Organizers discuss the upcoming second session of the Synod on Synodality at a press conference at the Holy See Press Office on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Sep 16, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

Before the second session of the Synod on Synodality kicks off in Rome at the beginning of October, participants will gather in retreat to pray together and ask forgiveness for sins in a penitential prayer vigil led by Pope Francis.

In addition, four new forums will be conducted on two dates alongside the monthlong assembly and will provide a public platform for reflection and debate on theological topics being discussed during the synod.

These and other changes to the second part of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops Oct. 2–27 were highlighted by synod organizers on Monday.

Organizers discuss the upcoming second session of the Synod on Synodality at a press conference at the Holy See Press Office on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAPenitential vigil

The day before the synod begins, a prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 1 will mark the conclusion of a two-day retreat at the Vatican for synod members. At the public vigil, “some of the sins that cause the most pain and shame will be called by name, invoking God’s mercy,” synod secretary Cardinal Mario Grech said at a press conference Sept. 16.

During the prayer service, three people will speak about their experiences of being harmed by sexual abuse, war, and indifference toward migrants, and there will be a “confession of various types of sins,” Grech said. “It will not be about denouncing the sin of others but about recognizing ourselves as part of those who, by action or at least omission, become the cause of the suffering suffered by the innocent and helpless.”

The event has been organized by the synod secretariat in collaboration with the Diocese of Rome, the Union of Major Superiors, and the International Union of Major Superiors.

According to a press release, attendees will request forgiveness “in the name of all the baptized” for “sin against peace, sin against creation, against Indigenous populations, against migrants; sin of abuse; sin against women, family, youth; sin of using doctrine as stones to be hurled; sin against poverty; sin against synodality/lack of listening, communion, and participation of all.”

The Synod on Synodality will then have its official start with an opening Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 2.

Participants and methodology

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the relator general for the Synod on Synodality, said Sept. 16 that there have been “no great changes” to the 368 voting members and 96 nonvoting participants in the second session of the assembly.

To date, only 25 changes have been recorded, mostly replacements for people who are no longer able to attend, he explained, including several for health reasons.

The number of fraternal delegates, representatives of non-Catholic Christian faiths, has increased from 12 to 16 at the request of Pope Francis. The new additions are representatives of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and all of Africa, the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, the Lutheran World Federation, and the World Mennonite Conference.

The overall format for the nearly monthlong meeting remains very similar to the prior year’s gathering — including daily prayer, theological reflections, and “conversation in the Spirit” in small working groups divided by language.

But organizers noted Monday that there will be fewer plenaries (when members have the opportunity to address the entire assembly) in 2024, and instead, representatives of each of the working groups will meet among themselves to share what emerged during conversations. 

There will also be “more pauses for prayer and reflection,” according to Sheila Pires, who is on the synod’s communication team. 

One of these pauses will be another retreat day on Oct. 21, according to Father Giacomo Costa, SJ, a synod special secretary. He explained that this retreat will allow members to spiritually prepare for the presentation of the draft of the synod’s final document, which they will be called to provide feedback for before voting on the document’s final content.

There will also be voting during the synod to determine what topics will be concretely discussed, he said.

Organizers discuss the upcoming second session of the Synod on Synodality at a press conference at the Holy See Press Office on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNATheological-pastoral forums

Organizers insist that hot-button topics discussed during the first session will not be on the program in October, which will focus on “how the synodal Church is on mission.”

This year, however, the theological and pastoral underpinnings of the synodal discussions will be open to the public to learn about during four forums on Oct. 9 and Oct. 16 in Rome.

The forums will be on “The People of God, Subject of the Mission,” “The Role and Authority of the Bishop in a Synodal Church,” “The Mutual Relationship Between the Local Church and the Universal Church,” and “The Exercise of Primacy in the Synod of Bishops.”

In each forum, four or five theologians, canonists, and bishops will introduce “the principle questions, focusing on the different perspective from which these issues can be viewed,” Father Riccardo Battocchio, a special secretary of the synod, said Sept. 16. 

Afterward, the floor will open up for questions and responses from those present.

According to a press release, the forums are intended for all participants in the Assembly (members, special guests, fraternal delegates, experts). Journalists accredited to the Holy See Press Office are also invited and members of the public may attend according to available space. Registration will be required for anyone who wants to participate, with details on how to register to be released at a later date.

These four forums, Battocchio said, “intend to offer a further contribution of reflections ... to those who will participate in the second session ... but also to other people interested in the themes of the synod.”

They will tackle, he continued, themes connected to several sections in the Instrumentum Laboris.

The forums’ speakers have not yet been published.

The October assembly of the Synod on Synodality will mark the end of the discernment phase of the Church’s synodal process, which Pope Francis opened in 2021.

The third phase of the synod — after “the consultation of the people of God” and “the discernment of the pastors” — will be “implementation,” according to organizers.

The Instrumentum Laboris for the final part of the Synod on Synodality, published July 9, focused on how to implement certain of the synod’s aims while laying aside some of the more hot-button topics from the October 2023 gathering, such as women deacons, priestly celibacy, and LGBTQ outreach.

These more controversial subjects and others have been delegated to the competency of 15 study groups formed starting late last year.

The 2024 guiding document instead offered concrete proposals for instituting a listening and accompaniment ministry, greater lay involvement in parish economics and finances, and more powerful parish councils.

“Without tangible changes, the vision of a synodal Church will not be credible,” the Instrumentum Laboris, or “working tool,” said.

The 15 study groups will continue to meet through June 2025 but will provide an update on their progress at the beginning of the second session in October.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, presides over a press conference on Friday, May 17, 2024, on the Vatican’s new document on Marian apparitions. / Credit: Rudolf Gehrig/EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 16, 2024 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Víctor Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, will lead a press conference on the “spiritual experience” of Medjugorje this Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Vatican.

The Vatican Press Office informed that at Thursday’s press conference on Medjugorje, which will take place at 11:30 a.m. local time, Fernández will be joined by Monsignor Armando Matteo, who serves as secretary to the dicastery’s Doctrinal Section, along with Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication.

The press conference is scheduled to be broadcast live on Vatican News’ YouTube page.

Although no additional details about the event have been released, the press conference is being held within the framework of the new “Norms for Proceeding in the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena,” published in May by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Since then, the Holy See has issued rulings on various alleged Marian apparitions and devotions.

What’s happening in Medjugorje?

The alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje (Bosnia-Herzegovina) began on June 24, 1981. Six children were said to have been the recipients of the Virgin’s messages, of which three say they continue receiving messages daily.

In January 2014, the then-Congregation — now Dicastery — for the Doctrine of the Faith concluded a report requested by Pope Francis who, in November 2013, stated that the Virgin “is not a chief of the post office who would send messages every day,” without specifically mentioning Medjugorje.

Summarizing the content of the report, in 2017 Pope Francis indicated that the initial apparitions are something that “must continue to be investigated” while with regard to “presumed current apparitions, the report has its doubts.”

On that same occasion, the Holy Father pointed out “people go there and convert. People encounter God, change their lives.” This isn’t a result of “magic,” he said, but is a valid spiritual and pastoral fact that “can’t be ignored.”  

Earlier that same year, the pontiff had appointed Bishop Henryk Hoser as “special envoy” to Medjugorje. When he died in 2021, he was replaced by Monsignor Aldo Cavalli.

Since May 2019, Pope Francis has officially authorized the organization of pilgrimages to Medjugorje while cautioning that such pilgrimages should avoid “creating confusion or ambiguity under the doctrinal aspect.”

