The Holy Father spent his last hours in Argentina visiting prisoners at a federal prison complex and holding a public Mass before flying to the Peruvian city of Callao, where he took part in welcoming ceremonies and met with civil authorities.

Here are photos of Pope Leo’s activities in Argentina and Peru on Nov. 11:

The event “From Roadmap to Practice” was held at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross on Nov. 7. Following the annual Builders AI Forum that week, the hackathon focused on developing practical prototypes to address parish needs, including liturgical calendars, accessible Church teaching, and digital evangelization.

The hackathon is also set to expand to the United States. Organized by the Catholic Digital Commons Foundation (CDCF) and the Evangelization Lab, the Virtual-to-Sacramental (V2S) hackathon will be held in 4 U.S. dioceses in early 2027.

Where coding meets faith

According to a Nov. 9 press release, more than 60 people gathered for the hackathon, which focused on both building software and organizing ways to support Catholics in the AI era.

More than 15 digital projects were created during the conference, from a digitized Roman martyrology to a database for religious orders.

Father Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP, promoter general for Social Communication of the Order of Preachers, was part of a team that created a database that lets him access documents from his order dating back centuries.

“Typical PDF searches are complex, inefficient, and often incomplete,” Briscoe said. “I teamed up with a developer who, in a few hours, allowed me to tap into hundreds of years of documents to get access to our own resources for formation, content creation, and governance.”

Other projects built included AI-governance tools for parishes, a lunch sign-up sheet for a Roman seminary, and a digitized version of the Roman martyrology.

Keeping the human at the center of American parish life

A central focus of the hackathon was how to implement AI and other technologies into parish life, including in the U.S. in 2027.

Taylor Black, executive director of the Leonum Institute at The Catholic University of America, emphasized that the Church under Pope Leo XIV needed to embrace its vocation to build in the digital age.

“Pope Leo emphasizes the builder’s vocation in the Church, and it starts with sitting down with the people who do the work and creating something they can try together,” Black said.

José Manuel De Urquidi, founder of the Evangelization Lab, expressed his hope that bishops in the U.S. would support the initiative, which he believes will address the challenge of encountering Christ online but not within Catholic communities.

“[The bishops] not only have to bless it but also support it, because the Church as an institution can be slow and risk-averse,” Urquidi said. “A hackathon brings a few involved Catholics and a coder to the same table for a whole day, and by evening they have something they can actually try in real life.”

Sister Nancy Usselmann, FSP, director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies, said the hackathon, her first ever, revealed the potential for collaboration between Church and tech leaders to spread the Gospel.

“This was my first hackathon — a phenomenal learning experience of profound collaboration between pastoral leaders and builders,” Usselmann told EWTN News. “It helped all of us to imagine possibilities, develop opportunities, and create collaborative relationships for the Gospel.”

The Italian cardinal will visit Israel and Palestine from Nov. 16–21. According to a press release from his dicastery, Gugerotti will visit the Catholic communities in these regions to bring them “the expression of the Holy Fatherʼs closeness” as they continue to navigate ongoing casualties from the war and a diminished Christian population.

According to the press release, Israel’s overall Christian communities remain low in terms of population, with approximately 185,000 citizens, equal to 1.9% of the country’s population. Catholics, most of whom belong to the Greek Melkite Church, comprise a majority of these citizens.

The ongoing war in Gaza has also influenced Christian emigration from these lands, particularly from Palestine. In the West Bank, according to the release, Catholics number 35,000 out of 3.5 million people, and there are only 500 Christians in the entire Gaza Strip.

During Gugerotti’s visit, he will meet with the Israeli and Palestinian Catholic communities and celebrate Mass at major Christian sites in the Holy Land, including those in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Galilee.

The cardinal will also visit the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, and the Armenian patriarch of Jerusalem, Nourhan Manougian. In the press release, the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches said that these pastoral and ecumenical visits would “represent the Holy Fatherʼs solidarity and the concrete support of the entire Church for the brothers and sisters of the Holy Land.”

This is the first in what is expected to be a long list of pending episcopal appointments in the Catholic Church in Spain. With Barcelona now filled, attention turns again to Girona — a diocese in eastern Spain — which was without a bishop for more than two years before Vilà’s arrival and is now once again awaiting a new shepherd.

The bishop who entered a monastery at age 45

Born in 1961, Vilà entered the Spanish Monastery of Santa Maria of Poblet in 2005 and made his solemn profession on Aug. 15, 2010. Five years later, he was elected abbot, a position to which he was reelected until 2021, when he reached the canonical age limit.

Holding a degree in geography and history and a diploma in library and information science from the University of Barcelona, he was appointed bishop of Girona by Pope Francis in February 2024 and was ordained bishop in Girona Cathedral on April 21, 2024.

Within the Spanish bishops’ conference, he serves as a member of the Episcopal Commission for Consecrated Life. His episcopal motto, “Lead in Order to Serve,” comes from an expression of St. Bernard of Clairvaux.

In a letter to his new diocese, Vilà said he had been called by Pope Leo XIV “to share with you a part of the journey toward the Kingdom of God” and expressed his intentions: “I come to Barcelona ready to work courageously for the future of our Church and to do so together with each and every one of you.”

He also underscored the need to “live the faith in communion,” praised the richness of charisms in the Archdiocese of Barcelona, encouraged Catholics never to “give up evangelizing” and to do so “through our lives, through our words, and by living the faith consistently.”

Drawing on his monastic experience, he encouraged his new flock to keep Christ as their “center, model, and goal” and to cultivate intimacy with the Lord.

Before concluding, Vilà entrusted himself “to the many saints our archdiocese has produced throughout the centuries and especially to the martyrs who, both in ancient times and in the 20th century, are a source of inspiration for all of us.”

An Aragon native who arrived in Barcelona by way of Zaire

With this appointment, the long pastoral ministry of Omella comes to an end. Born in the Aragonese town of Cretas in 1946, he studied at the Seminary of Zaragoza and at the formation centers of the White Fathers in Leuven and Jerusalem before being ordained a priest in 1970.

He served in various pastoral roles in the Archdiocese of Zaragoza during his early years as a priest, including a year as a missionary in Zaire. In 1996 he was named auxiliary bishop of Zaragoza and three years later was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón.

Between 2001 and 2003, he also served as apostolic administrator of the dioceses of Huesca and Jaca. In 2004 he was appointed bishop of Calahorra and La Calzada-Logroño, where he remained until the end of 2015, when he was named archbishop of Barcelona.

A trusted collaborator of Pope Francis

Following Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation and the election of Pope Francis, Omella’s presence in Roman institutions steadily increased. In 2014 he joined the Congregation, now Dicastery, for Bishops, where he served until June 2026. He has also been a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

That same year, he was created a cardinal by Pope Francis, and in October 2018 he joined the Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops. In March 2023 he was appointed to the Council of Cardinals, the advisory body established by Pope Francis.

In Spain, he was elected president of the Spanish bishops’ conference from 2020 to 2024, years marked by the parliamentary investigation into abuse committed within the Catholic Church. Earlier, he had served as a member of its executive committee, on various commissions, and as national ecclesiastical adviser to Manos Unidas — a nongovernmental organization of the Catholic Church in Spain for development cooperation — from 1999 to 2005.

In a letter addressed to the faithful of Barcelona, the cardinal said that “the arrival of a new bishop is always a moment of grace for a diocese. People change, new stages begin, but the one Shepherd of the Church, Jesus Christ, remains.”

He also emphasized that welcoming the new prelate “also means being ready to walk with him” and therefore urged the faithful to offer their fullest cooperation.

‘In love with this land and its people’

“I feel that I leave deeply in love with this land and its people,” Omella said after the appointment of his successor was announced. During a public appearance, he revealed that he will not remain in Barcelona but will retire to a priests’ residence in Zaragoza: “I am not staying in Barcelona because I do not want to cast a shadow.”

Asked by journalists to assess his years in Barcelona, which were marked by strong political and religious tensions in society, the cardinal declined to offer a personal evaluation. However, he said that in the face of these difficulties he had sought “to bring opposing sides together, that is, to build bridges and foster dialogue.”

Of his successor, he said he is “a simple man with a solid intellectual formation. ... A man of prayer, a man who loves this land and its people, and who wants to evangelize.”

‘I neither confirm nor deny it’

Asked whether he had played any role in promoting Vilà’s appointment, the cardinal replied that if he answered, “it might seem that I am revealing secrets. I neither confirm nor deny it.”

“Who was the person I had in mind and proposed as my successor? I cannot say. Who was the person I had in mind as pope when I entered the conclave? I cannot say that either. But I had a second choice, and it was the same person who was ultimately elected,” he said, referring to Pope Leo XIV.

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The pope will finish his Argentinian visit on Nov. 11 and fly to Peru, his adopted country where he spent years as a bishop and where he will finish out his historic South American trip. The Holy Father already visited Uruguay at the outset of his journey.

Here are some photos of Pope Leo’s activities in Argentina.

Pope Leo I, who was the first pope to be remembered posthumously as “the Great,” began his papacy in 440 and served until his death in 461. During his pontificate, he worked to clarify doctrines related to Christ’s human and divine natures.

The pontiff was a “pope-theologian, but he’s also known as a remarkable bishop,” Thomas Clemmons, a professor of Church history at The Catholic University of America, told EWTN News, adding that “theologian popes are rare.”

St. Leo’s papacy began nine years after the Council of Ephesus, which condemned Nestorius and the heresy of Nestorianism, leading many of Nestorius’ followers to schism. The heresy rejected the close union of Christ’s human and divine natures and rejected the Marian title of “Theotokos,” or God-bearer, claiming that Mary only gave birth to Christ’s human nature.

Rising out of the Nestorian schism were more Christological conflicts over the relationship between Christ’s humanity and divinity. Eutyches, an opponent of Nestorius, went too far in the opposite direction, claiming that Christ’s human and divine natures were fused into one single nature. His human nature, Eutyches claimed, was “dissolved like a drop of honey in the sea.”

This heretical understanding, according to Clemmons, turned Christ into a “third thing” or a “kind of monster” rather than the Catholic understanding of Christ as “one Person” with “complete and true humanity and complete and true divinity.”

To combat Eutyches’ error, Pope Leo wrote a letter to Flavian I, the archbishop of Constantinople, which clarified the hypostatic union of Christ’s distinct human nature and distinct divine nature. The letter, which became known as “Leo’s Tome,” is the pontiff’s most famous work and set the stage for defining Christological doctrines at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

“Both natures retain their own proper character without loss: and as the form of God did not do away with the form of a slave, so the form of a slave did not impair the form of God,” Pope Leo wrote in the letter.

“From the mother of the Lord was received nature, not faultiness: nor in the Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin’s womb, does the wonderfulness of his birth make his nature unlike ours,” the letter continued. “For he who is true God is also true man: and in this union there is no lie, since the humility of manhood and the loftiness of the Godhead both meet there.”

In emphasizing the fullness of Christ’s human nature in the letter, Leo cites the genealogy of Christ listed in the Scripture, along with his human experiences, particularly suffering and death on the cross: “Let [Eutyches] not disbelieve [Christ is a] man with a body like ours, since he acknowledges [Christ] to have been able to suffer: seeing that the denial of his true flesh is also the denial of his bodily suffering.”

Leo emphasized the words of the Creed when emphasizing the fullness of Christ’s divine nature, stating: “Not only is God believed to be both Almighty and the Father, but the Son is shown to be co-eternal with him, differing in nothing from the Father because he is God from God, Almighty from Almighty, and being born from the Eternal One is co-eternal with him.”

The pontiff bolstered his argument with citations from Scripture that point to the fullness of Christ’s divine nature and the fullness of his human nature.

“To be hungry and thirsty, to be weary, and to sleep, is clearly human,” Leo said. “But to satisfy 5,000 men with five loaves, and to bestow on the woman of Samaria living water, droughts of which can secure the drinker from thirsting any more, to walk upon the surface of the sea with feet that do not sink, and to quell the risings of the waves by rebuking the winds, is, without any doubt, divine.”

Clemmons praised Leo’s Tome as a “simple and clear text” that is “very readable and very instructional now,” even more than 1,500 years later.

At the time, however, the letter was met with hostility from supporters of Eutyches’ position in Constantinople: “[It was] sent there, read aloud, and they rejected it,” Clemmons said. Emperor Theodosius II convened the faux Second Council of Ephesus in 449, which rejected St. Leo’s letter and defended Eutyches. The supporters of Eutyches brutally assaulted Archbishop Flavian I for defending St. Leo’s position, deposed him, and sent him into exile. He died from his injuries.

St. Leo referred to the council as the “Latrocinium,” the “robber council,” and in 451 the Church convoked the Council of Chalcedon, which defined clearly the hypostatic union of Christ’s human and divine natures and rejected the Second Council of Ephesus.

Chalcedon Council documents cite Leo’s letter and affirm his teachings on the two natures of Christ, stating that Christ “must be confessed to be in two natures, unconfusedly, immutably, indivisibly, inseparably [united] … without the distinction of natures being taken away by such union.”

When speaking to a general audience in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI referred to St. Leo the Great as one of the greatest popes in the history of the Church.

“As the nickname soon attributed to him by tradition suggests, he was truly one of the greatest pontiffs to have honored the Roman See and made a very important contribution to strengthening its authority and prestige,” Benedict said.

This story was first published on Nov. 10, 2023, and was updated on Nov. 10, 2026.

The June 2025 decision — on an action for defamation — was made available in English in October through the canon law journal of St. Paul University in Ottawa and first reported by Catholic World Report.

It has become increasingly common for Catholic dioceses and religious orders, especially in the United States, to publish lists of clerics accused of the abuse of minors, apart from judicial processes to determine guilt. In some cases, the names of deceased clerics have also been included.

The Tribunal of the Roman Rota criticized this practice in a June 26, 2025, decision on a defamation suit.

We “cannot believe … that there is nothing illegitimate in a powerful institution announcing to the whole world that a determined private person has committed a grave delict of which that person has never been convicted nor even accused in a trial,” the Roman Rota wrote.

“For if such an act were not illegitimate,” the court continued, “the good name of all persons would be simply deprived of every protection of law and all would lie open to the snares of extortionists of every kind.”

In the sentence, the Roman Rota found a Catholic religious congregation in the United States guilty of the defamation of a person, identified as Mr. X, for having made public on its website in 2015 that it “deemed credible” allegations by two people that Mr. X had sexually abused them when he was their formator in the 1980s. The religious order also published a press release stating that Mr. X had “abused” students and that the accusations were “substantiated.” (The head of the religious order, when interrogated by the court, said the accusations had been deemed substantiated after they were investigated by a private investigation firm decades after their alleged occurrence.)

Mr. X has never been convicted or charged of a delict (crime) by the Church or by the state, according to the religious congregation. And at the time the religious congregation published the accusations against Mr. X, he was no longer under its jurisdiction, since in 2002, he received permission from the Holy See to return to the lay state and be dispensed from religious vows. He later married and worked in a secular career.

The man, who has insisted on his innocence, asked repeatedly for the notice to be taken down, but the religious congregation refused, and Mr. X subsequently lost his job and his marriage ended. He brought an action against his former religious order within the Church’s legal system claiming that the religious order’s decision to publish his name in connection with the serious crime of abuse caused him unjustifiable harm. He also sought repair for damages.

The Roman Rota in its decision quoted canon 220 of the Code of Canon Law: “No one is permitted to harm illegitimately the good reputation which a person possesses nor to injure the right of any person to protect his or her own privacy.”

“The right to good reputation, because it is ordered to protecting each one’s friendly intercourse in society, is founded upon the natural law itself and is explained in moral theology under the rubric of the eighth precept of the Decalogue. For the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches under No. 2477: ‘Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and every word which may cause unjust harm to them,’” the decision said.

The court said it considered the harm caused by online publications of lists of alleged crimes “infinitely” greater than publication in a book or physical document “since this publication is made to the whole world at once, namely to all human beings dwelling everywhere in all regions of the world.”

