Cameron Mumford on pilgrimage in Jerusalem. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Cameron Mumford

Rome Newsroom, Jun 19, 2025 / 11:06 am (CNA).

Cameron Mumford came to Jerusalem on a solo Catholic pilgrimage to retrace the steps of Christ. By the end of his journey, he had fled a modern war zone alongside a Romanian Orthodox nun, taking cover amid missile strike sirens at the Jordanian border crossing.

“I did not let go of my rosary or my brown scapular,” the 29-year-old British pilgrim told CNA of his harrowing final nights in Israel. “I kept praying for people to be safe.”

Mumford, a Catholic from the Diocese of Nottingham, England, had long dreamed of returning to the Holy Land. His first visit with a tour group in 2017 felt rushed, and this time, he wanted to spend more time in prayer at the holy sites. He arrived alone on June 6 and checked into a hostel just a five-minute walk from the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre — the site where Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead.

At first, it was everything he hoped for. He joined the Franciscan friars for daily Mass and processions at the tomb of Christ, prayed at the Garden of Gethsemane for over an hour in near silence, and received a brown scapular made by Carmelites in Bethlehem. He even got a traditional pilgrim tattoo of the Jerusalem Cross etched on his arm.

“Praying inside the tomb of Jesus Christ is a surreal experience. I’m so blessed to be here right now,” he posted on social media on his first day.

But in the early morning hours of June 13, just hours before the planned end of his pilgrimage, Mumford was jolted awake at 3 a.m. by sirens and emergency alerts on his phone in Hebrew. Israel had launched a massive airstrike — Operation Rising Lion — targeting over 100 Iranian military and nuclear sites, and the country was bracing for retaliation from Iran.

Despite the chaotic night, Mumford still ventured out at daybreak for the long-awaited highlight of his pilgrimage: a Traditional Latin Mass offered by a visiting monk at the very site of Calvary within the Holy Sepulchre. It was his last moment of peace before his pilgrimage became a travel nightmare.

When Mumford returned to his hostel, he found out that Ben Gurion Airport had been evacuated. “I had friends and family calling me from home in hysterics because they’d seen the news,” he said. The British consulate offered little more than an email sign-up for alerts.

“Everybody was saying that we were expecting a really big attack any moment now,” he said. “I started to worry because I went on this pilgrimage to pray for healing from a health condition that I have, and I had only enough medication for a few days… I didn’t know if I was going to be stuck for weeks.”

Stranded and anxious, Mumford found himself sheltering in the lobby of the New Citadel Hostel in Jerusalem’s Old City with about 20 other travelers: Algerians, Germans, Russians, Brazilians, a Romanian, and a fellow Englishman who had cycled all the way from London.

That night, on June 13, Iran responded. Mumford was on the roof of his hostel around 9 p.m. with a few other guests looking out at the Jerusalem skyline “feeling tense” when suddenly everyone’s phones started buzzing: “Take cover, missiles incoming within minutes.”

Iran unleashed a massive missile and drone barrage in retaliation for Israel’s surprise strikes. From the rooftop, Mumford witnessed the first wave of Iranian missiles being intercepted in the distant sky by Israel’s Iron Dome. “It was so crazy. It was like meteorites … they would turn the brightest white,” he said. “All the sirens were going off.”

Mumford and the other guests rushed down to the lobby of the hostel to take cover since they did not have access to an actual bomb shelter. “We could just hear explosions and the building rattling sometimes,” he said. “Everybody was very, very worried.”

Sheltering in the lobby, Mumford sat next to a Romanian Orthodox nun named Mother Epifania, who calmly prayed the Psalms on her phone. He remained next to her, praying his rosary, making sure to make an Act of Contrition before letting himself fall asleep.

The next day, Mumford ventured out into the streets of Jerusalem in hope of finding his much-needed medication at a pharmacy. “Everything was closed. There were police and soldiers everywhere, and the streets were deserted,” he said, noting even the Holy Sepulchre and the mosques had closed their doors.

On Saturday night, sirens wailed again. But this time the missiles were a lot closer to Jerusalem than the previous night.

“The whole night all you could hear all night was just explosions from the missiles being intercepted or hitting around or near the city,” he said.

“The building was shaking like crazy and this night I had a kind of ‘memento mori’ moment because I thought I might not actually wake up tomorrow.”

