Saint Joseph Catholic Church

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

“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.”