null / Credit: Ground Picture/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 25, 2025 / 18:27 pm (CNA).

In a bid to help strengthen marriages across the state, the California Catholic Conference (CCC) has launched its first-ever statewide partnership with Communio, a nonprofit organization that equips parishes to “evangelize through the renewal of healthy relationships, marriages, and families.”

News of the agreement follows the CCC’s efforts over the past year to promote marriage and family through its “Radiate Love” initiative, which is set to end on Sept. 26 with a marriage summit in Oakland, where the CCC’s partnership with Communio will officially launch.

“The goal is to quantifiably strengthen marriage, either by self-reported happiness in marriage, by rising marriage rates, or by encouraging people to marry,” Communio’s director of church growth, Damon Owens, told CNA.

Ordinarily, Communio partners on a diocesan and parish level to build out the most optimal version of its Full Circle Relationship Ministry® model to suit the needs of the community. Owens said he was inspired about a year and a half ago by the Radiate Love initiative to reach out to the conference about a partnership.

After speaking with California Catholic Conference Executive Director Kathleen Domingo for some months and traveling to California to deliver talks centered on the theology of the body and marriage and family issues, the partnership — which includes all 12 bishops and dioceses in the state — came to fruition.

The agreement, Owens said, marks the first time that every bishop across an entire state has bought in to bringing the program to every parish in his diocese.

“Every parish in California will now have access to Communio’s relationship ministry model, which is credited with a 24% drop in the divorce rate in Jacksonville, Florida,” the conference said in an Aug. 20 press release announcing the arrangement.

“I’ve been watching the progression of Communio over the years and hearing really great things from our marriage and family life directors, who have always told us that Communio is the gold standard,” Domingo said in the release.

She added: “If they could have any tool in their toolbox to help parishioners and parish families, it would be Communio.”

“In John 10:10, the Lord said that he came so that we would have life and have it more abundantly. We know that strong marriages and healthy families help us to have this abundant life, so we are excited to partner with Communio,” Auxiliary Bishop Timothy Freyer of the Diocese of Orange and executive officer for the CCC also said in the release.

Inside the data-driven effort to reach parishioners

“The core of what we offer is data insight to know what the problems are, but also access to technology and consulting that helps to build a plan of events and encounters where new people come to the parish and parishioners themselves want to come,” he explained.

“We have a unique technology that helps to do both the data gathering but also determining which programs are a good fit for them,” Owens continued. “So part of the consulting is literally going through almost like an Amazon page where you’re selecting facilitator-led programs or on your own or workbook or group or individual.”

Communio provides programs tailored to one of four areas: singles, marriage preparation, marriage enrichment, and marriage in crisis. They work with a team of five to six people in a parish to build a calendar of events for the year in a sequence that best helps “to draw people into the Church, but addresses the top needs first.”

“It’s a very customized way of making sure that they get the results that they want because people are telling us what their needs are through the surveys,” he said, noting that this addresses the “deepest concern” for pastors regarding the “specific needs that their people have.”

“California represents probably the whole spectrum of the type of parishes that we work around the country. You’ve got the poor rural, you’ve got the wealthy suburbs, you’ve got big cities, you’ve got mountains, you’ve got large parishes, small parishes,” Owens pointed out. 

“I think for each of those pastors, they want to know, is investing in Communio to invest in those marriages going to bring to them the success that we’ve been able to achieve around the country?” he said. “And that’s why we’re so confident and excited about it, because we know that we can.”

The Ten Commandments outside the Texas state capitol building. / Credit: BLundin via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Houston, Texas, Aug 25, 2025 / 17:57 pm (CNA).

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has directed public schools across the state not enjoined by ongoing litigation to comply with Senate Bill 10 (SB 10), a new law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom. 

A federal court ruling last week temporarily blocked its enforcement in nearly a dozen independent school districts (ISDs) across the state.

