St. Paul Catholic Church, Richmond, VA

WASHINGTON - Each October since 1973, the Catholic Church in the United States observes Respect Life Month and focuses on reflecting more deeply on the dignity and gift of human life. This year, the theme chosen is Mary, Mother of Life. “Our Blessed Mother is our model for upholding the sanctity of all human life in every stage and circumstance. We entrust all our efforts to protect mothers and babies to her motherly care, which we greatly need at this time,” said Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, in a statement inviting the faithful into prayer, deeper reflection, and action during the month of October.

“Today, with easier access to abortion pills, the abortion rate is tragically climbing, along with increased health risks,” said Bishop Thomas. “This means that more women, many of whom have been misinformed about the nature and risks of the abortion pill, will have an abortion alone at home, without any medical supervision. It also sets up additional opportunities for exploitation by violent partners or human traffickers. These affronts to human dignity demand our response.”

Through a focused effort of prayer and action to stop the spread of the abortion pill, the Committee on Pro-Life Activities has encouraged the faithful to learn about the dangers of the abortion pill and take action by sending messages to pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies. “I thank the many thousands of Catholics across the country who have embraced the nationwide invitation to prayer and action on abortion pills, and I ask that we continue our prayers and advocacy throughout the month of October. Please join us at Respect Life Prayer and Action,” Bishop Thomas said.

Read Bishop Thomas’ full statement: English | Spanish.

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ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM METZ TO ROME (CNS) -- In light of growing concerns about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, Pope Leo XIV told journalists he can still "sleep at night," even as he cautioned against dismissing warnings about the risks the developing technology could pose to humanity.

"If someone were to ask me, am I in panic mode? No, I'm not," he said Sept. 28 following his four-day apostolic journey to France. "I sleep at night."

"I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI, should be taken seriously," he said. "I don't think that that is fake news."

Protecting human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence has been a cornerstone of Pope Leo's teaching for months. He dedicated his first encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas," to AI and its role in society, urging governments, technology companies and the public to ensure that technological development remains at the service of humanity.

The pope told journalists that the Vatican has formed its own commission on artificial intelligence, initially as a way to coordinate how AI is being used within Vatican City and to examine its risks and benefits.

Since the publication of his encyclical, however, the Vatican has been contacted by people working in numerous fields interested in the issue, he said.

"We are trying to continue to promote dialogue, study, investigation, to find ways to make sure that AI does not get to a point where it could destroy humanity or remove humanity from the conversation," Pope Leo said.

"I am relatively optimistic that that can happen," he added, saying there are enough people seriously interested in addressing the risks. But he warned against allowing questions of power, competition and the race toward artificial general intelligence to dictate its development.

"We have to keep working," he said. "We can't just sit back and pretend nothing is going to happen." 

"To simply say, 'Oh, it's not going to happen,' and close our eyes to it, I think is probably not the most responsible way to go about that," he said.

While in France, the pope repeatedly urged political and social leaders to place human dignity at the center of the development and use of artificial intelligence.

Speaking Sept. 25 at the Élysée Palace in Paris to French President Emmanuel Macron, government officials, civil society leaders and the diplomatic corps, Pope Leo warned against losing humanity amid what he called a "paradise of machines" and said ethical discernment is indispensable if technological progress is to promote integral human development.

Recent incidents involving unsupervised AI agents have intensified debates over safety measures for increasingly autonomous systems. During the in-flight news conference, Pope Leo noted reports that AI companies were working to introduce "guardrails" and limits into their systems.

"There is no one, however, that says there should be no limits placed and no government regulation," he said, calling for political leaders, technology companies and civil society to work together to examine "what is happening already and what could be down the road."

During the roughly 20-minute news conference, Pope Leo also addressed clergy sexual abuse, the rise of far-right political movements in Europe, the war in Ukraine, France's tradition of strict secularism and the housing crisis affecting many European cities.

During his visit, Pope Leo met privately with seven people who had suffered sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. Following the meeting, some of the survivors told reporters that the pope had acknowledged the systemic nature of abuse in the Church.

Asked about those accounts on the flight, Pope Leo said several of the survivors had spoken to him about systemic abuse and acknowledged that some organizations within the Church had, at times, been abusive "as a system." But he said he preferred to distinguish between those cases and sexual abuse more broadly.

"Sexual abuse is first and foremost a human problem," he said. "When it happens within the Church, it actually has another whole dimension added to it because people's lives of faith are deeply wounded and sometimes even destroyed."

"There's a particular responsibility of the Church to walk with them and to help them seek healing," he said.

The pope also responded to a question about the growth of far-right political movements in Germany and their relationship with Christianity.

Pope Leo said it would be worthwhile to examine whether there is a relationship between the decline in participation in Germany's Christian churches and the growth of far-right groups, noting that some of those movements have themselves splintered as factions become more extreme.

He particularly warned about attempts to combine far-right political views with religion, saying Catholic and Protestant leaders in Germany have spoken out against such movements as "not an authentic expression of Christianity."

