On Friday, March 13, Pope Leo XIV issued a direct appeal to Christians who bear responsibility in armed conflicts, urging them to undertake a serious examination of conscience.

“Do those Christians who bear grave responsibility in armed conflicts have the humility and courage to make a serious examination of conscience and to go to confession?” the pontiff asked before priests dedicated to the ministry of confession.

The Holy Father’s statement was made within an international context heightened by the conflict between the United States and Israel with Iran.

The audience took place at the Vatican during a meeting with priests participating in the annual course dedicated to the formation of confessors, organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary. Each year, these courses bring together priests from various parts of the world to deepen their understanding of the pastoral practice of the sacrament of penance.

In his address, the pope underscored the importance of the sacrament of reconciliation, attributing to it the mission of restoring a person’s “inner unity.”

That reconciliation produces, he added, “the inner unity of the individual and unity with the Church,” and for this reason “it also promotes peace and unity within the human family.”

In his address, Leo XIV recalled that the ministry of confession demands closeness, listening, and the capacity to spiritually accompany the faithful — especially in a context marked by tensions and conflicts.

In a world that, as he put it, is experiencing a time of “fragmentation,” the pope emphasized that reconciliation fosters a person’s inner unity — a quest particularly prevalent among young people. The disappointments caused by “unbridled consumerism” or by “a freedom detached from the truth,” he noted, can become “opportunities for evangelization.”

Furthermore, he explained that reconciliation with God also has an ecclesial dimension. “In the celebration of the sacrament of confession, whilst penitents are reconciled with God and with the Church, the Church herself is edified and enriched by the renewed holiness of her repentant and forgiven children,” he remarked.

Many Christians don’t make use of the sacrament of reconciliation

Leo XIV lamented that numerous baptized individuals do not frequently turn to the sacrament of reconciliation, warning that the Church’s “infinite treasure of mercy” runs the risk of not being taken advantage of.

During his meeting with priests and candidates for the priesthood participating in the annual course for confessors organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary at the Vatican, the pontiff emphasized that, although the sacrament can be received repeatedly, this does not always translate into actual practice among the faithful.

“It is as though the infinite treasure of the Church’s mercy remained “unused,” he said, due to a widespread distraction among Christians.

As he explained, it is not uncommon for many of the faithful to “remain in a state of sin for a long time rather than approaching the confessional with simplicity of faith and heart to receive the gift of the risen Lord.”

The pope recalled that the practice of confession has a long normative tradition within the Church. Thus, he cited the Fourth Lateran Council, which established in 1215 the obligation to go to confession at least once a year — a norm also upheld by the Catechism of the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council: “After having attained the age of discretion, each of the faithful is bound by an obligation faithfully to confess serious sins at least once a year” (Code of Canon Law, 989).”

During his address, Leo XIV also recalled a teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo: “He who confesses his sins, and accuses them, does now work with God. God accuses your sins: and if you also accuse, you are united to God.”

The sacrament of reconciliation: ‘A workshop of unity’

Building upon this idea, the pontiff explained that the sacrament of reconciliation can be understood as a true “workshop of unity.”

“It restores unity with God through the forgiveness of sins and the infusion of sanctifying grace,” he affirmed.

The Holy Father devoted part of his address to explaining how sin operates — specifically, that it “does not break unity, understood as the creature’s ontological dependence on the Creator.”

“Even the sinner remains totally dependent on God the Creator, and this dependence, when recognized, can open the way to conversion,” the pontiff explained in this regard.

Sin: Turning one’s back on God

Pope Leo explained that sin effectively breaks “spiritual unity with God,” for it is akin to “turning one’s back” on him.

“This dramatic possibility is as real as the gift of freedom that God himself has bestowed upon human beings. To deny the possibility that sin truly breaks unity with God is, in reality, a failure to recognize the dignity of man, who is — and remains — free and therefore responsible for his own actions,” he pointed out.

Addressing the young priests and candidates for the priesthood in attendance, Leo XIV emphasized the importance of the ministry of confession. “Always be keenly aware of the most exalted task that Christ himself, through the Church, entrusts to you: to restore people’s unity with God through the celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation.”

The pope emphasized that many priests have attained holiness precisely through this ministry, recalling examples such as Sts. John Mary Vianney, Leopold Mandić, Pio of Pietrelcina, and Blessed Michał Sopoćko.

Finally, Leo XIV noted that reconciliation is also a path toward peace. “Only a reconciled person is capable of living in an unarmed and disarming way! Those who lay down the weapons of pride and allow themselves to be continually renewed by God’s forgiveness become agents of reconciliation in everyday life. In him or her are fulfilled the words attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: ‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.’”

Before concluding, the pope exhorted the priests to regularly approach the sacrament themselves: “Never neglect to approach the sacrament of reconciliation yourselves, with faithful constancy, so that you may always be the first to benefit from divine mercy.”

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.

Former Vatican auditor general Libero Milone revealed details about the work he oversaw with the Vatican finances with the late Cardinal George Pell, including financial irregularities and unaccounted-for sums of money.

“We need to be sure, and I say this as a Catholic and as an accountant, that we are informed correctly about the state of the Vatican finances,” Milone said. “Because if the Vatican finances are sound, it means that our Church will continue. If the Vatican finances are not sound, it’s going to have problems.”

Milone sat down with EWTN News correspondent Colm Flynn for an exclusive interview about his case against the Vatican alleging unfair dismissal, loss of earnings, and reputational damage. The case has been dismissed, and he is filing his final appeal.

For decades, the Vatican has struggled with transparency and accountability in its finances. To address this, Pope Francis appointed Pell to head the Secretariat for the Economy and named Milone as the Vatican’s first auditor general.

Before coming to the Vatican, Milone was a top financial auditor who spent more than 30 years at Deloitte in Italy and in the U.S. as well as a number of other firms.

His job at the Vatican was to examine the Church’s balance sheets and bring order to its financial operations. But after two years Milone suddenly resigned, which he has said he was forced to do after uncovering financial irregularities.

Milone took legal action alleging that Cardinal Angelo Becciu pressured him to quit after he began finding evidence of fraud. The Vatican dismissed his complaint, arguing that even if Becciu did force his resignation, he acted in a personal capacity, not as an official of the Secretariat of State.

The Vatican has said that Milone “failed in the agreement to keep confidential the reasons for his resignation from office.”

“When they delivered the decree of the crimes that I committed, the document said that they had a document …. which proved they had carried out seven months of investigation on me and included all the details of whatever crimes I’d committed,” Milone said.

“This happened in June of 2017. Eight years and some months have gone by, and we have asked for this document many, many times and we’ve never been given it. So I don’t have any element to know what exactly I’m accused of,” he said.

“My impression is, I’ve never seen it because maybe it doesn’t include anything, because had it included something real, I would have been confronted with it,” he said.

Milone appealed, but the decision was upheld. He has launched a final appeal.

The Vatican did not comment upon EWTN News’ request, which Milone says is because “they’re very embarrassed.”

“They’re very embarrassed what two individuals did within the Vatican from an institutional standpoint, and they don’t have the answer,” he said. “So they try to shy away from the issue without commenting on it, which is what happened in the legal case.”

Financial irregularities

Since his dismissal, Milone has spoken with a number of journalists about the matter and irregulatires he uncovered. He spoke with one who was investigating an issue regarding payment systems for the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA).

APSA “is the major dicastery of the Vatican, responsible for the management of its assets,” Milone said. “It’s like a treasury, and it’s also sort of a banking institution, although it’s not a direct bank because it operates through banks in other countries to operate its financial activities.”

“When this journalist did his investigation and came up with an analysis ... he contacted me and he said he had found out that the payment system in APSA was possibly able to make payments by losing track of the receiver,” Milone said.

