Pope Leo XIV spent his first full day in Peru on Nov. 12 meeting with Church leaders and Peruvian citizens, marking an emotional return to the country he called home for years prior to his papacy.

The Holy Father first began serving in Peru in 1985 as Father Robert Prevost. He would remain in the country for years in various roles, eventually being named as the bishop of Chiclayo in 2015.

Leo will spend several days in Peru, concluding his historic South American papal trip there before returning to Rome. He previously visited Uruguay and Argentina as part of the journey.

Here are photos of Pope Leo’s activities in Peru:

Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowds gathered outside the archbishop’s palace in Lima, Peru, before meeting with Peruvian bishops on Nov. 12, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News/Pool Pope Leo XIV meets with Peruvian bishops on Nov. 12, 2026, at the archbishop’s palace in Lima, Peru. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV meets with Peruvian bishops on Nov. 12, 2026, at the archbishop’s palace in Lima, Peru. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News/Pool Pope Leo XIV meets with Peruvian bishops on Nov. 12, 2026, at the archbishop’s palace in Lima, Peru. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News/Pool Pope Leo XIV delivers his homily during the midday prayer at the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist in Lima, Peru, Nov. 12, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV takes part in a midday prayer at the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist in Lima, Peru, Nov. 12, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV listens during a public meeting with leaders and citizens on the challenges and hopes of the Peruvian people in Lima, Peru, Nov. 12, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Pope Leo XIV greets a woman during a public meeting with leaders and citizens on the challenges and hopes of the Peruvian people in Lima, Peru, Nov. 12, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Pope Leo XIV arrives at National Stadium in Lima, Peru for a prayer vigil with youth on Nov. 12, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Pope Leo XIV waves to Catholics at National Stadium in Lima, Peru during a prayer vigil with youth on Nov. 12, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Pope Leo XIV grows emotional during a prayer vigil with youth at National Stadium in Lima, Peru on Nov. 12, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN

Grammy- and Academy Award-winning singer Jennifer Hudson will usher in the Christmas season at the Vatican with a concert for the poor.

The R&B artist will perform on Dec. 5 at the seventh edition of the Concert with the Poor in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall. As in 2025, Pope Leo XIV will attend the concert, which will support approximately 3,000 people in need served by volunteer organizations around Rome.

Hudson will become the first American vocalist to perform at the Christmas concert, singing alongside the renowned priest and composer Monsignor Marco Frisina, Italian actress and singer Serena Autieri, and the choir of the Diocese of Rome. It will also mark Hudson’s second performance at the Vatican, following her 2025 appearance with others at “Grace for the World,” in tribute to Pope Francis, who died earlier that year.

Illuminated drones reproduce Michelangelo’s “Pietà” over St. Peter’s Basilica during the “Grace for the World” concert at the Vatican on Sept. 14, 2025. | Credit: Courtney Mares/EWTN News

The 2025 edition, which hosted a pope for the first time in its history, featured Canadian singer Michael Bublé, who described the experience as an encouragement to others to discuss their Christian faith openly.

“My hope is that there’s a young person who might listen to me today who might be afraid to share their faith or to be open about it, and they look at me and they say, ‘Wow, look at Bublé. He’s not afraid to share it,’ and maybe it will give them the strength to do the same,” Bublé told EWTN News.

Andrea Bocelli during his performance at the “Canticle of Peace” before Pope Leo XIV and the young people gathered at the Borgo Laudato Si’ in Castel Gandolfo on July 29, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV has attended at least eight musical events since his election in 2025; his most recent was the “Canticle of Peace” musical prayer service at Castel Gandolfo in July, performed by Andrea Bocelli.

Tickets for the Dec. 5 concert are free, with registration opening on Nov. 19 through the website.

Pope Leo XIV concluded his visit to Argentina on Nov. 11 and departed for Peru, his adopted country where he spent years as a bishop and where he will finish his historic South American papal voyage.

The Holy Father spent his last hours in Argentina visiting prisoners at a federal prison complex and holding a public Mass before flying to the Peruvian city of Callao, where he took part in welcoming ceremonies and met with civil authorities.

Here are photos of Pope Leo’s activities in Argentina and Peru on Nov. 11:

Pope Leo XIV walks through the federal prison complex in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov. 11, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Pope Leo XIV greets an assembly of prisoners at the federal prison complex in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov. 11, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN A prisoner embraces Pope Leo XIV at the federal prison complex in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov. 11, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Pope Leo XIV waves to crowds outside of the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, patroness of Argentina, on Nov. 11, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV processes in to Mass in the square in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, patroness of Argentina, on Nov. 11, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in the square in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, patroness of Argentina, on Nov. 11, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in the square in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, patroness of Argentina, on Nov. 11, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV shakes hands with Argentine President Javier Milei as the Holy Father departs after a three-day trip to the country on Nov. 11, 2026, before heading for Peru. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV waves as he prepares to board a plane for Peru after a three-day trip to Argentina on Nov. 11, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV greets the crowds as he steps off the airplane after arriving in Peru on Nov. 11, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV is greeted by Peru President Keiko Fujimori upon his arrival in Peru on Nov. 11, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV participates in a welcome ceremony at the Palacio de Gobierno in Lima, Peru, Nov. 11, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Pope Leo XIV participates in a welcome ceremony at the Palacio de Gobierno in Lima, Peru, Nov. 11, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN

Inspired by Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, tech leaders, clergy, and educators gathered in Rome for a hackathon to reimagine parish life in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).

The event “From Roadmap to Practice” was held at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross on Nov. 7. Following the annual Builders AI Forum that week, the hackathon focused on developing practical prototypes to address parish needs, including liturgical calendars, accessible Church teaching, and digital evangelization.

The hackathon is also set to expand to the United States. Organized by the Catholic Digital Commons Foundation (CDCF) and the Evangelization Lab, the Virtual-to-Sacramental (V2S) hackathon will be held in 4 U.S. dioceses in early 2027.

Where coding meets faith

According to a Nov. 9 press release, more than 60 people gathered for the hackathon, which focused on both building software and organizing ways to support Catholics in the AI era.

More than 15 digital projects were created during the conference, from a digitized Roman martyrology to a database for religious orders.

Father Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP, promoter general for Social Communication of the Order of Preachers, was part of a team that created a database that lets him access documents from his order dating back centuries.

The hackathon “From Roadmap to Practice” was held at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross on Nov. 7, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father John D’Orazio

“Typical PDF searches are complex, inefficient, and often incomplete,” Briscoe said. “I teamed up with a developer who, in a few hours, allowed me to tap into hundreds of years of documents to get access to our own resources for formation, content creation, and governance.”

