Pope Leo XIV said the successor of Peter must retain “complete freedom to speak the truth, denounce injustice, defend the rights of the weakest, promote peace,” and proclaim Jesus Christ amid “the troubled times in which we live.”

The pope made the remarks in an address Feb. 18 to members of Pro Petri Sede (“For the See of Peter”), an association that supports the work of the pope and the Holy See through prayer and financial assistance.

Leo recalled that the association traces its roots to the papal Zouaves, a 19th-century corps of Catholic volunteers who defended the Papal States against efforts to invade Rome.

Those volunteers “committed themselves unconditionally, even to the point of giving their lives, to defend the freedom of the Roman pontiff, threatened at the time,” the pope said.

Leo stressed that “the socio-historic conditions have obviously changed,” adding that “today there is no longer any question of fighting with weapons or exercising any kind of violence.”

Instead, he said, the association’s commitment is expressed through prayer, helping the faithful understand the role and action of the Holy See, and material support, “especially in favor of the least fortunate.”

Leo highlighted the group’s decision this year to support a charitable project in Chiclayo, his former diocese in Peru, where the association is helping fund the creation of a training center for people most in need.

Reflecting on the pope’s mission, Leo said: “The bishop of Rome has received from Christ the task of gathering the faithful people into unity and proclaiming the Gospel of salvation throughout the earth; and the charism of his successors implies the sovereign freedom to do so.”

He added that “the proclamation of the kingdom is hindered in many places throughout the world, and in many ways,” underscoring the importance of the pope’s freedom to carry out his mission.

“How important it is, therefore, in the troubled times in which we live, that ‘Peter’ retain his complete freedom to speak the truth, denounce injustice, defend the rights of the weakest, promote peace, and above all proclaim Jesus Christ, who died and rose again, the only possible hope for a reconciliated humanity,” he said.

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

Pope Leo XIV emphasized Wednesday that the Church experiences a part of God’s plan for unity by being together at liturgical celebrations.

The pope stated that God’s plan for the Church has a clear purpose: “to unify all creatures thanks to the reconciliatory action of Jesus Christ,” accomplished through his death on the cross.

“This is experienced first of all in the assembly gathered for the liturgical celebration: There, differences are relativized, and what counts is being together because we are drawn by the love of Christ, who broke down the wall of separation between people and social groups,” he said on Feb. 18.

Leo continued his weekly catecheses dedicated to the Second Vatican Council, focusing on the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium, approved on Nov. 21, 1964.

The pope delivered his lesson to thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, taking advantage of Rome’s mild temperatures. During the colder winter months, the weekly meeting with the faithful had taken place in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall.

Catechesis on the constitution Lumen Gentium

According to Leo, Lumen Gentium “enables us to understand the relationship between the unifying action of the pasch of Jesus, which is the mystery of his passion, death, and resurrection, and the identity of the Church.”

The pontiff added that the conciliar text also invites gratitude for belonging to the Church, “the body of the risen Christ, and the one pilgrim people of God journeying throughout history, which lives as a sanctifying presence in the midst of a still fragmented humanity, as an effective sign of unity and reconciliation among peoples.”

In explaining the use of the term “mystery” in Lumen Gentium, Leo XIV recalled that it comes from the letters of St. Paul and does not refer to something dark or incomprehensible.

On the contrary, the Holy Father explained that “when St. Paul uses the word, especially in the Letter to the Ephesians, he wishes to indicate a reality that was previously hidden and is now revealed.”

The Church as a sign of unity

The pope stressed that humanity lives in a condition of fragmentation “that human beings are unable to repair, even though the tendency towards unity dwells in their hearts. The action of Jesus Christ enters into this condition through the power of the Holy Spirit and overcomes the powers of division and the divider himself.”

He highlighted the meaning of the word “ekklesia” (Church), understood as the assembly of those called together by God.

“The Church is the mystery made perceptible,” he affirmed, recalling that the council defined the Church as a “sacrament, or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race.”

For Leo XIV, this means that the Church is not merely a passive sign but an active instrument through which God “achieves the aim of bringing people to him and uniting them with one another.”

The pontiff quoted a passage from chapter 7 of Lumen Gentium that says the risen Christ “is continually active in the world that he might lead men to the Church and through it join them to himself and that he might make them partakers of his glorious life by nourishing them with his own body and blood.”

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

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, announced on Feb. 17 that the Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace,” an initiative promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump to address various conflicts around the world, such as the one in Gaza.

The Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace due to its particular nature, which is clearly not that of other states,” the cardinal told reporters after a meeting in Rome with the Italian government at Palazzo Borromeo on the occasion of the anniversary of the Lateran Pacts, which in 1929 recognized the sovereignty of Vatican City State.

When asked about Italy’s participation as an observer on the Board of Peace, Parolin stated: “There are some points that leave one somewhat perplexed. There are critical points that need to be explained.”

“The important thing is that an attempt is being made to provide an answer. However, for us, there are some critical issues that need to be resolved,” the cardinal said, according to Vatican News, adding that “one concern is that, at the international level, it is primarily the U.N. [United Nations] that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have emphasized.”

On Jan. 21, Parolin had told reporters that the Vatican was evaluating whether or not to participate in Trump’s Board of Peace, a question that has now been decided.

Trump’s Peace Board seeks to address global conflicts, with a particular focus on the Gaza Strip, as an independent body separate from the United Nations. More than 25 countries have announced their participation, including Argentina, El Salvador, Paraguay, Belarus, Bulgaria, the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Egypt, and Morocco.

Parolin also spoke on Feb. 17 about the war in Ukraine, saying that “there is great pessimism,” since “neither side seems to have made any real progress toward peace, and it is tragic that after four years we are still at this point.”

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

As the Basilica of St. Peter approaches the 400th anniversary of its consecration, the Vatican has announced a slate of liturgical and cultural initiatives — including opening parts of the basilica complex that have never been accessible to the public and rolling out a new digital entry system designed to better manage crowds.

St. Peter’s Basilica was consecrated on Nov. 18, 1626, by Pope Urban VIII. Vatican officials presented the anniversary program on Monday, highlighting plans intended to ease visitor pressure inside the basilica while improving security and preserving an atmosphere of prayer.

