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Vatican City, Jun 4, 2025 / 11:34 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV met with the National Italian American Foundation on Wednesday and blessed their work in continuing the spiritual and cultural legacy of their ancestors.

Before holding his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father met with board members of the leading Italian American foundation and thanked them for their various initiatives in the U.S. and Italy.

"Your work to continue to educate young people regarding Italian culture and history as well as providing scholarships and other charitable assistance in both countries helps to maintain a mutually beneficial and concrete connection between the two nations," Pope Leo said at the morning meeting.

The foundation, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary, provides $1.5 million each year in educational scholarships and heritage travel opportunities to young students.

During the brief meeting, the Holy Father said the Catholic faith is a "hallmark" of the legacy built by many people who immigrated to the U.S. from Italy.

"A hallmark of many who immigrated to the United States from Italy was their Catholic faith, with its rich traditions of popular piety and devotions that they continued to practice in their new nation," he said. "This faith sustained them in difficult moments, even as they arrived with a sense of hope for a prosperous future in their new country." 

Robert Allegrini, National Italian American Foundation president and CEO, told CNA on Wednesday that it was a "tremendous honor" for the organization to meet with the Church's first U.S.-born pope.

"The warmth of His Holiness' Italian heritage was manifested in the gracious and pious reception he accorded to each and every member of our delegation," he shared. "The pope was very happy to hear that the president of the National Italian American Foundation was a fellow Chicagoan." 

"What is particularly meaningful for us as Italian Americans is that we feel that we combine the best elements of both the Italian and American cultures, traditions, and values," he said. "This makes us truly special and truly in sympathy with the pope who shares those traits with us." 

Toward the end of the meeting, Pope Leo encouraged the delegation to also be pilgrims in the Eternal City this week, in addition to their separate Wednesday meetings with him and Italian President Sergio Matarella.

"Your visit to the Vatican occurs during the jubilee year, which is focused on hope, which 'dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring,'" the Holy Father said, quoting Spes Non Confundit.

"In an age beset by many challenges, may your time here, in a city marked by the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul as well as many saints who strengthened the Church throughout difficult periods of history, may this renew your sense of hope and trust in the future," he said, before imparting his apostolic blessing upon the delegation, their families, and loved ones.

According to the 2022 American Community Survey, released by the United States Census Bureau, 16 million people, accounting for 4.8% of the total U.S. population, reported having Italian ancestry.

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CNA Staff, Jun 4, 2025 / 13:21 pm (CNA).

A former parish employee in New Jersey has pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $300,000 from two parishes several months after she was accused of the thefts. 

Former bookkeeper Melissa Rivera admitted to taking $292,728 from parishes in Washington Township and Pompton Plains, the Morris County prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.

The two parishes were Our Lady of the Mountain and Our Lady of Good Counsel, both located in Morris County. 

Rivera was charged with multiple counts of theft and forgery after being accused earlier this year of writing herself more than 100 checks from parish accounts between May 2018 and May 2024.  

The state said it would recommend probation for Rivera, 60, though she would have to serve 364 days in the Morris County Correctional Center as a condition of that deal, the prosecutor's office said. 

Rivera will also be required to repay the parishes the money she stole. 

She will be sentenced on July 11, the prosecutor's office said. The county's financial crimes unit helped prosecute the case. 

Several Catholic officials have faced prosecution and jail time in recent years over thefts from their respective parishes. 

Another bookkeeper at a Florida Catholic parish was sentenced in November 2024 to more than two years of federal prison after stealing nearly $900,000 from the church at which she managed financial records. 

In July 2024, meanwhile, a priest in Missouri pleaded guilty to stealing $300,000 from a church at which he was pastor for nearly a decade.

And in May 2024 a former employee at a Tampa, Florida, Catholic church pleaded guilty to stealing more than three-quarters of a million dollars from the parish while employed there.

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National Catholic Register, Jun 4, 2025 / 09:39 am (CNA).

The bishop of Charlotte, North Carolina, has delayed his plan to restrict the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) in his diocese, pushing the date back by nearly three months after a week and a half of significant backlash in North Carolina and beyond.

Bishop Michael Martin has determined that a plan to restrict the TLM from four parish churches to a single, designated chapel will now go into effect on Oct. 2, according to a June 3 story from the Catholic News Herald, the diocese's official newspaper. The Charlotte bishop had previously announced on May 23 that the restrictions would go into effect on July 8. 

