Catholic News

As the Basilica of St. Peter approaches the 400th anniversary of its consecration, the Vatican has announced a slate of liturgical and cultural initiatives — including opening parts of the basilica complex that have never been accessible to the public and rolling out a new digital entry system designed to better manage crowds.

St. Peter's Basilica was consecrated on Nov. 18, 1626, by Pope Urban VIII. Vatican officials presented the anniversary program on Monday, highlighting plans intended to ease visitor pressure inside the basilica while improving security and preserving an atmosphere of prayer.

"We want to lighten the weight of the crowds in the basilica and foster deeper spiritual recollection," said Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, "while at the same time offering new spaces to get to know St. Peter better through themed itineraries."

Among the most significant measures is the opening of the entire terrace of the basilica to visitors; currently, only about one-third is accessible. The newly opened terrace areas will feature a permanent exhibition on the history, construction, and ongoing maintenance of St. Peter's.

Gambetti also said the restoration area currently located on the terrace will be reconfigured and expanded. The space will double and continue to be managed by the Fabric of St. Peter, he said, totaling about 100 square meters (roughly 1,075 square feet) and moving to the opposite side from its current location.

The Vatican also foresees the future opening of the large galleries of the Gregorian and Clementine domes, with educational proposals designed especially for children and young people.

To improve crowd management, officials announced a new digital access system — SmartPass — integrated into the basilica's official website, along with a network of sensors to monitor visitor presence in real time and enhance security.

Gambetti described the initiative as a new "ecosystem" meant to safeguard the basilica's sacred character while welcoming the millions of pilgrims and tourists who continue to come to the heart of Christianity.

A look 'beyond the visible'

The cardinal stressed that the anniversary is not being treated merely as a historical commemoration but as an opportunity to renew the basilica's spiritual meaning.

Built over the remains of the original Constantinian basilica, the current church stands as "the living memory of our faith in Jesus Christ, supported by Peter's profession of faith," Gambetti said, calling it "at the same time a door open to all who seek God." He also recalled the transition from the earlier basilica to the present one, promoted by Pope Julius II during the Renaissance.

Gambetti pointed as well to the collaboration of the Italian energy company Eni, which is supporting conservation and "enhancement" projects tied to the anniversary.

Program of events

The spiritual program begins Feb. 20 with the inauguration of a new permanent Stations of the Cross inside the basilica, created by Swiss artist Manuel Durr, winner of an international competition launched in 2023.

On Saturday afternoons, the basilica will also host brief 30-minute "spiritual elevations" featuring prayer and polyphonic chant for those present.

Three "solemn pastoral lectures" — historical-cultural, theological-liturgical, and pastoral-spiritual — are planned for March 24, May 26, and Oct. 13 on the meaning of the basilica's dedication. A spiritual meditation on St. Peter in light of the Gospel will be given by the preacher of the Papal Household, Father Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap.

Additional initiatives include the urban itinerary "Quo Vadis," tracing the footsteps of Sts. Peter and Paul through Rome, and the theatrical production "Pietro e Paolo a Roma" by Michele Aginestra, planned around the June 29 feast of the apostles.

The celebrations are set to culminate Nov. 18 with a solemn Mass to be celebrated by Pope Leo XIV on the exact 400th anniversary of the basilica's consecration.

Eni's technical work

During the presentation, Eni executive Claudio Granata said the company's technical work for St. Peter's has involved an 18-month process, much of it devoted to study and planning. He recalled Eni's earlier restoration of the basilica façade beginning in 1999 — the first deep cleaning since architect Carlo Maderno completed it in 1612.

This time, Granata said, the scale is larger: Measurements were carried out across approximately 80,000 square meters, covering the entire basilica, including outer areas. The analysis includes visible surfaces — such as the façade, columns, and roofs — as well as "invisible" elements like the foundations, resulting in a permanent monitoring system and a comprehensive digital model.

Eni research and development director Annalisa Muccioli said the project was guided by respect for the basilica's historical, artistic, and spiritual character. The effort included 4,500 work hours across day and night shifts, as well as extensive historical study and technical documentation. Using techniques intended to "see without altering," she said the team employed methods such as geophysical investigations, laser scanning, and advanced photogrammetry.

Muccioli described the result as a dynamic model integrating architectural geometry, subsurface geology, and real-time data — a tool meant to support the Fabric of St. Peter in future conservation and planning.

