Catholic News

Pope Leo XIV urged members of the Vatican Gendarmerie on Oct. 3 to nurture their faith as they protect others, telling them that their service requires hearts guarded by the Lord.

The pope celebrated Mass at the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens in honor of the force's patron, St. Michael the Archangel.

He described the gendarmes' work as "a way of being laborers in the Lord's vineyard," stressing that their responsibilities extend beyond safeguarding buildings, grounds, and entrances to caring for people.

"One quality that stands out when we meet you is precisely this care: It is beautiful to see how you regard others not as problems to be solved but as people to be respected and protected," he said.

Reflecting on the parable of the wicked tenants in Matthew 21:33-43, the pope said the gendarmes should understand that "what we receive is a responsibility to be safeguarded with humility and dedication, to be carried out with discretion and a sense of duty."

"You know well that authority, in the light of the Gospel, is expressed above all in the ability to protect, listen, and accompany, with balance, firmness, and respect," he added.

Just as the vineyard owner's son stands at the center of the parable, Leo urged the gendarmes to place Jesus at the center of their lives.

"Before being gendarmes, you are men called to follow him. From him we learn strength that knows how to become gentleness, vigilance born of trust, authority that walks alongside humility, and the courage to intervene with a merciful heart," he said.

The pope also reflected on the second reading, from St. Paul's Letter to the Philippians, which urges believers to bring their needs to God in prayer rather than give in to anxiety.

The gendarmes' work, he said, would bring "quiet days and difficult days," moments requiring quick decisions, and situations that cause fatigue and worry.

But prayer offers a way to bear those burdens.

"A gendarme does not carry everything alone: He prays, knows how to entrust himself to God, and knows how to find again in God the peace that allows him to act with clarity and a serene heart," Leo said.

Those who protect others need hearts and minds "formed in goodness," he said, because they "must first safeguard within themselves truth, justice, goodness, and respect. Protecting others requires a heart guarded by the Lord."

"Your work certainly requires you to be vigilant, but today's word invites you to something even deeper: to watch carefully over yourselves as well," the pope added.

He urged the gendarmes to guard their hearts against becoming hardened, keeping them "always docile to God and attentive to others."

He also called on them to safeguard their consciences and their bonds of fraternity. A group becomes a community, he said, when "its members care for one another and learn to walk together, supporting one another with simplicity and love."

Leo concluded by thanking the gendarmes' families for the sacrifices that make their service possible.

"This year, too, I conclude with a thought of affection and gratitude for your families. To parents, wives, children, and fiancées: Thank you! You know the sacrifices, the absences, the schedules, the worries, and also the burden of a service that is not always seen," he said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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WASHINGTON — Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, underscored the importance of using the Holy Spirit's guidance in public affairs at the annual Red Mass marking the opening of the Supreme Court term.

Seeking the Holy Spirit's wisdom will help people reach their full potential in their work and responsibilities, Broglio said in the homily Oct. 4 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C.

"We also pray that our understanding of God's presence and his commandments will inspire integrity, devotion to meaning, and the promotion of harmony," he said.

Hosted by The John Carroll Society, the Red Mass drew more than 1,000 people, including Supreme Court justices, public officials, and Vice President JD Vance, to mark the opening of the judiciary term and pray for judges, attorneys, diplomats, and government leaders.

The name derives from the red color of the archbishops', cardinals', and priests' vestments. All Church officials who participated wore red to represent the tongues of fire symbolizing the presence of the Holy Spirit.

This year marked the 74th anniversary of the Red Mass in Washington, one of several such celebrations held worldwide, such as in Rome, Paris, and London, to invoke blessings on justice administrators.

In response to last year's Red Mass, when a New Jersey man threatened Catholics and Supreme Court justices, security measures were increased. Amid the increased security, attendees included law students and faculty from area schools such as Georgetown University and The Catholic University of America.

Mark Cummings, a member of the John Carroll Society, an adjunct professor at George Mason University, and a partner at Sher, Cummings, and Ellis, said attendance at the Mass would help students.

"It's inspiring for them, and I think it's a very healthy thing to be able to mix with the Supreme Court justices, superior court judges and courts of appeals, as well as Vice President Vance," Cummings said. "I don't know where else they'd have an opportunity to see so many people who have made it in the profession and are serving as Supreme Court justices."

Broglio "talked about the importance of the Constitution, the importance of our laws, and that everybody, even the meekest and lowest of citizens, should have access to justice and how we should. It's set up that way with our Constitution and Bill of Rights," Cummings said.