The Herald reported that Martin made the change after accepting a request from the priests of the parishes where the TLM is currently celebrated to delay the restrictions, which he said he had originally scheduled to coincide with changes in diocesan assignments.

"It made sense to start these changes in July when dozens of our priests will be moving to their new parishes and other assignments," the bishop told his diocesan paper. "That said, I want to listen to the concerns of these parishioners and their priests, and I am willing to give them more time to absorb these changes."

Martin also told the Herald that if the Vatican changes required restrictions of the TLM, the Diocese of Charlotte "would abide by those instructions."

The bishop's delay comes after his decision to restrict the TLM in Charlotte — several months ahead of a Vatican deadline — faced criticism for being premature and unnecessarily restrictive.

Critics pointed out that Martin's restriction to a single non-parish chapel was being made months ahead of an October cutoff of an extension the Vatican had previously granted the diocese to implement Traditionis Custodes, Pope Francis' 2021 apostolic letter that called for limiting the availability of the TLM to non-parish churches and established Vatican oversight over associated permissions. Some speculated that the timing of the Charlotte moves would effectively preempt Pope Leo XIV, who may choose to regulate the TLM differently than Pope Francis.

The new target date for the Charlotte TLM restrictions now aligns with the original deadline of the Vatican's extension, which had been requested by the previous ordinary of Charlotte, Bishop Peter Jugis, who retired in April 2024.

The controversy expanded when sweeping liturgical norms Martin had drafted — which included a ban on Latin in all diocesan liturgies and the prohibition of other traditional liturgical practices like "ad orientem" worship — were publicly leaked. 

The Diocese of Charlotte told the Register at the time that the document, which would apply to all forms of the Mass, not just the TLM, was "an early draft that has gone through considerable changes over several months" and is still being discussed by the diocesan presbyteral council and Office for Divine Worship. Given references to Pope Francis, the document appears to have been drafted prior to the late pope's April 21 death.

"It represented a starting point to update our liturgical norms and methods of catechesis for receiving the Eucharist," said diocesan communications director Liz Chandler, adding that the norms will be "thoroughly reviewed" in accord with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM).

Although the changes have not gone into effect, critics contended that Martin's justification for them was not consistent with Church teaching, including Vatican II's pastoral constitution on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium.

Others raised concerns that Martin, who marked his one-year anniversary as Charlotte's bishop on May 29, was engaging in unnecessary micromanagement and had failed to adequately listen to people in his diocese.

In addition to allowing the affected communities more time to accept the changes to the TLM in Charlotte, Martin told diocesan priests in a June 3 email that the delay "allows more time for the transition and for renovation of a chapel designated for the TLM community," according to the Herald.

The diocese is putting $700,000 toward renovations of the designated TLM chapel, which was formerly the home of the Freedom Christian Center, a Protestant community.

The Herald described the Mooresville chapel as "strategically located" between the diocese's two biggest population centers, but critics have complained that it is more than a two-hour drive from St. John the Baptist in Tryon, one of the four parishes where the TLM will be prohibited starting Oct. 2.

The diocese reports that approximately 1,100 people attend the TLM in Charlotte each week.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

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Vatican City, Jun 4, 2025 / 10:09 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV held the third general audience of his pontificate on Wednesday, telling the faithful that even when we feel useless and inadequate, "the Lord reminds us that our life is worthy."

"Even when it seems we are able to do little in life, it is always worthwhile. There is always the possibility to find meaning, because God loves our life," Leo said in a sunny St. Peter's Square on June 4, four days before the one-month mark of his pontificate.

In his catechesis, the pope reflected on the parable of the vineyard workers, which is recounted in the Gospel of Matthew 20:1-16. Leo affirmed that, like the owner of the vineyard, Jesus "does not establish rankings, he gives all of himself to those who open their hearts to him."

This parable "is a story that fosters our hope," the pontiff said. "Indeed, at times we have the impression that we cannot find meaning for our lives: We feel useless, inadequate, just like the laborers who wait in the marketplace, waiting for someone to hire them to work."

Just like the laborers waiting in the market for work, the pope argued, sometimes we are waiting a long time to be acknowledged or appreciated, and we may end up "selling ourselves to the first bidder" in the marketplace, where affection and dignity are bought and sold in an attempt to make a profit.

