Saint Joseph Catholic Church

The theme of the conference is “Serving, Accompanying, Guiding: Foundations and Practices of Government in Associations.” The conference includes an address by Pope Leo XIV, remarks by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, and Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“This reorganization restores the HHS Civil Rights Division and the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division and strengthens the Office for Civil Rights’ ability to defend religious liberty, enforce conscience protections, and combat unlawful discrimination,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said on May 18.

“After a brief moment of prayer in the chapel of the facility, the Pope met and greeted the religious, scientific, and lay staff,” Vatican News, the news agency of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, reported.

Last June, Pope Leo addressed participants in the Observatory’s Summer School of Astrophysics.

“From the very start of the day, he has his fixed times for prayer, including holy Mass and the recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours; we also pray the Rosary,” said Father Edgard Rimaycuna, who described Pope Leo as “a man who seeks to build bridges, seeks dialogue, and always avoids confrontation.”

Throughout the day, the Pontiff “seeks contact with God through silence and through prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel,” the Peruvian priest added.

At the conclusion of his May 20 general audience, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to Dominum et Vivificantem (Lord and Giver of Life), Pope St. John Paul II’s encyclical letter on the Holy Spirit.