In recent years, including 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, Pope Francis has also sent messages to youth festivals held at Medjugorje.

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

After his Angelus on Sept. 15, 2024, Pope Francis appealed for the release of the remaining Hamas hostages and said he is praying for the victims and their families. / Credit: Vatican Media.

Rome Newsroom, Sep 15, 2024 / 09:36 am (CNA).

During his Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis appealed for the release of the remaining Hamas hostages as he remembered 23-year-old American Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five others whose bodies were recovered by Israeli military in Gaza last month.

“I am praying for the victims and continue to be close to all of the families of the hostages,” the pope said on Sept. 15 after praying the traditional Marian prayer.

The bodies of Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Carmel Gat were found in a tunnel in Gaza by Israel Defense Forces on Aug. 30. The IDF said postmortems indicate the hostages were killed by two gunmen using two separate weapons on the evening of Aug. 29.

Speaking from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis recalled meeting Rachel Goldberg, the mother of Goldberg-Polin, together with other family members of Israeli hostages, at the Vatican in November 2023. “I was struck by her humanity. I accompany her in this moment,” the pontiff said.

“Cease the conflict in Palestine and Israel, cease the violence, cease the hatred, release the hostages, continue negotiations, and find peace solutions,” he added.

Before the Angelus, Pope Francis gave a short reflection on the day’s Gospel reading from St. Mark. In the passage, Jesus asks his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?”

“Peter answers on behalf of all the group, saying, ‘You are the Christ,’” the pope said. “However, when Jesus starts to talk about the suffering and death that await him, the same Peter objects, and Jesus harshly rebukes him: ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.’”

Francis said this scene prompts us too, to ask ourselves what it means to really know Jesus.

“The words with which Peter responds are ‘right,’ but his way of thinking has not changed,” the pontiff commented. “He still has to change his mindset; he still has to convert. This is an important message for us too.”

“Indeed, we too have learned something about God, we know the doctrine, we recite the prayers correctly and, perhaps, we respond well to the question ‘Who is Jesus for you?’ with some formula we learned at catechism. But are we sure that this means really knowing Jesus?” he said.

The pope underlined that really knowing the Lord means not just knowing something about him but actually following him and having a relationship with him.

Knowing Jesus is a life-changing encounter, he continued. “It changes your way of being, it changes your way of thinking, the relationships you have with your brothers and sisters, your willingness to accept and forgive, the choices you make in life. Everything changes if you have truly come to know Jesus!”

Pope Francis referenced a quotation from the Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was killed for being a Nazi dissident. “What is bothering me incessantly is the question of what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today,” Bonhoeffer wrote, as published in the book “Letters and Papers from Prison.”

“Unfortunately, many people no longer pose themselves this question and remain ‘unbothered,’ slumbering, even far from God,” the pontiff noted.

“Instead, it is important to ask ourselves: Do I let myself be bothered, do I ask who Jesus is for me and what place he occupies in my life? Do I follow Jesus only in word, continuing to have a worldly mentality, or do I set out to follow him, allowing the encounter with him to transform my life?”

A picture taken on March 27, 2019, shows a scaffold during the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, in Paris. / Credit: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images

Aboard the papal plane, Sep 13, 2024 / 14:28 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis definitively ruled out the possibility of visiting France for the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral on his return flight on Friday from Southeast Asia.

Speaking during an in-flight press conference on the papal plane on Sept. 13, the pope resolutely stated: “I will not go to Paris!”

French President Emmanuel Macron invited Pope Francis to visit Paris for the long-awaited reopening of the historic cathedral, which is set to take place on Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

Pope Francis traditionally celebrates the Marian feast with the city of Rome in the piazza at the foot of the Spanish Steps.

In 2019 the world mourned the damage done to the medieval Paris cathedral by a fire that devastated the 315-foot-tall oak spire and timber roof of the eight-centuries-old cathedral.

Major religious and artistic treasures of the cathedral were removed as the fire began, including a relic of Christ’s crown of thorns.

Authorities have not yet found any evidence that the blaze was not an accident, with an initial investigation conducted in the months after the fire concluding it may have been caused by an electrical malfunction. 

Almost immediately after the disaster, debate began as to whether the cathedral would be restored as it looked before the fire or if it would be updated with modern architectural designs and flourishes atop the ancient portion of the church. 

The French Parliament subsequently enacted a law mandating that the reconstruction must “preserve the historic, artistic, and architectural interest” of the original structure. 

The spire was not original to the 800-year-old structure, having been added during a 19th-century renovation. In 2020, President Emmanuel Macron of France announced, amid controversy over the possibility of a new and contemporary design, that the spire would be rebuilt as a replica of the one destroyed. 

Friends of Notre Dame de Paris, a nonprofit supporting the renovation, said the new spire is constructed of an oak framework covered with lead, just as the old one was. Construction of the cathedral originally began in 1160 and took nearly two centuries. While most work was done by 1260, it was finally completed in 1345. 

While the pope does not plan to visit Paris for the reopening, he did express his desire to travel to the Canary Islands, an autonomous Spanish archipelago off the coast of northwestern Africa, in part to visit its migrant population.

Pope Francis said that he would also like to go to his native Argentina, but “it is still not decided” because “there are a number of things to resolve first.”

The 87-year-old pope spoke about his future travel wishes on the return from the longest trip of his pontificate to date — a nearly two-week tour of four countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore.

In the press conference, in which Pope Francis discussed the upcoming U.S. presidential election, the pope repeated his dream of visiting another country.

“I would like to visit China. It’s a great country,” he said.

The pope is scheduled to travel to Belgium and Luxembourg Sept. 26–29.

null / Credit: Bigbubblebee99/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Sep 9, 2024 / 14:10 pm (CNA).

In a letter to the director-general of UNESCO on Monday on the occasion of International Literacy Day 2024, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, conveyed a message from the Holy Father to all those involved in the event.

“The Holy See gladly renews its appreciation of the contribution made by UNESCO in promoting linguistic and cultural diversity, and indeed multilingualism,” Parolin said in his letter. 

International Literacy Day 2024 is being celebrated in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Sept. 9–10. The global event is sponsored by UNESCO in cooperation with the government of Cameroon and has been celebrated yearly since 1967 to help combat illiteracy and encourage all those who promote literacy and education. 

Much of Parolin’s letter was dedicated to the increasingly important role multilingualism plays in “expanding knowledge and fostering openness to other peoples and different cultures, but also by encouraging dialogue, listening, and mediation.”

“Polyglots are often in demand precisely because, in addition to their ability to understand and speak several languages, they tend to have finer analytical abilities, better communication and social skills, and a greater aptitude for discernment. In this sense, they are better equipped to appreciate the richness of other cultures, including those far removed from their own,” the letter said.

Parolin relayed in the letter the Holy Father’s call to “political decision-makers, educators, and the general public to appreciate more deeply the vital role played by literacy in the building of a more educated, fraternal, supportive, and peaceful society.”

The cardinal also sent “prayerful good wishes” on behalf of the pope “upon you and your co-workers, and upon all the members of the networks involved in promoting literacy, intercultural dialogue, and mutual understanding between peoples.”

The letter was sent while the Holy Father continues his 12-day trip in Southeast Asia and Oceania, where he is visiting four countries.

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, now president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, speaks at the Holy See press office Feb. 4, 2015. / Credit: Bohumil Petrik/CNA

CNA Staff, Sep 3, 2024 / 14:07 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, 79, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, has written a new book titled “Destinati alla Vita,” which translates to “Destiny for Life.” The book is a reflection on old age and highlights how this time of life can serve as a time for inner growth. 

