Senior fellow at the National Catholic Bioethics Center Joseph Meaney speaks to “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. / Credit: “EWTN News Nightly”

CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

Vietnam, a country with one of the highest abortion rates in the world, spearheaded a United Nations initiative this week on the health care needs of infants born prematurely.

While the event in honor of World Prematurity Day aimed to spotlight the need for better care for preterm infants, a bioethicist is pointing to the irony of a country grappling with widespread abortion leading the charge.

“It’s a completely mixed message,” Joseph Meaney, a senior fellow at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told “EWTN News Nightly” on Tuesday.

Advances in neonatal intensive care have made possible the survival of smaller and younger infants. The world’s most premature surviving baby is Curtis Zy-Keith Means, who was born at 21 weeks and one day in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Vietnam’s laws allow unrestricted abortion procedures up to the 22nd week of pregnancy, but enforcement against later-term abortions remains lax. 

A 2023 report identified the Southeast Asian nation as having the second-highest abortion rate in the world. Hanoi’s Central Obstetrics Hospital reported in 2014 that 40% of all pregnancies in Vietnam were terminated each year.

Meaney pointed out to “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol that “in one part of the hospital, they are delivering babies … and trying to keep them alive in the neonatal intensive care units, and in other parts of the hospital, they’re killing those same babies at the same age of gestation.”

Meaney noted that studies have found that women who have undergone multiple abortions face a higher risk of premature birth and miscarriage in subsequent pregnancies. 

World Prematurity Day was established in 2008 to raise awareness about the challenges of premature births, which is the leading cause of death for children under 5. It is estimated that 13.4 million babies are born prematurely every year, according to UNICEF, which called for universal access to high-quality care for preterm babies in honor of the day.

“Of course, if they’re concerned about infant mortality, the highest rate of infant mortality is killing babies through abortion,” Meaney said.

Catholics in Vietnam help manage special cemeteries for victims of abortion, including one in the Archdiocese of Hanoi in which 46,000 unborn children are buried and another in Xuan Loc Diocese where more than 53,000 are buried, according to La Croix International. 

A Catholic charity called the Life Protection Group collects the remains of unborn children from state-run hospitals and private clinics, noting that the group used to gather 25-40 aborted fetuses each day to bury.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, more than 1.6 million abortions were performed in Vietnam between 2015 and 2019.

Asked by Sabol how premature births might be reduced in the U.S. and around the world, Meaney said: “One thing would be to have fewer abortions.”

As well, “actually having the hospitals help the mothers to continue their pregnancies” would help, he said.

“When they’re at risk of premature birth, the amount of days involved is very important. Just a few more days can really increase the likelihood the child will survive,” Meaney said.

“To actually have the hospitals willing to admit mothers who are in danger of premature birth” could help lower such incidences, he said.

Pope Francis greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Wednesday general audience on Nov. 20, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Nov 20, 2024 / 13:25 pm (CNA).

To mark 1,000 days since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, Pope Francis shared the “testimony of faith” of a Ukrainian student at his general audience on Wednesday, underscoring the power of faith, love, and hope amid the tragedy of violence.

In a letter to the Holy Father, the student, whose name was not announced, expressed the desire for the pope and all pilgrims at the Wednesday audience to know of the faith — and not just the sufferings — of the people of Ukraine.

“I thank God because, through this pain, I am learning greater love. Pain is not only a road to anger and despair; if based on faith, it is a good teacher of love,” the student wrote.

Describing the horrors of war that killed family members and thousands of other men, women, and children, the student said that if one suffers because of pain it “means that you love.”

“When you speak of our pain, when you remember our thousand days of suffering, speak of our thousand days of love, too, because only love, faith, and hope give a real meaning to our wounds,” the letter to the Holy Father read.

Visibly moved by the letter and the pope’s gesture to share the testimony of faith with hundreds of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, Olena Zelenska, wife of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, met and personally greeted the pope at the conclusion of the audience.

Pope Francis addresses pilgrims gathered for his Wednesday general audience on Nov. 20, 2024, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaCarlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati canonizations

During the Wednesday audience, Pope Francis announced that Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, two young Italian Catholics popularly known for their vibrant faith and desire for holiness, will be canonized next year during the Church’s jubilee.  

The long-anticipated announcement was confirmed by Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni that the two blesseds will be canonized on separate dates. Acutis’ canonization is scheduled during the Church’s Jubilee of Teenagers from April 25–27, 2025, and Frassati’s canonization will take place during the Jubilee of Youth from July 28–Aug. 3, 2025.    

Pope announces 2025 children’s rights meeting in Vatican 

Choosing World Children’s Day, celebrated annually on Nov. 20, to make an additional surprise announcement, the pope shared that the Vatican will hold an international meeting to promote the dignity and rights of children on Feb. 3, 2025. 

“It will be an occasion on how we can better protect children, especially children who live without rights, who are abused and exploited and live also in situations of war,” he said on Wednesday.  

To celebrate the occasion and special announcement, the Holy Father invited several boys and girls from the Community of Sant’Egidio to come and receive his paternal blessing and take a group photo.

Pope Francis greets children during his Wednesday general audience on Nov. 20, 2024, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media

The Vatican has also released details of the new Pontifical Committee for the World Day of Children on Wednesday. Pope Francis has appointed Father Enzo Fortunato, OFM, the president of the newly-established committee tasked with promoting the Catholic Church’s mission to advocate for children’s rights.  

“Family, church, and state exist for children, not the other way around,” the pope said in a Nov. 20 chirograph. “From birth, every human being is the subject of inalienable, inviolable, and universal rights.”

Catechesis: Charisms are ‘jewels’ from the Holy Spirit

Speaking about the beauty of different personal and communal charisms found in the Church, Pope Francis stressed that Catholics need to “immediately dispel” the misunderstanding of identifying these “jewels” of the Holy Spirit as “spectacular and extraordinary gifts and capabilities.”

“Instead they are ordinary gifts that assume extraordinary value if inspired by the Holy Spirit and embodied with love in the situations of life,” he told those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

“Such an interpretation of the charism is important,” the pope said.

Pilgrims wait in a crowded St. Peter’s Square for Pope Francis to arrive for his Wednesday general audience on Nov. 20, 2024, in at the Vatican. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Before the wooden coffin is closed, Pope Benedict XVI’s personal secretary Archbishop Georg Gänswein and Monsignor Diego Giovanni Ravelli, the Vatican’s lead master of ceremonies for papal liturgies, place a white veil over the late pope’s face. The action on Jan. 4, 2023, is part of the funeral rites for popes. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 20, 2024 / 12:55 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has updated the liturgical book regulating the funeral rite of popes, simplifying some of the rituals at Pope Francis’ request.

The second edition of the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis (“Order of Funerals for Roman Pontiffs”) is a revision of the version published in 2000 and used for the funerals of Pope John Paul II in 2005 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2023.

Among the changes in the new edition, according to Vatican News, is the elimination of the use of three coffins of cyprus, lead, and oak, and the possibility for a deceased pope to be buried outside of the Vatican basilica.

Another change is that the public viewing before the funeral will take place with the remains already in a simple, wooden coffin, not on a raised bier, as was previously done. The ascertainment of the pope’s death will also happen in the pope’s chapel, not his room.

Pope Francis “has stated on several occasions the need to simplify and adapt certain rites so that the celebration of the funeral of the bishop of Rome may better express the faith of the Church in the risen Christ,” the master of papal ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, told Vatican News. 

“The renewed rite,” Ravelli said, “also needed to emphasize even more that the funeral of the Roman pontiff is that of a pastor and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful person of this world.”

Blessed Carlo Acutis (left) and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati / Credit: Diocese of Assisi/Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Rome Newsroom, Nov 20, 2024 / 05:58 am (CNA).

Pope Francis announced Wednesday that Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, two young Catholics beloved for their vibrant faith and witness to holiness, will be canonized during two major Jubilee celebrations dedicated to young people.

The surprise announcement came at the conclusion of the pope’s weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square as Francis celebrated World Children’s Day. 

