null / Credit: LookerStudio/Shutterstock

Vatican City, Feb 14, 2025 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis’ adviser on artificial intelligence (AI) warned of the risks of the new technology, saying that its unregulated use could result in the creation of bioweapons as well as an increase in income inequality.

Father Paolo Benanti discussed ethical and human rights challenges surrounding the use of AI at a Thursday event jointly organized by the embassies of Australia to the Holy See and Italy. 

The event took place in Rome following the conclusion of the Feb. 10–11 Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris. This week, more than 60 countries — including the Vatican, Italy, Australia, and China — signed an international pact in France pledging to develop AI in a way that is ethical, open, transparent, and safe. The U.S. did not sign the final version of the agreement.

Benanti, a member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life and moral theology professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, was joined on Thursday by four other panelists to exchange perspectives on the various impacts of AI on global politics, the economy, law, and social interactions among people in the wake of an “AI revolution.”

The other speakers at the Feb. 13 event were: Diego Ciulli, head of government affairs and public policy for Google in Italy; Professor Edward Santow, a member of the Australian government’s Artificial Intelligence Expert Group; Professor Luigi Ruggerone, director of business and innovation research for the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center; and Rosalba Pacelli, a postdoctoral researcher at National Institute of Nuclear Physics in Padua, Italy.

During the 90-minute discussion, all five speakers raised ethical concerns about whether people could relinquish their responsibility to promote and defend human rights to data-driven solutions generated by machines and algorithmic tools.

According to Benanti, open-source AI models “without any controls” are “the biggest problem now” as they have the potential to enable users to develop harmful technologies, including bioweapons, that threaten humanity.

Several panelists warned that the technology could exacerbate the gap between the rich and poor.

“AI has a risk to generate more inequalities than more opportunities in society,” Google’s Ciulli said. “AI as a technology has more to do with the impact it has on generating wealth and opportunities.” 

The Vatican adviser agreed, adding that AI should be harnessed as a “global resource” that could “empower people” but pointed to the reality that the majority of the world’s population does not have access to this software.

Building upon Ciulli’s comments, Ruggerone expressed his concerns about AI’s potential impact on the distribution of wealth, income, and the labor market from the perspective of an economist.

“In the last 70 years, 99.9% of those who receive the wages and income have not seen their wages increase by 1.5% or 2% a year … actually much, much less,” he explained. 

“Even if productivity of labor, thanks to artificial intelligence, increases, nobody guarantees us that wages would increase. Actually quite the opposite,” he added.

For Pacelli, a deep learning expert, a collaborative approach is key to regulating the AI revolution, which fundamentally differs from past industrial revolutions as machines are no longer developed to maximize production but are made to “interact with the user” according to specific data selection processes. 

“A bad data selection process can, for example, inject racial bias in diagnostic tools,” she said. “Obviously this is harmful and dangerous for [those who are] already marginalized and so must be taken into account.”

Referencing the Vatican’s document Antiqua et Nova, which outlines the Church’s position on the relationship between AI and human intelligence, Santow said: “It is only the human, not the machine, that is in dialogue with principles such as truth, justice, and peace.”

“Lawyers like me are very concerned about when a machine is being used to make a profound and important legally significant decision,” the former Australian Human Rights commissioner said. “Liability … must always attach to the humans who put those machines in the world.” 

Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience on Feb. 5, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Feb 14, 2025 / 06:05 am (CNA).

Pope Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Friday to undergo testing and treatment for bronchitis, the Vatican said.

“The Holy Father, as a result of the recent exacerbation of bronchitis, has carried out specialized examinations and started a hospital drug therapy,” read a Holy See Press Office statement updating the pope’s condition Friday evening Rome time. “The first examinations performed show a respiratory tract infection. The clinical condition is fair; he presents mild febrile alteration.”

The pope is serene, his mood is good, and he has read a few newspapers, according to Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office.

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.

“This morning, at the end of his audiences, Pope Francis will be admitted to the Agostino Gemelli Hospital for some necessary diagnostic tests and to continue treatment for bronchitis, that is still ongoing, in a hospital setting,” the Holy See Press Office said in a message sent shortly before 11 a.m. Rome time.

The Vatican said that due to Pope Francis’ hospitalization, his appointments for the following three days were canceled. In particular, he will no longer hold a jubilee audience at the Vatican on Saturday, Feb. 15, or a meeting with artists at the historic Cinecittà film studios south of Rome on Feb. 17.

The pope was also scheduled to participate in a Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday for the Jubilee of Artists and the World of Culture, part of the Church’s wider 2025 Jubilee of Hope. The Vatican said Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, will celebrate the Mass.

Pope Francis has been sick with bronchitis for over a week. On Feb. 6, the Vatican announced the pope would hold most of his meetings that day and the following days in rooms at his Vatican residence in order to rest more.

Despite the illness, which has largely prevented the pontiff from reading his own speeches and homilies, Francis presided at a jubilee Mass for members of the police and armed forces in St. Peter’s Square on Feb. 9 and participated in his weekly general audience on Wednesday.

Pope Francis was also hospitalized for a respiratory infection in March 2023 and canceled a November 2023 trip to Dubai due to a “very acute infectious bronchitis.” 

The pope, who has been suffering from visible breathlessness during recent meetings, has more and more frequently declined to read his prepared remarks to audiences or opted to have the remarks read by a priest aide.

He has faced several health challenges in recent years, including knee problems requiring a wheelchair, respiratory infections, and a fall resulting in a forearm contusion.

This story was updated Feb. 14, 2025, at 1:28 p.m. ET with the update on the pope’s condition.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius. / Credit: Self-scanned, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Feb 14, 2025 / 05:00 am (CNA).

On Feb. 14, the universal Church honors brothers Sts. Cyril and Methodius, who are called the “Apostles of the Slavs” for their tireless work in spreading the Gospel throughout Eastern Europe in the ninth century.

Such was their influence in Church history, through their evangelization efforts, that the late Pope John Paul II named the two brothers the patron saints of Europe along with fifth-century monastic leader St. Benedict.

Born into a prestigious senatorial family in Thessalonica, in 827 and 826 respectively, Sts. Cyril and Methodius renounced their wealth and status, choosing to become priests instead.

Both were living in a monastery on the Bosporus — an internationally significant waterway now more commonly known as the Istanbul strait and a continental boundary between Asia and Europe — when the authorities from the Khazar Empire sent to Constantinople for a Christian missionary. Cyril was chosen and was accompanied by his brother. Both learned the Khazar language and converted many of the people.

Soon after the Khazar mission, there was a request from officials in Moravia — a region in the present-day Czech Republic — for missionaries who could preach and celebrate liturgical services in the local dialect. Although German missionaries had already labored among the people for some time, they had little success.

In order to fulfill this mission, Cyril and Methodius took the step of adapting the Greek alphabet into a script for the Slavonic language. The result was the “Cyrillic” alphabet, which was first used to translate the Bible and liturgical books. It also became the primary means of written communication for large portions of the world, including modern-day Russia.