Other projects built included AI-governance tools for parishes, a lunch sign-up sheet for a Roman seminary, and a digitized version of the Roman martyrology.

Keeping the human at the center of American parish life

A central focus of the hackathon was how to implement AI and other technologies into parish life, including in the U.S. in 2027.

Taylor Black, executive director of the Leonum Institute at The Catholic University of America, emphasized that the Church under Pope Leo XIV needed to embrace its vocation to build in the digital age.

“Pope Leo emphasizes the builder’s vocation in the Church, and it starts with sitting down with the people who do the work and creating something they can try together,” Black said.

Participants in the hackathon “From Roadmap to Practice” pictured at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father John D’Orazio

José Manuel De Urquidi, founder of the Evangelization Lab, expressed his hope that bishops in the U.S. would support the initiative, which he believes will address the challenge of encountering Christ online but not within Catholic communities.

“[The bishops] not only have to bless it but also support it, because the Church as an institution can be slow and risk-averse,” Urquidi said. “A hackathon brings a few involved Catholics and a coder to the same table for a whole day, and by evening they have something they can actually try in real life.”

Sister Nancy Usselmann, FSP, director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies, said the hackathon, her first ever, revealed the potential for collaboration between Church and tech leaders to spread the Gospel.

“This was my first hackathon — a phenomenal learning experience of profound collaboration between pastoral leaders and builders,” Usselmann told EWTN News. “It helped all of us to imagine possibilities, develop opportunities, and create collaborative relationships for the Gospel.”

Amid the ongoing armed conflict in the Holy Land, Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, will make a pastoral visit to the region on behalf of Pope Leo XIV.

The Italian cardinal will visit Israel and Palestine from Nov. 16–21. According to a press release from his dicastery, Gugerotti will visit the Catholic communities in these regions to bring them “the expression of the Holy Fatherʼs closeness” as they continue to navigate ongoing casualties from the war and a diminished Christian population.

According to the press release, Israel’s overall Christian communities remain low in terms of population, with approximately 185,000 citizens, equal to 1.9% of the country’s population. Catholics, most of whom belong to the Greek Melkite Church, comprise a majority of these citizens.

The ongoing war in Gaza has also influenced Christian emigration from these lands, particularly from Palestine. In the West Bank, according to the release, Catholics number 35,000 out of 3.5 million people, and there are only 500 Christians in the entire Gaza Strip.

During Gugerotti’s visit, he will meet with the Israeli and Palestinian Catholic communities and celebrate Mass at major Christian sites in the Holy Land, including those in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Galilee.

The cardinal will also visit the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, and the Armenian patriarch of Jerusalem, Nourhan Manougian. In the press release, the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches said that these pastoral and ecumenical visits would “represent the Holy Fatherʼs solidarity and the concrete support of the entire Church for the brothers and sisters of the Holy Land.”

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Octavi Vilà Mayo of Girona, Spain, as the new archbishop of Barcelona, succeeding Cardinal Juan José Omella, who turned 80 in April.

This is the first in what is expected to be a long list of pending episcopal appointments in the Catholic Church in Spain. With Barcelona now filled, attention turns again to Girona — a diocese in eastern Spain — which was without a bishop for more than two years before Vilà’s arrival and is now once again awaiting a new shepherd.

The bishop who entered a monastery at age 45

Born in 1961, Vilà entered the Spanish Monastery of Santa Maria of Poblet in 2005 and made his solemn profession on Aug. 15, 2010. Five years later, he was elected abbot, a position to which he was reelected until 2021, when he reached the canonical age limit.

Holding a degree in geography and history and a diploma in library and information science from the University of Barcelona, he was appointed bishop of Girona by Pope Francis in February 2024 and was ordained bishop in Girona Cathedral on April 21, 2024.

Within the Spanish bishops’ conference, he serves as a member of the Episcopal Commission for Consecrated Life. His episcopal motto, “Lead in Order to Serve,” comes from an expression of St. Bernard of Clairvaux.

In a letter to his new diocese, Vilà said he had been called by Pope Leo XIV “to share with you a part of the journey toward the Kingdom of God” and expressed his intentions: “I come to Barcelona ready to work courageously for the future of our Church and to do so together with each and every one of you.”

He also underscored the need to “live the faith in communion,” praised the richness of charisms in the Archdiocese of Barcelona, encouraged Catholics never to “give up evangelizing” and to do so “through our lives, through our words, and by living the faith consistently.”

Drawing on his monastic experience, he encouraged his new flock to keep Christ as their “center, model, and goal” and to cultivate intimacy with the Lord.

Before concluding, Vilà entrusted himself “to the many saints our archdiocese has produced throughout the centuries and especially to the martyrs who, both in ancient times and in the 20th century, are a source of inspiration for all of us.”

An Aragon native who arrived in Barcelona by way of Zaire Cardinal Juan José Omella, archbishop emeritus of Barcelona, photographed in St. Peter’s Basilica on June 28, 2017. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

With this appointment, the long pastoral ministry of Omella comes to an end. Born in the Aragonese town of Cretas in 1946, he studied at the Seminary of Zaragoza and at the formation centers of the White Fathers in Leuven and Jerusalem before being ordained a priest in 1970.

He served in various pastoral roles in the Archdiocese of Zaragoza during his early years as a priest, including a year as a missionary in Zaire. In 1996 he was named auxiliary bishop of Zaragoza and three years later was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón.

Between 2001 and 2003, he also served as apostolic administrator of the dioceses of Huesca and Jaca. In 2004 he was appointed bishop of Calahorra and La Calzada-Logroño, where he remained until the end of 2015, when he was named archbishop of Barcelona.

A trusted collaborator of Pope Francis

Following Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation and the election of Pope Francis, Omella’s presence in Roman institutions steadily increased. In 2014 he joined the Congregation, now Dicastery, for Bishops, where he served until June 2026. He has also been a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

That same year, he was created a cardinal by Pope Francis, and in October 2018 he joined the Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops. In March 2023 he was appointed to the Council of Cardinals, the advisory body established by Pope Francis.

In Spain, he was elected president of the Spanish bishops’ conference from 2020 to 2024, years marked by the parliamentary investigation into abuse committed within the Catholic Church. Earlier, he had served as a member of its executive committee, on various commissions, and as national ecclesiastical adviser to Manos Unidas — a nongovernmental organization of the Catholic Church in Spain for development cooperation — from 1999 to 2005.

In a letter addressed to the faithful of Barcelona, the cardinal said that “the arrival of a new bishop is always a moment of grace for a diocese. People change, new stages begin, but the one Shepherd of the Church, Jesus Christ, remains.”