Cummings said Broglio's message was a call for those in the legal profession and public service to help ensure that everyone has equal access to justice.

Broglio also advised officials on how charity should guide all legal professions.

"Your service to order and the virtue of justice is deeply appreciated even by this canon lawyer," said Broglio, who holds a doctorate in canon law.

Broglio said immigrants, past and present, have helped build the United States, and he urged legal professionals to be "architects of hope" to ensure that charity and fraternity shape the pursuit of justice.

"In his first encyclical, Pope Leo wrote that the way a society treats migrants, refugees, and those forced to move reveals whether its sense of justice is driven by fear or by the spirit of fraternity," Broglio said.

"Perhaps if more of us directed our thoughts in the ways of peace, we would discover and develop a more civil society and and learn to live in harmony with our neighbors," Broglio said.

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Two Christian women were killed early on Oct. 3 in an Israeli strike on a residential apartment in western Gaza City, according to Palestinian and Church sources. The women had recently moved into the apartment after spending a prolonged period sheltering at Holy Family Catholic Church during the ongoing war.

The victims were identified as Maysaa Khader Ibrahim Abu Dawoud and Mary Hafez Michel al-Najjar. They had been living in an apartment in the Institutions area of western Gaza City.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.

In a statement to ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, George Anton, the director of operations for the Latin Patriarchate in Gaza, said the two women had stayed at Holy Family Catholic Church throughout the war before recently moving into a rented apartment in an effort to resume a more stable life after months of displacement and sheltering at the church.

Anton said the apartment was struck early on Oct. 3, killing both women. He said their deaths had "left deep sorrow among Christian families in the Gaza Strip."

In a statement of mourning issued by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa expressed his "profound sorrow and grief" over the deaths of the two women in the strike on Gaza City.

Pizzaballa in the statement offered his condolences to their families and to Gaza's Christian community, praying that God would grant their loved ones consolation and strength during the painful time.

Holy Family Catholic Parish and the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius in Gaza also mourned the two women and offered condolences to the Abu Dawoud, Ayyad, and al-Najjar families.

Anton pointed to figures recently cited by Pizzaballa showing a sharp decline in Gaza's Christian population since the outbreak of the war, as members of the community have either died or left the Gaza Strip.

In September, Pizzaballa said the number of Christians remaining in Gaza — Catholics and Orthodox combined — had fallen to 541, down from 1,017 before the war.

Churches in Gaza have sheltered hundreds of displaced people during the conflict, Anton said, including people who lost their homes or were forced to flee them.

Holy Family Catholic Church and St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church have provided shelter to Christian and non-Christian families, while some families later moved into alternative housing as the war and widespread destruction continued.

The deaths of the two women underscore the precarious situation facing Christians who have remained in the Gaza Strip. Like other Palestinians in Gaza, they continue to endure displacement, the loss of relatives and homes, and deteriorating humanitarian conditions while seeking to preserve their Christian presence and religious life under extremely difficult circumstances.

This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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Pope Leo XIV met on Monday at the Vatican with several prominent U.S. bishops and the leadership of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

From Oct. 1–5, the U.S.-born pontiff held private audiences with five U.S. bishops and is scheduled to meet with three U.S. cardinals in a Vatican conference marking the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical Amoris Laetitia, to be held from Oct. 7–14.

On Oct. 5, Leo met separately with four U.S. bishops, including the USCCB president, Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, and the vice president, Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas. They will represent the USCCB at the meeting "Ten Years After Amoris Lætitia: Proclaiming the Gospel with Families Today."

Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, met with Leo on Oct. 1. The evangelist and founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries also served as a keynote speaker at a conference at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in Rome on Sept. 30, where he described Catholicism as deeply aligned with American ideals. He also ordained 18 deacons for the Pontifical North American College at St. Peter's Basilica on Oct. 1, the same day as his private audience with the pontiff.

Three U.S. cardinals will also join Coakley and Flores on the U.S. delegation. Cardinals Blase Cupich of Chicago, Robert McElroy of Washington, D.C., and Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, will be present at the meeting as the only three U.S. cardinals who are diocesan bishops.

Leo XIV also met with Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, 11 days after the bishop participated in the beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, also of Peoria. Tylka also announced the first-ever parish named after Sheen in Peoria on Sept. 26.

The pope also met with Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami. As required by canon law, Wenski submitted his resignation to the pope upon reaching his 75th birthday in October 2025.

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Pope Leo XIV affirmed to the Vatican labor associations the irreplaceable nature of human work in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).