The two labored in Moravia for four years until 868, achieving greater success than the German missionaries. Their Byzantine origins and use of the vernacular language caused some German Church officials to regard them with suspicion. However, after being summoned to Rome, they met with Pope Adrian II, who warmly approved of their methods.

Cyril and Methodius were commended by the pope for their missionary activity and ordained bishops. Yet Cyril would not return to Moravia and died in Rome in 869.

In order to further Methodius’ work in Moravia, Pope Adrian II appointed him archbishop of a new archdiocese in the territory, independent from the German Church. Unfortunately this had the effect of angering his German critics, who had him deposed and imprisoned for a period of three years.

Pope Adrian’s successor, John VIII, managed to have Methodius freed and had him reinstated as archbishop, after which he expanded his work to incorporate the region of modern-day Poland. The new pope continued to support Methodius’ use of the Slavic languages in worship and his translations of the Bible, despite continuing controversy with some elements of the German Church.

Eventually, with the assistance of several Greek priests, he translated the whole Bible into the language that is known today as Church Slavonic. He chose his successor from among the native Moravian Slavs whom he had evangelized and died on April 6, 885.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius’ missionary work among the Slavs laid the essential foundation for the later Christianization of Ukraine and Russia in 988, when the Russian Prince Vladimir accepted baptism.

This story was first published on Feb. 13, 2011, and has been updated.

The skull of St. Valentine is kept in the Greek-Catholic Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome. / Credit: nomadFra/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Feb 14, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

In most stores in the weeks leading up to St. Valentine’s Day, you’re likely to find a plethora of pink-and-red cards, heart-shaped boxes of Russell Stover chocolates, and decor with nearly-naked chubby cherubs shooting hearts with bows and arrows.

It’s a far cry from the real St. Valentine, an early Christian martyr who was bludgeoned and beheaded for his faith.

So how did a saint with such a gruesome death come to be associated with a holiday all about love, chocolates, and chubby cherubs?

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, at least three different St. Valentines were recorded in early histories of martyrs under the date of Feb. 14. There are also accounts of an African St. Valentine, an early Christian who was persecuted along with his companions. But it seems that nothing else is known about this possible saint.

The St. Valentine celebrated today may have been two different people.

One account holds that St. Valentine was a priest in Rome, and the other says he was a bishop of Interamna (modern-day Terni). Both of these men were persecuted and ultimately killed for their faith, and buried somewhere along the Flaminian Way. It is also possible that they were the same person, however.

“He was either a Roman priest and physician who was martyred, or he was the bishop of Terni, Italy, who was also martyred in Rome, around 270 A.D. by Claudius the Goth” (the Roman emperor at the time), said Father Brendan Lupton, an associate professor of dogmatic theology at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Illinois.

St. Valentine — whether priest or bishop — was martyred on Feb. 14, now celebrated as Valentine’s Day. According to most accounts, he was beaten and then beheaded after a time of imprisonment.

Local devotion to him spread, and Pope Julius I had a basilica dedicated to the saint built approximately two miles from Rome, over Valentine’s burial place. His skull is now kept in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Rome and is decorated with flower crowns on his feast day.

Lupton said St. Valentine was one of the first Christian martyrs when the general persecution of Christians started in the Roman Empire.

“More or less at that time, especially around the mid-third century, there was sort of a crisis in the Roman world known as the Third Century Crisis, where the Roman world was really in great peril,” Lupton told CNA. “There was a great amount of inflation. There were barbarian incursions at the time. There was lots of political instability. So that sort of unleashed the first general persecution of Christians. Prior to that time, there were local persecutions, but they were local and sporadic.”

Some Valentine’s Day traditions can be correlated with St. Valentine’s life, such as the exchanging of cards, Lupton said, or the celebration of romantic love.

“One [account] was that he had befriended the jailer’s daughter, where he was being imprisoned, and when he died, he left her a note inscribed with ‘From your Valentine,’” Lupton said. Other accounts say that exchanging cards on Valentine’s Day recalls how St. Valentine would send notes to fellow Christians from prison.

“Another story is that Claudius the Goth actually had prohibited marriage amongst soldiers. He felt that if soldiers were married, they’d be less devoted to the army, especially at that time, and they needed as many troops as possible. So there was a legend that Valentine actually had married soldiers in secret,” Lupton said.

Another way St. Valentine’s Day may have come to be celebrated as a day of love was because the bird mating season was thought to begin around mid-February, Lupton noted.

Valentine’s Day as it is known today was also instituted as a substitute for a cruder Roman holiday at the time called Lupercalia, Lupton explained.

Lupercalia was a popular feast celebrated in Rome, during which a group of pagan priests would sacrifice different types of animals and then run through the streets of Rome, slapping young women with the animal hides — a ritual thought to guarantee the women’s health and fertility for the year.

“And so Pope Gelasius, he was around the fifth century ... replaced the Lupercalia with St. Valentine’s Day,” Lupton said.

Parts of Valentine’s Day are entirely unrelated to the real St. Valentine. He did not, for instance, go around shooting people with bows and arrows. That imagery was taken from the Roman god Cupid, who was also a god of love, Lupton said.

He also did not distribute chocolates to his loved ones; the real St. Valentine predates chocolates as we know them by more than 1,500 years.

But Christians can still learn from the example of St. Valentine, Lupton said, even if they are not at risk of actual martyrdom.

“You could say that in some ways, although few are called to martyrdom as Christians, in almost every act of love, there’s an element of self-sacrifice, self-renunciation,” he said.

This story was first published on CNA on Feb. 9, 2020, and has been updated.

Pilgrims pass through the Holy Door at the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls on Jan. 5, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 13, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).

Since Pope Francis marked the beginning of the 2025 Jubilee Year, 1.3 million people have passed through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, according to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect for the New Evangelization section of the Dicastery for Evangelization.

Fisichella made the announcement at a Feb. 7 press conference for the Jubilee of the Armed Forces. The archbishop pointed out, however, that the numbers of pilgrims “are not a criterion of validity for the success of the jubilee. What counts is what is in the hearts of people.”

Holy Doors are usually only designated in the four papal basilicas in Rome — St. Peter’s in the Vatican, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls. But this year, Pope Franics also opened another location at Rebibbia prison in Rome.

Besides the Holy Doors, other factors have contributed to the high number of people visiting Rome and other parts of Italy to take part in this year’s celebration.

“The jubilee is one of the major reasons we’re seeing the increased crowds. But also recent surveys show that Italy in general remains among the most popular travel destinations in the world,” Teresa Tomeo, veteran anchor of the EWTN Radio show “Catholic Connection,” Italy travel expert, author of the new book “Italy’s Shrines and Wonders,” and founder of T’s Italy, told CNA.

“A survey found that travelers want more than just a Roman or Italian holiday. They’re looking for ‘transformative’ travel,” Tomeo said. “What better place than Italy given all of the incredible and important religious sites, not to mention the natural beauty, for change or transformation to occur?”

