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Pope Leo XIV: Hope does not mean having all the answers but trusting in God
ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 24, 2025 / 15:38 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV stated that hope “does not mean having all the answers, but rather it calls us to put our trust in God.”
The pontiff made his remarks during an audience granted Nov. 24 at the Vatican to faithful from Latvia, who traveled to the Eternal City to commemorate the centenary of the first official Latvian pilgrimage to Rome.
After greeting Prime Minister Evika Siliņa, with whom he had met privately earlier, the Holy Father thanked the pilgrims for keeping the tradition alive and following in the footsteps “of your forebears in the faith.”
He then recalled that Rome “has always been a home for all Christians, since it is here that the great apostles Peter and Paul gave the supreme witness to the Gospel by becoming martyrs for the faith.”
The Holy Father also recalled Pope Francis’ visit to the country in 2018, on the occasion of the centenary of the nation’s independence, where he spoke “of the difficulties your country experienced in the past.”
“While the current conflict in your region may evoke memories of those turbulent times,” Leo said, “it is important for all of us to turn to God and to be strengthened by God’s grace when faced with such tribulation.”
Recalling Francis’ words, Leo emphasized the “vital role the Christian faith played in your country’s history.” He expressed gratitude for the bond between Latvia and the Holy See, whose relations have grown closer in recent years.
The Holy Father also affirmed that it is necessary to unite with hope “the virtue of faith in order to keep our eyes on the present and see the many ways that God is blessing us here and now.”
In this regard, he explained that a pilgrimage “has an important role in our life of faith for it gives us the time and space to encounter God more deeply.”
“It takes us away from the routine and noise of everyday life,” he added, “and offers the space and silence to hear God’s voice more clearly.”
Finally, he encouraged them to share what they experienced in Rome when they return home, because, he affirmed, “a pilgrimage does not end but its seeds should take root in your daily discipleship and bear fruit in your lives.”
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Pope Leo XIV urges Christians to move beyond outdated theological disputes
Vatican City, Nov 23, 2025 / 12:29 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has called on Christians to move beyond “theological controversies” that no longer serve the cause of unity and to rediscover together the faith professed at the Council of Nicaea 1,700 years ago.
In a new apostolic letter, In unitate fidei (“In the Unity of Faith”), released Nov. 23, the solemnity of Christ the King, the pope links the anniversary of the first ecumenical council to the Holy Year of 2025 and to his upcoming apostolic journey to Türkiye, where he will commemorate Nicaea’s 1700th anniversary and take part in an ecumenical event with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Nov. 30 before traveling on to Lebanon.
“I would like this Letter to encourage the whole Church to renew her enthusiasm for the profession of faith,” the pope writes, stressing that the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed “for centuries… has been the common heritage of Christians, and it deserves to be professed and understood in ever new and relevant ways.”
In a strong ecumenical appeal, Leo XIV says the Nicene Creed “can be the basis and reference point” for a renewed journey toward full communion among Christians. “It offers us a model of true unity in legitimate diversity. Unity in the Trinity, Trinity in Unity, because unity without multiplicity is tyranny, multiplicity without unity is fragmentation,” he writes.
“We must therefore leave behind theological controversies that have lost their raison d’être in order to develop a common understanding and even more, a common prayer to the Holy Spirit, so that he may gather us all together in one faith and one love,” the pope continues.
“The restoration of unity among Christians does not make us poorer; on the contrary, it enriches us,” he adds, calling the goal of full visible unity “a theological challenge and, even more so, a spiritual challenge, which requires repentance and conversion on the part of all.”
‘This Creed gives us hope’Linking Nicaea to today’s crises, Leo XIV notes that the Holy Year is dedicated to the theme “Christ our hope” and that the Nicene Creed remains a source of confidence amid war, injustice, and suffering.
“In this Holy Year, dedicated to the theme of Christ our hope, it is a providential coincidence that we are also celebrating the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea,” he writes. That council, he recalls, “proclaimed the profession of faith in Jesus Christ, Son of God. This is the heart of the Christian faith.”
“In these difficult times we are living, amid so many concerns and fears, threats of war and violence, natural disasters, grave injustices and imbalances, and the hunger and misery suffered by millions of our brothers and sisters, this Creed gives us hope,” the pope says.
Leo XIV presents the letter as an invitation for all Christians “to walk in harmony, guarding and transmitting the gift they have received with love and joy,” especially through the words of the Creed: “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God… for our salvation he came down from heaven.”
Nicaea and the heart of the Christian faithThe pope devotes much of In unitate fidei to explaining the historical and theological context of the Council of Nicaea, which met in 325 to address the Arian controversy over the divinity of Christ.
The dispute, he notes, “concerned the essence of the Christian faith,” namely the answer to Jesus’ question in the Gospel: “Who do you say that I am?” In response, the Nicene Fathers confessed that Jesus is the Son of God “in as much as he is of the substance (ousia) of the Father… ‘begotten, not made, consubstantial (homooúsios) with the Father.’”
“The Fathers of Nicaea were firm in their resolution to remain faithful to biblical monotheism and the authenticity of the Incarnation,” Leo XIV writes. By adopting terms such as “substance” and “consubstantial,” which are not found in Scripture, the Council “did not… replace biblical statements with Greek philosophy,” he explains. Rather, it sought “to affirm biblical faith with clarity and to distinguish it from Arius’ error, which was deeply influenced by Hellenism.”
“The Nicene Creed does not depict a distant, inaccessible and immovable God who rests in himself, but a God who is close to us and accompanies us on our journey in the world, even in the darkest places on earth,” the pope writes. “His immensity is revealed when he makes himself small, laying aside his infinite majesty to become our neighbor in the little ones and in the poor. This revolutionizes pagan and philosophical conceptions of God.”
Leo XIV also highlights the Nicene emphasis on the full humanity of Christ, noting the clarification that the Word “became man.” Against teachings that suggested the Logos only assumed a body, he recalls that later councils made explicit that “in Christ, God assumed and redeemed the whole human being, body and soul.”
Quoting St. Athanasius and the patristic tradition, the pope writes: “Divinization, then, is true humanization (becoming fully human). This is why human existence points beyond itself, seeks beyond itself, desires beyond itself, and is restless until it rests in God.” Only God, he adds, “in his infinity, can satisfy the infinite desire of the human heart, and for this reason the Son of God chose to become our brother and redeemer.”
A call to examine conscienceBeyond doctrine, Leo XIV insists that the Creed must shape Christian life.
“Both the liturgy and the Christian life are thus firmly anchored in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed: what we profess with our mouths must come from the heart so that we may bear witness to it with our lives,” he writes. “We must therefore ask ourselves: What about our interior reception of the Creed today? Do we experience that it also affects our current situation? Do we understand and live out what we say every Sunday? What do these words mean for our lives?”
“In this sense, the Nicene Creed invites us to examine our conscience,” the pope continues. “What does God mean to me and how do I bear witness to my faith in him? Is the one and only God truly the Lord of my life, or do I have idols that I place before God and his commandments?”
He ties this examination to care for creation and social justice, asking: “How do I treat creation, the work of his hands? Do I exploit and destroy it, or do I use it with reverence and gratitude, caring for and cultivating it as the common home of humanity?”
