bishop promoted by Chinese authorities during the interregnum between the death of Pope Francis and the election of Leo XIV.

18 Chinese bishops ordained under agreement

With Ding’s appointment, 18 Chinese Catholic bishops have now been ordained under the Provisional Agreement signed by the Holy See and China during Francis’ pontificate.

The bilateral agreement, first signed in 2018, governs the selection and recognition of Catholic bishops in China.

The two states have not maintained diplomatic relations since 1951, following the communist government’s rise to power under Mao Zedong. Chinese Catholics subsequently became divided between the state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the underground Church loyal to Rome.

The agreement’s full contents have never been made public. It was renewed every two years until 2024, when the two sides extended it through 2028.

Under the publicly known terms of the agreement, the pope retains the final say over episcopal appointments in China, including the right to reject candidates proposed by Beijing. The Holy See, meanwhile, agreed not to make episcopal appointments without the Chinese government’s prior approval.

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.

The Catholic Church celebrates the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary on its traditional fixed date of Sept. 8, nine months after the Dec. 8 celebration of her immaculate conception as the child of Sts. Joachim and Anne.

The circumstances of the Virgin Mary’s infancy and early life are not directly recorded in the Bible, but other documents, legends, and traditions describing the circumstances of her birth are cited by some of the earliest Christian writers from the first centuries of the Church.

These accounts are not included in the canon of Scripture and thus lack authority, but they do reflect some of the Church’s traditional beliefs about the birth of Mary.

One such non-Scriptural source is the early second century “Protoevangelium of James,” an infancy gospel offering pious legends about Mary that nevertheless affirms some of the earliest teachings of the Church on the Blessed Mother.

The Protoevangelium describes Mary’s father, Joachim, as a wealthy member of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Joachim was deeply grieved, along with his wife, Anne, by their childlessness. “He called to mind Abraham,” the early Christian writing says, “that in the last day God gave him a son, Isaac.”

Joachim and Anne began to devote themselves extensively and rigorously to prayer and fasting, initially wondering whether their inability to conceive a child might signify God’s displeasure with them.

As it turned out, however, the couple was to be blessed even more abundantly than Abraham and Sarah, as an angel revealed to Anne when he appeared to her and prophesied that all generations would honor their future child: “The Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth; and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world.”

After Mary’s birth, according to the “Protoevangelium of James,” Anne “made a sanctuary” in the infant girl’s room and “allowed nothing common or unclean” on account of the special holiness of the child. The same writing records that when she was a year old, her father “made a great feast and invited the priests, and the scribes, and the elders, and all the people of Israel.”

“And Joachim brought the child to the priests,” the account continues, “and they blessed her, saying: ‘O God of our fathers, bless this child, and give her an everlasting name to be named in all generations’ ... And he brought her to the chief priests; and they blessed her, saying: ‘O God most high, look upon this child, and bless her with the utmost blessing, which shall be for ever.’”

The protoevangelium goes on to describe how Mary’s parents, along with the Temple priests, subsequently decided that she would be offered to God as a consecrated virgin for the rest of her life and enter a chaste marriage with the carpenter Joseph.

St. Augustine described the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary as an event of cosmic and historic significance and an appropriate prelude to the birth of Jesus Christ. “She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley,” he said.

The fourth-century bishop, whose theology profoundly shaped the Western Church’s understanding of sin and human nature, affirmed that “through her birth, the nature inherited from our first parents is changed.”

This story was first published on Sept. 5, 2010, and has been updated.

ROME — It was shortly after 5 p.m. local time when Pope Leo XIV arrived at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel, awaited by thousands of people along the road and welcomed by his fellow Augustinians.

Not everyone could fit inside the church, and the streets of Genazzano, about 30 miles east of Rome, were packed. The pope chose to celebrate the Nativity of Mary at this shrine so dear to his heart. He brought a Golden Rose to place at Mary’s feet, and the rector thanked him, saying, “Our affection for you is true and genuine,” because “we all love you immensely.”

