Knights of Columbus Council 13341

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is beloved by many Catholic young people today for his enthusiastic witness to holiness that reaches “to the heights.” / Credit: Public domain

Vatican City, Jul 25, 2025 / 14:23 pm (CNA).

Update: The Vatican's jubilee office on Tuesday, July 8, removed posts on its website and social media pages referring to plans to expose Frassati's relics as described below. However, the Diocese of Rome confirmed on July 22 that Frassati's incorrupt body will be in Rome for veneration.

The coffin holding the incorrupt body of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati will be in Rome for veneration during the Jubilee of Youth July 26 through Aug. 4.

According to the Diocese of Rome, the coffin will be transferred from the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, in the Italian region of Piedmont, to the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome.

The official opening of the veneration will take place on July 26 with a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Vicar Baldo Reina, who will also impart a blessing to the volunteers working during the Jubilee.

Frassati, originally scheduled to be canonized on Aug. 3 during the Jubilee of Youth, will now be declared a saint by Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, Sept. 7, together with Blessed Carlo Acutis.

Frassati’s remains will be displayed in the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome until Aug. 4 so that they can be venerated by young people attending jubilee events July 28 through Aug. 3, when Pope Leo will celebrate the youth jubilee’s closing Mass at the Tor Vergata University campus on the southeastern outskirts of Rome.

The relic will return to Turin after a Mass celebrated by Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher on Aug. 4 at 11 a.m. concludes.

The young blessed’s relics were also present at World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, in 2008, at the request of Cardinal George Pell.

Frassati was born to a prominent family in Turin in 1901. He balanced a deep life of faith with active engagement in politics and service to the poor. He joined the Dominican Third Order, climbed Alpine peaks, and distributed food and medicine to the needy in the poorest parts of Turin.

This weekend, towns in northern Italy marked 100 years since Pier Giorgio Frassati’s death on July 4, 1925, from polio.

When Frassati’s coffin was opened during his beatification process in 1981, his body was found to be incorrupt, or preserved from the natural process of decay after death. According to Catholic tradition, incorruptible saints give witness to the truth of the resurrection of the body and the life that is to come.

Blessed Carlo Acutis (left) and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. / Credit: Diocese of Assisi/Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Jul 24, 2025 / 11:05 am (CNA).

Thousands of young people are heading to the Eternal City next week for the Jubilee of Youth, where they will have the opportunity to pray with the incorrupt body of Pier Giorgio Frassati and a first-class relic of Carlo Acutis’ heart.  

From July 28 to Aug. 3, Rome will be buzzing with musical performances, prayer vigils, and special events for young pilgrims from across the globe. One of the highlights will be the opportunity to venerate the relics of these two holy young men who are set to be canonized together by Pope Leo XIV in September.

The veneration of relics — physical objects associated with saints or Christ himself — has been part of Christian practice since the earliest days of Christianity, during the Apostolic age. First-class relics, such as bones or pieces of a saint’s body, are venerated as a tangible link to the saints who intercede from heaven.

Frassati festivities 

Frassati’s incorrupt body will be available for public veneration beginning July 26 at the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, located near the Pantheon. His tomb will be open to visitors daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through the morning of Aug. 4.

Youth volunteers from the JP2 Project, a U.S.-based Catholic nonprofit, will be on hand to accompany pilgrims in prayer at the basilica, where several Masses are scheduled. Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney will celebrate Mass there at 11 a.m. on Aug. 4.

A separate event, “Night of Adoration with Pier Giorgio Frassati,” will take place from 8:30 to 10 p.m. on July 31 and Aug. 1 at the Church of Piazza Farnese.

Organized by the JP2 Project, the evening adoration aims to foster reflection on Frassati’s spiritual legacy. His remains will be returned to his hometown of Turin, Italy, on Aug. 5.

The Carlo Acutis Center 

A few blocks away, the Church of San Marcello al Corso will host the “Blessed Carlo Acutis Center.” Acutis, a 15-year-old computer coder who died of cancer in 2006, is known for his devotion to the Eucharist and his efforts to catalog Eucharistic miracles. 

A first-class relic of Acutis’ heart will be available for veneration at the church, where visitors may also submit prayer intentions to be brought to his tomb in Assisi. The center opens at 10 a.m. on July 29 and closes at 9:30 p.m. on July 31. Daily Eucharistic adoration with the relic is scheduled from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

Evening events at the church on July 30 and 31 will include music, testimonies, and prayer. On July 29 at 11 a.m., young artist Johnny Vrba will present his 1,000-piece mosaic portrait of Acutis. An exhibit on Eucharistic miracles created by Acutis before his death will also be on display.