"God never gives up on us; he is always ready to accept us and give meaning and hope to our lives, however hopeless our situation may seem and however insignificant our merits may appear," the pope said in his English-language summary of the lesson, which he read himself.

The tireless landowner in the parable goes out over and over again to seek laborers for his fields, even late into the day, when the remaining workers had probably given up all hope, Leo said. "That day had come to nothing. Nevertheless, someone still believed in them." 

The behavior of the owner of the vineyard is also unusual in other ways, he noted, including that he "comes out in person in search of his laborers. Evidently, he wants to establish a personal relationship with them."

Then, "for the owner of the vineyard, that is, for God, it is just that each person has what he needs to live. He called the laborers personally, he knows their dignity, and on the basis of this, he wants to pay them, and he gives all of them one denarius," even those who only worked the last hour of the day, Pope Leo emphasized.

According to the pontiff, the laborers who had spent all day working were disappointed, because "they cannot see the beauty of the gesture of the landowner, who was not unjust but simply generous; who looked not only at merit but also at need."

Leo warned Christians against the temptation to think they can delay their work in the vineyard because their pay will be the same either way.

He quoted St. Augustine, who said in his Sermon 87: "Why dost thou put off him that calleth thee, certain as thou art of the reward, but uncertain of the day? Take heed then lest peradventure what he is to give thee by promise, thou take from thyself by delay."

"Do not wait, but respond enthusiastically to the Lord who calls us to work in his vineyard," the pontiff said, appealing especially to young people. "Do not delay, roll up your sleeves, because the Lord is generous and you will not be disappointed! Working in his vineyard, you will find an answer to that profound question you carry within you: What is the meaning of my life?"

"Let us not be discouraged," Leo added. "Even in the dark moments of life, when time passes without giving us the answers we seek, let us ask the Lord who will come out again and find us where we are waiting for him. He is generous, and he will come soon!"

Hannah Brockhaus contributed to this report.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Madrid, Spain, Jun 4, 2025 / 10:47 am (CNA).

Sister Angela Musolesi was born in the small Italian town of Budrio on Dec. 8, 1954, the centennial year of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

A Franciscan nun, Sister Angela collaborated for 28 years with the renowned Italian priest and exorcist Father Gabriel Amorth. To expand the legacy of Amorth, who died on Sept. 16, 2016, in Rome at the age of 91, she founded the Children of Light association.

San Pablo Publishing has just published Sister Angela's Spanish-langauge book "You Are My Ruin," a volume that explains the causes of demonic possession and offers effective tools for confronting the actions of the devil.

Sister Angela does this with particular reference to the family, a field in which Our Lady of Fátima prophesied that the devil's final battle against God and humanity will be fought.

Just a short distance from the statue of the fallen angel in Madrid's Retiro Park, Sister Angela spoke with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, about her latest work.

ACI Prensa: When the devil tells you "You are my ruin," is it a desperate voice from the devil or a temptation to boost your ego?

Sister Angela: No, it's a fear the devil has of me … he fears me, just as he feared Father Gabriele Amorth.

How is it that the devil is afraid of a human being?

Because we have Jesus within us, we have the resurrection of Jesus within us. [The devil] knows this well, and sometimes he has told us: "We know that you have already defeated us." We speak in the name of Jesus, so we have already defeated all the demons, although perhaps we are a little afraid at times. I am not.

But you and Father Amorth are the Navy Seals (the elite force of the United States Navy) in the confrontation with the devil. How do we, as ordinary Catholics, make the devil fear us?

With the action of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit bothers the devil a lot. It is the spirit of the risen Jesus. Sometimes, when I have prayed over someone, invoking the Holy Spirit, the devil has cried out: "You are hurting me, you are hurting me." Only with the Holy Spirit. The more we have the Holy Spirit within us, the more we have the courage of Jesus. As St. Paul says in the Second Letter to Timothy: "God has not given us a spirit of fear but of courage, of strength, of wisdom, of light."

Your book aims to better understand the enemy. Why is this goal important?

To understand his actions, how he works in the world and within us, in our minds. Because he primarily tries to attack the intellectual faculties and, through that, the heart. From the mind, from the head, through the brain, he confuses us.

