Catholic News Agency
Trafficking victims rise worldwide as experts, survivors call for stronger action
Rome Newsroom, Dec 23, 2025 / 15:55 pm (CNA).
Fifty million people are currently being trafficked around the world, according to the 2023 Global Slavery Index, driving over $236 billion into the hands of criminals, with numbers continuing to rise.
The 2024 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report documented that between 2019 and 2022 the number of identified trafficking victims increased by 25%, forced labor rose by 47%, and the number of child victims rose by 31%, with a dominating 38% increase in girls.
Earlier this month, the Sovereign Order of Malta, Praeveni Global, the Santa Marta Group, and the Institute of Anthropology of the Pontifical Gregorian University organized an international conference in Rome to discuss prevention efforts, strengthen collaboration, and promote comprehensive action plans.
Conference panelists included law enforcement, activists, United Nations rapporteurs, and human rights experts as well as appearances from Cardinal Fabio Baggio, the undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Pam Bondi, attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice.
Reem Alsalem, U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, speaks about how human trafficking and pornography are often interconnected at the anthropology institute of the Pontifical Gregorian University's international conference in Rome on human trafficking on Dec. 11, 2025. Credit: Screenshot from EWTN TV video footageSurvivor testimonyAmong those participating in the conference was Karla De la Cuesta, who was rescued alongside other girls from the hands of her traffickers in Mexico.
“We were victims of human trafficking in different ways,” De la Cuesta told EWTN News, explaining that their forms of exploitation included “abuse, sexual exploitation, labor slavery, torture, unlawful deprivation of liberty, forced marriages, forced abortions — multiple crimes committed against us.”
It was thanks to the intervention of Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) that De la Cuesta’s alleged perpetrators were caught and the girls were able to return home.
After becoming a lawyer and an activist, De la Cuesta studied her own case file in great depth. More than 10 victims had testified before authorities in her case, but those authorities did not act in accordance with the law or open proper investigations into their cases. This led De la Cuesta to write a book: “All in the Light: The Criminal Case that Mexico Left in the Darkness.”
“I [wrote] about all of this analysis I carried out as a lawyer and activist, hand-in-hand with other experts, where I specifically laid out all of these … omissions on the part of the authorities.”
The publications of De la Cuesta’s findings didn’t come without repercussions. “The Mexican state brought against me great retaliation, brutal attacks,” she said. “Which is why in less than six months after the publication of my book, I had to leave my country and now I live in Spain seeking international protection.”
De la Cuesta highlighted that the existence of safeguarding laws is not enough — the laws need to be enforced.
“In my country, we have a wonderful law, but in reality, it does not end up addressing the actual needs,” she stated. “There is no proper prevention, no proper prosecution, and no proper protection for the victims.”
De la Cuesta said no one should ever have to endure what survivors of human trafficking have lived through. While the harm cannot be undone, she emphasized that resilience is still possible, even in the face of pain that often lasts a lifetime.
“We can indeed make flowers grow from these wounds,” she said.
Karla De la Cuesta, a survivor of human trafficking and now an activist and lawyer, spoke at an international conference in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University to discuss trafficking prevention efforts Dec. 11, 2025. Credit: Screenshot from EWTN TV video footageTrafficking and pornography go togetherThe trafficking of children is increasing globally. Not only is it an issue across borders but also in places where children should feel their safest — at home.
A member of the conference panel, Reem Alsalem, U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, spoke about how human trafficking and pornography are often interconnected.
“Pornography is a system of online prostitution,” Alsalem said. “So by definition it is exploitative, abusive, and preys on women and girls. Some of the violence and abuse that they’re exposed to happens also through trafficking. They are trafficked for the purpose of being sexually exploited in pornography.”
Alsalem refuted the widely used argument that consuming consensual pornography is the better option.
“Many digital platforms and businesses involved in pornography, first of all, use nonconsensual material; second, many of the women and children that appear in these images and material have been coerced, have been forced, have been threatened and again, as we said, especially the adults have not consented to this, even after they have requested that this material be removed many of these platforms have refused to do so,” she said.
‘Written into the Gospel’Another panelist at the conference was pyschologist and theologian Father Hans Zollner, director of the Institute of Anthropology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. The Jesuit priest is known for his work in the field of safeguarding against sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
Father Hans Zollner, SJ, a psychologist and theologian, and the director of the Institute of Anthropology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, is known for his outstanding work in the field of safeguarding against sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Credit: Screenshot from EWTN TV video footage“What we need to do … is to understand that child protection or the safeguarding of all people is something that is written into the Gospel,” he told conference participants. He said he believes the Church has made a lot of progress in the last 12 years in terms of supporting victims, especially those who have been subject to clergy abuse.
“If we understood it better and if it was integrated better and more wholeheartedly, that would also come with an openness to listening to stories of victims who want to share with us their life experience,” he said.
Zollner continued to say that evil has been in the world since the beginning of humanity and that there is no salvation from crime and sins except in the perspective of our future in heaven.
“Jesus Christ himself has been a victim of violence,” Zollner said. “And he suffered death because he was unjustly treated.”
“So we believe that he has risen, and that gives us hope that with all the evil that is happening today we still have some hope, some perspective — that this is not the end of it, that the violence and harm we do to each other as human beings is not the last word.”
Pope Leo XIV tells Vatican employees doing work well gives glory to God
Vatican City, Dec 22, 2025 / 12:37 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV told Vatican and Holy See employees to see their daily work as part of the Church’s mission, saying that doing one’s job well “gives glory to the Lord.”
Meeting the workers for a Christmas greeting on Dec. 22, the pope said he is still getting to know the Vatican and experiences it as “a great mosaic” made up of many offices and services. He said he hopes, with God’s help, to meet employees as he visits different workplaces.
Reflecting on the Nativity scene, Pope Leo pointed to the many figures shown at work — each carrying out a task — as a reminder that everyday activities find their full meaning in God’s plan centered on Jesus Christ. He said it is as if the Christ Child blesses everyone from the manger, giving purpose and unity to the work of each person.
Even when some figures in the Nativity seem distant from the central event, he said, they participate precisely by being themselves, staying in their place and doing what they are called to do. The pope applied that image to Vatican life, saying each person can praise God by carrying out his or her responsibilities with commitment and care.
The pope also linked professional dedication to family life, telling lay employees that striving to do one’s best at work — and loving one’s family and children — honors God.
He urged Vatican workers to make that spirit a hallmark of the Church “in every expression,” and he asked them to convey his greetings to their relatives at home, telling them that the pope is praying for them.
After giving his blessing, Pope Leo greeted some of those present individually.
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Leo in apostolic letter calls for renewed priestly formation, fraternity, and mission
ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 22, 2025 / 12:07 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV calls for renewed priestly formation, stronger priestly fraternity, and a more missionary focus in pastoral ministry in an apostolic letter released by the Vatican on Monday.
The document, “A Fidelity That Generates the Future,” reflects on two decrees of the Second Vatican Council: Optatam Totius — on priestly formation — and Presbyterorum Ordinis — on the ministry and life of priests — both promulgated in 1965. Leo urges Catholics to keep reading the two conciliar texts in Christian communities and to study them “particularly in seminaries and in all places of preparation and formation for ordained ministry.”
An apostolic letter is a formal papal document, typically addressed to the Church, meant to teach, encourage, or direct pastoral priorities on a specific theme.
In his new letter, Leo says the Church is not simply marking an anniversary. He writes that the council’s “desired renewal” remains closely tied to priestly ministry, quoting the council’s assessment that “the desired renewal of the whole Church depends to a great extent on a priestly ministry animated by the spirit of Christ.”
