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Browsing News Entries

Browsing News Entries

Pope expresses gratitude to his attendants (Dicastery for Communication)

Pope Leo XIV expressed gratitude to his ushers and other attendants in a February 1 audience.

“Whether prince or pilgrim, patriarch or postulant, the solicitude of the Successor of Peter remains the same towards all and loving towards each one,” Pope Leo said during the February 1 audience, which took place in Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace. “The sober beauty that characterizes papal protocol is reflected in in your every gesture.”

“Thinking of the history of those who have gone before you, bear witness to their values with a consistent life, knowing well that the service of honor certainly requires a particular code of ethics, but even more so a solid faith, and therefore a spiritual style marked by devotion to the Church and the Pope,” the Pontiff said. “May your daily actions, posture and gaze always be a shining reflection of this.”

Shun polarization, Pope tells Italian newspaper (Il Foglio)

In a letter marking the 30th anniversary of Il Foglio, Pope Leo XIV encouraged the Italian newspaper’s director to promote the free exchange of ideas, shun polarization, and offer “the most objective narration of the facts possible.”

“The possibility of spreading different opinions, and of offering different interpretations of the facts, is the concrete foundation of that free exchange of ideas without which there is no freedom of thought,” Pope Leo wrote in his letter to Claudio Cerasa. “It is necessary to promote dialogue and not surrender to an extremist and deceptive polarization that reduces reality to its parody, cultural and religious roots almost to labels to be exhibited, thought to a calculation,”

In the letter, dated January 23 and published on January 30, the Pope added that a free press “requires a great sense of responsibility, for example in the distinction between the most objective narration of the facts possible and the exposition of opinions on them, always dutifully open to discussion.”

Cuban bishops warn of risk of chaos and violence, call for greater political freedom (CWN)

Warning of the risk of chaos and violence, the bishops of Cuba called for “structural, social, economic, and political changes” in the Caribbean nation, including “respect for the dignity and exercise of freedom of every human being.”

Pope Leo: Images of saints remind us of universal call to holiness (Dicastery for Communication)

Presiding at the inauguration of a Marian mosaic and a statue of St. Rose of Lima in the Vatican Gardens (video), Pope Leo XIV said that “the two figures represented, our heavenly Mother and the first Latin American saint, Rose of Lima, bring us to the theme of holiness.”

“These beautiful images we are contemplating today recall the greatness of the vocation to which God calls us, namely, the universal vocation to holiness,” Pope Leo continued. “I encourage you, with God’s grace, to be witnesses and examples of that holiness in today’s world. For that is God’s will: our own sanctification.”

The event took place on the afternoon of January 31, with the Peruvian bishops, the ambassador of Peru to the Holy See, and the president of the Governorate of Vatican City State in attendance.

Reflecting on peace, Pope Leo says 'greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion' (CWN)

Addressing young people involved in a political innovation hackathon associated with the Focolare Movement, Pope Leo XIV reflected on peace as “a gift, a covenant and a promise” and said that “there can be no peace while humanity wages war against itself.”

Background: World Day for Consecrated Life (CWN)

February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, is also the 30th World Day for Consecrated Life, a commemoration instituted by Pope St. John Paul II in 1997.

Pope marks World Day for Consecrated Life, calls on religious to be prophets (CWN)

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica this evening (booklet, video) and called upon consecrated men and women “to be prophets—messengers who announce the presence of the Lord and prepare the way for him.”

SSPX to ordain new bishops (CWN)

The superior general of the Society of Saint Pius X announced today that the Society’s bishops will consecrate new bishops on July 1.

Feb. 2 Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Feast

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord which occurs forty days after the birth of Jesus and is also known as Candlemas Day, since the blessing and procession of candles is included in today's liturgy. See the Prayer Section for the full rite of the Procession and Blessing of Candles at Mass.

15 US bishops urge Senate to reject ICE funding (EWTN News)

Fifteen US bishops, led by the archbishops of Santa Fe and Seattle, expressed their “deep opposition” to an appropriations bill to fund US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“We cannot support legislation that expands or sustains enforcement practices without adequately addressing their consequences for families and communities,” the bishops and other signatories said. A budget “that prioritizes detention and removal—while lacking strong safeguards for family unity, due process, and accountability—risks entrenching harm rather than promoting justice or public safety.”