St. Paul Catholic Church, Richmond, VA

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Meeting an international cast of film directors and actors, Pope Leo XIV spoke about the power of cinema to help people "contemplate and understand life, to recount its greatness and fragility and to portray the longing for infinity." 

Sitting in the front row of the Vatican's frescoed Clementine Hall Nov. 15 were, among others: directors Gus Van Sant and Spike Lee and actors Monica Bellucci, Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen and Sergio Castellitto, who played the traditionalist Cardinal Tedesco in the 2024 film "Conclave."

In a video released a few days before the meeting, Pope Leo said his four favorite films were: "It's a Wonderful Life," the 1946 film directed by Frank Capra; "The Sound of Music," the 1965 film by Robert Wise; "Ordinary People," the 1980 film directed by Robert Redford; and "Life Is Beautiful," Roberto Benigni's 1997 film.

Pope Leo asked the directors and actors to "defend slowness when it serves a purpose, silence when it speaks and difference when evocative."

"Beauty is not just a means of escape," he told them; "it is above all an invocation." 

"When cinema is authentic, it does not merely console, but challenges," he said. "It articulates the questions that dwell within us, and sometimes, even provokes tears that we did not know we needed to express."

Pope Leo acknowledged the challenges facing cinema with the closing of theaters and the increasing release of films directly to streaming services.

The theaters, like all public cultural spaces, are important to a community, he said.

But even more, the pope said, "entering a cinema is like crossing a threshold. In the darkness and silence, vision becomes sharper, the heart opens up and the mind becomes receptive to things not yet imagined." 

At a time where people are almost constantly in front of screens, he said, cinema offers more. "It is a sensory journey in which light pierces the darkness and words meet silence. As the plot unfolds, our mind is educated, our imagination broadens and even pain can find new meaning."

People need "witnesses of hope, beauty and truth," Pope Leo said, telling the directors and actors that they can be those witnesses.

"Good cinema and those who create and star in it have the power to recover the authenticity of imagery in order to safeguard and promote human dignity," he said.

Being authentic, the pope said, means not being afraid "to confront the world's wounds. Violence, poverty, exile, loneliness, addiction and forgotten wars are issues that need to be acknowledged and narrated."

"Good cinema does not exploit pain," Pope Leo said. "It recognizes and explores it."

"Giving voice to the complex, contradictory and sometimes dark feelings that dwell in the human heart is an act of love," he told them. "Art must not shy away from the mystery of frailty; it must engage with it and know how to remain before it."

Coming to the Vatican during the Jubilee of hope, he said, the directors and actors join millions of pilgrims who have made the journey over the past year.

"Your journey is not measured in kilometers but in images, words, emotions, shared memories and collective desires," the pope told them. "You navigate this pilgrimage into the mystery of human experience with a penetrating gaze that is capable of recognizing beauty even in the depths of pain, and of discerning hope in the tragedy of violence and war."

The pope prayed that their work would "never lose its capacity to amaze and even continue to offer us a glimpse, however small, of the mystery of God."

Pope Leo meets cinema greats

Pope Leo met an international group of film actors and directors, including Spike Lee and Gus Van Sant at the Vatican Nov. 15, telling them their art can offer hope, reveal truth, and confront the world’s wounds with authenticity.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV fulfilled a promise made by the late Pope Francis to return to Canada's Indigenous communities artifacts -- including an Inuit kayak, masks, moccasins and etchings -- that have been held by the Vatican for more than 100 years.

The pope gave 62 artifacts to the leaders of the Canadian bishops' conference Nov. 15, the Vatican and the bishops' conference said in a joint statement.

The bishops "will proceed, as soon as possible, to transfer these artifacts to the National Indigenous Organizations," which will ensure they are "reunited with their communities of origin," said a separate statement from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

Pope Leo "desires that this gift represent a concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity," the joint statement said. "This is an act of ecclesial sharing, with which the Successor of Peter entrusts to the Church in Canada these artifacts, which bear witness to the history of the encounter between faith and the cultures of the indigenous peoples."

The artifacts, which came from different First Nation, Métis and Inuit communities, "are part of the patrimony received on the occasion of the Vatican Missionary Exhibition of 1925, encouraged by Pope Pius XI during the Holy Year, to bear witness to the faith and cultural richness of peoples," the joint statement said.

"Sent to Rome by Catholic missionaries between 1923 and 1925," it said, "these artifacts were subsequently combined with those of the Lateran Ethnologic Missionary Museum, which then became the 'Anima Mundi' Ethnological Museum of the Vatican Museums." 

