The pontiff stopped at a care home run by the Little Sisters of the Poor.
ANNABA, Algeria — Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday said that "God's heart is not with the wicked, the arrogant, or the proud" as he visited the Ma Maison care home for the elderly in Annaba during his apostolic journey to Algeria.
After leaving the archaeological site of Hippo, the pope traveled to the home run by the Little Sisters of the Poor, where he visited residents and greeted those gathered there.
"I am pleased to make this visit because God dwells here," Leo said. "Indeed, wherever there is love and service, God is there."
The pope thanked the Little Sisters of the Poor, the home's staff, Mother Philomena, and Archbishop Emeritus Paul Desfarges of Algiers.
"Having listened to you, and seeing your presence here amongst our elderly brothers and sisters, it is natural to praise God and give thanks to him," the pope said to Desfarges. "Just as Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said: 'I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.'"
Leo also thanked Salah Bouchemel, an elderly Algerian Muslim, for what he called a "beautiful and comforting" testimony.
"I think that the Lord, looking down from heaven upon a house like this, where people strive to live together in fraternity, would say, 'There is hope!'" the pope said.
"Yes, because God's heart is torn apart by wars, violence, injustice, and lies. But our Father's heart is not with the wicked, the arrogant or the proud. God's heart is with the little ones, with the humble, and with them he builds up his kingdom of love and peace day by day, just as you are striving to do here in your daily service, in your friendship and life together."
The pope concluded by thanking those present for the gathering.
"I will keep you in my prayers and I gladly impart my blessing," he said.
Later Tuesday afternoon, Leo was scheduled to conclude his visit to Hippo by celebrating Mass at the Basilica of St. Augustine before returning to Algiers.
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
In a letter to the College of Cardinals, the pope said the exhortation remains "a significant point of reference" and urged renewed missionary boldness across the life of the Church.
Pope Leo XIV has confirmed that he will hold a consistory with cardinals from around the world on June 26–27, saying their previous discussions produced contributions that are "a resource of lasting value" for the Church.
In a letter to the members of the College of Cardinals dated April 12 and made public Tuesday, the Holy Father looked back on the first consistory of his pontificate, held Jan. 7–8, and highlighted the importance of the cardinals' exchanges there.
"I greatly appreciate the work carried out in the groups, which facilitated free, concrete, and spiritually fruitful exchanges as well as the notable quality of the interventions made during the plenary," Pope Leo wrote.
At that January meeting, the cardinals chose two of four topics proposed by the pope to guide their work. Setting aside the liturgical question — specifically the rite used before the Second Vatican Council — and the issue of relations between the Holy See and episcopal conferences, they opted to focus on "the mission of the Church in the world today" and on "synod and synodality as an instrument and style of collaboration."
The pope also placed special emphasis on Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis' first apostolic exhortation, published Nov. 24, 2013, and centered on proclaiming the kerygma — the Gospel with Christ at the center.
Referring to the cardinals' contributions, Pope Leo said: "This exhortation continues to be a significant point of reference. In addition to introducing new content, it refocuses everything on the kerygma as the heart of our Christian and ecclesial identity."
He added that it was recognized as "a 'breath of fresh air,' capable of initiating processes of pastoral and missionary conversion — rather than producing immediate structural reforms — and thus profoundly guiding the Church's journey."
The pope said this perspective challenges the Church at every level.
"On a personal level, it calls every baptized person to renew their encounter with Christ, moving from a faith merely received to a faith truly lived and experienced," he wrote. "This journey affects the very quality of spiritual life, expressed in the primacy of prayer, in the witness that precedes words, and in the coherence between faith and life."
At the community level, he said, the Church must move "from a pastoral approach of maintenance to one of mission."
"This requires communities to be living agents of the proclamation — welcoming communities that use accessible language, attentive to the quality of relationships, and capable of offering places for listening, accompaniment, and healing," he wrote.
At the diocesan level, Pope Leo stressed the duty of bishops and priests to foster missionary zeal.
"The responsibility of pastors to resolutely support missionary boldness emerges clearly, ensuring that such boldness is not weighed down or stifled by organizational excesses but is guided by a discernment that helps us to recognize what is essential," he said.
The pope also underlined a Christ-centered understanding of mission, one that spreads "through attraction rather than conquest."
