Posted on 05/28/2025 19:41 PM (CNA Daily News - Vatican)
Vatican City, May 28, 2025 / 15:41 pm (CNA).
At the end of Wednesday’s general audience, Pope Leo XIV turned his attention to the people suffering the devastating consequences of war, especially in Ukraine and Gaza.
During his greeting to the Italian-speaking faithful, the Holy Father lamented that the Ukrainian people are being hit by “serious new attacks” against civilians and infrastructure.
He also assured them of his closeness and prayers for all the victims, particularly the children and families of that nation, which has lived under the constant threat of bombs since the Russian army invaded in February 2022.
“I strongly reiterate my appeal to stop the war and to support every initiative of dialogue and peace,” he continued.
He also urged the faithful to join “in prayer for peace in Ukraine and wherever there is suffering because of war.”
Pope Leo XIV also referred to the Gaza Strip, where “the cry of mothers, of fathers who clutch the lifeless bodies of children … rises ever more intensely to heaven.”
He also lamented those “who are continually forced to move in search of a little food and safer shelter from bombing.”
“I renew my appeal to the leaders: [implement a] ceasefire, release all hostages, fully respect humanitarian law. Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!” the Holy Father exclaimed.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Posted on 05/28/2025 19:41 PM (CNA Daily News)
Vatican City, May 28, 2025 / 15:41 pm (CNA).
At the end of Wednesday’s general audience, Pope Leo XIV turned his attention to the people suffering the devastating consequences of war, especially in Ukraine and Gaza.
During his greeting to the Italian-speaking faithful, the Holy Father lamented that the Ukrainian people are being hit by “serious new attacks” against civilians and infrastructure.
He also assured them of his closeness and prayers for all the victims, particularly the children and families of that nation, which has lived under the constant threat of bombs since the Russian army invaded in February 2022.
“I strongly reiterate my appeal to stop the war and to support every initiative of dialogue and peace,” he continued.
He also urged the faithful to join “in prayer for peace in Ukraine and wherever there is suffering because of war.”
Pope Leo XIV also referred to the Gaza Strip, where “the cry of mothers, of fathers who clutch the lifeless bodies of children … rises ever more intensely to heaven.”
He also lamented those “who are continually forced to move in search of a little food and safer shelter from bombing.”
“I renew my appeal to the leaders: [implement a] ceasefire, release all hostages, fully respect humanitarian law. Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!” the Holy Father exclaimed.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Posted on 05/28/2025 19:21 PM (CNA Daily News - Vatican)
Vatican City, May 28, 2025 / 15:21 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV held the second general audience of his pontificate today in which he reflected on the parable of the good Samaritan.
At the beginning of his catechesis, addressed to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father recalled that the parables of the Gospel offer an opportunity “to change perspective and open ourselves up to hope.”
The lack of hope, the pontiff explained, is sometimes due “to the fact that we fixate on a certain rigid and closed way of seeing things,” and the parables “help us to look at them from another point of view.”
He then recalled that Jesus proposes this parable to “a doctor of the law,” who asks him: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk 10:25-37), and then Jesus invites him to love his neighbor.
The scene of the parable of the good Samaritan is a road “as difficult and harsh as life itself,” the pope said. In fact, the man who crosses it “is attacked, beaten, robbed, and left half dead.”
“It is the experience that happens when situations, people, sometimes even those we have trusted, take everything from us and leave us in the middle of the road,” the pontiff emphasized.
Leo XIV then added that “life is made up of encounters, and in these encounters, we emerge for what we are. We find ourselves in front of others, faced with their fragility and weakness, and we can decide what to do: to take care of them or pretend nothing is wrong.”
At his General Audience, Pope Leo XIV speaks to the English-speaking pilgrims reflecting on the parable of the Good Samaritan, reminding us that Christ is our healing hope and calls us to show mercy and become true neighbors. Sacred Heart of Jesus, make our hearts more like… pic.twitter.com/6Qu8QfG89J
— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) May 28, 2025
He recalled that the priest and the Levite went down that same road and didn’t stop to help him. “The practice of worship does not automatically lead to being compassionate. Indeed, before being a religious matter, compassion is a question of humanity! Before being believers, we are called to be human,” he emphasized.