The issue was that someone could make a money transfer and then change the direction where the money was going after it had left the account, and it wouldn’t show up on the initial records.

The journalist asked if it was true. “So I told the journalist, ‘What you found out is correct, full stop.’ So I only mentioned it once, saying there was a problem with the swift payment issues. And I confirmed the investigation. How could I not confirm? I couldn’t lie.”

“In my two years in the Vatican, I reported 15 issues to the money laundering authority AIF, and to the promoter [of] justice to investigate. Because my statute said if there are issues which are in conflict of the law, you have to report to these authorities,” he said.

“AIF, 14 times, replied to me that we had misunderstood and one time they didn’t reply. And the promoter of justice never replied to any of them. So what’s the point in highlighting issues which need to be investigated if nobody looks into them?”

Milone has also spoken out about “an odd transfer” of 2.5 million euros sent to a hospital to build a ward. The money was sent, but there is no ward.

“We examined all the documentation, all the transactions, and we found that 2.5 million had been paid over to … the hospital over a period of time in equal transactions, 10 transactions of 250,000, I think. And it had gone into the bank account. The ward had not been built. But the money also left the bank account” of the hospital.

“And that was reported to the promoter of justice in the Vatican,” he said. “I just did my job. My job was to review, report, and then get on with the next thing. My job was not of a judicial nature.”

Next steps with Pope Leo

In an interview with Crux, Pope Leo XIV has said the claims of a financial crisis at the Vatican have been exaggerated, noting that the Holy See actually recorded a surplus of 60 million euros in 2024.

He even said he wasn’t “losing any sleep” over the issue of finances at the Vatican. In response, Milone said: “I was very worried that the pope would not be properly informed of the situation in the Vatican because there were too many, let me use the word, skeletons in cupboards that needed to be preserved. And therefore it would be very difficult to understand the issues at hand.”

“The financial situation may be better than he expected,” Milone said. “I don’t know what’s happened between 2017, when I left, and today, except from reading in the newspapers. But I also know as an experienced accountant that some of the issues there would have been very difficult to remove in a very short period of time.”

“Now, the fact that the consolidated financial statements are not being disclosed, to me, is an indication that there is a problem,” he said.

Milone said he would like to meet with Pope Leo “to give him my understanding of some of the challenges that the Vatican faces in moving forward and becoming sound from an economical standpoint.”

As Milone’s case moves forward, if the next appeal is rejected “that would be technically the end of the line in the Vatican,” he said.

“I’m an optimistic person. I believe that in any case, if there’s a justice system, the justice system has to be properly followed by. And I believe that at the end of the day, if there is truth in the documents and the documents are read properly and understood properly, I will be on the right side of the decision,” Milone said.

In Castel Gandolfo, Italy, this week, academics and representatives gathered to launch the Global Alliance, a new initiative by the University of Notre Dame and the Laudato Si’ Centre of Higher Education dedicated to promoting integral ecology through fostering environmental collaboration.

As reported by the official Vatican News outlet, the initiative, which took place March 9–10 at the Borgo Laudato Si’, part of the Pontifical Villa Gardens at Castel Gandolfo established by Pope Leo XIV last year, featured discussions on integral ecology, climate change, and ecological leadership.

Cardinal Fabio Baggio, general director of the Laudato Si’ Center and undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, spoke of the Global Alliance as a fruit of more universities expressing interest in studying the teachings of Laudato Si’.

“We started by looking around the world at all the universities that have begun deepening their studies on Laudato Si’ — we found more than 400,” Baggio said. “One of the outputs we envisioned from the very beginning was the creation of a Global Alliance. The people here are going to commit to producing more research and disseminating awareness about ecological conversion.”

The Borgo Laudato Si’ complex features a circular greenhouse, centuries-old trees, and agricultural land; it is dedicated to Pope Francis’ teachings on caring for creation in his encyclical Laudato Si’.

Sister Alessandra Smerilli, the secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, spoke of event as a source of excitement and a gathering of “people from different corners of the world, different universities, but with one aim, which is that we want to share ideas and good practices to live according to Laudato Si’ principles.”

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Spanish Augustinian Archbishop Luis Marín de San Martín as papal almoner and prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who has led the office since 2022, will return to his native Poland as the new metropolitan archbishop of Łódź.

Marín de San Martín, titular bishop of Suliana, became a more prominent figure in the Vatican during the Synod on Synodality, when Pope Francis named him undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops in 2021.

He and Leo XIV, both Augustinians, have known each other for years. In 2008, when the current pontiff was serving as prior general of the Augustinian order, he asked Marín de San Martín to take charge of the order’s archive in Rome, where he has now served for 18 years.

Born in Madrid in 1961, Marín de San Martín holds degrees in spiritual theology from the Pontifical Comillas University in Madrid and in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He also earned a doctorate in theology from Comillas with a dissertation on the ecclesiology of St. John XXIII and holds a diploma in archival studies.

He served as provincial councilor of the Augustinian Province of Spain from 1999 to 2002 and was pastor of the parish of Santa Ana y la Esperanza in Madrid. Until 2008, he was prior of the Monastery of Santa María de la Vid in Burgos. He has also taught at the San Agustín Theological Center in El Escorial and at the Augustinian Theological Study Center in Valladolid.

With extensive experience in lay pastoral ministry, he has served since 2008 as general archivist of the Order of St. Augustine and since 2013 as assistant general to the prior general of the order, as well as president of the Augustinian Spirituality Institute.

The Apostolic Almonry, formally renamed the Dicastery for the Service of Charity under Pope Francis’ 2022 reform of the Roman Curia, is the Vatican office responsible for carrying out charitable works for the poor in the name of the Holy Father, especially in Rome and in conflict zones.

The papal almoner is also delegated by the pope to grant apostolic blessings through parchment certificates. The office carries the dignity of archbishop and membership in the pontifical family, allowing participation in papal liturgies and official audiences.

Krajewski, born in Łódź in 1963, entered the diocesan seminary there in 1982 and earned a theology degree from the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin before being ordained a priest on June 11, 1988.

He later earned a licentiate in liturgy from the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Sant’Anselmo in Rome and a doctorate in theology with a specialization in liturgy from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, also in Rome. He also worked with the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.

Over the years, he served as master of ceremonies to the metropolitan archbishop of Łódź, taught at the diocesan seminary and at Franciscan and Salesian seminaries in the archdiocese, and was a professor at the Warsaw academy.

He also served as pontifical master of ceremonies in the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff. In 2013, he was named papal almoner and titular archbishop, receiving episcopal ordination on Sept. 17 of that year.

Pope Francis made him a cardinal in the June 28, 2018, consistory, assigning him the deaconry of Santa Maria Immacolata all’Esquilino. Since 2022, he has served as prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity.

This story was first published by EWTN’s Spanish-language news partner, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News.

The Pontifical Academy for Life launched the initiative Scientists for Peace, an appeal to scientists, researchers, and academics worldwide to promote the concrete pursuit of peace through scientific research and international cooperation.

The project, promoted under the auspices of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, was announced amid global tensions and armed conflicts that, according to the organizers, threaten not only the affected populations but also freedom and cooperation in scientific research.

Promotion and defense of human life

In a press release, the Vatican body recalled that its mission is to study, from an interdisciplinary perspective, issues related to the promotion and defense of human life. Within this framework, it poses a central question: “Can scientific research, in its methods and objects of study, contribute to the pursuit of peace?”

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According to the document, science — guided by the pursuit of truth and based on rigorous methodologies — develops through the exchange of knowledge and a constant willingness to engage in critical debate.

Although competition and debate are part of academic life, the manifesto’s proponents emphasize that these can be addressed through transparent communication and an effort to overcome individual interests in favor of the common good and the advancement of knowledge beyond national borders.