Teresa Tomeo leads a pilgrimage to Italy with her husband, Deacon Dominick Pastore, in October 2024. Credit: Photo courtesy of T's Italy

Tomeo, who has led multiple Italian tours and visited the country on more than 60 occasions, said these pilgrimages have the power to strengthen a traveler’s faith.

“On our last pilgrimage in October of 2024, we had three of our pilgrims privately tell us that they were so moved or ‘transformed’ by what they experienced in Italy that they were coming back into the Church,” she said.

Since the jubilee has begun with such large crowds, locals and travelers should expect the high volume to continue.

“Easter time and the summer months are always the busiest times of year in Italy and especially Rome,” Tomeo said. “I don’t think it will be any different this year. The canonizations of Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati fall within those time periods and those special events are expected to draw even larger crowds.”

Tomeo encouraged visitors to fully immerse themselves in their jubilee travels.

“Turin is where Blessed Frassati is from and is buried and it has so much to offer pilgrims in terms of other saints,” she said. “The church, St. John the Baptist, which houses his tomb, is also home to the chapel of the Shroud of Turin. Although the shroud is not available for viewing and veneration during the jubilee year, the church is breathtaking and Turino is home to another popular saint — St. John Bosco.”

“And then of course the medieval and unspoiled town of Assisi and the tomb of Carlo Acutis is a place that deserves more than just a day trip from Rome. Not to mention the surrounding area of Assisi in Umbria and other nearby saints such as St. Rita of Cascia, St. Clare of the Cross in Montefalco, and St. Angela of Foligno,” Tomeo said.

The jubilee will continue until Jan. 6, 2026, and it is anticipated that more than 30 million pilgrims will make the religious journey to Rome during the holy year.

The artist Yan Pei-Ming in his Paris studio in 2016. / Credit:Alfred Weidinger/Flickr/CC BY 2.0

Vatican City, Feb 12, 2025 / 14:20 pm (CNA).

A Chinese artist’s paintings of inmates living inside one of Rome’s most well-known prisons will be projected on the prison building’s exterior and displayed in a new exhibit space near the Vatican as part of 2025 Jubilee initiatives.

The 64-year-old Yan Pei-Ming is a contemporary artist who has been living in France since 1981. He is known for his “epic-sized” portraits of figures such as Chairman Mao, St. John Paul II, Bruce Lee, and Barack Obama.

Pei-Ming’s latest portrait series, 27 prisoners living inside Regina Coeli Prison, will be displayed on the side of the prison building. The works, created at the request of the Vatican’s education and culture dicastery, will be the inaugural exhibit of a new art space on Via della Conciliazione, the main street leading to St. Peter’s Basilica.

One of the portraits from a collection by Yan Pei-Ming depicting 27 prisoners living inside Regina Coeli Prison, which will be displayed on the prison's facade Feb. 15, 2025. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.

The Vatican will highlight the work of contemporary artists during the 2025 Jubilee Year and beyond with the new exhibit space, called “Conciliazione 5,” to be inaugurated Feb. 15 during the Jubilee of Artists and the World of Culture.

The Vatican has planned a slew of events for the Feb. 15–18 Jubilee of Artists, including the opening of the contemporary art space, Sunday Mass with Pope Francis, and the first-ever visit by a pope to the film studios of Cinecittà.

The Vatican expects more than 10,000 people from across the wider art and cultural environments — hailing from over 100 countries and five continents — to participate in events over the four days.

The curator of the Yan Pei-Ming exhibit at “Conciliazione 5,” Cristiana Perrella, told journalists on Wednesday that Pei-Ming created the 27 inmate portraits in a matter of 20 days late last year in a studio in Shanghai. Due to time constraints, the painter worked from photos and also asked for information about the prisoners’ lives.

The portraits, Perrella said, help us to remember that inmates “are not the crime they have committed, that people’s meanings are not in this — they are paying for a crime they have done — but ... the people who live in the prison are alive, they have thoughts and dreams. And Pei-Ming’s work helps us to remember all that, to look at the prison community with a different perspective. And that precisely is the strength of art, the strength of this project.”

“The theme of hope, strongly felt by Pope Francis, intersects humanity in places of hardship,” Lina Di Domenico, the head of the prison administration department of Italy’s Ministry of Justice, said Feb. 12.

“The faces portrayed by artist Yan Pei-Ming,” she said, “projected on the facade of Regina Coeli, will allow everyone to ‘see’ a cross-section of the humanity that lives beyond those walls, to approach a world as unknown and obscure to most as that of penal enforcement.”

Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça said at a Feb. 12 press conference the purpose of the Jubilee Year initiatives is to cultivate a dialogue on hope: “To question how contemporary art can convey hope by reaching out to sensitive human places. To search together for spiritual and artistic expressions that can serve as grammars and poetries of hope for the contemporary time.”

Concern for prisoners is strongly connected to the 2025 Jubilee and its theme of hope. For the first time, Pope Francis designated a jubilee Holy Door within a prison, opening the door on Dec. 26, 2024, in Rome’s Rebibbia Prison Complex.

Regina Coeli Prison, one of Rome’s most well-known prisons, is just over half a mile from the Vatican.

Originally the site of a 17th-century convent, from which it gets its name, the Regina Coeli Prison was constructed in 1881 by the Italian government after the country’s unification. A women’s prison called the Mantellate was later built nearby, also on the site of a former convent.

In 2018, Pope Francis celebrated Holy Thursday Mass at the prison, washing the feet of 12 inmates. The prison was also visited by St. John XXIII in 1958, by St. Paul VI in 1964, and by St. John Paul II in 2000.

Another notable person to visit the prison was Mother Teresa, now St. Teresa of Calcutta, who attended Mass with some of the inmates in May 1994.

The second artist to be featured in the “Conciliazione 5” gallery space, Perrella said, will be an Albanian who immigrated to Italy in the 1990s. The artist’s exhibit will be on the theme of “journey” in the context of migration, the art curator said.

Pope Francis greets visitors at his general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Feb 12, 2025 / 10:16 am (CNA).

Pope Francis held his general audience in the Vatican on Wednesday despite bronchitis affecting his breathing, with the Holy Father urging people to pray and do penance for peace in the world.  

Making the effort to use his own voice at the end of the audience, the pope earnestly pleaded with Catholics to “do our best” to bring an end to all conflicts.

Pope Francis is hugged by a young visitor at his general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media

“Let us pray for peace, let us even do penance for peace,” the 88-year-old pontiff told pilgrims inside the Paul VI Audience Hall.

Expressing particular concern for the people of Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Holy Father reminded his listeners that “war is always a defeat.”

“I am thinking about many countries at war,” the pontiff shared with his listeners. “We were not born to kill but to make people grow.”

The pope asked Father Pierluigi Giroli on Wednesday to read his catechesis on his behalf, after briefly explaining to hundreds of pilgrims that bronchitis is still preventing him from comfortably using his voice at gatherings. “I hope that next time I can,” Francis said.

