Montse Alvarado came to EWTN in 2021 as the founding host of the global Catholic network’s weekly news magazine show “EWTN News In Depth.” Just a few years later, in 2023, she was promoted to president and chief operating officer of EWTN News.

Now she is preparing to begin, on Nov. 1, another challenging new role, one that is taking her to the Eternal City as prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication.

In an “EWTN News In Depth” interview with Colm Flynn, Alvarado reflected on where her life has taken her so far, her vocation, and what’s ahead.

Since 2023, Alvarado has led EWTN News’ global and multilingual news operations across television, radio, print, digital, and social media platforms.

Before joining EWTN, she spent 14 years at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, where she also rose to a position of leadership and worked extensively on issues related to religious freedom and human dignity.

Born in Mexico City, Alvarado came to the United States as a young girl. She studied at Florida International University and The George Washington University, served her church, and even discerned religious life.

She shared that she’s “done none of this alone” and that as she has walked into each new chapter, “thereʼs an incredible team there to work with, mentors that are more generous than I could ever deserve.”

After ending her time at Becket, she recalled “thinking about the importance of religious freedom and the Constitution and the American Dream and I said, ‘Well, whatʼs it all for if not for heaven?’”

“I looked at EWTN and Mother Angelica and she spoke to my heart. That desperate desire for people to go to heaven … and so coming in here and having an environment where I was only talking about Jesus every day and only trying to communicate him to the world was a great honor for me and my spiritual life, but also seemed like a very logical thing to do when I thought about it from a calling and spiritual perspective,” she explained.

Alvarado credited Mother Angelica and EWTN for playing a major role in the lead-up to her appointment to her new position.

Pope Leo XIV with Maria Montserrat Alvarado at the Vatican on May 12, 2025. | Credit: Vatican Media

She explained that due to EWTN’s role in collaborating with the Holy See for several large events — including Pope Leo XIV’s first-ever live dialogue with young people in Indianapolis in November 2025 and EWTN’s collaboration with the dicastery to create a video reflection ahead of the release of the Holy Father’s first encyclical Magnifica Humanitas — she was able to meet with the pope and “get to know the inner workings.”

Alvarado will be making history as she takes on this new responsibility — becoming the first laywoman appointed prefect of a dicastery of the Holy See. She said she believes she was chosen for the position because “we are in a moment where digital communications and traditional communications are coming together,” and the Holy Father “was looking for a next-generation professional, thatʼs clear, and God willing, Iʼll be able to fill those shoes.”

When asked if her response to the Holy Father’s reaching out to her about the appointment prompted an immediate yes, Alvarado admitted that it “took a little more prayer than I would care to admit.”

“My entire life has been a surrender to Jesus Christ and his Church in the hopes that others would have a relationship with him. But Iʼm human, Colm, and moving to a new country, learning a new language, all of those pieces, leaving everything behind, theyʼre big to overcome,” she said. “And so I think it took a little more prayer than I would care to admit. Iʼm a little more human than I would care to admit in my willingness to say yes.”

As prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, Alvarado will oversee all of the Holy See’s media and communication outlets, which include Vatican News, Vatican Media, Vatican Radio, L’Osservatore Romano, the Holy See Press Office, the Vatican publishing house, the Vatican internet service, the Vatican printing press, and the Vatican’s photography service.

“Itʼs enormous,” Alvarado said.

“Communicating Christ to the world is the mandate of the communications dicastery, and it will be done in concert with the Holy Father … Weʼre getting to know what this is, what it should be, what the desire of his heart is, and what the Holy Spirit has really given him as the mandate for his pontificate,” she added. “And my job is to serve him and the Church and to serve the dicasteries and serve the Curia. In no way am I imposing a vision. Iʼm very much receiving one and executing it.”

She shared that while people have been telling her that by going into the Vatican she has to be careful “because I might lose my faith seeing the humanity of the Church,” that excites her and she prefers to “turn that on its head and say Iʼm going to see the humanity of the Church, which for me has always been an affirmation that Jesus Christ is real and his Church is the true Church. Because in seeing the way things work, I actually find that itʼs miraculous.”

“I feel like seeing the inner workings and the reality, even overcoming my own imperfections and sinfulness, as a child of God, the fact that God could use me as an instrument for something so great is incredibly humbling.”

On Monday, Oct. 19, Pope Leo XIV appointed new members to the International Theology Commission (ITC) for the 2026–2031 cycle. Compared with previous years, the number of women has increased from five to eight, including five laywomen, raising the total number of lay representatives to eight — double that of the previous term.

Each member of the ITC is a scholar in various fields, as reported in the National Catholic Register, the sister partner of EWTN News, “including biblical studies, patristics, dogmatics and moral theology, but with some publicly holding views that conflict with established Church teaching, such as on women’s ordination and the theology of salvation.”

The commission, founded by Pope Paul VI in 1969, is made up of 30 individuals and is tasked with assisting the Holy See — particularly the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith — with the study of theological questions and publishing official advisory documents.

The group meets once a year for a week to discuss their work and tackle any ongoing discussions and global theological demands. Made up of both laypeople and members of the clergy, the ITC brings together a wide range of scholars from around the world including those from Asia, Africa, and South America.

Pope Leo has asked the new ITC members and six returnees to focus on the topics of tradition and enculturation of the faith over their term.

The commission’s lay membership

The following lay scholars — five women and two men — are new members of the ITC:

Professor Teresa Hyeon Soon Choi — South Korea

Teresa Hyeon Soon Choi is an associate professor at the Institute for Whole Person Education Center of Sogang University in Seoul.

Professor Maria Teresa Fattori — Italy

Maria Teresa Fattori is a researcher at the University of Teramo, Italy, specializing in early modern papal history, the governance of Pope Benedict XVI, and provincial councils in polycentric Catholicism. Her current work focuses on the relationship between the Catholic Church and slavery in the early modern period. She has published extensively on the history of the early modern Roman Curia, the development of canon law after the Council of Trent, and the history of global Catholicism.

Professor Claudia Leal Luna — Chile

Claudia Leal Luna is a full professor at the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in Rome. With a niche in understanding the fragility of the human hallmark and the methodology of social morality, Luna is also an alumna of the John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue.

Professor Sara Parvis — Great Britain/Scotland

Sara Parvis is an associate professor at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Divinity and was appointed for her expertise in early Christianity and theology. Her contributions draw on her experience as a lay Dominican, her studies in early Christian theological development, and her writings on Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’.

Professor Anne-Sophie Vivier-Muresan —  France

Anne-Sophie Vivier-Muresan is dean of the faculty of theology at the Catholic Institute of Paris. Holding doctorates in social anthropology, ethnology, and Catholic theology, she is a specialist in dogmatic and Trinitarian theology working on contemporary Orthodox theology and theology of religions.

Professor Boyd Taylor Coolman — USA

Boyd Taylor Coolman is an associate professor in the theology department in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences at Boston College. He is a historical theologian of medieval Catholicism and founder of the Boston Colloquy in Historical Theology.

Professor Jan-Heiner Tück — Austria

Jan-Heiner Tück is a German theologian who has served as a professor of dogmatics and dogmatic history since 2010 at the University of Vienna, where he also heads the Department of Dogmatic Theology.

Rounding out the number of laypeople on the commission for the new term to eight is Professor Reinhard Huetter, a visiting professor of theology at Duke Divinity School in the United States, who was confirmed for a second consecutive five-year term.

The full list of membership for this next five-year cycle can be found at the Holy See Press Office website.

Pope Paul VI established the ITC in 1969, and its status was further defined in 1982 by Pope John Paul II. Throughout its active years, the commission has published 33 documents with the approval of its president, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which aid in the work of the dicastery for the year.

Pope Leo XIV on Friday said that although it is “impossible” to translate the image of the Church perfectly into canonical language, canon law is called to “reflect it.”

He made the remark during an audience with participants in an international congress organized on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Faculty of Canon Law of the Pontifical Gregorian University, one of the most influential academic institutions in the formation of canon lawyers throughout the world.

In his Oct. 23 address, the pontiff recalled that the study of the Church’s law can only be fully understood in light of the ecclesial mystery described by the Second Vatican Council, especially in the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium.

Citing St. John Paul II and the apostolic constitution Sacrae Disciplinae Leges, through which he promulgated the 1983 Code of Canon Law, Leo XIV stressed that while “it is impossible to translate the image of the Church perfectly into canonical language,” the Church’s legal system nevertheless has the duty to reflect it.

The pope’s words carry particular significance in light of his academic background. Leo XIV holds a doctorate in canon law and has extensive experience as a specialist in ecclesiastical legislation, a formation that has profoundly shaped his approach to governing the Church.