Echoing the Second Vatican Council, Leo XIV notes that “for many people today, however, God and the question of God have almost no meaning in their lives,” and that Christians themselves bear some responsibility, since “they do not bear witness to the true faith; they hide the true face of God with lifestyles and actions that diverge from the Gospel.”
Instead of proclaiming a merciful God, he laments, “a vengeful God has been presented who instils terror and punishes.”
Following Christ and loving one anotherAt the center of the Creed, the pope writes, is the confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and God.
“The profession of faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and God is the center of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. This is the heart of our Christian life,” he says. “For this reason, we commit to follow Jesus as our master, companion, brother and friend.”
Following Christ, he continues, “is not a wide and comfortable path,” but “this often demanding or even painful path always leads to life and salvation.”
“If God loves us with all his being, then we too must love one another,” Leo XIV writes. “We cannot love God whom we do not see without loving our brother and sister whom we do see. Love for God without love for neighbor is hypocrisy; radical love for our neighbor, especially love for our enemies, without love for God, requires a ‘heroism’ that would overwhelm and oppress us.”
“In the face of disasters, wars and misery, we bear witness to God’s mercy to those who doubt him only when they experience his mercy through us,” he adds.
Ecumenism as ‘sign of peace and instrument of reconciliation’Recalling the teaching of Vatican II and St. John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical Ut unum sint, the pope says that in a divided world “the one universal Christian community can be a sign of peace and an instrument of reconciliation, playing a decisive role in the global commitment to peace.”
He notes that, while full visible unity with Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and communities born of the Reformation has not yet been achieved, ecumenical dialogue “founded on one baptism and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed” has already helped Christians recognize each other as brothers and sisters in Christ and rediscover “the one universal community of Christ’s disciples throughout the world.”
“We share the same faith in the one and only God, the Father of all people; we confess together the one Lord and true Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the one Holy Spirit, who inspires us and impels us towards full unity and the common witness to the Gospel,” he writes. “Truly, what unites us is much greater than what divides us!”
‘Come, divine Comforter’The letter concludes with a prayer to the Holy Spirit for the renewal of faith and the healing of divisions among Christians.
“Holy Spirit of God, you guide believers along the path of history,” Leo XIV prays. “We thank you for inspiring the Symbols of Faith and for stirring in our hearts the joy of professing our salvation in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, consubstantial with the Father. Without him, we can do nothing.”
“Come, divine Comforter, source of harmony, unite the hearts and minds of believers. Come and grant us to taste the beauty of communion,” he continues. “Come, Love of the Father and the Son, gather us into the one flock of Christ. Show us the ways to follow, so that with your wisdom, we become once again what we are in Christ: one, so that the world may believe.”
New EWTN docuseries commemorates 100th anniversary of Christ the King
CNA Staff, Nov 23, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Marking the 100th anniversary of the feast of Christ the King, which this year falls on Nov. 23, EWTN has released “The Kingship of Christ,” a four-part docuseries that explores some of the core aspects of the kingship of Christ.
The four 30-minute episodes look at the origin of kingship in the Old and New Testaments, what type of kingship is that of Christ’s, the growth in interest and devotion to kingship in the 1800s and 1900s, and how Christ’s kingship is being realized today.
Currently airing on EWTN, the docuseries features Father Bernard McGuckian, SJ; Father Dominic Holtz, OP; and Father Mark Lewis, SJ.
The four-part series was filmed across five principal locations in Rome that are highly relevant to Christ’s kingship, namely St. Peter’s Basilica, the Gesù (the main Jesuit Church in Rome), the Scala Santa, the Basilica of Santa Croce Gerusalemme, and the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Christ the King.
Additionally, many other churches, basilicas, and monuments are featured across many countries throughout the world that were built in honor of the kingship of Christ.
Aidan Gallagher, director of EWTN Ireland, who co-produced the series alongside EWTN Studios and EWTN Vatican, told CNA in an interview that he was approached by McGuckian 18 months ago to see if he was interested in making a series on the kingship of Christ to “commemorate and celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the establishment of feast of Christ the King in 1925, which had followed Pope Pius XI’s papal encyclical Quas Primas.”
From there, they worked to create a comprehensive series looking into this devotion and its importance.
“At the heart of this work lies the desire that the kingship of Christ is recognized, realized, and accepted by individuals, peoples, societies, countries across the entire world so that Christ can reign in all hearts and thus be truly king of the world, leading us to peace,” he said.
He explained that extensive work “has been put into researching and evidencing the fact that Jesus Christ is King, where we highlighted relevant Scripture across thousands of years from the Old Testament and New Testament. So, for thousands of years it has been there, and we hope that people will take away this fact from watching the series.”
The premiere of "The Kingship of Christ" at the Vatican on Nov. 18, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN NewsThe film premiered at the Filmoteca Vaticano, a screening room in the Vatican, on Nov. 18. Ambassadors to the Holy See, journalists, and dignitaries were present for the screening.
Gallagher shared that it was “very well received” and “there was excitement about watching the full series online.”
After watching the series, he said he hopes that “people will understand the type of kingship which Christ presents and that recognition and allegiance to his kingship can ultimately lead us to peace, holiness, and the betterment of human existence — both in this life and the next.”
“The Kingship of Christ” can also be viewed on EWTN Ireland’s website.
Pope Leo XIV warns against ‘false mercy’ in marriage annulment proceedings
ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 22, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
In a firm call to avoid “false mercy” in marriage annulment proceedings, Pope Leo XIV reminded that compassion cannot disregard the truth.
During a Friday audience with participants in the legal-pastoral training course of the Roman Rota, the Holy See’s court of appeals, the Holy Father read a lengthy speech in which he recalled the importance of the reform of marriage annulment processes initiated by Pope Francis 10 years ago.
The pontiff emphasized that theology, law, and pastoral care must be understood in a harmonious way, not as separate or opposing areas, and pointed out that annulment proceedings are not merely technical procedures to obtain the “free status of persons” but rather an ecclesial service based on the search for truth and on family pastoral care.
Judicial processes at the service of truthIn this context, Pope Leo stressed that ecclesial judicial processes must be “at the service of the truth” and also reiterated that “the mystery of the conjugal covenant” must be kept in mind.
“A fundamental aspect of pastoral service operates in judicial authority: the diaconia [ministry] of truth. Every faithful person, every family, every community needs truth about their ecclesial situation in order to walk well the path of faith and charity. The truth about personal and community rights is situated in this context: the juridical truth declared in ecclesiastical processes is an aspect of existential truth within the Church,” he stated.
Consequently, the Holy Father pointed out that “the sacred authority is participation in the authority of Christ, and its service to truth is a way of knowing and embracing the ultimate truth, which is Christ himself.”
A manifestation of justice and mercyHe then recalled that in God’s judgment on salvation, “his forgiveness of the repentant sinner is always at work, but human judgment on the nullity of marriage cannot however be manipulated by false mercy.”
“Any activity contrary to the service of the process of truth must certainly be deemed unjust. However, it is precisely in the proper exercise of judicial authority that true mercy must be practiced,” he emphasized.