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni later confirmed that Carlo Acutis’ canonization will occur during the Church’s Jubilee of Teenagers taking place April 25-27, and Pier Giorgio Frassati’s canonization will take place during the Jubilee of Youth from July 28 to August 3.

According to the Diocese of Assisi, Acutis’ canonization Mass is expected to take place on Sunday, April 27, at 10:30 a.m. local time in St. Peter’s Square.

Both soon-to-be saints are beloved by many Catholic young people for their enthusiastic pursuit of holiness. The two canonizations are expected to bring many young people to the Eternal City in 2025 for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee of Hope.

Carlo Acutis: the first Millennial saint

Carlo Acutis, an Italian computer-coding teenager who died of cancer in 2006, is known for his great devotion to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Born in 1991, Acutis is the first millennial to be beatified by the Catholic Church. Shortly after his First Communion at the age of seven, Carlo told his mother: “To always be united to Jesus: this is my life plan.”

To accomplish this, Carlo sought to attend daily Mass as often as he could at the parish church across the street from his elementary school in Milan.

Carlo called the Eucharist “my highway to heaven,” and he did all in his power to make this presence known. His witness inspired his own parents to return to practicing the Catholic faith and his Hindu au pair to convert and be baptized.

Carlo was a tech-savvy kid who loved computers, animals, and video games. His spiritual director has recalled that Carlo was convinced that the evidence of Eucharistic miracles could be persuasive in helping people to realize that Jesus is present at every Mass.

Over the course of two and a half years, Carlo worked with his family to put together an exhibition on eucharistic miracles that premiered in 2005 during the Year of the Eucharist proclaimed by Pope John Paul II and has since gone on to be displayed at thousands of parishes on five continents.

Many of Carlo’s classmates, friends, and family members have testified how he brought them closer to God. Carlo was a very open person and was not shy about speaking with his classmates and anyone he met about the things that he loved: the Mass, the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, and heaven.

He is remembered for saying, “People who place themselves before the sun get a tan; people who place themselves before the Eucharist become saints.”

Carlo died at the age of fifteen in 2006, shortly after being diagnosed with leukemia. Before he died, Carlo told his mother, “I offer all of my suffering to the Lord for the pope and for the Church in order not to go to purgatory but to go straight to heaven.”

Thousands of people visited Carlo’s tomb in Assisi following his beatification in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi on October 10, 2020.

Since his beatification, Catholic schools from the Australian outback to England have been named after Acutis, as well as countless ministries and parish initiatives.

Pope Francis encouraged young people to imitate Blessed Carlo in prioritizing “the great gift of the Eucharist” in his message for the upcoming diocesan World Youth Days.

Pier Giorgio Frassati: “To the heights” of holiness

Pier Giorgio Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is also beloved by many today for his enthusiastic witness to holiness that reaches “to the heights.”

The young man from the northern Italian city of Turin was an avid mountaineer and third-order Dominican known for his charitable outreach.

Born on Holy Saturday on April 6, 1901, Frassati was the son of the founder and director of the Italian newspaper, “La Stampa.”

At the age of 17, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and dedicated much of his spare time to taking care of the poor, the homeless, and the sick, as well as demobilized servicemen returning from World War I.

Frassati was also involved in the Apostleship of Prayer and Catholic Action. He obtained permission to receive daily Communion.

On a photograph of what would be his last climb, Frassati wrote the phrase “Verso L’Alto,” which means “to the heights.” This phrase has become a motto for Catholics inspired by Frassati to strive for the summit of eternal life with Christ.

Frassati died of polio on July 4, 1925. His doctors later speculated that the young man had caught polio while serving the sick.

John Paul II, who beatified Frassati in 1990, called him a “man of the eight beatitudes,” describing him as “entirely immersed in the mystery of God and totally dedicated to the constant service of his neighbor.”

The Vatican has yet to announce the recognition of the second miracle attributed to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, which made his canonization possible.

The confirmation of the miracle from the Vatican, along with the announcement of the specific date of Frassati’s canonization Mass, are expected in the future.

Pope Francis attends a Vatican screening of the 2022 documentary “Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” on Feb. 24, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Nov 19, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

In a letter sent to Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, apostolic nuncio to Ukraine, on Nov. 19, Pope Francis expressed his great sorrow for the suffering of the people of Ukraine, who have now endured 1,000 days of war since the outbreak of the violent conflict there in 2022.

The letter was published in Italian by the Vatican newspaper on Nov. 19. 

Addressing his representative in “beloved and tormented Ukraine,” the Holy Father said he wished “to embrace all its citizens, wherever they may be,” and acknowledged the extreme hardships the Ukrainian people have suffered under “large-scale military aggression” for the past 1,000 days. 

The pope told the nuncio, whom he addressed as “brother,” that his words are meant to express solidarity with the people of Ukraine and to convey “a heartfelt invocation to God,” who he said is “the only source of life, hope, and wisdom, so that he may convert hearts and make them capable of starting paths of dialogue, reconciliation, and harmony.”

Francis quoted Psalm 121: “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth,”  recalling how every day at 9 a.m., Ukrainians observe a “minute of national silence” for the victims of the conflict.

“I join them, so that the cry that rises to heaven, from which help comes, may be stronger,” the pope wrote.

He went on to pray that the Lord will “console our hearts and strengthen the hope that, while he collects all the tears shed and will ask for an account of them, he remains beside us even when human efforts seem fruitless and actions not sufficient.”

The pope ended the letter to the archbishop by entrusting the Ukrainian people to God and blessing them, “beginning with the bishops and priests, with whom you, dear brother, have remained alongside the sons and daughters of this nation throughout these 1,000 days of suffering.”

Vatican News released a short video to mark the 1,000th day of war in Ukraine:

Pope Francis prays during the Synod on Synodality closing Mass on Oct. 27, 2024, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Nov 18, 2024 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis’ call for an investigation into claims that a genocide may be happening in Gaza has garnered criticism. 

In a passage of a new book published ahead of the 2025 Jubilee Year and released on Sunday, Pope Francis noted that according to some experts, “what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide” and called for a careful investigation, according to Vatican News.

The book by Hernán Reyes Alcaide is titled “Hope Never Disappoints: Pilgrims Toward a Better World” and was written for the occasion of the 2025 Jubilee, which is scheduled to begin Christmas Eve. It includes interviews with Pope Francis and will be released Nov. 19 in Italy, Spain, and Latin America by Edizioni Piemme Publishers. It will be published in other languages at a later date.

Pope Francis said in the book that, “according to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide. It should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.”

“In the Middle East, where the open doors of nations like Jordan or Lebanon continue to be a salvation for millions of people fleeing conflicts in the region: I am thinking above all of those who leave Gaza in the midst of the famine that has struck their Palestinian brothers and sisters given the difficulty of getting food and aid into their territory,” Pope Francis continued.

Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See pushed back against the claim.

Yaron Sideman responded to the pope’s comments on X, highlighting the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Israeli citizens by Hamas and pointing to Israel’s right to self-defense.

“There was a genocidal massacre on 7 October 2023 of Israeli citizens, and since then, Israel has exercised its right of self-defense against attempts from seven different fronts to kill its citizens,” Sideman stated. “Any attempt to call it by any other name is singling out the Jewish state.” 

In a Nov. 18 press release, the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), a global coalition combating antisemitism, also criticized the pope’s remarks, calling them “an eighth front” of the war against Israel.

“The State of Israel is currently facing a war of intended annihilation on seven fronts, and these remarks look like a possible opening of an eighth front, from of all places, the Vatican, which can also lead to the spilling of Jewish blood around the world,” said Sacha Roytman, CEO of CAM. “For a pope who appears to prize even-handedness and peace, we see that the Jewish state once again appears to be the exception.” 

In December 2023, South Africa filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice for alleged violations against the Genocide Convention, according to Reuters. The court has yet to rule on the charges. 

A United Nations Special Committee on Nov. 14 released a report claiming that “Israel’s warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide, with mass civilian casualties and life-threatening conditions intentionally imposed on Palestinians there.”

