Vatican News

Vatican City, Dec 28, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has sent three trucks carrying humanitarian aid to parts of Ukraine hit hardest by bombardments, where residents are facing severe shortages of electricity, water, and heat.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the pope’s almoner, disclosed the delivery to Vatican media on Dec. 27, saying the convoy carried special food that can be dissolved in a small amount of water to produce energy-rich soups with chicken and vegetables.

Krajewski described the shipment as a small gesture of closeness from the pope to Ukrainian families on the feast of the Holy Family, celebrated Dec. 28.

The trucks, he said, arrived in the Vatican shortly before Christmas loaded with supplies donated by South Korean food company Samyang Foods. As had happened on previous occasions, including during the pontificate of Pope Francis, the aid was then redirected to war zones most severely affected by strikes, where basic utilities are often unavailable.

Krajewski said the delivery underscores that the pope not only prays for peace but also wants to be concretely present with families who are suffering.

Vatican City, Dec 28, 2025 / 09:49 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged Christian families to “cherish the values of the Gospel” and protect the “flame of love” in their homes against modern myths of success, power, and comfort that he said often leave people isolated and divided.

Speaking to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square before the Angelus on Dec. 28, the feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth, the pope on the Gospel account of the family’s flight into Egypt and contrasted the trust of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph with what he called the fear-driven cruelty of King Herod.

“It is a moment of trial for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Leo said, adding that “the bright image of Christmas is suddenly almost eclipsed by the disturbing shadow of a deadly threat.”

The pope described Herod as “a cruel and bloodthirsty man” who is “deeply lonely and gripped with the fear of being deposed.” After hearing from the Magi that the “king of the Jews” had been born, Herod “decrees that all children of the same age as Jesus should be killed,” the pope said.

“In Bethlehem there is light and joy,” Leo noted, recalling the shepherds who “have glorified God before the manger,” but he said “none of this can penetrate the armored defenses of the royal palace, except as a distorted echo of a threat to be stifled with blind violence.”

Against that backdrop, the pope said the Holy Family reveals “the only possible answer of salvation,” namely, “God who, in total gratuitousness, gives himself to men without reserve and without pretension.”

Leo pointed to St. Joseph’s obedience in protecting Mary and Jesus, saying that “the gesture of Joseph is revealed in all its redemptive significance.” He added: “In Egypt, the flame of domestic love, to which the Lord has entrusted his presence in the world, grows and gains strength in order to bring light to the whole world.”

Turning to families today, the pope warned that “the world always has its ‘Herods,’ its myths of success at any cost, of unscrupulous power, of empty and superficial well-being” and said societies often “pay the price in the form of loneliness, despair, divisions, and conflicts.”

“Let us not allow these mirages to suffocate the flame of love in Christian families,” he said.

Instead, Leo urged families to cultivate “prayer, frequent reception of the sacraments, especially confession and Communion, healthy affections, sincere dialogue, fidelity, and the simple and beautiful concreteness of everyday words and gestures.” He said such family life can make homes “a light of hope for the places in which we live; a school of love and an instrument of salvation in God’s hands.”

After the Angelus, the pope greeted pilgrims from several Italian parishes and groups. He also renewed his appeal for peace, asking Catholics to remember those suffering because of conflict.

“In the light of the Nativity of the Lord, let us continue to pray for peace,” he said. “Today, in particular, let us pray for families suffering because of war, especially for children, elderly, and the most vulnerable.”

Vatican City, Dec 26, 2025 / 02:17 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday urged Christians to resist the temptation to treat others as enemies, saying the mystery of Christmas calls believers to recognize the God-given dignity of every person, even in their adversaries.

“Christians, however, have no enemies, but brothers and sisters, who remain so even when they do not understand each other,” the pope said Dec. 26 during his from the Apostolic Palace on the feast of St. Stephen, the Church’s first martyr.

Leo acknowledged that “those who believe in peace and have chosen the unarmed path of Jesus and the martyrs are often ridiculed, excluded from public discourse,” and sometimes even “accused of favoring adversaries and enemies.” Yet, he said Christian joy is sustained by “the tenacity of those who already live in fraternity.”

Reflecting on St. Stephen’s martyrdom, the pope noted that early Christians spoke of the saint’s “birthday,” convinced “that we are not born just once” and that “martyrdom is a birth into heaven.”

Citing the Acts of the Apostles, Leo recalled that those who witnessed Stephen’s trial and death “saw that his face was like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15), calling it “the face of one who does not leave history indifferently but responds to it with love.”

The pope linked Stephen’s witness to the meaning of Christmas, saying “the birth of the Son of God among us calls us to live as children of God,” drawing believers through the humility of Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds of Bethlehem.

At the same time, he said, the beauty of Christ and of those who imitate him can be rejected because it exposes injustice and threatens those “who struggle for power.”

“To this day, however, no power can prevail over the work of God,” Leo said, pointing to people around the world who choose justice “even at great cost,” who “put peace before their fears,” and who serve the poor.

“In the current conditions of uncertainty and suffering in the world, joy might seem impossible,” he added, but insisted hope still “sprouts” and “it makes sense to celebrate despite everything.”

The pope said Stephen’s final act of forgiveness mirrors Jesus’ own, flowing from “a force more real than that of weapons,” a “gratuitous force” rekindled when people learn to look at their neighbor with “attention and recognition.”

“Yes, this is what it means to be reborn, to come once more into the light, this is our ‘Christmas!’” he said.

After the Angelus, Leo renewed his Christmas wishes “for peace and serenity,” greeted pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, and asked St. Stephen’s intercession for persecuted Christians and communities suffering for their faith. He also encouraged those working amid conflict to pursue “dialogue, reconciliation, and peace.”

Vatican City, Dec 25, 2025 / 02:00 am (CNA).

In his first Christmas as pope, Leo XIV urged the world to embrace “responsibility” as the sure way to peace while pointing in particular to the suffering of people in Gaza, Yemen, and those fleeing war and poverty as refugees and migrants.

Before an estimated 26,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 25, the pope appeared at the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to deliver the traditional Christmas blessing “to the city and to the world,” eight months after his May 8 election.

In one of the most evocative passages of the message, the pope cited at length from “Wildpeace,” a poem by Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai, contrasting “the peace of a ceasefire” with a deeper peace that arrives unexpectedly — “like wildflowers” — after exhaustion and conflict.

“Responsibility is the sure way to peace,” Leo said. “If all of us, at every level, would stop accusing others and instead acknowledge our own faults, asking God for forgiveness, and if we would truly enter into the suffering of others and stand in solidarity with the weak and the oppressed, then the world would change.”

The pope framed his appeal around the Christian proclamation that Christ “is our peace,” adding: “Without a heart freed from sin, a heart that has been forgiven, we cannot be men and women of peace or builders of peace.”

Turning to concrete “faces” of contemporary pain, Leo said that in becoming man, Jesus “took upon himself our fragility, identifying with each one of us: with those who have nothing left and have lost everything, like the inhabitants of Gaza; with those who are prey to hunger and poverty, like the Yemeni people; with those who are fleeing their homeland to seek a future elsewhere, like the many refugees and migrants who cross the Mediterranean or traverse the American continent.”

He also named those who have lost jobs, underpaid workers who are exploited, and prisoners “who often live in inhumane conditions.”

Leo offered “a warm and fatherly greeting” to Christians, “especially those living in the Middle East,” recalling his recent trip to Turkey and Lebanon. “I listened to them as they expressed their fears and know well their sense of powerlessness before the power dynamics that overwhelm them,” he said.

“From God let us ask for justice, peace, and stability for Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and Syria,” the pope continued as he invoked Scripture on righteousness and peace.

He also prayed “in a particular way for the tormented people of Ukraine,” asking that “the clamor of weapons cease” and that the parties involved — “with the support and commitment of the international community” — find “the courage to engage in sincere, direct, and respectful dialogue.”

In a wider survey of global crises, the pope said: “From the Child of Bethlehem, we implore peace and consolation for the victims of all current wars in the world, especially those that are forgotten, and for those who suffer due to injustice, political instability, religious persecution, and terrorism,” naming Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He prayed as well for Haiti, asking that “all forms of violence in the country will cease,” and called for a future of reconciliation for Myanmar.

Leo also included a specific appeal for Latin America, asking that “the child Jesus inspire those in Latin America who hold political responsibilities” so that amid the region’s challenges, “space may be given to dialogue for the common good rather than to ideological and partisan prejudices.”

He concluded by urging the faithful to open their hearts to those in need: “On this holy day, let us open our hearts to our brothers and sisters who are in need or in pain,” before offering “heartfelt good wishes for a peaceful and holy Christmas!”

Vatican City, Dec 25, 2025 / 02:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has welcomed and greeted a plethora of babies at the Vatican since his election on May 8. As Christians everywhere celebrate the birth of Jesus, who came into this world as a baby, it’s a perfect time to highlight many of these sweet “pontiff meets babies” moments.

Vatican City, Dec 25, 2025 / 01:35 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Christmas Day deplored the “falsehoods” used to justify wars that leave young people “forced to take up arms” and “sent to their deaths,” while also drawing attention to the humanitarian suffering of displaced people, including families living in tents in Gaza.

In his first Christmas as pope, Leo celebrated Christmas Day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, reviving a practice not seen since 1994 during the pontificate of St. John Paul II. Reflecting on the prologue of St. John’s Gospel, the pope said in his that the Christmas liturgy highlights a striking contrast: God’s Word, which acts with power, comes into the world in utter weakness.

“The ‘Word’ is a word that acts,” Leo said. Yet, he added, “the Word of God appears but cannot speak. He comes to us as a newborn baby who can only cry and babble.”

Leo said the mystery Christians celebrate at Christmas cannot be separated from the vulnerability of those whose dignity is assaulted by war, displacement, and poverty. He urged Catholics to let Christ’s birth pierce complacency and move them toward tenderness and solidarity.

“‘Flesh’ is the radical nakedness that, in Bethlehem as on Calvary, remains even without words — just as so many brothers and sisters, stripped of their dignity and reduced to silence, have no words today,” he said.

In one of the homily’s most striking passages, Leo connected the Gospel image of the Word “pitching” his tent among humanity with the reality faced by families living in makeshift shelters amid conflict.

“Dear brothers and sisters, since the Word was made flesh, humanity now speaks, crying out with God’s own desire to encounter us. The Word has pitched his fragile tent among us,” he said, before asking: “How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind, and cold; and of those of so many other refugees and displaced persons on every continent; or of the makeshift shelters of thousands of homeless people in our own cities?”

The pope also described the toll of war in terms of both shattered communities and wounded consciences.

“Fragile is the flesh of defenseless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds,” he said. “Fragile are the minds and lives of young people forced to take up arms, who on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths.”

Leo framed Christmas as a proclamation that peace is not merely a hope for the future but a gift already present in Christ, even when few recognize it. Quoting Jesus’ words to the disciples, he said: “‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you’ (Jn 14:27).”

That peace, he said, begins not in rhetoric but in concrete compassion that listens, stays close, and responds to suffering.

“When the fragility of others penetrates our hearts, when their pain shatters our rigid certainties, then peace has already begun,” he said. “The peace of God is born from a newborn’s cry that is welcomed, from weeping that is heard. It is born amidst ruins that call out for new forms of solidarity.”

The pope warned that believers can bury what the Gospel calls “the power to become children of God” by keeping their distance from the vulnerable.

“Becoming children of God is a true power — one that remains buried so long as we keep our distance from the cry of children and the frailty of the elderly, from the helpless silence of victims and the resigned melancholy of those who do the evil they do not want,” he said.

Vatican City, Dec 24, 2025 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV, at Christmas Mass during the Night, said Christ’s birth brings light into the world’s darkness — and where the human person is welcomed, God is welcomed too.

“To enlighten our blindness, the Lord chose to reveal himself as a man to man, his true image, according to a plan of love that began with the creation of the world,” the pope said in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24.

“As long as the night of error obscures this providential truth, then ‘there is no room for others either, for children, for the poor, for the stranger,’” he added, quoting Pope Benedict XVI’s homily at Christmas Mass on Dec. 24, 2012.

“These words of Pope Benedict XVI remain a timely reminder that on earth, there is no room for God if there is no room for the human person,” the pontiff said.

Leo celebrated the Christmas Mass, also known as midnight Mass, for a packed Vatican basilica at 10 p.m. The Vatican said an estimated 6,000 people were inside the basilica for the Mass, while another 5,000 people followed the papal Mass via jumbo screens in St. Peter’s Square.

In a surprise before the Mass, the pope stepped outside St. Peter’s Basilica to greet those who were forced to stay in the rainy square because there was no more room inside.

“The basilica of St. Peter’s is very large, but unfortunately it is not large enough to receive all of you,” Leo said, thanking everyone for their presence, wishing them a merry Christmas, and bestowing his apostolic blessing.

The preparatory readings and the sung Proclamation of the Birth of Christ — also called the Kalenda Proclamation — preceded the Mass. The pontiff removed a cloth to reveal a wooden sculpture of the Christ Child, placed in front of the main altar of the basilica, after the chanting of the Kalenda Proclamation. A group of 10 children dressed in traditional clothing from different parts of the world brought flowers to the figure of baby Jesus.

In his homily, the pope recalled that, “for millennia, across the earth, peoples have gazed up at the sky” attempting to read the future in the stars. 

Yet, they remained lost and in the dark, he said. “On this night, however, ‘the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light’ (Is 9:2).”

“Born in the night is the One who redeems us from the night,” Leo said. “The hint of the dawning day is no longer to be sought in the distant reaches of the cosmos, but by bending low, in the stable nearby.

Pope Leo invited Christians to marvel at the wisdom of Christmas, through which “God gives the world a new life: his own, offered for all.”

“He does not give us a clever solution to every problem but a love story that draws us in. In response to the expectations of peoples, he sends a child to be a word of hope. In the face of the suffering of the poor, he sends one who is defenseless to be the strength to rise again. Before violence and oppression, he kindles a gentle light that illumines with salvation all the children of this world,” he said.

The pontiff quoted a sermon of St. Augustine, who said “human pride weighed you down so heavily that only divine humility could raise you up again.”

“While a distorted economy leads us to treat human beings as mere merchandise, God becomes like us, revealing the infinite dignity of every person,” Leo said. “While humanity seeks to become ‘god’ in order to dominate others, God chooses to become man in order to free us from every form of slavery. Will this love be enough to change our history?”

Vatican City, Dec 24, 2025 / 12:31 pm (CNA).

Dear brothers and sisters,

For millennia, across the earth, peoples have gazed up at the sky, giving names to the silent stars, and seeing images therein. In their imaginative yearning, they tried to read the future in the heavens, seeking on high for a truth that was absent below amidst their homes. Yet, as if grasping in the dark, they remained lost, confounded by their own oracles. On this night, however, “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined” (Is 9:2).

Behold the star that astonishes the world, a spark newly lit and blazing with life: “To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Lk 2:11). Into time and space — in our midst — comes the One without whom we would not exist. He who gives his life for us lives among us, illuminating the night with his light of salvation. There is no darkness that this star does not illumine, for by its light all humanity beholds the dawn of a new and eternal life.

It is the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel. In the Son made man, God gives us nothing less than his very self, in order to “redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own” (Titus 2:14). Born in the night is the One who redeems us from the night. The hint of the dawning day is no longer to be sought in the distant reaches of the cosmos, but by bending low, in the stable nearby.

The clear sign given to a darkened world is indeed “a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger” (Lk 2:12). To find the Savior, one must not gaze upward, but look below: The omnipotence of God shines forth in the powerlessness of a newborn; the eloquence of the eternal Word resounds in an infant’s first cry; the holiness of the Spirit gleams in that small body, freshly washed and wrapped in swaddling clothes. The need for care and warmth becomes divine since the Son of the Father shares in history with all his brothers and sisters. The divine light radiating from this Child helps us to recognize humanity in every new life.

To heal our blindness, the Lord chooses to reveal himself in each human being, who reflect his true image, according to a plan of love begun at the creation of the world. As long as the night of error obscures this providential truth, then “there is no room for others either, for children, for the poor, for the stranger” (Benedict XVI, Homily, Christmas Mass during the Night, 24 December 2012).