The most widespread action in the world is that of Lucifer, who is the spirit of mental confusion, of the darkening of intelligence, of the inability to make decisions, and then also of madness, suicide, and death. This is what happens to young people who no longer have Jesus as a point of reference.

You began your apostolate in prisons. Does the devil move well behind bars?

He moves well in society. Certainly, prisoners, convicts, are the ones who suffer the most. But I can tell you that when I was in prison for 10 years, I would go and bring them Jesus. I would invoke the Holy Spirit, offer prayers of deliverance and healing, and the next time the prisoners would ask me: Sister, are you still saying that prayer?

You also have a great heart for ecumenism.

Absolutely, yes.

Are the different Christian groups more similar in how we conceive of the devil than in other doctrinal matters? Is this a point of unity that favors communion?

Yes, absolutely. Also because, for example, our evangelical brothers and Protestants in general have a great devotion to the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit, as we have said, is what bothers the devil the most, because it is the spirit of Jesus. This is a common point. Even the final part of the Lord's Prayer — "deliver us from evil." When the devil manifests himself, and that is repeated several times, it makes him scream.

The most difficult thing is to get the devil to manifest himself, to make himself visible through a person who has a demonic action. But the most widespread action in the world is the ordinary action of the devil: mental confusion. It makes people believe he doesn't exist, it makes them believe he doesn't create problems.

The teaching that Father Gabriele Amorth has already spread is important because it says: Look, the devil is at work in the world. We must speak more about him, and everyone must apply Jesus' words: "Whoever believes in me must — not can, must — command the devil, heal the sick, and raise the dead."

So any of us, a layperson, a nun, or a normal priest, must command the devil and not be afraid. This teaching is sometimes disputed in the Catholic Church because there are priests who say no, that a normal priest, a normal nun, or a layperson cannot do that.

But Jesus was clear. Jesus said: "Whoever believes in me must not be afraid of the devil," and he must do these things. This is the novelty of Father Gabriel Amorth's teaching, which we are continuing. I say we because I founded the Children of Light during his lifetime, and we are continuing his teachings.

Tell us something special about the book that invites people to pick it up. What's new about this book?

More than an explanation of the devil, it's about how to free oneself from the devil, how to free marriages. It explains very well how to recognize the action of the devil in marriages that are about to break up. It explains what a person, a layperson, a wife can do for her husband if he has difficulties with fidelity, or what a mother can do for her children. This is very important; the book is important for this reason. It is the practical application of how to free oneself from the action of the devil.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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CNA Staff, Jun 3, 2025 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

A bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide in Illinois was not called for a vote in the Senate before the Legislature adjourned on June 1, effectively halting its progress for the session amid ardent opposition from leading Catholic voices in the state.

The bill, which passed in the House at the end of May, would have made it legal for physicians to give "qualified" terminally ill patients life-ending drugs. As the bill failed to move through the General Assembly, physican-asisted suicide remains criminal in Illinois.

Physician-assisted suicide, called medical aid in dying or "MAID" by proponents, is legal in 10 states as well as the nation's capital. Oregon was the first to legalize the practice in 1994, though an injunction delayed its implementation until 1997.

Under the proposed Illinois legislation, death certificates would show the terminal illness as the cause of death, not suicide.

The bill was included as part of legislation originally intended to address food and sanitation.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, criticized the bill in a May 30 statement.

"I speak to this topic not only as a religious leader but also as one who has seen a parent die from a debilitating illness," Cupich said, recalling his father's death.

Cupich urged Illinois to promote "compassionate care," not assisted suicide.

"My father was kept comfortable and was cherished until his natural death," he said. 

Cupich noted that Catholic teaching supports palliative care (a form of care that focuses on improving quality of life, including pain management, for patients with terminal illnesses) "so long as the goal is not to end life." 

"There is a way to both honor the dignity of human life and provide compassionate care to those experiencing life-ending illness," Cupich said. "Surely the Illinois Legislature should explore those options before making suicide one of the avenues available to the ill and distressed."  

State Rep. Adam Niemerg, a Catholic legislator who opposed the bill when it was on the floor in the House, said the practice "does not respect the Gospel." 

Niemerg urged Illinois legislators to vote against the bill, saying: "We must protect the vulnerable, support the suffering, and uphold the dignity of every human life."