“We want to lighten the weight of the crowds in the basilica and foster deeper spiritual recollection,” said Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, “while at the same time offering new spaces to get to know St. Peter better through themed itineraries.”

Among the most significant measures is the opening of the entire terrace of the basilica to visitors; currently, only about one-third is accessible. The newly opened terrace areas will feature a permanent exhibition on the history, construction, and ongoing maintenance of St. Peter’s.

Gambetti also said the restoration area currently located on the terrace will be reconfigured and expanded. The space will double and continue to be managed by the Fabric of St. Peter, he said, totaling about 100 square meters (roughly 1,075 square feet) and moving to the opposite side from its current location.

The Vatican also foresees the future opening of the large galleries of the Gregorian and Clementine domes, with educational proposals designed especially for children and young people.

To improve crowd management, officials announced a new digital access system — SmartPass — integrated into the basilica’s official website, along with a network of sensors to monitor visitor presence in real time and enhance security.

Gambetti described the initiative as a new “ecosystem” meant to safeguard the basilica’s sacred character while welcoming the millions of pilgrims and tourists who continue to come to the heart of Christianity.

A look ‘beyond the visible’

The cardinal stressed that the anniversary is not being treated merely as a historical commemoration but as an opportunity to renew the basilica’s spiritual meaning.

Built over the remains of the original Constantinian basilica, the current church stands as “the living memory of our faith in Jesus Christ, supported by Peter’s profession of faith,” Gambetti said, calling it “at the same time a door open to all who seek God.” He also recalled the transition from the earlier basilica to the present one, promoted by Pope Julius II during the Renaissance.

Gambetti pointed as well to the collaboration of the Italian energy company Eni, which is supporting conservation and “enhancement” projects tied to the anniversary.

Program of events

The spiritual program begins Feb. 20 with the inauguration of a new permanent Stations of the Cross inside the basilica, created by Swiss artist Manuel Durr, winner of an international competition launched in 2023.

On Saturday afternoons, the basilica will also host brief 30-minute “spiritual elevations” featuring prayer and polyphonic chant for those present.

Three “solemn pastoral lectures” — historical-cultural, theological-liturgical, and pastoral-spiritual — are planned for March 24, May 26, and Oct. 13 on the meaning of the basilica’s dedication. A spiritual meditation on St. Peter in light of the Gospel will be given by the preacher of the Papal Household, Father Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap.

Additional initiatives include the urban itinerary “Quo Vadis,” tracing the footsteps of Sts. Peter and Paul through Rome, and the theatrical production “Pietro e Paolo a Roma” by Michele Aginestra, planned around the June 29 feast of the apostles.

The celebrations are set to culminate Nov. 18 with a solemn Mass to be celebrated by Pope Leo XIV on the exact 400th anniversary of the basilica’s consecration.

Eni’s technical work

During the presentation, Eni executive Claudio Granata said the company’s technical work for St. Peter’s has involved an 18-month process, much of it devoted to study and planning. He recalled Eni’s earlier restoration of the basilica façade beginning in 1999 — the first deep cleaning since architect Carlo Maderno completed it in 1612.

This time, Granata said, the scale is larger: Measurements were carried out across approximately 80,000 square meters, covering the entire basilica, including outer areas. The analysis includes visible surfaces — such as the façade, columns, and roofs — as well as “invisible” elements like the foundations, resulting in a permanent monitoring system and a comprehensive digital model.

Eni research and development director Annalisa Muccioli said the project was guided by respect for the basilica’s historical, artistic, and spiritual character. The effort included 4,500 work hours across day and night shifts, as well as extensive historical study and technical documentation. Using techniques intended to “see without altering,” she said the team employed methods such as geophysical investigations, laser scanning, and advanced photogrammetry.

Muccioli described the result as a dynamic model integrating architectural geometry, subsurface geology, and real-time data — a tool meant to support the Fabric of St. Peter in future conservation and planning.

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

Each Ash Wednesday, dozens of people crowd the doors of the Church of Sant’Anselmo, perched on the Aventine — one of Rome’s seven hills — to witness the penitential procession that moves solemnly along the roughly 200 meters (656 feet) separating it from Santa Sabina.

This year, the tradition of the Station Churches, rooted in the first centuries of Christianity, takes on special significance: It will be the first time Pope Leo XIV presides over it.

It lasts less than five minutes, but it is not a mere ceremonial transfer. The short route liturgically marks the beginning of Lent and underscores the Aventine’s strong monastic presence: the Benedictines at Sant’Anselmo and the Dominicans at Santa Sabina.

“The penitential character of Lent allows us to explore the spiritual dimension of these centuries-old stational liturgies. Lent is marked by themes of baptism and conversion: reorienting our lives toward Christ, making his life fruitful in ours, and striving to imitate him,” Father Stefan Geiger, president of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute, told EWTN News.

Martyrs as models of life

Along that path, martyrs occupy a privileged place because, Geiger said, they “serve as exceptional models of this way of life.”

“The method of the early Church was not based on theoretical instruction but on the concrete example of a life lived for Christ, offering an invitation to realign one’s life completely with him,” he added.

Santa Sabina’s role as the destination is no accident. It is a “Station Church,” a key concept in the Roman Church’s tradition.

“It is the church the pope goes to on a specific occasion to celebrate the liturgy with the faithful,” the Benedictine priest explained.

The practice goes back to the early Church, when Christianity began organizing public worship in Rome. After the Edict of Milan in 313, when the emperor Constantine granted freedom of worship, Christian communities grew quickly, leading to a multiplication of places for Sunday celebrations known as “tituli” — early parish-like churches.

“These ‘titular churches’ represented their respective parishes, dividing the growing number of faithful into smaller units,” Geiger said.

But this expansion in urban contexts posed a theological and pastoral challenge, he said: “From very early on, there was concern about how to maintain and visibly express the unity of the local Church. At that time, the ideal of the local Church was still the community gathered around its bishop. However, this became increasingly difficult to sustain, especially in urban settings, and it threatened to obscure visible unity.”

Stational liturgies arose in the fourth century

In that context, stational liturgies emerged in the fourth century as a tangible sign of ecclesial communion. The pope, as bishop of Rome, would regularly “station” at a specific titular church, preside over the liturgy there, and in doing so confer upon it a “precedence over other liturgies,” Geiger explained.