Reading the pope’s catechesis on St. Luke’s Gospel, Giroli said: “God does not come into the world with high-sounding proclamations; he does not manifest himself in clamor but begins his journey in humility.”

“The shepherds thus learn that in a very humble place, reserved for animals, the long-awaited Messiah is born and is born for them, to be their savior, their shepherd,” he continued.

Pope Francis blesses a mother and her unborn child at his general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media

Noting the shepherds’ openness to receive the news of the coming of Jesus, the pope’s catechesis emphasized that it is “the humblest and the poorest who are able to welcome the event of the Incarnation.” 

“Brothers and sisters, let us also ask for the grace to be, like shepherds, capable of wonder and praise before God,” the pope shared in his prepared remarks.

“Let us ask the Lord to be able to discern in weakness the extraordinary strength of the Child God, who comes to renew the world and transform our lives with his plan full of hope for all humanity,” he added.

Despite bronchitis, Pope Francis held his General Audience, urging prayer and penance for peace. Unable to speak fully, he asked Fr. Giroli to read his catechesis, expressing hope to recover soon. Let us unite in prayer for Pope Francis’ health. pic.twitter.com/OJX7qTH8Dd

— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) February 12, 2025

St. Peter’s Basilica. / Credit: Bohumil Petrik/CNA

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 12, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The first Vatican Summit on Longevity will take place on March 24, bringing together experts and world leaders to explore the most advanced scientific discoveries and reflect on the fundamental ethical values ​​that guide research in this field.

The summit will take place in the context of the 2025 Jubilee in the auditorium of the Augustinianum Conference Center in Rome in a meeting that will bring together scientists, Nobel laureates, and world leaders to address one of the crucial challenges of our time: promoting healthy, sustainable, and integral aging.

The idea for the meeting came from Alberto Carrara, president of the International Institute of Neurobioethics, and Viviana Kasam, president of BrainCircle Italy, who passed away in October 2024. The event is sponsored by the Pontifical Academy for Life, whose president, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, will open the event.

The Vatican Longevity Summit will not be an isolated event but the first step of an ambitious global project led by the Vatican in collaboration with international scientific and academic institutions.

According to a statement from the Pontifical Academy for Life, this project aims to promote a model of longevity that does not simply increase lifespan but enriches it in terms of quality, dignity, and sustainability, integrating science, ethics, and spirituality.

Furthermore, in line with shared ethical and anthropological principles, the International Institute of Neurobioethics aims to develop an interdisciplinary platform to foster dialogue between scientists, philosophers, bioethicists, and policymakers.

Integral human longevity will be the central theme of future activities, the statement said, with the aim of building a society that values ​​all stages of life and promotes intergenerational solidarity.

“This summit represents not only a scientific reflection but [also] a call to consider aging as an ethical responsibility and an extraordinary opportunity for innovation for the common good,” the statement 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 Chems-eddine Hafiz, rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, on Feb. 10, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of the Grand Mosque of Paris

Vatican City, Feb 11, 2025 / 13:35 pm (CNA).

The rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Chems-Eddine Hafiz, proposed to Pope Francis organizing a meeting between Christians and Muslims in the French capital this year to promote interreligious dialogue and fraternity.

Hafiz made the proposal on Feb. 10 at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican during an audience with the pope, which was also attended by a delegation from the European Coordination Council AMMALE (Alliance of Mosques, Associations, and Muslim Leaders), an organization aimed at improving the integration and practice of Islam in Europe.

Inspired by the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, the initiative seeks to promote fraternity and justice through interreligious dialogue.

During the meeting, the second between the two after one held in 2022, the pontiff apologized for not receiving him at the Apostolic Palace.

“I have bronchitis. I live here and I can’t go out,” he explained in a video posted on the website of the Grand Mosque of Paris.

Despite the illness, the 88-year-old Holy Father has not canceled his schedule and continues to work. However, in recent days he has shown difficulty reading texts aloud.

During the meeting, the rector gave the pontiff a message on the fraternity of Christians and Muslims in Europe in which he proposed the idea of ​​​​organizing a new international meeting to promote this fraternity on a continental scale.

Specifically, in the letter published on the website of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Hafiz proposes holding a major interreligious meeting in the French capital in 2025, inspired by the Assisi meetings of 1986, with the aim of reaffirming friendship between Christians and Muslims.

Although the Vatican Press Office has not given details in this regard, the Holy Father entrusted this task to the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, according to the Grand Mosque of Paris.

In the letter he delivered to Pope Francis, Hafiz reflected on the shared history between Christians and Muslims, highlighting the fruitful encounters and challenges they have faced together over the centuries.

The Muslim leader said that despite their differences, both communities are united by the same divine origin and must strengthen fraternity in Europe.

Growing fear and rejection of Muslims

Hafiz also warned of the growing fear and rejection of Muslims in Europe fuelled by hate speech and stereotypes that associate Islam with violence.

In this regard, he highlighted the role of Pope Francis in combating these prejudices and promoting unity, as demonstrated by his meetings with Muslim leaders and his commitment to interreligious brotherhood.

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 the Opera House in the port zone of Sydney, Australia. / Credit: Benh LIEU SONG vía Flickr (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Vatican City, Feb 11, 2025 / 10:35 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed Father Anthony Gerard Percy as a new auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Sydney and as bishop of the titular see of Appiaria, Bulgaria.

Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher, OP, welcomed the news of Percy’s appointment, saying: “I’m grateful to the Holy Father for choosing another good and faith-filled priest to serve as a bishop in our archdiocese and to work alongside me in the vineyard of Sydney.”

A parish priest of St. Gregory’s Parish in Queanbeyan since 2023, Percy, 62, was born in Cooma, southern New South Wales, and ordained a priest in 1990 for the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn. 

Since his priestly ordination, he has ministered to Catholics in six parishes: St. Mary’s Parish in Young; St. Gregory’s Parish in Queanbeyan; Our Lady Help of Christians in Ardlethan; Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Ariah Park; St. Therese Parish in Barellan; and Mary Queen of Apostles in Goulburn.   

From 1999–2003 Percy studied at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was awarded a doctorate specializing in marriage from the university’s Pontifical John Paul II Institute. 

The bishop-elect was appointed rector of the Good Shepherd Seminary in Sydney from 2009–2014 by the late Cardinal George Pell and afterward made vicar general of the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn from 2014–2023.

In a Tuesday interview with The Catholic Weekly, Percy said Pell had “placed a lot of trust in me and in the formation team” at the seminary, adding: “We had a great seminary and we had some really great young students who then became great priests.” 

Percy also shared with The Catholic Weekly his anticipation for the 54th International Eucharistic Congress set to take place in Sydney in 2028. 

“The love you have for the Eucharist drives you to want to go out and serve people who are less fortunate than we are. One would hope that the Eucharistic Congress will really release that sort of grace in the Church once again.”

Percy’s episcopal consecration will take place at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney on May 2.