"It tells the sick, the elderly, the disabled, and the vulnerable that their lives are no longer worth living — that when they face this despair, the best we can offer is a prescription for death," he said of assisted suicide. "That is not compassion, that is abandonment."

Niemerg also raised concerns that the law "opens the door to real abuse."

"We've seen where this becomes practice, the patients are denied lifesaving treatment and offered lethal drugs instead," he said.

Mental health concerns

In his statement, Cupich questioned the move "to normalize suicide as a solution to life's challenges" amid a culture already contending with a mental health crisis. 

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for U.S. teens and young adults, Cupich noted, citing a 2022 study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

He urged politicians to consider "the impact on impressionable young people of legalizing suicide in any form."

"Suicide contagion is a real risk to these young people after exposure to suicide," he continued, citing the National Institutes of Health.

"Add to that the ready availability of firearms in the U.S., and this is a tragedy we do not need to compound," he said.

Cupich also raised concerns about suicide rates increasing if assisted suicide legislation were implemented.

"While the bill sets parameters for assisted suicide, the data from places where assisted suicide is available are clear," Cupich said. "Rates of all suicide went up after the passage of such legislation."

"These rates are already unacceptably high, and proposed cutbacks in medical care funding will add to the burden faced by those contemplating suicide," Cupich said.

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CNA Staff, Jun 3, 2025 / 15:50 pm (CNA).

A victim advocacy group launched an ad campaign urging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to force insurance companies to pay millions of dollars in abuse claims, slamming the governor for allegedly "stand[ing] with her big insurance buddies" instead of abuse victims.

The Coalition for Just and Compassionate Compensation, which started in 2023 to pressure insurance companies to pay abuse claims under the state's Child Victims Act, began running ads in upstate New York markets this week.

"Who turns their back on over 14,000 survivors of child sex abuse? Gov. Kathy Hochul," an ad states, claiming the Democratic governor "stands with her big insurance buddies [who are] denying responsibility while donating to her campaign."

The ad features headlines from news stories of abuse scandals, including one that references the Diocese of Buffalo, which earlier this year said it would pay out a massive $150 million sum as part of a settlement with victims of clergy sexual abuse there. 

"Call [Hochul's] office. Demand she enforce the law. Make big insurance pay, not the survivors they failed," the advertisement says. 

Passed in 2019, New York's Child Victims Act extended the statute of limitations involving child sex abuse cases so that victims can file civil lawsuits against both abusers and institutions until the victims themselves are 55 years old. 

It is not just victim advocates who have called for insurers to pay abuse claims in both New York and elsewhere. 

New York archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan last year said the archdiocese was launching a lawsuit against its longtime insurer in response to an alleged attempt by the company "to evade their legal and moral contractual obligation" to pay out financial claims to sex abuse victims. 

The Archdiocese of Baltimore similarly sued numerous insurers last year over their alleged failure to pay for abuse claims stretching back several decades.

And earlier this year the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, sued its insurance provider over allegations that the company was refusing to pay out sexual abuse claims under that state's own Child Victims Act.

Neither the New York victims' group nor the governor's office responded to requests for comment on the campaign.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 3, 2025 / 11:01 am (CNA).

June 1 marked the 100th anniversary of Pierce v. Society of Sisters, the landmark Supreme Court case that preserved Catholic education in America and established the foundation for present-day legal discourse on parental rights and school choice.

Decided on June 1, 1925, Pierce v. Society of Sisters blocked a proposed amendment to an Oregon statute that would have eliminated the rights of parents to enroll their children in private schools. The amendment, challenged by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, who ran parochial schools in Oregon, primarily targeted those schools and was notably backed by organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan.

The court's natural-law based opinion, written by Associate Justice James Clark McReynolds, famously stated: "The child is not the mere creature of the state."

"The natural law-rooted conception of the relationship between child and parent … is deeply rooted in our nation's constitutional order," preeminent legal scholar and moral philosopher Robert P. George said in a speech at a commemorative event sponsored by the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., last week.

"[Pierce v. Society of Sisters] illustrates the fight to protect and preserve parents' fundamental rights to direct their children's upbringing and education," George said, which "is nothing new when it comes to the American story."

In his address, George referred to a current case, Mahmoud v. Taylor, where Catholic, Orthodox, and Muslim parents are suing the Montgomery County, Maryland, Board of Education for not allowing them to opt their children out of course material that promotes homosexuality, transgenderism, and other elements of radical gender ideology.

