Catholic News

  • Pope Leo, in new apostolic letter, hails importance of archaeology (Vatican Press Office)
    Pope Leo XIV marked the centenary of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology by issuing an apostolic letter today on the importance of archaeology. In the apostolic letter—the sixth of his pontificate—Pope Leo wrote that archaeology “reminds us that God chose to speak in a human language, to walk the earth and to inhabit places, houses, synagogues and streets.” “By concentrating on the physical traces of faith, archaeology educates us in a theology of the senses: a theology that knows how to see, touch, smell and listen,” he said. “By examining stones, ruins and other artifacts, it teaches us that nothing touched by faith is insignificant ... In this sense, archaeology is also a school of humility.”
  • Venezuela revokes cardinal's passport (CNA)
    The government of Venezuela has revoked the passport of Cardinal Baltazar Porras, informing him that he will not be allowed to leave the country. Cardinal Porras, the retired Archbishop of Caracas, has been a leading critic of the Venezuelan government. He was stopped at the airport as he tried to board a flight to Colombia.
  • Discipleship is key for effective teaching, Pope tells Italy's Catholic Action movement (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
    Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, sent a message in Pope Leo’s name to participants in the recent national conference for the educators and leaders of the Italian Catholic Action movement. In the message, Pope Leo asked the 1,700 attendees to “consider how the life of the educator, his constant human and spiritual growth as a disciple of Christ, sustained by the grace of God, is a fundamental factor at his disposal to give effectiveness to his service to the younger generations.”
  • Pope, Vatican foreign minister recall 60th anniversary of Polish bishops' reconciliation letter to German bishops (Dicastery for Communication (Italian))
    At the conclusion of his general audience yesterday, Pope Leo XIV recalled the 60th anniversary of the Letter of Reconciliation of the Polish Bishops to the German Bishops, written two decades after the conclusion of World War II. The message “changed the history of Europe,” Pope Leo told Polish-speaking pilgrims. “May the words of that document—‘We forgive and ask forgiveness’—be for the peoples in conflict today a testimony that reconciliation and forgiveness are possible when they are born of a mutual desire for peace and a common commitment, in truth, for the good of humanity.” The Vatican omitted Pope Leo’s words from its English translation of his remarks. On December 9, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, marked the anniversary in an Italian-language address at Pontifical Gregorian University.
  • Vatican diplomat says states have right to protect borders, duty to respect migrants' rights (Holy See Mission)
    Addressing a session of the International Organization for Migration, a Vatican diplomat said yesterday that states “have both the right to protect their borders and the duty to respect the rights of those who arrive at their borders.” Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, said that “it is essential to remember that each person on the move is first and foremost a human being whose rights and God-given dignity must be at the care of international cooperation and migration governance. Regrettably, today’s debates are all too often clouded by stereotypes and polarized narratives.”
  • Haiti needs 'new moral leadership,' prelate says (Vatican News (Italian))
    The vice president of the Haitian bishops’ conference said in an interview that the nation needs “new moral leadership.” Bishop Pierre-André Dumas, who was severely wounded in an assassination attempt and is recovering in the United States, spoke with Vatican News about a “lack of vision and moral leadership. The state is often paralyzed and leaves the violent control of a large part of the territory to gangs.” Haiti’s people cry out in pain “because of the wounds of poverty, gang violence, insecurity, and the fragility of institutions that should be rebuilt,” the prelate said. Despite the pain, he has hope that is “rooted in Christ: the certainty that evil will not have the last word.”
  • Ukrainian Catholic leader reflects on Immaculate Conception, life of human embryo (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church)
    Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St. Anne at a Divine Liturgy in Canberra, Australia. “By studying biology and modern science, you know that human life begins at conception,” he preached. “With the development of the central and peripheral nervous systems, the child in the womb enters into personal relationships. A newborn child recognizes the mother’s voice and feels her heartbeat.” “Today, with this solemn service, we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of our Mother, the Heavenly Virgin Mary,” he continued. “The Virgin Mary entered into a special relationship not only with her mother [St. Anne], but also with the Holy Trinity.”
  • Vatican reverses parish closures in Diocese of Buffalo, advocates say (CNA)
    The Dicastery for the Clergy has overturned Bishop Michael Fisher’s decision to close three parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo, according to Save Our Buffalo Churches, which has advocated on the parishes’ behalf. Following the discovery of a procedural error, the bishop revoked a decree closing an additional parish.
  • USCCB, Catholic Charities oppose Trump administration's decision on migrant work permits (USCCB)
    The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network said that they “strongly oppose” the Trump administration’s decision to end the automatic extension of employment authorization for migrants. In a 14-page letter to an official of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the organizations argued that the decision “will guarantee widespread employment-authorization gaps; destabilize fragile households; generate severe backlogs and administrative burdens for affiliates; impede the functioning of state agencies, such as Departments of Motor Vehicles; and impose substantial costs on US employers and local economies.” William Quinn, the USCCB’s general counsel, signed the letter on behalf of the bishops’ conference.
  • Pope meets with organizers of award for human fraternity (Vatican News)
    Pope Leo XIV met on December 11 with organizers of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, and applauded their work to honor people who take action to serve the cause of brotherhood, because “words are not enough.” The Zayed Award was established after Pope Francis joined Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb in signing a statement on Human Fraternity. This year’s prize went to Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, for her work on climate change.