The maternal presence of Our Lady of Good Counsel, the pope said, had “accompanied me throughout my entire life, with her wisdom, and with the example of her love for her Son, the Son who is always at the center of my faith,” as he wrote in the shrine’s guest book on May 10, 2025.

The pope quoted the Augustinian St. Thomas of Villanova, who asked the Evangelists: “Why, I wonder, were we not told about the manner of her conception, her birth, her upbringing, her habits, the virtues that adorned her, what human relationship she had with her Son, how she related to him, how she lived with the apostles after his ascension? All these things were important, and the faithful would have read them with singular devotion, and ordinary people would have delighted in them. O Evangelists, I appeal to you! Why have you deprived us of such great joy by your silence? Why have you left out details so joyful, so eagerly awaited, so pleasing?”

From this open dialogue with Scripture, the pope reflected: “Mary’s presence creates something like a leap in the genealogy, an unexpected newness capable of changing not only expectations but also the predictable behavior of a man. What Joseph hears, what he decides and what he does, in fact, is a response to God and to Mary’s presence, to her absolute difference, which surpasses every possible discourse and narrative. In Mary, salvation finds a home: God with us!”

Faced with this mystery, the pope explained, “we feel a kind of vertigo.”

After all, “God’s way has been and remains simpler and quieter, yet no less powerful and transformative.” Those humble historical circumstances that lead to the birth of Jesus reveal “the originality of his Kingdom, in which arrogance has no place and omnipotence is creation, service and care for life.”

Continuing to draw on the teaching of the Augustinian saint, the pope spoke about prayer, because it is in contemplative prayer that “what the world does not tell us, but already exists, takes shape; what is still invisible, but already possesses a new kind of strength. This is not fantasy, but prophecy. We need it, in times of destruction and uncertainty, to see God’s work and serve it.”

May the feast of Mary’s birth, the pope concluded, increase peace within us: “Yes, dear friends, we want to imagine peace — to broaden the boundaries of our understanding and paint it in our souls — in order to recognize that it already exists, to welcome it and to serve it. It is the gift of God, the breath of the Risen One, the work of the Holy Spirit. Let us allow peace to grow within us. It will blossom in the world. And the Mother of Good Counsel will accompany us in this mission.”

The pope also expressed appreciation for the fresco depicting him at prayer, commemorating his visit to the shrine on May 10, 2025, two days after his election.

The final hymn to Our Lady of Good Counsel brought consolation to all:

“Protect our people, who hope
in your counsel and live in your love.
Receive their fervent prayer,
O daughter, O bride, O Mother of the Lord.

Holy Virgin of Genazzano,
turn your serene gaze upon us;
stretch out your hand to your children,
strengthen the just, save the sinner.”

This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday deplored the latest Russian attacks on Ukraine and voiced hopes for peace amid U.S.-led efforts to end the war.

“With a sorrowful heart, I have followed the news of the latest violent attacks that have recently struck several cities and civilian infrastructures in Ukraine, causing the deaths of innocent people,” the pope told pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican following the recitation of the Angelus.

Russia has intensified its missile and drone campaign against Ukraine in recent days, with attacks killing dozens in Kyiv and nearby areas and disrupting electricity for hundreds of thousands of people in the Odesa region.

Leo said he hoped that “the efforts undertaken in these days to resume negotiations will bear concrete fruit and open space for diplomacy.”

The pope spoke on the same day that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv, having met in Moscow with Vladimir Putin on Saturday, Sept. 5.

Earlier, in his catechesis before leading pilgrims in the Marian prayer, Pope Leo reflected on the day’s Gospel reading (Matthew 18:15-20), in which Jesus instructs his disciples in fraternal correction.

“This is a delicate art, too often forgotten, that calls for frankness and a gradual approach. Speaking honestly with one another — first face-to-face, then, if necessary, with two or three others, and finally, when required, with the whole community — means facing reality and transforming problems and conflicts into opportunities for growth. Complaining and speaking ill of others are easier, but they accomplish nothing and leave many situations paralyzed,” the pope said.