The parents argue that the curriculum, which includes reading material for children as young as 3 and 4 years old, violates their First Amendment right to direct the religious upbringing of their children.

"It is in cases like Mahmoud," George continued, "that we see the real reason that progressives are so keen for organized institutions of the state, at least when they are dominated by ideological allies of social and cultural progressivism, to share, and eventually override, as Montgomery County sought to do by banning the opt-outs, parental authority with actual parents."

Ultimately, George said he believes the Supreme Court will side with parents in Mahmoud v. Taylor "because the United States has a long tradition of articulating and upholding the natural law account of parental rights within our constitutional order," as illustrated in the precedent set by Pierce.

"As we confront the challenges of today, fights such as that against Montgomery County's LGBTQ indoctrination efforts, we must be courageous defenders of the truth about the rights parents legitimately maintain and exercise over their children," George said. "These are not rights conferred by any merely human authority … They are natural rights."

The Heritage Foundation event, titled "Pierce at 100: The Legacy of Pierce v. Society of Sisters," also included panel discussions on legal issues regarding parental rights and school choice as well as on the state of private education. The panels featured legal experts including Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who argued on the parents' behalf in the Mahmoud case. A decision is expected in late June or early July.

"Interestingly," Baxter pointed out during the panel discussion, "Pierce arose in a period of high Catholic immigration," when the Ku Klux Klan pushed for legislation to make Catholic immigrants "uniform."

"You have that very same dynamic here," he said, noting that many of the parents in the Mahmoud case are immigrants who came to the U.S. seeking freedom of religion, only to be "told that [they] have to adopt this very extreme view [of transgender ideology] in the United States."

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ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 2, 2025 / 17:37 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV recalled the life and legacy of Cardinal in Pectore Iuliu Hossu, a Romanian Greek Catholic bishop, "pastor and martyr of the faith during the communist persecution in Romania," who was commemorated Monday in the Vatican and who saved thousands of Jews from death during World War II.

"We have gathered today in the Sistine Chapel to commemorate, in the jubilee year dedicated to hope, an apostle of hope: Blessed Cardinal Iuliu Hossu, Greek Catholic bishop of Cluj-Gherla," said the Holy Father at the beginning of his address at the commemoration ceremony for the cardinal, who died 55 years ago on May 28, 1970.

"Today," Pope Leo continued, "he enters this chapel after St. Paul VI, on April 28, 1969, named him cardinal in pectore (in secret) while he was in prison for his fidelity to the Church of Rome."

Hossu's appointment as a cardinal was not known until 1973, three years after the death of the cardinal in pectore, according to Vatican News.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the pope can create a cardinal in pectore, a designation known only to him and the cardinal. He does not acquire the rights of a cardinal until it is publicly announced. If the pope dies before this is known, he does not become a member of the College of Cardinals.

'Righteous among the nations'

In his remarks, Leo XIV emphasized that this year the cardinal is especially remembered, as he is "a symbol of fraternity that transcends any ethnic or religious boundaries. His recognition process as 'Righteous Among the Nations,' which began in 2022, is based on his courageous commitment to supporting and saving the Jews of Northern Transylvania when, between 1940 and 1944, the Nazis implemented the tragic plan to deport them to the extermination camps."

The title of "Righteous Among the Nations" is awarded by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from extermination at the hands of the Nazis.

Action in the face of the 'darkness of suffering'

Leo XIV then recalled a passage from a 1944 pastoral letter written by the blessed martyr in which he stated: "Our appeal is addressed to all of you, venerable brothers and beloved children, to help the Jews not only with your thoughts but also with your sacrifice, aware that today we can accomplish no nobler work than this Christian and Romanian aid, born of ardent human charity. The first concern of the present moment must be this work of relief."

"Cardinal Hossu, between 1940 and 1944, contributed to saving thousands of Jews from death in northern Transylvania. The hope of the great shepherd was that of the faithful man, who knows that the gates of evil will not prevail against the work of God," the Holy Father continued.

After emphasizing that he was a man who lived "prayer and dedication to others," Pope Leo recalled that Pope Francis beatified Hossu on June 2, 2019, in Blaj, Romania — along with six other martyred bishops — and highlighted a phrase from his homily that belonged to the bishop and cardinal: "God has sent us into this darkness of suffering to forgive and pray for the conversion of all."

