Catholic News
- Pope, in World Youth Day message, emphasizes Christ's words: 'Take courage, I have overcome the world' (CWN)
“Take courage: I have overcome the world!” is the theme of Pope Leo XIV’s World Youth Day message, released by the Vatican on November 3. - Curbing infections, not people—Part II (CWN)
An exclusive CWN report by Phil Lawler - Pope, in video, prays for detachment, sharing of money, time, talents (CWN)
In a video message associated with his November prayer intention (for the proper use of wealth), Pope Leo XIV said that “a heart detached from possessions transforms the world: it opens paths of justice, tears down walls of indifference, and sows hope among the poor.” - No changes to schedule of Pope's Latin American journey despite surgery, Vatican officials say (Vatican News)
At a November 3 press conference, Vatican officials presented an overview of Pope Leo’s upcoming apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru. Maria Montserrat Alvarado, the new prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, and Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, said that no changes have been made to the scheduled itinerary, despite the Pontiff’s recent lung surgery. Alvarado said that Pope Leo asked her to share a message to journalists: He is personally looking forward to this journey and hopes that you will help share his message of peace and encounter with the world, so that others can see what he knows through personal experience: the wonderful way the Church is expressed in Latin America through its diverse peoples and cultures. - Curbing infections, not people—Part I (CWN)
An exclusive CWN report by Phil Lawler - Vatican diplomat calls for protection of civilians, houses of worship in wartime (Holy See Mission)
Addressing a meeting on international humanitarian law (IHL), a Vatican diplomat emphasized the law’s importance in wartime. “International humanitarian law forbids hostilities conducted amidst and against civilian population. It is extremely regrettable that this still frequently occurs, also at the expense of civilian infrastructures that are essential for the survival and well-being of the population, including schools and hospitals,” Archbishop Ettore Balestrero Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, said on November 3. The prelate said that the Holy See “reiterates the importance” of “protecting places of worship, which constitute a fundamental part of the cultural and spiritual heritage of peoples and which, alas, are ever more often destroyed, damaged, and misused.” “Since the rapid development and increasing application of artificial intelligence in the military domain is changing the nature of the conduct of hostilities, it is essential to recall that IHL imposes obligations on States, parties to armed conflict, and individuals, not on machines or algorithms,” he added. “Therefore, responsibilities regarding the violations of IHL must not be shifted from human actors.” - Head of German bishops: We want 'full communion' with the Pope (Catholic Herald)
The chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference told fellow European bishops that “we want to walk this [synodal] path as the Catholic Church, in full communion with the Holy Father and in fidelity to the Church’s Magisterium.” “We do not want to set out on our own or isolated path,” Bishop Heiner Wilmer of Münster said at a recent meeting of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences. “We do not want a specifically German path that distances us from the universal Church.” In 2023, Pope Francis said that the German Synodal Path threatens Church unity. Prefects of Vatican dicasteries objected to the creation of a German Synodal Conference to govern the Church there, leading to the conference’s indefinite postponement. - USCCB, Catholic colleges call for changes to Trump administration's racial nondiscrimination regulations (USCCB)
The general counsel of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, joined by the president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities and the general counsel of the Catholic University of America, called for changes to the Trump administration’s proposed regulations on racial nondiscrimination in private schools. The bishops’ general counsel and the other signatories called on the administration to “limit the rule to invidious discrimination and make explicit that sincerely religious curricular and other decisions by religious schools furthering their religious mission do not violate a fundamental public policy.” They also described the regulations as “particularly problematic for Catholic schools since a majority of them admit students based on the co-extensive boundaries of the parish churches they serve.” They explained: If all trait-conscious assistance could be conflated with discrimination, these non-discriminating churches and their schools may be subject to repeated, resource-intensive inquiries to attempt to prove they are not discriminating. Of course, no Catholic schools to our knowledge use race or ethnicity for admissions. But where schools draw from homogenous geographic communities, the proposed rule could subject them to charges of discrimination based on the composition of the student body. More concerning is that the breadth of this new rule makes the line between a religious criterion and an ethnic one the IRS’s to draw and usurps the role of the Church in determining how best to serve its communities. - Pope mourns passing of Peruvian archbishop who was scheduled to host him (Vatican News (Spanish))
Pope Leo XIV mourned the death of Archbishop Richard Daniel Alarcón Urrutia of Cusco, who was scheduled to host him in the Peruvian city during the Pontiff’s upcoming apostolic journey there. In a message to Archbishop Lizardo Estrada Herrera, O.S.A., the coadjutor archbishop, Pope Leo wrote, “Recalling this selfless pastor who, for years and with great fidelity, dedicated his life to the service of God and the Church, I offer prayers for the eternal rest of his soul, that the Lord Jesus may grant him the crown of glory that does not fade.” - Nuns' visit to Buddhist monastery sparks debate in Vietnam (UCANews)
A visit of 100 Vietnamese religious sisters to a Buddhist monastery sparked controversy following the publication of photographs of them offering incense and meditating before a statue of Buddha. “Good subjective intentions are not sufficient to justify an action that is objectively incompatible with the faith,” said Father Peter Nguyen Van Khai, C.Ss.R. - Viriginia voters approve abortion, same-sex marriage constitutional amendments (VPM)
Voters in Virginia approved ballot initiatives enshrining abortion and same-sex marriage as state constitutional rights. 61% of voters approved the abortion amendment; 56% of voters approved the same-sex marriage amendment. The state’s bishops had urged the faithful to reject the initiatives. - Idaho voters reject abortion ballot initiative, preserve protections for unborn (Idaho State Journal)
Over 55% of voters in Idaho rejected a ballot initiative that would have permitted abortion during the first six months of pregnancy—and in doing so, preserved the state’s current law, which protects most unborn children from abortion. The state’s sole bishop had urged the faithful to reject the initiative. - Nevada voters approve abortion constitutional amendment (The Hill)
63% of Nevada voters approved a ballot initiative establishing a state constitutional right to abortion up to viability. The Nevada Catholic Conference had urged a no vote on the initiative. - Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Colorado Catholic preschool case (Supreme Court of the United States)
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on November 3 in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, a case involving Colorado’s universal preschool program. The Becket Fund explained that Colorado’s Department of Early Childhood excluded Denver archdiocesan schools from the program “by claiming the Archdiocese’s religious exercise—asking all families who enroll to support and uphold the Catholic Church’s teachings—was inconsistent with the preschool funding program’s requirements” regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the state; the Supreme Court agreed to hear the plaintiffs’ appeal. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops filed a brief in support of the Colorado parish and the other plaintiffs in the case. - Pope Leo votes in US midterm elections; USCCB issues statement (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV cast a mail-in ballot in the U.S. midterm elections. - 220 million Christians live in conditions of persecution (Aid to the Church in Need)
413 million Christians live in nations “where serious violations of religious freedom occur,” and “about 220 million Christians worldwide are directly exposed to persecution,” according to a new report from Aid to the Church in Need. The report examines oppression under authoritarian regimes, violence committed by Islamist terrorist groups, and the displacement of millions of Christians from their homes. “What is shocking is just how mainstream—dare I say tolerated—the persecution of Christians is as simply part of the global reality,” said Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn. “Awareness of so much persecution moves us to a greater solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are suffering. As Christians, we pray and cry out for respect for religious freedom of all people in every land.” - More...