Saint Joseph Catholic Church

According to the Vatican News’s summary of the confidential deliberations, the cardinals, gathered in groups, spoke about the following topics, among others:

• “increasing polarization within societies and communities, generating political tensions and violence and fueled by social divisions, misinformation and forms of communication that fail to foster encounter”
• “the suffering caused in many parts of the world by the lack of respect for religious and ethnic minorities, undermining religious freedom and giving rise to hostility, and at times violence, particularly against the Church”
• “excessive individualism, the crisis of the family, and the growing loneliness experienced by both elderly people and young people, identifying these as contributing factors to even more serious problems, including rising suicide rates and drug use”
• “the awareness of a widespread sense of distrust, fatalism and powerlessness towards institutions, democracy and the future, linked also to declining birth rates, the growth of criminal organizations, youth delinquency and drug trafficking”
• “the need to address migration in a humane and Christian way, recognizing how it is reshaping peoples, societies and communities while making effective integration policies increasingly urgent amid new forms of exclusion”

The Pontiff sent the aid, described as an initial donation, through the Dicastery for the Service of Charity (apostolic almoner’s office), in coordination with the apostolic nuncio to Venezuela and the archbishop of Caracas, the nation’s capital.

“These grave violations rob children of their childhood, separate them from their families and communities, and expose them to violence and exploitation, resulting in lasting consequences,” Msgr. Marco Formica, interim chargé d’affaires of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, said on June 25. “Such suffering is a grave affront to the God-given dignity of every child, who deserves protection and care, and can never be considered as mere collateral damage in the prosecution of war.”

Msgr. Formica also said that the Holy See “encourages States that have not yet done so” to endorse the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas.

Pope Leo XIV described sports as a “medicine for both body and spirit, when it is practiced well” and an “opportunity for spiritual growth.”

Addressing the opening session of the two-day extraordinary consistory of the College of Cardinals (program), Pope Leo said today that “mission is not merely one of the Church’s many tasks,” but “her very reason for existing and thus, it also becomes the criterion that guides our discernment.”