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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To mark Temperance Sunday and the Lenten season, Armagh Archdiocese Auxiliary Bishop Michael Router welcomed the rewording of Ireland's traditional Confirmation Pledge to explicitly include vaping and cigarette smoking. The renewal comes directly from feedback from school pupils to the Irish Bishops' Drugs Initiative.

Router, who is liaison bishop with the Irish Bishops' Drugs Initiative, said in his Feb. 15 Temperance Sunday message: "I warmly welcome the rewording of the Confirmation Pledge to explicitly include vaping and cigarette smoking, alongside alcohol and illicit drugs. This development reflects a thoughtful and prayerful response to the lived realities of young people today."

In Ireland, the pledge has been a feature of confirmation since the 1930s. Every year, around 40,000 young people receive the sacrament of confirmation. The news of the pledge renewal has attracted mainstream media interest in Ireland.

Router explained to EWTN News the specific concerns about vaping: "The main impetus would have come from the worsening situation in regards to drugs and alcohol abuse in Ireland over the past number of years. The Irish Bishops' Drugs Initiative facilitator ... goes around to schools and parishes delivering vital education on drugs, particularly. And in his rounds of schools, he was beginning to get questions from students themselves about vapes."

He added: "They were becoming aware of the addictive nature of them and the destructive side effects that were happening. Parents began contacting us as well, looking for information. We had a couple of heartbreaking stories about teenagers who have developed psychosis and depression and even suicidal ideation as a result of using some of these vapes."

As a result of these concerns, the Irish Bishops' Drugs Initiative was instrumental, along with other bodies, in having the vaping substance hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) banned in Ireland.

Router explained to EWTN News that the pledge came into being in Ireland because of the widespread abuse of alcohol in the 19th century and the early 20th century.

"It was formally linked with confirmation from the 1930s onwards, and it was very successful in countering alcohol abuse. We wanted to relaunch the pledge because it had fallen into abeyance a little bit across the country. We wanted to give it a new push and to add in things that are answering some of the challenges that young people have today."

The bishop said in his Temperance Sunday message: "The renewed Confirmation Pledge ensures that this long-standing tradition remains relevant and meaningful. It offers young people a moral framework and spiritual support as they navigate adolescence, while situating personal choice within the wider context of family, faith, and community. Addiction thrives in isolation. By involving families, schools, parishes, and the wider faith community, the pledge becomes a shared commitment to support and hope."

Router stressed to EWTN News the importance of education and understanding for young people to respond meaningfully to substance misuse. 

"Education is hugely important. Drug use is everywhere. It's in every small village, in every rural area, in every city, and in every town in the country. And it's so easy to access. We have a module for schools and parishes to educate young people at that age about the dangers involved."

He explained that this education program is open to all, whether they intend to take the pledge or indeed are being confirmed or not.

Router highlighted in the wording of the pledge the importance of family support and positive peer pressure: "The new wording of the pledge says I will listen to you and respect my parents and guardians who care for me and want to keep me safe. I will support my friends and peers in making good and healthy choices too."

In his message, Router invited the faithful in Ireland to pray for those who struggle with addiction, to support families and communities affected by its consequences, and to renew their commitment to building a culture of care and moderation.

"Addiction, in its many forms, continues to exact a devastating toll on individuals, families, and communities. The human cost, seen in suffering, broken relationships, mental and physical health problems, criminality, and social upheaval, is beyond calculation. Yet the Gospel calls us away from despair and condemnation to compassion and accompaniment."

Router told EWTN News that with other countries experiencing similar drugs, substance and alcohol abuse, the pledge in Ireland could inspire other initiatives.

"I think other countries definitely could learn from that, and it might be a moment to educate. This is a moment when young people take it seriously and are willing to listen to the issues and whatever information you have to offer. Couple that with the gifts of the Holy Spirit that they receive, you have a real opportunity to make an impression that we pray will stay with them through their adolescent years."

Router pointed to the historic work of the Pioneer Total Abstinence organization in promoting temperance in Ireland. "Huge numbers of people became members of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association from the '30s into the '70s and I think a lot of that was to do with the pledge. It's been kind of neglected a little bit in recent decades. Hopefully, with a new focus on it and a wider reach, it may help to counter the problems we are facing at the moment."

Here is the new wording of the Confirmation Pledge:

Dear God,

Because I want to live a good and happy life with you,

I promise not to drink alcohol until I am at least 18 years of age.

Help me not to use drugs, vapes, cigarettes,

or anything that could harm my body or mind.