These words of Pope Benedict XVI remain a timely reminder that on earth, there is no room for God if there is no room for the human person. To refuse one is to refuse the other. Yet, where there is room for the human person, there is room for God; even a stable can become more sacred than a temple, and the womb of the Virgin Mary become the Ark of the New Covenant.

Let us marvel, dear brothers and sisters, at the wisdom of Christmas. In the Child Jesus, God gives the world a new life: his own, offered for all. He does not give us a clever solution to every problem, but a love story that draws us in. In response to the expectations of peoples, he sends a child to be a word of hope. In the face of the suffering of the poor, he sends one who is defenseless to be the strength to rise again. Before violence and oppression, he kindles a gentle light that illumines with salvation all the children of this world. As St. Augustine observed, “human pride weighed you down so heavily that only divine humility could raise you up again” (St. Augustine, Sermon 188, III, 3). While a distorted economy leads us to treat human beings as mere merchandise, God becomes like us, revealing the infinite dignity of every person. While humanity seeks to become “god” in order to dominate others, God chooses to become man in order to free us from every form of slavery. Will this love be enough to change our history?

The answer will come as soon as we wake up from a deadly night into the light of new life, and, like the shepherds, contemplate the child Jesus. Above the stable of Bethlehem, where Mary and Joseph watch over the newborn Child with hearts full of wonder, the starry sky is transformed into “a multitude of the heavenly host” (Lk 2:13). These are unarmed and disarming hosts, for they sing of the glory of God, of which peace on earth is the true manifestation (cf. v. 14). Indeed, in the heart of Christ beats the bond of love that unites heaven and earth, Creator and creatures.

For this reason, exactly one year ago, Pope Francis affirmed that the Nativity of Jesus rekindles in us the “gift and task of bringing hope wherever hope has been lost,” because “with him, joy flourishes; with him, life changes; with him, hope does not disappoint” (Homily, Christmas Mass during the Night, 24 December 2024). With these words, the holy year began. Now, as the jubilee draws to a close, Christmas becomes for us a time of gratitude and mission; gratitude for the gift received, and mission to bear witness to it before the world. As the Psalmist sings: “Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all the peoples” (Ps 96:2–3).

Brothers and sisters, contemplation of the Word made flesh awakens in the whole Church a new and true proclamation. Let us therefore announce the joy of Christmas, which is a feast of faith, charity, and hope. It is a feast of faith, because God becomes man, born of the Virgin. It is a feast of charity, because the gift of the redeeming Son is realized in fraternal self-giving. It is a feast of hope, because the child Jesus kindles it within us, making us messengers of peace. With these virtues in our hearts, unafraid of the night, we can go forth to meet the dawn of a new day.

Vatican City, Dec 24, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV will celebrate his first Christmas at the Vatican by reviving the tradition of offering Christmas Mass on Dec. 25 in St. Peter’s Basilica, something no pope has done since 1994.

The Christmas celebrations — which will be marked by the closing of the Holy Doors — will begin on the evening of Dec. 24, when the pontiff will celebrate Christmas Eve Mass at 10 p.m. local time in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The schedule represents a change from recent years, when during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Christmas vigil Mass was moved to 7 p.m. Before 2009, it took place at midnight, until Benedict XVI decided to move it to an earlier time.

On Dec. 25 at 10 a.m., Leo XIV will also celebrate the Christmas Day Mass in the Vatican basilica, a custom that has not been observed since the pontificate of St. John Paul II. Afterward, at noon, he will impart the traditional “urbi et orbi” (“to the city and the world”) blessing from the central balcony.

On Dec. 31, the pope will preside at 5 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica over first vespers and the Te Deum in thanksgiving for the year that is ending. On Jan. 1, 2026, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and the 59th World Day of Peace, he will celebrate Mass at 10 a.m.

The for this World Day of Peace, titled “Peace Be with You All: Towards an Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” proposes a vision that rejects fear, threats, violence, and weapons, and advocates for a peace capable of generating trust, empathy, and hope.

One of the most significant moments of the Christmas season will take place on Jan. 6, the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. At 9:30 a.m., Pope Leo XIV will close the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica and celebrate the closing Mass of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025. In the preceding days, of the other papal basilicas — St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran, and St. Paul Outside the Walls — will also have been closed.

This will be the second time in history that a jubilee year is closed by a different pope than the one who inaugurated it, as happened in 1700, when Innocent XII opened the holy year and Clement XI closed it.

The Christmas celebrations will conclude liturgically on Jan. 11, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. On that day, the pope will celebrate Mass and the baptism of several children of Vatican employees in the Sistine Chapel at 9:30 a.m., following a tradition established by St. John Paul II.

The Christmas spirit is already palpable in the Vatican after the Dec. 15 lighting of the Christmas tree and the inauguration of the Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square, events presided over by Sister Raffaella Petrini, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State. That same day, Leo received the donors of the tree and the Nativity scenes that were also set up in the Paul VI Audience Hall.

The Nativity scene in that space, called “Nacimiento Gaudium,” (“The birth that brings joy”) from Costa Rica, has attracted particular attention. Until Dec. 25, it depicts the Virgin Mary as pregnant, symbolizing anticipation and hope.

The figures rest on 28,000 white ribbons bearing the names or pseudonyms of children saved from abortion, while in the manger, 420 yellow ribbons display messages from hospitalized sick children.

After Christmas, the pope is scheduled to travel to Castel Gandolfo on Dec. 26 for a few days of rest, without, however, giving up presiding over the main liturgical events or meeting with the faithful on major feast days. In addition, on Jan. 7–8, he will gather all the cardinals of the world in Rome for his first ordinary consistory since the conclave that elected him.

Rome Newsroom, Dec 23, 2025 / 15:55 pm (CNA).

Fifty million people are currently being trafficked around the world, according to the 2023 Global Slavery Index, driving over $236 billion into the hands of criminals, with numbers continuing to rise.

The 2024 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report documented that between 2019 and 2022 the number of identified trafficking victims increased by 25%, forced labor rose by 47%, and the number of child victims rose by 31%, with a dominating 38% increase in girls. 

Earlier this month, the Sovereign Order of Malta, Praeveni Global, the Santa Marta Group, and the Institute of Anthropology of the Pontifical Gregorian University organized an international conference in Rome to discuss prevention efforts, strengthen collaboration, and promote comprehensive action plans. 

Conference panelists included law enforcement, activists, United Nations rapporteurs, and human rights experts as well as appearances from Cardinal Fabio Baggio, the undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Pam Bondi, attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Among those participating in the conference was Karla De la Cuesta, who was rescued alongside other girls from the hands of her traffickers in Mexico.

“We were victims of human trafficking in different ways,” De la Cuesta told EWTN News, explaining that their forms of exploitation included “abuse, sexual exploitation, labor slavery, torture, unlawful deprivation of liberty, forced marriages, forced abortions — multiple crimes committed against us.”

It was thanks to the intervention of Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) that De la Cuesta’s alleged perpetrators were caught and the girls were able to return home. 

After becoming a lawyer and an activist, De la Cuesta studied her own case file in great depth. More than 10 victims had testified before authorities in her case, but those authorities did not act in accordance with the law or open proper investigations into their cases. This led De la Cuesta to write a book: “All in the Light: The Criminal Case that Mexico Left in the Darkness.”

“I [wrote] about all of this analysis I carried out as a lawyer and activist, hand-in-hand with other experts, where I specifically laid out all of these … omissions on the part of the authorities.”

The publications of De la Cuesta’s findings didn’t come without repercussions. “The Mexican state brought against me great retaliation, brutal attacks,” she said. “Which is why in less than six months after the publication of my book, I had to leave my country and now I live in Spain seeking international protection.”

De la Cuesta highlighted that the existence of safeguarding laws is not enough — the laws need to be enforced.

“In my country, we have a wonderful law, but in reality, it does not end up addressing the actual needs,” she stated. “There is no proper prevention, no proper prosecution, and no proper protection for the victims.”

De la Cuesta said no one should ever have to endure what survivors of human trafficking have lived through. While the harm cannot be undone, she emphasized that resilience is still possible, even in the face of pain that often lasts a lifetime. 

“We can indeed make flowers grow from these wounds,” she said.

The trafficking of children is increasing globally. Not only is it an issue across borders but also in places where children should feel their safest — at home. 

A member of the conference panel, Reem Alsalem, U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, spoke about how human trafficking and pornography are often interconnected.

“Pornography is a system of online prostitution,” Alsalem said. “So by definition it is exploitative, abusive, and preys on women and girls. Some of the violence and abuse that they’re exposed to happens also through trafficking. They are trafficked for the purpose of being sexually exploited in pornography.”

Alsalem refuted the widely used argument that consuming consensual pornography is the better option.

“Many digital platforms and businesses involved in pornography, first of all, use nonconsensual material; second, many of the women and children that appear in these images and material have been coerced, have been forced, have been threatened and again, as we said, especially the adults have not consented to this, even after they have requested that this material be removed many of these platforms have refused to do so,” she said.

Another panelist at the conference was pyschologist and theologian Father Hans Zollner, director of the Institute of Anthropology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. The Jesuit priest is known for his work in the field of safeguarding against sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

“What we need to do … is to understand that child protection or the safeguarding of all people is something that is written into the Gospel,” he told conference participants. He said he believes the Church has made a lot of progress in the last 12 years in terms of supporting victims, especially those who have been subject to clergy abuse.

“If we understood it better and if it was integrated better and more wholeheartedly, that would also come with an openness to listening to stories of victims who want to share with us their life experience,” he said.

Zollner continued to say that evil has been in the world since the beginning of humanity and that there is no salvation from crime and sins except in the perspective of our future in heaven.

“Jesus Christ himself has been a victim of violence,” Zollner said. “And he suffered death because he was unjustly treated.”

“So we believe that he has risen, and that gives us hope that with all the evil that is happening today we still have some hope, some perspective — that this is not the end of it, that the violence and harm we do to each other as human beings is not the last word.”

Vatican City, Dec 22, 2025 / 12:37 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV told Vatican and Holy See employees to see their daily work as part of the Church’s mission, saying that doing one’s job well “gives glory to the Lord.”

Meeting the workers for a Christmas greeting on Dec. 22, the pope said he is still getting to know the Vatican and experiences it as “a great mosaic” made up of many offices and services. He said he hopes, with God’s help, to meet employees as he visits different workplaces.

Reflecting on the Nativity scene, Pope Leo pointed to the many figures shown at work — each carrying out a task — as a reminder that everyday activities find their full meaning in God’s plan centered on Jesus Christ. He said it is as if the Christ Child blesses everyone from the manger, giving purpose and unity to the work of each person.

Even when some figures in the Nativity seem distant from the central event, he said, they participate precisely by being themselves, staying in their place and doing what they are called to do. The pope applied that image to Vatican life, saying each person can praise God by carrying out his or her responsibilities with commitment and care.

The pope also linked professional dedication to family life, telling lay employees that striving to do one’s best at work — and loving one’s family and children — honors God.

He urged Vatican workers to make that spirit a hallmark of the Church “in every expression,” and he asked them to convey his greetings to their relatives at home, telling them that the pope is praying for them.

After giving his blessing, Pope Leo greeted some of those present individually.

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 22, 2025 / 12:07 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV calls for renewed priestly formation, stronger priestly fraternity, and a more missionary focus in pastoral ministry in an apostolic letter released by the Vatican on Monday.

The document,  reflects on two decrees of the Second Vatican Council:  — on priestly formation — and  — on the ministry and life of priests — both promulgated in 1965. Leo urges Catholics to keep reading the two conciliar texts in Christian communities and to study them “particularly in seminaries and in all places of preparation and formation for ordained ministry.”

An apostolic letter is a formal papal document, typically addressed to the Church, meant to teach, encourage, or direct pastoral priorities on a specific theme.

In his new letter, Leo says the Church is not simply marking an anniversary. He writes that the council’s “desired renewal” remains closely tied to priestly ministry, quoting the council’s assessment that “the desired renewal of the whole Church depends to a great extent on a priestly ministry animated by the spirit of Christ.”

The pope presents fidelity as both a grace and “a constant journey of conversion,” and he thanks priests worldwide for their ministry — from celebrating the Eucharist and proclaiming the Word to caring for those who suffer.

Leo writes that every vocation begins with an encounter with Christ and recalls the Lord’s call, “Follow me” (Mk 1:17). He says fidelity in “times of trial and temptation” is strengthened by remembering “the sound of the voice of the Lord who loves, chooses, and calls us,” and by seeking the accompaniment of those experienced in the spiritual life. 

Addressing what he calls “the crisis of trust in the Church caused by abuses committed by members of the clergy,” the pope says the scandal “has filled us with shame and called us to humility” and underscores “the urgent need for a comprehensive formation” that fosters human maturity alongside “a rich and solid spiritual life.” 

He urges seminarians to examine their motivations and includes a pointed line on formation of the heart: “The seminary is meant to be a training ground to help a seminarian attend to his own heart… we need to learn how to love and how to do so as Jesus did.” 

Leo describes priestly fraternity as a gift rooted in ordination itself and warns against individualism. He encourages practical steps to strengthen bonds among priests, including support for those who are isolated, sick, or elderly.

The pope also flags disparities that can undermine communion, saying more remains to be done — including “economic equalization between those who serve poor parishes and those who carry out their ministry in wealthy communities.”

Leo calls synodality “particularly close to my heart,” arguing that the Church still has work to do in fostering healthy relationships between priests and bishops, among priests themselves, and with the lay faithful. 

He encourages priests to engage the Synod on Synodality’s final document and says priestly ministry should move away from “exclusive leadership” that centralizes parish life and places every responsibility on the priest alone. Instead, he points to more collegial leadership and cooperation among priests, deacons, and the whole people of God. 

The pope links priestly identity to mission and warns against two temptations: an efficiency-driven mindset that measures worth by performance, and a “quietism” that retreats from evangelization. He writes that media exposure and social networks require discernment and recalls St. Paul’s warning: “‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are beneficial” (1 Cor 6:12). 

The letter closes with a focus on vocations and the need for both prayer and renewed pastoral creativity. Leo entrusts seminarians, deacons, and priests to the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Good Counsel, and St. John Mary Vianney. 

Vatican City, Dec 22, 2025 / 06:25 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Monday called on officials of the Roman Curia to deepen both mission and communion, urging Vatican offices to be “more mission-oriented” and cautioning against the “forces of division” that can take root even “beneath an apparent calm.”

Speaking during his annual Christmas greetings with personnel of the Church’s central administration, the pope also paid tribute to Pope Francis, whom he described as his “beloved predecessor” who “this year concluded his earthly life.”

Leo said Francis’ “prophetic voice, pastoral style, and rich magisterium” encouraged the Church “to place God’s mercy at the center, to give renewed impetus to evangelization, and to be a joyful Church, welcoming to all and attentive to the poorest.”

Drawing on Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation , Leo focused his address on what he called “two fundamental aspects of the Church’s life: mission and communion.”

“By her very nature, the Church is outward-looking, turned toward the world, missionary,” the pope said, adding that the Church exists to invite people into “the good news of God’s love.”

He insisted that ecclesial structures should serve evangelization rather than slow it down. “Structures must not weigh down or slow the progress of the Gospel or hinder the dynamism of evangelization; instead, we must ‘make them more mission-oriented,’” he said.

Applying that principle directly to Vatican governance, the pope said: “We need an ever more missionary Roman Curia in which institutions, offices, and tasks are conceived in light of today’s major ecclesial, pastoral, and social challenges, and not merely to ensure ordinary administration.”

Leo said the mystery of Christmas highlights not only the mission of the Son of God but also the purpose of that mission: reconciliation and a new kind of fraternity. “Christmas reminds us that Jesus came to reveal the true face of God as Father, so that we might all become his children and therefore brothers and sisters to one another,” he said.

The pope warned that communion within the Church requires ongoing conversion, especially when tensions arise in workplaces and debates about doctrine and practice.

“At times, beneath an apparent calm, forces of division may be at play,” he said. He cautioned against “swinging between two opposite extremes: uniformity that fails to value differences, or the exacerbation of differences and viewpoints instead of seeking communion.”

Such patterns, he said, can lead to “rigidity or ideology” and the conflicts that follow.

