“This man ought to be put to death because he is discouraging the soldiers . . . and all the people by speaking such words to them.” (Jeremiah 38:4) My best friend, Erin, called me from Denver during that first scary summer of the pandemic. I lived in Rhode Island then and was alarmed when I saw her name […]

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Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Basilica on Aug. 13, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 13, 2025 / 11:12 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 13 said the Gospel does not teach people to deny evil but to recognize its reality as an opportunity for conversion.

Continuing his jubilee catechesis on “Jesus Christ Our Hope,” the Holy Father continued his reflection on the Last Supper recorded in the Gospel of St. Mark.

Though Jesus did not “raise his voice” nor “point his finger” at Judas, Pope Leo said he used “strong words” to reveal the gravity of his betrayal.

“Jesus does not denounce in order to humiliate,” he said. “He speaks the truth because he desires to save.”

Due to the heat, the audience was held in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. The pope also greeted pilgrims who were not able to fit inside the hall and were gathered in other locations to stay out of the extreme temperatures, according to Vatican News.

The Holy Father said Jesus did not speak the truth to “condemn” but to help his disciples be aware that conversion and the “journey of salvation” begins with a sincere acceptance of the truth of one’s own weaknesses and fragility.

“In order to be saved it is necessary to feel that one is involved, to feel that one is beloved despite everything, to feel that evil is real but it does not have the last word,” he said.

“The Gospel does not teach us to deny evil but to recognize it as a painful opportunity for rebirth,” he added.

Exhorting his listeners to not “exclude” themselves from God’s love and salvation, Pope Leo said Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection are reasons to hold on to hope even when faced with one’s own sins and weaknesses.

“Precisely there, at the darkest point, the light is not extinguished,” he said. “On the contrary, it begins to shine.”

“If we recognize our limits, if we let ourselves be touched by the pain of Christ, then we can be finally born again,” he continued.

Toward the end of the Wednesday catechesis, the Holy Father encouraged Christians to “open up a space for truth in our hearts” and to trust Jesus, who never abandoned any of his disciples, even when he knew he would “be left alone” after the Last Supper to endure his passion. 

“Salvation begins here: with the awareness that we may be the ones who break our trust in God but that we can also be the ones who gather it, protect it, and renew it,” Leo said.

“Ultimately, this is hope: knowing that even if we fail, God will never fail us. Even if we betray him, he never stops loving us,” he said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God never gives up on anyone, even when the person betrays God's love, Pope Leo XIV said.

Christian hope flows from "knowing that even if we fail, God will never fail us. Even if we betray him, he never stops loving us," the pope said Aug. 13 at his weekly general audience.

Arriving in the Vatican audience hall, Pope Leo welcomed the visitors in English, Spanish and Italian and explained that the audience would be held in two parts -- in the hall and in St. Peter's Basilica -- so people would not be forced to stay outside under the very hot sun. 

Pope Leo was scheduled to leave the Vatican after the two-part audience to return to the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo where he had spent part of July. The Vatican press office said he would stay until Aug. 19 in the town, which is about 15 miles southeast of Rome.

Greeting English speakers in the basilica, the pope wished them "safe travels" and prayed that God's grace would "accompany you and fulfill in your hearts that desire that we all share to live an authentic conversion, to walk united in the church, to renew our faith and to be authentic witnesses of Jesus Christ and his Gospel throughout the world."

In his main audience talk in the hall, Pope Leo continued his series about Jesus' final days, looking specifically at Jesus' revelation during the Last Supper that one of the disciples would betray him.

Jesus does not make the statement to condemn or embarrass Judas in front of the others, the pope said, but does so "to show how love, when it is true, cannot do without the truth." 

In the Gospel, each of the disciples responds, "Surely it is not I?"

The question, the pope said, "is perhaps among the sincerest that we can ask ourselves. It is not the question of the innocent, but of the disciple who discovers himself to be fragile. It is not the cry of the guilty, but the whisper of him who, while wanting to love, is aware of being able to do harm. It is in this awareness that the journey of salvation begins."

To be saved, he said, a person must recognize that he or she is in need of salvation.

But, at the same time, a disciple of Christ also should feel "beloved despite everything" and know that "evil is real but that it does not have the last word."

"If we recognize our limit, if we let ourselves be touched by the pain of Christ" at being betrayed, "then we can finally be born again," Pope Leo told the crowd. "Faith does not spare us from the possibility of sin, but it always offers us a way out of it: that of mercy."
 

Pope Leo: God won't give up on you

A look at Pope Leo's general audience Aug. 13.