As Saturday night gave way to Sunday, the guests discussed different escape routes, weighing their options: Egypt, Jordan, or wait it out. Many hesitated. But Mother Epifania knocked on Mumford’s door.

“She asked if I would leave with her because she had nobody to go with,” Mumford said. “So we quickly grabbed our things. We walked by the front door of the Holy Sepulchre, said some prayers, and then we went up to the Damascus Gates in the Muslim quarter and got a taxi all the way to the land border next to Jericho.”

They arrived at the Jordanian land border crossing to find a sea of vehicles and a stalled line. Realizing the only way forward was to pay their way onto a bus near the front of the line, they shelled out $20 each to the bus driver. It felt a bit like bribery, Mumford admitted. But they made it — just barely.

“We were the very, very last vehicle to be let through before they closed [the border],” Mumford said.

“I think the whole situation was incredible — I was traveling with a nun, I had so many people praying for me, and we were the last vehicle to go through,” he said. “I thought that God is definitely helping us leave this place.”

But their ordeal wasn’t over.

As they waited to exit Israel, a loudspeaker announced an incoming attack was expected in 10 minutes. Sirens screamed. Soldiers ordered everyone to the ground.

Mumford ducked under a metal bench. “For the first time … I wasn’t praying for God to keep me safe,” he said. “I was praying for the forgiveness of all my sins I’ve committed in my life and asking God to look after my family.”

Nearby, Mother Epifania could hear Mumford breathing hard and kept quietly whispering to him: “Don’t worry, God is with us. He’s here with us right now. Keep praying. Keep praying.”

After the danger had passed, they waited another hour for visas and finally crossed into Jordan. They shared an hourlong taxi line to the Amman airport with some Romanians and Americans they had met in line, but when they arrived, many flights were canceled as neighboring airspace closed.

Mumford booked the cheapest flight to Europe he could find— a 470-pound ($631) flight to Düsseldorf, Germany, the following morning. Mother Epifania found a flight to Istanbul. The two parted with a handshake and a “God bless you.” When Mumford finally landed in England on June 17, he slept for over 13 hours.

Now home and still processing the ordeal, Mumford worries for friends left behind at his hostel who are still trying to cross the border into Egypt or Jorden. “It’s getting very, very dangerous, even for Jerusalem,” he said.

Reflecting on all he had been through, he is astonished. “It just amazes me how I went to holy Mass on Calvary the very morning that it all kind of began, and I managed to get out as soon as possible,” he said. “And I had a nun reminding me to pray all the time when I was getting a bit stressed out.”

Athletes pray before a match organized by the Caritas Cup in Rome, Saturday, June 14, 2025. / Credit: EWTN News

Rome Newsroom, Jun 19, 2025 / 10:36 am (CNA).

Among the many events held across Rome to celebrate the Jubilee of Sport was a June 14 game organized by the Caritas Cup, a tournament founded five years ago by four Scottish high school students to help young Catholics grow in faith through sport.

The goal is not just to score in football, or soccer as it is commonly called in the U.S.

“It’s to bring young people back to the Church and give them an avenue to stay in the Church,” Adam Costello, co-founder of the Caritas Cup, told CNA. “As soon as we finish secondary school in Scotland, people kind of leave. It’s the last sort of chance they’ve got to stay, and I think the Caritas Cup is an avenue for that.”

The Caritas Cup was founded by four young men — Costello, Bailey Gallagher, Daniel Timoney, and Aiden Paterson — who wanted to inspire their peers through faith and sport.

In dioceses and schools across Scotland, the cup organizes local tournaments that bring together young people from Catholic schools and parishes.

Timoney emphasized their grassroots approach: “We are trying to get young people involved in the Church, and especially in Scotland, in the community. Football and sports — especially football and netball — is sort of the way to do that.”

From local fields to global impact

Inspired by the values and mission of Caritas — the Catholic Church’s global charity network — the Caritas Cup was founded to put faith into action through sport and service.

Since the beginning, the team has been working closely with the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) to help support different projects on the local and international level.

“SCIAF is ever-present in the schools in Scotland,” Timoney said. “It’s just such a big household name for Catholics across Scotland. So, we got in touch with them, and [we were able to support] a lot of their projects.”

Beyond bringing together young Catholics to play soccer and netball tournaments in their diocese, the Caritas Cup also raises funds for projects around the world.

