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 international postwar order enters a period of profound transition. The 2026 Global Peace Index found 61 active state-based conflicts last year, the highest number since World War II ended, and concluded that global peace has deteriorated for the 12th consecutive year. 

In his first encyclical, Pope Leo was clear that the global institutions that encourage partnership through multilateralism are eroding.

"The institutions that were established to safeguard the concept of a common future for all peoples and a global common good appear to have been weakened," Pope Leo wrote, arguing that the weakening of multilateral institutions has coincided with renewed conflict, distrust and what he calls a "culture of power."

Fabio Petito, professor of religion and international affairs at the University of Sussex, told CNS July 13 that the existing system after World War II, built on U.S. leadership, multilateral institutions and international law, is fragmenting as global power shifts toward a more multipolar world.

"We are living in this moment in which this system of regulated international relations for many decades is really in trouble," Petito said. The result, he said, has been "a return to some form of power politics," reflected in proliferating wars, nationalism, rearmament and militarization.

Rather than proposing a detailed blueprint for a new global order, Petito said the pope is advancing Catholic principles that should guide one. Central among them are the defense of multilateralism, international law and the belief that every person possesses an inherent dignity that transcends nationality, ideology or political interest. 

That vision has already become key in Vatican diplomacy. Ahead of Pope Leo's visit to Monaco in March, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, told Vatican News that "international law appears weakened and at times overshadowed by the 'logic of power,'" warning against a return to doctrines that justify preventive war and calling small nations "natural guardians of multilateralism."

The same ideas also run throughout Pope Leo's own writings.

Scott Appleby, founding dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, told CNS July 21 that the pope's international vision is rooted in St. Augustine's distinction between the City of God and the City of Man. Throughout "Magnifica Humanitas," Pope Leo invokes St. Augustine's contrast between societies ordered toward power and those ordered toward the common good, which becomes a choice between a "culture of power" and a "civilization of love."

That framework, Appleby argued, serves as the organizing principle of "Magnifica Humanitas," explaining the pope's criticism of nationalism, militarization, economic exploitation and the erosion of international law.

"The project for a civilization of love, therefore, must undertake the task of transforming this imposed interdependence into a willed and chosen solidarity," Pope Leo wrote in his encyclical.

The pope's repeated references to a "civilization of love" – a concept first expressed by Pope Paul VI – are not simply spiritual language but the organizing principle of his international thought, Appleby said. He said Pope Leo's writings suggest that he rejects the assumption that nations are destined to pursue power at one another's expense. Instead, the pope argues that political communities can be ordered toward the common good when they recognize the inherent dignity of every person and place dialogue, justice and solidarity above coercion.

"Those are the hooks to hang everything on," Appleby said.

Appleby said the pope's vision is also deeply rooted in the Second Vatican Council, which reoriented the Catholic Church's relationship with the modern world by emphasizing the inherent dignity of every person, regardless of their religion.

"For him, it's a period of great flourishing of religious freedom, pluralism, the Church itself becoming more global," Appleby said of the U.S. pope.

Petito and Appleby said the pope does not seek a return to the post-Cold War world but believes it squandered an opportunity to build political institutions capable of sustaining solidarity. In "Magnifica Humanitas," Pope Leo criticizes the "almost blind faith" placed in markets after 1989, writing that the world is now "regressing from the significant turning point of the twentieth century."

"What the world failed to do is create political structures capable of supporting a civilization of love," Appleby said. "Instead, markets became the end-all and be-all of the new world order," contributing to today's crises of nationalism, weakened international institutions and renewed conflict.

The pope also repeatedly rejects unilateralism. Whether speaking about migration, war or governance, he argues that modern crises cannot be solved by individual states acting alone. 

"No nation can face a challenge of this magnitude on its own," Pope Leo told the Spanish Parliament at the Congress of the Deputies in Madrid June 8. "Therefore, a coordinated, supportive, and effective response is indispensable."

