Catholic News

• Papal reflections on Holy Saturday at weekly audience (Vatican Press Office)
  At his regular weekly public audience on September 17, Pope Leo XIV spoke about the silence of Holy Saturday. “In the tomb, Jesus—the living Word of the Father—is silent,” the Pope observed. “But it is precisely in that silence that the new life begins to ferment.” “Every suspended time can become a time of grace, if we offer it to God,” Pope Leo continued. “We rush to produce, to prove ourselves, to keep up. Butthe Gospel teaches us that knowing how to stop is an act of trust that we must learn to perform.”
• Pope sees 'religious synergy' in inter-faith cooperation (Vatican Press Office)
  In a message to the 8th Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, Pope Leo XIV said that the controversial Statement on Human Fraternity, signed by Pope Francis and the Egyptian Imam Al-Tayyeb, “offered a clear blueprint of how religious synergy can advance global peace and coexistence.” The Pope said that “every authentic religious impulse fosters dialogue and cooperation, grounded in our innate awareness of the interdependence that binds individuals and nations. From this perspective, working together in harmony is not merely a pragmatic choice, but a reflection of the deeper order of reality.” In his message the Pontiff paid special tribute to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the president of Kazakhstan, who is hosting this year’s meeting.
• China tightly restricts online religious activities (Pillar)
  The Chinese government has issued new regulations that tightly restrict online religious activities. The rules, formally issued on September 15, ban online fundraising, religious education for children, streaming of liturgical celebrations, and “collusion with overseas forces.”
• Pope call Gaza parish as Israel launches major ground offensive (CWN)
  As Israel launched a major offensive in Gaza City, Pope Leo XIV spoke by phone with Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor of Gaza’s sole Catholic parish, from Castel Gandolfo on September 16 to assure him of his prayers and closeness.
• In suffering, 'build a bridge towards heaven,' Pope says at Jubilee of Consolation (Dicastery for Communication)
  Pope Leo XIV presided at a prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica, the final event in the one-day Jubilee of Consolation (video). “Sacred Scripture guides us on the journey from questioning to faith,” Pope Leo said, as he advised those suffering today, like the Psalmist, to “turn our questions into pleas, lamentations and supplications for the justice and peace promised us by God. In this way, we build a bridge towards heaven, even when it seems we get no response.” The Pope also referred to the abuse scandal, saying, “The Church, some of whose members have unfortunately hurt you, kneels with you today before our Mother ... May we receive from Our Lady of Sorrows the strength to recognize that life is not defined only by the evil we suffer, but by the love of God, who never abandons us and guides the whole Church.” Two women offered testimonies during the prayer vigil. Lucia Di Mauro spoke of forgiving an accomplice in the murder of her son. Diane Foley, whose journalist son was beheaded by ISIS, said that “Jesus and Mary became my constant companions” in her suffering, “along with countless earthly angels whose compassion lifted me up.”
• Cardinal Grech pushes for acceptance of synodality (Vatican News)
  Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, urged “every effort to ensure that the third phase of the synodal process constitutes a further step forward in the experience of synodality,” in a statement marking the 60th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops. Cardinal Grech argued that the understanding of the Synod’s purpose has undergone “a significant evolution” over the years. He pointed particularly to the vision of Pope Francis, who “wanted to transform the Synod from an event reserved for an assembly of bishops into a process in stages, in which the whole Church participates.”
• House of Lords leaning against assisted-suicide in UK (National Catholic Register)
  Legislation to allow assisted suicide in England and Wales has encountered heavy opposition in the House of Lords, and appears likely headed for defeat. The bill has won approval in the House of Commons, but in the House of Lords, in lengthy debate, two-thirds of the peers who have spoken have opposed the legislation.
• Pope renews peace plea as Israel moves into Gaza City (Vatican News)
  As Israel forces began a ground offensive on Gaza City, Pope Francis issued a new call for a ceasefire during this regular public audience on September 17. “I express my deepest sympathy to the Palestinian people in Gaza, who continue to live in fear and survive in unacceptable conditions, forces—once again—from their lands,” the Pope said, in reference to the Israeli plan to relocate the population of Gaza. The Pope repeated his plea for “a ceasefire, for the release of the hostages, for a negotiated diplomatic solution, and for full respect for international humanitarian law.”
• The religious vocation is 'foremost an adventure of love,' Pope tells Augustinians (Dicastery for Communication)
  Pope Leo XIV addressed participants in the general chapter of the Order of Saint Augustine and told them that “our first concern should be that of helping, especially the young, to glimpse the beauty of the calling and to love what they could become by embracing their vocation.” “Vocation and formation are not pre-ordained realities: they are a spiritual adventure that involves the entire history of the person, and it is first and foremost an adventure of love with God,” Pope Leo said in his September 15 address at the Augustinian Patristic Pontifical Institute. The Augustinian Pope also discussed theological study and intellectual formation, community life and apostolic activity, and the order’s missionary vocation. The Pope said that “this missionary spirit must not be allowed to die out, because even today there is a great need for it.”
• Nuncio to Spain appointed amid tension between government, bishops (Pillar)
  Pope Leo XIV appointed Archbishop Piero Pioppo, until now apostolic nuncio in Indonesia, as the apostolic nuncio in Spain. The Pillar reported that Spain’s Socialist government delayed its approval of the appointment for months in order in order to show its displeasure with the nation’s hierarchy. The Italian blog Silere Non Possum, citing “multiple reconstructions,” stated that the Spanish government had originally issued an informal veto of Archbishop Pioppo’s appointment.