In addition to Acutis and Frassati, the jubilee will highlight other young people recognized for their sanctity.

On July 30, Jesus Youth International will host the Blessed Ivan Merz Center at the Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle, featuring relic veneration, confession, youth talks, and an evening of Eucharistic adoration.

Merz, a Croatian intellectual and former soldier who promoted Catholic youth movements, died in 1928 at the age of 31. Also on July 30, the Basilica di San Crisogono in Trastevere will host a talk at 11:20 a.m. on Merz’s life.

At the Centro San Lorenzo, a youth center near St. Peter’s Basilica, pilgrims can learn about the Pier Giorgio Homeless Ministry and attend a gathering with the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, the religious community of Sister Clare Crockett — a young Irish nun whose cause for canonization is underway.

That event, featuring prayer, adoration, and fellowship, will take place Wednesday afternoon, July 30.

The jubilee will also feature a self-guided “Young Saints Walk,” encouraging pilgrims to visit churches throughout Rome that house the relics of young saints.

Stops include St. Agnes, martyred at age 12; St. Aloysius Gonzaga, who died while caring for plague victims at 23; as well as St. Philip Neri and St. John Paul II, both remembered for their commitment to youth. The full walking route is available through the EWTN Travel app.

Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on June 25, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Jul 23, 2025 / 13:42 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV returned to the Vatican on July 22 around 9 p.m. local time after spending more than two weeks at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo. The Holy See Press Office officially confirmed the news to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, on July 23.

The pontiff spent a period of rest — July 6–22 — in the Italian town about 15 miles from Rome on the shores of Lake Albano. In addition to resting, the Holy Father also fulfilled several apostolic commitments.

One of the most significant events was the private meeting held on July 9 with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who made a special trip to Castel Gandolfo to meet with the pope. During the meeting — which took place within the context of the fourth International Meeting on the Reconstruction of Ukraine, held in the Italian capital July 10–11 — they discussed the humanitarian situation in the country and the role of the Holy See as possible mediator in the conflict. It was the first time a foreign president was received by a pope at this residence since the pontificate of Benedict XVI.

That same day, the pope celebrated Mass in the Castel Gandolfo gardens using the newly approved liturgy to promote global ecological awareness “for the care of creation.”

Pope Leo XIV also took the opportunity to rest, pray, and work on some personal texts.

The pontiff’s return to Rome coincides with the final preparations for the Jubilee of Youth, which will begin on July 28 as part of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Cardinal Fernando Filoni speaks to EWTN News Nightly” on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. / Credit: EWTN News

Vatican City, Jul 23, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A longtime Vatican diplomat now dedicated to aiding Christians in the Holy Land recently offered reflections on the Church’s mission in conflict zones and its roots in the Middle East. 

In a wide‑ranging interview with “EWTN News Nightly” on July 22, Cardinal Fernando Filoni underscored that the Middle East is not just part of Christianity’s past but remains an area of vital importance.

“Being there means not letting this vast region be considered only historically as the beginning of the Church, without living Christian communities,” he said. A portion of the interview was broadcast on Tuesday evening.

Despite waves of emigration and violence, Filoni insisted, the Church cannot forget her roots. “Jerusalem is the Mother Church. No one should forget their mother’s and father’s home,” he said.

Filoni recalled vividly his service as apostolic nuncio in Baghdad during the first Gulf War. Even as bombs fell and many left the country, he and the bishops agreed: “We remain. The people remain, we remain.”

At that time travel was perilous and telephones were quickly knocked out, but Filoni and an auxiliary bishop made parish visits to check on priests and laity. “We needed to show our faithful, even though we were a minority in a largely Islamic reality: We are with you,” Filoni said. 

Reminded of his own statement that “if a shepherd flees in difficult moments, the sheep scatter,” the cardinal described it as a biblically inspired call to action.

“Jesus himself, speaking of the good shepherd, recommended that those entrusted with the Gospel face difficulties with the same dignity that Christ himself showed,” the cardinal said.

“This remains a fundamental heritage of the Church,” he added.

As grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, Filoni now leads a chivalric order that supports the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, headed by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and assists Christians throughout the Holy Land.

