Chicago chefs to open eco-friendly restaurant at Vatican's papal retreat

Visiting pilgrims to the Vatican Gardens at Castel Gandolfo during the 2025 Jubilee Year will have the opportunity to taste the produce of Borgo Laudato Si's organic farm, where olive oil will be pressed from the estate's 1,000 olive trees and a vineyard will produce wine using advanced, pesticide-free techniques. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNACNA Staff, Sep 7, 2025 / 14:56 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV announced a historic partnership between the Vatican and two famous Chicago restaurateurs, Art Smith and Phil Stefani, to open a restaurant at , a 135-acre "zero environmental impact" complex in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. Pope Leo XIV inaugurated the project during a live-streamed ceremony on Sept. 5, viewed at a Chicago watch party attended by Stefani, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and other prominent figures.The new restaurant will be located within the historic Papal Villas, a 17th-century summer residence for popes. The site promotes Pope Francis' teachings on environmental steward...

Maronite bishops call for full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty

The Maronite bishops gather for their monthly meeting at the Patriarchal Summer Residence in Dimane, Lebanon, where they issued a statement that Lebanon must seize available regional and international opportunities to restore full sovereignty over its territory and unite around constitutional institutions. / Credit: Maronite PatriarchateACI MENA, Sep 7, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Lebanon must seize available regional and international opportunities to restore full sovereignty over its territory and unite around constitutional institutions, the Maronite bishops stressed in a recent statement. They emphasized that full sovereignty is essential for achieving the state's reform agenda and for leading Lebanon out of its ongoing crisis.The bishops' statement came during their monthly gathering on Sept. 3, held at the patriarchal summer residence in Dimane, a mountainous village in the North Governorate of Lebanon, under the leadership of Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi and with...

LIVE UPDATES: Canonization of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, the first saints of Pope Leo XIV

Blessed Carlo Acutis (left) and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. / Credit: Diocese of Assisi/Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsVatican City, Sep 7, 2025 / 06:49 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV proclaimed the Italians Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis as saints of the Church on Sunday.Follow here for live updates and continuing coverage:

Pope Proclaims Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati Saints

Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati / EWTN NewsVatican City, Sep 7, 2025 / 04:25 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV proclaimed the Italians Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis as saints of the Church on Sunday, decreeing their veneration among the Catholic faithful. The canonizations of the new saints, promulgated before a crowd of thousands in St. Peter's Square, were the first of Leo's pontificate.This story is developing.

What is the difference between evangelizing and proselytizing?

Bishop José Ignacio Munilla during his presentation on evangelization in the Diocese of Santa Marta, Colombia. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Diocese of Santa MartaACI Prensa Staff, Sep 6, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).There are five indicators to keep in mind to know whether you're evangelizing or falling into proselytism, a behavior far from authentic apostolic zeal, Bishop José Ignacio Munilla explained during an event in Colombia.The bishop of Orihuela-Alicante in Spain is currently in Santa Marta, Colombia, participating in Evangelization Week, organized by the local diocese to mark the city's 500th anniversary."What are the nuances of the negative meaning of the term proselytism? What indicators, what clues could we observe to determine what proselytism is in order to distinguish it from apostolic zeal?" the prelate asked.The Spanish bishop asked these questions noting that Pope Francis had said that being a missionary is not the same as being a proselytizer and that Pope Benedict X...

Pope Leo XIV at jubilee audience: The cross of Christ is 'greatest discovery' of life

Pope Leo XIV addresses a crowd during a jubilee audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Sep 6, 2025 / 10:45 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Saturday resumed special jubilee audiences, begun by Pope Francis after the opening of the Church's Year of Hope, telling Christians that the cross of Christ is a great treasure and source of hope.Before delivering his morning catechesis on Chapter 4 of St. Mark's Gospel, the Holy Father greeted hundreds of pilgrims in St. Peter's Square from his popemobile, blessing several babies and accepting various gifts from people from different countries.Pope Leo XIV greets attendees during a jubilee audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaIn his Gospel reflection, the pope said hope and happiness is rekindled when people "break through the crust of reality" and "go beneath the surface," like the man in the parable who sold all his poss...

Minnesota Catholic leader: 'All of the above' needed for school safety in wake of shooting

Jason Adkins, the executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, speaks to "EWTN News In Depth" anchor Catherine Hadro on the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. "Almost everyone ... in our Catholic community has a connection to Annunciation," he said. / Credit: "EWTN News In Depth."/ScreenshotCNA Staff, Sep 6, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).A leading Catholic advocate in Minnesota is calling for an "all-of-the-above" approach to school safety and security in the wake of the Aug. 27 mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis that claimed the lives of two children and injured more than 20 children and adults.Jason Adkins, the executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, told "EWTN News In Depth" anchor Catherine Hadro on Friday that "nonpublic school students" should have access to the same levels of security as those in public schools."We've been consistent advocates for [security] policies that include,...

French seminarian, inspired by Frassati, publishes book about the soon-to-be saint

Timothée Croux, a young seminarian from the French Diocese of Meaux, has written a book about Pier Giorgio Frassati. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN NewsACI Prensa Staff, Sep 6, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).Timothée Croux, a young seminarian from the French Diocese of Meaux in the Île-de-France region of the country, says the example of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati played a decisive role in his vocational discernment.Croux said he discovered Frassati, who was from Turin, Italy, and who died in 1925, through scouting and shares many personal affinities with the soon-to-be saint. "I delved deeper into Frassati's personality during my preparatory year, before entering the seminary," he said. "I discovered that there were many things in his biography that resembled mine. For example, we both have a passion for the mountains.""We both sought an authentic vocation, although in the end he decided not to become a priest in order to serve the poor in the mines, studying engineering to be...

Bishop's message to young people ahead of Acutis canonization: 'Follow his example'

Carlo Acutis. / Credit: carloacutis.comACI Prensa Staff, Sep 6, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).Domenico Sorrentino, the bishop of Assisi, Italy, where the remains of Blessed Carlo Acutis rest, sent a message of encouragement to young people just prior to Pope Leo XIV's declaring Acutis a saint of the Catholic Church along with another young Italian, Pier Giorgio Frassati."Dear faithful and most beloved young people, let yourselves be guided by Carlo, follow his example, follow in his footsteps, walk his path, because it is the right path, the one that leads to Jesus and, therefore, to love and joy," the Italian prelate said in a message published Sept. 5.The bishop of Assisi sent his message just two days before the canonization of Acutis, who will be declared a saint alongside Frassati on Sunday, Sept. 7, at a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican at 10 a.m. local time.Sorrentino also said that "today more than ever we need positive examples, exemplary li...

Italian bishop celebrates Mass for LGBT pilgrimage in Rome's Church of the Gesù

The Church of the Gesù, where a Mass and prayer vigil for LGBT Christians took place on Sept. 6, 2025, in Rome during the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. / Credit: essevu/ShutterstockVatican City, Sep 6, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA).Bishop Francesco Savino, vice president of the Italian Bishops' Conference, celebrated Mass at the Church of the Gesù on Saturday for LGBT pilgrims in Rome for the Jubilee of Hope.An Italian lay association organized the international pilgrimage, which included a morning Mass celebration inside the mother church of the Society of Jesus in Rome and a St. Peter's Basilica Holy Door pilgrimage in the afternoon.More than 1,000 pilgrims from around the world attended the Mass concelebrated by approximately 30 priests, including American Father James Martin, SJ, who had met with Pope Leo XIV in a Sept. 1 private audience at the Vatican.Several people, including religious brothers and sisters, waved rainbow-colored fans to keep cool inside the packed church and some w...