Catholic News

Pope Leo XIV will visit three cities in France from Sept. 25–28, making stops in Paris, Lourdes, and Metz to meet with young people, government officials, the sick, and migrants, among others. During the trip, the Holy Father will be discussing issues ranging from artificial intelligence to immigration to the Catholic Church in France today.

Here are 12 things to know about his trip and France's rich Catholic history:

1. Pope Leo will be the third pope to visit Paris and Lourdes.

Pope Francis made three visits to French cities including Strasbourg, Marseille, and Ajaccio in Corsica but never visited Paris or Lourdes. Pope Leo will now become the third reigning pope, after St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, to visit both of the iconic Catholic destinations of Paris and Lourdes.

Pope Benedict XVI made the longest visit to Lourdes by a reigning pope, spending four days there in September 2008 for the 150th anniversary of the apparitions.

2. The first papal liturgy at Notre-Dame will be celebrated since the devastating fire.

On Sept. 25, Pope Leo will open his apostolic journey to France by presiding over solemn vespers alongside clergy, consecrated religious, and seminarians inside Notre-Dame de Paris.

Seven years after the tragic 2019 fire brought down the cathedral's spire and roof, this evening prayer marks the very first papal liturgy beneath its restored Gothic vaults.

3. Pope Leo XIV will celebrate Mass at Paris' Place de la Concorde.

Built as Place Louis XV to honor a king, it became Place de la Révolution during the French Revolution — where Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and more than a thousand others were executed. It was renamed Place de la Concorde, "Square of Harmony," in 1795 as a gesture toward national reconciliation.

Place de la Concorde is the largest public square in Paris, spanning over 20 acres.

4. A relic of Christ's tunic will be on display for an event during the pope's trip.

The pope will take part in a youth prayer vigil at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on Sept. 25. More than 80,000 French young people have registered for the event.

At the conclusion of the event, a relic of Christ's tunic will be on display. This will be the first time a pope will witness an exposition of the Holy Tunic, the garment believed to have been worn by Christ during his passion, which is preserved in the Basilica of Saint-Denis.

The special relic is put on display during regular expositions every 50 years, as well as on extraordinary occasions — the most recent being in 2023 — but it has never before been brought before a pope.

The relic will travel under tight security from the basilica to the stadium, which is about 3.7 miles away.

The Stade de France has its own interesting history in that it was built specifically to host the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final — where France famously defeated Brazil 3–0 to claim its first world title. The 80,000-seat stadium is set to trade soccer anthems for sacred hymns as it will now welcome that exact same full-capacity crowd, transforming the historic pitch from the birthplace of French football glory into an altar filled with 80,000 young pilgrims holding candles and praying alongside the pope.

5. Pope Leo will pray at the exact grotto where Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette.

The Holy Father's first Lourdes event on Sept. 26 is an evening prayer at the Grotto of the Apparitions at Massabielle — one of the most recognizable Marian apparition locations on Earth.

Also while in Lourdes, the pope will lead the rosary and Marian torchlight procession at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes on Sept. 27.

Sunday's Mass will be celebrated by the pope at the shrine's meadow — the prairie — rather than inside a basilica. The prairie at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is a wide, open grassy meadow located across the Gave River from the main Grotto.

In a deeply Lourdes-specific moment, the Holy Father will visit the staff and sick community of the Accueil Notre-Dame, one of the sanctuary's hospitality facilities for pilgrims who are ill or disabled.

Since 14-year-old St. Bernadette saw Our Lady in 1858, over 200 million pilgrims have visited the grotto of Massabielle. Out of more than 7,000 claimed medical cures, 72 have been officially recognized by the Church and a rigorous medical bureau as scientifically inexplicable miracles.

6. French pilgrims won't need translations when Pope Leo XIV takes the podium.

The Holy Father speaks French with ease. Drawing on paternal French ancestry, early immersion that saw him tutoring high school classmates in Michigan by age 15, and years delivering addresses across Francophone Africa during his tenure as Augustinian prior general, the Chicago-born pontiff brings a lifelong linguistic fluency and a deep love for French spirituality directly to his encounters in France.

7. France is the birthplace of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux is a beloved French Discalced Carmelite nun who is also known as the "Little Flower." She died at just 24 years old and was proclaimed a doctor of the Church by St. John Paul II in 1997.