The pontiff held a private audience on Monday with a delegation of the Vatican Lay Employees Association and the Women in the Vatican Association. The groups are the only two labor associations in Vatican City State, with the Vatican Lay Employees Association having been founded in 1979 and the Women in the Vatican Association in 2016.

'Keep attention on human work, not AI developments'

In his remarks, Leo emphasized the dignity of human work in an age when AI developments can change how work is valued and performed.

"In the face of today's challenges in the world of work, especially those posed by developments in artificial intelligence, it is more important than ever to keep attention focused on the irreplaceable centrality of the human person and the inalienable dignity of work," Leo said.

Drawing from his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, Leo explained that work is not merely a tool but a requirement for personal fulfillment.

"Work is not a simple tool," Leo said.

"It is a requirement inscribed in the human condition, an ordinary path toward maturity, development, and personal fulfillment," the pope added.

The pope invited his audience to foster dialogue and noted in particular women's contributions in this regard.

"The presence of women is a richness that must be increasingly recognized and valued," the pope said. "Their expertise, discernment, creativity, and practicality enhance the life of institutions and contribute to a broader perspective on reality and the problems encountered."

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At a Monday audience celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Korean Pontifical College's inauguration in Rome, Pope Leo XIV met with Korean clergy and reflected on their remarkable journey of faith.

As preparations gather momentum for World Youth Day in Seoul in 2027, the meeting provided an occasion to celebrate how the Church in Korea has grown into a dynamic land of missionaries.

The pope emphasized that the Korean Church's vibrant growth rests firmly on the testimony of its martyrs. Through relentless persecution, devastating wars, crippling poverty, and national partition, Korean Catholics have continuously overcome incredible hardship.

"The Korean people have demonstrated throughout history an extraordinary strength of character," Leo remarked.

The pope said it was a powerful testament to God's grace that the faithful kept "the ability to go through the ordeal without losing hope and without letting suffering harden the heart."

Drawing pastoral inspiration from history, Leo highlighted the tireless witness of Venerable Thomas Choe Yang-Eop. Known for walking endless miles across Korea to connect remote, hidden villages and bring them the light of the Gospel, Father Choe serves as an enduring model for modern ministry, the pope said.

The pope urged the assembled clergy to imitate Choe's zeal: "In our time we have much need for men and women who have the courage to do good even when it costs them."

Recognizing the diverse dioceses and backgrounds represented among the clergy, the pope called for a renewed commitment to synodality. By listening to one another and moving past regional differences, priests embody a unified Church walking together on the same path through Christ, he said.

Finally, looking ahead to hosting the world's Catholic youth in 2027, the pope reminded the clergy to ground all their preparations in constant prayer, seeking the intercession of St. Andrew Kim Taegon, patron of Korean clergy.

"Young people from all over the world will arrive in a land where the Gospel has grown through the testimony of the martyrs," Leo said.

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With the aim of "living up to our heritage and fostering its growth," next month's Catholics and Public Life Congress in Madrid, Spain, aims to exalt the legacy of "Hispanidad," a term for the faith-based civilization and union between Spain and the Americas that was first championed by Queen Isabella (1451–1504).

The theme for this year's Nov. 13–15 congress is "The Americas and Spain: The Faith That Unites Us — A Round-Trip Journey," and features a joint statement on the subject titled "Manifesto for Hispanidad."

The text highlights the institutions that emerged from the Spanish enterprise in the Americas such as municipalities, universities, parishes, and hospitals, which "no international treaty has managed to replicate."

"None of this is artificial. None of this needs to be invented. It simply needs to be recognized and put at the service of the future," the manifesto proclaims.

"Isabella the Catholic Monarch did not set a mere promise in motion; she set a civilization in motion," the manifesto continues. Isabella and her husband, King Ferdinand, were given the title "the Catholic Monarchs" by Pope Alexander VI through the papal bull Si Convenit for their defense of the Catholic faith.

From this transatlantic civilization emerged the Laws of the Indies governing the Spanish colonial territories in the Americas through which Spain imposed limits on itself, along with the humanist thought of Francisco de Vitoria at the University of Salamanca, the cradle of international law and human rights.

This legacy, the manifesto continues, resulted in nonnegotiable principles such as "the dignity of the human person; the Greco-Latin heritage that gave us reason and the rule of law; the Christian tradition that shaped our concept of community; respect for the law as a limit on power; civil liberties as a condition for a decent life; and a legal framework capable of protecting property, contracts, and enterprise as engines of prosperity."

More than 500 years after its inception, this civilization comprises a community of 600 million people who share a common language and presents "a demographic outlook that no other Western project can match."

