By Cindy WoodenCatholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV encouraged members of the European Parliament to pursue “a healthy secularism” that maintains the distinction between religions and governments. “European institutions need people who know how to live a healthy secularism, that is, a style of thinking and acting that affirms the value of […]
World Communications Day to call for responsible tech use
By Cindy WoodenCatholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV, the subject of dozens of “deepfake” videos, has chosen “Preserving human voices and faces” as the theme for the Catholic Church’s celebration of World Communications Day in 2026. The Dicastery for Communication announced the theme Sept. 29. Just two weeks after his election in […]
From home to Rome, Kalaupapa takes main stage
Father Damien de Veuster’s original gravesite and the grave of layperson Joseph Dutton are located next to St. Philomena Church in Kalawao, seen in a photo taken earlier this year. (Photo by Mackenzy Raco) By Celia K. DownesHawaii Catholic Herald Kalaupapa was in the spotlight this month amid a flurry of activity centered around pending […]
True charity is selfless and respects recipients’ dignity, pope says
By Cindy WoodenCatholic News Service VATICAN CITY — True Christian charity respects the person being assisted and sets no conditions for receiving help, Pope Leo XIV said. Charity involves both selfless giving and respect for human dignity of the other person, the pope said Sept. 1 as he met people involved in the Capuchin-sponsored Opera […]
Talk story: Providing the vulnerable with dignity and hope
Office for Social Ministry “May hope fill your hearts … Everyone knows what it is to hope. In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring.” (Pope Francis’ proclamation of the 2025 Jubilee Year, delivered May 9, […]
Talk story: Let us honor migrants as missionaries of hope
Office for Social Ministry “Many migrants, refugees and displaced persons are privileged witnesses of hope. Indeed, they demonstrate this daily through their resilience and trust in God, as they face adversity while seeking a future in which they glimpse that integral human development and happiness are possible.” (Pope Leo XIV, Jubilee Year message for the […]
‘Aspire to great things,’ pope tells youth at jubilee’s end
By Carol GlatzCatholic News Service ROME — The fullness of life depends on how much one joyfully welcomes and shares in life while also living with a constant yearning for those things that only come from God, Pope Leo XIV told young people. “Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle […]
U.K. grateful for St. John Henry Newman’s elevation to doctor of the church
By Jonathan LuxmooreOSV News OXFORD, England — British Catholics welcomed a papal decision to elevate St. John Henry Newman, a former Protestant and Oxford University chaplain, to the historic status of doctor of the universal church. “This request has been before the Holy See for some time, having received declarations of support from many different […]
Talk story: Let us embark on ‘revolution of love’
Office for Social Ministry “(The parable of the good Samaritan) constantly challenges us to think about our own lives. It troubles our dormant or distracted consciences, and warns us about the risk of a complacent faith that is satisfied with the outward observance of the law but incapable of feeling and acting with the same […]
Pope Leo XIV embodies call to stewardship and outreach
By Catholic Stewardship Consultants www.CatholicSteward.com The Catholic Church entered a new chapter on May 8 with the election of Pope Leo XIV — formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost — as the 267th successor to St. Peter. A Chicago native and member of the Augustinian order, Pope Leo XIV is now the first American pope in […]