The pope presents fidelity as both a grace and “a constant journey of conversion,” and he thanks priests worldwide for their ministry — from celebrating the Eucharist and proclaiming the Word to caring for those who suffer.
Formation and the abuse crisisLeo writes that every vocation begins with an encounter with Christ and recalls the Lord’s call, “Follow me” (Mk 1:17). He says fidelity in “times of trial and temptation” is strengthened by remembering “the sound of the voice of the Lord who loves, chooses, and calls us,” and by seeking the accompaniment of those experienced in the spiritual life.
Addressing what he calls “the crisis of trust in the Church caused by abuses committed by members of the clergy,” the pope says the scandal “has filled us with shame and called us to humility” and underscores “the urgent need for a comprehensive formation” that fosters human maturity alongside “a rich and solid spiritual life.”
He urges seminarians to examine their motivations and includes a pointed line on formation of the heart: “The seminary is meant to be a training ground to help a seminarian attend to his own heart… we need to learn how to love and how to do so as Jesus did.”
Priestly fraternity and lonelinessLeo describes priestly fraternity as a gift rooted in ordination itself and warns against individualism. He encourages practical steps to strengthen bonds among priests, including support for those who are isolated, sick, or elderly.
The pope also flags disparities that can undermine communion, saying more remains to be done — including “economic equalization between those who serve poor parishes and those who carry out their ministry in wealthy communities.”
Synodality and shared leadershipLeo calls synodality “particularly close to my heart,” arguing that the Church still has work to do in fostering healthy relationships between priests and bishops, among priests themselves, and with the lay faithful.
He encourages priests to engage the Synod on Synodality’s final document and says priestly ministry should move away from “exclusive leadership” that centralizes parish life and places every responsibility on the priest alone. Instead, he points to more collegial leadership and cooperation among priests, deacons, and the whole people of God.
Mission and the temptations of activism and withdrawalThe pope links priestly identity to mission and warns against two temptations: an efficiency-driven mindset that measures worth by performance, and a “quietism” that retreats from evangelization. He writes that media exposure and social networks require discernment and recalls St. Paul’s warning: “‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are beneficial” (1 Cor 6:12).
The letter closes with a focus on vocations and the need for both prayer and renewed pastoral creativity. Leo entrusts seminarians, deacons, and priests to the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Good Counsel, and St. John Mary Vianney.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Leo XIV urges a ‘more missionary’ Roman Curia and warns against internal divisions
Vatican City, Dec 22, 2025 / 06:25 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Monday called on officials of the Roman Curia to deepen both mission and communion, urging Vatican offices to be “more mission-oriented” and cautioning against the “forces of division” that can take root even “beneath an apparent calm.”
Speaking during his annual Christmas greetings with personnel of the Church’s central administration, the pope also paid tribute to Pope Francis, whom he described as his “beloved predecessor” who “this year concluded his earthly life.”
Leo said Francis’ “prophetic voice, pastoral style, and rich magisterium” encouraged the Church “to place God’s mercy at the center, to give renewed impetus to evangelization, and to be a joyful Church, welcoming to all and attentive to the poorest.”
Drawing on Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Leo focused his address on what he called “two fundamental aspects of the Church’s life: mission and communion.”
“By her very nature, the Church is outward-looking, turned toward the world, missionary,” the pope said, adding that the Church exists to invite people into “the good news of God’s love.”
He insisted that ecclesial structures should serve evangelization rather than slow it down. “Structures must not weigh down or slow the progress of the Gospel or hinder the dynamism of evangelization; instead, we must ‘make them more mission-oriented,’” he said.
Applying that principle directly to Vatican governance, the pope said: “We need an ever more missionary Roman Curia in which institutions, offices, and tasks are conceived in light of today’s major ecclesial, pastoral, and social challenges, and not merely to ensure ordinary administration.”
Leo said the mystery of Christmas highlights not only the mission of the Son of God but also the purpose of that mission: reconciliation and a new kind of fraternity. “Christmas reminds us that Jesus came to reveal the true face of God as Father, so that we might all become his children and therefore brothers and sisters to one another,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV addresses officials of the Roman Curia at the Vatican on Dec. 22, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaThe pope warned that communion within the Church requires ongoing conversion, especially when tensions arise in workplaces and debates about doctrine and practice.
“At times, beneath an apparent calm, forces of division may be at play,” he said. He cautioned against “swinging between two opposite extremes: uniformity that fails to value differences, or the exacerbation of differences and viewpoints instead of seeking communion.”
Such patterns, he said, can lead to “rigidity or ideology” and the conflicts that follow.
Yet, he continued, Christians are united in Christ even amid real diversity. “And in Christ, though many and diverse, we are one: ‘In Illo uno unum,’” he said.
Leo called Curia officials in particular to be “builders of Christ’s communion,” emphasizing a synodal Church in which “all cooperate in the same mission, each according to his or her charism and role.”
The pope acknowledged that long years of service can leave some Vatican employees disheartened by workplace dynamics, including “the exercise of power,” “the desire to prevail,” or “the pursuit of personal interests.”
He posed the question directly: “Is it possible to be friends in the Roman Curia? To have relationships of genuine fraternal friendship?” He said it is “a grace to find trustworthy friends, where masks fall away,” where “no one is used or sidelined,” and where each person’s “worth and competence are respected.”
Such relationships, he said, require personal conversion so that “Christ’s love” can be visible.
The pope also linked internal communion to the Church’s public witness in a world marked by violence and polarization. He said this conversion becomes a sign “ad extra” in “a world wounded by discord, violence, and conflict,” where there is “a growth in aggression and anger,” often “exploited by both the digital sphere and politics.”
“Dear brothers and sisters, mission and communion are possible if we place Christ at the center,” Leo said.
He also pointed to the significance of the Church’s current jubilee year, saying it underscores that Christ “alone is the hope that does not disappoint.”
The pope referenced two major anniversaries marked this year: the Council of Nicaea, which he said returns the Church “to the roots of our faith,” and the Second Vatican Council, which “strengthened the Church and sent her forth to engage the modern world.”
Leo closed by recalling the 50th anniversary of St. Paul VI’s apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, highlighting its emphasis that evangelization belongs to the whole Church and that the first means of evangelization is the witness of an authentically Christian life.
“Let us remember this also in our curial service: The work of each is important for the whole, and the witness of a Christian life, expressed in communion, is the first and greatest service we can offer,” he said.
Quoting Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer on the humility of God revealed at Christmas, Leo prayed that the Lord would grant the Curia “his own humility, his compassion, and his love,” and he concluded by wishing all present “a holy Christmas” and asking God to “grant peace to the world.”
At the close of the exchange of greetings, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, offered Christmas wishes on behalf of Curia offices, the Vatican City State Governorate, and the Diocese of Rome, and the pope presented curial personnel with a copy of “The Practice of the Presence of God,” the spiritual classic he has recently recommended.
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
These are Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intentions for 2026
CNA Staff, Dec 22, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
The pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network has released Pope Leo XIV’s list of prayer intentions for the year 2026.
Every month, Pope Leo asks Catholics around the world to pray for a particular intention. This initiative is accompanied by a video in which the pontiff expresses the reasons why he has chosen that particular intention.
Below is the complete list of Pope Leo’s prayer intentions for 2026.
January: For prayer with the word of GodLet us pray that praying with the word of God be nourishment for our lives and a source of hope in our communities, helping us to build a more fraternal and missionary Church.
February: For children with incurable diseasesLet us pray that children suffering from incurable diseases and their families receive the necessary medical care and support, never losing strength and hope.
