Catholic News Agency
Pope Francis approves decree to advance sainthood causes of 5 people
Vatican City, Mar 31, 2025 / 13:17 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis has advanced five people’s paths to sainthood after approving decrees promulgated by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints on March 28.
Blessed Peter To Rot of Papua New Guinea, Blessed Ignatius Shoukrallah Maloyan of Turkey, and Blessed María Carmen of Venezuela will be proclaimed saints of the Church.
The pope also approved the beatification of Italian diocesan priest Carmelo De Palma and declared Brazilian priest José Antônio de Maria Ibiapina a “venerable” of the Church.
The canonization ceremonies of both To Rot and Maloyan are to be discussed in a future customary consistory, according to a Holy See Press Office announcement.
To Rot, a lay catechist born on March 5, 1912, and martyred for his faith during World War II, will be the first canonized saint from Papua New Guinea.
Beatified by St. John Paul II during his apostolic journey to the Oceania nation on Jan. 17, 1995, To Rot is recognized by the Church as a defender of Christian marriage and a faithful catechist who continued his ministry until his death in prison.
Two children, one of them holding a statue of Blessed Peter To Rot, await the visit of Pope Francis at the Caritas Technical Secondary School in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sept. 7, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAFame of To Rot’s sanctity spread throughout Papua New Guinea and to other countries in the Pacific Ocean — including the Solomon Islands and Australia — following his 1995 beatification.
Maloyan was born on April 19, 1869, and died a martyr in Turkey in 1915 after refusing to convert to Islam. He was beatified by St. John Paul II on Oct. 7, 2001, alongside six other servants of God.
Ordained in Lebanon in 1883, Maloyan was known as an intelligent and exemplary priest with a deep understanding of Scripture. He was later elected archbishop of Mardine during the Synod of Armenian Bishops held in Rome in 1911.
Following the great persecution of Armenians in the country with the outbreak of World War I, Maloyan alongside other priests and Christian faithful were executed by Turkish officers in June 1915 after refusing to convert to Islam.
Blessed María Carmen (née Carmen Elena Rendíles Martínez) will become the first canonized saint of Venezuela after the Holy Father approved the miracle — the healing of a woman diagnosed with idiopathic triventricular hydrocephalus — attributed to her intercession.
Born in the country’s capital, Caracas, on Aug. 11, 1903, she became a religious sister of the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus of the Blessed Sacrament in 1927 and later became one of the founders of the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus in Venezuela in 1946.
Serving the Catholic faithful in schools and parishes alongside her sisters who founded the new Latin American congregation, Blessed María Carmen was known for her love for Jesus in the Eucharist.
Jubilee of Hope: Missionaries of Mercy priests celebrate Mass in Rome
Rome Newsroom, Mar 30, 2025 / 16:11 pm (CNA).
The Holy Mass for the Jubilee of Priests instituted as Missionaries of Mercy was celebrated on Sunday at the Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome.
Hundreds of “Missionaries of Mercy” — priests with the authority to “pardon sins reserved to the Holy See” (Misericordiae Vultus, 18) — gathered in Rome’s basilica dedicated to St. Andrew the Apostle to concelebrate Mass with Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, presided over a special Mass for hundreds of “Missionaries of Mercy”on March 30, 2025, in the Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAIn his homily, Fisichella reminded missionaries of mercy priests that they are “special instruments of reconciliation” who offer God’s great love to those who come to the sacrament of confession in search of forgiveness for their sins.
Fisichella encouraged the priests to be confessors who open their hearts and minds to “welcome those who approach us" but to also go out in search of those who are still far from the Church.
Recalling the example of the merciful father who restores dignity to his prodigal son in St. Luke’s Gospel, Fisichella said: “Love forgets sin, and forgiveness forces us to look directly to the future.”
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, presided over a special Mass for hundreds of “Missionaries of Mercy”on March 30, 2025, in the Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAThe number of Missionaries of Mercy priests continues to grow worldwide. To date, approximately 1,250 priests have been commissioned by the Vatican to embrace the call in Misericordiae Vultus to be “living signs of the Father’s readiness to welcome those in search of his pardon.”
Approximately 500 priests from around the world — commissioned as missionaries of mercy during the 2016 Jubilee of Mercy — participated in a variety of spiritual and cultural activities as part of the 2025 holy year dedicated to hope, including training sessions held inside the Vatican and a pilgrimage through the holy door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The March 28-30 special jubilee concluded Sunday with a free symphonic concert of “Missa Papae Francisci,” composed by Enni Morricone, in Rome’s Basilica of Sts. Ambrose and Charles on the Corso.
Pope Francis in Sunday Angelus: Jesus heals our wounds so we can love others
Vatican City, Mar 30, 2025 / 09:18 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Sunday encouraged Christians to continue their Lenten journey as a time of healing and faith in Jesus Christ.
The Vatican released the Holy Father’s Sunday Angelus message while the 88-year-old pontiff continues his convalescence in his Casa Santa Marta home after being discharged from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital a week ago.
In his written reflection on the parable of the merciful father with two sons recorded in St. Luke’s Gospel, the Holy Father said the Pharisees were “scandalized” by Jesus and would “murmur behind his back” because he welcomed sinners.
“Jesus reveals the heart of God: He is always merciful toward all; he heals our wounds so that we can love each other as brothers,” he wrote in his March 30 message.
Encouraging Christians — who are united in God as brothers and sisters — the Holy Father said people should especially “live this Lent as a time of healing” in the Jubilee Year of Hope, adding: “I too am experiencing it this way, in my soul and in my body.”
“Frailty and illness are experiences we all have in common; all the more, however, we are brothers in the salvation Christ has given us,” he wrote.
In his message, released on the March 28-30 weekend of the special Jubilee of Missionaries of Mercy, the pope also expressed his heartfelt thanks to all who reflect the “image of the Savior” and work as “instruments of healing” through their prayers and action.
Petitions for peace and healingThe Holy Father concluded his Angelus address with petitions for peace in Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, South Sudan, and Sudan.
“Trusting in the mercy of God the Father, we continue to pray for peace,” he wrote.