For Pope Leo XIV, the phrase "remains today a prophetic invitation to overcome hatred through forgiveness and to live the faith with dignity and courage."

'A courageous and generous man, even to the point of supreme sacrifice'

The pope also emphasized that "Cardinal Hossu's message is more timely than ever. What he did for the Jews of Romania, the actions he undertook to protect others, despite all the risks and dangers, show him as a model of a free, courageous, and generous man, even to the point of supreme sacrifice."

"Therefore, his motto, 'Our faith is our life,' should become the motto of each one of us."

After encouraging Hossu's example to be "a light for the world today," Pope Leo XIV finally exclaimed: "Let us say 'no' to violence, to any violence, even more so if it is perpetrated against defenseless and vulnerable people, such as children and families!"

Who was Iuliu Hossu?

Iuliu Hossu was a Greek Catholic bishop and cardinal in pectore. He was born on Jan. 30, 1885, in Milas.

In 1904, he began his theological studies at the College of Propaganda Fide in Rome. In 1906 and 1908, he earned doctorates in philosophy and theology, respectively. On March 27, 1910, he was ordained a priest.

According to Vatican News, on March 3, 1917, he was appointed bishop of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Gerla in Transylvania. In 1930, the eparchy changed its name to Cluj-Gherla, moving its center to the city of Cluj Napoca. There was a period of occupation there between 1940 and 1944.

On Oct. 28, 1948, Hossu was arrested by the communist government and taken to Dragoslavele. He was later transferred to the Orthodox Monastery of Caldarusani and in 1950 to the Sighetul Marmatiei Penitentiary. In 1955 he arrived at Curtea de Arges, in 1956 at the monastery of Ciorogarla, and finally back to Caldarusani.

In August 1961, he wrote this in prison: "I have not been able to take away your love, Lord; it is enough for me: I ask your forgiveness for all my sins and I thank you with all my being for all that you have given me, your unworthy servant."

Hossu was deprived of all freedom until his death on May 28, 1970, at the Colentina Hospital in Bucharest, where his last words were: "My battle is over; yours continues."

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 2, 2025 / 18:07 pm (CNA).

Archbishop of Toronto Cardinal Francis Leo called on the faithful to honor the most Sacred Heart of Jesus throughout the month of June rather than "using symbols that are contrary to God's divine revelation." 

"This year the solemnity of the Sacred Heart is commemorated on June 27, though the entire month is dedicated to this long-standing and much appreciated devotion in the Church," Leo said in a statement. 

The month of June is a time to reflect on Jesus' "loving, burning, sacrificial, and life-giving heart," which Leo called "one of the most profound and enduring symbols in Catholic devotional life."

For Catholics, symbols "help us to deepen our faith and shape our prayer life, not to mention the lives we lead and the choices we make," the cardinal said. "They are like bridges joining together the material and spiritual worlds and reveal to us the Gospel truths."

The month of June is also recognized in many cities around North America as "Pride Month." Thousands of people gather throughout June to hold parades and parties that celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. 

Leo called on the faithful in Toronto to use symbols this month that "are consistent with our Catholic faith and not borrowed from ideological fora, promoted by lobby groups and endorsed by political movements." 

He said: "We ought to honor and respect our traditions and not compromise the integrity of the faith by using symbols that are contrary to God's divine revelation."

"We do good to use our own symbols to tell our own story without resorting to trendy, misguided, and inadequate symbols that do not represent us as Catholics but rather contribute to confusion, distortions, and ambiguities about what the Catholic faith truly teaches regarding the human person, human nature, and natural moral law." 

The Sacred Heart of Jesus, which depicts "Christ's physical heart, pierced and surrounded by thorns calling to mind his suffering and imbued with the inextinguishable flame of his love is ultimately the only symbol we really need," Leo said.

"It is important for us to remember that the Sacred Heart does not merely refer to Jesus' physical heart but to his entire interior life — his will, emotions, thoughts, desires, and love. It signifies the love that motivated the Incarnation, Our Lord's earthly ministry, his passion, and ultimately the offering of himself on the cross for the redemption of the world."

"Finally, during this month of June, I would encourage you to take time to renew your consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus," Leo said. "If you haven't already consecrated yourself, your family, and household to the most Sacred Heart, please consider doing so."

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