A century later, the Roman tradition added a decisive element: the penitential procession.

“In the fifth century, a uniquely Roman custom developed: a penitential procession toward the stational church, which began at a gathering church — the ‘collecta’ — where penitential antiphons and the Litany of the Saints were sung,” he said.

The route culminated in a triple invocation of the “Kyrie eleison” (“Lord, have mercy”) — one of Christianity’s oldest and most fundamental liturgical prayers — and an intense silent prayer before the altar, during which clergy prostrated themselves.

“It is a gesture we still see today in the liturgy of Good Friday. The procession concluded with a silent prayer and a prostration of the clergy before the final prayer, since the Kyrie had been sung during the litanies,” he added.

From medieval solemnity to modern eclipse

During the early Middle Ages, this pattern was adopted and enriched with an ever more solemn ceremonial.

“The pope traveled on horseback from St. John Lateran — then the papal residence — and was received ceremonially at the Station Church, vested in liturgical garments. Then he entered the church accompanied by acolytes carrying seven torches, and only then did the celebration begin,” Geiger recalled.

At the end of the liturgy, the deacon solemnly announced the next Station Church and, if applicable, the church of the collecta, to which the faithful responded with “Deo gratias.”

Over time, however, the tradition weakened. During the period when seven popes resided in Avignon, France (1309–1377), it virtually disappeared from Rome.

After the capture of Rome in 1870 — the final milestone of the Italian Risorgimento, when troops of the Kingdom of Italy breached the Aurelian Walls near Porta Pia — stational liturgies were officially prohibited in 1870 as part of a general decree banning all processions.

Contemporary recovery

The revival of the tradition came after the Lateran Pacts, the 1929 concordat defining civil and religious relations between the government and the Church in Italy.

The Pontifical Academy of Martyrs — which seeks to keep alive the legacy of the early witnesses of the Christian faith — promoted the restoration of stational liturgies, especially through its first director, Carlo Respighi.

“Even today, the academy is responsible for overseeing these celebrations, and its website lists the Station Churches of Lent,” Geiger said.

In any case, the president of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute noted that today the pope generally presides over only two stational liturgies: Ash Wednesday at Santa Sabina and Holy Thursday at St. John Lateran.

“Before the liturgical reform, the Missal listed about 89 stational liturgies in 42 Station Churches. The origins of each of the ‘titular churches’ are no longer known, but they are closely linked to the martyrs, who have a special significance in the memory of the city of Rome,” he said.

As every year, the Benedictine community of Sant’Anselmo is preparing carefully for the event. The occasion takes on added meaning as it will be the pontiff’s second visit there during his first year in office: The monks previously welcomed Leo XIV on Nov. 11, 2025, on the feast of their church’s dedication.

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

The president of the Pontifical Academy for Life said Tuesday the Church needs to maintain a dialogue with universities on the issue of abortion.

Monsignor Renzo Pegoraro was responding to a question about controversy over the leadership appointment of a pro-abortion professor at the University of Notre Dame — and whether Catholic universities have a responsibility to uphold Church teaching on unborn life.

Abortion “is not acceptable as a practice,” Pegoraro said during a Vatican press conference on Feb. 17.

He added that it is the responsibility of not only individuals but also of society to help women and couples “avoid the idea that abortion could be a solution to a difficult pregnancy or a problem.”

Pegoraro addressed journalists during a presentation about the academy’s international workshop “Health Care for All: Sustainability and Equity,” held in Rome Feb. 16–17.

Pegoraro, who was named president of the Pontifical Academy for Life on May 27, 2025, said convincing people that abortion is not the only solution to a problem “is a big challenge.”

“We try to see how to maintain a debate about that, and we try to stress more the ethical and some social aspects, not immediately only the legal aspect of the problem,” he added.

Pope Leo XIV has eliminated the Pontifical Committee for World Children’s Day, established by Pope Francis in November 2024. In a decree published on Feb. 13, the Holy Father reaffirmed the importance of the Church giving special attention to children, in continuity with the intention expressed by his predecessor.

However, with the aim of “fostering greater synergies” and ensuring a more effective organization of this “noble initiative,” the decree stipulates that all the committee’s functions will be transferred to the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, where it has been integrated since August 2025.

The document also establishes the annulment of the acts and regulations adopted to date by the body, which will cease to have legal effect under both canon and civil law.

Likewise, the president, vice president, and other members of the committee are immediately relieved of their duties.

Finally, it states that the prefect of the dicastery, Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, must resolve outstanding matters and submit a final liquidation report to the Secretariat for the Economy.

Pope Francis established this day on Dec. 8, 2023. On that occasion, he announced that the first World Children’s Day would be celebrated worldwide on May 25-26, 2024.

Subsequently, Francis established the Pontifical Committee for World Children’s Day and appointed Father Enzo Fortunato, also director of communications for St. Peter’s Basilica and head of the press office of St. Francis of Assisi Basilica, as its president.

The next World Children’s Day will be celebrated Sept. 25–27 and is expected to be a time of encounter, prayer, and celebration involving children and their families from all over the world.

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

On Saturday, Feb. 14, the humanitarian situation in Gaza was the focus of a day of the arts at the apostolic vicariate in Rome. In the halls of the Lateran Apostolic Palace, the third edition of the initiative focused on the Gaza Strip, burdened by destruction and loss, where the suffering of its residents calls for ongoing attention.

The apostolic vicariate in Rome dedicated the third edition of its day of the arts to shedding light on the Gaza Strip. | Credit: Photo by Elias Turk/ACI MENA

The event offered an artistic journey divided into four consecutive performances under the title “If There Were Water.”

Father Gabriele Vecchioni, deputy director of the University Pastoral Office at the vicariate, explained at the event that art stands in direct opposition to adaptation and forgetfulness. Shedding light on Gaza, he said, means confronting what the world has heard in recent months: the killing of 64,000 people, including 18,000 children — figures that an arts day insists must not be archived but preserved as an active memory.