The Catholic University of America. / Credit: Mehdi Kasumov/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 12, 2025 / 17:07 pm (CNA).

Here’s a roundup of some of the latest Catholic education news:

Catholic University Press will exclusively publish Pope Leo XIV’s doctoral dissertation

The Catholic University of America has secured exclusive English-language editorial rights to Pope Leo XIV’s doctoral dissertation, “The Office and Authority of the Local Prior in the Order of St. Augustine.”

The book will be available in print and Kindle editions in October, according to an Aug. 11 press release, with a foreword by Dominican Father Thomas Joseph White, rector of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, also known as the Angelicum, where the Holy Father defended his dissertation in 1987.

“While the future pontiff’s dissertation focuses on the role of the prior as the local superior in the Augustinians, his insights as a young priest in areas such as Church authority, the spiritual life following the way of St. Augustine, and the mission of the priesthood are of interest as they relate to contemporary Church leadership and Church life,” the press release states.

Catholic high school in St. Louis playing ‘the long game’ to help rebuild city

Administrators at St. Mary’s South Side Catholic High School are playing “the long game” to help revitalize St. Louis, and their neighborhood of Dutchtown, with the launch of a new HVAC and plumbing internship program for seniors.

“We believe in what our neighborhood and city can be, and we are all in on doing the work,” the school’s president, Mike England, said at an Aug. 12 press conference, according to the St. Louis Review. “There are no quick fixes. This is the long game, but each day, we will work to move the needle in a positive way to better support our young men, our families, and our community through our Catholic values and teaching.” This comes after the school bought its Dutchtown campus from the Archdiocese of St. Louis last month.

Bishop Conley announces rollout of new theology curriculum for high school freshmen 

In a video posted to social media on Wednesday, Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, announced a new theology curriculum for high school freshmen that will be implemented across the diocese’s six high schools.

The new curriculum, which he said the diocese has been working on for the past four years, will be rolled out this upcoming school year and will eventually be built out for sophomores, juniors, and seniors over the next four years. 

“We hope to be able to put together a beautiful curriculum that integrates all of our subjects and is historically aligned and gives us this coherent and integrated view of the world and how everything fits together and is connected in a beautiful whole education,” Conley said. 

Gonzaga teams up with Catholic Charities to launch small local business program 

Gonzaga University has partnered with Catholic Charities Eastern Washington to launch a new entrepreneurship program for low-income families to help grow their own small businesses, according to a local report.

The Spokane Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Network “will offer hands-on training, mentorship, and consulting to aspiring entrepreneurs, with a focus on small-scale businesses like housekeeping, pet care, skilled trades, and landscaping,” according to the report.

Baltimore, Milwaukee Catholic colleges band together to address teacher shortage

Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore and Mount Mary University in Milwaukee are partnering to counteract staffing shortages by working to boost the number of students obtaining advanced degrees, according to the Catholic Review.

The partnership will allow Mount Mary master’s students to transfer to one of Notre Dame of Maryland’s two online doctorate in education programs, allowing students to transfer up to 12 credits from their master’s programs, saving both time and money. The university’s presidents celebrated the partnership in a signing ceremony on Aug. 1.

Christ mourns a murder victim in the statue “Thou Shalt Not Kill” by Timothy Schmalz. / Credit: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 12, 2025 / 14:54 pm (CNA).

As advocates in Baltimore work to end violent crime in the area, officials with the Archdiocese of Baltimore are bringing to the city a sculpture of Jesus mourning a homicide victim.

The statue, made by Catholic artist Timothy Schmalz, is titled “Thou Shall Not Kill.”

On Aug. 9 the archdiocese held its third annual gun buyback program, inviting citizens to surrender their guns for cash to help lessen violence in the city. The Baltimore City Police Department, St. Joseph’s Monastery Parish, and the Health by Southwest coalition helped the archdiocese sponsor the event.

Following the success of the buybacks, St. Joseph’s Monastery parish priest Father Mike Murphy, the archdiocese, and community leaders are working to bring Schmalz’s work of Christian public art to the city.

The life-sized statue by Schmalz portrays Jesus weeping over a murder victim who has multiple gunshot wounds. 

The original piece was created in 2024 and is at the Father Augustus Tolton Peace Center, a hub for violence prevention programs in Chicago. The statue that will be placed in Baltimore is awaiting final approval of its designated location.

Schmalz is an internationally acclaimed Canadian sculptor known for his Christian works of art, including statues of saints, angels, and his well-known depictions of Jesus portrayed as a homeless man. 

More than 50 bronze works of “Homeless Jesus” are installed in locations around the world including Capernaum in Israel and Vatican City.

