Following the closed-door meeting at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace that lasted an hour, the French president said he was “very happy” to have met with the Holy Father, adding that both share “a common conviction: In the face of the world’s divisions, action for peace is a duty and a requirement.”

“France will always work toward dialogue, justice, and fraternity among peoples,” Macron wrote on X.

The Élysée Palace saw this meeting as an opportunity to “recognize the essential role of the Holy See and the Holy Father’s personal commitment to peace, dialogue, and solidarity among peoples, as well as to demonstrate France’s willingness to work jointly with the Holy See toward this end.”

During the traditional exchange of gifts, Macron presented Pope Leo XIV with a French national basketball team jersey signed by the players, a book on the reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris following the 2019 fire, and a map of the Mississippi region created by French missionaries in 1617.

The pontiff presented the French president with a decorative ceramic tile symbolizing abundance, along with his message for this yearʼs World Day of Peace.

According to the Vatican, Macron subsequently met with the Holy See’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states and international organizations.

During the meeting at the Secretariat of State, they addressed various international issues, particularly conflicts around the world.

Both Macron and Vatican officials expressed the hope that peaceful coexistence might be restored through dialogue and negotiation.

The day before, on April 9, Macron visited the Sant’Egidio Community in Rome, an organization characterized by its promotion of international ecumenical prayer gatherings for peace.

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

Originally from Milan, the 59-year-old Ciucci has a doctorate in the philosophy of religion from the Pontifical University of Sant’Anselmo in Rome. After serving as a parish vicar in Milan, he worked at the former Pontifical Council for the Family from 2012–2016.

He is also the general secretary of the RenAIssance Foundation, a Vatican institution that promotes an ethical perspective on artificial intelligence.

Ciucci is a professor at the Pontifical Theological Institute John Paul II in Rome and he is a public speaker and writer on the topic of new technologies and their influence on young people and families.

Last month, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Renzo Pegoraro, received the title of “bishop” from Pope Leo for his role.

Pegoraro was chancellor of the academy from 2011 until his appointment as president in May 2025.

According to the academyʼs statutes, the chancellor “may represent the Pontifical Academy for Life on behalf of the president and collaborates with him in the direction and administration of the academy’s activities.”

The Pontifical Academy for Life was founded in February 1994 by St. John Paul II. It is one of several academic and cultural institutions at the Vatican that bring together experts in their fields to discuss issues of relevance to the Church and the world.

The electoral synod represents a pivotal moment in the life of the Chaldean Catholic Church, as the bishops are expected to choose a new shepherd to lead Chaldean Catholics amid complex internal and national challenges. The meetings also reflect a broader dimension that goes beyond the local framework, highlighting a close relationship with the Holy See.

Leoʼs hope for the next patriarch

The Holy Father addressed the bishops on April 10, praying that the Holy Spirit would guide them in their election of a patriarch. He expressed the hope that the patriarch would be a father in faith and a sign of unity; a person of the beatitudes who lives daily holiness based on fidelity, mercy, and purity of heart; and a shepherd close to his people, steadfast in prayer, capable of facing difficulties with hope, and working with the bishops in a spirit of unity.

The pope described the Chaldeans as guardians of a living and noble memory, and of a faith transmitted through the centuries with courage and fidelity. He added that their history is glorious but also marked by harsh experiences: wars, persecutions, and trials that affected their communities and scattered many believers around the world.

Leo further stated that it is precisely in these wounds that the witness of faith shines, because a Church that bears the scars of history shows how wounds, in the risen Lord, can become signs of hope and new life. He affirmed his closeness to them in their trials, calling for communion with Christians of other denominations.

He urged the bishops to remain vigilant and transparent in managing Church property, to exercise moderation and responsibility in the use of media, and to be cautious in public statements so that every word contributes to building ecclesial communion rather than harm it. He also emphasized the importance of forming priests, supporting consecrated persons, and accompanying laypeople. He highlighted the importance of believers remaining in their homelands and respecting the freedom of Christians in the Middle East.

He also described those present as signs of hope in a world full of violence, noting that they are called to be peacemakers, since only dialogue creates true peace. He said they have a great mission: to proclaim the risen Christ and keep hope alive.

Sako bids farewell to his Church

Leo accepted the resignation of Sako on March 10, one day after the patriarch requested to step down to “dedicate himself quietly to prayer, writing, and simple service.”

In a farewell letter April 9, Sako expressed his deep gratitude to all those who supported him during his 13 years as patriarch, noting his profound emotion at the messages of solidarity he received from Church figures and believers of different backgrounds. He affirmed his commitment to pray for the Church and the bishops gathered in Rome, calling for the election of a patriarch who embodies unity and serves the people with love.

Sako also emphasized his neutrality in the electoral process, considering his absence from the synod an expression of respect for the bishops’ freedom. He also reviewed key aspects of his ministry, through which he sought to balance tradition and renewal, affirming that ecclesial tradition must remain alive and engaged with the times.

Sako noted his influence since the Second Vatican Council, his participation in Catholic Church synods, and his role in the Middle East Council of Churches. These experiences, he said, shaped his efforts to develop Church discourse in liturgy and teaching in a modern and accessible language. He highlighted his efforts to strengthen Christian-Muslim dialogue, unify Church positions, defend the presence of Christians in Iraq, and advocate for a state based on citizenship and equality. He said he considers his resignation not an end but the beginning of a new phase of quiet service.

After the election and announcement of a new patriarch, a holy Mass, an expression of ecclesial communion, will be celebrated by the new leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church with Pope Leo XIV or his representative. The newly elected patriarch will also announce, in consultation with the synod fathers, the date of his enthronement at the patriarchal seat in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.

According to Cardinal Christophe Pierre, his meeting with Undersecretary of War for Policy Elbridge A. Colby in January was part of the former nuncio’s “regular mission and provided an opportunity for an exchange of views on matters of mutual interest,” Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, said in a statement April 10.

“The narrative presented by certain media outlets regarding this meeting does not correspond to the truth at all,” Bruni added.

Bruni’s statement followed an April 6 report by The Free Press claiming Pierre, then the apostolic nuncio to the U.S., received “a bitter lecture” in a January meeting with defense officials, reportedly because of a speech in which Pope Leo XIV criticized “a diplomacy based on force.”

According to The Free Press, the pope’s message was interpreted as a criticism of U.S. policy by Pentagon officials, who told Pierre: “America has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.”

The U.S. Department of Defense, in a post on X on April 9, said that a “substantive, respectful, and professional” meeting took place on Jan. 22, but “recent reporting of the meeting is highly exaggerated and distorted.”

“During the cordial meeting, they discussed a range of topics, including issues of morality in foreign policy, the logic of the U.S. National Security Strategy, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and other topics. Cardinal Pierre expressed his appreciation for the outreach and both sides looked forward to continued open and respectful dialogue,” the department said. It also shared photos from the meeting.

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The U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, also commented on the Pentagon meeting on X on April 9. Burch said he had spoken to the former nuncio who “emphatically denied the media’s portrayal of his meeting with Colby.”

Pierre, Burch wrote, “described the meeting as ‘frank, but very cordial’ and a ‘normal encounter.’ He confirmed that the reporting ‘does not reflect what happened’ and was ‘just invented to make a story.’”

Catholic news outlet The Pillar reported April 10 that one senior Vatican official had described the conversation as having moments of tension, with some U.S. officials being “aggressive” and “bullying,” though “there was no question of anybody threatening anyone.”

Pope Leo accepted Pierreʼs resignation as nuncio in March for reaching the age limit and appointed Archbishop Gabriele Caccia as his new representative to the U.S.

During his “urbi et irbi” (“to the city and the world”) message on Easter Sunday, the Holy Father called for a prayer vigil for peace to be held Saturday at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

Responding to that call, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Paul Coakley, made “a special plea to my brother bishops, the priests, the laity, and all people yearning for true peace to join the Holy Father’s Vigil for Peace, whether virtually or in parishes, chapels, or before the Lord present in the quiet of their hearts to join with our Holy Father as we pray for peace in our world.”

The pontiff encouraged the faithful to join together to make heard “the cry for peace that springs from our hearts” and warned against growing indifference: “We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent.”

“Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people,” he continued, “indifferent to the repercussions of hatred and division that conflicts sow. Indifferent to the economic and social consequences they produce, which we all feel.”

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, issued a statement urging priests, religious, and all believers to participate in the vigil led by the pope or to gather in prayer within their local communities to “implore the gift of reconciliation.”

“Let us halt the whirlwind of pain, suffering, and devastation; let us say our ‘no’ to war, and let us not grow accustomed to the horror,” the cardinal said.

Together with the Society of Jesus and the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious in Mexico, the Mexican Bishops’ Conference issued “an urgent call to society” to join the popeʼs campaign of prayer for peace with the theme “Let Us Make Heard the Cry for Peace That Springs from the Heart!”

“The peace that Christ offers us is both a gift and a mission. This peace is built by learning to transform conflicts into opportunities for forgiveness rather than into excuses for violence. Therefore, peace within the family and community is a daily task that requires a generous heart, willing to forgive,” the Mexican bishops stated.

The bishop of Huesca, Spain, Pedro Aguado Cuesta, has also called upon the faithful there to participate in the prayer vigil.

The prelate will lead the vigil at San Vicente el Real Church at 9 p.m. local time in communion with the initiative promoted by the Holy Father.

“Peace lies at the heart of the Gospel and at the center of human aspirations,” said Aguado, who urged the faithful to make a personal commitment to be builders of peace.

Likewise, Archbishop Gilbert Garcera, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, invited local churches to participate in the day of prayer.

“In a world increasingly marked by conflict and the ‘globalization of indifference,’ the Holy Father has invited the entire Church to unite in prayer, exhorting everyone to implore the gift of peace and to renew our commitment to dialogue, reconciliation, and nonviolence,” he said in a statement.

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

Speaking in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican on April 9, the Holy Father welcomed the athletes “with joy” shortly after the conclusion of the Winter Games and thanked them for their witness.

“Thank you for what you have shown,” the pope said. “Truly, sport, when lived authentically, is not merely a performance: It is a form of language, a narrative made up of gestures, of effort, of anticipation, of falls, and of new beginnings.”

Leo XIV said the games revealed not only athletic achievement but also “stories of sacrifice, of discipline, of tenacity.”

“In particular, in Paralympic competitions we have seen how a limitation can become a source of revelation: not something that holds a person back but something that can be transformed, even transfigured into newfound qualities,” he said. “You athletes have become life stories that inspire a great number of people.”

The pope also emphasized the communal dimension of athletic success, saying: “No one wins alone.”

“Your team spirit reminds us that no one wins alone, because behind every victory there are many people involved — from family to teams — as well as many days of training, pressure, and solitude,” he said.

Quoting Psalm 18, he added: “It is often precisely in these moments that God reveals himself, as the psalmist sings: ‘Thou didst give a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.’”

Leo XIV said sport helps mature the human person by fostering discipline, humility, and right relationships.

“Sport contributes to the maturing of our character, requires a steadfast spirituality, and is a fruitful form of education,” he said. “By training the mind, along with the limbs, sport is authentic when it remains humane — that is, when it remains faithful to its first vocation: to be a school of life and talent.”

“A school in which one learns that true success is measured by the quality of relationships: not by the amount of prizes but by mutual respect, by shared joy in the game,” he continued.

Referring to his Feb. 6 apostolic letter “Life in Abundance,” written for the occasion of the Olympics and Paralympics, the pope said the Gospel’s vision of abundant life points to harmony between the physical and interior dimensions of the person.

Turning to the present global situation, Leo XIV said the athletes’ witness carries special importance.

“At the present time, so marked by polarization, rivalry, and conflicts that escalate into devastating wars, your commitment takes on an even greater value: Sport can and must truly become a space for encounter!” he said. “Not a show of strength but an exercise in relationship.”

Recalling the value of the Olympic truce, he thanked the athletes for making visible “this possibility of peace as a prophecy that is by no means rhetorical: breaking the logic of violence to promote that of encounter.”

The pope also warned against distortions in sport, including doping, commercialism, and the reduction of athletes to mere spectacle.

“We are well aware that sport also brings with it certain temptations: that of performance at any cost, which can lead to doping; that of profit, which transforms the game into a market and the athlete into a star; that of spectacle, which reduces the athlete to an image or a number,” he said. “Against these excesses, your witness is essential.”

Leo XIV concluded by thanking the athletes for showing “an honest and beautiful way of inhabiting the world” and urged them to keep the human person at the center of sport in all its forms.

Following the audience, several of the athletes spoke to journalists about their experience of the audience and competing in the Winter Games, including speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida, who won two gold medals at Milan-Cortina this year.

“My goal was just to show that in my sport; I was able to combine, you know, being a mother and a top athlete,“ Lollobrigida told EWTN News. ”Iʼm just doing this for the other women, you know, that maybe at some points during their career they want to stop to focus on the family and then to come back.”

Nikko Landeros, an American-born Catholic who lost both his legs in 2007, represented Italy in ice hockey at the latest Paralympic games. He described to EWTN News the role of Catholicism in his athletic journey.

“At home, I started pretty much Catholic. You know, I went to Catholic school in the U.S. Weʼve been going to church now... not as much as I should, but, you know, I still pray every day, and Iʼm thankful to be here. You know, if it werenʼt for God, I wouldnʼt be alive. So, you know, Iʼm super thankful,” Landeros said.

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.

“On the very day of Jesus’ resurrection, on Easter day, Jesus appeared to the apostles [and] the message he delivered to them was, ‘Peace to you!’” Father Giulio Albanese, MCCJ, said in an exclusive interview with EWTN News reporter Valentina Di Donato.

“Peace, from a Christian perspective, is not simply a wish, it’s a gift, and we must be aware that this is our vocation, to bring peace to the world. What is shameful is that nowadays we are doing exactly the opposite,” he said.

Albanese, who was kidnapped in northern Uganda by armed rebels in 2002 and witnessed several atrocities of war firsthand, said today’s Christians cannot turn a blind eye to people’s sufferings.

“We have to be aware that we are living in a society, at an international level, where there are many, many contradictions,” he said.

“There are many innocent people who are slaughtered out of human selfishness. Look at what is taking place in Iran, in the Middle East, in Africa,” he continued.

In order to address the obstacles to peace, Albanese said it is necessary for Christians to undergo a conversion and to take Jesus’ Easter message of peace to heart.

“During Easter day and even in the following days we have to pray for peace because if there is a lack of peace in the world it’s because our Christianity has become meaningless,” he said.

After witnessing the violent killings of a woman and her young children in Uganda, Albanese shared with Di Donato how his faith in the risen Jesus was put to the test.

“I must be sincere, in that very moment, I started screaming against the Lord, I said, ‘Lord where are you? Why are you allowing innocent people [to be] killed like that in that way? Why do they have to suffer in such a way? Lord have you forgotten us? Have you forgotten these people?” he said.