The Rota said such a practice is “not in conformity with the principles and norms of the Church’s juridic order” and that some Church institutions have already been informed of this but have “persisted despite the warnings.”

It also disagreed with the argument that such lists are necessary to counter the harm done by years of improper responses to the sexual abuse of children by Church members.

“Reparation for evil deeds cannot be had by doing evil to others,” the court wrote. “Past injustice towards little ones cannot be repaired by committing injustice towards adults, the elderly, the deceased,” who have never been convicted or had charges brought against them in a Church or civil court.

“The Tribunal of the Roman Rota ordinarily acts as an appellate court of higher instance at the Apostolic See, with the purpose of safeguarding rights within the Church; it fosters unity of jurisprudence and, by virtue of its decisions, provides assistance to lower tribunals,” according to the Vatican website.

Rooted in a tradition established globally in 1997, this yearʼs Vatican message connects the historical struggles of maritime workers with timeless spiritual truths. Issued by the dicastery’s new prefect, Sister Alessandra Smerilli, the text reflects on the Gospel account of the risen Lord waiting on the shores of Lake Tiberias, offering weary fishermen and women the invitation to “Come and have breakfast.”

Smerilli uses this biblical imagery to remind the faithful that Christ is not indifferent to human toil but actively waits on the shores of everyday life, attentive to the exhaustion, anxieties, and concrete needs of those who labor upon the waters.

In the message, Smerilli stresses that the Church must cultivate a culture of encounter that translates spiritual closeness into tangible action.

First, she urges society to truly see the person behind the profession. Fishers are frequently reduced to mere cogs in the global commercial food industry, yet their lives involve immense sacrifice, isolation, and risk. This vision must explicitly encompass often-overlooked members of the fishing community, including the women who labor behind the scenes to process and market the catch, young people navigating an uncertain professional future in maritime trades, and migrant fishers who often face systemic exploitation far away from their homelands and support systems.

Building upon Christ’s gesture of lighting a fire on the shore to comfort his disciples, in the message, the Vatican issues a passionate plea to protect life at sea and on the coast. This defense of human dignity requires practical safeguards: ensuring vessels are safe and seaworthy, guaranteeing fair wages and legal contracts, providing adequate times for proper rest, and maintaining a constant remembrance of those who have lost their lives or gone missing while harvesting the bounty of the sea.

Finally, the Vatican calls upon local Christian communities and the global Church to remain close to fishers through every phase of their lives — from the initial recruitment and departure to the eventual homecoming. No worker should be left to face isolation, workplace injury, psychological trauma, or the vulnerabilities tied to changing economic conditions alone, it says.

Concluding her message with a heartfelt prayer to Mary, Star of the Sea, Smerilli invokes divine protection and guidance, praying that humanity may learn to embrace one another with the same proactive, restorative love that Christ showed his disciples on the shores of Galilee.

The basilica announced plans to restore the chapel’s artwork in a press release on Nov. 6. The project, set to begin on Nov. 16, is one of several in an extensive conservation campaign. During work, the chapel will be closed to the public for 90 days.

As one of Rome’s four major basilicas, the basilica is reputed to be the oldest shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the Western Hemisphere, built shortly after the Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431, which defined the doctrine of Mary as Mother of God.

The project will also be carried out in collaboration with the Governorate of Vatican City State and will focus on the chapel dome and its surrounding frescoes.

Papal devotion and the ‘Salus Populi Romani’ icon

The Pauline Chapel also houses the ancient Marian icon “Salus Populi Romani” (“Salvation of the Roman People”), depicting Mary and the Christ child.

Tradition holds that St. Luke the Evangelist made the icon. Since its creation, popes have venerated it with liturgical processions and ornate decorations, including St. Gregory the Great and Venerable Pius XII. In 1615, Pope Paul V built an ornate chapel in St. Mary Major to house the icon and solemnly transferred it there.

Pope Francis was noted for venerating the icon before and after every apostolic journey, visiting it 126 times in his 12-year pontificate. His tomb, placed near the chapel, was made at the pope’s express request to be buried near the icon.

A project to restore Baroque architecture

According to the basilica’s press release, Paul V, after whom the Pauline chapel is named, commissioned notable artists in 17th-century Rome to decorate the chapel.

A pictorial cycle surrounding the “Salus Populi Romani” icon centers on the Virgin Mary as mother of the Church. Created from 1610–1612, it involved artists Giovanni Baglione, Lodovico Cardi, Guido Reni, and Giuseppe Cesari.

A prominent feature of the cycle is Cardi’s “Assumption of the Virgin.” Here, the Virgin stands atop a naturalistic moon, inspired by telescopic images by renowned astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610.

The basilica is also undergoing restoration of the “Confessio” chapel beneath the high altar. As a result, the reliquary of the Holy Crib — containing pieces of wood reputed to come from the manger where Christ was born — has been moved to a side chapel in the right aisle for veneration from Oct. 15 to Dec. 24.

The pope made his remarks at an evening prayer vigil in a stadium in Uruguay’s capital, with about 70,000 people in attendance. Local authorities estimated that another 30,000 people were following the event nearby.

Uruguay is one of Latin Americaʼs most secular societies, where a majority of people have no affiliation with organized religion and the official state calendar has renamed Catholic holidays with secular terms, such as substituting Tourism Week for Holy Week.

Leo said the experience of faithful Uruguayan Catholics “can help brothers and sisters in other parts of the world who are beginning to discover, in different ways, what it means to be a minority.”

The pope consoled Uruguayan Catholics for their small numbers, noting that Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, was proverbially small and that, in the Eucharist, “the Lord of the universe is present under the humble appearances of bread and wine.”

Yet he said that Christians can draw others into their ranks by behaving in exemplary ways.

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“Perhaps there are people who would never open a Bible on their own, who have not set foot in a church in years, or who cannot even say whether they believe in God. But when they see you, the desire for God may be awakened in them; they may even discover that it is worth risking their lives to find him,” the pope said.

“Christ did not call us to mediocrity,” Leo said. He urged his listeners to pursue excellence in the pursuit of holiness.

“When being just and honest comes at a price, pay it. When forgiving seems like a defeat, forgive. When everyone tells you to think of yourselves first, do not be afraid to put yourselves in the last place,” he said.

“Be willing to give up time, money, comfort, and plans to serve others. May those who see you find themselves asking: ‘Why do they live in this way? Where do they get this freedom? Why do they love one another so much?’”

The vigil ended with a spectacular fireworks display.

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Earlier, the pope spoke at the Catholic University of Uruguay, where he shared thoughts on the intellectual formation of young people in the Church.

“Our Catholic education cannot be confined to a closed circle. Rather, it must learn to listen to families, civil society, political and administrative authorities, as well as representatives of the various economic sectors and professional groups,” Leo concluded.

But he warned that “generations are changing far more rapidly than in the past and that keeping pace with the times — without abandoning sound tradition — is a real challenge.”

The pope was scheduled to leave Uruguay on Sunday for Argentina, where he will spend three days before moving on to his former home of Peru, where he will spend five days before returning to Rome.

The pope arrived in Uruguay on Nov. 6 and was scheduled to leave the country on Sunday for Argentina, where he will spend three days before moving on to his former home of Peru, where he will spend five days before returning to Rome.

Here are photos of Pope Leo’s activities in Uruguay:

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that there are children in Uruguay who do not go to school for fear of never returning home,” the pope said.

“In a country as rich in resources as this, children should never have to go to bed hungry or be denied the chance of a decent education and a dignified future because of the insecurity that reigns in the streets. Much less should they have to suffer violence to the point of losing their lives.”

Leo made his remarks in a speech to members of a Catholic parish in Casavalle, a lower-income neighborhood in northern Montevideo.

Violent crime is a pressing problem across Latin America, much of it driven by the drug trade and other organized crime. U.N. figures put the homicide rate in Latin America and the Caribbean at roughly four times the global level, the highest of any world region.

In his brief talk, Leo cited Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37), emphasizing that the man helped by the Samaritan was a victim of violent crime, since he “fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead.”

The pope lamented that “this story is repeated today in the widespread insecurity and violence that unfortunately threaten the peace of our neighborhoods and even the lives of our loved ones, and all too often society responds with indifference,” like those who passed by the beaten man before the Samaritan helped him.

“Yet we can see another side: the actions of many institutions and people of goodwill who foster peace and offer practical assistance to those in need,” Leo said.

He pointed to the testimonies of hardship and hope recounted by parish members just before he made his own remarks. The pope also acknowledged the U.S.-based Papal Foundation for its financial support for building houses for members of the parish in need.

“We must work together: the Church, civil society, and the state. We need to shake off our apathy and advocate for the common good,” the pope said. “Let us therefore unite our efforts and respond generously to the call to build together a homeland of brothers and sisters.”

The pope was scheduled to leave Uruguay on Sunday for Argentina, where he will spend three days before moving on to his former home of Peru, where he will spend five days before returning to Rome.

In his first full day on a tour of three South American countries, Leo also honored Uruguay’s first bishop, Blessed Jacinto Vera, whom he remembered as the “gaucho bishop” who evangelized the region in the 19th century.

The pope’s homily was a reminder to Uruguay, one of Latin America’s most secular countries, where more than half the population is unaffiliated with organized religion, that the Catholic Church has deep roots in its history.

“From the earliest days of evangelization on this continent, [people of faith] arrived in the name of the Lord to proclaim the great joy they themselves had experienced in encountering Christ,” Leo said. “Like the angels who appeared to the shepherds, they joyfully shared the good news of the Gospel, expressing their faith through works of charity and mercy.”

Paysandú is a city of about 80,000 people just across the Uruguay River from Argentina, and more than 200 miles from Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo. 

Leo celebrated Mass under cloudy skies in a city park whose grounds were muddy after recent rains. Temperatures were in the low 60s Fahrenheit but felt 10 degrees colder on account of the wind.

Still, over 40,000 turned out for the Mass and the enthusiasm level was high, with members of the congregation chanting out their affection for Leo prior to his arrival.

“It’s an enormous joy, an enormous joy. We waited a long time for Francis, and now Pope Leo has arrived, so we’re happy,” said María del Rosario Esquiros, a retiree from Paysandú who said she had trained for several days to serve as an extraordinary minister of Communion at the Mass.

The last pope to visit Uruguay was St. John Paul II, who spent three days there in 1988.

Leo organized his homily on Saturday around three symbols: bridges, palm groves, and mate, a traditional herbal infusion popular in the region.

Bridges bring people together, Leo said, repeating a metaphor beloved of his immediate predecessor Pope Francis. He said that palm trees are symbols of rootedness in Christ, and the fact that they grow not separately but in groves is a symbol of the Church.

As for mate, often drunk in company, Leo called it “a sign of familiarity, friendship, and encounter. It teaches us to share and to be together, strengthening the bonds that unite us as brothers and sisters. It is a sign of welcome, integration, and shared values.”

After three days in Uruguay, the pope will spend three days in Argentina and five days in his adopted Peru, where he served for about 20 years as a missionary and bishop.

The pope addressed Uruguay’s President Yamandú Orsi and other dignitaries in the country’s capital on the first day of an 11-day tour of the continent that will also take him to Argentina and Peru.

“The unborn already belong to the human family and to the future of their people. Their absolute dependence on their mother does not diminish the dignity to which they are entitled or the protection they deserve,” Leo said.

Though he did not directly mention euthanasia, which Uruguay legalized last year, the pope stressed the need to preserve life even in the midst of suffering.

“Given the painful reality of suicide, it is clear that adequate healthcare, family ties, and the closeness of the community are inseparable. None should ever feel like a stranger among their own or think that their absence matters less than their presence,” Leo said. “It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that each person can live with dignity, receive the care they need, and be accompanied until the natural end of his or her life.”

Euthanasia, the intentional ending of a human life in order to relieve suffering, is forbidden by Catholic teaching.

The pope referred to his recent surgery for lung cancer, less than a month before his trip to South America, in his call for universal healthcare.

“Recently I experienced firsthand the limitations imposed by illness and I received care for which I am deeply grateful. That experience makes me think of the many men and women who lack the means to obtain a timely diagnosis or receive the treatments they need. Ensuring that healthcare is accessible to everyone, regardless of their resources, is a duty that confronts every society,” Leo said.

Uruguay is exceptional among Latin American countries for the extent of its state-provided social services. It is also one of the most secular countries in the region, where more than half the population does not identify with organized religion and the official state calendar refers to Holy Week as Tourism Week.

Echoing remarks he made in September in France, whose model of secularism has historically influenced Uruguay, Leo called for religious believers and institutions to take part in public life.

“The secular character of the state involves an obligation to ensure that there is room for believers and nonbelievers to live together in freedom and respect. This neutrality does not require that the religious dimension be confined to the private sphere,” the pope said. “Individuals and religious communities can contribute to the common good while respecting the autonomy of civil institutions.”

Leo also took up the theme of Uruguay’s secularism in his second and final speech of the day, a homily at a vespers service in the city’s cathedral with bishops, clergy, religious, and seminarians. The pope said the example of a Christian minority was especially important in evangelizing the society around them.

“One of the secrets of evangelization is to resemble the One whom we proclaim. In this land, where many of our contemporaries barely know Jesus Christ and so many young people have grown up far from the life of the Church, that witness has a special power. May the way we look at others, the way we listen, or the way we reach out to those who suffer prompt them to ask about the origins of that love. When we speak to them of Jesus, may they discover the very Lord whose goodness they have begun to experience, despite our own poverty,” the pope said.

This story was updated at 6:42 p.m. ET on Nov. 6, 2026, with his speech at vespers.

The Builders AI Forum, held Nov. 5–6 at the Pontifical Gregorian University, was centered on Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and brought together companies leading in Catholic AI, venture capital, and angel investors as well as prominent AI thought leaders and researchers.

In his opening remarks, Cardinal Michael Czerny, a founder of the Vatican’s inter-dicastery commission on artificial intelligence, drew on his work with the commission to remind participants that we “cannot treat learning as an isolated, transactional process but rather a communal, dialogue form.” He went on to say that “we are all impacted by AI but nobody’s listening [to one another].”

Vincent Higgins, CEO of the Builders AI Forum, said the event aims to cover four areas: AI in evangelization, in healthcare, in education, and in building and scaling AI for responsible development in creating critical safeguards online.

The prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, Maria Montserrat “Montse” Alvarado, echoed the importance of collaboration — not only with those in the AI community — but also with the Holy Father. She asked the forum participants to ask themselves, “Who are we supposed to be as we develop and shape this technology?”, reminding them that they must not lose their interdependence but “leverage the network through the people in this room.”

The future of AI policy

Over the course of the two-day summit, religious and industry leaders, as well as policy advocates, gave testimonies reflecting what was being discussed in the workshop groups.

One participant was Megan Garcia, who tragically lost her son, Sewell, by suicide after forming a romantic attachment with a chatbot. She told EWTN News the primary message she wants to advocate for is accountability — “Who is responsible when AI hurts a child?”

To make AI chatbots safe for children in the future, Garcia said that companies need to partake in third-party release testing and make sure that they cannot release, retain, or sell children’s data. Speaking through her personal experience, Garcia highlighted that any policy that is designed to protect children against the dangers of AI would absolutely need to include a measure of accountability.

Repeated many times over the conference, many participants said AI in Catholic schools needs to be kept in line with our Church systems, teaching, and philosophies. Families are operating in their own bubbles, but they need to start having a larger conversation with the community so everyone can be in tune with what is available for families and what should be censored, people at the forum argued.

Speaking on the importance of aligning AI with Catholic morals and beliefs, Matthew Sanders, CEO of Longbeard, a company that organizes the Builders AI Forum, told EWTN News: “AI when it is designed today is designed to align with a billion people, which is an impossible task.”

AI access to information

A common theme through every workshop group, especially among AI entrepreneurs, was the need to train their own models by making sure they have access to all the right information. This has been a main focus for Longbeard, particularly its product, Magisterium AI, which Bishop Stephen Wang of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton in England mentioned when speaking about priestly formation and AI.