The apostolic vicariate in Rome dedicated the third edition of its day of the arts to shedding light on the Gaza Strip. | Credit: Photo by Elias Turk/ACI MENA

In the “Hall of Reconciliation,” the theatrical work “Gaza: Before the Silence” by Francesco D’Alfonso was performed by first-year students of the National Academy of Dramatic Art Silvio D’Amico. Through poetry, music, international reports, and literary excerpts, the performance restored faces and names to the victims. White shrouds and the stark numbers of the tragedy became signs of a collective responsibility shared by all.

The apostolic vicariate in Rome dedicated the third edition of its day of the arts to shedding light on the Gaza Strip. | Credit: Photo by Elias Turk/ACI MENA

Reflection on the suffering of Gaza’s people continued in the “Hall of the Emperors” with the artistic work “Holm” (“Dream”). This project by the National Academy of Dance combined choreography and video. Through the languages of body and image, it opened an intellectual space for reflection on the Palestinian cause, entrusting dance with the task of fostering listening and awareness.

The apostolic vicariate in Rome dedicated the third edition of its day of the arts to shedding light on the Gaza Strip. | Credit: Photo by Elias Turk/ACI MENA

In the Hall of David, “Who Are You? A Beautiful Question,” a work within the relational art movement, directly engaged the audience with the issue. Through words, images, and sounds, it unfolded fragments of memory about what has taken place in the Gaza Strip.

The apostolic vicariate in Rome dedicated the third edition of its day of the arts to shedding light on the Gaza Strip. | Credit: Photo by Elias Turk/ACI MENA

In the Hall of the Apostles, the event hosted the Santa Cecilia Music Institute, with Senka Slipać on the violin and Vehbija Hodžić on the accordion. The musicians performed works by Antonio Vivaldi, Dražan Kosorić, and Vittorio Monti.

The artistic journey at the Lateran also included a work titled “Fire,” a collective installation created within a workshop sponsored by Caritas Rome.

The apostolic vicariate in Rome dedicated the third edition of its day of the arts to shedding light on the Gaza Strip. | Credit: Photo by Elias Turk/ACI MENA

Pope Leo XIV has appointed a Harvard University epidemiology professor and director of the Human Flourishing Program to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

Tyler J. VanderWeele, a Catholic, is also co-director of the Initiative on Health, Spirituality, and Religion at Harvard University and a contributor to the Institute for Family Studies, which promotes traditional marriage and family structures.

VanderWeele joins 35 other ordinary members — academics and professionals in the fields of law, political science, economics, and sociology — at the Vatican academy.

VanderWeele told EWTN News he is grateful “for the opportunity to participate and contribute” to the work of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

“Catholic social teaching has powerfully shaped the way I think about my own work and about the pursuit of societal flourishing,” he said.

The academic, who entered the Catholic Church in 2012, said: “The principles of the dignity of the human person, the common good, subsidiarity, and solidarity provide a powerful roadmap for our life together. We certainly need to retain what is distinctive about the Catholic faith, but we also need to find common ground with others, and these principles of Catholic social teaching can help us to do so.”

VanderWeele holds degrees in mathematics, philosophy, theology, finance, and biostatistics from Harvard, the University of Oxford, and the University of Pennsylvania.

The Catholic University of America awarded VanderWeele an honorary doctorate in 2020.

VanderWeele described his work at the Human Flourishing Program as aiming “to create a ‘positive epidemiology,’ wherein we study the distribution and determinants of well-being, and to expand the purview of public health to include the promotion of individual and societal flourishing,” according to the website of the social sciences academy.

In 2015, the professor joined a group of scholars in filing an amicus brief in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, arguing that there is no constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

VanderWeele has also written on the topic of preventing and healing child sexual abuse in religious communities.

He spoke about Christianity’s contribution to the notion of human flourishing at a talk for the Veritas Forum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2023.

Established by Pope John Paul II in 1994, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences brings together academicians from a wide range of religious and nonreligious backgrounds. Current ordinary members include Catholic theologian Tracey Rowland and economist Jeffrey Sachs.

The academy is led by Sister Helen Alford, OP, president, and Cardinal Peter Turkson, chancellor.

Pope Leo XIV told the prelate of Opus Dei on Feb. 16 that “the process of updating Opus Dei’s statutes continues in its study phase and that no publication date can yet be foreseen,” according to a statement from the prelature.

The pope received Opus Dei’s prelate, Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz, in audience at the Vatican on Monday. Ocáriz was accompanied by his auxiliary vicar, Monsignor Mariano Fazio.

The Holy See Press Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Vatican meeting came as the personal prelature’s proposed statutes — submitted to the Holy See on June 11, 2025 — remain under review. Opus Dei’s draft is being examined by the Dicastery for the Clergy following the reforms to the governance of personal prelatures introduced under Pope Francis.

Opus Dei said that “several topics were addressed in an atmosphere of great trust,” including “the perspectives and challenges of the work of evangelization that Opus Dei carries out throughout the world, as it approaches its first centenary.”

The prelature added that it presented to the pope “the institutional perspective on some specific controversies in Argentina” and that the audience also included discussion of vocations in the Church, “particularly, the contrast between the situation in Africa and in Europe.”

According to the statement, Ocáriz presented the pope with two books: “The Church in the Street: The Reception of Gaudium et Spes in Six Holy Pastors,” by Augustinian Father Ramón Sala González, and “Yauyos, an Adventure in the Andes,” an account by Samuel Valero about Opus Dei priests’ evangelizing work in two provinces of Peru.

Opus Dei is currently the only personal prelature in the Catholic Church and reports about 94,450 members worldwide.

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

Pope Leo XIV on Monday warned that modern conflicts and widening social disparities are eroding respect for human life and equal access to health care, telling members of the Pontifical Academy for Life that “all lives are not equally respected and health is neither protected nor promoted in the same way for everyone.”

Addressing participants in the academy’s plenary assembly in the Apostolic Palace, the pope praised the meeting’s theme — “Health Care for All: Sustainability and Equity” — and lamented that “in a world scarred by conflicts, which consume enormous economic, technological, and organizational resources in the production of arms and other types of military equipment, it has never been more important to dedicate time, people, and expertise to safeguarding life and health.”

He cited Pope Francis’ insistence that health care cannot be treated as a luxury, noting that it “is not a consumer good but a universal right, which means that access to health care services cannot be a privilege.”

Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic, Leo said it “has become clear how much reciprocity and interdependence underpin our health and our very lives,” adding that this reality demands collaboration across disciplines, including “medicine, politics, ethics, management, and others.”

Turning to global disparities, the pope said that when we examine “life expectancy and the quality of health in different countries and social groups, we discover enormous inequalities” tied to factors such as income, education, and the neighborhoods where people live. He also deplored wars that strike civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, calling them “the most grave attacks that human hands can make against life and public health.”

“It is often said that life and health are equally fundamental values for all,” he said, “but this statement is hypocritical if, at the same time, we ignore the structural causes and policies that determine inequalities.”

Leo also highlighted the “One health” approach, encouraging an integrated vision that recognizes the links between human health, environmental conditions, and other forms of life — an outlook he said aligns with the academy’s work in global bioethics.

The pope urged renewed commitment to the common good, warning it can become “an abstract and irrelevant notion” unless it is rooted in strong social bonds. “We need to rediscover the fundamental attitude of care as support and closeness to others,” he said, arguing that this is key to building sustainable health systems and restoring trust in medicine amid “misinformation or skepticism regarding science.”

Concluding, Leo renewed his call for stronger international and multilateral cooperation, saying such relationships are essential for preventing conflicts and resisting “the mindset of force, whether verbal, physical or military.”

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

Among the recent appointments of Pope Leo XIV, one in particular has been made with remarkable frequency: that of “chaplain of His Holiness.” What does this honorary title mean?

In November 2025, the Holy Father bestowed this title upon his secretary, Peruvian priest Father Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga, officially incorporating him into the papal household, in accordance with the provisions of the 1968 motu proprio Pontificalis Domus (“Pontifical House”).

Among those who have received this distinction in recent days is Father Fermín González Melado, a diocesan priest born in Badajoz, Spain, who has resided in Rome since 2019.

With degrees in biology and the theology of marriage and family, González is an adviser to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and a member of the clinical ethics committee at the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital. He has also served as vice rector of the Spanish National Church of St. James and Montserrat in Rome since 2021.

Father Fermín González Melado. | Credit: Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz

In an interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, he explained that the title of “chaplain of His Holiness” is a recognition “granted by the dicasteries, since it is the prefects who suggest to the secretariat of state the recognition of individuals who have been working at the Holy See.”

He clarified that this “does not imply a change of job or employment status, but rather a kind of medal that recognizes meritorious work. It is an honorary title that entails a change of cassock colors and little else,” he explained.

With this appointment as chaplain, the pope also bestowed upon him the honorary title of monsignor. From now on, as a member of the papal household, the priest may wear the cassock with purple buttons and trim, along with the sash of the same color, according to protocol.

González said this title is not reserved just for the Holy See to give “but can also be granted by bishops in their dioceses after requesting it from the Vatican.”

He pointed out that there is no precise figure for the number of chaplains of His Holiness worldwide. “Some dioceses grant this honor to priests upon reaching the age of 80, in recognition of their service,” he added.

Although he has not yet been able to express his gratitude to Pope Leo XIV in person, he recalled his recent meeting with him, along with other members of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, during its plenary assembly.

The priest told ACI Prensa that every time he meets with the Holy Father, he likes to give him “some small gift.” On the last occasion, he gave him a book and a documentary film about the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows of Chandavila, in La Codosera, Spain, which is in his diocese.

“It’s the first shrine and the first devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows approved in Spain under the new regulations of the dicastery on alleged supernatural phenomena,” he explained.

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

Pope Leo XIV will preside over the traditional Ash Wednesday procession and Mass on Rome’s Aventine Hill, an important place of Christian veneration and pilgrimage for more than 1,500 years.

For the Dominican and Benedictine religious orders, whose communities have had a significant historical presence on the Aventine, the Holy Father’s Feb. 18 visit will be a special occasion to begin the Church’s liturgical season dedicated to prayer and fasting before Easter.

On the first day of the 40-day Lenten “Stations Churches” pilgrimage — formally instituted in the sixth century by Pope Gregory the Great and restored by Pope John XXIII in 1959 — the pope leads a penitential procession from the Benedictine church of Sant’Anselmo to the nearby Dominican Basilica of Santa Sabina.

“To walk with Pope Leo on this pilgrimage from the nearby Sant’Anselmo church will be a sign, a symbol, for all of us of the spiritual work that’s taking place in our hearts in Lent,” Santa Sabina resident Father Patrick Briscoe, OP, told EWTN News. “We’ll all be on pilgrimage together.”

This year, Pope Leo will preside over a short afternoon prayer service at the Benedictine monastery and then celebrate the Ash Wednesday Mass at Santa Sabina, a fourth-century basilica that was gifted to St. Dominic and the Order of Preachers in 1219 by Pope Honorius III.

“The pope himself imposes ashes on [the cardinals] during the Mass,” Briscoe added. “The cardinals stand in for the whole Church and they’re a sign of all of us joining and following the pope’s lead.”

As part of the Lenten tradition, the pope leads the procession through the main doors of Santa Sabina, which contains the oldest known artistic portrayal of Jesus Christ crucified.

“On the door we have a very important Christian symbol… It allows us to think of the meaning of Lent and to embrace the suffering of Christ,” Briscoe said.

“When we consider it from the historical perspective and the evolution of Christian understanding, we really didn’t know how to handle the cross,” he explained. “It took us a hundred years to depict it.”

“This says something to each of us entering into Lent — to discover anew what our sufferings mean and how to have them transformed by Christ’s own sacrifice,” he said.

Father Eusebius Martis, OSB, a sacramental theology professor who teaches at the Pontifical Athenaeum of Sant’Anselmo, told EWTN News the Aventine is an ideal place for prayer and pilgrimage.

“It’s really an ideal spot because it’s quiet and it’s a little bit separated but not too far [from the city center],” he said.

According to Martis, nature on the Aventine has inspired artists and pilgrims alike throughout the centuries to contemplate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“The acanthus leaf is growing all across our property here at [Sant’Anselmo],” Martis said. “It dies and it lays against the ground … completely dead until the spring [when] it comes back to life.”

