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Rome Newsroom, Feb 22, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The theme of the 2025 Jubilee Year is “Pilgrims of Hope.” For those who wish to embark on a spiritual pilgrimage through reading and prayer during the Lenten season — or anytime during this sacred year — here is a list of recommended books, essays, and encyclicals that explore the theme of Christian hope.

Spes Salvi (Saved in Hope) by Pope Benedict XVI

This encyclical beautifully explores the Christian understanding of hope as rooted in the promise of eternal life. Benedict XVI writes: “The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life.”

Spes Non Confundit (Hope Does Not Disappoint) by Pope Francis

The papal bull for the 2025 Jubilee Year begins: “To all who read this letter, may hope fill your hearts.”

“Crossing the Threshold of Hope” by Pope John Paul II

In this book-length interview, John Paul II addresses the challenges and questions of the modern world in a deeply personal and philosophical conversation on faith and hope.

“Faith, Hope, Love” by Josef Pieper

A classic meditation on the theological virtues, the treatise on hope was written in 1934 in response to the general feeling of despair he perceived at that time.

“Hope” by Alice von Hildebrand

A chapter in the book called “The Art of Living” was co-authored with her husband, Dietrich von Hildebrand. The book has been praised by Peter Kreeft as “a masterpiece” of spiritual wisdom.

“The Portal of the Mystery of Hope” by Charles Péguy

Theology professor Jennifer Newsome Martin called this narrative poem on the theological virtue of hope a “book that changed my life.”

“Prayers of Hope” by Venerable Cardinal Francis-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận

Benedict XVI described this work by the late Vietnamese cardinal who was imprisoned for 13 years as “a precious little book.”

“Life Everlasting and the Immensity of the Soul” by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange

This profound theological treatise on the four last things — death, judgment, heaven, and hell — offers a contemplative perspective on our ultimate hope.

“Advent of the Heart: Seasonal Sermons and Prison Writings” by Father Alfred Delp

The writings of a German Jesuit priest who was imprisoned and martyred in a Nazis camp in 1945 reflect on our journey toward a meeting and dialogue with God. 

“Summa Theologiae” by St. Thomas Aquinas (II-IIae, Questions 17-18)

These questions in the Secunda Secundae deal with the theological virtue of hope.

“End of Time: Meditations Towards a Philosophy of History” by Josef Pieper

This philosophical exploration of what Christians truly hope for in the end times distinguishes authentic eschatological hope.

“An Act of Hope” by Father Jacques Philippe

A short meditation on hope and prayer found in the book “Prayer: Oxygen for the Soul.”

“Is It Possible to Live This Way? An Unusual Approach to Christian Existence: Hope” by Luigi Giussani

This work is dialogue on what it means to live with authentic Christian hope in everyday life.

Statue of St. Peter in front of St. Peter's Basilica. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Feb 21, 2025 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

A ruling by the High Court of England and Wales published Feb. 21 has confirmed that the Vatican Secretariat of State was deceived by Italian financier Raffaele Mincione in the irregular purchase of a London building.

For this transaction that ended in fraud Mincione was sentenced in December 2023 by a Vatican lower court to five years and six months in prison for financial crimes related to the case.

In addition, he was ordered to forfeit 200.5 million euros (about $210 million), one of the largest financial penalties ever imposed in the Vatican courts.

In that trial, Cardinal Angelo Becciu was also sentenced to five and a half years in prison for embezzlement of public funds.

According to the ruling, Becciu arranged the acquisition of property located on Sloane Avenue when he was deputy secretary of state from 2011 to 2018.

To do so, he used a third of the reserved funds of the Secretariat of State: that is, $200 million that was paid between 2013 and 2014 at the request of Becciu.

This amount was used to buy shares through a fund managed by the Italian intermediary Mincione, who was also convicted along with Becciu by the Vatican lower court for money laundering, embezzlement, and corruption.

Following the sentence, Mincione filed a lawsuit against the Vatican Secretariat of State in British court in June 2020, and the court published its ruling Feb. 21.

The Italian financier’s aim was to obtain a series of legal declarations in his favor regarding his handling of the buying and selling of the Sloane Avenue building.

Mincione argued that his conduct in the transaction had been transparent and in accordance with the standards of good faith. However, the British court rejected his allegations, confirming that the Vatican had reasons to consider itself the victim of a damaging financial scheme.

According to Judge Robin Knowles’ 50-page ruling, Mincione and his companies withheld key information and misrepresented the value of the London property, causing significant harm to the Vatican.

The court found that Mincione made “unrealistic” statements, inflating the price of the property and taking advantage of the Vatican’s lack of experience in such investments.

Much of the lengthy summary of the verdict focuses on the reconstruction of the irregular transaction.The British court made it clear that the Vatican Secretariat of State was deceived, which coincides with the primary thesis of the Vatican court, which had previously convicted Mincione of money laundering, embezzlement, and corruption.

As a lower court ruling, Mincione has the possibility of appealing the decision.

For the Vatican, the ruling “has important implications not only for Mincione but also for future cases involving the financial operations of the Holy See,” according to a Vatican News editorial on the subject.

According to Vatican journalist Andrea Tornielli, the ruling “establishes an important precedent by recognizing that the Vatican was the victim of financial fraud in one of its most important real estate investments.”

He also confirmed that according to the Vatican “the lack of transparency and ethics with which Mincione and his entourage operated could influence other ongoing judicial proceedings.”

The sentence reinforces, Tornielli said, “the conclusions of the Vatican tribunal, which had already convicted Mincione for crimes related to fraudulent investments of funds of the Holy See.”

Tornielli also referenced a statement by the Vatican promoter of justice, Alessandro Diddi, expressing his satisfaction with the British court’s ruling against Mincione.

“The British judges have shared the view of the Vatican tribunal and have confirmed that Raffaele Mincione did not act in good faith as required in this type of transaction. With this ruling, it is clear that the Vatican court acted correctly in its assessment of the case,” Diddi said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Dr. Sergio Alfieri (right) and Dr. Luigi Carbone give a press conference at Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for bronchitis, on Feb. 21, 2025. Alfieri said the pope asked him to say hat he has “the mind of a a 50-year-old man.” / Credit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Feb 21, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis is “not out of danger” due to his age and fragile health, his medical team told journalists on Friday. 

During a Vatican press conference at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, both Dr. Sergio Alfieri, head of Gemelli Hospital’s medical team, and Dr. Luigi Carbone, the pope’s referring doctor at the Vatican, said the 88-year-old Holy Father must remain in the hospital for “enhanced” treatment.

“The hospitalization will be as long as it takes for him to return safely to Santa Marta [his Vatican residence],” Alfieri told journalists on Friday. “He will stay here at least all next week. He is better, but the situation may change. Here at Gemelli, he is a very good patient.” 

The Holy Father, according to Alfieri, asked him “to say that he is an old man with chronic diseases with the mind of a 50-year-old man” who wishes to continue his work caring for the universal Church.

“At 88 he is leading the Church and not sparing himself; he has become fatigued,” Alfieri said. “It has been possible to isolate microorganisms; there are viruses, myocytes, and bacteria [and] there are chronic diseases that can be contained.”

Dr. Sergio Alfieri answers questions from the media at a press conference regarding Pope Francis’ health on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, at Gemelli Hospital in Rome. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

The Gemelli medical team head confirmed that the pope continues to read, work, and sign documents while at the hospital.