Speaking about his concern about the political unrest in South Sudan and Sudan, the Holy Father insisted that the international community work together to bring about peace in the two African nations.
“Only in this way will it be possible to alleviate the suffering of the beloved South Sudanese people and to build a future of peace and stability,” he said.
“And in Sudan, the war continues to claim innocent victims, I urge the parties concerned in the conflict to put the safeguarding of the lives of their civilian brothers and sisters first,” he continued.
Turning to “positive events” in Central Asia, the Holy Father thanked God for the ratification of the March 13 country border agreement between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, describing the deal as “an excellent diplomatic achievement.”
The Holy Father concluded his message with a prayer asking the Blessed Virgin Mary — the “Mother of Mercy” — to “help the human family to be reconciled in peace.”
Missionaries of Mercy gather in Rome as Pope Francis praises their ‘ministry of forgiveness’
CNA Newsroom, Mar 29, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
As hundreds of Missionaries of Mercy gathered in Rome this weekend, Pope Francis commended their distinctive ministry of forgiveness and reconciliation that continues to flourish worldwide.
Approximately 500 priests are participating in a special jubilee dedicated to their role as part of the broader 2025 Jubilee of Hope.
In a message addressed to these priests, and written while still in the hospital, Pope Francis expressed his “gratitude and encouragement” for their work as special confessors who possess faculties to absolve certain sins typically reserved to the Holy See.
“Through your service,” the pontiff wrote, “you bear witness to the paternal face of God, infinitely great in love, who calls everyone to conversion and constantly renews us with his forgiveness.”
The missonaries’ March 28–30 gathering included training sessions, communal prayer, and a pilgrimage through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Pope Francis reflected on the profound connection between mercy and hope in his message. “Conversion and forgiveness are the two caresses with which the Lord wipes every tear from our eyes,” he stated. “They are the hands with which the Church embraces us sinners; they are the feet on which we walk in our earthly pilgrimage.”
The Holy Father encouraged these priests to maintain a compassionate approach in their ministry, urging them to be “attentive in listening, ready in welcoming, and steadfast in accompanying those who desire to renew their lives and return to the Lord.”
First commissioned during the 2016 Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, these priests have seen their mandate extended twice by Pope Francis. Their numbers have grown substantially, now surpassing 1,250 worldwide, with approximately 100 serving in the United States.
In Spes Non Confundit, the papal bull of indiction for the 2025 Jubilee Year, Pope Francis wrote that Missionaries of Mercy should “exercise their ministry by reviving hope and offering forgiveness whenever a sinner comes to them with an open heart and a penitent spirit.”
The pontiff concluded his message to the missionaries with a blessing and his customary request: “Please, do not forget to pray for me.”
Pope Francis prays for Myanmar, Thailand after deadly earthquake
Rome Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 13:15 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis sent his condolences to Church and civil authorities in Myanmar and Thailand after a powerful earthquake killed more than 150 people and caused widespread devastation in the region.
“Deeply saddened by the loss of life and widespread devastation caused by the earthquake in Southeast Asia, especially in Myanmar and Thailand, His Holiness Pope Francis offers heartfelt prayers for the souls of the deceased and the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all affected by this tragedy,” said the message sent on the pope’s behalf by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
“His Holiness likewise prays that the emergency personnel will be sustained in their care of the injured and displaced by the divine gifts of fortitude and perseverance.”
The 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, on March 28 at 12:50 p.m. local time. It was followed by a 6.4-magnitude aftershock.
Myanmar’s government has reported at least 144 deaths and more than 700 injuries. In neighboring Thailand, at least eight people were killed in Bangkok, where a 33-story building under construction collapsed. Officials fear the death toll could rise, as at least 90 people remain missing in the Thai capital, according to Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai.
The disaster comes amid Myanmar’s ongoing civil war and a worsening humanitarian crisis. The country’s military junta has declared a state of emergency in the capital, Naypyidaw, and five other regions, while appealing to the international community for humanitarian assistance.
Catholic communities in Myanmar were also affected by the quake. Several churches in Mandalay sustained damage, according to the Pontifical Mission Societies’ Fides News Agency. St. Michael’s Catholic Parish was reportedly the hardest hit, while St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State, was also damaged. Local Church leaders have urged Catholics to support those left homeless.
Rescue operations are ongoing as emergency teams search for survivors amid widespread destruction. Authorities in both Myanmar and Thailand are assessing the full extent of the damage while coordinating relief efforts.
‘This is life-changing’: Missionaries of Mercy gather in Rome for Jubilee of Hope
Vatican City, Mar 28, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
Around 500 priests instituted as Missionaries of Mercy are in Rome March 28–30 to take part in events for a special jubilee dedicated to their role, part of the wider 2025 Jubilee of Hope.
Pope Francis commissioned the Missionaries of Mercy in 2016 during the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. Missionaries of Mercy are priests with faculties to hear confessions all over the world and to absolve certain sins previously reserved to the Holy See.
The pontiff has twice extended their original mandate and the number of Missionary of Mercy priests continues to grow, now numbering more than 1,200 around the world.
There are about 100 Missionaries of Mercy in the U.S., and one of these said it has been “life-changing” to have this ministry of mercy be part of his priesthood.
“The life of a priest is a life going in all directions, different directions, all at the same time. Being a Missionary of Mercy has given my life so much focus,” Father Augustine Deji Dada of the Archdiocese of New York told CNA in Rome.
Dada, who is from Nigeria, has been serving at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Elmsford, New York, since 2017.
“That is also the theme that draws me to the priesthood in the first place, to be able to help people, to be able to be there for those who need me, whether for the sacraments or just for support in their lives,” Dada added.
“And now you have the Holy Father giving you the mandate to go … put this into the context of every other thing you do.”
The Jubilee for Priests Instituted as Missionaries of Mercy began on Friday with morning and afternoon training sessions, which Dada said are lectures on theology, canon law, and best practices regarding the sacrament of confession.
The sessions are also an opportunity for the priests to share with one another about what it is like to be a Missionary of Mercy in different parts of the world or in different contexts, like a parish or school.