The pope pointed out that “haste, so present in our lives, very often impedes us from feeling compassion. One who thinks his or her journey must be the priority is not willing to stop for another.”
However, the Samaritan, who belonged to a despised people, decided to stop to help the man. Thus, Leo XIV emphasized that “religiosity does not enter into this. This Samaritan simply stops because he is a man faced with another man in need of help.”
He also affirmed that compassion “is expressed through practical gestures,” recalling that the Samaritan “approaches, because if you want to help someone, you cannot think of keeping your distance; you have to get involved, get dirty yourself, perhaps be contaminated.”
“One truly helps if one is willing to feel the weight of the other’s pain,” Pope Leo XIV noted.
“When will we, too, be capable of interrupting our journey and having compassion? When we understand that the wounded man in the street represents each one of us. And then the memory of all the times that Jesus stopped to take care of us will make us more capable of compassion,” he said.
Finally, Pope Leo invited the faithful to pray to “grow in humanity, so that our relationships may be truer and richer in compassion.”
“Let us ask the heart of Jesus for the grace to increasingly have the same feelings he does,” he concluded.
After greeting the pilgrims from different countries, the Holy Father intoned the Our Father in Latin and imparted his blessing to the faithful present, who listened attentively despite the high temperatures and intense Roman spring sun.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Posted on 05/28/2025 19:21 PM (CNA Daily News)
Vatican City, May 28, 2025 / 15:21 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV held the second general audience of his pontificate today in which he reflected on the parable of the good Samaritan.
At the beginning of his catechesis, addressed to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father recalled that the parables of the Gospel offer an opportunity “to change perspective and open ourselves up to hope.”
The lack of hope, the pontiff explained, is sometimes due “to the fact that we fixate on a certain rigid and closed way of seeing things,” and the parables “help us to look at them from another point of view.”
He then recalled that Jesus proposes this parable to “a doctor of the law,” who asks him: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk 10:25-37), and then Jesus invites him to love his neighbor.
The scene of the parable of the good Samaritan is a road “as difficult and harsh as life itself,” the pope said. In fact, the man who crosses it “is attacked, beaten, robbed, and left half dead.”
“It is the experience that happens when situations, people, sometimes even those we have trusted, take everything from us and leave us in the middle of the road,” the pontiff emphasized.
Leo XIV then added that “life is made up of encounters, and in these encounters, we emerge for what we are. We find ourselves in front of others, faced with their fragility and weakness, and we can decide what to do: to take care of them or pretend nothing is wrong.”
At his General Audience, Pope Leo XIV speaks to the English-speaking pilgrims reflecting on the parable of the Good Samaritan, reminding us that Christ is our healing hope and calls us to show mercy and become true neighbors. Sacred Heart of Jesus, make our hearts more like… pic.twitter.com/6Qu8QfG89J
— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) May 28, 2025
He recalled that the priest and the Levite went down that same road and didn’t stop to help him. “The practice of worship does not automatically lead to being compassionate. Indeed, before being a religious matter, compassion is a question of humanity! Before being believers, we are called to be human,” he emphasized.
The pope pointed out that “haste, so present in our lives, very often impedes us from feeling compassion. One who thinks his or her journey must be the priority is not willing to stop for another.”
However, the Samaritan, who belonged to a despised people, decided to stop to help the man. Thus, Leo XIV emphasized that “religiosity does not enter into this. This Samaritan simply stops because he is a man faced with another man in need of help.”
He also affirmed that compassion “is expressed through practical gestures,” recalling that the Samaritan “approaches, because if you want to help someone, you cannot think of keeping your distance; you have to get involved, get dirty yourself, perhaps be contaminated.”
“One truly helps if one is willing to feel the weight of the other’s pain,” Pope Leo XIV noted.
