Saint Joseph Catholic Church

Father Thomas McCarthy, O.S.A., recounted that two months after his election as Pope, the Pontiff, using the name Robert Prevost, called a Chicago bank to update his account information. After he answered all of the security questions, the customer service representative told him that he would have to come into the bank in person for the changes to take effect. When he said that a visit was impossible because he was now the Pope, the representative hung up on him.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin said on May 6 that he sees a “consonance of thought” between the writings of Pope Benedict XVI and the writings of the future Pope Leo.

Father Gabriel Romanelli, I.V.E., said:

The Pope sent us a message expressing his closeness, his prayers, his concern for the entire situation, praying day after day for the end of the war in Gaza, for the parish, for all the local people, so that the Lord may grant what the prayers of the Successor of Saint Peter, today Leo XIV, implores for the world: peace for Palestine, peace for Israel, conversion, and grace for all.

Describing the situation in Gaza, Father Romanelli said that “the ceasefire that began in October has somewhat improved the situation, in the sense that there are no blanket bombings. However, people are still dying, being killed.”

The Italian online magazine documents violations of religious freedom in China and elsewhere.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has documented over 400 acts of vandalism, arson, and other destruction at parishes and other Catholic sites in the United States since 2020. A tracker at CatholicVote.org lists additional attacks.

Twenty-eight new members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard were sworn in during a ceremony in Paul VI Audience Hall on May 6 (video).

“The Pope greatly encouraged us,” said Father Elias, who, like the other priests on the call, hail from beleaguered southern Lebanese villages. “The Holy Father wished to give us good courage in the face of difficulties that our Christian community has faced in these past days. He prayed over us and spoke the benediction.”

Pope Leo XIV received President Guy Parmelin of Switzerland on May 6, the day of the swearing-in ceremony of 28 new members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard.

The journey, scheduled for June 6-12, will take the Pontiff to Madrid, Barcelona, Montserrat, and two cities on the Canary Islands, Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Pope Leo plans to deliver five homilies, twelve addresses, and five greetings.

Pope St. John Paul II made five apostolic journeys to Spain (1982, 1984, 1989, 1993, 2003), and Pope Benedict XVI made three (2006, 2010, 2011); Pope Francis did not visit the nation.