“Every year we pick a central fund for a Caritas project,” Costello said. “Previously it’s been to provide water to provide food sanitation to multiple different countries. And this year it’s for the Holy Land appeal and to provide emergency aid to the relief there.”

The name “Caritas Cup” was intentionally chosen to reflect the mission of Caritas Internationalis, and the tournament itself is shaped by that same spirit of faith expressed through concrete acts of charity and community.

“The way that they describe it is very beautiful,” said Rebecca Rathbone, officer for promoting youth leadership at Caritas Internationalis.

The organizers are “putting their faith into action and using something that is fun as a way to raise awareness about the important work that SCIAF does,” she said. 

Rathborne emphasized that she believes it is “another real plus of including young people.”

“The work that Caritas does is serious,” Rathbone said, “... but it doesn’t mean that we can’t approach it with a joyful spirit.”

“The challenges that the world is facing change every day and change quickly,” she said, “and something that young people are particularly good at is thinking creatively and being energetic and being hopeful and reminding us that we can work in new ways to address the challenges of today and meet people’s needs today.”

Growing in human and Christian virtues

Before the June 14 match in Rome, the players gathered to pray at the Pontifical Scots College.

The event highlighted how sport teaches important Christian values like teamwork, discipline, respect, and perseverance — and how it offers a way to grow together, in both friendship and faith. 

In his homily for the jubilee’s closing Mass on the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity on June 15, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that sport can “help us encounter the Triune God, because it challenges us to relate to others and with others,” both outwardly and inwardly.

“Sport, especially team sports, teaches the value of cooperating, working together, and sharing,” Pope Leo said. “These, as we said, are at the very heart of God’s own life. Sport can thus become an important means of reconciliation and encounter.”

Pope Leo stressed that sport “also teaches us how to lose” and so opens our hearts to hope.

The pontiff recalled the “straightforward and luminous life” of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, who taught us that “just as no one is born a champion, no one is born a saint” and that “it is daily training in love that brings us closer to final victory.”

Costello emphasized that soccer is a perfect metaphor for the spiritual life in that regard: “We have failures in sport but also failures in faith [and at] times we need to get back up again.”

Building a supportive community

“There are people here that, myself included, had fallen away from the Church,” Timoney said at the recent match in Rome.

“But this has brought us back into it,” he said. “We’ll go to Mass and it’s just fantastic doing it together.”

Costello also noted what he believes is “the beauty” of the Caritas Cup: “You’re not on your own. And it’s the same for faith. There are always people there. And we want to be those people, for anyone to come to.”

From the way the event of the day unfolds — with prayer, teamwork, and a shared spirit of joy — it’s clear that the goal is not merely to play.

“I think what’s important for us is that we’re not trying to make faith cool,” Costello said. “We just want to show people that it’s not something to be embarrassed about.”

“So, this is a way for young men and young women to show their faith,” he said. “Playing football, playing netball is not ‘what we want.’ All we want is people actively involved in the Church, actively involved in Caritas. In the end it’s much bigger than just the game of football.”

Athletes pray before a match organized by the Caritas Cup in Rome, Saturday, June 14, 2025. / Credit: EWTN News

Rome Newsroom, Jun 19, 2025 / 10:36 am (CNA).

In dioceses and schools across Scotland, the Caritas Cup organizes local tournaments that bring together young people from Catholic schools and parishes.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Brisbane, Australia. / Credit: TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock

CNA Newsroom, Jun 19, 2025 / 10:06 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has named Bishop Shane Mackinlay — an influential voice in the Synod on Synodality — as the next archbishop of Brisbane, Australia.

The 60-year-old prelate succeeds Archbishop Mark Coleridge, who is retiring after 13 years of episcopal leadership.

Mackinlay will be installed at St. Stephen’s Cathedral on Sept. 11, taking pastoral responsibility for Australia’s second-largest diocese, which includes over 684,000 Catholics across 94 parishes in southeastern Queensland.

During his first visit to Brisbane following the announcement, Mackinlay emphasized the importance of missionary clarity in a society increasingly indifferent to religious belief.

“We need to be clear and unembarrassed about our faith — and about why it matters to us,” he told the Catholic Leader.

Quoting Christ’s invitation to the first disciples, he added: “I don’t think we should be telling people what to do. We should be inviting people to come and see, and offering a witness that is attractive and compelling.”