In this regard, he explained that canon law provides an “essential service in safeguarding ecclesial communion” and is therefore “extremely necessary for the Church.” Its purpose, he added, is “to create such order in ecclesial society that, while giving primacy to love, grace, and charism, it makes their organic development easier.”

The pontiff also insisted that the juridical and pastoral dimensions cannot be separated. “The good of the person and that of the ecclesial community cannot exist independently of one another,” he said.

Heirs to a long canonical tradition

During his address, Leo XIV paid tribute to the Faculty of Canon Law at the Gregorian University, founded on Aug. 16, 1876, by decision of Blessed Pius IX.

Pope Leo XIV blesses the child of participants in an international congress organized by the Faculty of Canon Law of the Pontifical Gregorian University at the Vatican on Oct. 23, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

The pope noted that the anniversary represents “a fundamental milestone in a history that began centuries ago” and praised the many scholars who have contributed to the development of canon law. Thanks to them, he said, the institution has consolidated an academic tradition that continues to bear fruit for the universal Church.

“They constitute a kind of unbroken thread linking generations and still today transmit a valuable scientific and ecclesial heritage,” he said.

He also recalled that the Faculty is an apostolic work of the Society of Jesus and shares the Ignatian spirituality summarized in the principle “Non multa, sed multum” (“Not many things, but much depth”).

“What matters is not knowing many things, but penetrating reality deeply, understanding it, and interiorizing it,” he explained, recalling the teaching of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Forming jurists with an ecclesial sense of justice

In the final part of his address, the pope insisted that the teaching of canon law cannot be limited to the transmission of norms. Its goal, he said, is “to form persons who possess the ecclesial sense of what is just (‘iustum’), acquired through rigorous study of the sources, the canonical tradition, and the theological principles that illuminate the norm.”

Leo XIV also recalled that the Faculty’s own academic program states that “the law of the Church must always tend toward the supernatural good of each of the faithful and the building up of ecclesial communion.”

For this reason, he urged professors and students to work in pursuit of “true justice, never separated in the Church from truth and mercy.”

Drawing on a famous expression of St. Augustine, he added: “Ordinata dilectio est iustitia” — “Ordered love is justice.”

He then encouraged them to offer students “a living experience of the universal Church,” recalling that it finds “in the bishop of Rome the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity.”

Addressing students from various countries, he asked them to live the universality of the Church during their years of formation and, upon returning to their dioceses and communities, to bring that experience with them “as a treasure to be shared.”

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

ROME — A Vatican-backed congress on infertility treatment in line with Catholic teaching was held in Rome last week.

Over the three-day gathering, specialists from various fields addressed the scientific, anthropological, and ethical challenges connected with sexuality and reproduction.

Pope Leo XIV was himself set to address the first day of the Oct. 16–18 conference, titled “The Splendor of the Human Person: Preserving Fertility, Healing Infertility,” but the audience had to be canceled due to the pontiff’s hospitalization Oct. 13–17.

The congress, held at the Rome campus of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, opened with a lecture by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on “the dignity and beauty of procreation in the Church’s magisterium.”

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin greets participants after he spoke at the congress “The Splendor of the Human Person: Preserving Fertility, Healing Infertility” at the Rome campus of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart on Oct. 16, 2026. | Credit: Isabella Reed/EWTN News

Bishop Claudio Giuliodori, president of the Italy-based Paul VI International Scientific Institute Foundation (ISI) and general ecclesiastical assistant of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, warned that the assisted reproductive technology in vitro fertilization (IVF) “removes the generative act from the responsibility of the spouses” and places it in the hands of “doctors and laboratory technicians.”

“It raises no small number of ethical questions that, without any hesitation, we move from a procreative act rooted in the gift of mutual love, expressed in becoming one flesh in marriage, to a kind of delegation or subcontracting of the most relevant and meaningful human act, namely the begetting of a child, entrusting it to a process external to the couple and exclusively technical in nature,” the prelate said.

Giuliodori also addressed the moral issues surrounding IVF and other assisted reproductive techniques, ranging from the collection of germ cells and AI-assisted selection of gametes to the production, freezing, and possible use of embryos for scientific research.

“We must consider the numerous and complex technical and ethical questions linked to obtaining germ cells, the selection of gametes today through artificial intelligence, the methods of producing embryos according to the various techniques, the number of those who, even after implantation, are subject to reduction or elimination, the cryopreservation of embryos that are not implanted, and their possible use for scientific research,” he said.

The prelate emphasized that Italy is estimated to have between 30,000 and 100,000 frozen embryos, while noting that precise figures do not exist. “No one is able to produce exact data, and this is striking,” he said, highlighting the “health, legal, economic, and above all ethical” implications of this reality.

According to Giuliodori, the central issue “from an anthropological and ethical, but also existential and social point of view” is that IVF transfers the generation of new life outside the marital relationship.

‘Not produced in a laboratory’

On July 25, 1978, Louise Brown, the first child born through assisted reproductive technologies, came into the world. Giuliodori noted that many of these techniques were initially developed in the field of animal reproduction and argued that their application to human generation is morally unacceptable.

Bishop Claudio Giuliodori, president of the ISI Foundation and general ecclesiastical assistant of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, speaks at a congress on infertility at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome on Oct. 16, 2026. | Credit: Isabella Reed/EWTN News

“[That] which may be justified in the context of livestock breeding appears wholly inappropriate and ethically unacceptable for human beings, who have the right to be conceived within the exclusive context of their parents’ act of love, not produced in a laboratory,” he said.

He also lamented that public debate focuses almost exclusively on adults’ desire to have children.

“Unfortunately, there is much discussion about the right to have a child by whatever means, but very little about the right of the child to be conceived in a truly human way within the context of conjugal love,” he said.

Leo XIV and Donum Vitae

During his remarks, Giuliodori recalled recent teachings from Pope Leo XIV on the dignity of every human life and the need to set ethical limits on technological development.

The president of the ISI Foundation also cited one of the central affirmations of the instruction Donum Vitae, published Feb. 22, 1987, by the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger: “What is technically possible is not thereby morally admissible.”

Clinical alternatives to artificial fertilization

In the second part of his speech, Giuliodori reviewed the history and mission of the ISI, which was created to offer clinical alternatives to artificial fertilization by treating the underlying causes of infertility.

Participants in an Oct. 16–18, 2026, Rome conference on infertility reflected on the causes of infertility, therapeutic possibilities compatible with Christian ethics, and the promotion of a culture that values human life from conception. | Credit: Isabella Reed/EWTN News

He highlighted that the institute now operates within the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital Foundation, where it benefits from “all the support necessary for the most advanced research” and from an interdisciplinary approach that enables “highly precise and in-depth diagnoses.”

According to Giuliodori, this method offers “the real possibility, already widely documented, of providing concrete answers for eliminating the causes of infertility.”

He said that the experience accumulated over 25 years has made ISI an international reference point for couples seeking to address infertility without resorting to artificial fertilization techniques.

“The results achieved, including in terms of pregnancies, exceed in percentage terms those reported by medically assisted reproduction centers,” he said.

‘The infertility emergency’

Dr. Paola Pellicanò, a physician at the Center for Natural Fertility Regulation at Rome’s Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, a consecrated member of the Ordo Virginum (Order of Virgins), and president of the association Donum Vitae, stressed the need to address “the infertility emergency in which we find ourselves” with responses that go beyond the technical or reproductive solutions usually proposed.

In this regard, she noted that recent World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines have begun to recognize the importance of fertility education, the promotion of healthy lifestyles, and respect for the personal convictions of couples.

According to Pellicanò, these recommendations point toward a greater appreciation of knowledge about fertile periods in the female cycle and educational outreach to the wider population.

The specialist recalled that in 1988 the WHO itself published a guide on natural fertility regulation services, defining them as “primarily educational,” and emphasized that “the success of these programs depended on the training of qualified instructors.”

Response to a cultural and social emergency

During her presentation, Pellicanò linked the work carried out by the Center for Natural Fertility Regulation in Italy with a broader vision of the person and the family.

Its origins date back to 1976, when gynecologist and missionary Dr. Anna Cappella, trained in natural fertility regulation through her collaboration with Drs. John and Evelyn Billings, took charge of a project promoted by the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart with the support of the Holy See and the Italian Bishops’ Conference.

That work later led to the creation of a study and research center specializing in natural fertility regulation, which over the years became an international point of reference.

Pellicanò particularly highlighted the center’s clinical experience, which has accompanied more than 8,000 couples.

She insisted that fertility should not be viewed solely through the lens of achieving pregnancy: “The passion is not limited to solving the problem of having or not having a child, but embraces the whole of life.”

According to Pellicanò, “knowing and understanding fertility allows people to become protagonists of their own decisions” and helps them avoid “a merely passive attitude toward certain interventions or reproductive techniques.”