“More or less it’s training on really how not to be the judge, but to be the kind father who … through the sacrament of reconciliation welcomes … the lost child back in the name of the Church and the name of God the Father, through the authority of Christ,” Dada explained.
This year’s edition of “24 Hours for the Lord,” taking place March 28-29, is part of the program for the Jubilee of Missionaries of Mercy. The night- and daylong event of confessions and Eucharistic adoration was started by Pope Francis during the Lenten season of 2013.
In Rome, the worldwide initiative will begin with a liturgy with the Missionaries of Mercy in the Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle.
The following morning, on March 29, the priests will make a pilgrimage through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica before praying a rosary in the Lourdes Grotto of the Vatican Gardens. The weekend will close with Mass on March 30 in the Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle.
“Mercy and hope share a very important link,” Dada said. He noted that hope is connected to waiting and expectation, while jubilees are about being freed from sin.
“I believe that’s part of the reason the celebration of the Jubilee of Priests instituted as Missionaries of Mercy is also included in the Jubilee of Hope,” Dada said. “So that we can go out there and remind everyone of this connection: that while we wait, we must embrace God’s mercy.”
Pope Francis in Spes Non Confundit, his bull of indiction for the jubilee year, wrote that “during the coming jubilee, may [Missionaries of Mercy] exercise their ministry by reviving hope and offering forgiveness whenever a sinner comes to them with an open heart and a penitent spirit.”
“May they remain a source of reconciliation and an encouragement to look to the future with heartfelt hope inspired by the Father’s mercy,” the Holy Father said.
Archbishop credits Cardinal Pell’s intercession for miraculous survival of Arizona toddler
Rome Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).
Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney this week credited the apparently miraculous survival of an Arizona toddler to the intercession of Cardinal George Pell.
According to the newspaper The Australian, Fisher said at a book event on March 26 that he had learned that an 18-month-old boy had been discharged from a hospital in Phoenix after going 52 minutes without breathing following a fall into a pool.
The boy, named Vincent, “stopped breathing for 52 minutes,” Fisher said at the Australian launch of a new biography about Cardinal George Pell at Campion College near Parramatta.
“His parents prayed for the intercession of Cardinal Pell,” he continued. “The boy survived and came off life support free of any damage to brain or lungs or heart. He’s fine now and his doctors are calling it a miracle.”
The boy’s uncle, a Catholic priest, contacted Father Joseph Hamilton, Pell’s former secretary in Rome, to ask for prayers during the approximate 10-day hospitalization.
Hamilton told The Australian that the family had met the late cardinal when he visited Phoenix in December 2021 to promote his three-volume “Prison Journal,” written during his 13-month imprisonment for historic child sexual abuse, a conviction later unanimously overturned by Australia’s highest court.
Pell had also celebrated a White Mass for medical professionals in Phoenix.
The cardinal died from cardiac arrest following a hip replacement surgery in Rome on Jan. 10, 2023. He was 81.
The Catholic Church usually waits a minimum of five years after death to consider opening a cause for beatification. Once a process — which can take years, decades, or longer — is open, one verified miracle is needed to declare a person “blessed,” the last step before he or she can be declared a canonized saint.
The Church subjects miracles submitted in a beatification cause to rigorous scrutiny and examination by medical professionals to exclude any natural or scientific reasons for healings before pronouncing them to be miracles received through the prayerful intercession of a virtuous man or woman.
Pope’s recovery progresses as Vatican appoints new librarian, Polish president visits
CNA Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 09:40 am (CNA).
Pope Francis continues to show gradual improvement as he recovers from bilateral pneumonia at his residence in Casa Santa Marta, according to an update provided Friday by Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni.
The pontiff’s health remains stable, and his respiratory function, mobility, and speech have improved.
While still requiring supplemental oxygen, he has been able to reduce the high-flow oxygen therapy during daytime hours with a slight reduction also occurring overnight.
Blood tests conducted Wednesday indicate all hematological parameters are within normal range.
“The pope’s daily schedule includes physiotherapy sessions, which are helping improve his voice usage, along with periods of prayer, rest, and limited work,” Bruni said.
All dicasteries of the Roman Curia continue to send documents to inform him of ongoing activities.
ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner, reported that Pope Francis concelebrates Mass daily in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta.
As with previous Sundays during his recovery, the Holy See Press Office will release this weekend’s Angelus reflection in writing.
The Holy Father has been informed about the recent earthquake in Myanmar and is praying for the victims.
In a sign that Vatican business continues despite the pope’s convalescence, the Holy See announced Friday that Pope Francis had appointed Archbishop Giovanni Cesare Pagazzi as the new archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church.
Pagazzi, elevated to archbishop of Belcastro in November 2023, previously served as secretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
The 58-year-old prelate holds a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and has taught at numerous theological institutions across Italy.
Polish president meets Cardinal ParolinIn diplomatic developments, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, received Polish President Andrzej Duda in a cordial meeting Friday morning.
Polish President Andrzej Duda speaks with members of the press on March 28, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAThe talks, which included Monsignor Mirosław Wachowski, undersecretary for Relations with States, took place on the eve of the 20th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s death and near the millennium of the coronation of Poland’s first king, Bolesław Chrobry.
According to the Vatican press office, the Friday discussion covered topics of mutual interest before focusing on international affairs, particularly the ongoing war in Ukraine and broader concerns about European security and peace.
Parolin will also be celebrating the anniversary Mass for St. John Paul II on the date of the anniversary, April 2.
No decisions have been announced regarding the pope’s participation in upcoming Easter celebrations or the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis. The next official update on the pope’s condition is expected Tuesday morning.
Pope Francis’ pandemic prayer 5 years later: ‘Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?’
Vatican City, Mar 27, 2025 / 19:00 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis’ historic “Statio Orbis” blessing during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic remains relevant for the Church as it did five years ago. Before an empty and rain-covered St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis held Eucharistic adoration and gave an extraordinary urbi et orbi blessing, praying for the world during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Holy Hour on March 27, 2020, included a reading from the Gospel and a meditation by Pope Francis, who spoke about faith and trust in God during a time when people fear for their lives, as did the disciples when their boat was caught in a violent storm.