In an excerpt published by L’Osservatore Romano, Paglia praises Pope Francis’ work throughout his papacy to honor the elderly and their importance in our lives, especially in the establishment of the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly.

“Pope Francis has taken up the spiritual challenge of old age … As a pope he developed his teaching even more, to the point of establishing a special liturgical feast to celebrate his grandparents,” Paglia wrote. “But it is through the specific catechesis on the subject that he proposed a more articulated and comprehensive help to the elderly — in particular the believers, but not only — so that they face this last age of life as a time of grace, an appropriate time, a time of growth even if the body becomes fragile.”

He continued: “The years of old age lead to the fulfillment of every personal existence. We do not walk in the void and aimlessly at the mercy of fate,” he said.

Speaking about the COVID-19 pandemic, Paglia emphasized that the experience people endured served as a reminder that we are all fragile — not just the elderly.

He also touched on an “anti-age ideology” that “has led to a deep fracture between generations.”

“The ties have weakened, they have no duration, they have no history, they have no destination,” he said. “The effect is a sort of endless adolescence that empties affections and bonds. The change is sending the traditional humanistic parameters of training out of the axis.”

The archbishop went on to ask: “How can you educate the new generations to the values of life that are not consumed over time if the time of old age is assimilated to that of an expired product?”

In his book, Paglia urged that a “new alliance between generations” be formed, “especially among the elderly and the young.”

Cardinal Pietro Parolin. / Claude Truong-Ngoc via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Vatican City, Sep 3, 2024 / 10:15 am (CNA).

Pope Francis sent a telegram of condolence on Tuesday to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin following the death of the Italian prelate’s mother.

After landing in Jakarta, Indonesia — the first destination of the Holy Father’s 45th apostolic journey in Southeast Asia and Oceania — Pope Francis assured Parolin of his closeness with him and his extended family during their “moment of human suffering.”

“I raise my prayer to the Lord that he may welcome her into eternal joy, and for all of you relatives who mourn her departure, I invoke consolation in faith in the risen Christ,” the Holy Father’s telegram reads.

Parolin presided over the funeral Mass of his 96-year-old mother on Tuesday morning at the Church of Schiavon in the northeastern Italian diocese of Vicenza. 

Though postponing his Sept. 2 departure from Rome to be with his family during their time of mourning, the Vatican state secretary is soon expected to join and accompany Pope Francis on his 45th apostolic journey.

During his 12-day journey, the pope will meet with both Catholic and civil leaders and communities in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste (East Timor), and Singapore.    

On Wednesday, Pope Francis will meet with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the Istana Merdeka Presidential Palace and give an address to the country’s leaders and diplomatic corps. 

Parolin has served as the Vatican’s secretary of state since October 2013, after Francis chose him for the position shortly after being elected pope in March of the same year. 

He has worked with the diplomatic service of the Holy See since 1986.

Indonesian police direct traffic next to billboards displaying a welcome message for Pope Francis in Jakarta on Sept. 2, 2024. / Credit: BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Sep 2, 2024 / 08:18 am (CNA).

Pope Francis departed Rome on Monday to commence his 45th apostolic journey, one that will take him to Southeast Asia and Oceania over the course of nearly two weeks.

During his 11-day journey — the longest trip of his papacy to date — the 87-year-old pontiff will visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste (East Timor), and Singapore from Sept. 2–13.  

Prior to commencing his trip, the pope paid a visit to Salus Populi Romani (the Byzantine icon depicting the Blessed Virgin as the health and protector of the Roman people) at the Basilica of St. Mary Major on Sunday to entrust his journey to the Mother of God. 

On Sept. 3, the Holy Father will first land in Jakarta, Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, to promote religious harmony and interfaith dialogue between Christians and Muslims in the country.

During his visit the pope will meet with Catholic bishops, priests, religious brothers and sisters, seminarians, and catechists at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in the Archdiocese of Jakarta.

Francis will also meet with the country’s President Joko Widodo on Sept. 4 and deliver a speech to political leaders at the Istana Merdeka Presidential Palace. 

The Holy Father will also participate in an interreligious meeting at Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, located directly opposite the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption. 

Following Indonesia, the pope will travel to Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea, on Sept. 6. Approximately 4 million Catholics live in the country, representing the largest denomination in the majority-Christian nation.

The pope will meet with the country’s civil and religious leaders as well as visit a number of communities involved with Catholic ministries aimed at promoting the spiritual and social welfare for the people of the Oceania nation.

The motto chosen by the bishops of Papua New Guinea for Pope Francis’ apostolic visit — the second papal visit in the country’s young history — is “Pray,” inspired by the passage in the Gospel of Luke “Lord, teach us to pray” (Lk 11:1).

From Sept. 9–11, the Holy Father will visit Timor-Leste (East Timor) and meet with Catholic leaders and faithful at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the country’s capital, Dili. The Holy Father will also meet with the country’s leaders and deliver a speech at the Presidential Palace. 

The pontiff will also preside over Mass in Esplanade of Tasitolu, which is expected to attract the attendance of thousands of Catholics from around the country. 

Pope Francis’ visit will mark the first visit by a pontiff to the 97%-majority Catholic country. 

Singapore is the last country in the pope’s itinerary of his apostolic journey to Southeast Asia and Oceania. 

Between Sept. 11–13, Pope Francis will meet with both civil and religious leaders in the Asian city-nation before presiding over the Holy Mass at the National Stadium. 

The elderly, sick, and the youth are a priority for the Holy Father in his first visit to Singapore. 

He will visit residents of St. Theresa’s Home, a nursing home founded by the Little Sisters of the Poor in 1935, as well as participate in a youth-led interreligious meeting at Catholic Junior College before returning to Rome at the conclusion of the journey.

On Monday, meanwhile, Vatican News reported that Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin would not be leaving with the pope on his Monday flight due to the death of the prelate’s mother, Ada, who died on Aug. 31.

Parolin will celebrate the funeral of his mother in Schiavon, in the Italian province of Vicenza, on Sept. 3.

Speaking to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus prayer on Sept. 1, 2024, the pope called for peace in the Holy Land, urging the release of the remaining hostages and humanitarian aid for the polio outbreak in Gaza. The pope also expressed his closeness to the people of Burkina Faso after hundreds of people were killed in a terrorist attack there on Aug. 24. Afterward the pope asked for prayers for his apostolic journey beginning tomorrow to Oceania and Southeast Asia. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 1, 2024 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

After the bodies of six hostages killed by Hamas were recovered by Israeli forces this weekend, Pope Francis made an impassioned plea for peace in the Holy Land, urging the release of the remaining hostages and humanitarian aid for the polio outbreak in Gaza.

Speaking to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus prayer, the pope expressed deep concern at the risk of the war between Israel and Hamas “spreading to other Palestinian cities.”

“I appeal for the negotiations to continue, for an immediate cease-fire, the release of hostages, and relief to the people of Gaza, where many diseases are also spreading, such as polio,” Pope Francis said on Sept. 1.

“May there be peace in the Holy Land!” he urged. “May there be peace in Jerusalem. May the Holy City be a place of encounter where Christians, Jews, and Muslims feel they are respected and welcomed, and no one questions the status quo in the respective Holy Places.”

The pope’s comments come just hours after Israel announced on Sunday that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages killed by Hamas from a subterranean tunnel in the Gazan city of Rafah shortly before the arrival of Israeli Defense Forces and as a humanitarian polio vaccination campaign began in Gaza. 