“The reality is that so many people are discovering the faith or seeking answers to their questions through the internet, through AI... this is the starting point,” Wang said in comments to EWTN News, noting the importance of using AI as a tool.

Through his experience at the Venerable English College in Rome, Wang reflected that young men coming into seminary are already immersed in AI, so it is important to give them the tools for discernment. The process of priestly formation is very holistic, and it is important to acknowledge the presence and utility of AI in this formation, he said.

Communicating through AI

According to in-house statistics by Magisterium AI and Hallow, their AI tools have helped bring people to the faith and into the Church. Erich Kerekes, CEO and founder of the Hallow app, told EWTN News that “prayer is fundamentally a relationship... coming before God, bringing your needs before him... that is something AI will never be able to come up with.” Alvarado reiterated this notion, saying: “The message can’t be communicated by AI. Itʼs communicated through AI. AI is not a person, AI is a tool.”

“The first thing AI builders need to hear from the Church is that [we’re] listening... if they feel accompanied, we’ll find a way together,” said Czerny, as Sanders said builders should “start from the world and what you want to build and work backwards.”

Jeffrey Quesnelle, co-founder and CTO of Nous Research, said in comments to EWTN News that “humans in our messiness and our incompleteness are a source of friction in a lot of instances in life.” Ultimately, he added, “AI should make you better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today.”

The pope usually pays a visit to the journalists’ section on the outbound flight of an international trip. This is not supposed to be a press conference, which typically happens on the flight home, but reporters naturally spring at the chance to pose quick questions, and Leo is generally obliging.

Many of the questions this time were, unsurprisingly, about the pope’s health. He is making the 12-day trip less than a month after undergoing surgery for lung cancer.

In brief remarks to the whole cabin, Leo acknowledged that “some people were doubtful about this trip taking place,” but he said he “had no doubt and was convinced that this trip had to go forward.”

Later, a reporter wanted to know the pope’s secret for springing back so quickly from surgery. The answer: “Faith in God, good doctors, and a healthy lifestyle.” Leo had advice for cancer patients: “Not to be afraid. Early detection is obviously the best way to go, and so regular checkups are a blessing. And take care of yourselves.”

Asked if his surgery, which removed part of his right lung, had given him a new sense of urgency about his agenda, Leo replied that the experience had strengthened his desire to be close to the sick, and his conviction that “healthcare should be a right of all people” — a point he said he planned to make later in the day in a speech to Uruguay’s president and other dignitaries.

The pope revealed that his reading in the hospital had consisted of his breviary, prayer book, and unspecified newspapers, and that he has not resumed his tennis game but intends to do so.

Leo said that, at the time of his September visit to the French shrine of Lourdes, where he prayed with the sick, “there were no signs of any difficulties” with his own health, and he was “much more concerned about the health of those there.”

The pope was also asked about the recent news that he had voted in this month’s election in Illinois by absentee ballot. “I’m proud to be an American and to exercise the right,” he said. He declined to comment on election results.

The U.S.-born Leo, who is a naturalized citizen of Peru, said he would have voted earlier this year in that country’s elections if he had been able to do so from Rome: “I didn’t vote because it wasn’t possible, but I would’ve done it, it’s a good thing.”

The pope also introduced the press to the new prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, Montse Alvarado, who took office Nov. 1 and is accompanying the pope on his trip to South America. Leo praised Alvarado, who until this month was president and chief operating office of EWTN News, for her “wonderful experience, creativity, and liveliness.”

The diplomat spoke on Nov. 5 on the sidelines of the conference “The Universal Face of the Church in China,” held at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome. The elections saw major victories for the Democratic Party, which regained majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Parolin, responding to a question about whether democracy had won in these U.S. elections, said that he hoped for collaboration for the good of the country.

“It is difficult to make such categorical statements as ‘democracy has won,’” Parolin said. “Let’s hope there is a capacity to collaborate.”

“We will try to find ways of working together for the good of the country. This is important, and this is what we hope for.”

Parolin also said he expected the Democratic Party’s recent victories to bring changes to the U.S.

“This will surely bring changes; itʼs logical. Now we will see how they manage it. But letʼs hope that reason and common sense prevail,” Parolin remarked.

He also noted the unprecedented nature of Pope Leo XIV voting in the U.S. election, the first of any pontiff in history.

“It never happened with Italian popes, nor with Polish popes, nor with German popes, but in the end at least he was a citizen. I believe he remains a U.S. citizen and therefore has every right to do so.”

Parolin also expressed his hope that new leadership in the U.S. would advance peace in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

“Right now itʼs very difficult to predict who knows what changes. For a long time we have been hoping and trying to do everything possible to close the very painful chapter of Ukraine and many other conflicts around the world. But itʼs difficult to say right now what will happen. We live and wait.”

The book “Stories in Flight: 80 Years of Air Transport in Italy” recounts stories of flying with the popes from the perspective of veteran ITA Airways flight attendant Rino Anastasio. Anastasio, 67, has served as a flight attendant coordinator for special flights — including those of the pope — for over 45 years.

Co-authored in Italian with Filippo Anastasi, the Amalfi Coast native shares personal anecdotes about caring for the popes on board, ranging from worries about insufficient fuel to an unexpected birthday surprise.

History of papal flights

The Vatican does not own airplanes or helicopters for the pope to use. Instead, it charters commercial airliners, using ITA Airways (Italy’s national carrier) for flights departing from Rome and local carriers for the pope’s return flights from abroad.

St. Paul VI was the first pope to travel by airplane when he visited Jordan and Israel in January 1964. He was also the first pope to leave the Italian peninsula since Pope Pius VII was captured and taken to France by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1809.

Since Paul VI, papal travel has remained an important means of outreach for the popes. St. John Paul II completed 109 apostolic journeys outside Italy, visiting 129 countries worldwide during his 26-year pontificate.

Pope Benedict XVI completed 24 apostolic journeys, while Pope Francis completed 47.

Pope Leo XIV has also made travel a feature of his ministry, including visits to Africa, Turkey, Lebanon, Spain, and France, before traveling to South America from Nov. 6–17.

Jet escorts, fuel concerns, and a festive birthday flight

Speaking with Vatican News’ Andrea Tornielli, Anastasio recounted his experiences with the popes, beginning with John Paul II.

“With John Paul II there was a very strict protocol,” Anastasio said. “I remember one time there were two fighter jets escorting us towards Kazakhstan right after Sept. 11, 2001.”

“John Paul II called me and asked: ‘But what are those?’ I replied: ‘Holy Father, those are our guardian angels escorting us.’”

On a trip to France with Benedict XVI in 2008, Anastasio recalled that the pontiff was reading a newspaper with a headline about ITA Airways’ (Alitalia at the time) bankruptcy troubles that year.

“In the newspaper, it was written in huge letters that Alitalia doesn’t even have the money to pay for fuel. Pope Benedict, with his little glasses, looked up from the newspaper and said to me: ‘But you did put fuel in the plane, right?’”

It was Anastasio’s birthday when he accompanied Pope Francis to Marseille, France. He recounted how Francis surprised him on the return flight to Rome.

“It was my birthday. In the morning, the pope asked the gendarmes to buy six giant cakes and 12 bottles of champagne to celebrate my birthday, but I wasn’t supposed to know anything,” Anastasio said.

“When the curtain opened, and these cakes arrived, I was truly moved there. Perhaps it was one of the most beautiful joys of my life.”

What is the International Theological Commission?

Established by St. Paul VI in 1969, the ITC operates under the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. According to the Vatican website, it is composed of “theologians from diverse schools and nations, noted for their knowledge and faithfulness to the Magisterium of the Church.”

Its members are appointed by the Holy Father for a five-year term, upon the proposal of the dicastery’s cardinal prefect and following consultation with the episcopal conferences. They meet in a plenary assembly once a year, and the results of their studies are presented to the pope. One of the pontiff’s most recent requests has been for them to conduct the necessary studies to define what is meant by the tradition of the Church.

The commission consists of a maximum of 30 members. For the 2026–2031 term, eight women have been appointed — six laywomen and two women religious — along with four laymen and 20 clerics.

The commission’s work

Forcat explained to EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, that the increased presence of women and laypeople on the commission is “to a large extent the result of the entire process of receiving the Second Vatican Council.”

“It’s a fruit that is ripening as a result of truly walking together with the entire great human family, which is enveloped in a mystery of love, that of God the creator and God the redeemer,” he added.

The Argentine theologian, who was appointed to be a member of the commission on Oct. 19, called the work of the entity “a very important service: to gather, collect, and integrate the voices of various theologians, men and women from across the globe who in their own way help mature our understanding of evangelization, ensuring it is suited to our times, and of a theology that serves the work of evangelization,” he explained.

This, he noted, is “so that the word of God may remain present and alive within the heart of new sensibilities, and within the realities we encounter among different peoples and cultures.”

Pope Leo XIV in Argentina

Regarding this month’s visit of Pope Leo XIV to Argentina, part of a tour that also includes Uruguay and Peru, the theologian noted that the pontiff “comes to strengthen the faith; he comes to bring joy to a Church that must rise up, meet the demands of the current era, and creatively find ways to reach the hearts of the people of our time.”

“We expect this to be a truly intense moment of joy and evangelization. Just recently, we had the youth pilgrimage to the Shrine of Luján,” in which some 2.7 million pilgrims took part, he noted.

The priest also highlighted the importance of popular religiosity and the need for theology to engage with this reality as well.

“Hopefully, God willing, this will be able to find expression during the days we will experience with the pope’s visit. Let’s also hope the weather is on our side and that the El Niño phenomenon [which brings heavy rains] allows for it,” he added.

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

On Nov. 5, the Vatican published a video message from the pontiff during a conference titled “The Universal Face of the Church in China,” held at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome. The meeting not only marked the 1926 consecration of China’s first bishops but also reflected on the state of the Chinese church today, particularly regarding the ongoing Vatican-China deal.

Among those present were Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin; Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, dean of the College of Cardinals; Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, SJ, bishop of Hong Kong; and Ignazio Ding Zuyao, bishop of Haimen.

Communion with Peter, not colonialism

In his message, Leo noted Chinese Catholics’ long history of fidelity to the papacy, quoting Pope Benedict XVI, who said that they have always had “legitimate pastors who have preserved intact apostolic succession.”

“No shepherd in the Church can claim the mission as his own,” Leo said. “Rather, he receives and exercises it in communion with the successor of Peter and with all the other successors of the apostles, the bishops.”

The pope also noted the significance of six Chinese priests traveling from Shanghai to Rome in 1926 to receive consecration from Pope Pius XI.

“They crossed the world to bear witness to the communion that springs from the faith of the apostles,” Leo said.

Quoting Pope Benedict XV, Leo affirmed that the Church’s missionary work “cannot be confused with processes of colonization” but is “born of mission” to “bear witness to Christ in charity.”

China-Holy See relations: A relationship marked by suspicion?

The Holy See and China have not maintained official diplomatic relations since 1951. Their provisional, undisclosed 2018 agreement on the selection of bishops has been challenged, with concerns that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is suppressing the Church.

Parolin, speaking on the sidelines of the conference, acknowledged that the deal still has its imperfections.

“All agreements are imperfect, including the one on China,” Parolin said to reporters. “However, the path is open. So we move forward trying to perfect what is imperfect.”

Chow noted the suspicion with which Catholics are sometimes viewed in China, out of fear that their religion could be used as a tool of foreign influence.

“We wonder how come the Church, our Church, in China for so many years is still seen as a foreign Church,” he said. “I think that in China, a major concern is that, for example, religion will not be used as a vehicle for foreign intervention.”

Others, however, expressed support for the so-called “Sinicization” of the Church, which is a state-led campaign to subordinate religious institutions to its Chinese Communist Party agenda.

“The ‘Sinicization of Catholicism’ is not a departure from Catholic tradition but an expression of authentic catholicity,” Joseph Li Shan, bishop of Beijing, said.

Zuyao, made a bishop in October under the Vatican-China deal, added that Sinicization is “not a departure from communion with the universal faith” but rather “a natural expression of inner faith and a faithful implementation of Christ’s command ‘Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s.’”

A historic visit

Pope Leo will be in Peru from Nov. 11–16, a historic visit that Sánchez described as “a gift from God.” For him, Prevost’s election has meant “a change in the color of his cassock: He remains the same close friend as always, attentive to us and concerned for our well-being.”

Serenity, trust in providence, clarity, and firmness are, in the priest’s view, some of the traits that best define Leo XIV.

Speaking with EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, he also recalled that “Bishop Roberto reflected very well the image of Christ the good shepherd: a shepherd who was always close to his people, whose doors were always open and, above all, whose heart was ready and whose time was available to listen to you patiently and calmly. He knew how to offer wise answers that did not remain merely words but were translated into concrete actions.”

‘The roots of his ministry are here’

Although the two have met on more than one occasion in the Vatican since Leo was elected successor of St. Peter, the young priest acknowledged that this occasion will be different.

“This visit is very important because it was here that he was able to fully develop his vocation and found a way of exercising his ministry first as a priest and then as a bishop. He grew deeply attached to Chiclayo, and having him here again after eight years will be very important for him and for us. The roots of his ministry are here,” Sánchez emphasized.

Recalling the pope’s missionary journey, the priest highlighted the enthusiasm with which “Bishop Roberto” approached major projects and pastoral challenges.

“One of the things that excited him most was launching major initiatives for evangelization, proclaiming the Gospel, and passing on the faith, while never neglecting social assistance,” he said.

A source of encouragement

Sánchez said he has no doubt that Leo XIV is preparing for this trip “with much prayer,” just as the Church in Peru is doing. He is also convinced that this encounter will be a source of encouragement for the Holy Father, especially “after recovering from his operation.”

The priest revealed that the Holy Father expressed a desire to visit the most remote communities. However, difficulties in access, especially because of weather conditions, ultimately prevented their inclusion in the official itinerary.

Even so, he explained, “the pope wanted these people to be the guests of honor at the gathering that will take place in Zaña, in the Chiclayo district.” There, the pontiff will preside over the closing of the jubilee year marking the 300th anniversary of the canonization of St. Turibius of Mogrovejo.

Expectations in the country that holds a special place in Leo XIV’s heart are immense. The Chiclayo priest noted that despite the pope’s simple, humble, and reserved character, “he is someone who, when he stands before a large crowd, seems to come alive even more, with greater joy, enthusiasm, and excitement. You could say that his heart grows larger, and for that reason he will enjoy it very much.”

Sánchez, a member of the organizing committee for the papal trip, said that despite the diocese’s lack of experience and the enormous challenge of preparing a visit of this magnitude, special effort has been made to attend to every detail of the events and warmly welcome all pilgrims.

Asked what Peru would like Leo XIV to find upon his arrival, the priest’s answer was clear: “It is reflected in his own Petrine motto, ‘In Illo uno unum’ — a united Church that knows how to walk together in fraternity.”

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The pontiff on Nov. 5 named Father Avelino Chicoma Bundo Chico, SJ, and Claudia Leal Luna to fill the hole left by Monsignor Jozef Barlaš’ promotion to secretary of the dicastery.

From Angola, 47-year-old Chico has served in the dicastery since 2020, first as regional coordinator for Africa, then as manager of the “Listening and Dialogue” section, and finally, since 2025, as office manager.

He has a master’s degree in social ethics and a research doctorate in contemporary international migration and development cooperation.

Leal, 48, originally from Chile but living in Italy, has been a teacher at the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in Rome since 2022.

She has a doctorate in moral theology and previously taught at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile from 2012 to 2022.

She is also a consulter to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and a member of the International Theological Commission.

Leal was one of 26 experts invited to participate in the Vatican’s weeklong gathering of the heads of bishops’ conferences on the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia Oct. 7–14.

The laywoman has two children.

Nomination of members of the Dicastery for Evangelization

Pope Leo on Nov. 5 also named new members for the Dicastery for Evangelization, in the section for the first evangelization and the new particular churches, including former papal nuncio to the United States, Cardinal Christophe Pierre.