Pope Francis gives an extraordinary urbi et orbi blessing from the entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica on March 27, 2020. Credit: Vatican MediaDuring the special moment of prayer on March 27, 2020, the Holy Father spoke about faith amid crisis — “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”
These powerful words were a papal refrain throughout his 2020 address before an empty St. Peter’s Square.
“‘Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?’ Lord, your word this evening strikes us and regards us, all of us. In this world, that you love more than we do, we have gone ahead at breakneck speed, feeling powerful and able to do anything. Greedy for profit, we let ourselves get caught up in things and lured away by haste,” he prayed.
Pope Francis implored people to believe in God’s presence during the time of COVID-19 when he spoke of Jesus’ reaction to the cry of the disciples: “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” recorded in chapter 4 of St. Mark’s Gospel.
Pope Francis speaks in an empty St. Peter's Square during a Holy Hour and extraordinary urbi et orbi blessing, March 27, 2020. Credit: Vatican MediaThe pandemic’s impact on the life of the Church is yet to be fully researched and understood.
Recent studies from around the world suggest a decline in Church attendance in some regions. A new Pew study shows thousands of people have chosen to leave behind the religion of their childhood in some of the traditionally Catholic countries such as Italy and Spain.
At the same time, the study acknowledges the report’s figures “are not necessarily representative of the entire world’s population.”
A growing ChurchWhile religious belief and practice may seem to be weakening in some parts of the world, the Holy Father’s “Statio Orbis” prayer five years ago can still resonate with millions of people of faith who trust and hope in God’s presence in times of world suffering and hardship.
According to the Vatican’s 2025 Annuario Pontificio, the Catholic Church has grown worldwide after the COVID-19 pandemic, with the highest growth recorded in Africa.
Pope Francis venerates the miraculous crucifix of San Marcello al Corso in St. Peter's Square during his urbi et orbi blessing on March 27, 2020. Credit: Vatican MediaBetween 2022 and 2023, the global Catholic population has grown from approximately 1.39 billion Catholics to 1.406 billion in the last two years. In Africa alone, the Catholic population increased by 3.31%, from 272 million in 2022 to 281 million in 2023.
As Pope Francis said on this day five years ago: “You ask us not to be afraid. Yet our faith is weak and we are fearful. But you, Lord, will not leave us at the mercy of the storm. Tell us again: ‘Do not be afraid’ (Mt 28:5). And we, together with Peter, ‘cast all our anxieties onto you, for you care about us’ (cf. 1 Pt 5:7).”
Vatican publishes Holy Week schedule without clarifying whether Pope Francis will preside
Vatican City, Mar 27, 2025 / 18:00 pm (CNA).
The Vatican has published the official calendar of liturgical celebrations planned for Holy Week, but it has not clarified whether Pope Francis will preside.
The pontiff was discharged on Sunday after spending 38 days in the hospital with double pneumonia, but doctors have prescribed complete rest for at least two months. It is expected that he will be able to resume his full schedule by the end of May.
The Holy See Press Office indicated that it will be necessary to monitor “the improvement of the pope’s health in the coming weeks to assess his possible presence, and under what conditions, at the Holy Week rites.”
Archbishop Diego Ravelli, papal master of ceremonies, announced the planned Holy Week schedule, which will begin on Palm Sunday, April 13, with Mass in St. Peter’s Square at 10 a.m. local time, commemorating Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
On Thursday, April 17, the chrism Mass is scheduled in St. Peter’s Basilica at 9:30 a.m., during which the holy oils will be blessed and priests will renew their priestly vows. In previous years, Pope Francis has traveled from the Vatican to a prison in Rome to commemorate the Lord’s Supper, in remembrance of the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist, during which he would wash the feet of 12 people.
The following day, Good Friday, the Catholic Church celebrates the passion of the Lord in St. Peter’s Basilica at 5 p.m. In previous years, Pope Francis has participated in the services at St. Peter’s Basilica, but the homily has typically been given by the preacher of the papal household, currently Franciscan Capuchin Father Roberto Pasolini. This is the only day of the year on which there is no consecration as a sign of mourning for the passion of Jesus.
At 9:15 p.m., the traditional Way of the Cross will take place in Rome’s Colosseum, where the 14 stations of the Passion are meditated upon, from Jesus’ condemnation to death to his burial, in one of the most widely followed ceremonies by the faithful in Rome. Last year, the Holy Father, suffering from bronchitis, was unable to attend this event, whose tradition reflects the persecution suffered by early Christians under the Roman Empire.
On Holy Saturday, April 19, the Easter Vigil will be celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica. In the past, St. John Paul II usually celebrated the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday in the Vatican around 10 p.m., but in the final years of his pontificate, it began to be celebrated a few hours earlier. This year, the ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica with the brief ceremony of lighting the fire and blessing the paschal candle.
The following day, Easter Sunday, April 20, the Catholic Church will celebrate the day of the Lord’s resurrection with a Mass in St. Peter’s Square at 10:30 a.m. Following this, the solemn urbi et orbi blessing will be imparted to the city of Rome and the entire world.
One week after Easter, on the second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, a special Mass will be celebrated in St. Peter’s Square at 10:30 a.m. During this ceremony, the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, the young Italian millennial known as the “cyber apostle of the Eucharist,” is scheduled to take place.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Italian prosecutors investigate illegal sale of apparent Carlo Acutis relics online
Vatican City, Mar 27, 2025 / 16:25 pm (CNA).
Italian prosecutors are investigating the illegal online sale of alleged relics of Blessed Carlo Acutis, who will be declared the first millennial saint next month.
The investigation by the Perugia Public Prosecutor’s Office was prompted by a complaint by the bishop of Assisi, the city where Acutis’ tomb is located for public veneration.
“On the internet, there is a marketplace for relics concerning various saints, such as our St. Francis, complete with a price list. Something impossible to accept,” Bishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino said in a statement on March 26.
Sorrentino filed a formal complaint with Italian authorities after learning of an internet auction of an alleged first-class relic of Acutis’ hair, which sold online for 2,000 euros by an anonymous user.
