Catholic News
- Reject ideological preconceptions and shun propaganda, Pope tells TV journalists (Dicastery for Communication)
Pope Leo XIV encouraged television journalists to reject “ideological preconceptions” and show “creativity, critical discernment and freedom of thought.” Addressing the editorial staff of the Italian public-television news program TG2 on its fiftieth anniversary, Pope Leo said on March 16 that “we all know how difficult it is to allow ourselves to be surprised by facts, by encounters, by the gazes and voices of others; how strong the temptation is to seek out, see and listen only to what confirms our own opinions. But there can be no good communication, nor true freedom and healthy pluralism, without this openness.” “Always, but especially in the dramatic circumstances of war, such as those we are currently experiencing, the media must guard against the risk of becoming propaganda,” the Pope continued. “And the task of journalists, in verifying the news so as not to become a mouthpiece for those in power, becomes even more urgent and delicate.” Pope Leo added, “It is up to you to show the sufferings that war always brings to the people; to show the face of war and to relate it through the eyes of the victims, so as not to transform it into a videogame.” - Abuse prevention is a 'constitutive dimension' of the Church's mission, Pope tells pontifical commission (Dicastery for Communication)
Addressing the members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, Pope Leo XIV said that “the prevention of abuse is not an optional task, but a constitutive dimension of the mission of the Church.” “Prevention is never just a set of protocols or procedures,” Pope Leo said in his March 16 address. “It is about helping to form, throughout the Church, a culture of care, in which the protection of minors and persons in vulnerable situations is not seen as an obligation imposed from outside, but as a natural expression of faith.” “It calls therefore for a process of conversion where the sufferings of others are heard and move us to take action,” he continued. “In this regard, the experiences of victims and survivors are essential reference points.” Pope Leo also said that “it is my expectation that you continue to achieve even greater cooperation” with the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, “so that they may enrich your work with their knowledge.” - Palestinian president, Pope Leo speak about 'alarming' situation in Middle East (CWN)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Pope Leo XIV spoke by telephone on March 16. - Let us not be blind to others' suffering, Pope Leo preaches on Laetare Sunday (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV celebrated evening Mass on Laetare Sunday in the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Ponte Mammolo (video) as he concluded a series of five weekly pastoral visits to Roman parishes. - Continue to manifest the love of the Sacred Heart, Pope tells Roman parish (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV concluded his series of five weekly pastoral visits to parishes in Rome with a March 15 evening visit to the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Ponte Mammolo. - Christians in the Holy Land 'have never faced anything like this,' Catholic official says (Aid to the Church in Need)
George Akroush, director of the Development Office of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, spoke with Aid to the Church in Need about the immense challenges faced by Christians in the Holy Land, including terrifying Iranian attacks and Israeli restrictions that prevent Palestinian Christian teachers who live in the West Bank from entering Jerusalem to teach at their Christian schools there. “This is a big challenge that we have to face, because 40% of our high-quality teachers and support staff come from the West Bank on a daily basis,” said Akroush. Akroush also spoke about restrictions on sending humanitarian aid to the Christian hospital in Gaza, as well as the end of pilgrimages from abroad, on which many Christians depend for their livelihood. - Cardinal Parolin: St. Francis of Assisi offers 'effective therapy' for our world (Vatican News (Italian))
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, celebrated Mass in Assisi on Laetare Sunday, a week before the conclusion of the unprecedented exposure of St. Francis’s remains for veneration. Cardinal Parolin preached that St. Francis offers “effective therapy” to a world marked by an “unbridled desire to possess, by luxury, waste, superfluity, and consumerism.” This therapy, he said, consists in “sobriety, the joy of small things, the sense of being brothers to everyone and everything.” - Author critical of Opus Dei meets with Pope Leo (Gareth Gore)