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit takes place at the Grand Palais in Paris on Feb. 10–11, 2025. / Credit: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Feb 11, 2025 / 10:05 am (CNA).

Pope Francis in his message to leaders participating in the Feb. 10–11 Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris reiterated his stance that technological innovations must ultimately serve and defend humanity.

The Holy Father quoted French philosopher Jacques Maritain in his Feb. 11 message, saying: “Love is worth more than intelligence” and expressing his concern that an overemphasis on data and algorithms can dangerously manipulate the truth and undermine human creativity. 

“In my most recent encyclical letter Dilexit Nos, I distinguished between the operation of algorithms and the power of the ‘heart,’” the pope shared. 

“I ask all those attending the Paris summit not to forget that only the human ‘heart’ can reveal the meaning of our existence.”

The two-day summit, co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in France’s Grand Palais, brought together hundreds of government officials, business executives, scientists, and artists to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on global governance and the economy.

Vatican Secretary for the Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher was a guest speaker at the international meeting’s Feb. 10 discussion panel on the topic “Harnessing AI for the Future of Work.”   

In his message, the pope asked summit participants to have the “courage and determination” to defend humanity through their work. 

He stressed that global leaders should not use AI to impose “uniform anthropological, socioeconomic, and cultural models” that reduce reality to “numbers” and “predetermined categories.”

Describing AI as “a powerful tool” that can find innovative solutions to promote environmental sustainability, the Holy Father also warned of its potential to undermine human relationships and further disadvantage people living in developing nations.

“In this regard, I trust that the Paris summit will work for the creation of a platform of public interest on artificial intelligence,” the pope said, “so that every nation can find in artificial intelligence an instrument for its development and its fight against poverty but also for the protection of its local cultures and languages.”

The pope concluded his message by repeating his call for a person-centered approach to the use of AI, saying: “Our ultimate challenge will always remain mankind. May we never lose sight of this!”

On Jan. 28, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for Culture and Education released Antiqua et Nova, a note outlining the Church’s position on the relationship between AI and human intelligence.

Pope Francis addresses pilgrims gathered for his Wednesday general audience on Feb. 5, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Feb 11, 2025 / 09:35 am (CNA).

Pope Francis addressed the bishops of the United States on Tuesday about the country’s ongoing mass deportation of unauthorized immigrants, urging Catholics to consider the justness of laws and policies in light of the dignity and rights of people.

In a letter published Feb. 11, the pope — while supporting a nation’s right to defend itself from people who have committed violent or serious crimes — said a “rightly formed conscience” would disagree with associating the illegal status of some migrants with criminality. 

“The act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution, or serious deterioration of the environment damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness,” he said.

“All the Christian faithful and people of goodwill,” the pontiff continued, “are called upon to consider the legitimacy of norms and public policies in the light of the dignity of the person and his or her fundamental rights, not vice versa.”

‘Respectful of the dignity of all’

Pope Francis penned the letter to U.S. bishops amid changes to U.S. immigration policy under President Donald Trump’s administration, including the increased deportation of migrants, which numerous bishops have criticized.

The pope’s letter recognized the “valuable efforts” of the U.S. bishops in their work with migrants and refugees and invoked God’s reward for their “protection and defense of those who are considered less valuable, less important, or less human!”

Asking Our Lady of Guadalupe to protect all those living in fear or pain due to immigration and deportation, he prayed for a society that is more “fraternal, inclusive, and respectful of the dignity of all” and exhorted Catholics and other people of goodwill “not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters.”

Francis emphasized that immigration laws and policies should be subordinated to the dignified treatment of people, especially the most vulnerable.

“This is not a minor issue: An authentic rule of law is verified precisely in the dignified treatment that all people deserve, especially the poorest and most marginalized,” he underlined. “The true common good is promoted when society and government, with creativity and strict respect for the rights of all — as I have affirmed on numerous occasions — welcomes, protects, promotes, and integrates the most fragile, unprotected, and vulnerable.”

He said the just treatment of immigrants does not impede the development of policies to regulate orderly and legal migration, but “what is built on the basis of force and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being begins badly and will end badly.”

The ‘ordo amoris’

In his letter, Pope Francis also weighed in on the Catholic concept of “ordo amoris” — “rightly ordered love” — which was recently invoked by Vice President JD Vance in the ongoing debate over immigration policy.

“Christian love,” the pope wrote, “is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups. In other words: The human person is not a mere individual, relatively expansive, with some philanthropic feelings!”

“The human person is a subject with dignity who, through the constitutive relationship with all, especially with the poorest, can gradually mature in his identity and vocation,” he continued.

“The true ordo amoris that must be promoted,” the pontiff wrote, “is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘good Samaritan,’ that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”

Jesus the refugee

“The Son of God, in becoming man, also chose to live the drama of immigration,” the pope wrote.

Francis pointed out the social doctrine of the Church, that even Jesus Christ experienced the difficulty of leaving his own land because of a risk to his life and of taking refuge in a foreign society and culture.

Calling it the “Magna Carta” of the Church’s thinking on migration, Francis cited a passage from Pope Pius XII’s apostolic constitution on the care of migrants, Exsul Familia Nazarethana, which says: “The family of Nazareth in exile, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, emigrants in Egypt and refugees there to escape the wrath of an ungodly king, are the model, the example, and the consolation of emigrants and pilgrims of every age and country, of all refugees of every condition who, beset by persecution or necessity, are forced to leave their homeland, beloved family, and dear friends for foreign lands.” 

“Likewise,” Pope Francis commented, “Jesus Christ, loving everyone with a universal love, educates us in the permanent recognition of the dignity of every human being, without exception.”

Mother Teresa (left) smiles during Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Atlanta on June 12, 1996. / Credit: Doug Collier/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Feb 11, 2025 / 09:05 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Tuesday added the Sept. 5 feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta to the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar as an optional memorial.

The decree issued Feb. 11 by the Vatican noted the influence of St. Teresa’s spirituality around the world and said her name “continues to shine out as a source of hope for many men and women who seek consolation amid tribulations of body and spirit.”

The General Roman Calendar is the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church, which denotes the dates of holy days and the feast days of saints commemorated annually.

The Sept. 5 memorial of St. Teresa of Calcutta will now appear in the Church’s calendars and liturgical texts with specific prayers and readings to be used at Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours.

Memorials rank third in the classification of feast days on the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar. The memorial of St. Teresa of Calcutta will be an optional memorial, which means it is voluntary whether to observe it.

Popularly known as Mother Teresa, St. Teresa of Calcutta was an Albanian sister who founded the Missionaries of Charity. She died in 1997 at the age of 87 after spending most of her life serving the poor in Calcutta, India. She was canonized by Pope Francis in 2016.

The decree, signed by Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said: “Radically living the Gospel and boldly proclaiming it, St. Teresa of Calcutta is a witness to the dignity and honor of humble service. By choosing not only to be the least, but the servant of the least, she became a model of mercy and an authentic icon of the Good Samaritan.”