The order provides financial aid, funds schools and parishes, and supports humanitarian efforts that allow Christians to remain in their ancestral homeland.

“We are not the main actors,” Filoni said, “but we are those who, behind the scenes, support the patriarchate and all its actions. This is the Church’s communion in action.”’

Filoni, a former prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, stressed the Church’s role as peacemaker in the region.

“Peace is not a secondary option but a primary one,” he said. “We cannot live always thinking of past injustices. The Church is there to remind everyone that a normal, serene life is what children, men, and women truly desire.”

The cardinal pointed to past Vatican efforts — such as an informal, indirect role in encouraging prisoner exchanges during the Iran-Iraq war — as examples of how even small gestures can open doors.

Today, amid the war in Ukraine, the Church is working to trace missing children, advocate for prisoners and the wounded, and deliver aid. “These actions create a platform for dialogue, starting from the concrete suffering caused by war,” he said.

Filoni warned, however, that such efforts are ultimately futile if warring powers don’t seek peace. “You can even offer a golden platform [for negotiations], but it won’t work because it’s the will of the people involved in the war who must accept or reject the possibility of dialogue, of discussion,” he said.

The cardinal praised Pope Leo XIV’s early reaffirmation of Sollicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum, the foundational document on Vatican diplomacy issued by St. Paul VI, and observed how St. John Paul II expanded this mission through his extensive travels.  

“There is a centripetal and a centrifugal dynamic — one that brings in and one that reaches out,” Filoni explained. “In this exchange, the life of the Church is created.” 

Asked what could distinguish Pope Leo XIV’s approach, Filoni replied that a new pope “does not follow his predecessor — he follows Peter.”

“There is continuity, but also something new,” he said. He noted that the world has changed rapidly, with the revolution of artificial intelligence emerging in just the past decade. Leo XIV’s unusually varied background as a missionary bishop, head of his religious order, and superior of the Roman Curia has prepared him well for such challenges, the cardinal said.

Turning to Gaza, Filoni struck a somber note. “Sadly, there is no place in Gaza untouched by the violence of weapons, war, revenge, and killings. To keep kidnapped people in captivity is unacceptable. And to attack those searching for water or food is terrible,” he said.

“There is no justification,” the prelate added. He called for the immediate release of all hostages and an end to indiscriminate bombings. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem, under Pizzaballa’s leadership, he said, works tirelessly to provide aid and remain present, supported by the Holy See and by the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

The cardinal shared an image of the Church’s resilience he witnessed in Mosul, Iraq: After a bombing, a priest showed him a wall where the image of the pope remained intact amid the rubble. “Here, the cross did not fall,” the priest told him.

Filoni reflected: “That is the message. The cross is stronger than violence, because it is the instrument through which God made peace between heaven and earth.”

Father Heriberto García Arias with a group of young people. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Heriberto García Arias

Vatican City, Jul 23, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

In the context of the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers, which will be held in Rome July 28–29, Mexican priest Father Heriberto García Arias, author of the upcoming Spanish-language book “Digital Missionaries: Influencers or Witnesses of Christ Today?”, offered a reflection on the role of evangelizers on social media and the importance of their presence in the digital environment.

With more than 2 million followers on his TikTok account @heribertogarciaar and more than 200,000 on Instagram, the young priest gave an interview to the Spanish-language broadcast edition of EWTN News, “EWTN Noticias,” from the Eternal City emphasizing that the Catholic Church “is taking very important steps to be present throughout the digital context.”

The difference between a Catholic influencer and a digital missionary

Drawing on his experience and the recent publication of his book, García explained the difference between a Catholic influencer and a digital missionary, whose “purpose is different.” Although “both use media,” the influencer can offer and sell products in line with their values, while the digital missionary’s purpose is to bring his or her experience of Christ to social media.

He pointed to the amount of time younger generations spend on social media: “There are people who are searching for God, and so we have to be present there, being witnesses, but not with the goal of stopping there, but rather to move [the viewer] from the screen to the altar.” 

“So,” he added, “that’s only the path, not the destination.”

Moving from the screen to the altar

The Mexican priest pointed out that the Church “has always adapted to different cultures” to bring the message of Jesus Christ and affirmed that “now it’s our turn, in this culture where new generations come with a different way of thinking, where the digital world is real for them.”

For the priest, the celebration of the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers — which also coincides with the Jubilee of Youth — represents “official recognition from the Church of all these missionaries.”

