At least 35 people were killed in the Pakistani city of Peshawar on Thursday when the roof of a private school collapsed. More than 50 others were injured.

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On his third day in the hospital, Pope Leo XIV's doctors say his chest X-ray in the morning shows "good recovery of the lung that underwent surgery."

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Twenty-two communication students from five Catholic universities explore how artificial intelligence can serve people and communities while safeguarding human dignity in a six-day programme in Yogyakarta.

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The episcopal ordination of Bishop Ignatius Ding Zuyao takes place in Haimen, in China’s Jiangsu Province, following his appointment by Pope Leo XIV under the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China.

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During the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN addresses the need for disarmament to build peace. In a separate committee, he emphasises the importance of eradicating hunger to tackle the world's greatest challenge: poverty.

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“It seems very important to fully understand this history, a history that has been erased from Mexico’s history books,” stated Bishop Héctor Mario Pérez Villarreal, secretary general of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference, as he encouraged participation in the colloquium “One Hundred Years Since the Start of the Cristero Resistance,” taking place this week in Mexico City.

At a press conference ahead of the Oct. 14-16 event, Pérez Villarreal, who is also an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Mexico, noted that in commemorating the centennial of the religious conflict experienced in the country, known as the Cristiada or Cristero War, “rather than celebrating the tragic nature of this event, the violence, or the war, we commemorate the witness of faith of so many Mexicans.”

“Mexicans, primarily the laity, went to the defense of their faith, self-defense, and their ability and freedom to express what they believed,” he noted.

The prelate recalled that Mexican Catholics in the first half of the 20th century faced “a situation in which the law was clearly violating a fundamental right: the right to freedom of faith and religious expression.”

Amid rising tensions between the Church and the Mexican state, tensions that dated back to the second half of the 19th century, the armed uprising known as the Cristiada broke out in 1926, with Catholics from various parts of the country taking up arms against civil authorities.

The conflict arose in the context of the so-called “Calles Law,” which went into effect on July 31 of that year and severely restricted public worship and the religious life of Catholics.

Pérez Villarreal emphasized that with the colloquium, in which experts from Mexico and other countries are participating, “we are not seeking to vindicate any form of violence; rather, we want to delve deeper into the truth.”

Events like this, he noted, “help us view reality objectively rather than through the lens of ideology,” enabling us “to live in a freer Mexico.”

He further maintained that the conflict “was not an attack on the clergy; it was an attack on the religious freedom of an entire people,” and emphasized that this fundamental right is not one the state can decide to grant or not.

“Universal rights are not granted by the state; they are guaranteed by it,” he noted.

The event, organized by the Mexican Bishops’ Conference (CEM by its Spanish acronym) in conjunction with the Pontifical University of Mexico (UPM by its Spanish acronym) and the Mexican Society of Ecclesiastical History, includes lectures at the Plaza Mariana of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and at the UPM auditorium in Mexico City.

Father Juan Carlos Casas García, director of the UPM’s Department of Ecclesiastical History and the CEM’s Department of History and Art, emphasized that the Catholic resistance “went beyond an armed uprising.”

He explained that there was “peaceful resistance by Catholics who found their rights violated by legislation that openly infringed upon religious freedom and the activities of the Catholic Church in our country.”

The aim of the colloquium, he noted, is “to complete and broaden the understanding of this chapter” of Mexican history, a history marked by “contrasts, with both light and shadows.”

The priest noted that, “while acknowledging that this is a painful period in our history, it is also a historical episode filled with testimonies of faith and fidelity that we cannot forget.”

The colloquium can be followed either in person or via the CEM’s social media and the Pontifical University of Mexico.

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

Pro-life advocates in Massachusetts are moving to halt the implementation of a recently passed law that effectively removed all limits on abortion in the state, aiming to both put the issue on the ballot before voters and potentially suspend the law as well.

Massachusetts became the latest state in the U.S. to remove all restrictions on abortion when Democratic Gov. Maura Healey signed the law on Aug. 10. It allows women to obtain abortions at any point in pregnancy for any reason.

Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), called the policy “shocking” and “horrendous” shortly after the law was signed. He described the measure as “an affront against the dignity of life.”

A pro-life coalition, meanwhile, is leading an effort to roll back the law, aiming to place the policy before voters on a statewide ballot and potentially suspend the law prior to that vote.

The Repeal 188 initiative is seeking up to 50,000 signatures to potentially roll back the law. The process — known as a “veto referendum” — requires advocates to collect signatures equal to at least 1.5% of votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election in order to put the repeal question on the 2028 statewide ballot.

If petitioners are able to collect signatures equal to 2% of the total number of those votes, meanwhile, they can suspend the law prior to the election. The effort says it needs 37,289 signatures to qualify for the ballot and 49,716 to suspend the law.

Steve Petrarca, a Massachusetts resident and a member of his parish’s pro-life committee, told EWTN News that “many” parishioners at his church were unaware of the effort. Petrarca himself is helping to gather signatures. 

He said advocates may aim to collect closer to 100,000 signatures in order to ensure they meet the threshold to suspend the law. A distribution requirement in Massachusetts means no more than 25% of signatures on a petition can come from any one single county in the state.

The abortion measure drew rebuke from the state’s Catholic bishops, who described it as “a radical measure which is gravely immoral.” The advocacy group CatholicVote, meanwhile, called for Healey — who identifies as Catholic — to be excommunicated.

“Healey is a Catholic in a state of grave sin. She has publicly and now legislatively cooperated in the destruction of innocent human life,” CatholicVote President Kelsey Reinhardt said.

In a video released amid the campaign, Massachusetts Citizens for Life President Myrna Flynn said signatories must be registered voters in the state and under state law can only sign petitions that are local to them.

“If we receive 50,000 signatures by October 23, Massachusetts voters — not activist politicians — will get to decide this very important issue in 2028,” she said.

Established on October 16, 1981, by Pope John Paul II himself, the non-profit organization stands as a living testament to the legacy of the Polish Pontiff. Its president, Monsignor Ptasznik, says: “We want to keep the memory of Saint John Paul II increasingly alive and, at the same time, bring his legacy into the present, making it relevant to today’s world and to the world of tomorrow.”

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In a small village in Northern Kazakhstan in Central Asia, a school founded by a German priest is nurturing intercultural understanding, interreligious dialogue and technological skills, offering young people the confidence to shape their own future.

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The Holy See Press Office says Pope Leo XIV had a good second night in Rome's Gemelli Hospital, and got up and had breakfast, in their latest update since he underwent a successful lung operation on Tuesday.

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Representatives of the American Lung Association and the Catholic Medical Association (CMA) discussed possible underlying causes of Pope Leo XIVʼs lung cancer and potential treatment options.

Dr. Jeff McGovern, a pulmonologist, and Dr. Juanita Mora, spokesperson for the American Lung Association, appeared on “EWTN News Nightly” on Oct. 14 to discuss the Holy Father’s health following surgery. The Oct. 13 surgery involved the removal of the lower lobe of his right lung and confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma.

The most common type of lung cancer in both smokers and nonsmokers is non-small cell lung cancer, said McGovern, a CMA member. He said “treatments can be varying depending on the size,” and can involve chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiation in addition to the surgical removal of the lower part of the lung.

The type of ongoing treatment the pope receives will depend on the results of a pathology test, which will reveal the stage of the cancer and whether it is contained or has spread to other areas, McGovern said.

The pathology test “usually takes a couple of days,” or sometimes even longer, he said, but noted that because the patient is the Holy Father, “I would expect the pathology would be available a lot sooner than usual.”

“In the best of all possible worlds, if it is contained, then going forward, as far as treatment, itʼs a CT scan every six months and then after about two or three years, a year thereafter. And that would be the treatment, and that would be the ideal setting for the Holy Father,” he said.

Mora, a Catholic who is also from Chicago, Pope Leo’s hometown, said if the Holy Father’s pathology report reveals that the cancer has not spread, the survival rate is 80% to 90%. A spread would determine “whether he will get chemotherapy, radiotherapy or whether he will need actual immunotherapy thatʼs geared exactly to the biomarkers of the tumor that turn positive.”

Mora said the Holy Father is “someone who is active,” playing tennis and staying in shape. “He’s a 71-year-old healthy, strong man. This is what Pope Leo has going for him,” she said.

“We know that heʼs going to be at higher risk for some viral respiratory infections,” she said. “So, it is important for him to get his Covid-19 vaccine, his flu vaccine, and his RSV vaccine for those that are eligible.”

In terms of travel, Mora said his doctors may determine he needs anticoagulation, or blood thinners, “so that heʼs at less risk of developing any clots, especially with the long flight that he has, [as well as] all the respiratory virus infections.”

By the numbers: Impact of lung cancer

“One person is diagnosed with lung cancer every 2.5 minutes,” Mora said. “In the United States, we lose 238,000 people a year due to lung cancer. And itʼs the No. 1 cause of mortality from cancer in both men and women in the United States.”

In addition to smoking, Mora highlighted several other causes of lung cancer, including radon gas, “a colorless, odorless gas that can seep in through cracks in our ground, in our home, or through cracks in walls,” ozone pollution, and particle contamination.

This story was updated at 9 a.m. ET on Oct. 15, 2026 to clarify that the most common type of lung cancer in both smokers and nonsmokers is non-small cell lung cancer, according to pulmonologist Jeff McGovern.

A party for rockstar Australian poets would be an intimate gathering. Banjo Paterson would certainly be there. And Bruce Dawe, Dorothea Mackellar, Les Murray, and Henry Lawson. Maybe Kenneth Slessor and Judith Wright. Possibly John O’Brien.  

But the poet who is most widely read wouldn’t be there. He is James McAuley, the author of some of the favourite hymns in Catholic hymnals. Everyone knows “Seek O Seek the Lord”, “In Faith and Hope and Love”, and “Help of Christians, Guard This Land”, even if they have never heard of McAuley. Every Sunday, across the country, people will be singing his hymns. Not even Banjo Paterson can match that.  

It is 50 years this week since McAuley died on 15 October 1976. He was a Catholic convert and he was a poet, but it would be wrong to call him a “Catholic poet”. He was far too complex and paradoxical to be pigeon-holed like that.  

McAuley was born in Lakemba in 1917. He went to Fort Street Boys High School and succeeded brilliantly at the University of Sydney. His background was Anglican but by the time he graduated, he was, if anything, an atheist.  

He married Norma in 1942 and served in various military roles during World War II, mostly as a pen-pusher in Melbourne, although late in the war he saw some action in Papua New Guinea.  

It was on a lazy afternoon in 1944 in Victoria Barracks that he wrote some poems that marked him for life. He shared with fellow poet Harold Steward a contempt for “the decay of meaning and craftsmanship” in modern poetry, and in particular, for an Adelaide literary magazine called Angry Penguins. Together they penned a fictitious biography of a recently deceased poet named Ern Malley and concocted 17 obscure poems that he had written.  

The editor of Angry Penguins, Max Harris, took the bait and published the poetry as the work of an unknown genius. Kapow! Harris became an international laughingstock. But McAuley and Stewart ended up as the real victims. Their names became synonymous with rigid conservatism in Australian poetic circles. McAuley carried this albatross around his neck for the rest of his life. His critics sneered that Ern Malley was a far better poet than McAuley ever was. 

To tell the truth, some of the poems do have unforgettable lines. “I am still / the black swan of trespass on alien waters” or “I have split the infinitive. Beyond is anything.” are often quoted. 

After the war, McAuley spent long periods in New Guinea for his work. Amazingly, it was there that he became interested in the Catholic Church. He was fascinated by the traditional culture of the people and by Archbishop Alain de Boismenu, a saintly priest who was declared a Venerable in 2014. He was received into the Church in 1952; his wife followed him a few months later.  

McAuley was a passionate, energetic, serious man who threw himself into his commitments. Filled with the fervour of a recent convert, he penned long letters explaining Catholic dogma to a bemused fellow litterateur, Dorothy Green. He became a staunch anti-communist activist and eventually an ally of Bob Santamaria. He founded Quadrant, a magazine of literary, cultural and political commentary which is still an important voice.  

Although Sydney’s Cardinal Gilroy predicted that McAuley would be known as one of the 20th century’s greatest converts, later on they clashed bitterly. The casus belli was the split in the Labor Party in the late 1950s. McAuley worked hard to create a NSW branch of the Democratic Labor Party; the Cardinal wanted the Church to stay out of politics and opposed the DLP. The Catholic Weekly became embroiled in the controversy. 

One of McAuley’s hymns, “Help of Christians, guard this land”, reflects his dismay at the naivete of the “Gilroy Catholics”. In his turn, Cardinal Gilroy refused to give his imprimatur to a hymn book with McAuley’s early hymns.  

He combined frantic activity as a public intellectual with raising five children with his wife, a job with the Commonwealth government, and his poetry.  

During the 1950s and early 60s, he wrote most of his explicitly religious poems. “A Letter to John Dryden” surveys the “isms” fighting for the Australian soul. It concludes by invoking the grace of holiness for Australia. 

“Incarnate Word, in whom all nature lives,
cast flame upon the earth: raise up contemplatives
among us, men who walk within the fire
of ceaseless prayer, impetuous desire.
Set pools of silence in this thirsty land.” 

As Archbishop of Melbourne, Cardinal Pell had these words engraved on the water sculpture on the eastern side of St Patrick’s Cathedral.  

In 1961 McAuley and his family moved to Hobart where he became a professor of English, and for a brief time acting vice-chancellor. Many of his poems reflect his delight in exploring the Tasmanian bush. 

In 1964 McAuley published a long epic poem, “Captain Quiros”, about the Spanish explorer who called the unknown southern continent “Australia del Espíritu Santo”. It is an allegory of what McAuley perceived as the crisis of Western culture.  

But thereafter McAuley’s poems changed. They became more introspective, more personal, more melancholy, more elegiac. His poems about his father, a Catholic who gave up his faith to marry an Anglican, are poignant, not bitter, but sorrowful. His faith was tested by bleak moods and the turmoil after the Second Vatican Council.  