The program of an Oct. 16–18, 2026, Rome congress on infertility was structured around four major sessions: “The Transmission of Life Between Society and Science,” “The Couple’s Fertility Roadmap,” “Preconception Health and the Prevention of Infertility,” and “Safeguarding the Human Person Amid Hypertechnology and the Culture of Waste.” | Credit: Isabella Reed/EWTN News Prevention, responsibility, and generosity

Pellicanò stressed that concepts such as prevention of infertility, responsibility, and generosity are fundamental not only for addressing infertility but also broader phenomena such as the demographic crisis.

“Words such as prevention, but also responsibility and generosity, take on value here, as they are important for addressing the cultural and emotional aspects of infertility and of the decline in birth rates itself,” she explained.

She also highlighted the extensive training the network built over the decades, with more than 1,000 instructors of the Billings Ovulation Method in Italy, integrated into international organizations and connected with projects developed on different continents.

The president of Donum Vitae defended a scientific approach that does not lose sight of the human dimension of procreation and medicine.

“Preserving fertility is a scientific vision that places the human person at its center,” she said.

In this regard, she recalled that the tradition developed by the center is rooted in the conviction that knowledge of female fertility is a reality inscribed in a woman’s very nature and one that can be studied scientifically.

Pellicanò placed this vision in continuity with the teachings of the most recent pontiffs, from St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II to Benedict XVI, Francis, and Leo XIV, who in his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas presents openness to life as an expression of human beauty and dignity.

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

Amid rising tensions around migration, a conference in Rome reflected on the challenges modern missionaries face after moving to new countries.

The conference “The Church of the Sheaves: An International Gathering in Rome on Mission as an Exchange of Gifts” began at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome on Oct. 22 and will continue through Oct. 24. It was organized by the Dicastery for Evangelization.

Gathering clergy, scholars, and synodal teams, the conference is also part of a new project from the dicastery to foster a sense of belonging among missionaries in countries where Christianity once flourished.

Migration cannot be stopped

Migration was a recurring theme at the conference, as both missionary activity and migration are increasing worldwide. Tensions surrounding migration, particularly in Europe, prompted participants to discuss the challenges modern missionaries face in their host countries, including discrimination.

Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, a secretary at the Dicastery for Evangelization, described migration as a phenomenon that “cannot stop” and highlighted the Church’s experience in addressing it.

“Migration is something we cannot stop,” Nwachukwu told EWTN News. Migration will always be there as long as we have human beings and their need to survive. If we try to stop it by force, the migrants themselves will force the gates. So the best way to go about migration is to manage it.”

Father Stan Chu Ilo, co-director of the Church of the Sheaves project, and Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, a secretary at the Dicastery for Evangelization, were both present at “The Church of the Sheaves: An International Gathering in Rome on Mission as an Exchange of Gifts” at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome on Oct. 22, 2026. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News

“The Church has been at the forefront of the art, practice, and experience of managing migration. [The missionaries] have shown us that not every migrant should be discriminated against. Every human being, made in the image and likeness of God, has something to offer,” Nwachukwu added.

Others noted that the Gospel has necessarily crossed borders in its spread and that relations between missionaries and their host countries must be reciprocal to overcome hostilities, citing the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman.

“The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman suggests that mission can transform those relationships through vulnerability, dialogue, reciprocity, and witness,” Rocío Cortés Rodríguez, assistant professor of theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, said during her presentation.

Reimagining missionary work as an exchange of gifts

The Church of the Sheaves is a new initiative from the Dicastery for Evangelization that will begin as an online course for clergy, religious, and pastoral workers, providing cultural training for missionaries and the communities that receive them.

Father Stan Chu Ilo, co-director of the Church of the Sheaves project, explained that the project aims to reimagine missionary work as an exchange of gifts.

Two Comboni missionary sisters in Mozambique (undated photo). | Credit: Pontifical Mission Societies Spain

“It is not a reactionary mission,” Ilo told EWTN News. “In the past, we had Fidei Donum, where Pope Pius XII, as the world came out of the Second World War, defined the path towards mission as the gift of one part — in this case, it was Europeans who were going to Africa. Now we have a changing world population; the Catholic Church is growing.”

“It is a project then to … retrain pastoral agents, missionary practitioners everywhere to embrace this new dynamism and these new opportunities of movement of Godʼs people from one part of the world to another,” Ilo added.

Pope Leo XIV will not travel to Assisi on Oct. 27 for a gathering marking the 40th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace convened by St. John Paul II, the Vatican announced Friday.

The decision follows medical advice as the pope continues to recover from thoracic surgery performed last week.

“To facilitate his recovery following the thoracic surgery performed on Tuesday of last week, and following the advice of his doctors, Pope Leo XIV will not be able to attend the ‘Unarmed and Disarming Peace’ gathering in Assisi on Oct. 27, as previously planned, on the 40th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace convened by St. John Paul II,” the Holy See Press Office said in a statement.

The Vatican added that the pope will send a message expressing his closeness to the organizers, leaders and representatives of Christian denominations and other religions, as well as the guests attending the event.

The statement emphasized the popeʼs conviction that the “spirit of Assisi,” dialogue, and the search for words and gestures of peace are valuable resources in an era marked by conflict.

Earlier Friday, the Holy See Press Office released a medical bulletin signed by Dr. Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora.

“As scheduled, the Holy Father underwent a follow-up chest X-ray. The examination confirmed that his postoperative recovery is progressing exceptionally well,” the doctors said.

“However, given the short time that has elapsed since the operation, the attending physicians considered it advisable, as a precautionary measure, to recommend against the planned helicopter trip on Oct. 27.”

The decision does not indicate any abnormality in the popeʼs recovery but reflects medical caution ahead of his planned trip to Latin America in November.

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

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday encouraged those involved in Catholic school and university pastoral ministry to respond to a “merciless” culture, which constantly compares and ranks young people, with the trust of Christ, capable of transforming lives just as it transformed the Twelve Apostles.

“Jesus did not choose the Twelve because they were already courageous; he called them and, through his trust, made them capable. To our young people we must be able to repeat the words the disciples addressed to the blind Bartimaeus: ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you,’” the pontiff said in a message addressed to participants in the International Congress on School and University Pastoral Ministry, which concludes Friday, Oct. 23, in the Paul VI Audience Hall.

The gathering, organized by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, brings together 1,200 participants from 60 countries and is inspired by the apostolic letter “Charting New Maps of Hope,” the first apostolic letter of Pope Leo XIV. In it, he proposes a new phase of education built on three pillars: cultivating interiority, promoting a humane and rational use of digital technologies, and educating for peace.

Pope Leo XIV addresses educators and others involved in pastoral ministry at schools about their role in helping young people face the “merciless” culture of comparison today, during the first day of a congress at the Vatican on Oct. 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

“Help the young people you encounter become protagonists of a new way of inhabiting the world, builders of fraternity and of a more just society. Courage is born from a covenant of trust: from the experience of someone believing in you before you believe in yourself,” the Holy Father said.

Digital loneliness and feelings of inadequacy

Leo XIV warned that many students today face situations of suffering marked by “wounded families, digital loneliness, feelings of inadequacy, or fear of a future that seems uncertain.”

“We live in a culture of performance that constantly compares and ranks, sometimes mercilessly. A misunderstood meritocracy ends up failing to respect the dignity of persons,” he warned.

For this reason, he stressed the importance of educational institutions being, above all, “a home, a familiar place where one is expected.”

The pope also emphasized that the proper mission of education is the shared search for truth and encouraged educators to value young people’s questions and foster an encounter between faith and reason: “May your passion be to help young people experience the beauty of an encounter with Christ, as well as the fruitfulness of the synergy between faith and reason.”

Leo XIV also invited participants to focus their efforts on the integral formation of young people, especially in educating their emotional life and interior life.

“School and university pastoral ministry will be all the more fruitful the more it is centered on the education of the heart,” he said. In this regard, he encouraged the promotion of compassion, gratitude, sensitivity to the suffering of others, and openness to God, recalling that “charity and prayer are inseparable.”

In closing, the pope compared the educational mission to Jesus’ accompaniment of the disciples on the road to Emmaus and urged teachers, chaplains, and pastoral workers to walk alongside young people and help them discover the gifts God has placed within them.

“You have chosen to do something much greater: to walk with them along the way until they discover the gifts God has already placed within them,” he concluded.

‘Revival driven by Leo XIV’

Among those taking part in the Vatican gathering is Carina Rossa, a member of the coordinating committee of the Global Compact on Education.

According to Rossa, who is from Argentina, one of the most significant aspects of the congress is the renewed attention the Holy See is giving to educational pastoral ministry, an area that, she explained, until now did not have a dedicated structure within the Dicastery for Culture and Education.

“Educational pastoral ministry is experiencing a revival driven by Leo XIV,” she said. “It is an area that is the heart of the university and the heart of the school.”