Elaborating on the specific details of the Holy Father’s medical condition, Alfieri said: “He had pus with a respiratory tract infection … At first there was no pneumonia [but] in the following days we noticed with a CT scan a bilateral pneumonia that is still there.” 

Though the pope is “not attached to machines,” he occasionally uses oxygen support to assist his breathing. Alfieri added: “He knows he is in danger, the risk can be that of sepsis, that is, germs passing into the blood. But today there is no such situation.” 

At Gemelli, the pope’s medical reports are written by Alfieri, Carbone, and a team of infectiologists, gastroenterologists, cardiologists, and pulmonologists.

Carbone, the pope’s doctor at the Vatican, told journalists on Friday that the Holy Father “is fragile and not out of danger [as] it takes very little to have imbalances.” 

“The pope has chronicities, such as asthmatic bronchitis, that can flare up,” he said. “The pope responds to the therapies that have been enhanced and not changed.”

“The pope is not a quitter,” Carbone told journalists toward the end of the press conference. 

Since Feb. 14, the Holy Father has undergone a series of daily diagnostic tests and complex cortisone antibiotic therapies to treat his respiratory infections and pneumonia alongside his other chronic illnesses.

Marcin Bogacki of Warsaw, Poland (far right) prays before walking through the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica with his mother and 4-year-old son on Feb. 21, 2025. / Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

Vatican City, Feb 21, 2025 / 11:20 am (CNA).

Local Catholics and jubilee pilgrims in Rome are praying for Pope Francis’ recovery as he marks one week in the hospital for treatment for pneumonia and bronchitis.

Pilgrim groups and individuals from around the world continue to travel to Rome for the 2025 Jubilee Year, and though they won’t catch a glimpse of the pontiff, he is close to their hearts.

As they prepared to walk through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, a group of about 50 pilgrims from Our Lady of Nantes Parish in France told CNA they are praying for the pope’s full recovery.

A group of pilgrims from France pray for Pope Francis on Rome on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, as the pontiff remains in the hospital battling pneumonia. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

The group was planning to attend the Angelus with the pope on Feb. 23, but now, “we pray for him and we hope that everything will be OK,” seminarian Aymeric Dor said.

Dor recalled that one of the conditions to receive the Holy Door plenary indulgence is to pray for the pope’s intentions, which he said they are doing: “We are praying for his health too.”

Agata Eccli, who is part of a pilgrimage of 57 people from different parishes and towns in Poland, said her group is not only praying for Pope Francis during their visit to St. Peter’s Basilica but also at each of the stops they make on an Italy-wide pilgrimage, including the tomb of St. Anthony in Padua, St. Francis in Assisi, St. Peter in Rome, and St. Pio of Pietrelcina in San Giovanni Rotondo.

A group of Polish pilgrims prays for Pope Francis as he marks one week in the hospital in Rome on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

Families are also keeping the ailing pontiff in their prayers, including Italian couple Andrea Paradisi and Chiara Costa, who brought their 4-month-old baby Margherita on a pilgrimage to Rome over the weekend for the jubilee. 

Marcin Bogacki of Warsaw, Poland, told CNA he has fond memories of visiting Rome as a child during the Jubilee Year in 2000 and wanted to have the same experience with his own young family. 

Though his wife is expecting their second child and was unable to fly at this time, Bogacki brought his mother and his 4-year-old son. He said they are praying for Pope Francis, for the Church, for a private family intention, and for his wife and their unborn baby.

Rome prays

Across Rome, local Catholics are offering Masses and special prayers for Pope Francis’ health. 

The chaplain of Gemelli Hospital — where the pontiff is receiving treatment — is offering Mass for Francis every day at 1 p.m. in the hospital’s chapel.

On Feb. 22, the feast of the Chair of St. Peter — a day that commemorates the authority Jesus gave to the pope — a group of Catholics will gather outside Gemelli Hospital to pray a rosary for the pope’s health.

At the Basilica of St. Mary Major, every Mass is being offered for the pope, the basilica’s communications director told CNA, including Masses celebrated in the chapel of the ancient Salus Populi Romani image of Mary — a favorite of Francis, who spends time in prayer in the chapel before and after every international trip.

Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro. / Credit: Antoniospadaro, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Feb 20, 2025 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

Speaking on Pope Francis’ current health crisis, Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro, a personal friend of the Holy Father, said in an interview on Wednesday that “the situation is delicate, but I [haven’t] seen any cause for alarm.”

“Francis is an 88-year-old man who has had a serious problem but who is now undergoing treatment. It’s not a simple treatment and will require time,” said Spadaro, 58, who for 12 years was director of the Jesuit magazine La Civiltà Cattolica (Catholic Civilization) and is currently undersecretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education. He emphasized that the pontiff has “an extraordinary vital energy.”

“He is not someone who lets go or gives in easily, and that’s a very positive aspect; we have seen this in the past as well,” he said in an interview with the Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera (The Evening Courier).

“My impression is that the situation has improved, and I hope that he will soon recover completely,” Spadaro continued. “Francis is a man of great intelligence, and he knows that he must take the necessary time to recover. He has been visibly affected in recent days. The important thing is that he now takes the necessary time in a protected environment.”

The pope’s state of health

Pope Francis was admitted to the Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital in Rome on Feb. 14 at 11 a.m. after having done everything on his schedule for that day. However, the Holy Father began to show the first symptoms of his illness at the beginning of the previous week. On Wednesday, Feb. 5, he announced that he was suffering from “a bad cold” and apologized for not being able to read his catechesis during the general audience in Paul VI Audience Hall.

Subsequently, on Thursday, Feb. 6, the Holy See confirmed that it was bronchitis, caused by inflammation of the lining of the bronchi, which made it difficult for him to breathe.

“Due to the bronchitis he is suffering from these days and in order to be able to continue with his activities, Pope Francis’ audiences on Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th of February will take place at St. Martha’s House,” the Vatican said in a brief statement.

The delay in his hospitalization has caused some perplexity and has led to questions about how the medical team at the Vatican is managing his care.

A pope who never stops

Spadaro pointed out that, although Francis has been prescribed “absolute rest,” it is difficult for him to comply with it completely.

“Indeed, he has never allowed himself absolute rest. Since the 1970s, when he was a young priest in Argentina, he had difficulty disconnecting. Perhaps now he will take a few days to rest, but soon he will feel the need to do something, to occupy himself with something,” the priest commented.

However, he emphasized that the pope is striking a balance where “acceptance of the illness is essential.”

“Even these days, he continues reading the newspapers, taking care of some work, and making phone calls. He always shows extraordinary vital energy. Deep down, it’s typical of a Jesuit to keep working while he’s alive and die in the trenches,” he explained.

‘He never spares effort’

Spadaro emphasized that the Holy Father “never spares effort” and that, furthermore, “he has no problem letting his weak condition show.”

He was referring to Sunday, Feb. 9, when the pope celebrated the Mass for the Jubilee of the Armed Forces in St. Peter’s Square and, not feeling well, “had no problem reading only part of the homily.”

“He could have pretended that he was finished with his discourse, but he preferred to delegate it. He lives with great tranquility about his physical limitations. At the same time, he never stops giving himself completely in everything he does, because that is also the essence of his spirituality. In the past, when he had other health problems, he pressed on in the same way,” Spadaro said.