“Since the beginning of the war, Israeli officials have publicly supported policies that strip Palestinians of the very necessities required to sustain life — food, water, and fuel,” the committee stated. “These statements along with the systematic and unlawful interference of humanitarian aid make clear Israel’s intent to instrumentalize lifesaving supplies for political and military gains.”

Pope Francis on Nov. 14 met with several hostages recently freed from months of captivity in Gaza. Sixteen people attended the meeting last Thursday. One attendee, a young boy, gave the pope a football jersey with the name “Tal Shoham,” the name of a family member who was taken hostage along with his wife, children, mother-in-law, and other relatives, Vatican News reported.

On Oct. 7, 2023, 1,200 people died after Islamic terrorists attacked Israel, taking 252 people hostage. According to Reuters, Palestinian health authorities say more than 41,500 people have been killed by Israel in Gaza.

“Sts. Peter and Paul,” Altar of St. Catherine (1465), Schwabach, Germany. Artist unknown. / Credit: Public domain

Vatican City, Nov 18, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

Nov. 18 is celebrated in the Catholic Church as the feast day of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul. Here are three things to know about the historical, architectural, and spiritual significance of these two papal basilicas.  

1. Historical significance of the Nov. 18 feast day 

In the fourth century, the world’s first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine, commissioned the construction of two separate basilicas over the burial sites of St. Peter and St. Paul to enable the public veneration of the two great apostles, martyrs, and evangelizers of Rome.

After Christianity was legalized in the Roman Empire following the Edict of Milan issued by Constantine in 313, construction of the first Basilica of St. Peter began in 319 and was consecrated by Pope Sylvester on Nov. 18 in 326. Historical records indicate that Sylvester consecrated the first basilica built by Constantine dedicated to the apostle St. Paul on Nov. 19 around the year 330.

The masses of pilgrims who came to pray at the tombs of the “Prince of the Apostles” and the “Apostle to the Gentiles” required constant repairs, renovations, and expansion of the two basilicas built by Constantine.

In 1506, Pope Julius II ordered the demolition of the original basilica dedicated to St. Peter to construct the second Basilica of St. Peter, which still stands today. Pope Urban VIII solemnly consecrated the magnificent Basilica of St. Peter 120 years later on Nov. 18, 1626.  

Over the centuries the basilica dedicated to St. Paul underwent several renovations and two major reconstructions. The current Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls is the third basilica built above the apostle’s burial site. In 1854 — after the great fire of 1823 and over 30 years of construction work — Pius IX consecrated the newly-built basilica and fixed Nov. 18 as its commemoration date.

2. Architectural significance of the two basilicas 

With histories that span nearly two millennia, both the Basilica of St. Peter and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls bear the marks of changing architectural designs dating back from the Paleo-Christian period to the present day.

The world-famous 16th-century Basilica of St. Peter, visited by millions of tourists and pilgrims yearly, took over 100 years to construct and was heavily influenced by Western artistic styles of the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Designed by the Italian architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the 94-foot-tall bronze canopy, known as the baldacchino, is a Baroque masterpiece that towers above the central altar and stands directly above the tomb of St. Peter. To highlight the primacy of Peter among the apostles, the baldacchino features sculptures of cherubs holding the papal tiara as well as the “keys to the kingdom of heaven,” which Jesus entrusted to St. Peter and his successors. Bernini also designed the keyhole shape of St. Peter’s Square.

Throughout its history, the Roman basilica dedicated to St. Paul was a testimony to the Catholic Church’s ancient past. Before the 1823 fire, the basilica housed artworks and historical artifacts from the Paleo-Christian, Byzantine, Renaissance, and Baroque periods.

Reconstructed to be identical to the basilica destroyed by fire, the art and architecture of St. Paul Outside the Walls has taken its inspiration from different architectural styles dating back from the 11th century to contemporary designs of the 21st century.

The holy door of this major basilica was designed by Enrico Manfrini in preparation for the 2000 Jubilee Year. Inside this door stands the Byzantine door, created in 1070, depicting scenes of the life of Christ and the first Christians.

3. Spiritual significance of the two basilicas 

The burial sites of the two patron saints of Rome remain significant places of pilgrimage for Christians.

St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Paul Outside the Walls, two of the four papal basilicas of Rome, are visited by millions of tourists for their historical, architectural, and artistic importance. For Christian pilgrims, the two major basilicas hold a greater spiritual significance that links their faith in Jesus and his Church to two of its most faithful apostles who led the way for Christians throughout the ages through their teachings and witness.

On the June 29 solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Francis invited all of the Catholic faithful to imitate their example and “open the doors” of the Church during the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. 

“The jubilee will be a time of grace, during which we will open the holy door so that everyone may cross the threshold of that ‘living sanctuary’ who is Jesus,” the Holy Father said in his homily.

The holy door in the Basilica of St. Peter opens on Christmas Eve to usher in the jubilee year. The holy door of St. Paul Outside the Walls will open on Jan. 5, 2025.

Pope Francis was joined by thousands of pilgrims in the Vatican on Sunday to celebrate the eighth annual World Day of the Poor. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 17, 2024 / 13:46 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis was joined by thousands of pilgrims in the Vatican on Sunday to celebrate the eighth annual World Day of the Poor to renew the Church’s commitment to “be close to the suffering” through spiritual and material works of charity. 

Blessing of 13 keys   

Before the Sunday Mass celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis blessed 13 statues of keys, representing the 13 Houses Campaign of the FamVin Homeless Alliance as a sign of solidarity and the Church’s dedication to care for the poor and marginalized.

Each of the 13 “keys” blessed by the pope is dedicated to a specific country in which the FamVin Homeless Alliance — a charitable organization founded in 2017 and inspired by the legacy of St. Vincent de Paul — has built a home dedicated to the poor: in Syria, Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, the Central African Republic, Chile, Costa Rica, Italy, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine.  

Throughout the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, families from each of these 13 countries will meet with Pope Francis and receive the blessed statue dedicated to the poor of their country. 

After praying the Angelus in Latin with crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the pope reiterated his homily message to live solidarity with the poor through prayer and action, especially for “families who struggle to make ends meet.”. Credit: Vatican MediaSunday Mass and Angelus in the Vatican

During his homily and Angelus address, the Holy Father repeated his plea for Catholics to show their closeness to the poor through gestures of care infused with human warmth and tenderness.

“[To] those who give alms I always ask two things,” the pope said to the thousands of pilgrims gathered inside St. Peter’s Basilica for the eighth annual World Day of the Poor Mass. The theme of the commemoration was “The Prayer of the Poor Rises Up to God.” 

“Do you really touch the hands of these people or do you just throw the coins into their hands? Do you look into their eyes when you are giving some help and doing alms -– do you look directly in their eyes or are you looking somewhere else?” he asked.     

Amidst the “hour of darkness” — times of desolation and anguish — described in Sunday’s Gospel and readings, Pope Francis said, “a great proclamation of hope” is truly present for those who have put their trust in God.

“Jesus invites us to have a deeper look, to have eyes capable of reading within the events of history,” he explained. “An unshakable hope shines forth on this World Day of the Poor!”

Warning against the temptation of despair, laziness, and despondency, the pope said “we cannot condemn ourselves to powerlessness” in the face of poverty, inequality, and injustice. 

Pope Francis stressed that the poor and marginalized “have no choice but to continue to wait” and urged the Church to work with governments and international organizations to support them.

“Otherwise, the Christian faith is reduced into a harmless devotion that does not disturb the powers that be and is incapable of generating a serious commitment to charity,” the pontiff said. 

During his homily and Angelus address, the Holy Father repeated his plea for Catholics to show their closeness to the poor through gestures of care infused with human warmth and tenderness. Credit: Vatican Media

After praying the Angelus in Latin with the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the pope reiterated his homily message to live in solidarity with the poor through prayer and action, especially for “families who struggle to make ends meet.”

“Dear brothers and sisters, let us not forget that the poor cannot wait.”    