But it was through the help of an elderly priest that Albanese was able to sense the presence of God, when he was told: “You should ask yourself where is man, not where is God.”

Describing his heartfelt conversion as a “story of resurrection,” the Comboni missionary said these days of Easter can help Christians renew their commitment to work toward peace.

“We have to believe that our life is in the hands of God,” he said. “The Lord is faithful, and in the very moment you live an experience like this you understand also the significance of life.”

During Holy Week, Pope Leo XIV made several pleas to world leaders to bring all conflict and violence to an end.

Describing Jesus Christ as the “King of Peace” during the Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father said God does not listen to those who “wage war.”

“Just as the Church contemplates the mystery of the Lord’s passion, we cannot forget those who today are truly sharing in his suffering,” he said in his March 29 homily.

On Easter Sunday, the pope renewed his prayerful petition for peace during his “urbi et orbi” blessing delivered from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica.

“The peace that Jesus gives us is not merely the silence of weapons but the peace that touches and transforms the heart of each one of us!” he said. “Let us allow ourselves to be transformed by the peace of Christ! Let us make heard the cry for peace that springs from our hearts!”

Pope Leo will preside over a prayer vigil for peace in St. Peter’s Basilica on April 11.

In an interview with Dialoghi, a cultural magazine linked to Italian Catholic Action, Parolin said the voice of the pope is “prophetic” but risks becoming “a voice crying in the wilderness if it is not supported and helped concretely.”

His remarks also offer a key to understanding the peace prayer vigil Leo XIV has called for April 11 in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Parolin recalled the 2003 Iraq war, when St. John Paul II pleaded for the conflict to be avoided but “was left alone.” He therefore stressed the need to support the current pontiff’s appeal for a peace that is “unarmed and disarming” and to reject “the false propaganda of rearmament.”

“There is a need for more voices of peace, more voices against the madness of the rush toward rearmament, more voices raised in favor of our poorest brothers and sisters, more voices and more proposals — I am thinking, for example, of the world of Catholic universities — for new economic models inspired by justice and care for the weakest instead of the idolatry of money,” Parolin said.

The cardinal described an alarming international climate in which military action appears to impose itself too easily.

“I am struck by how much determination — I was about to say ease — with which the military option is presented as decisive, almost inevitable,” he said.

According to the Vatican secretary of state, this trend has left diplomacy practically “mute,” unable to activate alternative tools, while awareness of the tragedy of war and the value of shared rules is being lost.

Parolin said the root of the problem is a “multi-polarism inspired by the primacy of power,” in which states place greater trust in force than in international law. That, he said, has produced “double standards,” visible in the differing reactions to attacks on civilians in Ukraine and the destruction in Gaza.

“Many governments,” Parolin said, “have expressed indignation over attacks against Ukrainian civilians by Russian missiles and drones, imposing sanctions on the aggressors.”

“I do not think the same has happened with the tragedy of the destruction of Gaza,” he added.

For the cardinal, this is a case of “double standards” tied to the “primacy of power” — the dominance of one’s own country over others — with international law invoked “only when convenient” and ignored in many other cases.

“It seems there has been a lack of awareness of the value of peace, awareness of the tragic reality of war, awareness of the importance of shared rules and of respecting them,” he said.

Parolin also lamented the weakening of the global diplomatic architecture and said it is “utopian” to think peace can be guaranteed “by weapons and by balances imposed by the strongest rather than by international agreements.”

“We cannot surrender to the logic of the strongest,” the cardinal insisted, because that logic “bends international law to its own interests” and weakens multilateral institutions.

In that context, he also expressed regret that Europe has been unable to speak with one voice. He said it is necessary “to rekindle in peoples the sense of European belonging and, in leadership, the awareness of the need for common actions without ever failing the principles that are at the foundation of the European Union itself.”

Regarding the United Nations, Parolin said the Holy See “continues to believe in its importance,” considering international organizations essential for restraining the logic of the strongest. At the same time, he acknowledged that the use of the veto has limited the U.N.’s ability to act.

“We cannot move from the force of law to the law of force,” he warned.

Parolin also highlighted the role believers can play, including defending life and human dignity, protecting religious freedom, promoting reforms to the economic and financial system in line with the Church’s social doctrine, and caring for creation.

Finally, the cardinal addressed the cultural impact of new technologies, saying hyper-connectivity and the spread of fake news help fuel fear and build new walls.

“As Christians, we must oppose this drift with our daily lives,” he concluded.

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

The pope is scheduled to visit Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and Cameroon on his first apostolic journey to the continent April 13–23.

Growing conflict between African Muslims and Christians

Niyiring is concerned about the state of Christian-Muslim relations in Africa, particularly in Muslim-majority countries such as Algeria.

Niyiring described the situation as one of fear between the two religions. His comments on the situation echo those of several African prelates who have recently voiced concern over the plight of Christians on the continent, highlighting the struggle Christians often face to practice their faith in predominantly Muslim African countries.

“There is always that fear between Christianity and Islam,” Niyiring told EWTN News. “Islam is becoming a religion that is quite strong in Africa, and we Christians will have to engage with Muslim leaders. … But it is dialogue that takes that fear out. Without dialogue, people will always be suspicious and afraid of one another. I am sure that the Holy Father will say something about that.”

Niyiring said he hopes the pope’s trip also raises awareness of other issues often ignored in the West, including poverty, political corruption, and the plight of young girls in Africa.

“In many countries, perhaps in the West, nobody discusses the issues facing young girls on the streets. We see many of them on our streets [as victims of sex trafficking], and there are situations where they don’t get the attention they need, especially in education,” he said.

Regarding politicians, the bishop said: “In Africa today, there are people who want to be in government, but they’re hardly interested in the well-being of their people. We would like to hear Leo say more about [political corruption], encouraging our leaders to be leaders who love their people and are there to serve them.”

Serving with the then-Father Robert Prevost

The future pope, then-Father Robert Prevost, served as prior general of the Augustinians from 2001 to 2013. During this period, Prevost played a key role in helping establish a new province for the Augustinians in Nigeria, an experience that greatly enhanced the future pope’s knowledge of the country and the African continent.

“His trip to Nigeria in 2001 — one of several he made there — was the first canonical visit he made outside Rome as prior general. I worked closely with him after I became the provincial superior of the Augustinians in Nigeria in 2005, until I became a bishop in 2008. His presence there was crucial. There were also projects underway in Nigeria and across Africa, and he helped a lot in raising funds to build them. I brought many problems to his attention as the provincial of a young order. And he was always attentive and always emphasized the importance of finding new approaches to issues,” Niyiring said.

Niyiring also praised the pope’s leadership style while serving the Augustinians, noting his attentiveness and calm.

“He has a pleasant personality. He was always attentive and always emphasized the importance of finding new approaches to issues. He encouraged us to be open to the promptings of the spirit and willing to change in situations that needed it.”

“Following these recent hours of great tension for the Middle East and for the whole world, I welcome with satisfaction and as a sign of living hope the announcement of an immediate two-week truce,” the pope said at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square on April 8.

Commenting in the wake of a ceasefire deal between the United States, Israel, and Iran, Leo said: “Only through a return to negotiation can the war come to an end.”

“I urge that this time of delicate diplomatic work be accompanied by prayer, in the hope that readiness for dialogue may become the means to resolve other situations of conflict in the world. I renew for all the invitation to join me in the prayer vigil for peace that we will celebrate here in St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, April 11,” he said.

In comments to the press on the evening of April 7, the pope renewed his forceful appeal for an end to war and urged an embrace of dialogue, distinguishing himself as a singular global voice calling for restraint and moral accountability amid bellicose statements from U.S. leadership.

The first U.S.-born pope called on U.S. citizens to plead with elected officials to work for peace in remarks to the press as he left his residence in Castel Gandolfo, 18 miles south of Rome, and called threats to destroy Iran’s civilization unacceptable.

Leo said “attacks on civilian infrastructure [are] against international law [and] also a sign of the hatred, the division, the destruction that the human being is capable of ... We all want to work for peace. People want peace. I would invite citizens of all the countries involved to contact the authorities, political leaders, congressmen, to ask them, tell them to work for peace and to reject war.”

Catechesis: Holiness is more than an ethical commitment

Before his appeal, the pope spoke about the Second Vatican Council constitution Lumen Gentium.

The pontiff emphasized that holiness is not a privilege reserved for an elite or a mere “ethical commitment” but a vocation and a gift that involves all the baptized.

“Holiness, according to the conciliar constitution, is not a privilege for a few but a gift that commits every baptized person to strive for the perfection of charity, that is, the fullness of love toward God and toward one’s neighbor,” the pope said.

“Charity is the heart of the holiness to which all believers are called,” he affirmed, noting that its highest expression, as in the early days of the Church, is martyrdom — that is, the willingness to confess Christ even to the shedding of blood.

“This readiness for witness becomes a reality whenever Christians leave signs of faith and love in society, committing themselves to justice,” the pontiff explained in his catechesis.

Along this path, he added, the sacraments — and in a particular way the Eucharist — are the nourishment that fosters a holy life, assimilating each person to Christ, the model and measure of all holiness.

He stressed that holiness does not have “only a practical nature, as if it could be reduced to an ethical commitment, however great, but concerns the very essence of Christian life, both personal and communal.”

Consecrated life: A prophetic sign

The pontiff also recalled that Lumen Gentium defines holiness as a constitutive characteristic of the Catholic Church, which is conceived as “indefectibly holy.”

However, he clarified that this affirmation does not imply a full and completed perfection but rather a call “to confirm this divine gift during her pilgrimage toward the eternal destination,” walking — citing St. Augustine — “amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God.”

In this context, the pope also addressed the reality of sin within the Church, emphasizing that this reality calls everyone to a serious process of personal and communal conversion. “The infinite grace that sanctifies the Church entrusts to us a daily mission: that of our conversion,” he affirmed.

The pope devoted a significant portion of his reflection to consecrated life, which he described as a prophetic sign of the new world already present in the mystery of the Church. In this sense, he noted that the evangelical counsels — poverty, chastity, and obedience — are signs of the kingdom of God and give shape to every experience of consecrated life.

Leo XIV concluded by emphasizing that these virtues are not limits to freedom but gifts that liberate, bestowed by the Holy Spirit. In this way, he said, consecrated persons bear witness to the universal vocation to holiness through a radical following of Christ, recalling that even the experience of suffering, when lived in union with the Lord’s passion, can become a path of holiness and transformation.

Redemptive suffering

Thus, the pontiff explained that there is no human experience that “God does not redeem.”

“Even suffering, lived in union with the passion of the Lord, becomes a path of holiness. The grace that converts and transforms life thus strengthens us in every trial, pointing us not toward a distant ideal but toward the encounter with God, who became man out of love,” he concluded.

This story was updated on April 8, 2026, at 7:57 a.m. ET with the pope’s catechesis. Part of this story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The first U.S.-born pope called on U.S. citizens to plead with elected officials to work for peace in remarks to the press April 7 and called threats to destroy Iran’s civilization unacceptable. Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump promised on social media the annihilation of the “whole civilization” of Iran if the country fails to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The pope said “attacks on civilian infrastructure [are] against international law [and] also a sign of the hatred, the division, the destruction that the human being is capable of ... We all want to work for peace. People want peace. I would invite citizens of all the countries involved to contact the authorities, political leaders, congressmen, to ask them, tell them to work for peace and to reject war.”

Reiterating the substance of his Easter Sunday urbi et orbi message, Leo said he was "asking people of good will to search always for peace and not violence, to reject war, especially a war which many people have said is an unjust war, which is continuing to escalate and is not resolving anything,” the pope said. “We have a worldwide economic crisis, energy crisis, situation in the Middle East of great instability, which is only provoking more hatred throughout the world.”

He also said, speaking in Italian: “Today, as we all know, there was also this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this truly is not acceptable. Let us begin with dialogue. We should resolve problems without reaching this point, yet here we are. We must pray a great deal.”

The pope spoke to the press outside the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo before returning to Rome after a daylong stay there. He made his appeal in Italian and English and did not take reporters’ questions.

“Let’s come back to the table, let’s talk, let’s look for solutions in a peaceful way, and let’s remember especially the innocent,” the pope said. “Children, the elderly, the sick, so many people have already become or will become victims of this continued warfare.”

Pope Leo XIV has repeatedly rejected rhetoric invoking God to justify loss of life. “Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” Leo said on Palm Sunday.

On April 7, Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, underscored the pope’s repeated calls for peace and urged Trump to avoid war with Iran.

Carrying hope

Pope Leo XIV in his Easter homily called for peace throughout the world, urging Christians to carry the hope of the Resurrection into a world wounded by war, violence, and injustice.

Leo used his first Easter urbi et orbi message April 5 to make a forceful appeal for an end to war and a renewed embrace of dialogue. He will lead a prayer vigil for peace on April 11 at St. Peter’s Basilica.

The pope has repeatedly condemned war, saying it is a moral failure rooted in abuse of power and domination rather than dialogue. He urged those “who have weapons to lay them down” and those with power “to choose peace — not peace imposed by force, but through dialogue.”

In the Easter message, the pope warned that the world is sliding into a “globalization of indifference” toward the suffering and deaths caused by war.

Valentina Di Donato contributed to this story.

“Dear brothers and sisters, Christ is risen! Happy Easter!“ he exclaimed. “This greeting, full of wonder and joy, will accompany us throughout the week. As we celebrate this new day that the Lord has made for us, the liturgy celebrates the entrance of all creation into the time of salvation: The despair of death has been banished forever, in the name of Jesus.”

He continued: “Today’s Gospel asks us to choose between two accounts: that of the women, who encountered the Risen One, or that of the guards, who were bribed by the leaders of the Sanhedrin.”

The women proclaim “the victory of Christ over death,” while the guards “proclaim that death always wins, no matter what,” the pope said, illustrating two opposing versions of the same event. In the guards’ version, Christ did not rise, “but his body was stolen,” the pope recalled. From this comes the fact that “from the same event — the empty tomb — two interpretations spring forth: One is a source of new and eternal life, the other of certain and definitive death,” he explained.

This contrast “makes us reflect on the value of Christian witness and the honesty of human communication. Often, in fact, the telling of the truth is obscured by what we today call fake news — that is, lies, insinuations, and baseless accusations. Yet in the face of such obstacles, the truth does not remain hidden; on the contrary, it comes to meet us, alive and radiant, illuminating even the densest darkness,” he continued.

Christ is the good news to be proclaimed to the world, he said: “The Lord’s passover is our passover, the passover of humanity, because this man, who died for us, is the Son of God, who gave his life for us.”

Leo then turned his thoughts to “peoples tormented by war, to Christians persecuted for their faith, and to children deprived of education. To announce the passover of Christ in words and deeds means giving new voice to hope, otherwise stifled by the hands of the violent.”

Finally, he remembered Pope Francis, “who exactly one year ago, on Easter Monday, entrusted his life to the Lord. As we recall his great witness of faith and love, let us pray together to the Virgin Mary, Seat of Wisdom, so that we may become ever brighter heralds of the truth.”