Could he resign like Pope Benedict XVI?

Asked whether Francis could make the same decision as his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, Spadaro answered clearly: “He is aware, as he has said in the past, that one governs with the head and not with the legs.”

“Certainly, it’s a question of taking stock of how much energy he can still exert. If he ever feels that he no longer has the strength to lead the Church, he will resign. But as long as he feels that he has the energy, a temporary health problem will not be an obstacle for him,” he explained.

Spadaro said that if Pope Francis feels he still has the strength, a passing illness will not stop him. “Benedict XVI opened up the possibility of resigning, and Francis has never excluded that option. He has thought about it, he has reflected on it, he has internalized the ministry of the pope and he lives it,” he said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Francis greets Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, on Feb. 20, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Feb 20, 2025 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

While acknowledging that concern about Pope Francis’ health is understandable, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, called the narrative that fuels speculation about the seriousness of his condition and the pre-conclave atmosphere “morbid.”

Speaking with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, the bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia in Italy said it is “right to be concerned” about the health of the Holy Father, who at 88 is suffering from bilateral pneumonia and has been hospitalized in the Gemelli Hospital in Rome since Feb. 14.

However, he pointed out that this concern “must be kept within limits,” and he regretted that a lot of speculation about his health has created a “morbid atmosphere.”

“The situation is certainly delicate and the pope has kept on working, unfortunately, from a certain point of view,” the prelate said before emphasizing that the pontiff “is recovering and will return to the Vatican in a few weeks.”

On Wednesday evening, the Vatican reported a “slight improvement” in Pope Francis’ health. Although he is suffering from “a complex clinical picture” and his conditions “are stationary,” blood tests show a slight improvement, especially in inflammatory indices.

Earlier that same day, the Holy Father received Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in his room on the 10th floor of the “popes’ hospital.” Meloni said he was “alert and receptive” without losing his sense of humor. This morning, the pope was able to get up and had breakfast in an armchair.

Paglia also said that he continues to pray “that the pope can soon resume his work, which is more than valuable at a time like this. I would say almost indispensable, given how complex the world situation is and the lack of positive visions,” he said.

“If there are some hopeful signs today regarding peace, it is even more important that the pope support them and again call everyone back to justice, equality, and dialogue,” Paglia said in reference to the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Holy Land.

The prelate also emphasized that the current state of these conflicts is “extremely fragile” and requires a joint effort by many other parties in order to secure a lasting peace.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Candles are set at the feet of a statue of Pope John Paul II on Feb. 20, 2025, outside Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for bronchitis. / Credit: STEFANO COSTANTINO/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Feb 20, 2025 / 12:35 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis’ medical condition has stabilized after nearly one week of medical treatment since being admitted into Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14, the Vatican said.

On Thursday morning, the Holy See Press Office informed journalists: “Pope Francis has had a restful night and this morning, got out of bed and had breakfast in an armchair.” 

Since Feb. 14, the Holy Father has undergone a series of diagnostic tests and complex cortisone antibiotic treatments for bronchitis, respiratory infections, and pneumonia affecting both lungs. 

Previous Vatican updates indicated that the 88-year-old pontiff has been able to receive the Eucharist, rest, read, work with his “closest collaborators,” and receive private guests on some days while at Gemelli.

Crux reported Wednesday that sources said the Holy Father has received the sacrament of anointing of the sick. Though “complex,” the pope’s condition is not considered grave.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the Holy Father was “alert and responsive” during her visit on Wednesday, saying: “He has not lost his legendary sense of humor.”   

In light of the pope’s “slightly improved” health status, Pontifical Academy for Life president Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia said he is hopeful the pope “will return to the Vatican in a few weeks.”

“[His work] is more than valuable at a time like this,” Paglia told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. 

Referring to the fragile political situations of Ukraine and the Holy Land, Paglia said: “It is even more important that the pope supports them and calls everyone back to justice, equality, and dialogue.” 

As Catholics around the world unite in prayer for the head of the universal Church, parishes and religious communities in the Diocese of Rome continue to offer Masses and times of silent prayer for the pope. 

“As one big family we ask that the Lord will give our bishop the strength he needs to face this delicate moment,” vicar general for the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, said on Wednesday.  

Groups of the Catholic faithful have also gathered outside Gemelli Hospital throughout the week to pray and leave written notes with well wishes for the Holy Father. 

Other Christian leaders, including Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, have also united with the Catholic Church in prayer, Orthodox Times reported. 

To date, the Vatican has not indicated when the pope could potentially be discharged from the hospital.

Left: Banners at Rome’s Gemelli University Hospital. Right: Pope Francis waves from a wheelchair, Feb. 13, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Feb 19, 2025 / 14:20 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis’ health condition has remained stable as he continues a stay in the hospital, though recent bloodwork showed a “slight improvement,” the Vatican said on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Feb. 19 communication, medical staff found the pope’s blood tests to show less inflammatory markers. They said his clinical condition is “stationary.”

The 88-year-old Francis, who has been receiving treatment for a polymicrobial respiratory infection at Gemelli Hospital since Friday, received an additional diagnosis of double pneumonia on Feb. 18.

The Vatican said on Wednesday that Pope Francis had breakfast, read a few newspapers, and did some work with the help of his secretaries. Before lunch, the pontiff received the Eucharist, and in the afternoon he was visited by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for 20 minutes.

According to the prime minister’s office, Meloni wished the pope a quick recovery on behalf of the Italian government and the whole country.

The Italian prime minister said she found Francis “alert and responsive.”

“We joked as always. He has not lost his legendary sense of humor,” Meloni added.

A Vatican source said Wednesday morning that Pope Francis does not need supplemental oxygen, that is heart is holding up well, and he is able to occasionally sit in an armchair.

The Vatican has said Francis is receiving cortisone antibiotic therapy to treat a “complex” medical situation, but he “is in good spirits” and asks for continued prayers.

A rainbow appears above the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for bronchitis in Rome on Feb. 18, 2025. / Credit: TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Feb 19, 2025 / 12:45 pm (CNA).

As Pope Francis continues to undergo complex medical treatment for bilateral pneumonia and a respiratory infection at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, the Vatican on Wednesday released the Holy Father’s prepared jubilee catechesis on “Jesus Christ our hope.”

Reflecting on the visit of the Magi to the child Jesus, recorded exclusively in the Gospel of St. Matthew, the 88-year-old pope encouraged Christians to follow in the footsteps of these wise “pilgrims of hope” who set out on a journey from their homelands in search of God.

“The Magi were considered to be representatives both of the primordial races, generated by the three sons of Noah, and of the three continents known in antiquity, Asia, Africa, and Europe, as well as the three phases of human life: youth, maturity, and old age,” the pope explained in his Feb. 19 catechesis.

“They are men who do not stay still but, like the great chosen ones of biblical history, feel the need to move, to go forth. They are men who are able to look beyond themselves, who know how to look upward,” he said. 

Despite difficulties experienced in the journey of faith, the Holy Father said God speaks to people through “creation and the prophetic word.”

“The sight of the star inspires an irrepressible joy in those men, because the Holy Spirit, who stirs the heart of whoever sincerely seeks God, also fills it with joy,” he shared.