Furthermore, the manifesto notes that "Hispanidad is not limited to the political sphere or relations between governments and nations" but rather "demands a profound and, if necessary, radical change of attitude to defend, expand, and develop it" as well as a "cultural and moral dimension worthy of its history."

Ultimately, the organizers of the Nov. 13–15 congress, the Catholic Association of Propagandists (who says its goal is to propagate or spread the Catholic faith), hold that "reclaiming Hispanidad does not mean looking to the past: It is acting with the confidence of those who start from a position of strength." For this reason, it urges people to "stop treating as a minor legacy what is, in reality, our greatest competitive and moral advantage in the world to come."

"Isabella the Catholic Monarch founded it. Vitoria conceived it. The Laws of the Indies codified it. Five hundred years of shared institutions have sustained it. It falls to us, quite simply, to live up to what we have inherited and to make it grow. Together, we are stronger. That is the starting point and also the conclusion," the manifesto declares.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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The University of Notre Dame's de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture on Oct. 4 announced that its 2027 Evangelium Vitae Medal would be awarded to the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne for what the center described as more than a century of "truth and love" serving poor and dying people.

The de Nicola Center said it would present the award to Mother Superior Marie Edward, O.P., during a special Mass and dinner at the university on April 24, 2027. This year's is the 16th annual award the center has presented.

Founded in 1900 by Mother Mary Alphonsa — born Rose Hawthorne, the daughter of famed novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne — the congregation is headquartered in Hawthorne, New York. The sisters there are devoted to caring for impoverished men and women dying from cancer.

Notre Dame President Father Robert Dowd, CSC, said in a press release that the sisters in their work "radiate the very mercy of God."

"Since their founding, they have proclaimed the Gospel of Life through direct service to God's beloved poor, fulfilling Christ's command to comfort the sick and give shelter to the homeless," Dowd said.

The sisters' ministry, he said, "highlights the inherent, God-given dignity of every human person, regardless of worldly success or social status."

Jennifer Newsome Martin, director of the ethics center at the school, likewise described the sisters as "a shining example of Christian charity in action."

The Evangelium Vitae medal is presented annually on Respect Life Sunday. It is named after Pope St. John Paul II's famed 1995 encyclical that testifies in part to the inherent dignity of human life and the need to care for and protect the most vulnerable.

Mother Mary Alphonsa died in 1926 and is buried at Rosary Hill Home at the congregation's headquarters. She was declared venerable by Pope Francis in 2024.

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Noah McKay was always "at least slightly" more confident than not that God existed.

The philosophy doctoral student at Princeton University recently announced his conversion to Catholicism, but he told EWTN News that he struggled for years with what he saw as uncertainties related to faith, including the problem of evil and the "problem of divine hiddenness."

McKay is the second Princeton philosophy scholar this year to convert to the Catholic faith; earlier in the summer Joe Schmid announced his own return to the faith after years of having run an agnostic-themed philosophy channel on YouTube.

"I was never an atheist, and I don't think I was ever agnostic," McKay told EWTN News. But he experienced profound uncertainties in high school and graduate school, some of which were also related to what he described as "difficulties with the reliability and interpretation of the Bible."

While he never fully abandoned belief in God, "what firmly convinced me of theism were, first, design arguments based on the fine-tuning of physics for the emergence of life, and, second, the empirical evidence for contemporary Christian miracles," he said.

"Arguments from consciousness, moral knowledge, and natural beauty also played a role," he added.

It is perhaps unsurprising that a philosophy scholar would be drawn into the Church in part by scholarly inquiry. Schmid told EWTN News shortly after his conversion, for instance, that "contingency arguments" helped convince him of God's existence.

McKay, meanwhile, cited "evidence for vindicatory Catholic miracles" as helping lead him to the Catholic Church specifically.

Those miracles "presuppose distinctive teachings of the Catholic Church," he pointed out, and the evidence for them, he argued, is "as good or better than the evidence for the more generically Christian miracles" in which McKay himself already believed.

He told EWTN News that out of the necessity of consistency he felt he needed to either accept all of those Catholic miracles or reject all of them. "And the evidence was too strong for rejecting all of them to be reasonable!" he said.

The evidence for those miracles wasn't the only thing that convinced him of the truth of the Catholic faith, he said, but "it did motivate me to look into the history and theology of the Church more carefully," and the evidence he found for Catholicism was "very strong."

He urged those considering Catholicism for the first time, or those who are considering returning to it, to start with researching those miracles.

Speaking to Catholic YouTube apologist Cameron Bertuzzi in a recent interview, McKay argued that "if you already accept that Christianity is true, the inference to Catholicism is irresistible."

