Catholic News
- Turn to Jesus when you suffer, and dare to follow Him, Pope tells 360,000 Peruvian young people (CWN)
During a prayer vigil last evening (video 1, video 2), Pope Leo XIV encouraged the young people of Peru to turn to Christ in their suffering and to “dare to follow him.” - Pope, in Lima address, emphasizes centrality of the family, founded on the love of a man and a woman (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV emphasized the centrality of the family during a meeting devoted to the “challenges and hopes for the future of the Peruvian people” (video). - Look to Christ, who conducts the 'great symphony of communion,' Pope tells Peru's clergy, religious (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV celebrated the Liturgy of the Hours in the Cathedral Basilica of Lima on November 12 and encouraged Peru’s clergy, religious, seminarians, synodal teams, and pastoral councils to look to Christ as the “one foundation on which to build our temple of living stones.” - 'Combine doctrinal fidelity with pastoral closeness,' Pope tells Peru's bishops (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV told Peru’s bishops that the episcopal mission “requires us to combine doctrinal fidelity with pastoral closeness; the celebration of the sacraments with a commitment to our neighbor; and the formation of consciences with a concrete witness of charity.” - 6 abuse victims meet with Pontiff (Vatican News)
Pope Leo XIV met privately for over an hour with six abuse survivors at the apostolic nunciature in Lima, Peru, on November 12. The Pope “met with each of them individually, listening to their stories of suffering and pain,” Vatican News reported. “He also reflected with them on how to foster a change in mindset through listening to victims, seeking the truth, supporting healing processes, and committing to the creation of safe environments.” The report noted that some of the victims “had previously belonged to groups linked to the Sodalitium of Christian Life,” an institute founded in Peru in 1971, and suppressed by Pope Francis in 2025. - Holy See renews call for 'just and lasting political solution' for Palestinian refugees (Holy See Mission)
Addressing a UN meeting on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), a leading Vatican diplomat said that the Holy See “emphasizes that humanitarian assistance, however essential it may be, cannot replace the urgent need for a just and lasting political solution.” Archbishop Christophe-Zakhia El-Kassis, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said on November 12 that “the question of Palestinian refugees must remain high on the international agenda, alongside efforts to achieve a negotiated two-State solution, with the State of Israel and the State of Palestine living side by side in peace and security within internationally recognized borders, and with an internationally guaranteed special status for Jerusalem.” The UN General Assembly created the UNRWA in 1949, following the partition of Palestine and its aftermath. - USCCB urges ICE to waive proposed $70,000 student-worker fee for foreign seminarians (USCCB)
The general counsel of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), joined by the executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to reconsider a proposed $70,000 fee for higher educational institutions that recommend that a foreign student take part in a temporary work authorization program. “ICE seems to make no consideration of the unique circumstances facing those preparing for religious service, nor the reliance interests of the institutions preparing them for ministry,” William J. Quinn and Anna Gallagher wrote in a letter to Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of Homeland Security. “ICE simply ignores the realities of religious exercise in this context altogether, even though it knows seminaries are among those institutions certified to participate in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP).” “Were ICE to move forward with implementing the proposed fees, at a minimum, we urge it to offer a blanket exemption or fee waivers to avoid unreasonably burdening religious institutions, such as Catholic seminaries,” they added. - FSSP grows to over 600 members (Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri)
The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the Vatican-approved institute whose priests celebrate the traditional Latin liturgy, has grown to over 600 members, according to newly published statistics. The institute now has 410 priests, 24 deacons, and 168 non-deacon seminarians. - 'Begin your lives anew,' Pope tells prisoners (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV visited the Federal Penitentiary Complex in Buenos Aires (video) and called on prisoners to “begin your lives anew.” - 3 million people welcome Pope Leo to Peru (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV returned to Peru, where he ministered as a missionary and later as a bishop, and encouraged the nation’s leaders to listen to others and serve the common good. - Pope preaches to 2 million in Luján, calls for journey from reconciliation to mission (CWN)