March: For disarmament and peaceLet us pray that nations move toward effective disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, and that world leaders choose the path of dialogue and diplomacy instead of violence.
April: For priests in crisisLet us pray for priests going through moments of crisis in their vocation, that they may find the accompaniment they need and that communities may support them with understanding and prayer.
May: That everyone might have foodLet us pray that everyone, from large producers to small consumers, be committed to avoid wasting food and to ensure that everyone has access to quality food.
June: For the values of sportsLet us pray that sports be an instrument of peace, encounter, and dialogue among cultures and nations, and that they promote values such as respect, solidarity, and personal growth.
July: For respect for human lifeLet us pray for the respect and protection of human life in all its stages, recognizing it as a gift from God.
August: For evangelization in the cityLet us pray that in large cities often marked by anonymity and loneliness we find new ways to proclaim the Gospel, discovering creative paths to build community.
September: For the care of waterLet us pray for a just and sustainable management of water, a vital resource, so that everyone may have equal access to it.
October: For mental health ministryLet us pray that mental health ministry be established throughout the Church, helping to overcome the stigma and discrimination of persons with mental illnesses.
November: For the proper use of wealthLet us pray for the proper use of wealth, that not succumbing to the temptation of selfishness, it may always be put at the service of the common good and solidarity of those who have less.
December: For single-parent familiesLet us pray for families experiencing the absence of a mother or father, that they may find support and accompaniment in the Church, and help and strength in the faith during difficult times.
Pope Leo XIV highlights key virtues for final days of Advent
ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 21, 2025 / 09:15 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday highlighted four virtues of St. Joseph — “piety and charity, mercy and trust” — as guides for Catholics in the final days of Advent leading up to Christmas.
Speaking during his Angelus address from the window of the Apostolic Palace on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the pope said the day’s liturgy invited the faithful to reflect on St. Joseph, especially “at the moment when God reveals his mission to him in a dream.”
Calling the Gospel episode “a very beautiful page in salvation history,” Leo described Joseph as a man who is “fragile and fallible — like us — and at the same time courageous and strong in faith.”
Referring to the Gospel of Matthew, the pontiff recalled that Joseph of Nazareth was a “just man,” a devout Israelite who observed the law and frequented the synagogue, while also being “extremely sensitive and human.”
In the face of Mary’s mysterious pregnancy — a situation that was difficult to understand and accept — the pope noted that Joseph did not choose “the way of scandal” or public condemnation. Instead, he opted for the discreet and benevolent path of planning to divorce her quietly.
In doing so, Leo said, Joseph demonstrated he had grasped the deepest meaning of religious observance: mercy.
The pope added that Joseph’s purity and nobility became even clearer when the Lord revealed his plan of salvation in a dream, showing Joseph the unexpected role he would assume as the husband of the Virgin Mother of the Messiah.
Leo pointed to Joseph’s “great act of faith,” saying the saint left behind the last of his certainties and set out into a future fully in God’s hands.
Referring to St. Augustine, the pope said that from Joseph’s piety and charity, “a son was born of the Virgin Mary — Son at the same time of God.”
“Piety and charity, mercy and trust,” Leo said, are the virtues the liturgy proposes for the faithful today so that they may accompany Christians through these final Advent days toward “holy Christmas.”
The pope emphasized that these attitudes “educate the heart” for encountering Christ and one another and can help believers become for each other “a welcoming manger, a comfortable home, a sign of God’s presence.”
He urged Catholics not to miss opportunities during this season of grace to put the virtues into practice — forgiving, encouraging, offering hope to those they live with and meet — and renewing in prayer a childlike trust in the Lord and in his providence.
Leo concluded by entrusting the faithful to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, who were the first to welcome Jesus, the Savior of the world, “with great faith and love.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Leo XIV strengthens legal protections for employees of the Vatican and Holy See
Vatican City, Dec 19, 2025 / 16:22 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV approved new labor regulations at the Office of Labor of the Apostolic See (ULSA, by its Italian acronym), the Holy See’s body responsible for managing labor relations for personnel working in the Roman Curia, the Governorate of Vatican City State, and other entities directly administered by the Apostolic See.
The reform, established through a pontifical rescript signed on Nov. 25, introduces significant changes that strengthen institutional representation, improve internal coordination, and underscore the pontiff’s care for employees and the application of the Church’s social doctrine.
The document that has been released — corresponding to the ULSA’s new statute — details, in precise legal language, how labor disputes should be handled in the Vatican, reinforcing protections, procedures, and deadlines for both current and former employees of the Holy See.
Specifically, the text regulates the chapter dedicated to labor disputes, clearly establishing who can appeal, to which authorities, and within what time frames.
The document indicates that anyone who believes they have been harmed by an administrative act in labor matters — unless it has been expressly approved by the pope — may file a complaint with ULSA or take it to the Vatican judicial authority.
However, it is emphasized that attempting conciliation with the ULSA director is a mandatory condition, an indispensable requirement before pursuing any other course of action.
The text also specifies that, when required by the internal regulations of each administration, the employee must first exhaust all internal remedies, failing which his or her claim will be deemed inadmissible. Only after completing this process can the procedure before ULSA or the courts of Vatican City State be initiated.
Solutions through dialogue before resorting to legal actionLabor disputes — whether individual or collective — will be resolved preferably through conciliation mechanisms, and only in case of failure will they be referred to the ULSA Conciliation and Arbitration Board or the Vatican court. In this way, the system prioritizes solutions through dialogue before resorting to legal action.
The document also establishes a five-year statute of limitations for rights arising from the employment relationship, although it clarifies that filing a request for conciliation interrupts this period until official notification of the document that concludes this phase.
Matters falling under the jurisdiction of the Disciplinary Commissions established in the general regulations of the various Vatican administrations are expressly excluded from this procedure.
Regarding deadlines, the statute stipulates that the appeal must be filed within 30 days of notification — or actual knowledge — of the contested act. The same deadline applies after a negative decision on an internal appeal or in the case of administrative silence, if the administration fails to respond within the prescribed time.
Finally, the text details the formal requirements of the claim, which must include the claimant’s personal data, the identification of the administration involved,and the act being challenged, as well as the necessary elements to allow for the proper processing of the case.
The decree was issued after an audience granted to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and coincides with the approval of the new general regulations of the Roman Curia.
Overall, the document reflects an effort to provide greater legal certainty, transparency, and procedural order to labor relations within the Vatican, in line with the recent reform initiated by Pope Leo XIV to strengthen the protection of workers and promote a culture of conciliation before resorting to legal conflict.
A more representative councilAnother major innovation of the new statute is the expansion of the ULSA Council, the advisory body responsible for developing regulatory proposals. For the first time, it will include a representative from the Secretariat of State as well as from the Vicariate of Rome, the Pension Fund, and the Healthcare Fund (FAS) used by employees of the Vatican and the Holy See. This addition brings the number of newly represented entities to four and aims to strengthen the technical expertise and effective protection of workers.
The council — whose members serve a five-year term — already included representatives from various Vatican dicasteries and bodies, such as the Dicastery for Evangelization, the Secretariat for the Economy, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, and the Governorate of Vatican City State.
A more ‘synodal’ working styleThe new statute also introduces a more participatory way of working. From now on, each council member will be able to propose topics for the agenda directly, a power that previously required the support of at least four members. According to Vatican sources, this measure emphasizes a more “synodal” working style and promotes the creative involvement of the various departments and staff representatives.
Leo XIV has confirmed the historical responsibilities of ULSA, an organization established by St. John Paul II in 1988 and operational since 1989, and which was further updated during the pontificates of Benedict XVI and Francis.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Leo XIV: The person and families must be at center of labor system
ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 19, 2025 / 14:30 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV advocated for a labor system that serves individuals and families so that the dignity of each employee is recognized and his or her real needs are met.