The values of the Gospel, he said, "are not about hatred and division, but about understanding and compassion and accompanying."

He expressed hope that people would participate in political life and "make clear choices for the common good and not for extremist ideas that perhaps will do much more damage than we are even aware of right now."

"Again, on our part as a Church, social doctrine of the Church: talking about, teaching about, preaching about what we believe are these life-giving values and not destruction, division and hatred," he said.

Asked about France's tradition of strict secularism, known as "laïcité," and whether his repeated defense of human life during the trip had crossed the line between religion and politics, Pope Leo said he did not believe it had.

"When the Church speaks about defending life, when it speaks about questions of social doctrine, we're not entering into politics, we're applying the Gospel to people's lives," he said.

The pope repeatedly spoke against euthanasia during the trip, including during his visit to Lourdes, as France implements recently approved legislation permitting the practice under certain circumstances.

"If that's politics, I did that, but it was not to get involved in French politics," Pope Leo told journalists. "It was to teach what the Church really believes."

Pope Leo was also asked to clarify comments he made earlier in the trip that countries must have the courage to sacrifice certain positions for the greater good of peace, particularly in relation to Russia's war against Ukraine.

He reiterated the Church's opposition to violence, hatred and an escalating arms race, criticizing the enormous sums spent on weapons while hunger, health, education and other human needs remain unmet. The pope said the Church must continue to encourage negotiations even when diplomatic efforts appear to have little effect.

"I believe that the Church has a responsibility to promote these values, continually inviting the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, other countries, to come, to sit down, to dialogue, to look for how to solve problems without continuing these wars that no longer make sense," he said.

"We cannot force anyone," he added. "Sometimes it seems that it can be useless, but we are going to keep talking, we are going to keep inviting, we are going to keep announcing the Gospel."

The pope also called for greater cooperation among governments, local communities and the Church in confronting housing crises that have made it increasingly difficult for people, particularly young people, to afford homes in major European cities.

A Spanish journalist asked Pope Leo about the case of Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman with a disability who was forcibly removed Sept. 23 from the Madrid apartment where she had lived for more than seven decades.

Abascal had lived in the apartment since 1956 under Spain's old system of rent-controlled leases, but subsequent changes to national rental law restricted the inheritance of such contracts. A court ultimately ruled that her decades-old lease had expired.

Pope Leo said he was unfamiliar with Abascal's particular case but said situations like hers demonstrate the need to search for "more just solutions so that these cases don't happen."

"I think it would be a case where the neighbors, the community, the parish, the diocese or the state would have to come together and say: How is it possible for a case like this to happen?" he said. "What is the problem in the system that allows the case of an elderly woman with a disability or with some difficulty to be kicked out of her home?"

The Church speaks both about the throwaway culture and injustice, he said, but the housing crisis requires action from political leaders and public authorities as well.

"Many times we react only at the moment of emergency," he said, "but we have to see in reality what is the systemic cause of this problem and how to help."

Asked about his future travel plans beyond Latin America in November, and when he might visit Germany, Pope Leo said no date had been set.

"The only trip definitely planned is World Youth Day in Korea," he said, which is scheduled for August 2027.

METZ, France (CNS) -- In a French city that changed hands between France and Germany through two world wars, Pope Leo XIV used the final day of his apostolic journey to France to call on Europe to resist a return to nationalism and conflict and recommit itself to cooperation, dialogue and peace.

Speaking Sept. 28 in Metz, a city whose streets and architecture still bear the marks of its fraught Franco-German history, the pope repeatedly invoked Robert Schuman, the French politician and devout Catholic whose efforts to reconcile France and Germany after World War II helped lay the foundations of the European Union.

Pope Leo called Schuman a clear-sighted leader who understood the need to overcome opposition between cultural identities and build multilateral institutions after a war "which showed the depths of the evil that human beings are capable of when they believe that nothing stands in the way of their exercise of power."

"Today, sadly, war has returned, even to Europe: a new 'senseless slaughter,' claiming countless civilian lives every day," the pope said in a speech to French President Emmanuel Macron and political and clerical leaders at the Robert Schuman Conference Center Sept. 28.

Metz and the roots of European reconciliation

Metz is particularly symbolic of the reconciliation Pope Leo held up. Annexed by Germany after the Franco-Prussian War, returned to France after World War I and annexed again by Nazi Germany during World War II, the city today sits near the heart of a region where national borders once divided populations repeatedly through war. 

In an address to Pope Leo in Metz, French President Emmanuel Macron described the region of Lorraine as a land "wounded by history, disputed, conquered and reconquered," but also the place where Franco-German reconciliation was built and became a cornerstone of European integration.

Schuman's own life reflected that history. Born a German citizen in Luxembourg, he became French after World War I and established himself as a lawyer in Metz before representing the Moselle region in Parliament. After World War II, he helped devise a plan to place French and German coal and steel production under common control, an effort intended to discourage another war between the two countries.

More than seven decades later, Pope Leo argued that the institutions created out of that experience remain an antidote to the desire for domination.