Members of Canada's Indigenous communities have been asking for years that the items be returned. In the spring of 2022, when community representatives visited the Vatican for meetings with Pope Francis before his trip to Canada, they visited the Vatican Museums and were given a private tour of the collection.

Pope Leo's decision to give the artifacts to the Canadian bishops instead of to the government or to an Indigenous organization "is a tangible sign of his desire to help Canada's Bishops walk alongside Indigenous Peoples in a spirit of reconciliation during the Jubilee Year of Hope and beyond,” said Bishop Pierre Goudreault, president of the Canadian bishops' conference.

In 2023, the Vatican did something similar, giving the Orthodox Church of Greece three marble fragments from the Parthenon in Athens; the church then gave the marbles to the government.

Speaking to reporters in April 2023, Pope Francis had said the Canadian artifacts would be returned.

"This is the Seventh Commandment: if you have stolen something, you must give it back," he said. What can be returned to its rightful owners should be, he added.

The return of the artifacts "is an important and a right step," Joyce Napier, the Canadian ambassador to the Holy See, told Catholic News Service.

The artifacts will go first to Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec, she said. There, the Indigenous communities, their experts and elders will try to identify them and their provenance and determine where they should be kept.
 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Academic rigor, dialogue and openness to other cultures and disciplines are essential for a Catholic university and even more so for the Pontifical Lateran University, which is often called "the pope's university," Pope Leo XIV said.

The pope officially opened the Rome university's 2025-2026 academic year Nov. 14 and told faculty and students that because they come from all over the world, they represent "a microcosm of the universal church: therefore, be a prophetic sign of communion and fraternity."

The university, founded by Pope Clement XIV in 1773 to train priests for the pope's Diocese of Rome, currently has about 130 professors and just over 1,000 students, mainly studying philosophy, theology, civil law and canon law.

To truly serve the church and the world, Pope Leo said, the university must maintain the highest academic standards. 

"The risk is that we slip into the temptation to simplify complex issues in order to avoid the labor of thought, with the danger that, even in pastoral action and in its forms of expression, we sink into banality, superficiality or rigidity," he said.

"Scientific inquiry and the effort of research are necessary. We need well-prepared and competent laypeople and priests," he said. "Therefore, I urge you not to lower your guard regarding scientific rigor, but to carry forward a passionate search for truth and a robust engagement with other sciences, with reality and with the problems and struggles of society."

Faith must be studied in a way that leads to it being expressed "within current cultural settings and challenges," he said, but those studies also are a way "to counter the risk of the cultural void that, in our age, is becoming increasingly pervasive."

The school's Faculty of Theology, the pope said, must find ways to bring forth the "beauty and credibility" of the Christian faith "so that it can appear as a fully human proposal, capable of transforming the lives of individuals and of society, of sparking prophetic changes in response to the tragedies and poverties of our time, and of encouraging the search for God."

The pope also encouraged the university to look for ways to strengthen its courses in peace studies and in ecology.

"The issues they address are an essential part of the recent magisterium of the church which, established as a sign of the covenant between God and humanity, is called to form workers for peace and justice who build and bear witness to the kingdom of God," the pope said.

Everything a Catholic university does, Pope Leo said, should be done with dialogue, respect and the aim of building up a real community of brothers and sisters. 

That sense of fraternity, he said, is essential for countering "the appeal of individualism as the key to a successful life," which has "disturbing consequences in every sphere: people focus on self-promotion, the primacy of the ego is fueled, cooperation becomes difficult, prejudices and barriers toward others -- especially those who are different -- grow, responsibility in service is mistaken for solitary leadership, and in the end misunderstandings and conflicts multiply."

On a human and religious level, Pope Leo said, a Catholic university is called to promote the common good and prepare students to contribute to the good of their churches and communities.

"The aim of the educational and academic process must be to form people who, guided by the logic of gratuitousness and by a passion for truth and justice, can become builders of a new, fraternal and supportive world," he said. "The university can and must spread this culture, becoming a sign and expression of this new world and of the pursuit of the common good."
 

Pope Leo calls for academic excellence in the church

Pope Leo visited the Pontifical Lateran University on Nov. 14 to open the academic year, warning that academic work is often undervalued in the church because of persistent prejudices that dismiss study and research as less “real” or important than...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV does not intend to overturn Pope Francis' limits on celebrating the traditional Latin Mass but will grant two-year dispensations to bishops who ask, a nuncio said.

Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía, the apostolic nuncio to Great Britain, told bishops Nov. 13 that Pope Leo told him he would not abrogate "Traditionis Custodes," Pope Francis' 2021 letter greatly restricting the celebration of Masses according to the 1962 Roman Missal, the Latin liturgy in use before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

The Vatican press office did not respond to a request for comment.

But the archbishop made headlines by telling members of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales that the pope would grant bishops who request it a two-year, renewable exemption.

The exemptions are nothing new, a Vatican official told Catholic News Service Nov. 14.

"This is no more than a restatement of the practice of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments since the motu proprio ('Traditionis Custodes') came into force," said Msgr. Enda Murphy, an official at the dicastery. 

"What the nuncio is clearly referring to is the necessity for a diocesan bishop to request a derogation from art. 3 § 2 of 'Traditionis Custodes' in order that Mass according to the Missale Romanum of 1962 can be celebrated in a parish church," he said.

The subsection referred to by Msgr. Murphy says that a bishop can designate one or more locations where the faithful who had been celebrating the older Mass could continue to do so, "not however in the parochial churches and without the erection of new personal parishes."

In late October, various Catholic news outlets reported that the Diocese of Cleveland, led by Bishop Edward C. Malesic, had received permission for the older Latin Mass to continue at two parish churches in his diocese. In July, Bishop Michael Sis of San Angelo, Texas, confirmed that he had made a similar request, which was granted.

Pope Leo also personally granted permission for U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, a former Vatican official, to celebrate the older form of the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica in late October.

When Pope Francis issued the restrictions, he declared the liturgical books promulgated after the Second Vatican Council to be "the unique expression of the 'lex orandi' (law of worship) of the Roman Rite," restored the obligation of priests to have their bishops' permission to celebrate according to the "extraordinary" or pre-Vatican II Mass and ordered bishops not to establish any new groups or parishes in their dioceses devoted to the old liturgy.

At the time, Pope Francis said his decision was meant "to promote the concord and unity of the church."
 

BALTIMORE - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) gathered for their Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, November 11-13. Throughout the meeting, the bishops had opportunities to spend time in prayer and fraternal dialogue together. 

As the public session of the plenary began, the bishops sent a message to the Holy Father. Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the USCCB, delivered his final address to the bishops as USCCB president. He was followed by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the United States, who offered remarks.

As one of the first items of business on the plenary agenda, the bishops elected Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City as president, and Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville as vice president to lead the Conference. Their terms began immediately at the adjournment of the plenary today and run through November 2028. Additionally, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend was elected as USCCB secretary to complete the vacancy created when Archbishop Coakley was elected Conference president.

During their gathering, the body of bishops also elected new chairmen of six standing committees. Executive sessions (limited to bishops) were not livestreamed but included fraternal dialogues and informational sessions on a variety of topics: the ongoing implementation of the synod; best practices to continue the instruction of Laudato si’; the importance of post-abortion healing ministry; Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (the bishops’ teaching document on the political responsibility of Catholics); and the apostolate of the laity. 

In their message to the Holy Father, the bishops assured the pope of their prayers and communion with him. They acknowledged facing a growing worldview that is often at odds with the Gospel mandate to love thy neighbor, but stated: “Holy Father, please know that the bishops of the United States, united in our concern, will continue to stand with migrants and defend everyone’s right to worship free from intimidation.” The topic of immigration and the U.S. government’s recent surge in enforcement actions that have been prompting anxiety and fear in the communities across the country was a key point of discussion among the bishops throughout the meeting. Out of their pastoral concern for immigrants and in unison with Pope Leo XIV, the bishops issued a Special Message. In their vote, the body of bishops overwhelmingly approved the Special Message, with sustained applause of the body following the vote. (Read the bishops' full message: English | Spanish)

The United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence next year. To mark the American Semiquincentennial, the U.S. bishops voted to consecrate the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in June 2026, with 215 votes in favor, 8 votes against, and 7 abstentions to pass this measure.

The bishops discussed and voted on a revision of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. The revisions address the statement issued by the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine in 2023 (“doctrinal note”) that underscored the role that those involved in the ministry of Catholic health care services have in providing the best medical care, as well as Christ’s compassionate accompaniment to all patients, no matter who they may be, or from what condition they may be suffering. The bishops voted 206 in favor, 8 votes against, and 7 abstentions to pass the action item. Read more here.