During a Dec. 18 audience at the Vatican with members of the Order of Employment Consultants, the Holy Father highlighted three aspects that he considers particularly important in the business world: the dignity of the person, mediation, and the promotion of safety.
At the beginning of his address in the Apostolic Palace, the pontiff emphasized that at the heart of any work dynamic “should neither be capital, nor the laws of the market, nor profit, but the person, the family, and their well-being, to which everything else is secondary.”
Consequently, he stated that workers must “be recognized in their dignity” and receive concrete responses to their real needs, such as the needs of young families, of parents with small children, “as well as the importance of helping those who, even while working, must care for elderly and sick family members.”
“These are needs,” he pointed out, “that no truly civilized society can afford to forget or neglect.” This is especially true today, when artificial intelligence and technology “increasingly manage and influence our activities.” Therefore, he emphasized the urgent need to ensure that companies are characterized “as humane and fraternal communities.”
He also urged the establishment of fair mediation between managers and employees, avoiding “excessive bureaucratization of relationships” and “distance and detachment and distance from reality.”
Thus, he invited employment consultants to pay close attention “to the people in front of you, especially those who are in difficulty and have fewer opportunities to express their needs and assert their interests.”
Finally, he emphasized the importance of promoting workplace safety and lamented the numerous accidents that occur at work. “Prevention is better than remediating,” he remarked.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Leo XIV writes preface to book that shaped his spiritual life
Vatican City, Dec 19, 2025 / 11:05 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has written the preface to a new Vatican edition of the book “The Practice of the Presence of God,” a spiritual work he says is “one of the texts that has most shaped my spiritual life.”
“The Practice of the Presence of God” is a 17th-century spiritual classic written by the Carmelite friar Lawrence of the Resurrection.
The pontiff shared the personal importance of this work during the return flight to Rome at the end of his first international trip to Turkey and Lebanon earlier this month.
“It’s a very simple book, by someone who doesn’t even give his last name — Brother Lawrence — written many years ago,” he said at the time.
“But it describes, if you will, a type of prayer and spirituality where one simply gives his life to the Lord and allows the Lord to lead.”
The book that has ‘shaped my spiritual life’In a preface to “The Practice of the Presence of God,” published by the Vatican Publishing House (LEV) in Italian, the pope goes deeper into this personal experience and places the work within his own journey of faith.
“As I have had occasion to say, together with the writings of St. Augustine and other books, this is one of the texts that has most shaped my spiritual life and has formed me in what the path for knowing and loving the Lord can be,” he writes.
Leo emphasizes that the small book by Brother Lawrence places at the center not merely the experience but a true “practice” of the presence of God, lived in everyday life.
It is, he explains, a path that is “simple and arduous at the same time. Simple, because it requires nothing other than “constantly calling God to mind, with small, continual acts of praise, prayer, supplication, adoration, in every action and in every thought, with him alone as our horizon, source, and end.”
It is demanding because it requires “a journey of purification, of ascetic discipline, of renunciation and conversion of the most intimate part of ourselves — of our mind and our thoughts, even more than of our actions,” he explains.
In this context, the pontiff cites St. Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians: “Have in you the same sentiments as Christ Jesus” — to underscore that “it is not only our attitudes and behaviors that must be conformed to God, but our very sentiments, our very way of feeling.”
Making daily tasks ‘easy and light’In the preface, Leo underscores that this spiritual path, in which the presence of God becomes “familiar and occupies our inner space,” is where “graces and spiritual riches blossom, and even daily tasks become easy and light.”
The pope situates Brother Lawrence’s message in the context of today’s world. The writings of this Carmelite, who lived with luminous faith through a century marked by conflicts and violence — “certainly no less violent than our own” — can, he affirms, “also be an inspiration and a help for the lives of us men and women of the third millennium.”
Beyond ‘moralism’The writing of Brother Lawrence shows us “that there is no circumstance that can separate us from God, that each of our actions, each of our occupations, and even each of our mistakes acquires infinite value if lived in the presence of God, continually offered to him,” the Holy Father says.
The pope adds that the whole of Christian ethics “can truly be summed up in this continual calling to mind of the fact that God is present: He is here.”
“This remembrance, which is more than a simple memory because it involves our feelings and affections, overcomes all moralism and every reduction of the Gospel to a mere set of rules, and shows us that truly, as Jesus promised us, the experience of entrusting ourselves to God the Father already gives us a hundredfold here on earth,” he explains.
“Entrusting ourselves to the presence of God means tasting a foretaste of paradise,” Leo writes.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language partner agency. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Leo XIV warns against destructive spiral of autonomous weapons and escalation
Vatican City, Dec 18, 2025 / 18:28 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV warned against the destructive spiral fueled by the arms race and the development of autonomous weapons, and called for an “unarmed and disarming” peace — one that springs from the resurrection of Christ — as the only answer to the world’s challenges.
“The peace of the risen Jesus is unarmed, because his was an unarmed struggle in the midst of concrete historical, political, and social circumstances,” the pontiff wrote in his message for the 59th World Day of Peace, which will be celebrated on Jan. 1, 2026. Its text was released Dec. 18 by the Holy See Press Office.
The four-page document is titled “Peace Be with You All: Towards an Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” an expression that directly echoes the first words spoken by Leo XIV after his election as the successor of Peter on May 8, when he appeared on the balcony of the Apostolic Palace to greet the faithful for the first time.
In the text, the pope lamented that, in the face of global challenges, the predominant response is an “enormous economic investment in rearmament.” In this regard, he noted that in 2024, global military spending increased by 9.4% compared with the previous year, confirming “the trend of the last 10 years.” According to the data cited, total spending reached $2.718 trillion, equivalent to 2.5% of the world’s gross domestic product.
Beyond the statistics, the pope warned of the cultural and educational consequences of this logic. He criticized the fact that schools and universities are not adequately preserving “a culture of memory” that remembers the “millions of victims” of wars and lamented that, instead, educational programs are being promoted that are based on the “perception of threats,” promoting “only an armed notion of defense and security.”
The Holy Father also emphasized how technological advancements and the incorporation of artificial intelligence in the military sphere have “worsened the tragedy” of armed conflicts. He therefore warned of the risk of a growing tendency to “shirk responsibility” by political and military leaders such that “decisions about life and death are increasingly “‘delegated’ to machines.”
In his view, this is an “unprecedented destructive betrayal” of the “legal and philosophical principles of humanism” upon which any civilization is based and safeguarded.
The pontiff did not shy away from denouncing “the enormous concentrations of private economic and financial interests” that are driving states in this direction, but emphasized that just criticizing this would not be enough “unless we also awakened conscience and critical thought” throughout society.
In his reflection, Leo XIV included an explicit warning against the religious instrumentalization of violence. The pope observed that it is part of the contemporary landscape to “to drag the language of faith into political battles, to bless nationalism, and to justify violence and armed struggle in the name of religion.” In response, he urged believers to “actively refute this, above all by the witness of their lives,” because “these forms of blasphemy profane the holy name of God.”
Therefore, he emphasized that, alongside concrete actions for peace, it is increasingly necessary to cultivate “prayer, spirituality, and ecumenical and interreligious dialogue” as authentic paths to peace and as languages of encounter between traditions and cultures.
The Holy Father also warned of the risk of treating peace as a “distant ideal” and “disconnected from the concrete experience of people and the political life of nations.”
When peace is presented as something unattainable, the pope noted in the text, “we cease to be scandalized when it is denied, or even when war is waged in its name.”