In this context, the initiative invites the international scientific community to actively advocate for peace and to work toward reconciliation and conflict resolution through the daily practice of research.

The appeal is also inspired by the words of Pope Leo XIV in his message for the 59th World Day of Peace in 2026, where he states: “Peace exists; it wants to dwell within us. It has the gentle power to enlighten and expand our understanding; it resists and overcomes violence.”

The initiative is open to scientists from all disciplines, nationalities, and cultural backgrounds, regardless of their political or religious beliefs.

Researchers with a significant international presence

So far, 80 scientists have already signed it. Among them are several researchers with a significant international presence in academic and media debate.

One signatory is ecologist David Tilman, considered one of the most influential researchers in the fields of biodiversity, climate change, and sustainable agriculture; another is developmental psychologist Michael Lamb, a professor at the University of Cambridge recognized for his studies on child development and family law.

In the field of education, prominent figures include character development expert Thomas Lickona, professor emeritus at the State University of New York at Cortland, and cultural psychologist Barbara Rogoff, a researcher at the University of California Santa Cruz, known for her work on sociocultural learning.

In the field of bioethics, the Dutch expert Henk ten Have, professor at Duquesne University and former head of scientific ethics at UNESCO, signed on, along with philosopher of law Laura Palazzani, professor at LUMSA University, and Spanish jurist Federico de Montalvo Jääskeläinen, professor at the Comillas Pontifical University and former president of the Bioethics Committee of Spain.

The list also includes social theologian Emilce Cuda, responsible for the Pontifical Commission for Latin America; Italian pediatrician Alberto Villani of the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome, known for his media presence during the pandemic; neonatologist Daniele De Luca, professor at Paris-Saclay University; and agricultural researcher Felix Prinz zu Löwenstein of the FiBL Research Institute for Organic Agriculture, a leading figure in the European debate on organic farming and food sustainability.

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.

The final report of the Synod on Synodality’s study group “Women’s Participation in the Life and Leadership of the Church” raises the possibility of “reformulating” certain competencies and functions of priests, deacons, and bishops to give women greater responsibility in the Church, while noting that the issue of the female diaconate “is not ripe.”

“It is necessary to reflect in particular on the reformulation of the areas of competence of ordained ministry,” states the final report of the group that studied women’s participation in the life and governance of the Church, published by the Vatican on Tuesday in Italian and English.

This is one of the 10 groups established by Pope Francis in 2024 after the first session of the Synod on Synodality.

The work and report of this group were coordinated by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. In the document, this team expresses openness to “the possibility of new ministries — including those of community leadership — for lay men and women, and for men and women religious.”

The 86-page report, whose publication was authorized by Pope Leo XIV, notes an “unease” regarding forms of “machismo” and “clericalism” within the Church and therefore proposes a redefinition of governing power that provides new leadership positions for women.

In this regard, it emphasizes that “redefining these areas of competence could pave the way for the recognition of new spaces of responsibility for women in the Church.”

Regarding the female diaconate, the report states that the issue “is not yet ripe” and refers to the work carried out by previous commissions — the second of which issued an opinion against it — without reaching a definitive judgment.

The proposals now circulated are also not definitive. They have been submitted to the pope for his consideration.

More than a hierarchical ‘concession’

The text argues that it is necessary to “overcome the conception of women’s active participation in the life and governance of the Church as a ‘concession’ from hierarchical authority.”

According to the document, women’s involvement should not be understood as a mere functional substitution but as a reality linked to baptismal dignity, since women are “holders of a right in this regard, inasmuch as they are baptized and bearers of charisms.”

The document also states that “there is no reason or impediment preventing women from exercising leadership roles in the Church” and emphasizes that “the mere fact of being a woman does not, in itself, prevent women from assuming leadership roles in the Church.”

From an ecclesiological perspective, the study group participants consider it necessary “to overcome the artificial separation between genders and roles, considering the shared dignity of all creatures created in the image and likeness of God.”

In this vein, the group emphasizes that priority must be given “to the order of being with respect to that of doing,” recalling that participation in the mission of the Church is based, above all, on baptism and the gifts of the Holy Spirit present in the people of God.

The report notes that the discernment of these charisms belongs to the bishop, who can recognize them through a mandate, delegating [a function], or the institution of a specific ministry. However, it cautions that this process “is not a solitary decision” but must also involve the ecclesial community.

Role of the laity in the exercise of the bishop’s ministry

From a theological and canonical perspective, the document clarifies that the lay faithful do not participate in holy orders, although they can collaborate in the exercise of the bishop’s ministry.

In this context, the authors emphasize that both Pope Francis and Leo XIV put this guideline into practice by appointing women to positions of authority in the Roman Curia, which constitutes “a model for reflection.”

“The recent appointments of women to positions of responsibility in some dicasteries constitute a prophetic sign of both symbolic and practical significance. They represent a first step towards opening new spaces for participation, recognizing that the capacity for governance and discernment is not the exclusive prerogative of the male gender,” the study group emphasizes.

Warning about clericalism

The document warns, however, that attitudes marked by “clericalism” still persist. In this regard, it points out that “women, even in positions of responsibility, sometimes have difficulty participating and being heard on equal terms with their male colleagues, especially in interactions with ordained ministers.”

At the same time, it notes that the authority proper to the clergy derives mainly from their relationship with the Eucharist and from their mission to safeguard the unity of the community, although this “does not exclude that a power to guide communities may be conferred, at least in some cases, also on lay faithful.”

The report adds that the pope’s primatial authority can also be delegated to baptized individuals who have not received holy orders, as established by the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium. Therefore, the document concludes that “there appear to be no obstacles to extending this approach to the local level in dioceses as well.”

Women’s participation is ‘a true sign of the times’

However, the report also observes signs of change. Many women perceive increasing recognition from male leaders who have understood that their participation “is not a concession or an adaptation to passing cultural trends but a true sign of the times.”

This new awareness, the document adds, could become “a prerequisite for lasting structural transformation.”

The synod’s secretary-general, Cardinal Mario Grech, stated in the report’s summary that “courage, accompaniment, and patience will be necessary to introduce gradual changes” in order to preserve ecclesial communion and build communities that fully value the gifts and charisms of men and women.

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.

Archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan Cardinal Dominique Mathieu met with the pope March 11 after witnessing the first days of military clashes in the Iranian capital.

Mathieu had been leading the Roman Catholic Church in Iran, which has about 2,000 members, despite the ongoing anti-government protests, U.S. and Israeli threats against the regime, and his own recovery from serious health issues.

Archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan Cardinal Dominique Mathieu meets with Pope Leo XIV March 11, 2026, after witnessing the first days of military clashes in the Iranian capital. | Credit: Vatican Media

Italy closed its embassy in Tehran, and the cardinal’s residence is on the grounds, so the archbishop had to leave with the diplomatic representation. He then took a flight from Azerbaijan to Rome, arriving last weekend.

Mathieu’s whereabouts had been unknown after President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered joint strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In response, Iran launched strikes on U.S. bases and forces, Israel, and the Gulf states.

The 62-year-old Belgian cardinal, a member of the Order of Friars Minor Conventuals, became archbishop of Iran in 2021 and was named a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2024.

VATICAN CITY — Religious sisters and consecrated women are a formidable presence inside Vatican City State and the Roman Curia, with recent years seeing their number and prominence rise.

The increasing presence of women in the Vatican has been well documented. According to the Vatican, the percentage of women grew from 19.2% to 23.4% during the first decade of Pope Francis’ pontificate.

According to a study done at the end of 2024, there were 1,318 women in a total workforce of around 6,000. There is no publicly available data on how big a share of the female presence is composed of consecrated women and religious sisters.

