Catholic News
- Pope, in Acerra, decries pollution, praises local Church's response (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV arrived this morning in Acerra, a southern Italian city known for its pollution, for a brief pastoral visit. - Contemplate Christ to understand God and man, Pope tells AI conference participants (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV today addressed participants in a Vatican conference on artificial intelligence, told them that the Church’s primary concern is the eternal salvation of every human person, and said that contemplation of Christ is the means to come to the truth about God and man. - Irish prime minister, Pontiff discuss need for peace (CWN)
Micheál Martin, the taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland, discussed peace in a May 22 audience with Pope Leo XIV. - Pope Leo encourages Bulgaria to create bridges for peace (Bulgarian News Agency)
Pope Leo XIV received Mihaela Dotsova, the chairwoman of Bulgaria’s National Assembly, on May 22 and encouraged the nation to create bridges for peace. “We had an extremely cordial and very honest meeting, which lasted longer than usual,” Dotsova said following the audience. “Pope Leo XIV shared that he expects Bulgaria, as a country located at a crossroad, to be one of the creators of bridges for peace, and he sent his blessing to the entire Bulgarian people.” The lawmaker invited the Pope to visit the nation, and the Pontiff, in turn, “promised to do everything possible to continue the tradition” of papal visits to Bulgaria, the state-run Bulgarian News Agency reported. Located in Southeast Europe, Bulgaria, a nation of 6.7 million (map), is 84% Christian (80% Orthodox) and 13% Muslim. Pope Francis made an apostolic journey there in 2019. - Acerra, Italian city in polluted 'land of the fires,' prepares to welcome Pope Leo (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV today is making of pastoral visit to Acerra, a southern Italian city of 60,000 known for its Mafia-linked toxic waste pollution. - 6 beatification causes advance, including Maronite Patriarch, Spanish martyrs (CWN)
During a May 22 meeting with the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV approved decrees that advanced six beatification causes. - USCCB, other Catholic organizations call for increased federal funding for housing (USCCB)
The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, joined by the presidents of Catholic Charities USA and the National Council of the United States Society of St. Vincent de Paul, called for “robust funding” for eight federal housing programs and “increased support” for five others. “Our nation is faced with an affordable housing crisis that sees no sign of improvement,” Archbishop Shelton Fabre of Louisville, joined by the two presidents, wrote in a May 21 letter to leading members of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations. “This crisis is further punctuated by the alarming rise in homelessness.” The federal housing programs, they continued, “help people build better lives, and any cuts to funding or substantive programmatic changes that undermine the effectiveness of affordable housing programs should be opposed. Further, considering current economic conditions, flat funding for housing and community development programs is effectively a cut to these vital services.” - Cardinal Czerny pays tribute to martyred Czech priests (Vatican News)
Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, paid tribute to two Czech martyrs at a conference organized by the Czech embassy to the Holy See. Cardinal Czerny, whose family left Czechoslovakia for Canada when he was two, spoke about Fathers Jan Bula and Václav Drbola, who will be beatified on June 6. Their lives, he said, are “proof that no violence can stifle the life of God in those who entrust themselves to Him.” The conference, entitled Blessed Martyrs of Communism, took place on May 20. - National Eucharistic Pilgrimage set to begin in St. Augustine (National Eucharistic Pilgrimage)
The 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, whose theme is “One Nation Under God,” begins tomorrow, May 24, in St. Augustine, Florida, at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche. The pilgrimage will wind its way up the Eastern states to New England, and then back to the south, before concluding in Philadelphia on July 5. - Be faithful to Augustinian values and America's founding principles, Pope tells Villanova graduates (Villanova University)
Pope Leo XIV, an alumnus of Villanova University, sent a message to the Augustinian university’s class of 2026. “You will have the challenge and the opportunity to make a big difference, if you carry with you those Augustinian values of Veritas, Unitas, Caritas” (Truth, Unity, Charity), Pope Leo wrote. The Pope added: This being the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, I would invite you to recall in a special way the guiding principles of the foundations of our nation: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all [people] are created equal; that they are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, and among those are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” May the graduates of 2026 always be faithful to the guiding light that has been so important for these 250 years. - Vatican newspaper warns of deepening humanitarian crisis for Rohingya refugees (CWN)