According to the pontiff, there is a real risk that this logic will end up seeping into both private and public life, fueling the perception that it is almost “a fault” not to be sufficiently prepared for war, “not to react to attacks,” even going “far beyond the principle of legitimate defense.”
“It is no coincidence that repeated calls to increase military spending, and the choices that follow, are presented by many government leaders as a justified response to external threats,” Leo XIV lamented.
Indeed, he continued, “the deterrent power of military might, especially nuclear deterrence, is based on the irrationality of relations between nations, built not on law, justice, and trust but on fear and domination by force.”
Faced with this scenario, the pope proposed a different understanding of peace that “wants to dwell within us” and has the “gentle power to enlighten and expand our understanding; it resists and overcomes violence.”
‘Peace is a breath of the eternal’“Peace is a breath of the eternal: while to evil we cry out ‘Enough,’ to peace we whisper ‘Forever,’” the pope emphasized.
The reflection included a cultural critique of the modern world, which he called “realistic” in its narratives but “devoid of hope, blind to the beauty of others,” and that forgets that “God’s grace is always at work in human hearts, even those wounded by sin.”
In this regard, the pope recalled that the path proposed by Jesus was already perplexing even for his own disciples: “The Gospels do not hide the fact that what troubled the disciples was his nonviolent response,” a path that everyone, starting with Peter, opposed, “yet the Master asked them to follow this path to the end. The way of Jesus continues to cause unease and fear.”
The Holy Father acknowledged the discouragement experienced by people of goodwill who “have hearts ready for peace” and are overwhelmed by a feeling of “powerlessness” in the face of the increasingly uncertain course of events.
The World Day of Peace was instituted by St. Paul VI, who proposed it on Dec. 8, 1967, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. It was celebrated for the first time on Jan. 1, 1968, coinciding with the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and since then it has become an annual occasion for the Church to reflect on the great challenges of human coexistence.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Countdown to the closing of the jubilee: When, who will close the Holy Doors in Rome?
Vatican City, Dec 18, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Just a few weeks remain until the closing of the holy year, which was inaugurated by Pope Francis on Dec. 24, 2024. On Jan. 6, 2026, Pope Leo XIV will be the one to close the enormous bronze door of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, through which nearly 30 million pilgrims have passed during the last 12 months seeking a plenary indulgence.
This Holy Door is slated to be reopened in 2033, when the Church celebrates the Extraordinary Holy Year of the Redemption.
The schedule for closing rites of the Holy Doors of the main papal basilicas in Rome is as follows:
The first Holy Door to be closed — and which will remain walled up until the next jubilee — is that of St. Mary Major Basilica. The rite will take place on Dec. 25, as reported by the Holy See Press Office. The ceremony will be begin at 6 p.m. local time, followed by Mass celebrated by the cardinal archpriest of the basilica, Rolandas Makrickas.
Lithuanian Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, celebrates Mass on Aug. 5, 2025, to mark the anniversary of the dedication of the Marian basilica. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNATwo days later, on Dec. 27 at 11 a.m. local time, the closing ceremony at St. John Lateran Basilica will be presided over by the cardinal vicar of Rome, Baldassare Reina, who will celebrate the Eucharist, and will feature the participation of the diocesan choir, directed by Monsignor Marco Frisina.
On Dec. 28 at 10 a.m. local time, the Holy Door of St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica will be closed. The solemn event will be presided over by Cardinal Archpriest James Michael Harvey.
Finally, on Jan. 6, 2026, the solemnity of the Epiphany, Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to close the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica before celebrating the Mass that will mark the concluding act of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. On that occasion, the pontiff will invite pilgrims to return to Rome in 2033 for the Extraordinary Holy Year of Redemption.
Detail of the bronze panels on the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, highlighted during the nocturnal opening for the Jubilee of Artists, Feb. 16, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAThe Holy Doors, as is tradition, have been solely those of the four papal basilicas of Rome: St. Peter’s in the Vatican, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls. However, on Dec. 26, two days after officially inaugurating the holy year, Pope Francis made an exception by traveling to the Rebibbia prison in Rome to repeat this gesture at another door as a symbol of hope.
The late pope wanted to extend this gesture of grace to prisoners by opening the door of this correctional facility in the Italian capital.
The date on which the closing ceremony for this fifth Holy Door will take place has yet to be announced.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Leo XIV to appoint next archbishop of New York
Vatican City, Dec 17, 2025 / 09:58 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has chosen Bishop Ronald Hicks of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, to be the next archbishop of New York — the most consequential U.S. episcopal appointment of Leo’s pontificate thus far.
The appointment was confirmed by EWTN News with two independent sources with direct knowledge of the appointment.
Hicks, 58, will succeed Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who has led New York, the second-largest U.S. archdiocese by population — with 2.5 million Catholics — since 2009.
The choice of Hicks for one of the most important U.S. archdioceses is likely to be heavily scrutinized for the insight it may give into the direction Pope Leo wishes to take the Church in the U.S.
A native of Illinois, Hicks has led the Joliet Diocese since September 2020. He was an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Chicago from 2018 to 2020, following three years as the archdiocese’s vicar general from 2015 to 2018.
Hicks was born on Aug. 4, 1967, in the town of Harvey, Illinois, south of Chicago, and grew up in South Holland, one suburb over from Dolton, where Pope Leo XIV grew up.
“I recognize a lot of similarities between [Pope Leo] and me,” Hicks told WGN in an interview in May. “So we grew up literally in the same radius, in the same neighborhood together. We played in the same parks, went swimming in the same pools, liked the same pizza places to go to.”
Ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1994, Hicks’ priestly ministry included time as an associate pastor and pastor, and dean of formation as St. Joseph College Seminary.
In 2005, he began a five-year term as regional director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) in Central America. Based in El Salvador, he oversaw the care of more than 3,400 orphaned and abandoned children in nine Latin American and Caribbean countries.
He returned to Chicago in 2010 to serve as dean of formation at Mundelein Seminary before Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago appointed him vicar general of the archdiocese on Jan. 1, 2015.
As bishop, Hicks serves on the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations for the U.S. bishops’ conference, and as the conference liaison to the Association of Ongoing Formation of Priests and the National Association of Diaconate Directors.
The Archdiocese of New York serves Catholics in the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, and in seven counties to the north.
Pope Leo XIV: True treasure is found in the heart, not ‘too much doing’
Vatican City, Dec 17, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV said Wednesday true satisfaction is found not in the accumulation of money or things, or by “too much doing,” but by returning to Jesus Christ, the source of hope, love, and joy.
“We are absorbed by many activities that do not always leave us satisfied … We have to assume responsibility for many commitments, solve problems, face difficulties,” the pope said at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 17.
“Yet,” he added, “we often perceive how too much doing, instead of giving us fulfillment, becomes a vortex that overwhelms us, takes away our serenity, and prevents us from living to the fullest what is truly important in our lives.”
In his catechesis, the pontiff stressed that the true value of life is not measured by “days full of activities” or economic success.
“It is therefore in the heart that true treasure is kept, not in earthly safes, not in large financial investments, which today more than ever before are out of control and unjustly concentrated at the bloody price of millions of human lives and the devastation of God’s creation,” he said.
Leo warned that this logic of accumulation ends up emptying life of meaning even for those who, from the outside, seem to have achieved success: “It is important to reflect on these aspects, because in the numerous commitments we continually face, there is an increasing risk of dispersion, sometimes of despair, of meaninglessness.”
“Human life is characterized by a constant movement that that drives us to do, to act,” he acknowledged, adding that Jesus’ resurrection can give us insight into this human experience.
