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Pontiff, Cardinal Grech discuss synod’s implementation phase (General Secretariat of the Synod)
Editor's Note: Pope Leo XIV received Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary general of the General Secretariat of the Synod, in a September 8 audience.
Pope Leo and Cardinal Grech discussed “several topics related to the implementation phase of the Synod,” the General Secretariat tweeted after the meeting.
The three-year synod on synodality concluded in October 2024, after which Pope Francis established an implementation phase that will conclude with an ecclesial assembly in October 2028.
Traditional Latin Mass in St. Peter’s approved for Jubilee pilgrimage (AP)
Editor's Note: Cardinal Raymond Burke will celebrate a Traditional Latin Mass in St. Peter’s basilica on October 25, in a signal that the Vatican under Pope Leo XIV is loosening the tight restrictions on the ancient liturgy imposed by Pope Francis.
Cardinal Burke will celebrate the Mass for participants in the annual Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage. In 2023 and 2024, the group was denied permission for a Traditional Latin Mass in the Vatican basilica.
Pope returns to Castel Gandolfo for a day’s break (Vatican News)
Editor's Note: Pope Leo XIV made a quick visit to Castel Gandolfo on Monday evening, September 8, staying for a day before returning to Rome on Tuesday afternoon.
Taking advantage of a day on which no audiences were scheduled, the Pontiff chose to do his work at the papal summer residence.
Pope Leo has already shown a fondness for Castel Gandolfo, spending a week of vacation there in July and returning in August for a long weekend, celebrating the feast of the Assumption there. Pope Francis had chosen not to use the summer residence, remaining in Rome through the summers of his pontificate.
Pope likens inter-religious dialogue to cultivating a garden of peace (Vatican Press Office)
Editor's Note: Pope Leo XIV likened inter-religious dialogue to “gardeners tending this field of fraternity” in a message to an inter-religious meeting taking place in Bangladesh this week.
“We know from painful moments in history that when the culture of harmony is neglected, weeds can choke out peace,” the Pontiff said. Extending the metaphor, he said that a culture of dialogue “requires sunlight of truth, the water of charity and the soil of freedom and justice.”
Pakistani Catholic pilgrim killed by Muslim mob (Morning Star News)
Editor's Note: Two Catholic pilgrims in Pakistan were wounded, one fatally, when their group was attacked by Muslim extremists.
Afzal Masih was killed and his cousin Harris Tariq Masih wounded by their assailants, who had pulled over the van in which they were traveling with a group headed for a Marian pilgrimage site in Punjab.
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Congo priest recovering after being shot by robbers (ACIAfrica)
Editor's Note: A priest who was shot and wounded by robbers in the Democratic Republic of Congo is “fortunately out of danger” and recovering, Church leaders report.
Father Jean-Paul Yailo Wamoko was hospitalized after the assault, in which robbers made off with his computer, phone, and cash. He suffered a gunshot wound in his leg.
The Virgin Mary has long been called the Mediatrix of graces, Leo XIV writes in letter (Vatican Press Office)
Editor's Note: In a Latin-language letter marking the 350th anniversary of the shrine of the Black Madonna in Cologne, Germany, Pope Leo XIV wrote that the Blessed Virgin Mary “embraces all the members of the mystical Body of Christ and has long been called the Mediatrix of graces by the Church.”
“We now pray to the Black Mother of God [Matrem Dei Nigram], that in this Holy Year she may obtain for all of us a sincere, strong, and inviolable faith in Christ the Lord, Her Son,” Pope Leo wrote in his letter to Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, his special envoy to the solemn anniversary Mass. “In shadows and in doubts, we implore patient and steadfast faith, which the blessed Apostle John says is our victory that overcomes the world.”
The Pope’s letter, dated August 15, was released on September 8.
Bishop Oster, critic of German Synodal Way, has ‘encouraging’ audience with Pope Leo (Bistum Passau)
Editor's Note: On September 8, Pope Leo XIV received Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau, a critic of the German bishops’ Synodal Way (2023, 2024).
Pope Leo “patiently took time to talk to me about the challenging situation of the Church in Germany as a whole, and he also wanted to learn a little more about the Church of Passau,” the prelate said. “It was a fraternal and encouraging conversation for me. I am very grateful for this Pope, who is a good listener, who asks questions and goes into depth.”