International law and multilateral cooperation offer another path, the pope said, speaking in French, especially at a time when relations between people and nations are becoming increasingly "barbares," that is, "barbaric" or "uncivilized." The French president agreed, saying "war has returned to our continent and our Europe is being shaken by the return of empires."

Today, people "boast of lies and deceit," the pope said, but Europe's experience has demonstrated that divergent interests do not have to end in conflict. 

"Europe can help to break this cycle through the respect for others that it has learned to cultivate and preserve," he said. 

The pope also argued that Christianity helped provide the moral foundation upon which that European project was built, saying Europe owes a "debt to Christianity." 

Christianity's emphasis on the dignity of the person, work and responsibility, he said, helped make possible a culture of dialogue capable of sustaining societies and working "for peace and a reconciled world."

For Guy Bassot, a young French Catholic who attended a prayer vigil with Pope Leo at the Stade de France Sept. 25, the pope's message to political leaders is a logical extension of the Christian obligation to turn toward and welcome one's neighbor.

"For that unity, we have to make an effort, and above all our political leaders have to make the effort to lead and to put in place a method so that living together can work well," he told Catholic News Service.

Reconciliation across faiths and among individuals

But Pope Leo's appeal for reconciliation in Metz extended beyond relations between governments.

During an interreligious meeting at the Robert Schuman Conference Center, he said religious discourse must itself work toward the "disarmament" of hearts and words.

"Indeed, to invoke God's name in order to justify violence or oppression is to profane that name," he said. "Nothing that disfigures human dignity can claim to be inspired by God." 

Unity, the pope stressed, does not require eliminating differences.

"Our shared responsibility as men and women of faith is to bear witness that, beyond all borders, it is always possible to meet one another, forge friendships, and seek peace," he said.

In the face of injustice and division, Pope Leo said in his final homily in France at Metz's Cathedral of St. Stephen that "reconciliation is only possible when one has the courage to break the chains of resentment."

Humanity's path forward is ultimately "a love that cares for others and seeks to give trust regardless of the circumstances, even when confronted with the most difficult behavior to accept," he said.

LOURDES, France (CNS) -- At a shrine where the sick and disabled are prioritized, Pope Leo XIV said human frailty can never diminish a person's dignity, bringing one of the central messages of his visit to France, where the government recently legalized assisted dying.

"Here, no one is turned away due to their frailty," the pope told an estimated 150,000 pilgrims gathered for Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes Sept. 27.

"Your crutches, your wheelchairs and your hidden tears are not obstacles; instead, they are the very place where you are fully respected and welcomed, and where you can experience a transforming encounter with the infinite love of God."

The words reflected a central theme of the pope's Sept. 25-28 apostolic journey to France, whose motto, "That the world may have life," presented the visit as a call to overcome division and foster what organizers described as signs of "new life in the world."

Pope Leo told those who were suffering that they are "truly at the heart of the Church." In a world that places great value on wellbeing and progress, he said, the grotto at Lourdes offers a different measure of the value of human life: one in which each person is welcomed and able to flourish in the love of God. 

For nearly 170 years, Lourdes has been associated with healing following apparitions of Mary reported by St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. The sanctuary today draws up to 3 million pilgrims a year, including large numbers of people who are sick or disabled.

Against that backdrop, Pope Leo repeatedly returned to illness, vulnerability and the inherent worth of human life during his time in Lourdes.

Meeting sick people at the Accueil Notre-Dame, a facility at the sanctuary equipped to host pilgrims who are ill or disabled, the pope said the reflection of God can be found in every person.

"This truth is the foundation of our dignity as persons," he said Sept. 27.

Later, during a torchlight procession and prayer at the shrine, Pope Leo said the light of Christ never abandons the faithful, even when their lives are marked by trials.

"Those who are sick are privileged witnesses to this transfiguration of our lives through faith and love of God and neighbor," he said.

France’s assisted dying debate

His words carried particular weight in France, where assisted dying has been the subject of a years-long political debate and where a law establishing a "right to aid in dying" was approved in August.

The French National Assembly gave final approval to the legislation July 15 by a vote of 291-241, with 29 abstentions, after repeated disagreement between the National Assembly and Senate. The Constitutional Council upheld the legislation Aug. 14.

Florian Michel, a historian and theologian at the Sorbonne in Paris, told Catholic News Service that the issue has divided France for roughly two decades. President Emmanuel Macron has been a vocal supporter of assisted suicide, and efforts to pass legislation repeatedly encountered resistance in Parliament.

As the debate progressed, Michel said, arguments advanced by the Catholic Church against assisted dying began to gain traction beyond practicing Catholics and helped pull some centrist lawmakers toward opposition. 

The French Bishops’ Conference said in July that the consequences of this legislation will be unequally distributed among society.

"The poorest are likely to be the first to pay the price: not wanting to be a burden on their children or grandchildren, elderly people in precarious situations may feel pressured to die," the bishops' July 15 press release said.  