I will listen to and respect my parents and guardians,

who care for me and want to keep me safe.

I will support my friends and peers in making good and healthy choices too.

O Holy Spirit, give me the strength, courage, and joy to keep this promise every day.

Amen.

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Former bodybuilder Bruno Toral recently shared his personal conversion story and how he went from being totally hostile to the faith (from literally having a "burn down the churches" mentality) and denying the existence of God to becoming a dedicated disciple of Christ.

The Spaniard, who now owns a gym, was featured in the "Rebeldes" ("Rebels") podcast, a show dedicated to sharing the Catholic faith and demonstrating that "living according to the Gospel is the greatest act of rebellion in today's society."

During the interview with Father Ignacio Amorós, Toral recounted the details of his conversion journey at the end of which he found the Catholic Church, the missing piece that gave meaning to a seemingly perfect life.

The emptiness of having 'everything'

Toral grew up in a deeply atheist environment, where success was measured by academic and professional achievements. Over time, he managed to achieve a successful career, thriving businesses, have an extraordinary wife, and two healthy children.

However, despite seemingly having it all, Toral confessed that he wasn't happy. He realized this especially when he noticed the vast difference between his level of happiness and that of his wife, Paloma.

While he lived a life of stoic but empty effort, she radiated a joy and peace that he couldn't attain. This "healthy envy" was the catalyst: Toral understood that his wife's faith was what he lacked, and he felt a vital impulse to ensure his children grew up near that same source of happiness.

For years, Toral defined himself as having a "burn down the churches" mentality and even went so far as to forbid any mention of God in his home. But the change came unexpectedly.

On a road trip with friends, he suddenly announced his decision to have his children baptized. "If we baptize the children, we have to live like Catholic parents; I don't do things halfway," he stated.

His definitive encounter with God occurred during a time of praise and worship. Before the Blessed Sacrament, the bodybuilder, who based his life on stoic effort and the rigors of the gym, was moved to tears by the real happiness of the Christian community.

Toral shared that faith has softened his character, giving him a patience he previously lacked with his family and employees, and going from relying solely on his own strength to resting in God's providence.

"The person I admire most, by far, is Jesus Christ," Toral said, emphasizing that his biggest challenge now is not to lift more weight but to be the person God wants him to be.

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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The story of the Cristero War in Mexico reached theaters a little over a decade ago with "For Greater Glory," a film titled "Cristiada" in Spanish. Alongside the film, an official book was published to delve deeper into the history of the war, a spontaneous uprising by Catholics in response to religious persecution in the first part of the 20th century.

Available in Spanish and English, the book is authored by Rubén Quezada, a Catholic of Mexican origin living in California, and features a foreword by the archbishop of Los Angeles, José Gomez. Actor and producer Eduardo Verástegui wrote the introduction, and the book also contains an essay by Carl Anderson, who at the time of publication was the supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus.

Although "For Greater Glory" tells the story of a historical event that marks its centenary this year, the anti-Catholic sentiment it portrays "still persists, in a certain way," in present-day Mexico, Quezada shared in a telephone interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.

Quezada, 59, now a renowned international speaker, recalled that during his childhood in Mexico, the Cristero War was not included in the history curriculum in elementary school.

The author explained that this widespread ignorance was a consequence of a state policy that lasted for decades. Following the 1929 "arrangements" between the Church and the federal government, which formally ended the Cristero War, he recounted, there was "a government order that nothing could be published, nothing could be disseminated," effectively making the Cristero War a taboo subject, while many Catholics avoided speaking about it for fear of being arrested.

Thus many generations were unable to access information about the religious persecution of the early 20th century, he explained.

It was not until later in life, when he immersed himself in the writing of the Franco-Mexican historian Jean Meyer — compiled in his three-volume work "La Cristiada" — that Quezada "began to study the Cristero War in greater depth."

The situation of enforced silence lasted until 1992, when relations between the Catholic Church and the Mexican state were officially restored. "We're talking about [a diplomatic break that lasted] 60 years," he emphasized.

That same spirit of silence surrounding the history of the Cristero War was even present during the production of the film starring Andy García, he pointed out. Quezada noted that during the making of "For Greater Glory," "many governors or mayors wouldn't allow the movie to be filmed" in their locale and that once it was in theaters, it faced subtle boycotts: "We received reports from all over that they didn't want to show the film in certain theaters."