He admitted that his decision to join the Church caused his close friends and family "distress" given his Protestant background.

But "I think Catholicism — if you're fully informed, if you're really considering all of the evidence — I think Catholicism is basically going to be irresistible," he said.

Speaking to EWTN News, he also urged potential converts and reverts: "Pray!"

"I found praying the rosary especially helpful when I was discerning Catholicism," he said. "Just ask God to help you earnestly seek the truth and make the means of discovering it available. Those who seek Christ, earnestly and prayerfully, will find him."

"I'm going to ask God to make himself known to everyone who reads this article!" he added.

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The Villaregia Missionary Community has established a new presence in Ghinnir, in Ethiopia's East Bale, seeking to reach communities where the Catholic Church has a limited presence.

Ethiopia's East Bale region is in the Oromia region of the country and encompasses the eastern areas of Bale Mountains National Park.

According to a report on Sept. 29 by Agenzia Fides, the Villaregia Missionary Community has been visiting communities in East Bale where they have been raising awareness about femFRICA/ETHIOPIA, including the issues of female genital mutilation and early marriage.

Teresa Zullo, a missionary from the Community of Villaregia who has been in Ethiopia for seven years, following an invitation from Father Angelo Antolini, prefect of the Apostolic Prefecture of Robe, said that missionary work is not permanent. She said it is about taking the Gospel and pastoral services to places in most need.

"There are moments when mission asks us to stay, to put down roots, and build relationships, and there are others when it asks us to set out again and cross new horizons. The time has come for us to begin again," Zullo said.

"We moved to Ghinnir, in the heart of East Bale. This decision was born from a journey of discernment and from the years of experience we gained in a territory that we have gradually come to know more closely."

The missionary described the relocation as a new stage in the journey, saying they are "leaving what is familiar, entering a new reality and learning how to be present where there is not yet a Catholic community," especially in Muslim-dominant areas where they are seeking to offer "a presence of relationship, listening, service, and fraternity."

The missionaries establishing a new presence in Ghinnir hope their decision will enable them to extend some of their services to remote areas of East Bale, especially those near the Somali Region in Ethiopia.

"The move is therefore not simply a change of place. It is a new step: a new reality to discover, new people to meet, and new roads to travel. A home to inhabit, but a tent in our hearts: ready to stay, to meet others, and, when the time comes, to set out again," Zullo said.

The move follows seven years of missionary service in Robe and Goba parishes, where the community has been involved in pastoral activities and gradually developed relationships with local communities.

"We began taking our first steps in this challenging context. The slow process of learning the language, our encounters with people, and the time spent traveling allowed us, little by little, to begin our pastoral activities and to become part of this new reality," Zullo said.

The missionary said the community's experience in other parts of Ethiopia has inspired them to move to East Bale, where many have fled due to extreme drought, and that this has encouraged them to support vulnerable communities there.

"Three years ago, a prolonged period of drought forced many people to leave the East Bale region and head towards Robe in search of opportunities. As we passed near the bus station in Robe, we noticed their presence. We approached them, asked some questions, and discovered that they came from East Bale. We thus found ourselves facing a vast territory that was almost completely neglected by the Church's missionary activity. For us, this became an insistent call to our identity as missionaries 'ad gentes,'" she said.

Zullo said the community sees its small numerical presence as an opportunity to build closer relationships with local people and spread the Gospel effectively.

"Being numerically insignificant can represent a great opportunity for the Gospel, a precious opportunity to draw close to others, not to frighten them, to recognize the positive forces within the local community and to build networks with them," she said.

"Mobility, therefore, is not merely a practical matter; it is part of the way we understand mission. A Church that moves, a Church that goes out, a Church that draws near. This choice concerns not only our fraternity but is part of the journey of the Apostolic Prefecture of Robe, which is called to grow and continually broaden the scope of its evangelizing mission," Zullo added.

Regarding the missionaries settling in Ghinnir, Zullo expressed hope that despite the challenges they are going to face, their focus will remain on their main agenda, which is to spread the Gospel and support the local communities in the region.

"We left Robe just a few days ago, and now here we are in Ghinnir, without knowing what awaits us. We would like to set out again with a home to live in, but with a tent in our hearts, ready to stay, to meet others, and, when the time comes, to set out again," Zullo said.

The Villaregia Missionary Community is a Catholic community made up of consecrated men and women, clergy, married couples, and single people of different nationalities, united by the same spirituality and the same mission: to be a community for the "ad gentes" "to the nations" mission.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

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