Saint Joseph Catholic Church

The bishops’ conference explained that the two feet are “two distinct, but complementary, ways we can put the Gospel in action in response to God’s love: social justice (addressing systemic, root causes of problems that affect many people) and charitable works (addressing immediate needs and providing emergency assistance).”

The resource, developed by the Secretariat of Justice and Peace, was released on March 27.

“As early as 1435, Pope Eugene IV condemned the enslavement of the inhabitants of the Canary Islands and excommunicated those who refused to free them,” Archbishop Caccia said. “More recently, in 1888, Pope Leo XIII condemned slavery as contrary to the Christian values.”

Archbishop Caccia’s mandate as Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations officially ceased on March 7. However, no replacement has been named, and he has continued to represent the Holy See at the UN.

“The victory born of Christ’s gift-of-self stands as both a beacon and a challenge for all of us today,” Pope Leo said during the audience, which took place on March 30 in Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace. “As men and women charged with the role of governance, you too are called to discover and to exemplify the gift of service.”

“In a particular way, you are called to be attentive to the needs of the weakest and the most vulnerable in order to assist them towards an integral human development,” the Pope continued. “While there are many tasks that vie for your attention each day, I would encourage you to continue listening to the poor, to immigrants, to the least among you, seeking to accompany them in your work to promote the common good to the benefit of all.”

“In identifying ‘the instruments of good works,’ Saint Benedict, in Chapter IV of the Rule, urges us to ‘keep guard over one’s every act,’” Pope Leo said. “You, contemplative Benedictine nuns, Benedictine monks, know well how much prayer and prayerful reading of the Word of God, especially in the lectio divina, assist in this vigilance, enabling those who practice them to understand the truth about themselves, in the recognition of their own weaknesses and sins and in the celebration of the Lord’s graces and blessings.”

The Pope concluded:

Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for the immense and hidden good you do for the Church, through your offering, your unceasing prayer, your service, and the witness of your life. Continue this work, which is “the work of God” (cf. Saint Benedict, Rule, 43, 3).

I entrust you to Mary Most Holy, Mother of Silence, Woman of Listening, to Saint Benedict, to Saint Scholastica, and to the many Benedictine saints, and I bless you from my heart.

“There is a shared willingness to truly get to the bottom of things,” said Bishop Olivier de Cagny of Évreux, who led a discussion of the topic at the French bishops’ recent meeting. “It is the first time I have heard so clearly that the subject must be addressed at a theological level, and not merely in a pastoral and emotional way.”

La Croix reported:

While the majority of the Assembly showed itself determined to tackle the subject head-on, several positions emerged: some, aligned with the Motu Proprio of Francis, expect the same firmness from Leo XIV; others are open to accommodations, but only under certain conditions—a common lectionary and liturgical calendar, the celebration of the other sacraments (baptism, marriage, confirmation…) according to the new rite (possibly in Latin), a return to episcopal responsibility within each diocese, and above all, an end to “exclusivism”—that is, the strict refusal to celebrate according to the new missal, which the bishops consider “unacceptable” (and contrary to the spirit of Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio, which called for “mutual enrichment”).

“Thank you for your generous commitment to helping young people in their formation and integration into the workplace,” Pope Leo said. “Investing not in objects, but in people, in their abilities and skills, constitutes a key strength of your work.”

“Indeed, in this way, it is the young people themselves who become the protagonists of their own future, without being regarded as functional tools for a company or cogs in the wheel of commercial success,” the Pope added.

“The central topic of the conversation was the proclamation of the Gospel—and, in this context, the situation of the Church in Germany,” the bishops’ conference said in a statement. “Bishop Wilmer expressed his gratitude to the Holy Father for the trust placed in him regarding his appointment as Bishop of Münster,” Germany’s most populous diocese.

Pope Leo XIV appointed eleven new members of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Four of the new members are from the United States.