“Schools not enjoined by ongoing litigation must abide by [SB 10] and display the Ten Commandments,” Paxton said in his directive, issued on Aug. 24.

On Aug. 20, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery issued a preliminary injunction after 16 families sued 11 Texas school districts, arguing the law violates the First Amendment’s separation of church and state. 

The federal ruling halts the law’s implementation, set to begin Sept. 1, in school districts in and around San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and includes Alamo Heights ISD, North East ISD, Lackland ISD, Northside ISD, Austin ISD, Lake Travis ISD, Dripping Springs ISD, Houston ISD, Fort Bend ISD, Cypress Fairbanks ISD, and Plano ISD. 

Paxton’s office filed an appeal on Aug. 21, asserting that the law reflects Texas’ historical and moral foundation.

“From the beginning, the Ten Commandments have been irrevocably intertwined with America’s legal, moral, and historical heritage,” Paxton said in an Aug. 25 press release. “The woke radicals seeking to erase our nation’s history will be defeated. I will not back down from defending the virtues and values that built this country.”

SB 10, signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on June 21, requires all public elementary and secondary schools to display a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments, measuring at least 16 by 20 inches, in every classroom.

According to Paxton: “While no school is compelled to purchase Ten Commandments displays, schools may choose to do so. However, schools must accept and display any privately donated posters or copies that meet the requirements of SB 10.”

Supporters, including Republican state Sen. Phil King, who introduced the legislation along with state Sen. Mayes Middleton, have argued the law promotes values foundational to Texas and U.S. law.

“The Ten Commandments are part of our Texas and American story,” King said of the law earlier this year. “They are ingrained into who we are as a people and as a nation. Today, our students cry out for the moral clarity, for the statement of right and wrong that they represent. If our students don’t know the Ten Commandments, they will never understand the foundation for much of American history and law.”

Attorney Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, director of The Conscience Project, told CNA: “These laws requiring a passive display of the Ten Commandments do not violate either the establishment clause or the free exercise clause.”

Of the appeal filed by Paxton, Picciotti-Bayer said: “The 5th Circuit en banc should examine challenges against them, and if it does not, the U.S. Supreme Court will likely make clear that such modest acknowledgements of faith and the foundations of law pass judicial scrutiny.” 

The law’s opponents, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), contend it unconstitutionally favors Christianity.

Heather Weaver, an attorney with the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, who represented the plaintiffs, acknowledged that Biery’s ruling, “as a technical matter,” only “covers the school district defendants.” Despite this, she went on to say: “Every school district should heed it, even if they are not a defendant in the case.”

The 11 school districts affected by the temporary injunction have a combined enrollment of approximately 680,790 students. This represents about 12.38% of the total 5.5 million public school students in Texas for the 2024-2025 school year.

As of the 2024-2025 school year, Texas has 1,246 public school districts, according to the Texas Education Agency. This number includes 1,026 ISDs and 220 charter school districts.

The legal fight mirrors similar battles in Louisiana and Arkansas, where courts have also blocked Ten Commandments display laws. Paxton’s appeal could escalate the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Known as “the papal chef,” Salvo Lo Castro spent 10 years at the Vatican cooking meals for Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Now, he’s opened his first restaurant in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood called Casasalvo. / Credit: TheBrandoers, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Aug 25, 2025 / 17:27 pm (CNA).

Known as “the papal chef,” Salvo Lo Castro spent 10 years at the Vatican cooking meals for Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Now, he’s opened his first restaurant in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood called Casasalvo. 

The new Italian restaurant opened in July and has quickly gained popularity, particularly for Lo Castro’s mother’s meatball recipe — which was also a big hit among the two popes he served. 

The 52-year-old Sicilian chef said that for those who eat at his new restaurant, it’s like eating a meal in his home.

“The restaurant is my home, and the people who dine with me aren’t clients — they’re guests who come to my home,” he said in an interview with the New York Post. 