Sister Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ, was one of the first women to be appointed to a major role at the Vatican when she was named undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops in 2021. She was also the first woman to vote at a synodal assembly.

Becquart told EWTN News that during her five years at the Vatican not only have women been given more key positions, but they are also serving in less visible, though no less important, roles.

“At the Vatican now, you have more women as consultors to the different dicasteries or member of the dicasteries, on different commissions,” she said. “We had women in all our commissions as experts, as facilitators, inside the synod.”

In August 2025, Pope Leo appointed Sister Iuliana Sarosi, CMD, and Sister Martha Driscoll, OCSO, consultors of the Dicastery for Clergy.

Sister Raffaella Petrini, FSE, president of the Governorate and of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Sister Raffaella Petrini of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist is the first woman in the history of the Church to head the Vatican City State.

She was appointed president of the Governorate and of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State — the equivalent of a kind of governor — in March 2025 after serving as secretary general of the city state for four years.

Petrini is also one of the first women to be a member of the Dicastery for Bishops. Pope Francis appointed Petrini, consecrated virgin María Lía Zervino, and Sister Yvonne Reungoat, FMA, members in July 2022.

Since 2023, the undersecretary of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) is also a religious sister: Sister Silvana Piro, FMGB.

Serving at the Vatican

Becquart described coming to the Vatican to work as “an adventure.”

“For me, being appointed at the Vatican has been a little bit like being sent to be a missionary in Papua New Guinea or in Brazil. It’s arriving in a new context, a new experience, learning a new language, new ways of working. A new culture, I would say, a new environment,” the sister said.

Sister Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ, is an undersecretary for the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News

Becquart noted that one of the qualities religious sisters in general bring to their service at the Vatican is “a deep connection with real life.” As well, many “have started at the grassroots [ministering to] the people where they are. So we bring also this experience of being with others, especially with the poor and the most marginalized.”

Margherita Romanelli, a non-religious sister who recently retired after working for 31 years in the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, told EWTN News “the recent appointments of women to top positions have greatly helped other women working [in the Vatican] to feel valued and to commit themselves to working for the common good, alongside men.”

Romanelli, who is also president of the Women in the Vatican Association (DIVA), said the association was founded in 2016 because some women “felt the need to come together to respond to the needs of their female colleagues and, above all, to gain greater visibility within the Vatican. Their goal is therefore to create a network of friendship and solidarity.”

In the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, where Romanelli worked, economist Sister Alessandra Smerilli, FMA, is the first woman to hold the No. 2 position.

Smerilli was named secretary in April 2022 after serving for eight months as interim secretary and, prior to that, almost half a year as undersecretary, starting in March 2021. Before starting in the Roman Curia, Smerilli was also a councilor of the Vatican City State.

Sister Alessandra Smerilli, FMA, secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Religious sisters serving religious

In one department at the Vatican, there has been a revolution of women religious in leadership over the last year.

In 2025, first Pope Francis, and then Pope Leo XIV, put two religious sisters in charge of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, starting with Sister Simona Brambilla of the Consolata Missionaries.

Appointed prefect in January 2025, Brambilla is the first woman ever named prefect of a dicastery. She leads together with Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, SDB, who is pro-prefect of the same dicastery.

Brambilla, who served as superior general of the Consolata Missionary Sisters from 2011 to 2023, was secretary of the dicastery for religious and consecrated life since October 2023.

The sister, who trained as a nurse before entering religious life, was a missionary in Mozambique in the late 1990s. She then returned to Italy, where, with her advanced degree in psychology, she taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University in its Institute of Psychology. She was head of the institute of Consolata Missionary Sisters from 2011 until May 2023.

In May 2025, Pope Leo XIV named Sister Tiziana Merletti, a Franciscan Sister of the Poor, secretary of the same dicastery.

Merletti, a former superior general of her order, is an expert in canon law who taught at the Pontifical University Antonianum.

With Sister Carmen Ros Nortes, NSC, who has been undersecretary of the same dicastery since 2018, three of the department’s top five positions are filled by religious sisters.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday remembered Father Pierre El Raii, a Maronite priest who died after being wounded in an Israeli bombing in southern Lebanon, and described him as “a true shepherd” who remained with his people despite the war.

El Raii was killed on March 9 while going to the aid of a parishioner wounded in a earlier attack, according to Father Toufic Bou Merhi, a Franciscan of the Custody of the Holy Land, who spoke with Vatican media.

At the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peterʼs Square, Leo commented on the March 11 funeral of El Raii and the war affecting villages in southern Lebanon.

“I am close to all the Lebanese people at this time of grave trial,” he said.

“In Arabic, ‘El Raii’ means ‘the shepherd,’” the pope said.“Father Pierre was a true shepherd, who always remained close to his people, with the love and sacrifice of Jesus the Good Shepherd. As soon as he heard that some parishioners had been wounded by a bombing, he rushed to help them without hesitation. May the Lord grant that his blood shed be a seed of peace for beloved Lebanon.”

In his appeal, Leo also called for prayers for peace in Iran and throughout the Middle East, “especially for the many civilian victims, including many innocent children.”

“May our prayer be a comfort to those who suffer and a seed of hope for the future,” he said.

A Church open to others

In his audience catechesis, the Holy Father reflected on the nature of the Church and emphasized that it “can never turn inwards on herself,” but must be “open to everyone and … for everyone.”

“In the Church there is, and there must be, a place for everyone, and every Christian is called to proclaim the Gospel and bear witness in every environment in which he or she lives and works,” he explained.

Although believers in Christ belong to the Church, the Second Vatican Council reminds us that “All men are called to belong to the new people of God,” the pope said.

In his talk, Leo continued his reflection on the dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium, focusing on the document’s second chapter, devoted to the People of God — one of the central parts of ecclesiology.

“The Church is one but includes everyone,” he said to thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square.

Henri de Lubac and Vatican II

The pope quoted Cardinal Henri de Lubac, SJ, one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century and a key figure of the Second Vatican Council, to describe the Church: “The unique Ark of Salvation must welcome all human diversity into its vast nave.”

For this reason, he noted that the People of God “shows its catholicity, welcoming the wealth and resources of different cultures and, at the same time, offering them the newness of the Gospel to purify them and to raise them up.”

The pope said that the Church is a people in which “women and men of different nationalities, languages and cultures live together in faith.” For this reason, he presented it as “a sign placed in the very heart of humanity, a reminder and prophecy of that unity and peace to which God the Father calls all his children.”

Every Christian, the pontiff emphasized, is called to proclaim the Gospel and bear witness in the environments in which he or she lives and works.

“Even those who have not yet received the Gospel are therefore, in some way, oriented towards the people of God,” he affirmed.

Christ gathers the new people

During the catechesis, Leo XIV highlighted that the history of the ancient people of Israel constitutes a preparation for the new covenant that God establishes in Jesus Christ. Quoting Lumen gentium, the pope recalled that “All these things, however, were done by way of preparation and as a figure of that new and perfect covenant, which was to be ratified in Christ.”

He explained that it is Christ who, “in giving his body and his blood, unites this people in himself and in a definitive way.” This people is now composed of men and women from every nation and “is united by faith in him, by adherence to him, by living the same life as him, animated by the Spirit of the Risen One.”

In this way, he continued, the Church is born — understood as the People of God “who draw their existence from the body of Christ and who are themselves the body of Christ.”

“It is not a people like any other,” he emphasized, but a community called together by God and made up of people from all the peoples of the earth.

Its unity “is not a language, a culture, an ethnicity, but faith in Christ.” As the Council says, the Church is “the assembly of all those who in faith look upon Jesus,” he added.