Sunday lunch with 1,300 guests   

Following Sunday Mass and the Angelus, 1,300 economically disadvantaged men, women and children living in Rome joined Pope Francis for lunch inside the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall.

The Italian Red Cross provided both meals and entertainment at this year’s World Day of the Poor luncheon with the pope. Three hundred and forty volunteers served guests lasagna with vegetables, beef meatloaf with spinach and cheese, potatoes, fruit, and dessert.  

Priests of the Congregation of the Mission, also known as the Vincentian Fathers, gifted each guest with backpacks containing food and hygiene items to bring home with them after their lunch with the pope.  

Cardinal Francis Arinze during the centenary celebrations of Bigard Memorial Major Seminary in Rome in November 2024. / Credit: Bigard Memorial Major Seminary

Enugu, Nigeria, Nov 17, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Vatican-based Nigerian Church leader Cardinal Francis Arinze has urged priests to avoid lengthy homilies, saying a homily should not be an exhibition of “theological acrobatics” but rather a reflection of the priest’s prayer life and a clear, concise proclamation of the Gospel.

In his keynote address during the 12-day centenary celebrations of Nigeria’s Bigard Memorial Major Seminary, Arinze emphasized the importance of priests delivering homilies that are deeply rooted in Scripture, liturgical texts, and sound theology. 

“A homily well prepared should last around 10 minutes. A university lecture of 45 minutes is for a different setting. A homily is not a display of theological acrobatics nor a harangue about money,” the cardinal said during a Nov. 13 event.

A homily, Arinze added, “is not an exposition of the local political climate nor a social disquisition on the economic hardships of the people. It should be the sharing of the prayer life of the priest for the past week in the presence of the Lord Jesus in the holy Eucharist.”

He explained that the major points of the homily are best put in writing and that the language of a homily should be clear — “not an admixture of English and the local language, nor an exhibition of the preacher’s ability to navigate in idioms.”

“A poor homily is an offense against the Word of God and against God’s people gathered to hear his word,” the cardinal said.

In his address titled “The Impact of Formations House on Education in Nigeria,” Arinze reflected on the priestly vocation and the role of seminaries in preparing future priests.

“It is expected that the seminary will train the future priest to be a good pastor of God’s people. He is the spiritual director of individual Catholics and of their associations … [h]is patient attendance at their meetings, where he delivers well-prepared addresses, is one of the ways in which he serves them,” the cardinal continued. “Lay leaders remain necessary according to the nature of each association. But the priest is their irreplaceable shepherd. As a good shepherd, he is neither in front nor behind his people; he is in their midst. As the pope would put it, he has the smell of the sheep.”

Arinze noted the alarming trend of young people drifting from the Catholic faith, turning instead to African traditional religions and other superstitions. 

“In many parts of our country, Nigeria, there is a lamentation that many young people today are rather poor in their knowledge of the Catholic faith. Many of them relapse into practices of the African traditional religion,” he said.

“They may engage in real idol worship; they believe in charms; they consult fortune tellers and some go so far as to kill even a relative in the hope that that will attract big money. It is not a surprise if such young people keep away from the sacraments.”

Arinze continued: “The problem is not solved by blaming the catechists for a job not well done. Some Nigerian dioceses have a remarkable increase in the number of their priests … Suppose such a diocese adopts the policy that a priest is to be the teacher of religion in every class in schools primary or secondary. It is not below the dignity of the priest to teach the young about God and religion. Moreover, the teenagers need answers to life’s challenges.”

“The seminary also has the role of preparing its [students] to be good preachers. A priest should be a convinced announcer of the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.”

In his keynote address at the beginning of the 12-day centenary celebrations, Arinze reflected on the challenge of inculturation in the Catholic Church in Nigeria.

The cardinal pointed to ongoing efforts in the Church to respect local cultures, including the adoption of local names in baptism and hymns in Indigenous languages. 

However, he underscored the need for a more thorough and careful process of inculturation, involving bishops, theologians, and cultural experts. 

“For an element of culture to be inculturated, the bishops’ conference of the area or country in question has first to set up a multidisciplinary study commission of experts in theology, liturgy, scriptural studies, ethnology, psychology, and music. Such a high-powered commission will have to sift the many sides of an indicated custom or tradition and, if it considers it ripe, make recommendations to the bishops’ conference,” he said.

“Inculturation is very demanding on a local Church,” Arinze pointed out. “It is not a one-man affair. It is not the fruit of someone’s over-fertile imagination, which concocts an idea on Saturday evening and forces it down the throat of the innocent and unsuspecting Sunday Mass congregation the following morning.”

As Bigard Memorial Seminary enters its second century of formation, Arinze expressed gratitude for its successes, calling on future generations of seminarians and priests to continue the work of evangelization and faith integration. 

“Bigard Memorial Seminary has come a long way in 100 years in preparing clergy for evangelization. It has done a good job!” the cardinal said. “May the Lord of the harvest continue to bless and guide this respected alma mater of ours as it walks into its second century. May the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Apostles, intercede for Bigard.” 

Bigard Memorial Major Seminary in Enugu was founded in Onitsha in 1922 and officially opened in 1924. It was moved to its current location in 1951. It was named after benefactors Stephanie and Jeanne Bigard, a French mother and daughter who were foundresses of the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle, who donated the funds for the main building.

In 1982, Pope John Paul II visited Bigard Memorial Major Seminary, the first Nigerian seminary to receive such a guest. 

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.

Pope Francis speaks at a Mass and canonization of 14 new saints in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Nov 16, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis wants dioceses worldwide to shine a spotlight on their “saints next door” every year on Nov. 9.

In a letter released by the Vatican in Italian on Saturday, the pope established an annual commemoration of saints, blessed, venerables, and servants of God in local dioceses worldwide, set to begin with the upcoming Jubilee.

“I exhort particular Churches, starting from the upcoming 2025 Jubilee, to remember and honor these figures of holiness each year,” Pope Francis wrote.

The initiative aims to help Catholics around the world rediscover and maintain the memory of those extraordinary disciples of Christ who have witnessed the presence of the risen Lord and continue to guide the faithful in those dioceses today.

He signed the letter at St. John Lateran on Nov. 9, 2024, the feast day of the basilica’s dedication.

While the pontiff chose this feast day for the yearly remembrance, he emphasized that he was not adding another liturgical celebration to the Church calendar.

Instead, he explained, the pope called on local dioceses to promote appropriate initiatives outside the liturgy or recall these figures within it, such as during homilies.

Called to be holy

Pope Francis connected the initiative to his 2018 apostolic exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate, on the universal call to holiness.

The 2018 letter emphasized how sanctity manifests in everyday life through various examples, including married couples living their faith while being open to life, young people following Jesus with enthusiasm, and religious living the evangelical counsels.

“We are frequently tempted to think that holiness is only for those who can withdraw from ordinary affairs to spend much time in prayer. That is not the case,” the pope wrote in his exhortation: “We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves.”

According to the letter released Saturday, episcopal conferences may develop pastoral guidelines for implementing this commemoration.

The Vatican expects millions of pilgrims to travel to Rome for the 2025 Jubilee Year but also renewed spiritual initiatives in dioceses across the globe.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Pope Francis greets members of Italy’s National Youth Council at the Vatican on Nov. 16, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Newsroom, Nov 16, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Saturday warned of a “worrying and complex” rise in youth mental health challenges, including self-harm and suicide, while calling for a new “educational alliance” to address what he described as not just a cultural but an “anthropological metamorphosis” in society.

Speaking to members of Italy’s National Youth Council at the Vatican on Nov. 16, the pope emphasized the need for comprehensive support structures amid what he called an “epochal change” affecting young people.

“As we know — even from recent news — the challenges that concern you are many: the dignity of work, family, education, civic engagement, care for creation, and new technologies,” the pope said.

“The increase in acts of violence and self-harm, up to the most extreme gesture of taking one’s life, are signs of a worrying and complex distress,” Francis warned.

The pontiff’s remarks came as the youth council marked its 20th anniversary. Francis noted with approval their “Quarta Rilevazione dell’Indice di Fiducia” (“Fourth Trust Index Survey”), showing that hope remained the predominant “inner attitude” among Italian youth.

