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Browsing News Entries

Browsing News Entries

Cardinal Müller, former CDF prefect, blasts Synod report on doctrinal issues (CWN)

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the prefect of the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith from 2012 to 2017, blasted the newly published Synod report on doctrinal issues, which included two testimonies written by men in same-sex civil marriages.

Pope Leo issued over 400 appeals for peace during 1st year of pontificate (Vatican News)

Pope Leo XIV made over 400 appeals for peace during the first year of his pontificate, according to Vatican News, the news agency of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, which published an overview of the appeals.

The Pontiff began his ministry by recalling Christ’s Easter greeting of peace. In his address upon his election on May 8, 2025, Pope Leo said:

Peace be with you all!

Dear brothers and sisters, these are the first words spoken by the risen Christ, the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for God’s flock. I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world. Peace be with you!

It is the peace of the risen Christ. A peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering. A peace that comes from God, the God who loves us all, unconditionally.

Leading Canadian bishop thanks Pope for 'steady witness' (Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops)

Writing on behalf of Canada’s Catholics, the president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops congratulated Pope Leo XIV for the first year of his pontificate.

“From your first greeting of ‘Peace be with you all,’ you have invited the Church and the world to receive anew the peace of the Risen Christ and to walk together in hope,” Bishop Pierre Goudreault of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, Quebec, wrote in his May 8 letter. “In this first year of your Petrine Ministry, we have been grateful for your steady witness to unity and communion, as well as your service as Bishop of Rome.”

Pope encourages Italian soccer players to be good role models (CWN)

Pope Leo XIV today encouraged the members of the Inter Milan soccer team to be good role models to the young.

Courage apostolate condemns 'calumny and detraction' in Synod report (Courage)

An apostolate that ministers to persons with same-sex attractions in a manner consistent with the teaching of the Church condemned the “calumny and detraction” included in the newly published Synod report on doctrinal issues.

The General Secretariat of the Synod included testimonies of two men, one from Portugal and the other from the United States, who have contracted same-sex civil marriages. The American criticized the Courage apostolate in his testimony.

Courage International responded:

Courage considers this report to be both calumny and detraction against the organization and its members. Calumny, because the report mischaracterizes Courage’s work. Courage is not nor ever has been involved in “reparative therapy,” as alleged. The working group could have clarified this point by simply contacting Courage leadership. Rather than do so, however, the report presents one person’s experience and opinion as part of an official ecclesiastical document ...

Courage has suffered calumny and detraction before, but usually from secular outlets. It is a great sadness and an additional wound to our members to have this false and unjust depiction in a Vatican document. If synod officials would like to learn more about Courage International, Inc. and its apostolate over 45 years, our chaplains and members would be happy to meet with them.

The Synod published its report three months after Pope Leo received a Courage International delegation. Following the audience, the apostolate’s executive director said that Pope Leo is “very supportive” of Courage.

Vatican News highlights destruction of Lebanese Christian churches, villages (Vatican News)

Vatican News, the news agency of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, published a short video that shines a spotlight on the destruction of Christian villages, churches, and other Church property in southern Lebanon.

The video, entitled “Christians under attack in southern Lebanon,” was produced in conjunction with the French Catholic charity L’Ĺ’uvre d’Orient.

Singer Patti Smith inaugurates Holy See pavilion at Venice art show (Vatican News)

American singer and songwriter Patti Smith inaugurated one of the Holy See’s two pavilions at the Venice Biennale on May 8.

The Biennale, a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place every two years, will conclude on November 22. The Holy See’s exhibit, entitled “The ear is the eye of the soul,” is inspired by the works of St. Hildegard of Bingen; the curators are Hans Ulrich Obrist and Ben Vickers.

World Jewish Congress's former general counsel comes to Pope Leo's defense (The Catholic Register)

In an op-ed, the former general counsel of the World Jewish Congress came to Pope Leo XIV’s defense against attacks by President Donald Trump and Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weiss.

“The ad hominem attacks on Pope Leo were not just unseemly and inordinately offensive,” Menachem Rosensaft said of President Trump’s attacks. “They backfired spectacularly from a political perspective.”

Rosencraft added that “it is critically important for all of us to remember that Pope Leo is a friend to the Jewish community and to humankind as a whole. While there certainly can be disagreements among friends, we must not allow such differences of opinion, in his words, ‘to divert us’ from that friendship or from our respect and admiration for the man who has become in large measure the world’s conscience.”

PHOTOS: Pope Leo XIV Visits Pompei and Naples in Italy

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Critics Say Synod Report Undermines Church Teaching, Misrepresents Courage

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