"They would close the theater," he added, and claim that tickets had sold out "when there weren't many people" inside.

Currently, he indicated, although "it cannot be said to be at that same level," the sustained persecution of the Church in Mexico has put down "roots that remain within government platforms."

At the same time, he lamented, there is a "profound silence" in contemporary Mexican society regarding the Cristero War. In his travels throughout Mexico to participate in various events and conferences, the author said he has encountered many people who "prefer not to talk about that subject, or are unaware of it, or simply don't care."

Given this situation, Quezada argued that the Catholic response must be active and informed participation in public life. "We have a responsibility to vote with a Catholic conscience," he emphasized, noting that leaders should not be elected "simply based on personal preference or family tradition."

For the author, religious freedom hinges on the ability of the laity to place in positions of authority those who respect faith and human dignity.

"We must carefully examine each candidate ... knowing that we are choosing what is best for humanity, for society, for the world," he added, emphasizing that, ultimately, "we are the ones who put those elected officials in that position."

Finally, Quezada posed a challenge that draws the connection between the sacrifice of the Cristeros with contemporary Christian adherence to the faith.

After years of studying figures like Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro — whose impact changed Quezada's life when he was just a young man in California — the author posed a key question 100 years after the Cristero War: "Would we be willing today to rise up with that faith, with that heart that burned for the passion of Christ? Would we be willing today to act in such a way if we were ever confronted with something?"

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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The role of chaplains at the Olympic Games is not just for Catholics and other believers, according to a priest currently serving at the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.

"My service is much more individual and open to everyone, even nonbelievers," Father Oldrich Chocholác, chaplain of the Czech Olympic team, told EWTN News. "It is a service of presence, prayer, and blessing."

The Czech priest, who serves as parish priest in Telnice in the Diocese of Brno, has accompanied his country's athletes to every Games since Rio de Janeiro in 2016. This year, the Czech Republic sent 114 athletes — the largest delegation in the country's Olympic history.

Chocholác told EWTN News his program is quite simple. He comes daily to the Olympic village in Milan to the space reserved for Czech team accommodation and meetings, and can travel to some of the sports venues using athlete transport. It is up to the team members whether they make use of his presence, he said.

A chaplaincy spread across the Alps

But the multisite format of these Winter Games presents challenges. Part of the Czech team is scattered across smaller Olympic villages in the Alps northeast of Milan, meaning Chocholác relies on electronic communication to stay in touch with athletes at distant venues.

"They know they can contact me at any time," he said.

The pastoral work was easier during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, he observed. With the Games now spread across multiple locations, chaplains of individual national teams do not meet as they did in France.

Spiritual service among Czech athletes differs from that of more religious countries, where team members come in large numbers to church services, Chocholác noted.

"I am glad that I remain in friendly contact with some of them even long after the Olympics," he said.

Prayer at the Games

Besides national team chaplaincies — a practice established at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 — the Olympic Village in Milan offers a modest prayer room and various religious services for participants. The Basilica of San Babila in central Milan has been nicknamed the "church of athletes" for the Games.

The Olympics press office did not respond to an EWTN News inquiry about how many national teams have chaplains this year.

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The president of the Pontifical Academy for Life said Tuesday the Church needs to maintain a dialogue with universities on the issue of abortion.

Monsignor Renzo Pegoraro was responding to a question about controversy over the leadership appointment of a pro-abortion professor at the University of Notre Dame — and whether Catholic universities have a responsibility to uphold Church teaching on unborn life.

Abortion "is not acceptable as a practice," Pegoraro said during a Vatican press conference on Feb. 17.

He added that it is the responsibility of not only individuals but also of society to help women and couples "avoid the idea that abortion could be a solution to a difficult pregnancy or a problem."

Pegoraro addressed journalists during a presentation about the academy's international workshop "Health Care for All: Sustainability and Equity," held in Rome Feb. 16–17.

Pegoraro, who was named president of the Pontifical Academy for Life on May 27, 2025, said convincing people that abortion is not the only solution to a problem "is a big challenge."

"We try to see how to maintain a debate about that, and we try to stress more the ethical and some social aspects, not immediately only the legal aspect of the problem," he added.

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This year Lent begins on Feb. 18 with Ash Wednesday. As we quickly approach this time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, here are five programs to help you grow in your faith this Lenten season.