“We do not know whether the relics are real or fake,” the bishop said. “But if it were also all fabricated, if there was deception, we would be not only in the midst of a fraud but also of an insult to religious belief.”
According to canon law of the Catholic Church, the sale of first- and second-class relics is strictly forbidden. Relics can only be given away by their owners, and some very significant relics, such as a heart, arm, etc., cannot be given away without the permission of the Vatican.
Acutis’ canonization Mass is scheduled to take place in St. Peter’s Square on April 27 during the Church’s Jubilee of Teenagers.
PHOTOS: Mother Angelica’s life, legacy celebrated in Rome’s Church of Santo Spirito in Sassia
Vatican City, Mar 27, 2025 / 15:20 pm (CNA).
A special memorial Mass was held for Mother Angelica, the foundress of EWTN, in Rome on Thursday to commemorate her life, legacy, and unwavering faith in God. The Mass, celebrated by Father Diego Sanz Martinez, OMI, in the Church of Santo Spirito in Sassia, near the Vatican, marked the ninth anniversary of Mother Angelica’s death in 2016.
EWTN Vatican Bureau staff — together with their families and friends — participated in the Mass in thanksgiving for the religious sister who launched EWTN in 1981 in the U.S. with approximately 20 employees on Aug. 15, the solemnity of the Assumption.
Father Diego Sanz Martinez, OMI, gives the homily during a special memorial Mass for Mother Angelica, the foundress of EWTN, in Rome on March 27, 2025, marking the ninth anniversary of Mother Angelica’s death in 2016. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA“Through her action and her work, she has inspired many men and women to take part in this work of proclaiming the Eternal Word to the world, with new and ever more effective means,” Martinez said in his homily.
“Thanks to her legacy, today we also take part in this work, so we must pay good attention to the Word of God that we have proclaimed today in order to know what awaits us,” he continued.
EWTN Vatican Bureau staff — together with their families and friends — participate in a memorial Mass for Mother Angelica, the foundress of EWTN, in Rome on Thursday, March 27, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAMartinez asked his listeners to remember Mother Angelica’s motto when contemplating how to communicate the faith in society today: “Unless you are willing to do the ridiculous, God will not do the miraculous.”
“Jesus Christ also wants to work the miracle through us today. We are the continuators of this long list of messengers and heralds of the Gospel, in which we appear in intimate union with Mother Angelica,” he said.
EWTN Vatican Bureau staff read petitions during a memorial Mass in thanksgiving for Mother Angelica, foundress of EWTN, on March 27, 2025, in the Church of Santo Spirito in Sassia near the Vatican. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNATo be unafraid of a mission that “seems to be too great for us,” Martinez told Catholic journalists that sharing the Gospel is “simply a matter of telling others what we experience every day in our hearts.”
“The person who truly experiences that God is saving me can no longer remain mute but feels the need to tell others what is happening,” he said.
EWTN Vatican Bureau staff — together with their families and friends — participate in a special memorial Mass held for Mother Angelica, the foundress of EWTN, in Rome on March 27, 2025, to commemorate her life, legacy, and unwavering faith in God on the ninth anniversary of her death. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAToward the end of his homily, Martinez prayed: “Let us ask God for fidelity to our mission, because God never tires of calling us to conversion and to live according to his Eternal Word.”
Young adults’ Eucharistic devotion the inspiration behind ‘24 Hours for the Lord’ event
Vatican City, Mar 27, 2025 / 12:45 pm (CNA).
Now in its 12th year, the Church’s “24 Hours for the Lord” Lenten initiative is believed to have been inspired by the Eucharistic devotion of a group of young Catholics in Rome.
On the night of March 12-13, 2013, just hours before Cardinal Jorge Bergolio would be elected pope, young adults were gathered in prayer before the Eucharist in a small church dedicated to youth just outside the Vatican.
"Night of Light and Saints" Eucharistic adoration in the Church of St. Lawrence in Piscibus on Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 2013. Credit: PapaboysIt was not the first time. A few weeks prior, the group had also spent all night in adoration at a different church as Pope Benedict XVI was ending his papacy and preparing to leave the Vatican to fly by helicopter to the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy.
One day the following year, Pope Francis announced that the whole Church would spend “24 Hours for the Lord,” with a special Lenten penance liturgy at the Vatican, while some of Rome’s churches remained open all night for adoration and confession.
“One of the most beautiful visions that we had when we were young was to put Jesus as the protagonist, at the center,” Daniele Venturi, a young adult leader in Rome at the time, told EWTN News in a Feb. 4 interview.
“Over the years, we experienced these intense and important moments of Eucharistic adoration … where we really saw Jesus attracting,” he added. “[Jesus] says [in the Gospel of John], ‘I will draw everyone to myself,’ and we saw him in action.”
“One of the most significant nights that ignited this Eucharistic spark was in the moment between the resignation of Benedict XVI and the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Francis,” Venturi added. “We were right inside this church [St. Lawrence in Piscibus] in an intense prayer that lasted several days, 24 hours, day and night.”
Venturi, 55, died on March 13, two days after he was hospitalized and placed in intensive care for an unexpected illness.
Daniele Venturi, founder of Papaboys, speaks to EWTN News in a Feb. 4, 2025, interview in the Church of St. Lawrence in Piscibus in Rome. Venturi died unexpectedly on March 13, 2025, at the age of 55. Credit: Fabio Gonnella/EWTN NewsThe layman, who was deeply devoted to his Catholic faith and to sharing it with young people from the time of his own youth, was founder and president of an Italian association called “Papaboys,” created after World Youth Day with Pope John Paul II in 2000.
Members of Papaboys and other young adults who frequented the San Lorenzo Center often joined together in prayer, including many 24-hour prayer marathons, during Benedict XVI’s pontificate and in the early years of Francis’ papacy, Venturi said Feb. 4.
He described it as a chain of prayer that formed between the two pontificates.
Started in 2014 by Pope Francis, “24 Hours for the Lord” is a penitential Lenten initiative centered on the sacrament of confession in the context of Eucharistic adoration.