“Just three years ago, the term ‘digital missionary’ didn’t even exist,” he noted, adding that today there are more than 3,500 digital missionaries worldwide. Although he acknowledged that this new reality can elicit a certain “fear,” he assured that “the fruits are already being seen.”

According to the priest from Jalisco state in Mexico, being present on social media “is urgent and necessary,” since many young people “watch TikTok” but “aren’t going to cross the threshold of a church.” He therefore emphasized the importance of creating content that sparks their interest and helps them “come over to the Church.”

Regarding the risk of trivializing the message, he pointed out that the Church is experienced in different ways in each culture while emphasizing the need to form and accompany digital missionaries so that they are “united in the same truth.”

‘I’m not the one who’s speaking, it’s him’

Explaining the origin of his social media presence, García stated that it responds to “a pastoral urgency to address the needs of the young people who are there.”

“We have a very beautiful message, an incomparable philosophy, a transcendental proposal. But sometimes we don’t know how to convey it, we don’t know how to speak their language. I believe we need to convey this message that we have experienced, adapted to the new generations.”

The priest, who received his call to the priesthood when he was 15, confessed that as he began his vocation, he suffered from “stage fright.” However, his formation in the Church’s institutional communications helped him understand that “God has shown me that I’m not the one who’s speaking, it’s him.”

The young priest takes up his work on social media as a great responsibility, and faced with the temptation of becoming “self-referential,” he pointed out: “If you want the message to get across, you also have to deal with that temptation, because in the end, they’re following you, because they empathize with you and they like you.”

“But you do have to be vigilant. It’s not about being the center of attention and talking about Christ; he has to be the center of attention,” he added.

The priest acknowledged that his formation allowed him to understand that he is a “spokesman” for the Church: “You are not the protagonist; it’s about the Church, it’s about Christ, and you have to always keep that in mind, because the great risk is that the Church will not only lose its reputation but also lose its authority in the world. And that is in our hands.”

‘The Holy Spirit is acting through algorithms’

García shared that he has received numerous testimonies from people whose lives were transformed by his messages. 

“People who were about to have an abortion and ended up not having it, people who were perhaps a bit at odds with God because they had a child in the hospital and [then] received the message they needed to encourage them to carry on. Or even someone who wanted to commit suicide and a message stopped him and motivated him to persevere.”

“The Holy Spirit is acting through algorithms, reaching hearts that need his word, that need hope,” he emphasized.

Finally, he assured that his work has the support of the Church and his bishop, something that gives him peace and strength to move forward in this increasingly necessary evangelizing mission.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Bishop Robert Barron speaks to tens of thousands of young people at a World Youth Day gathering in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 2, 2023. The event, hosted by the U.S. bishops’ conference, culminated in a Eucharistic procession and Holy Hour. / Credit: Nuria Chiccon/EWTN News

Vatican City, Jul 21, 2025 / 12:44 pm (CNA).

Bishop Robert Barron will deliver a keynote address to more than 3,500 young American pilgrims at a special event in Rome on July 30, part of the global Jubilee of Youth celebrations expected to draw more than 100,000 young people to the Eternal City.

The U.S. National Pilgrim Gathering at the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls is being organized by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and will include Eucharistic adoration, catechesis, and a procession with relics of 12 saints and blesseds significant to the American Church and Catholic youth.

Barron, the bishop of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, will speak on what it means to be a missionary witness in today’s world.

Pilgrims will have the opportunity to walk through the basilica’s Holy Door, opened as part of the Catholic Church’s jubilee year observances, and to pray before the tomb of St. Paul.

Bishop Edward Burns of Dallas, who is the committee’s chairman-elect, will lead a Eucharistic Holy Hour during the three-hour evening event, which begins at 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET). EWTN will broadcast the event and a livestream will also be available on the USCCB’s YouTube channel. U.S. dioceses are encouraging parishes to tune in with youth groups back home.

Barron, known for digital evangelization efforts through his Word on Fire media ministry, rose to prominence by leveraging online platforms like YouTube and Reddit to reach young Catholics and the religiously unaffiliated.

His keynote comes just one day after the close of the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers, a parallel event in Rome featuring Jesuit Fathers David McCallum and Antonio Spadaro as speakers. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will also offer a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on July 29 for the young digital missionaries.