She recalled that the Global Compact on Education was launched by Pope Francis in 2020 and highlighted the importance of Leo XIV’s decision to take it up again and relaunch it during the Jubilee of the World of Education in 2025.

Carina Rossa, from Argentina, is a member of the coordinating committee of the Global Compact on Education. She participated in the Vatican’s international congress on pastoral care in Catholic schools and universities, held Oct. 22–23, 2026. | Credit: Courtesy of Carina Rossa

“The fact that Pope Leo relaunched the Global Compact on Education has been very important in revitalizing this proposal,” she said. According to Rossa, universities and educational institutions in different parts of the world have shown renewed interest ever since. “There is a need for, and a new enthusiasm about, this project.”

3 priorities for Catholic education

Rossa noted that the congress is centered on three major goals identified by Leo XIV: cultivating interior life, promoting a humane use of digital technologies, and educating for peace.

In particular, she emphasized the importance of recovering the spiritual dimension of education in a context marked by a crisis of meaning and mental health challenges among young people.

“What is emerging strongly is a great desire for meaning, interiority, spirituality, and silence,” she said. “We appreciate that Pope Leo speaks about this from his Augustinian charism, but above all because he does so in light of listening to young people,” the Global Compact on Education representative said.

She explained that in recent years the initiative has gathered testimonies and concerns from young people in different countries.

While she sees among them a strong social commitment and a desire for an integral education, she believes there is an even deeper need.

“St. Augustine reflects today’s young person very well, searching everywhere until discovering that God was within him all along,” she said.

A pastoral ministry that transforms academic life

For Rossa, educational pastoral ministry should not be understood as a parallel activity or one limited to religious celebrations but as a dimension capable of transforming the entire life of an academic institution.

“It is not something isolated, nor is it only about celebrations,” she explained. “It can revitalize the way we teach, the way we relate to students, the way the university connects with its local community, or how it approaches questions such as care for creation, the search for truth, beauty, and culture.”

After only the first day of the congress, the Argentine highlighted the high quality of the presentations and the atmosphere among participants.

“There is a lot of enthusiasm,” she said. “The 1,200 people gathered here are not only listening but are creating a true community among pastoral workers from different parts of the world.”

Unexpected encounter with the pope

One of the most moving moments of the congress was the encounter with Leo XIV, which had been on the schedule for weeks but had been thrown into doubt because of his recent lung cancer surgery, from which he is gradually recovering.

“It was very moving because we were not expecting it,” Rossa recounted. “Given his health situation, it seemed to me a very generous gesture on his part.”

After his address, Leo XIV personally greeted several of the speakers and participants.

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

The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on Thursday published the document “Venite ad Me: Considerations on the Transmission of the Faith in an Epochal Change,” which is expected to be the last of the documents commissioned from the dicastery by the late Pope Francis.

The text, approved by Pope Leo XIV on Aug. 21, consists of eight chapters and 144 paragraphs, and bears the signature of Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

It is presented as a set of “considerations,” drawing on the input and contributions of several national bishops’ conferences, rather than as a “doctrinal note.”

The document says that today, difficulties to sharing the faith abound, including the spread of secularization and individualism.

“It must be acknowledged that what is in crisis is not only the transmission of the faith, but also a certain vision of the human person and of his or her foundational values — a vision that had found its fulfillment precisely in the Gospel,” it says.

“The crisis of modernity, which is the hallmark of this epochal change, has thus contributed to the emergence of a new culture that has come into competition with the traditional structures through which the faith has been transmitted.”

Encounter with the Lord Jesus

The text says that “the heart of the Christian experience” is “an encounter with the Lord Jesus that brings us into contact with the true light of divine love, keeps us from losing our way in darkness, and leads us to life. It is precisely in this sense that we can speak of the ‘light of faith.’”

“The transmission of the faith,” the document says, “has its ultimate foundation in God’s initiative, who, in Christ, revealed his face and entrusted the Apostles the task of proclaiming the Gospel to all nations. This mission, however, did not end with the apostolic preaching but continues throughout history through the Church.”

The document also recalls the words of Pope Benedict XVI, who, in a 2007 homily, reaffirmed that “the most authentic force of the evangelizing mission of the community of the Lord’s disciples remains the power of attraction.”

Role of the family, Church community

Central to this transmission is the role of the family, “the first and most essential place for the transmission of the faith.” In the family, there exists “the primary setting in which faith [was] passed from one generation to the next,” the document says.

From the family, one then moves to the Church community: “What a person has received from their parents — namely, the witness of faith in Jesus, who fully revealed the face of God’s infinite love, freeing human beings from darkness and opening them to the true light of life — finds in the Church the means and the opportunities to become the guiding principle of how that person sees the world,” it says.

The document adds: “Through catechesis, the celebration of the sacraments, the various spaces that foster active participation in community life (as proposed by the current synodal journey), commitment to the most disadvantaged, and gathering in the house of the Lord on Sundays, one reaches that maturity of faith which ultimately consists in seeing everything ‘through the eyes of Jesus.’”

In our age there are still people who convert or return to the practice of the Catholic faith; nevertheless, “there is also a parallel difficulty concerning the perseverance of neophytes [new Catholics], who often, shortly after receiving baptism, return to a state of practical indifference,” the document says. It therefore becomes necessary, the dicastery warns, to rediscover “the importance of the community in welcoming and accompanying new members of the faithful.”

New technologies and ideology

Addressing new digital technologies and artificial intelligence, the document says “the invitation to faith risks becoming disembodied, detached from concrete life, or tied to ideologies promoted by vocal minorities. This can lead to distortions of the faith itself or of conscience, or it can lead people to construct a so-called ‘do-it-yourself’ faith, shaped by their own tastes and preferences rather than by the teaching of the Church.”

At the same time, this situation opens up new frontiers for evangelization and, the dicastery states, the essential need “to transmit the faith, beginning with the ‘kerygma.’”

“It seems entirely natural that believers should embark on a renewed period of proclaiming the Gospel,” it continues. For this reason, “Christian communities are strongly called to promote — in season and out of season — a renewal of the proclamation of the ‘kerygma.’”

Liturgy

In the document, the liturgy is given particular importance for the transmission of the faith: “If the heart of the Christian proclamation is the encounter with God’s saving love in Christ, the liturgy constitutes the privileged place in which this mystery is celebrated and communicated sacramentally. For this reason, it plays a central role in handing on the faith, serving as the beating heart of ecclesial life, where the community is nourished by the Word of God and the Bread of eternal life.”

“In this regard, we must move beyond a reductive view that regards the liturgy as merely a ritual framework for ecclesial life. The liturgy, in fact, is first and foremost an experience of faith, even before it is a teaching, in that it allows the faithful to participate in gestures, words, silences, and symbols, thereby experiencing the mystery of Christ in a living way,” it continues.

The document further emphasizes that special care must be taken to enable, in every diocese, both the faithful and those approaching or returning to the believing community to encounter the various liturgical sensibilities present within the tradition of the Catholic Church.

While respecting the liturgical norms currently in force, pastors are called to value the richness of the Catholic liturgical heritage in such a way as to reach the diverse sensibilities of their flock. “The Christian community grows and is built up through ritual practices, and in this regard, the Church’s rich spiritual heritage represents a precious and inexhaustible resource,” the document says.

Inculturation

Finally, the document includes a passage on inculturation. It is important to recall, it states, “that the inculturation of the faith constitutes a necessary step in its transmission, since the Gospel message must be made understandable to people who share values and categories that do not perfectly coincide with the Hellenistic-Semitic ones in which the biblical text was originally formulated.”

“Where the faith touches the cultural roots and expressions of a people, its transmission truly becomes easier and more fruitful,” it says.

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

With less than a year to go until World Youth Day (WYD) in Seoul, South Korea, Pope Leo XIV invited young Catholics worldwide to register and to view the event as a pilgrimage rather than just a trip to a new place.

“This is not merely an invitation to see a new city; it is a call to set out on a pilgrimage of faith, friendship, and hope,” Leo said in a video message.

The Vatican released the pontiff’s message on Thursday, coinciding with the liturgical feast of St. John Paul II, who established WYD in 1985. In his message, Leo referred to his predecessor, who invited the young to “open wide the doors for Christ.”

“Providentially, today we celebrate the liturgical memory of St. John Paul II, who continuously proclaimed to all peoples, 'Do not be afraid, open wide the doors for Christ.’ These words also apply to each one of you," Leo said.

Pope John Paul II arrives at the campus of Tor Vergata University in Rome for World Youth Day with young people from each continent on Aug. 19, 2000. | Credit: Vatican Media

The pope, who is expected to attend, also reminded young Catholics what to look forward to as they register for WYD 2027: unity in diversity.

