Catholic News

• Pope Leo, at audience, continues series that Pope Francis began (Vatican Press Office)
  At the first Wednesday public audience of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV announced that he would continue the series of weekly catechetical talks that Pope Francis had begun, with a focus on “Jesus Christ Our Hope”—a theme of the Jubilee Year. In his May 21 audience the Holy Father spoke about the parable of the sower and the seed, saying that “it is a sort of introduction to all the parables.”
• Major Archbishop: Pope Leo's heart 'beats in unison with the hearts of Ukrainians' (CWN)
  The head of the Ukranian Greek Catholic Church lauded Pope Leo XIV following a recent private audience.
• Ukrainian Orthodox Church declares independence from Moscow (UOC [Ukrainian])
  Metropolitan Onufry, the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), has announced unambiguously that “we are no longer part of the Moscow patriarchate.” The UOC, traditionally tied to the Russian Orthodox Church, has moved steadily toward independence since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Metropolitan Onufry remarked that Russian Patriarch Kirill “completely sided with the Russian political leadership,” to the detriment of the people of Ukraine. The UOC leader says that the group now “independently resolves all issues of its internal and external life,” and asks other Orthodox churches to accept the UOC as a self-governing body independent of Moscow—a request that the Russian Orthodox patriarchate will vigorously oppose.
• Pope urges opening for humanitarian aid for Gaza (Crux)
  At the conclusion of his weekly public audience on May 21, Pope Leo XIV spoke about the “increasingly painful and concerning” situation in Gaza, and made an appeal “to allow the entry of dignified humanitarian aid.” Noting that the “heart-reading price” of the current conflict is “being paid by children, the elderly, and the sick,” the Pope urged an end to hostilities. He asked the faithful to pray the Rosary during the month of May, “to ask for the Virgin Mary’s intercession” to open paths to peace.
• Italian premier offers help with Vatican mediation on Ukraine (BBC)
  Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has offered to “facilitate contacts and work towards peace” in Ukraine, if the warring parties accept a Vatican offer to host peace talks.
• Ecumenical Patriarchate: Pope Leo to visit Turkey in November (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America)
  The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has announced that Pope Leo XIV will visit Nicaea in November to commemorate the 1700th anniversary of the first ecumenical council there. The announcement, unconfirmed by the Vatican, followed a May 19 meeting between Pope Leo and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches. The Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch “agreed to meet together in Nicaea toward the end of November, near the Feast of Saint Andrew, in order to commemorate together the 1,700th anniversary,” according to the announcement. “During this historic visit, Pope Leo may also visit the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, at the Phanar in Constantinople.” Both Nicaea and the Phanar are located in Turkey. The nation of 84.1 million (map) is 98% Muslim.
• Pope to celebrate public Mass every Sunday in June (Vatican News)
  Pope Leo XIV will be the principal celebrant at a Mass every Sunday during the month of June, the Vatican has announced. The liturgical schedule for June includes Masses for special Jubilee events, for Pentecost, Corpus Christi, the feast of the Sacred Heart, and the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. The Sunday Masses at which the Pope will preside will be held in St. Peter’s basilica, St. Peter’s Square, or the basilica of St. John Lateran. During the last three years of his pontificate, Pope Francis was never the principal celebrant of a Mass in public.
• Chaldean Patriarch tells Pontiff: 'we're counting on you' (AsiaNews)
  Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako reports that in a meeting with the newly elected Pope Leo XIV, he told the Pontiff: “We’re counting on you.” The Iraqi prelate said that “Christians are under threat” in his country, and peaceful relations between Catholicism and Islam are crucial. He said: “Pope Francis launched initiatives that have transformed relations—even within the Muslim world itself.”
• Irish public opinion (Iona Institute)
  A new public-opinion survey in Ireland has found that 47% of respondents have an unfavorable attitude toward the Catholic Church, 25% are neutral, and only 24% view the Church favorably. The survey, commissioned by the Iona Institute, found even stronger negative attitudes toward Catholicism among younger respondents in the once staunchly Catholic country.
• Vatican diplomat offers principles to address debt crisis, right to development (Holy See Mission)
  
• Pope receives Australia's prime minister, who invites him to visit nation (CWN)
  Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia met with Pope Leo XIV on May 19 (video) and invited the Pontiff to visit the nation for the 2028 International Eucharistic Congress.
• Brazilian bishop resigns at 60 (CWN)
  Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop Edmar Perón of Paranaguá, Brazil.
• Georgia's president meets with Pope, grateful for Holy See's support for nation's territorial integrity (CWN)
  Pope Leo received President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia in a May 19 audience.
• Over 150 nations, international organizations sent representatives to Pope Leo's inaugural Mass (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
  The Vatican newspaper has published a list of the representatives of the over 150 nations and international organizations that sent representatives to the May 18 Mass for the beginning of Pope Leo’s pontificate. Topping the list are the representatives of Italy, Peru, and the United States, followed by reigning sovereigns, heads of state, hereditary princes, heads of government, and other representatives.
• USCCB president pays tribute to Laudato Si' on its 10th anniversary (USCCB)
  Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), paid tribute to Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’s encyclical letter on care for our common home, on its 10th anniversary. The encyclical “has inspired the Catholic Church and the world to draw closer in our relationship with Almighty God, the Creator of all life and to care more deeply for our common home,” the prelate said in a statement. “The USCCB remains committed to advocacy that cares for the most vulnerable and creation, seeking a sustainable and integral development that benefits the entire human family.”
• Cardinal Parolin, Vatican's Secretary of State, awarded Path to Peace Foundation prize (Our Sunday Visitor)
  
• Vatican newspaper highlights Panamanian villagers' opposition to reservoir (CWN)
  L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, devoted the most prominent front-page article in its May 20 edition to the opposition of residents of a Panamanian village to a reservoir’s construction.
• Wide variations in diocesan statistics on Catholic marriages (Catholic World Report)
  In a thought-provocative essay for Catholic World Report, J.J. Ziegler examines the wide difference from one American Catholic diocese to another in the proportion of Catholics who are married in the Church. Ziegler reports that “a Catholic in the Diocese of Salina [Kansas] is over 15 times more likely to marry in the Church than is a Catholic in the Diocese of Lubbock [Texas].” Interviewing diocesan officials, he finds a wide variety of possible explanations for the differences. The Official Catholic Directory statistics for 2024 show 107,051 marriages in the Latin-rite dioceses of the US. Of these, 85,171 were Catholic marriages; 21,880 were classified as interfaith.
• Emphasizing love and unity, Leo XIV installed as 267th Pope (CWN)
  Pope Leo XIV received the papal pallium and the fisherman’s ring on May 18 at the Mass for the beginning of his Petrine ministry (booklet, video), ten days after his surprise election by the members of the College of Cardinals on the conclave’s second day.
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