Catholic News
- Pope, at Sunday Angelus, prays that 'thunderous sound of bombs may cease' (CWN)
At the conclusion of his Sunday Angelus address, delivered today to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV appealed for prayers for peace (video, 12:56). - 'Jesus is the response to our thirst,' Pope tells pilgrims (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV reflected on Christ’s encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well as he addressed pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for today’s midday Angelus address (video). - Pope Leo: Encounter Christ as the Samaritan woman did (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass at the Church of Saint Maria della Presentazione in Rome (video) and encouraged the faithful to review their relationship with God this Lent in light of Christ’s encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:5-42). - Pray to Jesus and invite others to the parish, Pope tells groups at Roman parish (CWN)
During a visit to the Church of Saint Maria della Presentazione in Rome, Pope Leo spoke with youth, with the sick and elderly, and with parish council members. - Pope pays tribute to vocations of military chaplain, Christian soldier (Dicastery for Communication)
Commemorating the 100th anniversary of Italy’s military ordinariate, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to the vocations of the military chaplain and the Christian soldier in fostering a civilization of love. “The action of the Military Chaplain is often carried out in silence, in places of peace and in those of conflict, in military bases and in operational contexts, in chapels and in field tents,” Pope Leo said March 7, in an audience in Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace. “It is there that the care of the Lord’s flock is manifested through the witness of life, the proclamation of the Gospel, the celebration of the Eucharist and in the Sacraments, patient listening and spiritual accompaniment.” Turning to the mission of the Christian soldier, the Pope added: Defending the weak, protecting peaceful coexistence, intervening in disasters, operating in international missions to preserve peace and restore order. All this cannot be reduced to a mere profession: it is a vocation, a response to a call that challenges the conscience. The soldier’s identity is forged by generosity, a spirit of service, high aspirations and deep feelings. But these values require a foundation, a gift of Grace capable of fostering charity to the point of total self-sacrifice. It is therefore necessary to inspire the codes, norms and missions of military life with the lifeblood of the Gospel so that, in the service of security and peace, the common good of peoples is always the first priority. - Cardinal Sako: Iraq's Christians are 'very worried' about the Iran war (Vatican News)
Stating that “we have lived through this before”—a reference to 2003 US invasion of Iraq—the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church said that Iraq’s Christians are “very worried” about the Iran war. “No one knows where this war will lead,” Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako said in an interview with Vatican News. “We are afraid because we are neighbors with Iran, and many Iraqis are Shiite. There is a double concern.” “We Christians are very worried, because if they start attacking the Nineveh Plains, where there are 50,000 Christians, these people will leave their homes—and this time, they will not return,” he said. - Cardinal Cupich says Trump administration's 'gamifying' of Iran war is 'sickening' (Archdiocese of Chicago)
In a March 7 statement entitled “A Call to Conscience,” Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago denounced the Trump administration for “gamifying” the Iran war. He wrote: As more than 1,000 Iranian men, women and children lay dead after days of bombardment from U.S. and Israeli missiles, the official White House X account on Thursday evening posted a video of scenes from popular action movies spliced with actual strike footage from their war on Iran. The clip was captioned: “JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY.” A real war with real death and real suffering being treated like it’s a video game—it’s sickening. Hundreds of people are dead, mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, including scores of children who made the fatal mistake of going to school that day. Six U.S. soldiers have been killed. They are also dishonored by that social media post. Hundreds of thousands displaced, and many millions more are terrified across the Middle East ... Journalists now use the term “gamifying” the war to describe this dynamic ... Our government is treating the suffering of the Iranian people as a backdrop for our own entertainment, as if it’s just another piece of content to be swiped through while we’re waiting in line at the grocery store. But, in the end, we lose our humanity when we are thrilled by the destructive power of our military. - Lithuanian PM meets with Pontiff, thanks him for support for Ukraine's freedom (CWN)
Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė of Lithuania met with Pope Leo XIV and thanked him for his support for Ukraine. - Rome's bishops plead for prayer for peace as 'innocent blood flows' (Diocesi di Roma (Italian))
The cardinal vicar and auxiliary bishops of Rome called on the diocese’s faithful to offer “fervent supplication” for peace. “Our hearts are deeply troubled and saddened by what is happening in the Middle East and in the many peripheries of the world, where innocent blood flows,” the bishops said in a March 6 statement. “The news coming from those lands, marked by conflicts, bombings, political tensions and deep wounds between peoples, arouses apprehension and pain in all of us.” “In the face of these tragedies, the Christian community cannot remain indifferent,” they continued. “The Gospel invites us to be close to those who suffer, to share the burden of the trials of our brothers and sisters and to support with prayer those who live in anguish, fear and uncertainty about tomorrow.” “Our thoughts turn in a particular way to the Christian communities present in those lands, often small but rich in faith, which for centuries have borne witness to the Gospel in difficult contexts and sometimes marked by persecution and instability,” they added. - Vatican releases Pope's Holy Week, Easter schedule (Vatican Press Office)