“Jesus’ cry on the cross, ‘I thirst’ (Jn 19:28), cut St. Teresa to the quick,” the decree continued. “Thus, for her whole life she dedicated herself completely to satiate the thirst of Jesus Christ for love and souls, serving him among the poorest of the poor. Filled with the love of God, she radiated that same love in equal measure to others.”

The decision to add the memorial of St. Teresa of Calcutta to the General Roman Calendar was approved by Pope Francis on Dec. 24, 2024. 

On Feb. 11, the liturgy dicastery published the decree and issued Latin texts for the new optional memorial to be translated by bishops’ conferences into the local languages and approved for publication by the dicastery. 

According to a note from Roche, the first reading chosen for Mass for the Sept. 5 memorial of Mother Teresa is taken from Isaiah 58 on the fast that is pleasing to God. The Psalm for the Mass will be Psalm 33: “I will bless the Lord at all times.”

The Gospel, he said, will be taken from St. Matthew, “which, after enumerating the works of mercy, contains the following words brought wonderfully to life in Mother Teresa: ‘Whatever you have done to the very least of my brothers and sisters you have done also to me’ (Mt 25:40).”

Pope Francis greets His Royal Highness Prince Charles of Wales at the canonization of St. John Henry Newman at the Vatican on Oct. 13, 2019. / Credit: Vatican Media

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 10, 2025 / 17:20 pm (CNA).

Buckingham Palace announced in a Feb. 7 statement that King Charles and Queen Camilla of England will travel to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis in April. 

The statement said the pair “will undertake state visits to the Holy See and the Republic of Italy in early April 2025.”

“During their majesties’ state visit to the Holy See, the king and queen will join His Holiness Pope Francis in celebrating the 2025 Jubilee Year. Traditionally held once every 25 years, the jubilee is a special year for the Catholic Church, a year of walking together as ‘Pilgrims of Hope,’” the statement reads.

The visit will continue a tradition of British royal involvement in the celebration, following Queen Elizabeth II’s travels to the Vatican during the 2000 Jubilee Year. The queen attended a private meeting with Pope John Paul II, one of five popes she encountered through her years of royalty.  

The anticipated visit will be King Charles’ first time in Italy as monarch but his third time meeting with Pope Francis. The then-prince met with the pope in 2017 when Pope Francis told him to be a “man of peace,” to which Charles replied: “I’ll do my best.” The two met again in 2019 on a trip Charles took with Camilla.

According to Buckingham Palace, “during their majesties’ state visit to the Republic of Italy, the king and queen will undertake engagements in Rome and Ravenna, celebrating the strong bilateral relationship between Italy and the United Kingdom.”

Pope Francis meets with participants of the conference “Indigenous Peoples’ Knowledge and the Sciences,” sponsored by the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences, held at the Vatican from March 14–15, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Feb 10, 2025 / 11:40 am (CNA).

Defending the rights of Indigenous people is a matter of justice and a way to guarantee a sustainable future for everyone, Pope Francis said in a message on Monday.

“Land, water, and food are not mere commodities but the very basis of life and the link between these [Indigenous] peoples and nature,” the pope said in a message to participants in the Seventh Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum, taking place in Rome Feb. 10–11.

“Defending these rights,” he continued, “is not only a matter of justice but also a guarantee of a sustainable future for all.”

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is hosting the meeting in order to strengthen IFAD’s partnership with Indigenous peoples and its initiatives in their communities.

Pope Francis said the theme of the two-day gathering — “The Right of Indigenous Peoples to Self-Determination: A Path to Food Security and Food Sovereignty — “calls us to recognize the value of Indigenous peoples as well as the ancestral heritage of knowledge and practices that positively enrich the great human family, coloring it with the varied traits of their traditions.”

Ancestral heritage and traditions, he added, open up “a horizon of hope” in a challenging time.

The pontiff also emphasized that preservation of Indigenous culture and identity goes hand in hand with recognizing the value they bring to society and the importance of safeguarding their existence and the natural resources they need to live.

He closed his message by expressing a hope that people will work to ensure future generations also have access to a world “in keeping with the beauty and goodness that guided God’s hands in creating it.”

“I beseech Almighty God that these efforts may be fruitful and serve as an inspiration to the leaders of nations,” Francis said, “so that appropriate measures may be taken to ensure that the human family will walk together in the pursuit of the common good, so that no one will be excluded or left behind.”

Cardinal Michael Czerny is the prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. / Credit: Pablo Esparza/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Feb 10, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).

A prominent Vatican cardinal said on Monday that people are being “terrorized” by the U.S. government’s “crackdown” on immigration and freeze of Catholic-run aid programs.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, told the Associated Press in an interview published Feb. 10 that U.S. measures affecting both migration policy and international aid programs are causing serious harm to vulnerable populations.

“A crackdown is a terrible way to administer affairs and much less to administer justice,” the Czech-born Canadian Jesuit said. “I’m very sorry that many people are being hurt and indeed terrorized by the measures.”

The cardinal’s comments coincided with a sharp rebuke from Caritas Internationalis, which on Monday strongly condemned what it called “the reckless decision by the U.S. administration to abruptly close USAID funded programs and offices worldwide.”

Caritas warned: “Stopping USAID will jeopardize essential services for hundreds of millions of people, undermine decades of progress in humanitarian and development assistance, destabilize regions that rely on this critical support, and condemn millions to dehumanizing poverty or even death.”

Catholic Relief Services — the U.S. Catholic Church’s primary aid agency and one of USAID’s recipients — has already raised concerns about the impact. 

Czerny noted that smaller Catholic programs are also affected.

The Vatican official emphasized Pope Francis’ teaching that caring for migrants and vulnerable people is a fundamental Christian duty.

“What the Church teaches is very well summed up by Pope Francis, who says that our obligation, not only as Christians but as human beings, is to welcome people, to protect them, to promote them, and to integrate them,” Czerny said.

The Jesuit cardinal is the latest of several prelates to weigh in on U.S. immigration policy changes, which numerous Catholic leaders, including Pope Francis, have criticized as unjust.

On Feb. 7, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, noted that “the Church does not have the authority or the responsibility to determine the legal status of those living in the United States” but does have “an obligation to care for every person with respect and love, no matter their citizenship status.”

At the same time, the Kansas archbishop offered a full-throated endorsement of prioritizing public safety threats in immigration enforcement.

Thirty-three university students of diverse faiths participate in the Middle Meets project at the headquarters of Scholas Ocurrentes in the Roman neighborhood of Trastevere. / Credit: Scholas Ocurrentes

Vatican City, Feb 10, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

In 2023, the conflict between Israel and Hamas dragged universities around the world into a war of ideas with protests, proclamations, and accusations ramping up the tension.

The initial, almost unanimous support for Israel and the condemnation of the 1,200 murders and 252 hostages that Hamas took on Oct. 7, 2023, quickly turned into protests, some very violent, due to the overwhelming Israeli response.