Among the hostages killed was 23-year-old Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose mother met Pope Francis last fall to appeal for the hostages’ release and spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August. According to the Associated Press, Israel believes that 101 hostages remain captive by Hamas in Gaza, including 35 who are believed to be dead.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a “humanitarian pause” for three consecutive days to allow aid workers to begin the campaign, which aims to vaccinate more than 640,000 Palestinian children under the age of 10 against polio.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated rapidly as the conflict drags on. Aid agencies’ officials in the territory have warned of a potential public health disaster if immediate action is not taken.

Pilgrims gather in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus prayer on Sept. 1, 2024, where Pope Francis appealed for peace in the Holy Land and called for aid to the people in Gaza and for the hostages to be released. The pope also expressed his closeness to the people of Burkina Faso after hundreds were killed there in a terrorist attack on Aug, 24. Credit: Vatican Media

During his Angelus address, the pope also prayed for the hundreds of people who were killed in a terrorist attack in Burkina Faso on Aug. 24. An Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group in West Africa known as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attack.

“In condemning these heinous attacks against human life, I express my closeness to the nation as a whole and my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. May the Virgin Mary help the beloved people of Burkina Faso to regain peace and security,” Pope Francis said.

The pope also expressed his concern that over a million people have been left without electricity and water after attacks on energy infrastructure in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

“I am always close to the tormented Ukrainian people, hard hit by attacks on the energy infrastructure. Besides causing deaths and injuries, they have left over a million people without electricity and water,” he said.

“Let us remember that the voice of the innocent is always heard by God, who does not remain indifferent to their suffering,” Francis added.

In his reflection on Sunday’s Gospel, Pope Francis warned against the temptation of hypocrisy and underlined the importance of having genuine purity of heart.

“Purity, Jesus says, is not linked to external rites but is first and foremost linked to inner dispositions, interior dispositions,” the pope said, citing chapter 7 of the Gospel of Mark.

“To be pure, therefore, it is no use washing one’s hands several times if one then, within the heart, harbors evil feelings such as greed, envy, or pride, or evil intentions such as deceit, theft, betrayal, and slander.”

Pope Francis added that Christians should take care not to live a “double life” in which they appear “pious in prayer but then treat one’s own relatives at home with coldness and detachment, or neglect their elderly parents, who are in need of help and company” or “gossip wickedly” in front of the church after Mass. 

“Let us ask ourselves, then: Do I live my faith in a consistent manner, that is, what I do in Church, do I try to do outside in the same spirit?” he said.

“And may Mary, Mother most pure, help us to make our life, in heartfelt and practiced love, worship pleasing to God,” Pope Francis prayed.

At the end of the Sunday Angelus on Sept. 1, 2024, Pope Francis asked for prayers for his apostolic journey to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore Sept. 2-13, which will be the longest international trip of his pontificate. Credit: Vatican Media

The 87-year-old pope also asked for prayers for his apostolic journey to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore Sept. 2–13, which will be the longest international trip of his pontificate. 

Pope Francis meets with members of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 30, 2024 / 16:32 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has affirmed that there are no objections to the 19th-century apparitions of Our Lady of Mercy at the Shrine of Pellevoisin in France and the faithful “are authorized to give to it their adherence in a prudent manner.”

On Aug. 22, the Holy See issued a “nihil obstat” (no objection) to the miraculous visions and physical healing of French woman Estelle Faguette following the request of Archbishop Jérôme Daniel Beau of Bourges, France, for the decree.  

“Estelle’s accounts are striking for their simplicity, clarity, and humility,” reads the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) letter to the archbishop of Bourges. “It is very valuable to note how the merciful Mother treats Estelle.”

Struggling with an incurable illness, Faguette said she was often visited and consoled through Our Lady’s presence, “serene gaze,” and “words of mercy,” particularly during times of spiritual anguish at the thought of her parents being left in a state of poverty and missing her.

According to the DDF, Faguette’s “generous dedication to others” is what touched the motherly heart of Mary.  

“Life that is used to taking care of others is what touched the Mother’s heart the most,” reads the Aug. 22 letter. “The Mother knows how to recognize all the good that is hidden behind our words.”

Following her healing that “surpassed all natural explanations,” Faguette emphasized that it was not by her own merits that she obtained the miracle from the Son of God through Mary’s intercession.

“Be convinced of one thing: that it was not for my own merits that the Blessed Virgin obtained my cure from her Son; on the contrary, it was to show many people that, despite our sins, we have a good mother who spoils us and intercedes for us,” she stated.

In the letter, the DDF also noted that the merciful Mother always gave exhortations, as well as reprimands, with a “reassuring gentless” that inspired Faguette and continues to inspire visitors to the sanctuary dedicated to the All-Merciful Mother in central France.    

“When Estelle says that she would rather die, the Virgin responds with a smile: ‘O, you of little gratitude! If my Son gives you life, it is because you need it. What has he given to man on earth that is more precious than life?’” the letter reads.    

Other messages the Blessed Mother conveyed to Faguette during her apparitions include the desire to bring peace in the Church, as “there is not that calm I desire,” and to lead people toward the heart of Christ particularly through the devotion of wearing the scapular — which shows the open heart of Jesus.

“The treasures of my Son have been open for a long time ... I love this devotion [of the scapular],” Our Lady shared with Faguette.

According to the DDF, the All-Merciful Mother also expressed to the visionary her sorrow for “the lack of love for Christ reflected in those who receive the Eucharist coldly or distractedly.”

The United Nations logo is seen at U.N. headquarters in New York on Oct. 4, 2023. / Credit: DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Aug 30, 2024 / 14:12 pm (CNA).

A representative of Pope Francis recently reaffirmed the Vatican’s opposition to lethal autonomous weapons systems, known popularly as “killer robots,” with the Vatican stressing that “no machine should ever choose to take the life of a human being.”

Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, the Holy See’s permanent observer to the United Nations in Geneva since 2023, spoke at a United Nations forum in Geneva this week, the Second Session of the 2024 Group of Governmental Experts on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS).

Balestrero strongly urged countries to consider the ethical implications of new weapons and lamented the fact that new and more sophisticated armaments are often tested on real battlefields.

“For the Holy See, given the pace of technological advancements and the research on weaponization of artificial intelligence, it is of the utmost urgency to deliver concrete results in the form of a solid legally binding instrument and in the meantime to establish an immediate moratorium on their development and use,” Balestrero said in an Aug. 26 address.

“In this regard, it is profoundly distressing that, adding to the suffering caused by armed conflicts, the battlefields are also becoming testing grounds for more and more sophisticated weapons.”

No universally agreed-upon definition of LAWS exists, but numerous countries around the world — including Israel, China, Russia, and the United States — are reportedly investing heavily in weapons with autonomous capabilities. These systems have the ability to navigate on their own and select targets without human input. 

The Vatican and Pope Francis have raised concerns about LAWS for years, with the Holy See questioning whether such weapons systems could irreversibly alter the nature of warfare, create detachment from human agency, and call into question the humanity of societies. 

“For the Holy See, autonomous weapons systems cannot be considered as morally responsible entities,” Balestrero continued. 

“The human person, endowed with reason, possesses a unique capacity for moral judgment and ethical decision-making that cannot be replicated by any set of algorithms, no matter how complex.”

“In conclusion, the development of ever more sophisticated weapons is certainly not the solution,” the archbishop said. 

“The undoubted benefits that humanity will be able to draw from the current technological progress will depend on the degree to which such progress is accompanied by an adequate development of responsibility and values that place technological advancements at the service of integral human development and of the common good.”