The Senate rejected the assisted-dying proposal during the legislative process, and a joint committee of deputies and senators failed to agree on a compromise text. Under the procedure provided for by the French Constitution, the National Assembly ultimately had the final say, adopting the legislation in definitive reading July 15.

France joins several European countries that permit some form of euthanasia or assisted dying, including Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. A number of U.S. states also permit physician-assisted death under varying levels of legality.

Pope Leo has personally intervened in that debate outside France. When Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker visited Rome, the pope said he urged the governor not to sign assisted-dying legislation and later said he was "very disappointed" when his home state approved it.

In France, the Catholic Church was highly mobilized during the legislative debate, organizing prayer vigils and publicly opposing the proposal, Alexandra Maclennan, a religious historian at the University of Caen Normandy, told CNS.

Before its final passage, Pope Leo delivered a strong message against assisted dying June 22, telling members of the Fondation Jérôme Lejeune that "medicine must never become a servant of programmed death."

"It's in this context that the pope is coming to give hope and to reassure," Maclennan told CNS Sept. 18. 

That mobilization is welcomed by some young French Catholics. 

Domitille Bellery, a young French woman waiting for the pope at the Stade de France Sept. 25, told CNS that it is important for the Church to remain vocal on political issues such as assisted dying because "the Catholic Church should be at the heart of society today."

"It's a society that is so lost, and where there is so much sadness, that the Church really should be at its heart so that we can experience peace in the world, so that we know how to live in community and how to live with one another, so that we can help one another and support each other in moments of weakness," she said.

Carine Diximus, a volunteer during Mass at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, said that France is in a difficult situation politically. She mentioned the euthanasia law.

"That troubles a lot of people," she said in an interview with CNS Sept. 26.

For her, the pope coming after the passage of this law is symbolic, representing Jesus travelling from town to town in Galilee, and the crowds followed him.

"It's about showing him that we are here, that we follow him and love him," Diximus said. "It’s a blessing, and we’re going to make the most of it."

The Constitutional Council's approval included protections allowing medical professionals to refuse to participate in assisted dying based on conscientious objection.

"I think the Catholic population welcomed this as a huge relief to have this possibility to object on conscience grounds," Maclennan said.

Michel, however, said questions remain over how durable such protections will be.

"It is fragile, because it is not written into the law," he said in a video call Sept. 23. "In two years, in 10 years, in a few years, it can disappear."

Michel said the Catholic Church has long positioned itself as a "moral conscience of French society" on major ethical questions, but said its intervention in the assisted-dying debate has been different from its role in debates over issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

The Church no longer needs to publicly campaign as forcefully against abortion, he said, because its position is widely known. And revelations of clerical sexual abuse, he said, damaged the credibility of clergy when intervening on questions of sexual morality.

Abuse victims and the pope’s visit

That reality of abuse also hung over Pope Leo's visit to Lourdes. 

Ahead of his arrival, there was anticipation over whether the pope would address the now-hidden mosaics by Father Marko Rupnik at Lourdes' Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary during his visit. Father Rupnik has been accused by multiple women of sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse, and the Jesuit order he once belonged to has said allegations against him were considered highly credible. There is an ongoing trial regarding the accusations within the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

On his final day in Lourdes, the pope met with seven victims of abuse by members of the French Church and clergy. In the two-hour meeting, he privately spoke with each victim and listened to each of their stories, a communique from the Vatican press office said.

In a meeting with the country's bishops, Pope Leo said they have "taken courageous measures to respond through listening, the search for truth, justice, forgiveness and making amends, and through a firm commitment to a culture of prevention and protection against these crimes."

However, "you must continue along the path you have begun, maintaining the greatest vigilance," he told the bishops Sept. 27 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes. And at the same time, he added, "your clergy need to be supported and encouraged." 

He also stopped before a commemorative plaque ahead of his meeting with the bishops that detailed the feelings of pain and anger felt by abuse victims.

"They will come to understand that an entire institutional culture chose to protect itself instead of protecting them," the inscription said.

During his Sept. 27 Mass, he spoke of the need for conversion and located the source of evil not in God, but in the human heart.

"How can our hearts not be moved by the conflicts that are spreading and destroying so many innocent lives?" he said. "Yet the evil of our time comes from the human heart. God is not responsible for it."  

Human dignity the focus of France visit

The pope's emphasis on the dignity of vulnerable people at Lourdes echoed a theme he had introduced from the beginning of his Sept. 25-28 visit to France.

During an evening prayer at the Lourdes grotto Sept. 26, Pope Leo prayed that France's leaders would be "ready to make sacrifices" and defend fundamental rights.

"May they keep France at peace within the family of nations, and may they make her voice heard in promoting the defense of fundamental human rights and peace in the world, rejecting the mentality of war once and for all," he said. 

Speaking at UNESCO headquarters in Paris a day earlier, the pope explicitly rejected the idea that human dignity depends on health or ability. 

"Our dignity is not destroyed by illness or suffering, nor is it dependent upon our abilities. Rather, it calls for loving care at every stage of life," he told UNESCO staff and leaders Sept. 25.