Other business items on their agenda included: an update from the Subcommittee on the Catechism on the Catechetical Accompaniment Process; a report from The Catholic University of America, and from The Pontifical Mission Societies USA. The USCCB’s 2026 budget was approved 220 in favor, 7 votes against, and 2 abstentions. The bishops also held a consultation on advancing the cause for beatification and canonization for Reverend Richard M. Thomas, a priest of the Society of Jesus. With 206 votes in favor, 4 votes against, and 1 abstention, the bishops affirmed the advancement of the case at the diocesan level.

The bishops also received an update on the recently concluded National Eucharistic Revival and were given a report on the impact of the three-year initiative. The report was followed by a vote to approve the Summer of 2029 for the next National Eucharistic Congress with 192 votes in favor, 19 votes against, and 7 abstentions.

In a presentation during the public session of the plenary that underscored the importance that the Catholic Church places on understanding artificial intelligence and the ethical implications of AI, especially in the context of the life of the Church. The bishops were briefed on the topic by Dr. Paul Scherz of the University of Notre Dame. 

The bishops discussed and voted on two action items pertaining to liturgical texts from the Committee on Divine Worship:

• The bishops voted 205 in favor, 2 votes against, and 2 abstentions to approve the Appendices of The Roman Pontifical. The approval of this requires a two-thirds vote of the Latin Church members, with subsequent recognitio from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
• The bishops voted 202 votes in favor, 4 votes against, and 2 abstentions to approve Nuevos santos en el Calendario Romano general. The approval of this requires a two-thirds vote of the Latin Church members, with subsequent confirmatio from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

News updates, texts of addresses and presentations, and other materials from the 2025 fall plenary assembly are posted to: www.usccb.org/meetings.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence online and in schools demands stronger government-enforced safeguards, education in the critical use of media and more consistent monitoring by parents and teachers, Pope Leo XIV said.

"Children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to manipulation through AI algorithms that can influence their decisions and preferences," the pope told academics, AI experts and professionals involved in child protection programs Nov. 13.

The group was participating in a conference, "The Dignity of Children and Adolescents in the Age of Artificial Intelligence," which was sponsored by Telefono Azzurro, an Italian hotline for children, and its foundation for research on the mental and physical health of children and teens.

Pope Leo told the group that as AI grows so must the tools needed "to monitor and guide young people's interactions with technology."

But that monitoring, he said, will not accomplish much if parents and teachers are not educated about the potential dangers of AI for young people. 

And, the pope said, "governments and international organizations have a responsibility to design and implement policies that protect the dignity of minors in the AI era," including by "updating existing data protection laws to address new challenges posed by emerging technologies and promoting ethical standards for the development and use of AI."

Guidelines and restrictions will not work, however, without "daily, ongoing educational efforts carried out by adults who themselves are trained and supported by networks of collaboration," the pope said.

The adults' role, he said, includes understanding the risks that "premature, unlimited and unsupervised digital access may pose to the relationships and development of young people."

"Only by taking part in the discovery of such risks and the effects on their personal and social life, can minors be supported in approaching the digital world as a means of strengthening their ability to make responsible choices for themselves and for others," Pope Leo said.

The church is not opposed to the use of technology, including artificial intelligence, he said, but people must ensure that it "serves as an ally, not a threat, in the growth and development of children and adolescents."

Pope Leo: Protect children in the AI age

Pope Leo spoke to participants in a conference on protecting "The Dignity of Children and Adolescents in the Age of Artificial Intelligence" Nov. 13.

BALTIMORE – At the plenary assembly in Baltimore on Wednesday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) elected Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend as Conference Secretary. They also elected chairmen of six standing Conference committees. Bishop Rhoades will assume the office of secretary immediately upon conclusion of the plenary today, as he is filling the vacancy that results from Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, who had been serving as USCCB secretary, being elected as USCCB president.

Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne South Bend was elected as USCCB secretary and chairman of the Committee on Priorities and Plans in a 126-95 vote over Archbishop James F. Checchio, coadjutor of New Orleans. Bishop Rhoades fills the vacancy created with the election of Archbishop Coakley as Conference president. Bishop Rhoades assumed his new position at the conclusion of this year’s plenary assembly and will serve as secretary through November 2027, at which time he will be eligible for re-election.

Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, as chairman-elect of the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance in a 113-108 vote over Bishop Edward M. Lohse of the Diocese of Kalamazoo.

Bishop Peter L. Smith, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, as chairman-elect of the Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs in a 139-83 vote over Bishop Daniel J. Felton of the Diocese of Duluth.

Bishop William A. Wack, CSC, of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, as chairman-elect of the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis in a 116-106 vote over Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of the Diocese of Columbus.

Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, as chairman-elect of the Committee on International Justice and Peace in a 154-68 vote over Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Bishop Mark O’Connell, bishop-designate of the Diocese of Albany, as chairman-elect of the Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People in a 116-106 vote over Bishop John P. Dolan of the Diocese of Phoenix.

Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon and Bishop Michael J. Sis of the Diocese of San Angelo tied for a vote with 111-111 for chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty. Bishop Sis withdrew his name and Archbishop Sample was named the chairman. Bishop Rhoades had been serving as chairman of the religious liberty committee, but was elected as Conference secretary, creating a vacancy in the committee chairmanship. Therefore, Archbishop Sample assumes the chairmanship on Thursday, and his term runs through November 2029. 

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BALTIMORE – As the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) gathered for their Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, the bishops issued a Special Message addressing their concern for the evolving situation impacting immigrants in the United States. It marked the first time in twelve years the USCCB invoked this particularly urgent way of speaking as a body of bishops. The last one issued in 2013 was in response to the federal government’s contraceptive mandate.

Under the regulations pertaining to statements and publications of the Conference, a “Special Message” may only be issued at plenary assemblies, and they are statements which the President of the Conference, the Administrative Committee, or the general membership consider to be appropriate in view of the circumstances at the time. To show the consensus of the body, a Special Message must receive two-thirds of the Conference members present and voting at the plenary in order to pass. In a vote of 216 votes in favor, 5 votes against, and 3 abstentions, the bishops overwhelmingly approved the Special Message, with sustained applause of the body following the vote.

The full text of the bishops’ Special Pastoral Message follows:

As pastors, we the bishops of the United States are bound to our people by ties of communion and compassion in Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement. We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants. We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care. We lament that some immigrants in the United States have arbitrarily lost their legal status. We are troubled by threats against the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools. We are grieved when we meet parents who fear being detained when taking their children to school and when we try to console family members who have already been separated from their loved ones. 

Despite obstacles and prejudices, generations of immigrants have made enormous contributions to the well-being of our nation. We as Catholic bishops love our country and pray for its peace and prosperity. For this very reason, we feel compelled now in this environment to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity.

Catholic teaching exhorts nations to recognize the fundamental dignity of all persons, including immigrants. We bishops advocate for a meaningful reform of our nation’s immigration laws and procedures. Human dignity and national security are not in conflict. Both are possible if people of good will work together.

We recognize that nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good. Without such processes, immigrants face the risk of trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Safe and legal pathways serve as an antidote to such risks.

The Church’s teaching rests on the foundational concern for the human person, as created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). As pastors, we look to Sacred Scripture and the example of the Lord Himself, where we find the wisdom of God’s compassion. The priority of the Lord, as the Prophets remind us, is for those who are most vulnerable: the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger (Zechariah 7:10). In the Lord Jesus, we see the One who became poor for our sake (2 Corinthians 8:9), we see the Good Samaritan who lifts us from the dust (Luke 10:30–37), and we see the One who is found in the least of these (Matthew 25). The Church’s concern for neighbor and our concern here for immigrants is a response to the Lord’s command to love as He has loved us (John 13:34).

To our immigrant brothers and sisters, we stand with you in your suffering, since, when one member suffers, all suffer (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:26). You are not alone!

We note with gratitude that so many of our clergy, consecrated religious, and lay faithful already accompany and assist immigrants in meeting their basic human needs. We urge all people of good will to continue and expand such efforts. 

We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement. We pray that the Lord may guide the leaders of our nation, and we are grateful for past and present opportunities to dialogue with public and elected officials. In this dialogue, we will continue to advocate for meaningful immigration reform. 

As disciples of the Lord, we remain men and women of hope, 
and hope does not disappoint! (cf. Romans 5:5)

May the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe enfold us all in her maternal and loving care and draw us ever closer to the heart of Christ.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Being a Christian means recognizing every person as a brother or sister and always being ready to lend a helping hand, Pope Leo XIV said.

"Brothers and sisters support each other in hardship, they do not turn their back on those who are in need, and they weep and rejoice together in the active pursuit of unity, trust and mutual reliance," the pope said Nov. 12 at his weekly general audience.

Continuing his series of audience talks on "Jesus our hope," the pope said he wanted to look specifically at Jesus' command to his followers that they love one another. 

Relationships support and enrich human life and make it possible to survive, grow and learn, he said. They are an antidote to "loneliness and even a narcissism that is concerned with others only out of self-interest."