A spiritual darkness emerges in a later poem about visiting his parish church: 

I bring with me my griefs, my sins, my death,
And sink in silence as I try to pray.
Though in this calm no impulse stirs my breath,
At least there’s nothing that I would unsay.  

In 1970 he was diagnosed with cancer. “Better a semi-colon than a full stop,” he joked after his colostomy. But he kept working and writing. In 1976, the year of his death at the age of 59, he published a brilliant collection of essays, The Grammar of the Real. A posthumous collection of poems was published in 1977. 

James McAuley was a remarkable man – a poet, public intellectual, academic, administrator. In the 60s and 70s he was admired or loathed – never ignored. But in recent years his star has faded. This has happened not simply because the elegant formality of his verse has gone out of fashion, but because the “modernity” with which he battled for most of his professional life is the reigning ideology of the age. He defended beauty and truth against relativism and schlock. He lost. Woke art has no time for the serene heart-piercing purity of his best poems.  

That’s a shame, because he deserves to be remembered and celebrated. Even before his conversion to the Catholic faith, he was extraordinarily well-read in the politics, philosophy, and literature of the Western tradition. After his conversion, he immersed himself in the works of leading Catholic writers in order to understand his responsibilities as a poet who had been baptised into the Faith. He brought maturity and sophistication to Catholic intellectual life in Australia.  

Which is not to say that his answers were necessarily correct, or that his verse is a benchmark for Christian poets. But his struggle to be true to his poetic vocation gives him a permanent place in Australian intellectual history. Fashions come and go. McAuley will be back. 

The post Rediscovering James McAuley, one of our finest poets appeared first on The Catholic Weekly.

With six weeks to go until Walk with Christ, parishes across the Archdiocese of Sydney are preparing for the procession with growing anticipation. 

On Sunday 22 November, the feast of Christ the King, Catholics from every corner of the city will gather in Martin Place. From there they will carry the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of the CBD in Sydney’s annual Eucharistic procession. 

In the lead-up, parish ambassadors have been forming small groups and organising transport and commissioning new banners for the big day. 

At the heart of the preparation is Walking with Christ: A Companion for Eucharistic Renewal. Over six modules, and available in six different languages, the booklet pairs Scripture with reflections, questions for personal prayer, and group discussion. It is designed to help Catholics go deeper in their knowledge, love and service of Christ in the Eucharist. 

St John Bosco Parish in Engadine offers a glimpse of the energy building across Sydney. 

Parish ambassador Ana Maria Jovel and a six-member Eucharist28 committee have set up five groups that meet weekly to work through the companion. They cater for “all ages and stages of life”: young people from Years 6 to 12, residents of a local nursing home, older parishioners, working adults and mothers with young children. The most recent addition is an enquirer who has joined RCIA this year, a wonderful way to immerse them into community life. Each group already has at least 10 members. 

The groups also include parishioners from the local nursing home who can’t walk but still want to prepare. As Ana Maria put it, “people are keen to gather together, looking for community”. 

“We never sit and have some time to talk about the Eucharist. We just take it for granted,” Ana Maria said. “We believe, we go to Mass, and that’s it. But this is giving us the opportunity to sit down, to pray with it, to read a scripture, to meditate on it, and then to share: what do I really believe?” 

Strong registrations mean that the parish may need to rethink transport into the city. “We might need two buses this year!” says Ana Maria happily. Parishioners also ran a competition to design a new parish banner, which will make its debut in the procession. 

“I love to be a witness and to tell the world, this is what I believe, this is my Jesus, and I’m walking with Him in the beautiful city of Sydney,” Ana Maria said. 

Her enthusiasm is shared by ambassadors across the archdiocese, and many are finding that gathering people in groups to work through the booklet works better than leaving resources at the back of the church.  

This year the procession has moved from the feast of Corpus Christi to the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, the crowning Sunday of the Church’s year. Pope Pius XI instituted the feast in 1925 to affirm Christ’s sovereignty over all creation in an age of growing secularism. 

As Pope Leo XIV has said: “His power is love, his throne the Cross, and through the Cross his Kingdom shines forth upon the world.” 

The archdiocese hopes the day will be a milestone on the road to Eucharist28, when the Church from around the world will come to Sydney. 

The day begins with a festival in Martin Place from 1pm. At 2.30pm, the procession steps off from the corner of Martin Place and Pitt Street. Every parish, school, movement and community is invited, especially families, young people, and those taking part for the first time. 

If you’re walking, bring a water bottle, sunscreen, comfortable walking shoes, and a rain jacket if wet weather is forecast. 

To get more information on 2026 Walk with Christ and to download the Walk with Christ Booklet for the procession ahead of the event go to: www.sydneycatholic.org/about-us/archdiocesan-events/walk-with-christ/ 

The post Momentum builds for ‘Walk with Christ’ appeared first on The Catholic Weekly.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese conferred last week with a visiting Franciscan friar who is an expert on the ethics of AI.  

Fr Paolo Benanti is a professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and is an adjunct faculty member at Seattle University’s College of Science and Engineering. He is the chair of the Italian government’s commission on AI. 

The prime minister posted a message on social media about his talk with Fr Benanti. 

“Humans must remain in control over AI. Because the stakes are more than economic, they are social and moral,” he wrote. “Pope Leo and the Catholic Church share our view and understand the importance of AI working in humanity’s interest – not against it. 

“Meeting with Father Benanti, we discussed Australia’s world-leading AI standards and the work ahead.” 

Fr Benanti is in Australia on the invitation of the Italian Embassy. He also addressed the National Press Club in Canberra following talks at the University of Queensland. 

“Australia has done well with its laws on trying to protect younger people and I think we need to look at defining basic laws as AI develops,” Fr Benanti told The Australian. 

“No one should be above the law and in the case of AI the big tech companies should not be above the law. The development of AI must be for everyone.” 

Fr Benanti compared AI control to road rules: “It was clear there are basic laws for cars in Australia that you drive on the left, in Italy it is a basic law that people drive on the right. This is not about defining cars, stopping cars or stopping the use of cars; it is just about ensuring a lot of people don’t get killed”. 

The post Franciscan AI expert meets PM appeared first on The Catholic Weekly.

Every parish has a culture. It is revealed not only in its mission statement or the activities listed in its bulletin, but in what people actually experience: how newcomers are received, how decisions are made, whose voices are heard, how volunteers are formed, and whether people can find a place in which to belong and grow. 

Because these habits are familiar, those who have belonged to a parish for many years may barely notice them. They know where to sit, whom to approach and how things work. A first-time visitor, a family presenting a child for a sacrament, or someone returning after a long absence can experience the same parish very differently. What feels familiar to one person may feel impenetrable to another. 

Preparing for Eucharist28 gives parishes an opportunity to see their common life with fresh eyes. This is not merely a matter of becoming friendlier. It arises from the meaning of the Eucharist itself. 

Saint Paul writes: “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor 10:17). The Eucharist does not unite us only to Christ individually; it draws us into communion with all those who receive Him. The person approaching the altar beside us is not simply another attendee. In Christ, that person is a member of the same Body. 

This offers a searching insight for parish life. It is possible to receive Holy Communion alongside the same people for years without knowing their names, their burdens or their gifts. We can be sacramentally close while remaining relationally distant.  

The Eucharist gently challenges this distance. The communion Christ creates at the altar seeks expression in the communion we build with one another. 

This does not mean that every parish must become a small circle in which everyone knows everyone intimately. Larger communities, multiple masses, and diverse languages make that impossible. It does mean that no one should be treated as invisible and that every person should be able to find a pathway from attendance into relationship, formation and participation in the Church’s mission. 

A useful question for parish leaders is therefore not simply, “How many people attend?” but “What happens to the people who come?”  

Is someone who is curious about faith offered a clear next step? Do families disappear after baptism or First Holy Communion, or does a relationship continue? Can a person serve on a roster for years without being helped to grow as a disciple? If someone experiences grief, illness, a relationship breakdown, or a crisis of faith, would anybody notice? 

Hospitality is an important beginning, but belonging requires more than a greeting at the church door. Christian belonging means being known as a person, accompanied in faith and helped to recognise that one has received gifts for the good of others. A welcome team or parish gathering may create the first point of contact, but smaller communities of prayer, formation and service often provide the setting in which trust develops and faith deepens. 

The journey might be described as moving from being welcomed and known to belonging, growing, serving and being sent. This is not a membership process or recruitment funnel – it is a pathway of discipleship. A person is welcomed because Christ has first welcomed us, becomes known within His Body, grows through prayer and formation, discovers gifts given by the Holy Spirit, and is sent to participate in Christ’s mission. 

Parishes might examine this pathway through the experience of real people. What happens after parents’ first contact the parish about baptism? Is there an invitation beyond the preparation session and ceremony? When someone asks about becoming Catholic, do they receive information alone or encounter a person prepared to walk with them? When a new volunteer begins a ministry, are they given only a task, or also an understanding of how that service participates in the mission of Christ? 

Practical responses follow from these questions. A parish might connect sacramental families with suitable forms of continuing prayer and formation, develop accompaniment for those returning to the faith, or help ministry leaders understand that their role includes forming people rather than merely filling rosters.  

Parish councils might periodically consider the experience of a newcomer or ask which groups within the community remain least connected. 

Recent resources such as Walking with Christ: Parish Companion, can assist this work by bringing people together around Scripture, Church teaching, prayer and conversation. Its themes, including the Real Presence, sacrifice, communion, adoration and mission, can be explored by pastoral councils, ministry teams, sacramental families, schools and small groups. The purpose is not merely to acquire information about the Eucharist, but to ask how the mystery celebrated is becoming visible in the life of the community. 

Some of this local reflection is also being encouraged through the Parish Ambassador Network supported by the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation. Ambassadors can help their communities identify appropriate opportunities for prayer and formation, while sharing the experience of their parishes so that wider support remains responsive to local realities. Renewal cannot simply be delivered from elsewhere; it must take flesh among the particular people and circumstances of each parish. 

A Eucharistic parish is therefore not necessarily the parish with the fullest calendar or the greatest number of programs. It is a community in which the grace of the altar gradually becomes a pattern of life, where people are received as gifts rather than managed as participants, strangers become known, the vulnerable are not overlooked, disciples are formed and responsibility for mission is shared. 

As we prepare together for Eucharist28, every parish can ask a modest but revealing question: does the communion we receive at the altar become visible in the way we receive one another?  

Where it does, the Congress will already be bearing fruit in communities where the Eucharist is not only celebrated but increasingly shapes our life together as witnesses to the communion and love of God.   

Daniel Ang is the Director of the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation. This is the second article on parish renewal in the light of Eucharist28. Read the first article here.  

The post From attendance to belonging: Becoming a Eucharistic parish appeared first on The Catholic Weekly.

Pope Leo XIV underwent more medical exams and started respiratory physical therapy on 14 October, the day after the lung cancer surgery that removed the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung.

In the first medical update provided by the Vatican since the late-night revelation of the pope’s lung cancer diagnosis, the pope’s doctors said Wednesday that the pope’s “recovery is proceeding as expected” and the pope has begun walking around his hospital room.

“This morning, the Holy Father underwent the blood tests and chest X-ray scheduled following the surgery. The results confirm a normal postoperative recovery: the values are within the normal range for the type of surgery performed,” the joint statement by Dr. Stefano Margaritora, the pope’s surgeon, and Dr. Luigi Carbone, the pope’s personal doctor, said.

“The Holy Father underwent respiratory physical therapy and has begun walking around his room. He has resumed his regular diet, having had breakfast and lunch. His recovery is proceeding as expected.”

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists that Pope Leo was “in good spirits” the day after surgery. Bruni told journalists that before having surgery, Pope Leo had undergone a robotic bronchoscopy with biopsy, a chest CT scan with contrast, and a PET scan which indicated the need for the 13 October surgery.

Pope Leo XIV’s surgery reveals lung cancer

Pope Leo was admitted to Gemelli Hospital 13 October for the lung surgery, following the pope’s 11 October disclosure that recent medical examinations had revealed a “well-contained” lung nodule that had been “detected at a very early stage.”

According to Vatican News, post-operation tests will be conducted on the removed tissue in the coming days.

In response to a question of how long the wait might be to receive any results as to whether cancer remains beyond what was removed during the pope’s surgery, Bruni said, “You have to ask a doctor for the timing of those. It usually takes five, 10, 15 days depending on the situation.”

Speaking with OSV News, medical experts indicated that a potential analysis of the pope’s lymph nodes could be key to evaluating the next steps.

Dr. Nirmal Veeramachaneni, professor of cardiothoracic surgery at St Louis University School of Medicine and medical director for lung cancer screening at SSM Health – who is not involved in the pope’s care – said in an interview with OSV News that it would typically take a week to get all of the biopsy results back.

The pope’s doctors 14 October statement is the first update from the Vatican on the pope’s medical condition since the pope’s surgery ended with the revelation from his doctors that the “examination confirmed the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, as suspected by the preoperative tests.”

Adenocarcinoma of the lung is the most common form of lung cancer in the United States. It represents about 40 per cent of all lung cancers, according to the Lung Cancer Foundation of America.

The right lower lobe of the lung, which Pope Leo had removed, is the largest of the three lobes in the right lung. Located in the posterior and inferior part of the right chest cavity, it contributes roughly 30% of total lung capacity, making it the single largest lung lobe, according to the Baylor College of Medicine.

Pope Leo is expected to remain in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital as he recovers from surgery for at least one week. The Vatican has cancelled all of the pope’s scheduled audiences through 20 October.

Bruni said that there were no changes to announce at this time to the pope’s expected length of stay in the hospital or to the pope’s scheduled trip to Latin America 6-17 November. He said that Pope Leo XIV had “manifested his intention” to travel to Peru and “that’s still there.”

The previously published schedule for the 12-day trip to South America indicated that he would travel more than 19,000 miles on 14 flights during a November trip to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, which includes stops high in the Andes mountains.

Peru’s President Keiko Fujimori said the country received the news of the pontiff’s diagnosis “with deep sadness” and asked God “to care for him, to give him strength, and allow us to see him soon recovered.”

