Saint Joseph Catholic Church

At a UN event held on March 12, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia joined diplomats from Italy, Paraguay, and Turkey in highlighting the exploitative nature of surrogacy.

Archbishop Caccia, until recently Permanent Observer of the Holy See at the United Nations and now the apostolic nuncio to the United States, said that “stories of the rich and famous commissioning surrogates are common, whereas stories of wealthy women serving as surrogates are rare.”

Quoting Pope Leo, he added, “By transforming gestation into a negotiable service, [surrogacy] violates the dignity both of the child, who is reduced to a ‘product,’ and of the mother, exploiting her body and the generative process, and distorting the original relational calling of the family.”

In a message for the 100th anniversary of the French Movement of Christian Entrepreneurs and Leaders, Pope Leo XIV said that “the vocation of the Christian leader should be understood as a service to the common good and the integral development of the person.”

“Economic activity cannot be limited to the mere management of resources or the simple pursuit of profit,” he continued. “Businesses and the economy, when faithful to their truest vocation, cannot be seen merely as instruments of production or accumulation, but involve communities of people called to grow together.”

The Pontiff also spoke of the continued relevance of Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 social encyclical Rerum Novarum: it “calls on entrepreneurs to respect the dignity of every worker and to protect the most vulnerable.”

Pope Leo XIV, who has lived at the Palace of the Holy Office since his election, took possession of the papal apartment at the Apostolic Palace on March 14, following a renovation.

Pope Francis chose not to stay in the papal apartment, instead residing in Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican guest house, during his 12-year pontificate.

Andrea Tornielli, the editorial director of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, questioned the strategic efficacy of a rise of military spending in Europe and elsewhere and said that disarmament is the more prudent alternative.

In an article published March 14, Tornielli wrote, “The massive sums allocated to armaments raise a fundamental question: does the current approach to addressing existing threats truly contribute to reducing them, or does it risk fueling them further? A continuous increase in military spending may create the impression of enhanced security, yet it rarely addresses the root causes of the tensions that lie at the heart of conflicts.”

Tornielli added:

Disarmament—whether cultural, political, or spiritual—emerges as an alternative that must be taken seriously, for it opens up a different perspective: one of an equilibrium based on trust, cooperation, and prevention.

Strengthening supranational bodies, reinforcing democratic oversight mechanisms within individual nations, restoring space for critical dialogue, and moving beyond an emergency-driven mindset: these would be the initial steps toward building a more stable future—one in which defense does not preclude disarmament but rather regards it as an integral component of a broader, more farsighted strategy.

Disarmament—understood not merely as a reduction in weaponry but as a cultural, diplomatic, and institutional choice—represents the true strategic alternative.

At the Mass that preceded the inauguration of the judicial year of the Tribunal of the Vatican City State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin preached that as God’s justice aims at correcting the sinner, human justice should aim at the rehabilitation of the offender.

“God’s justice becomes care, love, salvation, and forgiveness for the repentant sinner—a grace from which, conversely, the one who arrogantly deems himself in no need of any correction remains excluded,” Cardinal Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, preached at the Mass, celebrated in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace on March 14. “Human justice” is “called to draw inspiration from divine justice, embracing and giving concrete form to the objectives that the latter pursues.”

At the inauguration of the judicial year of the Tribunal of the Vatican City State, Pope Leo XIV reflected on the relation between justice and charity.

Citing St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope Leo told the jurists on March 14 that “only when relationships are ordered according to truth does that communion which is the highest fruit of love become possible.”

“Justice, when it is exercised with balance and fidelity to the truth, becomes one of the most stable factors of unity within the community,” he continued. “Justice in the Church is not merely a technical application of the law, but a ministry in the service of the People of God. It requires not only legal expertise, but also wisdom, balance and a constant search for truth in charity.”

During the next two weeks the Gospel for each Lenten weekday Mass is from St. John. We shall read, day after day, about the growing hostility against Jesus that climaxed in the horror of Good Friday. The tragedy begins today on a happy note--a continuation of yesterday's Laetare Sunday spirit. --The Vatican II Weekday Missal

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