"It is an integral mission, holding in balance explicit proclamation, witness, commitment, and dialogue, and yielding neither to the temptation of proselytism nor to a merely institutional mentality of preservation or expansion," he wrote. "Even when the Church finds herself in a minority, she is called to live with confident courage, as a small flock bringing hope to all, mindful that the aim of mission is not its own survival but the communication of the love with which God loves the world."
Among the proposals that emerged from the January consistory, the pope said several deserve further reflection. These include "the need to relaunch Evangelii Gaudium through an honest assessment of what has actually been embraced over the years and what, by contrast, remains unfamiliar or unimplemented," with particular attention to "the necessary reforms of the processes of Christian initiation."
He also pointed to "the importance of valuing apostolic and pastoral visits as authentic opportunities for kerygmatic proclamation and for a growth in the quality of relationships" and called for a reassessment of Church communications — including at the level of the Holy See — "from a more explicitly missionary perspective."
The letter concludes with the formal announcement of the next consistory, to be held June 26–27, with further details to come later to help cardinals prepare.
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.
After traveling approximately 695,000 miles over its 10-day trip around the moon, the Artemis II crew gave powerful reflections on their experience.
After traveling approximately 695,000 miles over its 10-day trip around the moon, the Artemis II crew — made up of astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, and Victor Glover — made their splash landing into the Pacific Ocean, arriving safely back on Earth, on April 10.
A day after the end of their historic journey, the four astronauts gave brief yet powerful reflections of their experience during an event at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
During her remarks, Koch — Artemis II's mission specialist — shared that she has learned what the true meaning of a crew is.
"A crew is a group that is in it, all the time, no matter what, that is stroking together every minute with the same purpose, that is willing to sacrifice silently for each other, that gives grace, that holds accountable," she said. "A crew has the same cares and the same needs and a crew is inescapably, beautifully, dutifully linked."
With this in mind and looking down at Earth from space, Koch shared that what struck her wasn't necessarily just looking down at Earth, but "it was all the blackness around it — Earth was just this lifeboat, hanging undisturbingly in the universe."
She added: "I know I haven't learned everything that this journey has yet to teach me, but there's one new thing I know and that is, planet Earth, you are a crew."
NASA's Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch shares brief remarks with friends, family, and colleagues after she landed at Ellington Airport near NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026, after a nearly 10-day journey around the moon and back to Earth. | Credit: Helen Arase Vargas/NASA-JSC
Reflecting on his experience, Wiseman — who served as the Artemis II mission commander — highlighted the important role the astronauts' families played in supporting them.
"No one knows what the families went through. This was not easy being 200,000-plus miles away from home," he said. "Before you launch it feels like it's the greatest dream on earth and when you're out there you just want to get back to your families and your friends."
He added: "It's a special thing to be a human and it's a special thing to be on planet Earth."
During his remarks, Glover — who served as the pilot on the mission — said: "When this started on April 3, I wanted to thank God in public and I want to thank God again, because even bigger than my challenge trying to describe what we went through, the gratitude of seeing what we saw, doing what we did, and being with who I was with, it's too big to just be in one body."
Glover shared another powerful message outside of his home in Houston to a group of neighbors who gathered to welcome him back. The video was shared on social media.
"Some of us have never met before, and you know whose fault that is? Ours," he said. "So let's choose to do this. Let's be this more; let's be neighbors. I don't know if you heard me say it, but God told us to love him with all that we are, and love our neighbors as ourselves."
Hansen also touched on three human experiences that left a lasting impact on him — gratitude, joy, and love.
The Canadian astronaut thanked his family, NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, and the many teams that were involved throughout the entire process of the Artemis II mission. He also highlighted the crew's commitment to always remain joyful — even during the difficult moments — and the love they each carried for the mission and one another.
"You haven't heard us talk a lot about the science, the things we've learned, and that's because they're there and they're incredible but it's the human experience that is extraordinary for us," he said.
In a letter to the Pontifical Biblical Commission, which is meeting this week, Pope Leo XIV drew attention to Christ's compassion for the sick and suffering.
In a message to members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, Pope Leo XIV urged them to overcome "fear of illness and death" through faith in Christ, noting that facing these two realities can help individuals "discern in their own lives what is not essential, in order to turn toward, or return to, the Lord."
"In the light of faith, we know, conversely, that pain and illness can make a person wiser and more mature, helping him to discern in his own life what is not essential, in order to turn toward, or return to, the Lord," Leo observed in a letter signed March 27 and published April 13 as he began his 11-day tour of Africa.