Through ancient Scripture, the Magi were able to identify the birthplace of the “newborn King of the Jews” and “become the first believers among the pagans” in Jesus Christ as the savior of the world.  

“They see ‘a humble little body that the Word has assumed; but the glory of divinity is not hidden from them. They see an infant child; but they worship God,’” the pope said, referencing ancient author Chromatius of Aquileia.

In his prepared text, the pope added: “The Gospels therefore tell us clearly that the poor and the foreigners are among the first to meet the God made child.”

The Holy Father concluded his written reflection on the Magi by asking people to offer the child Jesus “the most beautiful gifts” of our faith and love. 

“Let us learn to adore God in his smallness, in his kingship that does not crush but rather sets us free and enables us to serve with dignity,” he said.

Francesco Bonello carves letters into a block of marble at the School of Arts and Crafts of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, Vatican, Friday. Feb. 14, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Feb 19, 2025 / 11:20 am (CNA).

Recent high school and college graduates are studying some of the world’s historic arts and trades at a new school run by St. Peter’s Basilica. 

The “School of Arts and Crafts” of the Fabbrica di San Pietro — the department that oversees maintenance, restoration, and repairs of the Vatican’s papal basilica — is offering for the third year a free, six-month training course with a concentration in one of five traditional crafts: stone and marble work, bricklaying and plastering, carpentry, blacksmithery, and mosaic design.

“It is important for the basilica to have this school, because it restores a tradition from the 1700s, putting it at the center of [the basilica’s] life today,” the school’s director, Father Francesco Occhetta, SJ, told CNA.

“Which is why,” the priest added, “this alliance of hands, head, and heart, today, has revived something that was dying in the culture over the last 30 years.” 

A student composes a mosaic cross at the School of Arts and Crafts of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

“The school is first and foremost an experience of relationships for the 20 young men and women living together and learning — in the basilica — about the maintenance of the basilica, through the skills of our craftsmen... We pass on these skills to them, so that the generations, holding hands, pass on that knowledge that can be passed on only from one generation to the next,” Occhetta said.

Working with the hands

For the students, the rare chance to receive a hands-on education in a trade or craft in Rome was a big appeal of the school.

“I’d always been interested in an artistic career, and I had already decided that I did not want to pursue a career that required me to be on the computer all day; I knew I wanted to work with my hands,” 22-year-old Cristina Squatriti told CNA. 

The Italian-American from Ann Arbor, Michigan, joined 19 other students, mostly Italians aged 18–25, to study at the Vatican from November 2024 through April 2025.

Occhetta explained that participants spend 600 hours learning from masters in the trades involved in the regular and extraordinary maintenance of St. Peter’s Basilica — 200 hours in a classroom and 400 hours in a lab.

While Squatriti studied Spanish literature at a university in Michigan, knowing she wanted to have a more physically-engaging career, she joined the stonemasons and marble workers track at the school, which, she said, seemed “too good to be true with both the academic and the practice part of it, and the time spent in laboratory.”

The students live inside the Vatican and attend classes on several core subjects together, including the history of St. Peter’s Basilica, fundamentals of the history of architecture and art techniques, and biblical and theological foundations. They then divide into specialized lessons and time in the laboratories based on the track they are following.

The young men and women also venture outside the city state to learn from some of Rome’s ancient sites and historic churches.

From Gozo, Malta, Francesco Bonello is also following the marble working study course. The 20-year-old already had a background in commercial marble cutting but told CNA he had less experience on the artistic side.

Crushed material for mosaics are seen at the School of Arts and Crafts of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, Vatican, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

“I worked with my father since I was 13 years old,” Bonello said. “He’s a marmista [marble cutter]. We work industrially in marble, but I always wanted to learn the fundamental techniques of a marmoraro [marble engraver] ... [who] works only with chisels and hammers to make beautiful works by hand, which for me is the passion of the work.”

While both Bonello and Squatriti said the experience has been fantastic, they noted it has not been easy to learn the intricate craft of stone incision.

“All of us pretty much had never touched a scalpel in our lives,” Squatriti said, “so we started off with learning how to incise letters, and then we did a whole week of straight lines, which was really tough mentally, but that was how we got our hand to feel comfortable with the tools best.”

Now the students have moved on to a technique called “intarcio,” which is the inlaying of marble inside another piece of marble.

Squatriti said one can see the “intarcio” method throughout the floors of St. Peter’s Basilica: “It’s very slow going, because it’s a tough material to work with, but I’ve learned so much in the past three months.”

Passing on knowledge from the experts

“The students meet the greatest experts of the basilica and learn concretely how to do the maintenance of the marble, of the wood, of the mosaic” inside St. Peter’s Basilica, Occhetta explained.

On the spiritual part of the course, he said, “St. Peter’s is a sacred space, and the goal is for our students to also encounter their own sacred space while doing maintenance. So there is, first of all, a spiritual dimension on which the school is based, there is a community dimension where our students, accompanied by an educator and her collaborators, grow together, and then there is a dimension properly related to learning.”

Both students said attending the school has felt like being part of a big family. 

“I’ve really formed connections that I’m going to carry with me for my career and just the rest of my life in general,” Squatriti said. 

Marmoraro tools are seen at the School of Arts and Crafts of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, Vatican, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Bonello said he hopes to have a career using his new engraving skills with a chisel, scalpel, and hammer, and continue working in industrial marble cutting.

“The top technology helps you invest more in the company, in your work, helps you do it beautifully,” he said, “but for me it’s important to know the fundamental techniques, because when you master the fundamental techniques, it will help you in the long run for your career.”

Squatriti too hopes to use what she learned in the course for an artistic career in sculpture.

Occhetta said working “with the hands is one of the keys to revitalizing the world of young people in the workplace today as well.” 

The Vatican basilica has already hired two of its former students as part of the “Sanpietrini,” the full-time St. Peter’s maintenance crew, and hopes to also do so in the future, whenever possible.

But the leadership of the school also hopes the education it is providing in traditional arts and craftmanship will be of benefit not only to St. Peter’s Basilica but also to historic churches around the world.

“These young people can have this opportunity and then go to other basilicas around the world to be able to pass on what is the knowledge of the Fabbrica di San Pietro,” which has a 500-year history, Occhetta said.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin speaks to EWTN News in Oslo, Norway, on Jan. 17, 2025. / Credit: Fabio Gonella/EWTN News

Vatican City, Feb 18, 2025 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said that Europe must “rediscover itself” in order to be able to face the “major challenges” of culture, commerce, and migration.

In a Feb. 15 interview with the daily Eco di Bergamo, the Vatican official recalled the “warning of St. John Paul II,” which Pope Francis has also taken up: “Europe, rediscover yourself, be yourself.”

The cardinal stressed that the Old Continent is suffering from a “crisis of ideas” that prevents it from facing the future: “Europe currently has good antibodies to hold up under crises and challenges. But the most serious problem is the lack of ideas for the future that allow it to respond with determination to international competitors,” he said.

Parolin specified that this weakness is due to the relationship that Europe has with its own history, the result of “a deep, and partly justified, fear of its past.” However, he emphasized that along with the dark episodes of its history, “there are many bright moments.”

In this regard, he referred to the debates on the European Constitution, in which an explicit reference to the continent’s Judeo-Christian roots was avoided, advocating for a generic mention of its “cultural, humanist, and religious heritage.”