The pope also said that praying together, as Jesus encourages in the Gospel passage, builds unity among Christians.

“Without faith, each person might feel alone and become suspicious of others, seeing them as strangers and enemies. By grace, however, we are brothers and sisters who can live in harmony: meeting one another, forgiving one another, and listening to one another in the Lord,” Leo said.

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday deplored the latest Russian attacks on Ukraine and voiced hopes for peace amid U.S.-led efforts to end the war.

“With a sorrowful heart, I have followed the news of the latest violent attacks that have recently struck several cities and civilian infrastructures in Ukraine, causing the deaths of innocent people,” the pope told pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, following the recitation of the Angelus.

Russia has intensified its missile and drone campaign against Ukraine in recent days, with attacks killing dozens in Kyiv and nearby areas and disrupting electricity for hundreds of thousands of people in the Odesa region.

Leo said he hoped that “the efforts undertaken in these days to resume negotiations will bear concrete fruit and open space for diplomacy.”

The pope spoke on the same day that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv, having met in Moscow with Vladimir Putin on Saturday, Sept. 5.

Earlier, in his catechesis before leading pilgrims in the Marian prayer, Pope Leo reflected on the day’s Gospel reading (Matthew 18:15-20), in which Jesus instructs his disciples in fraternal correction.

“This is a delicate art, too often forgotten, that calls for frankness and a gradual approach. Speaking honestly with one another — first face to face, then, if necessary, with two or three others, and finally, when required, with the whole community — means facing reality and transforming problems and conflicts into opportunities for growth. Complaining and speaking ill of others are easier, but they accomplish nothing and leave many situations paralyzed,” the pope said.

The pope also said that praying together, as Jesus encourages in the Gospel passage, builds unity among Christians.

“Without faith, each person might feel alone and become suspicious of others, seeing them as strangers and enemies. By grace, however, we are brothers and sisters who can live in harmony: meeting one another, forgiving one another and listening to one another in the Lord,” Leo said.

When Christians think of Jesus’ Twelve Apostles, they might immediately think of Peter, John, and Matthew. But what about some of the lesser-known followers he chose?

While Scripture gives us a significant amount of information about the lives of some apostles, not many details are known about others. Despite this, the Church has continued to remember and honor these apostles through the centuries, with churches, shrines, relics, and pilgrimage sites dedicated to them around the world.

Here are seven lesser-known apostles — and places where Catholics can still encounter their lives and legacy today.

St. James the Greater

James the Greater was the son of Zebedee and the brother of St. John the Apostle. He worked as a fisherman in the Sea of Galilee alongside his brother and father.

James and John were among the first disciples Jesus called. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 4, the brothers were mending their fishing nets when Jesus called them, and they immediately left their father and their fishing boat to follow him.

In Mark Chapter 3, Jesus gave the brothers the name “Boanerges,” an Aramaic nickname meaning “sons of thunder.”

James was one of the three apostles — along with Peter and John — who witnessed several particularly important moments in Jesus' ministry. He was present at the raising of Jairus' daughter, the Transfiguration, and Jesus' agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.

After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, James became the first of the Twelve Apostles to be martyred. In Chapter 12 of the Acts of the Apostles, it states that King Herod Agrippa I had him put to death “with the sword,” which is understood to mean that he was beheaded.

Today, St. James the Greater is honored through the famous Camino de Santiago — or Way of St. James — which is a network of walking trails that pass through several European countries and ends in Spain at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The cathedral is a major pilgrimage site and is home to St. James’ relics.

St. James the Lesser

James the Lesser was the son of Alphaeus and appears in the lists of the Twelve Apostles in the Gospels and Acts, but Scripture provides almost no information about his life or ministry.

In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI did a catechesis series on some of the lesser-known apostles, including James the Lesser. In his catechesis on James the Lesser, he explained that his title, “the Lesser,” was used to distinguish him from James the son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater. It does not mean that he was less important.

The Holy Father also discussed the fact that James the son of Alphaeus has traditionally been identified by some with another prominent James in the early Church, but the identification remains disputed.