Pope Leo will make a private visit to cloistered Carmelite nuns at their monastery in Lourdes during his visit.

8. France holds the title "Eldest Daughter of the Church."

France earned the title "la fille aînée de l'Église" ("eldest daughter of the Church") because King Clovis I of the Franks was baptized in Reims around A.D. 496, making the Kingdom of the Franks the first major Western kingdom to adopt orthodox Catholicism rather than paganism or Arianism.

9. The popes lived in France for nearly 70 years.

During the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377), seven successive popes — all French — ruled the universal Catholic Church from the Palais des Papes in southern France rather than Rome, until St. Catherine of Siena helped convince Pope Gregory XI to return to the Eternal City.

10. The Miraculous Medal was revealed in the heart of Paris.

In 1830, the Virgin Mary appeared to novice sister St. Catherine Labouré at the chapel on the Rue du Bac in Paris, giving her the design for the Miraculous Medal. Millions were distributed within years, and the medal remains one of the most widely worn sacramentals in the global Church.

11. Only two French monks know the secret recipe for Chartreuse.

The famous herbal liqueur Chartreuse has been crafted since 1737 by Carthusian monks at the Grande Chartreuse monastery near Grenoble. To this day, only three monks at any given time know the secret recipe of 130 herbs, plants, and flowers.

12. Dom Pérignon champagne was perfected by a Benedictine monk.

Dom Pierre Pérignon, a 17th-century French Benedictine monk and cellarer at the Abbey of Hautvillers, revolutionized winemaking by developing thick-glass bottles, cork stoppers, and blending methods that prevented bottles from exploding — laying the foundation for modern champagne.

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Catholics on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border are preparing for a special event that seeks to "revive the witness" of those who lived through the religious persecution of a century ago and rekindle "our commitment as Christians," Lorena Tabares explained to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.

Tabares is a member of the Binational Pro-Family Pro-Life League, the organization behind the conference "¡Viva Cristo Rey! 100 Years of Faith and Freedom," taking place on Saturday, Oct. 3, in both El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

While the enforcement of draconian anticlerical laws in Mexico a century ago drew both nonviolent resistance and the armed Cristero uprising, defending the Catholic faith today in both the U.S. and Mexico often involves pro-life and pro-family advocacy.

In explaining why they decided to hold the event on both sides of the border, Tabares highlighted that "we are a cross-border faith community that witnessed the effects of this historic event."

"By reflecting on it together, we can not only relive the testimony of those who came before us but also rekindle our commitment as Christians," she stated.

In the morning, from 9 a.m. to noon, the event will take place at the Starlight Event Center in El Paso, featuring speakers Father Rafael Becerra, a priest of the Archdiocese of San Antonio who has extensively studied the history of the Cristero War; Rodrigo Iván Cortés, president of Mexico's National Front for the Family; and Ivonne Kuri, a member of the Mexican Center for Sindonology (study of the Shroud of Turin).

Starting at 4 p.m., the conference will continue in Ciudad Juárez at Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) Parish. There, the panel will consist of Cortés, Kuri, and historian José Mario Sánchez.

The 'Cristero legacy' on the other side of the border

Tabares highlighted that "Hispanic Catholics in the United States have received as a legacy from the Cristeros a commitment to fidelity, witness, and mission."

It involves, she said, "fidelity to the faith that was defended; the witness of a life consistent with the example of Christ; and the mission to bring the Gospel to all nations, beginning with this land that has welcomed so many Hispanic Christians."

A safe haven

Tabares recalled that during the Cristero War (1926–1929), "the northern border between Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and El Paso, Texas, served as a safe haven for Mexican Catholics" who, in face of the anticlerical restrictions imposed by the government of President Plutarco Elías Calles, crossed the border into El Paso "to receive the sacraments."

"A notable case is that of St. Pedro de Jesús Maldonado, a Cristero-era martyr and native of Chihuahua, who was ordained a priest at St. Patrick's Cathedral in El Paso due to the anticlerical persecution in Mexico," she said.

"Likewise, during this period, certain religious communities from Mexico established themselves in El Paso after being expelled, such as the Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament. The sisters settled in the city and founded the Monastery of Christ the King."

These, she emphasized, are merely "a few examples of the border's role during the Cristero War," topics that will be explored in greater depth during the Oct. 3 conference.

'Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it'

Tabares explained that the organizers hope conference participants "return home with the earnest desire to educate themselves and delve deeper into the history and the example of courage and zeal for the faith and religious freedom of the Cristeros, because those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it."

"With this event, we seek to help attendees not only learn about the events of this chapter in Church history but also gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the importance of religious freedom," she said.

In drawing "a parallel between the sociopolitical context" of the Cristero War years and present-day threats to religious freedom, she noted, "we wish to urge participants to be prepared to defend it not through an armed uprising, as the Cristiada was, but rather through formation and active civic participation grounded in the Church's social doctrine."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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Immigration enforcement activity is taking place at courthouses, schools, and near churches, with 39 of 49 faith-based organizations surveyed reporting such incidents, according to researchers examining enforcement's effects on ministries and immigrant families.

Ashley Feasley of The Catholic University of America's Immigration Law and Policy Initiative outlined her preliminary findings in a report about how expanded U.S. immigration enforcement is affecting faith-based service providers and immigrant communities.

The report is a partnership among CUA's law school, the Immigration Law and Policy Initiative, and the National Catholic School of Social Services.

Feasley spoke during a Sept. 23 National Migration Week webinar hosted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops with Bishop Brendan Cahill of Joliet, Illinois; Jenny Cachaya of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network; and Haydee Diaz of Catholic Relief Services Honduras.

Cachaya said more than 145,000 U.S.-citizen children have had a parent booked into immigration detention since January 2025.

That estimate predates the most recent increase in immigration enforcement activity, Feasley said. According to U.S. Census data, 18.4 million children in the United States live with at least one immigrant parent, highlighting the broad reach of immigration policies on families and communities.

"What we saw was children who were triply hit by the loss of a family member, the loss of financial security, and the precarity and the loss of their daily routine," Feasley said.

Researchers surveyed 49 Catholic, Jewish, and Lutheran organizations across the United States. Participants reported on immigration enforcement, including apprehensions and enforcement activities that had occurred since January 2025. Eighteen organizations reported enforcement activity at or near schools, child-care facilities, or related services.

The study showed expanded immigration enforcement is producing what it characterized as widespread fear and behavioral changes in immigrant communities, with children and mixed-status families experiencing the most severe effects.

• Eighty-two percent of surveyed organizations reported that enforcement actions, fear of enforcement, or perceptions of enforcement caused clients, community members, or even staff to change their daily activities or help-seeking behavior.
• Ninety-eight percent of respondents said their clients expressed fear of deportation, detention, or family separation.
• Twenty-eight organizations (58%) reported serving clients or immediate family members who had been apprehended by immigration authorities since January 2025.

Researchers said they plan to issue a formal report with recommendations for policymakers and service organizations. They also said they would identify effective practices that help communities respond to enforcement pressures.

What Catholics can do

Cahill, chair of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration, said Catholics should continue to collaborate, share messages, and "change culture. And it takes time, but we're changing culture, seeing the humanity of the immigrant, responding to a culture that dehumanized other people."

Helping can be as simple as accompanying and supporting neighbors in need, as parishioners are often the right messenger to each other, Cachaya said.

Cachaya said: "Don't underestimate the importance of accompaniment. You don't have to be an immigration lawyer. You don't have to be a social worker. You just have to be willing to step in and support your neighbors."

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The bishop of Piracicaba (São Paulo state), Brazil, Devair Araújo da Fonseca, criticized President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva following his remarks implying the Church needs to end celibacy and ordain women if it wants to grow. Da Silva is running for reelection as the Workers' Party candidate.

During a Sept. 16 meeting at the Planalto Palace (president's office) in the capital, Brasília, with Americans and Brazilians from the Evangelical Front for the Rule of Law, Da Silva said he had "the opportunity to speak to Pope Francis" about these topics.

"As long as the Catholic Church doesn't end celibacy and allow women to be priests, to be bishops — allow women to speak, you know? — we're going to see the Catholic Church face difficulties," he said. In Da Silva's view, the fact that a woman can "be whatever she wants" is what "has caused the evangelical church to grow so much in Brazil."

Catholics currently make up about 57% of the population, down from about 90% in 1970.

On Sept. 19, Araújo da Fonseca posted a video on his social media channels featuring a homily he had delivered the previous night in Santa Bárbara d'Oeste (São Paulo state), in which he responded to the president.

"We are seeing politicians trying to tell the Church what it should do. They even try to speak about priestly celibacy, when they ought to be looking after the country. And they are doing a very poor job of it," he said.