According to the cardinal, this weakened the continent’s awareness and the sense of European identity: “Instead of building Europe on its deep foundations and roots, a changing consensus of values ​​has been preferred. But the future can only be built on the past,” he pointed out.

Although Parolin said there were reasons to be concerned, especially in the face of “practical atheism, populism, and religious illiteracy,” he praised other “encouraging phenomena” such as the increase in requests for baptism by young French people. In light of this, he urged Catholics to ask themselves whether, with their witness, faith, hope, and charity, the Gospel continues to be “challenging.”

In his interview with the Italian newspaper, the Vatican secretary of state also reflected on the ceasefire in Gaza, hoping that it would be “permanent and put an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people,” both in the Gaza Strip and “in the rest of Palestine.”

“Now we have to give signs of hope to both: to the Israelis and the Palestinians,” he noted.

Regarding the situation in Syria, he emphasized that “it is necessary to understand where we are going” and to accompany “on the path of inclusion and harmonious coexistence.”

Regarding the war in Ukraine, three years old on Feb. 24, Parolin argued that “solutions should never be sought through unilateral impositions,” since it would mean “trampling on the rights of entire peoples” and thus “there will never be a just and lasting peace.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Francis meets with other delegates of the Synod on Synodality at a roundtable discussion in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Oct. 17, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Feb 18, 2025 / 11:55 am (CNA).

Leaders of the 10 study groups formed out of the 2021–2024 Synod on Synodality met on Tuesday morning to discuss open questions, methodology, challenges, and the delivery of reports, according to a communication from the synod office.

Formed in 2024 at Pope Francis’ request, the study groups are intended to deepen the theological, pastoral, and canonical reflections on 10 themes from the first session of the Synod on Synodality held in October 2023.

The study groups, which are made up of priests, bishops, and experts from around the world, are examining the theological and canonical issues surrounding Church ministries, the reform of seminary education, relations between bishops and consecrated men and women, the figure and ministry of the bishop, ecumenical relations, and how to have a synodal approach to controversial doctrinal issues.

According to the General Secretariat of the Synod, on Feb. 18, the coordinators and secretaries of the study groups met to present the progress of each group, including a timeline for the delivery of their final reports, expected in summer 2025.

The morning included a time of prayer, including for Pope Francis’ quick recovery from the respiratory illness that has hospitalized him.

Group coordinators were informed that they can make use of a canonical commission to help with questions of Church law if needed, and Jesuit Father Giacomo Costa, a consultor in the synod office, gave directions on the drafting and delivery of reports so they will have a certain level of uniformity.

Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the synod office, reminded the groups to take into consideration any feedback they have received by email. Anyone may share their thoughts with the synod and its study groups via the email address synodus@synod.va until March 31. 

“New contributions will be forwarded to the secretaries of the groups concerned in a timely manner,” the press release said.

Apart from the original 10 study groups, an additional five study groups were created in 2024 to provide deeper theological analysis of “five perspectives” ahead of the second session of the synod, held at the Vatican from Oct. 2–27, 2024. 

An October 2024 Vatican assembly marked the end of the discernment phase of the Synod on Synodality, which began in 2021.

The current phase is focused on implementation, with the study groups expected to continue their work through June.

Statues illuminated in ethereal blue light during the special evening access to St. Peter's Basilica for the Jubilee of Artists, Feb. 16, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Feb 17, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).

For the Jubilee of Hope, an American artist has created an installation mapping the “soundscape” of one of the historic bells of St. Peter’s Basilica, premiering the work on the night of Feb. 16.

“The Silent Echoes of a Great Sound Sculpture” by Bill Fontana made the bell’s live soundscape audible as artists and other pilgrims walked through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica after dark on Sunday.

A visitor admires the bronze panels of the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica, specially illuminated for the 'White Night' celebration of the Jubilee of Artists, Feb. 16, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

The after-hours opening of the basilica, one of several events in Rome organized for the Feb. 15–18 Jubilee of Artists and the World of Culture, was called the “Notte Bianca” — “white night” in English. During the extraordinary opening, artists and others walked around a basilica bathed in blue light and accompanied by live cello music. 

The contemporary art installation, which can be heard in a video recording here, was audible via speakers in the portico, or entrance, of St. Peter’s Basilica. It is expected to continue to play from 9:30 a.m. through 7 p.m. daily throughout the 2025 Jubilee of Hope.

The soundscape was made using the largest of St. Peter’s Basilica’s six bells — called “Campanone,” Italian for “Great Bell.” The over eight-feet tall bell was cast in 1786 by the silversmith Luigi Valadier and weighs around 9 tons.

Fontana explained how the installation works in a statement on his website: “Latent in the physical structure of everything, are resonant frequencies. ... I began to explore this phenomenon using high resolution vibration sensors called accelerometers. These may be placed onto and inside of a wide range of structures and situations that then map, render, and reveal the silent echoes latent in a structure or an object that is echoing a live soundscape.”

Fontana did a similar recording of the Emmanuel bell of Notre Dame Basilica in Paris in 2022.

According to a press release: “Using state-of-the-art sensors and a sophisticated audio system, the internal vibrations — normally in no way audible since [the bell] weighs over nine tons — have been captured, amplified, and transformed into a deeply immersive auditory experience.”

The soundscape, also called a “sound sculpture,” the note continued, “will accompany [pilgrims and visitors] on their spiritual journey” at St. Peter’s Basilica.

A visitor captures the dramatically lit central nave of St. Peter's Basilica on their phone during the 'White Night' celebration, Feb. 16, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

The Vatican’s Dicastery for Education and Culture also organized several initiatives for the weekend’s Jubilee of Artists, but two of the events — a papal audience and a gathering with the pope at the film studios of Cinecittà — had to be canceled after Francis was hospitalized for a respiratory infection on Feb. 14.

At a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, the dicastery prefect, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, read Pope Francis’ message to artists, calling them to participate in the “revolutionary vision of the Beatitudes” and transform suffering into hope.

“Your mission is not only to create beauty but to reveal the truth, goodness, and beauty hidden within the folds of history, to give voice to the voiceless, to transform pain into hope,” the pope’s message stated.

Angelic figures bathed in blue light inside St. Peter's Basilica during the "White Night at St. Peter's" event, part of the Jubilee of Artists at the Vatican, Feb. 16, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Top row from left to right: Niña Ruiz Abad, Marcelo Henrique Câmara, Sister Cecilia María de la Santa Faz. Bottom row from left to right: Víctor Manuel Schiavoni, Chiara Badano, Rebeca Rocamora. / Credit: Courtesy of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Archdiocese of Florianópolis (Brazil), Archdiocese of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz, Custodian Movies, Fondazione Chiara Badano and the Archdiocese of Paraná

Lima Newsroom, Feb 17, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

In addition to some young millennials who are now on their way to sainthood, there are also seven members of Generation X — those born between 1965 and 1980 — who, despite their short lives, left a profound legacy of faith and are an example of holiness for new generations.

Below are profiles of the seven, some already beatified and others in the process of beatification.

  1. Niña Ruiz AbadThe official portrait of Servant of God Niña Ruiz-Abad. Credit: Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines

Niña Ruiz-Abad was born Oct. 31, 1979, in Quezon City, Philippines, and from an early age showed a deep faith. Raised alongside her sister Mary Anne, she lost her father at the age of 3 and in 1988 she moved with her mother to Sarrat in the northern province of Ilocos Norte.