He also named as members Cardinal Mario Zenari, former nuncio in Syria; Bishop Ambrogio Spreafico, bishop emeritus of Frosinone-Veroli-Ferentino and Anagni-Alatri in Italy; and Bishop Maurizio Malvestiti of Lodi in Italy.

It is customary for the popes to celebrate this Mass every year at the beginning of November. The list of names for whom the Mass is offered is printed in the opening pages of the liturgical booklet. This year, Mass was offered for seven cardinals and 136 bishops.

At the Mass, celebrated in Latin at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope reflected on the theme of service. For, he said, “indeed, whoever follows Christ becomes his servant and will always be where he is, precisely because they have followed his path.”

Drawing from the first reading of the liturgy, the pope reflected on the hope of the resurrection, a theme already present in the Old Testament. He said: “For our remembrance of our departed brothers and sisters at the altar of the Lord is founded on the promise that our life, in Christ, is not lost, because it has been redeemed.”

Moreover, “if, as Scripture emphasizes, there were no resurrection, it would be pointless to pray for the dead.” Therefore, “to pray for the deceased, then, means to celebrate life! First and foremost the risen life of Christ the Lord, and, by his grace, our own life, which rises in him. The Eucharistic sacrifice is the memorial of his passover, by which he saved us through the gift of himself for us. Let us not allow the memory of the deceased to become merely nostalgic. In faith, we contemplate the mystery of death without fear, because the Lord is alive; he awaits us and has already prepared a place for us in the house of his Father.”

This act of entrustment is rooted in hope in the communion of saints, he said. “When we pray for the deceased, we do so not only for them, but also with them, caught up in that reciprocity which the Holy Spirit brings to life in our hearts. The Church is a mystery of communion between Christ the head and us, his members: from him we receive life. This communion joins together the blessed spirits who already contemplate the face of God and all those who, in heaven or on earth, are making their way toward that radiant goal.”

For this reason, the pope concluded: “In Christ, death does not dissolve our bonds but transforms them into a new dimension, one that can only be understood in the mystery of his love, given to the end on the cross and poured out after the victory of Easter. As we receive, then, in the holy Eucharist, the charity of the risen Lord, may we always preserve and cultivate this communion along our journey, so that when our own hour comes, we too may receive the prayers of our pilgrim brothers and sisters and, with all the saints, enjoy the joy of our heavenly homeland.”

After Mass, Pope Leo visited the Vatican grottoes under St. Peter’s Basilica to pray at the tombs of some of his papal predecessors, including St. Paul VI, Venerable Pius XII, and Benedict XVI.

This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The Vatican announced the theme on Thursday ahead of the annual celebration on Feb. 11, 2027. It will also mark the 35th anniversary of the day’s establishment by St. John Paul II, which is celebrated on the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The theme, “The Role of the Community in Caring for Every Person,” was published by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and draws on the narrative of Christ healing a paralytic lowered from the roof (Luke 5:19).

In a press release, the dicastery explained that the Gospel asks all to embrace the commandment to love God and neighbor.

“At the heart of our baptismal call is the commandment of mutual love: love your neighbor, take care of your neighbor,” according to the press release.

“Like the friends of the paralytic, parishes and Christian communities are called to assume the responsibility of caring for those who are alone, the elderly and those who suffer, creating spaces of closeness and of hope.”

In February, Leo sent a message on compassion for the World Day of the Sick 2026. The Shrine of Our Lady of Peace in Chiclayo, Peru, was chosen as the celebration’s international site that year. Leo will visit the shrine during his apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from Nov. 6–17.

Except for one autumn night, around 8 p.m. on Nov. 5, 1943, when an unidentified plane dropped five bombs on the Vatican — four of which detonated — one narrowly missing St. Peter’s Basilica.

Luckily, no one was killed, but who dropped the bombs and why has been shrouded in mystery ever since, with one historian offering a likely theory only in 2010.

What happened

Longtime Vatican archivist and World War II researcher Johan Ickx spoke to EWTN News about the event and other aspects of life at the Vatican during World War II.

Rome at the time was part of the Italian Social Republic, a German puppet state led by Benito Mussolini, and the Nazis had seized control of the capital nearly two months prior.

Ickx said it’s difficult to know exactly what life was like in the Vatican during that period. There were certainly fewer personnel, who were all priests, in the Secretariat of State.

And we know, the war historian said, that at a certain point, Pope Pius XII ordered the buildings not to be heated anymore, “as a sign of solidarity with the people outside” of Vatican City.

“We know also that there were people hidden in the Vatican during the war, and not a few,” he added. “These people were put at work in some way.”

Earlier that year, after the first Allied attacks on the city of Rome, the pope had written to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to ask Allied forces to spare the city “further pain and devastation” and to keep its treasured sites “from irreparable ruin.”

Roosevelt replied on June 16, 1943, saying: “Attacks against Italy are limited, to the extent humanly possible, to military objectives.”

“In the event it should be found necessary for Allied planes to operate over Rome, our aviators are thoroughly informed as to the location of the Vatican and have been specifically instructed to prevent bombs from falling within Vatican City,” the president wrote.

Despite this promise, heavy raids were carried out on Rome before it was captured by the Allies on June 4, 1944. Among these was the devastating bombing of July 19, 1943, in which thousands of civilians were killed.

The same day, after the raid ended, Pius XII and the future Pope Paul VI (then Secretariat of State Archbishop Giovanni Montini) traveled to the affected area, the San Lorenzo neighborhood, to hand out money to the victims gathered in front of the Church of San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura.

“A few days [before the bombs were dropped on the Vatican] bombs were dropped on Trastevere in Rome,” Ickx recalled. “But the Vatican, that was something new. And it was also an international shock, really, because just until that day, one could say that the Vatican was saved from any military action.”

The bombs hit the governatorate — the government offices of the city state — the mosaic laboratory, and offices of officials of the Roman Curia, causing considerable damage, as visible in video footage from the period.

The evening the bombs fell, Archbishop Domenico Tardini, at the time head of the Secretariat of State’s section for relations with states, “was not in [his] office working and was just going up through the corridor to his office. Now, it was providential luck. If not, he would have been hurt,” Ickx said.

Some people were injured, but it was fortunate no one was killed by the bombs, which weighed 150 kilograms (330 pounds) each, Ickx noted. One of them detonated close enough to the Vatican basilica to blow out one of its back windows.

Pope Pius XII, reacting privately after the bombing, said: “There was more respect in Cairo, as the religious center of Islam, than in Rome. And more concretely, we are struck by the need to recognize... that there no longer exists, I do not say Christian conscience, but even the minimum of human understanding and a sense of loyalty in acting that should be enough to leave the successor of St. Peter in the narrow strip of land that still remains.”

Who did it

“The Vatican, of course, starts investigating immediately,” said Ickx, director of the historical archives of the section for relations with states and international organizations of the Secretariat of State.

The Secretariat of State began interviewing people about what they saw and heard. On a fragment of one of the bombs, they could make out just the final three letters of a name, “lli,” so one Vatican employee was tasked with making a list of all the arms and bomb producers that matched. But after making the list, there were still dozens that ended in “lli.”

“The other part of the investigation,” the historian noted, “is who did it? What plane was coming over? Was it a British one? Was it an American one, or was it an Italian or a German one? And the worst case would have been, of course, a German one … [because] Rome was in that moment … occupied by the Germans.”

“The fear in the Vatican was very high that Germans could have entered also the Vatican to take over everything and to … take the pope away and bring him elsewhere,” Ickx said.

The Secretariat of State questioned the United States, Britain, Italy, and Germany, who all denied involvement.

What followed was uncertainty, the historian explained.

“And the uncertainty is that what makes journalists happy,” he said, because “they can create history, they can create news, they can create scoops.”

He described one of the laughable “scoops” printed in an Italian newspaper a few days after the incident, with the headline “Stalin thanks Churchill for dropping the bombs in the Vatican.”

“Now it makes us laugh, because all of a sudden the Russians are also involved in the case,” Ickx said. “We see that is the normal war propaganda which is doing its work at that moment.”

For the Vatican, the mystery was “never solved.”

Only years later did a plausible theory emerge, proposed by the author Augusto Ferrara in his 2010 book “1943. Bombe sul Vaticano” (“1943. Bombs on the Vatican”).

In that book, Ferrara’s investigation uncovered that the bombs were probably dropped from a S.79 aircraft supplied by the Italian Social Republic, which had departed from the airport of Viterbo, about 50 miles north of Rome.

He also wrote that the attack was ordered by Roberto Farinacci, a fascist politician and adviser to Mussolini who wanted to destroy Vatican Radio, because he thought it was transmitting military information to the “enemy.”

Ickx called that “a plausible explanation.”

For four months, the Vatican was spared any major destruction, until March 1, 1944, when a British plane missed the objective of its bombardment and hit the Vatican wall.

This time, tragically, the incident did cause loss of life: a Vatican workman was killed and an Augustinian friar was injured. The blast also shattered the windows of the Palace of the Holy Office, the building housing the now-Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

During the meeting, for which Dylan wore a black-hooded jacket, the Holy Father presented him with a rosary, while the 85-year-old singer gifted the pontiff a copy of his autobiography, “Chronicles: Volume One,” according to Vatican News.

Dylan is in Rome for a Thursday, Nov. 5, concert at the Palazzo dello Sport as part of his “Rough and Rowdy Ways” tour, which also includes stops in Milan and Bologna.

Pope Leo XIV has quoted Dylan

In July, Pope Leo XIV quoted Dylan to criticize the arms race, which he described as something that “frightens and terrifies us today.”

"As singer-songwriter and poet Bob Dylan wrote, figuratively addressing the atomic bomb, in one of his poetic compositions: ‘I hate you cause yer man-made and man-owned an’ man-handled,’" the pope wrote, referring to the song "Go Away You Bomb" (1963).

The quote appears in an unpublished text from the book “Unarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift,” published by the Vatican Publishing House. It is the first anthology to collect various statements by Pope Leo XIV on the subject of peace, dating from his election on May 8, 2025.

A performance before St. John Paul II and a multitude of young people

Dylan’s audience with Pope Leo XIV was not the first time the singer-songwriter had met a pope.

In September 1997, Dylan was invited to perform at the 23rd National Eucharistic Congress in Bologna, Italy, before St. John Paul II and a crowd of approximately 300,000 young people.

The singer performed some of his hits, such as "Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door" — a song also popularized by Guns N’ Roses and Eric Clapton.

Although Dylan did not perform "Blowin’ in the Wind," the song’s theme was referenced by Pope John Paul II in his address to the gathering. In the song, the singer-songwriter asks, “How many roads must a man walk down before he can truly call himself a man?” — to which he himself provides the answer, in the song’s title: “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.”

In his address, John Paul II revisited Dylan’s question, gave it a masterful twist, and offered an answer imbued with Christian realism: “One of your representatives has said, on your behalf, that the answer to the questions in your life ‘is blowin’ in the wind.’ That is true. But it is not the wind that scatters everything into the whirlpools of nothingness; rather, it is the wind that is the breath and voice of the Spirit.”

And he added: “You have asked me: ‘How many paths must a man travel to be able to recognize himself as a man?’ I answer you: one. There is only one path for man; it is Christ, who said: ‘I am the way’ (Jn 14:6). He is the way of truth, the way of life.”

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The Laudato Si’ Platform launched the Atlas of Laudato Si’ at a press conference Wednesday at the Holy See Press Office in Rome. The organization also presented its fifth annual report at the conference, highlighting 13,600 participants since 2021 and new tools to implement integral ecology within the Church.

Presenters included Sister Alessandra Smerilli, FMA, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Bishop Allwyn D’Silva, auxiliary bishop emeritus of the Archdiocese of Bombay, India.

Care for creation is not optional

Among the themes discussed at the conference was the need to continue concrete actions toward care for the environment.

In her presentation, Smerilli said Catholic commitment to caring for creation is “not optional.”

“Living our vocation as guardians of Godʼs work is ‘not something optional nor a secondary aspect of Christian experience,’” Smerilli said. “Caring for creation and caring for humanity are one and the same task.”

Participants also reflected on the impact of Laudato Si’ since its publication.

"The seeds sown by Laudato Si' have borne much fruit in different parts of the world,” DʼSilva said.

A new digital Catholic atlas

The press conference also presented a new digital atlas to demonstrate the Church’s commitment to integral ecology worldwide. The atlas uses data from the Leonum Institute of the Catholic University of America and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome.

The Atlas of Laudato Si’ will allow users to explore ecological initiatives by institutions and dioceses, and also access data on natural disasters.

Molly Burhans, an American cartographer who pioneered the data collection and curation for the project, explained the importance of atlases and defended the integral ecology’s importance for Catholics.

“If you want to make environmental action, you should understand the environment,” Burhans told EWTN News. “And the best way to understand the environment is maps.”

“We are here to care for the garden. That’s in Genesis. If someone believes there’s a political agenda behind caring for the environment, I think they should go back and read the Bible.”

The pontiff held a private audience on Wednesday with a delegation from L’Œuvre d’Orient and the Institut Chrétiens d’Orient (ICO), which will host a conference in Rome on peace in the Middle East from Nov. 5–6. L’Œuvre d’Orient is a prominent French nonprofit that has supported persecuted Christians in these regions since 1856.

In his address, delivered in French, Leo reflected on the conference’s theme of peace-building and said that interdisciplinary dialogue remains crucial to achieving reconciliation.

“Dialogue between faith and reason, culture and history is the indispensable path to justice and reconciliation,” Leo said. “Dialogue between philosophy and other disciplines makes it possible to rediscover the meaning of the words and concepts that are used, which is probably one of the principal challenges of our time.”

Christian persecution worldwide, including in much of the Holy Land, continues to rise. According to Aid to the Church in Need’s 2024–2026 report, 220 million Christians face persecution, and 413 million people live in countries where religious freedom remains under threat.

Amid ongoing hostility toward Christians in these regions, Leo encouraged them to continue for “peace that is unarmed and disarming.”

“Thus, by reflecting on the criteria of a just and enduring peace, especially in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, you become servants of a peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering,” the pope said.

“Therefore, be sowers of hope through your reflection and your action, keeping the humility taught by the Gospel: ‘One is the sower, another the reaper’ (Jn 4:37).”

“The council fathers highlight, first of all, the threat to world peace deriving from the imbalances linked to an economic development that is neither equitable nor respectful of creation. This is a farsighted vision, which was unfortunately borne out towards the end of the last century and which we see even more clearly today,” the pontiff said, continuing his series of lessons on the Second Vatican Council’s pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes.

He noted that technical solutions alone are not enough to address these problems. Citing the conciliar text, he recalled that “many reforms in the socioeconomic realm and a change of mentality and attitude are required of all.”

The pope also underscored the continuing relevance of the Church’s calls to “commit to eliminating discrimination against the most vulnerable social groups and migrants.”

The pontiff stressed that the social dimension is an integral part not only “of our faith in Christ Jesus” but is also “the precious legacy we receive from the incarnation of the Son of God.”

‘The heart of the economy is work’

One of the central themes of the catechesis was the dignity of human work. Leo XIV said that “the heart of the economy is work,” which “must never be distorted to the detriment of people, the common good, or creation.”

He also warned that work must never become a source of exploitation or harm to people. “Unemployment, exploitation, and working conditions that endanger health and life itself are unacceptable,” he emphasized.

The pope also defended the principle that “workers have the right and the duty to participate in decisions affecting their work” and to resolve conflicts through “dialogue and nonviolent action.”

An economy at the service of all

In his catechesis, the Holy Father said the Second Vatican Council recalls that one of the fundamental principles of the Church’s social teaching is the “universal destination of earthly goods.”

According to the pope, this principle also applies “to the financial sphere.” He said that those responsible for investments and planning the economy, “whether they be individuals or groups of public authorities,” are bound “to recognize their serious obligation of watching, on the one hand, that provision be made for the necessities required for a decent life both of individuals and of the whole community.”

The economy, the pope insisted, must always be “at the service of humankind and under human control,” echoing the vision of integral development later developed by St. Paul VI in the encyclical Populorum Progressio.