The bishop of Piracicaba emphasized the need to "be attentive" at the time of the election, the first round of which will take place on Oct. 4, with a runoff, if necessary, scheduled for Oct. 25.

"Let us not have a short memory, for the future depends on the choices we make in the present. And if we, as Christians, turn a blind eye to this, we will pay the price," he said.

Araújo da Fonseca addressed those who "were thinking of staying home on Election Day and not voting because it isn't worth it." He urged them to vote as "an act of sacrifice and penance."

"But make your choice. Remember that we all bear the consequences. Do not choose those who wish to destroy our freedom. Do not make choices for which we will later have to pay the price," he added.

The bishop of Formosa (Goiás state), Adair José Guimarães, also commented on Da Silva's statements. He said he was not surprised by them, "because usually leaders, when they are ignorant, want to meddle in everything. They think they have a monopoly on the truth about everything."

Guimarães stated that "the Catholic Church is not something just anyone can understand," as "it is an institution of divine right, over 2,000 years old, with its incredibly rich tradition, its magisterium, and sacred Scripture."

In the view of the bishop of Formosa, "the nation's leader needs to take good care of the nation" rather than "meddle in Church affairs."

He recalled an incident in 2005 when Lula, "in his first term," said: "I am a Catholic, Apostolic and Roman." At the time, the then-archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Cardinal Eusébio Oscar Scheid, was asked about the Workers' Party leader's statement and remarked: "Look, he says he is a Roman Apostolic Catholic, but my take is this: He is chaotic, apostate, and romantic."

"So, I share that same view held by our late cardinal regarding the matter. I need say no more than that," Guimarães said.

This story was first published by ACI Digital, the Portuguese-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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The Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, began its third annual blood drive on Sept. 19, the feast of St. Januarius, the martyred fourth-century bishop whose blood at times miraculously liquefies.

The diocese has partnered once again with the Miller-Keystone Blood Center, which during the 2025 campaign collected 821 units of blood — 40% more than the previous year, according to a diocesan press release. Sixty-three parishes and schools throughout the diocese participated in the blood drive last year.

"Blood cannot be manufactured or replaced," Allentown Bishop Alfred A. Schlert said in the release. "It can only come from individuals willing to give of themselves for others."

The Miller-Keystone Blood Center said that because of a national shortage of donated blood, most centers around the country are operating with only a one- or two-day inventory.

"Blood is perishable, and there is no substitute," said Monika Kotlarska-Gross, director of donor relations at Miller-Keystone. "The only source is the volunteer blood donor."

Someone in the U.S. is transfused about every two seconds, according to the Red Cross, which said in July that an emergency shortage it had declared the month before had escalated to a national blood supply crisis, the second in the Red Cross' history (the first was in 2022).

Summer is "trauma season," according to the Red Cross, with more wrecks and outdoor injuries, and a single trauma patient can use dozens of units. The shortage comes as school blood drives disappear in the summertime. The Red Cross also blamed heat, air quality, and foodborne illness for keeping donors at home.

A diocesan spokesman told EWTN News the campaign can "become a straightforward model other dioceses around the country could adopt."

Donors who give under their parish's sponsor code will receive a St. Januarius medallion blessed by the bishop, he said.

The blood drive will end on Dec. 16, one of the dates St. Januarius' blood is venerated for its miraculous liquefaction. According to the Diocese of Naples, Italy, the saint's blood liquefied this year on Sept. 19 at 10:04 a.m.

St. Januarius, patron of blood banks

St. Januarius, the patron saint of blood banks and those who've suffered heart attacks, was the bishop of Benevento in the early 300s. Tradition holds that he hid Christians during the persecution of Roman Emperor Diocletian and was eventually caught and executed.

After his death, a woman named Eusebia is said to have saved some of his blood in two flasks, and since at least 1389, his dried blood has often miraculously liquefied and then solidified again, especially on his feast day and sometimes before popes and other holy people.

His blood is kept in Naples, nicknamed the "City of Blood," which observes an annual feast and procession in his honor.

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Do No Harm — a nonprofit that says it works to keep identity politics out of medical education — asked the Health and Human Services inspector general to investigate Planned Parenthood over alleged miscoding tied to youth cross-sex hormone prescriptions.