The Jubilee of Youth, running from July 28 to Aug. 3, includes a slate of spiritual and cultural events. Among them: a penitential day at Circus Maximus on Aug. 1, a massive prayer vigil at Tor Vergata on Aug. 2 led by Pope Leo XIV, and a closing Mass celebrated by the pope on Aug. 3.

Pilgrims will also be invited to participate in walking pilgrimages to sites linked to young saints, aided by digital maps on the EWTN Travel App. Stops include the tombs of St. Agnes, St. Cecilia, and St. Philip Neri, as well as relics that have been brought to the Eternal City for the jubilee, including the relics of Blessed Carlo Acutis, Blessed Ivan Merz, and the tomb of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.

Other national groups are also marking the week with their own events. More than 1,000 South Korean pilgrims will gather for Mass at the Basilica of San Crisogono in Trastevere on July 31, celebrated by Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, the archbishop emeritus of Seoul, with Auxiliary Bishop Paul Kyung-sang Lee of Seoul preaching the homily. The Archdiocese of Seoul will host the next World Youth Day with the pope in 2027.

The Canadian National Pilgrim Gathering will take place on July 29 at the Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle.

Pope Leo XIV speaks by video call with Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin from Castel Gandolfo, Italy, on July 20, 2025. / Credit: Holy See Press Office

Rome Newsroom, Jul 21, 2025 / 06:30 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV marked the 56th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with a video call to U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin and a visit to the Vatican Observatory, located on the papal estate of Castel Gandolfo, where he has been staying for two weeks.

According to the Vatican, the pontiff’s July 20 call with the 95-year-old Aldrin, the last surviving Apollo 11 crew member, included reminiscing on the historic 1969 landing and meditating together on the “mystery, greatness, and fragility” of God’s creation as described in Psalm 8.

Earlier in the day, Leo visited the Vatican’s internationally-recognized observatory, called the Specola Vaticana, where he was able to look through the astronomical center’s historic telescopes.

The Vatican Observatory has been located on the papal estate of Castel Gandolfo, around 18 miles southeast of Rome, since the 1930s, but the history of the institution dates to the 18th century. After several years of closure in the late 1800s, Leo’s predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, re-founded the observatory in 1891.

In 1993, the Vatican Observatory Research Group, which opened a second research center at the University of Arizona in Tucson in 1981, completed construction of the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope in Mount Graham, Arizona.

Pope Leo has been taking a break from the heat of Rome with a sojourn at the lakeside town of Castel Gandolfo, a revival of a tradition last observed by Pope Benedict XVI. The pontiff’s stay was originally expected to end July 20, but the Vatican announced Sunday that Leo had extended the two-week stay an additional two days, through July 22.

A pope close to science

On June 16, Pope Leo XIV, who holds a degree in mathematics from Villanova University, expressed his appreciation for astronomy when he received the participants of this year’s Vatican Observatory Summer School.

On that occasion, he asked the young scientists to never forget “that what they do is meant to benefit everyone.”

“Be generous in sharing what you learn and what you experience, to the best of your ability and in any way possible,” he added.

The pope also urged them not to hesitate to share “the joy and wonder born of your contemplation of the ‘seeds’ which, in the words of St. Augustine, God has sown in the harmony of the universe.”

The summer program, held every two years, brings together young astronomers from different countries. The most recent edition hosted 24 students from 22 nations under the theme “Exploring the Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope,” an instrument that has revolutionized astronomical observation since 2022.

During his meeting with astronomy students, Pope Leo highlighted the importance of the advances made by the telescope: “For the first time we can deeply observe the atmosphere of exoplanets where life may be developing and study the nebulae where the planetary systems themselves are forming” as well as trace “the ancient light of distant galaxies, which speaks of the very beginning of our universe.”

Pope Leo XIV delivers the Angelus address on July 13, 2025, from Liberty Square in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, where he is spending a two-week summer break. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Jul 20, 2025 / 08:46 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday prayed by name for the victims of a deadly Israeli strike on the only Catholic parish in Gaza, decrying the “barbarism of the war” as he renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire.

“I express my profound sadness regarding last Thursday’s attack by the Israeli army on the Catholic Parish of the Holy Family in Gaza City, which as you know killed three Christians and gravely wounded others,” the pope said in his Angelus address from the papal estate at Castel Gandolfo, about 16 miles southeast of Rome.

