Saint Joseph Catholic Church

“In a world increasingly marked by religious radicalization, division, and conflict, your common witness shows that it is possible to live and work together in peace and harmony, despite cultural and religious differences,” Pope Leo said to a delegation from the organization, during a March 25 audience.

Archbishop Randazzo succeeds Archbishop Filippo Iannone, O. Carm., who was appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in September.

Born in 1966, Randazzo (bio) was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Brisbane in 1991. He studied canon law at Pontifical Gregorian University and worked for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for five years. After becoming a seminary rector, he was named auxiliary bishop of Sydney in 2016 and bishop of Broken Bay in 2019.

Randazzo was also appointed apostolic administrator of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross in 2023. In that capacity, he approved the online publication of the Ordinariate’s Daily Office.

At the conclusion of his March 25 general audience, Pope Leo praised the practice of spiritual adoption of unborn children.

“On the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, and just a few days before Holy Week, we embrace Mary’s free ‘yes’ as an example to follow amidst the difficulties of everyday life—to defend all the families of the Middle East and to build a future of peace,” said Catherine Shomali and Hyam Tannous, one an Israeli Christian and the other a Palestinian Christian.

Shomali and Tannous were joined by 15 other women who belong to the organization, which has organized barefoot peace marches in 30 countries. Fifty Ukrainian mothers also met with the Pontiff.

8,598 converts are expected to be received into the Church there at Easter—up from 3,462 in 2023, 3,596 in 2024, and 5,587 in 2025.

The pilgrimage, whose theme is “One Nation under God,” will begin in St. Augustine, Florida, and end in Philadelphia.

“Hatred is increasing, violence keeps getting worse, more than a million people are isolated, and there are so many dead,” the Pope said on the evening of March 24. “We want to pray for peace, but I urge all authorities to truly work through dialogue to resolve problems.”

“We have not invested nearly enough in palliative care,” Sister Mary Haddad wrote in an op-ed published today. “The United States faces a serious shortage of trained palliative care professionals. Access is uneven, with people in rural communities, communities of color and lower-income households far less likely to receive guideline-level care.”

She added:

Coverage policies remain fragmented. And public awareness is startlingly low—the majority of Americans have never heard the term “palliative care.”

These gaps are not inevitable. They are the result of policy choices, funding priorities, and a cultural reluctance to talk honestly about serious illness and death. We can change them.

Pope Leo XIV reflected on the “interior dimension of vocation, understood as the discovery of God’s free gift that blossoms in the depths of our hearts,” in his message for the 63rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

Russia launched a drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Lviv, far from the frontline of the Russo-Ukrainian war, and damaged the historic Bernardine church and monastery.