In 2021, in light of reports of development of swarms of “kamikaze” mini-drones in modern warfare, the Holy See said it was critical to maintain “meaningful human control over weapon systems.”

“The unique human capacity for moral judgment and ethical decision-making is more than a complex collection of algorithms, and such a capacity cannot be replaced by, or programmed into, a machine,” the Vatican’s then-U.N. Geneva ambassador said.

At a G7 summit in June, Pope Francis himself had urged leaders to reconsider the development of lethal autonomous weapons and to ban their use. The pope himself made a similar call at an AI ethics conference in July.

A Synodal Mass in progress at St. Dominic’s Church at Aluva in the Ernakulam Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church on July14, 2024. / Credit: Anto Akkara

Vatican City, Aug 30, 2024 / 13:40 pm (CNA).

The Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church, an Eastern Catholic rite in full communion with Rome, appointed two new bishops for Changanacherry and Shamshabad in India on Friday.

The appointments come after years of internal tensions among Syro-Malabar Church leaders regarding a synodal, unified liturgy of the ancient Oriental Church.

In May, Pope Francis warned the Church’s leaders that division comes from the work of “the devil, the divider” and that unity of the Eastern Church with Rome is essential.

“Apart from Peter, apart from the major archbishop, there is no Church,” stated the Holy Father in the May meeting with leaders and members of the Syro-Malabar Church at the Vatican.

On the July 3 feast day of St. Thomas the Apostle, the patron of the Syro-Malabar Church, a compromise was reached to resolve the liturgical feud sharply dividing leaders and the faithful of the Eastern-rite Church.

“The Holy Qurbana [Mass] should not be the reason for division in the Church,” Syro-Malabar Church spokesman Father Antony Vadakkekara told CNA in July. “That is why the synod made the compromise proposal to say at least one synodal Mass in each of the parishes [in India].”

Approximately 5 million people belong to the Syro-Malabar Church worldwide across eparchies (dioceses) in India, the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Auxiliary Bishop Major Thomas Tharayil will soon become the major archbishop of Changanacherry following the resignation of major archbishop Joseph Perumthottam. He has served as auxiliary bishop in the archeparchy since 2017.

Tharayil was ordained to the priesthood on Jan. 1, 2000, and served as a deputy parish priest for various parishes in Changanacherry after completing his psychology doctorate at the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome.

Major Antony Prince Panengaden, bishop-elect of Shamshabad chosen by the Syro-Malabar Synod of Bishops, was ordained a priest in 2007 after completing studies in philosophy at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram Institute in Bangalore and in theology at the Ruhalaya Major Seminary in Ujjain.

During his 17-year pastoral ministry, Panengaden served as a priest in parishes in Goa and Adilabad and also obtained a doctorate in biblical theology from the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. In 2015, he was elected and installed as bishop of the Adilabad eparchy.

The Syro-Malabar Church dates its historical origins to the evangelizing mission of St. Thomas the Apostle to southern India in the first century.

Pope Francis addresses members of the Dicastery for Evangelization, who are meeting in an extraordinary plenary assembly Aug. 29–30, 2024, to discuss the future of the Pontifical Urban University, which educates priests and religious from the Catholic Church’s mission territories. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 30, 2024 / 09:08 am (CNA).

Pope Francis expressed disagreement on Friday with a proposal to absorb a 400-year-old missionary-focused university in Rome into other pontifical universities.

Members of the Dicastery for Evangelization are meeting in an extraordinary plenary assembly Aug. 29–30 to discuss the future of the Pontifical Urban University, which educates priests and religious from the Catholic Church’s mission territories.

“There is some plan to ‘dissolve’ [the university] with the other universities: No, this will not do,” Francis said in his address Aug. 30 to the cardinals, bishops, priests, and religious gathered for the plenary.

According to Agenzia Fides, a missionary-focused news agency under the Dicastery for Evangelization, the Rome assembly is an intermediate step in discussions about “the present and future” of the Pontifical Urban University.

Also known as the “Urbaniana,” the missionary university was founded as the Urban College in 1627 by Pope Urban VIII, part of the educational aspect of the then-Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide. 

In 1962, it was elevated to a pontifical university. Its mission is to train and educate the priests, religious, and laypeople who help spread the Gospel in places without a strong Christian presence or where the Church has few financial resources.

Earlier this year, the Vatican’s publishing house signed an agreement with the pontifical university’s press to help with the editorial production of some of its publications.

The Libreria Editrice Vaticana will assist the Urbaniana University Press with “the editorial management of the scientific production” of the university’s historic publishing service, according to a July 18 press release.

The change is part of an overall restructuring to increase operational cooperation between the Urban University and other pontifical universities in Rome.

The reconfiguration comes with a reduction in teaching staff. For the 2024-2025 academic year, the university will have 47 full and 40 adjunct and visiting professors, reduced from 62 full and 113 adjunct and visiting professors during the prior academic year.  

Financially supported by the Dicastery for Evangelization, the university is also aiming to reduce costs by a projected 1.5 million euros ($1.66 million) in 2025.

In his speech on Friday, Pope Francis thanked the dicastery’s members for traveling to Rome “to reflect on the identity, mission, expectations, and future of the Pontifical Urbaniana University.”

“I, too, would like to offer some thoughts on this,” he added, underlining that the Urbaniana “has its own identity.”

The pope reflected on the still-relevant missionary vocation of the Urban University and the need to balance that identity with the issues faced by the Church and world today.

He also said the need to raise the quality of educational and research offerings must be balanced with a necessary rationing of human and economic resources. 

“Making good use of resources,” Francis said, “means unifying equal paths, sharing faculty from the six [pontifical] institutions, eliminating waste, planning activities wisely, and abandoning outdated practices and projects.”

“In the specific case of the Urbaniana, it is important that, in the quality of the educational offerings, its missionary and intercultural specificity emerges even more, so that those who are being trained are able to mediate with originality the Christian message in the relationship with other cultures and religions,” he said.

The Vatican Observatory together with the University of Padua have investigated eternity from new scientific perspectives. / Credit: Vatican Media

Madrid, Spain, Aug 30, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

“Eternity Between Space and Time: From Consciousness to the Cosmos” is the title of an upcoming report to be released by the Vatican Observatory, where “unpublished reflections” on eternity studied from different disciplines will be presented.

The University of Padua in Italy together with the Vatican Observatory have investigated eternity from new scientific perspectives thanks to 24 contributions from some of the world's greatest scholars in different disciplines such as physics, psychology, philosophy, and theology.

Contributors include Nobel Prize winners Gerard ‘t Hooft and Roger Penrose, joined by Federico Faggin, Mauro D’Ariano, Gabriele Veneziano, Massimo Cacciari, Giulio Goggi, and Kurt Appel.

Questions about God and consciousness are addressed alongside quantum theory, black holes, cosmic inflation, and the Big Bang and string theory, considering the contributions of neuroscience and artificial intelligence.

The report, which will be released on Sept. 6, is the result of the international conference on the theme of eternity held in May 2022 at the University of Padua.

The conference was attended by the world’s leading scholars in the fields of physics, philosophy, theology, and psychology.

The presentation of the report will take place at the headquarters of the Curia General of the Society of Jesus in Rome and will be attended by Father Gabriele Gionti, a member of the Vatican Observatory Research Group; Fabio Scardigli, Polytechnic University of Milan; Ines Testoni, University of Padua; and Father Andrea Toniolo, faculty of theology of Triveneto, Padua, Italy.