Throughout his speeches, he argues that diplomacy, international law and multilateral cooperation depend on recognizing the dignity of every person.

"Peace is not something we must invent: it is something we must embrace by accepting our neighbor as our brother and as our sister," the pope told community members in Bamenda, Cameroon, April 16, 2026.

Speaking at a June 22 seminar at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University, Massimo Faggioli, professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University, said the Vatican's diplomatic importance has increased precisely because traditional alliances are becoming less stable, calling the Vatican "one of the last visible guardians of multilateralism."

Faggioli argued in his talk that growing tensions between Europe and the United States have elevated the Vatican's diplomatic importance. Describing the U.S.-European alliance as once "a turbulent marriage," he said it is now unclear whether that relationship still exists.

He said that it is in this context that the Vatican is "one of those voices that advocate or help neutral bridges for reconciliation," leading to a period he believes could be "Pax Vaticana."

Jodok Troy is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. He told CNS July 20 that the Holy See has always promoted multilateralism and this idea of an international world order through diplomacy. But in an increasingly conflicted world, he said, the papacy has gotten louder.

"The argument of the popes always has been: we need to make sure of this multilateral order, because it's not something that is self-sustaining," Troy said. "It's not something that runs by itself. It requires consistent work."

The scholars also agreed Pope Leo is building on his predecessors' appeals and Pope Francis' unique legacy rather than departing from them.

"Pope Francis broke new ground," Faggioli said. "I don't see Pope Leo retreating from that ground."

Petito added that while Pope Francis often led through symbolic gestures, Pope Leo has shown greater interest in strengthening institutions.  

As Pope Leo continues to appoint more leaders from the Global South to senior Vatican positions, he is also strengthening ties to the regions where the Church's presence is growing fastest. 

In many of those countries, the Catholic Church serves not only as a religious institution but also as a trusted civic actor, with bishops frequently mediating conflicts, monitoring elections and advocating for democratic processes. That combination of demographic growth and public credibility could give the Holy See an increasingly important role in international affairs at a time when many state institutions are under strain.

Troy said the pope's emphasis on the Global South reflects more than a changing demographic makeup of the Church. Many of tomorrow's geopolitical challenges, he said, will emerge in regions where state institutions are weak but where the Catholic Church remains one of the few enduring social institutions, providing education, humanitarian assistance and moral authority.

"As political institutions become weaker," Troy said, "the Church will have an increasingly important role to play."

©2026 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Singing and playing music during the liturgy is an integral and necessary part of the celebration, which means it is much more than something "decorative," Pope Leo XIV said.

"In the liturgy, to sing and to play music means to pray, attuning one's heart to that of our sisters and brothers and to God, through active participation in the mystery that is being celebrated," he said during his general audience talk in St. Peter's Basilica Aug. 19.

"Far from being merely decorative, therefore, sacred music is a treasure of profound value. It should always be dignified, draw inspiration from Sacred Scripture and reflect the grandeur of the mystery celebrated," he added.

During the audience, the pope also invited all Catholics to continually cultivate "a genuine awareness of peace."

"May you sincerely recognize that peace is a precious and great gift, and that it requires a strong and constant commitment to achieve it, by honestly and truthfully following the paths that build and sustain it in society," he said in Italian.

In his main talk, Pope Leo continued his series of talks on the Second Vatican Council, focusing on the importance of sacred music as outlined in the council's constitution on the sacred liturgy, "Sacrosanctum Concilium." 

"Indeed, singing and playing a musical instrument are acts of prayer," he told English-speakers in his summary. "Music thus fosters our unity in praising God and opens our hearts to be fashioned by his grace."

The council's text "confirms and deepens the ministerial function of music in the liturgy, which had already been highlighted by St. Pius X" in 1903 with his document, "Tra Le Sollecitudini" ("Among the Concerns"), Pope Leo said in his main talk in Italian.