In this regard, Pope Leo XIV insisted that the process of matrimonial nullity can be seen as “a contribution by legal practitioners to satisfy the need for justice that is so deeply rooted in the conscience of the faithful, and thus to accomplish a just work motivated by true mercy.”
“The aim of the reform,” he added, “which is to make the process more accessible and expeditious, but never at the expense of truth, thus appears as a manifestation of justice and mercy.”
The pontiff also emphasized the urgency of ensuring realism in annulment cases and appealed to the responsibility of the judges of the Roman Rota. He thus encouraged them to view the institution of the judicial process “as an instrument of justice” in which there is “an impartial judge” and the aim is to seek “a great benefit for all concerned and for the Church herself.”
He stressed the importance of making “efforts to promote reconciliation between spouses are very important, including, where possible, through the validation of the marriage.”
“Behind the procedural technicalities, with the faithful application of the current legislation, the ecclesiological presuppositions of the matrimonial process are therefore at stake: the search for truth and the ‘salus animarum’ itself [the salvation of souls],” he noted.
Synergy between justice and pastoral carePope Leo recalled in this regard that, in recent years, there has been “a growing awareness of the inclusion of the Church’s judicial activity in the field of marriage within the overall pastoral care of the family.”
“This pastoral care,” he pointed out, “cannot ignore or underestimate the work of ecclesiastical tribunals, and the latter must not forget that their specific contribution to justice is a piece in the task of promoting the good of families, with particular reference to those in difficulty.”
Thus, he emphasized that “the synergy between pastoral attention to critical situations and the judicial sphere has found significant expression in the implementation of preliminary investigations aimed at ascertaining the existence of grounds for initiating a case of nullity.”
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 visits Augustinian nuns he has known for years
ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 22, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).
“A moment of great familiarity” is how Abbess Maria Cristina Daguati of the Augustinian convent in Montefalco, Italy, described Pope Leo XIV’s visit on Thursday.
After visiting the tomb of St. Francis in Assisi and meeting with the Italian bishops on Nov. 20, the pope traveled to the Italian city of Montefalco to celebrate Mass at the monastery of the Augustinian nuns, erected in the 13th century and one of the oldest and most significant spiritual centers in the Umbria region.
After meeting with the Italian bishops in Assisi, Pope Leo XIV traveled to the Augustinian monastery of St. Clare of Montefalco, where he wished to spend some time with the cloistered nuns. The Holy Father spoke informally with the community, celebrated Mass, and shared lunch with the nuns.
The pope arrived by helicopter in the city, known for its medieval architecture, and landed in the sports field, where he was greeted by Mayor Alfredo Gentili and Deputy Mayor Daniele Morici.
At the gates of the monastery — where 13 nuns currently live — residents of this small region of Perugia gathered, awaiting his arrival with great anticipation.
“We have known him for years; it was a moment of familiarity. He has a very peaceful personality,” Mother Maria Cristina explained in a statement to Vatican News.
Leo XIV had already been to the convent when he served as superior of the Order of St. Augustine, and on Nov. 20, he returned as pope, becoming the first pontiff to do so.
The pope spoke with the Augustinian nuns on Nov. 20, 2025, then celebrated Mass and shared lunch with them. Credit: Vatican MediaThis convent is intrinsically linked to the figure of St. Clare of Montefalco (1268–1308), also known as St. Clare of the Cross, an Augustinian mystic whose contemplative life left a profound mark on the spiritual tradition of the Catholic Church.
“It’s a great friendship, because obviously we’ve known him for many years, so I would say that everything unfolded in an atmosphere of great familiarity,” the abbess said.
The pope spoke with the Augustinian nuns, then celebrated Mass and shared lunch with them. For the nuns, the day was characterized by “great simplicity” spent with “a disarmed and disarming man” with a personality that sets you at ease.
“Pope Leo XIV brings with him a great atmosphere of prayer. So it wasn’t that he inconvenienced us too much; it was truly beautiful,” Daguati added. Before lunch, the pope celebrated Mass in the convent church, built in the 17th century and designed by the Peruvian architect Valentino Martelli.
Before returning to the Vatican, the nuns presented the pope with a 2026 calendar titled “Toward an Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” featuring texts from his speeches and homilies as well as from St. Augustine.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
New book by Pope Leo XIV: Human fraternity is ‘the antidote against all extremism’
Vatican City, Nov 22, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
The Vatican Publishing House published Nov. 20 a new Italian-language book by Pope Leo XIV titled “The Power of the Gospel: The Christian Faith in 10 Words,” a compilation of the pontiff’s speeches and addresses that also includes a previously unpublished text in which he invites readers to dream of a “reconciled, peaceful, and harmonious humanity.”
The Holy Father affirms that faith “unites us beyond our personalities, our cultural and geographical origins, our language, and our histories” and presents the Church as “a plurality that strives for unity and that does not fall into the disorder of confusion.”
In today’s world, “marked by so many wars,” the pope asks Christians “to be witnesses of this harmony, this fraternity, this closeness.”
“We must look our world squarely in the face: We cannot continue to tolerate structural injustices by which those who have the most receive even more, and those who have the least become increasingly impoverished,” the pontiff says.
Similarly, he warns of the risk that hatred and violence will cause “misery to spread among peoples.”
“Peace is not the fruit of oppression or violence; it is not related to hatred or revenge,” he says, noting that the saints have taught that “only goodness disarms perfidy and that nonviolence can annihilate oppression.”
“Precisely the desire for communion, the recognition of ourselves as brothers and sisters, is an antidote against all extremism,” he says.
‘We are not condemned to live in perpetual conflict’For the pope, this model of fraternity is replicable in other areas. He thus affirms that the Church, “a home for diverse peoples, can become a sign that we are not condemned to live in perpetual conflict” and can “embody the dream of a reconciled, peaceful, and harmonious humanity.”
“It is a dream that has a foundation: Jesus, his prayer to the Father for the unity of his followers. And if Jesus prayed to the Father, all the more reason we should ask him to grant us the gift of a peaceful world,” the pope writes.
In this way, he emphasizes the centrality of Christ and says that faith has nothing to do with “the titanic effort to reach a supernatural God” but rather with the discovery that “the face of God is not far from our hearts.”
Leo XIV recalls that Christ’s entire existence was marked by the “will” to be a bridge.
“The Church is this communion of Christ that continues in history. And it is a community that, in unity, lives diversity,” he explains after using the metaphorical image of a garden that St. Augustine used to illustrate the beauty of a community of believers.
In the text, the pope includes the words of the prior of the monastery of Tibhirine in Algeria, Christian de Chergé, who was kidnapped by Islamic terrorists in March 1996 and executed two months later. He was beatified along with 18 other men and women religious who were martyred.
“Speaking of [the terrorist] who had violently broken into the monastery, he wrote: ‘Do I have the right to ask [God]: Disarm him, if I don’t first ask; disarm me and disarm us, as a community? This is my daily prayer,’” the pope recalls, noting that in that same land of North Africa, some 1,600 years earlier, St. Augustine remarked: “Let us live well and the times will be good. We are the times.”