Today, the remains of James the Lesser — alongside those of the apostle Philip — are housed in the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles in Rome.

St. Philip

Philip was from Bethsaida, the same town as Peter and Andrew, and appears the most in the Gospel of John.

After Jesus called Philip, he went to Nathanael and told him that he had found the one about whom Moses and the prophets had written. When Nathanael questioned whether anything good could come from Nazareth, Philip gave him a simple invitation: “Come and see.”

Philip also appears in the account of the multiplication of the loaves. Jesus asked Philip where they could buy bread for the large crowd, to which Philip replied that not even 200 denarii would be enough to buy bread for all those gathered.

Later, at the Last Supper, Philip asked Jesus to show the disciples the Father. Jesus responded by teaching Philip about his relationship with the Father.

In Pope Benedict XVI’s catechesis on Philip, he said: “According to certain later accounts (Acts of Philip and others), our Apostle is said to have evangelized first Greece and then Frisia, where he is supposed to have died, in Hierapolis, by a torture described variously as crucifixion or stoning.”

Today, Philip’s remains are housed — alongside those of the apostle James the Lesser — in the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles in Rome.

St. Bartholomew

Bartholomew appears in the New Testament lists of the Twelve, but the Gospel narratives never tell a story about someone named “Bartholomew.”

Catholic tradition has long identified him with Nathanael, whom Philip brings to Jesus in the Gospel of John. Pope Benedict XVI described this as a traditional identification, while acknowledging that the New Testament itself does not explicitly make the connection.

After initially questioning whether anything good could come from Nazareth, he professed his faith in Jesus after meeting him, calling him “the Son of God” and “the King of Israel.”

In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells Nathanael: "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” While we don’t know what happened under the fig tree, it can be assumed that it was a “decisive moment in Nathanael’s life,” Benedict XVI explained.

The Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island in Rome is dedicated to this apostle, as well as the Basilica of St. Bartholomew the Apostle in Benevento, Italy, which houses the saint’s relics.

St. Jude Thaddeus

St. Jude is sometimes confusing because he appears under different names in the New Testament.

Matthew and Mark call him Thaddeus, while Luke identifies him as Judas, son of James. Catholic tradition identifies these names with the same apostle and distinguishes him from Judas Iscariot by calling him Jude or Jude Thaddeus.

During the Last Supper, he asks Jesus why he will reveal himself to the disciples and not to the world. Jesus responds by speaking about those who love him and keep his word.

A Letter of Jude is also included in the New Testament. It traditionally bears the name of Jude Thaddeus, although questions about its authorship have been discussed by scholars. Pope Benedict XVI emphasized that the letter calls Christians to preserve their faith while remaining rooted in Godʼs mercy.

Jude is thought to have been martyred in Beirut around 65 A.D.

Despite very little being known about him, St. Jude is an important intercessor for Catholics around the world as the patron saint of impossible 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 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 or wear the image of St. Jude on a medal for comfort and as a reminder to call on him in times of need.

A major relic of St. Jude the Apostle has also traveled beyond its usual home in Rome. In 2023, a piece of the apostleʼs forearm bone began a nine-month tour across the United States, visiting churches, schools, and other locations so Catholics could venerate the relic and ask for the apostleʼs intercession. The relic had never before left Italy for such a tour. It is typically kept at the Church of San Salvatore in Lauro in Rome.

St. Simon the Zealot

Simon is one of the least-known members of the Twelve. The Gospels identify him as “the Zealot.” Matthew and Mark use the term “Cananaean,” while Luke uses “Zealot.” Pope Benedict XVI explained that the two descriptions convey the idea of zeal or ardor.

It is sometimes assumed that Simon belonged to the political movement known as the Zealots. However, Scripture does not establish this. His title could simply indicate that he was zealous in his religious devotion.

According to tradition, Simon the Zealot — alongside St. Jude — preached in Persia or Syria and was martyred.

While no major basilica is named after him, his relics can be found in St. Peter’s Basilica beneath the Altar of St. Joseph alongside St. Jude Thaddeus.

