Catholic News

• Pope encourages Latin America's Catholic universities to embody Catholic identity (Dicastery for Communication)
  In a recent address, Pope Leo XIV encouraged Latin America’s Catholic universities to “embody Catholic identity.” “The first universities of the continent—such as Santo Domingo, San Marcos de Lima, México, and many others—were established on the initiative of bishops, religious and missionaries convinced that proclaiming Jesus Christ, ‘the Way and the Truth and the Life’( Jn14:6), is an integral part of the Christian salvific message,” Pope Leo said to members of the Organization of Catholic Universities of Latin America and the Caribbean (ODUCAL). He added, “The universities you represent, moved by the same conviction, are called to become pathways of the mind towards God, thus embodying the Catholic identity that must distinguish them.”
• Immerse yourselves in Christ, Pontiff tells youth advisory body (Dicastery for Communication)
  Pope Leo XIV offered a reflection on participation, synodality, and mission as he addressed the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life’s International Youth Advisory Body. Authentic participation in the life of the Church, Pope Leo said, “stems from being close to the Heart of Christ. Its origin, then, is spiritual, not ideological or political.” The Pope invited the advisory body’s members “to ‘immerse’ yourselves in Christ, so that you may feel as he feels and see as he sees ... I urge you to look upon [young people] with Christ’s same compassion and try to envisage how the Church, inspired by faith, can go out to meet them.”
• Pope Leo reflects on St. Augustine and education (Dicastery for Communication)
  In an address to educators (which followed an earlier address to students), Pope Leo XIV reflected on four aspects of St. Augustine’s teaching on education. “Dear friends, I invite you to make these values—interiority, unity, love and joy—the ‘key elements’ of your mission to your students, remembering the words of Jesus: ‘as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me’ (Mt 25:40),” Pope Leo said at the conclusion of his address, given on the penultimate day of the Jubilee of the World of Education.
• Pope Leo, on All Saints' Day, proclaims Newman doctor of the Church, co-patron of education (CWN)
  Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Square on November 1 and proclaimed St. John Henry Newman (1801-1890) a doctor of the Church and co-patron, along with St. Thomas Aquinas, of the Church’s educational mission (booklet, video).
• Ban weapons in outer space, Vatican diplomat urges (Holy See Mission)
  Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, urged members of a UN committee to work toward a ban on weapons in outer space. “It is regrettable that, despite the fact that outer space has been an agenda item of the Conference on Disarmament since 1985, the international community has not yet achieved a consensus on an agreement to ban all types of weapons in outer space,” Archbishop Caccia said. The prelate described the “ongoing threat posed by space-based weaponry, including anti-satellite systems, and the accumulation of debris in low Earth orbit” as “a genuine and grave threat to international peace, security, and the long-term sustainability of space-related activities.”
• Christianity offers a path to peace, Myanmar's bishops write in message (Vatican News)
  In a “Message of Compassion and Hope for Myanmar’s Polycrisis,” Myanmar’s bishops wrote that Christianity offers a path to peace in the war-torn nation, which is predominantly Buddhist. The bishops stated: Where do we go from here? How to end all wars? Can we rise together and say no more wars in any part of the world? Christianity does not offer an easy escape from suffering. But it offers a path—a quiet, humble path—towards reconciliation, healing, and durable peace.
• Chinese underground bishop dies at 91 after decades of persecution (UCANews)
  Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding, who suffered torture and 15 years of imprisonment for refusing to renounce his loyalty to the Pope, has died at the age of 91. In its article on the prelate’s death, L’Osservatore Romano reported that he was consecrated a bishop only a few months after his 1980 priestly ordination. “Bishop Jia always found himself working pastorally in complicated times and with difficult relations with civil authorities, at times with serious consequences for his personal freedom,” the Vatican newspaper reported. “Despite this, he was never discouraged, but tried his best to advance evangelization, the formation of priests, the care of disabled children, and to maintain communion with the Holy Father.”
• Vatican newspaper: Military intervention by President Obama, NATO 'destroyed' Libya (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
  Father Giulio Albanese, who writes regularly on Africa for the Vatican newspaper, took stock of the long reign of Muammar al-Qaddafi in Libya, from 1969 to 2011. Without mentioning President Barack Obama by name, Father Albanese criticized the military intervention at the end of Qadaffi’s reign. “The effects were devastating: control of the southern borders disappeared; the coasts opened up to arms trafficking routes and the trafficking of hundreds of thousands of human beings to Europe; the desert areas provided refuge for jihadist groups,” he said. “Since then, Libya has been a place of permanent instability, where local conflicts and foreign interests overlap.” Albanese added: Western responsibility makes the situation even more dramatic: external interference, driven by economic and geopolitical interests, has destroyed a functioning state and fostered chaos, without offering any credible alternative.
• Louisiana diocese files for bankruptcy (The Guardian)
  The Diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana, has filed for bankruptcy. “This action is occurring because some past priest-perpetrators sexually abused minors, actions that are evil, sinful and go against everything the Church and the priesthood represent,” said Bishop Robert Marshall. “As a result, there are financial claims pending against the diocese that exceed our means.”