• Emphasizing bishops, Pope notes 60th anniversary of Synod of Bishops (Dicastery for Communication (Italian))
  At the conclusion of his recent Sunday Angelus address, Pope Leo XIV noted that September 15 is “the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Synod of Bishops, a prophetic intuition desired by Saint Paul VI so that bishops might increase and improve their exercise of communion with the Successor of Peter.” “It is my hope that this anniversary will inspire a renewed commitment to the unity and mission of the Church,” Pope Leo continued. In Pope Francis’s 2022 apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia (Praedicate Evangelium), the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops was quietly renamed the General Secretariat of the Synod (Art. 33), without reference to bishops. In twice referring to bishops in marking the synod’s anniversary, Pope Leo could be signaling a desire to guide the synod back to Pope St. Paul VI’s original vision for it.
• Exodus continues among Austrian Catholics (Blue News)
  Official statistics show that 71,531 Austrian Catholics left the Church in 2024, dropping the country’s Catholic population to 4.56 million. Although the number of departures was down from the previous year’s total (85,163), the Austrian Church also recorded substantial declines in the number of baptisms and church weddings.
• Ukrainian Catholic leader condemns Russian incursion into Polish airspace (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church)
  In his most recent weekly commentary on the war, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church condemned the Russian drone incursion into Poland. “Today, we express our solidarity with the Polish people, supporting the statements of the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, and the international community, which unanimously defended Poland during the UN Security Council meeting,” said Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk. “We affirm that war is a crime against God and humanity,” The Major Archbishop said that Ukrainian soldiers “realize that they are protecting the peace and well-being of Europe with their own lives, because peace on the continent is not a given, but something that must be defended.”
• Pope encourages Latin American prelates to promote Church's prophetic, missionary renewal (CELAM (Spanish))
  Pope Leo XIV received the leading prelates of the Episcopal Conference of Latin America (CELAM) on September 15. The prelates updated Pope Leo on CELAM’s activities, including its implementation of the synod on synodality. At the conclusion of the audience, the Pope “invited CELAM to continue promoting the renewal of the Church from its prophetic and missionary role, as ‘it has always done throughout its 70 years,’ [and] to know how to read the signs of the times,” according to CELAM.
• Vatican releases trailer to 'Leo from Chicago' (Vatican News (YouTube))
  The Vatican released the trailer to “Leo from Chicago,” its new documentary on the Pope’s American roots. In June, the Vatican released León de Perú, a 45-minute documentary on the future Pope’s years in the South American nation.
• Pontiff receives birthday greetings from leaders, Catholics worldwide (Vatican News)
  The president of Italy and the presidents of several bishops’ conferences sent greetings to Pope Leo XIV for his recent 70th birthday. “From every continent, people look with great hope” to the Pope’s words, said Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who cited the Pontiff’s “urgent appeals for a ceasefire and the resumption of the path of dialogue, for the common good of peoples.”
• Austrian nuns defy orders, re-occupy convent (CNN)
  Three elderly nun have fled from a nursing home and returned to the convent in Salzburg, Austria, from which they were removed. In December 2023, authorities at the Archdiocese of Salzburg and the Reichersberg Abbey decided to move the three nuns into a nursing home, saying that the convent did not provide adequate support for them in their infirmity. The nuns had opposed the move. The nuns moved back with help from former students. Although utility service to the Kloster Goldenstein convent had been cut off, supporters have ensured that they are provided with water and power.
• Vatican newspaper ponders 'America against itself' (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
  In a full-page article, “L’America contro sé stessa” [America against itself], L’Osservatore Romano published six reflections on the roots of political violence in the United States. The authors of the reflections included Seth Cropsey, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense under President George H.W. Bush; students from Tennessee and New York; staff members of think thanks; and an Italian journalist described as an expert on America.
• Pope speaks on Ukraine, synodality, leadership in interview (Crux)
  Pope Leo XIV speaks on a variety of topics including the war in Ukraine, the concept of synodality, economic inequality, and his own leadership, in excerpts from an interview that will soon be published in book form. The Pope’s lengthy discussion with Elise Ann Allen of Crux is appearing in Spanish this week; it will be published in the US—under the title Leo XIV: Citizen of the World early next year. In the excerpts that appear on the Crux site, the Pontiff: suggests that the Vatican will continue to advocate for peace in Ukraine, but that proposals for Vatican mediation are “not as realistic.” acknowledges that the concept of “synodality” is not well understood, and offers the explanation that “synodality is a way of describing how we can come together and be a community and seek communion as a Church.” questions extreme inequalities of income in the world economy, noting that chief executives now earn “600 times more than what average workers are earning.” notes that “it seems to be generally recognized that the United Nations, at least at this moment in time, has lost its ability to bring people together on multilateral issues.” discloses that the most novel aspect of his new role has been “being thrown into the level of world leader.” says that in World Cup soccer competition, he will probably be cheering for Peru, but “I’m also a big fan of Italy”—and goes on to discuss his rooting interests in baseball.
• Vatican City coin wins 'best gold coin' prize (Vatican City State)
  “War and Peace,” a 50-euro Vatican City State gold coin, was named the best gold coin at the 2025 Coin of the Year Awards. On one side of the coin, there is “an olive branch with an adult and a little girl holding a flower; on the other, barbed wire and a man holding an automatic rifle, with a column of smoke in the background symbolizing the destruction caused by war,” according to a Vatican City State announcement. World Coin News presented the awards at the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money in Oklahoma City.
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