“In Seoul, you will meet young people from all across the world, representing a beautiful and rich variety of languages and cultures,” the pope said.

“Yet, despite these differences, and indeed because of your God-given diversity, you will experience an even greater sense of unity, for we are all members of the one body of Christ.”

WYD 2027 registration

The next World Youth Day will take place in Seoul from Aug. 3–8, 2027.

In a press release accompanying the pope’s message, the WYD 2027 organizers urged those registering to do so as groups. As explained in the press release, registration takes place in two phases: first, the group leader creates a group account, and second, the group leader adds each member’s information. Registration is complete once payment is made.

Pilgrims are offered 11 packages to choose from, ranging from $70 to $340, depending on the type of stay, and including public transportation and a pilgrim kit.

Registrations can be made on the WYD 2027 website.

Theme song, patron saints, and Korean hospitality

The theme of WYD 2027 is taken from the Gospel of John 16:33: “Take Courage! I Have Overcome the World.”

On Aug. 3, the WYD 2027 countdown began with the premiere of its official theme song, “Confidite, Ego Vici Mundum” (“Take Courage, I Have Overcome the World,” in Latin), on YouTube. The song was composed by Korean composer Francis Jiyoon Kim.

Pilgrims from South Korea wave a flag at the closing Mass of World Youth Day Lisbon with Pope Francis on Aug. 6, 2023. | Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/EWTN News

St. John Paul II and four other saints are patrons of WYD 2027: St. Andrew Kim Taegon and his companion martyrs, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, St. Josephine Bakhita, and St. Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint to be canonized.

In a July press release ahead of the countdown, Archbishop Peter Soon-taick Chung of Seoul, president of the local organizing committee, expressed hope that the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims expected in Seoul will experience the hospitality of the South Korean people.

“Over the past three years, we have concentrated on laying the foundations for the event. The year ahead will be the time to complete our preparations and welcome young people from every part of the world,” Chung said.

Pope Leo XIV reiterated the Church’s stance against antisemitism and all forms of religious discrimination, recalling the work of St. John Paul II in promoting dialogue between Catholics and Jews.

The pontiff held a private audience on Thursday with a delegation from the American Jewish Committee, one of several meetings he has held with Jewish leaders since his election as pope in 2025.

During the audience, coinciding with the liturgical feast day of St. John Paul II, Leo praised the Polish pope’s efforts to advance Catholic-Jewish dialogue, recalling his address to their delegation in 1995.

“Addressing the board of governors of your committee in 1995, he observed that ‘dialogue between Christians and Jews must find eloquent expression in the life of both our communities,’” Leo said in his address.

“These words remain relevant today, as reflected in your organization’s long-standing commitment to dialogue and cooperation with the Catholic Church.”

An image of St. John Paul II is visible in a side chapel of the Church of Santo Spirito in Sassia in Rome. | Credit: Courtney Mares/EWTN News

As he did in June during a meeting with the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York, Leo reflected on the progress of Catholic-Jewish dialogue since the 1965 publication of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Councilʼs declaration condemning all forms of antisemitism.

“Rooted in our shared spiritual heritage, this friendship also calls us to defend human dignity, serve the poor, protect religious freedom, and promote justice and peace. Essential to this commitment is the rejection of all forms of religious and ethnic hatred and discrimination,” Leo said.

Reiterating the Church’s stance against antisemitism, he added that differences of opinion between Catholics and Jews “must never give rise to prejudice and hostility” and that fraternity between them will “certainly contribute to building a more peaceful world.”

You may know that St. John Paul II was the second-longest-serving pope in modern history with 27 years of pontificate, and he was the first non-Italian pontiff since the Dutch Pope Adrian VI in 1523.

But did you know that he also changed the Catholic Church forever during those 27 years? Here are five ways he did that:

1. He helped bring about the 1989 fall of communism in Eastern Europe.

The pope’s official biographer, George Weigel, who for decades chronicled the pope’s engagement with civic leaders, noted that the way Pope John Paul II influenced the political landscape was enormous. His political influence is seen best in the way his engagement with world leaders assisted the downfall of the U.S.S.R.

Just days before President Ronald Reagan called on Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down” the Berlin Wall, he met with the pope. According to historian and author Paul Kengor, Reagan went so far as to call Pope John Paul II his “best friend,” opining that no one knew his soul better than the Polish pontiff who had also suffered an assassination attempt and carried the burden of world leadership.

In the course of 38 official visits and 738 audiences and meetings held with heads of state, John Paul II influenced civic leaders around the world in this epic battle with a regime that would ultimately be responsible for the deaths of more than 30 million people.

“He thought of himself as the universal pastor of the Catholic Church, dealing with sovereign political actors who were as subject to the universal moral law as anybody else,” Weigel said.

“He was willing to be a risk-taker, but he also appreciated that prudence is the greatest of political virtues. And I think he was quite respected by world political leaders because of his transparent integrity. His essential attitude toward these men and women was: How can I help you? What can I do to help?”

More than anything, John Paul II understood his role primarily as a spiritual leader.

According to Weigel, the pope’s primary impact on the world of affairs was his central role in creating the revolution of conscience that began in Poland and swept across Eastern Europe. This revolution of conscience inspired the nonviolent revolution of 1989 and the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, an astounding political achievement.

2. He beatified and canonized more saints than any predecessor, making holiness more accessible to ordinary people.

One of John Paul II’s most enduring legacies is the huge number of saints he recognized. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies, during which he proclaimed 1,338 blesseds, and celebrated 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints. That is more than the combined tally of his predecessors over the five centuries before.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta is perhaps the best-known contemporary of John Paul II who is now officially a saint, but the first saint of the new millennium and one especially dear to John Paul II was St. Faustina Kowalska, the fellow Polish native who received the message of divine mercy.

“Sister Faustina’s canonization has a particular eloquence: By this act I intend today to pass this message on to the new millennium,” he said in the homily of her canonization. “I pass it on to all people, so that they will learn to know ever better the true face of God and the true face of their brethren.”

St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, whom Pope John Paul II beatified in 1990 and nicknamed the “Man of the Beatitudes,” is another popular saint elevated by the Polish pope who loved to recognize the holiness of simple persons living the call to holiness with extraordinary fidelity. At the time of his death, the 24-year-old Italian was simply a student with no extraordinary accomplishments. But his love for Christ in the Eucharist and in the poor was elevated by John Paul II as heroic and worthy of imitation. Frassati was canonized Sept. 7, 2025, by Pope Leo XIV.

It bears noting that Pope Francis would later surpass John Paul II when he proclaimed 800 Italian martyrs as saints in a single day.

3. He transformed the papal travel schedule.

John Paul II visited some 129 countries during his pontificate — more countries than any other pope had visited up to that point.

He also created World Youth Days in 1985 and presided over 19 of them as pope.

Weigel said John Paul II understood that the pope must be present to the people of the Church, wherever they are.

“He chose to do it by these extensive travels, which he insisted were not travels, they were pilgrimages,” Weigel said.

“This was the successor of Peter, on pilgrimage to various parts of the world, of the Church. And that’s why these pilgrimages were always built around liturgical events, prayer, adoration of the holy Eucharist, ecumenical and interreligious gatherings — all of this was part of a pilgrimage experience.”

In the latter half of the 20th century — a time of enormous social change and upheaval — John Paul II’s extensive travels and proclamation of the Gospel to the ends of the earth were just what the world needed, Weigel said.

4. He made extraordinary contributions to Church teaching.

John Paul II was a scholar who promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1992, reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law during his pontificate, and authored 14 encyclicals, 15 apostolic exhortations, 11 apostolic constitutions, and 45 apostolic letters.

This is why Weigel said the Church has only begun to unpack what he calls the “magisterium” of John Paul II, in the form of his writings and his intellectual influence.

For example, John Paul’s theology of the body remains enormously influential in the United States and throughout the world, though Weigel said even this has yet to be unpacked.

5. He gave new life to the Catholic Church in Africa.

John Paul II’s legendary evangelical fervor took fire in Africa.

He had a particular friendship with Beninese Cardinal Bernardin Gantin and visited Africa many times. His visits would inspire a generation of JPII Catholics in Africa as well as other parts of the globe.

“John Paul II was fascinated by Africa; he saw African Christianity as living, a kind of New Testament experience of the freshness of the Gospel, and he was very eager to support that, and lift it up,” Gantin said.

“It was very interesting that during the two synods on marriage and the family in 2014 and 2015, some of the strongest defenses of the Church’s classic understanding of marriage and family came from African bishops. Some of whom are first-, second-generation Christians, deeply formed in the image of John Paul II, whom they regard as a model bishop,” Gantin said.

“I think wherever you look around the world Church, the living parts of the Church are those that have accepted the magisterium ... as the authentic interpretation of Vatican II. And the dying parts of the Church, the moribund parts of the Church are those parts that have ignored that magisterium.”