A messianic people

The pontiff also explained that the Church is “a messianic people,” because it has Christ, the Messiah, as its head.

“Above any task or function, what really matters in the Church is to be grafted onto Christ,” he said. This, he explained, is the only “honorary title we should seek as Christians:” to live as children of the Father and as brothers and sisters among ourselves.

Consequently, he affirmed that the fundamental law governing relationships within the Church is “love,” as it is received and experienced in Christ.

Leo concluded his catechesis by highlighting the prophetic value of the Church in today’s world. The Church, he said, “is a great sign of hope — especially in our times, traversed by so many conflicts and wars — to know that the Church is a people in which women and men of different nationalities, languages and cultures live together in faith.”

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.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the Holy See is promoting dialogue on Cuba and has taken “the necessary steps” with the aim of encouraging a negotiated solution to the problems facing the island.

“For Cuba as well, we have done what we had to do, we met with the foreign minister and we took the necessary steps, always with a view to a dialogue-based solution to the problems that exist,” Parolin said in comments to several media outlets, including the Holy See’s official news outlet, Vatican News.

The cardinal made the remarks March 9 in Rome on the sidelines of the second edition of the interreligious initiative “Il Tavolo del Ramadan–Iftar,” dedicated to encounters among Christian, Jewish, and Muslim representatives.

Parolin’s comments come amid intensified diplomatic contacts involving Cuba. On Feb. 28, Pope Leo XIV received Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla in audience at the Vatican. Rodríguez attended as special envoy of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.

After the meeting, the Cuban foreign minister publicly thanked the pontiff on X, writing: “I deeply thank His Holiness Leo XIV for the honor of receiving me in audience as Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Cuba.”

The visit by Cuba’s top diplomat came days after another significant meeting in Rome on the situation in Cuba. On Feb. 20, the head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana, Mike Hammer, met with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states, to discuss conditions in the Caribbean nation and the “important role” played by the Catholic Church in Cuban society.

In comments to EWTN after that meeting, Hammer said Cuba is at a decisive moment and expressed hope that the country will soon attain “the freedom it has not had in 67 years.”

“If there is freedom, there will not be suffering because there will be the necessary change. How will it happen? Well, that is what we are working on,” the U.S. diplomat said in an interview with EWTN.

Eight days after that meeting, Rodríguez Parrilla traveled to the Vatican, where he met with both Leo XIV and Parolin.

Also on March 2, a group of Cubans in exile in Miami led by Rosa María Payá — founder of Cuba Decide and daughter of the late dissident leader Oswaldo Payá — signed what they call a Liberation Agreement for Cuba, a 10-step roadmap to restore “democracy and the rule of law” on the island.

The Holy See has repeatedly played a mediating role between Cuba and the United States. The most recent example came during the administration of President Joe Biden, when the Vatican helped facilitate efforts that led to the release of 553 prisoners in Cuba in exchange for the removal of Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Parolin also addressed the growing military escalation involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, which has spread to other countries in the Middle East. He said the Holy See continues to keep channels of communication open with all parties in an effort to prevent a broader conflict.

“It is necessary to have open dialogue with everyone so that this immense tragedy now unfolding does not continue to expand instead of being contained,” he said.

The secretary of state said one of the defining characteristics of Vatican diplomacy is its willingness to remain in contact with all sides involved.

“The Holy See speaks with everyone and, when necessary, also speaks with the Americans and the Israelis, presenting what, in our view, could be solutions,” he said.

Parolin also referred to the killing of Maronite Father Pierre El-Rahi, pastor of Qlaya’a in Lebanon. The priest died after going to help a parishioner and was later struck by a bombardment.

Leo XIV expressed his “deep sorrow” that same day over the priest’s death and for all the victims of the recent bombings in the Middle East, including many civilians and children, according to the Vatican press office’s Telegram channel.

“Unfortunately, the Church too is a victim of this situation; we are not exempt or immune from what the population is suffering,” Parolin said.

The cardinal also warned of the risk that the Christian presence in the Holy Land and throughout the Middle East could continue to decline because of war, instability, and growing hatred.

“It is a risk the Holy See has always denounced. War, destabilization, and conflict certainly do not favor the presence of Christians,” he said, underscoring that the situation is an additional cause of concern for the Vatican.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News.

Pope Leo XIV will become the first pope in history to visit Monaco on March 28, making a one-day trip to the small European principality whose Catholic roots have shaped its identity for centuries.

The visit will include an encounter with the local Catholic community, a meeting with the country’s young people, and the celebration of Mass in a stadium.

According to the program released by the Vatican, the Holy Father will depart at 7 a.m. Rome time from the Vatican City heliport and arrive in Monaco at 9 a.m.

Following the official reception, a welcome ceremony will be held at the Prince’s Palace with Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene.

Prince Albert met with the pontiff at the Vatican in January, shortly after declining to promulgate a law favorable to abortion, underscoring the influence of the Catholic Church in the principality.

After a private meeting with the royal couple at 11 a.m., Leo XIV will meet with the Catholic community at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

The principality’s constitution recognizes the Catholic religion as the state religion, and more than 90% of the population currently identifies as Catholic.

Later, at 11:45 a.m., the pope will travel to St. Devota Church to meet with young people and catechumens from the country. He is scheduled to deliver his first address in the area outside the church.

In the afternoon, at 3:30 p.m., he will celebrate Mass at Stade Louis II, which has a capacity of more than 18,000 people.

At the conclusion of the Eucharistic celebration, the pope will depart from the Monaco heliport at 5:45 p.m. and is expected to arrive back in Rome at 7:45 p.m.

The logo chosen for the brief trip highlights the spiritual and pastoral dimension of the visit. It features a black-and-white image of the Holy Father smiling and giving his blessing while wearing liturgical vestments, the miter, and the papal ferula.

According to the Vatican, the right side of the image includes a stylized depiction of a tower from the Prince’s Palace of Monaco, recalling the identity and sovereignty of the principality.

The tower is rendered in pale yellow so that the upper part of the logo as a whole evokes the colors of the Vatican flag.

At the bottom appears the inscription announcing the trip: “Leo XIV” alongside the word “Monaco,” highlighted in the bright red of the national flag and the principality’s coat of arms.

The motto appears beneath it: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14:6), underscoring that the pontiff comes as a spokesman for Christ himself and his message.

This article was originally published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

The Vatican is set to host an international conference in Vatican City that will bring together scientists, physicians, and bioethicists to reflect on the ethical challenges of molecular biology, regenerative medicine, and new biotechnologies from a Christian perspective.

The Pontifical Academy for Life, together with the NCCR Molecular Systems Engineering at the University of Basel and ETH Zurich and the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, is organizing the third ICEEL conference on March 23–24 under the title Quid est homo? Quis est homo? (“What is man? Who is man?”).

The event will explore links among fields including biomedicine and molecular engineering and will feature leading international scientists, bioethicists, and physicians in roundtable discussions on the ethical and social implications of technological innovation from a Christian perspective.

The program includes keynote lectures and panels on science and the human person, the human body, consciousness and spirituality, as well as sessions on responsibility and scientific communication.

Topics will also include the neuroscience of consciousness, regenerative medicine, and the ethics of genetic engineering, with a focus on the moral and social challenges posed by contemporary biotechnology.

According to the organizers, the conference seeks to foster dialogue among science, ethics, and spirituality by combining cutting-edge scientific perspectives with the Christian values promoted by the Church. They said the discussions are intended to help guide future responsible policies and practices in biomedical research and molecular biology.

Among the participants are several prominent researchers, including Maria Chiara Carrozza, an Italian engineer and former education minister known for her work in applied robotics and the ethics of artificial intelligence, and John P. A. Ioannidis, a Stanford University professor and internationally known statistician and epidemiologist.