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

Graha Maria Annai Velangkanni Church, an Indian-Mughal style Catholic church in Medan, Indonesia. / Credit: MarlonH/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Aug 30, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis will embark on an 11-day trip on Sept. 2 that will bring him to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste (East Timor), and Singapore. 

During this longest journey of his pontificate so far — which includes numerous events in the largest majority-Muslim country on earth, Indonesia — the pope is expected to emphasize themes of interreligious dialogue, solidarity, and peace.

Here’s a closer look at all the destinations the pope will visit during his apostolic journey, but first, a broader look at the seven flights he will embark on, carrying him approximately 20,000 miles (over 32,000 km) in total:

Flight 1: Rome to Jakarta (7,055 miles/11,354 km, 13 hours and 15 minutes)

Leaving Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport in the early evening, the pope’s plane will cross over the Middle East and India en route to Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Jakarta is a sprawling metropolis and the capital of Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority nation in the world in terms of population. 

Indonesia, an archipelago with nearly 1,000 inhabited islands, is about 7.5% Protestant and 3% Catholic. Many of the country’s Catholics live on Flores, an island that was recently designated as an international pilgrimage destination by the government. 

The pope will be officially welcomed in Jakarta when he arrives on Sept. 3 and will take the rest of the day to rest. The following day, Sept. 4, there will be a welcome ceremony outside the Istana Merdeka Presidential Palace before the pope visits with President Joko Widodo.

Francis will be the third pope to visit Indonesia after St. Paul IV and St. John Paul II. 

Istana Merdeka Presidential Palace in Jakarta. Credit: Public domain

The pope’s second full day in Jakarta begins with an interreligious meeting in the Istiqlal Mosque, the ninth-largest mosque in the world.

Security in Indonesia for the pope’s visit is expected to be high; Indonesia has seen numerous terrorist attacks in recent years that have targeted the country’s Christian minority. 

Interior of Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta. Credit: Aisha Tanduk CC BY-SA 4.0

Pope Francis will conclude his time in Indonesia with a Mass on the evening of Sept. 5 in Jakarta’s Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 77,000, after meeting with beneficiaries from local charitable organizations.

Flight 2: Jakarta to Port Moresby (2,916 miles/4,693 km, 6 hours and 5 minutes)

On Sept. 6, Pope Francis will fly to Papua New Guinea’s capital of Port Moresby, making him the second pope to visit after St. John Paul II, who visited twice. 

Despite being extremely diverse, more than 98% of Papua New Guinea citizens identify as Christian and the Church plays a crucial role in education, health care, and social services. 

Catholicism represents the largest Christian denomination in the country with an estimated 4 million people — about 25% of the total population. The country suffered violence from rioting earlier this year in a spate of unrest on Jan. 10 now dubbed “Black Wednesday.”

Pope Francis will visit local ministries that care for street children and persons with disabilities on his first full day in Papua New Guinea on Sept. 7, which also includes a speech to the local political authorities and an address to the local clergy at the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians.

Papua New Guinea. Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Christian Sieland

The following day, the pope will meet with Papua New Guinea’s prime minister, James Marape, before presiding over Sunday Mass in Port Moresby’s Sir John Guise Stadium. He will then head to Vanimo for the remainder of the day.

Flight 3: Port Moresby to Vanimo (616 miles/991 km, 2 hours and 15 minutes)

Vanimo is a city in the northwesternmost province of Papua New Guinea, where Pope Francis will greet local missionaries and address local Catholics in front of the Holy Cross Cathedral before departing.

Flight 4: Vanimo to Port Moresby (616 miles/991 km, 2 hours and 15 minutes)

Pope Francis will return to the capital city on Sunday night. On Monday, Sept. 9, there will be a farewell ceremony for the pope before he leaves for East Timor.

Flight 5: Port Moresby to Dili (1,601 miles/2,578 km, 3 hours and 30 minutes)

Pope Francis will travel on Sept. 9 to the small country of East Timor, which has a population that is more than 97% Catholic and whose most prominent archbishop Francis made a cardinal in 2022.

In Dili, the country’s capital, Pope Francis will visit children with disabilities, meet local clergy and religious in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, give a speech at the Presidential Palace, and preside over Mass in the Esplanade of Tasitolu over the course of two days.

Chapel in Tasitolu, East Timor. Credit: Alex Castro CC BY 2.0Flight 6: Dili to Singapore (1,640 miles/2,640 km, 4 hours)

The pope’s final stop before returning to Rome will be the island of Singapore, the country with the highest GDP per capita in Asia and the second-highest population density of any country in the world. Despite the relative stability of Singapore itself, observers have warned that anti-Israel Malaysian militant groups (Singapore is Malaysia’s immediate neighbor) may stage rallies in Malaysia to protest the pope’s visit.

Pope Francis will be welcomed to Singapore’s world-renowned Changi International Airport on Sept. 11. He will meet President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Sept. 12 before presiding over Mass in Singapore’s Sports Hub National Stadium, the third stadium Mass of the trip.

Singapore’s Sports Hub National Stadium. Credit: Dietmar Rabich CC BY-SA 4.0

On his last day in Asia, the pope will preside over an interreligious meeting with young people in Singapore’s Catholic Junior College and visit a group of elderly people. 

Flight 7: Singapore to Rome (5,945 miles/9,567 km, 12 hours and 35 minutes)

Pope Francis will make the 6,000-mile journey back to Italy on a chartered Singapore Airlines flight scheduled to land in Rome at 6:25 p.m. on Sept. 13.

Isabella Salandri gives visitors a preview tour of the Vatican Gardens in Vatican City on Aug. 23, 2024. / Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

Vatican City, Aug 29, 2024 / 11:18 am (CNA).

The Vatican Museums this summer introduced a new family-friendly excursion through the papal gardens, an experience designed to teach children how to “contemplate and appreciate nature,” according to the tour’s originator.

Whether skipping down a tree-lined path, sitting on a tree stump, or spotting turtles in a fountain, children and their families now have the chance to encounter the Vatican Gardens in a way tailored to capture the attention of some of its youngest visitors.

A young visitor at the Vatican Gardens in Vatican City, Aug. 23, 2024. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

“There was a desire to give families something to actually do together in the museum. There’s such a wealth of possibilities. And so we wanted to, for the first time, dedicate an actual tour to families,” Sister Emanuela Edwards of the Missionaries of Divine Revelation told CNA during an Aug. 23 preview of the tour.

Isabella Salandri guides young visitors on a tour at the Vatican Gardens in Vatican City, Aug. 23, 2024. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus

Edwards, who designed the tour as part of her role heading the Vatican Museums’ office of educational activities, said one of the first activities on the walk is to listen to the sounds of nature in the English Garden.

Sister Emanuela Edwards of the Missionaries of Divine Revelation at the Vatican Gardens in Vatican City, Aug. 23, 2024. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

“We start by identifying all the different sounds from the natural world,” she said. “But of course, what can be more joyful and more natural than to hear children laughing and enjoying themselves as well? And so to the natural world, we also add this wonderful and essential human element, which is the joy of being together in the family.”

The roughly two-hour “Capture Nature” tour is currently offered on Saturday mornings in English and Italian to groups of about 20 people. It is fully accessible to children with intellectual or physical disabilities — something Edwards said was very important to them when designing the visit.

On a recent tour with two families, CNA followed 5-year-old twins Francesco and Chiara Salvatori and 7-year-old Margherita Scavetta as they played games inviting them to use their senses in various areas of the gardens.