During his time cooking for the two popes, he shared that in his eyes “every pope is a normal person,” and “[w]hile John Paul was very charismatic, for me the best was Benedict.”

He added that while during the last years of John Paul II’s life he had a very light diet, Benedict was a fan of his meatballs and schnitzel. 

“His eyes were magnetic, and his voice to me was God in the world,” Lo Castro said of Pope Benedict.

Lo Castro’s experience cooking meals for notable figures doesn’t end with popes. He’s cooked for Moammar Gadhafi, the Saudi royal family, and actors Tom Cruise and Robert De Niro, among others. He will soon welcome Leonardo DiCaprio and tennis champion Roger Federer into his new restaurant for an event with the brand Rolex.

“Normally, for other people, it is not normal, but for me, it doesn’t matter if I’m cooking for a pope, president, or ordinary person,” Lo Castro said. “Every man I cook for is a king, and every woman I cook for is a queen.”

The chef also pointed out that while he typically freely invents new dishes for his menu, during Church holidays his menu has the least amount of leeway.

“Every religious period for the Catholic Church, like Christmas, is very strict when it comes to what food to serve,” he said. “On Easter, for example, I’d prepare lamb and it’s all very traditional.”

As for the future, Lo Castro said he hopes to open more restaurants around the world.

“My biggest satisfaction is that I came from a small town, and now I’m cooking for the world,” he said. “But at the same time, I’m still a very normal man.”

Pope Leo XIV greets French altar servers during an audience on Aug. 25, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 25, 2025 / 16:57 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV said during an audience with French altar servers in Rome on Aug. 25, the feast day of St. Louis IX, king of France, that the shortage of priests is “a great misfortune” for the Catholic Church, encouraging them to “persevere faithfully” in their service at the altar.

“I also wish you to be attentive to the call that Jesus might make to you to follow him more closely in the priesthood. I am speaking to your consciences as enthusiastic and generous young people, and I am going to tell you something that you must listen to, even if it worries you a little: the shortage of priests in France is a great misfortune! A misfortune for the Church, a misfortune for your country!” the pontiff said.

Leo XIV began his address by reminding the young people that the jubilee celebrated by the Church every 25 years is “an exceptional occasion” and that, as we pass through the Holy Door, Jesus “helps us to ‘convert,’ that is, to turn toward him, to grow in faith and in his love so that we may become better disciples, and that our lives may be made beautiful and good in his sight, in view of eternal life.”

He therefore invited the altar servers to take advantage of the opportunity to come to Rome, above all by “spending time speaking to Jesus in the depths of your hearts and loving him more and more,” because he desires only “to become your best friend, your most faithful one.”

‘Only Jesus comes to save us, and no one else’

In the face of the world’s challenges, the pontiff asked: “Who will come to our aid?” He explained that “the answer is perfectly clear and has echoed throughout history for 2,000 years: Only Jesus comes to save us, and no one else: because only he has the power — he is almighty God in person — and because he loves us.”

The “sure proof” that this is so, he went on to explain to the young altar servers, is that “Jesus loves us and saves us: He gave his life for us by offering it on the cross.”

“This is the most wonderful thing about our Catholic faith, something no one could have imagined or expected: God, the creator of heaven and earth, wanted to suffer and die for us, who are creatures. God has loved us to the point of death!” he said.

Regarding the Eucharist, Leo XIV emphasized that it is “the treasure of the Church, the treasure of treasures,” which he described as “the most important event in the life of a Christian and in the life of the Church, because it is the encounter in which God gives himself to us out of love, again and again.”

“Christians do not go to Mass out of obligation but because they absolutely need it; the need for the life of God that is given without return,” the Holy Father emphasized.

After expressing his gratitude for the “very great and generous” service that altar servers provide in their parishes, Leo XIV invited them to “persevere faithfully,” keeping in mind as they approach the altar “the greatness and holiness of what is being celebrated.”