“We can have an impact on our time ourselves, with our witness, with our prayer to the Holy Spirit that he would make us men and women with a peace that is contagious, welcoming the grace of Christ and spreading in the world the fragrance of his charity and mercy,” the pontiff emphasizes in the new book.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
PHOTOS: St. Cecilia, martyr and patron saint of music, rests in Roman basilica named for her
Vatican City, Nov 22, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).
St. Cecilia, widely known as the patron saint of music and musicians, is buried in the Basilica of St. Cecilia in the Roman neighborhood of Trastevere where a famous Baroque sculpture of her still puzzles scholars.
According to popular belief, Cecilia was a Roman noblewoman who lived in the third century. Despite being forced by her family to marry, she remained a virgin, as she had vowed to do as a young girl.
Her pagan husband, Valerian, converted to Christianity after their marriage, and Valerian’s brother, Tiburtius, was also baptized a Christian. Both men were martyred. St. Cecilia, too, would later be tortured and martyred. It is said she took three days to die after the executioner hit her three times on the neck with a sword.
The Basilica of St. Cecilia in Trastevere in Rome, Italy. St. Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians and poets because of this sentiment and her alleged singing within the oven during her martyrdom. Her fortitude may inspire the modern Catholic in the trials of life and inspire one to find God within music. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAAfter her martyrdom, St. Cecilia was buried in the Catacomb of St. Callixtus. The underground burial place of early Christians was created around the turn of the first century A.D. by Callixtus, a deacon who later became pope.
Located under the Appian Way, an ancient Roman road connecting the city to southeast Italy, the Catacomb of St. Callixtus once held the bodies of more than 50 martyrs, including St. Cecilia, and popes from the second to the fourth centuries.
The Basilica of St. Cecilia is a fifth-century church in Rome, Italy, in the Trastevere neighborhood. It is dedicated to the Roman martyr St. Cecilia (early third century A.D.) and serves as the conventual church for the adjacent abbey of Benedictine nuns. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAAfter the end of Christian persecution, the relics of the Christians buried in the city’s many catacombs were moved to churches for veneration. St. Cecilia’s remains were transferred in the early 800s to a church built on the ruins of her former home.
It is said that hundreds of years later, during a restoration of the church in 1599, her tomb was opened, revealing her body to be, miraculously, incorrupt. Artist Stefano Maderno was commissioned to create a marble sculpture of the saint.
The main altar and crypt in the church of St. Cecilia in Trastevere. The church was built on the site of the house where the saint lived. St. Cecilia is known for “singing in her heart to the Lord” on her wedding day, despite her consecration to God. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNASources disagree about whether the Baroque artwork, still on display today at Cecilia’s tomb in the Basilica of St. Cecilia in Trastevere, is a depiction of how the saint’s body was found in 1599 or an invention of Maderno. Either way, the sculpture — which depicts Cecilia lying on her right side, her hands tied, her face turned toward the ground, and the wound of her martyrdom visible upon her neck — is considered a masterpiece.
A close-up of the statue at the tomb of St. Cecilia at the church dedicated to her in Rome, Italy. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAThere are several widely-told legends about St. Cecilia and her husband. One of the oft-repeated beliefs, dating to the fifth century, is that she sang to God “in her heart” as musicians played at her wedding feast.
A statue in the Basilica of St. Cecilia in Trastevere in Rome, Italy. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAThis story about the saint comes from a Latin antiphon, but there is a competing interpretation, however.
“Cantantibus organis, Caecilia virgo in corde suo soli Domino decantabat dicens: fiat Domine cor meum et corpus meum immaculatum ut non confundar,” the Latin antiphon says. In English it means: “While the instruments played, the virgin Cecilia sang in her heart to the Lord alone, saying, ‘Let my heart and my body be made pure, that I may not be confounded.’”
An altar at the Basilica of St. Cecilia in Rome, Italy. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAAnother version of the antiphon gives a slightly different opening word, “candentibus,” instead of “cantantibus,” which would change the translation from musical instruments playing to “glowing” instruments of torture.
An icon of St. Cecilia in the church dedicated to her in Trastevere in Rome Italy. According to the cultural custom of the time, Cecilia’s family betrothed her to a pagan nobleman named Valerian despite St. Cecilia’s consecration to God. On their wedding night, Cecilia told Valerian that she had sworn to remain a virgin before God and that an angel guarded her body, protecting her virginity from violation. She told Valerian that he would be able to see this angel if he went to the third milestone along the Via Appia and was baptized by Pope Urban I. Valerian went to the milestone as Cecilia had instructed and was baptized. She later converted his brother as well. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAScholars continue to disagree about which Latin version is the correct one and which may be a copy error. What is without dispute, however, is St. Cecilia’s selfless example of faithfulness to God, even to the point of the sacrifice of her own life.
St. Cecilia’s feast day in the Church is celebrated Nov. 22.
This story was first published on Nov. 22, 2024, and has been updated.
Pope Leo XIV recognizes martyrdom of 2 priests killed by Nazis
Vatican City, Nov 21, 2025 / 15:50 pm (CNA).
Father Ubaldo Marchioni was praying the rosary with a fearful congregation in the Church of Santa Maria Assunta outside Bologna, Italy, when Nazi soldiers broke down the door on Sept. 29, 1944, and shot him in the head.
The remaining 197 people who had taken refuge in the church were forced outside to the cemetery and massacred, including 52 children. The killings marked the first day of what is now known as the Marzabotto Massacre, a large civilian massacre in which Waffen-SS units murdered at least 770 civilians between Sept. 29 and Oct. 5, 1944, including children, women, and the elderly in retaliation for local support of Italian resistance fighters.
Marchioni, a diocesan priest ordained only two years earlier, was 26 years old.
On Nov. 21, Pope Leo XIV formally recognized Marchioni as a martyr killed “in hatred for the faith,” along with another Italian priest murdered in the same wave of violence, Father Nicola Capelli.
Capelli, who took the religious name Martino of Our Lady of Sorrows when he professed vows with the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1930, had long dreamed of serving as a missionary in China. Under obedience, he remained in Italy. When news spread of the attacks near Marzabotto, he rushed to the area to administer the last rites.
He was arrested on Sept. 29, 1944, the same day Marchioni was killed, and held for two days. On Oct. 1, SS troops executed him along with 44 other prisoners. Witnesses said he raised his hand to give his fellow prisoners a final blessing before they were shot. He was 32.
With the pope’s decree, both priests can now be beatified.
4 Catholics advance on the path to sainthoodDuring an audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo also approved decrees recognizing the heroic virtues of four other Catholics, declaring them venerable: Australian doctor and nun Mary Glowrey (1887–1957), Brazilian consecrated laywoman Maria de Lourdes Guarda (1926–1996), Italian Archbishop Enrico Bartoletti (1916–1976), and Italian priest Gaspare Goggi (1877–1908).
Glowrey, later known as Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart, left Australia in 1920 to serve as a doctor and missionary in India. She treated hundreds of poor patients daily, learned local languages, and founded what became the Catholic Hospital Association. Pope Benedict XIV granted her special permission to perform medical work “in bonum animarum,” making her the first nun, doctor, and missionary, according to the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
De Lourdes Guarda, a member of the Secular Institute Caritas Christi in Brazil, spent decades paralyzed and bedridden after a sudden illness at age 21. She offered her suffering in prayer and became a national leader in promoting dignity and rights for people with disabilities, even as her health deteriorated from kidney disease, gangrene, and eventually cancer.