“In a couple of weeks, it will start putting up flowers, which represent a bloom around Easter time,” he said.

Pointing out the reliefs of the acanthus leaf found on the Corinthian columns inside the Basilica of Sant’Anselmo, Martis said several churches across Rome purposefully depict the leaf to symbolize the Church’s belief in Jesus’ victory over sin and death.

“The architects wanted us to remember that, every time we’re at the altar, we are at Easter,” the Benedictine father said.

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday made his first visit to a parish in the Diocese of Rome, celebrating Mass at Santa Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia Lido and urging Catholics to cultivate “coherence between faith and life” while opposing violence and injustice with “the disarming strength of meekness” and renewed prayer for peace.

Santa Maria Regina Pacis, located on Rome’s coast and part of the diocese’s southern sector, is the first Roman parish the pope has visited during his pontificate. The pope is expected to visit four additional parishes over the next four Sundays in the diocese’s remaining sectors.

Upon his arrival, Leo was welcomed by Cardinal Vicar Baldassare Reina and Bishop Tarantelli Baccari, vicegerent and auxiliary bishop for the southern sector. Before Mass, the pope greeted children in catechism and young people in a field behind the church, then met with the elderly, the sick, the poor, and Caritas volunteers in the parish gym.

“It is for me a source of great joy,” the pope said in his homily, “to be here and to live with your community the gesture from which Sunday takes its name. It is the Lord’s Day because the risen Jesus comes among us, listens to us and speaks to us, nourishes us and sends us out.”

Reflecting on the day’s readings, Leo said the law God gave his people is not opposed to freedom but is “the condition for making it flourish.” The Lord’s commandments, he added, “are not an oppressive law, but his pedagogy for humanity, which seeks the fullness of life and freedom.”

Jesus’ preaching, he continued, reveals “the authentic and full meaning of God’s law,” pointing to a fidelity to God grounded in respect and care for others “in their inviolable sacredness” — something to be cultivated first “in the heart.” The pope warned that it is in the heart that both “the noblest sentiments” and “the most painful profanations” take root: “closures, envies, jealousies,” by which someone who harbors evil thoughts against a brother is “as if, within, he were already killing him.”

“We must remember,” Leo added, “that the evil we see in the world has its roots precisely there, where the heart becomes cold, hard, and poor in mercy.”

The pope said such realities are felt “also here, in Ostia,” where violence can wound, sometimes taking hold among young people and adolescents, “perhaps fueled by the use of substances,” or through criminal organizations that exploit people and draw them into wrongdoing.

In response, he urged the parish community to continue working “with generosity and courage” to sow “the good seed of the Gospel” in the neighborhood.

“Do not resign yourselves to the culture of abuse and injustice,” the pope said. “On the contrary, spread respect and harmony, beginning by disarming language and then investing energy and resources in education, especially for children and youth.”

Addressing the young in particular, Leo expressed the hope that they would learn in the parish “honesty, welcome, and love that overcomes boundaries,” as well as the ability to help those who do not repay them and to greet those who do not greet them — learning to go toward everyone “freely and gratuitously.”

“Learn coherence between faith and life, as Jesus teaches us,” he said.

In concluding remarks, the pope recalled that Pope Benedict XV gave the church its title, “Saint Mary, Queen of Peace,” during World War I, envisioning the community as “a ray of light in the leaden sky of war.” Today, Leo said, “many clouds still darken the world,” including the spread of ways of thinking contrary to the Gospel that exalt “the supremacy of the strongest,” encourage arrogance, and prize “victory at any cost,” deaf to the cry of those who suffer.

“Let us oppose this drift with the disarming strength of meekness,” the pope said, “continuing to ask for peace, and to welcome it and cultivate its gift with tenacity and humility.”

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

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday expressed his closeness to the people of Madagascar after two cyclones caused flooding and landslides.

“I pray for the victims, their families, and for all who have suffered serious damage,” the pope said after praying the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square on Feb. 15.

Looking ahead to upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations in East Asia, Leo said: “May this joyful celebration strengthen family ties and friendships, bring peace to homes and society, and provide an opportunity to look to the future together and to build peace and prosperity for all.”

In his reflection before the Marian prayer, the pope focused on the day’s Gospel from the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:17-37), saying Jesus “reveals the true meaning of the precepts of the Law of Moses.”

“They are not meant to satisfy an external religious need of feeling ‘righteous’ before God but to bring us into a relationship of love with God and with our brothers and sisters,” he said, adding: “The Law is fulfilled precisely by love, which brings its profound meaning and ultimate purpose to completion.”

Leo emphasized that “true righteousness consists in love,” and he warned against reducing faith to the bare minimum: “The Gospel offers us this valuable teaching: Minimal righteousness is not enough; great love is needed.”

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

Feb. 2 marked a turning point in the life of David Ryan, a 61-year-old Irishman who suffered sexual abuse as a teenager. More than 40 years later, he was able to share his story face-to-face with Pope Leo XIV in the first private meeting the pontiff has held alone with a victim of abuse.

While the Holy Father had already met with other victims of abuse, those meetings were in groups. The meeting with Ryan was different: For almost an hour, he was able to share everything he thought and still thinks about what happened to him and about the reaction of the Catholic Church in Ireland, which he felt did not listen to him.

“He’s a lovely man, and a lovely experience… Wow. I’m so glad I‘ve done it today, I’m really so glad I’ve done it. I didn’t hold back, I told him about the abuse and asked him, ‘Why are these priests still doing this?’” Ryan told reporters in Rome who were waiting for him outside the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.

“His sympathy, his empathy toward the survivors, myself and my family, toward my close friends… He felt this, he was sorry, and it was genuine. I knew it was genuine,” he emphasized.

Ryan suffered sexual abuse when he was roughly between the ages of 11 and 17 while attending Blackrock and Willow Park School in Dublin. His brother, Mark, who died at age 62, was also a victim of abuse but never revealed what had happened to him. “It ruined my life. It ruined Mark’s life, and my brother is now gone,” Ryan, who brought a photo of Mark to Rome, told EWTN News.