  • Papal aid for flood-ravaged Asian nations (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
    Pope Leo has sent aid, through the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, to assist victims of floods in at least four Asian nations. The Vatican newspaper did not report on the amount of the aid, but did report that the aid was sent “to countries in serious difficulty, such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.”
  • Vatican releases schedule of papal Christmas liturgies (Dicastery for Communication)
    Archbishop Diego Ravelli, who leads the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, has released the schedule of Masses and other liturgies at which Pope Leo will preside during the Christmas season. Pope Leo is scheduled to celebrate two Christmas Masses in St. Peter’s Basilica: at 10:00 PM on December 24 and at 10:00 AM on December 25. In 2024, Pope Francis presided at one Christmas Mass, at 7:00 PM on December 24. As is customary, the Pope will also offer an Urbi et Orbi blessing on Christmas Day, preside at Vespers on December 31, and celebrate Masses on January 1 (the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God) and on January 6 (the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord on the General Roman Calendar).
  • Religious Liberty Commission examines availability of military chaplains (OSV News)
    The US Department of Justice’s Religious Liberty Commission heard testimony yesterday from the vicar general of the Archdiocese for the Military Services about the US Army’s cancellation of contracts for help at military chapels. “A military that preserves the sacramental life of its Catholic members is one that respects their dignity, supports their resilience and reinforces the moral fabric essential to honorable service,” said Msgr. Anthony Frontiero. President Donald Trump established the Religious Liberty Commission in May; its members include Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Robert Barron.
  • Pope sees danger to US-European alliance (CNA)
    In comments to reporters on December 9, Pope Leo XIV said that some aspects of an American plan for peace in Ukraine could “make a huge change in what was for many years a true alliance between the EU and the US.” The Pope observed that some recent statements by President Donald Trump appear to be “trying to break apart what I think is an important alliance.” While expressing regret for that result, the Pontiff avoided criticizing Trump for putting forward his peace plan, noting that “he has a right to do that.” When questioned about the Vatican’s diplomatic efforts to secure the release of Ukrainian children held by Russia, the Pope said that progress was “very slow, unfortunately.”
  • Recognize Europe's Christian roots, Pope urges politicians (Vatican News)
    Speaking on December 10 to a group of European political leaders from Conservative and Reform parties, Pope Leo XIV underlined the insistence of previous Pontiffs that “European identity can only be understood and promoted in reference to its Judeo-Christian roots.” The Pope added that the recognition of Christianity’s role in Europe is not a plea for special treatment but a “recognition of fact.” The purpose of that recognition, he continued, is “not about the restoration of a past epoch, but of guaranteeing that key resources for future cooperation and integration are not lost.”
  • Papal audience message: Only Jesus overcomes death (Vatican News)
    Pope Leo XIV spoke about the importance of facing death squarely during his weekly public audience on December 10. “The desire for life and eternity that we all feel for ourselves and for the people we love makes us see death as a sentence, as a contradiction,” the Pope said. But only Christian faith “is capable of illuminating the mystery of death.” Through Christ’s Resurrection, the faithful recognize that “death is not the end, but the passage toward full light, toward a happy eternity.” Pope Leo cautioned against the rising influence of transhumanism, with its promise of “the prolongation of earthy life through technology.” Among other things, the Pope questioned: “could science itself guarantee us that a life without death is also a happy life?”
  • Papal plea for peace on Thai-Cambodian border (Vatican News)
    At the conclusion of his weekly public audience on December 10, Pope Leo XIV issued a call for peace, pointing to a new trouble-spot in Asia. “I am deeply saddened by the news of the renewed conflict along the border between Thailand and Cambodia,” the Pontiff said. Clashes on that border have led to casualties among civilians, and forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
  • Pope Leo: Martyrs of Chimbote show what is essential in Christianity (Dicastery for Communication)
    The martyrs of Chimbote, Peru—slain by Communist rebels in 1991—“gave a glimpse of the essential message of Christianity,” Pope Leo XIV wrote in a message for the tenth anniversary of their beatification. The blood of the three missionary priests “was not shed to serve personal plans or ideas, but as a unique offering of love to the Lord and to his people,” Pope Leo wrote. “Their martyrdom shows us—with the authority of life given—what true communion is.” “As we face the pastoral and cultural challenges confronting the Church, their memory asks us to take a decisive step: to return to Jesus Christ as the measure of our choices, our words and our priorities,” the Pope added.
  • Vatican publishes online edition of Annuario Pontificio (Vatican News)
    The Vatican’s Secretariat of State and the Dicastery for Communication have, for the first time, made the Annuario Pontificio [Pontifical Yearbook] available online—for a fee of 68.10 euros per year ($79, before processing fees). “In a time when communication is ever faster and more global, offering immediate and reliable access to information on the life of the Church—with certified data—means putting technology at the service of the ecclesial mission,” said Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State. “It is a sign of attentiveness, transparency, and responsibility towards the Catholic community and towards all those who seek to understand the reality of the Church in the world.”
  • USCCB publishes asylum update (USCCB)
    In a two-page document entitled “Asylum Update,” the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Department of Migration and Refugee Services addressed four questions about the federal pause in applications for asylum. The questions include “What is the status of asylum adjudications by USCIS [ US Citizenship and Immigration Services]?” and “Does this pause on the adjudication of asylum claims apply to noncitizens in immigration court proceedings?”
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