The Pontifical Biblical Commission, which is meeting April 13–17 in Vatican City, operates under the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and is based in Rome. Its annual plenary assemblies consistently take place in the Vatican.
The pope cited several passages from the Gospel in which Jesus' compassion toward those in need and the sick is made manifest, such as when the Lord takes pity on a leper who asks to be healed, or on the two blind men he heals after they implore him to restore their sight.
"Christ's compassion toward all who suffer is so profound that he himself identifies with them," noted the pope, adding that Jesus "commanded his disciples to care for the sick, to lay hands upon them, and to bless them in his name."
"Through the experience of fragility and illness, we too can and must learn to walk together, in human and Christian solidarity, in accordance with the way God does, which is [through] compassion, closeness, tenderness, and solidarity," the pontiff said.
In his letter, he noted that human nature "bears inscribed within itself the reality of limitations and finitude."
"Why illness? Why suffering? Why death? Faced with these questions, even believers sometimes falter, coming to experience bewilderment and even despair and rebellion against God," he wrote to the assembled experts, whom he exhorted to shed light on life's most difficult aspects in the light of sacred Scripture.
The commission consists of about 20-30 leading Catholic biblical scholars from around the world, appointed by the pope, who serve in scholarly and advisory capacities, helping the Church interpret and apply Scripture faithfully to contemporary questions.
The pope invited the experts to consider in their exegetical work — in addition to illness, physical pain, and death — "also the sufferings of the poor, of migrants, and of the marginalized in society, which are present in so many pages of sacred Scripture."
Finally, he endorsed the initiative of the Pontifical Biblical Commission to study various biblical figures who suffered. "Taken together, they will certainly become a beautiful symbol of hope for every person who unites their sufferings to the crucified Christ, renewing the manifestation of his face of love," the Holy Father wrote.
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.
The pontiff discussed the legitimate exercise of authority in a message to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV emphasized that technological, economic, and military power must be directed toward the common good.
In an address to the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the pontiff discussed authority in the context of Catholic social teaching and described it as grounded not in strength but in moral virtue.
"Catholic social teaching regards power not as an end in itself but as a means ordered toward the common good," the pope wrote in his message. "This implies that the legitimacy of authority depends not on the accumulation of economic or technological strength but on the wisdom and virtue with which it is exercised."
Leo's message follows his remarks at a Vatican prayer vigil for peace on April 11, where he denounced the "delusion of omnipotence" among global leaders amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. In his letter, he criticized the imbalance of economic and military power among nations, calling it a threat to democracy.
"The concentration of technological, economic, and military power in a few hands threatens both democratic participation among peoples and international concord. Divine power does not dominate but rather heals and restores. It is precisely this logic of charity that must animate history, for human activity inspired by charity helps to shape the 'earthly city' in unity and peace," Leo wrote.
Referring to Centesimus Annus, St. John Paul II's encyclical on Catholic social teaching, Leo stated that legitimate power "finds one of its highest expressions in authentic democracy," a democracy that recognizes human dignity and is not dominated by "economic and technological elites."
"Far from being a mere procedure, democracy recognizes the dignity of every person and calls each citizen to participate responsibly in the pursuit of the common good," Leo wrote. "Reflecting this conviction, St. John Paul II affirmed that the Church values democracy because it ensures participation in political choices and 'the possibility both of electing and holding accountable those who govern them, and of replacing them through peaceful means when appropriate.'"
Father Francis Alappatt, who earned a medical degree before entering the seminary, built one of Kerala, India's largest hospitals and pioneered a statewide blood donation movement.
THRISSUR, India — People from all walks of life paid tribute to Father Francis Alappatt, the priest-physician who galvanized public support for medical service to the poor, at a memorial gathering in Thrissur in the southern Indian state of Kerala on April 13.
"It was Father Francis who recommended that all the charitable and welfare programs of the archdiocese be named under 'Sathwanam' (Compassion). His aim was to provide the best treatment with the least expense, and he worked hard for that," said Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Thrissur, inaugurating the memorial at the Jubilee Mission Medical College (JMMC) that Alappatt established at the archdiocesan hospital in the heart of Thrissur.
Alappatt, who died of complications from diabetes at the age of 72 on April 8, was a singular figure in the Catholic Church in India: He was ordained in 1995 at the age of 41 after joining the seminary to fulfill a childhood dream, having already earned a medical degree from Kozhikode Medical College.