He also emphasized that welcoming the new prelate “also means being ready to walk with him” and therefore urged the faithful to offer their fullest cooperation.

‘In love with this land and its people’

“I feel that I leave deeply in love with this land and its people,” Omella said after the appointment of his successor was announced. During a public appearance, he revealed that he will not remain in Barcelona but will retire to a priests’ residence in Zaragoza: “I am not staying in Barcelona because I do not want to cast a shadow.”

Asked by journalists to assess his years in Barcelona, which were marked by strong political and religious tensions in society, the cardinal declined to offer a personal evaluation. However, he said that in the face of these difficulties he had sought “to bring opposing sides together, that is, to build bridges and foster dialogue.”

Of his successor, he said he is “a simple man with a solid intellectual formation. ... A man of prayer, a man who loves this land and its people, and who wants to evangelize.”

‘I neither confirm nor deny it’

Asked whether he had played any role in promoting Vilà’s appointment, the cardinal replied that if he answered, “it might seem that I am revealing secrets. I neither confirm nor deny it.”

“Who was the person I had in mind and proposed as my successor? I cannot say. Who was the person I had in mind as pope when I entered the conclave? I cannot say that either. But I had a second choice, and it was the same person who was ultimately elected,” he said, referring to Pope Leo XIV.

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 marked two full days in Argentina with several Masses and meetings with Catholic leadership along with a youth vigil and a celebration of vespers.

The pope will finish his Argentinian visit on Nov. 11 and fly to Peru, his adopted country where he spent years as a bishop and where he will finish out his historic South American trip. The Holy Father already visited Uruguay at the outset of his journey.

Here are some photos of Pope Leo’s activities in Argentina.

Javier Milei, president of Argentina, welcomes Pope Leo XIV at airport in Buenos Aires on Nov. 8, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV visits on Nov. 9, 2026 the staff and residents of the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione in Claypole, a residential institution in Argentina inspired by St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV visits on Nov. 9, 2026 the staff and residents of the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione in Claypole, a residential institution in Argentina inspired by St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV visits on Nov. 9, 2026 the staff and residents of the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione in Claypole, a residential institution in Argentina inspired by St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo, an Italian priest from Turin who founded a network of charitable institutions dedicated to caring for people whom society often neglected, especially people with disabilities, the poor, and chronically ill. | Credit: Vatican Media About 2.5 million faithful gather for Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV at the Monument de los Españoles in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Nov. 9, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV delivers his homily during the celebration of vespers with the Argentine bishops on Nov. 9, 2026, at the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity in Buenos Aires, Argentina. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV arrives in Córdoba, Argentina, Nov. 10, 2026. The Holy Father came to Argentina as part of his whirlwind 12-day papal trip to South America. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV is greeted by youth after arriving in Córdoba, Argentina, Nov. 10, 2026. The Holy Father came to Argentina as part of his whirlwind 12-day papal trip to South America. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV waves to crowds in Córdoba, Argentina, Nov. 10, 2026. The Holy Father came to Argentina as part of his whirlwind 12-day papal trip to South America. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowds as he processes in for Mass in Córdoba, Argentina, on Nov. 10, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass at the Military Aviation School in Córdoba, Argentina, on Nov. 10, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass at the Military Aviation School in Córdoba, Argentina, on Nov. 10, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass at the Military Aviation School in Córdoba, Argentina, on Nov. 10, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV waves to crowds in Córdoba, Argentina, on Nov. 10, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV meets with bishops, clergy, religious, seminarians, and pastoral workers outside Córdoba’s cathedral in Argentina on Nov. 10, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV meets with bishops, clergy, religious, seminarians, and pastoral workers outside Córdoba’s cathedral in Argentina on Nov. 10, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV greets a Catholic woman while meeting with bishops, clergy, religious, seminarians, and pastoral workers outside Córdoba’s cathedral in Argentina on Nov. 10, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV holds a candle during a youth vigil at the Monumento de los Españoles in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov. 10, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Pope Leo XIV participates in a youth vigil at the Monumento de los Españoles in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov. 10, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN

Throughout the last two millennia, the Catholic Church has only granted the title “doctor of the Church” to 38 saints, one of whom we celebrate today on Nov. 10: St. Leo the Great, the 45th bishop of Rome.

Pope Leo I, who was the first pope to be remembered posthumously as “the Great,” began his papacy in 440 and served until his death in 461. During his pontificate, he worked to clarify doctrines related to Christ’s human and divine natures.

The pontiff was a “pope-theologian, but he’s also known as a remarkable bishop,” Thomas Clemmons, a professor of Church history at The Catholic University of America, told EWTN News, adding that “theologian popes are rare.”

St. Leo’s papacy began nine years after the Council of Ephesus, which condemned Nestorius and the heresy of Nestorianism, leading many of Nestorius’ followers to schism. The heresy rejected the close union of Christ’s human and divine natures and rejected the Marian title of “Theotokos,” or God-bearer, claiming that Mary only gave birth to Christ’s human nature.

Rising out of the Nestorian schism were more Christological conflicts over the relationship between Christ’s humanity and divinity. Eutyches, an opponent of Nestorius, went too far in the opposite direction, claiming that Christ’s human and divine natures were fused into one single nature. His human nature, Eutyches claimed, was “dissolved like a drop of honey in the sea.”

This heretical understanding, according to Clemmons, turned Christ into a “third thing” or a “kind of monster” rather than the Catholic understanding of Christ as “one Person” with “complete and true humanity and complete and true divinity.”

To combat Eutyches’ error, Pope Leo wrote a letter to Flavian I, the archbishop of Constantinople, which clarified the hypostatic union of Christ’s distinct human nature and distinct divine nature. The letter, which became known as “Leo’s Tome,” is the pontiff’s most famous work and set the stage for defining Christological doctrines at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

“Both natures retain their own proper character without loss: and as the form of God did not do away with the form of a slave, so the form of a slave did not impair the form of God,” Pope Leo wrote in the letter.

“From the mother of the Lord was received nature, not faultiness: nor in the Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin’s womb, does the wonderfulness of his birth make his nature unlike ours,” the letter continued. “For he who is true God is also true man: and in this union there is no lie, since the humility of manhood and the loftiness of the Godhead both meet there.”

In emphasizing the fullness of Christ’s human nature in the letter, Leo cites the genealogy of Christ listed in the Scripture, along with his human experiences, particularly suffering and death on the cross: “Let [Eutyches] not disbelieve [Christ is a] man with a body like ours, since he acknowledges [Christ] to have been able to suffer: seeing that the denial of his true flesh is also the denial of his bodily suffering.”