The Council Fathers recognized that "certain requirements" are, therefore, necessary, the first being that "it must respond at every level to what is most appropriate for the liturgical moment, beyond fashions or the particular sensitivities of composers," he said.

"Its form, especially in its melodic aspect, must be at once noble and simple, of high musical quality and easily performable, particularly when it is intended to be sung by the whole assembly," he added, referring to the teachings in the conciliar document.

The council recommended that "the texts too should be suitable, profound and at the same time readily understandable, inspired mainly by Sacred Scripture, the liturgical books and the spiritual tradition of the Church," so that "the law of prayer," which is also "the law of faith, may remain alive and continue to grow," the pope said.

"'Sacrosanctum Concilium' devotes considerable attention to the theme of the active participation of the faithful," because the emphasis is on fostering a "greater awareness of the mystery being celebrated and its relationship to daily life" in a "spirit of constant conversion," he said, quoting Pope Benedict XVI. 

Each minister and member of the faithful is called to perform those parts which pertain to their office in a "harmonious balance between the different ministries" and with appropriate moments of "reverent silence," he added.

The council attributes "great value to Gregorian chant, without excluding other genres of sacred music from the celebration," as well as to the organ, he said. The use of other instruments is permitted as long as the instruments are suitable for sacred use "and truly contribute to the edification of the faithful," he added, citing "Sacrosanctum Concilium."

Because inculturation was part of the council's reform, including in the field of sacred music, the Council Fathers underlined the importance of taking the musical traditions of different cultures seriously into consideration, making every practical effort to promote traditional music.

The formation and practice of sacred music should be encouraged in seminaries, novitiates and other Catholic institutions, he said, while composers of sacred music must "know and preserve the musical heritage of the Church."

To guarantee the "dignity and excellence" of new compositions, they should be "at the service of the liturgy, while respecting contemporary sensibilities and the different cultural traditions, so as to 'purify worship from ugliness of style, from distasteful forms of expression, from uninspired musical texts which are not worthy of the great act that is being celebrated,'" Pope Leo said, quoting from St. John Paul II's 2003 document on sacred music.

"Dear brothers and sisters, the Fathers of the Church held liturgical singing in great esteem as a symbol of ecclesial communion," Pope Leo said, asking that "we join together in love, and -- in the words of St. Ignatius of Antioch -- 'with one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ.'"

©2026 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

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From the archives!  Since Pope Leo talked about the beauty of Gregorian chant in his catechesis, here is a CNS video from 2017 of Catholic music professionals explaining its origins:

"The origins of Gregorian chant"

Catholic music scholars discuss the origins of Gregorian chant and how it became a central component in the liturgy in this CNS video from Dec 18, 2017.

WASHINGTON - The U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities is inviting Catholics to join a focused effort of prayer and action to stop the spread of abortion pills. The initiative will take place August 18 through October 31, which includes the month-long commemoration of Respect Life Month observed each October by the Catholic Church in the United States. 

“Every abortion involves the death of a child and harm to the mother,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the USCCB, and Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, in a joint invitation announcing the initiative. “Now with easier access to abortion pills, the abortion rate is tragically climbing, along with increased health risks.”

In addition to invoking the intercession of St. Joseph, Defender of Life (English/en español), participants can learn about the danger of abortion pills which have become accessible through telehealth appointments and at pharmacies, leading to increased risks to women, and the abortion rate tragically climbing. Participants of the initiative are encouraged to share information about the dangers of abortion pills, and sign up to send messages to pharmacies, distributors, and pharmaceutical companies at Respect Life Prayer and Action.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV urged Catholics to gather in person for Sunday Mass and called for working conditions that allow people to attend, saying Sunday is "the foundation and kernel of the whole liturgical year."

"To sanctify Sunday, it is essential to celebrate the Eucharist," the pope said at his Aug. 12 general audience in St. Peter's Basilica. "In this regard, I urge everyone to seek the best possible conditions so that even those who are unable to take time off work on Sundays may take part in Holy Mass."