• USCCB publishes brief text on gun violence (USCCB)
  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has published “A Mercy and Peacebuilding Approach to Gun Violence,” a two-page updated “backgrounder” on gun violence. “When the preservation of life is at issue, we must respond,” the text begins. “There are tens of thousands of gun-related deaths each year in the United States. A majority of these deaths are the result of suicide. This epidemic of violence is present in every community and affects the people of God in our dioceses and parishes.”
• Newman named patron saint of Pontifical Urban University (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Leo XIV has named St. John Henry Newman (1801-1890) the patron saint of the Pontifical Urban University, “so that he may intercede for this academic institution and be, for those who are formed there for the missionary service of the Church, a shining example of faith and the sincere search for truth.” Following his reception into the Catholic Church in 1845, Newman became a seminarian at the institution, then known as Urban College. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1847. Pope Leo has also declared Newman a doctor of the Church and named him co-patron, along with St. Thomas Aquinas, of the Church’s educational mission.
• Pope presides at annual Mass for deceased prelates (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Leo XIV presided on November 3 at the Vatican’s annual Mass for the souls of prelates who died during the last calendar year, including Pope Francis. In his homily the Pope said that death is evil that is overcome only through Jesus Christ. He said: Christ had to endure these sufferings in order to enter into his glory (cf. Lk 24:26) and to give us eternal life. He alone can can bear upon himself and within himself this corrupt death without being corrupted by it. He alone has the words of eternal life .
• Leading African cardinal denounces world's 'culpable silence' about DR Congo conflicts (CWN)
  At a recent interreligious peace conference in Rome, the president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) denounced the world’s “culpable silence” about conflicts in his nation, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Trump threatens intervention to protect Christians in Nigeria (New York Times)
  US President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to “prepare for possible action” in Nigeria to protect Christians from persecution. Trump gave that order after designating Nigeria as a country of particular concern because of “severe violations of religious freedom.” He faulted the country’s government for failure to protect Christians against Islamic terrorists. A spokesman for the Nigerian regime told Reuters that the government would “welcome US assistance as long as it recognizes our territorial integrity.”
• New Jersey diocese claims deal to ease problems with visas for clerics (Our Sunday Visitor)
  The Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, has disclosed that it has reached an agreement with the federal government that will relieve difficulties that Catholic priests and other ministers from foreign countries have experienced in renewing visas to do pastoral work in the US. Last August the Paterson diocese filed suit in federal court to challenge visa policies. The diocese has now moved to withdraw the suit. A lawyer for the diocese told OSV News: “We reached a deal that impacts the entire country.” The details of the agreement have not yet been made public.
• Vatican official transferred to Chilean diocese (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Leo XIV appointed Archbishop Andrés Gabriel Ferrada Moreira, secretary of the Dicastery for the Clergy since 2021, as bishop of the Diocese of San Bartolomé de Chillán, Chile, which has 360,000 Catholics. The Pontiff permitted the prelate to retain the personal title of archbishop. In 2021, Pope Francis was the principal consecrator and principal celebrant at the archbishop’s episcopal ordination Mass.
• Think of our departed loved ones as enfolded in Christ's light, Pope preaches at All Souls' Day Mass (CWN)
  On All Souls’ Day, Pope Leo celebrated an afternoon Mass at the Cemetery of Verano in Rome (video).
• USCCB committee chairman rues President Trump's prioritization of Afrikaners in refugee admissions (USCCB)
  Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Migration, criticized President Donald Trump’s executive order granting Afrikaners from South Africa priority treatment in refugee admissions. “We cannot turn a blind eye to the disparate treatment of refugees currently taking place,” the prelate said. “As exemptions are considered” to this year’s refugee ceiling of 7,500, “it is essential that they be applied consistently and without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or national origin, in accordance with longstanding domestic and international norms.” Bishop Seitz added: Resettlement tainted by the perception of unjust discrimination is contrary to Catholic teaching and quintessential American values, grounded in our Constitution and refugee laws, including the equality of every person from the moment of their creation by God.
• Pope laments massacre in Sudan, election violence in Tanzania (CWN)
  At the conclusion of his Sunday Angelus address on November 2, Pope Leo XIV lamented the massacre in Al-Fashir, Sudan, perpetrated by rebel forces in the Sudanese Civil War.
• Vatican's top ecumenical official concerned over future talks with Anglicans (Katholisch)
  At a seminar on November 2, Cardinal Kurt Koch, the prefect of the Dicastery for Christian Unity, remarked that the future of dialogue with the Anglican communion is complicated today, as a large number of growing African congregations have announced their refusal to accept the leadership of Dame Sarah Mullally, who will shortly be installed as Archbishop of Canterbury. Cardinal Koch noted that the Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon), which represents conservative Anglicans who reject changes on matters in teaching on matters of sexual morality, has split from the Church of England. “Who will we dialogue with in the future,” he asked, “if the Anglican world community is so divided?”
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