At his final Mass in Argentina, Pope Leo XIV preached to two million people outside the Marian shrine of the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján. - Cistercian named archbishop of Barcelona (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV appointed Bishop Octavi Vilá Mayo, O. Cist., as the new archbishop of Barcelona, one of Spain’s most prominent sees. - Legislation against conversion therapy threatens fundamental rights, English bishops' conference warns (CBCEW)
The social justice chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales warned that a bill targeting conversion therapy threatens fundamental rights. “The Bill defines ‘conversion practices’ as conduct towards someone which intends to make a person have, or not have, a particular sexual orientation or transgender identity, or make them believe they have or do not have such an identity,” said Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool. “This Bill proposes to extend the legal definition of abusive practices in ways that threaten a person’s fundamental rights, including freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression,” the prelate continued. “The legislation will also create uncertainty around lawful pastoral care by the Church, family life and open conversations that can take place in a range of social settings.” - US bishops call for extension of Haitians' Temporary Protected Status (USCCB)
The chairmen of two committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops called on senators to pass S.4814, which would extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians in the United States. “We pray that, in its remaining weeks, the current Congress, along with the incoming 120th Congress, will devote more attention to the situation facing both Haitian families in the United States, especially those who have recently been stripped of their legal protections, and the human tragedies unfolding in Haiti itself,” Bishops Brendan Cahill and A. Elias Zaidan wrote in a November 10 letter. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration has the authority to end temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians and Syrians whom an earlier Secretary of Homeland Security had permitted to live temporarily in the United States—in the Haitians’ case, since the 2010 earthquake there; in the Syrians’ case, since 2012, because of repression under then-President Bashar al-Assad. - Seek holiness and evangelize, Pope preaches to 650,000 in Córdoba (CWN)
At a Mass attended by 650,000 in the Argentine city of Córdoba (video 1, video 2), Pope Leo XIV preached that it is “a joyful duty to fulfill the mission that the Lord entrusts to each of us. Yes, dear brothers and sisters, we are all called to holiness.” - Detroit parishioner group's spokesman says he received canonical directive from archbishop (Catholic World Report)
The spokesman for the Parish Preservation Alliance, an organization that seeks to preserve Detroit parishes amid the prospect of mass closures, said that he received a canonical directive from Archbishop Edward Weisenburger. Kevin Kijewski, J.D.—a former archdiocesan superintendent of schools—wrote: On the morning of Monday, October 26, the day before the meeting, a canonical directive from the Archbishop arrived at my door by FedEx. Dated October 22, it named the meeting by date and place. It forbids me to offer “canonical advice or guidance” to any Catholic in the Archdiocese, to raise money for any canonical cause, or to work with any canon lawyer the Archbishop has not approved. That evening, his vicar wrote that by attending, I “will knowingly be in violation” of it. - Cardinal McElroy places 3 priests on administrative leave (Catholic Standard)
Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington announced yesterday that he was placing a pastor and two parochial vicars on administrative leave. Cardinal McElroy did not announce why he had placed the priests—Fathers Benjamin A. Garcia, Blake Evan Campos, and Scott Holmer—on leave. The priests all served at different parishes. - Welcome Christ into your families and evangelize, Pope preaches to 2.5 million in Buenos Aires (CWN)
At an outdoor Mass in Argentina’s capital (video 1, video 2), Pope Leo XIV called on the faithful to welcome Christ into their families and, in turn, “take a leading role in evangelization.” - Pope tells 1 million young people: 'Everyone towards Christ, everyone with Christ, everyone like Christ!' (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV addressed one million Argentine young people about “what it means to live as disciples of Jesus: everyone toward Christ, everyone with Christ, everyone like Christ” (video 1, video 2). - 'Carry forward the mission of evangelization with enthusiasm,' Pope preaches at Mass in Uruguay (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV called upon the faithful of Uruguay—Latin America’s most secularized nation—to “carry forward the mission of evangelization with enthusiasm.” - More...