“What happened in the academic world is that it became a place where people can no longer speak freely. Everyone takes sides and silences the other by saying: ‘We’re right, the others are wrong,’” Professor Elitzur Bar-Asher Siegal of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

“When I see my students go to a demonstration, I don’t tell them not to do it because I think it represents the issue that matters to them. The problem is when they repeat rhetoric that means nothing or arguments based on fake news; that’s when I feel that the university has failed in its purpose,” the professor commented.

The pro-Palestinian demonstrations held across more than 60 university campuses in the United States were replicated by students in Europe, Australia, and Latin America, who in turn organized hundreds of sit-ins in which they even demanded that each of their universities break academic ties with Israeli institutions.

All of this was forged in the heat of a torrent of social media posts orchestrated to manipulate public opinion, with images and videos that promoted two opposing and partial narratives.

In this context of polarization, the “Middle Meets” project emerged with the aim of creating a space for listening and understanding between Muslim, Jewish, and Christian students.

Professor Elitzur Bar-Asher Siegal (at left) of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem leads the "Middle Meets" project. Credit: Scholas Occurrentes

“We felt that universities around the world were becoming very divided and very extremist. And we wanted to create a platform for Palestinian, Hebrew, and American students to have an in-depth conversation, without superficial slogans and without going to extremes; just listening to each other in an open dialogue,” university student Tomy Stockman explained.

Two months after the Hamas attacks in Israel, this student from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem planted the seed that gave birth to Middle Meets, which is currently run by Bar-Asher Siegal. So far, 33 young people from Israel, Palestine, and the United States have participated.

The first meeting was held remotely in November 2024, but last week they met in person in Rome in an interreligious meeting promoted by the Vatican, thanks to the Pontifical Foundation Scholas Occurrentes.

“More than just meeting, they have lived together and forged bonds of friendship. It hasn’t been easy because they have spoken of painful situations, of war, of confrontation, but it has been a process of sharing pain and suffering,” Bar-Asher Siegal explained.

Students engage in a workshop discussion. Credit: Scholas Ocurrentes

He also noted the significance of the Vatican lending its facilities for the occasion.

“When we visited Rome’s Campo de Fiori square, we were told that the Vatican banned the Talmud in the 16th century. But here we are now, five centuries later, invited by the Vatican. Things can change,” he said during one of the meetings held Feb. 4 at Palazzo San Calixto, headquarters of the Pontifical Foundation Scholas Occurrentes, located in the central Roman neighborhood of Trastevere.

Ignoring the other: the main cause of polarization

Jewish student Stockman, who attends classes at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with other Muslim students, said the lack of understanding between Jews and Palestinian Arabs is a constant factor.

“We ignore each other. Before this meeting promoted by Middle Meets, I didn’t have any Palestinian friends,” she revealed, adding that “Society is so divided that it’s almost impossible to start a conversation with someone from another ethnic group.”

In this regard, Stockman hopes the creation of a space for dialogue like this will succeed in forging fruitful bridges of friendship that overcome the divisions present in the social fabric of the Holy Land.

Thanks to the Middle Meets project, university students are able to get to know each other better and break down prejudices. Credit: Scholas Ocurrentes

“At this moment there is an Israeli narrative and a Palestinian narrative about the conflict, and we are trying to create a third narrative based on the possibility of coexisting in peace within the societies of the country,” Stockman explained.

Shadan Khatib is one of the young women who participated in the Middle Meets project. She is Muslim and studies at a university in Tel Aviv. When she received the invitation to participate in the meeting, she was initially somewhat skeptical.

“It was very difficult to see your people, innocent civilians, die, and at first I thought that these types of organizations that bring Jews and Muslims together never get anywhere,” she said.

However, a friend who also participated in the project made her change her mind. After two days of living with other young Christians and Jews, she judged the experience to be “very positive.”

Thus, she said she is going back to Tel Aviv with the conviction that the mission of the young people is to “start a new chapter.”

“Peace is very far away now, but I have hope. I think there will be forgiveness if we find a solution that is equal for both parties,” she commented.

“At the end of the day we are all human, we all want to live in peace and happiness,” she emphasized.

Pope Francis with the group after a general audience. Credit: Scholas Ocurrentes

One of the most anticipated moments of the program was a meeting with Pope Francis, which occurred at the conclusion of his Feb. 5 general audience. There, the young people had the opportunity to present the conclusions they had worked on, along with a letter expressing their desire for peace in the region.

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

Military personnel in dress uniforms attend the Armed Forces Jubilee Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Feb. 9, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Feb 9, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis presided over the Jubilee Mass for Armed Forces, Police, and Security Personnel on Sunday, with Archbishop Diego Ravelli reading his prepared homily as the pontiff recovers from bronchitis.

Over the Feb. 8–9 weekend, approximately 30,000 men and women from more than 100 countries participated in various jubilee festivities in Rome, including a pilgrimage to the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Francis arrives in a vehicle at St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee Mass for Armed Forces, Police, and Security Personnel on Feb. 9, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

During the outdoor Mass in St. Peter’s Square, Ravelli, reading the pope’s prepared homily, thanked those who have dedicated their lives to a “lofty mission that embraces numerous aspects of social and political life.”

A New York City police officer holds an American flag during the Armed Forces Jubilee Mass in St. Peter's Square on Feb. 9, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

“You are present in penitentiaries and at the forefront of the fight against crime and the various forms of violence that threaten to disrupt the life of society,” Ravelli read from the pope’s text.

Pope Francis and Archbishop Diego Ravelli during the Armed Forces Jubilee Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Feb. 9, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

The prepared homily continued: “I think too of all those engaged in relief work in the wake of natural disasters, the safeguarding of the environment, rescue efforts at sea, the protection of the vulnerable, and the promotion of peace.”

Military personnel in dress uniforms attend the Armed Forces Jubilee Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Feb. 9, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Praising their vigilance amid “the opposing forces of evil,” the homily noted that security personnel who protect the defenseless and uphold law and order in cities and neighborhoods can “teach us that goodness can prevail over everything.”

A military officer holds a rosary and service booklet during the Armed Forces Jubilee Mass in St. Peter's Square on Feb. 9, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

The papal text also acknowledged the chaplains who provide moral and spiritual support to military and security personnel, describing them as “the presence of Christ, who desires to walk at your side, to offer you a listening and sympathetic ear, to encourage you to set out ever anew and to support you in your daily service.”

Military personnel gather in St. Peter’s Square as a banner reading “Pilgrimage of the Polish Army” is displayed during the Armed Forces Jubilee Mass on Feb. 9, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

The homily concluded with a call for those gathered to have the courage to be peacemakers who never lose sight of their purpose to save and protect lives, warning: “Be vigilant not to be taken in by the illusion of power and the roar of arms... Be vigilant lest you be poisoned by propaganda that instills hatred, divides the world into friends to be defended and foes to fight.”