Eucharist: A moment of celebration and also of solemnity

In this sense, he added: “The Mass is a moment of celebration and joy. How can we fail to have a joyful heart in the presence of Jesus? But the Mass is, at the same time, a serious, solemn moment, imbued with gravity. May your attitude, your silence, the dignity of your service, the liturgical beauty, the order and majesty of your gestures, draw the faithful into the sacred grandeur of the mystery.”

It was at this point that the pontiff appealed to the conscience of the altar servers, “enthusiastic and generous young people,” inviting them to heed the possible call to the ordained ministry.

“May you,” the pope added, “little by little, from Sunday to Sunday, discover the beauty, the happiness and the necessity of such a vocation. What a wonderful life is that of the priest who, in the heart of each of his days, encounters Jesus in such an exceptional way and gives him to the world!”

Before imparting his blessing, Leo XIV dismissed those present with words of encouragement: “Your number and the faith that animates you are a great consolation, a sign of hope. Persevere with courage and bear witness to those around you of the pride and joy that comes from serving at Mass.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Bishop Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez is president of Nicaragua’s bishops’ conference. / Credit: Alonso3215 (CC0 1.0)

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 25, 2025 / 15:09 pm (CNA).

Over the weekend, Pope Leo XIV received the exiled president of the Nicaraguan bishops’ conference, Bishop Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez, who was expelled from the Central American country by the Daniel Ortega dictatorship in November 2024.

On Aug. 23, the Vatican press office said that “this morning the Holy Father received in audience His Eminence Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez, OFM, bishop of Jinotega (Nicaragua)."

As is customary with these types of audiences, the Vatican did not offer further details about the meeting.

Herrera has been president of the Nicaraguan Bishops’ Conference since 2022. In 2024, under intense persecution by the dictatorship of Ortega and his wife and co-president, Rosario Murillo, Herrera was expelled from the country after criticizing a pro-Ortega mayor who interfered with a Mass by blasting loud music in front of the cathedral.

ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, confirmed that after the bishop’s expulsion, he was taken in by a Franciscan community in Guatemala.

Nicaragua has nine bishops, four of whom live in exile. In addition to Herrera, those forced to leave the country are Silvio Báez, auxiliary bishop of Managua; Rolando Álvarez, bishop of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of Estelí; and Isidoro Mora, bishop of Siuna.

Before being deported, Álvarez spent 17 months in detention, first under house arrest and then in prison, and was stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship.

Among the many attacks on the Church perpetrated by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship, the then-apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, was expelled from Nicaragua in March 2022. This led to the severance of diplomatic relations with the Holy See.

In March 2023, Pope Francis harshly criticized Ortega, stating that he must be suffering from some personal “imbalance” and comparing his regime to the “crude dictatorships” of the early 20th century.

“I believe that Pope Leo XIV will be a true lion, a defender and champion of the faith of the Nicaraguan people, with the strength of a lion and the humility of a lamb,” Arturo McFields Yescas, Nicaragua’s former ambassador to the Organization of American States, who is in exile for denouncing the dictatorship’s excesses, told ACI Prensa in May.

Although Pope Leo XIV has not yet spoken publicly about Nicaragua, McFields Yescas commented that currently “there is much hope” because despite the dictatorship’s relentless attacks, “the faith remains free and remains strengthened in the midst of persecution.”

One of the regime’s latest attacks has been the confiscation of the iconic St. Joseph School in Jinotepe, an event described by Martha Molina, a Nicaraguan lawyer and researcher in exile, as “an outrage against religious freedom.”

Molina is the author of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,” which in its latest edition reports nearly 1,000 attacks by the dictatorship against the Church.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

null / Credit: Lighthunter/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Aug 25, 2025 / 14:36 pm (CNA).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Catholic Health Association have voiced their “strong support” for the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced in the Senate last month by Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, and Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia.