Leo emphasized the words of the Creed when emphasizing the fullness of Christ’s divine nature, stating: “Not only is God believed to be both Almighty and the Father, but the Son is shown to be co-eternal with him, differing in nothing from the Father because he is God from God, Almighty from Almighty, and being born from the Eternal One is co-eternal with him.”

The pontiff bolstered his argument with citations from Scripture that point to the fullness of Christ’s divine nature and the fullness of his human nature.

“To be hungry and thirsty, to be weary, and to sleep, is clearly human,” Leo said. “But to satisfy 5,000 men with five loaves, and to bestow on the woman of Samaria living water, droughts of which can secure the drinker from thirsting any more, to walk upon the surface of the sea with feet that do not sink, and to quell the risings of the waves by rebuking the winds, is, without any doubt, divine.”

Clemmons praised Leo’s Tome as a “simple and clear text” that is “very readable and very instructional now,” even more than 1,500 years later.

At the time, however, the letter was met with hostility from supporters of Eutyches’ position in Constantinople: “[It was] sent there, read aloud, and they rejected it,” Clemmons said. Emperor Theodosius II convened the faux Second Council of Ephesus in 449, which rejected St. Leo’s letter and defended Eutyches. The supporters of Eutyches brutally assaulted Archbishop Flavian I for defending St. Leo’s position, deposed him, and sent him into exile. He died from his injuries.

St. Leo referred to the council as the “Latrocinium,” the “robber council,” and in 451 the Church convoked the Council of Chalcedon, which defined clearly the hypostatic union of Christ’s human and divine natures and rejected the Second Council of Ephesus.

Chalcedon Council documents cite Leo’s letter and affirm his teachings on the two natures of Christ, stating that Christ “must be confessed to be in two natures, unconfusedly, immutably, indivisibly, inseparably [united] … without the distinction of natures being taken away by such union.”

When speaking to a general audience in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI referred to St. Leo the Great as one of the greatest popes in the history of the Church.

“As the nickname soon attributed to him by tradition suggests, he was truly one of the greatest pontiffs to have honored the Roman See and made a very important contribution to strengthening its authority and prestige,” Benedict said.

This story was first published on Nov. 10, 2023, and was updated on Nov. 10, 2026.

The Catholic Church’s highest appeals court has strongly condemned the practice of publishing online lists of priests “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of minors in a judicial decision published in a law journal last month.

The June 2025 decision — on an action for defamation — was made available in English in October through the canon law journal of St. Paul University in Ottawa and first reported by Catholic World Report.

It has become increasingly common for Catholic dioceses and religious orders, especially in the United States, to publish lists of clerics accused of the abuse of minors, apart from judicial processes to determine guilt. In some cases, the names of deceased clerics have also been included.

The Tribunal of the Roman Rota criticized this practice in a June 26, 2025, decision on a defamation suit.

We “cannot believe … that there is nothing illegitimate in a powerful institution announcing to the whole world that a determined private person has committed a grave delict of which that person has never been convicted nor even accused in a trial,” the Roman Rota wrote.

“For if such an act were not illegitimate,” the court continued, “the good name of all persons would be simply deprived of every protection of law and all would lie open to the snares of extortionists of every kind.”

In the sentence, the Roman Rota found a Catholic religious congregation in the United States guilty of the defamation of a person, identified as Mr. X, for having made public on its website in 2015 that it “deemed credible” allegations by two people that Mr. X had sexually abused them when he was their formator in the 1980s. The religious order also published a press release stating that Mr. X had “abused” students and that the accusations were “substantiated.” (The head of the religious order, when interrogated by the court, said the accusations had been deemed substantiated after they were investigated by a private investigation firm decades after their alleged occurrence.)

Mr. X has never been convicted or charged of a delict (crime) by the Church or by the state, according to the religious congregation. And at the time the religious congregation published the accusations against Mr. X, he was no longer under its jurisdiction, since in 2002, he received permission from the Holy See to return to the lay state and be dispensed from religious vows. He later married and worked in a secular career.

The man, who has insisted on his innocence, asked repeatedly for the notice to be taken down, but the religious congregation refused, and Mr. X subsequently lost his job and his marriage ended. He brought an action against his former religious order within the Church’s legal system claiming that the religious order’s decision to publish his name in connection with the serious crime of abuse caused him unjustifiable harm. He also sought repair for damages.

The Roman Rota in its decision quoted canon 220 of the Code of Canon Law: “No one is permitted to harm illegitimately the good reputation which a person possesses nor to injure the right of any person to protect his or her own privacy.”

“The right to good reputation, because it is ordered to protecting each one’s friendly intercourse in society, is founded upon the natural law itself and is explained in moral theology under the rubric of the eighth precept of the Decalogue. For the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches under No. 2477: ‘Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and every word which may cause unjust harm to them,’” the decision said.

The court said it considered the harm caused by online publications of lists of alleged crimes “infinitely” greater than publication in a book or physical document “since this publication is made to the whole world at once, namely to all human beings dwelling everywhere in all regions of the world.”

The Rota said such a practice is “not in conformity with the principles and norms of the Church’s juridic order” and that some Church institutions have already been informed of this but have “persisted despite the warnings.”

It also disagreed with the argument that such lists are necessary to counter the harm done by years of improper responses to the sexual abuse of children by Church members.

“Reparation for evil deeds cannot be had by doing evil to others,” the court wrote. “Past injustice towards little ones cannot be repaired by committing injustice towards adults, the elderly, the deceased,” who have never been convicted or had charges brought against them in a Church or civil court.

“The Tribunal of the Roman Rota ordinarily acts as an appellate court of higher instance at the Apostolic See, with the purpose of safeguarding rights within the Church; it fosters unity of jurisprudence and, by virtue of its decisions, provides assistance to lower tribunals,” according to the Vatican website.

Ahead of World Fisheries Day, observed annually on Nov. 21, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development has released a message calling the global community to look past commercial statistics and recognize the profound human dignity, deep-seated faith, and daily hardships of the world’s fishers and their families.

Rooted in a tradition established globally in 1997, this yearʼs Vatican message connects the historical struggles of maritime workers with timeless spiritual truths. Issued by the dicastery’s new prefect, Sister Alessandra Smerilli, the text reflects on the Gospel account of the risen Lord waiting on the shores of Lake Tiberias, offering weary fishermen and women the invitation to “Come and have breakfast.”

Smerilli uses this biblical imagery to remind the faithful that Christ is not indifferent to human toil but actively waits on the shores of everyday life, attentive to the exhaustion, anxieties, and concrete needs of those who labor upon the waters.

In the message, Smerilli stresses that the Church must cultivate a culture of encounter that translates spiritual closeness into tangible action.