But even more, the pope said, fraternity is "an essential feature of Christianity, which ever since the beginning has been the proclamation of the Good News destined for the salvation of all, never in an exclusive or private form."

As sons and daughters of God, he said, it is clear that all people are brothers and sisters to each other. 

In a world torn by war and division, he said, it is "more urgent today than ever, to reflect on the greeting with which St. Francis of Assisi addressed everyone, regardless of their geographical, cultural, religious and doctrinal origins: 'omnes fratres' (brothers and sisters all)."

St. Francis "placed all human beings on the same level, precisely because he recognized them in their common destiny of dignity, dialogue, welcome and salvation," the pope said.

Summarizing his talk in English, Pope Leo said that St. Francis of Assisi "knew that everyone has the same needs: to be respected, welcomed, heard and saved. Indeed, this is the Good News and a core tenet of our Christian faith: God's saving love is for everyone, no exceptions."

Addressing Portuguese speakers, the pope said Jesus calls his followers to live fraternity "through concrete gestures, words and actions."

Christians, he added, are called to "a continual striving to outdo one another in mutual respect and reciprocal care."

"May the Lord free us from all selfishness and division and renew us in hope that we may faithfully imitate his generous love for all people," he prayed.
 

Pope Leo: May God free us from division!

A look at Pope Leo's audience Nov. 12.

BALTIMORE - At their November Plenary Assembly, the bishops of the United States held a canonical consultation on a possible cause of beatification and canonization for Reverend Richard M. Thomas, a priest of the Society of Jesus. Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, and Bishop Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces, facilitated the discussion by the bishops. With 206 votes in favor, 4 votes against, and 1 abstention, the bishops affirmed their support for the advancement of the cause of beatification and canonization on the diocesan level.

The following brief biography of Father Richard Thomas, SJ, was drawn from information provided by the Diocese of Las Cruces:

Richard Thomas was born on March 1, 1928, in Seffner, Florida. He was educated in Catholic schools and graduated from Jesuit High School in Tampa. He entered the Jesuit order in 1945, and was ordained to the priesthood in San Francisco, California in 1958. In 1964, he was assigned to lead Our Lady’s Youth Center in El Paso, Texas, a ministry to the poor in south El Paso. He expanded the reach of Our Lady’s Youth Center to New Mexico and across the border to areas of Juarez, Mexico. 

On Christmas Day in 1972, prompted after reading Luke 14:12-14 where Jesus tells his followers to invite the poor - not their rich friends - to dine, Father Thomas invited a prayer group from El Paso to join him in serving dinner to the poor who lived and worked at a garbage dump in Juarez, Mexico. While Father Thomas and his group only took enough food to feed 150 people, more than 300 people came to dinner and each was served a full meal. With leftovers that were donated to three orphanages after the dinner, the group later realized that the Lord had multiplied the food; the event prompted the group to not only return to the garbage dump on a regular basis, but also led them to advocate for better income for the trash pickers, and start additional ministries to the poor such as food banks, a prisoner outreach program, a medical and dental clinic, and student scholarship assistance. It is said that while Father Thomas believed in miracles such as what happened at the Christmas dinner in 1972, he did not assign them a central place in his work or his message; instead, he chose to see them as ways that God would occasionally intervene to encourage and guide Christians to do His will. Father Thomas considered it the duty of every Christian to share with the poor and preached on Catholic social teaching and living out the Gospel values taught by Christ. 

As a gifted preacher and teacher, Father Thomas was a sought-after speaker and gave talks at conferences, seminars, and workshops around the world, and had a special charism in mobilizing lay people to get involved in the Church and in helping the poor in their local area. Father Thomas lived the virtue of fortitude heroically, having the courage of his convictions and courageously facing the opposition that arose as he did what he felt God was calling him to do. He also lived the virtue of justice in an extraordinary way. Working for a just society and championing people who were victims of inequality or oppression was an ever-present emphasis of his ministry. In trying to live a just life and work for justice for others, Fr. Thomas lived an ascetic lifestyle, profoundly exemplifying the virtue of temperance: he slept on an army cot or on the floor, lived without heating or cooling in the houses or cars he used, wore his clothes until they were threadbare, and gave away many things of his that the poor needed.

Father Richard Thomas died on May 8, 2006, in Las Cruces, after several years of declining health including a battle with cancer. He was laid to rest in the Jesuit plot of Concordia Cemetery in El Paso and leaves behind a legacy of a strong commitment to social justice and an unwavering obedience to God's word. 

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