In April, a new Vatican-commissioned sculpture by the artist titled “Be Welcoming” was placed in St. Peter’s Square to inspire people to open their hearts to the poor. The bronze statue depicts a man seated on a bench who appears to be homeless, carrying a backpack on his shoulder and a stick in one hand.

In Baltimore, the goal for this year’s gun buyback program was to receive around 300 guns after buying nearly 160 in 2023 and 300 in 2024. By July the organizers had raised about $60,000 to fund the purchases of guns brought in. The 2025 buyback ultimately collected 410 firearms.

The latest buyback occurred as crime, including gun violence, has been dropping in Baltimore, though the city has long struggled with high levels of violent crime. 

From 2015–2022 the city recorded more than 300 homicides annually, including 348 in 2019, which almost equaled the record of 353 in 1993.

The side of Toulouse Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toulouse) in Toulouse in the South of France. / Credit: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 12, 2025 / 14:24 pm (CNA).

The French bishops’ conference has asked the archbishop of Toulouse to rescind the promotion of a priest who served time in prison for the rape of a minor boy.

St. James Roman Catholic Church in Reading, England, is the starting point of the English route of the Camino de Santiago. / Credit: Kevin Hellon/Shutterstock

London, England, Aug 12, 2025 / 13:52 pm (CNA).

Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth is concerned about a proposal to build a huge solar farm on the English stretch of the Camino de Santiago in the south of England.

In Argentina’s Patagonia region, large shale fields called Vaca Muerta sprawl over open, dry flatlands. Under the area’s giant sky, locals have farmed fruit for decades. In 2010, a petrochemical company discovered that Vaca Muerta—Spanish for “dead cow”—holds one of the largest natural gas deposits in the world. Since then, companies have hungrily drilled fracking […]

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WASHINGTON - Four dedicated pro-life advocates were honored on August 11 at the 2025 People of Life awards during the Diocesan Pro-Life Leadership Conference in Arlington, Virginia. This year's honorees are Valerie Washington, Judy Haag, and the late Rita and Mike Marker. Approximately 100 diocesan Catholic pro-life leaders and guests attended the private awards dinner, including Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington.

The People of Life award recognizes Catholics who have answered the call outlined by Saint John Paul II in The Gospel of Life (Evangelium vitae, 1995) by dedicating themselves to pro-life activities and promoting respect for the dignity of the human person. It is bestowed in honor of their significant and longtime contributions to the culture of life. 

For the past 25 years, Valerie Washington has led the National Black Catholic Congress (NBCC) organization as Executive Director—guiding its mission, shaping its programs, and nurturing partnerships that have strengthened the Church’s commitment to justice and evangelization, with a strong embrace of the pro-life cause. Through Valerie’s leadership, the NBCC has organized national congresses that gather thousands of Black Catholics to celebrate faith, confront challenges, and envision a Church renewed in spirit and mission, while ensuring that the rich faith traditions of Black Catholics are supported and sustained. Valerie has been deeply impactful in supporting and highlighting a culture of life within the Black Catholic community and is a source of inspiration in her compassionate, persistent witness to the Gospel of Life. 

Judy Haag has spent the last 30 years as a long-term care nurse and dedicated pro-life advocate. She served as chairperson of the New Ulm Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (NUDCCW) Reverence for Life Committee for several years, where she assisted in public education and advocacy on abortion, and was named the NUDCCW “Woman of the Year” in 2017. Judy has co-chaired her local 40 Days for Life campaign since its inception over 15 years ago; leads parish participation in commemorating the Roe v. Wade anniversary on January 22; and facilitates participation in the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) March for Life. Judy has also devoted herself to mentoring youth at her parish and sharing Catholic Social Teaching, forming the next generation of faithful pro-life leaders. 

In the early 1980s, seeing the need for public action against euthanasia and assisted suicide, Rita and Mike Marker co-founded the International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force. This groundbreaking organization later become the Patients Rights Council. To aid in their advocacy, Rita obtained a law degree while working and raising their family, ultimately authoring the book “Deadly Compassion” and taking on speaking engagements while Mike ran the organization’s operations. Their tireless efforts helped many dioceses, state Catholic conferences, and the USCCB, and were instrumental in shaping the existing coalition on assisted suicide. Mike Marker passed away in 2021 and Rita Marker passed away in 2023, leaving a legacy of leadership, commitment, and grit. 

The awardees join 43 other People of Life award recipients since the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities established the award in 2007. To learn more about People of Life, the bishops’ pro-life action campaign in the United States, please visit: https://www.usccb.org/prolife/people-life.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Stories about "the first 100 days" are standard fare at the beginning of a U.S. president's four-year term; the articles usually focus on how much the new president was able to accomplish and how quickly.