First, she urges society to truly see the person behind the profession. Fishers are frequently reduced to mere cogs in the global commercial food industry, yet their lives involve immense sacrifice, isolation, and risk. This vision must explicitly encompass often-overlooked members of the fishing community, including the women who labor behind the scenes to process and market the catch, young people navigating an uncertain professional future in maritime trades, and migrant fishers who often face systemic exploitation far away from their homelands and support systems.

Building upon Christ’s gesture of lighting a fire on the shore to comfort his disciples, in the message, the Vatican issues a passionate plea to protect life at sea and on the coast. This defense of human dignity requires practical safeguards: ensuring vessels are safe and seaworthy, guaranteeing fair wages and legal contracts, providing adequate times for proper rest, and maintaining a constant remembrance of those who have lost their lives or gone missing while harvesting the bounty of the sea.

Finally, the Vatican calls upon local Christian communities and the global Church to remain close to fishers through every phase of their lives — from the initial recruitment and departure to the eventual homecoming. No worker should be left to face isolation, workplace injury, psychological trauma, or the vulnerabilities tied to changing economic conditions alone, it says.

Concluding her message with a heartfelt prayer to Mary, Star of the Sea, Smerilli invokes divine protection and guidance, praying that humanity may learn to embrace one another with the same proactive, restorative love that Christ showed his disciples on the shores of Galilee.

The Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome will begin restoration of its Pauline Chapel, a significant work of early Baroque architecture.

The basilica announced plans to restore the chapel’s artwork in a press release on Nov. 6. The project, set to begin on Nov. 16, is one of several in an extensive conservation campaign. During work, the chapel will be closed to the public for 90 days.

Ceiling of the Pauline Chapel at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major

As one of Rome’s four major basilicas, the basilica is reputed to be the oldest shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the Western Hemisphere, built shortly after the Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431, which defined the doctrine of Mary as Mother of God.

The project will also be carried out in collaboration with the Governorate of Vatican City State and will focus on the chapel dome and its surrounding frescoes.

Papal devotion and the ‘Salus Populi Romani’ icon

The Pauline Chapel also houses the ancient Marian icon “Salus Populi Romani” (“Salvation of the Roman People”), depicting Mary and the Christ child.

Tradition holds that St. Luke the Evangelist made the icon. Since its creation, popes have venerated it with liturgical processions and ornate decorations, including St. Gregory the Great and Venerable Pius XII. In 1615, Pope Paul V built an ornate chapel in St. Mary Major to house the icon and solemnly transferred it there.

Pope Francis kneels in prayer before the revered Marian icon “Salus Populi Romani” at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, April 12, 2025. | Credit: Holy See Press Office

Pope Francis was noted for venerating the icon before and after every apostolic journey, visiting it 126 times in his 12-year pontificate. His tomb, placed near the chapel, was made at the pope’s express request to be buried near the icon.

A project to restore Baroque architecture

According to the basilica’s press release, Paul V, after whom the basilica is named, commissioned notable artists in 17th-century Rome to decorate the chapel.

A pictorial cycle surrounding the “Salus Populi Romani” icon centers on the Virgin Mary as mother of the Church. Created from 1610–1612, it involved artists Giovanni Baglione, Lodovico Cardi, Guido Reni, and Giuseppe Cesari.

A prominent feature of the cycle is Cardi’s “Assumption of the Virgin.” Here, the Virgin stands atop a naturalistic moon, inspired by telescopic images by renowned astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610.

“The Assumption of the Virgin,” created by Lodovico Cardi, is on the ceiling of the Pauline Chapel at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major

The basilica is also undergoing restoration of the “Confessio” chapel beneath the high altar. As a result, the reliquary of the Holy Crib — containing pieces of wood reputed to come from the manger where Christ was born — has been moved to a side chapel in the right aisle for veneration from Oct. 15 to Dec. 24.

Chapel of the Confessio, which houses a reliquary of the Holy Crib, under the high altar of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Pope Leo XIV on Saturday encouraged practicing Catholics in a secular society, and especially young people, to keep their faith strong and to live in virtuous ways that can attract people to the Church.

The pope made his remarks at an evening prayer vigil in a stadium in Uruguay’s capital, with about 70,000 people in attendance. Local authorities estimated that another 30,000 people were following the event nearby.

Uruguay is one of Latin Americaʼs most secular societies, where a majority of people have no affiliation with organized religion and the official state calendar has renamed Catholic holidays with secular terms, such as substituting Tourism Week for Holy Week.

Leo said the experience of faithful Uruguayan Catholics “can help brothers and sisters in other parts of the world who are beginning to discover, in different ways, what it means to be a minority.”

The pope consoled Uruguayan Catholics for their small numbers, noting that Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, was proverbially small and that, in the Eucharist, “the Lord of the universe is present under the humble appearances of bread and wine.”

Yet he said that Christians can draw others into their ranks by behaving in exemplary ways.

“Perhaps there are people who would never open a Bible on their own, who have not set foot in a church in years, or who cannot even say whether they believe in God. But when they see you, the desire for God may be awakened in them; they may even discover that it is worth risking their lives to find him,” the pope said.

“Christ did not call us to mediocrity,” Leo said. He urged his listeners to pursue excellence in the pursuit of holiness.

“When being just and honest comes at a price, pay it. When forgiving seems like a defeat, forgive. When everyone tells you to think of yourselves first, do not be afraid to put yourselves in the last place,” he said.

“Be willing to give up time, money, comfort and plans to serve others. May those who see you find themselves asking: ‘Why do they live in this way? Where do they get this freedom? Why do they love one another so much?’”

The vigil ended with a spectacular fireworks display.

Earlier, the pope spoke at the Catholic University of Uruguay, where he shared thoughts on the intellectual formation of young people in the Church.

“Our Catholic education cannot be confined to a closed circle. Rather, it must learn to listen to families, civil society, political and administrative authorities, as well as representatives of the various economic sectors and professional groups,” Leo concluded.

But he warned that “generations are changing far more rapidly than in the past and that keeping pace with the times — without abandoning sound tradition — is a real challenge.”

The pope was scheduled to leave Uruguay on Sunday for Argentina, where he will spend three days before moving on to his former home of Peru, where he will spend five days before returning to Rome.

Pope Leo XIV held a papal Mass, visited with several Catholic groups and communities, and presided over a prayer vigil in Uruguay on Nov. 7, the first full day of his historic trip to South America.

The pope arrived in Uruguay on Nov. 6 and was scheduled to leave the country on Sunday for Argentina, where he will spend three days before moving on to his former home of Peru, where he will spend five days before returning to Rome.