'Pray 40: The Return' (Hallow)

This year, Hallow's Lent Pray40 prayer challenge is titled "Pray40: The Return." The theme for this year's challenge focuses on returning to God, just like we read in the parable of the prodigal son. To help go further into this idea, listeners will dive into "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Actor Jonathan Roumie will guide listeners through "The Brothers Karamazov"; Mark Wahlberg and Chris Pratt will provide fasting challenges; Mother Olga will meditate on Scripture; Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, will help listeners take part in imaginative prayer sessions; and Father Mike Schmitz will provide Sunday homilies.

'Crux' (Ascension)

Father Columba Jordan, CFR, will be hosting a daily Lenten program on the Ascension app titled "Crux." Crux invites the faithful to see Lent as a transformative season through a four-part daily system rooted in both physical and spiritual discipline. The four daily challenges include daily reading of Scripture, a nightly examen, one form of physical exercise, and one dietary fast.

"Crux" can be done individually, in parishes, or in small groups. Additionally, for those seeking a screen-free way to take part in the challenge, the "Crux: A Lenten Journey of Surrender" journal is also available.

'Seeking the Inner Room' (Word on Fire)

Word on Fire Institute will be hosting a virtual retreat this Lent led by Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, titled "Seeking the Inner Room." The seven-week series will help participants dive deeper into Scripture and prayer in order to let the Holy Spirit into each of our inner rooms — our hearts. The retreat will also include reflections on "Gate of Heaven: Reflections on the Mother of God."

Lenten Phone Fast Challenge (Real Life Catholic)

Real Life Catholic is inviting people of all ages to put down their phones this Lent to offer prayers and sacrifice to support the renewal of young Catholics. The Lenten Phone Fast Challenge offers participants the opportunity to specifically pray for the spiritual protection of Catholic teens. Participants will also receive weekly messages of support and spiritual guidance from evangelist Chris Stefanick.

Programs offered through the EWTN Religious Catalogue

If you're looking for Lenten devotionals or books you can read during this time, the EWTN Religious Catalogue has a variety of options including "Praying with Jesus and Faustina During Lent," "Lent and Easter: Wisdom From Fulton Sheen," and "Lenten Journey with Mother Mary," among others.

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The Cardinal Newman Society — known for its list of authentically Catholic colleges — is now accrediting faithfully Catholic K–12 schools, a move that organizers hope will expand education access for families.

"This is a key step in Catholic education reform and helps ensure that families at faithful schools have access to school choice funds in states that require accreditation," Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, told EWTN News.

The organization acquired a Catholic accreditation group, the National Association of Private Catholic and Independent Schools (NAPCIS), which will accredit Catholic schools that are in line with the society's standards for Catholic education.

EWTN News spoke with Dan Guernsey, who serves as the executive director of NAPCIS, about how the new relationship will affect families and education reform going forward.

EWTN News: How do you hope accrediting independent and parochial schools will help Catholic families going forward, particularly in regard to school choice funding in various states?

Guernsey: Catholic teaching holds that the states have a responsibility to ensure families have access to schools in line with their values, including their religious values. More than half of Americans now have access to funding to assist in the attendance at Catholic schools, and the trend is continued growth. There is a danger that state governments may attempt to tie private school funding to state control, but some states avoid this by relying on accreditation to ensure a school's eligibility for school choice dollars.

It will be increasingly important that schools have an accreditor that is cost-effective, efficient, not overly intrusive, and fully credible with faithful Catholic families — with the bonus of achieving Newman Guide recognition.

What role does accreditation play in the bigger picture of Catholic education reform?

In alignment with the Newman Guide, NAPCIS only accredits schools that are serious about Catholic formation, so we can focus on the priorities of faithful Catholic families: Is Catholic teaching and culture bold and completely faithful to the magisterium? Are the academics solid and part of an integral formation in the light of our faith? Is the school safe? Does it have the personnel and resources needed to fulfill its mission?

Accreditation, done rightly, assures families of a school's success in fulfilling its mission. Sadly, most accreditation today places onerous and unhelpful burdens on schools regarding personnel and resources, while not holding schools to their mission — especially the unique mission of Catholic education. This ultimately detracts from a school's mission and misaligns its resources. NAPCIS flips this around, accrediting schools that put their Catholic mission first and then aligning accreditation to that mission.

Accreditors play an outsized role in too many schools today, including many Catholic schools. There is such a thing as "too much of a good thing." Many accreditors, focused on their own excellence and status, "push" schools and claim to be arbiters of school "improvement" rather than simply certifying a school's academics, operations, and mission integrity.