Ruiz-Abad was noted for distributing rosaries, Bibles, and images of saints, and she especially loved the Eucharist. At the age of 10 she was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a heart disease that she bore with serenity and joy until her death on Aug. 16, 1993, at the age of 13, after suffering cardiac arrest at school.

Her grave in Sarrat has become a place of pilgrimage.

On March 16, 2024, the Vatican granted the “nihil obstat” (“nothing stands in the way”) for opening her cause for beatification. With this recognition, Ruiz-Abad is now considered a “servant of God.”

Her cause for canonization was officially opened April 7, 2024. If her cause progresses and miracles attributed to her intercession are recognized, she could become one of the youngest saints in the history of the Catholic Church.

2. Marcelo Henrique CâmaraMarcelo Henrique Câmara. Credit: Archdiocese of Florianópolis, Brazil

Marcelo Henrique Câmara was born on June 26, 1979, in Florianópolis, Brazil. He was a brilliant young man committed to his faith, a law graduate who worked as a state prosecutor. His conversion occurred during an Emmaus retreat.

He was a catechist, an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, and a member of Opus Dei, finding in the spirituality of St. Josemaría Escrivá the key to holiness in everyday life. Despite being diagnosed with leukemia, he offered his suffering with joy and hope until his death on March 20, 2008, at the age of 28.

The process of beatification for Câmara officially began on March 8, 2020, when the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints granted the Archdiocese of Florianópolis the “nihil obstat” to investigate his cause.

The postulator of the cause, Father Vitor Galdino Feller, emphasized that Câmara bears witness that holiness is possible in youth and serves as an example for those who seek to live the faith in the midst of the world.

3. Sister Cecilia María of the Holy FaceSister Cecilia María of the Holy Face. Credit: Archdiocese of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz

Sister Cecilia María of the Holy Face was born on Dec. 5, 1973, in San Martin de los Andes, Neuquen province, Argentina. She entered the Discalced Carmelites of Santa Fe at the age of 24, made her first vows at 26, and made her final vows in 2003.

A nurse by profession and a violinist, she stood out for her joy and ever-present smile, even during her battle against tongue cancer with pulmonary metastases. During this difficult time, she continued to pray and offer up her sufferings, convinced that she was close to her encounter with God. She passed away in Buenos Aires in the early hours of June 23, 2016.

In January 2025, the archbishop of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz in Argentina, Sergio Fenoy, decreed the beginning of the cause for beatification and canonization.

In 2024, when signing the edict to begin the process prior to the cause, the prelate highlighted the witness of the nun’s “love and trust in Jesus Christ, even in the midst of the most difficult trials,” assuring that “she has awakened in many hearts the desire for a greater commitment to Christian life.”

4. Rebeca RocamoraShortly before dying, Rebeca Rocamora said: "I'm going to heaven and little by little I will take those I love with me." Credit: Courtesy of Custodian Movies

Rebeca Rocamora was a young catechist from Granja de Rocamora in Spain known for her faith, joy, and dedication to others despite the difficult illness that accompanied her since childhood.

Born in 1975, she stood out for her innocence and vitality, and even when facing a serious illness that began to manifest itself at the age of 10, she never lost faith. Her life became a witness to humility and charity, leaving an indelible mark on family, friends, and neighbors. Her example of holiness and fortitude was crowned in the solemn context of Pentecost, when she died at the age of 20.

The process of canonization for Rocamora, initiated in 2009 by the then-bishop of Orihuela-Alicante, Rafael Palmero, has advanced significantly. After completing the diocesan phase, the documentation on her life, heroic virtues, reputation for holiness, and signs of miracles was exhaustively compiled.

These documents have now been sent to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, marking the next step on her path to sainthood.

5. Chiara “Luce” BadanoChiara “Luce” Badano. Credit: Fondazione Chiara Badano

Chiara “Luce” Badano (1971–1990) was a young Italian woman known for her witness of love and faith in the midst of suffering. A member of the Focolare movement, from a young age she had a deep life of prayer and a great commitment to charity. At age 16, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, an illness she offered to God, refusing morphine in order to remain lucid so she could pray.

In her final months, she dedicated her time to helping others and even donated her corneas so that others could see. Her life, marked by joy, has inspired thousands of young people around the world.

Chiara was beatified on Sept. 25, 2010, in a ceremony held in Rome with the participation of thousands of young people from various countries. She is the first blessed of the Focolare movement.

6. Victor Manuel SchiavoniVíctor Manuel Schiavoni. Credit: Archdiocese of Paraná

Victor Schiavoni was born on Nov. 24, 1977, in the Argentine district of Nogoyá. At the age of 14, he moved to Paraná to complete his studies at the Minor Seminary of Our Lady of the Cenacle.

With a deep religious vocation, he sought the contemplative life and entrusted himself to the Virgin Mary to discern his calling. During a pilgrimage to Luján in 1995, he expressed his desire to offer his life to the Virgin. Shortly after, he began to experience pain in his neck, which led to the diagnosis of leukemia. Despite the suffering, he accepted his illness with serenity, stating: “If the Virgin sends it to me, I accept it. I’m not going to complain.”

During his hospitalization, Victor distinguished himself by his joy, patience, and generosity, always prioritizing the well-being of others. He faced his illness without complaining and maintained a deep life of prayer. On Sept. 7, 1995, at the age of 17, he died, leaving a testimony of faith that impacted those who knew him.

His desire to be buried with the alb of a seminarian reflected his conviction that he had responded to the call of his vocation. His legacy inspired the opening of his cause for beatification, announced on May 8, 2023, by the Archdiocese of Paraná.

7. Carlos Rodolfo YaryezCarlos Rodolfo Yaryez. Credit: Archdiocese of Paraná

Carlos Rodolfo Yaryez was born in Paraná, Argentina, on March 29, 1966, into a Christian family that shaped his future. His life was characterized by a constant search for God, which led him to become involved in Argentine Catholic Action, where he stood out for his apostolic commitment and his leadership.

His testimony of faith became even more evident when, after being diagnosed with leukemia, he accepted his illness with profound trust in God’s will. Throughout his life, he cultivated an intense spirituality based on the Eucharist, adoration, and devotion to the Virgin Mary. He died on Oct. 30, 1990, known for his holiness.

On May 8, 2023, the Archdiocese of Paraná announced the opening of his cause for beatification, recognizing his witness of dedication and Christian love. His memory lives on in places where he spent significant parts of his life, including the headquarters of Catholic Action and St. Martin Hospital, where plaques have been placed in his honor.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Left: Banners at Rome’s Gemelli University Hospital. Right: Pope Francis waves from a wheelchair, Feb. 13, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Feb 16, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis spent a peaceful second night at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he remains under medical care for a respiratory infection, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists Sunday.

Bruni said the 88-year-old pontiff had breakfast and read several newspapers Sunday morning while continuing his prescribed medical treatments.

Though doctors ordered complete rest, the Holy Father prepared a special Angelus message focusing on art’s power to unite humanity and included prayers for regions torn by conflict.

“I would have liked to be among you,” Pope Francis wrote in his message, referring to artists gathered at the Vatican for a special jubilee celebration, “but as you know, I am here at the Gemelli Polyclinic because I still need some treatment for my bronchitis.”