Here are photos of Pope Leo’s activities in Uruguay:

Pope Leo XIV boards the papal plane en route to Uruguay for the first leg of his 12-day trip to South America, Nov. 6, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV waves as he boards the papal plane en route to Uruguay for the first leg of his trip to South America, Nov. 6, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV speaks to journalists aboard the papal plane from Rome to Montevideo, Uruguay, alongside Montse Alvarado (left), prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, and Matteo Bruni (right), director of the Holy See Press Office, at the start of his papal journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, on Nov. 6, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV waves as he exits the plane after landing in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Nov. 6, 2026. | Credit: Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV addresses Uruguay’s President Yamandú Orsi and other dignitaries in the country’s capital in Montevideo on Nov. 6, 2026. | Credit: Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV participates in vespers at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and Sts. Philip and James in Montevideo, Uruguay, Nov. 6, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Catholics gather for Mass as part of Pope Leo XIVʼs official visit to Uruguay at Parque Paris Londres on Nov. 07, 2026 in Paysandú, Uruguay. Pope Leo XIV is on his first trip to South America as pope, where he is visiting Uruguay, Argentina and Peru on a 10-day trip. | Credit: Sandro Pereyra/Getty Images Pope Leo XIV waves to crowds as he arrives for the papal Mass at Parque París Londres, Paysandú, Uruguay, Nov. 7, 2026. | Credit: Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images Pope Leo XIV opens Mass at Paris Londres Park in Paysandu, on Nov. 7, 2026. Pope Leo XIV arrived in Uruguay on November 6, to start an ambitious 11-day tour of South America, which will continue with visits to Argentina and Peru, just a few weeks after undergoing surgery for lung cancer. | Credit: Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images Pope Leo XIV holds a crozier aloft at the papal Mass at Parque París Londres, Paysandú, Uruguay, Nov. 7, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Pope Leo XIV delivers the homily at the papal Mass in Paysandú, Uruguay, Nov. 7, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Pope Leo XIV walks alongside Cardinal Daniel Sturla, Archbishop of Montevideo, during a visit to the Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Casavalle neighborhood of Montevideo on Nov. 7, 2026. | Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images Pope Leo XIV greets faithful during a visit to the Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Casavalle neighborhood of Montevideo on Nov. 7, 2026. | Credit: Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images Pope Leo XIV arrives for a prayer vigil for young people at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Nov. 7, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Pope Leo XIV appears on giant screens as he leads a prayer vigil for young people at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Nov. 7, 2026. | Credit: Leonardo Carreño/AFP via Getty Images Pope Leo XIV speaks while leading a prayer vigil for young people at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Nov. 7, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Pope Leo XIV, speaking to residents of a disadvantaged neighborhood in Uruguay’s capital on Nov. 7, drew attention to one of Latin America’s most urgent social problems: violent crime.

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that there are children in Uruguay who do not go to school for fear of never returning home,” the pope said.

“In a country as rich in resources as this, children should never have to go to bed hungry or be denied the chance of a decent education and a dignified future because of the insecurity that reigns in the streets. Much less should they have to suffer violence to the point of losing their lives.”

Leo made his remarks in a speech to members of a Catholic parish in Casavalle, a lower-income neighborhood in northern Montevideo.

Violent crime is a pressing problem across Latin America, much of it driven by the drug trade and other organized crime. UN figures put the homicide rate in Latin America and the Caribbean at roughly four times the global level, the highest of any world region.

In his brief talk, Leo cited Jesus’s parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37), emphasizing that the man helped by the Samaritan was a victim of violent crime, since he “fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead.”

The pope lamented that “this story is repeated today in the widespread insecurity and violence that unfortunately threaten the peace of our neighborhoods and even the lives of our loved ones, and all too often society responds with indifference,” like those who passed by the beaten man before the Samaritan helped him.

“Yet we can see another side: the actions of many institutions and people of goodwill who foster peace and offer practical assistance to those in need,” Leo said.

He pointed to the testimonies of hardship and hope recounted by parish members just before he made his own remarks. The pope also acknowledged the U.S.-based Papal Foundation for its financial support for building houses for needy members of the parish.

“We must work together: the Church, civil society and the State. We need to shake off our apathy and advocate for the common good,” the pope said. “Let us therefore unite our efforts and respond generously to the call to build together a homeland of brothers and sisters.”

The pope was scheduled to leave Uruguay on Sunday for Argentina, where he will spend three days before moving on to his former home of Peru, where he will spend five days before returning to Rome.

PAYSANDÚ, Uruguay — Pope Leo XIV on Saturday celebrated his first Mass in the Americas since his election as pope, choosing to do so not in a national capital but in a provincial border city, where he lauded and encouraged the simple faith of ordinary people.

In his first full day on a tour of three South American countries, Leo also honored Uruguay’s first bishop, Bl. Jacinto Vera, whom he remembered as the “gaucho bishop” who evangelized the region in the 19th century.

Pope Leo XIV delivers the homily at the papal Mass in Paysandú, Uruguay, Nov. 7, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN

The pope’s homily was a reminder to Uruguay, one of Latin America’s most secular countries, where more than half the population is unaffiliated with organized religion, that the Catholic Church has deep roots in its history.

“From the earliest days of evangelization on this continent, [people of faith] arrived in the name of the Lord to proclaim the great joy they themselves had experienced in encountering Christ,” Leo said. “Like the angels who appeared to the shepherds, they joyfully shared the Good News of the Gospel, expressing their faith through works of charity and mercy.”

Paysandú is a city of about 80,000 people, just across the Uruguay River from Argentina, and more than 200 miles from Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo. 

Pope Leo XIV waves to crowds as he arrives for the papal Mass at Parque París Londres, Paysandú, Uruguay, Nov. 7, 2026. | Credit: Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images

Leo celebrated Mass under cloudy skies in a city park whose grounds were muddy after recent rains. Temperatures were in the low 60s Fahrenheit but felt 10 degree colder on account of the wind.

Still, over 40,000 turned out for the Mass and the enthusiasm level was high, with members of the congregation chanting out their affection for Leo prior to his arrival.

“It’s an enormous joy, an enormous joy. We waited a long time for Francis, and now Pope Leo has arrived, so we’re happy,” said María del Rosario Esquiros, a retiree from Paysandú who said she had trained for several days to serve as an extraordinary minister of Communion at the Mass.

The last pope to visit Uruguay was St. John Paul II, who spent three days there in 1988.

A woman prays at the papal Mass at Parque París Londres, Paysandú, Uruguay, Nov. 7, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN

Leo organized his homily on Saturday around three symbols: bridges, palm groves and mate, a traditional herbal infusion popular in the region.