Also scheduled to participate are Gaia Novarino of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria, a neuroscientist specializing in the genetics of neurological diseases, and Bert Gordijn of Dublin City University, a philosopher and bioethicist known for his work on life ethics and biotechnology policy.

Other notable participants include Hope Kean of MIT, an expert in cognitive neuroscience, and Maria Patrão Neves of the University of the Azores in Portugal, whose work focuses on the philosophy of scientific responsibility.

The gathering will conclude March 25 with an audience for all participants with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican Apostolic Palace.

This article was originally published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday accepted the resignation of Bishop Emanuel Shaleta, a Chaldean Catholic bishop arrested in San Diego last week on charges of embezzling Church funds.

The Vatican also announced March 10 that Leo has appointed Bishop Saad Sirop Hanna, a Chaldean Catholic bishop from Iraq, to oversee the Catholic Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle of San Diego as apostolic administrator following Shaleta’s resignation.

An attempt by EWTN News to contact Bishop Shaleta through the eparchy was not immediately successful.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said Shaleta was arrested on March 5 at San Diego International Airport as the prelate was “attempting to leave the country.”

The sheriff’s office said in a press release that the bishop was charged with multiple counts of embezzlement and money laundering as well as one count of “aggravated white collar crime enhancement.”

Records show Shaleta is being held on $125,000 bail on one of the embezzlement charges. All charges against the bishop are listed as felonies by the sheriff’s office.

In remarks at a Feb. 22 Mass, the bishop denied that he has ever misused Church money.

Shaleta has served as the San Diego Chaldean eparch since 2017. He was born in Iraq.

In the context of International Women’s Day, celebrated March 8, Pope Leo XIV responded to a letter from a reader of Piazza San Pietro magazine who asked what can be done about femicides, and the pope shared that violence against women causes him “great suffering.”

Femicide is defined as a man killing a girl or a woman for the very reason that she is female.

Pope Leo replied to a woman named Giovanna, who said she is “fortunate” to be married to a man who loves and respects her. The letter appeared in the latest issue of the publication, which this March is dedicated to women.

In her letter, the woman confessed to having “tears in her eyes” because of the “death trap” that married life becomes when a man kills a woman due to a “culture of possession.”

Giovanna then proposed an alliance between the Catholic Church and schools to educate young people in love and respect. “Who else, if not schools and the Church, can help new generations by spreading a culture of respect, love, and above all, freedom?” she asked.

Pope Leo XIV’s response to violence against women

“You raise a major issue that for me is always a source of great suffering: violence in relationships, and in particular violence against women,” the Holy Father responded to Giovanna.

“In a world often dominated by violent thinking, we must further support the feminine genius, as St. John Paul II said, the ‘genius of women,’ protagonists and creators of a culture of care and fraternity indispensable for giving a future and dignity to all humanity,” he emphasized.

Leo XIV added that “perhaps this is also why women are beaten and murdered, because they are a sign of contradiction in this confused, uncertain, and violent society, because they point to values ​​of faith, freedom, equality, generativity, hope, solidarity, and justice.”

“These are great values, which are nevertheless attacked by a dangerous mentality that infests relationships and only produces selfishness, prejudice, discrimination, and a will to dominate,” he added.

After recalling that he had already denounced the violence of femicides in June 2025, the pope stressed that “violence, any violence, is the boundary that separates civilization from barbarism.”

Leo XIV then advised that “we must never underestimate an act of violence and we must not be afraid to denounce violence, including that climate of justification or that downplays or denies responsibility.”

“Walking together in mutual respect for our humanity is not a dream, but the only possible reality for building a world of light for all.”

A task for the Church

The pope thanked Giovanna for her suggestions for an “ever stronger educational alliance” and stated that “the Church, together with families, schools, parishes, movements and associations, religious congregations, and public institutions, can share the urgency of carrying out specific projects to prevent and stop violence against women.”

The pope also recalled that on Nov. 25, 2025, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, he emphasized that “to stop violence, we must begin with the education of young people.”

“We must begin by opening everyone’s hearts to the fact that every person is a human being who deserves respect, that dignity for men and women, for everyone.”

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.

Pope Leo XIV continued his pastoral visits to parishes on the outskirts of Rome Sunday, traveling to the Santa Maria della Presentazione parish in the Torrevecchia neighborhood, where he encouraged Catholics to ensure parish activities reflect a Church that “cares for her children.”

The pope arrived at the parish at 4 p.m., when he was welcomed by Cardinal Vicar Baldo Reina and the pastor, Father Paolo Stacchiotti. The warmest welcome, however, came from catechism students, young people, and families from Rome’s 13th municipal district.

It has been more than 40 years since a pope last visited Santa Maria della Presentazione parish. The previous papal visit was made by St. John Paul II in 1982.

The pastor said the neighborhood faces significant challenges but is also marked by strong community bonds.

“This is not an easy neighborhood,” Stacchiotti said. “But the crime reports do not do justice to the good that exists here. This is a united community, full of generous people who do not hold back in helping one another.”

The visit marked Leo XIV’s fourth to a Roman parish since mid-February. Parishioners welcomed him with banners, songs, and warm handshakes.

“We will give the pope an icon made by consecrated women who have lived in Bastogi for 30 years,” the pastor said. “It is a copy of the Madonna Pellegrina that travels around the neighborhood during the month of May. It is not a precious gift, but it is a symbol of our parish.”

Before Mass, the pope stopped on the parish sports field to greet children and families amid banners reading “we give our hearts,” balloons, and a festive atmosphere.

During his visit to the parish complex, Leo XIV also met with people with disabilities and the sick. In the parish hall he greeted about 60 people experiencing various forms of vulnerability before celebrating Mass at 5 p.m.

In his homily, reflecting on the Gospel account of Jesus and the Samaritan woman, the pope emphasized the connection between God’s closeness and the life of faith.

“In this journey, the closeness of God and our life of faith are deeply intertwined: by renewing in each of us the grace of Baptism, the Lord calls us to conversion, even as he purifies our hearts with his love and with the works of charity he invites us to perform,” the pope said.

“The thirst for life and love of the Samaritan woman is our thirst: the thirst of the Church and of all humanity, wounded by sin but even more deeply inhabited by the desire for God,” he continued.

Leo XIV noted that the Gospel narrative shows the woman’s gradual recognition of Jesus — first as a man, then a prophet, the Messiah, and finally the Savior — and how encountering Christ transforms her into a witness to others.

“Standing beside him and enjoying his company, the Samaritan woman becomes in turn a source of truth,” he said. “The new water of God’s gift has begun to spring up in her heart, and she feels immediately driven to return to her village, finally free from shame and eager to make known to everyone her liberator, Jesus.”

The pope also addressed the social difficulties facing the parish’s neighborhood.

“I know well that your parish community lives in an area with many challenges,” he said. “Situations of marginalization are not lacking, nor material and moral poverty.”

“Many are waiting for a home, a job that ensures a dignified life, and safe places where they can meet, play, and build something beautiful together,” he said.

Encouraging the faithful to respond to these realities with pastoral charity, the pope pointed to the Eucharist as the heart of Christian community life.

“Starting from the Eucharist, the beating heart of every Christian community, I encourage you to ensure that parish activities become a sign of a Church that — like a mother — cares for her children, without condemning them, but rather welcoming them, listening to them, and supporting them in the face of danger,” Leo XIV said.

Before the Mass, the pope also spoke informally to young people and children gathered on the sports field, many of whom are preparing for their first Communion.

“Jesus will come to your home, into your heart, into your life,” he told them. “We must all be ready to open the door to find Jesus who is waiting for us.”

He also encouraged them to pray regularly and to speak to God about their worries and daily difficulties.

Finally, the pope spoke to the children about the importance of peace and reconciliation.