He named the dead — Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad, and Najwa Ibrahim Latif Abu Daoud — and said: “I am especially close to their families and all the parishioners.”

The July 17 strike on the parish compound also wounded nine others, including the local parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli. The church had been serving as a shelter for more than 600 people since the conflict began in October 2023, including Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Muslims.

“Sadly, this act adds to the continuous military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza,” Leo said. “I again call for an immediate halt to the barbarism of the war and for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.” 

“I renew my appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and to respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of the population.” 

Thursday’s attack drew swift condemnation from Church leaders. On the same day, Pope Leo sent a telegram signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin lamenting the loss of life and injuries caused by the military attack and calling for an immediate ceasefire. The following day, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III entered Gaza to offer spiritual, moral, and material comfort. 

According to Caritas Jerusalem, two of the victims were outside the main parish building — which had been repurposed into a shelter — when the explosion occurred. Salameh, 60, the parish caretaker, was in the courtyard, and Ayyad, 84, was sitting inside a Caritas psychosocial support tent when shrapnel and falling debris struck them. Both later died at Al-Mamadani Hospital due to what Caritas called a “severe shortage of medical resources and blood units in Gaza.” 

Israel Defense Forces acknowledged responsibility, stating that “fragments from a shell fired during operational activity in the area hit the church mistakenly.”  

Pope Leo XIV also spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the strike, urging the reactivation of peace negotiations. He reiterated his concern for the humanitarian situation of the population in Gaza, “whose heartbreaking price is being paid, in particular, by children, the elderly, and the sick,” a statement from the Vatican said. 

After praying for the Gaza victims during his Angelus address, Pope Leo XIV offered a message of solidarity to all Christians in the region.  

“To our beloved Middle Eastern Christians, I say: I deeply sympathize with your feeling that you can do little in the face of this grave situation,” he said. “You are in the heart of the pope and of the whole Church. Thank you for your witness of faith.”

He entrusted them to the Virgin Mary, “woman of the Levant, dawn of the new Sun that has risen in history,” and prayed that she “protect you always and accompany the world towards dawns of peace.”

Sunday marked the second time Pope Leo has led the Angelus prayer from Castel Gandolfo during his two-week summer retreat. Earlier in the day, the pope offered a Mass for local Catholics in the nearby Cathedral Basilica of St. Pancras in Albano.

He ended his Angelus address by greeting pilgrims in the courtyard, including students and staff from the nearby Catholic Institute of Technology and a group of Catholic scouts on a jubilee pilgrimage destined for the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis, whom Pope Leo is expected to canonize in September as the first millennial Catholic saint.

The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Leo XIV will return to Vatican City on Tuesday.

Pope Leo XIV greets a young woman along the streets of Albano, Italy, before offering Mass in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Pancras near Castel Gandolfo on July 20, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Jul 20, 2025 / 07:05 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday encouraged people to embrace the summer season as a time to deepen their relationship with God through silence, reflection, and time spent with others.

“Summer can be a providential time to experience the beauty and importance of our relationship with God and how much it can help us to be more open and welcoming to others,” Pope Leo said during a homily at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Pancras in Albano, a town about 16 miles south of Rome.

The pope, who is spending two weeks on summer holiday at the papal estate in nearby Castel Gandolfo, reflected on the example of Martha and Mary in the Gospel of Luke of how service and listening can be “twin dimensions of hospitality.”

“We should set aside moments of silence, moments of prayer, times in which, quieting noise and distractions, we recollect ourselves before God in simplicity of heart,” he said.

Preaching to a congregation of approximately 300 people — including local priests, seminarians, parishioners, religious sisters, and 60 sick individuals — Pope Leo emphasized the need to “make room for silence” and to step back from the “whirlwind of commitments and worries” that often crowd out opportunities for peace and prayer.

Outside the cathedral, hundreds more gathered in the streets and piazzas. Thirteen mayors from neighboring towns attended the Mass, along with a group of young Catholic scouts who paused to see the pope on their way to summer camp.

As he walked through Albano toward the cathedral, people waved and shouted greetings. The pope stopped to bless children and greet those in wheelchairs who kissed his ring in front of the church.

Pope Leo presided over the Mass, which was concelebrated by 80 priests in the basilica named for St. Pancras, a young Roman martyr from the fourth century.

In his homily, the pope turned to St. Augustine’s reflections on Martha and Mary.

