Catholic News

Full Article

A papal diplomat to North American and South American countries said Pope Leo XIV brings a "message of hope" to the people.

Leo, who was born in the United States and spent more than 20 years in Peru, traveled to Uruguay this weekend. He is in Argentina Nov. 9–11 and will end his trip with a seven-day visit to Peru.

The Holy Father's message to the people is a message of hope, "a message that these countries need," said Monsignor Juan Antonio Cruz Serrano, permanent observer of the Holy See to the Organization of American States (OAS), during a Nov. 6 Spanish-language interview with "EWTN Noticias," the Spanish-language broadcast edition of EWTN News.

"We know, in particular, that there is great inequality among these nations — socially, politically, and economically," Cruz Serrano said. "The pope's presence serves as a call for social reconciliation wherever there are fractures or divisions, and it will also point us toward a path to follow."

"He does not come with ready-made solutions, of course, but he can certainly show us a way forward — both as an ecclesial community and as citizens — so that we may continue our journey toward a better future and a new humanity," he said. "It is about becoming better Christians. I see it as a constructive, forward-looking message; it is not something imposed upon others. Rather, he comes with the hope that the message he brings is truly good news.

Cruz Serrano was appointed as observer to the OAS under Pope Francis in 2021 and remains in the role. The OAS is a regional association of countries that represents every nation in North America and South America, with the exception of Nicaragua, which withdrew in 2023. The Holy See has no resident ambassador in Managua after the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Waldemar Sommertag, was expelled in 2022.

In the interview, Cruz Serrano noted the region to which Leo is traveling "lies at the heart of Christendom and also at the heart of the pope himself." This is "not only because of the high number of Catholics there, but also because of the deep Christian roots that run through these countries," he said.

"I believe that the whole of Christendom is tuned in to hear the message the pope wishes to convey," he said. "I think his primary message is one of strengthening the faith; after all, we know that the pope's main mission is to confirm us in our faith in Christ."

Cruz Serrano noted that a papal trip is not diplomatic or economic, but rather pastoral. Although Leo is meeting with government officials and diplomats, "he will convey a message — a moral and ethical message, but also one of dialogue."

"He proposes that we walk together," the diplomat said. "He comes as a messenger of peace, a messenger of hope. So, I believe that, more than a diplomatic trip, it is a pastoral journey — one that includes, among other things, meetings with political and diplomatic leaders, as well as representatives of civil society. But above all, I would like to emphasize its pastoral dimension."

Cruz Serrano also spoke with "EWTN News Nightly" anchor Veronica Dudo, saying he expects Leo's trip to Peru will be "very meaningful" and similar to a "homecoming" for the pontiff. He said Leo "knows the people, he knows the history."

The diplomat also discussed relations between the Indigenous of South America and the people of European descent, speaking of an importance to "build bridges" so people understand one another. He said Leo "is not coming only to speak" but "is also coming to listen."

Outreach to the Indigenous communities of South America was also an important issue for Pope Francis, who was born in Argentina. This included the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region, also known as the Amazonian Synod.

Speaking to EWTN News, Cruz Serrano noted that Francis taught that people "need to respect" the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon and "learn from them."

In the context of dialoguing with people who follow Indigenous religions, Cruz Serrano said "they have their values that we should learn" but added that "our faith is in Jesus Christ" and "he sent his disciples to go to the end of the world and preach the good news," which must be preached to all people.

He said the Church does not seek to be an imposition on those who follow Indigenous religions, saying: "We don't impose. Our faith is a proposal. So we go to the Indigenous people with a proposal. This is our proposal" that "Jesus Christ died and he rose for us."

This is Pope Leo XIV's first trip to South America since becoming pope.

Full Article

As world leaders prepare to gather this week for the 31st annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Turkey, the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) issued a statement calling on world leaders to actively work to protect life on our common home.

The annual conference takes place in November or December and this year takes place from Nov. 9–20.

The statement was issued by Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace, along with President and CEO of Catholic Relief Services Sean Callahan.

"As leaders gather at COP31, we recognize the need for decisive action that will protect and promote human flourishing and our common home. The global Church continues to witness the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor," they wrote. "We accompany those most impacted by a changing climate and the resulting extreme weather, rising seas, and biodiversity loss."

They pointed out that young people in particular "are leading this response, demanding climate justice for their generation and generations to come," adding that "their witness is our hope: proof that our faith in action answers the hardest realities."

The Catholic leaders recalled Pope Leo XIV's message shared during last year's conference in which he said that God's creation is "crying out in floods, droughts, storms, and relentless heat."