After reciting the Marian prayer, Pope Leo XIV added a few more words: “I thank the initiatives promoted for the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, and I renew the appeal that sport, with its universal language of fraternity, may be a place of inclusion and peace. I thank all those who in these days have sent me Easter greetings. I am especially grateful for the prayers. Through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, may God reward each one with his gifts.”

He concluded: “I wish you a joyful and faithful celebration of this Easter Monday and these days of the Octave of Easter, during which the celebration of Christ’s resurrection continues. Let us persevere in invoking the gift of peace for the whole world.”

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.

Titled “The Interior Discovery of God’s Gift,” the Holy Father in the message reflects on the interior dimension of vocation, understood as “the discovery of God’s free gift that blossoms in the depths of our hearts.”

In his message, the pope refers to vocation as “a path of beauty” — one along which, if traveled, life becomes “truly beautiful.” He notes, however, that to perceive this beauty, it is necessary to cultivate one’s interior life.

“The distinctive trait of the saint is the luminous spiritual beauty that radiates from his or her life in Christ,” the pope affirms.

Citing the experience of St. Augustine, the Holy Father invites everyone to discover the presence of God in the innermost recesses of the soul by cultivating prayer and silence. Furthermore, he emphasizes that the gift of vocation is “never an imposition or a one-size-fits-all model to which one merely conforms; instead, it is an adventure of love and happiness.”

“Only when our surroundings are illumined by living faith, sustained by constant prayer, and enriched by fraternal accompaniment can God’s call blossom and mature, becoming a path of happiness and salvation for individuals and for the world,” he noted.

The pope also reminds us that God “knows us profoundly” and points out that this knowledge must be mutual: “We are invited to know God through prayer, listening to the word, the sacraments, the life of the Church, and works of charity for our brothers and sisters.”

He clarifies that this is not a matter of abstract intellectual knowledge or academic learning but rather of “a personal encounter that transforms one’s life.”

“Dear young people, listen to this voice! Listen to the voice of the Lord who invites you to a full and fruitful life, calling you to put your talents to use (cf. Mt 25:14-30) and to unite your limitations and weaknesses with the glorious cross of Christ.”

The pope recommends dedicating time to Eucharistic adoration and meditating on the word of God in order to come to know the Lord and give oneself fully to one’s vocation — whether it be to marriage, the priesthood, or consecrated or religious life.

Life is a continual act of ‘trusting in the Lord’

To know the Lord, Leo XIV continues, means “above all learning to entrust oneself to him and to his providence.” He proposes St. Joseph as a model of this trust and encourages the faithful to cultivate it without ever yielding to despair: “We must overcome fears and doubts, confident that the Lord of history — both of the world and of our own personal story — is risen.”

“He does not abandon us in our darkest hours but comes to dispel every shadow with his light. Through the light and strength of his Spirit, even amid trials and crises, we can see our vocation grow and mature, reflecting ever more fully the beauty of the One who has called us — a beauty shaped by fidelity and trust, despite our wounds and failures,” he affirms.

At the conclusion of his message, the Holy Father recalls that a vocation “is not a fixed point” but rather “a dynamic process of maturation.” Therefore, he explains, the “places” where God’s will is revealed — and where we experience his infinite love — are “often the authentic and fraternal bonds we establish throughout our lives.”

Consequently, he underscores the need to have a good spiritual guide and, finally, encourages everyone — especially young people — to cultivate their personal relationship with God. “Pause, listen, entrust yourselves. In this way, the gift of your vocation will mature, bringing you happiness, and yielding abundant fruit for the Church and for the world.”

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

In a departure from the traditional Easter survey of major international flashpoints, Leo focused his message on the spiritual roots of peace, presenting Christ’s resurrection as the answer to a world wounded by violence, hatred, and indifference.

“Easter is the victory of life over death, of light over darkness, of love over hatred,” the pope said. Yet it is also “a victory that came at a very high price”: Christ “had to die — and die on a cross — after suffering an unjust condemnation, being mocked and tortured, and shedding all his blood.”

Leo said the strength behind Christ’s triumph over death was not worldly power but divine love. “This strength, this power, is God himself, for he is love who creates and generates, love who is faithful to the end, and love who forgives and redeems,” he said.

“Christ, our ‘victorious king,’ fought and won his battle through trusting abandonment to the Father’s will, to his plan of salvation,” the pope said.

He added that Jesus “walked the path of dialogue to the very end, not in words but in deeds: to find us who were lost, he became flesh; to free us who were slaves, he became a slave; to give life to us mortals, he allowed himself to be killed on the cross.”

Leo stressed that “the power with which Christ rose is entirely nonviolent,” comparing it to “a human heart which, wounded by an offense, rejects the instinct for revenge and, filled with compassion, prays for the one who has committed the offense.”

“That is the true strength that brings peace to humanity,” he said, because it “fosters respectful relationships at every level: among individuals, families, social groups, and nations.”

The pope described the Resurrection as the foundation of a renewed human family. “Yes, Christ’s resurrection is the beginning of a new humanity; it is the entrance into the true promised land, where justice, freedom, and peace reign, where all recognize one another as brothers and sisters, children of the same Father who is love, life, and light.”

At the same time, Leo warned against becoming desensitized to violence.

“We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent,” he said. “Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people. Indifferent to the repercussions of hatred and division that conflicts sow. Indifferent to the economic and social consequences they produce, which we all feel.”

Recalling what he called an expression dear to Pope Francis, Leo lamented an ever-increasing “globalization of indifference” and urged Christians not to accept evil as inevitable.

“We cannot continue to be indifferent! And we cannot resign ourselves to evil!” he said.

Quoting St. Augustine — “If you fear death, love the Resurrection!” — Leo said Christians must cling to the hope of the risen Christ, who has conquered evil and offers true peace.

“The peace that Jesus gives us is not merely the silence of weapons but the peace that touches and transforms the heart of each one of us!” the pope said. “Let us allow ourselves to be transformed by the peace of Christ! Let us make heard the cry for peace that springs from our hearts!”

He then made his appeal in direct terms: “Let those who have weapons lay them down! Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace! Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them!”

Leo concluded by inviting the faithful to join him on April 11 for the peace vigil at St. Peter’s Basilica.

“On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination, and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars and marked by a hatred and indifference that make us feel powerless in the face of evil,” he said.

The pope ended the message with Easter greetings in several languages before concluding in Latin.

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.

“May Christ, our Passover, bless us and give his peace to the whole world!” the pope said at the end of his homily during Easter morning Mass in St. Peter’s Square on April 5.

Celebrating his first Easter as pontiff before a packed St. Peter’s Square decorated with traditional Dutch flowers, Leo centered his homily on the Resurrection as God’s answer to sin, death, and despair.

“Today all of creation is resplendent with new light, a song of praise rises from the earth, and our hearts rejoice: Christ is risen from the dead, and with him, we too rise to new life!” he said.

The pope said the Easter proclamation “embraces the mystery of our lives and the destiny of history,” reaching humanity even “in the depths of death, where we feel threatened and sometimes overwhelmed.”

“It opens us up to a hope that never fails, to a light that never fades, to a fullness of joy that nothing can take away: Death has been conquered forever; death no longer has power over us!” he said.

Leo acknowledged that this Christian message is not always easy to accept because “the power of death constantly threatens us, both from within and without.”

“From within, this power threatens us when the weight of our sins prevents us from ‘spreading our wings’ and taking flight, or when the disappointments or loneliness we experience drain our hope,” he said. “It likewise looms over us when our worries or our resentments suffocate the joy of living, when we are sad or tired, or when we feel betrayed or rejected.”

He added that death also appears in the world around us.

“From without, death is always lurking. We see it present in injustices, in partisan selfishness, in the oppression of the poor, in the lack of attention given to the most vulnerable,” he said. “We see it in violence, in the wounds of the world, in the cry of pain that rises from every corner because of the abuses that crush the weakest among us, because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys.”

Against that backdrop, the pope said Easter calls Christians to rediscover hope in the risen Christ.

“In this reality, the passover of the Lord invites us to lift our gaze and open our hearts,” he said. “It sets us in motion, like Mary Magdalene and the Apostles, so that we may discover that Jesus’ tomb is empty, and therefore in every death we experience there is also room for new life to arise.”

“The Lord is alive and remains with us,” Leo continued. “Through the cracks of resurrection that open up in the darkness, he entrusts our hearts to the hope that sustains us: The power of death is not the final destiny of our lives.”

The pope also cited Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, recalling that the Resurrection is not simply a past event but a living power at work in the world even amid injustice and cruelty.

Looking to the Gospel of John’s account of Easter morning, Leo said Christ’s Resurrection took place on “the first day of the week,” linking Easter to the first day of creation and the dawn of a new humanity.

“Brothers and sisters, Easter gives us this hope, as we remember that in the risen Christ a new creation is possible every day,” he said.

“Easter is the new creation brought about by the risen Lord; it is a new beginning; it is life finally made eternal by God’s victory over the ancient enemy.”

He concluded by exhorting Christians to become witnesses of that hope in the world.

“We need this song of hope today,” the pope said. “It is ourselves, risen with Christ, who must bring him into the streets of the world.”

“Let us then run like Mary Magdalene, announcing him to everyone, living out the joy of the Resurrection, so that wherever the specter of death still lingers, the light of life may shine.”

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.

“We do so after having traversed, over the past few days — as if in a single, grand celebration — the mysteries of the passion of the God who, for our sake, became a man of sorrows: despised and rejected by men, tortured and crucified,” the pope reflected.

At the vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope described the risen Christ as “the very creator of the universe who — just as he granted us existence out of nothing at the dawn of history — so too, upon the cross, in order to demonstrate his boundless love for us, bestowed upon us the gift of life.”

Reflecting on the account of the Resurrection, Leo said: “On Easter morning, the women — overcoming their sorrow and fear — set out on their way. They wanted to go to Jesus’ tomb. They expected to find it sealed, with a large stone at the entrance and soldiers standing guard.”

He described that stone as representative of sin, “a massive barrier that shuts us in and separates us from God, seeking to stifle his words of hope within us.”

“Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, however, did not let themselves be intimidated,” he said. “They went to the tomb and, thanks to their faith and their love, became the first witnesses of the Resurrection.”

The pope said Jesus’ message to the women — “Peace be with you” — is “also our message to the world.”

“Like the women who ran to bring the news to the brethren, we too wish to set out tonight from this basilica, to carry to everyone the good news that Jesus has risen, and that — through his power, having risen with him — we too can give birth to a new world of peace and unity.”

Addressing the catechumens receiving baptism during the vigil, the pope described them as “reborn in Christ to become new creatures.”

“Even in our own day, there is no shortage of tombs that need opening; indeed, the stones sealing them are often so heavy and so heavily guarded that they seem immovable,” he said.

“Some of these stones weigh upon the human heart — such as mistrust, fear, selfishness, and resentment. Others — the consequences of those inner burdens — sever the bonds between us, such as war, injustice, and the closing off of peoples and nations from one another.”

“Let us not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by them!” the pope said.

Pointing to the heroic work of the Christians of the past, the pope urged the faithful to “be moved by their example.”

“And on this holy night, let us make their commitment our own, so that everywhere and always — throughout the world — the Easter gifts of harmony and peace may grow and flourish,” he said.

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 pope personally carried the cross through every station of the Good Friday Way of the Cross at the Colosseum, the first time in four years the figure of the supreme pontiff has been present at the amphitheater.

The pope personally carried the cross through every station of the Good Friday Way of the Cross at the Colosseum in Rome, the first time in four years the figure of the supreme pontiff has been present at the amphitheater.

Due to health concerns, Pope Francis last participated in person at the Colosseum in 2022, appearing via video after that.

Leo told media earlier in the week that the event “will be an important sign, given what the pope represents: a spiritual leader in today’s world — a voice to proclaim that Christ still suffers.”

“And I, too, carry all of this suffering in my prayers,” the pope said.

The Via Crucis meditations for 2026 were written by Father Francesco Patton, the former custos of the Holy Land. The reflections noted that “every authority must answer before God for the manner in which it exercises the power it has received,” including “the power to initiate a war or to end it” and “the power to trample upon human dignity or to safeguard it.”

“Each one of us, too, is called to answer for the power we exercise in our daily lives,” the meditations said.

At the conclusion of the Way of the Cross, the pope quoted St. Francis of Assisi in praying that God would “give us miserable ones the grace to do for you alone what we know you want us to do and always to desire what pleases you.”

“Inwardly cleansed, interiorly enlightened and inflamed by the fire of the Holy Spirit, may we be able to follow in the footprints of your beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ,” the pope prayed.

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 liturgy began with the pope lying prostrate before the cross and then unfolded in three parts: the Liturgy of the Word, veneration of the cross, and holy Communion.

There was no opening antiphon; the solemn liturgy began with silent prayer, the unifying thread through the entire celebration.

After the proclamation of the Gospel of John’s account of Christ’s passion, the papal preacher, Father Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap, delivered a homily.

‘The greatest act of love’

“In a time like ours, still torn apart by hatred and violence, when even the name of God is invoked to justify wars and deadly decisions, we Christians are called to approach the Lord’s cross without fear — indeed, with full trust — knowing that it is a throne upon which one sits and learns to reign with him by placing one’s life at the service of others,” Pasolini said.

“If we can hold fast to the profession of this faith, then our days too will be able to give voice to the songs of both joy and suffering, that mysterious score of the cross in which the notes of the greatest love can be clearly recognized,” he continued.

The preacher recalled that the day’s liturgy invites Catholics to contemplate the Passion: “Yet the cross of Christ risks remaining incomprehensible if we look at it only as an isolated fact, as a sudden event. In reality, it is the highest point of a journey, the fulfillment of an entire life in which Jesus learned to listen to and welcome the voice of the Father, allowing himself to be guided day by day all the way to the greatest act of love.”

“Jesus is the man of sorrows who knows suffering well — no violence, no resort to force, no temptation to destroy everything and start over from scratch. We know how difficult it is to embrace such a mission. We are tempted to use aggression and violence, thinking that without them nothing can ever be resolved. But only meekness is the true strength for confronting the darkness of evil,” he continued.

Example of the Servant Songs

In his homily, Pasolini referred to the Servant Songs, four poetic texts found in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (42, 49, 50, 52–53), which describe a mysterious figure — the “Servant”— who fulfills God’s will through vicarious suffering.

“To understand this journey during the days of Holy Week, the liturgy has had us listen to the so‑called Songs of the Servant of the Lord. These are poetic texts in which the prophet Isaiah sketched the figure of a mysterious servant through whom God would be able to save the world from evil and sin. Christian tradition has recognized in these songs a striking and dramatic foreshadowing,” Pasolini explained.

“In the third song, a new surprise emerges: The servant wants to help, but people respond with anger and violence,” Pasolini said. “Those who live in darkness do not always welcome the light, because the light also exposes what we would prefer to keep hidden — our wounds, our ambiguities.”