“When will we, too, be capable of interrupting our journey and having compassion? When we understand that the wounded man in the street represents each one of us. And then the memory of all the times that Jesus stopped to take care of us will make us more capable of compassion,” he said.
Finally, Pope Leo invited the faithful to pray to “grow in humanity, so that our relationships may be truer and richer in compassion.”
“Let us ask the heart of Jesus for the grace to increasingly have the same feelings he does,” he concluded.
After greeting the pilgrims from different countries, the Holy Father intoned the Our Father in Latin and imparted his blessing to the faithful present, who listened attentively despite the high temperatures and intense Roman spring sun.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Posted on 05/28/2025 18:51 PM (CNA Daily News - Vatican)
Vatican City, May 28, 2025 / 14:51 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has reinstated the “conclave bonus” given to Vatican employees for their service during the sede vacante period.
Approximately 5,000 staff working for the Roman Curia and state institutions — such as the Vatican Museums, the Vatican Pharmacy, the Vatican Library, and Vatican Media — will receive an extra 500 euros (about $566) in their June paychecks.
The custom of distributing conclave bonuses by newly-elected popes is seen as a gesture of gratitude toward Vatican employees who had worked, often overtime, in the weeks following the death of a pope until the election of a new one.
Though Pope Leo did not speak about the monetary gift in his audience with several Holy See and state workers earlier this month, he expressed his high regard for the men and women who form the different “working communities” of the Vatican.
“To work in the Roman Curia means to contribute to keeping the memory of the Apostolic See alive,” he said at the May 24 meeting. “And, by analogy, this can also be said of the services of Vatican City State.”
“Each one of you gives your contribution, carrying out your daily work with commitment and also with faith, because faith and prayer are like salt for food; they impart flavor,” he added.
Among the thousands of workers who will benefit from Pope Leo’s monetary gift include men and women who work in the Vatican’s bookstore, clothing stores, gas stations, and post office, along with the Holy See’s other lay and religious staff.
In 2013, the “conclave bonus” tradition was temporarily suspended when Pope Francis was elected. Instead, he chose to redirect the monetary gift to papal charities and welfare institutions as a sign of the Church’s concern for people in need.
Aware of the discontent felt by several Vatican employees to withhold the handout, former Vatican spokesperson Father Federico Lombardi justified scrapping the bonus because, amid the “difficult general economic situation” of the church-state, a pope had not died.
“It did not seem possible or appropriate to burden the budgets of Vatican entities with a considerable extraordinary expense that was not foreseen,” Lombardi said in 2013.
Though employees missed out on the expected conclave bonus when Francis became pope 12 years ago, several employees with three or more children are benefitting from a monthly 300-euro (about $339) bonus approved by the late pontiff in January 2025.
Under Pope Benedict XIV, Vatican employees were granted a 1,000-euro conclave bonus for the additional work carried out during the sede vacante period after the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005.
Posted on 05/28/2025 18:51 PM (CNA Daily News)
Vatican City, May 28, 2025 / 14:51 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has reinstated the “conclave bonus” given to Vatican employees for their service during the sede vacante period.
Approximately 5,000 staff working for the Roman Curia and state institutions — such as the Vatican Museums, the Vatican Pharmacy, the Vatican Library, and Vatican Media — will receive an extra 500 euros (about $566) in their June paychecks.
The custom of distributing conclave bonuses by newly-elected popes is seen as a gesture of gratitude toward Vatican employees who had worked, often overtime, in the weeks following the death of a pope until the election of a new one.
Though Pope Leo did not speak about the monetary gift in his audience with several Holy See and state workers earlier this month, he expressed his high regard for the men and women who form the different “working communities” of the Vatican.
“To work in the Roman Curia means to contribute to keeping the memory of the Apostolic See alive,” he said at the May 24 meeting. “And, by analogy, this can also be said of the services of Vatican City State.”
“Each one of you gives your contribution, carrying out your daily work with commitment and also with faith, because faith and prayer are like salt for food; they impart flavor,” he added.