The group, which also campaigns against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives it argues inject gender ideology into clinical practice, says in a Sept. 22 letter that Planned Parenthood and its affiliates may be coding visits in ways that make youth hormone prescriptions appear routine. According to the letter, such coding could obscure what the group calls "sex-rejecting" services and allow private and public insurers to cover treatments that might otherwise be excluded.

Do No Harm further cites what it describes as "significant, often irreversible" risks associated with these treatments and says available evidence on their safety or effectiveness for addressing gender dysphoria is "low to very low quality." The letter also notes the procedures' "lucrative" nature, asserting they can create long-term patients.

Because health insurance providers, including government-sponsored ones such as Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE, reimburse for "medically necessary" treatments only, the group alleges that Planned Parenthood miscodes the procedures in order to get illegally reimbursed.

The letter says some Planned Parenthood affiliates as well as the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) have publicly discussed using such strategic coding practices.

According to the letter, a professional data broker Do No Harm hired to examine Planned Parenthood's coding practices between 2015 and 2025 found "a subset of approximately 800 patients from across the country for whom Planned Parenthood affiliates wrote between 1,100 and 1,200 prescriptions seemingly related to gender dysphoria while potentially failing to use the correct diagnosis codes for the associated office visit."

Because of the limitations "inherent in a private actor's attempt to root out another private actor's wrongdoing without any of the government's tools," Do No Harm asked HHS to investigate Planned Parenthood's coding practices for office visits as well as to "determine whether and to what extent" those office visits result in pharmacies filling prescriptions for cross-sex hormones, which are then submitted to the federal government for reimbursement.

Two large U.S. health systems, New York University Langone Hospitals and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, agreed Sept. 18 to end pediatric gender-affirming medical interventions for minors and pay financial penalties to resolve Justice Department investigations. NYU Langone will pay $8.5 million and UPMC will pay $950,000.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January ending federal support for gender transition-related care for minors and, in a March joint address to Congress, called for federal legislation "permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children."

These developments come just a month after HHS' August report, "Wolves in White Coats: How Doctors and Hospitals Pushed and Profited from the Fraud of 'Gender Medicine.'"

The report outlines HHS' findings and recommendations about the transgender medicine industry and refers to the DOJ and the HHS inspector general's office clinics and hospitals identified in the report for investigation for possible violations of federal law.

Planned Parenthood did not respond to a request for comment.

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The archbishop of Panama, José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta, stated that "we cannot remain silent in the face of abuse" during his presentation of the report "Assessment of Institutional Responses (AIR) in cases of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable persons" within the Archdiocese of Panama between 2001 and 2025.

The report by the Transparency Commission (TC), a pilot project and the first from an interdisciplinary group of independent experts on addressing and preventing abuse within ecclesial settings, was presented on Sept. 22 at the Santa María La Antigua University auditorium in Panama City.

Speaking during the presentation, Ulloa emphasized: "It has already been said here, and we know it: Our Panamanian culture often prefers to remain silent, but in the face of abuse, we cannot remain silent."

"We want to listen; we want to take every complaint seriously, with respect, and confidentiality, protecting the individuals involved and acting in accordance with established procedures," he added.

The prelate explained that the archdiocese he leads "remains committed to reporting relevant allegations to the competent civil authorities in accordance with current legislation" and acknowledged the need to ask what can be done better to move forward in the prevention of abuse.

"A culture of protection is not built solely through written rules; it is built when every priest, religious, pastoral worker, collaborator, and member of our communities understands that protecting minors and vulnerable persons is an ongoing, shared responsibility," the archbishop emphasized.

Asking forgiveness of the victims

The prelate also addressed "in a special way victims and survivors. We are deeply pained by the suffering you have endured."

"It pains us to know that those who should have found a place of welcome, care, and trust within the Church experienced situations that caused them such deep wounds," he continued.

Ulloa emphasized that "wherever members of our Church caused harm, and wherever our institutional response fell short of what the victims needed and had a right to expect, we ask for forgiveness in the name of the Church."

The archbishop also noted that "over this 25-year period, and I wish to highlight this especially for the media, more than 18 priests have been removed from priestly ministry due to situations involving the Sixth Commandment, offenses against property, or other issues they have experienced."

The Transparency Commission

According to its website, the Transparency Commission (TC) was established to conduct comprehensive investigations "in a holistic, professional, independent, and rigorous manner regarding cases of abuse of minors and vulnerable persons within the Church." It is funded by the University of Notre Dame Law School in Indiana and Villanueva University in Madrid.