“Holy Father, this land, which is also your home, embraces you with immense affection. Today it is our turn to accompany you with our prayers, just as you have so many times accompanied us with yours,” she wrote.

The post Pope Leo XIV starts respiratory physical therapy a day after lung cancer surgery appeared first on The Catholic Weekly.

Pope Leo XIV, recovering from lung cancer surgery in Rome, sent a request for prayers to participants in a Vatican conference.

“As you know, I have been unable to be among you during these days,” Pope Leo wrote in the Oct. 14 message to clergy members and Catholics. “I thank you warmly for your prayers and for the work you have done together. Your sharing of experiences and attentive listening are indeed a gift to the whole Church.”

The pope’s message was read at the conclusion of the conference “10 Years After Amoris Laetitia: Proclaiming the Gospel with Families Today,” a meeting examining the legacy of the apostolic exhortation and how to strengthen family participation in the churchʼs mission.

“Entrusting each of you to the protection of the Holy Family of Nazareth, I ask you please to pray for me, as I pray for you,” he wrote.

The pope encouraged participants to bring the meetingʼs insights back to their bishops' conferences and dioceses, continue proclaiming the Gospel with families, and ensure families remain active participants in the life and mission of local churches.

Leo’s homily delivered

At the closing Mass for the conference “10 Years After Amoris Laetitia: Proclaiming the Gospel with Families Today,” Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, dean of the College of Cardinals, delivered a homily prepared by Pope Leo XIV, saying, “the world has no future without strong families open to the gift of children and attentive to their education and growth.”

Families and faith communities should accompany people facing hardship with compassion rather than condemnation, the pope’s homily said.

“Those who are more vulnerable, or who are experiencing difficult circumstances and moments of crisis, will also find support and encouragement, surrounded by affection and shielded from judgment and prejudice. Let us remember that ‘as wounded as the family may be, it can always grow beginning with love,’” Tagle said, delivering the homily prepared by Pope Leo.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) have teamed up in calling for “compassion” in immigration policy amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing crackdown.

Bishop Brendan Cahill, who chairs the USCCB Committee on Migration, signed onto the five-page document along with NAE President Walter Kim, as part of a joint effort called the Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue on Immigration (ECDI).

“We write as Christian leaders who love our country and our immigrant neighbors,” they wrote in an Oct. 13 statement titled “A Call for Christian Compassion and Wisdom in the Immigration Debate.”

“As Catholic and evangelical Christians, we have doctrinal differences, but we are united in our conviction that God calls us to stand both with our fellow Americans who are experiencing economic and cultural anxieties and with our immigrant neighbors who are facing existential challenges,” they indicated.

According to a USCCB news release, ECDI timed the statement to correspond with an increase in reported detentions and deportations, as well as the ending of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of several countries, including Haitians and Syrians.

The document puts a “special focus” on children and families, citing Matt. 18:5, in which Christ says, “whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.”

Cahill and Kim emphasized all people, regardless of where they are born or their immigration status, are made in the image of God, adding: “This dignity comes from God, not government, and no earthly power may erase it.”

“The stranger is not merely a burden to bear,” they wrote. “Again and again, God has blessed his people through the outsider. From Ruth the Moabite to the present day, immigrants can bring renewal to congregations and communities that welcome them. We lament approaches that pit citizens against noncitizens.”

Both leaders said that they recognize the government’s responsibility to secure and manage borders, but that governments must also uphold religious liberty, protect the persecuted, and facilitate pathways for legal immigration.

Cahill and Kim encouraged “a better path forward,” which they argued would be consistent with all of those obligations.

“Catholic and evangelical Christians make up a large portion of our American citizenry,” the letter added. “Majorities of evangelicals and Catholics support immigration reform that would provide meaningful opportunities for longtime residents to regularize their status.”

According to the document, one element is secure borders and targeted immigration enforcement that protects family unity and prioritizes action against people who are a threat to public safety.

Other elements include limiting detentions of non-violent people, access to chaplains, and more legal pathways to permanent status for workers, family members, and humanitarian populations.

Cahill and Kim asked Christians to pray for their leaders as commanded in 1 Tim. 2:1-2, which reads: “First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.”

“Our promise of prayer extends to our law enforcement officers, our policymakers, our judges, and all in our communities who play an essential role in building up the common good,” they wrote.

“Every Christian deserves to know that he or she has been made a new creation in Christ and is a member of his Body — no matter what the particular circumstances of duty or residence,” the document points out.

The 234th Círio de Nazaré, a traditional pilgrimage honoring Our Lady of Nazareth, drew approximately 2.3 million people to the streets of Belém in Pará state, Brazil, on Sunday, Oct. 11 for a procession that according to organizers is the largest in Brazil and one of the largest in the world.

The procession took about five hours for participants to cover the 3.6-kilometer (about 2.25 miles) route from the Belém Metropolitan Cathedral to Sanctuary Square located in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of Nazareth.

The Círio’s Sunday program began at 6:00 a.m. with a Mass celebrated by the Archbishop of Belém, Julio Akamine Endi, in front of the metropolitan cathedral. In his homily, he highlighted the significance of the procession as an expression of a shared journey toward Christ.

“The procession is very slow and takes a long time, but the pace is because we don’t want to leave anyone behind; we don’t want to abandon anyone along the way. We want everyone to reach Jesus Christ, to reach eternal life together,” he said.

“What kind of salvation is it where we leave others behind? We want to walk together, and this must also be reflected in our evangelizing and missionary work,” the archbishop continued.

In closing, he invoked the intercession of Our Lady of Nazareth so that the faithful might persevere on this journey: “May Our Lady of Nazareth, in whose honor we hold this most beautiful procession, help us to walk together toward the definitive Kingdom.”

Akamine also urged the faithful to care for others and to look after the salvation of their brothers and sisters, following Mary’s example.

“Let us ask Our Lady of Nazareth that we may know how to be submissive to God, just as she was, and that we may also care more, having zeal for the salvation of our brothers and sisters. We do not achieve this by seeking to claim a leading role that is not ours. The leading role always belongs to God. He is the Savior. He is the Savior of all. He is our Savior. And it is by obeying God that we actively collaborate in the salvation of humanity,” he noted.

Devotees fulfilling vows express their faith on the streets of Belém

After Mass, the image of Our Lady of Nazareth was placed on the “berlinda” (a ceremonial carriage) and taken in procession through the streets of Belém, pulled by a rope, one of the symbols of the Círio festival, that devotees strive to hold onto.

Along the route, devotees fulfilled their vows in various ways: walking on their knees, carrying heavy crosses or images of Our Lady, performing ballet, and even while blindfolded.

Among those fulfilling vows was 28-year-old Fabrício Corrêa, who traversed the route on his knees to honor a promise made for his motherʼs recovery. She was facing complications resulting from diabetes and was at risk of having one of her feet amputated.

“I am an Evangelical and asked God to heal her, but I also went to the basilica and asked Our Lady to intercede with Jesus so that he would grant this healing to my mother,” Corrêa told the website O Liberal.

According to him, a week later, the family received the news that the amputation would not be necessary. His mother lost only one of her toes, and Fabrício fulfilled the vow during this year’s Círio.

“I promised that if she interceded, I would fulfill that vow. I kept that to myself,” he said. His mother, a Catholic, did not know her son had made the vow and only learned of his participation in the Círio after the video went viral on social media.

Along the route, individuals and institutions also paid tribute to Our Lady of Nazareth. To help alleviate the heat, the fire department used water trucks, while volunteers distributed water to the pilgrims.

After the image arrived at Sanctuary Square, the program for the procession concluded with a Mass celebrated by the auxiliary bishop of Belém, Paulo Andreolli.

The Círio schedule of events continues throughout October with other pilgrimages and religious activities, leading up to the “Recírio”, which marks the conclusion of the festivities in honor of Our Lady of Nazareth.

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

St. Patrick’s Cathedral erupted in laughter. The oil of annointing dripped down from now Bishop Joseph Espillat’s hairless head onto his smiling face as Cardinal Timothy Dolan joyfully handied a towel to him to clear his eyes.

At that time, Espillat would become the youngest bishop in the United States. And he brought with him a passion for evangelization and the Blessed Sacrament the likes of which would join an ever-growing movement, the Eucharistic Revival, that was in its infancy.

About a year later, after photographing a priestly ordination at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a photographer friend of mine nudged me and asked if I was going to the Eucharistic procession in Times Square. To which I glanced him and asked, “What procession?”

I was sitting on 51st Street with a sandwich and a cold cup of coffee, sorting photos and writing down a few thoughts. The procession wasn’t until late afternoon, and I was already pretty tired. I wasn’t planning to go. So I left it in God’s hands, which, once again, proved to be the best idea.

Hours later, I found myself in Father Duffy Square, surrounded by thousands of people praying before the Blessed Sacrament. And there at the center of it all was Bishop Espaillat, his energy and joy unmistakable. The atmosphere was electric.

In a place the world knows for its lights and spectacle, people had gathered to adore Christ. I’d nearly missed it because I was “tired.” Now I was standing in the middle of Times Square, trying to take in something utterly breathtaking.

And now, another invitation to follow Him into the streets.

On Oct. 13, 2026, the Napa Institute returned to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for its annual Eucharistic procession.

And that same bishop, whose anointing filled the cathedral with laughter, and whose joy I encountered in Father Duffy Square, celebrated the 4 p.m. Mass and preached the homily. He was joined by Dominican Father Gregory Pine and Father John Burns who led Eucharistic meditations before Mass. After Mass, the Eucharistic procession spilled from the cathedral onto the crowded city streets to bring the Presence of Christ and the witness of faith of countless thousands made through Midtown.

Napa’s New York procession began in 2021. Its invitation simple: accompany Christ in the Blessed Sacrament through the city. It takes a faith nourished at the altar into the streets, where anyone passing by might encounter it.

Since then it’s been the inspiration of countless Eucharistic Processions around the world. Even the National Eucharistic Revival that launched in June 2022 carried that same desire to renew Catholics’ relationship with Christ in the Eucharist.

In his homily, Espaillat preached about the people we too easily pass by. His homily was grounded in the day’s readings: Jesus at the Pharisee’s table and the cup polished outside while something remained wrong within. The remedy was almsgiving, a heart learning to give. He spoke of mercy made concrete, turning us toward the needs of another.

Near the end, he recalled Archbishop Charles C. Thompson of Indianapolis telling young people that they were a mystery to be encountered. Then he extended that invitation to babies, immigrants, people experiencing homelessness, and inmates on death row.

“Young people are not a problem to be figured out. They are a mystery to be encountered!” he said.

And then came the challenge.

The bishop was asking us to look honestly at our own hearts, and he gave us somewhere to begin. Support a food pantry. Walk with someone who is lonely or anxious. Sit down with someone whose views differ from our own and have a Christ-like conversation. Give quietly, without announcing it on social media.

“Be kind. Give out of love, not out of obligation.”

The cathedral was standing room only. The Sisters of Life, the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal and Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, the Dominicans, and dozens of other religious filled the cathedral.

And above it all was an absolutely breathtaking sky, with New York’s rush hour below.

The afternoon concluded with Benediction, led by Espaillat.

Once dismissed as “Hughes’ Folly” for standing too far outside the city, St. Patrick’s now stands at its heart.

And the invitation reaches beyond its doors, into the places where we work, the people we pass, and the lives we too easily overlook.

In a city that stands as the worldʼs cultural capital, a new culture is emerging: the Culture of Christ.

New generations of Catholics are forming new communities. Churches once quiet are now filled to capacity. And it’s no surprise when you realize that by bringing His Presence to the streets, grace overflows.

Christ is here. His love is for every person on these streets.

The culture of Christ begins there.

And, by His Grace, it can begin again in us again.

This article was first published by the National Catholic Register, EWTN News’ sister publication, and has been adapted by EWTN News English.

The Vatican holds a press conference for the conclusion of the ecclesial encounter “Ten Years After Amoris laetitia: Proclaiming the Gospel with Families Today,” convened by Pope Leo XIV to mark the tenth anniversary of the Apostolic Exhortation.

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Santo Domingo has a new archbishop: Carlos Tomás Morel Diplán. He succeeds Francisco Ozoria Acosta, whose resignation was accepted by Pope Leo XIV after he reached the episcopal retirement age of 75.

Morel Diplán had been appointed by Pope Leo as coadjutor archbishop of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Oct. 18, 2025, with the automatic right of succession.

As reported by the Vatican Press Office on Oct. 12 and by mandate of the Holy Father, the new archbishop of Santo Domingo also assumes the office of Military Ordinary of the Dominican Republic, a role previously held by Ozoria.

Ozoria offers Mass of Thanksgiving

On Sunday, Oct. 11, Ozoria, now archbishop emeritus of Santo Domingo, offered a Mass of Thanksgiving for his years of episcopal service. He spent 10 of those years serving the primatial see of the Americas, the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, erected in 1546, the first in the Western Hemisphere.

“I do not cease to be a bishop; I do not cease to be a priest; I am resigning from pastoral governance,” the prelate stated during the Mass in the Santo Domingo cathedral, concelebrated by Morel Diplán and other Dominican prelates, according to the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo.

“Every Eucharist is an act of thanksgiving to the Lord,” the archbishop emeritus said, highlighting that “the way to exercise the priesthood is in the manner of Jesus Christ, who gives life to the world through his death on the cross.”

New archbishop of Santo Domingo

Morel Diplán was born on Nov. 2, 1969, in Monte de la Jagua, Moca, in Espaillat Province. He was ordained a priest on June 24, 2000, for the Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic.

He has served as rector, vice-rector, and professor at the seminary; vocations director; parish priest, vicar, and parish administrator; collaborator with various diocesan curia bodies; and professor and director of the School for the Permanent Diaconate in Santiago de los Caballeros.

On Dec. 14, 2016, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Santiago de los Caballeros. On Dec. 2, 2023, he was appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of La Vega, and on Oct. 18, 2024, he was named bishop of the same diocese.

On Oct. 18, 2025, he was appointed coadjutor archbishop of Santo Domingo.