"He also reminded us that it is not the Paris Agreement that is failing, but our collective response to it — and that to overlook communities most exposed to climate change is to deny our shared humanity," the statement said.

"We urge world leaders and institutions to deliver additional climate finance that prioritizes grants over loans so that poor countries can invest in resilience and adaptation without the weight of more debt," the statement said. "We implore negotiators to agree on how progress on adaptation will be measured within the Global Goal on Adaptation. We call on them to finalize a 'just transition' mechanism to accompany developing countries with expertise, cooperation, and funding as they move away from fossil fuels."

"This transition should center on protecting the dignity of every worker, family, and community affected."

The statement concluded: "Echoing the call of our Holy Father, we ask leaders to leave Antalya having matched the scale of their commitments to the scale of the need — and to remember, in every negotiating room, that behind every number is a family making difficult, daily decisions on survival amidst more extreme, erratic, and frequent climate shocks."

The Irish Bishops' Conference also issued a statement last week urging the Irish delegation attending the COP31 to recognize the "important role" Ireland plays in "safeguarding our common home."

The Irish bishops urged the country's delegation to advocate for four specific topics: climate finance and social justice, clean energy investment and sufficiency, fossil fuel phase-out, and fossil fuel profit tax.

The COP31 is expected to draw roughly 100,000 participants including heads of states, heads of governments, prime ministers, vice presidents, climate ministers, negotiators, scientists, corporate executives, and nongovernmental organizations like Greenpeace and WWF.

The conference is being led by COP31 president and Turkey's Environment Minister Murat Kurum. Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen is presiding over negotiations, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened the summit.

This is the second consecutive year that the United States lacks an official government delegation at the summit due to the Trump administration's withdrawal from climate pacts. However, some U.S. governors, lawmakers, and business leaders will be in attendance independently.

Full Article

A bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter to Republican and Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives encouraging them to formally invite Pope Leo XIV to address a joint session of Congress next year.

The letter — addressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York — was signed by 91 Republican and Democratic members of Congress.

"The election of Pope Leo XIV serves as a sign of great pride for millions of Americans," the letter said. "As the first ever American-born Pope, his unique perspective, and ties to our country, would serve as a unifying force for members of Congress."

"Following a divisive election, Pope Leo's unifying message of service, compassion for fellow mankind, and the importance of human dignity would be especially timely," the letter added.

The lawmakers wrote that a visit from the Holy Father "would offer a much-needed outlook as we navigate complex foreign and domestic issues."

"Given the undeniable historical significance and cultural impact of Pope Francis's address to Congress in 2015, we urge you to work to schedule a joint address as soon as possible in the beginning of the 120th Congress with the first American-born Pope," the letter added.

Neither Johnson's nor Jeffries' offices immediately responded to EWTN News' request for comment.

A decision to invite a pope to address Congress has come from congressional leadership in the past, often together with the executive branch, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). "No formal procedure on when or how to issue invitations is codified in law or in House or Senate rules," according to CRS.

'Looking at the calendar'

The Chicago-born pontiff does not have a visit to the United States on his schedule yet but did say in June that he intends to travel to the country soon: "We were looking at the calendar for the next couple of years. Nothing is set in stone yet, but I certainly hope to be there soon."

In July, Leo honored the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence by penning a letter that said that moment "gave enduring voice to the ideals of liberty, equality, the pursuit of happiness, justice, and democratic self-government." He also accepted the National Constitution Center's 2026 Liberty Medal.

Leo is visiting South America until Nov. 17. His first stop was Uruguay and he is  in Argentina until Nov. 11. The final stop for this trip will be Peru, where the Holy Father spent more than 20 years of his adult life.

Pope Francis visited the United States in 2015, as did Pope Benedict XVI in 2008. St. John Paul II visited the country seven times during his long 26-year papacy.

Full Article

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Pope Leo XIV praised the Christian family as a source of strength for the Church in Argentina and for the country's society in general at an open-air Mass in the capital on Nov. 9.

"The family is the place where faith, human virtues, a culture of work, respect for the elderly, the defense of life, and fidelity to one's word are handed on," the pope told crowds filling wide avenues that had been closed to traffic.

"Do not give in to those who dismiss the Christian family as outdated. On the contrary, today more than ever, it remains a pillar amid the many insecurities of our time," he said in the homily.

Local authorities estimated turnout for the Mass, which the pope celebrated at an early 20th-century monument at a major intersection in leafy northern Buenos Aires, at 2.5 million people. Thick crowds lined the pope's motorcade route to the site.

In his homily, the pope said families should "take a leading role in evangelization. The Church in Argentina needs you. Support the bishops, parish priests, pastoral workers, and catechists in their mission. This Church is renewed and filled with enthusiasm when families, animated by faith, pray together and live out their ministry of proclaiming the good news."