Politics as service to the common good

Addressing the political dimension, Leo XIV said that political authority must always be directed toward the common good, taking into account local and historical circumstances while keeping “the good of the entire human family at heart.”

He also recalled the teaching of Gaudium et Spes on relations between the Church and the state, noting that both institutions are autonomous in their respective spheres but can cooperate in order to serve people more effectively.

“The Church and the political community in their own fields are autonomous and independent from each other. Yet both, under different titles, are devoted to the personal and social vocation of the same men. The more that both foster sounder cooperation between themselves with due consideration for the circumstances of time and place, the more effective will their service be exercised for the good of all,” he quoted.

Peace is built through economics and politics

Recalling a statement by his predecessor, Pope Francis, he reiterated that “war is a failure of politics and of humanity, a shameful capitulation, a stinging defeat before the forces of evil.”

In contrast, he called for a form of politics that “tends to the wounds of peoples and of those who suffer injustice” and offers “grounds for hope for the future of humanity.”

Finally, he encouraged young people to “follow the example of those men and women who have borne faithful witness” in public life and renewed his appeal to Christian communities to “revive formation in the social doctrine of the Church.”

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

“What is wealth to you? Millions in a bank account? A huge house and a shiny new car? Or perhaps a place in life where you have enough to share with others — where you gather in order to build and multiply in order to do greater good,” Pope Leo asked the faithful in a video posted on X on Nov. 3.

He added: “This month I pray that however great your wealth may be, it will be your instrument for doing good for reconciliation and fraternity.”

In the full video shared on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website, Pope Leo recites an original prayer written specifically for this month’s prayer intention:

“Lord of life, all we have comes from you:

the fertile land, the talents we’ve received,

the effort of those who came before us.

Nothing is ours alone — everything is a shared gift.

But so often, Lord, we let the wealth we seek or attain

harden our hearts, lock us in selfishness,

and make us forget the most vulnerable.

Forgive us for storing up instead of sharing,

for using goods as power rather than as service.

You remind us that true wealth

is not found in what we keep

but in what we give with love.

A heart detached from possessions transforms the world:

It opens paths of justice, tears down walls of indifference,

and sows hope among the poor.

We ask you, Lord, that your Spirit teach us to use what we have —

money, time, talents, opportunities — as instruments of fraternity.

May each economic, family, or community decision

spring from a free heart,

able to recognize that every good is meant for all,

and that only by sharing we build the future.

Make us witnesses of a wealth

transformed into service and mercy,

so that our lives, united to the lives of others,

may be a sign of your kingdom of justice and peace.

Amen.”

“Pray with the Pope” is accessible on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website and its digital platforms.

“Some of you know what it means to experience loneliness, disappointment, or the fear of not being good enough,” Leo said in his message. “It is in circumstances like these that we hear the Gospel’s invitation to take courage.”

The Vatican released his message on Tuesday ahead of WYD 2026, to be celebrated locally on Nov. 22, coinciding with the solemnity of Christ the King. The Vatican also published the message ahead of WYD 2027 in Seoul, South Korea, which the pope is expected to attend.

In his message, Leo noted the modern challenges young people face, including anxiety, self-doubt, and the difficulty of maintaining a personal identity in an age of social media.

“Under the influence of carefully curated images on social media, you may find it difficult to recognize and accept who you truly are,” the pope said.

“Perhaps you are anxious about the future, feel pressured to succeed and appear perfect, or experience the stress of constantly comparing yourselves with others or with unattainable, manufactured ideals.”

Leo then explained the need for young people to be vulnerable and to depend on Christ when lonely, citing the apostles’ fear when the risen Christ appeared to them.

“Faith does not immediately dispel the darkness, but neither does it leave us alone in it,” Leo explained. “Open your lives to Christ. Open your communities to Christ.”

“Allow yourselves to be united and transformed by his love.”

As he did in a video message for WYD 2027 in October, the pope also encouraged people to register for the event in Seoul, which will run from Aug. 3–8, 2027.

The trip will take him to three countries, including Uruguay and Argentina, and culminate in Peru, where he served as a missionary and bishop for about 20 years.

Like most papal trips, this will be a mix of the pastoral and the political, featuring meetings with heads of state and other dignitaries; addresses to the local hierarchy, clergy, and religious; large outdoor Masses; youth vigils; and visits to Church-affiliated charitable institutions.

But this journey will be extraordinary in at least two ways. For one thing, it comes a little more than three weeks after Leo underwent surgery for lung cancer. His doctors have said he needs no further treatment, but his decision not to reduce his schedule, which features more than 40 public and private events, is nonetheless striking. The itinerary will take him to 14 cities and towns, including Cusco, Peru, which lies more than 11,000 feet above sea level.

The other distinctive aspect of the trip, which may help explain Leo’s determination to make it, is its highly personal nature. The pope will spend five of his 11 days on the continent in Peru, two of them in his former diocese of Chiclayo. The first U.S.-born pontiff, Leo is also a naturalized citizen of Peru, where he spent almost half of his 43 years as a priest before becoming pope.

Leo is the first pope in centuries to have served as a foreign missionary, and that experience is central to his identity. As he said upon arriving in Rome in 2023 to take up a new role as a Vatican official: “I still consider myself a missionary. My vocation, like that of every Christian, is to be a missionary, to proclaim the Gospel wherever one is.”

His return to his former mission field will highlight the history of his vocation, as he retraces key steps on his path to leadership of the Church.

According to Father Arthur Purcaro, a fellow Augustinian and companion of then-Father Robert Prevost in Peru, the future pope was changed by his experience in the country, where he encountered a new culture, served the poor amid great social turbulence, and “learned that the Church is for the world and we’re not self-referential.”

Returning now as pontiff, Leo “will be reaching out, to have the eyes of the world see somebody’s knocking at the door,” Purcaro said in an interview. “That perhaps might help people anywhere around the world understand that that’s part of what the mission of the Church is: to open our door, to embrace. … That’s part of who he learned to be and is. And I believe it’s part of why he’s going to these three countries now.”

Leo’s journey to his adoptive continent will also showcase diverse forms of evangelization that the Church practices today.

Catholic missionary work, strictly speaking, has traditionally been aimed at peoples and places where the Church is absent or not well established. But especially since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has increasingly spoken of mission more broadly to include, among other activities, “the new evangelization,” or efforts to revive the faith among baptized people who have drifted away from religious practice or who no longer identify as Catholic.

Such efforts are particularly relevant to the first country on Leo’s itinerary, Uruguay, one of the most secular countries in Latin America, where more than half the population has no religious affiliation and 28% are agnostic or atheist. Under a law dating to 1919, the state’s official calendar lists Christmas as “Family Day,” Holy Week as “Tourism Week,” the Epiphany as “Children’s Day,” and the Immaculate Conception as “Beaches Day.”

Evangelization in such an environment is “a very great challenge,” Bishop Milton Tróccoli of Maldonado-Punta del Este-Minas, president of the Uruguayan Bishops’ Conference, told “EWTN Noticias” in September. The local Church considers Uruguay “a mission country where we must proclaim the Gospel extensively,” Tróccoli said.

Uruguayan secularism reflects the influence of the French model of “laïcité,” and Leo’s approach to the matter could well echo his remarks on his last international trip, to France in September. There, in his speech to President Emmanuel Macron and other dignitaries, the pope argued that religious believers and institutions should have a role in public life.

In another echo of his visit to France, where he denounced the country’s recent legalization of assisted dying, Leo is also likely to criticize Uruguay’s recent legalization of euthanasia. (Euthanasia is the intentional ending of a human life for the purpose of relieving suffering. In assisted dying, a patient takes life-ending drugs himself under the guidance of a physician. Catholic moral teaching prohibits both practices.)

In Argentina, Leo’s visit will inevitably be seen in light of the memory of its native son Pope Francis, who never visited the country during his 12-year pontificate. Leo has vowed to continue his predecessor’s signature initiative of synodality, which seeks to give lay Catholics a greater voice in Church governance and teaching.

Francis said that “synodality is essentially missionary” and that mission is “always synodal,” suggesting that clergy, religious, and laypeople should listen to one another and work together in proclaiming the Gospel. At Leo’s meetings with the bishops of Argentina and Peru, a standard feature of papal visits, local teams responsible for implementing the synodal process will also be included, a sign of the importance that the current pope gives to the topic.

Although Pope Francis was known as an innovator, and even a disruptor of tradition, he was also a champion of popular piety, particularly devotion to the Virgin Mary. Pope Leo XIV will honor that practice on his upcoming pilgrimage to the Argentine city of Luján, home to a revered image of Mary that draws millions of pilgrims each year, and drew more than 2.8 million for a youth pilgrimage in October.

Leo’s visits to Uruguay and Peru will likewise include important Marian shrines: the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three in Uruguay and the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace in Peru. Leo will also crown an image of the Immaculate Virgin at the cathedral in his former diocese of Chiclayo.

According to Bishop Edinson Farfán, Leo’s successor as bishop of Chiclayo, popular piety is a “great ally” in facing one of the greatest challenges to Catholicism in Latin America today: competition from Pentecostal churches. “Popular piety reaches everywhere, especially peripheral areas,” where priests seldom visit but Pentecostals are well-established, Farfán told reporters at a briefing last month organized by the charitable organization Aid to the Church in Need.

The Peru leg of the pope’s trip will highlight an important element of evangelization: the practice of inculturation, or expressing Catholic teachings and forms of worship in terms of local cultures. A key figure in this tradition is St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, a Spanish missionary who served as archbishop of Lima from 1581 until his death in 1606 and who promoted the use of the Indigenous languages Quechua and Aymara in evangelization.

Pope Leo, who studied Quechua during his time in Peru, has a particular devotion to St. Turibius. Then-Father Prevost spent the night before his ordination as a bishop in December 2014 praying before a relic of the saint in a chapel in the town of Zaña. Now pope, he will return to the town, a historic center of Afro-Peruvian culture, on Nov. 14 for a closing celebration of the jubilee year marking the 300th anniversary of St. Turibius’ canonization.

During his visit to South America, the pope will visit centers of the Church’s charitable activity, a traditional concomitant of mission work, including homes for disabled people near Buenos Aires, Argentina, and for abandoned elderly people in Lima, Peru.

Leo will also engage in a form of outreach that has become especially urgent in recent years, following scandals over clerical sexual abuse. The Vatican has said Leo will hold some meetings with abuse victims during his time in South America. These could include people involved in the Sodalitium case. As bishop of Chiclayo, Leo personally assisted victims of abuse by members of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a Catholic organization suppressed by the Vatican in 2025.

The pope’s last full day in Peru before returning to Rome will be in some ways the most ambitious, and a dramatic illustration of the Church’s missionary efforts. In the morning, he will fly to Cusco in the Andean highlands, where he will meet representatives of popular Catholic devotion at an Inca archaeological site. A few hours later, he will meet missionaries and representatives of Amazonian Indigenous peoples and celebrate Mass in the rainforest. The difficulty of providing the sacraments to remote parts of the Amazon was a major theme of the Amazon Synod that Pope Francis called at the Vatican in 2019.

“The popeʼs presence will make us visible,” said Father David Farfán, a priest of the Diocese of Chiclayo (with no family relation to the bishop of the same surname). “It will draw attention to those places in the heartland of Peru — and indeed anywhere in the world — where communities have been forgotten, rejected, and left behind.”

“We have gathered to celebrate the Eucharist in this place of prayer and remembrance, of affection and hope. We offer it in suffrage for the faithful departed, particularly for those who rest here and for those whom each of us carries in our hearts,” the pontiff said during Mass celebrated on the central avenue of Rome’s Verano Cemetery.

The altar from which he presided over the celebration was flanked by a row of tombs. Located in the Tiburtino neighborhood, the cemetery, built in the 19th century during the Napoleonic era, is Italy’s second-largest civil cemetery and the largest in Rome.

The grounds, which include an area designated for non-Catholics, suffered severe damage during the Allied bombing of Rome in 1943 and were rebuilt in 1949.

Upon his arrival, Leo XIV placed a bouquet of white and yellow roses on the marble headstone of a randomly chosen grave belonging to an Italian family and bearing the name Antonia Coccia Nicolini.

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During his homily, the pontiff explained that the commemoration of the faithful departed, celebrated the day after the solemnity of All Saints, guides the prayer of the Church.

“We turn to the heavenly Father so that the life of holiness and blessedness already enjoyed by so many of his sons and daughters may envelop the souls of those who sleep the sleep of peace,” said the pope, who wore purple liturgical vestments, a symbol of penance, prayer, and hope in the Resurrection.

He also emphasized that faith in Christ is illuminated “by the word that has been proclaimed and that strengthens our trust in God’s hands.”

The Beatitudes, the ‘self-portrait of Jesus’

About 1,500 people attended the celebration, according to figures provided by the Vatican.

Reflecting on the Gospel of the Beatitudes proclaimed during the Mass, Leo XIV said they constitute the “self-portrait of Jesus” and reveal the path to a fully realized life, both on this earth and in eternity.

“The risen Lord tells us: Blessed are those who live according to this path, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” he said.

He also observed that this message takes on particular force in a cemetery, which he described as “a threshold between this world and the next,” where faith enables believers to view death through the hope of the Resurrection.

In this context, he stressed that “faith in Christ tells us that our bond with the faithful departed has not been broken but transformed.”

‘The absurd violence of war’

The Holy Father also offered prayers for the deceased and made a special appeal for those suffering the consequences of armed conflicts.

He prayed that “the tears of so many mothers, so many children, and so many elderly people” would move the consciences of those who have the power to end wars.

Reflecting on the beatitude “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted,” he offered a special remembrance for those who have recently lost a loved one.

“At this moment we wish to pray for those who have recently lost a loved one, especially for those from whom a loved one has been taken by the absurd violence of war,” he said.

He then renewed his appeal for peace: “May the tears of so many mothers, so many children, and so many elderly people move the consciences of those who have the power to silence the weapons.”

Christian hope in the face of death

Speaking during the 800th anniversary year of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, Leo XIV recalled the praise the saint added to the “Canticle of Creatures” near the end of his life, when he referred to “Sister Bodily Death” and proclaimed blessed those who are found doing God’s will.

In his homily, the pontiff underscored Christian hope in eternal life and reaffirmed that God keeps forever those who have departed this world. Citing the Book of Wisdom, he recalled that the souls of the just are secure in the Lord’s hands and that “no torment shall ever touch them.”

The pope explained that this promise of salvation lies at the heart of the Church’s prayer on All Souls’ Day, when the faithful entrust their loved ones to divine mercy so that they may attain full communion with God.

Leo XIV also invoked the words of the Book of Revelation, which proclaims that God will dwell forever with his people, as well as the promise of the Good Shepherd that no one can snatch his sheep from his hand.

The pope concluded his homily with a reference to Revelation and God’s definitive promise for humanity: the day when “death shall be no more, neither mourning nor crying nor pain,” because all suffering will have been overcome forever.

With this Mass, Leo XIV, as he did last year, continued a tradition promoted by St. John Paul II, who visited the same cemetery on 12 occasions for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. Pope Benedict XVI also celebrated a Mass at the Basilica of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls, located next to the cemetery, though without visiting its graves.

Pope Francis, for his part, maintained the custom of celebrating the All Souls’ Day Mass in various cemeteries throughout Rome during his pontificate.

In addition to Monday’s celebration, Leo XIV is scheduled to preside on Thursday, Nov. 5, at St. Peter’s Basilica, one day before departing on his apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, at a Mass offered for the cardinals and bishops who have died during the past year.

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Fans, students, faculty, staff, and alumni from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame filled Rome’s Palazzo dello Sport, a massive arena that seats more than 11,000, to cheer on their men’s and women’s teams in a matchup that was inspired by Pope Leo’s election as the first American pope. After a weekend of welcome receptions, tourism opportunities, and scheduled events, including a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and a papal audience, energy in the stadium was high before the men’s tipoff at 3:30 p.m. local time.