Pope Leo XIV met for over 40 minutes on March 16 with Gareth Gore, the author of Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church. “I spoke at length about what former members had told me about the way that Opus Dei operates: about how the group abuses the legitimacy conferred upon it by the Catholic Church to lure unsuspecting victims into its clutches,” Gore said following the audience. “I detailed allegations about how the group actively targets young children, how it grooms and manipulates them into a lifelong commitment to serving its interests from the tender age of ten or eleven—without their parents ever being consulted.” “I ended the meeting by imploring Pope Leo to take action against this abusive group,” Gore added. “I urged him to immediately launch an independent inquiry into Opus Dei abuses headed up by both clerical and lay experts—covering allegations of spiritual, psychological, emotional, physical and financial abuse. “ Founded by St. Josemaría Escrivá in 1928, Opus Dei was established as a personal prelature by Pope St. John Paul II in 1982. The prelature has published a response to Gore’s book. - Vatican newspaper op-ed condemns killing of Palestinian children in West Bank (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
Charging that Israeli soldiers and police act with “near-total impunity” in the West Bank, a staff journalist at the Vatican newspaper condemned the killing of a family of four, including two children. “It is a horror that repeats itself,” Roberto Paglialonga wrote in a front-page op-ed on March 16. “And it can hardly be justified by citing security threats, or by attributing its tragic consequences to pure chance—nor by labeling these deaths, too, as ‘collateral damage.’” “This impunity serves only to fuel indignation and anger over deaths that are utterly devoid of justification,” added Paglialonga, who concluded: Remembering these events—which are becoming increasingly frequent—and recounting what is still unfolding today serves not only to seek the truth but also to keep attention focused, to ensure we do not become desensitized to the horror. And to remember the many Palestinian children whose futures are being stolen. - Primate highlights youth interest in faith in St. Patrick's Day message (Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference)
Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, the Primate of All Ireland, spoke in his St. Patrick’s Day message about the revival among youth of interest in the faith. “New research tells us that young adults in Ireland are becoming more curious and searching for faith,” he wrote. “Many young people are struggling to find hope nowadays. They seek nourishment for their interior lives, their well-being and mental health.” “As a boy, Saint Patrick had experienced violence and displacement at the hands of traffickers,” Archbishop Martin continued. “His loneliness and vulnerability on the hills of Ireland brought him face to face with suffering. He found solace and courage in a new relationship with God, sensing that God was close to him in adversity. This experience shaped Patrick’s vocation and his sense of mission.” - Program announced for Pontiff's African apostolic journey (Dicastery for Communication)
The Vatican on March 16 announced the program of Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming apostolic journey to four African nations. The journey begins the day after the Octave of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday). The Pontiff will visit Algeria (April 13-15), Cameroon (April 15-18), Angola (April 18-21), and Equatorial Guinea (April 21-23). - Jesus came to heal our blindness so that we can see with His eyes, Pope tells pilgrims (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV reflected on Christ’s healing of the man blind from birth (John 9:1-41) as he addressed pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for today’s midday Angelus address (video). - Pope Leo implores: 'Cease fire!' (CWN)
At the conclusion of his midday Angelus today, Pope Leo XIV call for a ceasefire in the Iran war and in the war in Lebanon. - Pope Leo takes possession of apartment in Apostolic Palace (Vatican News)
Pope Leo XIV, who has lived at the Palace of the Holy Office since his election, took possession of the papal apartment at the Apostolic Palace on March 14, following a renovation. Pope Francis chose not to stay in the papal apartment, instead residing in Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican guest house, during his 12-year pontificate. - Justice should be rehabilitative, Cardinal Parolin preaches to Vatican City judges (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
At the Mass that preceded the inauguration of the judicial year of the Tribunal of the Vatican City State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin preached that as God’s justice aims at correcting the sinner, human justice should aim at the rehabilitation of the offender. “God’s justice becomes care, love, salvation, and forgiveness for the repentant sinner—a grace from which, conversely, the one who arrogantly deems himself in no need of any correction remains excluded,” Cardinal Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, preached at the Mass, celebrated in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace on March 14. “Human justice” is “called to draw inspiration from divine justice, embracing and giving concrete form to the objectives that the latter pursues.” - Justice in the Church is 'a constant search for truth in charity,' Pope tells Vatican City State jurists (Dicastery for Communication)