“We often meet disillusioned people because they look to the future with skepticism and pessimism,” Francis observed. “It is important therefore to know that Italian young people can be artisans of hope because they are capable of dreaming.”

Calling for what he termed a “village of education,” the pope urged creating networks of “human and open relationships” that place the person at the center while investing in the formation of those who will serve the community.

The pope connected his message to the upcoming 2025 jubilee year, which he noted he had announced with the words “La speranza non delude!” (“Hope does not disappoint!”).

In addressing the youth representatives serving as a consultative body at local, national, and European levels, Francis emphasized their role in giving voice “to all, especially those who have no voice.”

He highlighted challenges, including dignity of work, family life, education, civic engagement, environmental care, and new technologies.

The pope concluded by referencing Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, asking the youth leaders if they knew of him and encouraging them to learn from “his consistency and his courage.”

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, born April 6, 1901, to a prominent Italian family, died July 4, 1925, at age 24.

The young Third Order Dominican could be declared a saint during the Catholic Church’s 2025 jubilee year, according to recent statements by the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

St. John Paul II, who declared Frassati a patron for World Youth Days, called him “the man of the beatitudes” for exemplifying these blessings in his daily life. According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Frassati has become “a significant global patron for youth and young adults,” with a special significance for young Catholics in the United States.

Image of Father Pedro Arrupe, SJ, beside sealed boxes of documents compiled during the diocesan phase of his canonization cause. / Crédito: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Rome Newsroom, Nov 15, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

Nov. 14 marked the closing of the diocesan phase of the cause for the beatification of Father Pedro Arrupe, the 28th superior general of the Society of Jesus.

After more than five years of exhaustive research into the life, virtues, and reputation for holiness of the renowned Spanish Jesuit, mentor, and “spiritual father” of Pope Francis, the diocesan phase of the process was concluded at the Lateran Palace in Rome.

Arrupe served as the 28th superior general of the Society of Jesus from 1965 to 1983. In the 1970s, he emphasized social justice as one of the main focal points of Jesuit apostolic work.

Since February 2019, more than 70 witnesses from Spain, Rome, and Japan — where he lived for 27 years as a missionary — have been questioned by the tribunal of the vicariate of Rome. 

Arrupe survived the atomic bomb that fell on Hiroshima in 1945 and devoted himself to caring for the injured in a field hospital set up in the novitiate.

Now the documents and minutes collected by the historical commission will be handed over to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, which will evaluate a possible miracle attributed to his intercession, a crucial step toward his prospective beatification.

The ceremony, which was held on the day that would have marked the 117th anniversary of Arrupe’s birth, was presided over by Cardinal-elect Baldassare Reina, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome.

Also present at this solemn ceremony were members of the Society of Jesus such as superior general Father Arturo Sosa Abascal and the postulator of the cause, Father Pascual Cebollada, who took an oath to have faithfully fulfilled his mission and emphasized Arrupe’s preference “for the poor and the fight for justice” as a result of his fervent prayer.

Notary Marcello Terramani was also present, as were members of the diocesan tribunal; Monsignor Giuseppe D’Alonzo, episcopal delegate; and Father Giorgio Ciucci, promoter of justice.

Reina praised the Jesuit leader, emphasizing his efforts to put the Second Vatican Council into practice as well as his profound obedience and fidelity to the Church and the popes.

He also highlighted his evangelizing mission and his “preferential option” for the poor and needy, resulting in the Jesuit Refugee Service that he founded in 1980.

Bishop Baldassare Reina at the podium during the ceremony. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Sosa referred to the long hours that Arrupe spent in prayer every day. When the priest was asked where he found the time to do so, he usually replied that “it’s simply a matter of priorities.”

The ceremony held in Rome also reflected on his charism and good relationship with those who didn’t belong to the Catholic Church. Arrupe’s efforts to get laypeople to assume responsibilities were also highlighted, as well as his welcoming nature.

After reviewing the documents from the diocesan phase, the Vatican dicastery will study the possibility of declaring Arrupe “venerable,” a title that Pope Francis can bestow upon him if it is determined that he lived a holy and virtuous life.

If this occurs, the next step would be beatification, which would grant him the title of “blessed.” This requires that at least one miracle be attributed to his intercession. For canonization and for him to be proclaimed a saint, a second miracle must be confirmed.

During his private meeting with priests of the Society of Jesus on his trip to Singapore last September, Pope Francis expressed his desire to have the Spanish Jesuit declared a saint.

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

Pope Francis waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Angelus address on Nov. 10, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 15, 2024 / 12:45 pm (CNA).

As Rome’s temperatures drop and the jubilee year approaches, Pope Francis has asked the city’s priests and religious to open any vacant facilities on their property to the homeless and those at risk of homelessness.

Noting the housing issues that could be caused by the large influx of pilgrims expected for the jubilee in 2025, the pope asked for “a courageous gesture of love” in a letter published Nov. 15.

“I want all diocesan realities that own real estate to offer their contribution to stem the housing emergency,” he said, “with signs of charity and solidarity to generate hope in the thousands of people in the city of Rome who are in a condition of housing precariousness.”

The pontiff asked all Church realities, including movements, religious orders, and diocesan churches, to offer any vacant apartments or guesthouses to those who may need them.

He recalled the jubilee year’s theme of hope, which he said “comes from love and from feeling loved,” and said the Church’s social teaching makes clear everyone’s right to land, a home, and work.

“In view of the jubilee, I have asked my diocese to give a tangible sign of attention to housing issues so that, alongside the welcome given to all the pilgrims who will be coming, forms of protection will be activated for those who do not have a home or who are in danger of losing it,” Francis said.

The jubilee, or holy year, which will formally open on Dec. 24, has impacted the ever-growing number of tourist and short-term rentals in Rome, leading to a housing shortage for Rome’s residents, according to experts.

According to some estimates, since 2018, the number of short-term apartment rentals, such as Airbnb, has grown from 17,000 to 30,000.

“Rome’s real estate market is going through a period of increasing pressure due to the scarcity of residential housing and the increase in tourist rentals,” Rome real estate expert Silvia Dri told the financial journal Milano Finanza in October.

“This situation creates difficulties for families and students, who are forced to look for solutions increasingly far from the center or to share living spaces,” she added. 

In October, Pope Francis reconfigured the prefectures of the Diocese of Rome due to the exodus of residents from the historic center.

The high influx of tourists has also had an impact on the pastoral needs of the area, which now has only 35 Catholic parishes, many with few parishioners, he wrote.

Pope Francis meets with Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley on Nov. 14, 2024, at the Vatican ahead of a meeting of the Pontifical Academy for Life titled “Common Good: Theory and Practice” in which Mottley was a panelist. The academy’s meeting discussed the global financial system in light of the social doctrine of the Catholic Church and crises that have impacted the world. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 15, 2024 / 10:05 am (CNA).

The Pontifical Academy for Life discussed the global financial system in light of the social doctrine of the Catholic Church and crises that have impacted the world at a meeting titled “Common Good: Theory and Practice” on Thursday evening in Vatican City.

The event, opened by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, welcomed and introduced guest panelists Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley and Mariana Mazzucato, professor of economics of innovation and public value at University College London.

The participants gathered to discuss the multifaceted and interconnected impacts of war, technology, health crises, and the environment on politics and the global economy.

During the two-hour exchange both women spoke of the value of Catholic social teaching — including solidarity; call to family, community, and participation; and the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable — in providing “clear objectives” for the creation of policies ultimately aimed at serving and protecting people.

Highlighting the difference between the classic economic theory on “public goods” and the Catholic concept of the common good, Mazzucato — also the founder-director of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose — stressed that, in order to improve the current “global financial architecture,” it is necessary to first consider the dignity of the person.

“The way we talk to each other, the way we respect each other, the way we value each other matters in the way that we then approach the goals,” she said. “It holds the system to account.”

“We do not currently have the action that we require globally to treat these [health and environmental] problems collectively, systematically, and in an economy-wide way,” she asserted at the conference.