Continuing his series on the documents of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Leo reflected on 'Sacrosanctum Concilium,' the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. The liturgical year is not a static representation of past events, but an ongoing encounter with Christ, he said.

At its core is Easter, when Christ rose from the dead, and for that reason, the pope said, it is "essential for the faithful to sanctify the Lord's Day by gathering to celebrate the Eucharist."

"May our active participation and steadfast witness help us to enter ever more deeply into the reality of belonging to Christ, and may we anticipate with hope his coming in glory," he said in his remarks to English-speaking pilgrims.

Pope Leo recalled St. John Paul II's description of Sunday as the "weekly Easter" and "the day of the Lord, the day of the Church, the day of man and, finally, the 'day of days.'"

Even in languages such as English and German, where the name for Sunday refers to the "day of the sun," Pope Leo said Christians can discern a reference to Christ, "the true 'sun of righteousness' who enlightens every person."

Listening to the word of God, receiving the body of Christ and gathering together on Sundays, the pope said, allow "the Christian community" to make "visible its communion with the Lord" and bear witness to its fidelity to Christ and the Church.

"This assembly cannot be substituted by a solely virtual presence, nor can it be reduced to a merely passive gathering," he said, stressing that the liturgical assembly is fulfilled through the active participation of the faithful.

Addressing Spanish-speaking pilgrims, Pope Leo also expressed his closeness to people affected by the powerful earthquake that struck western Colombia Aug. 10, killing hundreds and leaving many others injured or missing. Rescue efforts are still underway. 

"While I pray to the Lord for the eternal rest of the deceased, I assure you of my prayers for their families and all those affected by this tragedy," he said. "I express my gratitude to all those working in the rescue efforts and providing assistance to the victims."

WASHINGTON - The Voting Rights Act was signed into law on August 6, 1965. The landmark legislation helped advance equal access to the ballot and strengthened participation in our democracy. In recognition of the six decades since it was enacted, and its continued significance today, Bishop Daniel E. Garcia, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation issued a statement.

“The Voting Rights Act of 1965 emerged from the sacrifices and perseverance of countless individuals who worked to secure the fundamental right to vote, particularly for communities of color that had long faced discrimination and exclusion.

“Today, many communities of color worry about how recent developments will impact their fair representation and future participation in the democratic process. Echoing our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, we affirm the value of democracy ‘insofar as it guarantees the effective participation of citizens’ as a reflection of their dignity.¹ For decades, the U.S. bishops have advocated for the right of eligible citizens to participate fully in public life, including the protection of voting rights.² We encourage all citizens to exercise their right to vote and urge policymakers to safeguard voting rights and promote fair representation for all. Today is also an occasion to remember the hard-won history of voting rights in our country, and to recommit to the work which remains.

“May we continue to work together for the common good and for a society in which all citizens are able to participate fully and faithfully in our democracy.” 

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1. Magnifica Humanitas, 39
2. Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, no. 85

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Returning to his weekly general audiences after a monthlong summer break, Pope Leo XIV urged Catholics to embrace the Liturgy of the Hours more fully in their daily lives, saying the church's public prayer is an antidote to a world shaped by technology, consumerism and an efficiency-driven mindset.

"Every week and every day, the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours are the breath of the life of the Church, which makes the Holy Spirit circulate through her Body," he said Aug. 5.

Because of Rome's summer heat, the pope held the audience inside instead of St. Peter's Square; however, this time it was held in St. Peter's Basilica rather than in the Paul VI Hall.  As he processed to the altar, he stopped to shake hands with attendees and bless babies and rosaries.