John Paul II’s influence in Africa and around the globe transformed the world. It also forever transformed the Church.

This story was first published on Oct. 22, 2021, and was updated Oct. 22, 2024, and again on Oct. 22, 2026.

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican Press Office issued an important statement Wednesday evening on Pope Leo XIVʼs recovery following his Oct. 13 surgery, confirming that no further treatment is necessary.

The brief statement provided a significant update on the popeʼs postoperative condition.

“Dr. Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora report the following regarding the popeʼs postoperative recovery: Today, the final histological examinations and molecular biology tests on the tissue removed during the Holy Fatherʼs surgery were completed. The results confirmed that it was pulmonary adenocarcinoma and that the disease was localized. A subsequent oncological assessment confirmed that no further treatment is necessary,” the statement said.

The news that Pope Leo XIV will not require additional treatment following his surgery is an announcement that the world had been awaiting.

Pope Leo XIV was discharged from Romeʼs Gemelli Hospital on Oct. 17 and returned to the Vatican.

On Oct. 21, he held his first general audience since the operation. Appearing to be in excellent spirits, the pope was undeterred by the rain in Rome.

He wanted to be close to the faithful and thank them for their prayers for his health.

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

Hundreds of Chaldean Catholics from Iraq and diaspora communities around the world gathered at the Vatican last week, joining Patriarch Paul III Nona for Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 15.

Celebrated according to the Chaldean rite, the Mass filled St. Peter’s Basilica with prayers and chants in Aramaic, bringing the traditions of the ancient Chaldean Church to the heart of Catholicism. The occasion expressed the unity of the Catholic Church across its different rites and traditions.

The celebration followed a Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 14, during which Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, acting on behalf of Pope Leo XIV, publicly affirmed the ecclesiastical communion the pope granted to Nona following his election as patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans in April.

Chaldean Catholics gather Oct. 15, 2026, at the Vatican, expressing the unity of the Catholic Church across its different rites and traditions. | Credit: Romy Haber

For a community scattered across continents, the gathering was also an opportunity for Chaldean Catholics to come together in prayer, celebrate a shared heritage, and reflect on the challenges facing Chaldeans both in their homeland and abroad.

“This was a beautiful, spiritual, and historic day for all of us — one that we are going to cherish for the rest of our lives,” Father Fawaz Kako, a Chaldean priest serving in the United States, told EWTN News. “It is such a blessing to come together in one place, under one holy Catholic Church.”

For Kako, the faith of earlier generations, particularly those who suffered martyrdom, continues to sustain Chaldeans wherever they live. “Our connection to our Church is about more than just language. It is deeply rooted in Christ and in all the martyrs who gave themselves to him and whom we look to,” he said.

“Those who came before us shed their blood for Jesus. Today, we see that as a source of strength, something we can cling to as we continue to follow Christ.”

Patriarch Paul III Nona celebrates Mass with hundreds of Chaldean Catholics in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 15, 2026. Nona is the Chaldean Catholic patriarch of Baghdad, serving as the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church. | Credit: Romy Haber

Preserving that identity far from the homeland presents its own difficulties.

Father Christopher Somo, another Chaldean priest serving in the United States, described the pressure that smaller communities face within the societies where they have settled.

“When you go to another culture, there’s a temptation to let your culture become diluted in the midst of a larger and more powerful culture,” he said.

At the same time, Somo stressed that the Church faces the challenge of preserving its presence and heritage in Iraq after many years of persecution.

Father Albert Hisham, a Chaldean priest based in Iraq, described how successive waves of violence, particularly since 2003, had driven Christians to leave. He recalled church bombings, the kidnapping and killing of clergy and other Christians, and the Islamic State group’s expulsion of Christians from Mosul and villages in the Nineveh Plain. 

“This has led our people, our Chaldean faithful, to almost lose confidence in the possibility of remaining in Iraq, which deeply saddens us,” Hisham said. He also estimated that more than 1 million Christians had emigrated over the past two or three decades. Yet leaving Iraq has not necessarily brought an end to their longing for home.

For those abroad, Hisham said, the desire to return remains, but the difficulties of resettling prevent many from acting on it.

“There are many Christians who find it very difficult to return to Iraq after settling in countries abroad,” he stressed.

Kako also acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding a permanent return, even among those who maintain close ties with their homeland. “We always travel back home and visit. But we are also very well established in the diaspora,” he said. “It all depends on how peaceful that region will be.”

Hisham said Patriarch Nona has emphasized that encouraging Christians to return must be accompanied by practical measures to help them rebuild their lives. These include housing, employment, and opportunities for investment.

“There must be job opportunities for Christians to return; otherwise, the invitation alone is not enough,” he said.

Hundreds of Chaldean Catholics gather at St. Peterʼs Basilica in Rome for Mass on Oct. 15, 2026. | Credit: Romy Haber

While the question of return remains unresolved, communities abroad continue to support those in Iraq. Father Mahir Murad, a Chaldean priest serving in Australia, described efforts that range from raising funds to advocating for their protection.

“In Australia, we’re doing a lot of lobbying with members of Parliament about how we can keep our people safe, what we can do to protect them, and how we can help them leave the country if we can,” he said.

Parish communities also collect donations and send financial assistance to people back home, he added. Murad acknowledged the difficult choices involved in supporting both those who wish to remain and those who feel they must leave. He expressed a desire to preserve the community’s presence in its homeland while respecting the needs of people who fear for their safety.

“We are the indigenous people of Iraq. We want our people to stay, but to feel protected also,” he said. “For those who want to leave because they feel persecuted, we want to help them leave the country.”

Nevertheless, Murad said he hopes peace will allow more Chaldeans to return.

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

Pope Leo XIV, in his first private audience since undergoing surgery on Oct. 13, said the history of the world is inseparable from the history of the saints.

“The history of the world without saints would be immeasurably poorer; that is, less human,” Leo said in his address.

The pontiff met on Wednesday with participants of the “Holiness in History” conference, held at the Patristic Institute Augustinianum center in Rome from Oct. 19–21. Organized by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the conference explored the role of historical research in determining whether to declare someone a saint.

Rigor in canonization causes

In his remarks, Leo referenced Pope Pius XI, who established the dicastery’s historical section in 1930, and emphasized that recent causes for canonization must continue to be carefully evaluated against historical evidence of one’s holiness.

Pope Leo XIV delivers remarks during a private audience at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican with participants in the “Holiness in History” conference on Oct. 21, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

“The treatment of ‘recent causes’ likewise cannot dispense with a serious and rigorous examination of all the material collected,” Pope Leo said. “Causes of saints make use of the tools proper to the study of history, even though their aim is not to produce historiography, but rather to bring to light the exemplary nature, spirituality, and reputation for holiness of those proposed for the altars.”

Saints must be understood in context

Leo also explained the importance of placing canonized saints in the context in which they lived, eliminating stereotypes and misunderstandings.

“As the ages pass, even the profile of saints may undergo development: not to follow the stereotypes of the moment, but to interpret a particular experience through the categories of the Gospel lived out,” Leo said.

“For this reason, placing the witness of a saint within the context in which he or she lived is very important. The people of God seek models for living in the present, intercessors who help members of the Church face today’s challenges and recognize their opportunities.”

VATICAN CITY — The mutual self-gift of husband and wife underlies the requirement for “total fidelity” and the “unbreakable oneness” of marriage, Pope Leo XIV said at the general audience on Wednesday.

“The mutual self-giving of man and woman, such that ‘they are no longer two but one flesh,’ underlies the requirement for ‘total fidelity’ and the ‘unbreakable oneness’ of the spouses, finding vivid expression in the procreation and upbringing of children,” he said during his catechesis on Oct. 21.

The pontiff presided over the general audience just days after being discharged from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he underwent surgery for lung cancer on Oct. 13. It was the Holy Father’s first ride in the popemobile since the operation and a chance to greet the faithful who had braved the morning’s rainy weather.

The pope was welcomed with a lengthy applause when he arrived at the platform in St. Peter’s Square. Not only pilgrims but also cardinals and bishops working in the Roman Curia gave a standing ovation upon his arrival. For many, it was the first opportunity to shake his hand again following his hospitalization.

Pope Leo XIV leans down to bless a baby while greeting the crowds during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 21, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News

Leo XIV appeared energetic after the surgical procedure, which took place just eight days ago. Before beginning the catechesis, he thanked the many people who had shown him support during his hospitalization: “The first thing I would like to say is thank you! Thank you for the support of your prayers. Thanks be to God for his generosity.”

Protecting families is ‘more urgent than ever before’

During his address, the Holy Father continued his series of messages dedicated to the Second Vatican Council’s pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes.