Speaking on the great political, economic, and technological divide between Global North and Global South countries, Mottley said food and water insecurity in parts of the world are largely due to the lack of political will or collective action. 

“We can find a way to put a man on the moon but we cannot find a way to distribute the ample food and water that exists on earth,” Mottley said. “All of these things are man-made. They need to be solved [and] require moral, strategic leadership.”

Mottley stated that many people are skeptical of rethinking the global financial system in a “fundamental way” because they have become “used to the status quo.” However, she believes a reformed system is “within our reach” if individuals, multinational organizations, and governments take appropriate action.

“I believe that it is not only appropriate for us to speak about the pursuit of the common good,” she said, “but it is now important for us to flesh out and map out how it can happen and how it must happen.” 

In a message to participants of the Nov. 14 conference, Pope Francis said the “search for the common good and justice are central and essential aspects of any defense of every human life, especially the most fragile and defenseless, with respect for the entire ecosystem that we inhabit.” 

The pope said the common good is “one of the cornerstones of the social doctrine of the Church” that must primarily be understood as a “communion of faces, stories, and people” and not idea or an abstract ideology disconnected from reality.

“We need solid economic theories that assume and develop this theme in its specificity, so that it can become a principle that effectively inspires political choices (as I indicated in my encyclical Laudato Si’) and not just a category so much invoked in words but ignored in deeds,” he wrote. 

null / Credit: AI-generated image created by OpenAI’s DALL-E, generated with assistance from ChatGPT

Vatican City, Nov 14, 2024 / 13:50 pm (CNA).

Catholic cardinals this week donned virtual reality headsets at the premiere of an innovative art exhibit that opened this week for the 2025 Jubilee Year showcasing contemporary art inspired by artificial intelligence.

The exhibit, titled “Interconnected Hearts: Taiwan Contemporary Art Exhibition 2024,” is hosted at the Republic of China’s Embassy to the Holy See, just steps away from St. Peter’s Square. It features art created by three Taiwanese artists using 3D scanning, virtual reality (VR), machine learning, and AI technologies.

Among the first to try out the VR headsets at the exhibit’s premiere on Nov. 11 was 84-year-old Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi, the pope’s special delegate to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, the prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, described the art exhibition as “intriguing and extremely innovative.”

Ambassador Matthew Lee (left) and Cardinal Jose Tolentino wear the headsets at the Republic of China’s Embassy to the Holy See on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Embassy of the Republic of China to the Holy See

Using VR headsets by META, Tolentino experienced a piece by Hung Yu Hao, which digitally unites architectural elements from Taiwan and St. Peter’s Square in a shared virtual space. 

“The works that are before our eyes today flow from the creativity of human genius, enhanced by the use of artificial intelligence,” the Portuguese cardinal said.

Taiwan’s embassy to the Holy See sponsored the art exhibit as a testament to Pope Francis’ commitment to examining AI’s ethical implications, both in his message for the World Day for Peace 2024 and in the pope’s speech to the G7 in Puglia.

Cardinal Tolentino (left) and Cardinal Tomasi don VR headsets at the Republic of China’s Embassy to the Holy See on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024 at the Vatican. Credit: Embassy of the Republic of China to the Holy See

At the exhibit’s opening, Ambassador Matthew Lee highlighted how Taiwan is “at the vanguard of AI technology with advanced ingenuity and human resources.”

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te has declared his commitment to transforming Taiwan into an “AI Island.”

The ambassador noted that the exhibit, which will run through Feb. 14, 2025, has been officially added to the jubilee cultural events calendar by the Dicastery for Evangelization.

“The Chinese title of the art exhibition, ‘心信相連,’ expresses that the hearts of the faithful are connected with God, filled with faith to God, and therefore forging an unwavering trust in God,” Lee said.

An artist from Taiwan explains how this 3D printed artwork is a human-AI collaboration at the Republic of China’s Embassy to the Holy See on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Embassy of the Republic of China to the Holy See

As the Vatican embraces new technology, the Church remains mindful of AI’s ethical implications. Cardinal Tolentino noted that Pope Franics has described AI’s potential to lead to “a cognitive-industrial revolution. 

Tolentino added that this “new magnificent tool” must “always be at the service of the weakest and most needy and never a tool of domination, domination, and oppression.”

“Only in this way will we humans affirm and strengthen our humanity,” the cardinal said.

A high-tech week for the oldest institution in the world also featured a Vatican collaboration with Microsoft. 

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith unveiled a 3D digital model of St. Peter’s Basilica, developed using advanced AI, which allows virtual visitors worldwide to explore the basilica’s art and history.

An AI-generated image of St. Peter’s Basilica at night. Credit: Microsoft La Basilica Di San Pietro: AI-Enhanced Experience

“It is literally one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated projects of its kind that has ever been pursued,” said Smith, who has been a leading partner in the Vatican’s AI-ethics initiatives. 

The Microsoft president also announced the launch of an educational Minecraft game exploring St. Peter’s Basilica expected in January 2025 and a new immersive in-person exhibition on the terrace of St. Peter’s Basilica for the Catholic Church’s jubilee year.

Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples, Italy. / Credit: Vincenzo Amoruso via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Vatican City, Nov 14, 2024 / 11:55 am (CNA).

Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples, a late addition to the pope’s roster of new cardinals to be created next month, has commanded headlines for years for his strong stand against organized crime in southern Italy.

Battaglia’s reputation as a “street priest” close to drug addicts and the poor has also led some to view him as Pope Francis’ Italian counterpart, christening him the “Bergoglio of South Italy.”

Pope Francis announced earlier this month that he had added the 61-year-old archbishop to the list of new cardinals he will create in a ceremony at the Vatican on Dec. 7.

When Battaglia, or “Don Mimmo,” as he likes to be called, was tapped at the end of 2020 to lead Naples, one of southern Italy’s most important dioceses, he was already almost four years into leading another Church territory in the Campania region — Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant’Agata de’ Goti — with its estimated 88,000 Catholics at the time.

Now he is leading over 1.4 million Catholics in the Archdiocese of Naples, where he wasted no time in speaking up against the Camorra, the region’s most prominent organized crime group, after his installation in February 2021.

The blood of St. Januarius liquefied on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, before a Mass in Naples, Italy, where Archbishop Domenico Battaglia said that the blood of the fourth-century martyr is a powerful reminder that “love is stronger than death.” Credit: Archdiocese of Naples

In a statement published online in October 2021, Battaglia responded to a spate of deadly violence in Naples with an appeal for members of organized crime groups to “be converted.” 

“They are killing Naples! The trail of blood that is crossing the city these days, causing death to young lives and terror and anguish to entire neighborhoods, streets, families, cannot leave us indifferent,” he said.

Battaglia’s anti-Mafia initiatives include hands-on outreach to the city’s most affected districts and an educational project developed with members of civil society and the private sector.

From Day 1 in Naples, Battaglia signaled his priorities for the archdiocese: Before his installation Mass in the cathedral, he made a pilgrimage to visit the impoverished neighborhoods of the city.

In a letter to the people of Naples ahead of his consecration, the cardinal-designate wrote that “it is to the least of these that the Lord entrusts the dream of a Church faithful to the Gospel, which makes us share the salt of every pastoral project, which trusts not in structures and programs, but in the mercy of the Father.”

Battaglia grew up in Italy’s deep south in Calabria — the region from which originates the deeply-rooted ‘Ndrangheta crime group.

As a young priest in the Diocese of Catanzaro-Squillace, where he was ordained in 1988, Battaglia served in a center for addicts, a community he has continued to advocate for in the intervening years.

He is also outspoken in his support of victims of domestic violence, the elderly, and the unemployed.

The soon-to-be cardinal is a good friend of another well-known figure and social activist in the Church in Italy, Father Luigi Ciotti.

The 79-year-old priest of Turin is the founder of the associations Gruppo Abele, which helps people with drug and other addictions, and Libera, which combats the abuses of criminal organizations like the Mafia.