“In the fourth song, something deeply unsettling occurs: The violence inflicted on the servant is so intense that it disfigures his face. He has no appearance or beauty, yet the servant has learned not to return the evil he has received,” the preacher said.

The servant “does not resign himself to this logic [of violence]; he absorbs everything without retaliating. For this reason, he bore the sin of many,” the priest explained.

For the papal preacher, the Lord Jesus “did not merely listen to these songs; he lived them intensely, with complete trust in the Father.”

“We see it constantly in wars, in divisions, in wounds: Evil keeps circulating because it always finds someone willing to pass it on. Jesus broke this chain by accepting what happened to him. In the Passion, he recognized the score of the songs of love and service that the Father had entrusted to him. In this way, he learned the most difficult obedience — the obedience of loving the other,” Pasolini continued.

“The voice of God no longer guides us — not because it has disappeared, but because it has become just one voice among many, the others promising security and well‑being,” he said.

“What is missing is a word, a song capable of guiding our steps toward a more just world,” he added. “And yet, if we look closely, we can glimpse a silent crowd of people who choose a different voice — a voice that does not shout, that does not impose itself by force, a quiet and persistent song that invites us to love and never return evil for evil. They do not perform extraordinary deeds, but each day they try to make their lives serve not only themselves but others as well.”

‘Lay down the weapons’

Referencing the act of venerating the cross, Pasolini encouraged those present to use the opportunity to “lay down the weapons” they are holding.

“They may not seem as dangerous as those wielded by the powerful of this world. Yet they, too, are instruments of death, because they are enough to weaken, wound, and drain meaning and love from our daily relationships,” he said.

“Salvation will not drop down from above, nor can it be guaranteed by political, economic, or military decisions. The world is constantly being saved by those who are willing to embrace the Songs of the Servant of the Lord as the shape of their own lives,” the preacher encouraged.

“This is what the Lord Jesus did. He took the Father’s will seriously, accepting it as a score to be carried out to the end, with loud cries and tears.”

“Tonight we too are handed the score of the cross. We can freely accept it if we acknowledge that there is no difficulty that cannot be faced, no guilty party we must point to, no enemy who can prevent us from loving and serving."

“There is only ourselves — who, by choosing not to return evil, by remaining patient in trials, by believing in good even when darkness seems to swallow everything, can become day by day those servants the Lord needs to bring salvation into the world,” he said.

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 said the pope spoke separately with both presidents on April 3. They exchanged Easter and Passover greetings. Leo also spoke with the presidents about the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and highlighted the need for continued humanitarian aid.

The Middle East and Ukraine continue to be plagued by armed conflicts. The U.S. and Israeli conflict with Iran has entered a new phase with U.S. President Donald Trump this week vowing stronger military action against Iran. The Russia-Ukraine War continues to claim casualties and has entered its fourth year.

A statement from the office of the Israeli president said Herzog discussed the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran with the pope, including “the ongoing threat of missile attacks by the Iranian regime and its terror proxies against people of all faiths in the region.”

The statement also said that Herzog recalled to Leo recent Iranian missile attacks on Jerusalem, and his insistence that Hezbollah continues to be a threat to stability in the Middle East.

The telephone discussions followed Leo’s public plea on March 31 in which he again called for an unconditional ceasefire and expressed hopes that Trump would be “looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing.” In that same plea, he also called for an Easter truce for both conflicts.

The discussion between the pope and the Israeli president also followed an incident in Jerusalem on March 29, where the Latin patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, was denied access to the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday by Israeli police.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land later reached an agreement with Israeli authorities, permitting access for Church representatives to celebrate Masses and religious rites while restrictions on public gatherings remain in force.

Neither the office of the Israeli president nor the Vatican commented on whether the pope and Herzog discussed the incident in Jerusalem.

Dating back to the ninth century, though not gaining a permanent place in the Roman orders until the 14th century, the Good Friday Reproaches have long been an essential part of the Roman liturgy. But they largely disappeared from many parishes following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

The antiphons have, however, retained their prominence at the Vatican — and are normally chanted by the Sistine Chapel Choir during the Good Friday service in St. Peter’s Basilica.

In the moment leading up to the dramatic recitation, the priest chants three times, in an increasing pitch, “Ecce lignum crucis,” or “Behold the wood of the cross,” each time gradually unveiling the cross that hitherto has been covered in a purple veil.

Once the crucifix is placed in a central location at the edge of the sanctuary, cast against a bare altar, the faithful are invited to kneel before — and kiss — it, a powerful remembrance of Christ’s passion but also a recognition of the cross as an instrument of salvation.

During the adoration of the cross, the Good Friday Reproaches are chanted in an alternating manner between a cantor and choir. It opens: “Popule meus, quid feci tibi? Aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi” (“My people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answer me”).

This hauntingly sorrowful and beautiful text is followed by the first reproach: “Quia eduxi te de terra Aegypti: parasti crucem Salvatori tuo” (“Because I led thee out of the land of Egypt: thou hast prepared a cross for thy Savior”), showcasing the world’s fatal rejection of Christ despite his love and saving acts.

The following is the full text of the reproaches:

Popule meus, quid feci tibi?
Aut in quo contristavi te?
Responde mihi.
(O my people, what have I done to thee?
Or how have I offended you?
Answer me.)

Quia eduxi te de terra Aegypti:
parasti crucem Salvatori tuo.
(Because I led thee out of the land of Egypt:
thou hast prepared a cross for thy Savior.)

Hagios o Theos.
Sanctus Deus.
Hagios Ischyros.
Sanctus fortis.
Hagios Athanatos, eleison himas.
Sanctus immortalis, miserere nobis.
(O holy God!
O holy God!
O holy strong One!
O holy strong One!
O holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.
O holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.)

Quia eduxi te per desertum quadraginta annis:
et manna cibavi te, et introduxi te in terram satis bonam:
parasti crucem Salvatori tuo.
Hagios ...
(Because I led thee through the desert for 40 years:
and fed thee with manna, and brought thee into a land exceeding good:
Thou hast prepared a cross for thy Savior.
O holy God! ...)

Quid ultra debui facere tibi, et non feci?
Ego quidem plantavi te vineam meam speciosissimam:
et tu facta es mihi nimis amara:
aceto namque sitim meam potasti:
et lancea perforasti latus Salvatori tuo.
Hagios ...
(What more ought I to have done for thee, that I have not done?
I planted thee, indeed, my most beautiful vineyard:
and thou hast become exceeding bitter to me:
for in my thirst thou gavest me vinegar to drink:
and with a spear thou hast pierced the side of thy Savior.
O holy God! ...)

Ego propter te flagellavi Aegyptum cum primogenitis suis:
et tu me flagellatum tradidisti.
Popule meus ...
(For thy sake I scourged the firstborn of Egypt:
Thou hast given me up to be scourged.
O my people ...)

Ego te eduxi de Aegypto, demerso Pharone in mare Rubrum:
et tu me tradidisti principibus sacerdotum.
Popule meus ...
(I led thee out of Egypt, having drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea:
and thou hast delivered me to the chief priests.
O my people ...)

Ego ante te aperui mare:
et tu aperuisti lancea latus meum.
Popule meus ...
(I opened the sea before thee:
and thou hast opened my side with a spear.
O my people ...)

Ego ante te praeivi in columna nubis:
et tu me duxisti ad praetorium Pilati.
Popule meus ...
(I went before thee in a pillar of cloud:
and thou hast led me to the judgment hall of Pilate.
O my people ...)

Ego te pavi manna in desertum:
et tu me cedisti alapis et flagellis.
Popule meus . . .
(I fed thee with manna in the desert:
and thou hast assaulted me with blows and scourges.
O my people ...)

Ego te potavi aqua salutis de petra:
et tu me potasti felle et aceto.
Popule meus ...
(I gave thee the water of salvation from the rock:
and thou hast given me gall and vinegar to drink.
O my people ...)

Ego propter te Chananeorum reges percussi:
et tu percussisti arundine caput meum.
Popule meus . . .
(For thy sake I struck the kings of the Canaanites:
and thou hast struck my head with a reed.
O my people ...)

Ego dedi tibi sceptrum regale:
et tu dedisti capiti meo spineam coronam.
Popule meus ...
(I gave thee a royal scepter:
and thou hast given a crown of thorns for my head.
O my people ...)

Ego te exaltavi magna virtute:
et tu me suspendisti in patibulo crucis.
Popule meus ...
(I exalted thee with great strength:
and thou hast hanged me on the gibbet of the cross.
O my people ...)

This story was first published on Good Friday 2024 and has been updated.

Departing from Pope Francis’ custom of celebrating the liturgy in prisons or migrant centers, Leo celebrated the rite in the cathedral of Rome and washed the feet of 12 priests of the Diocese of Rome.

Departing from Pope Francis’ custom of celebrating the liturgy in prisons or migrant centers, Leo celebrated the rite in the cathedral of Rome and washed the feet of 12 priests of the Diocese of Rome.

In his homily, the pope framed the liturgy as the solemn entrance into the Easter Triduum and said Christ’s love, shown in both the Eucharist and the washing of the feet, reveals the justice of God in a world wounded by evil.

“This evening’s solemn liturgy marks our entry into the holy Triduum of the Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection,” Leo said. “We cross this threshold not as mere spectators, nor out of habit, but as those personally invited by Jesus himself as guests at the Supper in which bread and wine become for us the sacrament of salvation.”

“His love becomes both gesture and nourishment for all, revealing the justice of God,” the pope said. “In this world, and particularly in those places where evil abounds, Jesus loves definitively — forever, and with his whole being.”

Reflecting on the washing of the feet, Leo said the gesture is not simply a moral lesson but a revelation of God’s own way of loving.

“What the Lord shows us — taking the water, the basin, and the towel — is far more than a moral example,” he said. “He entrusts to us his very way of life. The washing of the feet is a gesture that encapsulates the revelation of God.”

The pope also cited Benedict XVI, recalling that Christians must repeatedly learn that God’s greatness is unlike worldly greatness. “We too must ‘learn repeatedly that God’s greatness is different from our idea of greatness… because we systematically desire a God of success and not of the Passion,’” Leo said.

He warned that human beings are tempted to seek a God who grants success, victory, or usefulness like wealth and power rather than recognizing the divine power revealed in humble service.

“Yet we fail to perceive that God does indeed serve us through the gratuitous and humble gesture of washing feet,” Leo said. “This is the true omnipotence of God.”

The pope said Jesus’ action purifies both humanity’s false image of God and its false image of man.

“For we tend to consider ourselves powerful when we dominate, victorious when we destroy our equals, great when we are feared,” he said. “In contrast, as true God and true man, Christ offers us the example of self-giving, service, and love.”

Leo stressed that Christ gave this example not in a moment of acclaim but “on the night he was betrayed, in the darkness of incomprehension and violence.”

“In this way, it becomes clear that the Lord’s love precedes our own goodness or purity; he loves us first, and in that love, he forgives and restores us,” the pope said.

Quoting St. John’s Gospel, Leo urged Christians to live out mutual service in imitation of Christ: “He does not ask us to repay him but to share his gift among ourselves: ‘You also ought to wash one another’s feet.’”

The pope also referred to Pope Francis’ 2013 Holy Thursday homily, noting that Christian service cannot be reduced to abstraction or empty obligation but must spring from charity.

Allowing oneself to be served by the Lord, Leo said, is a precondition for serving others. “By washing our bodies, Jesus purifies our souls,” he said. “In him, God has given us an example — not of how to dominate, but of how to liberate; not of how to destroy life, but of how to give it.”

In one of the homily’s strongest appeals, the pope turned to the suffering of those crushed by violence and oppression.

“As humanity is brought to its knees by so many acts of brutality, let us too kneel down as brothers and sisters alongside the oppressed,” he said.

Leo said the liturgy of Holy Thursday draws together the institution of the Eucharist and holy orders, revealing “the perfect self-gift of Jesus, the High Priest and living, eternal Eucharist.”

Addressing priests directly, he said: “Beloved brothers in the priesthood, we are called to serve the people of God with our whole lives.”

He concluded by inviting Catholics to spend time in Eucharistic adoration and to ask for the grace to imitate Christ’s love.

“Holy Thursday is therefore a day of fervent gratitude and authentic fraternity,” the pope said. “May this evening’s Eucharistic adoration, in every parish and community, be a time to contemplate Jesus’ gesture, kneeling as he did, and to ask for the strength to imitate his service with the same love.”

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 Mass included the traditional blessing of the holy oils that will be used throughout the year in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, anointing of the sick, and holy orders.

At the chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on April 2, the pope reflected on the mission God entrusts to his people and warned that it must never be distorted by “a desire for domination, entirely foreign to the way of Jesus Christ.”

“The cross is part of the mission: The sending becomes more bitter and frightening, but also more freeing and transformative,” Leo said. “The imperialist occupation of the world is thus disrupted from within; the violence that until now has been the law is unmasked.”

The pope did not point to any specific geopolitical situation when he used the phrase.

The chrism Mass, one of the principal liturgies of Holy Thursday, includes the blessing of the holy oils that will be used throughout the year in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, anointing of the sick, and holy orders. During the Mass, priests also renew the promises they made at ordination.

Presiding over the rite for the first time as bishop of Rome, Leo addressed nearly 1,000 priests in St. Peter’s Basilica and emphasized that the Christian mission is never lived in isolation or in rupture with the Church.

“Each of us takes part in it according to our own vocation in a deeply personal obedience to the voice of the Spirit, yet never without others, never neglecting or breaking communion!” he said.

The pope said the Easter Triduum, which begins later on Holy Thursday, calls Christians not to flee trial but to pass through it with Christ.

“What we are about to relive, in fact, possesses the power to transform what human pride generally tends to harden: our identity and our place in the world,” he said. “Jesus’ freedom changes hearts, heals wounds, refreshes and brightens our faces, reconciles and gathers us together, and forgives and raises us up.”

Leo also stressed that the Church is apostolic because it is sent out, not static, and said bishops and priests are called to remain at the service of a missionary people.

He warned that mission has too often been warped by worldly logic and said authentic Christian love cannot be tied to force or display.

“Love is true only when it is unguarded; it requires little fuss, no ostentation, and gently cherishes weakness and vulnerability,” he said.

The pope also cautioned against approaching the poor with worldly signs of influence.

“There is no ‘good news to the poor’ … if we go to them bearing the signs of power, nor is there authentic liberation unless we free ourselves from attachment,” he said.

Instead, Leo pointed to the witness of the great missionaries, who, he said, embody “quiet, unobtrusive approaches, whose method is the sharing of life, selfless service, the renunciation of any calculated strategy, dialogue, and respect.”

He added that Christian mission requires simplicity and reverence before the mystery present in every people and culture.

“As Christians, we are guests,” he said. “To be hosts, in fact, we must learn to be guests ourselves.”