“When we participate in [Christ’s] victory over death, will we rest? Faith tells us: Yes, we will rest,” the pope said. “We will not be inactive, but we will enter into God’s repose, which is peace and joy. So, should we just wait, or can this change us right now?”
The true destiny of the heartLeo noted that many people, despite having so much, feel empty at the end of the day.
The answer, according to the pontiff, is “because we are not machines, we have a ‘heart’; indeed, we can say that we are a heart.”
He turned to the Gospel of St. Matthew to underscore the centrality of the heart, citing the words of Jesus: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6:21).
He also cited the beginning of St. Augustine’s “Confessions,” where the bishop of Hippo wrote: “Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
St. Augustine, with the adjective restless, “helps us understand the human being’s yearning for fulfillment.”
“The authentic approach of the heart,” he continued, “does not consist in possessing the goods of this world, but in achieving what can fill it completely; namely, the love of God, or rather, God who is Love.”
The Holy Father explained that this treasure is found only by “loving the neighbor we meet along the way: brothers and sisters in flesh and blood, whose presence stirs and questions our heart, calling it to open up and give itself.”
But in order to love one’s neighbor, Leo pointed out that it is necessary to “slow down” one’s pace, to “look them in the eye, sometimes to change our plans, perhaps even to change direction.”
“Here is the secret of the movement of the human heart: returning to the source of its being, delighting in the joy that never fails, that never disappoints. No one can live without a meaning that goes beyond the contingent, beyond what passes away,” he concluded.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Vogue magazine includes Pope Leo XIV on its list of best dressed of 2025
ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Although “papal fashion,” meticulously crafted down to the smallest detail, has evolved over time, the popes’ attire still holds profound symbolism that continues to capture the attention of many.
Proof of this is the recent naming of Pope Leo XIV as one of the 55 best-dressed people of 2025 by Vogue magazine, one of the most prestigious and recognized fashion and beauty publications in the world.
Pope Leo XIV shares this distinction with athletes, actors, singers, politicians, and models, including Rosalía, Rihanna, Bad Bunny, actress Jennifer Lawrence, and tennis player Venus Williams.
Pope Leo XIV greets the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square after the announcement of his election on May 8, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaThe American magazine, founded in 1892, highlights in its annual ranking that Leo XIV has broken “with the humble tastes of his predecessor,” Pope Francis, preserving “the papal legacy of impeccably crafted liturgical vestments.”
As the “best outfit of 2025,” the magazine cites his first appearance as pope on May 8 in the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, wearing a red satin mozzetta and a wine-colored stole, embroidered in gold and with a pectoral cross held by a golden silk cord.
The mozzetta is an elbow-length cape that falls over the shoulders and is worn over the rochet as a sign of authority, while the chasuble is the outer liturgical vestment worn over the alb and stole, and its color changes according to the liturgical season. Historically, the liturgical garment represents the “yoke of Christ” and is a symbol of charity.
Pope Francis chose not to wear these garments after his election in 2013, a gesture of simplicity that marked his pontificate and was recognized at the time by Esquire magazine, which also included him on its list of “best-dressed men,” highlighting his understated style.
The Italian Filippo Sorcinelli has established himself as one of the leading designers for recent popes, starting with Benedict XVI. Furthermore, the tailoring of the papal liturgical vestments is entrusted to the historic Gammarelli tailor shop, located near the Pantheon in the heart of the Eternal City.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
With special permission, prisoners travel to Rome for the jubilee
ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 16, 2025 / 15:11 pm (CNA).
The last major event of the Jubilee of Hope was dedicated to prisoners around the world, some of whom during the past weekend were able to experience freedom and fulfill a dream: to go see Pope Leo XIV.
Víctor Aguado, director of prison ministry in Valencia, Spain, accompanied a group of prisoners to the Eternal City, many of whom had spent more than 12 years behind bars. Thanks to special permission, they were able to travel and become living witnesses that “hope breaks down walls and that dignity cannot be taken away.”
In a conversation with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Aguado recounted the details of the “intense, emotional, and spiritual” trip that will forever mark the lives of the men and women who have been incarcerated.
The group was composed of a total of 13 people from Valencia, including prisoners, volunteers, and the chaplain. Six of them were inmates in the second and third degree of the prison system — regimens that combine incarceration with controlled outings — so they had to obtain a series of permits from the Treatment Board, the General Secretariat, and the Oversight Institutions. “It was a long bureaucratic process, but we didn’t have any problems,” Aguado explained.
He explained that they selected the prisoners they have known for a long time. Those in the third degree of the prison system enjoy a semi-release regimen and live in halfway houses, while those in the second degree usually go to workshops and cooperate with everything the prison ministry proposes. “They are people of faith who attend Mass, and we knew that, given their situation and attitude, they needed this and wouldn’t turn it down,” he commented.
"With the pilgrimage, the prisoners assumed a new responsibility and embarked on a new path." Credit: Photo courtesy of Víctor Aguado“They wanted to be very well prepared, free of burdens, and participate in Sunday Mass completely cleansed and at peace with themselves,” said Aguado, who also highlighted their passing through the Holy Door as one of the most emotional moments of the jubilee. “With the pilgrimage, the prisoners assumed a new responsibility and a new path, a new life, and the feeling that now they have to do things right.”
He also highlighted their excitement at seeing the pope, since for them “he is the representation of the Lord on earth.” The Sunday Mass with the Holy Father, Aguado explained, was “very simple, and although it was in Italian, it was perfectly understandable.”
“Hope goes beyond, it breaks down walls wherever it may be, and the dignity of people cannot be taken away, and that is what they conveyed during the three days we were in Rome. These were very intensely personal experiences, and we could feel their joy; everyone had a look of peace,” he noted.
For Aguado — who has been working with prisoners for 14 years — the fact that this event closed the Jubilee of Hope is no mere coincidence. “The world of prisons is not visible, and in some way we must begin to consider that people who have been judged eventually get out and have to reintegrate into normal life, and that depends on society.”
“We know that the Lord forgives everything, so who are we to not forgive these people and keep on stigmatizing them? They are called ex-convicts, but they are nothing more than persons, with all their dignity and freedom,” he affirmed.
Although he assured that the Lord “is always with them and walks with them,” he emphasized the urgency of recognizing the prisoners as living members of the Church and appealed to the responsibility of every Christian: “Sometimes we take the works of mercy for granted, but we don’t always put them into practice. The Lord challenges us: ‘I was in prison,’ and the question remains the same: ‘Did you come to see me?’”
There are many lives that need to be rescuedThe Italian priest Father Raffaele Grimaldi, who left his chaplaincy at the Secondigliano prison in Naples — where he served the inmates for 23 years — to coordinate the 230 priests who minister to the nearly 62,000 detainees throughout Italy, also participated in this historic jubilee.
Speaking to ACI Prensa, he noted that the event “is a strong reminder that the Church wants to bring God’s love and mercy to prisons, who goes in search of those who are lost.”
Father Raffaele Grimaldi, center, with volunteers from Italian prisons at the Jubilee of Prisoners. Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Raffaele GrimaldiAccording to Grimaldi, this jubilee “has brought to light the most difficult situations we are experiencing in our prisons and the plight of the prisoners” including overcrowding, lack of resources, suicides, neglect, and “above all, the lack of acceptance from society.”
The priest brought some prisoners from different Italian prisons before Pope Leo XIV, especially young people and one man sentenced to life in prison. “It was a moment of great joy for them,” he commented.
“Every prisoner needs to constantly hear a word of mercy: from people who do not judge, who do not point fingers, who do not condemn, but who embrace,” he stated.