Churches around the world are encouraged to participate, staying open for prayer and with priests available to hear confessions for 24 hours on the eve of the fourth Sunday of Lent. In 2025, the date is March 28-29.
While it was never explicitly said that the idea for “24 Hours for the Lord” originated with the young people’s prayer marathons, one of the members of the San Lorenzo Center at the time — Alexey Gotovskiy, now a producer in the EWTN News Vatican Bureau — remembered Archbishop Rino Fisichella, then-president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, being aware of the initiative and once celebrated Mass for them.
The Vatican has held a penitential liturgy to begin the 24 hours event most years since it started. Pope Francis surprised everyone in attendance at the first “24 Hours for the Lord” liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica on March 28, 2014, when he went first to confession himself before entering the confessional to hear others’ confessions.
In 2023 and 2024, the liturgy was held in Roman parishes instead of the Vatican basilica. In 2025, the penance service will be celebrated at the Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle in the historic center of Rome.
Organized by the Dicastery for Evangelization, “24 Hours for the Lord” is part of the events of the 2025 Jubilee of Hope, including the weekend jubilee for priests who have been instituted as Missionaries of Mercy.
Members of the San Lorenzo youth center hold a banner in St. Peter's Square the night of Pope Francis' election on March 13, 2013. Credit: Alexey GotovskiyPope Francis first instituted some priests as Missionaries of Mercy during the Jubilee of Mercy in 2016, later extending the mandate. The Vatican has given Missionary of Mercy priests the faculties to absolve sins otherwise reserved to the Holy See.
Venturi said “the celebration of the ‘24 Hours for the Lord’ is a time to be exclusive, really face to face with [Jesus]. The time of adoration is beautiful because — either in song, or in prayer, or in silence, which is the greatest ‘noise’ that touches every heart — when Jesus speaks, that’s when he breaks every chain that has been bound within each of us, even the most hidden ones, even the ones that we forget.”
“Within these strong moments of continuous prayer,” Venturi added, one approaches a priest for confession, “rediscovering Christ in that priest” and leaving all one’s internal burden behind through the confession of one’s sins.
Pope Francis: God desires to offer his love and mercy to those at the ‘crossroads’ of life
Vatican City, Mar 26, 2025 / 14:00 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis on Wednesday highlighted the transformative power of God’s merciful love for those who encounter him at the crossroads of life.
Since being discharged from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Sunday, the Holy Father’s weekly general audiences are suspended for the duration of his at-least-two-month convalescence in his Casa Santa Marta home in the Vatican.
In his written March 26 catechesis, titled “Jesus Christ Our Hope” and released by the Vatican, the pope said: “Jesus waits for us and lets himself be found precisely when we think that there is no hope left for us.”
Reflecting on the Gospel of St. John, the Holy Father noted that Jesus had the desire to start a conversation with the Samaritan woman “who has had five husbands and is now with a sixth who is not a husband” who came to draw water at Jacob’s well in the town of Sychar.
“To go to Galilee from Judea, Jesus would have had to choose another road and not pass through Samaria,” the pope said. “It would also have been safer, given the tense relations between the Jews and the Samaritans.”
“Instead, he wants to pass through there, and stops at that very well, right at that time!” he added.
According to the pope, the woman’s “complicated and painful” history and questions on what “divided Jews and Samaritans” did not prevent God from wanting to love her and offer her the fullness of salvation.
“He gives the highest revelation: He speaks to her of the Father, who is to be adored in spirit and truth,” he said. “He tells her: ‘I am he, the one who is speaking with you’ (cf. Jn 4:26).”
“It is like a declaration of love: The one you are waiting for is me, the one who can finally respond to your desire to be loved,” the pope continued.
After the experience of feeling understood, welcomed, and forgiven by God, the woman runs to her village to tell others about her encounter with Jesus.
“It is an image that should make us reflect on our search for new ways to evangelize,” the Holy Father said.
“To go and proclaim the Gospel, we first need to set down the burden of our history at the feet of the Lord, to consign to him the weight of our past,” he said. “Only reconciled people can bring the Gospel.”
Encouraging people to not let their past prevent them from “setting out anew” in the journey of faith, the pope concluded his catechesis saying: “God is merciful and awaits us always!”
General audience, Angelus remain suspended despite Pope Francis’ return to Vatican
Vatican City, Mar 25, 2025 / 16:15 pm (CNA).
The Vatican Press Office reported that Pope Francis’ convalescence at St. Martha’s House, his Vatican residence where he returned after being discharged from the hospital on Sunday, continues “under the terms prescribed by the doctors at the time of his discharge from the Gemelli Hospital.”
Thus for the time being, both the general audience scheduled for this Wednesday and the Angelus on Sunday will remain suspended, and the Vatican will release the text prepared by the pontiff, as it has done during the nearly six weeks he was hospitalized in Gemelli Hospital in Rome.
Furthermore, he is not expected to meet with large groups of faithful until at least the end of May. In fact, the greatest fear of the medical team treating him for double pneumonia is that he could become infected with another virus or bacteria that could compromise his health again.
In this regard, the doctor who coordinated the Gemelli team, Sergio Alfieri, requested “everyone’s help” in a press conference on Saturday afternoon to avoid “visits and meetings” and thus speed his recovery.
At the St. Martha residence, the pontiff has a Vatican medical team available 24/7 in case of any emergency. During the day, the pope also does respiratory and motor physiotherapy exercises and continues his drug therapy.
According to the Holy See Press Office on Tuesday, Pope Francis concelebrated Mass and performed some work-related tasks that did not require much effort.
In this regard, the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, assured that, for the time being, in order to be respectful of this recovery period, they will only take care of the most important matters “that require his decision, also so as not to tire him out too much.”
“I will meet with him when he has gotten situated a bit,” the prelate explained yesterday outside the conference titled “Vatican Longevity Summit: Challenging the Clock of Time.” The doctors have said he should take it easy for a while, he added.
In any case, the Vatican confirmed that this period of convalescence is different from that of hospitalization. In fact, he can receive visitors, but they should be kept to a minimum.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Francis’ doctor: ‘We really thought we wouldn’t make it’
Vatican City, Mar 25, 2025 / 15:45 pm (CNA).