Even in places marked by secularization, he said, the Church must not think in terms of conquest or reconquest but of listening, accompaniment, and witness. That is possible only when the Church walks together, he said, and when mission is not “a heroic adventure reserved for a few, but the living witness of a body with many members.”

Leo also reflected on the possibility of rejection in Christian mission, recalling Jesus’ expulsion from Nazareth. Yet even that trial, he said, can become the place where the Gospel reveals its deepest power.

“How many ‘resurrections’ are we called to experience when, free from a defensive attitude, we immerse ourselves in service like a seed in the earth!” he said.

During the homily, the pope cited St. Óscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador murdered in 1980, as a witness of persevering hope amid danger and suffering.

At the close of his reflection, Leo urged Catholics to renew their commitment to a mission marked by unity and peace.

“In this dark hour of history, it has pleased God to send us to spread the fragrance of Christ where the stench of death reigns,” he said. “Let us renew our ‘yes’ to this mission that calls for unity and brings peace. Yes, we are here! Let us overcome the sense of powerlessness and fear!”

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

The flight — which is the first crewed lunar mission in more than half a century — is a test for future missions hoping to return humans to the lunar surface in 2028.

Jesuit Father Richard A. D’Souza, director of the Vatican Observatory since September 2025, told EWTN News the Artemis II program is “a great development” that will hopefully lead to answers about the origin of the moon.

The astronomer said the Catholic Church has always supported space exploration but, noting the increased commercialization of spaceflight, warned that it should be for “the benefit of all.”

D’Souza shared with EWTN News the significance of this launch and how the Church continues to view space exploration:

EWTN News: From the Vatican Observatory’s perspective, what is the significance of Artemis II returning humans to the moon’s vicinity after more than 50 years?

D’Souza: The Artemis program is a great development from the perspective of human spaceflight. Since the Apollo missions, our understanding of the moon and our scientific techniques to answer many of the unanswered questions have improved. A possible landing on the moon will allow us to answer several unanswered questions about the origin of the moon.

Furthermore, there is a growing awareness that the moon could host several scientific experiments which could not be possible from the earth due to the abundance of electromagnetic pollution. The far side of the moon remains shielded from various forms of electromagnetic pollutions from the Earth and is ideal to listen to faint signals from the cosmos.

How does the Catholic Church view human spaceflight today — has that perspective evolved since the Apollo era?

The Apollo program — lead by NASA — focused on human endeavor and making the impossible possible. Today, there are many more actors in space with the inclusion of many private companies focused solely on commercial benefit. The Catholic Church, while encouraging all forms of human progress, is particularly concerned that the benefits of such technologies should lead to the benefit of all and not to further inequality and injustice.

Furthermore, the Vatican is especially concerned about the pollution of pristine environments in space (e.g. the moon or other planets) and the great risk of increasing space debris.

Artemis II is a test mission rather than a landing — what does the emphasis on preparation and patience say about how we should approach exploration?

Artemis II is part of a long-term program to return humankind to the moon. While 50 years have passed since we were last on the surface of the moon, we now have a much better understanding of the risks involved. At the same time, much of the technology that will be used in the Artemis program has never been tested for this kind of enterprise. In any form of space mission which involves human persons, the highest forms of accountability and security are needed. Hence, the great caution on the part of NASA in doing all the preparation necessary before landing again on the moon.

Some critics argue that space exploration distracts us from addressing suffering and injustice on Earth. How does the Church respond to that concern?

The Catholic Church has long supported space exploration right from the initial days of the Apollo missions. It understands the symbolic value of space exploration and its effect on other dimensions of human life. Yet at the same time, it is very concerned that exploration of space should not lead to an increase in injustice here on Earth. For this reason, it has been particularly vociferous about international treaties and regulations of space use and travel that need to be put in place — to ensure peace, justice, and that its benefits reach all.

Looking ahead, what questions do you hope future space missions will help humanity explore?

Human space travel to Mars will require us to understand the long-term effect of space travel on the human person. The longest a person has been in space has been 437 days. Before we can undertake longer space missions, we need to understand how to deal with medical emergencies in space. The recent return of the astronauts from the space station due to a health emergency shows how difficult this can be.

In an interview with the Spanish media outlet Alfa and Omega, the priest, who first met the pontiff when their paths crossed in Chiclayo, Peru, emphasized that despite his new responsibilities, the pope “remains the same.”

“The only things that have changed are his attire, which is now white, and his responsibilities; otherwise, the man we have all come to know remains exactly the same: approachable, calm, an excellent listener, and always available,” he said.

A discreet service alongside the pope

Rimaycuna explained that his role as personal secretary consists of accompanying the Holy Father in his daily life and ensuring he has the necessary time and space for rest.

“It means working alongside a friend, in my particular case, and also serving as the one who assists him in his daily work and protects him, so he is able to carry out his duties in a peaceful atmosphere,” he noted.

The priest also said his role is defined by discretion, in which the spotlight always remains on the pope.

“No one teaches you how to be the pope’s secretary, because it’s an assignment that comes upon you quite suddenly,” he remarked, explaining that he has found inspiration in St. Joseph and St. John the Baptist.

He highlighted St. Joseph’s silence and his capacity to remain in the background and St. John the Baptist’s attitude of humility, expressed in the phrase: “It is fitting that I decrease and that he increase.”

“I believe that these are the two images that summarize the mission, the task, of a secretary: to take second place, and for the other person to be the center of attention,” he noted.

Latin American warmth in the pontificate

Rimaycuna also said the pope’s experience in Latin America has shaped his style of governance, particularly in his closeness to people.

“In Latin America, we are accustomed to physical closeness, close contact,” he explained, noting that this characteristic is reflected by the pontiff in particular ways, such as “offering a greeting, smiling, offering a word of encouragement, or making a small gesture.”

Some observers perceive Leo’s pontificate as reserved, and Rimaycuna confirmed that this reservedness is part of the pope’s personality: “He is reserved because that is simply his nature — always prudent, calm, and patient — but his years in Peru have also helped him maintain that closeness with the people.”

In this regard, he added that the pope manages to integrate “prudence and practicality” with the “cordial, approachable, and affectionate” gestures characteristic of Latin America.

On the apostolic journey to Spain

Regarding the upcoming apostolic journey to Spain, the pope’s personal secretary noted that its primary significance will lie in the closeness of the shepherd to his flock.

He also highlighted that the Holy Father seeks to acknowledge Spain’s historical contribution to the Church.

“Throughout history, Spain has been characterized as a land that has produced many saints,” he stated, emphasizing that the trip would also serve as a gesture of “gratitude for all that Spain has given to the world and to the Church in terms of faith and Christian life.”

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

“They’re absolutely the pope’s intentions; however, he does it in a very synodal way,” after gathering input from many sources, Father Cristóbal Fones, SJ, international director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (PWPN), told EWTN News.

The prayer network, established as a Vatican entity by Pope Francis in 2018, recently undertook a lengthy consultation process with its national directors in 94 countries and members of the Roman Curia.

“Last year, we received about 300 proposals in different languages,” Fones said. “We categorized them, we summarized them, and then the [prayer network’s] international office proposed 16 of them to the pope to facilitate his work.”

“In December, I passed him these 16 proposals … he put another one that wasn’t part of the [original] proposals and changed the order,” he continued.

“He’s quite involved in this process. For him it is critical,” he said.

Every month, Pope Leo records three versions — English, Italian, and Spanish — of his monthly prayer intention.

“It’s a lot of work,” the PWPN director told EWTN News. “He’s committed to this because he knows it is important and because he wants to pray with people.”

According to Fones, Pope Leo is continuing the tradition of Pope Francis, who recorded the first video of the monthly intentions in 2016, but the current pope has put his own stamp on the practice.

“[Pope Leo] wanted to invite people not only to pray for the intention but to pray with him,” he said. “So he wanted a video where he was praying and people could join him.”

“He’s teaching us how to pray at the same time,” Fones said, “by saying ‘hello’ to the Lord, pausing a little bit, and meaning every single word.”

Fones said Pope Leo asked the global network to help people cultivate a “friendship” with God through the various multimedia resources they offer.

“He said to me, ‘Please teach people how to pray,’” Fones said. “He’s very conscious that we may be Catholics but not have this kind of relationship with Jesus.”

“Prayer is not something that we do or something that we say, but it’s a relationship that we build up — not with something — but with someone,” he added.

In addition to the “Pray with the Pope” campaign, the Vatican foundation also offers a nine-step spirituality program called “Way of the Heart.”

At Leo’s request, PWPN launched the “Pray with the Pope” campaign in January with the desire to teach people “intercessory prayer” that is focused on “Christ and the challenges of humanity.”

“The closer we are to the heart of Jesus, the closer we are to the pains and sufferings of the world who are at the core of his heart,” Fones said.

“The important thing is to be compassionate with so many challenges we are facing around the world, very critical, that obviously are in the heart of the pope, as [they are] in the heart of so many people who are suffering those problems, and … certainly in the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ,” he said.

After riding around a packed St. Peter’s Square in the popemobile on April 1, the Holy Father recalled the nature and mission of the laity, who for centuries had been defined simply as “those who are not part of the clergy or the consecrated life” in a reflection based on the Second Vatican Council’s dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium.

Dignity and mission of the laity

The pope explained that Vatican II broke with the former understanding of the laity by affirming the equality of all the baptized and emphasizing both the dignity and the mission of the laity in the Church and in the world.

“Naturally, the greater the gift, the greater the commitment too,” the pontiff said.

In light of Lumen Gentium, Leo affirmed that, by virtue of baptism, “the lay faithful participate in the very priesthood of Christ.”

He recalled the apostolic exhortation Christifideles Laici, in which St. John Paul II emphasized that “the council, with its rich doctrinal, spiritual, and pastoral patrimony, has written as never before on the nature, dignity, spirituality, mission, and responsibility of the lay faithful.” In this way, the saintly pope “relaunched the apostolate of the laity,” Leo noted.

He also stressed that the vast field of the lay apostolate “is not confined to the Church but extends to the world” and that the Church is present “wherever her children profess and bear witness to the Gospel.”

As examples, he cited workplaces, civil society, and all human relationships, “wherever they, through their choices, show the beauty of Christian life, which foretells here and now the justice and peace that will be accomplished in the kingdom of God.”

Quoting Lumen Gentium, the Holy Father stated that “the world needs to be permeated by the spirit of Christ, and more effectively fulfill its purpose in justice, charity, and peace.” He added: “And this is possible only through the contribution, service, and witness of the laity!”

This, the pontiff explained, is the invitation to be the “outgoing” Church spoken of by Pope Francis: “a Church embodied in history, always open to mission, in which we are all called to be missionary disciples, apostles of the Gospel, witnesses of the kingdom of God, bearers of the joy of Christ whom we have encountered!”

During his greeting to pilgrims, Pope Leo XIV encouraged them to remain close to the tomb of Christ and to be faithful in the hour of silence and trial.

He also encouraged the faithful to strengthen their faith during Holy Week and to ask the Lord that the paschal mystery renew in them the grace to be joyful witnesses of the Risen One, confident that love and peace are stronger than death.

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

In remarks to journalists on March 31 outside the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo, the pope reminded that “Easter should be the holiest, most sacred time of the year. It is a time of peace, a time for much reflection, but as we all know, once again in the world, in so many places, we are seeing so much suffering, so many deaths, even innocent children.”

The pope said he had been told President Donald Trump wants to end the war in the Middle East and expressed hope that Trump is seeking a way to decrease the violence.

Pope Leo asked everyone, “especially Christians,” to “live these days recognizing that Christ is still crucified today, that Christ still suffers today in the innocent, especially those who are suffering from violence, hatred, and war.”

“Let us pray for them, for the victims of war, let us pray that there may truly be a new, renewed peace, which can give new life to all,” Pope Leo urged.

“We make continuous appeals for peace, but unfortunately many people want to promote hatred and violence, war,” the pope said.

Hope for a truce

He expressed hope for a truce during Easter, saying: “I’m told that President Trump recently stated that he would like to end the war. Hopefully he’s looking for an ‘off ramp.’ Hopefully he’s looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing, which would be a significant contribution to removing the hatred that’s being created and that’s increasing constantly in the Middle East and elsewhere.”

The pope addressed all world leaders, urging them: “Come back to the table, to dialogue. Let’s look for solutions to problems, let’s look for ways to reduce the amount of violence that we’re promoting, that peace — especially at Easter — might reign in our hearts.”

In response to a question about his plans, announced today, to carry a cross during the Good Friday Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum in Rome, the pope said: “I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents: a spiritual leader in today’s world, a voice to say that Christ still suffers. And I carry all these sufferings in my prayers as well.”

He asked “all people of goodwill, to people of faith, to walk together, to walk with Christ who suffered for us, to give us salvation, and to seek to be bearers of peace ourselves.”

In a video released on X, the Holy Father posed a question for the faithful: “Have you ever been in a crisis?”

“In moments of fragility, it’s so important that we are there for one another,” he said. “This April, I invite you to join me in prayer for priests going through moments of crisis in their vocation, that they may find accompaniment and that communities may support them with understanding and prayer.”

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 Jesus,

Good Shepherd and companion on the journey,

today we place in your hands all priests,

especially those going through moments of crisis,

when loneliness weighs heavily,

when doubt clouds their hearts,

and when exhaustion seems stronger than hope.

You who know their struggles and wounds,

renew in them the certainty of your unconditional love.

Let them feel they are not mere functionaries or lonely heroes,

but beloved sons, humble and cherished disciples,

and pastors sustained by the prayer of their people.

Good Father,

teach us as a community to care for our priests:

to listen without judging,

to give thanks without demanding perfection,

to share with them the baptismal mission

of proclaiming the kingdom in word and deed,

and to accompany them with closeness and sincere prayer.

May we support those who so often support us.

Holy Spirit,

rekindle in our priests the joy of the Gospel.

Grant them healthy friendships, networks of fraternal support,

a sense of humor when things don’t go as expected,

and the grace to always rediscover the beauty of their vocation.

May they never lose trust in you,

nor the joy of serving your Church with a humble and generous heart.

Amen.

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

Nwachukwu, who serves as secretary of the Section of First Evangelization at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, told EWTN News that any serious conversation about peace and coexistence must begin with clear condemnation of anti‑Christian violence, particularly from Muslim leaders in places where Christians lack full religious freedom.

The Nigerian prelate also warned of a growing cultural aversion to Christianity in the West, where Christian expression is often treated with suspicion even as societies insist on defending the religious symbols of others.

Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit four countries in Africa, including the Muslim-majority Algeria, on his first apostolic journey to the continent April 13–23.

A diplomat urges Muslims to confront anti‑Christian violence

Drawing on decades of diplomatic service in Ghana, Paraguay, Algeria, and Switzerland, Nwachukwu described the anti‑Christian discrimination he witnessed firsthand — experiences he believes continue to be overlooked.