He also described a human person simply as "someone who is conceived and born," warning against a society in which a child is regarded not as a gift calling forth care and responsibility but as "a product to be exploited."

And in his address to Macron, government officials, civil society leaders and the diplomatic corps at the Élysée Palace Sept. 25, Pope Leo brought the principle directly into the political sphere, saying fraternity should teach society "to welcome life unconditionally."

"That is why I firmly reiterate that the protection of the right to life constitutes the indispensable foundation of every other human right," he said.
 

PARIS (CNS) -- On the first official papal state visit to France in 18 years, Pope Leo XIV stepped into one of the country's perpetual underlying tensions: the place of religion in a republic whose modern political identity was partly forged through separation from the Catholic Church. 

Throughout the Paris leg of his Sept. 25-28 apostolic journey, Pope Leo argued that France's deeply rooted tradition of secularism, or "laïcité," need not exclude religion from public life. Instead, he said religious institutions and the state can work together in defense of human dignity and the common good.

"An authentic secularity, then, consists not in excluding religion from the public sphere or from education, but in striving to ensure that the state and religious institutions maintain dialogue and join forces in the service of the common good," he told government officials, civil society leaders and the diplomatic corps at the Élysée Palace Sept. 25. 

French President Emmanuel Macron offered a similar interpretation of the country's secular tradition in welcoming the pope at the Élysée Palace. French "laïcité," he said, is "in no way the negation of religion," and guarantees the freedom to believe or not believe both privately and publicly.

He told Pope Leo that his message would appeal "to the conscience of all French people."

Catholicism and the French Republic

The relationship between Catholicism and the French Republic, however, has been marked for centuries by both intimacy and conflict.

Catholicism's historic closeness to the monarchy and political authority in France helped fuel anti-Catholic movements and the push for church-state separation. France's 1905 law formally separated churches and the state, while the country's constitution today defines France as a secular republic that respects all beliefs.

Yet Catholicism remains deeply embedded in French history and culture, said Florian Michel, a historian and theologian at the Sorbonne in Paris.

"You cannot understand this Catholic dimension without also taking the measure of the hostility and the contradictions that have continually confronted this French tradition," Michel told Catholic News Service Sept. 23. 

Those contradictions remain visible. The French state covers costs for maintenance at many historic churches, including Notre-Dame Cathedral, while debates regularly surface over public funding related to religious events and the presence of religious symbols in public life.

Alexandra Maclennan, a religious historian at the University of Caen Normandy, told CNS that debates over Christmas crèches or other religious symbols in public spaces recur regularly.

"Yet, we cannot deny that we are in a deeply Catholic cultural matrix in France, because we see church steeples everywhere," she said in a video interview Sept. 18.

Michel pointed to another example: despite France's strict secular tradition, the French president holds the centuries-old honorary title of canon of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the bishop of Rome.

"There you have it: once again, French-style 'laïcité,' the complexity of history," he said in a video interview.

Growth in adult baptisms

At the same time, the Catholic Church in France is seeing striking growth in the number of people seeking baptism.

More than 13,200 adults were baptized in France in 2026, a 28% increase from the previous year and more than three times the number recorded a decade ago, according to the French bishops' conference. Forty-two percent were between 18 and 25.

Meeting catechumens and newly baptized Catholics at the Institut Catholique de Paris Sept. 26, Pope Leo acknowledged that such growth could appear paradoxical in a society "marked by a deeply secularized culture," but it contradicts the "defeatist attitude" and must be protected as a seed "that strives to grow even amid the thorns."

"Your experience and your testimonies, dear catechumens and newly baptized, are a tangible sign of the action of God's grace, which far surpasses statistical and sociological analysis," he said.

The excitement for the pope's arrival was apparent at the Stade de France, where an estimated 80,000 young people gathered for a prayer vigil with the pope, featuring music, performances on the lives of French saints and fireworks. 

For Guy Bassot, a young adult at the prayer vigil, the Catholic faith is being rediscovered among younger generations and a "fervor is being reborn," in response to a polarizing and isolating time in society with the rise of extreme politics and social media.

"It is a beautiful response for all these young people, because in fact it is a response to an entire system in which we are uprooted, where we are losing an enormous number of reference points everywhere," he told CNS Sept. 25. “And it is something to hold onto, a rock for us, something solid for young people, to propel us forward in life.”

Bassot said that his country's enshrined value of secularism is not the enemy of Catholicism, because together, the country, like a human being, has duality.  

"'Laïcité' is a surface framework for living together, in effect, and it must be respected," he said. "But beyond that, the human person has a deep search for something supernatural, something very great, very powerful. Faith comes in addition to 'laïcité'; it adds another depth."

Addressing the young people, Pope Leo emphasized that a stronger public presence for faith should not mean confrontation.

"Our battle is not a battle against others. It does not employ the weapons of violence, contempt or oppression," he said. "Our only weapon is that of self-giving love."