But a pope is elected for life and without having promised voters anything or having presented a platform.

Pope Leo XIV was elected May 8, making Aug. 16 the 100th day since he stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica as the new pope. He will celebrate his 70th birthday Sept. 14.

While the first 100 days of a pontificate may hint at what is to come, the initial period of Pope Leo's ministry as the successor of Peter and bishop of Rome seemed mostly about him getting used to the role, the crowds and the protocol. 

According to canon law, the pope "possesses supreme, full, immediate and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he is always able to exercise freely."

In other words, he could have issued a slew of the canonical equivalent of executive orders in his first days in office. Instead, he lived up to his reputation as a person who listens before deciding -- holding a meeting with the College of Cardinals and individual meetings with the heads of Vatican offices.

Like his predecessors, Pope Leo confirmed the heads of Curia offices on a temporary basis a few days after his election. Some major nominations are expected in September or early October, starting with his own replacement as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. 

His choices for members of his team, and whether he decides to have an international Council of Cardinals to advise him will send signals not only about what he wants to do but also how he wants to do it. (Pope Francis set up the Council of Cardinals early in his pontificate to help him with the reform of the Roman Curia and to advise him on other matters, but he did not make the council a formal body.) 

September also should bring an announcement about where Pope Leo will live. Several cardinals have said that in the days before the conclave they encouraged the future pope -- whoever he would be -- to move back into the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace. The move would make security easier, saving the Vatican money and allowing the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis chose to live, to return to full operation as a guesthouse.

In his first public address, moments after his election, the new pope said: "We want to be a synodal church, a church that moves forward, a church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close above all to those who are suffering."

Pope Leo went deeper when he spoke about the key objectives of his ministry -- in a pontificate that easily could last 20 years -- during a meeting with the College of Cardinals two days after his election.

He asked the cardinals to join him in renewing a "complete commitment to the path that the universal Church has now followed for decades in the wake of the Second Vatican Council."

That path had six fundamental points that, Pope Leo said, "Pope Francis masterfully and concretely set it forth" in his first exhortation, "The Joy of the Gospel." 

The six points highlighted by Pope Leo were: "the return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation; the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community; growth in collegiality and synodality; attention to the 'sensus fidei' (the people of God's sense of the faith), especially in its most authentic and inclusive forms, such as popular piety; loving care for the least and the rejected; (and) courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world in its various components and realities."

Those realities include the widespread media attention focused on the election of the first U.S.-born pope as well as the fact that people of all stripes feel free to use social media to proclaim what Pope Leo "should" do, "must" or "must not" do.

According to a Gallup Poll conducted in the United States July 7-21 and published Aug. 5, Pope Leo was the most favorably viewed of 14 world leaders and major newsmakers; 57% of Americans said they had a "favorable opinion" of him and 11% said they had an "unfavorable" opinion.

"These figures closely match Pope Francis' ratings when he assumed the role in 2013, then viewed favorably by 58% and unfavorably by 10%, as well as Pope Benedict in 2005 -- 55% favorable, 12% unfavorable," Gallup said.

Among those surveyed, self-identified Catholics gave all three popes even higher ratings at the beginning of their pontificates, the polling group said, "with Leo viewed favorably by 76%, Francis by 80% and Benedict by 67%." 

As the weeks passed after his election, Pope Leo seemed to grow more comfortable with a crowd, spending more time blessing babies and enjoying his interactions with the thousands of people who came to St. Peter's Square for his weekly general audiences.

At his general audience Aug. 6 -- held outside on a very warm summer day -- the pope finished his formal program in less than an hour, then spent another two and a half hours shaking hands, posing for photos with pilgrim groups and having unusually long conversations with dozens of newlywed couples before offering them his blessing.

As a Curia official, the future pope had a reputation of being somewhat reserved, but Pope Leo has shown he has a special tool for connecting with a crowd: speaking English and Spanish as well as Italian, the Vatican's official working language.

His ability to switch between the three languages effortlessly was on full display at the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers July 28-29 and the related Jubilee of Youth July 28-Aug. 3. The young people roared with approval as he spoke to them in languages that most could understand.

While his U.S. roots and Peruvian missionary experience undoubtedly will impact his papacy, he has been very respectful of the Italian tradition of not making major announcements or changes during the summer holidays.
 

100 days of Pope Leo XIV

The first 100 days is a milestone borrowed from politics as a way to glimpse the tone and priorities of a new leader. Pope Leo XIV, elected May 8, will reach that point on August 16.