“I do not criticize Islam; I criticize the way some people practice their Islam,” he said. “People just shout about Islamophobia, but its main cause is not to be sought in the West. It is to be sought in the way some Muslims practice their religion. We are calling our Muslim friends to condemn the wrong use of their religion as a religion of violence.”

He recalled that during his service in Algeria, Christians were openly labeled “enemies of Islam.” In one incident, a shopkeeper refused to serve him because he was wearing a Roman collar.

“Christians still do not have full liberty to practice their religion,” he said.

A West increasingly uncomfortable with its Christian roots

But Nwachukwu also directed sharp criticism toward Europe, where he sees a growing reluctance to defend Christianity even as Western societies emphasize religious tolerance.

“Everybody denounces Islamophobia, but nobody denounces Christianophobia,” he said. “We are in a post‑Christian Europe and a post‑Christian West.”

He noted that Christian symbols face discrimination not applied to other religions: “You enter a hall and see a symbol of Buddhism — nobody touches it. You see a Muslim in a hijab — nobody says to remove it. But you see a cross, and they say, ‘Remove it.’ Why?”

This, he argued, reflects a cultural embarrassment about Europe’s Christian heritage:

“It is like feeling guilty for having a mother who is ugly and then forgetting that she also has rights. The Christianity that gave them their education, culture, and society — they now feel uncomfortable with it.”

Reverse missionaries and a hopeful response to Europe’s secular drift

Nwachukwu said this situation makes the growing presence of African and Asian missionaries in Europe all the more significant, as a hopeful sign that the global Church can help rekindle the continent’s Christian identity.

“The West often forgets that we are the result of sacrifices made by their own brothers and sisters who became missionaries,” he said. “But the sheaves — the children of those missionaries — are now returning.”

Nwachukwu described this movement as a gift that can strengthen Western Christianity in places where secularism has taken deep root.

“We want to see the mother Churches in Europe accept and be proud of their missionary children from the global south.”

Encouragement for persecuted Christians

To Christians facing persecution — whether under hostile regimes, extremist movements, or secular cultural pressures — Nwachukwu offered a message of strength: “If you are encountering persecution, it means that the message you have is important. If your message were not important, people wouldn’t even think of you. So, the message is: Do not feel you are alone. Know what you are worth.”

The Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life announced the decision March 27, saying it had “considered it appropriate to cancel the celebration of the Second World Children’s Day, initially scheduled to take place in Rome from Sept. 25 to 27, 2026.”

According to the official statement, the dicastery opted not to hold the international gathering in Rome and instead pointed to a more decentralized approach rooted in local communities.

“All initiatives aimed at the pastoral care of children may be celebrated, at the discretion of the ordinaries, at a diocesan or parish level and with the involvement of families, the proper place for the human and spiritual growth of every child,” the statement said, adding that the decision was made “after careful consideration and in agreement with the Holy Father.”

The text underscores the role of the family as central to the human and spiritual development of children, in keeping with the pastoral emphasis of the current pontificate.

The Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life also reaffirmed that it continues “its commitment to promoting the pastoral care of the family in all its components.”

The cancellation of the second World Children’s Day follows another decision made in February that brought a structural change by placing the initiative under the integrated management of the Roman Curia. Leo XIV dissolved the Pontifical Commission for World Children’s Day, a body created in 2024 by his predecessor, Pope Francis, for organizational matters.

As a result, the president, vice president, and all members of the body — including Father Enzo Fortunato, who had served as president of the committee — automatically ceased their functions.

Full responsibility then passed to the dicastery led by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, whom the pope entrusted with general coordination, resolving pending matters, and presenting the final liquidation balance to the Secretariat for the Economy.

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

‘The resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate source of hope’

“The resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate source of hope for all who believe in Christ and await the promise of eternal life,” the pontiff said during an audience with the Illinois Municipal League, an association of municipalities that advocates for the interests of local governments in Illinois, the pope’s home state.

Acknowledging that suffering cannot be avoided or eliminated, the Holy Father affirmed that one can “find a redemptive meaning” in it that restores lost dignity and “opens the door to a new life.”

The Holy Father also recalled that “the victory of the risen Lord over death” reveals that the heart of authentic authority is service: “His service and obedience to the will of the Father have led to a sure hope and lasting peace for all humanity.”

“Thus,” the pontiff added, “the victory born of Christ’s gift of self stands as both a beacon and a challenge for all of us today.”

He invited members of the state association “to be attentive to the needs of the weakest and most vulnerable in order to assist them toward integral human development.”

He cited as an example the Venerable Giorgio La Pira, who served as mayor of Florence, Italy, encouraging the group “to reduce and alleviate the suffering and hardships of their citizens in every possible way, through every measure that love suggests and the law provides.”

“The dignity of every individual must be recognized and upheld, because their municipalities are not anonymous places but rather possess faces and stories that must be cherished as valuable treasures,” he said.

Listening to the poor and to immigrants

The pope asked the group to listen to the poor, to immigrants, “and to all the least among you” in order “to promote the common good for the benefit of all.”

In this way, he emphasized, “each of your municipalities can become a place of genuine encounter among all citizens, providing opportunities for every individual to flourish.”

Pope Leo XIV also recalled that “those who exercise authority are also servants of God” and entrusted the association members to the intercession of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, who for many years assisted the most vulnerable in Chicago “with great love and dedication.”

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

On March 24, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a document titled “Characteristics of the Anglican Heritage as Lived in the Ordinariates Established Under the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus.”

The document is the fruit of a meeting held March 1–3 in Rome, during which Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the dicastery, invited the ordinariate bishops — including Bishop Steven J. Lopes of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, Bishop David Waller of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England, and Bishop Anthony Randazzo of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross — to reflect on how they have lived and integrated their Anglican spiritual and liturgical heritage within the Catholic Church.

The document highlights key characteristics of the Anglican patrimony as lived in the ordinariates, including a distinctive “ecclesial ethos” in which both the laity and the clergy participate actively in church governance, and a focus on evangelization through beauty in worship, music, and art.

Direct outreach to the poor is “a defining element of the patrimony,” according to the document, as is a pastoral culture that connects divine worship with daily life in what the document calls an “almost monastic rhythm drawn from the English spiritual tradition” that characterizes ordinariate parish communities.

The bishops placed a strong emphasis on the family as the “domestic church,” as “the home is … the first place where the faith is learned and lived."

The document also highlighted Scripture-centered preaching and the importance of spiritual direction and the sacrament of penance.

The bishops noted that, despite the great geographical distances between the three ordinariates, they share “a core shared identity” and offer “a unique reflection of the face of the Church and a distinctive contribution to the living richness of her identity as ‘one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.’”

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston serves as the mother church and cathedral of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, which spans the U.S. and Canada. Established by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, the ordinariate was given its own cathedral when Lopes was ordained and installed on Feb. 2, 2016.

In a message sent to parishioners, Lopes welcomed the document as a significant encouragement, calling it “an exhortation to live this patrimony in all of its richness. We have been given a unique set of tools — the way we worship, the way we structure parish life, the centrality of family life, etc. — which add to the vitality of the Catholic Church. Our ordinariate identity arises from fidelity to this patrimony and this mission. Our diversity does not detract from the underlying communion of the Church… it strengthens it.”

Lopes encouraged parishioners to share the document with family and friends who may wonder why the ordinariate’s experience of Catholic life looks different from the norm.

“Prior to today’s publication of this document, you had to glean descriptions of our patrimony from rather dry legal documents,” he wrote. “Now the Holy See is offering us a much more organic reflection on our identity and mission — and clearly stating that the ordinariate is not just a means to an end but has a long and bright future ahead of it!”

The ordinariates: A brief history

The Anglican ordinariates trace their origins to 1980, when St. John Paul II approved the Pastoral Provision, which allowed married former Episcopal clergy to be ordained as Catholic priests and permitted the formation of Anglican-use communities within existing Roman Catholic dioceses.

This was the first major step in preserving elements of Anglican liturgical and spiritual heritage for those entering full communion with Rome.

In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI took this further by issuing the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, which created the personal ordinariates as permanent structures within the Catholic Church.

Each of the three Anglican ordinariates is a personal (non-territorial) jurisdiction, similar to a diocese but defined by people (those with an Anglican background who have entered full communion with the Catholic Church) rather than by strict geographical boundaries.

“Any Catholic may attend ordinariate liturgies and functions, just as members of the ordinariate can attend liturgies and functions at any Catholic parish,” according to the website for the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter.

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross encompasses Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Guam, Philippines, and surrounding areas.

The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is located in London and encompasses England, Scotland, and Wales.

The cardinal called for an end to violence, describing war as a “spiral” and an “adventure without return,” and pleaded for the cessation of conflict in the Persian Gulf. He also urged divine action in the hearts of leaders, calling for an end to retaliation and vengeance, and emphasized dialogue, patience, and the hope for “days of peace” in the present time.

The vigil was presided over by Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general for the Diocese of Rome, at the basilica, which houses ancient relics of the cross of Christ, on the first day of Holy Week. The gathering was part of a broader spiritual initiative promoted by the diocese, titled “Mission of Peace, Journey in the Spirit,” and was organized in this instance by Azione Cattolica of Rome and Italia Solidale.

Mathieu’s presence carried particular significance. Recently evacuated from Tehran following the outbreak of conflict, he arrived in Rome after witnessing the first days of tensions involving the United States, Israel, and Iran.

The Belgian cardinal leads a small Catholic community in Iran. The Latin-rite Church there has approximately 2,000 faithful — mostly non-Iranians — in a population of around 90 million, largely Shia Muslim. Mathieu is the only priest in his diocese, and his arrival in Rome followed an urgent evacuation from the Iranian capital amid escalating military tensions.

In a meditation following the reading of the Gospel of Christ’s crucifixion according to Luke, Reina greeted Mathieu, “who joins us silently in this moment of prayer, strengthening it and bringing with him the prayer of his people.”

Reina then offered a reflection on the passion of Christ, focusing on the peace the Lord brings. He emphasized that those who suffer because of war are truly brothers and sisters to all, and urged the faithful not to grow weary in praying for peace, addressing Christ as the prince of peace.

The vigil also included different readings, hymns, and moments of silence, maintaining a clear focus on peace rooted in faith.

The pontiff also named Archbishop Petar Rajič the new prefect of the Papal Household, the body of the Roman Curia responsible for organizing the pope’s schedule, audiences, and ceremonies — a position considered one of the highest levels of trust.

Rajič, who is Canadian and Croatian, has been serving as apostolic nuncio to Italy and the Republic of San Marino. His appointment places him in a key role for managing the day-to-day public activities of the pope.

The new “sostituto,” 55-year-old Rudelli, has been apostolic nuncio to Colombia since 2023. He replaces Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, a Venezuelan who has been in the role since 2018 and who will replace Rajič as the pope’s envoy to Italy and San Marino.

In a farewell speech delivered on March 30 at the Apostolic Palace, Peña Parra recalled some of the most significant moments of his tenure in the Secretariat of State, including the Vatican trial over the department’s investment in a London property, which subjected Peña Parra and his colleagues “to unprecedented media and judicial scrutiny, requiring rigor, transparency, and a sense of responsibility on our part.”

The appointment to the No. 2 position in the Secretariat of State is the biggest change to Vatican leadership made by Pope Leo since his election on May 8, 2025.

The “sostituto” is responsible for key functions in the internal coordination of the Holy See, especially at the operational level in the day-to-day management of the Secretariat of State and in the direct oversight of the pope’s documents, speeches, and activities.

These duties are accompanied by the task of publishing and disseminating official communications regarding the activity of the pope and the Holy See as well as organizing apostolic journeys.

Rudelli: From northern Italy to South America

The Italian archbishop, born in 1970 in the province of Bergamo in northern Italy, has extensive experience in the Holy See’s diplomatic service, which has brought him to posts in Europe, Africa, and South America.

He entered the Vatican’s diplomatic service in the early 2000s. Between 2001 and 2003 he worked at the apostolic nunciature in Ecuador and, later, from 2003 to 2006, at the pontifical representation in Poland.

From 2006 to 2014 he served as secretary and later counselor of the nunciature in the first section of the Secretariat of State, gaining direct experience at the heart of Vatican governance.

He was later named permanent observer of the Holy See to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

In 2019 he was ordained archbishop in St. Peter’s Basilica by Pope Francis, who in January 2020 sent him as apostolic nuncio to Zimbabwe. In 2023, he was transferred to Colombia.

Rajič: Posts in Muslim-majority countries

Rajič was born in Toronto on June 12, 1959, into a family of Bosnian-Croatian origin. He was ordained a priest on June 29, 1987, and was incardinated in the Diocese of Trebinje, connected to his parents’ roots, after having studied at the seminary in Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1993 and served in various posts, including Iran and Lithuania. He also worked in the general affairs section of the Secretariat of State.

On Dec. 2, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Rajič apostolic nuncio to Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar as well as apostolic delegate to the Arabian Peninsula.

His episcopal consecration took place on Jan. 23, 2010, in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, a choice rich in symbolism in a city still marked by divisions between Muslim and Christian communities, coinciding with his mission to countries with Muslim majorities.

Two months later, his diplomatic mission was expanded to Yemen and the United Arab Emirates. On June 15, 2015, Pope Francis appointed the archbishop nuncio to Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe.

During his diplomatic service in Angola, Rajič played a significant role in achieving the framework agreement between the Holy See and the African country in 2019, particularly regarding broadcasts of the Catholic station Radio Ecclesia.

That same year he was transferred to the apostolic nunciature in Lithuania and, on Aug. 6, 2019, he was also entrusted with being the papal representative to Estonia and Latvia.

This story was first published in two parts by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. They have been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

At the start of Holy Week, the pope tied the Church’s contemplation of Christ’s passion to the suffering of people caught in today’s conflicts, especially Christians in the Middle East.

In his Palm Sunday homily, Leo repeatedly presented Christ as the “King of Peace,” contrasting Jesus’ meekness with the violence surrounding him as he entered into his passion.

“We turn our gaze to Jesus, who reveals himself as King of Peace, even as war looms abounds him,” the pope said. “He remains steadfast in meekness, while others are stirring up violence.”

Leo said Christ “did not arm himself, or defend himself, or fight any war” but instead “revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence.”

“Rather than saving himself, he allowed himself to be nailed to the cross, embracing every cross borne in every time and place throughout human history,” the pope said.

The pope then issued one of the strongest lines of his homily, rejecting any attempt to invoke God in support of armed conflict.

“Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” Leo said. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: Your hands are full of blood.’”

The Palm Sunday liturgy, which opened Holy Week, began with the traditional procession in St. Peter’s Square with cardinals, bishops, priests, religious, and thousands of faithful carrying palms and olive branches.

In his homily, Leo reflected on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey rather than a war horse, saying the moment fulfilled the prophecy of a king who would “command peace to the nations.”

Recalling the Gospel account of Peter drawing a sword to defend Jesus, Leo cited Christ’s rebuke: “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”

The pope said that in the crucified Christ “we can see a crucified humanity.”