Among the thousands of workers who will benefit from Pope Leo’s monetary gift include men and women who work in the Vatican’s bookstore, clothing stores, gas stations, and post office, along with the Holy See’s other lay and religious staff.
In 2013, the “conclave bonus” tradition was temporarily suspended when Pope Francis was elected. Instead, he chose to redirect the monetary gift to papal charities and welfare institutions as a sign of the Church’s concern for people in need.
Aware of the discontent felt by several Vatican employees to withhold the handout, former Vatican spokesperson Father Federico Lombardi justified scrapping the bonus because, amid the “difficult general economic situation” of the church-state, a pope had not died.
“It did not seem possible or appropriate to burden the budgets of Vatican entities with a considerable extraordinary expense that was not foreseen,” Lombardi said in 2013.
Though employees missed out on the expected conclave bonus when Francis became pope 12 years ago, several employees with three or more children are benefitting from a monthly 300-euro (about $339) bonus approved by the late pontiff in January 2025.
Under Pope Benedict XIV, Vatican employees were granted a 1,000-euro conclave bonus for the additional work carried out during the sede vacante period after the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005.
Posted on 05/28/2025 17:21 PM (CNA Daily News)
CNA Staff, May 28, 2025 / 13:21 pm (CNA).
South African Cardinal Wilfrid Napier this week said the Catholic Church can lead in helping overcome decades of apartheid and racial divide that continue to dominate life in his country.
Speaking to EWTN News’ Colm Flynn in Rome on Monday, the prelate acknowledged the lingering effects of apartheid, which for decades imposed a rigid racial segregation in South Africa in favor of the nation’s white minority.
Although the racial segregation system was largely abolished by the early 1990s, “the structures of apartheid that were put into place cannot be reversed,” Napier said.
The ongoing effects of the racist policies, Napier said, are manifested in the reality of “township churches, township parishes, and [then] your more middle-class and sometimes upper-class parishes” in the country.
“That’s the reality the Church has to work in,” he said, pointing out that the “very deprived areas” mostly consist of Black citizens, while wealthier areas are more mixed.
The Church can help “overcome” these historically unjust circumstances, he said, by “ensuring that when we have diocesan meetings [and] diocesan structures, we draw from all those backgrounds and bring the people together.”
Napier reflected on participating in protests years ago and being afraid that police might open fire on him and his fellow demonstrators.
“It was as serious as that sometimes,” he said. “Because we decided as a Church [that] we cannot sit in the background and simply pray in our churches. We have to go out onto the streets.”
South Africa was recently in the news when President Donald Trump, while hosting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, played footage at a South African rally in which participants chanted “Kill the Boer.”
Asked about such chants and slogans at South African political events calling for violence and “revolution,” Napier said the “Kill the Boer” slogan was a “protest song.”
“The basis of it was, the government has taken our land,” he said. “They’ve given this land to these Boers, these Afrikaners, [and] they won’t give it back to us... We’ll take it back.”
Admitting that progress in the often crime-plagued nation has stalled in recent years, the prelate said the Church in South Africa “dropped the ball” in ceding much of the work of reconciliation to politicians.
Asked by Flynn about the overall state of the Church in South Africa today, Napier said the Catholic Church, if it wants to have “an impact on society,” must start with “good, strong parishes.”
“If it’s going to have good, strong parishes, it needs good, strong families,” he said. “If it’s going to get new good, strong families, it needs good, strong marriages. To get that, it must have good marriage preparation.”
“I think that would be my starting point in saying that if we’re going to make an impact on society, we have to look at where society actually gets its strength from, and that is from the family, the community of the family,” he said.
Flynn’s full interview with Napier can be viewed below.
Posted on 05/28/2025 17:21 PM (CNA Daily News - Vatican)
CNA Staff, May 28, 2025 / 13:21 pm (CNA).