In a letter to Senate committee leaders, Archbishop Borys Gudziak, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; Bishop Daniel Thomas, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities; and Catholic Health Association President and CEO Sister Mary Haddad emphasized the legislation’s potential to address critical gaps in palliative care access while aligning with the Catholic Church’s moral teachings.

The bill aims to expand access to palliative care, a medical approach focused on improving quality of life for seriously ill patients near the end of life through pain and symptom management, emotional support, and care coordination.

The letter cited the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s (CDF) Samaritanus Bonus (On the Care of Persons in the Critical and Terminal Phases of Life): “Palliative care is an authentic expression of the human and Christian activity of providing care, the tangible symbol of the compassionate ‘remaining’ at the side of the suffering person.”

In their letter, the Catholic leaders highlighted three major barriers to broader access to such care: a shortage of trained palliative care professionals, limited research funding for advancing best practices, and low awareness among both the public and health care providers about the role and timing of palliative care.

The Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act seeks to address these challenges by funding training programs for health care professionals, supporting research to improve palliative care practices, and promoting public education campaigns. If passed, the legislation would allocate resources to expand the workforce of palliative care specialists and enhance care delivery for patients with chronic or terminal illnesses.

Gudziak, the archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Arechparchy of Philadelphia; Thomas, the Bishop of Toldeo, Ohio; and Haddad praised the bill’s inclusion of language ensuring compliance with the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997, which prohibits federal funds from being used for assisted suicide or euthanasia.

“Importantly, the bill includes essential language affirming that all supported programs must comply with the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997 and may not be used to cause or assist in causing a patient’s death under any circumstance,” they wrote.

The bill’s endorsement comes amid growing national attention to end-of-life care, with Catholic leaders advocating for approaches that prioritize the compassion and dignity of palliative care without the moral offenses of euthanasia or assisted suicide.

The Church teaches that “human life is a sacred gift from God that must be protected and respected at every stage,” the letter said. The USCCB’s Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services and the CDF’s 1980 Declaration on Euthanasia teach that euthanasia is “an action or an omission” on the part of health care providers “which of itself or by intention causes death, in order that all suffering may in this way be eliminated.” Assisted suicide occurs when a health care provider assists a patient to end his or her own life. 

Oregon was the first state to legalize assisted suicide in 1997. The practice is now legal in 10 states and in Washington, D.C.

In another two states — Montana and New York — legislation that could legalize the practice is still pending. New York’s legislation awaits the signature of that state’s governor, while pro-life voices such as New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan are outspoken against the bill.

Originally introduced in 2022, when more than 50 groups endorsed it, the legislation is currently under review by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

On July 16, Reps. Earl “Buddy” Carter, R-Georgia, and Ami Bera, D-California, introduced an identical, companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The campus of Crown College in Minnesota. / Credit: Clappert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 25, 2025 / 14:06 pm (CNA).

A federal judge has ruled that Christian colleges that require students to sign a statement of faith cannot be excluded from a Minnesota program that lets high school students take college courses for credit.

On Friday, Aug. 22, United States District Judge Nancy Brasel ruled that the law banning religious institutions from the Minnesota Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program is an unconstitutional violation of religious freedom. 

The 40-year-old PSEO program has long served high schoolers in the state by promoting academic pursuits at both secular and religious colleges. It allows sophomore, junior, and senior high school students to take college courses at the school of their choosing and covers the cost of tuition and required classroom materials.

Religious colleges, including Crown College in St. Bonifacius and the University of Northwestern in Roseville, were banned because they require their students to pledge to follow school religious values and rules. They also do not allow students who are not Christian or who identify as LGBT.

Since 2019, the state’s Department of Education had sought to apply such a ban and eventually succeeded in 2023, when Democrats gained control of both houses of the Legislature. The ban on participation in the program by religious schools with faith statement requirements was enacted through a broader education funding bill signed by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Subsequently, the two colleges and parents of high school students who wished to partake in the program at the Christian schools sued to overturn the law. The group was represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which argued the law violated religious freedom under the First Amendment.

