Vatican News

Overall, the numbers have grown from 28 seminarians in 2007, 52 in 2020, and 66 this year — the largest single-year class in half a century.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the new office is meant to give chaplains a direct line to the secretary, to bypass red tape from the secular bureaucracy.

Two neighbors objected to the shrine and filed suit. Lawyers for the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist say federal religious liberty protections guarantee their right to construct the shrine.

Karin Öberg holds the Thomas Dudley Cabot Chair in the Natural Sciences at Harvard University and directs the Öberg Astrochemistry Laboratory at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Pope Leo’s prayer intention for the month of October is for the mental health ministry.

“Let us repeat together: ‘I love you, Jesus. I love you, Mary,’” the pontiff said in his remarks before the rosary in the Vatican Gardens.

The Wisconsin-based Generac Power Systems allegedly failed to present a reasonable accommodation to a religious employee, the federal government said.

Catholic Mobilizing Network offered prayers for both condemned murderer Christa Pike and the family of her victim.

Victoria recorded 512 deaths under its voluntary assisted dying law in 2025-2026 as Catholic leaders opposed legal changes set to expand access in 2027.

Leo also recalled that, for Christians, care for creation is part of a moral responsibility.

The report, prepared by one of the study groups created after the Synod on Synodality, must now be examined by Pope Leo XIV.

The World Day of Social Communications will be celebrated on May 9, 2027, the Sunday before Pentecost.

U.S. senators filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court on behalf of home-schooling families, and more in this week’s roundup of Catholic education news.

The Diocese of Ghent in Belgium is contesting an individual’s request to be removed from Church records.

The well-known founder of the Franciscan order is considered one of the strongest Marian devotees in Church history.

The Catholic Church in the U.S. honors Respect Life Month in October under the theme “Mary, Mother of Life.”

The beloved Carmelite nun, patron saint of the missions, and youngest doctor of the Church is celebrated in the universal Church on Oct. 1.

In the business vocation, “God invites the entrepreneur to assist in his creation, to improve it, and to make it more habitable for humanity,” noted Luis Fernando Calvo.

Suspended federal funding made the refugee‑resettlement program grants financially unsustainable and forced staff cuts, the U.S. bishops’ financial report said.

Archbishop Alick Banda of the Lusaka Archdiocese was arrested over the alleged possession of a vehicle suspected to have been unlawfully obtained.

A “culture of reverence” in decades past helped priests avoid scrutiny for abuse, the lengthy report found.

The Catholic evangelist discussed America’s 250th anniversary at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See on Sept. 30.

Monsignor Anthony Ekpo, a Nigerian official at the Secretariat of State, spoke at a Rome conference on financial reform on Sept. 29.

“Carlo Acutis: The Young Saint” is set to premiere in North America in February 2027.

In his first address to the German bishops’ plenary, Archbishop Hubertus van Megen said that no local Church outranks another.

The pontiff held a private audience with the International Commission of Nuns on Sept. 30.

Reflecting on his four-day pastoral visit, the pope highlighted Notre-Dame’s restoration, rising baptisms, youthful faith, care for abuse victims, and Europe’s vocation to peace.

At the seventh annual general assembly of the Archdiocese of Abuja, Bishop Anselm Umoren challenged Christians to reflect on how they can preserve their faith amid rapid technological changes.

Church leaders in New York and Illinois are pushing back against various states’ recently passed laws allowing doctors to help kill their patients.

“In a world connected online and disconnected offline, be people of presence,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin said. “In a world asking whether we can remain human, answer with the witness of your lives.”

Retired Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is set to give the keynote address at the Jan. 22, 2027, rally.

The Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph hosted the Sept. 26 event.

Local merchants had rallied to save the historic monument alongside a Nativity display in Los Angeles’ 300-year-old historic center.

A Catholic charter school had previously brought a similar lawsuit against the state but had failed to secure a ruling from the Supreme Court.

The congregation must undertake a process of institutional purification after a canonical process determined that its founder, Carlos Miguel Buela, committed abuse against multiple victims.

Today, on the feast of the archangels, we celebrate the powerful helpers sent by God throughout salvation history.

The Vatican secretary of state addressed the United Nations in New York on Sept. 26.

Louis Geri had previously pleaded guilty to federal charges after police said his attack was directed specifically at Catholics and Supreme Court justices.

Pope Leo XIV appointed the Italian cardinal to lead a humanitarian peace mission in Russia from Sept. 28–30.

The first martyrs of the Americas were not missionary priests but three young Indigenous boys in Mexico who sought to spread the faith they were taught and embraced 500 years ago.

Activities surrounding the anniversary began on Sept. 24 and will run until Oct. 5.

Pope Leo XIV titled this year’s observance of World Day of Migrants and Refugees “Even Just One of These Children,” citing Matthew 18:5: “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”

On the fourth and final day of his apostolic journey to France, the pope addressed European leaders at the Robert Schuman Conference Center and celebrated Mass at the Cathedral of St. Stephen in Metz.

Father Adrian Mantykiewicz, who was injured in an attack that left a fellow priest dead, said “we must overcome the evil that happened here.”

In a 23-minute in-flight news conference, the pontiff also answered questions about end-of-life issues and sexual abuse.

“Catholic social teaching says that companies, that investors and management, owe care to the workers,” said Cardinal Michael Czerny, head of the Vatican’s Commission on AI.

The meeting highlighted the need to strengthen the bond between bishops and priests as well as among priests themselves.

Families, young people, and international advocates joined Lithuania’s second March for Life, calling for practical support for mothers, fathers, and vulnerable people.

A Mass in Metz was the final event of the pontiff’s Sept. 25–28 trip to France.

The beatification Mass will be said at the Savannah Convention Center at 11 a.m. on Oct. 31. No ticket is needed, but organizers said registration is required.