The pope’s message highlighted the Eucharistic celebration for the Jubilee of Artists on Sunday, part of the wider 2025 Jubilee of Hope. He thanked the Dicastery for Culture and Education for organizing the gathering, emphasizing art’s role as a “universal language that spreads beauty and unites peoples.”

Turning to global concerns, the pontiff called for continued prayers for peace in Ukraine, Palestine, Israel and all the Middle East, Myanmar, Kivu, and Sudan.

The pope also expressed gratitude to the medical staff at Gemelli Hospital. “They perform invaluable and demanding work; let us support them in prayer,” he wrote.

The 88-year-old pope was hospitalized in the late morning on Feb. 14 following meetings with a number of people, including the prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico.

Due to the hospitalization, the pope will not attend a planned meeting with artists at the historic Cinecittà film studios south of Rome on Feb. 17.

Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça delivers Pope Francis’ homily at a Mass for the Jubilee of Artists in St. Peter’s Basilica, Feb. 16, 2025. / Credit: Screenshot/Vatican Media

CNA Newsroom, Feb 16, 2025 / 04:59 am (CNA).

Powerful proclamations to painters, poets, and performers highlighted Pope Francis’ message to artists on Sunday, calling them to participate in the “revolutionary vision of the Beatitudes” and transform suffering into hope.

In a papal homily read by Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça at a Mass for the Jubilee of Artists in St. Peter’s Basilica on Feb. 16, artists were urged to be “witnesses to the revolutionary vision of the Beatitudes.”

“Your mission is not only to create beauty but to reveal the truth, goodness, and beauty hidden within the folds of history, to give voice to the voiceless, to transform pain into hope,” the pope’s message stated.

The prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education delivered the homily as Pope Francis remains at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he is recovering from a respiratory infection.

Drawing on the day’s Gospel reading of the Beatitudes, the papal message emphasized that authentic art must engage with “the drama of human existence” rather than offering superficial comfort.

“We live in a time when new walls are being erected, when differences become a pretext for division rather than an opportunity for mutual enrichment,” the homily noted, calling artists and cultural figures to “build bridges, create spaces for encounter and dialogue, enlighten minds, and warm hearts.”

The homily concluded with a reminder that artistic gifts are not random but represent a calling: “Hope is not an illusion; beauty is not a utopia; your gift is not chance, it is a vocation. Respond with generosity, with passion, with love.”

Sister Raffaella Petrini. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

CNA Newsroom, Feb 15, 2025 / 07:15 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has appointed Sister Raffaella Petrini, FSE, as president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, the Vatican announced Saturday.

According to the Feb. 15 bulletin from the Holy See Press Office, Petrini will assume her new roles on March 1. She succeeds Cardinal Fernando Vérgez in both positions.

Petrini, who has served as secretary-general of the same governorate since November 2021, brings significant academic and administrative experience to her new role. Born in Rome on Jan. 15, 1969, she holds a degree in political science from the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Guido Carli and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, where she currently serves as a professor.

Before her appointment to the governorate, Petrini worked at the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2005 to 2021.

This appointment follows Pope Francis‘ recent selection of Sister Simona Brambilla as prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, marking a continuing trend of women being appointed to senior Vatican leadership positions.

During a recent television interview, the pope had previously indicated his intention to promote Petrini.

A recent meeting of various members of the ecumenical initiative Easter Together 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of Easter Together 2025

Vatican City, Feb 15, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The First Ecumenical Council, the meeting of Christian bishops that was held in 325 in Nicaea (today İznik, Turkey), laid the groundwork for reaching consensus within the Church through an assembly representing all of Christendom.

This event marked a key moment in the history of Christianity, 17 centuries ago this year, in which, among other decisions, the way of calculating the date of Easter was established.

However, over the centuries, changes to the calendar resulted in discrepancies between the Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches, differences that still persist. While Latin-rite Catholics follow the Gregorian calendar, in the East the tradition of calculating liturgical dates according to the Julian calendar has been maintained.

The difficulties of changing the calendar

“The process of changing the calendar, which began in 1582 with Pope Gregory and was completed to a certain extent in 1923 with the adoption of the new calendar by some Orthodox churches, was not without difficulties,” Kostas Mygdalis, consultant to the Orthodox Interparliamentary Assembly (IOA), explained in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

“It provoked controversies among the faithful and between the churches and state authorities, consolidating polarizing divisions” that still persist, he added.

Mygdalis is also one of the key figures of the interfaith working group Pasqua (Easter) Together 2025, which seeks to promote the common celebration of Easter between Orthodox and Catholics.

Last September, Pope Francis received the members of this ecumenical initiative and expressed his desire to agree on a common date for the celebration of Easter between Catholics and Orthodox.

Interestingly, this year both Easters — Catholic and Orthodox — fall on the same date, April 20, due to the alignment of the Julian (used by the Orthodox) and Gregorian (followed by Catholics and other Christian denominations) calendars.

A step toward Christian unity

For Mygdalis, the joint celebration of Easter in 2025 should not be seen as just a calendar agreement but as an opportunity to place Christ at the center of the Christian faith.

“The time has come to make a strong appeal to the churches to unify the date of Easter,” he said.

He also emphasized that the central message must be the need for unity in the world: “The world needs unity. A common date for Easter is a step toward this unity.”

However, he noted that “the administrative structures of the churches, composed almost exclusively of clerics, seem reluctant to address this issue, perhaps for fear of creating new extremism and divisions in a world already facing multiple challenges.”

He also pointed out that “dialogue between Christian churches is moving so slowly that, for ordinary faithful, it seems a fruitless process.”

For Mygdalis, the effort to celebrate the resurrection of Christ together must be part of a “pilgrimage of reconciliation and unity” that will continue beyond 2025. He emphasized that the importance of the Resurrection is not only theological but also existential: “Without the Resurrection, all the suffering in the world is absurd.”

A mandate for unity from Nicaea

“The celebration of Easter on a common date is not only necessary but a mandate for unity established by the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, whose 1,700th anniversary we commemorate this year,” he emphasized.

“Through the Pasqua Together 2025 initiative, we seek to demand that the churches comply with what was established by the Council of Nicaea: to celebrate together the resurrection of Christ, the pillar of the Christian faith. It is unacceptable that this division should continue,” he pointed out.

Toward the jubilee of 2033

Beyond Easter 2025, the JC2033 initiative was also mentioned, which proposes an ecumenical journey toward the year 2033, when the 2,000th anniversary of the resurrection of Christ will be celebrated. It is suggested that the date of Easter for Orthodox and Catholics coinciding in 2025 could be a first step toward greater unity on the occasion of this historic celebration.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Top row from left: Pierangelo Capuzzimati, Sr. Clare Crockett, Matteo Farina. Bottom row from left: Helena Agnieszka Kmieć, Akash Bashir, Carlo Acutis. / Credit: Courtesy of Associazone Pierangelo Capuzzimati; Hermanas Siervas del Hogar de la Madre; matteofarina.com; The Helena Kmiec Foundation; Aid to the Church in Need; Asociación Carlo Acutis

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 15, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Six young people who lived with deep faith and committed their lives to the Church that Jesus founded are on their way to being proclaimed saints, with most of them currently on the path to beatification.