A priest distributes holy Communion to a uniformed servicewoman during the Armed Forces Jubilee Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Feb. 9, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Speaking in his own voice during the Angelus prayer that followed the Mass, Pope Francis invoked the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace, for those who are the “servants of the security and freedom of their peoples.”

“This armed service should be exercised only in legitimate defense, never to impose domination over other nations, always observing the international conventions,” the pope said, referencing Gaudium et Spes.

Polish military photographers document the Armed Forces Jubilee Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Feb. 9, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

“Brothers and sisters, let us pray for peace in the tormented Ukraine, in Palestine, in Israel and throughout the Middle East, in Myanmar, in Kivu, in Sudan,” he urged.

“May the weapons be silent everywhere and the cry of the peoples, who ask for peace, be heard!”

A Swiss Guard stands alongside bishops during the Armed Forces Jubilee Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Feb. 9, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Bernini’s famous baldacchino in St. Peter’s Basilica. / Credit: Ricardo André Frantz/Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 3.0

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 7, 2025 / 18:20 pm (CNA).

A man desecrated the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican by climbing on top of it and throwing six candelabras that were on the altar to the ground, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.

After throwing the candelabras, the man began to remove the altar cloth, as can be seen in a video posted on social media. The subject was then quickly detained by security agents. 

Le Vatican… bordel LE VATICAN !!!!@F_Desouche @FrDesouche pic.twitter.com/O87ZSb4QNW

— Père Lapouque (@Boujoumapoule) February 7, 2025

According to ANSA, the suspect, of Romanian origin, was detained by the Vatican Police, after which he was identified and charged by agents of the Vatican Inspectorate. 

“This is an episode of a person with a serious mental disability, who has been detained by the Vatican Police and then placed at the disposal of the Italian authorities,” the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, told ANSA. 

According to the Spanish newspaper ABC, the man was arrested because the basilica’s alarm was activated when he stood on the altar. 

In 2023 a similar incident was recorded when a man climbed the high altar and undressed, after which he was also arrested. 

The Code of Canon Law, the law that regulates the Catholic Church, establishes in canon 1210 that “in a sacred place” such as St. Peter’s Basilica, “only those things which serve the exercise or promotion of worship, piety, or religion are permitted in a sacred place; anything not consonant with the holiness of the place is forbidden.”

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

As director of the Vatican Observatory, Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno is known informally as “the pope’s astronomer.” / Credit: “EWTN News Nightly” screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 7, 2025 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ, has spent the last 30 years staring at the sky. As the director of the Vatican Observatory, known informally as “the pope’s astronomer,” he has just published his 13th book — “A Jesuit’s Guide to the Stars: Exploring Wonder, Beauty, and Science,” which he said he wrote at the suggestion of Loyola Press. 

“I pulled together a lot of ideas, some of my own experience and some of the history of the Jesuits working on science,” he told “EWTN News Nightly” on Feb. 5.  

Consolmagno has been the director of the Vatican Observatory since 2015. He told “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol that the observatory was officially established in 1891 to “show the world that the Church supports science. And we have been doing that ever since,” he said, adding that “we’re doing cutting-edge research, as we’re also carrying forth the message of how the heavens proclaim the glory of God.”

In his book, Consolmagno disputes the idea that we can’t study science and also be people of faith.

“If we believe that God created this universe, and if we believe that God so loved it that he sent his Son to become a part of it, then science becomes an act of growing closer to the Creator. In that way, it becomes an act of prayer,” he said. 

Consolmagno’s book explores how deeply involved the Jesuits are in astronomy and the history of that involvement. 

“There are about 60 craters on the moon or asteroids named for Jesuit scientists,” he told Sabol. “The Jesuits have been involved in our understanding the universe. It’s part of our Jesuit charism to find God in all things. What’s more ‘all things’ than the universe?” 

“We do science because we’re curious about the universe and who we are, and our place in the universe. And when I say ‘we,’ I mean anyone who is a human being.”

He added: “If you think of the seven days of creation, what’s the goal of the seventh day? The day when we spend the time to contemplate the things that God has created. Being an astronomer, talking about the stars — that’s part of our mission as human beings in love with God.”  

Journey to the Vatican Observatory

In a subsequent interview with CNA, Consolmagno said he started off his mission as an astronomer as an ordinary kid from Detroit. He said he grew in his love for science at an early age, describing his young self as a “Sputnik kid.” He finished high school when people landed on the moon. It was a time he felt anything was possible. 

Consolmagno’s original plan was to be a journalist, but he joked that he didn’t like the idea of having to call up strangers for a story. So he pivoted and went to Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study planetary science. He said he chose his field of study because “planets are places people have adventures.”

Consolmagno told CNA that he had contemplated becoming a Jesuit priest when he was in high school but felt God was saying no. It wasn’t until decades later that God pulled him to the Society of Jesus. He was working at Lafayette College as an assistant professor of physics when he said, “I do not have a vocation to be a priest but rather a vocation to be a brother.”

When asked if he understood why he was meant to be a brother and not a priest, he said: “It was that simple. I didn’t understand it then, and it has taken me 30 years to appreciate the difference.”

“Jesuit priests are called to be available, and my skills are deep, but limited. Unlike most Jesuits, I have had the same job for 30 years.” 

He further explained the Catholic Church’s history in science goes back to before Galileo. 

Many Jesuits served as astronomers at the Roman College from the 17th to the 19th centuries. They worked alongside Galileo before his condemnation. Some of these Jesuit astronomers actually disagreed with him on certain scientific matters, which led Galileo to blame “Jesuit hostility” as a cause for his infamous downfall, according to the Vatican Observatory. 

Consolmagno said that “while some believe that all science stopped when Galileo was condemned, that’s not true.” Priests and brothers were involved then and still are now, he said, “because of our spirituality to find God in the universe.” 

Consolmagno referenced Paul’s letter to the Romans while explaining to CNA the connection between faith and the universe, which says: “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Rom 1:20).

Jesuits have played a large role in developments in astronomy, Consolmagno said. Even St. Ignatius of Loyola, who founded the Society of Jesus, believed “the greatest consolation that he received was from gazing at the sky and stars, and this he often did and for quite a long time.”

While the work of Jesuits in astronomy has greatly expanded scientific knowledge, Consolmagno told EWTN during a visit to the Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, that science can’t explain God. “The deep thing is, you’re not going to prove God with science. God is bigger than science. God proves that science works, not the other way around.” 

Consolmagno believes that studying science and furthering one’s understanding of God’s universe is actually a way to strengthen our relationship with him. 

“My scientific work has made me recognize the joy that comes from being close to God. My scientific work has made me recognize the necessity of Church. I can’t just find God on my own,” he said.

Consolmagno’s book looks deeper into the Jesuit’s past in astronomy and closely at the connection of faith and science.

“I hope this book will bring a smile to people who look through it, even if they don’t get past the pretty pictures, because joy is where we find God and you find joy in the stars,” Consolmagno told CNA.

Watch the full “EWTN News Nightly” interview with Consolmagno below.