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

After a surgery on Tuesday in which the lower lobe of his right lung was removed, Pope Leo XIV was diagnosed with lung cancer. Dr. Luis Ráez, a prominent oncologist, explained in an interview with EWTN News what pulmonary adenocarcinoma is and what factors will determine the Holy Father’s next medical steps.

Ráez, who is not treating the pope, serves as the medical director and head of the Thoracic Oncology Program at the Memorial Cancer Institute in Florida.

The Vatican reported that the pope had “the lower lobe of the right lung removed using a video-assisted technique. The intraoperative histological examination has confirmed the diagnosis of pulmonary adenocarcinoma, as was suspected from the preoperative tests.”

The most common lung tumor

“The Holy Father remained in the operating room for approximately 3 hours; the duration of the surgery was approximately 90 minutes. The surgery was a success and there were no complications,” the Holy See added.

Ráez explained that adenocarcinoma “is the most common tumor in the lung” and noted that “in general, lung cancers are more aggressive than those of the prostate or breast.”

However, he clarified that seriousness is not defined solely by the type of cancer, but that “the prognosis depends on the stage, that is, the size of the tumor and how far it has spread.”

‘Stage one or stage two’

The pope said during the Angelus prayer on Sunday, Oct. 11, that a nodule on his lung was detected “at a very early stage” and was “well localized.” Ráez speculated that the decision to operate could confirm that the cancer is not at an advanced stage.

“We assume that is the case because they subjected him to surgery. If it were metastatic, for example, stage three or stage four, which are advanced, most likely they would not have operated on him. An operation usually implies stage one or stage two,” he said.

Asked what will determine whether removal of part of the lung is sufficient or whether additional treatment will be required, Ráez highlighted the importance of the tumor size and the absence of metastases.

“If the tumor is larger than four centimeters, the surgery will not be enough and chemotherapy will be necessary. If the tumor is smaller than four centimeters, the surgery is sufficient and nothing else is done. A patient then moves to an observation phase with check-ups every six months,” he explained.

The recovery process

Regarding the chances of a cure, Ráez noted that, under optimal conditions and with a tumor smaller than four centimeters, the figures are favorable: “The chance of cure for early-stage lung cancer is 80 to 90%; it is not total because the cancer can come back.”

Regarding the physical recovery of Pope Leo XIV, who is 71 years old, Ráez expressed a favorable short-term prognosis. “Since he is a healthy man, the most likely thing is that he will be fine” in a few weeks, he stated.

He added that this surgery usually requires a hospital stay of two or three days in the United States and considered that, in the pontiff’s case, more days of hospitalization may have been planned as a precaution.

Regarding medical follow-up after discharge, the specialist stressed that the protocol does not end when one leaves the hospital. “For the next five years, control CT scans must be done every six months, until one is sure that the cancer has not returned and that he has been cured,” said Ráez, who has more than two decades of experience in hematology and medical oncology.

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

At the conclusion of the meeting to mark the 10th anniversary of Amoris laetitia, Pope Leo XIV says he will review the fruits of their work and emphasizes his hope that families will always be active participants in the life and mission of local Churches.

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As Pope Leo XIV recovers from lung surgery in hospital, a group of students from his hometown of Chicago are sending him get-well cards and Chicago White Sox blanket.

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The Holy See Press Office confirmed the nodule removed on Tuesday during Pope Leo’s surgery is a type of non-small cell lung cancer. Follow here for more updates.

ROME — Pope Leo XIV is recovering well after undergoing surgery Tuesday to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, which was affected by pulmonary adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer.

The medical report released by the Vatican was signed by his personal physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone, and Dr. Stefano Margaritora, the surgeon who led the operation.

The bulletin said the Holy Father underwent scheduled “blood tests and a chest X-ray” Wednesday morning.

“The results confirm a normal postoperative course: The values are within the expected range for the type of surgery performed,” the doctors said.

The bulletin also highlighted progress in his physical recovery.

“The Holy Father underwent respiratory physiotherapy and began walking around his room,” the doctors reported, referring to an activity considered essential to recovery after lung surgery.

The physicians also said the pontiff had resumed his normal diet.

“Recovery is proceeding as expected,” they said in the bulletin released by the Holy See, easing concerns that arose late Tuesday when the Vatican confirmed the cancer diagnosis.

A histological examination confirmed that the pope had pulmonary adenocarcinoma.

The first encouraging news came early Wednesday morning, following an anxious night. In a brief statement, the Vatican confirmed that the pope had spent a “peaceful night” and was continuing to recover from anesthesia in his room on the 10th floor of Romeʼs Gemelli Hospital.

A few hours later came confirmation that, despite his hospitalization, Leo remains able to carry out his responsibilities governing the Church.

At noon, the Holy See announced that the pontiff had accepted the resignation of Archbishop Bernard Bober from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Košice, Slovakia, and appointed Auxiliary Bishop Marek Forgáč of the same archdiocese as his successor.

He also appointed Bishop Wellington de Queiroz Vieira as the new metropolitan archbishop of Cuiabá, Brazil, transferring him from the Diocese of Cristalândia.

The popeʼs clinical progress will determine the course of his treatment over the coming weeks. Doctors continue to monitor his postoperative recovery closely before making decisions about the next stages of treatment and his schedule in the coming days.

For now, all his scheduled engagements remain canceled through next Tuesday.

Among the upcoming events awaiting confirmation is the Angelus on Sunday, Oct. 18. If his medical condition permits, the pope could lead the prayer from the hospital, a gesture that would be seen as an encouraging sign of his recovery.

Members of the popeʼs closest entourage, known in Vatican terminology as the papal household, remain at his side. They include his two personal secretaries, Peruvian Father Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga and Italian Father Marco Billeri.

A blessing from heaven

Meanwhile, Gemelli Hospital continues to receive expressions of affection and solidarity from faithful who have come from around the world.

Among them is Gina, a native of Lima, Peru, who was praying before the imposing statue of St. John Paul II in the courtyard of the Rome hospital.

For the past two years, she has cared for her husband, who has Parkinsonʼs disease. He is currently hospitalized at Gemelli after developing an infection.

For Gina, being in the same hospital as the pope is more than a coincidence. She considers it a “blessing from heaven” that helps her endure her suffering.

“It gives me strength to think that my husband is suffering as a patient just a few yards from the Holy Father. I know his suffering is not in vain because we offer it to God,” she told EWTN News.

For Gina, the circumstances have strengthened her faith and hope.

“That has given me more strength and more hope. Knowing that the pope is here helps me keep going,” she said.

She happened to return from Peru, where she had traveled to visit family, on Oct. 11, after leaving Rome on Aug. 28. Her return coincided with the news of the pontiffʼs impending surgery.

“My mother called me the next day and asked how my husband was doing. When I told her that the pope was in the same hospital, she burst into tears: ‘Blessed be God, blessed be God,’” Gina recalled.

She also described the excitement building in Peru ahead of Leoʼs planned visit.

“Choirs, folk groups, and many local residents are organizing to celebrate his arrival. Heʼs going to see the children he baptized, the children who have grown up and are now adults. People adore him,” she said.

Gina said she cannot imagine the pontiff having to cancel his planned trip to Latin America.

For now, however, the messages coming from the Vatican have been encouraging.

Holy See Press Office director Matteo Bruni emphasized that the tumor was “at an early stage” and that the nodule removed was “circumscribed and localized.”

The statement released after the operation used the term “radicality” to indicate that doctors believe the lesion was completely removed.

Specialists also believe that the loss of a lung lobe should not have significant consequences for the daily life of a patient in Leoʼs physical condition.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Oct. 14, Bruni referred to the popeʼs “desire” to proceed with his trip scheduled for early November.

“We have heard the popeʼs words about the trip, and therefore his intention, his desire, and also the fact that ... he wants to go,” the Vatican spokesman said.

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

GBOKA, Nigeria — The Catholic Diocese of Gboko in Nigeria has suspended operations at three schools, a parish, and a hospital amid persistent insecurity in the area, expressing regret that the unavoidable suspension will affect communities.

The institutions listed in a pastoral letter and decree issued Oct. 12, include St. Winifred Secondary School, St. Winifred Nursery and Primary School, St. Thomas Hospital, the hospital chaplaincy, Subin Mind Care Center, and St. Winifred Parish, all located in Ihugh within the diocese.

The decree, which took effect immediately provides for the withdrawal of all diocesan personnel serving in the affected institutions, including priests, consecrated persons, catechists, pastoral workers, teachers, medical personnel, and administrative staff.

In the decree, Bishop William Amove Avenya directs that the personnel be reassigned or redeployed, adding that no one would be permitted to resume duties or exercise ministry on behalf of the diocese in Ihugh without his written authorization.

The decree states that the closure is “temporary in intent, though indefinite in duration,” and will remain in force until the bishop, in consultation with his advisers, determines that conditions for a safe return have been met.

According to the decree that he co-signed with the diocese’s chancellor, Father Marcellinus Wende, the decision to reopen the institutions will be communicated through a further decree.

The pastoral letter indicates that the closures follow repeated attacks, destruction of property, and other security incidents affecting Catholic institutions in Ihugh.

Among the incidents cited are the burning of student hostels at St. Winifred Secondary School on Oct. 28, and on OCt. 11, May 10 ,and May 15 of this year.

The diocese also cites repeated burglaries at St. Winifred Parish and criminal incidents at St. Thomas Hospital.

The letter further recalls disturbances during the hospital’s reopening on June 21, 2024, when members of the local community displayed placards and chanted slogans declaring that they no longer wanted Catholic religious sisters to work in Ihugh.

“These acts are identified as part of a systemic pattern of hostility and destruction directed at Church-owned properties,” Avenya says, adding that the incidents had left fear, loss, and uncertainty among those serving in and depending on the institutions.

The bishop said the diocese had pursued dialogue and reconciliation before deciding to suspend operations.

According to the letter, diocesan representatives met with members of the host community, engaged traditional rulers and elders, and presented their concerns to civil and security authorities. However, these efforts had not secured the peace and guarantees of safety required for the institutions to continue operating.

“The Church cannot, in conscience, continue to expose her priests, consecrated persons, teachers, technical medical personnel, students and patients to danger,” the bishop said.

Despite the closures, the bishop outlined measures to support those affected. Students at the secondary, primary, and nursery schools will be assisted, as far as possible, to continue their education at other Catholic schools within the diocese, with further details to be provided by the director of Catholic Education Services.

Patients receiving care at St. Thomas Hospital will be referred to other health facilities, with arrangements made for the proper handover of those requiring urgent medical attention.

The diocese has also pledged to treat affected staff with justice and charity, in accordance with Church teaching on the dignity of labour.

In the pastoral letter, Avenya called on the people of Ihugh, traditional rulers, youth leaders, government officials, and law enforcement agencies to work towards restoring peace and ensuring the protection of lives and property. He also urged authorities to bring those responsible for the attacks to justice.

“We bear no ill will toward our brothers and sisters,” the bishop said, while condemning violence, arson, and destruction as contrary to the Gospel and the common good.

Avenya said a return to Ihugh would remain possible if there were genuine repentance, restitution, a firm commitment to peace and credible, lasting assurances of safety for Church personnel and property.

As part of its response, the bishop called on the faithful to pray for peace and reconciliation, further directing parishes to offer the Prayer of the Faithful and celebrate Holy Mass for peace. He also encouraged families to pray the rosary, and designated Friday, Oct. 23, as a day of prayer and fasting for reconciliation.

Avenya has been vocal about unprovoked attacks and the killing of innocent people in the country’s Benue State within his diocese.

In June last year, he painted a grim picture of nearly two decades of relentless violence, displacements, and suffering in one of Nigeria’s most troubled regions.

“For about 20 years, Benue State has witnessed serial killings, maiming, and ejection of thousands of indigenous people from their ancestral homelands, with their means of livelihood destroyed in the process,” the Nigerian bishop lamented in his statement titled, “A Cry of Anguish from the Benue Valley.”

He added, “Many of those forced out of their homes are living in the camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) under gravely dehumanizing conditions and are predominantly cared for by charities, while others are living with other people (mostly their relatives).”

Despite the grim picture, Avenya said, “What we need is peace, and this is not too much to ask for. The blame game has gone on for too long. It is time to act.”

This article was first published by ACI Africa, EWTN News’ sister service in Africa, and has been adapted for EWTN News English.

The Holy See Press Office says the Pope underwent the blood tests and chest X-ray scheduled after surgery on Wednesday morning, which confirm that his postoperative recovery is progressing normally.

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In a joint ecumenical document, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Association of Evangelicals call for “compassion and wisdom” in the immigration debate affecting the country.

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Catechism of Pope Leo XIV on Peace, inspired by Pope Leo’s Apostolic visit to Cameroon in April 2026, is a Pastoral Guide for teaching Peace.

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A severe shortfall in donor support threatens vital protection for refugees, including thousands fleeing conflict in Sudan who are still waiting to be registered in Chad.

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The University of Dayton announced that Darlene Weaver, the university’s provost and executive vice president, will serve as the Ohio university’s 20th president.

Weaver’s appointment makes her the first woman president in the universityʼs history, according to an Oct. 12 press release. She succeeds University of Dayton President Eric Spina and is set to begin the role on July 1, 2027.

“Darlene has an innate understanding of the University of Dayton, a deep belief in our Catholic, Marianist mission and a demonstrated ability to move important work forward,” Deborah Tobias, chair of the University of Dayton Board of Trustees and the presidential search advisory committee, said in the release.

“UD’s mission has never been more important,” Weaver said. “In a world shaped by technological change, social division and questions about the value of higher education, the University of Dayton has a distinctive role to play in serving the common good. We educate students not only for professional success, but for lives of meaning, responsibility and service. That is the promise of a Catholic, Marianist education, and it will guide the work ahead.”

Cleveland diocesan school launches ‘Pathways’ initiative for young men

Benedictine High School in Cleveland announced the start of Pathways, an initiative aimed at empowering young men to explore their passions while preparing for college.

“Rather than following a one-size-fits-all educational model, Pathways allows students to engage in meaningful, hands-on learning experiences aligned with their interests and future aspirations with concentrations in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), business-entrepreneurship, fine and performing arts and vocations,” the diocese said in an Oct. 6 press release.