Before the game, Villanova fans confidently expected a Wildcat win: Tom McKernan, a Villanova alumnus from Philadelphia, joked: “We’re not playing [Notre Dame] in football, so I think we have the upper hand. We definitely have more crowd support today, so I’m looking for a big Villanova win.”

But while Notre Dame trailed Villanova for most of the men’s game, they came back with a minute left, pulling ahead for a score of 72-70 after Logan Duncomb’s three-point shot. After a suspenseful final minute, the Fighting Irish secured the game, upsetting the Wildcats by two points. Notre Dame fans erupted into cheers and chants of “Let’s go, Irish!” as Villanova’s much larger fan section sat in shock.

The Fighting Irish win came as a surprise for even Notre Dame fans, since the Wildcats came into the weekend with a few advantages: Besides boasting a storied basketball program, their fan presence in the stadium outnumbered Notre Dame’s supporters by a staggering majority. Most importantly for Villanova, however, was feeling that the pope was on their side: Pope Leo XIV, who graduated from the university in 1977, jokingly told both teams on Saturday that while “the pope doesn’t take sides… Prevost has another opinion.”

But whichever team Pope Leo was rooting for, fans of both sides were thrilled to see the pope during this weekend’s events, with Wildcats and Fighting Irish alike emphasizing that a visit to the Vatican was what made the Eternal City Tip-Off truly special.

Allen and Joanne Herda, parents of a Notre Dame senior from Dallas, said that when they bought their tickets for the game in Rome, they “knew that it would be a pilgrimage.” And while the Herdas were excited to cheer on their basketball team, they said the real main event of the Eternal City Tip-Off was the papal audience Oct. 31.

During the audience, Joanne was able to shake Pope Leo’s hand as he exited the audience hall, a moment she recalled with excitement.

“You got a reflection, a shock of gentleness and peace,” she said. “For me, [this weekend] has been otherworldly and extremely spiritual. I never dreamt that I would have touched the Holy Father, and we went to Mass this morning, and that was so spiritual too. … It’s hard to find the words.”

Father Francisco Carrillo, a priest from Mexico City who lives in Rome while studying for his master’s degree in biblical theology, was invited to the game by friends who are Villanova alumni. “For today, I’m a Villanova fan,” he said. But like the Herdas, Carrillo described the events of the weekend as more than simply a basketball game, calling them “providential.”

He said: “The first time that there’s an American pope, and that he studied in a Catholic university in the States, and then the fact that they organized this NCAA game here in Rome for the pope… it’s a huge event, not only on a human level but also spiritually.”

Second win for Notre Dame

The weekend got even better for the Irish when the women’s game ended in a second victory for Notre Dame — this time more expected. The Indiana school is known for having a higher-ranking women’s basketball team than its men’s team, in large part due to senior guard Hannah Hidalgo, who is expected to be a top lottery pick in the 2027 WNBA draft. Hidalgo contributed 32 of Notre Dame’s 99 points against Villanova.

Notre Dame fans celebrated their second win of the night with cheers as the buzzer sounded, the culmination of a victory that was more than just a basketball win: Opening the college basketball season with a triumph in the storied city of Rome, just kilometers away from Pope Leo, was a once-in-a-lifetime feeling for the excited Notre Dame teams, fans, and students present.

Hidalgo’s parents, Tamara and Orlando Hidalgo, were thrilled with Notre Dame’s season opener win. And while watching their daughter play will always be reason enough for them to travel around the world, Tamara commented that their experience in Rome has been “spectacular” for more reasons than basketball.

“I was actually taken to the prison where Paul was held,” she said. “For me, it was kind of a once-in-a-lifetime [experience]. It really touched my heart to know that I’m standing right above where he wrote the Book of Timothy. So I’ve had a phenomenal experience.”

For Villanova, the evening certainly held a fair share of disappointment from the basketball loss. But despite inevitable regret at the games’ outcome, Wildcat fans won’t be going home despondent.

Linda Hodgson, a Villanova alumna who was at the game with her daughter, shared her mixed feelings after the game: “[I’m] very disappointed. What else can I say? We were really expecting a Villanova win, especially with the pope’s blessing,” she said.

But, Hodgson added, “it was great meeting the pope. It was fun walking around Rome and seeing all the landmarks and coming to the basketball game. It was a great trip.”

For Hodgson and the other Villanova fans, the Eternal City Tip-Off loss may have been disappointing, but the weekend remained an amazing opportunity to be present in Rome for a historic visit to the Vatican, a competitive matchup with another Catholic school, and a chance to experience the excitement of basketball in the context of the faith.

In a statement to EWTN News before the game, Notre Dame president Father Robert Dowd, CSC, described the weekend as an expression of “shared commitment” to Catholic higher education between the universities, saying: “[W]e are united in our deep devotion to our faith and appreciation for the power of sport to elevate the human spirit.”

His hope that the matchup would deepen “a spirit of joy and communion” between Notre Dame and Villanova echoed the words of Pope Leo, who said on Saturday that “the members of two teams, even when they have a competitive rivalry, are certainly not enemies” and encouraged the “fraternity, solidarity, and peace” that athletics can promote.

And while Notre Dame has the scoreboard as proof of its victory, the moments of fraternity, joyful competition, and prayer shared between both schools during the Eternal City Tip-Off weekend made the season opener a historical moment for Notre Dame and Villanova alike.

“The solemnity of All Saints, which we celebrate today, invites us to share in the joy of that countless family of men and women who, following the Lord Jesus, have made their lives a gift to God and to their neighbors,” the pope said.

Quoting Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Spe Salvi, Leo said the saints, along their different paths to holiness, “have longed for ‘the ocean of infinite love.’”

The pope noted that the Church celebrates not only canonized saints on Nov. 1 but also “the countless others who have not been formally recognized but are known to God.”

“It is indeed true that it is impossible to count this multitude of brothers and sisters, and not just in numerical terms,” he said. “Holiness, in fact, cannot be reduced to any calculation, for such is the good that all the saints have spread around them in the world.”

Leo said the saints brought forth “actions and choices of love that transcend the calculations of greed and the arrogance of evil, which at times seems to prevail.”

“The saints are the most beautiful and powerful sign of the kingdom of God that is coming — or rather, as Jesus teaches us, is already among us,” he said.

The pope emphasized that the multitude of saints includes people “from the most diverse backgrounds, cultures, and walks of life.”

“Holiness is not a privilege reserved for a few, but a universal vocation that speaks to each of us where we live,” Leo said.

“This is the hope-filled message of today’s feast: God sees the good that we do not see, knows stories that we do not know and reaches hearts to which we have no access.”

He entrusted the faithful to the Blessed Virgin Mary, praying that she would accompany them “along the path to holiness, so that we may never grow weary of fostering peace, both in the most important situations and in the ordinary circumstances of everyday life.”

Pope recalls newly beatified Georgia Martyrs

After the Angelus, Leo recalled the beatification the previous day in Savannah, Georgia, of Pedro de Corpa and four companions, Franciscan friars killed “in odium fidei,” or “in hatred of the faith,” in 1597.

“Originally from Spain, they responded generously to the Lordʼs call to evangelize the peoples of the Americas, even to the point of giving their lives,” the pope said. “Let us invoke the intercession of these martyrs for all missionaries of the Gospel.”

Leo also spoke about a recent humanitarian operation to assist civilians in Oleshky, expressing hope that cooperation between the parties involved would lead to further steps toward peace.

“I hope that the cooperation between the parties, which made this necessary humanitarian act possible, will strengthen the desire for dialogue and lead to new concrete peace initiatives,” he said.

The pope then highlighted the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, calling the first Olympic event held on the African continent “a sign of hope coming from the world of sport.”

He also noted that the Friars Minor will hold a Mission with the Poor in Rome from Nov. 8–15.

“I congratulate the sons of St. Francis who, through this initiative, are placing the poor at the center, as the Lord Jesus did and as St. Francis of Assisi did,” Leo said.

Finally, ahead of the Nov. 2 Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, the pope announced that he would celebrate Mass at Rome’s Verano Cemetery.

“During these days, let us feel united in the Communion of Saints with the immense family of our brothers and sisters who have gone before us on our earthly pilgrimage,” he said, “and let us pray for the departed, especially those whom no one remembers.”

This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Fans of all ages packed into the Pope Paul VI Audience Hall in Rome for an audience with the pope, who is himself a Villanova graduate.

“Growing up on the south side of Chicago, we oftentimes heard, ‘Go Irish!’” Pope Leo told the crowd. “But as you all know, Prevost graduated from Villanova. So, the pope doesn’t take sides. Prevost has another opinion, but we won’t do that now,” he added, to cheers from the Villanova supporters.

The Nov. 1 event, called the Eternal City Tip-Off, will open the 2026-27 college basketball season for the Division 1 teams. Organized as a collaboration between Fox Sports, On Location, and Players Era, inspiration for the event came from Leo’s election as the first American pope.

Leading up to the Sunday games, supporters of both universities — including alumni, faculty, staff, students, and fans — were able to participate in a special Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica along with the papal audience.

Father Peter Donohue, OSA, president of Villanova, and Father Robert Dowd, CSC, president of Notre Dame, began the audience by addressing the pope on behalf of their universities. Four student-athletes from each school then presented the pope with gifts, including commemorative basketballs, jerseys, and a special prayer for athletes written by the late Holy Cross Father Theodore Hesburgh, a past president of Notre Dame.

Pope Leo drew laughs and cheers from the crowd when he began to dribble the basketball offered by Villanova team representatives.

The pope then addressed the gathered fans, speaking about a “vision of sport” proposed by the Catholic Church centered on “the dignity of the human person, on his or her integral development, on education, and on relationships with others.”

He pointed out that the games will take place on the feast of All Saints’ Day, saying that the occasion was a valuable reminder “that God calls everyone to be a saint. … We are invited, therefore, to ensure that every aspect of our lives, including our athletic endeavors, will help us to love God and our neighbor.”

Pope Leo emphasized the importance of sport as “a concrete means of bringing people together,” particularly in an age “marked by the distance that can be created by technology.”

He added: “Sport is a medicine for both body and spirit when it is practiced well.”

Ambrose Weidmann, an architecture student from the University of Notre Dame studying abroad in Rome, attended the papal audience with his friends. “It was great to hear each school’s president’s viewpoint on sports, school, and faith, and even better to hear the Holy Father’s comments on sports and especially our universal calling to sainthood,” he said.

Eric Heinz, who was at the audience with his wife and two sons — one of whom graduated from Villanova, the other from Notre Dame — echoed Weidmann’s sentiments.

“I think it’s really great to have so many people that you know [in the room],” he said, citing the thousands of supporters from both universities who filled the hall. “It’s really attributed, I think, to the love of not just their schools, but Pope Leo, and having an American as the pope. … Everyone’s in a great mood about it.”

Shannon Murphy and Gabriel Alvarez, sitting a few rows down from the Heinz family, had already planned on a trip to Rome for their honeymoon, but when they saw that the dates lined up perfectly with the Eternal City Tip-Off weekend, they were thrilled.

“We put it on the calendar, and the minute they went for sale we were refreshing [the page] to get the best tickets we could that were available… we’re very excited,” said Murphy, who is a Villanova alumna. She added that sharing both an alma mater and the Catholic faith with Pope Leo made seeing him “pretty great.”

Before the papal audience, fans had the chance to attend a special morning Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Mass was presided over by Archbishop Nelson Perez of Philadelphia and concelebrated by the presidents of both universities.

During the homily, Perez praised the discipline, perseverance, and sacrifice of the student-athletes, quoting St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians to remind the faithful that sport is a model for the spiritual life, and offering Mary as a model of this excellence: “She played the game of life, the game of grace, in such a beautiful, powerful, profound way,” he said, offering Mary’s humility and service as an example of “true greatness.”

Weidmann commented that the Vatican events on Saturday tied basketball and Catholicism together in an “ideal connection” between faith and sports, and even served as a means of evangelization.

“I know a few of my peers who are atheist or agnostic, but went to the papal audience and Mass today and got to hear the voice of the Church calling to them through the word of God and the pope’s words, which I thought was a really great way to expose more people to our faith,” he said.

Villanova and Notre Dame will face off on Sunday beginning with the men’s basketball game at 3:30 p.m. CET (9:30 a.m. EST), which can be viewed on Fox. The women’s game, aired on FS1, will follow at 6 p.m. CET (noon EST).

“Machines are tools, not persons,” Leo said in his address.

The pontiff held a private audience on Friday with participants in a meeting on “The Future of AI: A Dialogue Between the Vatican and the Scientific World on the Development and Applications of Intelligent Technologies” at the Vatican. The Pontifical Academy for Life and the Future of Life Institute organized the one-day conference.

AI cannot be given human rights or personhood

During the meeting, members of the Vatican Commission on Artificial Intelligence and scholars discussed ongoing concerns as AI continues to develop.

Noting this concern in his address, the pope warned against efforts to grant AI technologies rights and legal status comparable to those of human beings.

“Today, some propose granting these systems rights, or even legal personhood,” Leo said. “Such an approach risks obscuring human responsibility and leaving those who suffer harm to confront a faceless entity.”

Drawing on his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, Leo explained that the future of AI technologies depends on the choices made today, choices he hopes will promote the dignity of the human person.

“As a technology developed by human beings, its future depends on the choices we make,” Leo said.

“A reliable system that serves the human person is of greater value than one that is exceptionally powerful but whose consequences cannot be adequately foreseen or controlled.”

Earlier in October, Leo explained the difference between classical art and AI-made art, saying there is an “ontological difference” that exists “even before an aesthetic one.”

Vatican AI leadership and calls to stop super-development

Several conference participants, according to an Oct. 30 press release, expressed hope in the Vatican’s leadership on AI ethical issues. One of those was Max Tegmark, a physicist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“With strong moral leadership, the Vatican can help steer AI development onto a better pro-human path,” Tegmark said.

Others called for an end to the super-development of AI amid fears that AI is making humans obsolete.

“We must turn aside from this trajectory before it is too late and pursue other trajectories,” said Stuart Russell, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, adding that if AI developers succeed in super-development, “there’s a good chance that every human being will die.”

The changes were approved by the pontiff on Oct. 19 through a “Rescriptum ex Audientia Sanctissimi,” a Latin expression referring to a decision or provision approved by the pope following an audience granted to a curial official or ecclesiastical authority.

The document is signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state, and amends Articles 62 §3, 68 §2, and 68 §4 of the Regulations for Personnel of the Roman Curia.

Changes to the role of the disciplinary commission

The reform introduces a clarification to article 62 §3 to define more precisely the responsibilities of the Roman Curia’s Disciplinary Commission.

The new wording states that the commission shall act in determining certain disciplinary sanctions, “with the exception of suspension for a period of up to 30 days.” As a result, shorter suspensions will no longer require the commission’s involvement, while more serious sanctions will continue to be examined by the body.

The change means that, when an employee commits an offense, the head of a dicastery may now impose a sanction directly, including suspension from work for up to 30 days. Beyond that threshold, the Disciplinary Commission must be involved to assess the appropriateness of the sanction.

Previously, even suspensions of less than 30 days required review by the Disciplinary Commission. Under the new rules, such review is necessary only for suspensions exceeding 30 days.

Another significant change concerns proceedings that could result in a lengthy suspension or dismissal.

Until now, the regulations provided employees with 10 days to submit their explanations after receiving notice of the alleged violations.

The new rule maintains that deadline for ordinary cases but introduces an additional safeguard for more serious situations. Specifically, when the alleged conduct is considered by the head of the department to be “liable to result in a suspension exceeding 30 days or dismissal,” the employee will be granted “15 days to present his or her defense.”

Right to legal assistance

The reform also explicitly incorporates the employee’s right to legal assistance in the most serious disciplinary proceedings.

The new text states that the employee may present a defense “making use, if appropriate, of a lawyer chosen from among the members of the Corps of Lawyers of the Holy See or the Register of Lawyers of the Roman Curia.”

