CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News

Pope links polarization, war to St. Augustine's City of Man (CWN)

Sat, 30 May 2026 10:05:44 GMT

Pope Leo XIV linked contemporary wars, polarization, and division to St. Augustine’s description of the City of Man.

Pope to lead international Rosary for peace this evening (Dicastery for Evangelization)

Sat, 30 May 2026 10:05:27 GMT

The Dicastery for Evangelization announced that Pope Leo XIV will pray a Rosary for peace this evening, May 30, at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens, as the Marian month of May comes to a close.

The Pope’s Rosary will be simulcast in participating Marian shrines around the world. Vatican News, the news agency of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, extended the invitation to the faithful around the world and announced the intentions of each of the five mysteries being prayed.

Canada's Prime Minister Carney, Pope Leo discuss AI, peace (CWN)

Fri, 29 May 2026 08:05:16 GMT

Pope Leo XIV and Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada spoke by phone this afternoon about artificial intelligence, four days after the publication of the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas (CWN article, analysis).

Italian bishop issues pastoral letter on evangelization of Muslims (Diocesi Ventimiglia – Sanremo)

Fri, 29 May 2026 10:05:42 GMT

The bishop of Ventimiglia-Sanremo, Italy, issued “Non c’è amore più grande” (There is no greater love than this), a pastoral letter on the evangelization of local Muslims.

Noting that 2026 is the Year of Saint Francis, Bishop Antonio Suetta recalled St. Francis of Assisi’s desire to evangelize the sultan of Egypt in 1219, as well as St. Francis’s instructions on the evangelization of Muslims in his 1221 rule.

“Hospitality and collaboration are, in themselves, two ways of bearing practical witness to true faith in Jesus,” Bishop Suetta wrote. “Muslims arriving in Western countries are often bewildered by the secularization of society, as they tend—mistakenly, to be sure, yet understandably—to equate public immorality with the Christian faith. Only when they come into contact with Christians who live consistently with their faith do they realize that secularization is a corruption of Christianity; thus, they begin to discover the true face of Jesus and to perceive—often without even consciously thinking about it—the depth of God’s love.”

Such acts “must always be accompanied by our spiritual identity, speaking of Jesus Christ not through imposition, but with love,” the prelate continued, adding:

To neglect the proclamation of Jesus Christ would be to disregard His saving Cross and His universal mediation. Ultimately, it would be to betray our mission as the baptized.

If we see someone struggling to climb out of a river, yet being swept away by the current—and we happen to have a rope to assist them—it would be an act of grave negligence not to throw that rope, simply thinking that perhaps they might manage to get out on their own, and thus feel “freer”: for the rope is their liberation!

How many Muslims living among Christians will turn to them on the Day of Judgment and ask: “Why did you not throw me the rope? Why did you not make the truth known to me?” Thus, one understands the urgency of the mission that led Saint Paul to exclaim: “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16).

Documents on Cambodian martyrs presented to Vatican (CWN)

Fri, 29 May 2026 08:05:26 GMT

The vicar apostolic of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, delivered to the Vatican almost 2,500 pages of documentation on the sainthood cause of his predecessor, Bishop Joseph Chhmar Salas, and 11 other Catholics martyred in the 1970s.

Focus on spreading the Gospel, Pope tells Italian bishops (CWN)

Fri, 29 May 2026 08:05:58 GMT

Pope Leo XIV encouraged the bishops of Italy to sow the Gospel tirelessly and look upon the harvest with the gaze of Christ, rather than “lament the hardened ground.”

Pope Leo calls on Polish Catholics to protect life from conception to natural death (CWN)

Thu, 28 May 2026 08:05:18 GMT

At the conclusion of his May 27 general audience, Pope Leo XIV asked Polish pilgrims to work to protect life from conception to natural death.

Pope emphasizes centrality of evangelization, warns against watering down the faith (CWN)

Fri, 29 May 2026 08:05:55 GMT

Pope Leo XIV said that evangelization “must remain the fundamental motivation behind every action of the universal Church and of local communities” and warned against “watering down the content” of the faith “or softening the demands.”

Pope allows bishops, with Vatican authorization, to dismiss superiors of autonomous monasteries (CWN)

Fri, 29 May 2026 10:05:00 GMT

In a rescript dated March 25 and released on May 28, Pope Leo XIV granted the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life the authority to permit bishops to dismiss major superiors of autonomous monasteries from their religious communities.

Pope Leo breaks new ground with encyclical on AI [News/Analysis] (CWN)

Mon, 25 May 2026 09:05:17 GMT

In choosing to be known as Pope Leo XIV, our current Pontiff made tribute to Leo XIII, the author of Rerum Novarum, the encyclical that formed the foundation of Catholic social teaching. Now Leo XIV stands alongside his illustrious predecessor, as the author of his own landmark encyclical, breaking new ground in that field.

Pope Leo to visit San Marino in August (Vatican Press Office)

Fri, 29 May 2026 09:05:48 GMT

The Prefecture of the Papal Household announced that Pope Leo XIV will visit San Marino on August 22, on the way to his previously announced visit to Rimini, Italy.

Surrounded by Italy, the nation of 35,000 (map) is 91% Catholic.