Students will have the opportunity to continue exploring courses in fields already offered by the school, including STEM, business, entrepreneurship, and fine arts. “Launching with electives in computer repair, media production, construction and manufacturing, the vocations pathway will provide students with hands-on experiences, opportunities to earn industry-recognized credentials and meaningful exposure to technical careers,” the release said.

Omaha Archdiocese announces pilot program for career, technical training

Archbishop Michael McGovern is launching a pilot program for technical vocational training at six Catholic schools across the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska.

“Archbishop Michael McGovern is proud to announce this initiative to expand opportunities in Career and Technical Education in Catholic schools across Northeast Nebraska,” according to the program’s website. “This multi-year initiative is the first such effort by a diocesan school system in the United States and will begin with a pilot at six schools in 2027-2028.”

The program will feature “trade bootcamps” in fields such as auto repair, construction, and HVAC; career exploration days; and a “Lunch and Learn” series for women in technical areas.

Participating schools include Norfolk Catholic Junior and High School, St. Joseph Elementary School, Christ the King Catholic School, Skutt Catholic High School, All Saints Catholic School, and Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School.

“Career & Technical Education expands the ways students in Archdiocese of Omaha schools can discover their gifts, apply their knowledge in hands-on lessons, explore meaningful careers and prepare for life beyond high school,” the website said.

At the Koinonia Community’s "Salama" Center in Nairobi, Kenya, young mothers are learning vocational skills and striving for self-reliance after enduring harrowing pasts. The stories of Daisy, Eva, and Damaris offer a detailed look at how one learns to see a different side of Nairobi’s famous informal settlement.

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In his homily read by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle at the concluding Mass of the Vatican encounter to mark the 10th anniversary of 'Amoris laetitia,' Pope Leo XIV calls on the Church to put the Apostolic Exhortation's pastoral guidance into practice in the heart of families.

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U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Acting Commissioner Kyle Diamantas last week asking whether the agency “is reviewing all relevant data” in the mifepristone safety study it has undertaken.

Hawley questioned whether the study is accurately measuring risks to women of the abortion drug, which since 2021 has been available by mail. The FDA halted in-person dispensing requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic and formally modified the policy in 2023, continuing to allow abortion pills by mail.

He expressed concern that the study did not provide dates for what it called “relevant time periods” during which the drug’s effects were measured. He wrote that the study relies on Sentinel, a database of insurance claims and health records, but does not provide the time frame being analyzed. He expressed concern that data must include dates “after the Biden Administration gutted safety regulations in 2023.”

Hawley noted that Louisiana is challenging the FDA in a federal suit alleging the government did not adequately ascertain the drug’s safety before removing safeguards.

The senator asked Diamantas to provide answers in writing by Oct. 22.

Catholics join LDS Church in Idaho in opposing ballot measure expanding abortion access

The Diocese of Boise, Idaho, has joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) in a campaign opposing Proposition 1, an initiative that expands abortion access.

Last week, the diocese donated $300,000 to the political action committee Too Extreme for Idaho, to which the LDS church had already donated $1 million, according to the Idaho secretary of state.

Boise Bishop Peter F. Christensen in July and again in September urged Catholics to vote against the measure, which he called “too extreme” for the state, saying if passed, it “would remove nearly all protections for pre-born babies and put vulnerable women at risk.”

He emphasized that the measure, if passed, would undermine parental rights by no longer requiring parental consent for abortions as well as other medical procedures on minors and would remove the current legal requirement that only physicians perform abortions.

“Proposition 1 concerns matters of profound moral significance, particularly abortion, human dignity, freedom and the protection owed to unborn human life,” he wrote in September. “These questions cannot be separated from our Catholic faith simply because they appear on a ballot. The voting booth does not somehow stand outside our relationship with Christ.”

Fired teacher sues school in England for discriminating against her Christian faith

A teacher in England is suing after she was fired in March for telling a student who asked her about her views on abortion that she was pro-life.

Anita Meston, a 63-year-old who taught history at Biddick Academy in Washington, Sunderland, is suing the school for discriminating against her Christian faith, which she says is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

“If our national education system continues to claim to foster inclusion and tolerance, this must include tolerance of perspectives with which others disagree,” Meston said in a press release from Alliance Defending Freedom, the legal group representing her.

“In a free and just society, teachers should not be fired for honestly expressing their deeply held beliefs in response to questions in the classroom,” she said. “What happened to me is nothing short of censorship, and this precedent cannot be allowed to stand.”

Pro-abortion protesters block pro-life group at student fair in England

Protesters blocked the stall of the Pro-Life Society, a pro-life student group, at a student fair held at the University of Manchester in England on Sept. 25.

While the protesters, some of them members of Manchester Leftist Action, did not touch the stall, they held a banner in front of it that said “Destroy Pro-Life Soc.” They also collected money for and passed out leaflets on pro-abortion groups as well as links to an Instagram account called @stopmanchesterprolife, according to The Mancunion.

A Pro-Life Society spokesperson told The Mancunion the roughly four-hour blockade limited their free speech and prevented students from approaching the stall, adding that university staff’s requests for protesters to move were largely ineffective.

The society has faced campus opposition since its founding according to the report, including earlier protests and an unsuccessful disbandment petition.

A spokesperson for Manchester Leftist Action stated that, because the university would not act against what they described as “bigotry and dangerous pseudoscience,” they chose to counter the stall by engaging students and raising funds for abortion care. They said they would continue opposing the society’s efforts on campus.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV is recovering as expected after undergoing surgery for lung cancer, the Vatican said Oct. 14, as U.S. Catholic leaders and longtime friends of the pope expressed concern for his health but confidence that his illness would not deter him from carrying out his mission.

Pope Leo underwent surgery Oct. 13 at Rome's Gemelli hospital to remove the lower lobe of his right lung after medical tests detected a suspicious growth that was later confirmed to be cancerous. The removed tissue was diagnosed as adenocarcinoma, a type of cancer that develops in specialized glandular cells.

His first night in the hospital passed peacefully, and doctors conducted blood tests and a chest X-ray as scheduled on his first day of recovery, according to Vatican communiques released Oct. 14.

"The results confirm a normal post-operative course: the values are within the expected range for the type of procedure performed," the Vatican said in an afternoon announcement relaying the doctors' findings.

The pope also began respiratory therapy, walked around his hospital room and ate, the Vatican said.

Augustinian Father John Lydon, a longtime friend of Pope Leo, told Catholic News Service Oct. 14 that he was concerned for the pope's health but had confidence in his doctors and was praying that chemotherapy would not be necessary.

Father Lydon, who served as a missionary in Peru for 10 years alongside the pope, was in Rome for Villanova University's International Sustainability Conference as director of the university's Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration.

He said the diagnosis would not change the convictions that guide Pope Leo's leadership, particularly his commitment to the poor and to synodality, a process of listening and dialogue within the Church.

"I think all those things are kind of part of who he is, and I don't think any medical issue changes that," Father Lydon said Oct. 14. "We're hopeful that the medical thing will just quickly be pushed aside, but concerned, obviously."

Augustinian Father Peter Donohue, president of Villanova University, also told CNS during the conference that he did not expect Pope Leo's medical condition to diminish his determination to pursue his priorities.

"Knowing what he's like, I don't think they'll stop him," Father Donohue said.

Recalling Pope Leo's years as prior general of the Augustinian order, Father Donohue described a leader who remained composed even when confronting disagreements or difficult decisions.

He said the pope was not afraid to speak out when he believed something was wrong and needed to be corrected, but he never appeared rattled.

"I don't think this is going to affect the way he does things," Father Donohue said. "He's got a great physical strength in terms of the man he is, but he also has a great spiritual strength," he said. "He will manage it."

Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Pope Leo has offered an example of faith and courage in the face of illness.

"He shows himself as a man of great faith and putting himself in the hands of God in a very simple and profound way," he told CNS Oct. 14.

"As members of our own families face illnesses, sometimes we don't know, what can we do, but there's a sense that it's in God's hands, and I think that's the example the Holy Father gives us," he said.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told CNS Oct. 14 that he was "as surprised as anyone else" to learn of Pope Leo's diagnosis and need for surgery.

He called on Catholics to pray for the pope and to remember that "God is with us and God has a plan," urging them "just not to lose hope, not to doubt God's providence and his plan," because he called Pope Leo to the pontificate. 

The diagnosis and removal of a section of his lung have also raised questions about the pope's upcoming apostolic journey to South America, scheduled for Nov. 6-17, with stops in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.

The Vatican has not announced any changes to the trip, which remains on the pope's official schedule.

Father Donohue said many people in Peru, where Pope Leo spent much of his ministry as a missionary, priest and bishop, are eagerly awaiting his return. He said he believed the pope would be reluctant to disappoint them by canceling the visit.

"I will assure you if they say it's okay, he's going to be on that plane," Father Donohue told CNS.

The pope's cancer diagnosis and treatment come as another member of his family is undergoing treatment for the disease.

Deborah Prevost, the wife of the pope's oldest brother Louis Prevost, told CBS News Oct. 13 that her husband has multiple myeloma, a cancer affecting plasma cells, a type of white blood cell.

She said her husband was first diagnosed in 2017 and underwent treatment in 2019, including a stem cell transplant and participation in a clinical trial, which kept the cancer at a "very low level." However, he "fell out of remission" three months ago, she said, and is undergoing treatment again.

The pope's parents also had histories of cancer. His mother, Mildred, died in 1990 at age 78 after being diagnosed with cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. His father, Louis, died in 1997 of colon cancer and heart disease.

According to a medical report released by the Vatican late Oct. 13, the pope's surgery lasted approximately 90 minutes, although he was in the operating room for about three hours. The procedure included waiting for histological test results. The operation was successful, with no complications.

Using a small video camera called a thoracoscope, surgeons removed the entire lower lobe of the pope's right lung to ensure the removal of the tumor and surrounding tissue. The histological examination confirmed the earlier preoperative suspicion of lung cancer.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, reiterated to reporters Oct. 14 that the pope was still expected to remain in the hospital for a week. The prefecture of the papal household canceled his public audiences and events through Oct. 20.

Among the events the pope was unable to attend was the closing Mass Oct. 14 for a weeklong Vatican meeting marking the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation "Amoris Laetitia," on marriage and family life.

WASHINGTON – “For citizens in a representative democracy such as our own, participation in public life—including voting—is both a right and a responsibility,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in a message leading up to Election Day in the United States on Tuesday, November 3. 

Archbishop Coakley’s full message follows:

“In a time of deep political division, the temptation is to be discouraged and to not participate in the election process. But discouragement is not a Christian virtue. For citizens in a representative democracy such as our own, participation in public life—including voting—is both a right and a responsibility.

“In honoring this civic duty, it is important to ensure that citizens not face unnecessary delays or complications in registering or exercising their right to vote. Together, we can contribute to the common good of our nation as faithful citizens by supporting free and fair elections. 

“I would ask all Catholics to put their faith before politics. The Church’s contribution to the public life of a nation is not a political or partisan program; rather, it reflects our commitment to the dignity of every person, who is created in the image and likeness of God. 

“One of the great dangers of our moment is the belief that any criticism of ‘our party’ somehow strengthens our opponents. A well-formed conscience does not operate on those terms. Therefore, I encourage all to judge candidates and elected officials by their actions, not merely their promises, and how those actions promote the common good. We must reject rhetoric that appeals to fear, resentment, or division, and listen instead, to the Gospel call to love God and all our neighbors. 

“May Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, bless our nation as we turn once more to elections, that we might respect the dignity of each person and promote the common good of all.”

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Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect Emeritus of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, receives the Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal from Villanova University at the Laudato Si’ Village in the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo, and calls for humanity to urgently work to protect the environment.

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The Holy See Press Office says Pope Leo XIV had a calm first night in Rome's Gemelli Hospital after he underwent a successful lung operation without complications, adding that further information will be provided later in the day.

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More than a hundred parishioners, university students and Sydneysiders crowded into St Benedict’s Catholic Church in at the University of Notre Dame Australia’s Chippendale campus to venerate and pray before the relics of St Carlo Acutis.  

The relic’s visit to UNDA consisted of a midday and evening Mass celebrated by Bishop Tony Percy, with both ceremonies followed by a catechesis by Kate Hobbs, President of FSCAA and veneration.  

Bishop Percy told the congregation St Carlo Acutis was a role model for all young Catholics struggling to discern how they could use their God-given talents to spread and support the faiths.  

“St Carlo Acutis was very aware that you could go anywhere in life if you place God first and put your faith into every facet of your life,” he said.  

“He was very devoted to the Eucharist, and he used to call his time praying to Christ and Our Lady, ‘his most gracious appointment of the day.’  

“I think many Catholics in the years to come will look up to St Carlo Acutis as a saint who is just like them, and just like the rest of us.”  

Campbell Evans, team leader for Sydney Catholic Youth for the Archdiocese of Sydney, told The Catholic Weekly having a modern saint as young as St Acutis can serve as a reminder that, “we can all strive for sainthood.” 

“To have St Acutis’ relic come here is just such an amazing connection between us and the body of saints that are helping us to get to where they are,” he said.  

“I was fortunate enough to see his body in Assisi too, so it’s nice to have a piece of our faith in Italy and also see that here in our home, with a number of young Catholics in tow.”  

For Nathan Matthews, a parishioner at the Maternal Heart of Mary Parish in Lewisham, cited St Acutis as a key figure in his whirlwind journey of faith thus far.  

“St Carlo [Acutis] is such a big inspiration for me as a young person to know that maybe I can be an inspiration too, and maybe I can become a saint too,” he said.  

The relic of St Acutis’ pericardium, the sac which encloses the heart has been on an Australian tour since 25 June, hosted by the Friends of St Carlo Acutis Australia (FSCAA), a lay organisation founded in the Diocese of Armidale.  

The stop on 12 October kickstarted the last leg of the tour, which is set to conclude in Sydney on 25 October with a final Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral.  

St Acutis passed away at the age of 15 from acute leukaemia, and was best known for developing websites to evangelise the faith and record a comprehensive list of Eucharistic miracles.  