“‘These two women symbolize two lives: the present and the future; a life lived in toil and a life of rest; one troubled and the other blessed; one temporary, the other eternal,’” Pope Leo said, quoting from Augustine’s Sermon 104.

Quoting further, he added: “‘The weariness will pass and rest will come, but rest will only come through the effort made. The ship will sail and reach its homeland; but the homeland will not be reached except by means of the ship.’”

The pope said that Martha and Mary are a reminder that “listening and service are two complementary attitudes that enable us to open ourselves and our lives to the blessings of the Lord.”

He urged Christians to seek a wise balance between “contemplation and action, rest and hard work, silence and the bustle of our daily lives,” guided always by the Lord, taking “Jesus’ charity as our measure, his word as our light, and his grace as our source of strength, which sustains us beyond our own capacity.”

“During the summer, we have more free time in which to gather our thoughts and reflect, and also to travel and spend time with each other. Let us make good use of this, by leaving behind the whirlwind of commitments and worries in order to savor a few moments of peace and reflection, taking time as well to visit other places and share in the joy of seeing others — as I am doing here today,” Leo said.

“Let us make summer an opportunity to care for others, to get to know each other, and to offer advice and a listening ear,” he said. “These are expressions of love, and that is something we all need. Let us do so with courage.”

Pope Leo is nearing the end of his current stay at Castel Gandolfo, the 135-acre papal retreat overlooking Lake Albano, long favored by previous pontiffs including John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Pope Francis, however, opted not to use the summer estate during his pontificate.

During his retreat, Leo has continued to lead public prayers, including the Angelus, and has celebrated Sunday Masses in the local community, including last week at the 17th-century Church of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo’s central square.

In his Angelus address on July 20, Pope Leo returned to the theme of summer as a time of rest and encounter.

“The summer season can help us learn how to slow down and become more like Mary than Martha. Sometimes we too fail to choose the better part. We need to take time to rest and try to learn better the art of hospitality,” he said.

“The holiday industry wants to sell us all sorts of ‘experiences,’ but perhaps not the ones we are really looking for. Every genuine encounter is free; it cannot be bought, whether it is an encounter with God, with others, or with nature. We need only learn the art of hospitality, which includes both welcoming others and allowing ourselves to be welcomed.”

The pope is expected to return briefly to Castel Gandolfo in August for the solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, spending time there from Aug. 15–17.

Market in Shevchenkove settlement in Kharkiv Oblast of Ukraine after a 2023 Russian rocket strike. / Credit: Main Directorate of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kharkiv Oblast, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 19, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV once again expressed his closeness to the people of Ukraine by sending packages of food destined to families who have suffered from the Russian army’s recent onslaught of attacks.

Thanks to the mediation of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity — the dicastery in charge of the pontiff’s charitable works also known as the Office of the Papal Almoner — and donations from the faithful, the aid will reach the village of Staryi Saltiv and the city of Shevchenkove, both affected by Russian bombing.

With this much-needed aid, which follows the aid sent in June, the Holy Father renews his gesture of solidarity with the victims of the bloody war that began in February 2022.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, told Vatican News that “charity does not go on vacation” and that Pope Leo XIV asked them to “act as quickly as possible.”

The trucks with the food packages left for Ukraine from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Basilica of Santa Sofia (Holy Wisdom) in Rome, which has become a center of solidarity for all Romans and a point of reference for the Ukrainian community in the Italian capital. In addition to the food, essential items were also donated.

On June 13, the Holy See also sent a truck with humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Food and essential items as well as mattresses, furniture, and children’s supplies also left from the Roman basilica.

On that occasion, Krajewski stated that the Vatican’s mission of solidarity has continued uninterrupted by the invasion of Ukrainian territory by the Russian army.

On the boxes containing the aid delivered directly to families in need, the words “Gift of Pope Leo XIV to the people of Kharkiv” can be read in Ukrainian and Italian.

On July 9, Pope Leo XIV took time out from his summer vacation in Castel Gandolfo to receive the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During their meeting, the two leaders discussed the ongoing conflict and “the urgency of pursuing just and lasting paths of peace.”

The pope also expressed his profound sorrow for the victims of the war and renewed his spiritual closeness to the Ukrainian people, encouraging all efforts aimed at the release of prisoners and the search for shared solutions.

Leo XIV also reaffirmed the Holy See’s willingness to welcome representatives of Russia and Ukraine to the Vatican for possible peace negotiations.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.