He also emphasized that this jubilee has not been an isolated event, since throughout the year there has been spiritual preparation in the correctional facilities, where “proclaiming hope is a powerful message that resonates deeply in the hearts of all.”
Grimaldi admitted that these individuals have “made mistakes” and are serving a sentence for them; however, he urged people to “reach out to them so that they can take up their lives again and change,” with justice accompanied by mercy, “so that justice itself does not become vengeance.”
During his years of service in the prisons, he said he has encountered many people who have traveled on a beautiful spiritual journey, “like a young Albanian man who received the sacrament of baptism on Dec. 12.”
“This makes us understand that in our prisons there are many lives that need to be rescued and helped, because if these opportunities don’t exist, the prisoner dies inside, and we also kill the hope that is in their heart.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope thankful for pro-life Nativity scene that ‘represents a life preserved from abortion’
Vatican City, Dec 15, 2025 / 17:06 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Monday thanked Costa Rican artist Paula Sáenz Soto for donating a pro-life Nativity scene to the Vatican, named “Gaudium” (“Joy”), which features a pregnant Virgin Mary.
“I thank the Costa Rican artist who, along with the message of peace of Christmas, also wanted to make an appeal for protecting life from conception,” the pope said during the audience he granted Dec. 15 to the delegations that prepared this year’s Christmas tree and Nativity scenes that will adorn the Vatican during the Christmas season.
The artwork from the Central American country has been on display since Dec. 15 in the Pope Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican, the large hall where the pope is now holding his Wednesday general audiences so pilgrims don’t have to endure the cold temperatures of the Roman winter in St. Peter’s Square.
In his address, the Holy Father alluded to its composition, mentioning the 28,000 colorful ribbons that symbolize lives saved thanks to the support provided by Catholic organizations to pregnant women in vulnerable situations.
“The scene depicts a life saved from abortion thanks to prayer and the support provided by Catholic organizations to many mothers in difficult circumstances,” Pope Leo XIV noted.
The decorations in St. Peter’s Square — which were unveiled Monday afternoon — have an Italian touch. The chosen tree comes from Val d’Ultimo, one of the most picturesque and lesser-known valleys of South Tyrol in Italy.
Meanwhile, the Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square comes from the Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno, one of the oldest in Italy: Its origins date back to the third century, when Nuceria Alfaterna — the ancient Roman city in the Sarno Valley — already had an organized Christian community.
“I thank you for this artistic work that incorporates characteristic elements of your territory,” the pope said, noting that this traditional Nativity scene includes a reproduction of the sixth-century baptistery of St. Mary Major Basilica, one of the best-preserved in the country.
The pope emphasized that this work will be a reminder for pilgrims from all over the world that “God draws near to humanity, entering into our history in the vulnerability of a child.”
“In the poverty of the cave in Bethlehem, we contemplate a mystery of humility and love,” the pope reflected. He also highlighted the figure of the Virgin Mary “as a model of adoring silence,” who treasures in her heart all that she has experienced, while the shepherds glorify God and share what they have seen and heard. In this regard, he emphasized the “need to seek moments of silence and prayer in our lives.”
Regarding the Christmas tree, the pontiff said the large fir tree “is a sign of life and a reminder of the hope that does not fade even in the cold of winter.”
The lights that adorn it, he added, symbolize “Christ, the light of the world,” who comes to “dispel the darkness and guide our path.” In addition to the large fir tree, the forests of South Tyrol have also donated other smaller trees to the Vatican, intended for offices, public spaces, and various areas of Vatican City.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Leo XIV condemns attack on Sydney’s Jewish community, prays for victims
Vatican City, Dec 15, 2025 / 07:48 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Monday condemned a deadly attack on the Jewish community in Sydney and entrusted the victims to God in prayer.
“Today I wish to entrust to the Lord the victims of the terrorist attack carried out yesterday in Sydney against the Jewish community,” the pope said Dec. 15, referring to a shooting during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach that left at least 15 people dead and some 40 others injured.
The Holy Father expressed his spiritual closeness to those affected by the violence, which occurred as more than 1,000 people had gathered to mark the start of Hanukkah, also known as the Feast of Lights — one of the most important celebrations in the Jewish calendar.
According to local media reports, two armed assailants opened fire on the crowd, sparking panic and a mass flight toward the beach and nearby businesses. One attacker was killed during the police response, while the second remains in critical condition. Authorities are investigating possible links between the attackers and a jihadist terrorist organization. Among the victims were a child and a Holocaust survivor.
The pope made his remarks during a Vatican audience with delegations that donated this year’s Christmas tree and Nativity scenes for St. Peter’s Square and the Paul VI Audience Hall. During the same encounter, Leo also reflected on the meaning of Christmas, urging the faithful to “let the tenderness of the Child Jesus illuminate our lives.”
Catholic leaders in Australia also responded with prayer and a strong condemnation of antisemitism. Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney called for prayer and invoked the intercession of the Virgin Mary in the immediate aftermath of the Dec. 14 shooting.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Leo XIV voices concern over renewed fighting in eastern Congo, urges dialogue
Vatican City, Dec 14, 2025 / 08:05 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday voiced deep concern over renewed fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, urging an immediate end to violence and a return to dialogue in line with ongoing peace efforts.
After leading pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square in praying the Angelus on the third Sunday of Advent, the pope said he was “following with deep concern the resumption of fighting in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
“While expressing my closeness to the people, I urge the parties in the conflict to cease all forms of violence and to seek constructive dialogue, respecting the ongoing peace process,” he said.
The pope’s appeal came amid reports of intensified clashes involving the M23 rebel group in the mineral-rich eastern region, despite a recently signed peace agreement between Congolese and Rwandan leaders.
Pope Leo also recalled recent beatifications of martyrs in Spain and France, praising their fidelity to the faith amid persecution. “Let us praise the Lord for these martyrs, courageous witnesses to the Gospel, persecuted and killed for remaining close to their people and faithful to the Church,” he said.
Earlier, in his catechesis before leading the Angelus, Pope Leo reflected on the Gospel reading for the third Sunday of Advent, which presents John the Baptist imprisoned for his preaching yet still seeking the truth about Jesus.
From prison, John hears “about the works of Christ” and sends his disciples to ask whether Jesus is truly the one who is to come, the pope noted. Jesus’ response, he said, points not to abstract claims but to concrete signs.
“Christ announces who he is by what he does. And what he does is a sign of salvation for all of us,” Pope Leo said. Encountering Jesus, he explained, restores meaning to lives marked by darkness and suffering: “The blind see, the mute speak, the deaf hear… Even the dead, who are completely lifeless, come back to life. This is the Gospel of Jesus, the good news proclaimed to the poor.”
“The words of Jesus free us from the prison of despair and suffering,” the pope said, adding that Christ “gives voice to the oppressed and to those whose voices have been silenced by violence and hatred” and “defeats ideologies that make us deaf to the truth.”
Concluding his reflection, Pope Leo said that Advent calls Christians to unite their expectation of the Savior with attentiveness to God’s action in the world. “Then we will be able to experience the joy of freedom in encountering our Savior,” he said, echoing the Church’s celebration of Gaudete Sunday.
This story was first published in two parts by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Vatican to unveil Nativity scene, light up Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 15
Vatican City, Dec 14, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
The Governorate of Vatican City State has announced the origins of the fir tree and Nativity scenes that will adorn St. Peter’s Square and the Paul VI Audience Hall this Christmas as well as those who prepared the tree’s decorations.
The decorations in St. Peter’s Square will once again have an Italian touch.