St. Matthias

Matthias was not one of the original Twelve chosen during Jesus' earthly ministry. Instead, he was selected by the early Church after Judas Iscariotʼs death.

According to Acts 1, Peter explained that Judas' replacement needed to be someone who had accompanied Jesus and the Apostles throughout Christʼs earthly ministry and could therefore serve as a witness to the Resurrection.

Two men were proposed: Joseph Barsabbas, also called Justus, and Matthias. After the community prayed, they cast lots, and Matthias was chosen.

That is essentially all Scripture tells us about Matthias. Pope Benedict XVI emphasized that he was among Jesus' disciples from the beginning and was therefore able to serve as a witness to the Resurrection.

St. Matthias’ Abbey in Trier, Germany, holds the tomb of St. Matthias, making it the only burial place of an apostle in Germany and north of the Alps.

Pope Leo XIV offered a clear measure for the mission of the Church in the Middle East, a region marked by conflict, migration, and hardship, telling Latin-rite bishops serving across the Arab world that the Church’s strength should not be judged by numbers.

“Do not be afraid of your smallness. The fruitfulness of the Church is not measured in numbers, structures or resources, but in fidelity to the Gospel,” the pope said Sept. 3 during a meeting at the Vatican with members of the Conference of the Latin Bishops in the Arab Regions (CELRA).

Pope Leo said a small Christian community, when rooted in Christ, can remain a valuable presence in society, “not because it seeks power, but because it serves; not because it imposes itself, but because it bears witness; not because it responds to violence with more violence, but because it counters force with charity.”

The pope also recalled Christians who have given their lives in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and other countries scarred by violence. Their names, he said, “may not be known to the world, but they are well known to God.”

Their witness, he added, should encourage Christian communities not to give in to fear or resignation, particularly as many families face instability or are forced to emigrate.

Pope Leo called on the Church in the region to give particular attention to families and young people as well as to migrants, especially the large migrant communities living in the states on the Persian Gulf.

He urged Christian communities to become “homes where nobody feels like a stranger” and to defend the dignity of every person. At the same time, he emphasized that amid humanitarian and social challenges, the Church must not lose sight of its essential mission: proclaiming the Gospel, prayer, the sacraments, and Christian formation.

The pope also encouraged greater communion among the Church’s different traditions and rites and called for continued dialogue with Muslims and other religious communities.

“Dialogue does not mean renouncing one’s own identity, but living it out without fear of encounter,” he said.

Concluding his address, Pope Leo urged the bishops not to make success or recognition their primary goal, but instead to remain faithful to the Gospel and to the people entrusted to their care.

“Do not be afraid to sow without immediately seeing the fruits,” he said. “The sowing is yours; the growth is God’s.”

This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Pope Leo XIV received a delegation from the University of Oxford’s Oriel College at the Vatican on Sept. 4, highlighting St. John Henry Newman’s vision of education as a response to contemporary challenges.

Founded in 1326 at the initiative of King Edward II, Oriel is considered Oxford’s oldest royal foundation.

Marking the 700th anniversary of its royal charter, the pope noted that the college “has remained firm in its Christian identity” throughout the centuries.

He said the anniversary offered “an opportunity to celebrate its Catholic origins as the ‘College of the Blessed Virgin Mary.’”

That identity, he said, has been key to Oriel’s development “not just [as] an academic institution, but a true community of faith and scholarship in its deepest meaning.”

Oriel’s connection to St. John Henry Newman

The college is also known for its role in the 19th-century Oxford Movement and its association with St. John Henry Newman, who was a fellow there before his conversion to Catholicism.

Leo praised Newman as “a shining example of a scholar who not only showed the inseparability of faith and reason in his works but even more admirably in his life.”

“There was a great concreteness to his ideas, since his religious convictions were rooted in his personal relationship with God, while his scholarship was both sublime and eminently practical,” the pope said.

Leo also said Newman’s thinking on education remains especially relevant in the face of contemporary challenges.