“In his wounds, we see the hurts of so many women and men today,” he said. “Above all, we hear the painful groans of all those who are oppressed by violence and are victims of war.”

“Christ, King of Peace, cries out again from his cross: God is love! Have mercy! Lay down your weapons! Remember that you are brothers and sisters!”

Following the Mass, Leo returned to the theme of war during the Angelus, praying in particular for Christians in the Middle East who have been prevented in some places from fully taking part in Holy Week rites.

“At the beginning of Holy Week, our prayers are more than ever with the Christians of the Middle East, who are suffering the consequences of a brutal conflict and, in many cases, are unable to observe fully the liturgies of these holy days,” he said.

“Just as the Church contemplates the mystery of the Lord’s passion, we cannot forget those who today are truly sharing in his suffering. Their ordeal challenges all our consciences.”

The pope added: “Let us raise our prayer to the Prince of Peace that he may sustain the peoples wounded by war and open concrete paths to reconciliation and peace.”

Leo also remembered “the maritime workers who have fallen victim to the conflict,” adding: “I pray for the deceased, the wounded, and their families. Land, sky, and sea were all created for life and peace!”

He further called attention to migrants who died in the Mediterranean, saying: “Let us also pray for all the migrants who have died at sea, especially those who lost their lives in recent days off the coast of Crete.”

Near the end of his homily, the pope entrusted his plea for peace to the intercession of Mary, quoting Servant of God Bishop Tonino Bello and praying that “the tears of all the victims of violence and pain will soon be dried up.”

He concluded the Angelus by asking the Virgin Mary to accompany the faithful through the days ahead.

“May she guide us during these holy days, so that we may follow Jesus, our savior, with faith and love,” he said.

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

Palm Sunday marks the start of the one of the busiest and fullest liturgical periods of the year for the Catholic Church and the Vatican, where Leo will celebrate five Masses and preside over several other liturgies and devotions between March 29 and April 6.

Here is the Vatican’s full schedule for Holy Week and Easter 2026:

Palm Sunday

On Sunday morning, March 29, the pope will celebrate Mass in St. Peter’s Square for Palm Sunday, also known as Passion Sunday or the Commemoration of the Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem.

The 10 a.m. Mass will begin with a grand procession of the pope with deacons, priests, bishops, cardinals, and laypeople carrying large palms.

The procession, which will wind around the square and its central obelisk, includes olive tree branches, palm fronds, and the large, weaved palms called “palmureli.” The Vatican expects to distribute 120,000 olive branches at the Mass.

Afterward, Leo will lead the Angelus prayer, as he does every Sunday.

Holy Thursday

Pope Leo will begin Holy Thursday, April 2, with the celebration of the chrism Mass at 9:30 a.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Many of the cardinals, bishops, and priests living in Rome typically concelebrate this Mass, in which the pope, as bishop of Rome, blesses the oil of the sick, the oil of catechumens, and the chrism oil to be used in the diocese during the coming year.

At 5:30 p.m., Leo will celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper at the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

Celebrating the Mass at the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome restores a long-standing practice that Pope Francis set aside in favor of demonstrating closeness to prisoners by offering the Mass at some of the city’s prisons.

Good Friday

Continuing the liturgies of the Triduum, Leo is scheduled to preside over a service for the passion of the Lord on Good Friday at 5 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica.

During this liturgy, which is not a Mass, it is the custom for the papal preacher —  currently Father Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap — to give a sermon on Christ’s crucifixion.

In the evening, the pope will lead the Stations of the Cross devotion at the Colosseum starting at 9:15 p.m.

Holy Saturday

Leo will celebrate the Easter Vigil Mass at 9 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Easter Vigil, which takes place on Holy Saturday night, “is the greatest and most noble of all solemnities,” according to the Roman Missal.

The liturgy begins in darkness with the blessing of the new fire and the preparation of the paschal candle. At the Vatican, cardinals, bishops, and priests process through the dark basilica carrying lit candles to signify the light of Christ coming to dispel the darkness.

The pope also typically baptizes new Catholics at this Mass.

Easter Sunday

The morning of Easter Sunday, Leo will preside over Mass in St. Peter’s Square at 10:15 a.m. on a flower-decked parvise.

After Mass, he will give the annual Easter “urbi et orbi blessing” from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

“Urbi et orbi” means “to the city [of Rome] and to the world” and is a special apostolic blessing given by the pope every year on Easter Sunday, Christmas, and other special occasions.

For Easter Sunday, the square will be decorated with thousands of flowers from the Netherlands, a custom spanning 40 years.

This year, the arrangements will include 65,000 tulip, daffodil, hyacinth, and mini daffodil bulbs; 220 white and orange violets; 7,800 roses, delphiniums, anthuriums, chrysanthemums, gerberas, and matthiolas; 600 branches of plumosa; 80 azaleas; and 600 long branches of willow catkins, long branches of eucalyptus, and various types of foliage.

Easter Monday

Pope Leo will mark Easter Monday, also called “Monday of the Angel,” by praying the Regina Caeli, a Marian prayer recited during the Easter season, at noon from a window of the Apostolic Palace.

The Holy Father became the first pope to visit the European micro-state in nearly 500 years. He appealed to the wealthy nation to spread the Gospel and become vessels of God’s love and generosity.

Four months after his first apostolic trip to Turkey and Lebanon, the pontiff ended his lightning visit to the Principality of Monaco with the Mass in the stadium dedicated to Prince Louis II, who reigned between 1922 and 1949.

The stadium has a capacity for more than 18,000 spectators, which makes it a prominent place for sporting and entertainment events, in addition to being an ideal place for the papal Mass.

Upon his arrival, Leo toured the venue in a golf cart, from which he greeted and blessed the cheering faithful who were waiting for him while waving flags of the Vatican City and of Monaco.

The logic of power versus innocence

In his homily, the pope highlighted the biblical account in which the members of the Sanhedrin decide to kill Jesus.

From this passage, he explained that the face of God is revealed alongside those who, moved by power interests, are willing to eliminate the innocent.

As he pointed out, Caiphas’ verdict is born from a political calculation based on fear: “Forgetting God’s promise to his people, they want to kill the innocent, because behind their fear is the attachment to power.”

“Isn’t that what happens today?” the pope asked. “Even today, how many calculations are made in the world to kill innocent people; how many false reasons are used to get them out of the way!”

Not getting used to war

The pontiff called for the purification of the “idolatry” that feeds wars and turns men into slaves of other men, while urging the faithful to not get used to violence.

“Every truncated life is a wound to the body of Christ. Let’s not get used to the rumble of weapons or the images of war!” he exclaimed.

In this sense, he stressed that peace cannot be reduced to a balance of power: “It is not a mere balance of forces but the work of purified hearts, of those who see in the other a brother to take care of, not an enemy to bring down.”

Mercy, response to evil

Faced with the persistence of evil, the pope recalled that God’s justice acts as a source of hope and renewal: “The Lord frees from pain by infusing hope, he converts the hardness of the heart by transforming power into service, precisely while manifesting the true name of his omnipotence: mercy.”

In this way, he assured that it is “mercy that saves the world” because it takes charge of all human existence, “in each of its weaknesses, from the moment it is conceived in the womb until it ages,” he added.

A message on the eve of Easter

The pope’s visit to Monaco, just eight hours long, was made at the invitation of Albert II of Monaco.

It took place on the eve of Holy Week, a context to which the pope referred during his homily. “The Lord changes the history of the world by calling us from idolatry to true faith, from death to life,” he said.

In this context, he also evoked the prophet Jeremiah: “In the face of the numerous injustices that destroy the peoples and the war that plagues the nations, the voice of the prophet Jeremiah is constantly raised: I will change their mourning into joy, I will make them happy and I will console them with their affliction” (Jer 31:13).

The joy that is born of charity

Finally, the pontiff called the faithful to be witnesses of hope, making “many happy with their faith” and sharing a joy that is not acquired as a prize but is born of charity.

“The source of this joy is the love of God: love for the nascent and fragile life, which must always be welcomed and cared for; love for young and old life, which must be encouraged in the trials of each stage; love for healthy and sick life, sometimes alone, always in need of being accompanied with care,” he concluded.

At the end of the celebration, the archbishop of Monaco, Dominique-Marie David, thanked Pope Leo XIV for his visit, emphasizing that God is “the source of all good” and that the pontiff, as the successor of Peter, has come to remind the local Church of this.

In this sense, he stressed that the pope has encouraged the faithful to face “fearlessly” the current challenges, aware that they have “a treasure capable of sustaining hope, ours and that of the world.”

On the eve of Holy Week, David said the pope’s visit has served to “confirm the faith of his brothers,” reinforcing the commitment of the Christian community.

Pope Leo XIV gave the Archdiocese of Monaco a contemporary sculpture by St. Francis of Assisi. The work represents the Italian saint, one of the most beloved figures of the Christian tradition and universally recognized as a messenger of peace, fraternity, and reconciliation.

Francis in the sculpture appears dressed in the simple Franciscan habit, a symbol of evangelical poverty and inner freedom, girded by the characteristic cord with three knots.

In the sculpture the saint holds a white dove in his left hand, while the right hand opens in a gesture of welcome and donation.

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

The pontiff supported his reflections in the document Quo vadis, humanitas? of the International Theological Commission, published on March 4, 2026. The Latin phrase means “Where are you going, humanity?”

The pope met Catholics at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Monaco, built between 1875 and 1903 in the neo-Romanesque style.

The temple houses the tomb of some sovereigns of the principality, including Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace Kelly, an iconic American actress who became royalty after marrying Rainier III in 1956.

The Principality of Monaco is one of the last European countries to maintain Catholicism as a state religion, though its 1962 constitution guarantees freedom of worship and expression. In practice it means that Catholicism is taught in schools and that state ceremonies include a Mass.

In November of 2025 Prince Albert II vetoed a law passed by the National Council that sought to legalize abortion up to 12 weeks. He justified his decision by citing the Catholic identity of the principality and the need to maintain the current legal framework, which decriminalizes the termination of pregnancy only in exceptional cases

Based on the episode of the Gospel in which the Apostle John describes Jesus Christ as the righteous (cf. 1 Jn 2,1-2), the pope explained that the Church is called to be “lawyer”, that is, to defend man in his integrity and all human beings, promoting a comprehensive development that respects the dignity and ultimate goal of the person.

He asked the faithful to contemplate Christ as a “lawyer” and urged Christians to provide “passionate and generous” service in evangelization.

“Announce the gospel of life, hope and love; bring to all the light of the Gospel so that the life of every man and woman is defended and promoted from their conception to their natural end,” he said.

The pope arrived at the cathedral after his visit to the Princeʼs Palace, where the Monegasque sovereign family resides.

A living and prophetic faith

It is important, the pope pointed out, that the proclamation of the Gospel and the forms of faith “are preserved from the risk of being reduced to habit, even if it is good.”

“A living faith is always prophetic, capable of raising questions and offering provocations: Are we really defending the human being? Are we protecting the dignity of the person in the protection of life in all its phases? Is the current economic and social model really fair and inspired by solidarity?” he said.

Leo cited Pope Benedict XVIʼs encyclical Caritas in veritate published in 2009: “Is this model inhabited by the ethics of responsibility, which helps us to go beyond the ‘logic of the exchange of equivalent things and profit as an end in itself?’” he said.

Alert against secularism

The pontiff also warned about the “impulses of secularism,” which can reduce man to individualism and orient social life only towards the production of wealth.

The Holy Father asked for a new orientation based on the Gospel and to adopt the compassionate and merciful love of Christ.

Christ, he said, became a “lawyer” to defend the poor and sinners, freeing them from oppression and making them children of God and brothers among themselves.

“He does not come to condemn, but to offer mercy that purifies, heals, transforms and makes us part of the only family of God,” he stressed.

The Church, reflection of Godʼs love

The Pope praised the hospitality of Monaco, a small cosmopolitan state with cultural and socioeconomic diversity.

He recalled that in the Church there are no social classes: “Everyone is welcomed as people and children of God, and all are recipients of a gift of grace that drives communion, fraternity and reciprocal love.”

According to the pontiff, the first service that the Gospel must provide is “to enlighten the person and society, so that they discover their identity, the meaning of human life, the value of relationships and solidarity, as well as the ultimate end of existence and the destiny of history.”

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

After listening to the testimonies of several young people, Leo XIV spoke of the figure of Saint Devota, the patroness of Monaco, describing her as “a courageous young woman who knew how to bear witness to her faith in the face of the violence of her persecutors, even unto martyrdom.”

“Good is stronger than evil, even when, at times, it may seem — in the immediate moment — to be getting the worst of it,” the pope said. “Moreover, [Devota] reminds us that the witness of faith is a seed capable of reaching and bearing fruit in distant hearts and places, far beyond our own expectations and capabilities.”

“In this very church, quite recently,” the pope said, “the memory of the Holy Martyr Devota has been joined by that of Saint Carlo Acutis — another young person deeply in love with Jesus, faithful to his friendship with Christ until the very end, albeit in a completely different era and in completely different ways.” 

“These two saints encourage us and urge us to imitate them,” the Holy Father said.

In the modern world, “faith encounters challenges and obstacles,” the pope said, “yet nothing can dim its beauty or obscure its truth.”

Responding to the testimonies of the youth, the pope highlighted “a fundamental aspect of the Christian life: the vitality of one’s relationship with Christ and, within that relationship, the sense of unity that is forged both within ourselves and with others."

“The modern and post-modern eras have enriched us with many good things; yet, they also confront us with significant challenges — challenges we cannot ignore and which we must face with clarity and awareness,” he said.

“What gives solidity to life is love: first and foremost, the fundamental experience of God’s love, and then — as a reflection of that — the illuminating and sacred experience of mutual love.”

“And loving one another — while on the one hand requiring an openness to growth, and thus to change — on the other demands fidelity, constancy, and a readiness to make sacrifices in the daily rhythm of life,” the pope added.

“Only in this way does restlessness find peace, and the inner void become filled — not with material and fleeting things, nor with the virtual validation of thousands of ‘likes,’ nor with restrictive, artificial, or at times even violent forms of belonging.”

“We must clear these things away from the threshold of the heart, so that the healthy, oxygenating air of grace may once again return to refresh and revitalize its chambers, and so that the strong wind of the Holy Spirit may resume filling the sails of our existence, propelling it toward true happiness,” he said.

Earlier in the day the pope met with Monacoʼs royal family before meeting with Catholics at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

Leo XIV is the first pope to visit the costal European nation-state in nearly 500 years.

Dear brothers and sisters:

Before God and in the presence of God we have a lawyer: Jesus Christ, the righteous (cf. 1 Jn 2:1-2). With these words, the apostle John helps us to grasp the mystery of salvation. In our fragility, carried with the weight of sin that marks our humanity, unable to embrace with our own forces the fullness of life and happiness, we have been reached by God himself through his Son, Jesus Christ. He — says the Apostle — as a victim of atonement, carried upon himself the evil of man and the world, took it with us and for us, passed by him transforming it and freeing us forever.