Yet, he continued, Christians are united in Christ even amid real diversity. “And in Christ, though many and diverse, we are one: ‘In Illo uno unum,’” he said.

Leo called Curia officials in particular to be “builders of Christ’s communion,” emphasizing a synodal Church in which “all cooperate in the same mission, each according to his or her charism and role.”

The pope acknowledged that long years of service can leave some Vatican employees disheartened by workplace dynamics, including “the exercise of power,” “the desire to prevail,” or “the pursuit of personal interests.”

He posed the question directly: “Is it possible to be friends in the Roman Curia? To have relationships of genuine fraternal friendship?” He said it is “a grace to find trustworthy friends, where masks fall away,” where “no one is used or sidelined,” and where each person’s “worth and competence are respected.”

Such relationships, he said, require personal conversion so that “Christ’s love” can be visible.

The pope also linked internal communion to the Church’s public witness in a world marked by violence and polarization. He said this conversion becomes a sign “ad extra” in “a world wounded by discord, violence, and conflict,” where there is “a growth in aggression and anger,” often “exploited by both the digital sphere and politics.”

“Dear brothers and sisters, mission and communion are possible if we place Christ at the center,” Leo said.

He also pointed to the significance of the Church’s current jubilee year, saying it underscores that Christ “alone is the hope that does not disappoint.”

The pope referenced two major anniversaries marked this year: the Council of Nicaea, which he said returns the Church “to the roots of our faith,” and the Second Vatican Council, which “strengthened the Church and sent her forth to engage the modern world.”

Leo closed by recalling the 50th anniversary of St. Paul VI’s apostolic exhortation , highlighting its emphasis that evangelization belongs to the whole Church and that the first means of evangelization is the witness of an authentically Christian life.

“Let us remember this also in our curial service: The work of each is important for the whole, and the witness of a Christian life, expressed in communion, is the first and greatest service we can offer,” he said.

Quoting Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer on the humility of God revealed at Christmas, Leo prayed that the Lord would grant the Curia “his own humility, his compassion, and his love,” and he concluded by wishing all present “a holy Christmas” and asking God to “grant peace to the world.”

At the close of the exchange of greetings, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, offered Christmas wishes on behalf of Curia offices, the Vatican City State Governorate, and the Diocese of Rome, and the pope presented curial personnel with a copy of “The Practice of the Presence of God,” the spiritual classic he has recently recommended.

CNA Staff, Dec 22, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network has released Pope Leo XIV’s for the year 2026.

Every month, Pope Leo asks Catholics around the world to pray for a particular intention. This initiative is accompanied by a video in which the pontiff expresses the reasons why he has chosen that particular intention.

Below is the complete list of Pope Leo’s prayer intentions for 2026.

Let us pray that praying with the word of God be nourishment for our lives and a source of hope in our communities, helping us to build a more fraternal and missionary Church.

Let us pray that children suffering from incurable diseases and their families receive the necessary medical care and support, never losing strength and hope.

Let us pray that nations move toward effective disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, and that world leaders choose the path of dialogue and diplomacy instead of violence.

Let us pray for priests going through moments of crisis in their vocation, that they may find the accompaniment they need and that communities may support them with understanding and prayer.

Let us pray that everyone, from large producers to small consumers, be committed to avoid wasting food and to ensure that everyone has access to quality food.

Let us pray that sports be an instrument of peace, encounter, and dialogue among cultures and nations, and that they promote values such as respect, solidarity, and personal growth.

Let us pray for the respect and protection of human life in all its stages, recognizing it as a gift from God.

Let us pray that in large cities often marked by anonymity and loneliness we find new ways to proclaim the Gospel, discovering creative paths to build community.

Let us pray for a just and sustainable management of water, a vital resource, so that everyone may have equal access to it.

Let us pray that mental health ministry be established throughout the Church, helping to overcome the stigma and discrimination of persons with mental illnesses.

Let us pray for the proper use of wealth, that not succumbing to the temptation of selfishness, it may always be put at the service of the common good and solidarity of those who have less.

Let us pray for families experiencing the absence of a mother or father, that they may find support and accompaniment in the Church, and help and strength in the faith during difficult times.

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 21, 2025 / 09:15 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday highlighted four virtues of St. Joseph — “piety and charity, mercy and trust” — as guides for Catholics in the final days of Advent leading up to Christmas.

Speaking during his from the window of the Apostolic Palace on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the pope said the day’s liturgy invited the faithful to reflect on St. Joseph, especially “at the moment when God reveals his mission to him in a dream.”

Calling the Gospel episode “a very beautiful page in salvation history,” Leo described Joseph as a man who is “fragile and fallible — like us — and at the same time courageous and strong in faith.”

Referring to the Gospel of Matthew, the pontiff recalled that Joseph of Nazareth was a “just man,” a devout Israelite who observed the law and frequented the synagogue, while also being “extremely sensitive and human.”

In the face of Mary’s mysterious pregnancy — a situation that was difficult to understand and accept — the pope noted that Joseph did not choose “the way of scandal” or public condemnation. Instead, he opted for the discreet and benevolent path of planning to divorce her quietly.

In doing so, Leo said, Joseph demonstrated he had grasped the deepest meaning of religious observance: mercy.

The pope added that Joseph’s purity and nobility became even clearer when the Lord revealed his plan of salvation in a dream, showing Joseph the unexpected role he would assume as the husband of the Virgin Mother of the Messiah.

Leo pointed to Joseph’s “great act of faith,” saying the saint left behind the last of his certainties and set out into a future fully in God’s hands.

Referring to St. Augustine, the pope said that from Joseph’s piety and charity, “a son was born of the Virgin Mary — Son at the same time of God.”

“Piety and charity, mercy and trust,” Leo said, are the virtues the liturgy proposes for the faithful today so that they may accompany Christians through these final Advent days toward “holy Christmas.”

The pope emphasized that these attitudes “educate the heart” for encountering Christ and one another and can help believers become for each other “a welcoming manger, a comfortable home, a sign of God’s presence.”

He urged Catholics not to miss opportunities during this season of grace to put the virtues into practice — forgiving, encouraging, offering hope to those they live with and meet — and renewing in prayer a childlike trust in the Lord and in his providence.

Leo concluded by entrusting the faithful to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, who were the first to welcome Jesus, the Savior of the world, “with great faith and love.”

Vatican City, Dec 19, 2025 / 16:22 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV approved new labor regulations at the (ULSA, by its Italian acronym), the Holy See’s body responsible for managing labor relations for personnel working in the , the Governorate of Vatican City State, and other entities directly administered by the Apostolic See.

The reform, established through a pontifical rescript signed on Nov. 25, introduces significant changes that strengthen institutional representation, improve internal coordination, and underscore the pontiff’s care for employees and the application of the Church’s social doctrine.

The document that has been released — corresponding to the ULSA’s new statute — details, in precise legal language, how labor disputes should be handled in the Vatican, reinforcing protections, procedures, and deadlines for both current and former employees of the Holy See.

Specifically, the text regulates the chapter dedicated to labor disputes, clearly establishing who can appeal, to which authorities, and within what time frames.

The document indicates that anyone who believes they have been harmed by an administrative act in labor matters — unless it has been expressly approved by the pope — may file a complaint with ULSA or take it to the Vatican judicial authority.

However, it is emphasized that attempting conciliation with the ULSA director is a mandatory condition, an indispensable requirement before pursuing any other course of action.

The text also specifies that, when required by the internal regulations of each administration, the employee must first exhaust all internal remedies, failing which his or her claim will be deemed inadmissible. Only after completing this process can the procedure before ULSA or the courts of Vatican City State be initiated.

Labor disputes — whether individual or collective — will be resolved preferably through conciliation mechanisms, and only in case of failure will they be referred to the ULSA Conciliation and Arbitration Board or the Vatican court. In this way, the system prioritizes solutions through dialogue before resorting to legal action.

The document also establishes a five-year statute of limitations for rights arising from the employment relationship, although it clarifies that filing a request for conciliation interrupts this period until official notification of the document that concludes this phase.

Matters falling under the jurisdiction of the Disciplinary Commissions established in the general regulations of the various Vatican administrations are expressly excluded from this procedure.

Regarding deadlines, the statute stipulates that the appeal must be filed within 30 days of notification — or actual knowledge — of the contested act. The same deadline applies after a negative decision on an internal appeal or in the case of administrative silence, if the administration fails to respond within the prescribed time.

Finally, the text details the formal requirements of the claim, which must include the claimant’s personal data, the identification of the administration involved,and the act being challenged, as well as the necessary elements to allow for the proper processing of the case.

The decree was issued after an audience granted to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and coincides with the approval of the new general regulations of the Roman Curia.

Overall, the document reflects an effort to provide greater legal certainty, transparency, and procedural order to labor relations within the Vatican, in line with the recent reform initiated by Pope Leo XIV to strengthen the protection of workers and promote a culture of conciliation before resorting to legal conflict.

Another major innovation of the new statute is the expansion of the ULSA Council, the advisory body responsible for developing regulatory proposals. For the first time, it will include a representative from the Secretariat of State as well as from the Vicariate of Rome, the Pension Fund, and the Healthcare Fund (FAS) used by employees of the Vatican and the Holy See. This addition brings the number of newly represented entities to four and aims to strengthen the technical expertise and effective protection of workers.

The council — whose members serve a five-year term — already included representatives from various Vatican dicasteries and bodies, such as the Dicastery for Evangelization, the Secretariat for the Economy, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, and the Governorate of Vatican City State.

The new statute also introduces a more participatory way of working. From now on, each council member will be able to propose topics for the agenda directly, a power that previously required the support of at least four members. According to Vatican sources, this measure emphasizes a more “synodal” working style and promotes the creative involvement of the various departments and staff representatives.

Leo XIV has confirmed the historical responsibilities of ULSA, an organization established by St. John Paul II in 1988 and operational since 1989, and which was further updated during the pontificates of Benedict XVI and Francis.

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 19, 2025 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV advocated for a labor system that serves individuals and families so that the dignity of each employee is recognized and his or her real needs are met.

During a Dec. 18 audience at the Vatican with members of the Order of Employment Consultants, the Holy Father highlighted three aspects that he considers particularly important in the business world: the dignity of the person, mediation, and the promotion of safety.

At the beginning of his address in the Apostolic Palace, the pontiff emphasized that at the heart of any work dynamic “should neither be capital, nor the laws of the market, nor profit, but the person, the family, and their well-being, to which everything else is secondary.”

Consequently, he stated that workers must “be recognized in their dignity” and receive concrete responses to their real needs, such as the needs of young families, of parents with small children, “as well as the importance of helping those who, even while working, must care for elderly and sick family members.”

“These are needs,” he pointed out, “that no truly civilized society can afford to forget or neglect.” This is especially true today, when artificial intelligence and technology “increasingly manage and influence our activities.” Therefore, he emphasized the urgent need to ensure that companies are characterized “as humane and fraternal communities.”

He also urged the establishment of fair mediation between managers and employees, avoiding “excessive bureaucratization of relationships” and “distance and detachment and distance from reality.”

Thus, he invited employment consultants to pay close attention “to the people in front of you, especially those who are in difficulty and have fewer opportunities to express their needs and assert their interests.” 

Finally, he emphasized the importance of promoting workplace safety and lamented the numerous accidents that occur at work. “Prevention is better than remediating,” he remarked.

Vatican City, Dec 19, 2025 / 11:05 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has written the preface to a new Vatican edition of the book “The Practice of the Presence of God,” a spiritual work he says is “one of the texts that has most shaped my spiritual life.”

“The Practice of the Presence of God” is a 17th-century spiritual classic written by the Carmelite friar Lawrence of the Resurrection.

The pontiff shared the personal importance of this work during the return flight to Rome at the end of his first international trip to Turkey and Lebanon earlier this month.

“It’s a very simple book, by someone who doesn’t even give his last name — Brother Lawrence — written many years ago,” he said at the time.

“But it describes, if you will, a type of prayer and spirituality where one simply gives his life to the Lord and allows the Lord to lead.”

In a preface to “The Practice of the Presence of God,” published by the Vatican Publishing House (LEV) in Italian, the pope goes deeper into this personal experience and places the work within his own journey of faith.

“As I have had occasion to say, together with the writings of St. Augustine and other books, this is one of the texts that has most shaped my spiritual life and has formed me in what the path for knowing and loving the Lord can be,” he writes.

Leo emphasizes that the small book by Brother Lawrence places at the center not merely the experience but a true “practice” of the presence of God, lived in everyday life.

It is, he explains, a path that is “simple and arduous at the same time. Simple, because it requires nothing other than “constantly calling God to mind, with small, continual acts of praise, prayer, supplication, adoration, in every action and in every thought, with him alone as our horizon, source, and end.”

It is demanding because it requires “a journey of purification, of ascetic discipline, of renunciation and conversion of the most intimate part of ourselves — of our mind and our thoughts, even more than of our actions,” he explains.

In this context, the pontiff cites St. Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians: “Have in you the same sentiments as Christ Jesus” — to underscore that “it is not only our attitudes and behaviors that must be conformed to God, but our very sentiments, our very way of feeling.”

In the preface, Leo underscores that this spiritual path, in which the presence of God becomes “familiar and occupies our inner space,” is where “graces and spiritual riches blossom, and even daily tasks become easy and light.”

The pope situates Brother Lawrence’s message in the context of today’s world. The writings of this Carmelite, who lived with luminous faith through a century marked by conflicts and violence — “certainly no less violent than our own” — can, he affirms, “also be an inspiration and a help for the lives of us men and women of the third millennium.”

The writing of Brother Lawrence shows us “that there is no circumstance that can separate us from God, that each of our actions, each of our occupations, and even each of our mistakes acquires infinite value if lived in the presence of God, continually offered to him,” the Holy Father says.

The pope adds that the whole of Christian ethics “can truly be summed up in this continual calling to mind of the fact that God is present: He is here.”

“This remembrance, which is more than a simple memory because it involves our feelings and affections, overcomes all moralism and every reduction of the Gospel to a mere set of rules, and shows us that truly, as Jesus promised us, the experience of entrusting ourselves to God the Father already gives us a hundredfold here on earth,” he explains.

“Entrusting ourselves to the presence of God means tasting a foretaste of paradise,” Leo writes.

Vatican City, Dec 18, 2025 / 18:28 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV warned against the destructive spiral fueled by the arms race and the development of autonomous weapons, and called for an “unarmed and disarming” peace — one that springs from the resurrection of Christ — as the only answer to the world’s challenges.

“The peace of the risen Jesus is unarmed, because his was an unarmed struggle in the midst of concrete historical, political, and social circumstances,” the pontiff wrote in for the 59th World Day of Peace, which will be celebrated on Jan. 1, 2026. Its text was released Dec. 18 by the Holy See Press Office.

The four-page document is titled “Peace Be with You All: Towards an Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” an expression that directly echoes after his election as the successor of Peter on May 8, when he appeared on the balcony of the Apostolic Palace to greet the faithful for the first time.

In the text, the pope lamented that, in the face of global challenges, the predominant response is an “enormous economic investment in rearmament.” In this regard, he noted that in 2024, global military spending increased by 9.4% compared with the previous year, confirming “the trend of the last 10 years.” According to the data cited, total spending reached $2.718 trillion, equivalent to 2.5% of the world’s gross domestic product.

Beyond the statistics, the pope warned of the cultural and educational consequences of this logic. He criticized the fact that schools and universities are not adequately preserving “a culture of memory” that remembers the “millions of victims” of wars ​​and lamented that, instead, educational programs are being promoted that are based on the “perception of threats,” promoting “only an armed notion of defense and security.”

The Holy Father also emphasized how technological advancements and the incorporation of artificial intelligence in the military sphere have “worsened the tragedy” of armed conflicts. He therefore warned of the risk of a growing tendency to “shirk responsibility” by political and military leaders such that “decisions about life and death are increasingly “‘delegated’ to machines.” 

In his view, this is an “unprecedented destructive betrayal” of the “legal and philosophical principles of humanism” upon which any civilization is based and safeguarded.

The pontiff did not shy away from denouncing “the enormous concentrations of private economic and financial interests” that are driving states in this direction, but emphasized that just criticizing this would not be enough “unless we also awakened conscience and critical thought” throughout society.