At the inauguration of the judicial year of the Tribunal of the Vatican City State, Pope Leo XIV reflected on the relation between justice and charity. Citing St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope Leo told the jurists on March 14 that “only when relationships are ordered according to truth does that communion which is the highest fruit of love become possible.” “Justice, when it is exercised with balance and fidelity to the truth, becomes one of the most stable factors of unity within the community,” he continued. “Justice in the Church is not merely a technical application of the law, but a ministry in the service of the People of God. It requires not only legal expertise, but also wisdom, balance and a constant search for truth in charity.” - Pope Leo: Economic activity is called to serve the good of persons (Vatican News)
In a message for the 100th anniversary of the French Movement of Christian Entrepreneurs and Leaders, Pope Leo XIV said that “the vocation of the Christian leader should be understood as a service to the common good and the integral development of the person.” “Economic activity cannot be limited to the mere management of resources or the simple pursuit of profit,” he continued. “Businesses and the economy, when faithful to their truest vocation, cannot be seen merely as instruments of production or accumulation, but involve communities of people called to grow together.” The Pontiff also spoke of the continued relevance of Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 social encyclical Rerum Novarum: it “calls on entrepreneurs to respect the dignity of every worker and to protect the most vulnerable.” - Vatican spokesman questions ever-higher levels of military spending, calls for disarmament (Vatican News (Italian))
Andrea Tornielli, the editorial director of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, questioned the strategic efficacy of a rise of military spending in Europe and elsewhere and said that disarmament is the more prudent alternative. In an article published March 14, Tornielli wrote, “The massive sums allocated to armaments raise a fundamental question: does the current approach to addressing existing threats truly contribute to reducing them, or does it risk fueling them further? A continuous increase in military spending may create the impression of enhanced security, yet it rarely addresses the root causes of the tensions that lie at the heart of conflicts.” Tornielli added: Disarmament—whether cultural, political, or spiritual—emerges as an alternative that must be taken seriously, for it opens up a different perspective: one of an equilibrium based on trust, cooperation, and prevention. Strengthening supranational bodies, reinforcing democratic oversight mechanisms within individual nations, restoring space for critical dialogue, and moving beyond an emergency-driven mindset: these would be the initial steps toward building a more stable future—one in which defense does not preclude disarmament but rather regards it as an integral component of a broader, more farsighted strategy. Disarmament—understood not merely as a reduction in weaponry but as a cultural, diplomatic, and institutional choice—represents the true strategic alternative. - Vatican diplomat highlights surrogacy's exploitative nature (Vatican News)
At a UN event held on March 12, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia joined diplomats from Italy, Paraguay, and Turkey in highlighting the exploitative nature of surrogacy. Archbishop Caccia, until recently Permanent Observer of the Holy See at the United Nations and now the apostolic nuncio to the United States, said that “stories of the rich and famous commissioning surrogates are common, whereas stories of wealthy women serving as surrogates are rare.” Quoting Pope Leo, he added, “By transforming gestation into a negotiable service, [surrogacy] violates the dignity both of the child, who is reduced to a ‘product,’ and of the mother, exploiting her body and the generative process, and distorting the original relational calling of the family.” - Bishop Seitz: Mass detention, deportations are 'grave moral evil' (HopeBorder.org)
Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, said in a March 15 pastoral message that “the current national campaign of mass detention and deportations is a grave moral evil, one which must be opposed, with prayer, peaceful action and acts of solidarity with those affected.” “I am blessed with many friendships with our local law enforcement and immigration enforcement agents,” he said. “Their work to keep our community safe is vital. But the death of those in immigration detention is unacceptable. An unjust immigration system that leads to deadly outcomes is destructive of our shared humanity. No one has to obey an immoral order.” - More...