To that end, Leo suggested ways that families could make their faith stronger.

"Open the doors of your homes to Christ! Speak naturally to your children about Jesus, and remain united to him. In the intimacy of the home, faith is passed on along with life itself, through the simplest gestures: a blessing before meals, a prayer before going to bed, forgiveness and mutual listening, grandparents teaching their grandchildren to pray, going to Mass on Sundays, and preparing for a retreat or a pilgrimage," he said.

Later in the day, the pope was scheduled to meet with business and labor leaders, address representatives of Christian churches and other religions, and lead a vespers service with Argentina's bishops and leaders of synodal teams. He will also spend Tuesday in Argentina before leaving Wednesday for Peru, the last country on his tour of South America.

Full Article

Sister Michele Bisbey of the Marie de la Roche Province of the Sisters of Divine Providence in McCandless, Pennsylvania, was one of 10 women recognized as the newest Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania last month by Gov. Josh Shapiro and First Lady Lori Shapiro.

The Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania is an organization established in 1949 to recognize women for their distinguished service, professional achievements, and voluntary contributions to Pennsylvania and the nation.

Bisbey entered religious life in 1967 and in 1987 began teaching in higher education. In 1992 she became a professor of religious studies at La Roche University.

In the 1990s, she and another religious sister from her congregation — Sister Elana Almendarez — decided to start fostering children in response to a high need for foster parents. At the time, they had a large home that they lived in for over a decade on the campus of La Roche University and decided to use this space to care for one to three children at a time.

The sisters have fostered 28 children since 1992.

Over the years, the sisters fostered children with special needs and complex medical conditions. They are currently permanent legal custodians to a 20-year-old woman named Amanda who has spina bifida and other medical conditions. She has been with them since 2008.

"I receive this honor with deep gratitude, but I do so standing on the shoulders of generations of Sisters of Divine Providence and women religious who have quietly served others for centuries," Bisbey said in a press release about her award given on Oct. 7.

She added: "Our charism calls us to trust in the Providence of God and to be participants in God's abundance, not simply its beneficiaries. Everything I have been given through my sisters, my students, and the children who have come into my life has only multiplied in the sharing."

During their time fostering children, the sisters have seen some of the children return to their biological parents, others were adopted, and others aged out of the system. However, many still keep in touch. According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, one young man who was raised by the sisters since he was a young child now works in Tennessee and keeps in touch with them on a daily basis.

In addition to her foster ministry, Bisbey speaks nationally and internationally about social justice and serving the underserved. She also helped her congregation build a new home for aging sisters; the Commons at Providence Heights is an 83-bed facility that provides care for aging sisters as well as members of the community.

Bisbey currently serves as provincial director of the Marie de la Roche Province of the Sisters of Divine Providence, providing spiritual and organizational leadership to the congregation, and as vice chair of the La Roche University Board of Trustees.

Full Article

CLAYPOLE, Argentina — Pope Leo XIV on Monday praised the work of a care home for disabled people that Argentina's Catholic bishops have said is imperiled by the austerity policies of President Javier Milei.

"The values of dignity, belonging, and fraternal friendship that distinguish places like this have much to say to our societies, which are often driven solely by the pursuit of economic success or the cult of outward appearance," Leo said to assembled residents and caregivers at the home, located in a lower-income suburb south of Buenos Aires.

"A nation's progress is also measured by how it welcomes all people with disabilities and particular needs," the pope said.

The Don Orione Little Cottolengo of Claypole was founded in 1935 by the Italian priest St. Luigi Orione. In April of this year, leaders of Argentina's bishops' conference cited the Don Orione Cottolengo network, whose flagship is the Claypole center, as an example of an "extremely serious financial crisis" facing institutions that serve people with disabilities because of "delays and shortfalls in state funding."

Elected in 2023, President Javier Milei has defended cuts to social spending as part of his strategy to curb rampant inflation, which has fallen sharply.

Leo's remarks at the center did not mention the issue of government funding, but he encouraged volunteerism and charitable efforts to help those in need.

The pope said he hoped "that Argentina may be capable of performing great works of charity, such as we see here, where the love of Christ triumphs over individualism and exclusion. I dream of thousands of young people volunteering … I dream that a new generation of saints devoted to charity might be forged in Argentina!"

Before his speech, Leo prayed briefly before the heart of St. Luigi Orione, which is held in a reliquary in the chapel where he spoke.

Then he heard testimonies from two residents of the center, including Marta Griselda Torres, who was born with cerebral palsy and abandoned as an infant by her mother before eventually coming to Claypole. The pope was moved to tears as she spoke.