The head of the medical team that treated Pope Francis during the 38 days he spent at Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital, Dr. Sergio Alfieri, revealed that one of the most critical moments of his hospitalization was when they had to choose between continuing the therapy or letting the pope die.
“We had to choose whether to stop and let him go, or push it and try every drug and therapy possible, running the extremely high risk of damaging other organs,” he said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.
In the interview, Alfieri described in detail the doctors’ response to the respiratory crisis suffered by the pope on Feb. 28.
According to the medical report published that day, Pope Francis suffered an isolated attack of bronchospasm, a severe coughing fit that suddenly worsened his clinical condition, after days of moderate optimism at the Vatican.
Although the pope never lost consciousness and cooperated with the specialists’ therapeutic maneuvers, the alarms went off, and doctors opted to place him on a noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask to help him breathe.
‘I saw tears in the eyes of some people who were close to him’“For the first time, I saw tears in the eyes of some people who were close to him. People who, I’ve come to understand during this period of hospitalization, truly love him, like a father. We were all aware that the situation had worsened further and there was a risk that he might not make it,” Alfieri explained.
However, despite the risk of causing irreversible kidney and bone marrow damage due to the medical treatment he underwent, they decided to act. “We really thought we wouldn’t make it,” he said.
It was a difficult decision, as Alfieri recounted, ultimately supported by the decision of the pope himself, who, through his personal health assistant, Massimiliano Strappetti, his personal nurse at the Vatican, gave a clear order: “‘Try everything, let’s not give up.’ And no one gave up.”
In the end, Pope Francis responded to the treatment. However, after his recovery, there was another moment of intense concern.
While eating, the pope suffered an episode of vomiting, and the gastric juices ended up entering his lungs.
“We were just coming out of the toughest period, and while eating, Pope Francis vomited and inhaled it. That was the second truly critical moment because, in these cases, if you don’t act quickly, there’s a risk of sudden death, in addition to complications in the lungs, which were already the most compromised organs,” Alfieri related.
He might not survive the nightThe doctor explained that, despite the seriousness of the situation, Pope Francis was always fully aware, “even when his condition worsened.”
“He was aware, like us, that he might not survive the night,” the doctor stated.
He added: “We saw the man who was suffering. However, from the first day he asked us to tell him the truth and wanted us to tell the truth about his condition.”
In this regard, the director of the medical-surgical department at Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital expressed the desire for transparency that prompted the Vatican to report on Pope Francis’ health.
“We communicated the medical information to the secretaries, and they added other information that the pope later approved. Nothing has ever been modified or omitted,” he noted.
The power of prayerIn the interview, Alfieri also highlighted the pope’s incredible strength, both physical and mental: “In the past, when we spoke, I would ask him how he managed to keep up this pace, and he always replied, ‘I have a method and rules.’ Beyond a very strong heart, he has incredible resources.”
In addition to the pope’s stamina, the Gemelli medical coordinator added that the prayers offered by faithful around the world in recent days also contributed to his recovery.
“There is a scientific publication that says prayer strengthens the sick. In this case, the whole world began to pray. I can say that twice the situation was lost, and then it happened like a miracle. Of course, he was a very cooperative patient. He underwent all the therapies without ever complaining,” he stated.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Vatican releases new guidelines on human dignity, ‘urgent’ need to form consciences
Vatican City, Mar 25, 2025 / 10:45 am (CNA).
The Vatican on Tuesday launched new pastoral care guidelines for the protection and promotion of human life to mark the 30th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s encyclical letter Evangelium Vitae.
With the aim of upholding the Church’s teachings on the inalienable dignity of the human person, the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life released “Life Is Always a Good: Initiating Processes for a Pastoral Care of Human Life” on March 25 — the solemnity of the Annunciation — as an aid for bishops and dioceses worldwide.
The 40-page pastoral framework document highlights the urgent need to respond to Pope Francis’ call “to solidarity and fraternal love for the great human family” in a society that has “lost its ability to identify good and evil.”
“We urgently need to invest in the formation of consciences. Any confusion between good and evil creates a sense of emptiness and terrible suffering in personal and social life,” the document states.
The Vatican’s new guidelines were created to help local Churches to implement the principles outlined in the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s 2024 declaration Dignitas Infinita (“Infinite Dignity”), which condemns “grave and current violations of human dignity” such as abortion, surrogacy, euthanasia, human trafficking, and sexual abuse.
In its publication this week the family dicastery recommends parishes and dioceses develop formation initiatives and programs that emphasize the importance of each human person’s life — from its beginning until its end — “which prevails in and beyond every circumstance, state, or situation the person may ever encounter” (cf. Dignitas Infinita,1).
“In a time marked by extremely serious violations of human dignity, with many countries afflicted by wars and all sorts of violence — especially against women, children before and after birth, adolescents, people with disabilities, the elderly, the poor, and migrants — we must forge a genuine pastoral care of human life to put into practice,” dicastery prefect Cardinal Kevin Farrell wrote.
“I encourage every bishop, priest, religious man and woman, and layperson to read this pastoral framework and strive to develop an organic and structured pastoral care of human life, which can provide workers, educators, teachers, parents, young people, and children the right formation to respect the value of life,” Farrell wrote.
According to Bishop Dario Gervasi, adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life, the pastoral framework is the result of an ongoing dialogue with bishops who “have always emphasized the urgency of a renewed commitment to safeguard and promote the life and dignity of every human being” during their visits to the Holy See.
Pope Francis: When you protect children from abuse ‘you serve and honor Christ’
Vatican City, Mar 25, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
In a written message on Tuesday to the Vatican’s commission for the protection of minors from sexual abuse, Pope Francis urged the group to continue to “keep watch while the world sleeps,” and to care for victims and survivors by listening “with the ear of the heart” to their experiences.
“Abuse prevention,” he said, “is not a blanket to be spread over emergencies but one of the foundations on which to build communities faithful to the Gospel.”
Pope Francis’ message was sent to participants in the March 24–28 plenary assembly of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM), which he established in 2014.