“It is oftentimes easy to live our faith inside a church, inside a temple. It is much more difficult to live the faith outside the door of that temple, inside our homes, in our daily lives,” Battaglia said in a homily in Naples in February 2021.

“But today more than ever we need to return to being credible because only credibility really helps us to live to the fullest the beauty of the Gospel. All together we are called out that door to proclaim the beauty of the Gospel that changes lives, that fills our lives.”

“Faith is the ability to choose, to fight for the human against all that is inhuman,” he continued. “Nothing is more important in life than stooping down so that another by grasping your neck can rise up.”

Pope Francis meets with members of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) on March 23, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 13, 2024 / 13:05 pm (CNA).

Catholic leaders from across Europe are in Rome this week to discuss how the Church can best protect children from sexual abuse and how to help those who have already been hurt by it.

The Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) is hosting a conference on safeguarding in the Catholic Church in Europe from Nov. 13–15.

The gathering, taking place in the center of Rome at the headquarters of the PCPM, includes participants — bishops, priests, religious, and laymen and laywomen — from 25 countries in Europe.

Safeguarding practices and strategies, how Church law and civil law interact, how to better help victims, and how to develop safeguarding networks are some of the topics the conference will address.

Vatican leaders and representatives from the European bishops’ conferences commission (COMECE) are also attending the meeting, which will include a keynote address Nov. 14 from  Archbishop John J. Kennedy, secretary of the Vatican’s office responsible for the discipline of priests guilty of abuse.

In a message to conference participants Nov. 13, Pope Francis said attendees’ “commitment to this cause [of safeguarding against abuse] is a sign of the Church’s continuing efforts to protect the most vulnerable in our midst.”

The pontiff wrote that he is praying for the conference, which he hopes will be “a source of fruitful insights” and that their exchanges “will contribute to a safer and more compassionate Church” and a “deeper commitment to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults within the Church.”

“In a particular way, I encourage the initiatives made to provide comfort and assistance to those who have suffered as a sign of the Church’s concern for justice, healing, and reconciliation,” Francis said.

Annual report issued

At the end of October, the Vatican’s safeguarding commission issued its first annual report assessing the Catholic Church’s policies and procedures to prevent abuse in dioceses worldwide from Africa to Oceania.

The report noted that in Europe, there are positive advances toward greater safeguarding frameworks and measures within the Church, with numerous good practices in place, but “the differences in response strategies between bishops and religious can present opportunities for growth and improvement.”

Under challenges, the report identified a lack of data on abuse prevalence in many countries, some frustration with the way cases are handled in the canonical system, and disparities between Western and Eastern Europe in the availability and quality of child-sensitive counseling and care for victims.

“In [European] nations that have experienced very complex crises or that have developed an in-depth public dialogue on abuses, there is a clear trend toward establishing more structured and responsive systems for dealing with abuse within the Church,” the report said.

The Vatican and Microsoft have created a 3D digital model of St. Peter’s Basilica using the latest in artificial intelligence to offer a new way to experience the nearly 2,000-year history of the tomb of St. Peter. / Credit: Microsoft La Basilica Di San Pietro: AI-Enhanced Experience

Vatican City, Nov 13, 2024 / 12:35 pm (CNA).

The Vatican and Microsoft have created a 3D digital model of St. Peter’s Basilica using the latest in artificial intelligence to offer a new way to experience the nearly 2,000-year history of the tomb of St. Peter.

Accessible worldwide at virtual.basilicasanpietro.va, the free interactive platform allows anyone in the world to “visit” the virtual 3D model of St. Peter’s Basilica, generated using AI from more than 400,000 high-resolution images of the basilica taken by drones using advanced photogrammetry techniques.

Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President Brad Smith launched the 3D “digital twin” of the basilica at a press conference this week at the Vatican.

“It is literally one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated projects of its kind that has ever been pursued,” Smith said.

The digital platform expands access to people who may never have the opportunity to visit the Vatican but can now experience the beauty, history, and spiritual significance of one of the most important churches in the world.

Photo taken on press tour of the “Pétros ení” exhibit at the Vatican, part of the Microsoft La Basilica Di San Pietro: AI-Enhanced Experience, a virtual 3D model of St. Peter’s Basilica generated using AI from more than 400,000 high-resolution images of the basilica taken by drones using advanced photogrammetry techniques. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

The model makes it possible to “see this basilica as I think no generation has ever seen it before,” Smith said. 

The Microsoft president also announced the launch of an educational Minecraft game exploring St. Peter’s Basilica expected in January 2025 and a new immersive in-person exhibition on the terrace of St. Peter’s Basilica for the Catholic Church’s jubilee year.

A look back at the ‘old St. Peter’s Basilica’

The virtual experience goes beyond just showcasing the baroque splendor of today’s St. Peter’s Basilica, harnessing technology to take viewers back in time to its ancient origins from Nero’s Circus to the ancient St. Peter’s Basilica built by Constantine.

Artificial Intelligence gives us a glimpse inside of the old St. Peter’s Basilica as it looked in the 4th century and for the many medieval pilgrims centuries later in the new Vatican exhibit by Microsoft that will open for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year. pic.twitter.com/ods03Ol8GE

— Courtney Mares (@catholicourtney) November 11, 2024

It begins with Caligula’s first-century construction of a circus on Vatican Hill and the placement of an Egyptian obelisk at its center. That obelisk, now in St. Peter’s Square, witnessed centuries of history — from Rome’s bloody persecutions of Christians and the crucifixion of Peter to massive papal Masses with tens of thousands of pilgrims today.

“As you will see when you go through the exhibit or if you look at the webpage, it’s fundamentally a story in three chapters,” Smith explained. “The first chapter, in my view, begins exactly where it should — we are here today because St. Peter was here 2,000 years ago.”

Digital recreation of the site of St. Peter’s tomb as it appeared in A.D. 67 from the press tour of the “Pétros ení” exhibit, part of the Microsoft La Basilica Di San Pietro: AI-Enhanced Experience. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

“So the first chapter of the story brings to life in new ways … the story of his life, the story that is told in the Gospels.”

The second chapter covers the transformations of the site of St. Peter’s tomb over the course of nearly 2,000 years from Peter’s burial and the construction of a church to its place as a center of Christian pilgrimage.

Digital recreation of the original St. Peter’s Basilica built by Constantine in the fourth century from the press tour of the “Pétros ení” exhibit, part of the Microsoft La Basilica Di San Pietro: AI-Enhanced Experience. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Around A.D. 160, a small funerary monument known as the “Trophy of Gaius” was built over Peter’s grave, becoming a pilgrimage site. When Constantine legalized Christianity in the fourth century, he ordered a massive basilica to be built over this tomb, leveling the necropolis beneath. 

A digital representation of a mosaic inside the original St. Peter’s Basilica built by Constantine from the press tour of the Pétros ení exhibit, part of the Microsoft La Basilica Di San Pietro: AI-Enhanced Experience. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

The virtual tour allows one to imagine what it would have been like to visit the old St. Peter’s Basilica built by Constantine, one of the ancient world’s most important sanctuaries, “a magnificent sepulcher … to which countless people from every part of the Roman Empire come,” Eusebius of Caesarea described in the fourth century.

A digital recreation of how St. Peter’s Basilica would have looked to pilgrims visiting in the 15th century from the press tour of the “Pétros ení” exhibit, part of the Microsoft La Basilica Di San Pietro: AI-Enhanced Experience. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

More than 1,175 years after the completion of the original St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Julius II laid the first stone of the new Vatican basilica in 1506. Construction of the present St. Peter’s Basilica took more than a century, inspiring works by artists like Bramante, Michelangelo, and Bernini. The basilica will celebrate the 400th anniversary of its consecration in 2026.

Online educational resource

One of the most exciting aspects of the 3D digital model is that it provides the opportunity for people who might never have the opportunity to visit the Vatican to see and experience St. Peter’s Basilica, Smith explained.

“We’re taking this story to the world,” he said.