In his reflection, Leo XIV included an explicit warning against the religious instrumentalization of violence. The pope observed that it is part of the contemporary landscape to “to drag the language of faith into political battles, to bless nationalism, and to justify violence and armed struggle in the name of religion.” In response, he urged believers to “actively refute this, above all by the witness of their lives,” because “these forms of blasphemy profane the holy name of God.”

Therefore, he emphasized that, alongside concrete actions for peace, it is increasingly necessary to cultivate “prayer, spirituality, and ecumenical and interreligious dialogue” as authentic paths to peace and as languages ​​of encounter between traditions and cultures.

The Holy Father also warned of the risk of treating peace as a “distant ideal” and “disconnected from the concrete experience of people and the political life of nations.”

When peace is presented as something unattainable, the pope noted in the text, “we cease to be scandalized when it is denied, or even when war is waged in its name.”

According to the pontiff, there is a real risk that this logic will end up seeping into both private and public life, fueling the perception that it is almost “a fault” not to be sufficiently prepared for war, “not to react to attacks,” even going “far beyond the principle of legitimate defense.”

“It is no coincidence that repeated calls to increase military spending, and the choices that follow, are presented by many government leaders as a justified response to external threats,” Leo XIV lamented.

Indeed, he continued, “the deterrent power of military might, especially nuclear deterrence, is based on the irrationality of relations between nations, built not on law, justice, and trust but on fear and domination by force.”

Faced with this scenario, the pope proposed a different understanding of peace that “wants to dwell within us” and has the “gentle power to enlighten and expand our understanding; it resists and overcomes violence.”

“Peace is a breath of the eternal: while to evil we cry out ‘Enough,’ to peace we whisper ‘Forever,’” the pope emphasized.

The reflection included a cultural critique of the modern world, which he called “realistic” in its narratives but “devoid of hope, blind to the beauty of others,” and that forgets that “God’s grace is always at work in human hearts, even those wounded by sin.”

In this regard, the pope recalled that the path proposed by Jesus was already perplexing even for his own disciples: “The Gospels do not hide the fact that what troubled the disciples was his nonviolent response,” a path that everyone, starting with Peter, opposed, “yet the Master asked them to follow this path to the end. The way of Jesus continues to cause unease and fear.” 

The Holy Father acknowledged the discouragement experienced by people of goodwill who “have hearts ready for peace” and are overwhelmed by a feeling of “powerlessness” in the face of the increasingly uncertain course of events.

The World Day of Peace was instituted by St. Paul VI, who proposed it on Dec. 8, 1967, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. It was celebrated for the first time on Jan. 1, 1968, coinciding with the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and since then it has become an annual occasion for the Church to reflect on the great challenges of human coexistence.

Vatican City, Dec 18, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Just a few weeks remain until the closing of the holy year, which was inaugurated by Pope Francis on Dec. 24, 2024. On Jan. 6, 2026, Pope Leo XIV will be the one to close the enormous bronze door of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, through which nearly 30 million pilgrims have passed during the last 12 months seeking a plenary indulgence. 

This Holy Door is slated to be reopened in 2033, when the Church celebrates the Extraordinary Holy Year of the Redemption.

The schedule for closing rites of the Holy Doors of the main papal basilicas in Rome is as follows:

The first Holy Door to be closed — and which will remain walled up until the next jubilee — is that of St. Mary Major Basilica. The rite will take place on Dec. 25, as reported by the Holy See Press Office. The ceremony will be begin at 6 p.m. local time, followed by Mass celebrated by the cardinal archpriest of the basilica, Rolandas Makrickas.

Two days later, on Dec. 27 at 11 a.m. local time, the closing ceremony at St. John Lateran Basilica will be presided over by the cardinal vicar of Rome, Baldassare Reina, who will celebrate the Eucharist, and will feature the participation of the diocesan choir, directed by Monsignor Marco Frisina.

On Dec. 28 at 10 a.m. local time, the Holy Door of St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica will be closed. The solemn event will be presided over by Cardinal Archpriest James Michael Harvey.

Finally, on Jan. 6, 2026, the solemnity of the Epiphany, Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to close the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica before celebrating the Mass that will mark the concluding act of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. On that occasion, the pontiff will invite pilgrims to return to Rome in 2033 for the Extraordinary Holy Year of Redemption.

The Holy Doors, as is tradition, have been solely those of the four papal basilicas of Rome: St. Peter’s in the Vatican, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls. However, on Dec. 26, two days after officially inaugurating the holy year, Pope Francis made an exception by traveling to the Rebibbia prison in Rome to repeat this gesture at another door as a symbol of hope.

The late pope wanted to extend this gesture of grace to prisoners by opening the door of this correctional facility in the Italian capital.

The date on which the closing ceremony for this fifth Holy Door will take place has yet to be announced.

Vatican City, Dec 17, 2025 / 09:58 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has chosen Bishop Ronald Hicks of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, to be the next archbishop of New York — the most consequential U.S. episcopal appointment of Leo’s pontificate thus far.

The appointment was confirmed by EWTN News with two independent sources with direct knowledge of the appointment.

Hicks, 58, will succeed Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who has led New York, the second-largest U.S. archdiocese by population — with 2.5 million Catholics — since 2009.

The choice of Hicks for one of the most important U.S. archdioceses is likely to be heavily scrutinized for the insight it may give into the direction Pope Leo wishes to take the Church in the U.S.

A native of Illinois, Hicks has led the Joliet Diocese since September 2020. He was an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Chicago from 2018 to 2020, following three years as the archdiocese’s vicar general from 2015 to 2018.

Hicks was born on Aug. 4, 1967, in the town of Harvey, Illinois, south of Chicago, and grew up in South Holland, one suburb over from Dolton, where Pope Leo XIV grew up.

“I recognize a lot of similarities between [Pope Leo] and me,” Hicks told WGN in an interview in May. “So we grew up literally in the same radius, in the same neighborhood together. We played in the same parks, went swimming in the same pools, liked the same pizza places to go to.”

Ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1994, Hicks’ priestly ministry included time as an associate pastor and pastor, and dean of formation as St. Joseph College Seminary.

In 2005, he began a five-year term as regional director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) in Central America. Based in El Salvador, he oversaw the care of more than 3,400 orphaned and abandoned children in nine Latin American and Caribbean countries.

He returned to Chicago in 2010 to serve as dean of formation at Mundelein Seminary before Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago appointed him vicar general of the archdiocese on Jan. 1, 2015.

As bishop, Hicks serves on the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations for the U.S. bishops’ conference, and as the conference liaison to the Association of Ongoing Formation of Priests and the National Association of Diaconate Directors.

The Archdiocese of New York serves Catholics in the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, and in seven counties to the north.

Vatican City, Dec 17, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV said Wednesday true satisfaction is found not in the accumulation of money or things, or by “too much doing,” but by returning to Jesus Christ, the source of hope, love, and joy.

“We are absorbed by many activities that do not always leave us satisfied … We have to assume responsibility for many commitments, solve problems, face difficulties,” the pope said at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 17. 

“Yet,” he added, “we often perceive how too much doing, instead of giving us fulfillment, becomes a vortex that overwhelms us, takes away our serenity, and prevents us from living to the fullest what is truly important in our lives.”

In his catechesis, the pontiff stressed that the true value of life is not measured by “days full of activities” or economic success.

“It is therefore in the heart that true treasure is kept, not in earthly safes, not in large financial investments, which today more than ever before are out of control and unjustly concentrated at the bloody price of millions of human lives and the devastation of God’s creation,” he said.

Leo warned that this logic of accumulation ends up emptying life of meaning even for those who, from the outside, seem to have achieved success: “It is important to reflect on these aspects, because in the numerous commitments we continually face, there is an increasing risk of dispersion, sometimes of despair, of meaninglessness.”

“Human life is characterized by a constant movement that that drives us to do, to act,” he acknowledged, adding that Jesus’ resurrection can give us insight into this human experience.

“When we participate in [Christ’s] victory over death, will we rest? Faith tells us: Yes, we will rest,” the pope said. “We will not be inactive, but we will enter into God’s repose, which is peace and joy. So, should we just wait, or can this change us right now?”

Leo noted that many people, despite having so much, feel empty at the end of the day.

The answer, according to the pontiff, is “because we are not machines, we have a ‘heart’; indeed, we can say that we are a heart.”

He turned to the Gospel of St. Matthew to underscore the centrality of the heart, citing the words of Jesus: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6:21).

He also cited the beginning of St. Augustine’s “Confessions,” where the bishop of Hippo wrote: “Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

St. Augustine, with the adjective restless, “helps us understand the human being’s yearning for fulfillment.”

“The authentic approach of the heart,” he continued, “does not consist in possessing the goods of this world, but in achieving what can fill it completely; namely, the love of God, or rather, God who is Love.”

The Holy Father explained that this treasure is found only by “loving the neighbor we meet along the way: brothers and sisters in flesh and blood, whose presence stirs and questions our heart, calling it to open up and give itself.”

But in order to love one’s neighbor, Leo pointed out that it is necessary to “slow down” one’s pace, to “look them in the eye, sometimes to change our plans, perhaps even to change direction.”

“Here is the secret of the movement of the human heart: returning to the source of its being, delighting in the joy that never fails, that never disappoints. No one can live without a meaning that goes beyond the contingent, beyond what passes away,” he concluded.

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Although “papal fashion,” meticulously crafted down to the smallest detail, has evolved over time, the popes’ attire still holds profound symbolism that continues to capture the attention of many.

Proof of this is the recent naming of Pope Leo XIV as one of people of 2025 by Vogue magazine, one of the most prestigious and recognized fashion and beauty publications in the world.

Pope Leo XIV shares this distinction with athletes, actors, singers, politicians, and models, including Rosalía, Rihanna, Bad Bunny, actress Jennifer Lawrence, and tennis player Venus Williams.

The American magazine, founded in 1892, highlights in its annual ranking that Leo XIV has broken “with the humble tastes of his predecessor,” Pope Francis, preserving “the papal legacy of impeccably crafted liturgical vestments.”

As the “best outfit of 2025,” the magazine cites on May 8 in the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, wearing a red satin mozzetta and a wine-colored stole, embroidered in gold and with a pectoral cross held by a golden silk cord.

The mozzetta is an elbow-length cape that falls over the shoulders and is worn over the rochet as a sign of authority, while the chasuble is the outer liturgical vestment worn over the alb and stole, and its color changes according to the liturgical season. Historically, the liturgical garment represents the “yoke of Christ” and is a symbol of charity.

Pope Francis chose not to wear these garments after his election in 2013, a gesture of simplicity that marked his pontificate and was recognized at the time by Esquire magazine, which also included him on its list of “best-dressed men,” highlighting his understated style.

The Italian Filippo Sorcinelli has established himself as one of the leading designers for recent popes, starting with Benedict XVI. Furthermore, the tailoring of the papal liturgical vestments is entrusted to the historic Gammarelli tailor shop, located near the Pantheon in the heart of the Eternal City.

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 16, 2025 / 15:11 pm (CNA).

The last major event of the Jubilee of Hope was around the world, some of whom during the past weekend were able to experience freedom and fulfill a dream: to go see Pope Leo XIV.

Víctor Aguado, director of prison ministry in Valencia, Spain, accompanied a group of prisoners to the Eternal City, many of whom had spent more than 12 years behind bars. Thanks to special permission, they were able to travel and become living witnesses that “hope breaks down walls and that dignity cannot be taken away.”

In a conversation with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Aguado recounted the details of the “intense, emotional, and spiritual” trip that will forever mark the lives of the men and women who have been incarcerated. 

The group was composed of a total of 13 people from Valencia, including prisoners, volunteers, and the chaplain. Six of them were inmates in the second and third degree of the prison system — regimens that combine incarceration with controlled outings — so they had to obtain a series of permits from the Treatment Board, the General Secretariat, and the Oversight Institutions. “It was a long bureaucratic process, but we didn’t have any problems,” Aguado explained.

He explained that they selected the prisoners they have known for a long time. Those in the third degree of the prison system enjoy a semi-release regimen and live in halfway houses, while those in the second degree usually go to workshops and cooperate with everything the prison ministry proposes. “They are people of faith who attend Mass, and we knew that, given their situation and attitude, they needed this and wouldn’t turn it down,” he commented.

“They wanted to be very well prepared, free of burdens, and participate in Sunday Mass completely cleansed and at peace with themselves,” said Aguado, who also highlighted their passing through the Holy Door as one of the most emotional moments of the jubilee. “With the pilgrimage, the prisoners assumed a new responsibility and a new path, a new life, and the feeling that now they have to do things right.”

He also highlighted their excitement at seeing the pope, since for them “he is the representation of the Lord on earth.” The Sunday Mass with the Holy Father, Aguado explained, was “very simple, and although it was in Italian, it was perfectly understandable.”

“Hope goes beyond, it breaks down walls wherever it may be, and the dignity of people cannot be taken away, and that is what they conveyed during the three days we were in Rome. These were very intensely personal experiences, and we could feel their joy; everyone had a look of peace,” he noted.

For Aguado — who has been working with prisoners for 14 years — the fact that this event closed the Jubilee of Hope is no mere coincidence. “The world of prisons is not visible, and in some way we must begin to consider that people who have been judged eventually get out and have to reintegrate into normal life, and that depends on society.”

“We know that the Lord forgives everything, so who are we to not forgive these people and keep on stigmatizing them? They are called ex-convicts, but they are nothing more than persons, with all their dignity and freedom,” he affirmed.

Although he assured that the Lord “is always with them and walks with them,” he emphasized the urgency of recognizing the prisoners as living members of the Church and appealed to the responsibility of every Christian: “Sometimes we take the works of mercy for granted, but we don’t always put them into practice. The Lord challenges us: ‘I was in prison,’ and the question remains the same: ‘Did you come to see me?’”

The Italian priest Father Raffaele Grimaldi, who left his chaplaincy at the Secondigliano prison in Naples — where he served the inmates for 23 years — to coordinate the 230 priests who minister to the nearly 62,000 detainees throughout Italy, also participated in this historic jubilee.

Speaking to ACI Prensa, he noted that the event “is a strong reminder that the Church wants to bring God’s love and mercy to prisons, who goes in search of those who are lost.”

According to Grimaldi, this jubilee “has brought to light the most difficult situations we are experiencing in our prisons and the plight of the prisoners” including overcrowding, lack of resources, suicides, neglect, and “above all, the lack of acceptance from society.”

The priest brought some prisoners from different Italian prisons before Pope Leo XIV, especially young people and one man sentenced to life in prison. “It was a moment of great joy for them,” he commented.

“Every prisoner needs to constantly hear a word of mercy: from people who do not judge, who do not point fingers, who do not condemn, but who embrace,” he stated.

He also emphasized that this jubilee has not been an isolated event, since throughout the year there has been spiritual preparation in the correctional facilities, where “proclaiming hope is a powerful message that resonates deeply in the hearts of all.”

Grimaldi admitted that these individuals have “made mistakes” and are serving a sentence for them; however, he urged people to “reach out to them so that they can take up their lives again and change,” with justice accompanied by mercy, “so that justice itself does not become vengeance.”

During his years of service in the prisons, he said he has encountered many people who have traveled on a beautiful spiritual journey, “like a young Albanian man who received the sacrament of baptism on Dec. 12.”

“This makes us understand that in our prisons there are many lives that need to be rescued and helped, because if these opportunities don’t exist, the prisoner dies inside, and we also kill the hope that is in their heart.”

Vatican City, Dec 16, 2025 / 10:45 am (CNA).

The first episode of a new travel show, hosted by Catholic actor and director David Henrie, premiered at the Vatican’s movie theater on Monday evening.

“Seeking Beauty,” which will debut on EWTN’s free on Jan. 19, 2026, is a series documenting Henrie’s exploration of the beauty of art and culture in six Italian cities.

Henrie and executive producer Edmundo Reyes, with other crew members, were present for the airing of Episode 1 inside Vatican City on Dec. 15. The premiere was followed by a Q-and-A with Henrie, Reyes, and Peter Gagnon, president of , moderated by Andreas Thonhauser, chief global officer of EWTN.

“It’s a blessing to be able to play the show at the Vatican, which is where we [filmed] our first episode,” Henrie told EWTN News. “You can’t help but feel grateful, and feel like [it’s] a full-circle moment.”