Continuing his series on the documents of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Leo reflected on 'Sacrosanctum Concilium,' the Constitution on the liturgy. He said "it is the Holy Spirit who teaches us to pray," and that Christians unite themselves with Christ in offering praise and thanksgiving to God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Bound to the Eucharist, the Liturgy of the Hours sanctifies the rhythm of the day, the pope said, beginning with morning prayer, continuing at midday and evening, and ending with night prayer as the faithful entrust themselves to God's peace. 

"Each hour is an act of hope," he said.

The Liturgy of the Hours is the church's official daily prayer, consisting of psalms, Scripture readings, hymns and prayers recited at designated times throughout the day. Pope Leo said the tradition of prayer is "no longer passed on" even in many Christian families, even though prayer is a "fundamental dimension of our humanity."

In societies "dominated by an efficiency-driven and consumerist mindset," prayer can seem "pointless and trivial," the pope said. In a world "where science and technology claim to provide all the answers," he added, prayer may appear to be a form of escapism.

"Brothers and sisters, may we find the spiritual nourishment necessary on our earthly pilgrimage by joining with the whole Church in her liturgical prayer as we await the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," the pope said in his greeting to English-speaking pilgrims.

"Far from avoiding the world and its needs, all prayer, especially in the entire liturgy, is the essential dimension of our humanity," he added.

The pope's encouragement comes after the Vatican approved a new English-language edition of the Liturgy of the Hours in November 2025. After 13 years, the U.S. bishops produced a translation that more closely reflects the original Latin texts. The first volume is expected to be released ahead of Lent 2027.

In his greeting to French-speaking pilgrims, Pope Leo encouraged those on summer vacation to deepen their interior life by spending more time with the Lord in prayer. Even leisure and rest, he said, "belong to him" and "can be sanctified by his presence."

ROME (CNS) -- Back in 2023, a Vatican archivist discovered a letter to Pope Pius XII's personal secretary from a Jesuit priest in Germany, who was active in the resistance against the Nazis, reporting that thousands of Poles and Jews were being incinerated daily in a Polish concentration camp.

It was "a unique case" with "tremendous value," Giovanni Coco, the archivist, had told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in an interview published Sept. 17, 2023.

The letter is important, Coco then said, because it not only details Nazi crimes at the Belzec extermination camp in 1942, but it refers to other reports and mentions Auschwitz, suggesting that the letter is probably part of much more correspondence between the two priests, said Massimo Franco, the journalist who interviewed the archivist in 2023.

"It makes it clear that in reality much more detailed reports about the extermination underway were getting to the Vatican," Franco said in an interview with Radio Radicale Sept. 17, 2023.

The other letters have not been found yet, "perhaps they were destroyed or lost," but nonetheless they would have described the Nazis' criminal acts against Catholic clergy, who were part of the resistance, and Jews, he said. The letter Coco discovered had been registered in the archive only in 2019 and was "a bit ruined," Franco added.

The letter is "also important because it makes it clear how much pressure the Nazis were putting on Pope Pius XII and, therefore, how terrorized the Catholic Church in Germany and Poland were that any kind of disclosure could in some way worsen Nazi retaliation against Catholics and Jews," Franco then said.

The letter, dated Dec. 14, 1942, was from German Jesuit Father Lothar König, based near Munich, who played an active role in organizing people and initiatives against Hitler's campaigns and in acquiring and sharing information about different camps, including Dachau.

His letter was to German Jesuit Father Robert Leiber, a key and trusted adviser of Pope Pius for decades, starting with the future pope's time as papal nuncio in Munich, then as Vatican secretary of state, and then as pope from 1939 to 1958.

Father König wrote that it seemed that about 6,000 people, especially Poles and Jews, were killed a day in the "blast furnace" at the Nazi concentration camp in Belzec, Poland. That extermination camp had started its operations in March 1942.

The letter also made reference to the camp at Auschwitz and an "indirect reference to Dachau," Franco said.

"These are some hints that make it clear the so-called 'Final Solution' had already not just begun in 1942, but in some way it is a clear reflection that it was getting (reported) to the Vatican and the pope himself," he said.