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A new video from the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation (SCE) captures the night five south-west Sydney parishes decided to stop going it alone and launched a young adults network of their own. 

Stronger Together: A New Young Adults Leaders Network in the South-Western Suburbs is the sixth in the Parish Renewal Team’s video series exploring what happens when parishes come together. It shows a launch with no glossy campaign and no strategy document handed down from above – just a barbecue, a church full of young adults, and parish leaders with a shared vision. 

The video follows the 3 August gathering at St Mary Queen of Heaven, Georges Hall, which brought together young Catholics from five parishes in the South West Deanery: St Mary Queen of Heaven at Georges Hall, St Therese at Padstow, St Patrick’s at Revesby Heights, St Christopher’s at Panania, and St Luke the Evangelist at Revesby. 

The evening, named Ignite, featured a concelebrated Mass, a shared meal, and an “Ask a Priest” session driven by the young people’s own questions. 

Earlier films in the series have told the story of parishes assisted by the Parish Renewal Team within the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation (SCE) that have formally amalgamated or have collaborated informally and the fruits of that coming together.  

This short film celebrates a different kind of coming together: five parishes that remain distinct but have chosen to pool their people, their energy, and their faith. 

Fr Dariusz Basiaga, parish priest of St Luke the Evangelist, was one of the initiators of the collaboration. 

“It’s not easy for a single parish to do the event,” he said. “We don’t have so many young people or young adults, but if we bring them together, we have the opportunity to support each other.” 

He credits the Parish Renewal Team with turning a good idea into a night on the calendar. 

“The Parish Renewal Team helped us with the preparation, especially bringing us the data, looking at this area, how many young people do we have, how many are involved in the church. We brought the priests together and then we brought the young people together.” 

“The best part about this is that it’s actually being led by the leaders that are in these parishes,” Campbell Evans, Mission leader from Sydney Catholic Youth within the SCE, says in the video. 

“It’s not an archdiocesan thing. It’s leaders from these parishes who have come up with it. They’ve asked for it. It’s what they want and needed.” 

For Mary Moufarrej from St Mary Queen of Heaven, the need was obvious. 

“For us young adults, we don’t have a lot of ministries in our churches,” she said. “But for our young children to grow, they need young adults to inspire them and to guide them. 

“Our goal is to set up a young adults group in all our churches, then we can start to guide the youth. It’s like a domino effect.” 

Laura Hanna from St Christopher’s said seeing months of planning come to life was deeply moving. 

“We are seeing friendship, fellowship, community. We’re seeing God’s love truly activated and alive in his youth today.” 

Parish Renewal Manager Elliott Bowen believes the model can be repeated well beyond the south-west. 

“There’s a massive future for collaborations like this across all of Sydney and Australia,” he said. 

“Different parishes who might struggle to put something together themselves can pool their resources. And when you put people together and there’s already a critical mass, you get momentum.” 

Mr Evans had a message for any young adult who feels isolated in their parish. 

“It’s only a step away. It’s only a question of, ‘Could we have a young adults group in our parish? Are there other people out there struggling with the same things I’m struggling with, asking the same questions?’ And the answer is a pretty big yes.” 

To watch the full video go to the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney’s YouTube channel. 

For more information please visit: https://www.sydneycatholic.org/sydney-centre-for-evangelisation/#Collaborations-for-Mission 

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A landmark national study of Catholics who rarely go to Sunday Mass finds most still pray, still believe and still belong and many are waiting to be asked back.

They may not be in the pews on Sunday, but most Australian Catholics who have drifted from weekly Mass have not drifted from God.

That is the central finding of Absent from the Table: Catholics in Australia Who Do Not Regularly Attend Sunday Mass, a report by the National Centre for Pastoral Research (NCPR) launched at the Mary MacKillop Centre in North Sydney on 8 October.

Commissioned by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, the study surveyed nearly 2000 Catholics aged 18 and over across seven states and territories.

NCPR national director Dr Trudy Dantis said finding participants was not hard. “Everyone knew someone who was not there at the Eucharist,” she said.

Still believing, still praying

The results challenge the assumption that those missing from Mass have walked away from their faith.

More than half (55 per cent) affirmed the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Around two-thirds said their faith was very important, and more than three-quarters affirmed belief in Jesus as the Son of God.

Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) pray regularly. Many send their children to Catholic schools, share their faith with others, display religious symbols at home or volunteer in their parish and community. And 62 per cent stay connected in other ways – through Catholic schools and hospitals, prayer and study groups, youth events and Catholic social clubs.

“A number of them said they are still involved,” Dr Dantis said. “They would still tick the Catholic box in the census.”

Why they stay away

The study identified 14 reasons for not attending, grouped into “participant-centred” and “Church-centred” causes. The main themes were that Mass is not a priority, a crisis of faith, family or household pressures, liturgical issues, difficulties with a parish priest or other clergy, and the misuse of power and authority in the Church.

For many, Dr Dantis said, absence could be traced back to a single moment. “Sometimes it was largely due to something that had happened in the past, maybe an experience with the parish priest, or being disappointed in the way they were treated at the parish,” she said.

Others told researchers they felt excluded by Church rules. Some are now looking beyond the Church for spiritual meaning.

A listening Church

Emeritus Professor Gabrielle McMullen AM, chair of the Australian Catholic Council for Pastoral Research, said the report’s strength lay in its synodal approach.

“It was not telling people what to do, but going out, hearing what they had to say, and now trying to respond and get around the table together,” she said.

Every bishop will receive a copy. Prof McMullen said she hoped Church leaders would “continue that listening and dialogue”, which she said, “makes a big difference to the vibrancy of the Australian Church”.

Bishop Greg Bennet, the bishops’ delegate for pastoral research, said the findings would be taken forward diocese by diocese rather than through a single national response. “It is also vital that we ensure all our parishes are places of welcome which foster belonging and build faith,” he said.

Absent from the Table: Reaching the Unreached

Love, truth and beauty

Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Tony Percy called the report “the third part of the triangle”, alongside recent research on what makes parishes thrive and the growing number of young people returning to, or discovering, the faith.

His formula for renewal is simple. “Good community, which is an experience of love; good preaching and teaching, which is an experience of truth; and good music and liturgy, which is an experience of beauty – that is what people are wanting,” he said.

“Some parishes are doing it very well, and some of us have got to pick up a bit.”

Fr Brian Lucas, who opened the launch with prayer, said the research showed belonging must come first. “It will begin with the sense of belonging. That’s what strengthens their faith, and that will strengthen their participation in the life of the Church,” he said.

He did not shy away from the Church’s own part in the decline. “There are complex factors as to why people have absented themselves from the table. Sometimes we ourselves have driven them away,” he said. “What do we need to do now to reach out, to invite them back to the table?”

‘One of the ways is we ask’

For Daniel Ang, Director of the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation, the report is “an invitation for us to look again at the many people who are absent”.

“Not to simply count them as numbers, but actually listen to their stories,” he said. “Often we wonder, how do we engage people in faith? Well, one of the ways is we ask.”

With Sydney preparing to host the International Eucharistic Congress in 2028, Ang said the report arrived at the perfect time. “This is the time to open the doors again to so many people who may not be at the Eucharistic table but still have a seed of faith,” he said.

He urged parish priests, pastoral councils and leadership teams to “sit with the research, allow it to challenge them in their current parish practice, and hear the voices of those who have been away from the pews”.

Not all doom and gloom

Among those at the launch, the mood was hopeful. Edsel Park, coordinator of Liturgy for the Diocese of Wollongong, said the report “sheds light on the current situation” and points to practical next steps. “It’s not all doom and gloom,” he said.

Anne Chellingworth, Pastoral Ministry Engagement Coordinator at Catholic Diocese of Cairns, said the lessons were about personal connection, not programs. “It’s often friendships and relationships that draw people back, not programs,” she said. “You don’t need to be a great speaker. You don’t need to know theology. You just need to take the time.”

Rachel Pingel, an Evangelisation leader from Toowoomba, agreed. “Now that we know why, we can work on that,” she said.

The full report is available on the National Centre for Pastoral Research website.

Sidebar: Key findings at a glance

• 1973 Catholics surveyed online
• 55 per cent affirm the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
• About two-thirds say faith is very important to them
• More than three-quarters believe Jesus is the Son of God
• 64 per cent pray regularly
• 44 per cent send their children to a Catholic school
• 40 per cent share their faith with others
• 62 per cent stay connected through Catholic schools, hospitals, prayer groups or other communities
• Top reasons for staying away: Mass not a priority, a crisis of faith, family pressures, liturgical issues, problems with clergy, and misuse of power and authority in the Church

The post Absent from the table, but not from the faith appeared first on The Catholic Weekly.

Just over four decades ago Marianne Barbara was on her way to hospital to have a baby when a drunk driver ploughed into her car door.

“I landed underneath the car,” she said. “I don’t remember anything, but I survived.”

So did her baby. Michelle turns 49 next month, and Marianne has never stopped counting her blessings.

“I thank God every birthday that she has, and every birthday all my kids have, and every birthday all her kids have,” she said.

That gratitude became a vocation. For 40 years Marianne has served as a catechist at Canley Heights Public School. Week after week she has taught primary school children their prayers and introduced them to Jesus.

“I do this to thank God for giving me a second chance in life,” she said.

At its busiest, her week took in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6, with classes of 30 or more children. Over 40 years, more than 5000 students have heard the Gospel from Marianne.

She still lives with some aches and pains from the accident.

“That doesn’t worry me,” she said, “because I see my daughter, and I see these children learning about Jesus.”

On 11 October, Marianne was among the catechists honoured at the annual Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral. The CCD Annual Catechist Mass is a gathering of volunteers accompanied by their families and friends to celebrate and honour dedicated volunteer Catechists who have given many years of faithful and generous service.

Recognised yesterday were those who have reached 20, 25, 30, and 40 years of service in teaching Special Religious Education, to parish children enrolled in public schools.

Marianne received the Cardinal Gilroy award, named in honour of Cardinal Gilroy, Archbishop of Sydney from 1940 to 1971. Commemorative plaques are awarded to Catechists who have given 40 years of service to public schools.

The Mass was celebrated by Bishop Tony Percy with seven priests from various Parishes who concelebrated. The Mass also recognised various Secondary Catholic Schools who are part of the Student Catechist program.

Sitting in the same pews were two catechists at the very start of the journey Marianne has walked for 40 years.

Matthew H, in Year 10, and Benedict M, in Year 9, both attend Hartford College. This year they volunteered to teach scripture to primary students at Daceyville Public School, just across the road from their own school. Every Tuesday afternoon for the term, they walked over and taught the children about prayer, faith, and the Gospel.

They may well be the youngest catechists in the city.

“There was nervousness at the start, but by the end they felt they were really giving back and fulfilling a purpose,” said Hartford College principal Ian Mejia.

He said the moment was not lost on anyone in the Cathedral.

“What a wonderful thing to be at the same Mass with people who are being recognised for 40 years. It was a lovely Mass to renew everybody and energise us in going out to spread the good news,” he said.

“What an amazing example for our students to see.”

He hopes his two young catechists will one day have a story like Marianne’s.

“Our young people don’t have many great Catholic role models. I think all the catechists there feel the need for us to really see faith in action, especially in the times we’re experiencing. I’m very proud of my students for stepping up and filling that call.”

To find out more about becoming a catechist, visit ccd.sydneycatholic.org

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Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung cancer following a 90-minute surgery on 13 October during which surgeons removed the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung.

Dr. Stefano Margaritora, chief thoracic surgeon at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, led a medical team in the video-assisted technique operation. In a joint statement with Dr. Luigi Carbone released at just before 10pm, the doctors said that the “examination confirmed the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, as suspected by the preoperative tests.”

“The Holy Father was in the operating room for about 3 hours; the surgery itself lasted approximately 90 minutes,” the statement said. “After the surgery, the pope woke up as expected and, following a brief period of observation, returned to his room on the 10th floor.”

The pope underwent the surgery in the late afternoon after being admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital at 1pm.

“The surgery was successful, completed on schedule and as planned, and the Holy Father has returned to his room,” the Holy See Press Office said in a statement issued shortly before 8pm.

Pope Leo was expected to remain for one week of recovery in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, located atop Monte Mario, the highest hill in Rome. The Vatican has cancelled all of the pope’s scheduled audiences through 20 October.

According to Vatican News, post-operation tests will be conducted on the removed tissue in the coming days. The Holy See was expected to provide an update on Pope Leo’s condition the morning of 14 October.

Following the operation, Pope Leo had dinner and spent the evening in the company of Vatican staff members, according to Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See’s press office.

According to Vatican News, post-operation tests will be conducted on the removed tissue in the coming days. The Holy See was expected to provide an update on Pope Leo’s condition the morning of 14 October.

Following the operation, Pope Leo had dinner and spent the evening in the company of Vatican staff members, according to Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See’s press office.

The hospital’s chapel was overflowing with people on Tuesday evening as Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, led a rosary for the pope’s healing as people anxiously awaited the results of the pope’s operation.

Among those who came to pray was Sister Alphonsa Manikkathan from India’s state of Kerala and her fellow sisters from the Daughters of Divine Providence whose residence is located near the hospital.

“We pray for the pope every day, not only today,” Sister Alphonsa told OSV News. “Jesus said wherever two or more are gathered and pray for something, he will give. So for his fast recovery, we are praying.”

Father Miguel Silvestre Bengoa from Spain also joined in the rosary at the hospital. “If the pope is suffering, we also suffer with him,” he said. “But we want also to see him again in the Vatican.”

“It was so nice to be close to the pope in this same hospital,” the priest said. “We entrust the health of the pope to the hands of Our Lady.”

Pope Leo’s operation took place just days after he first revealed to the world that he needed surgery at the end of his Angelus address in St Peter’s Square on 11 October.

Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace, the pope announced that doctors had discovered a nodule in his lung during a medical examination, adding that the growth was detected “at a very early stage” and it was “well-contained.”

“The doctors believe intervention is advisable, so, following their advice, I have decided to undergo surgery to have it removed,” Pope Leo said.