In the first episode, Henrie speaks to a range of experts — including art historian Elizabeth Lev and artist Kelly Medford — to learn more about the Vatican Gardens, the Swiss Guard, St. Peter’s Basilica, and St. Peter’s Square.

Reyes called it “such a special moment” to show the first episode of at the Vatican.

“We can’t wait for people to see it,” he told EWTN News at the event. “I think it’s going to be a great, great evangelization tool.”

Reyes, who had the original idea for the show, recalled visiting Spain with his family four years ago and how it was there he realized how many stories about art and faith have not been shared with a wider audience.

“God put in my heart this desire … Let’s create a travel show that will be more than a travel show, that would help people encounter God through beauty,” he said.

“What David has done is very special, because it’s not about going to places but retraining us or inviting us to contemplate and to look at beauty differently,” Reyes said during the Q-and-A. It’s about “God speaking to us through beauty, and not so much about, ‘Hey, here’s a cool place to visit and to put on your bucket list.’”

The series is produced by EWTN Studios in partnership with Digital Continent and in association with Novo Inspire and Sacred Arthouse.

“Each episode is very unique … There’s so much there that can touch people in different ways,” Gagnon said.

In Season 1, Henrie will also visit Rome, Milan, Venice, Florence, and Subiaco, a place connected to St. Benedict. Season 2 of “Seeking Beauty” recently wrapped filming in Spain.

“I’m not an expert. You’re just seeing it through my eyes,” Henrie told EWTN News. 

“The thing that will make this accessible is that you’re not sitting down for a history lesson; it’s a travel show,” he said. “When my wife and I watch travel shows, we have a glass of wine, we hang out, we relax, we watch something. It’s easy consumption, but there’s some medicine under all the sugar.”

Vatican City, Dec 15, 2025 / 17:06 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Monday thanked Costa Rican artist Paula Sáenz Soto for donating a pro-life Nativity scene to the Vatican, named“Gaudium” (“Joy”), which features a pregnant Virgin Mary.

“I thank the Costa Rican artist who, along with the message of peace of Christmas, also wanted to make an appeal for protecting life from conception,” the pope said during the audience he granted Dec. 15 to the delegations that prepared this year’s Christmas tree and Nativity scenes that will adorn the Vatican during the Christmas season.

The artwork from the Central American country has been on display since Dec. 15 in the Pope Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican, the large hall where the pope is now holding his Wednesday general audiences so pilgrims don’t have to endure the cold temperatures of the Roman winter in St. Peter’s Square.

In his address, the Holy Father alluded to its composition, mentioning the 28,000 colorful ribbons that symbolize lives saved thanks to the support provided by Catholic organizations to pregnant women in vulnerable situations.

“The scene depicts a life saved from abortion thanks to prayer and the support provided by Catholic organizations to many mothers in difficult circumstances,” Pope Leo XIV noted.

The decorations in St. Peter’s Square — which Monday afternoon — have an Italian touch. The chosen tree comes from Val d’Ultimo, one of the most picturesque and lesser-known valleys of South Tyrol in Italy. 

Meanwhile, the Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square comes from the Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno, one of the oldest in Italy: Its origins date back to the third century, when Nuceria Alfaterna — the ancient Roman city in the Sarno Valley — already had an organized Christian community.

“I thank you for this artistic work that incorporates characteristic elements of your territory,” the pope said, noting that this traditional Nativity scene includes a reproduction of the sixth-century baptistery of St. Mary Major Basilica, one of the best-preserved in the country.

The pope emphasized that this work will be a reminder for pilgrims from all over the world that “God draws near to humanity, entering into our history in the vulnerability of a child.”

“In the poverty of the cave in Bethlehem, we contemplate a mystery of humility and love,” the pope reflected. He also highlighted the figure of the Virgin Mary “as a model of adoring silence,” who treasures in her heart all that she has experienced, while the shepherds glorify God and share what they have seen and heard. In this regard, he emphasized the “need to seek moments of silence and prayer in our lives.”

Regarding the Christmas tree, the pontiff said the large fir tree “is a sign of life and a reminder of the hope that does not fade even in the cold of winter.”

The lights that adorn it, he added, symbolize “Christ, the light of the world,” who comes to “dispel the darkness and guide our path.” In addition to the large fir tree, the forests of South Tyrol have also donated other smaller trees to the Vatican, intended for offices, public spaces, and various areas of Vatican City.

Vatican City, Dec 15, 2025 / 07:48 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Monday condemned a deadly attack on the Jewish community in Sydney and entrusted the victims to God in prayer.

“Today I wish to entrust to the Lord the victims of the terrorist attack carried out yesterday in Sydney against the Jewish community,” the pope said Dec. 15, referring to a shooting during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach that left at least 15 people dead and some 40 others injured.

The Holy Father expressed his spiritual closeness to those affected by the violence, which occurred as more than 1,000 people had gathered to mark the start of Hanukkah, also known as the Feast of Lights — one of the most important celebrations in the Jewish calendar.

According to local media reports, two armed assailants opened fire on the crowd, sparking panic and a mass flight toward the beach and nearby businesses. One attacker was killed during the police response, while the second remains in critical condition. Authorities are investigating possible links between the attackers and a jihadist terrorist organization. Among the victims were a child and a Holocaust survivor.

The pope made his remarks during a Vatican audience with delegations that donated this year’s Christmas tree and Nativity scenes for St. Peter’s Square and the Paul VI Audience Hall. During the same encounter, Leo also reflected on the meaning of Christmas, urging the faithful to “let the tenderness of the Child Jesus illuminate our lives.”

Catholic leaders in Australia also responded with prayer and a strong condemnation of antisemitism. and invoked the intercession of the Virgin Mary in the immediate aftermath of the Dec. 14 shooting.

Vatican City, Dec 14, 2025 / 08:05 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday voiced deep concern over renewed fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, urging an immediate end to violence and a return to dialogue in line with ongoing peace efforts.

After leading pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square in praying the Angelus on the third Sunday of Advent, the pope said he was “following with deep concern the resumption of fighting in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

“While expressing my closeness to the people, I urge the parties in the conflict to cease all forms of violence and to seek constructive dialogue, respecting the ongoing peace process,” he said.

The pope’s appeal came amid reports of intensified clashes involving the M23 rebel group in the mineral-rich eastern region, despite a recently signed peace agreement between Congolese and Rwandan leaders.

Pope Leo also recalled recent beatifications of martyrs in Spain and France, praising their fidelity to the faith amid persecution. “Let us praise the Lord for these martyrs, courageous witnesses to the Gospel, persecuted and killed for remaining close to their people and faithful to the Church,” he said.

Earlier, in his before leading the Angelus, Pope Leo reflected on the Gospel reading for the third Sunday of Advent, which presents John the Baptist imprisoned for his preaching yet still seeking the truth about Jesus.

From prison, John hears “about the works of Christ” and sends his disciples to ask whether Jesus is truly the one who is to come, the pope noted. Jesus’ response, he said, points not to abstract claims but to concrete signs.

“Christ announces who he is by what he does. And what he does is a sign of salvation for all of us,” Pope Leo said. Encountering Jesus, he explained, restores meaning to lives marked by darkness and suffering: “The blind see, the mute speak, the deaf hear… Even the dead, who are completely lifeless, come back to life. This is the Gospel of Jesus, the good news proclaimed to the poor.”

“The words of Jesus free us from the prison of despair and suffering,” the pope said, adding that Christ “gives voice to the oppressed and to those whose voices have been silenced by violence and hatred” and “defeats ideologies that make us deaf to the truth.”

Concluding his reflection, Pope Leo said that Advent calls Christians to unite their expectation of the Savior with attentiveness to God’s action in the world. “Then we will be able to experience the joy of freedom in encountering our Savior,” he said, echoing the Church’s celebration of Gaudete Sunday.

Vatican City, Dec 14, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Governorate of Vatican City State has announced the origins of the fir tree and Nativity scenes that will adorn St. Peter’s Square and the Paul VI Audience Hall this Christmas as well as those who prepared the tree’s decorations.

The decorations in St. Peter’s Square will once again have an Italian touch.

The chosen tree, an imposing 80-foot Norway spruce, comes from the town of Val d’Ultimo in Ultental, one of the most picturesque and lesser-known valleys of South Tyrol in the Alto Adige region of Italy. Along with the large tree, 40 smaller trees destined for Vatican offices and buildings will arrive soon.

In a novel initiative to ensure environmental sustainability and respect for nature, after Christmas, the main fir tree will be used to produce essential oils — a process that will be handled by the Austrian company Wilder Naturprodukte — and the rest of the wood will be donated to a charitable organization.

The Nativity scene, which is more of a village scene and will include life-size figures, will also be monumental in size. It measures 56 feet in length and is nearly 40 feet wide with a height of 25 feet and comes from the Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno, one of the oldest in Italy whose origins date back to the third century, when Nuceria Alfaterna — the ancient Roman city in the Sarno Valley — already had an organized Christian community.

The scene recreates emblematic elements of early Christian art from this region of Italy and includes a reproduction of the sixth-century baptistery from St. Mary Major Basilica, one of the best-preserved in the country. It also features an octagonal baptismal pool and frescoes that reveal Byzantine influences.

Also represented is the Helvius Fountain (“Fons Helvii”), an ancient monumental Roman fountain built between the first and second centuries A.D. associated with a local aqueduct that supplied water to the Roman population.

Upon this symbolic architecture unfolds a narrative that fuses sacred art, cultural heritage, and local identity.

The life-size figures of the Holy Family have been created by craftsman Federico Iaccarino, and the rest of the Nativity scene will include characters inspired by saints associated with this Italian region.

For example, among those represented are St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, who in 1732 founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), dedicated to evangelizing the most abandoned, especially in rural and marginalized areas; and a shepherd inspired by the Servant of God Don Enrico Smaldone, a priest who dedicated his life to caring for orphans, poor young people, and people with intellectual disabilities, for whom he created educational initiatives and welcoming spaces within the Church.

Around them, shepherds and animals parade across a pavement that evokes the ancient Roman roads.

In the central scene, Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus are accompanied by the ox and the donkey, the three Wise Men, and a shepherdess offering local produce — artichokes, San Marzano tomatoes, and dried fruit — as a tribute to the land that inspired the work.

The ensemble includes elements that invite spiritual reflection: a pendulum clock that alludes to the passage of time, an observer leaning over a balcony representing the human perspective on the mystery, and a fisherman holding an anchor, a symbol of faith and the spiritual journey of the jubilee.

The luminous star with a tail in the shape of an anchor that crowns the composition stands out, uniting the celestial and the earthly in a single gesture of hope.

The dedication will take place Monday, Dec. 15, at 5 p.m. local time in a ceremony presided over by Sister Raffaella Petrini, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, accompanied by Archbishop Emilio Nappa and lawyer Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, general secretaries of the Vatican body.

The day will begin with several audiences with Pope Leo XIV, who will receive in the morning the delegations that donated the tree and those responsible for the huge Nativity scene that will adorn the square.

Among others, the afternoon ceremony will be attended by Bishop Ivo Muser of Bolzano-Bressanone; the mayor of Lagundo, Alexandra Ganner; and the mayor of Ultimo, Stefan Schwarz.

During the morning, the official presentation of a Nativity scene from Costa Rica, which will be installed this year in the Paul VI Audience Hall, will also take place.

Titled “Nacimiento Gaudium” (“Nativity of Joy”), the work by Costa Rican artist Paula Sáenz Soto, is an “affirmation of life from conception.” The piece consists of a figure of a pregnant Virgin Mary and 28,000 colored ribbons that symbolize lives preserved thanks to the support provided by Catholic organizations to pregnant women in vulnerable situations.

The Nativity scene — 16 feet long, 10 feet high, and 8 feet deep — will feature two interchangeable representations of the Virgin Mary: an image of her pregnant during Advent and another of her adoring the newborn child from Christmas Eve onward. In addition, 400 ribbons with prayers and wishes from children at the National Hospital of San José, Costa Rica, will be placed in the manger on Dec. 24.

The Costa Rican delegation that will meet with the pope will be composed of First Lady Signe Zeicate; her daughter, Isabel Chaves Zeicate; and the country’s ambassador to the Holy See, Federico Zamora.

Vatican City, Dec 14, 2025 / 05:25 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday presided over the final major celebration of the holy year, calling for renewed commitment to justice, rehabilitation, and hope as he celebrated a jubilee Mass dedicated to prisoners in St. Peter’s Basilica.

About 6,000 pilgrims from some 90 countries took part in the Jubilee of Prisoners, including detainees and their families, prison chaplains, correctional officers, police, and prison administrators. Participants came from across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, the United States, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Australia.

In his , the pope said that as the jubilee year drew to a close, significant challenges remained within prison systems worldwide.

“While the close of the jubilee year draws near, we must recognize that, despite the efforts of many, even in the penitentiary system there is much that still needs to be done,” he said. Quoting the prophet Isaiah — “the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing” — Leo said the passage recalled that “it is God who ransoms, who redeems and liberates.”

The pope acknowledged the harsh realities of incarceration, saying prison was “a difficult place and even the best proposals can encounter many obstacles.” For that reason, he said, people must not “tire, be discouraged, or give up” but continue “with tenacity, courage, and a spirit of collaboration.”

Leo stressed that justice should not be reduced to punishment alone. “There are many who do not yet understand that for every fall one must be able to get back up, that no human being is defined only by his or her actions and that justice is always a process of reparation and reconciliation,” he said.

Reflecting on the meaning of the jubilee, the pope said that even in difficult conditions, the preservation of compassion, respect, and mercy could bear unexpected fruit.

“When even in difficult situations we are able to maintain and preserve the beauty of feelings, sensitivity, attention to the needs of others, respect, the capacity for mercy and forgiveness, beautiful flowers spring forth from the ‘hard ground’ of sin and suffering,” Leo said, adding that “gestures, projects, and encounters, unique in their humanity, mature even within prison walls.”

The pope also recalled the hopes expressed by his predecessor, Pope Francis, for the holy year. Leo said Francis had wanted jubilee celebrations to include “forms of amnesty or pardon meant to help individuals regain confidence in themselves and in society” and to offer “real opportunities of reintegration” to all.

“I hope that many countries are following his desire,” the pope said, noting that in its biblical origins the jubilee was “a year of grace in which everyone was offered the possibility of restarting in many different ways.”

Addressing both prisoners and those who work in the penal system, Leo said the task entrusted to them was demanding. He pointed to challenges such as overcrowding, insufficient educational and rehabilitation programs, and limited job opportunities, as well as personal burdens including past wounds, disappointment, and the difficulty of forgiveness.

“The Lord, however, beyond all this, continues to repeat to us that only one thing is important: that no one be lost and that all be saved,” he said. “Let no one be lost! Let all be saved! This is what our God wants, this is his kingdom, and this is the goal of his actions in the world.”

According to organizers, delegations attending the jubilee included inmates and staff from several Italian prisons, including Rebibbia, Casal del Marmo, Brescia, Teramo, Pescara, Rieti, Varese, and Forlì, as well as international groups coordinated by prison chaplaincies in Portugal, Spain, Malta, and Chile. A group of 500 pilgrims was accompanied by the General Inspectorate of Chaplains of Italian prisons.

The hosts used for the Mass were produced by prisoners through the “Sense of Bread” project run by the Fondazione Casa dello Spirito e delle Arti. Since 2016, the initiative has involved more than 300 inmates each year in making Communion hosts for more than 15,000 dioceses, religious communities, and parishes in Italy and abroad.

Rome Newsroom, Dec 13, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

A Swedish youth choir marked the feast of St. Lucy by singing at a Mass at the Vatican on Thursday, Dec. 11.

Students from Nordiska Musikgymnasiet — The Nordic Music High School — in Stockholm performed traditional Swedish “Lucia songs” during an afternoon Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of the Italian saint’s Dec. 13 feast day.

“It was just really amazing” singing in St. Peter’s Basilica, choir member Alfio Tota told EWTN News after the Dec. 11 Mass. “It’s so enormous … And the acoustics are very interesting.”

The student recalled that though Sweden is a very secular country, the tradition of St. Lucia, as they call her, is quite strong.