Isabella Salandri with young visitors at the Vatican Gardens in Vatican City, Aug. 23, 2024. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

A highlight for all the children was trying to count the number of turtles living in the fountain next to the Casina Pio IV, the home of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Another game asked the kids to work together with their parents to find and identify certain plants from the Bible in the Scripture garden.

With the cupola of St. Peter’s Basilica as a backdrop, the three children were asked to spot particular plants or features of fountains and buildings.

St. Peter's Basilica rises in the background at the Vatican Gardens in Vatican City, Aug.23, 2024. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

During one stop in the walk — which passes statues of Mary, including a replica of the Marian grotto at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France — the children got to create their own “masterpieces” with leaves, bird feathers, and twigs collected along the way. 

Edwards, whose religious order is sometimes called by the nickname “the green sisters” for the unusual color of their habits, explained that the tour also takes some of its inspiration from Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si’.

“A few steps away there’s the Vatican Museums, where there are the masterpieces of art,” she said. “But in the garden, we’re able to teach the young children that the trees are also the masterpieces of the garden. And so they learn how to care for those masterpieces as well.”

Children create their own “masterpieces” with leaves, bird feathers, and twigs collected along the way during a tour of the Vatican Gardens on Aug. 23, 2024. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

Guide Isabella Salandri, one of several tour guides handpicked by Edwards to lead the family tours, interacted with Francesco, Chiara, and Margherita in an engaging way, telling them in lively tones about features of the Vatican Gardens, especially those involving animals, like the monumental Aquilone Fountain, which features a large eagle, the personification of the north wind in Roman mythology.

“The opportunity for the children to do something very interactive we found quite original and fun,” Margherita’s mom, Paola Nuccetelli, said. “Even we are having fun getting to see something we don’t usually see in the city. ... And then, who expects to see woods in the heart of Rome?”

Near the end of the tour, the families were surprised by an appearance from Vatican gardener Augusto Minosse, who drove up to the group in his little work van. He asked the kids about their visit and posed for a selfie with Margherita.

Vatican gardener Augusto Minosse greets visitors at the Vatican Gardens in Vatican City, Aug. 23, 2024. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

“It was really an immense joy to see [our childrens’] wonder at nature, at creation,” the twins’ dad, Daniele Salvatori, said.

“Certainly for us, and I think also for others, when one is immersed in nature, you become closer to God,” his wife, Romina Zicca, added.

As the tour wrapped up under the hot, noonday sun, guide Salandri asked the three children: “Are you ready for the last game?”

“Does it have to be the last?” Margherita asked.

Archbishop Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo leads a Christmas Mass at Jakarta Cathedral in Jakarta on Dec. 25, 2023. / Credit: YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Aug 28, 2024 / 14:37 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo, the archbishop of Jakarta, has decried how the poor in Indonesia ultimately pay the price for the country’s endemic corruption.

In an interview with “EWTN News In Depth” in Jakarta ahead of Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Indonesia, the cardinal emphasized that despite the country’s abundant natural resources, widespread corruption continues to undermine its potential.

“If there is no corruption, Indonesia would have become a prosperous country,” Suharyo said.

"Indonesia is a very 'religious' country.. but we have to put a question mark after this." Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo talks about the fact so many Indonesians claim to be religious, while corruption and human trafficking is widespread. We were talking ahead of Pope Francis'… pic.twitter.com/Kn0U0sQyPj

— Colm Flynn (@colmflynnire) August 26, 2024

“We have everything,” he said. “Natural resources — we have plenty. … But corruption destroys the ideal of becoming a prosperous nation.”

Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, has long struggled with corruption in both the public and private sectors. Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index consistently ranks Indonesia poorly, indicating that more than 1 in 3 Indonesians said they had paid a bribe for public services in the past year.

The cardinal pointed out that corruption in Indonesia has broader social consequences. “The corruption is so huge,” he said. “Human trafficking is becoming more widespread.” 

“Social justice for all is written in the five principles,” Suharyo added, referencing Pancasila, the foundational philosophy of Indonesia. He lamented how corruption in the country’s governance is an obstacle to achieving that ideal.

Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo, the archbishop of Jakarta, speaks with “EWTN News In Depth” in Jakarta ahead of Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Indonesia Sept. 2–13, 2024. Credit: EWTN News

Yanuar Nugroho, an expert in sustainable development with Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning, echoed Suharyo’s concerns. 

Corruption is rampant, Nugroho told EWTN. “Every case here in Indonesia, if you trace back, then you will find corruption. The root cause … is the absence of accountability, the absence of integrity.”

Nugroho, a Catholic, reflected the need for good governance, particularly in times of crisis, pointing to the Asian financial crisis of 1998, which nearly brought the country to its knees. “When the economic crisis hit the country… it basically crumbled, as if it was built on the sands, with a very weak foundation. This is where I think the understanding about good governance slowly emerged,” he explained.

Yanuar Nugroho, an expert in sustainable development with Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning, speaks with EWTN ahead of Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Indonesia Sept. 2–13, 2024. Credit: EWTN News

Despite these challenges, both Suharyo and Nugroho acknowledged that there is a growing awareness in Indonesia of the need to fight corruption.

The cardinal noted that while freedom of speech allows for open criticism of corruption, significant obstacles remain.

“Professors teaching in the university, they speak loudly against the corruption. But corruption continues,” he noted. “Sometimes the corruption is used for political purposes.”

According to data from the World Bank, 26 million people in Indonesia lived below the national poverty line in 2022. Corruption also exacerbates the existing inequalities between Indonesia’s rural and urban centers, diverting resources that could otherwise be used to improve infrastructure, health care, and education for the poor.

Suharyo, who regularly visits the poor rural areas within his archdiocese, has advocated for the incoming Indonesian government to make it more of a priority to address the infrastructure gaps to help the poor have better access to education and health services.

The cardinal is busy as Indonesia prepares to welcome Pope Francis. Jakarta is the first stop in the pope’s four-country visit to Southeast Asia and Oceania Sept. 2–13.

Suharyo said that Indonesians are touched by Pope Francis’ generosity in making the long trip at the age of 87. He expressed hope that Pope Francis’ visit will inspire a renewed commitment to brotherhood and compassion among Indonesians of all faiths.

A full preview of Pope Francis’ trip to Southeast Asia, including the interview with Suharyo and other Catholic leaders in the region, will air on “EWTN News In Depth” on Aug. 30 at 8 p.m. ET.

Pope Francis meets with the bishops of the Arabian region on Aug. 28, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 28, 2024 / 12:50 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis met Wednesday with the Latin-rite Catholic leaders of some of the Middle Eastern and Arabic-speaking countries amid fears of an escalation of the Israel-Hamas war.

He encouraged the bishops to “bear witness to faith in [the Lord], also through respectful and sincere dialogue with everyone.”

The Aug. 28 meeting took place as part of the plenary assembly of the Conference of the Latin Bishops of the Arab Regions (CELRA), which covers Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Cyprus, Djibouti, Somalia, and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula.

CELRA is headed by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, responsible for Latin Catholics in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Cyprus.

Pope Francis meets with Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, at a meeting with other Arab bishops on Aug. 28, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media

The vice president is Bishop Cesar Essayan, OFM Conv, apostolic vicar for Latin Catholics in Beirut, Lebanon.

The bishops’ meeting with Pope Francis took place amid growing worries in the region about a broader war as the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and Iran, its regional patron, appeared to escalate hostilities over the past weekend.

During the meeting at the Vatican, the pope noted the “very strong tension” in the Middle East region, “which in some contexts lead to open clashes and outbursts of war.”

