Saint Joseph Catholic Church

• May 18, St. Peter’s Square: beginning of the Petrine ministry
• May 20, Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls
• May 25, Archbasilica of St. John Lateran; later that evening, he will visit the Papal Basilica of St. Major
• May 31, St. Peter’s Basilica: priestly ordinations

Three years after the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist and Melkite Greek Catholic laywoman, the makers of a new documentary film charged that she was intentionally shot by an Israeli soldier and that the Biden administration joined in a cover-up of the killing.

The Synod leaders say that they “look with confidence to the directions you will indicate,” and assure the new Pontiff that their office will be “fully available to offer its service in a spirit of collaboration and obedience.” The message is signed by Cardinal Mario Grech, Archbishop Luis Marin de San Martin, and Sister Nathalie Becquart—the secretary and under-secretaries, respectively, of the Synod secretariat.

In their message they say that the Synod “involves the entire People of God in a shared process, where each person contributes to discerning the steps to take, according to the charisms, vocations, and ministries received.”

“I would like, speaking on behalf of all the cardinals, to assure you of our closeness, above all to assure you of our fidelity, our desire to collaborate; to collaborate so that, as you said yesterday, the Church may be an ‘ark of salvation’ and also a ‘lighthouse’ in the darkness of the night,” said Cardinal Re.

Cardinal Re also spoke of “all the problems of the world, at this time when the world is gripped by so many wars ... unfortunately, despite the deaths and destruction, they do not end. And I will stop now, because now they want to hear not me, but Your Holiness!”

Pope Leo then prayed at Pope Francis’s tomb and, recalling his predecessor’s devotion to Thérèse of Lisieux, placed a white rose on it. Finally, he stopped before the statue of the Queen of Peace.

“In the Scriptures, it’s not so much about the growing number of believers but about spreading the word of God,” preached Archbishop Rino Fisichella, one of the two pro-prefects of the Dicastery for Evangelization. “And it is our mission to spread it.”

The jubilee pilgrims then paraded to St. Peter’s Square for Pope Leo’s first Regina Caeli address.

The Jubilee of the Eastern Churches, part of the 2025 jubilee year, began on May 12 with celebrations of the Divine Liturgy in the Ge’ez rite, the Armenian rite, and the Coptic rite.

The Pontiff “was greeted by a cheering crowd of hundreds of people gathered in the square or looking out of windows and balconies,” Vatican News reported. “Many shouted, ‘Leo, Leo,’ and the nearby streets filled up.”

After praying the Hail Mary and singing the Salve Regina, he said, “I wanted so much to come here in these first days of the new ministry of carrying out the mission of Successor of Peter that the Church has entrusted to me.” He then met privately with the Augustinian community there.

The ceasefire ended four days of attacks launched by Indian and Pakistani forces in the disputed region of Kashmir.

Archbishop Joseph Arshad of Islamabad-Rawalpindi also gave thanks for the “glad tidings” of the accord. “This moment should be seized as an opportunity to build lasting stability in the region,” he said.