He focused his reflection on marriage and the family, convinced that “the well-being of the individual and of human and Christian society is intimately linked with the healthy condition of that community produced by marriage and family.”

He stressed that the commitment to protecting families is “more urgent than ever before” and reminded “all those with social responsibilities, especially in the political and cultural spheres,” of their duty to “work efficiently for the welfare of marriage and the family.”

“The Church is well aware of this, as shown by the pastoral concern of the popes who have succeeded one another since the last council, right up to the two synodal assemblies convened by Pope Francis, which were addressed again in recent days by the heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches and the presidents of the episcopal conferences,” he said.

Leo XIV was referring to a recent meeting on the family he convened to mark the 10th anniversary of the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, attended by the presidents of bishops’ conferences from around the world.

A synthesis document compiling the principal interventions, without doctrinal authority, had been scheduled for publication, but the pontiff requested that its release be postponed so that he could study it carefully.

Pope Leo XIV delivers his catechesis during the first general audience after surgery to remove a cancerous nodule in his lung. He was greeted by a long applause upon arriving in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 21, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News

The pope emphasized that Gaudium et Spes does not merely reiterate the values and purposes of marriage but offers a renewed understanding of it as an “intimate partnership of married life and love.” He explained that this vision incorporates the juridical dimension of marriage as a contract, while grounding the union in the “conjugal covenant,” understood as the “human act whereby spouses mutually bestow and accept each another.”

In his view, this reality finds a particularly vivid expression in the procreation and upbringing of children. “Conjugal love is not limited to erotic attraction, which it nonetheless encompasses, but involves the entire will of the spouses, enlivening the affections of their hearts and expressing itself through sentiments and gestures of tenderness,” he explained.

‘Integral love from person to person’

He also noted that this love “embraces the good of the whole person of both man and woman, who are equal in dignity.” It “pervades the entire life of the spouses, finding expression in acts proper exclusively to marriage.”

“Whilst signifying integral love from person to person, the unique intimacy between the spouses fosters their mutual self-giving and enriches their shared joy,” he added, before highlighting that the fruitfulness of conjugal love is also expressed through the procreation of children, “the supreme gift of marriage.”

“By transmitting and educating human life, which must never be rejected, spouses become ‘cooperators with the love of God the Creator, and are, so to speak, the interpreters of that love,’” Leo XIV said.

The pope added that spouses, called to this human and Christian responsibility, “are bound to allow themselves to be guided by a sound judgment regarding their own good and that of their children, whether already born or yet to be born.”

“Such a judgment, which, in the final analysis, the spouses themselves must form before God, requires that their conscience conform to divine law, as interpreted by the magisterium of the Church in the light of the Gospel,” he stated.

Rejection of abortion and infanticide

Drawing on these principles, the pontiff reiterated the Church’s defense of human life from conception. From this, he said, it follows that “from the moment of its conception, life must be guarded with the greatest care,” while rejecting “abortion and infanticide.”

He also affirmed that “the acts themselves which are proper to conjugal love and which are exercised in accord with genuine human dignity must be honored with great reverence.”

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

Pope Leo XIV on Monday renewed much of the International Theological Commission (ITC), appointing 24 new members, including four Latin American theologians and one Spaniard, who will take part in the bodyʼs work over the next five years.

The new group consists of 16 priests, one religious sister, and seven laypeople. The commissionʼs other six members will serve a second term. Among the new appointees are Argentine priests Fabricio Leonel Forcat and Jorge Alejandro Scampini, both professors at the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina.

Sources at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith told EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, that the commission will be divided into two thematic subcommissions.

The first will study Church tradition, a central question in Catholic theology and in understanding how the faith has been handed down through the centuries.

According to the sources, this subcommission will seek to “clarify what Tradition with a capital T is, where it is found, how it is determined that something belongs to Tradition, and so forth.”

To accomplish this, it will draw on biblical, patristic, historical, philosophical, and even scientific contributions.

It will also examine the development of magisterial reflection on the subject.

"It will seek to thoughtfully assimilate what the various pontiffs, from Paul VI to Magnifica Humanitas, have clarified on the matter," the sources added.

Faith and culture

A second subcommission will focus on the cultural forms through which the faith is transmitted — that is, how the Churchʼs living tradition is expressed and passed on through different cultures.

“It will study that living Tradition that runs through the manifestations of faith of the People of God in their various cultural forms,” the dicastery sources said.

This work will include an in-depth examination of issues such as inculturation, popular piety, and the various forms of language through which the Christian faith is expressed and communicated in different cultural contexts.

“The topics chosen emerge from dialogue between the president of the commission [Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith] and the pope,” the sources explained.

Established by St. Paul VI in 1969 and affiliated with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the International Theological Commission is tasked with assisting the Holy See in studying doctrinal questions of particular importance.

Its members, internationally recognized theologians from around the world, are appointed by the pope at the recommendation of the dicasteryʼs prefect.

What is Church tradition?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 78), tradition is the living transmission of the Gospel accomplished in the Holy Spirit. It is distinct from sacred Scripture, although closely connected to it.

Through tradition, “the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes” (Dei Verbum, 8).

This tradition receives the word of God entrusted by Christ and the Holy Spirit to the apostles and hands it on in its entirety to their successors, so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, explain, and spread it through their preaching (Catechism, No. 81).

Specifically, this refers to apostolic tradition, which transmits what the apostles received from Jesus' teachings and example and what they learned through the Holy Spirit. It is distinct from particular ecclesial traditions, which can vary according to place and historical period (Catechism, No. 83).

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

Sister Mary Barron, a religious sister from Ireland, first landed in Tanzania as a missionary three decades ago. That experience had a huge impact on her and the roles she has held since — including her latest appointment as president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Mission Societies and adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization.

“I went there as an evangelizer, but I in turn was evangelized,” Barron told EWTN News in Rome on Oct. 19, speaking of her time in Africa.

“I learned so much from the people in Tanzania about how they see God, how they relate to God. And I, in turn, was able to share [my perspective],” she said.

Barron, the latest woman to be named a superior of a Vatican office, also spoke about women’s role in Church leadership and the possibility of their ordination as priests.

The Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) is a worldwide network of four missionary bodies — the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Society of the Holy Childhood, the Society of St. Peter the Apostle, and the Missionary Union.

An official instrument of the Holy See, PMS supports the Church’s missionary activity around the world. An annual offering taken up in Catholic churches on World Mission Sunday, observed on the third Sunday of October, supports its work. In 2026, World Mission Sunday was observed on Oct. 18.

Barron said when she was a missionary in Tanzania, she cherished the spiritual support of her parish in rural County Donegal, which would pray for her every Sunday as a missionary abroad.

“World Mission Sunday is a day when every parish, every diocese in the world thinks of all those missionaries and prays,” she explained. “Of course, there’s the material support also. But first and foremost, [what’s important is] that spiritual connection, that universality of our Church, where we’re actually connecting with each other around the world.”

As she takes up her new roles in the Vatican on Jan. 4, 2027, Barron said that same spiritual connection of the Church with missionaries remains important to her.

“The priority for me … is very much about the missionary spirit,” Barron said, underlining the Second Vatican Council’s emphasis on the missionary vocation of members of the Church.

“Everyone is called to mission by virtue of their baptism … and weʼre slowly growing into that realization,” she said.

Women’s leadership in the Church

Barron is the first woman to be president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, but she said she sees her appointment to such a position to be less about raising the profile of women, as being “for the Church … for all of us.”

Leadership roles in the institutional Church used to be limited to ordained men, members of the “hierarchical Church,” she said. “And now gradually thereʼs an awareness that, yes, there are other dimensions of the Church that also are gifted … And I think itʼs for all of us. … For me, it’s never been a man-woman thing. Itʼs [that] weʼre all in this together as witnesses to God who created us all in Godʼs own image.”

Barron said she appreciates the willingness of Pope Francis and now Pope Leo to consider a person’s overall capability for a role — outside of whether or not he is a cleric.

“Itʼs beginning to use the giftedness of all the baptized for the good of Godʼs mission,” she said.

Views on women’s ordination

Barron has served since 2018 as congregational leader of her order, the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles. She was also president of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), which represents approximately 600,000 religious sisters in 80 countries, from 2023 to 2025.

In that role, she participated in the two monthlong assemblies of the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican in October 2023 and 2024.

In 2024, during a press conference following synod discussions, Barron addressed the question of women who experience “a call to priesthood.”

“I think we have to look at the question very much from … the Spirit. ‘Is the Spirit calling women?’ Because some women do sense a call to priesthood or diaconate,” she said on Oct. 7, 2024.

St. John Paul II, in the 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, stated that all Catholics must “definitively” follow the Church’s teaching on a male-only priesthood.