When Ryan’s story came to light in a documentary titled “Blackrock Boys” on RTÉ radio, it shocked the nation. Following the broadcast, the Irish government commissioned a report that revealed widespread allegations of sexual abuse at hundreds of schools over several decades — a total of 2,400 cases. This was made possible by the courage of Ryan and others like him who shared their stories.

Ryan, who felt he was not being heard by the Church, wrote to Pope Leo XIV and received a reply to meet with him, an appointment he attended with Deirdre Kenny, CEO of One in Four, an Irish charity that advises and supports adults who have suffered sexual abuse.

‘I’m so sorry for you’

EWTN Vatican correspondent Colm Flynn spoke with Ryan after his meeting with the pope. He recounted that he told Leo XIV “that I wanted an apology, and the first thing he said to me was, ‘David, all I can say is that I’m so sorry for your pain and hurt, what your family went through, what Mark and the other survivors went through. I can feel your pain, but I don’t know your pain.’ And he looked me straight in the eyes and just said, ‘I’m so sorry for you.’”

“But I could feel a kind of energy coming down when he told me, because I knew he meant it, and it’s like a whole new experience for me. It’s still going down; I still can’t believe I’ve been there. I thought this day would never come,” he emphasized.

‘I just wanted him to hear my voice, my story’

After explaining that he wanted to express his anger to the pope and get a response from him, Ryan clarified that with the Holy Father, “I wasn’t going to shout and scream; there was no point in doing that. I just wanted him to hear my voice, I wanted him to hear my story, and he heard. He apologized in a way I wasn’t expecting, and his empathy toward me… it was just quiet and surreal.”

“And I didn’t hold back, I told him I had been raped three times. It’s not pleasant, but many men are afraid to talk about it, and a lot of men don’t cry,” he said. However, he shared that in his case, he managed “to talk about it, I have cried.”

Ryan also said the pope “was shocked to hear how many people had been abused and that the Church had hidden it for so long. I asked him why they did that, and he replied, ‘David, I don’t have an answer yet for you, but I will have an answer when I can.’”

‘It wasn’t your fault’

Ryan also told Flynn that he shared his story so that others “would want to come forward and speak out about clerical abuse, because a lot of men don’t talk and keep it quiet.”

“And as I told the pope: It wasn’t my fault. And that took me a long time to admit: It wasn’t my fault. He shook his head and said to me, ‘Yes, it wasn’t your fault, David.’ And that really did hit me. We shook hands afterwards, and I know he understands. It was the best thing I’ve ever done,” he concluded.

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

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday will travel outside the Vatican to visit a Roman parish — the Basilica of Santa Maria Regina Pacis — in the seaside community of Ostia, about 17 miles southwest of the city’s center.

A popular summer destination for tourists, Ostia will be the first of five parishes where the pope, as bishop of Rome, will celebrate Mass on Sundays in February and March.

The pastor of the church, Pallottine Father Giovanni Vincenzo Patanè, told EWTN News the area has its challenges, including drug dealing and prostitution, but there are also many positive initiatives worth highlighting.

“The pope’s presence will help to shed light on these somewhat shady areas, but also to show that Ostia is not only what is often reported about crime and Mafia organizations, but that there is also a lot of good,” the priest said.

According to Father Giulio Albanese, director of the Vicariate of Rome’s social communications office, in Ostia, many people are having trouble making ends meet.

The Church in Ostia is helping to look after those who are struggling, including those in need, immigrants, and young people affected by drugs, he told EWTN News. “The Christian community is there to help them, to share with them the love of God.”

Costantino, a homeless man who declined to give his last name, said he frequents the parish and has been a recipient of its charitable activities. “You must have faith. You can’t lose it ... even in difficult moments,” he said.

The town of Ostia also has an important connection to Pope Leo’s order, the Augustinians, as the site of St. Augustine and his mother, St. Monica’s, shared a mystical experience of eternal life. St. Monica died soon afterward and was buried in Ostia, though her tomb was later moved to Rome.

Pallottine Father Thomas Rzempoluch, assistant pastor of Santa Maria Regina Pacis, explained to EWTN News that the parish was first entrusted to the Augustinian order, which laid its foundation. But when they were unable to finish building the church, the Pallottine Fathers were asked to complete it.

“Our [rector general] at that time sent the Irish Pallottines all over America to take up collections to finish the church. So there’s also an American connection here,” he said.

Leo will be the third pope to visit the parish — Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis also celebrated Mass there during their pontificates.

“The community of Ostia is really so excited, not just our parish,” parishioner Daniele Libertini said.

In his message for Lent 2026, Pope Leo XIV urges Catholics to listen more closely to God and others — and to “disarm” their language by fasting from words that wound.

The Lenten season begins Feb. 18 with Ash Wednesday.

In the message, released Feb. 13, the pope offers a simple definition of Lent as a time when the Church “invites us to place the mystery of God back in the center of our lives, in order to find renewal in our faith and keep our hearts from being consumed by the anxieties and distractions of daily life.”

He encourages Catholics to allow the word of God to touch their hearts with docility so that Lent may become “a welcome opportunity to heed the voice of the Lord and renew our commitment to following Christ.”

Listening to God and the cry of the poor

The Holy Father first highlights the importance of listening.

“The willingness to listen is the first way we demonstrate our desire to enter into relationship with someone,” he writes.

Listening to sacred Scripture, he says, teaches believers to recognize and respond to suffering in the world.

Quoting his own apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te, he adds that Catholics must recognize that “the condition of the poor is a cry that, throughout human history, constantly challenges our lives, societies, political and economic systems, and, not least, the Church.”

Entering into this interior openness means allowing God to teach us to listen as he does, he writes, so that faith shapes both personal conversion and social responsibility.

Fasting, including from harmful speech

Turning to the traditional Lenten practice of fasting, the pope describes abstaining from food as “an ancient ascetic practice that is essential on the path of conversion.”

“Precisely because it involves the body, fasting makes it easier to recognize what we ‘hunger’ for and what we deem necessary for our sustenance,” he writes. It helps believers to “identify and order our ‘appetites,’ keeping our hunger and thirst for justice alive and freeing us from complacency.”

Quoting St. Augustine, he notes that the human heart expands through desire for God. “Understood in this way, fasting not only permits us to govern our desire, purifying it and making it freer, but also to expand it, so that it is directed towards God and doing good.”