After Becket filed the lawsuit, Minnesota promised not to enforce the law while the case was ongoing. More than two years after filing the suit, Brasel ruled in favor of the colleges and parents. 

Brasel said the court had to “venture into the delicate constitutional interplay of religion and publicly‐funded education.” She said the First Amendment “gives special solicitude to the rights of religious organizations,” and states can’t disqualify private schools “solely because they’re religious.”

Brasel also threw out a related nondiscrimination requirement that prohibited participating schools from basing admission to the program on gender, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs.

The statue of Our Lady, sculpted in 1430 by Nicolò da Venezia, in the sanctuary of the Basilica of St. Mary of Mount Berico. / Credit: Kristina Millare/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Aug 25, 2025 / 13:36 pm (CNA).

The first stone of the Sanctuary of St. Mary of Mount Berico in Italy was laid on Aug. 25 almost 600 years ago but continues to attract pilgrims searching for the protection of the Mother of God.

Since 1435, the Servants of Mary — also known as the Servites — have been the official custodians of the shrine after the then-Veneto Bishop Bartolomeo della Pasina entrusted the care of the Marian site and its pilgrims to the mendicant religious order.

In times of great upheaval, including the devastating aftermath of medieval plagues and plunders led by Napoleon Bonaparte in the late 18th century, the Servites have offered Masses and prayers on behalf of those who have turned to them and the Blessed Virgin Mary in their time of need.

According to Servants of Mary Veneto provincial Father Giuseppe Corradi, OSM, the story of Our Lady of Mount Berico is simple but has stood the test of time.

“The message of the Mother of God of Mount Berico was first to build a church in my honor,” Corradi told CNA. “But also that everyone who visits my church on the first Sunday of the month or on feasts dedicated to me will receive special graces.”

“People believe this and they receive special graces,” he said with a smile. “I have personally had this experience too.”

Written records in the shrine’s archives report the Mother of God appeared to an elderly woman named Vincenza Pasini on Mount Berico on March 7, 1426, and again on Aug. 1, 1428. 

On both occasions, Our Lady appeared to Pasini on the hill, asking her to tell the local bishop, Pietro Emiliani, to encourage the city’s people to pray to her and to build a new church dedicated in her honor.

The bishop did not initially believe Pasini until she returned to him a second time with the same request two years later in 1428. 

Though fearful of being turned away again, Our Lady assured Pasini that the bishop will, this time, believe her and will build a church on Mount Berico.

Within three months, a small Gothic chapel was built and streams of Catholic faithful started to come and implore Mary’s intercession and protection at the new place of pilgrimage.

“The Mother of God said to her that you have to trust me,” Corradi told CNA. “Therefore we, too, have to trust the Mother of God.”

The growth of the Sanctuary of St. Mary of Mount Berico

Next year, the sixth centenary of the first apparition of Our Lady of Mount Berico will be celebrated on March 7.

With preparations underway for big celebrations, Corradi said he and his religious brothers are grateful for the many spiritual gifts and miracles of faith they have witnessed in connection with the centuries-old shrine.

Now an impressive basilica overlooking the northern Italian city of Vicenza, the original shrine grew from a small chapel to a Marian sanctuary that continues to welcome pilgrims all year round.

“When a great Marian feast, like the Assumption, is celebrated, you will see that every part of the church and outside the church are full of people,” Corradi said.

“Today, people say that we have to visit the Basilica of Mount Berico nine times a year on the first Sunday of the month,” he said. “After their visits they receive the graces.”

“Believe me, it really works, but only for people who trust and believe,” he added.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When Jesus described the path to salvation as a "narrow gate," he was not placing limits on God's mercy but was challenging people who were convinced they had done enough to be saved, Pope Leo XIV said.

"The Lord does not want worship detached from life. He is not pleased with sacrifices and prayers, unless they lead to greater love for others and justice for our brothers and sisters," the pope told visitors gathered in St. Peter's Square Aug. 24 for the recitation of the Angelus prayer.