It is strongly believed the pope would have received the news in the letter, Franco said, especially since, just 10 days later, Pope Pius made a strongly worded appeal on Christmas Eve.

In that appeal, the pope denounced the fact that hundreds of thousands of people were being "marked down for death or gradual extinction,'' sometimes only by reason of their race; however, he did not explicitly mention the Nazis or Jews by name.

It is expected that further discoveries in the Vatican's archives on the pontificate of Pius XII will add to clarifying what the pope knew, what he did and why he did not publicly condemn the atrocities.

In 2022, another scholar offered evidence found in the Vatican archives that Pope Pius XII knew early on about the Holocaust and used that knowledge to warn the Allies and to save thousands of Jews.

The German historian Michael Feldkamp told Vatican News in 2022 that he found proof that the pope sent a message to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in March 1942 regarding "the systematic extermination of European Jews" and "warned him that something was happening in Europe in the war zones."

However, Feldkamp said, "these messages were not considered credible by the Americans." Nonetheless, "it is interesting, however, that the president of the United States or his associates in the State Department repeatedly contacted Pius XII for information on individual cases."

"Today we know … that Pius XII was confronted with the persecution of the Jews almost on a daily basis. He had been presented with all the reports and had created his own office within the Second Section of the Secretariat of State, where the staff had to deal exclusively with such matters," he said.

"During World War II, these leaders were in very close contact with Pius XII, reporting to him daily on persecution and mass deportations, as well as on the individual fates of the people who came to them," he said.

"The exciting thing now is that we can estimate that Pius XII personally saved about 15,000 Jews through his own personal efforts: opening monasteries, raising cloisters so that people could be hidden there, and so on. All of this is a huge sensation! The archival findings I have found now in the Vatican show me how accurately Pacelli was informed," the archivist told Vatican News.

A version of this story by Carol Glatz was originally published in 2023.

WASHINGTON - “I call for intense prayers for the success of these negotiations,” said Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, on the news of an agreement between the U.S.-led Gaza Board of Peace and Hamas.

Bishop Zaidan’s statement follows:

“I am heartened by news of an agreement which aims at the disarmament of Hamas and Israel’s military withdrawal from the Strip, and I call for intense prayers for the success of these negotiations. This agreement’s successful implementation, as its principles statement says, has the potential of finally providing the Palestinian people with a ‘credible political path that achieves self-determination and Statehood.’ This would be a major milestone.

“As I previously articulated, as ‘people of faith who deeply care for all our brothers and sisters who live in the land of Christ’s life, death, and glorious resurrection, we cannot lose this opportunity for peace.’ To further strengthen this advance, I call on the United States, Israel, and the international community to facilitate greater amounts of humanitarian and development assistance to the Strip. This should include restoring educational opportunities for children and youths, jobs, and clean water. Alleviating the suffering of the Gazan people is not only a vital moral imperative but is also necessary for the consolidation of peace in the Holy Land and the entire region.

“Conscious of the extreme challenges inherent in this ongoing peace process, let us entrust the hearts and minds of the negotiators to the maternal care of Our Lady of Wisdom, that she may illumine and enliven their efforts to finally achieve peace in those sacred lands.” 

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WASHINGTON – Following Pope Leo XIV’s historic, 10-day apostolic journey to Africa in April and his call for peace, reconciliation and interreligious dialogue, Catholics in the United States have an opportunity to support those efforts through the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa.

The fund was created nearly two decades ago by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to support the Catholic Church on a continent where the faith is growing rapidly, but where the Church has limited capacity to support its pastoral needs and faces severe hardships.

“The gifts of Catholics in the United States to the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa underwrite projects that build foundations for peace, as well as projects directed toward evangelization, vocations, environmental stewardship, leadership formation, and other facets of our faith,” said Archbishop Thomas Zinkula, chairman of the USCCB’s Subcommittee on the Church in Africa.

