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Pope Leo XIV acknowledged divisions among the faithful with a call for fraternal communion and unity in the homily at his inaugural Mass in St. Peter's Square on May 18, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNARome Newsroom, May 18, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV delivered this homily at the Mass for the Initiation of the Petrine Ministry in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, May 18, after being elected the 266th successor of St. Peter on May 8.Dear Brother Cardinals,Brother Bishops and Priests,Distinguished Authorities and Members of the Diplomatic Corps,Greetings to the pilgrims who came on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Confraternities!Brothers and Sisters, I greet all of you with a heart full of gratitude at the beginning of the ministry that has been entrusted to me. Saint Augustine wrote: "Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you" (Confessions, I: 1,1).In these days, we have experienced intense emotions. The death of Pope Franc...
Melanie McClanahan, a Rosary Team volunteer, with a resident. / Credit: Mike JensenCNA Staff, May 18, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Teresa Rodriguez was working as a hospice nurse, seeing patients at a memory care facility, when she realized that her patients were not being offered any spiritual services. While speaking with a patient and the patient's husband one day, the idea was proposed of organizing a time to pray the rosary. Rodriguez immediately decided to make that happen."That day I talked to the activities director … and she was thrilled. [She was] so excited that we would even consider coming in and praying with the residents," Rodriguez told CNA in an interview. At the time, Rodriguez was leading a Bible study at her parish, Sacred Heart of Mary in Boulder, Colorado. She asked the women in her Bible study if anyone would be willing to volunteer to pray the rosary with patients at a memory care facility. Two of them volunteered to go with her. The event was quickly...
Pope Leo XIV formally began his ministry as head of the 1.4 billion members of the universal Catholic Church with a Mass in St. Peter's Square on May 18, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNAVatican City, May 18, 2025 / 06:58 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Sunday formally began his ministry as head of the 1.4 billion members of the universal Catholic Church, acknowledging divisions among the faithful with a call for fraternal communion and unity at his inaugural Mass.Addressing an estimated 150,000 people crowded into St. Peter's Square and the surrounding streets, the 69-year-old pope, elected May 8, said, "I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world."Under Pope Francis, the Church experienced internal division over issues of liturgy and moral doctrine on sexuality and the family, including the approval of the blessing of same-sex couples.At the Mass, concelebrated with the members of ...
Photograph of Pope Leo XIV released by the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaCNA Newsroom, May 17, 2025 / 23:50 pm (CNA).Follow our live coverage as Pope Leo XIV, first U.S.-born pope in history, begins his pontificate: Experience history in the making with former Cardinal Robert Prevost.
Vice President JD Vance shares a moment of laughter with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, during their meeting at the Vatican on Holy Saturday, April 19, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media/screenshotVatican City, May 17, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are among numerous international leaders and dignitaries, representing approximately 200 foreign delegations, who will attend Pope Leo XIV's inaugural Mass at the Vatican on Sunday, May 18. The global leaders and representatives who will be present in St. Peter's Square for the 10 a.m. Sunday Mass include: AmericasJD Vance, vice president of the United StatesMarco Rubio, U.S. secretary of state of the United StatesMark Carney, prime minister of CanadaRodney Williams, governor general of Antigua and BarbudaTeresa Susana Subieta Serrano, ambassador of Bolivia to the Holy SeeJavier Milei, president of ArgentinaJoseph Curry, ambassador of the Bahamas to th...
Marchers participate in the grand procession of the Jubilee of Confraternities in Rome, Saturday, May 17, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNACNA Staff, May 17, 2025 / 16:45 pm (CNA).Thousands of the faithful took to the streets of Rome on Saturday to take part in elaborate and beautiful processions by members of Catholic confraternities from around the world who gathered in the Eternal City as part of the 2025 Jubilee festivities. A confraternity is a voluntary association of the faithful devoted to special works of Christian charity. Many date back hundreds of yearsThe Saturday processions were held to mark the Jubilee of Confraternities. Two processions total marched through the Roman streets and ended at the Circus Maximus.Members of a confraternity enjoy a drink during the grand procession of the Jubilee of Confraternities in Rome, Saturday, May 17, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAA crucifix is held aloft during the grand procession of the Jubilee of Confraternities in Rome, Sa...
The Blessed Sacrament is held aloft during a Eucharistic procession through Washington, D.C., Saturday, May 17, 2025 / Credit: Tessa GervasiniWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 17, 2025 / 17:30 pm (CNA).The Catholic Information Center (CIC) on Saturday held its third annual Eucharistic procession through Washington, D.C. in which more than 1,000 participants processed through the downtown area with the Blessed Sacrament. Father Charles Trullols, the director of the CIC, told CNA the day was "perfect."The faithful kneel during a Eucharistic procession through Washington, D.C., Saturday, May 17, 2025. Credit: Tessa GervasiniThe event kicked off with a Mass at CIC's chapel. The group of attendees was so large that it could not fit inside the chapel itself, sending people to watch the Mass on a screen outside where they were eventually brought Holy Communion. The procession began after Mass and was led by the crossbearer, candle-bearers, religious sisters, and young children ...
Pope Leo XIV waves at a massive, jubilant crowd gathered on St. Peter's Square for the Regina Caeli on Sunday, May 11, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNACNA Staff, May 17, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).The Vatican's sacred music school is seeking to teach Catholics worldwide how to sing ancient Gregorian chant as a means to help the faithful participate actively in the liturgy, including in papal Masses. The Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music said this week it is launching its "Let's Sing with the Pope" initiative as a series of "short educational video tutorials" to make Gregorian music accessible to everyone. The institute described Gregorian chant as a "rich heritage" and a "universal musical and spiritual language" used in papal Masses and other celebrations. The video series will help "promote active and conscious participation in the liturgy," including in upcoming papal celebrations, the institute said in an Instagram post. null In the initial video of the series, Father Robert...
Young students cheer during an assembly at Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington, Virginia, Saturday, May 10, 2025. / Credit: EWTN NewsCNA Staff, May 17, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).For Catholic students in the United States, the election of Pope Leo XIV as the first American pope on May 8 filled them with excitement and hope.Or, as one student put it: "Everyone just freaked out."Students shared memories of the day with Roselle Reyes, news correspondent for "EWTN News In Depth," on Friday.Bahkita Karenge, a Catholic school student in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, remembered the excitement of finding out during the school day. Students were "screaming," "jumping and laughing," and giving hugs. "It was so beautiful because at that moment, it didn't really matter which sport you played or which friend group you were in or which trend you were following," Karenge reflected."Everyone was just a young Catholic kid, and everyone was excited that we have a new leader."Ka...
Pope Leo XIV smiles as a jubilant crowd joins in prayer on Sunday, May 11, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAVatican City, May 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).The Mass for the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV's pontificate will be celebrated on Sunday, May 18, at 10 a.m. Rome time in St. Peter's Square. The liturgy will mark the official beginning of his ministry as successor of Peter and bishop of Rome. On May 25, he will take canonical possession of St. John Lateran Basilica, the cathedral of the bishop of Rome.The Mass on May 18 will be celebrated as established in the "Order of Rites of the Beginning of the Petrine Ministry as Bishop of Rome," a liturgical book approved by Benedict XVI in 2005 and reformed by him in 2013."The beginning of the Petrine ministry is what the celebration of the coronation of the pope used to be. Now, popes are no longer crowned with the three-tiered tiara, worn until Paul VI, but rather begin their ministry as the successor of Peter," Father Juan José Silv...