Ethics, artificial intelligence and education

Throughout his trip, the pope repeatedly pointed to new technology as one area in which religious and ethical voices should contribute to public debate.

At the Élysée Palace, he returned to concerns raised in his encyclical "Magnifica Humanitas," warning that humanity risks becoming conditioned by a "paradise of machines" without education in ethical discernment.

Such discernment, he said, is "indispensable if we are to recognize the genuine good that enables human beings to flourish ... with unconditional respect for their interior freedom and their sacred dignity."

Macron likewise highlighted artificial intelligence in his welcome, saying it was already transforming work, education, research and information. He called the pope's message on AI "essential" and said artificial intelligence must remain "a servant and not a master."

Yet, the pope made it clear that even as technology progresses, there is still an important role for religion in society. 

Pope Leo carried the same argument to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization later Sept. 25, saying technological and scientific development alone cannot answer humanity's deepest questions.

"No education can be considered complete if it fails to address the question of life's meaning," he told representatives of UNESCO.

Religious traditions, he said, have a "culturally necessary and irreplaceable role" because they grapple with questions about the origin and purpose of human life.

Notre-Dame and France’s Catholic inheritance

The unique balancing act between France's secular present and its Catholic inheritance was perhaps most visibly embodied at Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Celebrating vespers there Sept. 25, Pope Leo recalled the fire that devastated the cathedral in 2019 and the response that followed far beyond the Catholic community.

"Notre-Dame is more than a monument," he said. "The collective effort to rebuild it, and the splendor of the result reveal that the heart of a people beats here."

Macron similarly described Notre-Dame in his welcome address as "a part of us," saying the rebuilt cathedral had been returned not only to Catholics but to all French people and the world.

For Maclennan, the cathedral fire was a national trauma that demonstrated how difficult it is to separate Catholicism entirely from French cultural identity. 

"The hardest thing is to secularize people's thinking and people's values," she said.

Michel said a significant part of French identity remains rooted in Catholicism, even as the country's relationship with the church continues to be contested on the political stage.

However, Pope Leo repeatedly pointed out that the search for something deeper and more eternal was an intrinsic part and an almost unstoppable quest of the human person.

"Human beings cannot live without meaning. Meaning is the oxygen of the mind," he had told UNESCO.

Evidence of that was again on display Sept. 26 when enormous crowds, estimated at more than 700,000, filled the Place de la Concorde and stretched along the 1.2-mile Avenue of Champs-Élysées for Pope Leo's final Mass in Paris.

In his homily, the pope reassured the faithful that the search for God, truth and meaning still had a place in contemporary France.

"You long to rediscover a horizon filled with light and to build a renewed nation upon roots nourished by faith," he said. "You are called to bring hope wherever discouragement and spiritual dryness prevail."
 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Progress in science and technology is not contrary to belief in God, and Christians should be actively involved in shaping that progress so that it serves human dignity and the common good, Pope Leo XIV said.

At his Sept. 23 general audience, the pope also pointed to Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who is set to be beatified Sept. 24 in St. Louis, as an example of a Catholic who embraced the technology of his time to spread the Gospel.

Continuing his series on documents of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Leo reflected on the council's conciliar constitution "Gaudium et Spes," particularly its teaching on human activity and progress in the world.

Created in the image and likeness of God, the human being is an agent of progress, the pope said, using freedom and intelligence to increase knowledge and advance society.

Yet as scientific and technological achievements multiplied, he said, some thinkers began portraying God and humanity as "rivals: in order to assert his knowledge, his freedom and his progress, man is thought to have to emancipate himself from God."

Pope Leo called that view erroneous and quoted the late theologian, Jesuit Father Henri de Lubac, who described it as the "tragedy of atheistic humanism."

"Ultimately, however, by denying the relationship with God, one also loses the possibility of affirming the transcendent value of the human person," the pope said.

Quoting the conciliar constitution, he said Christians instead believe "that the triumphs of the human race are a sign of God's grace and the flowering of His own mysterious design."

Human achievement, therefore, should not draw the faithful away from involvement in scientific, technological or social progress, the pope said. Rather, the Gospel calls them to participate in building society while keeping such progress oriented toward human flourishing.

"Let us carry out our daily activities with true charity, offering our work to the Lord both as a means for personal sanctification and as an expression of our desire ever more fully to bring about God's kingdom, especially through pursuing the common good, caring for the needy and defending human dignity," he told English-speaking pilgrims.

Humanity's freedom and activity are not absorbed or nullified by an encounter with God, Pope Leo said. Instead, humanity finds its fullest truth and freedom in Christ.

"From this perspective, an important truth emerges: to encounter God, the human being must not abandon his earthly occupations, but can live his vocation fully, carrying out his daily work well and sanctifying it," he said.

Christians, he said, should therefore participate fully in society's progress while reminding others of its "ultimate purpose."

Pope Leo's catechesis echoes his recent encyclical "Magnifica Humanitas," in which he addressed the development of artificial intelligence and stressed that technological advances must remain at the service of human dignity.