“Make peace with your friends when there are difficulties or differences of opinion,” he said. “Reject all forms of violence and hatred, things that cause division, and try to be promoters of peace and reconciliation in today’s world.”

At the end of the celebration, the pope met with the parish pastoral council and priests before returning to the Vatican.

This article was originally published by ACI Stampa, EWTN News’ Italian-language partner agency, and has been translated and adapted by EWTN News.

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday appealed for peace as violence and fear continue to spread in Iran and across the Middle East, praying in particular for Lebanon and warning that the conflict could widen.

Speaking after the Angelus on March 8, the pope said “deeply disturbing news continues to arrive from Iran and the entire Middle East.”

“In addition to the episodes of violence and devastation as well as the widespread climate of hatred and fear, there is also the concern that the conflict will spread and that other countries in the region, including beloved Lebanon, may again sink back into instability,” he said.

“We lift up our humble prayer to the Lord, so that the thunderous sound of bombs may cease, weapons may fall silent, and a space for dialogue may open up in which the voice of the people can be heard,” the pope said. He added that he was entrusting that intention to the Virgin Mary, “that she may intercede for those who suffer because of war and lead hearts along the paths of reconciliation and hope.”

Before the Marian prayer in St. Peter’s Square, Leo reflected on the day’s Gospel and said that “since the first centuries of the Church’s history, the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, the healing of the man born blind and the resurrection of Lazarus illuminate the path of those who, at Easter, will receive Baptism and begin a new life.”

“These great Gospel passages, which we read beginning this Sunday, are intended for the catechumens to help them on their journey to become Christians,” he said. “At the same time, these passages are heard once again by the entire community of believers to help them to be more authentic and joyful Christians.”

Referring to Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, the pope said: “Indeed, Jesus is the response to our thirst. As he suggested to the Samaritan woman, the encounter with him stirs in the depths of each person ‘a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’”

“How many people in the entire world are searching even today for this spiritual spring!” he said.

Quoting the diary of Etty Hillesum, a Dutch Jewish writer who died in Auschwitz during World War II, Leo said: “‘Sometimes I am there too. But more often stones and grit block the well, and God is buried beneath. Then he must be dug out again.’”

“Dear friends, there is no energy better spent than that dedicated to freeing our heart,” the pope said. “For this reason, Lent is a gift: we are starting the third week and now we are able to intensify the journey!”

He went on to reflect on the disciples’ reaction in the Gospel: “His disciples came [and] they were astonished that he was speaking with a woman.” The Master, he said, had to prompt them: “‘Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.’”

“The Lord still says to his Church: ‘Lift up your eyes and recognize God’s surprises!’” Leo said. “In the fields, four months prior to the harvest, one sees practically nothing. But there, where we see nothing, grace is already at work and its fruits are ready to be gathered.”

“The harvest is great: perhaps the workers are few because they are distracted by other activities,” he continued. “Jesus, on the other hand, is attentive. According to custom, he ought to have simply ignored that Samaritan woman; instead, Jesus speaks with her, listens to her, and shows her respect — without a hidden agenda and without disdain.”

“How many people seek in the Church this same sensitivity, this availability!” the pope said.

“And how beautiful it is when we lose track of time in order to give attention to the person we are encountering, as we see in this passage,” he added. “Jesus was so spiritually nourished by God’s desire to reach people on the deepest levels that he even forgot to eat.”

Leo said that “the Samaritan woman becomes the first of many female evangelizers.” Because of her testimony, “many from her village of despised and rejected people came to meet Jesus, and also in them faith bubbled forth like pure water.”

The pope also marked International Women’s Day, observed March 8, saying: “We renew our commitment, which for us Christians is based on the Gospel, to recognize the equal dignity of man and woman.”

“Unfortunately many women, from childhood onwards, are still discriminated against and suffer various forms of violence,” he said. “In a special way, I offer to them my solidarity and my prayers.”

This article was originally published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by EWTN News.

Thirteen-year-old Fernando Bejarano Calvo — the second of seven children — felt the desire to become a priest in preschool. “He started talking about the seminary when he was 6,” recalled his mother, Nerea Calvo.

At first, she thought it was just a passing childhood whim. “We thought he was saying it somewhat unconsciously,” she explained in a phone conversation with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. However, that early vocational fervor remained burning in his heart. In fifth grade, at the age of 9, he entered the minor seminary in Toledo, Spain.

Fernando Bejarano Calvo serves at Benediction. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Bejarano Calvo family

“We neither pushed him nor held him back,” explained his father, also named Fernando. “It’s not our decision, it’s his,” he added.

This seminary isn’t very different from other schools, except that it operates as a boarding school and places great importance on spiritual life. Prayer marks the hours of the day, during which academic formation is also very important.

“They have their teachers, their school hours, and when school is over they have their time for prayer and various activities,” Nerea explained.

Fernando Bejarano Calvo participates in a procession. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Bejarano Calvo family

Fernando returns home one weekend a month and receives visits from his family every Sunday. “We talk to him every day. Even though they live at the seminary, obviously it’s not like the family suddenly disappears,” his father emphasized.

In any case, his mother doesn’t deny that the physical separation has an emotional cost: “It’s a kind of heartbreak, so to speak, that is both beautiful and difficult, but you share it with other families.”

Fernando Bejarano Calvo with his parents and sister at the seminary. |Credit: Photo courtesy of the Bejarano Calvo family

At the seminary — which has just celebrated its 100th anniversary — they have found a support network among parents and formators. Nerea experiences it as a gift: “You don’t lose your son, you gain 40 more, and 40 more families.”

An unexpected gift during the papal audience

This family accompanied their son Fernando and 46 other young men from the minor seminary in Toledo to an audience with Pope Leo XIV at the Apostolic Palace on Feb. 28 — along with other families whose sons have also experienced an early vocation.

Pope Leo XIV shows his affection for Fernando Bejarano Calvo and the other children during an audience at the Vatican. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Bejarano Calvo family

“We had been waiting for this moment for many months. We wanted to receive what the Holy Father had in store for the seminarians and also for the families who accompany them,” the boy’s father explained.

For the young men of St. Thomas Villanova Minor Seminary in Toledo, this pilgrimage was especially significant, as it coincided with the centenary celebration of the diocesan institution, whose patron saint, an Augustinian friar, holds a very special place in the heart of Pope Leo XIV.

The 46 minor seminarians from Toledo, Spain, make their way to Rome with their formators. | Credit: St. Thomas Villanova Minor Seminary in Toledo

At the end of the meeting, the pope greeted the family and held the youngest of the siblings, whom they had named Leo (León in Spanish) after the pope. Nerea’s husband, Fernando — to whom she has been married for 17 years — already had the name in mind. “I already had the name,” he said. “I hadn’t thought about it like some strategy. It was simply clear to me.”

The boy was born after a difficult pregnancy, which his mother offered for the Church, vocations, and the pontificate of the new pope.

“I was vomiting from Day 1 until the very last day. It was very difficult. I practically didn’t leave the house except to go to Mass. Very confined, very limited,” Nerea recounted.

The pope thanked them “for praying for the Church” and blessed the little boy in an unexpected gift that extended to their entire family.

Pope Leo XIV holds the youngest of the seven siblings in the Bejarano Calvo family, León. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Bejarano Calvo family

Bishops, formators, seminarians, and family members from other Spanish seminaries — Alcalá de Henares and the Interdiocesan Seminary of Catalonia and Cartagena — participated in the audience.

Among them was the rector of the Conciliar Seminary of the Immaculate Conception and the Holy Children of the Diocese of Alcalá de Henares, Father Luis Eduardo Morona Alguacil, who shared with ACI Prensa that the meeting was “an experience of catholicity” and “a moment of great inner joy.”