Bartoletti, later archbishop of Lucca and secretary-general of the Italian bishops’ conference, was a biblical scholar who openly opposed the Nazi persecution of Jews and collaborated with Jewish relief groups during the war. After Pope Pius XII named him a bishop, Bartoletti contributed to the Second Vatican Council and guided the Italian Church through major social reforms.
Goggi, a priest of the Little Work of Divine Providence founded by St. Luigi Orione, served as the first rector of the Church of Sant’Anna inside Vatican City. Known for his devotion to parishioners and his reputation for holiness, he was often sought out for confession. He suffered a severe physical and mental decline in his final months and died in 1908 at age 31.
Each of the four new venerables will require two miracles attributed to their intercession to be canonized as saints.
Pope Leo XIV to Caritas: Be artisans of peace, serve every person with dignity
Vatican City, Nov 21, 2025 / 13:10 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Friday met with the leadership and staff of Caritas Internationalis, the Church’s global charitable network operating in more than 200 countries, asking them to be “pilgrims of hope” and “artisans of peace” in the world.
During the morning meeting held at the Vatican, the Holy Father thanked Caritas Internationalis president Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi and approximately 70 Caritas workers for their “steadfast service” within the Church and to people throughout the world.
“Caritas Internationalis has long been a luminous sign of the Church’s maternal love,” he said to the multinational delegation on Nov. 21.
“The love we receive from Christ is never a private treasure but always a mission entrusted to our hands,” he added. “Love sends us forth; love makes us servants; love opens our eyes to the wounds of others.”
Repeating his papal predecessor’s desire that Caritas uphold Christ’s “preference for the poor, the least, the abandoned, and discarded,” Leo emphasized their mission, together with the “successor of Peter,” is to serve every person with dignity.
3 pillars that sustain the Church’s work in the world“Your mission echoes the vision I shared in my first address to the diplomatic corps, where I spoke of the three pillars that sustain the Church’s work in the world: peace, justice, and truth,” he said. “These pillars are not abstract ideals.”
Besides asking Caritas to continue accompanying local churches and their various initiatives to support the poor, the pope also insisted they also work toward “strengthening the formation of lay leaders” and “safeguarding unity within your diverse organization.”
“The Church’s mission unfolds only when we walk together as companions along the way, allowing the Holy Spirit to shape our works of mercy,” he said during the private audience.
In 2022, Caritas Internationalis’ leadership was placed under temporary administration following a decree issued by Pope Francis to revise its statutes and regulations to “improve” its mission of charity and justice.
Before individually greeting each member of the delegation at the end of the meeting, Pope Leo entrusted Caritas’ work to “Mary, Mother of the Poor” and asked God to bless them with the “gifts of courage, perseverance, and joy.”
“Quite sincerely, I thank you, each and every one of you, and the many people that you represent, those who work with you,” he said.
Before meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Friday, Kikuchi told EWTN News that the 162-member organization is more than a professional “goodwill” agency.
“We are the charitable arm of the Catholic Church,” he said in the Nov. 20 interview. “Why are we being charitable? Because we want to spread the Gospel message — the love of God.”
During the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, Kikuchi said Caritas’ “Turn Debt Into Hope” campaign is a response to Pope Francis’ call for the cancellation of developing nations’ international debt, outlined in the papal bull Spes Non Confundit.
“There are many countries who owe money to developed countries,” the cardinal said. “We want to turn debt into hope [and] to cancel that debt so people really have the hope to survive.”
Sen. Klobuchar meets Pope Leo XIV to advocate for abducted Ukrainian children
Vatican City, Nov 21, 2025 / 12:40 pm (CNA).
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, joined a delegation of Ukrainian mothers, wives, and teenagers forcibly taken to Russia during the war with Ukraine who met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Friday. The audience highlighted ongoing humanitarian and diplomatic efforts to secure the return of abducted civilians.
In a statement from her Senate office, Klobuchar said: “Pope Leo is a true moral force for peace and justice and a champion for children around the world. It was an honor to meet him as part of our mission to bring home the Ukrainian children abducted by Russia and chart a path towards peace and healing for Ukraine.”
The senator added: “We cannot accept a world where children are abducted during wartime and used as hostages for negotiations. The United States must remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine’s fight for freedom, and we should all heed Pope Leo’s example of serving those in need, pursuing the common good, and calling for peace.”
According to the official Vatican News outlet, the meeting took place in the Apostolic Palace around midday and lasted about half an hour. Participants included young people who had been forcibly transferred to Russia and recently returned to Ukraine, along with their family members. The Vatican has put a priority on diplomatic efforts to return the children, starting under Pope Francis.
Klobuchar’s office noted that more than 19,000 Ukrainian children have been confirmed as unlawfully deported or transferred to Russia or Russian-occupied territory.
Pope Leo XIV prays at tomb of St. Francis of Assisi
Vatican City, Nov 20, 2025 / 16:00 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV traveled to Assisi on Thursday to meet with Italian bishops and pay homage to St. Francis in a visit marked by silence and prayer, part of the celebrations for the eighth centenary of the death of the “saint of the poor.”
According to Vatican News, the pontiff traveled from the Vatican by helicopter and arrived in the Italian city shortly after 8 a.m. local time. He landed at the Bastia Umbra stadium and from there traveled by car to the heart of Assisi, where St. Francis was born in 1182.
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio adopted his name upon becoming pope, while it was St. John Paul II who named St. Francis of Assisi the patron saint of ecology in 1979.
Despite the rain and cold, a number of people waited for the Holy Father and greeted him with applause and cheers of “Long live the pope!”
His first stop was the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, the burial place of the founder of the Franciscan order. Leo XIV was received by the president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI by its Italian acronym), Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, and the custodian of the Sacro Convento (Franciscan friary) Friar Marco Moroni, who accompanied him to the crypt where the relics of St. Francis are kept.
Once in front of the tomb of the “Poverello” (“Little Poor Man”), the Holy Father paused for a few minutes in prayer. There he spoke his first public words of the day: “It is a blessing to be able to come to this sacred place today. We are approaching the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis; this occasion allows us to prepare to celebrate this great saint, humble and poor, while the world seeks signs of hope,” he said.
He also recalled the enduring legacy of St. Francis: “His witness continues to speak to us today, inviting us to keep hope alive and to look to the future with confidence.”
Afterward, Pope Leo XIV traveled to the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli (Our Lady of the Angels) where he met with the bishops of the CEI, who are holding their 81st general assembly.
According to the Vatican Press Office, at the conclusion of the meeting with the bishops of the CEI, Pope Leo XIV traveled to the city of Montefalco, where he celebrated Mass in the monastery of the Augustinian nuns, which was erected in the 13th century.
It is one of the oldest and most significant spiritual centers in the Umbria region. It is linked to the figure of St. Clare of Montefalco (1268–1308), also known as St. Clare of the Cross, an Augustinian mystic whose contemplative life left a profound mark on the spiritual tradition of the Church. The pontiff had lunch there before returning to the Vatican by helicopter.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Belarus pardons 2 Catholic priests after talks with Vatican
CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2025 / 12:12 pm (CNA).