Renewable energy agreement between Holy See, Italy enters into force (Vatican News)

Fri, 29 May 2026 09:05:39 GMT

A July 2025 agreement between on the Holy See and Italy related to renewable energy entered into force on May 27.

The agreement provides for the construction of an agrivoltaic plant in Santa Maria di Galeria, the Vatican territory just outside of Rome where Vatican Radio is located.

Bishop, other Indonesian Catholics give Muslims sacrificial animals for festival (UCANews)

Thu, 28 May 2026 09:05:39 GMT

Bishop Maksimus Regus of Labuan Bajo gave a sacrificial cow to the imam of the Al-Munawwarah Terang Grand Mosque as Muslims commemorated the festival of Eid al-Adha on May 27.

“We bring a gift in the form of a sacrificial animal as a sign of brotherhood and support for Muslim families,” Bishop Regus said. The mosque’s imam, in turn, said that “the bishop’s presence strengthens us as Muslims preparing for the sacrifice, and at the same time affirms our togetherness with Catholic families who have long lived in harmony here.”

UCA News reported that “from the national capital Jakarta to Christian strongholds in eastern Indonesia, Catholic individuals and Church-based groups donated cows and goats” for sacrifice. Jakarta Cathedral, for example, gave sacrificial animals to Istiqlal Mosque.

Located in Southeast Asia, Indonesia, a nation of 283.6 million (map), is the world’s fourth most populous; it is also the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation. The nation is 78% Muslim, 13% Christian, 2% new religionist, and 2% ethnic religionist.

Pontiff receives Spanish prime minister (CWN)

Thu, 28 May 2026 08:05:46 GMT

Pope Leo XIV received Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain on May 27, ten days before the Pontiff’s apostolic journey to Spain begins.

Nobel laureate Bialiatski meets with Pope, discusses human rights abuses in Belarus (CWN)

Thu, 28 May 2026 08:05:01 GMT

Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski asked Pope Leo XIV to pray publicly for victims of human rights abuses in Belarus.

Pope Leo issues 1st encyclical, urges safeguarding of human person in AI era (CWN)

Mon, 25 May 2026 10:05:28 GMT

Pope Leo XIV promulgated his first encyclical letter today and emphasized the importance of safeguarding the human person in the era of artificial intelligence.

Niger's bishops urge Christians, Muslims to deepen peace, solidarity at Eid al-Adha (ACI Africa)

Thu, 28 May 2026 08:05:31 GMT

In a message for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha, Niger’s leading prelate said that the day “reminds us that as believers, we are called, like Abraham, to submit ourselves daily to the will of God and to offer ourselves in holy sacrifice.”

“We are therefore invited to weave and consolidate between us relations of love, of respect, of solidarity, of truth, of justice, and to work together in unity so that peace reigns in all of Niger,” said Archbishop Djalwana Laurent Lompo of Niamey, who spoke on behalf of the nation’s bishops.

Located in West Africa, the nation of 27.3 million (map) is over 95% Muslim and 4% ethnic religionist. An Islamist insurgency began there in 2015.

Pope establishes commission to supervise hospital founded by Padre Pio (Vatican News)

Thu, 28 May 2026 09:05:55 GMT

In a chirograph on May 27, Pope Leo XIV established a Steering and Supervisory Commission for the House for the Relief of Suffering, the hospital established in 1956 by St. Pio of Pietrelcina.

Unions representing employees there announced a hunger strike earlier this month, with four non-negotiable demands: “guarantee of quality care for all patients who see the hospital as a national point of reference; protection of the rights and future of hundreds of workers and their families, defense of the original mission of the House for the Relief of Suffering; [and] enhancement of the historical and social heritage of the territory.”

Ghana welcomes papal apology for slavery (BBC)

Thu, 28 May 2026 10:05:17 GMT

Ghana welcomed Pope Leo XIV’s apology for the Holy See’s complicity in the slave trade.

Ghana’s government stated that the apology “reinforces the growing global understanding that confronting historical injustices demands truth-telling and moral responsibility as essential foundations for justice and reconciliation,” the BBC reported.

The statement came two months after the United Nations adopted a declaration on slavery backed by Ghana’s foreign minister. At the time, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the new apostolic nuncio to the United States, criticized the declaration for its “partial narrative, which, regrettably, does not serve the cause of truth,” adding that “as early as 1435, Pope Eugene IV condemned the enslavement of the inhabitants of the Canary Islands and excommunicated those who refused to free them.”

Ho Chi Minh Cultural Space established inside Vietnamese cathedral (UCANews)

Thu, 28 May 2026 09:05:59 GMT

A Ho Chi Minh Cultural Space was inaugurated inside Phú Cường Cathedral on May 8, sparking controversy among Vietnam’s Catholics.

Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) was the founder of the Indochina Communist Party and the president of North Vietnam. The cathedral is located in the former South Vietnam, conquered by North Vietnam in 1975. Venerable Nguyễn Văn Thuận (1928-2002), the coadjutor archbishop of South Vietnam’s capital, was then imprisoned by the Communist regime for 13 years.

At Phú Cường Cathedral, “Father Anton Hà Văn Minh said that the teachings of Jesus Christ and the ideology of Hồ Chí Minh shared similarities in their humanistic values and aspirations toward freedom,” UCA News reported. “Within hours, clips of the interview spread across Vietnamese Catholic social media, triggering an intense backlash.”