In the worst cases, accreditors demand that schools initiate policies and practices that run counter to a school's mission or values. They may, for example, press for excessive technology, secular/Marxist social justice, or sexual philosophies at odds with Catholic morality, justice, and chastity. NAPCIS provides space for faithful Catholic schools to exercise their autonomy under the principle of subsidiarity, or local control.

What inspired the NAPCIS and Cardinal Newman Society partnership? How will this partnership affect students and families?

I like to think of the new partnership not so much as a marriage made in heaven but as a marriage made for heaven. Both organizations have worked for more than three decades to assist the Church in ensuring her youth are fully activated for this life and the next.

By aligning NAPCIS accreditation with Newman Guide standards, we're helping schools attend to Catholic identity while also reviewing school operations. The Newman Guide focuses exclusively on mission, and it upholds high standards that would be unacceptable to another accreditor striving to recruit large numbers of lukewarm Catholic schools.

Partnered with the Cardinal Newman Society, we'll help schools strengthen their Catholic identity and ensure their religious freedom in a social and educational environment dominated by secularism, relativism, and materialism.

This interview has been edited for brevity.

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On Saturday, Feb. 14, the humanitarian situation in Gaza was the focus of a day of the arts at the apostolic vicariate in Rome. In the halls of the Lateran Apostolic Palace, the third edition of the initiative focused on the Gaza Strip, burdened by destruction and loss, where the suffering of its residents calls for ongoing attention.

The event offered an artistic journey divided into four consecutive performances under the title "If There Were Water."

Father Gabriele Vecchioni, deputy director of the University Pastoral Office at the vicariate, explained at the event that art stands in direct opposition to adaptation and forgetfulness. Shedding light on Gaza, he said, means confronting what the world has heard in recent months: the killing of 64,000 people, including 18,000 children — figures that an arts day insists must not be archived but preserved as an active memory.

In the "Hall of Reconciliation," the theatrical work "Gaza: Before the Silence" by Francesco D'Alfonso was performed by first-year students of the National Academy of Dramatic Art Silvio D'Amico. Through poetry, music, international reports, and literary excerpts, the performance restored faces and names to the victims. White shrouds and the stark numbers of the tragedy became signs of a collective responsibility shared by all.

Reflection on the suffering of Gaza's people continued in the "Hall of the Emperors" with the artistic work "Holm" ("Dream"). This project by the National Academy of Dance combined choreography and video. Through the languages of body and image, it opened an intellectual space for reflection on the Palestinian cause, entrusting dance with the task of fostering listening and awareness.

In the Hall of David, "Who Are You? A Beautiful Question," a work within the relational art movement, directly engaged the audience with the issue. Through words, images, and sounds, it unfolded fragments of memory about what has taken place in the Gaza Strip.

In the Hall of the Apostles, the event hosted the Santa Cecilia Music Institute, with Senka Slipac on the violin and Vehbija Hodžic on the accordion. The musicians performed works by Antonio Vivaldi, Dražan Kosoric, and Vittorio Monti.

The artistic journey at the Lateran also included a work titled "Fire," a collective installation created within a workshop sponsored by Caritas Rome.

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Pope Leo XIV has eliminated the Pontifical Committee for World Children's Day, established by Pope Francis in November 2024. In a decree published on Feb. 13, the Holy Father reaffirmed the importance of the Church giving special attention to children, in continuity with the intention expressed by his predecessor.

However, with the aim of "fostering greater synergies" and ensuring a more effective organization of this "noble initiative," the decree stipulates that all the committee's functions will be transferred to the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, where it has been integrated since August 2025.

The document also establishes the annulment of the acts and regulations adopted to date by the body, which will cease to have legal effect under both canon and civil law.

Likewise, the president, vice president, and other members of the committee are immediately relieved of their duties.

Finally, it states that the prefect of the dicastery, Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, must resolve outstanding matters and submit a final liquidation report to the Secretariat for the Economy.

Pope Francis established this day on Dec. 8, 2023. On that occasion, he announced that the first World Children's Day would be celebrated worldwide on May 25-26, 2024.

Subsequently, Francis established the Pontifical Committee for World Children's Day and appointed Father Enzo Fortunato, also director of communications for St. Peter's Basilica and head of the press office of St. Francis of Assisi Basilica, as its president.

The next World Children's Day will be celebrated Sept. 25–27 and is expected to be a time of encounter, prayer, and celebration involving children and their families from all over the world.

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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