This is a significant innovation within the Curia’s internal regulations, as it expressly provides for legal representation when the potential sanction could involve a lengthy suspension or termination of employment.

Obligation to inform the employee

The amendment to article 68 §4 also establishes new notification requirements for heads of Vatican departments and institutions.

When the head of an entity considers that a “suspension exceeding 30 days or dismissal” is warranted, he or she must forward the case file to the Roman Curia’s Disciplinary Commission and inform the employee “of the measure adopted and of the possibility of making use of his or her own lawyer” from among those authorized under the regulations.

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The appointments mark a leadership change at the body responsible for overseeing the Catholic Churchʼs synodal process. They follow the departure of Sister Nathalie Becquart, who had served as undersecretary since February 2021.

In recent years, Becquart became one of the most prominent figures in the synodal process initiated by Pope Francis and continued by Leo XIV. She was also the first woman to have voting rights at an assembly of the Synod of Bishops, a milestone in the Churchʼs recent history.

A Jesuit deeply involved in the synodal process

Costa, the new undersecretary, was born in Genoa in 1967 and entered the Society of Jesus in 1992. Trained as a sociologist, he earned a diploma of advanced studies in political and moral sociology from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris.

Costa is well known in Italian Church circles. From 2010 to 2021, he served as editor of the journal Aggiornamenti Sociali, and from 2007 to 2025, he chaired the San Fedele Cultural Foundation in Milan.

He has been closely involved in the synodal process, serving as special secretary for both the 15th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, dedicated to young people in 2018, and the 16th Ordinary General Assembly on synodality, held from 2021 to 2024.

Until now, he had served as a consultor to the General Secretariat of the Synod.

A liturgy expert

Alongside Costa, the pope appointed Sister Elena Massimi, a member of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, also known as the Salesian Sisters, as undersecretary.

Born in Rome in 1975, Massimi made her perpetual profession in 2009 and earned a doctorate in theology, specializing in pastoral liturgy, from the Santa Giustina Institute of Pastoral Liturgy in Padua, Italy, which is affiliated with the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm.

She currently teaches liturgy and sacramental theology at the Pontifical Salesian University, serves as president of the Italian Association of Professors and Scholars of Liturgy, and oversees music for the liturgy at the National Liturgical Office of the Italian Episcopal Conference.

Her appointment strengthens womenʼs representation in one of the Roman Curiaʼs most important bodies and brings recognized academic and pastoral expertise in liturgy to the synodal leadership team.

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The conference “The Holy See in the Face of Totalitarian Systems in the 20th Century: New Perspectives and Research Directions” was held at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome from Oct. 28–29. Over the two days, scholars discussed how the Vatican responded to oppressive governments, particularly from the time of Pope Pius XII to the Second Vatican Council.

The Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation and the Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences, which organized the event, also presented a new exhibit at the Gregorian on the 1966 celebrations of the 1,000th anniversary of the Baptism of Poland in 966.

Totalitarianism: Temptation to be like God

As reported by Vatican News, the conference opened with a keynote address from Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who warned nations against asserting themselves in the place of God.

“[Totalitarianism] arises from the human temptation to want to ‘be like God,’ to control how humanity lives and thinks, and to impose one’s own ideological convictions on it,” Parolin said.

He also criticized the tendency of countries to elevate the state and certain constructs in place of religion.

“By elevating social class, race, or the state to the altar in God’s place, [totalitarian regimes] sacralized their ideological concepts and created political religions, with their own ‘liturgies,’ prophets, martyrs, and ethical norms,” Parolin added.

Pius XII’s Vatican and the Nazi regime

Among the topics discussed at the conference was the Holy See’s stance under Venerable Pius XII toward Nazi Germany during the Second World War, including the Holocaust.

Parolin maintained that Pius XII condemned wars in a way “that would not provoke even greater persecution” and that he displayed “a diplomacy of charity on an unprecedented scale.”

Others at the conference described the Church’s stance during this period as “sustainable.”

“I would say that the Church, and the Holy See in particular, did what it considered possible and sustainable during the periods we have discussed, just as it does today,” said Father Nicola Spinato, a theologian from Padua, Italy.

“The Holy See and the Church are not simply political actors competing within the political arena. Their role is pastoral and ecclesial,” Spinato added.

Vatican totalitarian resistance under Vatican II and John Paul II

During the conference, several participants presented on the influence of the Second Vatican Council on the Holy See’s vocal resistance to totalitarian regimes.

Spinato presented on how the Church, through the council, formulated its opposition to racism and all forms of discrimination.

“The confrontation with the totalitarianism and racism of the 20th century contributed to the development of the Church’s social teaching,” Spinato said.

Others noted St. John Paul II’s influence on Vatican diplomacy, particularly in Poland and Latin America.

“John Paul II actively intervened to end dictatorships and to promote the return to democracy. From April 1-6, 1987, he visited Chile — a trip that would change the country’s history,” Gianni La Bella, a member of the Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences, said.

“Following John Paul’s pilgrimages to Poland in 1983 and 1987, efforts began to overcome the crisis. His influence and laws guaranteeing religious freedom paved the way for Poland and the Holy See to restore full diplomatic relations on July 17, 1989,” Father Albert Warso, a professor at John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, said.

Speaking at an event with journalists in Rome, the British diplomat responded to questions regarding the agreement, Pope Leo XIV’s health, and calls for a ceasefire in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war.

The full text of the 2018 agreement between China and the Holy See has never been made public. Under the publicly understood terms of the agreement, the pope retains final authority over episcopal appointments in China and may reject candidates proposed by Beijing. The Holy See, for its part, agreed not to appoint bishops without the Chinese government’s prior approval.

As reported by Reuters, Gallagher said that, regarding the agreement, its imperfections were visible.

“Itʼs not easy, the dialogue is not easy,” Gallagher said. “The imperfections of the agreement are ⁠evident, but ​there is a commitment to persevere in dialogue ... and that is what will ​continue to happen.”

He also answered questions regarding a potential visit from Leo to the U.S., saying that it could happen “in the not too distant future.”

Regarding the pope’s Oct. 13 surgery and subsequent recovery, Gallagher described it as a “bit of a game changer” and a revelation of the pope’s mortality, as with every human being.

“[The pope] is a poor mortal like the rest of ​us,” Gallagher said.

In August, Gallagher traveled to Russia to discuss the country’s ongoing war with Ukraine with senior officials. He told journalists that he did not believe the Vatican was involved in discussions of the ceasefire between the two nations.

To mark the occasion, Pope Leo XIV held a private audience with Mercedes-Benz executives on Wednesday. That same day, the exhibit “A Century of the Popemobile” opened at the Vatican Museums, featuring the first popemobile, gifted to Pope Pius XI in 1930, and the one in which St. John Paul II was shot on May 13, 1981.

Evolving transportation for the successors of Peter

In his address to Mercedes-Benz, the pope praised the company for its enduring partnership with the Vatican and reflected on how papal transportation — from St. Peter to the present — has evolved.

“Over the decades, the Popemobile has evolved from a means of transportation into an instrument of encounter, enabling the pontiff to draw closer to the faithful during pastoral visits and public celebrations,” Leo said.

“In this way, your work has helped facilitate the Church’s mission of reaching out to people and bringing a message of faith, of hope, and of charity to the world.”

The pope also encouraged them to direct their innovations toward a more sustainable world, placing their "technological innovation at the service of human dignity, care for creation, and the common good.”

Carriages, the ‘sedia gestatoria,’ and modern transport

Papal transportation has evolved since the late Roman Empire, when popes were carried on the “sedia gestatoria” — ornate, ceremonial thrones carried by 12 footmen during processions and major liturgical celebrations.

From the late 19th century onward, popes increasingly chose modern forms of transportation, with Blessed Pius IX using the first papal train in 1859. The Nürburg 460 Pullman, made by Mercedes-Benz and given to Pope Pius XI in 1930, was the first official automobile used to transport the pope.

The word “popemobile” was first used to describe a custom-made Lincoln Continental for St. Paul VI’s 1965 visit to the United States. Popes since St. John Paul II have used the popemobile, with Mercedes-Benz adapting future models for security since his 1981 shooting.

A duty to ensure the pope’s safety

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the exhibit “A Century of the Popemobile,” the Mercedes-Benz executives spoke with EWTN News, reflecting on the near-century-long partnership with the Vatican.

Marc Langenbrinck, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Italy, described the partnership as a privilege, especially as a Catholic.

“[This day] is just simply the most beautiful day of my career because I am Catholic and I believe, and for me it is something which is a project of a lifetime,” Langenbrinck told EWTN News.

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Marcus Breitschwerdt, executive vice president of Mercedes-Benz, explained the security and accessibility measures implemented in the popemobile.

“Well, first of all, a vehicle has to move safely, comfortably, but also safely in terms of traffic and accident risks,” Breitschwerdt said to EWTN News. “It has to be safely conceived and executed in terms of the current modern risks you face if you are in big crowds.”

“So we have armored versions; we have the secured glass Popemobiles, which are very, very sophisticated,” Breitschwerdt added.

Breitschwerdt, in a speech for the exhibit launch, also said that no Mercedes-Benz employee is ever allowed to sit on the pope’s seat in the Popemobile.

“There is a strict rule that no one — not even the mechanics who maintain the vehicles or our CEO — is allowed to sit in the popeʼs seat,” Breitschwerdt said.

According to the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, which announced the event on Oct. 27, the Eucharistic celebration will begin at 4 p.m. local time in this historic Roman cemetery, which preserves evidence of a necropolis dating back to the first centuries of Christianity and includes the Catacombs of St. Cyriaca.

The celebration will form part of the traditional commemorations the Church dedicates to the faithful departed during the first days of November. At the conclusion of the Mass, the Holy Father will offer prayers for the deceased and impart the apostolic blessing over the graves.

It will not be the first time a pope has presided over this celebration at Verano Cemetery. Pope Francis celebrated All Souls’ Day Mass there in 2013, 2014, and 2015. In subsequent years, he chose other significant locations, including the Pontifical Teutonic College of Santa Maria in Campo Santo within the Vatican in 2022 and Rome’s Laurentino Cemetery in 2025.

The commemoration at Verano Cemetery will open the pope’s public liturgical schedule for the months of November and December. Among the events already announced are a Mass for the repose of the souls of the cardinals and bishops who have died during the past year, scheduled for Nov. 5 at 9 a.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica.

He will also celebrate nine Masses and preside over a number of prayer services during the apostolic journey he will make to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from Nov. 6–17.

Back in Rome, on Nov. 18, Leo XIV will celebrate a 5 p.m. Mass marking the 400th anniversary of the dedication of St. Peter’s Basilica. On Dec. 8, at approximately 4 p.m., he will lead the traditional act of veneration of the Immaculate Conception in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna.

Pastoral visits to Rome parishes

In November and December, Pope Leo will also visit five parishes in the Diocese of Rome, something he also did earlier this year during the season of Lent.

As bishop of Rome, during each of the afternoon visits, the pontiff will meet with parishioners, learn about the ministries in the parish, and celebrate Mass. Each church is from one of the five geographic divisions of the diocese.

On Friday, Nov. 27, he will visit Sant’Andrea delle Fratte in the city’s historic center. On Nov. 29, the first Sunday of Advent, the pope will travel to San Carlo da Sezze, which is west of Rome, in the direction of the coast.

On Sunday, Dec. 6, he will go to Sant’Eligio, in the east part of Rome; on Sunday, Dec. 13, the feast of St. Lucy, he will visit a parish named for the Italian saint in the western part of Rome; and on the Sunday before Christmas, Dec. 20, he will go to San Roberto Bellarmino in the north.

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

A century later, bishops in mainland China are appointed under a controversial agreement the Holy See made with Beijing in 2018. Its text has never been published.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vaticanʼs secretary of state, defended the deal in a 2022 interview. New bishops, he said, were being ordained under a procedure “that leaves the pope the final and decisive say.” He called the results “small achievements” but “important steps toward the progressive healing of the wounds inflicted on ecclesial communion by the events of the past.”

Human Rights Watch said in 2025 the Vatican had never exercised its veto. Critics who spoke to EWTN News say the Chinese Communist Party now has a role in choosing bishops.

‘Spiritual colonies’

On the seventh anniversary of his own episcopal ordination in 1919, Pope Pius XI spoke of his joy at seeing the first “bishops of the native Chinese clergy” consecrated in Rome.

“Unlike the situation in China today, the 1926 consecrations of Chinese bishops were intended to give China native bishops, not to separate those bishops from the Holy See,” Anthony E. Clark, a professor of Chinese history at Whitworth University and a lay Dominican, told EWTN News.

Missions in China operated under a French protectorate at that time. Father Frédéric-Vincent Lebbe, a Vincentian who arrived in China after the Boxer Rebellion, said the missions had created “spiritual colonies” instead of living Churches. He was an early advocate for indigenizing the Chinese Church.

The concern was shared in Rome: Benedict XV, who issued the 1919 apostolic letter Maximum Illud, “wanted to remove European nationalism from the Chinese Church and empower Chinaʼs Catholics to cooperate with the pope in governing their own local community,” Clark told EWTN News.

Seven years later, Pope Pius XI put building up a native clergy “before everything else” in Rerum Ecclesiae.

Fenggang Yang, a Purdue University sociologist who directs its Center on Religion and the Global East, said the 1926 consecrations came “in a time of rising Chinese nationalism that targeted Christianity as a foreign religion under the protection of imperialist European countries.”

“Chinese leadership strengthened the Church’s claim to belong within Chinese society. However, the Catholic Church made the adjustment too little and too slow,” Yang told EWTN News.

By 1948, Fides figures show, only 14 of Chinaʼs 139 bishops were Chinese, but 2,690 of its 5,780 priests were.

From 1949 to 2018

After the communist victory of 1949, Pius XII rejected a “national” Church in Ad Sinarum Gentem and in 1958 condemned the first ordinations of bishops without a papal mandate in Ad Apostolorum Principis. Catholics were divided into registered and unregistered, or “underground,” communities, which Benedict XVI famously called to reconciliation in his 2007 letter.

Under Benedictʼs successor, Pope Francis, the Holy See and Beijing signed a “provisional agreement” on appointing bishops on Sept. 22, 2018. The deal was renewed three times, in 2020, 2022, and, for four years to October 2028, in 2024.

The Holy Seeʼs case

The deal sought “only to attain the Churchʼs specific spiritual and pastoral aims,” including “to reestablish and preserve the full and visible unity of the Catholic community in China,” Pope Francis wrote in 2018.

In a Fides essay, Father Paul Han, a mainland Chinese priest, wrote that the agreement “established a workable framework” and “avoided the long-standing divisions” between “public” and “underground” communities.

The process has not always run smoothly. In April 2023, Chinese authorities transferred Bishop Joseph Shen Bin from Haimen to Shanghai, informing the Holy See but without involving it in the decision as the agreement provides, Vatican News reported.

Pope Francis appointed Shen three months later, having “decided nevertheless to rectify the canonical irregularity” for the “greater good of the diocese,” Parolin said. Such a way of proceeding, the cardinal added, “seems to disregard the spirit of dialogue and collaboration” between the two sides.

During the 2025 sede vacante, official assemblies “elected” two candidates; the successor to Pope Francis, Leo XIV, approved both that August.

More recently, on Oct. 15, Father Ignatius Ding Zuyao was consecrated bishop of Haimen, the see Bishop Simon Zhu Kaimin led from 1926, after Leo approved his candidacy under the agreement. He is the 19th bishop selected under the deal.

‘Nominate’ and ‘choose’

Father Gianni Criveller, a PIME missionary and editorial director of AsiaNews who opened a centenary conference in Taipei this month, said “the situation of 1926 and today are quite different.”

In 1926, he said, the issue was “to overcome the resistance by many quarters, including foreign missionaries in China, to allow local clergy to govern their churches.” Archbishop Celso Costantini, the Holy Seeʼs first apostolic delegate to China, and Pius XI also “were able to overcome the French interference.”