“The conflict, instead of finding an equitable solution, seems to be becoming chronic, with the risk that it will spread to ignite the entire region,” he said. 

“This situation has caused thousands and thousands of deaths, enormous destruction, immense suffering, and the spread of feelings of hatred and resentment, which prepare the ground for new tragedies.”

Francis in his address conveyed his closeness to the prelates and to the Catholics in their flocks. 

“May you keep hope alight,” he added. “Be yourselves, for everyone, signs of hope, a presence that fosters words and gestures of peace, brotherhood, and respect. A presence that, in itself, invites reason, reconciliation, overcoming with goodwill the divisions and enmities stratified and hardened over time, which are becoming increasingly inextricable.”

The pontiff also asked the Latin-rite Catholic leaders to ensure students in public schools receive a good Christian formation, especially where Christians are a minority.

“This formation is of great importance, so that the content of faith may be known and accompanied by reflection and so that faith, in confrontation with culture, may thus be strengthened and have the means to give reasons for Christian hope,” he said.

Pope Francis addresses the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square for his Angelus address on Aug. 25, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 28, 2024 / 12:20 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis this week congratulated Catholics and Orthodox Christians for collaborating together for the XVII Inter-Christian Symposium taking place Aug. 28–30 in Italy. 

This year’s symposium, titled “What Is Man? In the Time of Anthropological Mutation” and taking place in Trani, Italy, seeks to reflect upon the challenges that all Christians face in upholding the dignity of each person during a time of a cultural “revolution.”

In the letter sent to Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, to be shared with organizers and participants of the symposium, the Holy Father said rapid technological developments have profoundly shaped how society understands what it means to be human in our world today.

“What is happening nowadays could be defined as a real revolution,” the pope wrote. “The development of artificial intelligence and the incredible developments in the field of science force today’s men and women to rethink their identity, their role in the world and in society, and their vocation to transcendence.” 

“In fact, the specificity of the human being in the whole of creation, its uniqueness compared to other animals, and even its relationship with machines, are constantly being questioned,” he added.

Participants of this year’s symposium, organized by the Franciscan Institute of Spirituality of the Pontifical University Antonianum and the Department of Theology of the Orthodox Theological Faculty of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, were encouraged by the pope to have a spirit of openness and inclusivity so as to properly address the anthropological questions raised during the three-day conference.

“It is not possible to react only with denial and criticism. Rather, a profound reflection is needed, capable of renewing the thinking and choices to be made,” the pope asserted. 

“In light of the teaching of sacred Scripture and Christian tradition, it is necessary to reiterate that every human being is entitled to dignity by the mere fact of existing, as a spiritual being, created by God,” he added.

In his letter, Pope Francis stated that a person’s decision on whether or not to “act in accordance” with his or her dignity, as well as their socio-cultural, political or economic circumstances, should not deter Christian churches from working together to uphold the dignity of every person.

“The defense of this dignity in the face of very concrete threats such as poverty, war, exploitation, and others represents a common commitment for all the churches, on which we must work together,” the pope exhorted in his letter.

In April, the Vatican released Dignitas Infinita (Infinite Dignity), in which the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith stressed Catholic teaching on the importance of the human person and condemned “grave and current violations of human dignity” in our time.

The declaration outlined specific concrete violations against human dignity recognized by the Church including human trafficking, sexual abuse, abortion, and surrogacy as well as “digital violence.”

The document echoes Pope Francis’ call to all Christians to “defend human dignity in every cultural context and every moment of human existence.”

Pope Francis addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his general audience on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 28, 2024 / 11:06 am (CNA).

Pope Francis said Wednesday those who knowingly and intentionally “repel” migrants are committing a grave sin.

Breaking from the current theme of his general audiences Aug. 28, the pope spoke at length about the poor conditions of migrants who attempt to cross a sea or desert to reach safety but who sometimes lose their lives in the process.

Pope Francis greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his general audience on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

“The tragedy is that many, the majority of these deaths, could have been prevented,” Francis underlined in his speech to thousands in St. Peter’s Square.

“It must be said clearly: There are those who work systematically and with every means possible to repel migrants,” he said. “And this, when done with awareness and responsibility, is a grave sin.”

Departing from his prepared remarks, the pontiff recalled seeing the heartbreaking viral photo of the wife and child of Pato Crepin, who died in the desert in the summer of 2023 while trying to cross the border into Tunisia on their way to Europe.

Last year, Tunisian authorities were clamping down on irregular immigration by taking people who entered the country to remote areas on the borders with Libya and Algeria.

The country’s leader also signed an agreement with the European Union to receive 1 billion euros (about $1.1 billion) in order to stem the area’s highly profitable business of smuggling people from Tunisia into Europea via the Mediterranean Sea.

“We all remember the photo of the wife and daughter of Pato, dead from hunger, thirst, in the desert,” Pope Francis said. “In the time of satellites and drones, there are migrant men, women, and children that no one must see. They hide them. Only God sees them and hears their cry. This is a cruelty of our civilization.”

Pope Francis greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his general audience on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

The Missing Migrants Project, run by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), records that since 2014, an estimated 47,000 people have either died or gone missing while attempting to migrate in Africa, Europe, and the Mediterranean areas. 

Most deaths were caused by drowning, usually while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in unsafe and overcrowded boating vessels.

In his general audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis also waded into political arguments about immigration and borders.

“We can all agree on one thing: Migrants should not be in those seas and in those lethal deserts,” he said. “But it is not through more restrictive laws, it is not with the militarization of borders, it is not with rejection that we will obtain this result.”

Pope Francis kisses a baby during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

The solution, according to the pope, is to extend safe and legal access routes for migrants so that those who are fleeing war, violence, persecution, and natural disasters can find refuge.

Migrants will stop risking their lives to cross the sea or deserts, he continued, if we promote “a global governance of migration based on justice, fraternity, and solidarity.”

In numerous past statements on refugees and migrants, Pope Francis has asked countries to be as welcoming to immigrants as they are able while also acknowledging their right to control their borders and to determine how many migrants and refugees they can safely integrate into their societies.

Paragraph 2241 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church also affirms that “the more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin.”

“Political authorities,” the catechism continues, “for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption.”

In his Wednesday audience, Pope Francis recalled a lesson from the Book of Exodus: “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him.”

Pope Francis waves to the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his general audience on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

“The orphan, the widow, and the stranger are the quintessential poor whom God always defends and asks to be defended,” he emphasized. 

“There is a Psalm which says to the Lord: ‘Thy way was through the sea / Thy path through the great waters’ (Ps 77:19). And another says that he ‘led his people through the wilderness / for his steadfast love endures forever’ (Ps 136:16),” the pope quoted.

“These holy words tell us that, to accompany the people on their journey to freedom, God himself crosses the sea and the desert,” Pope Francis said. “[God] does not remain at a distance, no; he shares in the migrants’ tragedy, God is there with them, with the migrants, he suffers with them, with the migrants, he weeps and hopes with them, with the migrants.”

The pontiff said that while most of us are unable to be on the front lines with the courageous people who, acting as good Samaritans, “do their utmost to rescue and save injured and abandoned migrants on the routes of desperate hope,” there are still ways to help — “first and foremost, prayer.”

“And I ask you: Do you pray for migrants, for those who come to our lands to save their lives?” he said. 

He also urged cooperation to combat human trafficking and the criminal traffickers who “mercilessly exploit the misery of others” for money.

“Let us join our hearts and forces so that the seas and deserts are not cemeteries but spaces where God may open up roads to freedom and fraternity,” he said.