From Carlo Acutis, the “cyber apostle of the Eucharist,” to Akash Bashir,  Pakistan’s first servant of God who gave his life protecting the faithful from a suicide bomber, these witnesses challenge the idea that holiness is simply a thing of the past.

Below is a brief sketch of these young millennials — those born between 1981 and 1996 — who followed Jesus with all their hearts and today are a source of inspiration to new generations.

1. Pierangelo CapuzzimatiPierangelo with his sister Sara. Credit: Associazione Pierangelo Capuzzimati

The Servant of God Pierangelo Capuzzimati was a young Italian who from the age of 14 suffered from leukemia but lived with strong faith and a deep trust in God. He was born in Taranto, Italy, in 1990 and grew up in a peaceful environment with his family in Faggiano.

His illness, far from plunging him into despair, led him to intensify his spiritual life, devoting his time to prayer, study, and contemplation of the beauty of creation. 

An admirer of the thought of the saints and with a great passion for the history of the Church, his testimony of serenity and dedication left an indelible mark on those who knew him. He died on April 30, 2008, at the age of 17 with the conviction that his suffering was a gift from the Lord.

On April 26, 2018, the Holy See granted the “nihil obstat” (“nothing stands in the way”) for the opening of his cause for beatification, and on Jan. 20, 2024, the diocesan phase of the process concluded after an exhaustive collection of testimonies and documents about his life and virtues.

All the documentation will now be sent to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, where it will be evaluated by theologians and historians. If his heroic virtues are recognized, Capuzzimati will be declared venerable, which will mark a new step on his path to sainthood.

2. Sister Clare CrockettSister Clare Crockett. Credit: Photo courtesy of Servants of the Home of the Mother

Sister Clare Crockett was a young woman who left a promising career in movies and television to dedicate herself to God as a religious in the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother. 

Clare was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1982 and although she seemed to be heading toward a life in the arts, an encounter with Christ during a retreat changed her destiny. She felt God’s call, entering the congregation in 2001, and took her perpetual vows in 2010. Her life was marked by a joyful spirit, a total dedication to others, and a testimony of faith that impacted many. She died on April 16, 2016, during an earthquake in Ecuador while helping her students at a community school in Playa Prieta.

Following the 2023 granting of the “nihil obstat” by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the diocesan phase of the cause for her beatification was officially opened on Jan. 12, 2025, in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. Since her passing, there have been numerous testimonies reporting graces and conversions attributed to her intercession, including religious vocations and possible miracles. The ecclesiastical tribunal is now investigating her life and heroic virtues, a key step on the path to her possible beatification.

3. Matteo FarinaVenerable Matteo Farina. Credit: Matteofarina.com

Matteo Farina was a young Italian born in 1990 in Brindisi. Inspired from a very young age by St. Francis and St. Padre Pio, he developed an intense spiritual life with a great devotion for the Eucharist and for praying a daily rosary. 

From the age of 9, he felt the call to evangelize, seeking to influence his peers. At age 13, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which did not weaken his faith but strengthened it. During the six years that his illness lasted, he accepted suffering with love, offering his pain for others and living with joy and hope until his death on April 24, 2009.

The witness of his holiness led the Church to initiate his cause for beatification. On May 5, 2020, Pope Francis recognized his heroic virtues, declaring him venerable. Currently, the Church is investigating possible miracles attributed to his intercession, which would allow the process of beatification to advance.

4. Helena Agnieszka KmiećHelena Kmiec, the young Polish missionary murdered in Bolivia who could be declared a saint. Credit: The Helena Kmiec Foundation

Helena Agnieszka Kmiec was a young Polish missionary born in 1991 in Krakow and raised in a home of deep faith. From a young age, she showed a strong love for Jesus, attending Mass almost daily and devoting herself to service. During her university studies at the Silesia University of Technology, she joined the Salvator Missionary Volunteer Service, serving in missions in Hungary, Zambia, and Romania. She especially dedicated herself to children and young people in vulnerable situations. 

In 2017, Helena traveled to Bolivia to help out at a school in Cochabamba, where, just a few weeks after her arrival, she was murdered during an attempted robbery.

After her death, her reputation for holiness became more well known, inspired by her life of dedication to God and her missionary service. In April 2024, the archbishop of Krakow announced the opening of her cause for beatification after receiving approval from the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. Currently, the Church is investigating her life and witness in the process that could lead to her being declared blessed.

5. Akash BashirServant of God Akash Bashir. Credit: Aid to the Church in Need

Akash Bashir was a young Pakistani and former Salesian student who gave his life to protect hundreds of faithful at St. John’s Church in Lahore.

On March 15, 2015, when he was just 20 years old, he prevented a suicide bomber from entering the church during Sunday Mass, holding him tightly and saying: “I will die, but I will not let you into the church.” The attacker detonated the bomb and both died.

Bashir’s sacrifice prevented a massacre and his unwavering faith has made him a symbol of hope for the Christian community in Pakistan — a country where the faithful suffer constant persecution.

On Jan. 31, 2022, Pope Francis proclaimed him a servant of God. Two years later, on March 15, 2024, the diocesan phase of the process was concluded at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Lahore. All the documentation has now been sent to the Vatican for evaluation. If the pope approves the decree of martyrdom, Bashir will be beatified without the need for a miracle. If this recognition occurs, he would become Pakistan’s first “blessed.”

6. Carlo AcutisBlessed Carlo Acutis. Credit: Photo courtesy of carloacutis.com

Carlo Acutis was a young Italian born in 1991 who, despite his short life, left a profound legacy of love for the Eucharist. Known as the “cyber apostle of the Eucharist,” Carlo used his computer skills to evangelize, creating a digital exhibit of Eucharistic miracles. 

From childhood, Carlo showed a special devotion to the Mass as well as praying the rosary. When he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2006, he offered his sufferings “for the Lord, the pope, and the Church.” He died on Oct. 12 of that same year and was buried in Assisi, following his desire to be close to St. Francis.

His path to sainthood progressed quickly. He was declared venerable in 2018 and blessed in 2020 after the approval of a first miracle. 

On May 23, 2024, Pope Francis recognized a second miracle, which occurred in Florence, where a young Costa Rican woman miraculously recovered from a serious accident. Carlo is scheduled to be canonized during the Jubilee of Teenagers in April, becoming the first millennial saint and a model of holiness for young people in the digital age.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

A view of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital where Pope Francis was delivered Feb. 14, 2025, to receive treatment for bronchitis. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Feb 15, 2025 / 05:53 am (CNA).

Pope Francis had a “peaceful night” and read several newspapers Saturday morning following his admission to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for bronchitis, according to the Vatican.

“The Holy Father had a good night’s sleep. This morning he had breakfast and read several newspapers,” Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, told journalists Feb. 15.

“Medical assessments and necessary treatments are continuing.”

The 88-year-old pontiff was admitted to the Gemelli Polyclinic Friday morning during meetings with several people, including Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico. According to the Vatican, initial examinations revealed a respiratory tract infection with mild fever.

A medical update from the hospital is expected later on Saturday.

The Vatican has cleared the pope’s schedule through at least Feb. 17, canceling several appointments, including a jubilee audience planned for Saturday and a meeting with artists at Rome’s historic Cinecittà film studios scheduled for Monday.

Marco Mancini contributed to this report.