Currently, the diocesan seminary he directs has seven seminarians, representing a diversity of ages and backgrounds. “There’s a bit of everything; there are young men, and then most are between 25 and 35 years old. Almost all of them have already had professional experience and university studies.” He indicated that all of them maintain a close connection with the Diocese of Alcalá de Henares, either by coming from its parishes or by having been mentored by diocesan priests.

Seminary rector Father Luis Eduardo Morona Alguacil (left) with Bishop Antonio Prieto Lucena, bishop of Alcalá de Henares. | Credit: Diocese of Alcalá de Henares ‘A much-desired experience’

The trip to Rome had been long awaited. According to the rector, the audience had already been requested and granted during Pope Francis’ pontificate, but it could not take place due to the worsening of his illness. “It was at that time that he was already hospitalized and with a fairly advanced illness, and he was unable to receive us,” he recalled.

A year later, the meeting with Leo XIV finally took place. “It was an experience, as always when one goes to Rome, to be with the pope, an experience of catholicity, of savoring and experiencing the mystery of the Church and of being close to the successor of Peter,” he said.

Morona also highlighted the ecclesial communion dimension of the meeting, given the presence of several Spanish seminaries.

‘Deeply moved’

According to the rector, the seminarians returned “deeply moved by the depth and essence of what the pope told them.” The central theme of the papal address was the call to cultivate a supernatural vision of reality, especially during their formation.

Pope Leo XIV meets with the seminarians of the Diocese of Alcalá de Henares at the Vatican. | Credit: Diocese of Alcalá de Henares

“They were rereading the address and overjoyed to know that the pope prays for them,” explained the rector, who emphasized the impact that Leo XIV’s personal presence had on the seminarians.

After the address, the pope approached the different groups and listened to each one. “He is a man who listens; you can tell he is paying attention when you are speaking to him, that he is attentive to what you are saying. That is something that also surprised them,” Morona recounted. Several seminarians were able to give the pope personal letters and small gifts in an atmosphere he described as “a very beautiful sense of ecclesial communion.”

Ordinations in April and the visit to Spain

The audience took place at a particularly significant time for the seminary of Diocese of Alcalá de Henares, which is preparing for the ordination of several deacons. When the rector informed the pope, Leo XIV asked: “But before or after my visit to Spain?”

“He had his visit to Spain in mind; it’s something he must have in his heart and mind,” the rector noted.

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.

Pope Leo XIV has named Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia as the new apostolic nuncio to the United States, succeeding Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who retired after turning 80 at the end of January.

Archbishop Caccia has till now served as the Holy Seeʼs permanent observer at the United Nations in New York.

The Holy See Press Office announced the appointment on March 7.

The French-born Pierre served as apostolic nuncio, the pope’s diplomatic representative, to the U.S. for nearly 10 years — spanning three U.S. presidential terms and two papacies. The role includes assisting with the selection of bishops and representing the Vatican at political and Church events.

Cardinal Christophe Pierre speaks to EWTN News President and COO Montse Alvarado in Rome on Friday, April 25, 2025. - Credit: EWTN News

In an interview with “EWTN News In-Depth” anchor Catherine Hadro ahead of his 80th birthday on Jan. 30, Cardinal Pierre described his decade as the papal representative to the U.S. as “very beautiful” and “difficult” years.

Pope Francis appointed Pierre apostolic nuncio in April 2016, following a nine-year term as nuncio in Mexico. He was made a cardinal by Francis in 2023.

Pierre’s retirement marks the end of an ecclesiastical diplomatic career that began in 1977 with his first role in New Zealand, and included stints in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Cuba,Brazil, and the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

In 1995, St. Pope John Paul II named him apostolic nuncio in Haiti, and four years later, in Uganda.

The Lenten sermons began March 6 in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican, delivered by the Capuchin friar and preacher to the papal household, Father Roberto Pasolini, and inspired by the conversion of St. Francis of Assisi.

In the first of the meditations, which will take place every Friday until March 27, Pasolini reflected in the presence of Pope Leo XIV, members of the Roman Curia, and Vatican employees on “Conversion: Following the Lord Jesus on the Path of Humility.”

Aware of the crisis gripping the Middle East and the escalating violence, the priest noted that, in these days marked by sorrow, “speaking of humility might seem abstract, almost a spiritual luxury.”

Reflecting on the threat of war, he emphasized that “peace is born not only from political agreements, nor from diplomatic or military strategies, but from men and women who find the courage to humble themselves.”

These people, marked by humility, are, according to Pasolini, “capable of taking a step back, of renouncing violence in all its forms, of not yielding to the temptation of revenge and oppression, of choosing dialogue even when circumstances seem to thwart it.”

He then described the saint of Assisi as “a man pierced by the fire of the Gospel, capable of rekindling in each person the longing for a new life in the Spirit.”

In light of the example of St. Francis, the priest posed this question as a starting point: “What is meant by conversion?”

“It is, first and foremost, God’s initiative, in which man is called to participate with all his freedom,” he said.

He further explained that it occurs “in the innermost recesses of our nature, where the image of God imprinted within us awaits awakening. It is when something, long silent, begins to stir anew within the person.”

“Conversion is no longer an attempt to straighten out one’s life through one’s own strength but rather a response to a grace that has redefined the parameters of how we perceive, judge, and desire,” he added.

“Conversion is no longer an attempt to straighten out one’s life through one’s own strength but rather a response to a grace that has redefined the parameters of how we perceive, judge, and desire.”

Father Roberto Pasolini

Capuchin friar and preacher to the papal household

For a true evangelical conversion, the friar emphasized the need to identify the root of evil — that is, sin — without falling into the temptation of reducing it “to a small mistake or weakness.”

He proposed “deep healing” for this purpose, emphasizing that “if the possibility of true evil no longer exists, we cannot even believe in the possibility of true good. If sin disappears, even holiness becomes an abstract and incomprehensible destiny.”

He emphasized that humility “is a path that every baptized person is called to follow if they wish to fully embrace the grace of life in Christ.” Furthermore, he emphasized that it “does not impoverish man” but rather restores him to himself and to his true greatness.

“Original sin arises precisely from the rejection of humility: from the refusal to accept oneself as a finite human being, dependent on God. Conversion, then, can only be understood as a return to humility,” he affirmed.

Finally, Pasolini exhorted everyone to ongoing conversion and reiterated that evangelical humility is most necessary “in times of conflict and difficulty.”

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.

“To respect the role of journalists and the dignity of readers,” Pope Leo XIV described the particular task of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera (Evening Courier) on the occasion of its 150th anniversary.

In his letter, addressed to editor-in-chief Luciano Fontana, the Holy Father also warned of the challenge posed by the technological revolution and urged the newspaper to “keep pace with the times.”

In the age of artificial intelligence, the pope emphasized, “there is an irreplaceable task concerning communication” and, in particular, for major newspapers, given their historical legacy.

According to the pope, this task consists of “never renouncing one’s authority, guaranteeing the transparency of sources, respecting the role of journalists and the dignity of readers, cultivating the human dimension of the story, which only experience can provide.”

“...never renouncing oneʼs authority, guaranteeing the transparency of sources, respecting the role of journalists and the dignity of readers, cultivating the human dimension of the story, which only experience can provide.”

Pope Leo IXV

Pope Leo XIV congratulated the newspaper on its 150th anniversary and for having borne witness “to the role of the printed press as a vehicle for disseminating not only news but also ideas and culture as a living leaven of the society that your newspaper has helped to build.”

“Your responsibility is great, as long as your history. Many best wishes for this anniversary, which testifies to the deep bond that unites you with Italy and encourages you to cultivate together your roots and your future,” the Holy Father stated.

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.