CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News

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.

Pope Leo asks pardon for Holy See's complicitly in slavery (CWN)

Mon, 25 May 2026 12:05:55 GMT

Pope Leo XIV renewed the teaching Church’s condemnation of slavery and asked pardon for the Holy See’s complicity in the slave trade.

Coptic Orthodox Church resumes dialogue following Pope Leo's assurances on 'non-blessing of same-sex couples' (CWN)

Mon, 25 May 2026 04:05:09 GMT

Citing papal assurances regarding the “non-blessing of same-sex couples,” the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church announced that it was resuming dialogue with the Catholic Church.

Addressing EU lawmakers, Pope laments abortion, says family is founded on marriage between a man and a woman (CWN)

Mon, 25 May 2026 04:05:56 GMT

Pope Leo XIV received members of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Demography and linked the continent’s demographic crisis to the rejection of the Christian vision associated with the founding of European institutions after World War II.

'Live Christian charity,' Pope tells Barcelona business leaders (CWN)

Mon, 25 May 2026 04:05:42 GMT

Pope Leo XIV received members of Círculo Ecuestre, a club of Barcelona business leaders, and encouraged them to “live Christian charity.”

The Spirit of the Risen Christ is the Spirit of peace, mission, and truth, Pope preaches on Pentecost Sunday (CWN)

Mon, 25 May 2026 08:05:05 GMT

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the morning of Pentecost Sunday (booklet, video) and emphasized that the Spirit of the Risen Christ is the Spirit of peace, mission, and truth.

The Holy Spirit opens doors, Pope tells pilgrims on Pentecost (CWN)

Mon, 25 May 2026 08:05:59 GMT

In his midday Regina Caeli address on Pentecost Sunday, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that that the Holy Spirit opens doors (video).

Pope asks Mary, Help of Christians, to pray for Church in China, Christians of the Middle East (CWN)

Mon, 25 May 2026 08:05:07 GMT

Addressing pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Pentecost Sunday, Pope Leo XIV recalled the Day of Prayer for the Church in China and also prayed for the Christians of the Middle East.

Pope commemorates 100th anniversary of crowning of Marian image in Toledo, Spain (CWN)

Mon, 25 May 2026 11:05:02 GMT

In a Latin-language letter, Pope Leo XIV recalled the upcoming 100th anniversary of the crowning of the image of the Virgen del Sagrario (Virgin of the Tabernacle) in the Primatial Metropolitan Cathedral in Toledo, Spain.

Albania's president meets with Pontiff (CWN)

Mon, 25 May 2026 03:05:52 GMT

Pope Leo XIV received President Bajram Begaj of Albania in a private audience today.

In Peru, Mass of reparation offered for suppressed lay movement's victims (Vatican News)

Mon, 25 May 2026 01:05:38 GMT

A Mass of reparation was offered in Catacaos, Peru, on May 23 for victims of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (Sodality of Christian Life), a lay movement suppressed by Pope Francis last year.

Vatican News reported that the Mass was offered for members of the “Tallán indigenous communities who, for over a decade, suffered persecution, land expropriation, and harassment” from the movement.

During the Mass, Peruvian prelates knelt before the victims to ask their forgiveness.

Contemplate Christ to understand God and man, Pope tells AI conference participants (CWN)

Fri, 22 May 2026 07:05:35 GMT

Pope Leo XIV today addressed participants in a Vatican conference on artificial intelligence, told them that the Church’s primary concern is the eternal salvation of every human person, and said that contemplation of Christ is the means to come to the truth about God and man.

Pope calls for individual responsibility, conversion to counter Acerra's environmental degradation (CWN)

Sat, 23 May 2026 03:05:31 GMT

In his second and final address this morning in Acerra, a southern Italian city known for its pollution, Pope Leo XIV called for individual responsibility and conversion to counter environmental degradation.

Pope, in Acerra, decries pollution, praises local Church's response (CWN)

Sat, 23 May 2026 02:05:13 GMT

Pope Leo XIV arrived this morning in Acerra, a southern Italian city known for its pollution, for a brief pastoral visit.

Irish prime minister, Pontiff discuss need for peace (CWN)

Sat, 23 May 2026 11:05:16 GMT

Micheál Martin, the taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland, discussed peace in a May 22 audience with Pope Leo XIV.

Pope Leo encourages Bulgaria to create bridges for peace (Bulgarian News Agency)

Sat, 23 May 2026 10:05:37 GMT

Pope Leo XIV received Mihaela Dotsova, the chairwoman of Bulgaria’s National Assembly, on May 22 and encouraged the nation to create bridges for peace.

“We had an extremely cordial and very honest meeting, which lasted longer than usual,” Dotsova said following the audience. “Pope Leo XIV shared that he expects Bulgaria, as a country located at a crossroad, to be one of the creators of bridges for peace, and he sent his blessing to the entire Bulgarian people.”

The lawmaker invited the Pope to visit the nation, and the Pontiff, in turn, “promised to do everything possible to continue the tradition” of papal visits to Bulgaria, the state-run Bulgarian News Agency reported.

Located in Southeast Europe, Bulgaria, a nation of 6.7 million (map), is 84% Christian (80% Orthodox) and 13% Muslim. Pope Francis made an apostolic journey there in 2019.

Acerra, Italian city in polluted 'land of the fires,' prepares to welcome Pope Leo (CWN)

Sat, 23 May 2026 09:05:37 GMT

Pope Leo XIV today is making of pastoral visit to Acerra, a southern Italian city of 60,000 known for its Mafia-linked toxic waste pollution.

6 beatification causes advance, including Maronite Patriarch, Spanish martyrs (CWN)

Sat, 23 May 2026 11:05:22 GMT

During a May 22 meeting with the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV approved decrees that advanced six beatification causes.

USCCB, other Catholic organizations call for increased federal funding for housing (USCCB)

Sat, 23 May 2026 11:05:42 GMT

The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, joined by the presidents of Catholic Charities USA and the National Council of the United States Society of St. Vincent de Paul, called for “robust funding” for eight federal housing programs and “increased support” for five others.

“Our nation is faced with an affordable housing crisis that sees no sign of improvement,” Archbishop Shelton Fabre of Louisville, joined by the two presidents, wrote in a May 21 letter to leading members of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations. “This crisis is further punctuated by the alarming rise in homelessness.”

The federal housing programs, they continued, “help people build better lives, and any cuts to funding or substantive programmatic changes that undermine the effectiveness of affordable housing programs should be opposed. Further, considering current economic conditions, flat funding for housing and community development programs is effectively a cut to these vital services.”

Cardinal Czerny pays tribute to martyred Czech priests (Vatican News)

Sat, 23 May 2026 09:05:08 GMT

Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, paid tribute to two Czech martyrs at a conference organized by the Czech embassy to the Holy See.

Cardinal Czerny, whose family left Czechoslovakia for Canada when he was two, spoke about Fathers Jan Bula and Václav Drbola, who will be beatified on June 6. Their lives, he said, are “proof that no violence can stifle the life of God in those who entrust themselves to Him.”

The conference, entitled Blessed Martyrs of Communism, took place on May 20.