“I think everyone feels quite a lot of joy and nostalgia in singing” the St. Lucy hymns, he said.

Choir member Fabienne Glader told EWTN News that she always spends the feast of St. Lucy with her family.

St. Lucy “shows courage and patience and just to never [give up] on yourself,” Glader said. “Even if you’re not really religious in any way, you can look up to her as just a wonderful person.”

The choir’s conductor, Casimir Käfling, said as a Christian, the tradition of St. Lucy was always part of Christmas for his family.

He called it “an incredible honor to be able to sing and conduct” her songs in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Käfling also recalled the darkness Sweden experiences during the winter, especially in the month of December, and said St. Lucy brings light into that darkness.

“The story of St. Lucy really plays with these contrasts of light and dark, and most importantly, hope and despair,” Tota said.

Vatican City, Dec 12, 2025 / 17:46 pm (CNA).

On Dec. 12, Pope Leo XIV presided over his first Mass on the solemnity of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whom he asked to come to his aid “so that she may confirm in the one true path that leads to the blessed Fruit of your womb all those who have been entrusted to me.”

A large number of the faithful, mostly from the Mexican community residing in Rome as well as clergy and members of the Roman Curia, attended the ceremony held in St. Peter’s Basilica at 4 p.m. local time.

The Holy Father delivered a homily in Spanish in the form of a prayer addressed to the patroness of Mexico and empress of the Americas.

The pontiff recalled that Mary allows the Word of God “to enter her life and transform it,” bringing “that joy wherever human joy is insufficient, wherever the wine has run out.” 

For the Holy Father, at Tepeyac, the Virgin Mary “awakens in the inhabitants of America the joy of knowing they are loved by God.” Thus, “amidst ceaseless conflicts, injustices, and sorrows that seek relief,” Mary of Guadalupe proclaims the core of her message: “Am I not here, I who am your mother?”

“It is the voice,” the pope continued, “that echoes the promise of divine fidelity, the presence that sustains us when life becomes unbearable.”

The pope then focused his message on the motherhood of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Before her image, he expressed his desire that the faithful might feel like “true children of yours,” and he asked for her guidance to maintain their faith “when strength fails and shadows grow.”

“Mother, teach the nations that wish to be your children not to divide the world into irreconcilable factions, not to allow hatred to mark their history nor lies to write their memory. Show them that authority must be exercised as service and not as domination. Instruct their leaders in their duty to safeguard the dignity of every person at every stage of life. Make these peoples, your children, places where every person can feel welcome,” he continued.

He also prayed to the Virgin for young people, “that they may obtain from Christ the strength to choose what is good and the courage to remain steadfast in the faith, even when the world pushes them in another direction.” He also prayed that nothing would trouble their hearts and that “they may embrace God’s plans without fear.”

“Protect them from the threats of crime, addiction, and the danger of a meaningless life,” he added.

The Holy Father turned to those who have distanced themselves from the Church and asked the Virgin Mary to bring them “back home” with the power of her love. He also prayed for those who sow discord, asking Mary to restore them to charity.

He also implored Our Lady of Guadalupe to strengthen families and, following her example, to help “parents educate with tenderness and firmness, so that every home may be a school of faith.”

He also asked her to sustain the clergy and consecrated life “in daily fidelity” and to renew their first love. “Guard their inner lives in prayer, protect them from temptation, encourage them in their weariness, and comfort those who are discouraged,” he added.

“Assist us so that we may not tarnish with our sin and misery the holiness of the Church, which, like you, is a mother,” he said.

In his conclusion, the Holy Father asked that the mother “of the true God for whom we live come to the aid of the successor of Peter, so that he may confirm in the one path that leads to the blessed Fruit of your womb all those entrusted to me.”

“Remember this son of yours, ‘to whom Christ entrusted the keys of the kingdom of heaven for the good of all,’ that these keys may serve ‘to bind and loose and to redeem all human misery,’” he said, quoting a by St. John Paul II.

Vatican City, Dec 12, 2025 / 11:42 am (CNA).

On the centenary of the founding of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology, Pope Leo XIV published a new apostolic letter in which he praised Christian archaeology as a work capable of “giving a voice to the silence of history” and of “bringing to light the anonymous holiness of many faithful who have contributed to building up the Church.”

“In today’s fast-paced world, there is a tendency to forget and to consume images and words without reflecting on their meaning. The Church, on the other hand, is called to educate people in memory, and Christian archaeology is one of its most noble tools for doing so — not in order to take refuge in the past, but consciously to live in the present and work towards an enduring future,” the pope stated in , published on Dec. 11.

This is the third magisterial publication of this kind by Leo XIV in his eight months as pontiff, following “,” a document focused on education, and on the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, in which he explored the unity of Christians.

For Leo XIV, Christian archaeology allows the Church to “remember its origins” and “recount the history of salvation not only through words but also through images, forms, and spaces.” In a time that “often loses sight of its roots,” it is “a valuable instrument of evangelization.”

Thus, he emphasized that archaeology speaks to believers and nonbelievers, young people, scholars, and pilgrims, because it illuminates the meaning of the journey and evokes an “echo of eternity.”

Each archaeological discovery, he explained, demonstrates that “Christianity is not an abstract concept but rather a body that has lived, celebrated, and inhabited space and time.”

For the Holy Father, archaeology shows that faith “has already survived difficult times and resisted persecution, crises, and changes. Faith has been renewed and regenerated,” and has “flourished in new forms.” Hence, he described it as “a ministry of hope.”

The pope said the discipline allows people to intuit the “power of an existence that transcends time,” to read in burials the “expectation of the Resurrection” and in apses “the orientation toward Christ.”

The pope emphasized that archaeology also plays a decisive role in the theology of revelation, since God “has in time spoken through events and people.” Therefore, understanding revelation requires knowing its historical contexts: Archaeology “illuminates the texts,” he affirmed, and also “completes written sources.”

In the document, the pope distanced himself from any idealization of the past and called for understanding the true history of the Church — made up of “greatness and limitation, holiness and fragility, continuity and rupture” — which will allow for a more authentic theology.

Leo XIV warned against a merely conservationist vision of archaeology. “True Christian archaeology is not a matter of sterile conservation but of living memory,” he emphasized after pointing out that Christian archaeology must foster a “reconciled memory” and promote spaces for dialogue.

Likewise, the pope recalled the value of academic communion and cooperation among archaeological institutions, describing this field as “a resource for everyone.”

In affirming the fundamental role of Christian archaeology, the pope underscored that “theological studies that disregard archaeology run the risk of becoming disembodied, abstract, or even ideological.”

According to the pontiff, archaeology not only provides historical data but also allows theology to remain rooted in the concrete reality of the people of God. Thus, he affirmed that a theology that “embraces archaeology ... listens to the body of the Church, assesses its wounds, reads its signs, and is touched by its history.”

In his reflection, Leo XIV highlighted the human and pastoral dimension of archaeological work. He described it as an essentially “hands-on” profession in which researchers “are the first to handle buried material that conserves its vitality even after centuries.”

But the contribution of the Christian archaeologist, Leo XIV added, goes beyond material recovery: “They study not only the artifacts but also the hands that forged them, the minds that conceived them, and the hearts that loved them.”

The pope recalled that from its origins, the Christian faith was transmitted through the memory of places and signs. “Christian communities safeguarded not only Jesus’ words but also the places, objects, and signs of his presence,” he stated.

Places such as the empty tomb, Peter’s house in Capernaum, and the Roman catacombs not only served as historical testimony but also “all testify that God has truly entered history and that faith is not a mere philosophy but a tangible path within the reality of the world,” the Holy Father wrote.

The pope affirmed that the Church needs to “search for a profound wisdom capable of preserving and passing on to future generations what is truly essential” and emphasized that archaeology has “an essential role in understanding Christianity and, consequently, its application within catechetical and theological formation.”

Citing Pope Francis’ apostolic constitution, Leo recalled that archaeology is part of the fundamental disciplines of theological formation, because “it does not merely tell us about artifacts but about people: their homes, tombs, churches, and prayers” and about “how faith shaped their spaces, cities, landscapes, and mentalities.”

The pope also emphasized that archaeology “is not just a specialized discipline reserved to a few experts” but rather a path accessible “to anyone who wishes to understand how faith is embodied in time, place, and culture.”

In his view, studying and narrating history helps to keep “the flame of collective conscience” alive. Otherwise, he warned, “all that remains is the personal memory of facts bound to our own interests or sensibilities, with no real connection to the human and ecclesial community in which we live.”

Leo XIV recalled that the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology was established by Pius XI’s motu proprio (“Primitive Cemeteries”) of Dec. 11, 1925, with the task “of directing studies on the monuments of ancient Christianity with the utmost scientific rigor” in order to “reconstruct the lives of the early communities.”

The institute has participated in crucial excavations, such as that of the tomb of the apostle Peter beneath the Altar of the Confession in St. Peter’s Basilica, and in recent investigations at St. Paul Outside the Walls.

The pope asked: “How fruitful can the role of Christian archaeology still be for society and the Church in an age marked by artificial intelligence and by the exploration of the innumerable galaxies of the universe?”

He himself offered the answer: Contemporary methods “enable us to glean new information from findings once considered insignificant,” reminding us that “nothing is truly useless or lost.” Even the marginal, he affirmed, can “reveal profound meaning in the light of new questions and methods. In this respect, archaeology is also a school of hope.”

Vatican City, Dec 12, 2025 / 09:11 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV warned that intelligence agencies in some countries work against the Catholic Church, “oppressing its freedom” by using confidential information for “nefarious purposes.”

In on Friday with people who work in Italy’s intelligence sector, the pope recalled the importance of conducting their jobs both ethically and morally.

“We must be vigilant to ensure that confidential information is not used to intimidate, manipulate, blackmail, or discredit politicians, journalists, or other actors in civil society. All of this also applies to the ecclesial sphere,” he said on Dec. 12.

Speaking in the Hall of Blessings, Leo urged those engaged in national security intelligence work to act with professionalism, to have respect for human dignity, and to engage in ethical communication.

“Security agencies often have to collect information on individuals and therefore have a strong impact on individual rights,” he noted. “It is therefore necessary that limits be established, according to the criterion of human dignity, and that we remain vigilant against the temptations to which a job like yours exposes you.”

The pope urged them to ensure that the protection of national security “always and in all cases guarantees people’s rights, their private and family life, freedom of conscience and information, and the right to a fair trial.”

Leo recalled the massive changes to digital communications in recent decades and warned that the arrival of new and increasingly advanced technologies “offers us greater possibilities but, at the same time, exposes us to constant dangers.”

“The massive and continuous exchange of information requires us to be critically vigilant about certain issues of vital importance: the distinction between truth and fake news, the undue exposure of private life, the manipulation of the most vulnerable, the logic of blackmail, and incitement to hatred and violence,” he said.

Vatican City, Dec 12, 2025 / 06:52 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV urged concrete acts of charity and solidarity in a world marked by conflict as he met with the committee that chooses recipients of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity.

“In a time marked by increased conflict and division, we need authentic testimonies of human kindness and charity to remind us that we are all brothers and sisters. Words are not enough,” the pope told the delegation at the Vatican on Dec. 11.

Leo praised the committee for continuing the legacy of Pope Francis and Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb in promoting compassion and fraternity, calling their work a “noble service of human fraternity.”

The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, named after the late United Arab Emirates president Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was established following the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity by Pope Francis and Al-Tayyeb during Francis’ 2019 apostolic journey to Abu Dhabi.

“This prize not only embodies the legacy of Sheikh Zayed and these other leaders, it also emphasizes that every human being and every religion is called to promote fraternity,” Leo said.

The pope stressed that ideals must be matched by action, telling the committee that building a society founded on love and respect requires “concrete actions.”

“Remaining in the realm of ideas and theories, while failing to give them expression through frequent and practical acts of charity, will eventually cause even our most cherished hopes and aspirations to weaken and fade away,” he said, quoting his apostolic exhortation .

Leo encouraged the committee to persevere in its work, expressing confidence that its efforts would “continue to bear fruit for the good of the human family.”

The Zayed Award association has received nominations from individuals and institutions worldwide whose work aims to foster solidarity and human connection across national, ethnic, and religious lines. For its 2026 edition, the award received more than 350 nominations from over 75 countries, with winners to be announced in January.

Award recipients will be honored at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 4, coinciding with the anniversary of the Document on Human Fraternity and the U.N. International Day of Human Fraternity. A $1 million prize will be divided among the winners.

Earlier this week, the Zayed Award delegation met with Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb in Cairo.

Vatican City, Dec 11, 2025 / 18:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Dec. 11 emphasized the academic, cultural, and ecclesial value of archaeology and called for the promotion of “cultural diplomacy” to overcome borders and prejudices.

Receiving members of the in an audience, the pope emphasized that its literary and monumental sources constitute an essential part of the “roots” of European society and nations.

“Take part through your studies in that cultural diplomacy that the world so desperately needs in our day,” the pope urged, addressing the faculty, students, and staff of the center.

To introduce his reflection, he referenced the motu proprio(“Primitive Cemeteries”), published exactly a century ago by Pius XI, in which he emphasized the Church’s responsibility for protecting its sacred heritage.

Pius XI then decided to add a new body to the work of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology and the Pontifical Roman Academy of Archaeology: the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology, created to “guide willing young people from all countries and nations toward the study and scientific research of the monuments of Christian antiquity.”

A century later, Leo XIV affirmed, this mission remains fully relevant.

The pope took the opportunity to present to those present , in which he emphasizes the importance of Christian archaeology. He pointed out that this field, focused on the monuments of the first centuries of Christianity, possesses its own “epistemological status,” with specific “chronological, historical, and thematic coordinates.”

However, he lamented that in some circles it continues to be included without distinction within medieval archaeology.

“In this regard, I suggest that they become upholders of the specificity of their discipline, in which the adjective ‘Christian’ is not intended to be an expression of a confessional perspective but rather a qualifier of the discipline itself with scientific and professional dignity,” he urged.

Leo XIV emphasized the ecumenical nature of Christian archaeology, alluding to its capacity to recall a time when the Church remained united. Its study, he affirmed, is “a valuable instrument for ecumenism,” as it allows the various Christian traditions to recognize a common heritage.

He also recounted that during his recent apostolic journey to İznik — ancient Nicaea — in Turkey, where he commemorated the 1,700th anniversary of the first ecumenical council with representatives of other churches, he was able to personally witness this reality: “The presence of the remains of ancient Christian buildings was moving and motivating for all of us.”

The pope also welcomed the fact that the institute had dedicated a day of study to the topic, in collaboration with the Dicastery for Evangelization.

For the pope, rigorous study and historical research constitute a privileged way of building bridges: “Through culture, the human spirit transcends the boundaries of nations and overcomes the barriers of prejudice to place itself at the service of the common good. You too can contribute to building bridges, fostering encounters, and nurturing harmony.”

He also noted that the institute is symbolically situated between two major jubilee themes: peace, the central theme of the holy year of 1925, and hope, the focus of the current jubilee. “And, in fact, you are bearers of peace and hope wherever you operate with your excavations and research, so that, recognizing your white and red banner with the image of the Good Shepherd, doors may be opened wide to you not only as bearers of knowledge and science but also as heralds of peace.”

Finally, Leo XIV recalled the words of St. John Paul II on the Christian roots of Europe, remembering his affirmation that the continent “needs Christ and the Gospel, because here lie the roots of all its peoples.”

“Among the roots of European society and nations is undoubtedly Christianity, with its literary and monumental sources; and the work of archaeologists is a response to the call I have just evoked,” he stated.

Vatican City, Dec 11, 2025 / 16:54 pm (CNA).

“Do not let your heart be troubled. Am I not here, I who am your mother?” With this consolation — with which of Mexico addressed in December 1531 — a devotion was kindled that, almost five centuries later, continues to shape the spiritual identity of Mexico and all of the Americas.

That same message, simple and profoundly consoling, still has a singular power today, especially “in the context of war and difficulties in the world we live in today,” said Father Stefano Cecchin, OFM, president of the Pontifical International Marian Academy, in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. 

Cecchin will participate on Dec. 12 in an unprecedented gathering organized by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America at the Vatican, a day that will bring together Latin American priests, women religious, and seminarians and will place the figure of Mary — particularly under her title of Our Lady of Guadalupe — at the center of evangelizing reflection.