Bridges bring people together, Leo said, repeating a metaphor beloved of his immediate predecessor Pope Francis. He said that palm trees are symbols of rootedness in Christ, and the fact that they grow not separately but in groves a symbol of the Church.

As for mate, often drunk in company, Leo called it “a sign of familiarity, friendship and encounter. It teaches us to share and to be together, strengthening the bonds that unite us as brothers and sisters. It is a sign of welcome, integration and shared values.”

After three days in Uruguay, the pope will spend three days in Argentina and five days in his adopted Peru, where he served for about 20 years as a missionary and bishop.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Pope Leo XIV on Friday opened his first visit to South America as pope with a call to protect life from its beginning in the womb until its natural end and to guarantee healthcare for all members of society.

The pope addressed Uruguay’s President Yamandú Orsi and other dignitaries in the country’s capital on the first day of an 11-day tour of the continent that will also take him to Argentina and Peru.

“The unborn already belong to the human family and to the future of their people. Their absolute dependence on their mother does not diminish the dignity to which they are entitled or the protection they deserve,” Leo said.

Though he did not directly mention euthanasia, which Uruguay legalized last year, the pope stressed the need to preserve life even in the midst of suffering.

“Given the painful reality of suicide, it is clear that adequate healthcare, family ties, and the closeness of the community are inseparable. None should ever feel like a stranger among their own or think that their absence matters less than their presence,” Leo said. “It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that each person can live with dignity, receive the care they need, and be accompanied until the natural end of his or her life.”

Euthanasia, the intentional ending of a human life in order to relieve suffering, is forbidden by Catholic teaching.

The pope referred to his recent surgery for lung cancer, less than a month before his trip to South America, in his call for universal healthcare.

“Recently I experienced firsthand the limitations imposed by illness and I received care for which I am deeply grateful. That experience makes me think of the many men and women who lack the means to obtain a timely diagnosis or receive the treatments they need. Ensuring that healthcare is accessible to everyone, regardless of their resources, is a duty that confronts every society,” Leo said.

Uruguay is exceptional among Latin American countries for the extent of its state-provided social services. It is also one of the most secular countries in the region, where more than half the population does not identify with organized religion and the official state calendar refers to Holy Week as Tourism Week.

Echoing remarks he made in September in France, whose model of secularism has historically influenced Uruguay, Leo called for religious believers and institutions to take part in public life.

“The secular character of the state involves an obligation to ensure that there is room for believers and nonbelievers to live together in freedom and respect. This neutrality does not require that the religious dimension be confined to the private sphere,” the pope said. “Individuals and religious communities can contribute to the common good while respecting the autonomy of civil institutions.”

An annual forum on artificial intelligence held in Rome this week aimed to foster a new interdisciplinary community dedicated to supporting the development of AI products that serve the Church’s mission.

The Builders AI Forum, held Nov. 5–6 at the Pontifical Gregorian University, was centered on Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and brought together companies leading in Catholic AI, venture capital, and angel investors as well as prominent AI thought leaders and researchers.

In his opening remarks, Cardinal Michael Czerny, a founder of the Vatican’s inter-dicastery commission on artificial intelligence, drew on his work with the commission to remind participants that we “cannot treat learning as an isolated, transactional process but rather a communal, dialogue form.” He went on to say that “we are all impacted by AI but nobody’s listening [to one another].”

Vincent Higgins, CEO of the Builders AI Forum, said the event aims to cover four areas: AI in evangelization, in healthcare, in education, and in building and scaling AI for responsible development in creating critical safeguards online.

The prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, Maria Montserrat “Montse” Alvarado, echoed the importance of collaboration — not only with those in the AI community — but also with the Holy Father. She asked the forum participants to ask themselves, “Who are we supposed to be as we develop and shape this technology?”, reminding them that they must not lose their interdependence but “leverage the network through the people in this room.”

The future of AI policy

Over the course of the two-day summit, religious and industry leaders, as well as policy advocates, gave testimonies reflecting what was being discussed in the workshop groups.

One participant was Megan Garcia, who tragically lost her son, Sewell, by suicide after forming a romantic attachment with a chatbot. She told EWTN News the primary message she wants to advocate for is accountability — “Who is responsible when AI hurts a child?”

To make AI chatbots safe for children in the future, Garcia said that companies need to partake in third-party release testing and make sure that they cannot release, retain, or sell children’s data. Speaking through her personal experience, Garcia highlighted that any policy that is designed to protect children against the dangers of AI would absolutely need to include a measure of accountability.

Repeated many times over the conference, many participants said AI in Catholic schools needs to be kept in line with our Church systems, teaching, and philosophies. Families are operating in their own bubbles, but they need to start having a larger conversation with the community so everyone can be in tune with what is available for families and what should be censored, people at the forum argued.

Speaking on the importance of aligning AI with Catholic morals and beliefs, Matthew Sanders, CEO of Longbeard, a company that organizes the Builders AI Forum, told EWTN News: “AI when it is designed today is designed to align with a billion people, which is an impossible task.”

AI access to information

A common theme through every workshop group, especially among AI entrepreneurs, was the need to train their own models by making sure they have access to all the right information. This has been a main focus for Longbeard, particularly its product, Magisterium AI, which Bishop Stephen Wang of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton in England mentioned when speaking about priestly formation and AI.

“The reality is that so many people are discovering the faith or seeking answers to their questions through the internet, through AI... this is the starting point,” Wang said in comments to EWTN News, noting the importance of using AI as a tool.

Through his experience at the Venerable English College in Rome, Wang reflected that young men coming into seminary are already immersed in AI, so it is important to give them the tools for discernment. The process of priestly formation is very holistic, and it is important to acknowledge the presence and utility of AI in this formation, he said.

Communicating through AI

According to in-house statistics by Magisterium AI and Hallow, their AI tools have helped bring people to the faith and into the Church. Erich Kerekes, CEO and founder of the Hallow app, told EWTN News that “prayer is fundamentally a relationship... coming before God, bringing your needs before him... that is something AI will never be able to come up with.” Alvarado reiterated this notion, saying: “The message can’t be communicated by AI. Itʼs communicated through AI. AI is not a person, AI is a tool.”

“The first thing AI builders need to hear from the Church is that [we’re] listening... if they feel accompanied, we’ll find a way together,” said Czerny, as Sanders said builders should “start from the world and what you want to build and work backwards.”

Jeffrey Quesnelle, co-founder and CTO of Nous Research, said in comments to EWTN News that “humans in our messiness and our incompleteness are a source of friction in a lot of instances in life.” Ultimately, he added, “AI should make you better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today.”

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT — Pope Leo came to the back of the plane on Friday to greet approximately 80 journalists traveling with him to South America. He got a bunch of questions in return, most of which he answered.