Christ is the dynamic center, the heart of our faith, and it is from this centrality that I would like to address you, while I cordially greet His Highness Prince Albert, His Excellency Archbishop Dominique-Marie David, the priests and the religious present, expressing to all of you the joy of being here and sharing your ecclesial path.

Contemplating Christ as a “lawyer,” in reference to the reading we have heard, I would like to offer you some reflections.

The first refers to the gift of communion. Jesus Christ, the righteous, interceding for humanity before the Father, reconciles us with him and among us. He does not come to make a condemning judgment but to offer to all his mercy that purifies, heals, transforms, and makes us part of the only family of God. His compassionate and merciful nature makes him a “lawyer” for the defense of the poor and sinners, certainly not to support evil, but to free them from oppression and slavery and make them children of God and brothers among themselves.

It is no coincidence that the gestures performed by Jesus are not limited to the physical or spiritual healing of the person but also comprise an important social and political dimension; the healed person is reintegrated, with all his dignity, to the human and religious community from which, often precisely because of his condition of illness or sin, he had been excluded.

This communion is the sign par excellence of the Church, called to be in the world a reflection of the love of God that shows no partiality (cf. Ach 10:34). In this sense, I would like to say that the Church, here in the Principality of Monaco, has a great wealth: to be a place, a reality in which everyone finds welcome and hospitality, in that social and cultural mixture that is a typical trait of you.

The Principality of Monaco, in fact, is a small state inhabited, however, in a varied way by Monegasques, French, Italians, and people of many other nationalities. A small cosmopolitan state, in which the variety of origins is also associated with other socioeconomic differences. In the Church, such differences never become an occasion of division into social classes; on the contrary, all are welcomed as persons and children of God, and all are recipients of a gift of grace that drives communion, fraternity, and reciprocal love.

This is the gift that comes from Christ, our advocate before the Father. Indeed, we have all been baptized in him and, for this reason, says St. Paul, “there is no longer a Jew or a pagan, slave or free, man or woman, because all of you are only one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).

However, I think it is necessary to underline a second aspect: the proclamation of the Gospel in defense of man. Wishing that everyone will accept the good news of the Father’s love, Jesus places himself as a “lawyer” mainly for defense of those who were considered abandoned by God and who are judged as forgotten and marginalized, becoming the voice and face of the merciful God who “grants the right to the oppressed” (Ps 103:6).

I then think of a Church called to become a “lawyer,” that is, to defend man: man in his integrity, and all human beings. It is a path of critical and prophetic discernment aimed at promoting an “‘integral development’ of humanity, which respects its authentic dignity and identity, as well as its ultimate purpose, which refers to a mystery of full communion with the God Trinity and among us” (International Theological Commission, Quo vadis, humanitas?, 22).

This is the first service that the proclamation of the Gospel must provide: to enlighten the human person and society so that, in the light of Christ and his word, they may discover their own identity, the meaning of human life, the value of relationships and social solidarity, the ultimate end of existence and the destiny of history.

In this regard, I wish to encourage you to provide a passionate and generous service in evangelization. Announce the Gospel of life, hope, and love; bring to all the light of the Gospel so that the life of every man and every woman is defended and promoted from their conception to their natural end; offer new maps capable of curbing those impulses of secularism that run the risk of reducing man to individualism and basing social life on the production of wealth.

It is important that the proclamation of the Gospel and the forms of faith, so rooted in your identity and society, are preserved from the risk of being reduced to habit, even if it is good. A living faith is always prophetic, capable of raising questions and offering provocations: Are we really defending the human being? Are we protecting the dignity of the person in the protection of life in all its phases? Is the current economic and social model really fair and inspired by solidarity? Is this model inhabited by the ethics of responsibility, which helps us to go beyond the “logic of the exchange of equivalent things and profit as an end in itself” (Benedict XVI, Letter enc. Caritas in Veritate, 38), to build a fairer society?

Dear friends, keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, our advocate before the Father, generates a faith rooted in the personal relationship with him, a faith that becomes a testimony, capable of transforming life and renewing society. This faith needs to be announced with new instruments and languages, also digital, and all must be introduced and trained in it with continuity and creativity. This applies in particular to those who are opening up to the encounter with God — the catechumens — and to those who start again, to whom I ask them to have special attention.

May your patron saint, the virgin and martyr Devota, inspire you with her example, and may Mary Most Holy, Immaculate Virgin, intercede for you and always guide you along this path.

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

The Holy Father touched down in the city-state at 9 a.m. The brief journey to Monaco was undertaken by helicopter to ensure the pope would not have to set foot on French soil, thereby absolving him of the institutional obligation to pay a visit to the president of the French Republic.

The pope was welcomed by Prince Albert II and Princess Charlotte; the prince had extended the invitation for the pope to visit the country following a private audience held on Feb. 17.

Upon the pope’s arrival a cannon fired a 21-gun salute, church bells pealed in celebration, and the Vatican flag was raised.

In an address from the Palace of Monaco, Leo XIV said the country should be particularly attentive to the need for justice “at a historical juncture when the ostentation of force and the logic of domination harm the world and jeopardize peace.”

“In the Bible, as you know, it is the small who make history!” the pope said.

The Holy Father told the country that “the Catholic faith — which yours is among the few nations in the world to hold as its state religion — places us before the sovereignty of Jesus, a sovereignty that calls upon Christians to become, within the world, a kingdom of brothers and sisters.”

Monaco is the last nation in Europe where Catholicism remains the official state religion. In November 2025, Prince Albert declined to promulgate an abortion law that would have broadened the grounds for terminating a pregnancy within the principality.

After the meeting between Leo XIV and the prince, there was a meeting with both the prince and princess in the Salon de Famille, followed by an exchange of gifts, the signing of the Book of Honor, and a papal introduction to the royal family.

At the conclusion of the ceremonies, Leo XIV and the prince joined together in prayer.

 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 principal celebrant at the Mass, Father Michael Baggot, LC, a bioethics professor, recalled in his homily in the basilica’s Chapel of the Choir that Mother Angelica “conveyed the faith with wit and wisdom.”

“Her message was both consoling and challenging,” he said.

“Mother Angelica understood that the fruitfulness of the apostolate depends on union with the Lord. What she proclaimed on air, she first pondered in adoration,” Baggot continued. “Mother Angelica also knew from experience that God works through humble, unexpected instruments to spread his Gospel.”

During the homily, Baggot praised Mother Angelica’s determination and repeated one of her famous quotes about serving the Lord, even when it seems difficult and frightening.

“As Mother said, ‘You want to do something for the Lord … do it. Whatever you feel needs to be done, even though you’re shaking in your boots, you’re scared to death — take the first step forward. The grace comes with that one step and you get the grace as you step. Being afraid is not a problem; it’s doing nothing when you’re afraid.’”

Baggot said it is “fitting” to honor Mother Angelica just two days after the celebration of the Annunciation and in a chapel “dedicated to Our Lady.” He said the Blessed Mother was also “deeply troubled by the angel’s message” and both “afraid” and “scared,” but she trusted God.

“Before such a daunting mission, she abandoned herself to Divine Providence. She was sustained by a love greater than any fear,” he said.

In view of the testimony of the Virgin Mary — whom he defined as the “definitive bearer of the Eternal Word” — the priest highlighted that Mother Angelica’s life also reflected the paschal mystery, including her suffering following a stroke in 2001. “Mother knew from Mary that the ‘fiat’ given in youth must be renewed at the foot of the cross,” Baggot noted.

Baggot added that because Mother Angelica followed God’s calling, EWTN is accessible in hundreds of millions of homes in more than 160 countries and territories, and “its programs reach areas where conflict or persecution deprives citizens of other means of religious formation.”

He further commended the network for continuing to be a beacon of beauty and inspiration.

Although EWTN “has outgrown its first Alabama garage,” he said, “it has never outgrown — and could never outgrow — the reliance on Divine Providence that characterized Mother Angelica’s life.”

In addition to the Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, EWTN marked the anniversary with special programming throughout the day, including “Remembering Mother Angelica, 10 Years Later.”

The EWTN Global Catholic Network is broadcasting these events across its television and digital platforms — including its YouTube channel, the streaming platform EWTN+, and live and on-demand at www.ewtn.com — making the tribute to Mother Angelica’s life and legacy accessible to viewers worldwide.

The announcement of the visit came from Lambeth Palace just two days after Mullally’s installation, which made her the first woman to hold the highest-ranking role in the Church of England.

It is also notable that the ascension of Mullally to that post continues to have significant repercussions within Anglicanism. Earlier this month, the Global Anglican Future Conference — which represents approximately 80% of Anglicans worldwide — announced that its member churches should “remove any reference to being in communion with the See of Canterbury.”

On the occasion of her March 25 installation as the highest spiritual authority in Anglicanism, Pope Leo sent a message to Mullally in which he underscored the responsibilities of the office, particularly during “a challenging moment in the history of the Anglican family.”

The pope also recalled the progress made in ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans and emphasized the need to continue advancing toward Christian unity.

For her part, Mullally expressed her gratitude to Pope Leo XIV for his closeness and prayers, and acknowledged the value of ecumenical dialogue between churches as well as unity among Christians.

She also asked the pope for prayers for the Church of England and for the Anglican Communion as a whole, “so that we may be guided by the Holy Spirit in faithfulness, unity, and charity.”

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

To honor the legacy of the late Vietnamese prelate, the Vatican held the “Cardinal Văn Thuận: Witness of Hope” conference at the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran in Rome on Wednesday. The event was attended by hundreds of people including members of Văn Thuận’s family.

While imprisoned by the communist government in Vietnam during the 1970s and 1980s, Văn Thuận, who was coadjutor archbishop of Sài Gòn at the time, wrote a series of spiritual reflections on scraps of paper that were clandestinely sent out to persecuted Christian communities.

“These 1,001 meditations [traveled] from family to family, from prison cells to prison cells, to reeducation camps to reeducation camps, and finally they crossed oceans with the ‘boat people’ and arrived in different countries in the world,” Văn Thuận’s sister Élisabeth Nguyễn Thị Thu Hồng said at the March 25 conference.

“In a spirit of faith, joy, and gratitude, we all witness the power of God’s presence in the story of this shepherd who, while separated from his flock, remained intimately united with all of them through the word of God,” she said.

Both Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle spoke at the event and shared personal stories and impressions of the prelate decreed “venerable” by Pope Francis in 2017.

Describing Văn Thuận as a man of “great gentleness, serenity, and inner freedom,” You Heung-sik praised him for being “a true model of Christian and priestly life.”

“His life was marked by extremely harsh trials, but it was precisely in those trials that the greatness of his faith was revealed,” the Dicastery for the Clergy prefect said.

“He drew strength every day from Jesus in the Eucharist when, while in prison, he celebrated holy Mass in secrecy with three drops of wine and a drop of water in the palm of his hand,” he added.

Tagle, who recalled first meeting Văn Thuận at a 1995 Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conference meeting in Manila, said he was immediately struck by his kindness and warmth.

“There was not a trace of bitterness and hatred in him. I could not get my eyes off his radiant and smiling face,” the Filipino cardinal said. “Before going our separate ways, he said, from now on, call me ‘uncle.’”

When Văn Thuận died in Rome at the age of 74 due to stomach cancer, Tagle said he attended the funeral at St. Peter’s Basilica in the presence of St. John Paul II in September 2002.

“His suffering did not prevent him from making others happy,” he said with emotion. “Sadness was palpable in the air but also gratitude for the gift of this servant of God and the Church.”

Vietnamese communities abroad also paid tribute to Văn Thuận to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his prison meditations, including from Australia — the country his family fled to as refugees in the 1970s.

Father John Nguyen, OFM Cap, the first Australian-born priest of Vietnamese heritage in the country, told EWTN News Văn Thuận’s love for the priesthood and the Eucharist continues to be a source of inspiration for him.

“One of Cardinal Văn Thuận’s writings that stood out for me, since I came across it in late 2008 when I just entered postulancy with the Capuchin Franciscans, was ‘If you lack everything or have lost everything, but still have the Blessed Sacrament, you actually still have everything,’” he said.

“It is a constant reminder that if one day, despite losing everything around me, be it people, material things, or plans that have fallen through, as long as I have Jesus truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, I actually have everything since God is our everything,” he added.

He also encouraged the safeguarding of the well-being of patients in his comments to participants of an event organized by the Italian National Transplant Network at the Vatican on March 26.

The Holy Father thanked those who serve human life “in its moments of greatest fragility.”

The first donation by Blessed Carlo Gnocchi

In his speech, the pope recalled the first organ donation carried out in Italy, when Blessed Carlo Gnocchi asked for his corneas to be donated after his death.

The pontiff explained that the gesture “sparked widespread reflection within Italian society and helped to set in motion a process of legislative clarification.”

Soon afterward, he noted, Pope Pius XII offered early moral guidance on these questions, “recognizing the legitimacy of removal for therapeutic purposes, respecting the dignity of the human body and the rights of the people involved.”

Leo emphasized that since then, the Church’s reflection has accompanied the development of transplant medicine, “recognizing its value and at the same time setting out the necessary ethical criteria.”

The papal audience with the transplant network took place the same week the Vatican published a document addressing ethical issues connected with xenotransplantation, the use of animal organs in human patients.

A noble and meritorious act

The Holy Father then stated that organ donation is “an act that combines the generosity of giving with the moral responsibility that accompanies it.”

He also recalled that the Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms that “organ donation after death is a noble and meritorious act and is to be encouraged as an expression of generous solidarity.”

For this reason, he warned that “vigilance is always necessary to avoid any form of commodification of the human body and ensure that transplants are governed by fair and transparent criteria.”

Leo also stressed that transplantation medicine highlights how “the relationship of care, trust, and mutual responsibility constitutes an essential condition for a transplant to take place.”

He added that “the very possibility of saving lives through transplants depends, in fact, on the generosity of donors.”

Recalling the teaching of Pope Francis, he emphasized that donation “must remain a gratuitous act, capable of bearing witness to a culture of help, giving, hope, and life.”

Scientific progress and human dignity

At the end of his address, the pope encouraged the development of scientific research, which is “called upon to develop ever more effective solutions to meet the need for organs and the needs of patients, in a context where demand still far exceeds supply.”

He stressed that “it is essential that this commitment always goes hand in hand with responsible reflection, so that scientific progress remains oriented towards the integral good of the person and respect for their dignity.”

Leo thanked members of the Italian National Transplant Network for their “demanding and often unseen” work and urged them to continue “always keeping the well-being of the patient as your guiding principle.”

He also encouraged institutions and volunteers to continue their efforts in information and awareness so that “a culture of donation may grow that is ever more informed, free, and shared, capable of recognizing in this gesture a sign of solidarity, fraternity, and hope.”

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