“I am afraid now the interference comes from China authorities: In spite of the agreement in 2018 between the Vatican and China, the freedom for the Catholic Church is quite limited in China,” Criveller said. “The pope can nominate the bishops, but he can hardly choose them. And the nomination by the pope is not acknowledged during the ceremony of consecration of the bishops.”

“I am not in position to offer advice to the pope,” the missionary added. “I respect any popeʼs decision, and I understand that the Holy See seek dialogue and agreements. My point is that the agreement does not bring the benefits that we all hoped for. The freedom for Catholics in China is less than before.”

The critics' case

Nina Shea of the Hudson Institute said Beijingʼs “Sinicization” policy means “Catholic teaching and evangelization must conform to Chinese Communist Party doctrine.”

“Pope Leo should support the Catholic underground in China, as the Church has done in other regions,” Shea said.

She warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping “seeks control over all civil society, including the Catholic Church.”

“Things have changed in China under communist rule,” Yang said. “The secret agreement since 2018 has pressed underground Catholics to go above ground, so that no new underground bishops have been consecrated.”

Some underground bishops who came above ground were then stripped of their episcopal functions, and some died without replacement, he said. “Therefore, the underground Catholic communities are in disarray.”

Meanwhile, Yang said, the China Catholic Patriotic Association “has strengthened its power over all Catholics in China” while implementing the partyʼs Sinicization policy.

People ask how Chinese the countryʼs Catholics are, he noted. “Another question people also ask is: How Chinese is the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]? Is the CCP primarily Chinese or primarily communist?”

“Over the next two years, Pope Leo XIV should set out the criteria and conditions for the renewal of the Sino-Vatican Agreement,” said Benedict Rogers, senior director at Fortify Rights.

“These criteria should include the release of all imprisoned or detained Catholic bishops, priests, and laity, including the release of Hong Kongʼs pro-democracy activist, 78-year-old Catholic and British citizen Jimmy Lai, currently serving a 20-year sentence,” Rogers told EWTN News on Oct. 27.

“The agreement should not be renewed if these criteria are not met.”

Toward 2028

Replying on behalf of Cardinal Stephen Chow of Hong Kong, the dioceseʼs communications office told EWTN News on Oct. 28 that he “is happy to see it moving forward,” citing this yearʼs “steadily increasing number” of episcopal ordinations, “all approved by the Holy Father.”

“In the short term, I will continue the policy that the Holy See has followed for some years now,” Leo XIV said in a 2025 interview.

“In the long term, I donʼt pretend to say this is what I will and will not do,” he added.

Pius XI told the six new bishops: “Please come to Rome more often, as traveling is getting easier,” Criveller recalled. “The pope said that in 1926! After 100 years, Chinese bishops cannot freely travel to Rome.”

Clark agreed. “Chinaʼs faithful wish they could return to 1926, when Chinese bishops were free to travel to Rome, meet the Holy Father, and be more integrated in the universal Church that they espouse,” he told EWTN News.

This month, two mainland bishops attended a Vatican meeting convened by Leo XIV.

“The constitution Gaudium et Spes reminds us not to live the faith in a spirit of opposition or hostility towards the world, culture, and its human expressions,” the pontiff said during the general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Oct. 28.

He then cited a passage from the document that exhorts believers to “live in very close union with the other men of their time and [to] strive to understand perfectly their way of thinking and judging, as expressed in their culture.”

Before arriving at the platform set up in St. Peter’s Square, the pope spent about 15 minutes riding through the area in the popemobile. During the ride, he blessed around a dozen children who were brought to him from among the crowd.

A more credible witness

Leo XIV also stressed in his catechesis that a mature synthesis between faith and culture is “an essential requirement for bearing witness to the faith before the world and communicating it to others in a credible manner.”

The second chapter of the second part of Gaudium et Spes is devoted precisely to culture and its relationship with the Christian faith. In this context, the pope recalled that the Catholic Church “has always been concerned with accompanying the preaching of the Gospel with the establishment of schools of every kind, aimed at advancing the human, cultural, and spiritual formation of men and women across the five continents.”

The conciliar text, the pontiff noted, upholds the need “to direct teaching towards a certain unity of knowledge,” while recognizing that changing living conditions may make this more difficult.

According to Leo XIV, Christians are the first who “must strive to bring about this unity of wisdom, first and foremost within themselves.”

“Although they have received from revelation the answers to the great questions of existence, they are not thereby exempt from patient intellectual and cultural formation,” he warned.

On the contrary, he added, human and scientific knowledge must “go hand in hand with the substance of their faith, which must be continually deepened with age and in accordance with their level of study.”

The pope emphasized that the various manifestations of culture contribute to opening minds to the perennial questions on the meaning of the world and of human existence, “thus preparing people to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

He also explained that “the relationship between faith and culture finds its primary foundation in the Incarnation.” For this reason, he said, faith is “an incarnate reality, interwoven with the culture in which it is immersed.”

In this sense, he noted that faith is also required “to become culture,” that is, “to reach the person in their living environment, made up of human words, traditions, religious meaning, art and poetry, thought and science.”

To illustrate this idea, the Holy Father quoted St. John Paul II: “A faith that does not become culture is a faith not fully accepted, not entirely thought out, not faithfully lived.”

The Christian faith and a particular culture

Leo XIV also insisted that faith can be embodied in any culture because “it does not identify itself with any of them in a specific way.” In this way, he explained, the Church draws from the various cultures “all that is good, beautiful, and true” in order to embody and transmit the message of the Gospel.

Finally, he recalled that Gaudium et Spes urges the international community to ensure that everyone has access to fundamental cultural goods “by overcoming illiteracy and the lack of education.”

He also stressed that “it will belong to all to acknowledge and favor the proper and necessary participation of women in the cultural life.”

In his greetings to Italian-speaking pilgrims, the pope noted that only a few days remain before the solemnity of All Saints, which the Catholic Church celebrates on Nov. 1. He invited the faithful to contemplate “this immense multitude of men and women” who have attained holiness and who stand before the Church as a “prophetic sign of the life to come.”

The Holy Father emphasized that eternal life “already begins in the commitment and Christian witness of earthly life,” encouraging believers to live the Gospel faithfully in their daily lives and to allow themselves to be inspired by the example of the saints.

On Nov. 2, the pontiff is scheduled to celebrate a Mass for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed at the Monumental Cemetery of Verano, the oldest and largest cemetery in Rome. The Eucharistic celebration will begin at 4 p.m. local time in this historic Roman cemetery, which preserves evidence of a necropolis dating back to the first centuries of Christianity and includes the Catacombs of St. Cyriaca.

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

“For us it is very important to realize that the world is watching us,” Sergeant Major Marco Radovinovic, a guard for 12 years, told EWTN News.

He said training for guards of the world’s smallest and oldest active military force focuses on quickly stopping potentially dangerous people without “being brutal or over the top.”

The Swiss Guard “are the first line of defense of the Vatican State,” Radovinovic recalled, noting that even a seemingly normal interaction with someone can suddenly become “physical without any warning.”

He emphasized the importance of good training on how to handle a wide array of situations in an appropriate manner.

“Being discreet is also a means to protect the guard himself, not only [in] … the physical fight, but also for the people around us that take photos and so on,” he said.

Viral videos and increased security concerns

The sergeant major noted that following the COVID-19 pandemic, which also coincided with a steep uptick in tourists to Rome, they have noticed “more and more weird behaviors in people.”

He said there has also been an increase in situations requiring them to put their training to practice at the various entrances to the Vatican City State.

Some of these security issues have been caught on video. In June, two PETA activists tried to hop a fence during Pope Leo XIV’s Wednesday general audience. The swift action of guards in response was caught on video.

In May 2023, a man in his 40s — described as being in psychological distress — attempted to storm a gate of the Vatican with his car before being stopped by Swiss Guards.

Multiple security incidents in St. Peter’s Basilica have also been caught on camera, some even going viral. The basilica has separate security personnel, including the gendarmes. While Swiss Guards were not present during the episodes in 2025 — they assist with basilica security during liturgies with the pope — it demonstrates the ability of these moments to go viral on social media.

520 years of papal protection

The Pontifical Swiss Guard was established by Pope Julius II in 1506. It is responsible for Vatican security together with the Vatican gendarmes, which were formed in 1816.

Each of the 135 members of the Vatican military takes an oath at the beginning of his service “to faithfully, loyally, and honorably serve the reigning pontiff and his legitimate successors, to devote myself to them with all my strength, sacrificing, if necessary, even my life in their defense.”

The swearing-in ceremony usually takes place on or around the May 6 anniversary of the 1527 battle known as the Sack of Rome, when 147 guards lost their lives defending Pope Clement VII from the mutinous army of the Holy Roman Empire. In 2027, the Swiss Guard will mark the 500th anniversary of that battle, the deadliest event in its history.

Training to serve the pope

But before promising to serve and protect the pope, each new recruit goes through a rigorous training. In 2026, this training was expanded from two to three months.

“We noticed that there were a lot of things that we had to do with recruits, and two months wouldnʼt suffice,” explained Radovinovic, who has been responsible for the formation of new guards since February.

Young men who join the Swiss Guard — unmarried Swiss males between the ages of 19 and 30, at least 5 feet and 8 inches tall, and in good standing with the Catholic Church — start their training in Rome.

Now, instead of one month in Rome and a second month of physical training with police in Switzerland, recruits will have two months of formation at the Vatican.

“The first step is to come here” to the Vatican “to receive the equipment, the material, the introduction to life in the Vatican State,” the sergeant major said.

He pointed out that new guards are coming to live in a new country with a new language and a different way of doing things. They study Italian and learn how the Vatican works.

Then they spend a month doing martial training with the police in Switzerland, including self-defense, psychological training — like de-escalation tactics — and gun training as well as safe firearm handling.

Guards are trained in the Monadnock Defensive Tactical System, which is rooted mostly in Japanese and Okinawa martial arts, including jujitsu, judo, and karate.

Radovinovic explained that this security defensive tactic is “not as stylistic or … theatrical as judo. It’s more discreet, much more quick and efficient to block someone, to stop someone in a nonlethal way.”

Swiss Guards don’t carry guns and in general try to avoid the use of weapons.

“We are not trained for gunfights,” the sergeant major said. “Thatʼs why the emphasis of our training is especially physical contact.”

“It’s so important for us to have a good training, and especially also mental training, to know what to do in what situations,” he underlined.

Radovinovic noted that with their training they hope to avoid the situations that one sometimes sees in international media, where during stops or arrests, six or seven law enforcement officers may block a single person.

“That can have a negative impact“ on the professional reputation of the Swiss Guard, he said.

“For us, certain techniques like wrist handling or arm handling, [are] very important. Once you do that and you immobilize someone, it can be very clean. It can be very fast. … The other person doesn’t suffer too much,” he said.

“Unfortunately, a little bit of suffering is needed, because it’s a physical contact. But in that way, we know that the guard can handle situations very quickly and very discreet and very efficiently.”

“During the days of the Holy Father’s upcoming apostolic journey to Latin America, several meetings are planned with people who are victims of abuse by members of the clergy and the Church,” the Holy See Press Office said in a statement.

The Vatican also explained that these meetings “reflect the Pope’s desire to express his closeness to those who have suffered, and continue to suffer, because of this violence.”

However, the Vatican did not specify the number of meetings or how they were to be conducted. Its statement, however, emphasized that the popeʼs objective is “to work with [abuse victims] in building paths of healing accessible to anyone in need, and to ensure that the Church is a safe and spiritually healthy place that lives and proclaims the Gospel.”

The announcement of these meetings is not unprecedented. During his September visit to France, the Holy See Press Office also confirmed in advance the pope’s intention to meet with abuse victims at the Lourdes shrine. However, during his June visit to Spain, the Vatican did not announce in advance the meeting the pope held with victims at the apostolic nunciature in Madrid. The meeting was held privately and made public afterward.

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

“There is no such thing as a holy war: Only peace is holy,” Leo said in his message. “War can never be waged in the name of God.”

The pontiff, originally scheduled to travel to Assisi for the gathering, canceled his trip on his doctors’ advice, as he continues to recover from thoracic surgery performed on Oct. 13. The Vatican announced the cancellation on Oct. 23, adding that he would send a message for the event.

St. John Paul II established the International Meeting for Peace in Assisi in 1986 as an interreligious prayer service for peace during the Cold War.

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Another call to end ‘holy wars’

In his message, Leo highlighted a growing trend among nations to resort to armed conflict. He described the trend as a betrayal of the memory of those who lost their lives in wars during the last century.

“As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states,” Leo said, “‘the accumulation of arms strikes many as a paradoxically suitable way of deterring potential adversaries from war. They see it as the most effective means of ensuring peace among nations,’ thus betraying the memory of the 20th century and the senseless slaughter of millions of human lives.”

“Precisely in these times marked by a ‘culture of power,’ there is a need to cultivate the spirit of Assisi, which entails a rejection of the religious justification of war,” the pope added.

Since his election in 2025, the pope has often rejected all forms of religiously inspired violence. During his homily for Mass on Palm Sunday that year, Leo said that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.”

Assisi 40 years after John Paul II

Leo also paid tribute to St. John Paul II in his message and urged those gathered at Assisi to remember his call for peace.

Citing his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and paying tribute to St. John Paul II, Leo urged those gathered to continue promoting peace in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, whose 800th anniversary of death is this year.

“The path of Assisi calls religious leaders to foster a climate of dialogue amongst the faithful and within society, so that the language of arrogance may give way to the language of peace, negotiation, and understanding,” Leo said.

“May [God] make us unarmed instruments of his peace. ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.’”

“With the gracious approval of His Majesty the King, the Dean and Canons of Windsor are delighted to announce that His Holiness Pope Leo XIV has become Papal Confrater of the College of St. George at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor,” states the text published on Oct. 23.

The announcement highlights that both leaders sought to underscore the ties between Christian traditions, within a global context marked by polarization and conflict.

“Mindful of the value of Christian unity, in an increasingly polarised and turbulent world, The King and The Pope have joined together in Christian brotherhood and, for the first time in half a millennium, are receiving religious titles which underscore what unites rather than what separates the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England,” the text notes.

The statement adds that this gesture represents “a visible sign of spiritual fellowship, ecumenical friendship and Christian fraternity.”

It also acknowledges the historical ties between the college and St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and the Holy See, as well as the progress made in relations between the Catholic Church, the Church of England, and the Anglican Communion.

The text notes that October marks one year since the “historic state visit to the Holy See” made by King Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla. On that occasion, the British monarch was received as a “royal confrater” of the papal basilica and abbey of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. At that time, the Holy Father had already been invited to become a “papal confrater” of St. George’s at Windsor.

Just as there is already a chair for the British king at the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, a similar chair for the pope will soon be unveiled in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor. It will be consecrated in the European autumn, alongside a “mosaic icon of Christ of Cefalù, gifted to His Majesty by His Holiness during the State Visit,” the statement concluded.

The historic 2025 meeting

On Oct. 23, 2025, Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III prayed together in the Sistine Chapel, marking the first time a pope and a British monarch have prayed together during a state visit to the Vatican.

During the visit, King Charles conferred upon the pope the title of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, while the pontiff bestowed upon the monarch the honor of Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Vatican’s Order of Pius IX, and upon Queen Camilla the distinction of Dame Grand Cross of the same order.

The connection of the British king to the papal basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls

Following the arrival in England of Roman missionary monks such as St. Augustine of Canterbury and St. Paulinus of York during the sixth and seventh centuries, Saxon kings including Offa and Æthelwulf contributed to the upkeep of the apostles' tombs in Rome.

Toward the end of the Middle Ages, the British kings were recognized as “protectors” of the basilica and abbey of St. Paul Outside the Walls; its coat of arms came to include the insignia of the Order of the Garter, the oldest and most prestigious order in the United Kingdom. This tradition was interrupted by the Reformation and the centuries of estrangement that followed.

A new chair, bearing the royal coat of arms and the Latin inscription “Ut unum sint” (“That they may be one”), has been placed in the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls for King Charles and his successors to use during future visits.

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.