The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff announced Pope Leo’s schedule of Masses and other public events for Holy Week and Easter. The announcement, made March 7, confirmed an earlier announcement by the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household that Pope Leo will celebrate the Holy Thursday evening Mass in the Lateran Basilica, as was customary before the pontificate of Pope Francis. - Ave Maria University to establish Irish campus at former Trappist abbey (Cork Beo)
Ave Maria University in Florida will establish a campus in Ireland at the former Mount Melleray Abbey. The Trappist abbey, founded in 1833, closed in 2025. - Pope appoints Archbishop Caccia as new apostolic nuncio to United States (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV today accepted the resignation of Cardinal Christophe Pierre, 80, as apostolic nuncio to the United States of America and appointed Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, 68, as his replacement. - Pope calls for transparent, respectful journalism (Corriere della Sera)
In a letter congratulating the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on its 150th anniversary, Pope Leo XIV called for transparent and respectful journalism. “The technological revolution challenges you today to keep up with the times,” Pope Leo wrote in his letter, published March 5. “This is a test that concerns us all.” “But there is—in the age of artificial intelligence—an irreplaceable task that concerns communication and in particular the major newspapers,” he continued: “guaranteeing the transparency of sources, respecting the role of journalists and the dignity of readers, cultivating the human dimension of the story.” “Your responsibility is great, as long as your history is,” the Pope added. - Papal preacher, in first Lenten sermon, preaches on conversion, humility (CWN)
Father Roberto Pasolini, the Preacher of the Papal Household, devoted his first weekly Lenten sermon to “Conversion: Following the Lord Jesus on the Path of Humility” (full text). - Vatican newspaper condemns airstrike on Iranian elementary school (CWN)
In a strongly worded op-ed, the Vatican newspaper condemned the airstrike on a girls’ elementary school in Iran on the opening day of the Iran war. - Irish bishops say people of the Middle East are 'experiencing an unjust war' (Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference)
Meeting in Maynooth, the Irish bishops said that “yet again, the people of the Middle East are experiencing an unjust war with the loss of innocent lives.” “In an era of change and readjustment of geopolitical balances and cultural paradigms, war is not the answer,” the bishops said in their March 3 statement. “No political leader has the authority to unleash war at will.” are experiencing an unjust war with the loss of innocent lives.” “At this moment of great tension and volatility for the people of the Middle East, and for the world, we ask for prayers for peace and healing; that the voices of hatred will be replaced by a politics dedicated to upholding the God-given dignity of every human person, the common good and solidarity with those in need,” the bishops concluded. - Cardinal Parolin's personal secretary becomes nuncio (Vatican News)
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, traveled to Burkina Faso, where he ordained his longtime personal secretary to the episcopate. A native of Burkina Faso, Father Relwendé Kisito Ouédraogo was ordained to the priesthood in 2000 and began to work in the Secretariat of State in 2010. Last month, Pope Leo XIV appointed him apostolic nuncio to two nations, the Republic of the Congo and Gabon. The nuncio’s mission, Cardinal Parolin preached, is to “bring truth and light, peace and unity amid the darkness of sin, division, and falsehood.” The episcopal ordination Mass took place on March 7 at the Marian shrine and basilica in Yagma. - San Diego Chaldean bishop arrested at airport, jailed, charged with embezzlement (San Diego County Sheriff's Office)
The San Diego County District Attorney ‘s Office announced that Bishop Emmanuel Shaleta was arrested on March 5 at San Diego International Airport while attempting to leave the country. Bishop Shaleta, the Chaldean Catholic bishop of the Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle of San Diego since 2017, was jailed on eight counts of embezzlement, eight counts of money laundering, and one count of aggravated white collar crime enhancement. Bail was set at $125,000. The Pillar reported last month that the prelate was under Vatican investigation for alleged financial and sexual misconduct and that he had submitted his resignation. - Franciscan friar describes 'terrifying night' in Jerusalem (CWN)
A friar of the Franciscans’ Holy Land province described the night of March 5-6 in Jerusalem as a “terrifying night.” - Italian bishops declare day of prayer, fasting for peace (Conferenza Episcopale Italiana)
The Italian bishops’ conference declared Friday, March 13, to be a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the “Middle East and in all corners of the earth devastated by division, destruction and death.” “The escalation of violence in the Middle East risks dragging humanity into a war of planetary proportions, a new useless massacre with incalculable consequences,” the Italian Episcopal Conference warned in its announcement. - More...