“In the context of today’s challenges, Newman’s own thought on education is particularly relevant, for he proposes a Christian formation that embraces the entire person and measures the value of education according to human dignity, justice and the capacity to serve the common good,” he said, citing his October 2025 apostolic letter Drawing New Maps of Hope.

Addressing members of the delegation, the pope encouraged them “to seek the truth courageously and to promote this integral anthropological vision.”

“As a result, your work can genuinely facilitate a ‘heart to heart’ encounter with your brothers and sisters, and especially with our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life,” he said.

Finally, referring to Newman’s celebrated hymn Lead, Kindly Light, Leo recalled the English saint’s trust that God would guide him amid life’s uncertainties and urged the delegation to entrust themselves and the college’s future to Christ.

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.

On Sept. 3, Pope Leo XIV received at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace a group of seminarians from two Italian seminaries, thanking them on behalf of the Church for “the ‘yes’ you have spoken and continue to speak each day.”

“It is neither easy nor a given in today’s world, and the Church knows this well,” he stated during the audience granted to delegations from the Pius XI Pontifical Apulian Regional Seminary in Molfetta and the Interdiocesan Seminary of Aversa.

Both seminaries are celebrating significant anniversaries this year. Molfetta is commemorating the centenary of its new premises — commissioned by Pope Pius XI, after whom the seminary is named — while Aversa is celebrating the tercentenary of the opening of its current facility.

Leo XIV also expressed his gratitude to the families present. “A vocation never arises without a suitable context; it often requires a home, and parents who pray and know how to let their children go. My gratitude, and that of the entire Church, goes out to you, dear families,” he noted.

The pope also highlighted God’s freedom, from which every vocation springs. “There is no competition, no ranking, nor is it written that he chose the best: He chose those he willed. In a world so intent on celebrating personal self-fulfillment, it is important to remember that none of you, nor any of us, is here because we earned it, but solely through a free choice by God the Father, a sign and guarantee of a gratuitous love that always precedes us and never disappoints,” he emphasized.

"The Lord continues to call, in every age of history and in every place.”

Pope Leo XIV

He also affirmed that the mere presence of these individuals with a priestly vocation in the seminary constitutes a sign of hope for the entire Church, a hope that, as he explained, stems not from “vague optimism,” but from the “certainty that the Lord continues to call, in every age of history and in every place.”

The pope also emphasized that the effort to live the spiritual life is sustained by “the beauty of fraternity and shared mission.”

“Jesus does not call just one man, but twelve, with personalities that are very different and by our standards, sometimes unexpected. The Lord gathers them and keeps them together so that they may learn that the Church is lived in communion: it belongs to none of us, and we are all called to love and serve it as one body,” he explained.

Addressing the formators, he asked them to be the “first teachers of that care and fraternity which are manifested in authentic, personal, and communal relationships, grounded in truth and charity.”

The pope made it clear that the mission of future priests will be to bring the Gospel to the people of their communities, that is, “to families struggling to get by; to young people who, barely twenty years old, pack their bags to look for work; to the elderly living in solitude; to the marginalized; to those who have lost a sense of purpose in life.”

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.

The Vatican is hosting its annual formation course for newly appointed bishops from Sept. 2-10, bringing together 147 prelates from five continents to strengthen ecclesial communion and provide practical tools for the exercise of episcopal ministry.

The program has been a fixture of the Church calendar since 2000, when it was launched by St. John Paul II. Described by Vatican media as a condensed “master’s program” for new bishops, it is designed to foster the exchange of experiences among pastors from widely differing cultural, social, and ecclesial contexts while offering practical guidance for governing local churches.

This year’s participants come from countries across Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America, including Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Central African Republic, Senegal, the Seychelles, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Kyrgyzstan, and Thailand.

Most of the world’s bishops fall under the jurisdiction of the Dicastery for Bishops, which oversees the creation of dioceses, episcopal appointments, and matters related to episcopal governance in the Latin Church. Bishops serving in missionary territories, however, are under the Dicastery for Evangelization, specifically its Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches.