Since the pope’s announcement, prayers and messages of support have poured in from around the globe from prime ministers, presidents, religious leaders and Catholic bishops.

This was the second hospitalization in the 71-year-old pope’s life, according to a recently published biography. Shortly after his election, Pope Leo said that he had only been hospitalised once in his life before becoming pope when he caught typhoid fever after recently arriving as an Augustinian missionary in Peru in 1985.

“It’s the only time in my life I’ve been hospitalised,” Pope Leo is quoted as saying in the book, “Pope Leo XIV” by Elise Ann Allen, calling it “a very significant” moment in his life that helped him more sharply focus on his new ministry.

Pope Leo’s surgery occurred less than one month before he was scheduled to depart for South America for what would be the longest international trip of his pontificate 6-17 November, with stops in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. The Vatican has not yet announced any changes to the trip.

The post Pope Leo XIV’s surgery reveals lung cancer appeared first on The Catholic Weekly.

A survey by Pew Research Center found that Catholic registered voters prefer Democratic candidates over Republicans in the upcoming U.S. House of Representative races by a narrow margin.

With the midterms approaching on Nov. 3, the survey found Catholics favoring Democrats by 3 percentage points. Pew polled 5,062 adults, which included 3,917 registered voters from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4 for its American Trends Panel. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.6 percentage points.

The survey found that Catholics favor Democratic House candidates by a narrow margin, 42% to 39%, though white Catholics and Hispanic Catholics differ significantly in their political preferences.

Among white Catholics, 50% said they plan to vote Republican and 32% Democratic, while 59% of Hispanic Catholics said they plan to vote Democratic and 19% Republican.

Catholic voter approval of Trump falls to 30%

The poll shows President Donald Trump’s approval rating plummeting among Catholics since he began his second term, with 30% approving of how he has handled his job as president and 67% disapproving. In January 2025, his approval was about 47% among Catholics.

About 18% of Hispanic Catholics approve of Trump’s presidency and 78% disapprove. Among white Catholics, about 39% approve and 59% disapprove.

Among all voters, the survey found 44% of registered voters favoring Democratic candidates for the House and 36% favoring the Republican candidate. It found 30% of voters approve of Trump’s job as president and 68% disapprove.

The poll found that white evangelical Protestants and white Catholics were more likely to support Republican House candidates in the Nov. 3 elections, while Black Protestants, Hispanic Catholics, atheists, agnostics, and people with no particular religion were more likely to support Democratic candidates.

As Pope Leo XIV recovers at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital from surgery that confirmed lung cancer, Catholics around the world are praying for him, and many are turning to a 14th-century Servite priest long known as “the cancer saint”: St. Peregrine Laziosi.

From punch to penance

According to an account by Father Lawrence G. Lovasik, SVD, published in EWTN’s library, Peregrine was born in 1260 in Forlì, Italy. He was the only son of a wealthy family, and as a young man he sided with the city’s anti-papal faction.

When St. Philip Benizi of the Servants of Mary (the Servites) came to Forlì to preach peace on behalf of Pope Martin IV, he was met with insults, rocks, and clubs. Peregrine struck him in the face. Philip answered by offering the other cheek and praying for the young man.

Moved, Peregrine ran after the departing friar. He begged forgiveness on his knees and promised to change his life. According to the traditional account, the Virgin Mary later appeared to him in Forlì’s cathedral and told him: “Go to Siena. There you will find the devout men who call themselves my servants. Join them.”

Peregrine received the Servite habit in 1292. It was said that for 30 years he never sat down. In 1322, his superiors sent him to found a Servite house in his hometown of Forlì, where he became known as a preacher and a readily available confessor.

The night before the amputation

Later in life, Peregrine developed a painful cancerous wound on his foot. Lovasik writes that its “gangrenous stench” was so foul that others kept away. Surgeons decided to amputate.

Peregrine spent the night before the operation in prayer before an image of the crucified Christ and fell asleep there. In a dream, Christ seemed to reach down from the cross and touch his diseased foot. When he awoke, he was healed. The account says the doctors could no longer find any trace of the disease.

Peregrine died in 1345 at about 80 years of age. He was beatified in 1609, and Pope Benedict XIII canonized him in 1726. His feast is celebrated May 1. His body rests in the Basilica of San Pellegrino Laziosi in Forlì. Devotion to him has spread far beyond Italy, including to the National Shrine of St. Peregrine at Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica in Chicago, the city where Leo was born.

Lovasik’s booklet includes several prayers, and EWTN offers a novena to St. Peregrine.

The archbishop of the Brazil’s capital, Brasilia, Cardinal Paulo Cezar Costa, received on Oct. 8 Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, candidate for president, and his running mate, Congressman Alfredo Gaspar, both of the Liberal Party, for what the archdiocese described as an “institutional visit.”

According to the Archdiocese of Brasília, “the meeting took place in an atmosphere of cordiality and dialogue, providing an opportunity to reflect on issues of interest to the Church and Brazilian society.”

The archdiocese also reported on its social media that among the topics discussed were “freedom of religion and conscience, respect for the legitimate secularism of the state, the protection of human life and the family, the promotion of social justice, the fight against poverty and inequality; in addition to the importance of collaboration between public authorities and religious institutions in initiatives aimed at the common good.”

During the visit, the cardinal gave Bolsonaro, who is Protestant, a copy of a Bible and a small statue of Our Lady of Aparecida, the patroness of Brazil.

“The senator was presented with a copy of the Jerusalem Bible and a replica of the image of Our Lady of Aparecida. Both gifts are among the items customarily presented to officials on certain occasions or during institutional visits, as part of [archdiocesan] protocol,” the Archdiocese of Brasília’s communications department told ACI Digital, the Portuguese-language sister service of EWTN News.

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

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery Tuesday to remove the lower lobe of his right lung after doctors confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, the Vatican announced Tuesday evening.

“The Holy Father underwent thoracic surgery as scheduled. To ensure the radical removal of the tumor, the lower lobe of the right lung was removed using a video-assisted technique. An intraoperative histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, as suspected from preoperative tests,” the Holy See Press Office said in a statement concerning the operation performed Tuesday afternoon at Romeʼs Agostino Gemelli University Hospital.

“The Holy Father was in the operating room for approximately three hours, while the procedure itself lasted about 90 minutes,” the statement continued. “The operation was successful, and there were no complications. After surgery, the pope regained consciousness normally and, following a brief period of observation, returned to his room on the 10th floor.”

The statement was prepared by Dr. Luigi Carbone, the popeʼs personal physician, and Professor Stefano Margaritora, who performed the operation.

In addition to Margaritora, the surgical team included Professor Elisa Meacci and Drs. Maria Teresa Congedo and Leonardo Petracca Ciaravella. The anesthesiology team consisted of Professor Massimo Antonelli and Drs. Giovanni Punzo and Giuseppe Bello.

Further postoperative tests, including a histological examination, are expected in the coming days. Doctors have not discussed chemotherapy or similar treatments at this stage.

Leo XIV is being accompanied at the hospital by his two secretaries, the religious sisters who assist him, and his personal physician.

Further updates on the pontiffʼs health could be released Wednesday.

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.

Pope Leo XIV has undergone surgery at Gemelli Hospital, during which doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung, according to the Holy See Press Office.

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Pope Leo XIV entered the hospital on Oct. 13 to undergo surgery to remove a lung nodule. The Vatican has said his recovery in the hospital will take at least a week and the pope’s appointments are canceled through Oct. 20.

An extended hospital stay for one of the most important leaders in the world may raise the question: Who exactly runs the Vatican wh

en a pope is hospitalized or unable to perform his normal duties?

Matthew Bunson, vice president and editorial director of EWTN News and the author of numerous books on Catholicism including “Encyclopedia of Catholic History,” told EWTN News in 2025 after then-Pope Francis was hospitalized that in such cases, “the machinery of state tends to keep functioning.”

Andreas Widmer, an associate professor of practice in entrepreneurship at The Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business and former Swiss Guard at the Vatican, likewise said much of the Vatican’s administration continues even when the pope is sick.

“Things keep going. He is kept apprised by [Vatican officials],” said Widmer, who served as a Swiss Guard under Pope John Paul II in the 1980s and who regularly returns to the Vatican to work with the guard.

Pope Leo is expected to be hospitalized for just a week. But in some cases, popes have addressed the possible need for resignations in the event of serious health crises.

Pope Paul VI in 1965 wrote a letter to the dean of the College of Cardinals stating that, in the event of his incapacitation while in office, he should be considered resigned. (Pope Paul ultimately lived another 13 years and died while in office.)

In 2022, Pope Francis revealed that in the first year of his pontificate he had signed his resignation and given it to then-Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, to be invoked if he was medically incapacitated and unable to carry out his duties. (“I don’t know who Cardinal Bertone gave it to, but I gave it to him when he was secretary of state,” the late pope joked at the time.)

In his biography published in 2024, Francis said he considered the Petrine ministry to be “for life” and saw no conditions for resignation, barring serious physical impairment.

Widmer argued that popes are not given to leaving such matters unresolved one way or the other. “A pope is not going to leave this to chance. They take their responsibility very seriously,” he said.

The Vatican said on Oct. 13 that the pope’s surgery was completed successfully. Yet in the event of a pope’s death, Bunson said, much of the immediate administration of the Vatican falls to the camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church — one of the few officials of the Vatican who does not immediately lose his job upon a pope’s death.

The camerlengo’s roles include certifying the pope’s death and overseeing the functions of the interregnum.

“It’s his job to certify the death of the reigning pope and to make sure the wishes of the pope are respected,” Bunson explained. “Then the cardinals are summoned to Rome,” after which a new pope is eventually elected.

Also retaining his title in the event of a pope’s death is the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the dicastery for which the chief role is the forgiveness of sins.

That official “always keeps his job,” Bunson said, “because there must always be the opportunity for God’s loving mercy.”

A second key official is the almoner of his holiness, the cardinal in charge of papal charity and care for the poor. It was Pope Francis who decreed that the almoner should keep his post, a reflection of Francis’ concern for the forgotten and most vulnerable.

This story was first published on Feb. 26, 2025, and was updated on Oct. 13, 2026.

The Legend of St Francis: Index of all posts

As all far and wide began to know Francis by reputation, great expectations for him grew. Francis also began to notice his own behaviour. It began to seem to him that his talent for pleasing men was great, he sensed his ability to garner favour with the great. But his thoughts also turned toward God. What about God? Where did the One fit in Who was greater than all of these great men of the world? Did he not need the favour of the Greatest of all to succeed?

All at once an idea came to him, a providential idea: God’s favour was garnered by generosity to the poor! And so he reasoned to himself, thinking: Francis, you are generous and strive to be courteous, but all of those that you are generous with, they are but men! And men, what can they repay you with? They can only give you passing things, temporal and transitory. Now God, is not He greater, richer, more noble? Is He not more honourable than all! And what can He give you? His riches – the riches He gives – those are the riches that never perish or fade! So, Francis, if it makes sense to be generous to the great amongst mortals, this also makes sense: You must be generous the poor, for they are not great, but God is great, and He is magnanimous in repaying generosity to the poor! These thoughts marked a change in Francis, and from that day he strove successfully to be generous in welcoming and giving to the poor.

One day Francis was busy. And it happened on that day that, immersed in the hustle and bustle of business, Francis forget himself and all his good thoughts. For a beggar approached, yet Francis was preoccupied by the noise – exterior and interior – of this work-a-day world.

“An alms, please,” the beggar said. Francis returned to himself some little and seemed to notice the beggar for the first time, though he had been there for some moments.

“Alms, for the love of God,” the beggar said. But Francis, still intent on the business of making money, had his attention drawn back to his customers. I will give the beggar something in a moment, he thought. But before he could turn back to the beggar, the beggar was gone.

The beggar had gone away away empty handed! Nay, Francis felt, he himself had sent him away empty handed by being so embroiled in his own little world.

The sorrow Francis felt distracted his thoughts from the very business that had formerly distracted him. He began to accuse himself harshly. What do you think, he said to himself, you would have done if this man had said he represented some count or baron? Wouldn’t you have given him what he asked? And shouldn’t you have done at least as much when he asked in the name of the King of Kings, the Lord of all?

Then and there, Francis promised and vowed to God that never ever again, as long as he lived, would Francis refuse anyone who asked him “for the love of God”, so long as he had anything to give.

A rash vow by all appearances! Only justified by the keeping of it, seemingly! Francis kept it, with unwavering faith. And yet still he was a lover of the world! Not yet had he discovered God’s plan for him, nor yet had he put on Jesus Christ, his perfection and ours, to Whom belongs glory forever and ever. Amen

Sources: Celano, Legenda Major, Legenda Trium Sociorum, Julian of Speyer

 

Saving Graces

One of the three vows a Benedictine monk takes is the vow of conversatio morum which is the vow to continually forsake the ways of the world and live the life of monastic perfection. Saint Francis was far from this conversatio when he made the decision to honour the poor. This decision was a calculation of a mind still in love with worldly esteem, a heart yet enthralled by what the world calls greatness. Yet his worldly way of thinking led him to a correct conclusion: If great men’s esteem is worth having, how much more God’s? If the friendship of the great is so worthwhile, how much more the friendship of the Almighty?

This calculation did not yet lead him to set aside all earthly desires, as later it would. But it did lead him to a behaviour that would become his “saving grace,” so to speak. He wanted the blessing of God, and he knew that God needed nothing of what he had; but he also know that God loved the poor, and he determined to broker God’s favour through a special concern for the poor. All the while, he remained a man in love with the world.

Saint Francis was not yet Saint Francis when he made this good resolution! He was still seeking himself and the glory of the world. Yet his decision to never refuse a poor man who asked for the love of God was to have tremendous consequences for his life. It was to make all the difference, to open the path of his total renunciation of the world and of self; it was to lead him to the perfection of religious conversion, to his form of conversatio morum.