The chosen tree, an imposing 80-foot Norway spruce, comes from the town of Val d’Ultimo in Ultental, one of the most picturesque and lesser-known valleys of South Tyrol in the Alto Adige region of Italy. Along with the large tree, 40 smaller trees destined for Vatican offices and buildings will arrive soon.
In a novel initiative to ensure environmental sustainability and respect for nature, after Christmas, the main fir tree will be used to produce essential oils — a process that will be handled by the Austrian company Wilder Naturprodukte — and the rest of the wood will be donated to a charitable organization.
The Nativity scene, which is more of a village scene and will include life-size figures, will also be monumental in size. It measures 56 feet in length and is nearly 40 feet wide with a height of 25 feet and comes from the Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno, one of the oldest in Italy whose origins date back to the third century, when Nuceria Alfaterna — the ancient Roman city in the Sarno Valley — already had an organized Christian community.
The scene recreates emblematic elements of early Christian art from this region of Italy and includes a reproduction of the sixth-century baptistery from St. Mary Major Basilica, one of the best-preserved in the country. It also features an octagonal baptismal pool and frescoes that reveal Byzantine influences.
Also represented is the Helvius Fountain (“Fons Helvii”), an ancient monumental Roman fountain built between the first and second centuries A.D. associated with a local aqueduct that supplied water to the Roman population.
Upon this symbolic architecture unfolds a narrative that fuses sacred art, cultural heritage, and local identity.
The life-size figures of the Holy Family have been created by craftsman Federico Iaccarino, and the rest of the Nativity scene will include characters inspired by saints associated with this Italian region.
For example, among those represented are St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, who in 1732 founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), dedicated to evangelizing the most abandoned, especially in rural and marginalized areas; and a shepherd inspired by the Servant of God Don Enrico Smaldone, a priest who dedicated his life to caring for orphans, poor young people, and people with intellectual disabilities, for whom he created educational initiatives and welcoming spaces within the Church.
Around them, shepherds and animals parade across a pavement that evokes the ancient Roman roads.
In the central scene, Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus are accompanied by the ox and the donkey, the three Wise Men, and a shepherdess offering local produce — artichokes, San Marzano tomatoes, and dried fruit — as a tribute to the land that inspired the work.
The ensemble includes elements that invite spiritual reflection: a pendulum clock that alludes to the passage of time, an observer leaning over a balcony representing the human perspective on the mystery, and a fisherman holding an anchor, a symbol of faith and the spiritual journey of the jubilee.
The luminous star with a tail in the shape of an anchor that crowns the composition stands out, uniting the celestial and the earthly in a single gesture of hope.
The dedication will take place Monday, Dec. 15, at 5 p.m. local time in a ceremony presided over by Sister Raffaella Petrini, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, accompanied by Archbishop Emilio Nappa and lawyer Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, general secretaries of the Vatican body.
The day will begin with several audiences with Pope Leo XIV, who will receive in the morning the delegations that donated the tree and those responsible for the huge Nativity scene that will adorn the square.
Among others, the afternoon ceremony will be attended by Bishop Ivo Muser of Bolzano-Bressanone; the mayor of Lagundo, Alexandra Ganner; and the mayor of Ultimo, Stefan Schwarz.
During the morning, the official presentation of a Nativity scene from Costa Rica, which will be installed this year in the Paul VI Audience Hall, will also take place.
Titled “Nacimiento Gaudium” (“Nativity of Joy”), the work by Costa Rican artist Paula Sáenz Soto, is an “affirmation of life from conception.” The piece consists of a figure of a pregnant Virgin Mary and 28,000 colored ribbons that symbolize lives preserved thanks to the support provided by Catholic organizations to pregnant women in vulnerable situations.
The Nativity scene — 16 feet long, 10 feet high, and 8 feet deep — will feature two interchangeable representations of the Virgin Mary: an image of her pregnant during Advent and another of her adoring the newborn child from Christmas Eve onward. In addition, 400 ribbons with prayers and wishes from children at the National Hospital of San José, Costa Rica, will be placed in the manger on Dec. 24.
The Costa Rican delegation that will meet with the pope will be composed of First Lady Signe Zeicate; her daughter, Isabel Chaves Zeicate; and the country’s ambassador to the Holy See, Federico Zamora.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Leo XIV urges mercy, reform as Jubilee of Prisoners closes holy year
Vatican City, Dec 14, 2025 / 05:25 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday presided over the final major celebration of the holy year, calling for renewed commitment to justice, rehabilitation, and hope as he celebrated a jubilee Mass dedicated to prisoners in St. Peter’s Basilica.
About 6,000 pilgrims from some 90 countries took part in the Jubilee of Prisoners, including detainees and their families, prison chaplains, correctional officers, police, and prison administrators. Participants came from across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, the United States, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Australia.
In his homily, the pope said that as the jubilee year drew to a close, significant challenges remained within prison systems worldwide.
“While the close of the jubilee year draws near, we must recognize that, despite the efforts of many, even in the penitentiary system there is much that still needs to be done,” he said. Quoting the prophet Isaiah — “the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing” — Leo said the passage recalled that “it is God who ransoms, who redeems and liberates.”
The pope acknowledged the harsh realities of incarceration, saying prison was “a difficult place and even the best proposals can encounter many obstacles.” For that reason, he said, people must not “tire, be discouraged, or give up” but continue “with tenacity, courage, and a spirit of collaboration.”
Leo stressed that justice should not be reduced to punishment alone. “There are many who do not yet understand that for every fall one must be able to get back up, that no human being is defined only by his or her actions and that justice is always a process of reparation and reconciliation,” he said.
Reflecting on the meaning of the jubilee, the pope said that even in difficult conditions, the preservation of compassion, respect, and mercy could bear unexpected fruit.
“When even in difficult situations we are able to maintain and preserve the beauty of feelings, sensitivity, attention to the needs of others, respect, the capacity for mercy and forgiveness, beautiful flowers spring forth from the ‘hard ground’ of sin and suffering,” Leo said, adding that “gestures, projects, and encounters, unique in their humanity, mature even within prison walls.”
The pope also recalled the hopes expressed by his predecessor, Pope Francis, for the holy year. Leo said Francis had wanted jubilee celebrations to include “forms of amnesty or pardon meant to help individuals regain confidence in themselves and in society” and to offer “real opportunities of reintegration” to all.
“I hope that many countries are following his desire,” the pope said, noting that in its biblical origins the jubilee was “a year of grace in which everyone was offered the possibility of restarting in many different ways.”
Addressing both prisoners and those who work in the penal system, Leo said the task entrusted to them was demanding. He pointed to challenges such as overcrowding, insufficient educational and rehabilitation programs, and limited job opportunities, as well as personal burdens including past wounds, disappointment, and the difficulty of forgiveness.
“The Lord, however, beyond all this, continues to repeat to us that only one thing is important: that no one be lost and that all be saved,” he said. “Let no one be lost! Let all be saved! This is what our God wants, this is his kingdom, and this is the goal of his actions in the world.”
According to organizers, delegations attending the jubilee included inmates and staff from several Italian prisons, including Rebibbia, Casal del Marmo, Brescia, Teramo, Pescara, Rieti, Varese, and Forlì, as well as international groups coordinated by prison chaplaincies in Portugal, Spain, Malta, and Chile. A group of 500 pilgrims was accompanied by the General Inspectorate of Chaplains of Italian prisons.
The hosts used for the Mass were produced by prisoners through the “Sense of Bread” project run by the Fondazione Casa dello Spirito e delle Arti. Since 2016, the initiative has involved more than 300 inmates each year in making Communion hosts for more than 15,000 dioceses, religious communities, and parishes in Italy and abroad.
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.