"This group of experts focuses its work on places where crises related to ecclesial abuse have not yet occurred or have not come to light," notes the TC website.

The report indicates that in cases of sexual abuse, the AIR "must place victims at the center of the analysis, since the way the institution protects their rights, addresses their needs, and fosters their reparation constitutes the primary criterion for evaluating the quality of the response provided."

The Transparency Commission is composed of 17 individuals coordinated by Father Jordi Pujol, a lawyer who holds a doctorate in moral theology and is also a professor of law and communication ethics at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.

Its members include Father Thomas Berg, a professor and researcher at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame; Yago de la Cierva, a professor of preventive and crisis communication at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross; and Irma Patricia Espinosa, a psychiatrist, member of the National Council for the Protection of Minors of the Mexican Bishops' Conference, academic director and founding partner of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Training for the Protection of Minors (CEPROME) Latin America, and a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors since 2022.

Also serving on the Transparency Commission are María Inés Franck, professor of canon law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina and a member of the Pastoral Council for the Protection of Minors of the Argentine Bishops' Conference; Monsignor John Paul Kimes, professor of canon law at the University of Notre Dame Law School; and Father Daniel Portillo, dean of the psychology department at Lumen Gentium Catholic University in Mexico. He is the director and a founding member of CEPROME Latin America.

The Panama Report

The request for the report goes back to October 2025, when the archbishop of Panama requested an assessment of institutional response from the TC "on his own initiative, without a court order or a request from the Holy See."

The commission stated that it accepted the assignment subject to three conditions: full access to information, total independence in the investigation, and a commitment to publish the findings. The archdiocese did not intervene in the compilation of the report and only saw it days before its presentation.

The TC states that it operated with financial independence: Its members received no remuneration from the archdiocese, and costs were covered by Notre Dame Law School and the Villanueva University Foundation. The archdiocese only covered transportation and accommodation and provided workspace.

The commission reported that, during the period under review, the archdiocese received 37 complaints of which it analyzed 24, while the remaining 13 were excluded from the analysis "because they referred to events that occurred outside the archdiocese's territory or the time frame examined, or because they did not involve abuse against minors or vulnerable persons."

The report reveals that case management improved thanks to two initiatives by the archdiocese: the approval of guidelines in 2015 and the creation in 2024 of the Pastoral Care and Prevention Office and the Listening Office.

The report, currently available only in Spanish, identifies five areas requiring improvement: listening to and accompanying victims; recordkeeping; prevention; justice for victims; and reparation.

"Making reparation requires acknowledging the harm, accepting personal and institutional responsibility, and addressing the physical, psychological, moral, spiritual, and social needs of each victim," the commission emphasizes.

The pilot project

In a FAQ section about the report, the TC explains that this work is a pilot project because "it is the first time that a comprehensive methodology has been applied that can be replicated in other dioceses or ecclesial organizations."

"This first project has allowed us to test a methodology and a work system, based on professional listening, research in archives, conducting interviews with various audiences of interest, and media analysis and the sociocultural context of the country," it adds.

The Transparency Commission further specifies that the working methodology aims to "place victims at the center, protecting their rights, and guarantee due process for the accused," applying a clear standard of prudence to avoid "revictimizing a victim or blaming an innocent person."

The Transparency Commission also noted that "the Vatican has been kept informed of the work's progress at all times; both the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America are aware of the TC's work. Furthermore, some members of the commission work or have worked with both the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith."

The TC concludes by noting that anyone who has suffered abuse within the Church may, at any time, turn to the Archdiocese of Panama's Listening Office and file a report with the public prosecutor's office.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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With the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen approaching, a new book on the life and legacy of the evangelist and television and radio show host explains why he was "America's Apostle."

Allan Smith, founder and director of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Mission Society of Canada, published the book "America's Apostle" on Sept. 15, just ahead of the archbishop's beatification on Sept. 24.

"I think … the title is a perfect one — 'America's Apostle,' because he really was an apostle to the American people in the great tradition of apostles," Vice President and Editorial Director of EWTN News Matthew Bunson told "EWTN News Nightly" anchor Veronica Dudo on Sept. 22.

The book was published through EWTN Publishing and Sophia Institute Press.