South African Cardinal Wilfrid Napier this week said the Catholic Church can lead in helping overcome decades of apartheid and racial divide that continue to dominate life in his country.
Speaking to EWTN News’ Colm Flynn in Rome on Monday, the prelate acknowledged the lingering effects of apartheid, which for decades imposed a rigid racial segregation in South Africa in favor of the nation’s white minority.
Although the racial segregation system was largely abolished by the early 1990s, “the structures of apartheid that were put into place cannot be reversed,” Napier said.
The ongoing effects of the racist policies, Napier said, are manifested in the reality of “township churches, township parishes, and [then] your more middle-class and sometimes upper-class parishes” in the country.
“That’s the reality the Church has to work in,” he said, pointing out that the “very deprived areas” mostly consist of Black citizens, while wealthier areas are more mixed.
The Church can help “overcome” these historically unjust circumstances, he said, by “ensuring that when we have diocesan meetings [and] diocesan structures, we draw from all those backgrounds and bring the people together.”
Napier reflected on participating in protests years ago and being afraid that police might open fire on him and his fellow demonstrators.
“It was as serious as that sometimes,” he said. “Because we decided as a Church [that] we cannot sit in the background and simply pray in our churches. We have to go out onto the streets.”
South Africa was recently in the news when President Donald Trump, while hosting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, played footage at a South African rally in which participants chanted “Kill the Boer.”
Asked about such chants and slogans at South African political events calling for violence and “revolution,” Napier said the “Kill the Boer” slogan was a “protest song.”
“The basis of it was, the government has taken our land,” he said. “They’ve given this land to these Boers, these Afrikaners, [and] they won’t give it back to us... We’ll take it back.”
Admitting that progress in the often crime-plagued nation has stalled in recent years, the prelate said the Church in South Africa “dropped the ball” in ceding much of the work of reconciliation to politicians.
Asked by Flynn about the overall state of the Church in South Africa today, Napier said the Catholic Church, if it wants to have “an impact on society,” must start with “good, strong parishes.”
“If it’s going to have good, strong parishes, it needs good, strong families,” he said. “If it’s going to get new good, strong families, it needs good, strong marriages. To get that, it must have good marriage preparation.”
“I think that would be my starting point in saying that if we’re going to make an impact on society, we have to look at where society actually gets its strength from, and that is from the family, the community of the family,” he said.
Flynn’s full interview with Napier can be viewed below.
Posted on 05/28/2025 14:37 PM (CNA Daily News - US)
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 28, 2025 / 10:37 am (CNA).
A brutal attack by extremist Muslim herdsmen in Nigeria on Sunday left dozens dead and resulted in the kidnapping of a Catholic priest and several nuns.
Hundreds of Jihadist Fulani herdsmen gunned down nearly 40 people, more than half of them Christians, across several villages on Sunday, according to a report by Truth Nigeria, a humanitarian-aid nonprofit that seeks to document Nigeria’s struggles with corruption and crime.
The attack occurred three days after the shooting of Father Solomon Atongo, a priest of St. John Quasi Parish in Jimba, and the kidnapping of two of his companions. Atongo is currently receiving treatment for his wounds.
Some of Sunday’s attacks took place in Aondona, the hometown of Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi, and appear to be retaliatory after Anagbe, who is a Claretian missionary, testified in a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in March that the Nigerian government is doing nothing to stop the systemic persecution and elimination of Christians.
Violence in the region has increased since Anagbe’s testimony in the U.S. capital, according to Douglas Burton, director of Truth Nigeria, who appeared on “EWTN News Nightly” on Tuesday to discuss ongoing violence and kidnappings occurring across the West African country.
“It’s a tragic situation, and the story is in play,” Burton told anchor Erik Rosales regarding Sunday’s attacks in the central Benue state. “And what happened is that Fulani terrorists attacked [Anagbe’s] home village.”
As reported by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, Anagbe testified on March 12 before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa that “the experience of the Nigerian Christians today can be summed up as that of a Church under Islamist extermination. It is frightening to live there.”