The decision to value and do good for the poor was Saint Francis’ “saving grace”. How good God is that He takes whatever glimmer of goodness we have and uses it – if we allow Him – to transform us utterly. May God also be so generous with us and with all those we love. Whatever good we encounter in ourselves or in others is a created participation in God, and God can use the least habit of moral goodness as the basis of conversion. So let us always pray for each man – seem he ever so far from God – and never lose hope. Let us also be confident that God can work our own conversion, and we too can become saints.

As Pope Leo XIV undergoes lung surgery and recovers at Gemelli Hospital this week in Rome, the faithful can turn to the intercession of a 15th-century Franciscan friar who is the patron saint of lung diseases and respiratory illnesses.

St. Bernardine of Siena, known as “the Apostle of Italy” for his efforts to revive the countryʼs Catholic faith in the 1400s, was known to have overcome a weak voice and severe respiratory/throat issues early in his life, while also caring for plague victims and the hospitalized.

Born to upper-class parents in the Italian republic of Siena during 1380, Bernardine Albizeschi soon suffered misfortune when he lost his mother at the age of 3 and his father four years later. His aunt Diana cared for him afterward, teaching him to seek consolation and security by trusting in God.

Even at a young age, Bernardine demonstrated a remarkable concern for the poor as an outgrowth of his love for God. Having become accustomed to fasting, he preferred at times to go without any food in order to help someone in greater need. From the ages of 11 to 17 he focused on his studies, developing the eloquence and dedication that would serve his future work as an evangelist.

Before becoming a preacher, however, Bernardine spent several years ministering to the sick and dying. He enrolled in a religious association that served at a hospital in the town of Scala and applied himself to this work from 1397 to 1400.

During that time, a severe plague broke out in Siena, causing a crisis that would eventually lead to the young man taking charge of the entire hospital. Inside its walls, up to 20 people were dying each day from an illness that also killed many of the hospital workers. The staff was decimated and new victims were coming in constantly.

Bernardine persuaded 12 young men to help him continue the work of the hospital, which he took over for a period of four months. Although the plague did not infect him, the exhausting work left him weak and he contracted a different sickness that kept him in bed for four months.

After recovering, he spent over a year caring for his aunt Bartholomaea before her death. Then the 22-year-old Bernardine moved to a small house outside the city, where he began to discern Godʼs will for his future through prayer and fasting.

He eventually chose to join the Franciscans of the Strict Observance in 1403, embracing an austere life focused on poverty and humility. During this time, while praying before a crucifix, Bernardine heard Christ say to him: “My son, behold me hanging upon a cross. If you love me, or desire to imitate me, be also fastened naked to your cross and follow me. Thus you will assuredly find me.”

After Bernardine was ordained a priest, his superiors commissioned him to preach as a missionary to the Italians who were falling away from their Catholic faith. The Dominican evangelist St. Vincent Ferrer, just before leaving Italy, preached a sermon in which he predicted that one of his listeners would continue his work among the Italians — a prophecy Bernardine heard in person and went on to fulfill.

Bernardineʼs personal devotion to God, which amazed even the strict Franciscans, made his preaching extremely effective. He moved his hearers to abandon their vices, turn back to God, and make peace with one another. He promoted devotion to the name of Jesus as a simple and effective means of recalling Godʼs love at all times.

When other priests consulted him for advice, Bernardine gave them a simple rule: “In all your actions, seek in the first place the kingdom of God and his glory. Direct all you do purely to his honor. Persevere in brotherly charity, and practice first all that you desire to teach others.”

“By this means,” he said, “the Holy Spirit will be your master and will give you such wisdom and such a tongue that no adversary will be able to stand against you.”

Bernardineʼs own life attested to this source of strength in the face of trials. He patiently suffered an accusation of heresy — which Pope Martin V judged to be false — and refused to abandon his bold preaching when a nobleman threatened him with death.

But Bernardine was also widely admired throughout Italy, and he was offered the office of a bishop on three occasions. Each time, however, he turned down the position, choosing to fulfill the prediction of St. Vincent Ferrer through his missionary work. Bernardine preached throughout most of Italy several times over, and even managed to reconcile members of its warring political factions.

Later in his life, Bernardine served for five years as the vicar general for his Franciscan order and revived the practice of its strict rule of life. Then in 1444, 40 years after he first entered religious life, Bernardine became sick while traveling. He continued to preach, but soon lost his strength and his voice.

He died on May 20, 1444, and only six years later, in 1450, Pope Nicholas V canonized him a saint.

This story was first published on May 15, 2011, and was updated Oct. 13, 2026.

As Pope Leo XIV undergoes surgery at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, one figure has taken on particular prominence in recent hours: Dr. Luigi Carbone, who is responsible for coordinating the pontiff’s medical care and is one of his closest advisers on health matters.

Carbone was among the doctors who welcomed Leo XIV when he arrived at the hospital in an armored Ford sedan.

Carbone has professional ties to the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital, one of Italy’s leading medical centers and the hospital traditionally used to treat popes. His career has been particularly associated with emergency medicine and emergency services, fields in which rapid diagnosis and the ability to intervene immediately are essential.

He currently serves as director of the Vatican City State’s Directorate of Health and Hygiene, the agency responsible for providing medical care not only to the pope but also to employees and residents of the tiny state.

The directorate operates medical facilities and diagnostic equipment that allow for regular checkups, specialized examinations, and the coordination of medical care when necessary.

A role rooted in centuries of tradition

Carbone’s position recalls the historic role of the “archiatra pontificio,” or personal physician to the pope. Although the traditional title is no longer formally used, the Italian doctor performs similar functions as one of the principal officials responsible for the pontiff’s health, coordinating the work of the physicians, nurses, and specialists who care for him.

His duties include ensuring continuity of treatment, arranging medical procedures when necessary, and coordinating healthcare resources according to the pope’s needs.

It is a particularly delicate responsibility because it requires balancing clinical care with the demands of the Petrine ministry.

Accompanying the pope on apostolic journeys

The papal physician’s responsibilities extend beyond the Vatican. Carbone regularly accompanies Leo XIV on international apostolic journeys, working with nursing staff to oversee medical preparations for each trip.

Before each journey, factors such as travel time, the intensity of the schedule, and the availability of medical facilities in the countries being visited are assessed.

The papal aircraft also carries medical equipment that allows health checks to be performed and provides for a response to possible emergencies until the pontiff can be transferred to a specialized hospital.

Such planning requires constant coordination with local healthcare systems, as well as considerable discretion, to ensure that any medical emergency can be addressed without disrupting the pope’s pastoral and institutional commitments.

The connection to Gemelli Hospital

Carbone’s presence takes on particular significance at Gemelli Hospital, which has served for decades as the principal medical center for popes.

The relationship between the Rome hospital and the papacy was strengthened especially during the pontificate of St. John Paul II, who was hospitalized there on several occasions.

When a pope is hospitalized, his regular medical team works alongside Gemelli specialists to ensure continuity of care and facilitate the exchange of clinical information.

This arrangement reflects the evolution of papal healthcare, which has shifted from relying primarily on physicians attached to the Apostolic Palace to drawing on the resources of major, highly specialized hospitals.

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

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV’s decision to personally announce that he will undergo surgery to remove a nodule from one of his lungs has been welcomed as an unprecedented gesture of transparency in the recent history of the papacy.

The surprise announcement Sunday, Oct. 11, stunned hundreds of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Angelus prayer.

By speaking directly about his health, the pontiff departed from a long-standing Vatican practice of limiting information about papal illnesses and medical treatment.

Traditionally, the health of popes has been shrouded in considerable secrecy. For decades, illnesses and hospitalizations were disclosed only in limited terms and sometimes incompletely.

In 1992, for example, St. John Paul II announced that he would enter the hospital for medical tests but did not explain why. Only three days later did the Vatican disclose that he had undergone surgery to remove a benign tumor from his colon.

Under Pope Francis, a greater degree of openness began to emerge. During his various hospitalizations, the Holy See issued medical bulletins about his condition and, in some cases, arranged briefings by the doctors treating him.

Even troubling details of the Argentine pontiff’s hospitalizations were disclosed, including respiratory crises during his final illness before his death in 2025.

Nevertheless, the information continued to come primarily through official Vatican channels rather than directly from the pope himself.

In earlier decades, secrecy surrounding papal health had contributed to controversies such as the death of John Paul I in 1978. The limited information released after his death, just 33 days after his election, fueled years of questions and speculation about the circumstances.

Against that historical background, Leo XIV’s decision to announce his own upcoming surgery represents a significant departure from tradition.

Senior cardinals interviewed by EWTN News described the disclosure as a shift in how the Vatican communicates about the health of the pope.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, linked the decision to the spirit of fraternity promoted in Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti.

“In the spirit of Fratelli Tutti, it is a sign of fraternity to share your illness with those who care for you,” Czerny said.

“And to say that the whole world cares for Pope Leo is not an exaggeration; it’s a fact. So I see his openness or transparency as an expression of both humility and truth.”

Czerny emphasized that the concern and prayers prompted by the announcement reflected the communion of the Church and the wider human family with the successor of Peter.

“Now, every feeling of concern, every hopeful prayer of whatever kind, is the human family expressing communion with an esteemed leader and father who we know loves us,” he said.

“May God bless Pope Leo and bring him back to us, healthy as ever!”

Czerny is scheduled to receive the first Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal on Tuesday afternoon at Borgo Laudato Si’, located on the grounds of the papal villas at Castel Gandolfo. The pope had been expected to attend the ceremony, but his participation was canceled.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said hearing the news directly from the pope had provoked a mixture of painful surprise, fear, and fraternal affection, along with a sense of closeness and honesty.

“Hearing the news directly from the pope caused me painful surprise, fear, fraternal affection, but at the same time a sense of intimacy, closeness, openness without masks, of great honesty toward us,” Fernández said.

“It is impossible not to feel personally involved when you hear the pope tell his truth in that way, acknowledge the frailty of his flesh and at the same time his serene confidence,” he added.

Fernández said that, paradoxically, the troubling news had deepened the sense of communion within the Church.

“Mysteriously, bad news thus becomes a deeply felt expression of ecclesial communion and affection for that father who unites us,” he said. “I experienced a powerful sense of how valuable it is for the Church to have that father.”

Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, archbishop of Tokyo and president of Caritas Internationalis, offered a firsthand account of the pope’s condition after meeting with him Monday, Oct. 12.

The audience, Kikuchi explained, had been arranged long in advance as part of the annual meeting in which the president and secretary-general of Caritas Internationalis report on the organization’s activities to the pope.

“Holy Father was as usual and calm with no sign of sickness,” Kikuchi told EWTN News.

“He assured me that this is a minor operation and he feels nothing wrong with his body, and he said he had decided to go for the operation as soon as possible not to change his plan of [the] Latin America pastoral visit.”

The pope is scheduled to travel to South America Nov. 6–17.

Kikuchi said he also joked with Leo XIV about the wisdom of publicly announcing the surgery.

“I told him jokingly that his decision to make it public was prudent to prevent speculation of [the] public who would be next pope. For this he smiled,” the cardinal recalled.

“But I really believe so that he made really a prudent decision to avoid any speculation or gossiping,” Kikuchi added.

The cardinal’s account suggests that Leo XIV’s decision to disclose his medical condition was intended not only to inform the faithful but also to forestall rumors about the future of the papacy.

For the cardinals who spoke to EWTN News, the announcement marks a notable change in Vatican communications, with the pope choosing to speak openly about his vulnerability while expressing confidence about his treatment and his plans to continue his ministry.

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

For the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA), care for creation is not simply an environmental concern. It is part of their missionary vocation: caring for people, protecting the earth and responding to the needs of communities. Across Africa, this commitment is taking concrete form in gardens, fields, tree-planting initiatives, environmental education and advocacy.

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The Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations addresses a debate on sustainable development noting the deep interconnectedness of all human dimensions.

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At the "Tone la Maji" centre, meaning “a drop of water,” street children in southern Nairobi, Kenya, explore their talents and dreams for life, as recounted by our correspondent during a recent visit.

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Villanova University faculty members will shed light on the application of Catholic social teaching to nontheological disciplines such as business and engineering at the International Sustainability Conference in Rome. 

Father John Abubakar, chief sustainability officer at Villanova University, told “EWTN News Nightly” on Oct. 12 that the goal of Villanova faculty at the Oct. 12–15 conference, themed “Responding to the Cries of the Earth and the Poor,” is “to bring in the ethical and moral dimension of our responsibility to care for our common home.”

The conference comes after Pope Leo XIV announced that he will admitted to the hospital for surgery on Oct. 13 to remove a “small nodule” found in his lung. The Holy Father had been scheduled to present Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, with the conference’s inaugural Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal.

“The Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal Ceremony will take place on Oct. 13 at the originally announced time and location. We are in close coordination with the Vatican regarding the medal presentation in light of the Holy Fatherʼs upcoming surgery,” Villanova said in a statement. “We are awaiting official confirmation as to whether Pope Leo XIV will present the medal. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Holy Father. May God grant the Holy Father strength, healing and a full recovery in the days ahead.”

Abubakar said the aim of the inaugural award is to fill “an important gap” in the sustainability sphere by emphasizing both “the ethical and moral dimension of caring for our common home and also caring for the poor.”

Measures such as carbon footprints and other environmental benchmarks are important tools for understanding ecological systems, he said, but they alone are not enough.

Villanova professors scheduled to present are David Dinehart, a professor of civil and environmental engineering; Manuela Priesemuth-Payan and Jonathan Doh, professors of business; and Ruth McDermott-Levy, co-director of the Mid-Atlantic Center for Children’s Health and the Environment.

“It is our hope that the research being done will not only emphasize the technical aspects of caring for our common home, but that the moral and the ethical dimension will also be fully embraced,” Abubakar said.

“When you look at Catholic social teaching, the principles are applicable to social settings,” he said. “We speak about the preferential option for the poor, for instance. Such a principle directly applies to those who are engaged in business endeavors. And when you think also about solidarity, when you think about what engineering does in terms of maybe humanitarian engineering, that we have a department at Villanova, they show great sense of solidarity, which is another Catholic social teaching principle.”

Pope Leo XIV has arrived at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli University Hospital, where he is scheduled to undergo surgery on Tuesday afternoon to remove a "small, localized nodule" from his lung.

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