Cecchin emphasized that Mary manifested herself with accessible, approachable, and protective language, capable of spreading the Christian message without obscuring the Indigenous identity of the visionary. In fact, he emphasized, “in Guadalupe we encounter the inculturation of God.”

For him, the spiritual core of the Guadalupe event is profoundly liberating: “Mary appears not to frighten, even though it occurs at the end of the Aztec calendar year, but she appears to bring peace and serenity. The message of Guadalupe is that whoever is with Mary should not be afraid.”

Understanding this historical and theological dimension, he added, allows us to perceive its universal impact. “We are trying to raise awareness throughout the world, beyond the countries of Latin America, the Philippines, and Spain. We want everyone to embrace it,” he stated. Cecchin summarized its importance with a powerful image: “For us, Guadalupe is the Sinai of the Americas.”

The comparison is not metaphorical: The people of Israel were born on the Sinai Peninsula, and in Guadalupe, Cecchin continued, “the Christian people of the Americas were born.”

The day at the Vatican is directed toward Latin American priests, women religious, and seminarians studying in Rome. After greetings from Archbishop Filippo Iannone, the president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, will speak, offering a keynote address titled “Mary: Star of Evangelization and the Mission for Latin America Today.”

“This expression has been used many times in Latin America, but we want to reconsider it in light of the teaching of the new doctrinal note on the Virgin Mary that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has given us,” Rodrigo Guerra, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, told ACI Prensa.

Fernández’s presence will be directly linked to the recent publication of the doctrinal note a document that has sparked in some quarters by proposing a rereading of popular Mariology and by nuancing traditional devotional titles.

Precisely for this reason, the event on Dec. 12 seeks to offer keys for a serene reception of the document from the perspective of evangelization.

In this regard, Guerra will present a reflection on the doctrinal reception of the figure of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Rome: “I will explain the pleasant surprise we all felt upon discovering that in the recent doctrinal note from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the topic of Our Lady of Guadalupe is addressed in two paragraphs in order to show in a very eloquent way how popular Marian devotion in Latin America today can offer us some lessons in the face of the challenges of evangelization in Latin America.”

Following the prefect’s lecture, a discussion with the participants will take place, followed by an academic panel with three brief presentations. The first will be given by Cecchin, who will address Our Lady of Guadalupe’s contribution to a balanced Mariology.

Afterward, Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, will speak to explore deeper the connection between Mary and synodality: a theme that the universal synodal process has highlighted in recent years. He explained to ACI Prensa that when we recognize Mary’s role in ecclesial life and in the devotion of the faithful, “the real need arises to delve deeper into the Marian mystery in order to better understand the synodal and missionary Church.”

He also pointed out that the figure of Mary is “fundamental” in the recovery of women’s identity and their value in the Church. “In her we find the perfect example of a Christian, a disciple. Always prophetically engaged with reality,” the Spanish prelate explained.

The day will conclude with a presentation by Guerra, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

The date — Dec. 12 — is not accidental: It coincides with the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the anniversary of the episcopal ordination of Pope Leo XIV. “That is why we thought this day was a good occasion for us to meet with all the students and friends from Latin America… to take a look at how Mary challenges us and offers us new reasons to rethink evangelization and mission in Latin America today,” Guerra said.

Following the conference, Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe will take place at 4 p.m. local time in St. Peter’s Basilica, celebrated by Pope Leo XIV. It will be one of the first significant gestures of the new pope toward the Latin American community residing in Rome.

Vatican City, Dec 10, 2025 / 11:21 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday rejected technological promises to indefinitely prolong human existence — such as those proposed by “transhumanism”— and said the resurrection of Christ “reveals to us that death is not opposed to life.”

Speaking on a cold morning in St. Peter’s Square Dec. 10, the pontiff warned that numerous current anthropological visions “promise immanent immortality [and] theorize the prolongation of earthly life through technology.”

That outlook, he said, is characteristic of “the transhumance scenario,” a phenomenon that “is making its way into the horizon of the challenges of our time.”

In response, Leo urged people to consider two central questions: “Could death really be defeated by science? But then, could science itself guarantee us that a life without death is also a happy life?”

The Holy Father explained that death and life are not opposed, and that in the Christian meaning, death is “a constitutive part of [life], as the passage to eternal life.”

“The Pasch of Jesus gives us a foretaste, in this time still full of suffering and trials, of the fullness of what will happen after death,” he added.

At the end of his audience, Pope Leo spoke out against violent clashes at the border of Thailand and Cambodia, saying he was “deeply saddened by the news of the escalation of the conflict.”

The hostilities have injured more than 100 people and displaced thousands of people in both countries. An estimated 13 people, including civilians, have been killed as the fighting entered the third day on Wednesday.

“I express my closeness in prayer to these beloved populations and I ask the parties to immediately cease fire and resume dialogue,” the pope said.

In his catechesis for the general audience, Leo XIV noted that throughout history, “many ancient peoples developed rites and customs linked to the cult of the dead, to accompany and to recall those who journeyed towards the supreme mystery.” But today, death “seems to be a sort of taboo” and “something to be spoken of in hushed tones, to avoid disturbing our sensibilities and our tranquility.”

The pope lamented that this attitude often leads people to avoid visiting cemeteries.

He also evoked the teachings of St. Alphonsus Liguori, recalling the enduring relevance of the saint’s work, “Preparation for Death.” The pontiff emphasized that, for the saint, death is “a great teacher of life,” capable of guiding the believer toward what is essential.

As the pope explained, St. Alphonsus invited people to “to know that [death] exists, and above all to reflect on it” as a way to discern what is truly important in life.

Leo also recalled that, in Alphonsian spirituality, prayer holds a central place “to understand what is beneficial in view of the kingdom of heaven, and letting go of the superfluous that instead binds us to ephemeral things.”

From this perspective, he asserted that only the resurrection of Christ “is capable of illuminating the mystery of death to its full extent.”

“In this light, and only in this, what our heart desires and hopes  becomes true: that death is not the end, but the passage towards full light, towards a happy eternity,” he said.

The pope explained that the risen Christ “has gone before us in the great trial of death, emerging victorious thanks to the power of divine Love.”

“He has prepared for us the place of eternal rest, the home where we are awaited; he has given us the fullness of life in which there are no longer any shadows and contradictions,” Leo said.

Vatican City, Dec 10, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

The Vatican this week launched the first-ever digital version of its annual directory, creating an easier way to find reliable and up-to-date information about the Church’s structures and members all around the world.

The red-covered Pontifical Yearbook — known in Italian as the “Annuario Pontificio” — is an important reference updated every year with Church statistics, the names and contacts of bishops, information about the departments of the Holy See, and more.

The Pontifical Yearbook, in its current form, started in the early 20th century, though other versions of a book with information about the Catholic hierarchy and the Roman Curia can be traced to the 18th century or earlier.

The biggest benefits to users are the ability to easily search for information and the possibility for updates to be reflected in real time.

Before now, to keep the directory current, one would have to cut out and glue periodic updates from the Vatican into the hardback book.

The directory includes global data that is frequently changing, including statistics about Catholic dioceses and missions, and information about bishops, the members of the Church, the number of priests and religious, and the Holy See’s diplomatic representation.

It also contains information about the pope and cardinals, and lists the people who lead the many different entities that make up the Roman Curia and the Vatican.

On Dec. 8, the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, which is responsible for publishing the Pontifical Yearbook, unveiled the digital version, for an annual subscription of 68,10 euros ($79.20), around the same price as a printed version, which is still being published.

The Vatican said in time it intends to offer the directory in languages other than Italian, “making it more accessible to a growing number of users around the world.”

At a presentation of the project, Pope Leo XIV had a chance to receive a first lesson in how the digital yearbook works. He thanked those involved, calling it “a wonderful service which will be of great help.”

Vatican City, Dec 9, 2025 / 14:32 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV received the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in audience today at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, the Holy See announced in a statement.

The meeting, described as "cordial," focused on the situation of the war in Ukraine and the prospects for the diplomatic initiatives currently underway.

During the conversation, the Holy Father reiterated “the need to continue the dialogue” and renewed his “pressing desire” that diplomatic efforts might lead to “a just and lasting peace,” according to the statement released by the Vatican.

The meeting also addressed particularly sensitive humanitarian issues. During the discussions, reference was made to the “prisoners of war” situation and the urgency of “guaranteeing the return” of Ukrainian children separated from their families and illegally deported to Russia was emphasized.

Following the private audience, Zelenskyy expressed his “profound gratitude” to Pope Leo XIV for the Holy See's constant support for the Ukrainian people.

In a message posted on his social media after the meeting, Zelenskyy expressed particular gratitude for the humanitarian aid. During the audience, he said he thanked the pope for "his constant prayers for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, as well as his calls for a just peace."

The Ukrainian president also informed the pope about the diplomatic contacts and negotiations that Kyiv is conducting with the United States to pave the way for peace. "I informed the pope about the diplomatic efforts with the United States to achieve peace," he said.

One of the central points of the conversation was the fate of the Ukrainian children illegally deported to Russian territory. Zelenskyy emphasized that they discussed “future actions and the Vatican's mediation aimed at securing the return of our children kidnapped by Russia,” an issue that the Holy See has kept on its humanitarian agenda since the first months of the conflict.

The Ukrainian president emphasized that the meeting was “an important and cordial dialogue,” focused on the protection of the civilian population and the spiritual support that the pontiff has repeatedly shown.

Zelenskyy took the opportunity to renew a formal invitation to the pope to travel to Ukraine. “I invited the pope to visit Ukraine. It would be a powerful sign of support for our people,” he said.

The audience took place a day after Zelenskyy traveled to the United Kingdom, where he held a meeting at Downing Street with the country's prime minister, Keir Starmer, which was also attended by the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz.

That meeting focused on negotiations surrounding the peace plan and next steps for Ukraine presented by Washington. The first 28-point draft presented by the Trump administration in November proposed a resolution to the conflict that was largely favorable to Moscow.

That proposal was followed by another put together in Geneva by delegations from the United States, Ukraine, and Europe.

Zelenskyy arrived in Castel Gandolfo on Tuesday, Dec. 9, after three days of talks in Miami between Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the Ukrainian negotiator, Rustem Umerov.

Exactly one week ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Witkoff in Moscow without any significant progress.

This is the third official meeting between the two, after Leo XIV received Zelenskyy in an audience following the Mass marking the beginning of his pontificate on May 18, and in a second meeting on July 9, also in Castel Gandolfo. Pope Leo usually takes Tuesday every week as a day off at Castel Gandolfo.

Following today’s meeting with the pope, Zelenskyy was scheduled to meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as part of a new round of contacts with key European leaders regarding the peace process in Ukraine.

Ukraine first requested the Vatican's intervention shortly after the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. Since then, the Holy See has continued its diplomatic efforts for peace, while maintaining open channels of dialogue with all parties involved.

Vatican City, Dec 9, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).

Archduke of Austria Eduard Habsburg, who served as Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See since 2015, described his post at the Vatican as “the greatest 10 years of my life.”

Shortly before his farewell meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Nov. 21, Habsburg told EWTN News reporter Colm Flynn that after a decade on the job, he has “seen it all” and now wants to dedicate more time to his family, particularly his parents.

“I felt that 10 years is a good term. It’s far longer than ambassadors usually have here,” he said in the exclusive interview.

“I think I’ve seen everything you can see here, including a conclave, visits by my prime minister, exciting moments,” he added. “In a way, I’m going to miss it but also family is important.” 

The former ambassador, whose term at the Vatican ended on Nov. 30, said he will likely continue to represent Hungary at future international events organized by the Church and pro-family groups.  

“I’ll keep a foot in that world, so to speak, so I’m not going to totally give it up,” he said.

Reflecting on his initial surprise at being asked to be Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See, Habsburg, who belongs to the prominent 850-year-old European Catholic dynasty, said he “hit the floor running” when he arrived in Rome for his first post.

Describing his relationship with Pope Francis as “incredibly positive,” the former ambassador said the Argentine pontiff had a warm affection for the Central European nation and its people.

“I saw it every time he met a Hungarian,” he said. “He would use Hungarian expressions. He would smile. He would be happy. He would take his time with them.”

Though Pope Francis had not visited Hungary until 2021 for the 52nd International Eucharistic Conference, he told Habsburg that he “learned everything” about Hungary through three religious sisters who fled their country in 1956, during the Soviet occupation, to a monastery in Buenos Aires, Argentina.   

“They have shaped Pope Francis’ outlook on Hungary and that made my work very easy,” he quipped. “He was incredibly generous.”

Pope Francis visited Hungary a second time in 2023 for his to the country’s capital of Budapest from April 28–30.   

During the 1990s, Pope Benedict XVI, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, read Habsburg’s doctoral thesis on the topic of Thomas Aquinas and Vatican II and told him “he liked it” and that he wanted him to either make a documentary or a thriller about Thomism.

After first meeting with Pope Francis, the former ambassador said he later met with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the Vatican Gardens.  

“He looked at me and said, ‘So you’re ambassador now?’” Habsburg recalled. “And then he said, ‘You know you still owe me a documentary or a thriller about Thomism.” 

“That was the first thing he said. I was so blown away,” he said. “I still haven’t written it.”

“That’s the one thing many people don’t realize about Pope Benedict XVI was the sense of humor that he had that we never got to see publicly,” he said.  

Habsburg earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in 1999. 

The archduke told EWTN News he had briefly met Pope Leo XIV four times prior to his farewell visit to the pontiff on Nov. 21.  

“I’m very impressed by him. I feel [he is] a very balanced and just man who is trying to do good,” he said of the first U.S.-born pope. 

Noting Pope Leo’s fluency in many languages, including English, Italian, Spanish, and Latin, Habsburg commented that he believes the universal Church’s new leader “has several cultures in his heart and in his mind.”

“And yes, we will see the things that he’ll do. We pray for him every day,” he said.

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 8, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV led the Angelus prayer Dec. 8 from the window of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on the occasion of the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

in attendance in St. Peter’s Square, the pontiff commented that on Dec. 8 we express our joy because the Father of heaven wanted her to be “preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”

“The Lord has granted to Mary the extraordinary grace of a completely pure heart, in view of an even greater miracle: the coming of Christ the Savior,” he added.

The pope also noted that the gift of the fullness of grace in the young woman of Nazareth “was able to bear fruit because she in her freedom welcomed it, embracing the plan of God.”

He emphasized that “the Lord always acts in this way: He gives us great gifts, but he leaves us free to accept them or not.”

For the Holy Father, this feast also invites us to “believe as she believed, giving our generous assent to the mission to which the Lord calls us.”

In this way, he pointed out that the miracle that happened for Mary at her conception was “renewed for us in baptism: Cleansed from original sin, we have become children of God, his dwelling place and the temple of the Holy Spirit.”

“The ‘yes’ of the mother of the Lord is wonderful, but so also can ours be, renewed faithfully each day, with gratitude, humility, and perseverance, in prayer and in concrete acts of love, from the most extraordinary gestures to the most mundane and ordinary efforts and acts of service. In this way, Christ can be known, welcomed, and loved everywhere and salvation can come to everyone,” he emphasized.

Vatican City, Dec 7, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday said his apostolic journey to Turkey and Lebanon showed that “peace is possible,” pointing to renewed steps toward Christian unity and powerful encounters with the Lebanese people still seeking justice after the 2020 Beirut port explosion.

after the Angelus to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 7, the pope recalled praying in İznik, ancient Nicaea, with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, considered first among equals among Eastern Orthodox bishops, and representatives of other Christian communities on the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea.

Marking Sunday’s 60th anniversary of the “Common Declaration” between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, Leo said: “We give thanks to God and renew our dedication to journeying towards the full visible unity of all Christians.”

In Lebanon, the pope said he encountered a “mosaic of coexistence” and met people who serve the most vulnerable by welcoming refugees, visiting the imprisoned, and sharing food with those in need. He was especially moved by meeting relatives of the victims of the Beirut port blast. “The Lebanese people were waiting for a word and a presence of consolation, but it was they who comforted me with their faith and their enthusiasm,” he said.

The pope also expressed closeness to communities in south and southeast Asia struck by recent natural disasters, praying for victims and urging international solidarity.