Later that day Anagbe told “EWTN News Nightly” that “the persecution of Christians generally and Catholics in Nigeria is the work of an Islamic agenda to conquer the territory and make it become an Islamic state in West Africa.”
Burton estimated the number of deaths to be “up to 36” in this Sunday’s massacre in Anagbe’s village, though Reuters has reported the death toll to be “at least 42 people” overall in the attacks in the Ahume, Tyolaha, and Tse-Ubiam villages that day.
A former State Department official, Burton said he was unaware of the Nigerian government making any arrests in connection with the Sunday attacks. “There’s been no evidence that these attacks will be halted,” he said.
This is not a surprise to Burton, who further explained on “EWTN News Nightly” that the Nigerian army “is really overstretched,” with over half of the country’s military concentrated in the northeast region of the 36-state country, where there is currently a “deadly insurgency.”
He also noted unrest in the far-west region in addition to the Middle Belt states, where Sunday’s attacks occurred. “The Nigerian military really needs more people and the police need more recruitment,” Burton said. “That has been the position that we have taken at Truth Nigeria.”
Nigeria is the largest country on the African continent and the sixth-largest country in the world, with a population of approximately 236 million.
Posted on 05/28/2025 14:37 PM (CNA Daily News)
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 28, 2025 / 10:37 am (CNA).
A brutal attack by extremist Muslim herdsmen in Nigeria on Sunday left dozens dead and resulted in the kidnapping of a Catholic priest and several nuns.
Hundreds of Jihadist Fulani herdsmen gunned down nearly 40 people, more than half of them Christians, across several villages on Sunday, according to a report by Truth Nigeria, a humanitarian-aid nonprofit that seeks to document Nigeria’s struggles with corruption and crime.
The attack occurred three days after the shooting of Father Solomon Atongo, a priest of St. John Quasi Parish in Jimba, and the kidnapping of two of his companions. Atongo is currently receiving treatment for his wounds.
Some of Sunday’s attacks took place in Aondona, the hometown of Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi, and appear to be retaliatory after Anagbe, who is a Claretian missionary, testified in a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in March that the Nigerian government is doing nothing to stop the systemic persecution and elimination of Christians.
Violence in the region has increased since Anagbe’s testimony in the U.S. capital, according to Douglas Burton, director of Truth Nigeria, who appeared on “EWTN News Nightly” on Tuesday to discuss ongoing violence and kidnappings occurring across the West African country.
“It’s a tragic situation, and the story is in play,” Burton told anchor Erik Rosales regarding Sunday’s attacks in the central Benue state. “And what happened is that Fulani terrorists attacked [Anagbe’s] home village.”
As reported by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, Anagbe testified on March 12 before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa that “the experience of the Nigerian Christians today can be summed up as that of a Church under Islamist extermination. It is frightening to live there.”
Later that day Anagbe told “EWTN News Nightly” that “the persecution of Christians generally and Catholics in Nigeria is the work of an Islamic agenda to conquer the territory and make it become an Islamic state in West Africa.”
Burton estimated the number of deaths to be “up to 36” in this Sunday’s massacre in Anagbe’s village, though Reuters has reported the death toll to be “at least 42 people” overall in the attacks in the Ahume, Tyolaha, and Tse-Ubiam villages that day.
A former State Department official, Burton said he was unaware of the Nigerian government making any arrests in connection with the Sunday attacks. “There’s been no evidence that these attacks will be halted,” he said.
This is not a surprise to Burton, who further explained on “EWTN News Nightly” that the Nigerian army “is really overstretched,” with over half of the country’s military concentrated in the northeast region of the 36-state country, where there is currently a “deadly insurgency.”
He also noted unrest in the far-west region in addition to the Middle Belt states, where Sunday’s attacks occurred. “The Nigerian military really needs more people and the police need more recruitment,” Burton said. “That has been the position that we have taken at Truth Nigeria.”
Nigeria is the largest country on the African continent and the sixth-largest country in the world, with a population of approximately 236 million.