Two Catholic priests in Belarus will be released from prison in an act of “goodwill” after national leaders engaged in talks with the Vatican.
The state media organ BelTA reported on Nov. 20 that Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko “pardoned two Catholic priests convicted of serious crimes against the state.”
The pardons of Father Henrykh Akalatovich and Father Andzej Yukhnevich came after “intensification of contacts with the Vatican, as well as the principles of goodwill, mercy, and the jubilee year proclaimed by the Roman Catholic Church,” the government media organization said.
A separate press release from the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Belarus expressed “gratitude to all those who contributed to the release of imprisoned priests.”
The bishops thanked both Vatican officials and Belarusian Church leaders for helping maintain “a positive dynamic of bilateral relations based on traditional values, brotherhood, tolerance, and respect for believers.”
Akalatovich had been sentenced on Dec. 30, 2024, to 11 years in prison for “high treason,” a charge that Lukashenko’s regime applies to political prisoners. The priest had reportedly already suffered a heart attack and undergone surgery for cancer before his arrest in November 2023.
Reuters, meanwhile, reported that Yukhnevich had been sentenced to 13 years in prison earlier this year on charges of abusing minors. The priest denied those allegations.
The human rights group Viasna reported on Nov. 20 that the release came in part “thanks to the visit of Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti,” who serves as prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.
Akalatovich previously said his conviction of “spying on behalf of Poland at the Vatican” was a “gross provocation.”
There was “not a word of truth in the case against him, not a single fact that implicates him in espionage, while the entire accusation is based on lies, threats, and blackmail,” the priest said, according to Viasna.
During the prosecution of his own case, meanwhile, Yukhnevich “denied all charges and tried to prove his innocence,” Viasna said. The human rights group claimed that the alleged victims who testified against him “may have given their testimony under pressure,” though it did not offer any further information.
In a 2023 report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said religious freedom conditions in Belarus “continued to trend negatively” as the government “persisted in exerting control over all aspects of society.”
The report highlighted the September 2022 closure of the Church of Sts. Simon and Helena in Minsk, which it described as ”a symbol of political opposition to the Lukashenko regime” during protests in 2020.
Outgoing Hungarian ambassador reflects on 10-year term at the Vatican
Vatican City, Nov 19, 2025 / 15:53 pm (CNA).
Archduke of Austria Eduard Habsburg has served as Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See since 2015 and described his post at the Vatican as “the greatest 10 years of my life.”
First presenting his credentials to Pope Francis on Dec. 8, 2015, Habsburg told EWTN News reporter Colm Flynn that after a decade on the job, he has “seen it all” and now wants to dedicate more time to his family, particularly his parents.
“I felt that 10 years is a good term. It’s far longer than ambassadors usually have here,” he said in the exclusive interview.
“I think I’ve seen everything you can see here, including a conclave, visits by my prime minister, exciting moments,” he added. “In a way, I’m going to miss it but also family is important.”
Though his term at the Vatican is drawing to a close, the outgoing ambassador said he will likely continue to represent Hungary at future international events organized by the Church and pro-family groups.
“I’ll keep a foot in that world, so to speak, so I’m not going to totally give it up,” he said.
Reflecting on his initial surprise at being asked to be Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See, Habsburg, who belongs to the prominent 850-year-old European Catholic dynasty, said he “hit the floor running” when he arrived in Rome for his first post.
On Pope Francis and his love for HungaryDescribing his relationship with Pope Francis as “incredibly positive,” the outgoing ambassador said the Argentine pontiff had a warm affection for the Central European nation and its people.
“I saw it every time he met a Hungarian,” he said. “He would use Hungarian expressions. He would smile. He would be happy. He would take his time with them.”
Though Pope Francis had not visited Hungary until 2021 for the 52nd International Eucharistic Conference, he told Habsburg that he “learned everything” about Hungary through three religious sisters who fled their country in 1956, during the Soviet occupation, to a monastery in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“They have shaped Pope Francis’ outlook on Hungary and that made my work very easy,” he quipped. “He was incredibly generous.”
Pope Francis visited Hungary a second time in 2023 for his apostolic journey to the country’s capital of Budapest from April 28–30.
On Pope Benedict XVI and his humorDuring the 1990s, Pope Benedict XVI, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, read Habsburg’s doctoral thesis on the topic of Thomas Aquinas and Vatican II and told him “he liked it” and that he wanted him to either make a documentary or a thriller about Thomism.
After first meeting with Pope Francis, the ambassador said he later met with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the Vatican Gardens.
“He looked at me and said, ‘So you’re ambassador now?’” Habsburg recalled. “And then he said, ‘You know you still owe me a documentary or a thriller about Thomism.”
“That was the first thing he said. I was so blown away,” he said. “I still haven’t written it.”
“That’s the one thing many people don’t realize about Pope Benedict XVI was the sense of humor that he had that we never got to see publicly,” he said.
Habsburg earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in 1999.
On Pope Leo XIVThe archduke and ambassador told EWTN News he has briefly met Pope Leo XIV four times this year since his papal election in May.
“I’m very impressed by him. I feel [he is] a very balanced and just man who is trying to do good,” he said of the first U.S.-born pope.
Noting Pope Leo’s fluency in many languages, including English, Italian, Spanish, and Latin, Habsburg commented that he believes the universal Church’s new leader “has several cultures in his heart and in his mind.”
“And yes, we will see the things that he’ll do. We pray for him every day,” he said.
How Pope Leo XIV typically spends his day off
ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 19, 2025 / 15:23 pm (CNA).
In reply to journalists’ questions last night as he left Castel Gandolfo, which he now regularly visits, Pope Leo XIV described what his typical Tuesday day off is like.
The pontiff shared that he does “a little reading, a little work. Every day there is correspondence, phone calls; there are some matters that are perhaps more important, more recent. A little tennis, a little swimming.”
A passionate tennis fan since childhood, the Holy Father in May received at the Vatican Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, currently ranked second in the world (behind Carlos Alcaraz) and at that time was ranked first.
When asked why he needs these moments of rest, Leo XIV emphasized on Nov. 19 that “to take good care of yourself, human beings… everyone, should do some activity for the body, the soul, all together.”
“I think it does me a lot of good. So it’s a time, a break during the week that helps a lot,” he said.
The Holy Father also addressed other topics with the journalists, such as the situation in Ukraine; his possible travel destinations, which include Peru, Portugal, and Mexico; the situation of migrants in the United States and the American bishops’ call to respect them; the massacres of Christians and Muslims in Nigeria; and the abuse allegations against a Spanish bishop, who insists on his innocence.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Leo appoints Nigerian priest assessor for general affairs of the Secretariat of State
Vatican City, Nov 19, 2025 / 14:53 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday appointed Nigerian priest Father Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo as assessor for general affairs of the Vatican Secretariat of State.
Ekpo, 44, succeeds Father Roberto Campisi, who was appointed permanent observer of the Holy See to UNESCO in September. In his new role, he will be responsible for overseeing the activities of Catholic international organizations connected to the Vatican.