With the reform of the Roman Curia in 2022, the commission — whose mission is to help local Churches around the world to safeguard minors and vulnerable adults from sexual abuse — became part of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The PCPM released its first annual report on Church policies and procedures for safeguarding in 2024.
During its 10 years of work, the pontifical commission has “enabled a safety network to grow within the Church,” the pope said. He also encouraged the group to “keep going!”
“Continue to be sentinels that keep watch while the world sleeps. May the Holy Spirit, teacher of living memory, preserve us from the temptation to file away grief instead of healing it,” he said.
Relating the PCPM’s service to “oxygen” for the local Churches and religious communities, Francis asked the group to increase its joint work with the departments of the Roman Curia and to build alliances with civil authorities, experts, and associations outside of the Catholic Church.
He also requested that they “offer hospitality and care for the wounds of the soul to victims and survivors, in the style of the good Samaritan. To listen with the ear of the heart, so that every testimony finds not registers to be compiled but the depths of mercy from which to be reborn.”
Children’s prayers for Pope Francis: ‘We can make him feel better’
Vatican City, Mar 24, 2025 / 15:10 pm (CNA).
Children in Rome have welcomed the news of Pope Francis’ return to the Vatican after the pontiff spent nearly 40 days in Gemelli Hospital due to complex respiratory illnesses, including bilateral pneumonia.
Before being discharged Sunday afternoon, the Holy Father appeared on a fifth-floor balcony of Gemelli Hospital to briefly greet and bless approximately 3,000 people gathered in a square outside the clinic. It was the pope’s first public appearance since being admitted to the hospital on Feb. 14.
Throughout his prolonged hospital stay, several visitors — including children — have come to pray outside Gemelli Hospital and leave behind flowers, drawings, and written letters with well wishes for the pope.
Earlier this month, the Holy Father expressed his particular gratitude for children’s continuous prayers for his recovery and return home to the Vatican.
“I know that many children are praying for me,” the pope said in his March 16 Sunday Angelus message. “Thank you, dearest children! The pope loves you and is always waiting to meet you.”
In an interview with CNA, three young parishioners from the Church of St. Eugene in the Roman suburb of Parioli — Maddy, Niki, and Constaza — shared their gratitude for Pope Francis’ message and emphasized the importance of continuing prayers for the 88-year-old head of the universal Church.
The three girls, who belong to the parish’s youth group “Arcogrande,” are among the few children who have had their drawings and letters received by the Holy Father, thanks to the help of their catechism teacher who passed on their gifts to staff caring for the pope at Gemelli Hospital.
“Pope Francis’ message [to children] was beautiful,” Maddy shared with CNA over the weekend. “It is important to pray because the pope is sick … we can make him feel better.”
Niki told CNA that doing good to others is “a beautiful thing” that could help the pope feel better as he continues medical care from his Casa Santa Marta home in the Vatican.
“I think the pope thanks us so much for what we do for others,” Niki said. “He does so many things for us … we could do things for him.”
Describing the pontiff as an “important person for religious people,” Constaza said the pope’s work leading the Church must be supported by the prayers of the Catholic faithful around the world.
“It’s important to pray for the pope,” she told CNA. “He always prays for us and helps poor people.”
The Holy Father will continue oxygen therapy, physiotherapy, and other treatments during his two-month convalescence, the Vatican stated over the weekend.
Archbishop Paglia: Pope Francis is showing us the frailty of old age
Vatican City, Mar 24, 2025 / 14:30 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis, in his weakness, is teaching the world about human frailty, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia said Monday at a press conference for a Vatican summit on longevity.
The pope has shown “that old age is also marked by frailty, and frailty should not be rejected. It is not to be … expelled like the devil,” the archbishop and president of the Pontifical Academy for Life said at the Holy See Press Office on March 24, one day after Pope Francis returned to the Vatican after 38 days in the hospital.
While Francis, in his illness, has lost his ability to speak at the moment, he is teaching us with his body “the importance of old people,” Paglia added. “Pope Francis reminds us that it is actually a voice that should be deafening: that of the frail, who remind us that we do not live forever.”
The Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life sponsored the first Vatican Longevity Summit on March 24 at the Augustinianum Conference Center in Rome to reflect with scientific and academic institutions on how to promote “a model of longevity that does not limit itself to extending the years of life but to enriching them in terms of quality, dignity, and sustainability, integrating science, ethics, and spirituality.”
Giulio Maira, a neurosurgeon who previously worked at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, is participating in the summit. He told CNA after the press conference that “frailty is the ultimate expression of aging.”
“Unfortunately, when we get to an age beyond 65-70, we get there with a more fragile organism, with a greater vulnerability to diseases, germs, bacteria, viruses,” he noted. “The pope is the expression, the living example, of how even a serious illness can be faced with dignity, with courage, and with serenity. And this must be an example for everyone.”
Giulio Maira (left), a neurosurgeon who previously worked at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, speaks at a press conference on the Vatican longevity summit on March 24, 2025. He told CNA after the press conference that “frailty is the ultimate expression of aging.”. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAPope Francis, Maira said during the press conference, has made it through the worst of a serious illness, and now, like everyone, needs to convalesce.
Reflecting on some of the popes of the last century and how they lived illness and old age, Paglia said: “We need to get out of an overly functionalist mindset.”
Francis, during his hospital stay, has taught us that everyone needs each other, the archbishop added in comments to CNA.
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in chemistry and a participant in the summit on old age, said there are a few considerations when it comes to scientific research on longevity.
“The aim is not to get people to live much longer, but the aim is to have people live healthier lives, so more of their lives can be healthy,” he said. “It’s not entirely clear how we are going to achieve this because it may be that advances in longevity not only increase our health but also increase our lifespan.”
A second consideration is the imbalance of generations, a slow changeover of generations, and the effect it would have on the dynamic quality and creativity of a society, he added.
“If we all start living longer, what kind of society will we have? We already face a society where fertility rates are going down … so we may have a society which is very lopsided in that there are very few young people and very many old people, what would that mean?”
Ramakrishnan said economic disparity is also an important issue: “Whenever new medical advances are made, they are often first used in rich countries and only very slowly go to poor countries.”