Of the 147 participants, 98 are following the program organized by the Dicastery for Bishops under the theme, “In Christ, Guardians of the Magnifica Humanitas in Times of Transformation.” The remaining 49 are participating in a course sponsored by the Dicastery for Evangelization titled, “Servants of Communion in the Church.”

Both tracks combine lectures, liturgical celebrations, fraternal gatherings, and working sessions led by cardinals, archbishops, and senior officials of the Roman Curia.

Instagram postLiturgy, mission, and safeguarding against abuse

The program addresses key issues facing the Church, including liturgy, evangelization, child protection, financial administration, transparency, priestly formation, synodality, interreligious dialogue, the growth of new sects, and the handling of clergy-related crises.

The course organized by the Dicastery for Bishops includes presentations by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, who will reflect on episcopal ministry, and Archbishop Vittorio Viola, secretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, who will discuss liturgical matters.

On Sept. 4, Archbishop Luis Javier Argüello García, president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, will offer reflections on the bishop’s mission within the family and society.

That afternoon, attention will turn to safeguarding minors, promoting a culture of prevention, and handling abuse cases, with a presentation by Archbishop Thibault Verny, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

The day will conclude with a lecture by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, on the Holy See’s role in a globalized world and its efforts to promote peace.

On Sept. 5, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, will examine the cultural changes reshaping the contemporary world.

Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, as head of the Church tribunal responsible for matters of conscience, will provide a detailed explanation of the norms, theology, and limits of the Church’s absolute seal of secrecy, particularly regarding sacramental confession.

Tribalism, sects, and missionary challenges

The program for bishops from territories under the Dicastery for Evangelization is being held at the Pontifical Missionary College of St. Peter the Apostle.

Formal activities began Sept. 3 with a session focused on missionary work and the services provided by the dicastery to churches in mission territories.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is serving as host, while Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu will address issues such as tribalism, caste discrimination, racism, and exclusionary regionalism in the contemporary Church.

Topics scheduled for the opening days also include clergy discipline, consecrated life, administration of Church property, associations of the faithful, and other pastoral challenges unique to missionary churches.

The Sept. 4 session will focus on faith and inculturation. Speakers include Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, who will reflect on interreligious dialogue in the current context, and Archbishop Aurelio García Macías, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship, who will discuss liturgical continuity and developments in territories of first evangelization.

Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, will close the day with a presentation on sects and new religious movements.

Episcopal governance and canon law

On Sept. 5, participants will delve into legal aspects of episcopal governance. Archbishop Anthony Randazzo, prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, will discuss diocesan structures of communion and collaboration, as well as the operation of ecclesiastical tribunals.

Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy, secretary of the disciplinary section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, will provide guidance on handling cases involving delicta graviora, the most serious crimes prosecuted within the Catholic Church.

The day will also include reflections on pastoral accompaniment and the formation of lay faithful, led by Archbishop Dario Gervasi and Dr. Gabriella Gambino, secretary and undersecretary, respectively, of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

Pilgrimage to Assisi and joint sessions

Participants will have a free day on Sunday, with the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Assisi during the Jubilee Year marking the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis.

Activities will resume Sept. 7 at the Pontifical Urbaniana University with joint sessions bringing together participants from both programs. For the third consecutive year, this format is intended to foster fraternity and the exchange of experiences among bishops from very different pastoral realities.

Among the topics to be discussed is Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which will be presented by Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, and Cardinal Roberto Repole, archbishop of Turin, will offer reflections on synodal ecclesiology.

On Sept. 8, the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the newly appointed bishops will participate in a Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, celebrated by Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar of the Diocese of Rome.

During the final days of the course, sessions will focus on priestly formation, the relationship between local churches and the Holy See, and the Church’s responsibility to protect minors and vulnerable adults.

Experts from the Institute of Anthropology at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, including Archbishop Peter Beer and Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, one of the Church’s leading international voices on safeguarding, will participate in these discussions.

The program will conclude Sept. 10 with Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, followed by an audience with Pope Leo XIV. The papal meeting will bring to a close several days of formation, prayer, and fraternity in the Italian capital.

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.