"For me, the Cottolengo was a beacon that lit up my life. It was not just a place to live, but a place where I was welcomed, given a home, and loved," Torres said.

Full Article

Full Article

The Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome will begin restoration of its Pauline Chapel, a significant work of early Baroque architecture.

The basilica announced plans to restore the chapel's artwork in a press release on Nov. 6. The project, set to begin on Nov. 16, is one of several in an extensive conservation campaign. During work, the chapel will be closed to the public for 90 days.

As one of Rome's four major basilicas, the basilica is reputed to be the oldest shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the Western Hemisphere, built shortly after the Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431, which defined the doctrine of Mary as Mother of God.

The project will also be carried out in collaboration with the Governorate of Vatican City State and will focus on the chapel dome and its surrounding frescoes.

Papal devotion and the 'Salus Populi Romani' icon

The Pauline Chapel also houses the ancient Marian icon "Salus Populi Romani" ("Salvation of the Roman People"), depicting Mary and the Christ child.

Tradition holds that St. Luke the Evangelist made the icon. Since its creation, popes have venerated it with liturgical processions and ornate decorations, including St. Gregory the Great and Venerable Pius XII. In 1615, Pope Paul V built an ornate chapel in St. Mary Major to house the icon and solemnly transferred it there.

Pope Francis was noted for venerating the icon before and after every apostolic journey, visiting it 126 times in his 12-year pontificate. His tomb, placed near the chapel, was made at the pope's express request to be buried near the icon.

A project to restore Baroque architecture

According to the basilica's press release, Paul V, after whom the basilica is named, commissioned notable artists in 17th-century Rome to decorate the chapel.

A pictorial cycle surrounding the "Salus Populi Romani" icon centers on the Virgin Mary as mother of the Church. Created from 1610–1612, it involved artists Giovanni Baglione, Lodovico Cardi, Guido Reni, and Giuseppe Cesari.

A prominent feature of the cycle is Cardi's "Assumption of the Virgin." Here, the Virgin stands atop a naturalistic moon, inspired by telescopic images by renowned astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610.

The basilica is also undergoing restoration of the "Confessio" chapel beneath the high altar. As a result, the reliquary of the Holy Crib — containing pieces of wood reputed to come from the manger where Christ was born — has been moved to a side chapel in the right aisle for veneration from Oct. 15 to Dec. 24.

Full Article

Ahead of World Fisheries Day, observed annually on Nov. 21, the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development has released a message calling the global community to look past commercial statistics and recognize the profound human dignity, deep-seated faith, and daily hardships of the world's fishers and their families.

Rooted in a tradition established globally in 1997, this year's Vatican message connects the historical struggles of maritime workers with timeless spiritual truths. Issued by the dicastery's new prefect, Sister Alessandra Smerilli, the text reflects on the Gospel account of the risen Lord waiting on the shores of Lake Tiberias, offering weary fishermen and women the invitation to "Come and have breakfast."

Smerilli uses this biblical imagery to remind the faithful that Christ is not indifferent to human toil but actively waits on the shores of everyday life, attentive to the exhaustion, anxieties, and concrete needs of those who labor upon the waters.

In the message, Smerilli stresses that the Church must cultivate a culture of encounter that translates spiritual closeness into tangible action.

First, she urges society to truly see the person behind the profession. Fishers are frequently reduced to mere cogs in the global commercial food industry, yet their lives involve immense sacrifice, isolation, and risk. This vision must explicitly encompass often-overlooked members of the fishing community, including the women who labor behind the scenes to process and market the catch, young people navigating an uncertain professional future in maritime trades, and migrant fishers who often face systemic exploitation far away from their homelands and support systems.

Building upon Christ's gesture of lighting a fire on the shore to comfort his disciples, in the message, the Vatican issues a passionate plea to protect life at sea and on the coast. This defense of human dignity requires practical safeguards: ensuring vessels are safe and seaworthy, guaranteeing fair wages and legal contracts, providing adequate times for proper rest, and maintaining a constant remembrance of those who have lost their lives or gone missing while harvesting the bounty of the sea.

Finally, the Vatican calls upon local Christian communities and the global Church to remain close to fishers through every phase of their lives — from the initial recruitment and departure to the eventual homecoming. No worker should be left to face isolation, workplace injury, psychological trauma, or the vulnerabilities tied to changing economic conditions alone, it says.

Concluding her message with a heartfelt prayer to Mary, Star of the Sea, Smerilli invokes divine protection and guidance, praying that humanity may learn to embrace one another with the same proactive, restorative love that Christ showed his disciples on the shores of Galilee.

Full Article