On September 4, Pope Leo held a similar audience with Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, the president of the German Bishops’ Conference.
Orthodox protest Egypt’s plans for development on Mt. Sinai (BBC)
Editor's Note: A BBC report explains the tense debate over Egypt’s plans to develop land on Mount Sinai, the site of St. Catherine’s monastery—which is the world’s oldest Christian monastery, particularly treasured by the Greek Orthodox heritage.
In May an Egyptian court ruled that the land around the monastery belonged to the state, not the monastery. That hotly disputed ruling cleared the way for the government’s plans for a major real-estate development on the site, to create a tourist attraction. The government is proceeding with that plan, despite pleas from UNESCO to curb the development and preserve the monastery and its surroundings as a World Heritage Site.
Orthodox Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens charges: “The monastery’s property is being seized and expropriated. This spiritual beacon of Orthodoxy and Hellenism is now facing an existential threat.”
New Orleans archdiocese accepts $230-million bankruptcy settlement (AP)
Editor's Note: The Archdiocese of New Orleans has agreed to pay $230 million to settle the claims of sex-abuse victims, in a bid to emerge from bankruptcy.
The settlement proposal requires the approval of a federal bankruptcy court and a vote of abuse claimants.
Pope to preside at ecumenical prayer service for 21st-century martyrs (Vatican News)
Editor's Note: Pope Leo XIV will preside at an ecumenical prayer service commemorating the martyrs of the 21st century. The Pontiff will be joined by representatives of 24 churches and ecclesial communities.
Archbishop Fabio Fabene, the president of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints’ Commission of the New Martyrs—Witnesses of the Faith, discussed the prayer service at a September 8 press conference (video)
The service will take place at the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls on September 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Ukrainian Catholic leader calls for continued Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church)
Editor's Note: Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, called for continued efforts at Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation despite efforts by some politicians to “reopen those wounds and pit the nations against each other.”
“Pope John Paul II is the father, inspirer, and patron in heaven of Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation,” the Major Archbishop said. “He said that for a united Europe, it is necessary to heal the wounds of nations that have fought each other.”
Papal condolences follow death of Roman mayor’s mother (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
Editor's Note: Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, sent a message of condolence in the Pope’s name following the death of the mother of Roberto Gualtieri, Rome’s mayor.
The Pontiff “assures [the mayor of] his prayers for the repose of the soul of the late Nicoletta,” and entrusts her “to the maternal intercession of the Holy Virgin,” Cardina Parolin wrote.
Society of Divine Word marks 150th anniversary (Vatican News (Portuguese))
Editor's Note: The Society of the Divine Word, founded by St. Arnold Janssen, marked its 150th anniversary on September 8.
“There is still room for mission,” the institute’s superior general, Father Anselmo Ricardo Ribeiro, said in an interview. “It’s true that in Europe, in the West, there is a distance, but people continue to ask themselves those questions that are ineradicable from the human heart and will always be there. This is a place for our missionary work, to be present to help people seek the meaning of life, which is in God.”
The Society of the Divine Word is among the largest male religious institutes, with 5,754 members from 79 countries. While it has declined from its peak membership of 6,131 in 2009, the institute has not experienced the draconian declines seen by some institutes, such as the Society of Jesus.
Vatican cardinal hails martyr of Communism as ‘conscience of Romanians’ (Agerpres)
Editor's Note: Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, traveled to Romania to pay tribute to Blessed Iuliu Hossu, an Eastern Catholic prelate who died as a martyr in 1970, under the Communist regime.
“Pope Francis himself who wanted me to be present at this solemn moment,” Cardinal Gugerotti said at a commemorative event at the National Opera in Cluj, Romania. Blessed Hossu, he added, “represents the conscience of Romanians.”
“Conscience is a most precious value, spoken of very little today, which can be divided, cut, even sold,” the prelate continued. “But for this man it was not so ... He said NO! He said NO to falsehood and YES to truth.”
Pope Leo receives presidents of Catholic Leadership Institute, Legatus (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV received Daniel Cellucci, president of the Catholic Leadership Institute, and Stephen Henley, president of Legatus, in separate audiences on September 8.
The Catholic Leadership Institute, based in Pennsylvania, “provides bishops, priests, religious, deacons, lay persons in...
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