The Nigeria-born priest first began his service with the Holy See in 2016. He worked with the Vatican’s Section for General Affairs for six years between 2016 and 2023.
In 2023, Pope Francis appointed him undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development to assist the work of its prefect Cardinal Michael Czerny.
Epko thanked his colleagues at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development “for their friendship and shared work over these years” and prayed for the grace to carry out his new role with the Secretariat of State with “joy, passion, and dedication,” Vatican News reported on Wednesday.
“My desire is to be able to collaborate with the superiors and employees of the dicastery, to advance the vision of the dicastery and the mission of the Church,” Ekpo told Vatican News.
Ordained a priest for the Diocese of Umuahia, Nigeria, in 2011, Epko continued his theological training abroad.
In 2013, he obtained a doctorate in systematic theology from the Australian Catholic University as well as a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 2021.
He is fluent in English, Italian, French, and the Nigerian language Igbo.
Earlier this month, Pope Leo appointed Nigerian priest Father Edward Daniang Daleng as vice regent of the Papal Household, the second-highest position in the Vatican office that organizes audiences with the pope.
UPDATE: Pope Leo XIV meets with his home state’s governor
CNA Newsroom, Nov 19, 2025 / 14:23 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV met with the governor of his native Illinois, JB Pritzker, on Wednesday at the Vatican. The first lady of the U.S. state known as “The Land of Lincoln,” MK Pritzker, accompanied the governor during his visit.
“It was an honor for MK and me to meet with @Pontifex — a son of Illinois — to express the pride and reverence of the people of this great state,” Pritzker, who is Jewish, said following the meeting in a social media post.
A statement from the governor’s office said: “As the first American pope, a native Illinoisan, and an advocate for the poor and less fortunate, Pope Leo XIV serves as a true inspiration to people of all faiths. His message of hope, unity, compassion, and peace resonates in his home state of Illinois and across the globe.”
Invitation to return to hometownIn an interview with NBC Chicago following his audience, Gov. Pritzker said that during the meeting he presented Pope Leo with an invitation to return to his hometown of Chicago. While the pope didn’t express a timetable for the prospective visit, Pritzker said the pope “was optimistic that he would be coming to Chicago.”
“We share a great love of the state and the city,” Pritzker said, adding that the pope “seems like he carries his heart on his sleeve and of course he carries Chicago on his sleeve, too.”
Immigration discussionDuring the 40-minute meeting, which Pritzker said was arranged by Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, the governor said that he and the pontiff also discussed the immigration enforcement actions that have been taking place in the city, with Pritzker saying that he expressed his gratitude for the pope’s “moral leadership on this issue.”
Pritzker offered the pope several gifts including a framed piece of art made from an incarcerated woman at Logan Correctional Facility, the book “Lincoln: The Life and Legacy that Defined a Nation” by Ian Hunt, the book “A House That Made History: The Illinois Governor’s Mansion, Legacy of an Architectural Treasure” written by Illinois First Lady MK Pritzker, and a pack of Burning Bush Breweries’ “Da Pope” American mild ale.
The Vatican itself did not release any details about what was discussed during the visit. The Democratic governor currently has before his desk the decision on whether to either sign into law or veto assisted suicide legislation that was recently approved the Illinois Legislature.
The Illinois Catholic Conference is urging Gov. Pritzker to veto the bill. In an Oct. 31 statement, the conference said that “rather than signing this bill, we ask the governor to expand and improve on palliative care programs.” Such programs, the conference maintains, “represent a compassionate and morally acceptable alternative to assisted suicide.”
This story was updated on Nov. 19, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. ET with additional details of the conversation provided by Gov. Pritzker.
Synod on Synodality reports reveal continued study on women, but not female diaconate
Vatican City, Nov 19, 2025 / 13:53 pm (CNA).
Reports from the Synod on Synodality published this week reveal that expert groups continue to discuss women’s participation in the Church but not the specific question of a possible female diaconate, which has been turned over to a newly-revived 2020 commission.
The reports also show that a new group on the liturgy, requested by Pope Leo XIV, is not addressing the Vatican’s controversial restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass.
According to a report published Nov. 17, during the second session of the Synod on Synodality in October 2024, Pope Francis “reactivated the work” of a papal commission on the female diaconate first created in 2020.
“All synodal contributions related to this subject have been forwarded to that commission for its consideration,” a one-page report from a study group on Church ministries says.
The interim report on the group’s progress, published ahead of full reports, which are due at the end of the year, was signed by Father Armando Matteo, secretary of the doctrinal section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is overseeing the highly-watched expert panel.
Matteo confirmed to CNA that the synod is no longer examining a possible female diaconate and the question is in the hands of the now-revived 2020 commission, whose members “respond to the Holy Father.”
In April 2020, Pope Francis created a 10-person theological commission to study the question of a female diaconate, the second commission he formed on the topic during his pontificate.
An original member of the 2020 commission, permanent deacon and seminary professor James Keating, told CNA that “the commission still exists ‘until Pope Leo discerns its dissolution.’”
The 12 synod study groups, 10 of which were formed by Pope Francis, were established to examine topics Francis took off the table for discussion at the second session of the Synod on Synodality, held in October 2024.
The committees, made up of cardinals, bishops, priests, and lay experts from both in and outside of the Vatican, have until Dec. 31 to submit the final results of their studies to Pope Leo.
The brief reports published this week give a few insights into what to expect in some of the final reports next year, should they be made public.
While not considering women deacons, the highly-watched study group on Church ministries is drafting a report on “the participation of women in the life and leadership of the Church,” including the personal accounts of women in Church leadership, theological perspectives on men’s and women’s roles, and the contributions of Pope Leo XIV and Pope Francis on the topic.
Another group, focused on Church law, is also discussing what roles women, and the laity in general, can hold in particular Church offices, including liturgical functions and in Church tribunals.
An update from an expert panel on “controversial doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues” said its final document will clarify the current paradigm shift in the Church following the Second Vatican Council and the “emerging synodal experience.” It will include “procedural” proposals for the paradigm shift, such as how to conduct conversation in the Spirit, and how to manage cognitive, emotional, and cultural “resistance” to the shift.
The document will also address homosexuality, which the report says it prefers to call an “emerging issue” rather than controversial.
Another potentially fraught topic being examined by the study group on ecumenical practices is intercommunion, also known as Eucharistic hospitality — the idea to allow the reception of holy Communion to people in non-Catholic Christian denominations. The topic is tied to ecumenism, the relationship between Christian churches, and is especially relevant in couples and families with members of both Catholic and non-Catholic Christian faiths.
The study group on ecumenism said its mandate includes “deepening the question of Eucharistic hospitality from theological, canonical, and pastoral perspectives.”
A new group on liturgy in synodal perspective, requested by Pope Leo, gave insight into what it says are the first questions it intends to address, which focus on how to make the liturgy more synodal and the Mass “better configured as the source and summit of the synodal missionary life of the Church.”
Other questions the group intends to study is the increased participation of all baptized Catholics in the liturgy, liturgical formation, “the role of women in the history of salvation,” the reinterpretation of liturgical preaching in a synodal perspective, and a “healthy decentralization of liturgical authority … also with a view to the inculturation of the rites.”