In 2025, the Solidarity Fund awarded 97 grants totaling over $3 million.

“My prayer is that those gifts will increase in response to our Holy Father’s call for peace and reconciliation in Africa,” Archbishop Zinkula said. “I have seen the impact of your gifts and can attest that whatever you contribute will be used wisely and well.” Many dioceses will take up the collection in their parishes this summer. #iGiveCatholic also accepts online gifts for the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa at www.igivecatholic.org/story/USCCB-CA .

Examples of the 2025 grants included the following:

• In Mali, where many children grow up believing war and terrorism are a normal part of life, a grant supported an intensive Bible camp for more than 200 young adults from across the nation. There, they learned gospel values of peace, justice and mercy, as well as the Second Vatican Council’s teachings on religious freedom and interreligious dialogue.
• As Sudan endures the world’s largest humanitarian crisis caused by war, a grant supported 223 lay catechists in the Nuba Mountains and Abyei region by providing transportation, food, lodging, and training materials for a three-month course on evangelization, pastoral care and sacramental preparation. They are now better equipped to minister to a population that includes thousands of people displaced by the violence in a region served by very few priests.
• Wars and conflict across the Horn of Africa have attracted human traffickers who prey on vulnerable people in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, and neighboring countries, luring them into modern-day slavery. A grant from the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa supported workshops for church leaders throughout the region to raise awareness of human trafficking, design prevention strategies, and train pastoral ministers to assist victims. 
• In Burkina Faso, the Catholic bishops have set a goal of making their dioceses self-supporting despite widespread violence and poverty. A grant from the Solidarity Fund provided training for staff from all 15 dioceses and the national bishops’ conference to develop sustainable plans for managing and supporting the Church’s ministry.
• In the Central African Republic, where poor roads leave many communities isolated, a grant enabled the Marianist Sisters to train “Gospel volunteers” and equip them with bicycles to distribute bibles and rosaries. The bicycles greatly enhance their ministry, allowing them to reach thousands of families.

“Pope Leo has called us to solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Africa, and that is precisely what the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa makes possible. Please take this opportunity to respond to his call by supporting our African brothers and sisters with a generous gift,” Archbishop Zinkula said.

For more information see: https://www.usccb.org/committees/church-africa 

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WASHINGTON - In light of several recent immigration enforcement encounters resulting in the loss of life, Bishop Daniel E. Garcia, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation, and Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chairman of the Committee on Migration, issued the following pastoral reflection:  

“As Catholics, we believe that all persons are created in the image and likeness of God and, therefore, grieve all situations where human life is brought to an unnatural end. This is a core teaching of our faith and one we can never grow weary of proclaiming as disciples of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

“As the bishops of the United States affirmed last November, ‘We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement.’ Racial profiling in particular not only violates God-given dignity* but also inflicts profound harm on individuals, families, and communities by fostering fear, eroding trust, and increasing the risk of unjust and even tragic outcomes. Our pastoral concerns are distinct from what the civil law itself may permit. 

“Acts that diminish or disregard the dignity of any person or group of people should never be normalized in our society. The dehumanization of immigrants, regardless of their legal status, is one such example of this; the vilification of law enforcement officers is yet another.

“We continue to affirm the legitimate role of civil authorities to implement the law in a humane manner and with respect for fundamental human rights, including the rights to life and due process. The power of the state must always be exercised within the limits of the moral law. To that end, we call for accountability, transparency, and justice, which require that meaningful reforms be made to our immigration system. 

“We join in praying for the souls of those killed and for their families, for our nation, and for all those entrusted with the duties of public service. We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric, racial prejudice, and violence and for a renewed commitment to recognizing the inherent dignity of every person as a child of God. We plead for the intercession of Mary, Our Mother, who is the model of perfect faith in times of grief, hardship, and uncertainty.”

*Open Wide Our Hearts, p. 4

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