News

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The faithful are called to leave behind "all passivity and indifference" toward current events and the lives of others, especially amid the "rapid and profound changes we are experiencing today," Pope Leo XIV said at his weekly general audience."We cannot remain as unengaged spectators; rather, we must listen with our hearts, allow ourselves to be challenged, and become involved," the pope said Sept. 2 in St. Peter’s Square."With Christ and sustained by the power of His Spirit, believers are called to take on the burdens of their brothers and sisters, especially those who are crushed by injustice, discrimination and violence," he said.Pope Leo began a new series of reflections on the Second Vatican Council's pastoral constitution "Gaudium et Spes," which examines the relationship between the Church and the modern world.Recalling St. John XXIII's warning against the "prophets of doom," who regarded t

CASTEL GANDOLFO (CNS) -- Whatever the injustice or injury, do not revert to hatred or violence, Pope Leo XIV told the faithful, because only love, hope, forgiveness and respect will protect and promote human dignity."We are in such need of life, hope, serenity and peace -- within ourselves, in our cities and among people and nations. For this reason, whatever the wound, whatever the offense, let us not allow evil to disfigure our humanity or corrupt our hearts!" he said in his homily at a Mass Aug. 29, marking the feast of Our Lady of the Lake in the town of Castel Gandolfo."Let us not conform to the mindset of this world" and not get discouraged, he said. "Let us continue to love, to give and to forgive, offering ourselves 'as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God,' so that we may preserve and nurture -- in ourselves and in others -- the infinite dignity of the divine image we bear in our souls."  Pope Leo XIV rides in a boat in Lake Al

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- "Firmly rooted" in the Church's living tradition, the liturgical reform put forth by the Second Vatican Council grew from the need for the faithful to celebrate the liturgy more "consciously and actively," and not "as strangers and silent spectators," Pope Leo XIV said."The faithful 'cannot and must no longer remain silent and passive. Their physical presence cannot be reconciled with their spiritual absence,'" he said, quoting Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini of Milan, the future Pope Paul VI and saint, who was attending the council's first session at the time in 1962.The Council Fathers expressed "a renewed awareness of the value of the liturgy," Pope Leo said during his general audience talk in St. Peter's Basilica Aug. 26, which focused on the constitution on the sacred liturgy, "Sacrosanctum Concilium," and why the council sought to promote the liturgy's reform.  Pope Leo XIV talks to v

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As wars multiply and the post-World War II international order comes under increasing strain, Pope Leo XIV has spent the opening months of his pontificate articulating a Catholic vision for international relations rooted in human dignity, international law and multilateral cooperation.Through his speeches, diplomatic addresses and first encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas," the U.S. pope has consistently argued -- like his predecessors -- that lasting peace depends less on military strength than on politics grounded in the dignity of every person.This clear message comes as nationalism, unilateralism and open conflict challenge the existing international order created post-World War II, during which many of the world's superpowers focused efforts on fostering free trade, collaboration and the development of global institutions like the World Bank and United Nations.But what has changed, scholars told Catholic News Service, is the landscape itself, as the in