Earlier, in his Advent catechesis before the Angelus, Pope Leo reflected on John the Baptist’s call to prepare the way of the Lord. John’s severe tone, he said, still resonates because it carries God’s “plea to take life seriously” and to ready the heart for the God who judges “not by appearance, but by deeds and intentions.”

The pope said the kingdom manifests itself gently, in the meekness and mercy of Christ described by Isaiah as a shoot rising from a seemingly dead tree trunk. He linked this surprising newness to the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, which closed 60 years ago and continues to guide the Church on its journey toward unity and renewal.

“This is the spirituality of Advent, very luminous and concrete,” he said. “The streetlights remind us that each of us can be a little light, if we welcome Jesus, the shoot of a new world.”

Rome Newsroom, Dec 7, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The Vatican’s gardeners have a new tool for maintaining the papal grounds: a custom-designed electric lawn mower bearing the Holy See’s coat of arms.

Pope Leo XIV received the white Electra 2.0 mower during a general audience in mid-November, a gift from Czech manufacturer Swardman.

The specially commissioned model features leather-lined handles and was hand-assembled at the company’s facility in Šardice, Czech Republic. “It was an incredibly powerful experience full of humility and respect,” Jakub Dvořák, the company’s sales manager who personally presented the gift, told CNA. “The pontiff appreciated the Vatican’s coat of arms placed on the appliance, listened with interest as we explained how it functions, and thanked us very politely.”

The quiet, precision-cutting mower is destined for use in the Vatican Gardens or possibly at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, according to a press release from the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which facilitated the presentation.

Founded in 2013, the company manufactures lawn care equipment that it describes as combining functionality with “timeless elegance” suited to historic settings. The Czech Embassy to the Holy See played a key role in arranging the gift, which Dvořák called “a moment of unmistakable magic.”

Vatican gardeners will put the electric mower to work maintaining the manicured lawns that provide green respite within the world’s smallest state.

CNA Staff, Dec 6, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

American actor Chris Pratt, best known for his roles in “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Jurassic World,” is currently filming a documentary on the Vatican Necropolis, which lies underneath Vatican City containing tombs dating from the first to fourth century A.D., at depths varying between 16 and 39 feet below St. Peter’s Basilica. 

The film, which is being produced by Vatican Media, the Fabric of St. Peter, and AF Films, will be released in 2026 for the 400th anniversary of the inauguration and dedication of the basilica. 

Pratt will guide viewers on a journey to discover the tomb of St. Peter through stories of faith, history, and archaeology.

“It is an extraordinary honor to partner with Pope Leo and the Vatican on this project. St. Peter’s story is foundational to the Christian faith, and I’m deeply grateful for the trust and access granted to help bring his legacy to the screen,” Pratt told Vatican News in an . 

While Pratt is not Catholic, he and his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, a practicing Catholic, attend Mass regularly and are raising their children Catholic. Pratt speaks openly about his faith and the importance he places on praying daily. He has also partnered with Hallow, a Catholic prayer and meditation app, on multiple occasions and been featured in its Lent, Advent, and daily prayer challenges. 

Through historical evidence and archaeological discoveries, viewers of the new film are invited to discover St. Peter’s burial place in the Vatican Necropolis, which was officially announced by Pope Pius XII in 1950. 

In 1939, Pope Pius XII had workers begin excavations under the basilica in order to try to find the location of the beloved apostle’s burial place. In 1950, the pope officially announced that the location of the tomb was found, along with bone fragments likely belonging to the saint. In 1968, Pope Paul VI announced that the bone fragments found were indeed those of St. Peter. 

St. Peter’s bones were publicly displayed for the first time in 2013 by Pope Francis. The late pontiff held the relics during a Mass at St. Peter’s Square, which marked the end of the Church’s Year of Faith.

EWTN News, Dec 6, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Just before the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a mosaic of Our Lady of Sorrows, protectress of Slovakia, was inaugurated in the Vatican Gardens. Archbishop Bernard Bober of Košice, president of the Slovak Bishops’ Conference, blessed the artwork during a ceremony attended by Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, whom Pope Leo XIV received in audience the day before.

Among other bishops and diplomats, two cardinals took part: the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Re, and Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.

The Slovak president said he was happy to see the Slovak Virgin Mary image inside the Vatican as she “is a source of hope, faith, and unity.” Pellegrini stressed that his Central European country and the Holy See “share common values, such as the dignity of human person, true liberty, and open dialogue.”

During the audience with Pope Leo XIV, the Vatican said, pontiff and president reaffirmed their commitment to supporting social cohesion, promoting justice, and safeguarding the family, and discussed the war in Ukraine, its impact on European security, and the situation in the Middle East.

Each time people pass by this beautiful artwork, Gugerotti underlined in his speech at the inauguration, “we will pray for the Slovak people” who suffered during atheist communism, and yet “were able to maintain and renew its Christian roots.”

Likewise, Re told CNA that he is very happy for the new artwork. “I have always loved Slovakia because it is still very Catholic,” the prelate said.

It is a great honor for Slovakian Catholics that the mosaic of Our Lady of Sorrows has reached the heart of the Church, Bober underscored. The Slovak Virgin Mary is “a symbol of the spiritual connection between Slovakia and the Vatican.” It reminds the faithful, the archbishop continued, that “Our Lady of Sorrows has a special place in our nation, but also in the lives of all believers.”

The colorful mosaic, created by Greek Catholic priest and artist Father Kamil Dráb, is a copy of an image in the chapel of the Pontifical Slovak College of St. Cyril and Methodius in Rome and has been installed in the Vatican Gardens near the bell used during the Great Jubilee of 2000.

Vatican City, Dec 6, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

St. Nicholas, whose feast day is celebrated on Dec. 6, is known to possibly be the real-life inspiration for the beloved Christmas character of Santa Claus.

Not a lot is known about the historical Nicholas, who was bishop of Myra, a Greek city in modern-day Turkey, during the fourth century A.D. But there are many stories and legends that explain his reputation as a just and upright man, charitable gift-giver, and miracle-worker.

Here are five things to know and share about St. Nicholas:

Many people know that St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children, but they may not know why he has that title.

There is a grisly legend that says that during a famine in Myra, three young boys were lured into a butcher’s shop, where they were killed and then brined in a wooden barrel with the intention of being sold as “ham.” The good bishop worked a miracle, bringing the pickled children back to life and saving them from a gruesome fate.

This story became the subject of many portrayals of Nicholas in art, especially during the Middle Ages. Some people believe depictions of Bishop Nicholas with the three boys led to his reputation as a protector of children.

The legend of the brining may explain how he also became, oddly, the patron saint of brewers and coopers (people who make wooden casks, barrels, vats, troughs, and similar containers from timber).

St. Nicholas is a unifying figure among Catholics and Orthodox Christians since both churches venerate him.

He is incredibly important in the Russian Orthodox Church, where he is known as St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for the many miracles attributed to him both during and after his life.

To the Orthodox, Nicholas is principally honored for his qualities as a holy bishop and a good shepherd of his people.

Also, in their weekly liturgical cycle, which dedicates different days of the week to Jesus Christ and other saints, only three are specifically named: Mary, the Mother of God; John the Forerunner (known to Catholics as St. John the Baptist); and St. Nicholas.

Nicholas did not leave behind any theological writings, but when he was made a bishop, he is credited with saying that “this dignity and this office demand different usage, in order that one should live no longer for oneself but for others.”

Because of his popularity among Orthodox Christians, St. Nicholas is a favorite subject in iconography.

But don’t be surprised if, among the depicting him, you don’t see any or a “round little belly.” He does have a , though.

One of the most popular legends about Nicholas is that the saint, who is said to have come from a wealthy family, secretly helped a poor man with three daughters.

The father could not provide proper dowries for the girls to marry, and without husbands to support them, they might have been forced to turn to prostitution.

After learning about the situation, Nicholas secretly slipped a bag of gold coins through the family’s window while they were sleeping. He later left a second bag of coins, and likewise, another bag for the third daughter, at which point, the legend says, the father, who had waited up all night, “caught” Nicholas red-handed in his gift-giving. But Nicholas made him promise to keep the secret.

The story is likely the explanation for why the modern Christmas character of Santa Claus brings his gifts for children under the cover of night.

In artworks referencing this legend, the three bags of coins are often depicted as three golden balls. Images of gold balls were also used to mark the shops of pawnbrokers, which is probably how Nicholas came to be their patron saint, too.

One of many miracles attributed to St. Nicholas happened at sea as he traveled aboard a boat to the Holy Land. Nicholas is a patron saint of sailors and travelers because he calmed the stormy waters that threatened their lives.

His patronage of the falsely accused can be attributed to an early story about his rescue of three innocent men moments before their execution. It is said that St. Nicholas, then bishop of Myra, boldly pushed away the executioner’s sword, released the men from their chains, and angrily reprimanded a juror who had taken a bribe to find them guilty.

Most people know that Nicholas’ feast day is celebrated on Dec. 6, the day he died in the year 343, but for East Slavs, as well as the people of Bari, Italy, May 9 is also an important day to celebrate the saint.

That date is the anniversary of the day that St. Nicholas’ relics were moved from Myra, in present-day Turkey, to Bari, not long after the Great Schism of Catholics and Orthodox in 1054 A.D.

Accounts differ over whether the transmission of the relics was theft or an attempt by Christian sailors to preserve the saint’s remains from destruction by the Turks. But whatever the real reason, the relics can still be venerated today in the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari.

Pope Francis visited Bari, in Italy’s southern region of Puglia, two times during his papacy. During both the 2018 and 2020 visits, he stopped in the basilica’s crypt to venerate St. Nicholas’ relics.

The pontifical basilica is an important place of ecumenism, since the Catholic Church welcomes many Eastern Catholics and Orthodox Christians to the pilgrimage site. In the crypt, where St. Nicholas is buried, there is also an altar for the celebration of Orthodox and Eastern Catholic liturgies.

For Christians who follow the Julian calendar, as the Eastern Orthodox do, St. Nicholas’ principal feast day falls on Dec. 19. An Orthodox Divine Liturgy is usually celebrated at the Basilica of St. Nicholas that morning.

On Dec. 6, Catholics in Bari celebrate the beloved saint with Mass, concerts, and a procession of the saint’s statue through the city’s streets.

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 5, 2025 / 15:38 pm (CNA).

The profile of Pope Leo XIV is among the most viewed pages on the digital encyclopedia Wikipedia, and his names — both the one he took upon and his given name, Robert Francis Prevost — are among the most searched terms globally on Google during 2025.

The Wikimedia Foundation, which supports Wikipedia, presented on Dec. 2 its list of in English. in English holds fifth place.

Wikimedia highlighted that one of the that had the biggest impact during 2025 was that of Pope Francis, whom they remembered as “the first Latin American to become pope” who “served as pope for 12 years before ” on April 21.

“The Catholic Church selected his successor, Pope Leo XIV, a few weeks later. As people rushed online to learn about Leo, traffic to all Wikimedia projects peaked at around 800,000 hits per second, more than six times over normal traffic levels and a new all-time record for us,” the foundation noted.

“Plenty of people also came to learn more about Francis’ life, too,” it added, noting that ranks 11th among the most read pages this year.

Wikipedia, which as “a free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki,” is one of the most visited websites in the world. , in 2025 it ranked fifth, just behind Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

Near the end of the year, the search engine Google also released its list of trends, “.” In its “people” section, Pope Leo XIV ranked fifth worldwide, and among news searches, the election of the new pope ranked fourth.

In the United States, his native country, Pope Leo XIV ranked fifth among trending people searches. The election of the new pope was in seventh place among trending news searches, while Pope Francis ranked seventh on the list of searches for those who died in 2025.

Vatican City, Dec 5, 2025 / 15:08 pm (CNA).

Michael Bublé called meeting Pope Leo XIV on Friday “one of the greatest moments of my life,” adding that as he prepares to headline the Vatican’s annual Christmas concert for the poor, he hopes his example will encourage more people to speak openly about their faith.

The Grammy-winning singer, known for his velvety voice and popular Christmas albums, said faith “changes everything in my life, every single interaction.”

“When you say that you have strong faith, this is shocking to people, which is sometimes hard for me to understand,” Bublé said in response to a question from CNA at a Vatican press conference on Dec. 5.

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

Bublé met Pope Leo XIV on Friday along with other artists participating in the Vatican’s sixth annual “Concert with the Poor” on Saturday, Dec. 6.

“I am overwhelmed,” Bublé said. “This morning, I had the opportunity to meet the Holy Father. For me, this was something that I knew was going to be one of the greatest moments of my life.” 

This year marks the first time a pope will attend the Vatican concert, which is free and offered to 3,000 people in need served by volunteer organizations around Rome. They will receive a hot takeaway dinner and other necessities after the event.

“We know that times are difficult for many people, and there’s a lot of darkness,” Bublé said. I feel like when you have faith, you have your own pilot light. And the lights can go out everywhere, everywhere, but if you have that faith and you have that light inside you, you can find your way.”

The Canadian singer told EWTN News after the press conference that it was especially meaningful to introduce the pontiff to his mother, who was his childhood catechism teacher.  

“A lot of people won’t know, but I was raised in the Catholic Church, and my mother was my catechism teacher,” said Bublé, who has noted in previous interviews that he does not identify with a particular organized religion.

“Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ and the sacrifice that allows all of us to have an eternal life,” Bublé said, describing how music is central to his spiritual life.

“Music is a gift from God,” he said. “I talk to so many people today about what a gift from God music is.”

Bublé noted that “Silent Night” and “Adeste Fideles” are among his favorite Christmas hymns. 

He said that he asked the pope for specific song requests for the concert, which will feature selections Pope Leo enjoys. One of them is “Ave Maria,” a piece not normally in Bublé’s repertoire. He acknowledged feeling “a bit nervous” to perform it before the pope and was coaxed into offering reporters a brief a cappella preview during the press conference.

The concert will also feature the choir of the Diocese of Rome, the Nuova Opera Orchestra, and Catholic composer Monsignor Marco Frisina. Past editions of the concert have been conducted by composers Hans Zimmer and Ennio Morricone.

“Before every show … I say, ‘Thank you, God, for giving me the ability to connect with these beautiful souls,’” Bublé said.

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 5, 2025 / 14:38 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV reflected Dec. 5 at the Vatican on the challenges posed by artificial intelligence during a meeting with members of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation and participants in the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Research Universities.

In , the Holy Father pointed out that artificial intelligence affects certain essential characteristics of the human person, “such as critical thinking, discernment, learning, and interpersonal relationships.”

For the pontiff, this has a real impact “on the lives of millions of people, every day and in every part of the world.”

“How can we ensure that the development of artificial intelligence truly serves the common good and is not just used to accumulate wealth and power in the hands of a few?” he then asked.

To answer this question, the pope urged deeper reflection on “what it means to be human in this moment of history” — that is, those who are called to be collaborators in the work of creation and not simply “passive consumers of content generated by artificial technology.”

“Our dignity,” he added, “lies in our ability to reflect, choose freely, love unconditionally, and enter into authentic relationships with others.”

He also emphasized that this technology raises “serious concerns about its possible repercussions on humanity’s openness to truth and beauty, and capacity for wonder and contemplation.”

Consequently, he noted that “recognizing and safeguarding what characterizes the human person and guarantees his or her balanced growth is essential for establishing an adequate framework for managing the consequences of artificial intelligence.”

Leo XIV mentioned his concern about the vulnerability of children and young people in this new reality, where their freedom and spirituality are at stake, as well as their intellectual and neurological development.

Therefore, he warned that “the ability to access vast amounts of data and information should not be confused with the ability to derive meaning and value from it.”

In this context, he emphasized that “it will therefore be essential to teach young people to use these tools with their own intelligence, ensuring that they open themselves to the search for truth, a spiritual and fraternal life, broadening their dreams and the horizons of their decision-making.”

He also emphasized the need to “restore and strengthen their confidence in the human ability to guide the development of these technologies. It is a confidence that today is increasingly eroded by the paralyzing idea that its development follows an inevitable path.”

Finally, the Holy Father affirmed that these objectives can only be achieved through “widespread participation that gives everyone the opportunity to be heard with respect, even the most humble.”