Image of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. Credit: Microsoft La Basilica Di San Pietro: AI-Enhanced Experience

The new virtual platform serves as an educational resource that brings St. Peter’s Basilica to students, teachers, and historians worldwide, providing interactive tools and audio guides in multiple languages. 

An AI-generated image of a marble sarcophagus. Credit: Microsoft La Basilica Di San Pietro: AI-Enhanced Experience

Through immersive 3D tours, online visitors can navigate the basilica’s mosaics, the cupola, the underground necropolis, and Peter’s tomb. The digital model, or “digital twin,” captures areas typically off-limits to visitors, providing a detailed look at the basilica’s art, architecture, and history.

The concept of a “digital twin” — a digital counterpart of a physical object — is commonly used in the manufacturing industry. For the basilica, however, it’s a way to expand human understanding by capturing and sharing cultural heritage.

An AI-generated image of St. Peter’s Basilica at night. Credit: Microsoft La Basilica Di San Pietro: AI-Enhanced Experience

“When you think about this partnership, I think it’s as extraordinary as the project itself, because it brings together one of the oldest and most important institutions in the world with the newest technology that humanity has created,” Smith said.

‘Pétros ení’: An immersive exhibition for jubilee pilgrims

For those planning a jubilee pilgrimage to Rome, the Vatican will soon open a new exhibition titled “Pétros ení” (“Peter is here”) using the 3D digital model developed by Microsoft and the digital preservation company Iconem. This ticketed, immersive experience, designed for the jubilee year, takes visitors on a journey through the basilica’s history.

The entrance of the “Pétros ení” exhibition on the terrace of St. Peter’s Basilica. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

The exhibit starts up on the terrace of St. Peter’s Basilica behind its massive dome designed by Michelangelo and continues inside some of the basilica’s previously unvisited upper passageways, allowing visitors to look down at the basilica’s Altar of St. Michael below. 

The “Pétros ení” exhibition on the terrace of St. Peter’s Basilica. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

The exhibit’s interactive digital displays showcase the intricate details of the interior of St. Peter’s dome up close and two round theaters immerse visitors in what it would have been like to visit the basilica in different moments throughout the centuries.

One of the theaters in the “Pétros ení” exhibition on St. Peter’s Basilica. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNASt. Peter’s Basilica Minecraft

In January 2025, Microsoft will release a Minecraft Education version of St. Peter’s Basilica to reach younger audiences. In this digital replica, students will be able to navigate the basilica, explore its architecture, and learn its history through Minecraft’s interactive environment. This version will allow students to “walk” through the basilica with their character and explore its features as part of their gameplay.

“Many schools now use Minecraft to teach a wide variety of skills or capabilities,” Smith said, expressing hope that the Minecraft edition of St. Peter’s Basilica will become a unique resource for Catholic and secular schools alike, offering new ways to engage with history and art.

AI-enhanced conservation efforts

The digital twin also provides the Vatican with new tools for conservation. Using advanced algorithms from Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab, the virtual model has revealed previously undetected cracks, missing tiles in mosaics, and other signs of wear that will help caretakers preserve the basilica.

“Our AI for Good Lab developed a special AI algorithm so it could scan these images and identify where there is, say, a crack in the wall,” Smith explained. 

An up-close image of the mosaic at the very top of St. Peter’s Basilica dome. Credit: Microsoft La Basilica Di San Pietro: AI-Enhanced Experience

The conservators “who are responsible for the preservation of this extraordinary building, who work on its restoration, now have all of this data and the power of AI to enable them to work even better,” he added.

Pope Francis got a preview of the new digital model of St. Peter’s Basilica during a meeting with the Microsoft team and the Fabric of St. Peter, the organization responsible for the conservation and maintenance of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Francis gets a preview of the new digital model of St. Peter’s Basilica during a meeting with the Microsoft team and the Fabric of St. Peter organization on Nov. 11, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

The pope encouraged the basilica’s caretakers to adopt technologies “that encourage not only people’s interactive participation but especially their awareness of the sacred place, which is a space for meditation.”

He said technological tools demand creativity and responsibility to be governed and used constructively.

“This house of prayer for all peoples has been entrusted to us by those who have preceded us in faith and apostolic ministry,” Francis said in reference to St. Peter’s Basilica. “Therefore, it is a gift and a task to care for it, in both a spiritual and material sense, even through the latest technologies.”

Pope Francis delivers remarks at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 13, 2024 / 09:50 am (CNA).

Pope Francis told pilgrims present at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday that the Blessed Virgin Mary does not focus on herself but on her son, Jesus.

“Mary is always the mother that brings us to Jesus,” the Holy Father said. “Mary does not only point to herself. She points to Jesus.”

Continuing his catechesis on the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Church as Jesus’ bride, Pope Francis invited his listeners to reflect on the Mother of God’s presence and special role among Jesus’ apostles.

Pope Francis smiles at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

“The disciples were gathered around Mary, the mother of Jesus,” the pope said, reflecting on the passage of the Acts of Apostles read to hundreds of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square. 

“Her presence is different and unique among them all,” he continued. “Between her and the Holy Spirit there is a unique and eternally indestructible bond that is the very person of Christ himself, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.”

During his Nov. 13 general audience, Pope Francis said that Mary’s support for Christian communities is not one that is confined to the past but has persisted “in every age of our history.”

The pope waves to pilgrims at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

“The Mother of God is an instrument of the Holy Spirit in his work of sanctification,” he said. “Mary is the one who said ‘yes’ to God and, with her example and by her intercession, pushes us to say ‘yes’ to him too.”

As “the first disciple and figure of the Church,” the Holy Father hopes that Christians today will allow Mary to “see Jesus,” “open our hearts” to him, and “arise in haste” to help others in need.  

Describing Mary, the pope echoed the words of the patron of his pontificate, St. Francis of Assisi: “Daughter and handmaid of the heavenly Father, the almighty King, Mother of our most high Lord Jesus Christ, and spouse of the Holy Spirit.”

“The unique relationship between Mary and the Trinity could not be illustrated in simpler words,” he said.

‘We pray for peace’

Before concluding his Wednesday audience and imparting his paternal blessing for pilgrims, the Holy Father concluded his general audience with renewed petitions for peace and prayer.

The pope blesses a pilgrim and her unborn baby at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

“Let us not forget Ukraine, let us not forget Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, and so many countries at war,” he urged. “Let us not forget the group of Palestinians who were shot dead. Innocent people.” 

“We pray for peace. There is so much need for peace. My blessing to [you] all,” he said.

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Vatican City, Nov 13, 2024 / 09:20 am (CNA).

Referencing the concept of “climate finance,” Pope Francis said in a message to the U.N. climate summit on Wednesday that ecological debt and foreign debt both impact a nation’s future.

Francis warned that both foreign debt and ecological debt are “mortgaging the future” of nations.

“Efforts should be made to find solutions that do not further undermine the development and adaptive capacity of many countries that are already burdened with crippling economic debt,” the pope’s message said.

A “New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance” is one of the goals of the COP29 — the 29th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change — taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11–22.

Climate finance refers to local, national, or transnational financing that supports climate change mitigation actions.

Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who is representing the Holy See at the conference, read the pope’s message to the assembly on Nov. 13.

In his message, Francis said there is considerable indifference toward environmental problems in the modern era: “We cannot wash our hands of it, with distance, with carelessness, with disinterest. This is the real challenge of our century.”

“Indifference,” he underlined, “is an accomplice to injustice.”

The U.N.’s climate change conference, known as the “Conference of the Parties” (COP), has been held annually since 1995 to discuss the goals of the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The Holy See joined the UNFCCC and the 2015 Paris Agreement in 2022.

Pope Francis said the Holy See continues to support the endeavors of the COP29, especially in the area of integral ecology education and in raising awareness of the environmental problem as a human and social issue.

“It is essential to seek a new international financial architecture that is human-centered, bold, creative, and based on the principles of equity, justice, and solidarity,” the pontiff said.

“A new international financial architecture that can truly ensure for all countries, especially the poorest and those most vulnerable to climate disasters, both low-carbon and high-sharing development pathways that enable everyone to reach their full potential and see their dignity respected,” he said.