The Vatican newspaper warned that international aid is running out for the over one million Rohingya refugees who have fled Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh (map). - Cardinal Arborelius, spiritual son of St. John Paul II, discusses rise of conversions in Sweden (OSV News)
In a wide-ranging interview, Cardinal Anders Arborelius, O.C.D., of Stockholm discussed the rise in conversions in Sweden and his own spiritual journey, which included conversion from Lutheranism at 20. “People are getting tired of a secular, materialistic world,” said Cardinal Arborelius, who has purchased more than 20 Protestant churches for use as Catholic churches in his diocese. People, he said, have “become more aware of the threats” of modernity and are “more open to God.” The prelate, who was in Poland to receive an honorary degree on May 18, also discussed the influence that Pope St. John Paul II had upon his life. “St. John Paul has meant a lot to me,” he said. “He made me a bishop. He gave me that (bishop’s) cross. He came to Sweden,” and “somehow I am the son of his.” - Leading EU bishops criticize populism following papal audience (Vatican News)
Following a papal audience on May 21, the president and vice president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) criticized populism. Bishop Mariano Crociata of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno (Italy), COMECE’s president, said that the EU “is weakened by the lack of unity, also as a result of populism.” Bishop Czeslaw Kozon of Copenhagen (Denmark), COMECE’s vice president, said that “the issue of immigration has existed for several decades and is well known, but what appears relatively new is the way populism uses it, transforming it into an alleged threat to many societies.” - Pontiff receives 8 new ambassadors, exhorts them to seek the common good (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV today received new ambassadors to the Holy See from eight nations and encouraged them to seek the common good. - Cardinal Fernández criticizes 2006 CDF notification on Father Jon Sobrino's works (CWN)
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, criticized the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Notification on the Works of Fr. Jon Sobrino, S.J.. - Nigerian archbishop encourages faithful to forgive attackers (ACI Africa)
Stating that “vengeance is for God,” a Nigerian archbishop encouraged the faithful to forgive the perpetrators of recent attacks. “I know they are hurting and traumatized, but as children of God and people of faith, I want to encourage the victims of this violence, both those of Palm Sunday and the recent killings in Gassa, to embrace forgiveness rather than seeking vengeance; vengeance is for God,” Archbishop Matthew Ishaya Audu of Jos said in an interview on May 20. “God, in his own time, will liberate us from all these killings in our country,” he added. - Holy See 'gravely concerned' about attacks on civilians in armed conflicts (Holy See Mission)
Addressing a UN Security Council discussion, a Vatican diplomat said that the Holy See “is gravely concerned by the growing disregard for international humanitarian law and by the normalization of conduct that places civilians increasingly at risk.” “Attacks on places of worship and religious communities are gravely concerning,” Msgr. Robert Murphy, chargé d’affaires of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, said on May 21. Msgr. Murphy also emphasized the “urgent need to protect medical personnel and facilities” and said that “the growing role of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, in warfare is a matter for concern. The use of technology must always be grounded in ethical responsibility, since no machine can replace the moral judgment required when human lives are at stake.” - Strive for communion as you govern, Pope tells leaders of lay movements (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV today called upon the lay leaders of international associations of the faithful, ecclesial movements, and new communities to work to foster communion as they govern. - Pope Leo recalls St. John Paul's encyclical on Holy Spirit, greets sports ethics movement (CWN)
At the conclusion of his May 20 general audience, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to Dominum et Vivificantem (Lord and Giver of Life), Pope St. John Paul II’s encyclical letter on the Holy Spirit. - Cuba's suffering has never been greater, leading prelate says (CWN)
The president of the Cuban Bishops’ Conference said that “Cuba is suffering” and that “this is the saddest and most difficult time that I am aware of in the history of my people.” - More...