The pope usually pays a visit to the journalists’ section on the outbound flight of an international trip. This is not supposed to be a press conference, which typically happens on the flight home, but reporters naturally spring at the chance to pose quick questions, and Leo is generally obliging.

Many of the questions this time were, unsurprisingly, about the pope’s health. He is making the 12-day trip less than a month after undergoing surgery for lung cancer.

In brief remarks to the whole cabin, Leo acknowledged that “some people were doubtful about this trip taking place,” but he said he “had no doubt and was convinced that this trip had to go forward.”

Later, a reporter wanted to know the pope’s secret for springing back so quickly from surgery. The answer: “Faith in God, good doctors, and a healthy lifestyle.” Leo had advice for cancer patients: “Not to be afraid. Early detection is obviously the best way to go, and so regular checkups are a blessing. And take care of yourselves.”

Asked if his surgery, which removed part of his right lung, had given him a new sense of urgency about his agenda, Leo replied that the experience had strengthened his desire to be close to the sick, and his conviction that “healthcare should be a right of all people” — a point he said he planned to make later in the day in a speech to Uruguay’s president and other dignitaries.

The pope revealed that his reading in the hospital had consisted of his breviary, prayer book, and unspecified newspapers, and that he has not resumed his tennis game but intends to do so.

Leo said that, at the time of his September visit to the French shrine of Lourdes, where he prayed with the sick, “there were no signs of any difficulties” with his own health, and he was “much more concerned about the health of those there.”

The pope was also asked about the recent news that he had voted in this month’s election in Illinois by absentee ballot. “I’m proud to be an American and to exercise the right,” he said. He declined to comment on election results.

The U.S.-born Leo, who is a naturalized citizen of Peru, said he would have voted earlier this year in that country’s elections if he had been able to do so from Rome: “I didn’t vote because it wasn’t possible, but I would’ve done it, it’s a good thing.”

The pope also introduced the press to the new prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, Montse Alvarado, who took office Nov. 1 and is accompanying the pope on his trip to South America. Leo praised Alvarado, who until this month was president and chief operating office of EWTN News, for her “wonderful experience, creativity, and liveliness.”

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, expressed his hope this week that the results of the 2026 U.S. midterm elections will foster future collaboration.

The diplomat spoke on Nov. 5 on the sidelines of the conference “The Universal Face of the Church in China,” held at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome. The elections saw major victories for the Democratic Party, which regained majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Parolin, responding to a question about whether democracy had won in these U.S. elections, said that he hoped for collaboration for the good of the country.

“It is difficult to make such categorical statements as ‘democracy has won,’” Parolin said. “Let’s hope there is a capacity to collaborate.”

“We will try to find ways of working together for the good of the country. This is important, and this is what we hope for.”

Parolin also said he expected the Democratic Party’s recent victories to bring changes to the U.S.

“This will surely bring changes; itʼs logical. Now we will see how they manage it. But letʼs hope that reason and common sense prevail,” Parolin remarked.

He also noted the unprecedented nature of Pope Leo XIV voting in the U.S. election, the first of any pontiff in history.

“It never happened with Italian popes, nor with Polish popes, nor with German popes, but in the end at least he was a citizen. I believe he remains a U.S. citizen and therefore has every right to do so.”

Parolin also expressed his hope that new leadership in the U.S. would advance peace in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

“Right now itʼs very difficult to predict who knows what changes. For a long time we have been hoping and trying to do everything possible to close the very painful chapter of Ukraine and many other conflicts around the world. But itʼs difficult to say right now what will happen. We live and wait.”

A newly-published book shares the stories of a veteran flight attendant who has traveled with popes St. John Paul II to Leo XIV.

The book “Stories in Flight: 80 Years of Air Transport in Italy” recounts stories of flying with the popes from the perspective of veteran ITA Airways flight attendant Rino Anastasio. Anastasio, 67, has served as a flight attendant coordinator for special flights — including those of the pope — for over 45 years.

Co-authored in Italian with Filippo Anastasi, the Amalfi Coast native shares personal anecdotes about caring for the popes on board, ranging from worries about insufficient fuel to an unexpected birthday surprise.

History of papal flights

The Vatican does not own airplanes or helicopters for the pope to use. Instead, it charters commercial airliners, using ITA Airways (Italy’s national carrier) for flights departing from Rome and local carriers for the pope’s return flights from abroad.

St. Paul VI was the first pope to travel by airplane when he visited Jordan and Israel in January 1964. He was also the first pope to leave the Italian peninsula since Pope Pius VII was captured and taken to France by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1809.

St. Paul VI was canonized by Pope Francis on Oct. 14, 2018. | Credit: EWTN News

Since Paul VI, papal travel has remained an important means of outreach for the popes. St. John Paul II completed 109 apostolic journeys outside Italy, visiting 129 countries worldwide during his 26-year pontificate.

Pope Benedict XVI completed 24 apostolic journeys, while Pope Francis completed 47.

Pope Leo XIV has also made travel a feature of his ministry, including visits to Africa, Turkey, Lebanon, Spain, and France, before traveling to South America from Nov. 6–17.

Jet escorts, fuel concerns, and a festive birthday flight

Speaking with Vatican News’ Andrea Tornielli, Anastasio recounted his experiences with the popes, beginning with John Paul II.

“With John Paul II there was a very strict protocol,” Anastasio said. “I remember one time there were two fighter jets escorting us towards Kazakhstan right after Sept. 11, 2001.”

“John Paul II called me and asked: ‘But what are those?’ I replied: ‘Holy Father, those are our guardian angels escorting us.’”

Pope John Paul II on the papal flight with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI. | Credit: Vatican Media

On a trip to France with Benedict XVI in 2008, Anastasio recalled that the pontiff was reading a newspaper with a headline about ITA Airways’ (Alitalia at the time) bankruptcy troubles that year.

“In the newspaper, it was written in huge letters that Alitalia doesn’t even have the money to pay for fuel. Pope Benedict, with his little glasses, looked up from the newspaper and said to me: ‘But you did put fuel in the plane, right?’”

Pope Francis boards the papal plane before his apostolic journey to Chile and Peru on Jan. 15, 2018. | Credit: Vatican Media

It was Anastasio’s birthday when he accompanied Pope Francis to Marseille, France. He recounted how Francis surprised him on the return flight to Rome.

“It was my birthday. In the morning, the pope asked the gendarmes to buy six giant cakes and 12 bottles of champagne to celebrate my birthday, but I wasn’t supposed to know anything,” Anastasio said.

“When the curtain opened, and these cakes arrived, I was truly moved there. Perhaps it was one of the most beautiful joys of my life.”