Authentic human progress, the pope said at the general audience, "must be inspired and guided by charity" and improve the lives of all people, particularly those who are disadvantaged.

"Dear brothers and sisters, the Second Vatican Council invites us to share the bread of knowledge and know-how, so that every person and every people may develop their potential, and together, with God's help, we may build a better future," he said.

Mentioning the upcoming beatification of Archbishop Sheen in his greeting to English-speaking pilgrims, Pope Leo recalled the American prelate's innovative use of radio and television for evangelization.

"May the example and intercession of this holy bishop, known for his evangelizing work through the media, inspire many others likewise to find new ways of spreading the Gospel message with joyful enthusiasm," he said.

ROME (CNS) -- Led by their priests, Catholics need to come together and face the truth about what their local church is doing and why, Pope Leo XIV told clergy and laypeople in his diocese.

This process of discernment and "pastoral evaluation does not ask you to do more; on the contrary, it gives you permission to do less -- and to do it better," the pope, who is bishop of Rome, said to applause.

Pope Leo addressed hundreds of diocesan leaders, both clergy and laity, during a diocesan assembly Sept. 18 at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome. The leaders represented the 334 parishes and their ministries in a diocese that covers 340 square miles.

The pope first listened to a young woman, a couple and a member of the diocese's Caritas team as they recounted the various joys and challenges they face in their lives and work. 

Speaking in Italian, Pope Leo thanked everyone for their faith, service and dedication, saying to applause, "The good doesn't make any noise; the Lord knows it, and today I, too, wish to acknowledge it."

The diocese's extensive work on discerning its "'spiritual illnesses' has taught us to recognize what, in our ecclesial life, needs to be healed, corrected or transformed," he said, referring to a diocesan report that was formally delivered to Pope Francis in 2018. The late pope then asked the diocesan leaders to respond to their findings with a multiyear process that would lead to pastoral action that is "more responsive to the mission and needs of Romans today, but also more creative and liberating for priests and those who directly collaborate in their mission and in the building up of the Christian community."

Pope Leo picked up on his predecessor's call, adding that the ongoing synodal process has also "taught us how to listen and discern together, as co-responsible for the one mission."

Therefore, he said, "We are not starting from scratch, and nothing we have experienced should be set aside." Also, "I urge you not to bear these struggles alone," as serving the faithful and larger community is more challenging than ever.

"I am not presenting you with a new pastoral program," Pope Leo said; rather, he proposed a journey or "method" of verification and "pastoral evaluation," which, if it were ever "to become yet another burden," then it would be failing "its very purpose." 

A method for evaluating pastoral work

The method entails "seeking the truth," he said, by "recognizing what has borne fruit, understanding what did not work and seeking the reasons for this together" with the entire church community and "by also listening to people who do not attend (church) and who see things, so to speak, 'from the outside.'"

It involves reflecting together and asking "Why" for everything they do, he said. "Why are we doing it? What evangelical intention motivates us? What real need are we seeking to address? How does this choice align with the Church's mission?"

Then, he said, they must ask, "Why do we achieve these results and not others? Why do some initiatives foster growth while others remain isolated? Why do some people participate while others remain on the sidelines?"

Discerning the reasons for their choices and the reasons for how those choices turned out will allow "us to recognize what should be maintained, valued, corrected, abandoned or initiated," the pope said.

What four priorities should guide the process?

Pope Leo said their method of discernment should focus on four priorities or goals by asking:

-- Does this truly lead to Christ and help others encounter him in their real lives?

-- Does this build new, free and reconciled communities made up of authentic relationships where people feel "welcomed, accompanied, valued, and jointly responsible?"

-- Does this truly serve the city of Rome, sharing in people's hopes, vulnerabilities and questions, recognizing the questions to which the Gospel can respond?

-- How well does this form the people of God, fostering growth in the faith, maturing into missionary disciples with a sense of co-responsibility and capable of translating it "into concrete choices in life and service?"

There will be different "stages" to walk together, the pope said, "not just for a year, but on a journey -- so that it may be true discernment and not just another initiative added to the rest."

The pope "is not asking you to plan new activities: he is proposing a common method of listening, discernment, evaluation and conversion" within the five areas of catechesis and Christian initiation, youth, the family, charity and vocations, he said, so that leadership meetings can "become, more and more, places of encounter, dialogue, and shared pastoral planning."

What role should priests and laypeople have?

Pope Leo also offered his reflections on the kind of priests the Diocese of Rome needs.

"A priest should be a man who listens before responding, who discerns before deciding. A person who remains in the presence of the Lord, because he cannot lead others to an encounter that he himself is not experiencing," he said. "Why am I a priest? Does my daily life still correspond to the reason why the Lord called me by name?"

The priest also does not assign all responsibilities to himself, but "recognizes charisms, forms consciences and enables the shared responsibility of the laity -- not because of a lack of manpower, but out of fidelity to the nature of the Church."

"A community in which everything depends on the priest is a fragile community, and presiding over does not mean doing everything," he said. "It means fostering communion, valuing the vitality of others, connecting people and situations, and safeguarding unity."