'Half priest'
"Even when he was a medical student, he was called 'padi achan' (half priest) for his lifestyle, and I was also touched by him," recounted Dr. Susheela Jacob, who was a professor at Kozhikode Medical College when Alappatt was a medical student in the 1980s, during the memorial.
"Scenes of trade in blood around the hospital prompted him to launch a blood donation campaign with batchmates [classmates], and he founded the Kerala Blood Donors Forum as a medical student," Jacob recalled.
"I was regularly in touch with him, and when he started the medical college, he invited me, and I gladly joined in 2005," said Jacob, a pathologist who is presently lab director at the JMMC Hospital. She spoke to EWTN News on April 14.
After his ordination, Alappatt transformed even remote parishes into centers of blood donation awareness and paved the way for the Kerala state government to record the blood group of each student in school certificates.
Francis Alappatt examines a patient at the Jubilee Mission Medical College Hospital in Thrissur, India. | Credit: JMMC
As director of Jubilee Mission Hospital, he expanded it into a medical college — approved by the central government — in 2004 and doubled the hospital's beds to more than 1,500, making it one of the largest hospitals in Kerala. The facility is known for subsidized treatment for the poor and free medicines for snakebite victims.
Interreligious tributes
"Father Alappatt had a special doctorate in human relations. He knew how to move people," said K. Rajan, a Hindu and minister in the Kerala state government, at the memorial. "Whenever he invited me for a program, I could not decline."
"Father Francis was my classmate in school and surprised me [in the late] 1990s coming back to me as a priest. Then he turned my guru (teacher) in life," said T.S. Pattabhiraman, a leading Hindu businessman of Thrissur.
"He became a family friend and had a unique marketing strategy [to get financial support]. Whenever I went to invite him for a family marriage or other functions, he would seek support for his free dialysis, treatment for snakebite victims. Whenever he needed help, he would call me. I could never say 'no' to him," recalled Pattabhiraman, who is one of the trustees of the interreligious forum Alappatt founded to promote religious harmony.
Popular for his pioneering blood donation movement in Kerala — as well as his interreligious and health awareness programs, in addition to his role as founding director of the Catholic medical college — Alappatt was named chairman of the Indian Red Cross Society.
"In honor of Father Alappatt's compassion for those affected by kidney disease, I am happy to announce today that Jubilee Mission has decided to set up a renal transplant center, and it will be called the Father Francis Alappatt Memorial Renal Transplant Centre," announced Auxiliary Bishop Tony Neelankavil at the memorial, evoking thunderous applause.
Free dialysis and parish support
"Father Alappatt introduced and motivated parishes and families to support free dialysis as part of parish feasts and family celebrations like marriage or baptism. We got support for more than 12,000 free dialysis [treatments] in 2025," Father Reny Mundankurian, the JMMC Hospital director, told EWTN News.
After leaving Jubilee Hospital in 2010, Alappatt served as vicar general of the Archdiocese of Thrissur and also helped improve smaller diocesan hospitals and health care initiatives in the archdiocese.
A prolific writer, he authored 50 books on health, social harmony, the environment, and human relations. A dozen of these were written after he became seriously ill, restricting his movement.
'He showed God to the world'
"Father Alappatt showed God to the world through his loving service," said Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, in his homily during the April 10 funeral service at the Basilica of Our Lady of Dolours parish in the heart of Thrissur.
"He never worked in mission centers, but he showed with his life how life can be turned into missionary work," said Thattil about his fellow parishioner, as both of them hail from the Dolours Basilica parish, which is celebrating its centenary year.
True to his commitment to health care, Alappatt donated his eyes, and after the funeral service — attended by half a dozen bishops — his body was not taken to the cemetery but placed in the JMMC mobile ambulance to be transported to the hospital's anatomy department.
Organizers of the annual pro-life march in the Czech capital say police blocked access to Wenceslas Square and are considering a legal complaint.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic — Thousands of pro-life marchers filled the streets of Prague on Saturday, April 11, for the Czech Republic's annual March for Life, though organizers say police restrictions on crowd access to the event's main gathering point significantly depressed turnout.
The event began with a Mass in St. Vitus Cathedral, where around 2,000 people gathered before joining the pro-life march. Archbishop Emeritus Jan Graubner of Prague said in his homily that "the path to the revival of the Church and society is not possible without the revival of families."
Graubner praised a culture based on love, "which does not live for itself," on the acceptance of the Holy Spirit, interior freedom, and forgiveness.