"[Sheen] was a brilliant communicator; he had immense gifts on television, radio, as a writer, as a poet," Bunson said. "But all of that was geared toward proclaiming Jesus Christ in exactly the same way that a good apostle should."

Sheen began his media career as a priest, hosting an hourlong radio show called "The Catholic Hour" in 1930 until he was consecrated an auxiliary bishop in New York in 1951 and transitioned to television, hosting "Life Is Worth Living." At its peak, Sheen's radio show was reaching about 4 million people weekly, and his television show was reaching about 30 million people.

"Like a good apostle, he used all the means of communications at his disposal," Bunson said. "I just mentioned television, radio, you name it. He wanted to use it. So it's perfectly appropriate, I think, for him to be called 'America's Apostle.'"

Sheen also reserved one hour every day for prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament, beginning this when he was ordained in 1919 until he died in 1979. He was found dead at the age of 84 in his chapel in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Bunson explained that Sheen "made a promise on the day of his ordination" that he would do a Holy Hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament. He also noted Sheen wrote in his autobiography, "Treasure in Clay," that he prepared for his homilies, his books, and his speeches in front of the Eucharist.

"He made the Blessed Sacrament his way of not just preparing, but making himself holy and worthy of the people he was talking to," Bunson said. "Because that's how seriously he took what he was saying."

"So as a communicator, it wasn't just communicating about himself," he said. "He was always proclaiming a person, and that was Jesus Christ. And he did that by developing and fostering his love for the Eucharist. And he did it in the Holy Hour."

"Fulton Sheen, pray for us," Bunson concluded.

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Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen is set to become the first U.S.-born bishop to be beatified on Sept. 24 in St. Louis. Known for his innovative Catholic media ministry, Sheen spent several years after his ordination studying philosophy and theology in Europe — first in Leuven, Belgium, then in Paris and Rome.

His time in Rome would produce some of the most significant events in Sheen's life, including the completion of his doctorate, being consecrated a bishop, and attending the Second Vatican Council.

Here are some of Sheen's most important moments in the Eternal City:

Completing his doctorate at the Angelicum

Then-Father Sheen earned a doctorate in theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas — "the Angelicum," as it's known — in Rome after studying there from 1923-1924. That year, the Angelicum was located on the Via San Vitale before moving to its present location at the Church of Sts. Dominic and Sixtus in 1932.

In 1923, Pope Pius XI published his encyclical Studiorum Decem, praising the Angelicum's work in promoting the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose 600th canonization anniversary was also celebrated that year.

Meeting with Pope Pius XI

In 1935, Pius XI summoned Sheen to Rome for a private audience at the height of Sheen's fame from his NBC radio show "The Catholic Hour." The pope had made him a monsignor the previous year.

During their meeting, the pope, alarmed by the rise of Soviet communism, asked Sheen to study the works of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin and to use that study to warn Americans of the dangers of communism.

Sheen would respond to the pope's request by regularly explaining the dangers of communism throughout his public ministry.

Episcopal consecration

On May 28, 1951, Pope Pius XII appointed Sheen auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of New York, assisting its archbishop, Cardinal Francis Spellman. He received his episcopal consecration at the Basilica of Sts. John and Paul on June 11, 1951.

Sheen later became the bishop of Rochester, New York, in 1966 and the titular archbishop of Newport, Wales, in 1969.

National director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith

In 1950, the Vatican nominated Sheen as the national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. He would serve in this position for 16 years.

As national director, he was occasionally required to visit Rome, where he met privately with Popes Pius XII, John XXIII, and Paul VI, as well as other officials in the Roman Curia.

On May 21, 1961, John XXIII invited Sheen, as national director, to consecrate 14 new missionary bishops with him in St. Peter's Basilica.

Second Vatican Council

Sheen attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council, which lasted from 1962–1965.

Father Joseph Ratzinger, a theological expert at the council who later became Pope Benedict XVI, met Sheen in 1965. In July 2012, as pope, he fondly recalled the days he spent working with Sheen and others in the Italian countryside, drafting the council's decree on the Church's missionary activity, Ad Gentes.

"There was Fulton Sheen who would fascinate us in the evenings with his talks," Benedict said, remembering some of those present during a week that was, for him, "spiritual enrichment, a great gift."

Shortly before that, Benedict recognized the heroic virtue of Sheen and declared him "venerable" in a decree on June 28, 2012.

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