The report said other “relevant issues” may be added later. The study group is overseen by the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Victoria Cardiel, Vatican reporter for ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, contributed to this report.
Pope Leo XIV says he hopes to visit Portugal, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, and Uruguay
ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 19, 2025 / 13:23 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV told reporters he would love to travel and that his top destinations are the Marian shrines of Fátima in Portugal and Guadalupe in Mexico. He also said he would “of course” like to return to Peru as well as visit Argentina and Uruguay.
The pope shared his hopes during an impromptu press conference as he left the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo on Tuesday evening, Nov. 18.
When asked when he would return to Peru and Latin America, the Holy Father explained that in 2025, “during the jubilee year, we’re going ahead living each day with activities, and next year we will gradually begin planning.”
“I love to travel,” Leo XIV shared, according to Vatican News. “The problem is scheduling it with all the commitments,” he added.
The Jubilee Year of Hope began on Dec. 24, 2024, and will conclude on Jan. 6, 2026, with the closing of the Holy Door.
The first — and so far only — confirmed trip of Pope Leo XIV is to Turkey and Lebanon, Nov. 27–Dec. 2 of this year.
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 calls for ecological conversion and support for contemplative life
Vatican City, Nov 19, 2025 / 12:53 pm (CNA).
At his Nov. 19 general audience, Pope Leo XIV urged Catholics to “connect faith with reality,” saying that the death and resurrection of Christ form the foundation of an integral ecology and the Christian call to care for creation.
“The death and resurrection of Jesus, therefore, are the foundation of a spirituality of integral ecology, without which the words of faith remain unconnected to reality and the words of science remain outside the heart,” he said.
Continuing his catechesis series on the Resurrection and the challenges of the contemporary world, the pope rooted his reflection in the Gospel of John, which recounts that Mary Magdalene did not immediately recognize the risen Christ at the empty tomb, mistaking him for the gardener. That detail, he said, highlights the continuous “turning” of conversion.
“The fact that Mary turned that Easter morning is a sign of this: Only through conversion upon conversion do we pass from this valley of tears to the new Jerusalem,” he said.
Cultivating and caring for the garden, the pope added, is the original task brought to fulfillment by Jesus. “His last word on the cross — ‘It is finished’ — invites each one to rediscover that same task, our task.” If the human person is not a caretaker of the garden, he warned, “he becomes its destroyer,” citing Laudato Si’ on the need for a contemplative gaze upon creation.
The pope said Christian hope responds to the ecological and social challenges facing humanity, recognizing the Crucified One as the seed “placed in the garden” to rise and bear abundant fruit. Many people today, he observed, including young people, “have heard the cry of the poor and of the earth, allowing their hearts to be touched.”
“These challenges cannot be faced alone,” he said, adding that tears “are a gift of life when they purify our eyes and free our sight. Paradise is not lost, but found.”
Appeal for the ‘survival and continuity’ of contemplative lifeDuring the same audience, Pope Leo issued a strong appeal for concrete Church-wide support for communities of contemplative life, calling their mission “silent, fruitful, and irreplaceable.”
He recalled that on Nov. 21, the memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Italy will celebrate “Pro Orantibus” Day dedicated to those who consecrate their lives to prayer.
He urged Catholics not to let contemplative men and women lack “the concrete solidarity and effective help of the ecclesial community to ensure the survival and continuity of their silent, fruitful, and irreplaceable apostolate.”
Prayers for fishermen and a look ahead to 2026The pope also noted that World Fisheries Day will be celebrated Friday, entrusting all who work at sea to Mary: “May Mary, Star of the Sea, protect fishermen and their families.”
Looking to the future, he highlighted a Vatican event for children scheduled for Sept. 25–27, 2026, saying he looks forward to “the joy of meeting them.”
As he concluded the audience, the pope greeted young people, the sick, and newlyweds. He reminded the faithful that the Church will celebrate the solemnity of Christ the King this Sunday, urging newly married couples to place Christ “at the center of your matrimonial journey.”
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.
Virgin Mary doesn’t have ‘the role of holding back God’s wrath,’ Vatican expert says
Vatican City, Nov 19, 2025 / 11:15 am (CNA).
Following the reaction to the new Vatican document Mater Populi Fidelis (“Mother of the Faithful People”), Father Maurizio Gronchi, a Christology expert and consultant to the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, warned that considering the Virgin Mary as “Co-Redemptrix” or “Mediatrix” distorts the Christian faith and leads to a superstitious view.
“It is superstition to think that the Virgin Mary has the role of holding back God’s wrath. Whoever thinks this way is not in accordance with the Gospel,” Gronchi told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.
The expert spoke about the new document this week alongside Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In the text, the Vatican urges the faithful against using the titles “Co-Redemptrix” and “Mediatrix” to refer to the Virgin Mary.
“To think that Mary has to mediate and convince God to be merciful undermines the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” he explained.
The document has raised questions in some sectors of the Church, although it is not the first time the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has ruled out proclaiming this as dogma.
According to the Vatican doctrinal note also signed by Pope Leo XIV, St. John Paul II asked the then-prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in 1996 to study whether it could be considered a truth of faith that the Virgin Mary is “co-redemptrix” and “mediatrix.”
“He asked Ratzinger for clarification on the matter. He had used this term from a spiritual and devotional perspective,” Gronchi explained.
But as soon as “Ratzinger said it was inappropriate, John Paul II never used it again,” Gronchi added. John Paul II did not use it in his 1987 encyclical Redemptoris Mater (“Mother of the Redeemer”), which deals precisely with the Virgin Mary and her role in the life of the Church and in the history of salvation.
Neither Pius XII, St. John XXIII, nor St. Paul VI ever used that expression, nor did the Second Vatican Council, said Gronchi, who noted that currently “it does not seem that new truths [about Mary] ought to be affirmed.”
According to the priest and academic, the Catholic Church has already dedicated all possible attention to the figure of the Virgin and the latest proclaimed dogmas are about her: the dogma of the Divine Motherhood, which affirms that Mary is the Mother of God (Theotokos) in 431; the dogma of the Perpetual Virginity in 649; the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854; and the dogma of the Assumption of Mary in 1950.
Lack of support from Mariologists?The drafting of the new document had a striking feature, according to Gronchi, who explained that the work of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has historically been “collegial.” For each topic studied, this Vatican department draws on the input of internal consultants and external experts, among other sources.
However, in the case of this doctrinal note on certain Marian titles, “no collaborating Mariologists could be found,” according to Gronchi.
The priest pointed out that neither those who teach at the Marianum Theological Faculty nor the members of the Pontifical International Marian Academy (PAMI by its Italian acronym) participated in the presentation of the document at the Jesuit Curia (administrative center), which in his opinion can be interpreted as a “silence” that “can be understood as dissent.”
The Christology expert said PAMI has a history of active participation in discussions regarding potential dogmatic definitions. He cited as an example the XII International Mariological Congress in Czestochowa in 1996, which emphasized that it was inappropriate to proceed with defining Mary as “mediatrix,” “co-redemptrix,” or “advocate.”
ACI Prensa reached out to PAMI, but it declined to comment.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.