A banner reads "The best is just to help" in Czech at the March for Life rally in Wenceslas Square, Prague, with the National Museum visible in the background, on April 11, 2026. | Credit: Hnutí Pro život CR
Some resist this culture, Graubner acknowledged, saying that they "consider their own self to be the center and summit of everything." Such a perspective "encloses in bubbles and creates boundaries," he said, adding that it also "causes poverty because there is a lack of love that can divide."
It "threatens peace because there is a lack of love that seeks the good of others," he continued. Finally, it "leads to depression because there is a lack of hope for eternity and the disappointed person experiences" that "he is not the omnipotent god he had" thought, Graubner concluded.
Counterprotesters and police response
Pro-abortion protesters attempted to block the marchers, screaming and accusing them of denying women the right to choose. Police arrested five people, but no serious incident occurred. Last year, pro-abortion demonstrators blocked the march at one point, so this time participants walked through the city in separate groups to avoid a repeat disruption.
Typically, the number of marchers doubles once they reach Wenceslas Square (Václavské námestí), one of the city's main squares, where the program's final portion takes place. This year, however, police blocked the square and allowed entry only to those who insisted on getting in — a barrier that was especially difficult for families with small children. As a result, the total number of participants was hard to estimate, and the turnout in Wenceslas Square was much lower than expected.
Children and families gather near the Lesser Town Bridge Tower in Prague with pro-life signs and balloons during the March for Life on April 11, 2026. Signs read "We do not judge, we help." | Credit: Hnutí Pro život CR
The organizer, Hnutí Pro život CR (Movement for Life of the Czech Republic), told EWTN News that it is considering a legal complaint against the police department.
"The leadership of local police disabled a public gathering for which the public has a right," the organizer said. The group stressed that the march is held to show support for women facing unexpected pregnancies, adding: "We welcome among us even those with another viewpoint."
However, those responsible lacked the "political will" to secure the march by blocking the square, while letting "the radicals run wild and intimidate the participants," the organizer said.
The press office of the Police of the Czech Republic wrote to EWTN News that it has "no information suggesting that the police officers acted improperly in any way." The Regional Directorate of Police in Prague did not respond to an enquiry for comment.
The appeal, collected in most dioceses April 25–26, supports dioceses and eparchies that rely on outside assistance to sustain sacramental and pastoral ministry.
Catholics across the United States are once again invited to support the annual Catholic Home Missions Appeal, with most dioceses scheduled to take up the collection the weekend of April 25–26.
The nationwide effort provides essential financial assistance for dioceses and eparchies that are unable to sustain core pastoral and evangelizing ministries on their own due to limited financial resources, small Catholic populations, or communities spread across wide geographic areas.
Coordinated by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB), the appeal supports nearly 75 Latin-rite dioceses and Eastern Catholic eparchies in the United States and its current and former territories. These mission dioceses are often located in rural regions or small cities where priests often serve multiple parishes separated by long distances.
Seasonal employment, economic challenges, and shifting demographics can further complicate efforts to maintain consistent parish life and diocesan ministry.
The appeal is intended to help bridge those gaps by supporting core areas of diocesan life, including priestly formation, catechesis, evangelization, and parish-based ministry. Grants also assist with practical needs that vary by region, such as transportation for clergy serving remote communities and resources for dioceses responding to changing cultural realities.
In announcing this year's appeal, Bishop Chad W. Zielinski, chair of the bishops' Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions, pointed to the missionary pattern of Christ's own ministry.
The Catholic faithful who give to the Catholic Home Missions Appeal are mirroring Jesus, who "spent little time in cities but built his ministry in fishing villages and rural areas," Zielinski said in an April 9 statement.
He also highlighted the spiritual dynamic at the heart of the mission, drawing on the Gospel account of the Samaritan woman at the well, commonly known in Eastern Christian tradition as St. Photina.
"The work of the Catholic Home Missions Appeal reflects Jesus's encounter with the 'woman at the well,' whom Eastern Christians call St. Photina," Zielinski said. "She was an outcast in a community that was considered heretical and that many of Jesus' followers avoided. After talking with him, Photina evangelized her neighbors (John 4)."
He added that many of today's mission dioceses reflect the same openness to the Gospel despite difficult circumstances.
"Most of our mission dioceses are in remote, rural areas, or communities with economic and social challenges," he said. "Yet they are filled with people like St. Photina, who thirst for the Gospel and are eager to spread its life-changing message."