Pope announces a new sainthood cause 

"A method, on its own, has never converted anyone," Pope Leo said, declaring that to provide concrete inspiration, he had "joyfully approved the decision to take the necessary steps to initiate the diocesan inquiry into the life, virtues, and reputation for holiness of Msgr. Luigi Di Liegro," who founded the diocesan Caritas.

The monsignor, who died just shy of 69 years of age in 1997, believed one had to "see" reality on the ground before building anything, Pope Leo said.

Msgr. Di Liegro often took an analytical approach to social problems to address their root causes, such as helping people before they became homeless. "Poverty in the city was often the result of squandered money, unbridled consumption and inefficiency," he said in 1992.

Providing something like a soup kitchen was an "act of justice and a sharing of the sufferings and hopes of the city's poor against every temptation to fear the different or the foreigner," he had said.

WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has appointed Most Reverend Brendan J. Cahill, currently Bishop of Victoria in Texas, as the Bishop of Joliet.

The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on September 17, 2026, by Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop Cahill’s biography may be found here.

The Diocese of Joliet is comprised of 4,218 square miles in the State of Illinois. 

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WASHINGTON - Responding to the appeal that Pope Leo XIV made in his encyclical, Magnifica humanitas to ‘build forms of cooperation’ and cultivate a culture of shared responsibility, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Administrative Committee met today with representatives from a variety of tech firms and specialists in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

The following statement was issued through the Conference spokesperson, Chieko Noguchi, executive director of public affairs:

“The dialogue focused on ways to keep any system of Artificial Intelligence at the service of humanity and the urgent need to address the real and present dangers such technology present. Recent events have only emphasized the great need for action by everyone involved. The bishops expressed hope that such conversations will help to identify ways the Church can contribute to the moral foundation of AI models and steps the companies can take to protect against misuse of their inventions and to guarantee human oversight of the technology. The discussion also focused on how the Church and industry can work together toward the goal of ensuring that technology is used in ways that keep it human-centered, respecting the dignity of each person, and benefiting all -- poor and rich alike.”

Two immediate steps were taken by the Administrative Committee. First is the creation of a Bishops’ Task Force on Preserving Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence with Bishop Oscar Cantù of San Jose as its chairman. The membership of the task force has not yet been determined, but the group will focus on promoting policies and practices that protect human dignity, religious liberty, democratic institutions, workers, families, and vulnerable populations. Second is that at the conclusion of the Administrative Committee, over a dozen of the bishops went to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress urging for the enactment of meaningful safety guardrails on Artificial Intelligence and to support legislation to protect children online. 

The Administrative Committee is led by the president of the Conference and is comprised of the USCCB’s officers, chairmen of the Conference’s standing committees, as well as a representative from each episcopal region of the United States. The committee operates as the board of directors of the Conference.

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WASHINGTON – The Catholic Church in the United States will observe National Migration Week beginning September 21 and culminating with the 112th World Day of Migrants and Refugees on September 27. 

For over 45 years, the U.S. Catholic Church has celebrated National Migration Week (NMW) by reflecting on its history as an immigrant Church and the ways in which the country has been enriched by generations of immigrants, including the many Catholics who have adopted this land as their own. Its connection to the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR)—which traces its origins to 1914 when Pope Saint Pius X called on all Christians to pray for the growing number of migrants at the time—demonstrates the U.S. Church’s solidarity with the Bishop of Rome and the Universal Church. Pope Leo XIV has chosen “Even just one of these children” as the theme for this year’s WDMR, which will also be the theme for NMW. 

In his message for this year’s WDMR, reflecting on Matthew’s Gospel, the Holy Father observed how even one child calls each of us “to open our eyes and heart to a profound listening to his or her story, fears and dreams, overcoming that detachment which reduces the human person to a statistic that does not directly concern us.” At the same time, he underscored the need to safeguard their fundamental rights, among them the rights to life and full development.

Ahead of NMW, Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, stated:

“Our Church in this country and beyond has a long, inspiring history of caring for migrant and refugee children—from the days of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini and her sisters sheltering many orphaned immigrant children when few others looked their way to today’s diocesan charities providing them and their families with vital support. We owe much gratitude to the law enforcement officers, social workers, pastoral staff, and caregivers who dedicate themselves to their safety and well-being. As we see protections for this population being undermined in various ways, including prolonged stays in detention and decreased access to legal representation, we urge governments and communities to ensure a high level of care rooted in their God-given human dignity. This requires promoting family unity and reunification whenever possible.” 

Amid heightened social tensions regarding immigration, Catholics across the country are invited to reflect on how our faith is calling us to respond to this most vulnerable group within the context of migration. Catholic dioceses, parishes, schools, and organizations nationwide are encouraged to mark this observance with prayer, educational programs, pastoral outreach, and support for migration-related ministries. 

More information and resources, including details about an upcoming WDMR-themed webinar on September 23, can be found at usccb.org/nmw. 

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