However, he stresses that fasting must be lived “in faith and humility” and grounded in communion with the Lord.

In this context, the pope proposes a specific Lenten resolution: “a very practical and frequently unappreciated form of abstinence: that of refraining from words that offend and hurt our neighbor.”

“Let us begin by disarming our language, avoiding harsh words and rash judgment, refraining from slander and speaking ill of those who are not present and cannot defend themselves,” he writes. “Instead, let us strive to measure our words and cultivate kindness and respect in our families, among our friends, at work, on social media, in political debates, in the media and in Christian communities.”

“In this way, words of hatred will give way to words of hope and peace,” he adds.

A shared journey toward conversion

Finally, Pope Leo XIV emphasizes the communal dimension of Lent, recalling that Scripture frequently presents fasting and listening to the word of God as shared acts of repentance and renewal.

“Our parishes, families, ecclesial groups, and religious communities are called to undertake a shared journey during Lent,” he writes, where listening to the word of God and to “the cry of the poor and of the earth” becomes part of community life.

He underscores that conversion concerns not only individual conscience but also relationships and dialogue. It means “allowing ourselves to be challenged by reality and recognizing what truly guides our desires — both within our ecclesial communities and as regards humanity’s thirst for justice and reconciliation.”

Concluding, the pope invites the faithful to ask for grace and strength during the penitential season.

“Let us ask for the grace of a Lent that leads us to greater attentiveness to God and to the least among us,” he writes. “Let us ask for the strength that comes from the type of fasting that also extends to our use of language, so that hurtful words may diminish and give way to a greater space for the voice of others.”

“Let us strive to make our communities places where the cry of those who suffer finds welcome, and listening opens paths towards liberation, making us ready and eager to contribute to building a civilization of love.”

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

The Catholic Bishops of Cuba announced Thursday that they have asked Pope Leo XIV to postpone their upcoming visit to Rome due to the country’s grave situation, which is generating “so much instability and uncertainty.”

The bishops had been scheduled to meet Pope Leo XIV on Feb. 20 as part of their periodic ad limina visit, which was set to begin Monday, Feb. 16. During such visits, bishops also customarily pray at the four major papal basilicas and meet with various Vatican dicasteries.

However, in a statement on Feb. 12, the bishops’ conference said that “given the worsening socio-economic situation in the country, which is generating so much instability and uncertainty, the Catholic bishops have asked the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, that the ad limina visit be postponed to a later date than originally planned.”

“We continue praying for our homeland, and we renew our affection and communion with the pope and with the Apostolic See,” the statement added.

Cuba’s prolonged economic and social crisis has intensified in recent days, particularly after the United States government announced on Jan. 29 the imposition of tariffs on countries that send oil to the Caribbean nation, as a way of pressuring the communist regime.

In response, the Cuban government has introduced further restrictions beyond those already faced by the population. Last Sunday, the regime also reported that it no longer had fuel for commercial aircraft, a development that is affecting tourism, one of the government’s principal sources of revenue.

At the same time, the Trump administration began sending containers of humanitarian aid in January for the Catholic Church to distribute to those affected by Hurricane Melissa. The assistance is being coordinated directly with Caritas Cuba, without the participation of the regime.

On Jan. 31, the Cuban bishops warned in a separate statement that the country risks falling into social chaos and violence if the structural changes it urgently needs are not implemented.

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

The Vatican’s doctrinal office said Thursday it is willing to begin a structured theological dialogue with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), but warned that any plan by the traditionalist group to consecrate bishops without a papal mandate would constitute a break in communion and would immediately halt the talks.

In a statement following a Feb. 12 meeting between Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Father Davide Pagliarani, the SSPX’s superior general, the dicastery said the two sides agreed on a “specifically theological” process with a defined methodology to address questions it said have not yet received sufficient clarification.

The dicastery also warned that if the SSPX proceeds with episcopal consecrations it has announced for July 1 without authorization from the Holy See, the move would “imply a decisive rupture of ecclesial communion (schism),” carrying “grave consequences” for the fraternity as a whole, and would bring the dialogue to an immediate end.

The statement did not explicitly mention excommunication, which canon law prescribes for all bishops involved in episcopal consecrations with a papal mandate.

The dicastery said Pagliarani told Vatican officials he would present the proposal to the fraternity’s council and later communicate a response. If the response is positive, the statement said, both sides would jointly establish the steps, stages, and procedures to follow.

What the Vatican says the talks would cover

According to the dicastery, the theological dialogue would address contested questions tied to the interpretation of post–Second Vatican Council teaching, including God’s will regarding the plurality of religions; the distinction between an act of faith and “religious submission of mind and will”; and the differing levels of assent required by various Vatican II texts and their interpretation.

The underlying issue is whether the SSPX must accept Vatican II as doctrinally binding, or whether it can treat it as primarily pastoral and therefore open to critique.

The dicastery also said the discussions would seek to identify “minimum conditions” required for full communion with the Catholic Church and, consequently, for outlining a canonical status for the SSPX, alongside other questions to be studied further.

Why the meeting happened now

The meeting followed Pagliarani’s Feb. 2 announcement that the SSPX intends to consecrate new bishops on July 1, arguing the move is needed to preserve continuity.

The consecrations would reportedly be carried out by Bishop Bernard Fellay, Pagliarani’s predecessor as superior general, with Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta as co-consecrator. Pagliarani has said an exchange of letters with the Holy See did not produce the response the fraternity sought.

The shadow of 1988

The Vatican warning recalls the 1988 rupture, when Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without a pontifical mandate after negotiations with Rome collapsed, triggering a formal declaration of excommunication and a long-running break in full communion.

In 1988, a solution had appeared within reach after an agreement would have given the fraternity a recognized place in the Church and permission to celebrate exclusively the traditional Latin Mass, in exchange for acceptance of Vatican II and recognition of the validity of the reformed rites. Lefebvre ultimately proceeded with the consecrations anyway.

Benedict XVI later lifted the excommunications of the bishops consecrated in 1988 in 2009. Under Pope Francis, the Holy See extended certain pastoral faculties to SSPX priests, while also restricting broader use of the traditional Latin Mass through the motu proprio "Traditionis Custodes."

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