Recent funding from the Catholic Home Missions Appeal has provided more than $8.1 million in assistance to mission dioceses, the USCCB noted. The grants support a wide range of pastoral needs that reflect the diversity of Church life across the country and its territories.
In Alaska, assistance helps cover the cost of fuel for seaplanes used by priests traveling to island villages, enabling access to the sacraments in remote communities. According to the release, in the Diocese of Dodge City in Kansas, funding has supported the expansion of Spanish-language ministry, including printed resources, diocesan retreats, and bilingual personnel serving growing Hispanic populations.
Other dioceses have used grant support to strengthen targeted pastoral initiatives. For instance, the Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, has deepened its outreach to vulnerable expectant mothers through the USCCB's Walking with Moms in Need initiative, engaging parishes in local support. The Diocese of Belleville in Illinois has supported a full-time college campus minister who accompanies students in faith formation and vocational discernment, including encouragement toward the priesthood.
In American Samoa, the Diocese of Samoa-Pago Pago continues to operate five Catholic schools across seven islands, providing educational opportunities in a territory where geographic isolation and economic pressures remain significant challenges.
As parishes prepare for the collection, Church leaders are encouraging Catholics to see the appeal as a practical expression of solidarity with mission dioceses that depend on shared support to sustain parish life and evangelization efforts.
"Your generosity shows Catholics in remote areas that the Church stands with them," Zielinski said, "and that Jesus is calling them to embrace his mercy and share his message as St. Photina did."
The Polish Bishops' Conference has established a working group with government ministries to prepare the country's more than 10,000 parishes for a potential armed conflict.
The Polish Bishops' Conference is working with national authorities to prepare an action plan for potential armed conflict, reflecting growing security concerns in the region.
The initiative follows discussions held during the 404th Plenary Assembly of the Polish Bishops' Conference. On March 17, Poland Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz and Minister of the Interior and Administration Marcin Kierwinski met with bishops at the conference's general secretariat in Warsaw.
In an April 7 interview with the Polish Press Agency, Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, president of the Polish Bishops' Conference, said the preparations were driven by widespread concern over regional instability.
"There are fears that the war will reach Poland, which is understandable," Wojda said. "Fortunately, we are not standing idly by, waiting for events to unfold."
Coordinated Church-state response
At the center of the effort is a newly established working group within the bishops' conference composed of representatives from multiple institutions, including Caritas Poland. The group is collaborating with both the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of the Interior to develop coordinated responses to crisis scenarios.
According to Wojda, the plan includes provisions for assisting civilians, supporting refugees, and ensuring access to essential resources such as generators, water, medical supplies, and hygiene products. Government authorities have indicated that such materials would be made available to parishes in the event of a national emergency.
The working group is also developing protocols for the evacuation of cultural and religious heritage sites, the establishment of humanitarian corridors, and the identification of safe locations where civilians could seek shelter.
Role of parishes on the front line
Church leaders expect that parishes will play a critical role in any crisis response. Poland has more than 10,000 Catholic parishes nationwide, making the Church one of the country's most extensive and trusted local networks.
Wojda explained that the Polish government realizes that in a crisis situation, "most Poles will first turn to the Church for help, and only then to municipal institutions and offices." Therefore, it is important to have access to resources that will allow civilians to survive in a crisis.
To prepare for this responsibility, the conference is developing practical guidelines for clergy. Training sessions and workshops are already underway in some dioceses, often in collaboration with Caritas Poland, which has extensive experience in humanitarian aid.
Wojda stressed that priests are aware of the potential challenges. "They understand the problem they may have to face," he said, adding that bishops are being kept regularly informed of the preparations.
Broader regional context
The initiative reflects heightened awareness in Poland of security risks linked to the ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine and broader geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe.
While Poland has not been directly involved in armed conflict, its proximity to the front lines and its role as a key NATO member and logistical hub for Ukraine have heightened concerns about potential spillover effects.
Church and state officials have framed the preparations as a precautionary measure aimed at safeguarding civilians and maintaining social stability. Observers have largely viewed the development positively, noting that the Catholic Church's extensive parish network and centralized structure position it as a uniquely effective partner in crisis response.
This evolving role raises broader questions about the place of religious institutions in modern European societies: whether the Church can serve not only as a moral authority but also as a stabilizing force in times of crisis, and how such cooperation between ecclesial and state structures may shape future responses to conflict and humanitarian emergencies.