Thirty-three new seminarians at the Pontifical North American College, the U.S. seminary in Rome, were among the thousands of people in the square and received a shoutout from Pope Leo. The pope had met privately before the Angelus with the students, who come from 25 U.S. dioceses, and with the 18 second-year seminarians who are running orientation for the "new men" as well as with members of the formation staff. 

In his main Angelus address, Pope Leo commented on the day's Gospel reading, Luke 13:22-30, where Jesus is asked if only a few people will be saved. Jesus replies: "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough." 

Pope Leo told the crowd that "while we may sometimes be judgmental toward those distant from the faith, Jesus calls into question 'the security of believers.'"

"He tells us that it is not enough to profess the faith with words, to eat and drink with him by celebrating the Eucharist or to have a good knowledge of Christian doctrine," the pope said. "Our faith is authentic when it embraces our whole life, when it becomes a criterion for our decisions, when it makes us women and men committed to doing what is right and who take risks out of love, even as Jesus did." 

Jesus himself "is the gate through which we must pass in order to be saved by experiencing his love and by working, in our daily lives, to promote justice and peace," he said.

Sometimes, the pope said, that means "making difficult and unpopular decisions, resisting our selfish inclinations, placing ourselves at the service of others and persevering in doing what is right when the logic of evil seems to prevail."

But when one succeeds, he said, "We will discover that life flourishes anew. From that moment on, we will enter into the immense heart of God and the joy of the eternal banquet that he has prepared for us."
 

Pope: Be faithful, even when it's unpopular

A look at Pope Leo's Angelus address Aug. 25.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Even as Christians continue the dialogue aimed at restoring their unity, they are called to work together to bring peace and reconciliation to a deeply divided world, Pope Leo XIV said.

"We believe that the unity Christ wills for his Church must be visible, and that such unity grows through theological dialogue, common worship where possible and shared witness in the face of humanity's suffering," the pope wrote in a message to church leaders meeting in Stockholm.

Archbishop Flavio Pace, secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, read the pope's message Aug. 22 during the weeklong celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Universal Christian Conference on Life and Work, when leaders of Protestant and Orthodox churches met in Stockholm to find ways to work together for peace.

"While the Catholic Church was not represented at that first gathering, I can affirm, with humility and joy, that we stand with you today as fellow disciples of Christ, recognizing that what unites us is far greater than what divides us," Pope Leo told the leaders. 

"Time for God's peace," the theme chosen for the anniversary celebration, "could not be more timely," the pope said, because "our world bears the deep scars of conflict, inequality, environmental degradation and a growing sense of spiritual disconnection."

However, Christians know that "peace is not merely a human achievement, but a sign of the Lord's presence with us," he wrote. "This is both a promise and a task, for the followers of Christ are summoned to become artisans of reconciliation: to confront division with courage, indifference with compassion and to bring healing where there has been hurt." 

The Catholic Church did not fully commit to the ecumenical movement until the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, the pope noted. But since then, it has "wholeheartedly embraced the ecumenical path."

"Indeed, 'Unitatis Redintegratio,' the Council’s decree on ecumenism, called us to dialogue in humble and loving fraternity, grounded in our common baptism and our shared mission in the world," he said.

Pope Leo also drew a parallel between the 100th anniversary of the Life and Work conference and the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which met in what is now Turkey and gave global Christianity its first common Creed.

"In the year 325, bishops from across the known world gathered in Nicaea," the pope wrote. "In affirming the divinity of Jesus Christ, they formulated our creedal statements that he is 'true God from true God' and 'consubstantial -- homoousios -- with the Father.' Thus, they articulated the faith that continues to bind Christians together."

The Council of Nicaea, he said, "stood as a courageous sign of unity amidst difference -- an early witness to the conviction that our shared confession can overcome division and foster communion."