Pope Francis also repeated John Paul II’s declarations on the issue during his pontificate, saying in 2013 that on the ordination of women “the Church has spoken and says, ‘No.’ … That is closed, that door.”

Speaking to EWTN News this week, Barron expressed the same views she espoused in 2024 — underlining the importance of being open to where the Holy Spirit guides the Church on the issue.

“Who am I to say whether the door is open or closed [to women priests]?” Barron said.

“Women today may hear the call to priesthood. Some of the great women saints heard that call also,” she said. “So for me, itʼs how do we within Church facilitate that discernment?”

The sister said she thinks the Church could do more to accompany women who feel called to the priesthood.

“What do we do as a Church to accompany that discernment to see if, yes, this is what the Spirit is calling the entire Church to or not at this point?” she said. Then, “in the discernment, thereʼs always a choice at the end. Itʼs either yes or no.”

Barron cited a line from the final document of the Synod on Synodality, published in October 2024, which says: “What comes from the Holy Spirit cannot be stopped.”

“So I think even though … there have been moments where we’ve been told we canʼt talk about this at all, itʼs over … it comes back and it comes back,” she said. “So I think the Spirit will guide us even if we say we canʼt talk about it now. I think at another moment itʼll probably come up again.”

“And I think the Spirit will guide us to when and if the time is right,” to consider allowing women’s ordination, she said.

Francis X. Rocca contributed to this report.

In a society of increased indifference, a group of young people associated with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta is living out concretely Pope Leo XIV’s call to “not let our guard down when it comes to poverty.”

Every Tuesday, the youth group of the Rome chapter of the order and other volunteers gather near St. Peterʼs Square to provide food to the homeless. The young professionals and students ranging from 20 to 30 years old dedicate one evening a week of their busy lives to help those less fortunate.

The youth organization is simple: a group of around 10-15 young people meet at 8:30 p.m. in Piazza della Città Leonina, say a short prayer, and walk around the corner to St. Peter’s Square and Via della Conciliazione, the main thoroughfare leading to St. Peter’s Basilica, to offer “brodo” (broth), coffee, a piece of fruit, and snacks — accompanied by a smile — to those in need. The food is provided by the volunteers and distributed in and around the square, where recipients can choose what they want to receive.

The head of the youth group, Luigi Salvaggi, told EWTN News that “faith and prayer lead us to put ourselves in the background.”

It is “a moral but deeply concrete duty [to serve the poor], which is fundamental both for our lives as believers and for the good of society,” he said.

Youth volunteers, including Luigi Salvaggi (sixth from right), prepare to feed the homeless in St. Peterʼs Square on Oct. 6, 2026. | Credit: Isabella Reed/EWTN News ‘Faith and prayer lead us to put ourselves in the background’

The youth who take part by donating their time highlight their love for the poor —  a love that demands action.

Salvaggi said “the goal of the youth group is … to communicate the spirit of the Order [of Malta], helping people understand the profound reasons that drive our work.”

The Sovereign Order of Malta is one of the oldest institutions of Western and Christian civilization. Founded as a religious order of the Catholic Church in 1113, its origins trace back to the hospitals during the Crusades in the Holy Land. Since its foundation, it has been dedicated to serving people in need from diverse faiths: Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and others.

According to its website, the Order of Malta is active in 130 countries, caring for people in need through medical, social, and humanitarian work. Across the world, the Order of Malta is dedicated to the preservation of human dignity and the care of all those in need, regardless of their origin or religion.

Influenced by his parents, Salvaggi learned from a young age that “our charitable work has a profound religious vocation.” He said the reason he decided “to actively commit myself to charitable work is precisely this strong bond between prayer and action.”

As Pope Leo XIV pointed out in Dilexi Te: “This is not a matter of mere human kindness but a revelation: contact with those who are lowly and powerless is a fundamental way of encountering the Lord of history. In the poor, he continues to speak to us.”

A sentiment shared by all the volunteers is the practice not only of service and duty but also of encounter with those in need. “In our own small way,” Salvaggi added, “it is enough for us to be sincere and act because we believe in what we do.”

Pope Leo XIV spoke by telephone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, days after holding a similar conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During Thursday’s call with Putin, Leo XIV requested a humanitarian ceasefire in Oleshky, a city in Ukraine’s Kherson region that has been facing a prolonged humanitarian crisis. Moscow, however, has blamed Kyiv for the situation, according to a Kremlin statement issued after the conversation.

The humanitarian ceasefire was also discussed during Monday’s call with Zelenskyy.

According to a statement from the Holy See Press Office, “In the course of the conversation, the Holy Father recalled the grave situation in the city of Oleshky, in the Kherson region, and made reference to the request for a humanitarian ceasefire that he had presented to the President of the Russian Federation.”

The statement continued: “His Holiness expressed the hope that cooperation between both parties will allow for the delivery of food and medical aid, and for the voluntary and safe evacuation of the civilian population.”

“Finally, the Holy Father reaffirmed the commitment of the Holy See to promoting dialogue and peace,” the statement said.

The telephone conversation with the Ukrainian president marks another step in a diplomatic effort involving Kyiv, Moscow, and the Holy See that began with visits by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the pope’s special envoy, first to Kyiv and then to Moscow.

During Zuppi’s visit to Ukraine in June, the cardinal was asked whether the pope would be willing to advocate for humanitarian assistance for residents of Kherson and Oleshky.

Leo XIV agreed, and Zuppi conveyed the pope’s willingness to intervene on the humanitarian issue during his Sept. 28–30 visit to Moscow.

While Vatican News issued a report following Zuppi’s visit to Ukraine, no similar communication was released after the cardinal’s trip to Russia.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said the telephone conversation with Putin resulted from the pope’s desire for dialogue. “It was the Holy Father who took the initiative to plead the cause of this besieged city,” Parolin told reporters on Friday.

Russian sources, however, have noted that Putin was particularly interested in holding a second conversation with the pope following their first exchange in June 2025.

Monday’s call marked the third telephone conversation between Leo XIV and Zelenskyy since the beginning of the pontificate. The two leaders have also met three times in person.

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

Pope Leo XIV named 24 new members of the International Theological Commission, including University of Notre Dame theologian Father Khaled Anatolios and Boston College professor Boyd Coolman.

These appointments, announced by the Vatican on Monday, are members of an advisory body to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. They will not be required to relocate to Rome but periodically assist the dicastery in examining major theological questions and may publish study documents.

Members of the commission, who can number no more than 30, serve a five-year term that the pope may choose to renew.

2 theologians, both formed by Notre Dame and Boston College

Both Anatolios and Coolman are affiliated with Boston College and Notre Dame through their doctoral work or teaching careers.

Anatolios is a married Melkite Catholic priest who has served as the John A. O’Brien professor of theology at Notre Dame since 2015. He received his doctorate from Boston College in 1996 and taught theology at the college before leaving for Notre Dame.

Father Khaled Anatolios, who has served as a professor of theology at Notre Dame since 2015, was appointed to the International Theological Commission in October 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Khaled Anatolios

Also an ecumenist, he has taught and published on several early Christian theologians, including Sts. Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, and Athanasius, focusing on how patristic theology engages contemporary theology.

Anatolios, in a statement to EWTN News, thanked the pope for the appointment and praised him for his Christocentric focus.

“I am honored and humbled by this appointment,” Anatolios said. “Pope Leo has already set forth, in various explicit and implicit ways, a Christocentric agenda and vision for engaging the urgent challenges and sufferings of our current world.”

“I look forward to working with the other esteemed theologians of the commission in fulfilling this agenda and entering more deeply into this vision,” he added.

Coolman, who received his doctorate in Church history from Notre Dame in 2001, has taught theology at Boston College since 2005.

Boyd Taylor Coolman, who has taught theology at Boston College since 2005, was appointed to the International Theological Commission in October 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Boyd Taylor Coolman

“This is truly a surprising and humbling appointment, but I look forward to serving the Church in this capacity to the best of my ability in the days ahead,” Coolman said in a statement to EWTN News.

Latest Notre Dame appointments to the Vatican

The appointments of Anatolios and Coolman reflect a broader trend of Vatican appointments affiliated with Notre Dame this year.

In March, Pope Leo XIV appointed Father Daniel Gerard Groody, CSC, vice president and associate provost for undergraduate education at the University of Notre Dame, to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Integral Human Development.

The University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. | Credit: Peter Zelasko/CNA

In August, the pope appointed two more Notre Dame professors to that same dicastery: Father Emmanuel Katongole, a professor of theology and peace studies, and Clemens Sedmak, a professor of social ethics and director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies. Leo also appointed Kathryn Koch, a Notre Dame graduate and member of its board of trustees.

In September, John Cavadini, a professor of patristic theology at Notre Dame, was named the winner of the 2026 Ratzinger Prize. He served on the International Theological Commission from 2009 to 2014.