A synodal voice in the global Church 

Born in Melbourne in 1965, Mackinlay studied physics at Monash University. He later pursued doctoral studies in philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, where he completed his dissertation on hermeneutics.

Ordained a priest for the Diocese of Ballarat in 1991, Mackinlay served in parish ministry before being appointed master of Catholic Theological College in Melbourne, a role he held from 2011 to 2019. That year, Pope Francis named him bishop of Sandhurst, based in Bendigo.

Mackinlay has played an increasingly visible role in synodal processes. As a prominent member of Australia’s Fifth Plenary Council and a delegate to the Synod on Synodality in Rome, he was elected by his fellow bishops to the Commission for the Synthesis Report — the body tasked with drafting the final synod document.

Mackinlay has expressed willingness to engage with questions under discernment, including the possibility of admitting women to the diaconate. He told the National Catholic Reporter in 2023 that he would “welcome” such a development if it were eventually approved by competent ecclesial authority.

On questions related to pastoral outreach, Mackinlay emphasized fidelity to the Church’s doctrine alongside authentic personal accompaniment. Reflecting on discussions concerning Catholics who identify as LGBT, he stated that there was a “very clear reaffirmation of the Church’s doctrine and teachings” at the synod, while also recognizing the need for pastoral care that respects individual dignity and encourages conversion in light of Christ’s truth.

In 2023, Mackinlay participated as an official observer of the German Synodal Way.

In an interview with German Catholic media outlet Domradio in April of this year, he expressed “great respect” for the approach of the controversial German process and praised the Synodal Way’s “findings and documents” as “a very enriching source for the theology of the coming years and decades.”

Firepower and competence 

Brisbane’s retiring archbishop welcomed the appointment of his successor, describing Mackinlay as “an unusually gifted man” whose strengths lie in both intellectual clarity and administrative competence.

“He has a fine mind and will bring intellectual firepower to his ministry,” Coleridge said. “He will be able to dialogue intelligently with a culture that, at many points, is distant from Christian understandings.”

Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, also welcomed the appointment, noting Mackinlay’s theological background, experience in seminary formation, and his leadership in Sandhurst.

Demand among Catholic families in northern Virginia has spurred the leadership of the St. Jerome Institute, a classical liberal arts high school in Washington, D.C., to announce plans to open a second campus in the Diocese of Arlington. / Credit: St. Jerome Institute

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 19, 2025 / 09:36 am (CNA).

Demand among Catholic families in northern Virginia has spurred the leadership of the St. Jerome Institute, a classical liberal arts high school in Washington, D.C., to announce plans to open a second campus in the Diocese of Arlington.

The proposed opening of the new school comes six years after the institute first launched in the nation’s capital, where enrollment has grown from three to 65 students. Pending final approval from the Diocese of Arlington, the school will operate independently with an education plan developed by its own curriculum board. 

“The school has been and remains in communication with St. Philip’s pastor and the diocese about the possibility of St. Philip being the location for SJI NOVA and both sides continue to work through the details of the potential arrangement,” Mary Shaffrey, a spokeswoman for the Arlington Diocese, told the Washington Times.

“We see that one of the great problems in American culture is the fragmentation between faith and reason,” Andrew Shivone, president of the St. Jerome Institute (SJI), told CNA regarding the school’s mission. “What we want to do is structure our curriculum, structure our culture, structure even the common life that we live together in the truth of Christ and have that truth ordering everything else that we do at the school.” 

Students at St. Jerome’s participate in small seminar-style classes, engaging with the school’s unique liberal arts curriculum.

“From the epic tales of Odysseus and Beowulf to the quiet heroism of Walter Ciszek in Soviet Russia, from the deceptive simplicity of counting to the surprising complexity of the natural logarithm, SJI presents the inspiring beauty of our world in ways that lead students to deeper understanding and lifelong mastery,” the school’s website states.

Students at the St. Jerome Institute experience a tight-knit and active community, whether it be through their seminar discussions, communal morning prayer, extracurricular activities, or rigorous observance of feast days on the liturgical calendar.

“There are a lot of really good Catholic schools in the Arlington Diocese,” Shivone emphasized. “But for those families who are particularly interested in a Catholic liberal arts education, we fit that niche.”

Much like the founding of the original school, the St. Jerome Institute’s decision to launch plans for its second location in northern Virginia comes at the request of local Catholic parents. 

“The northern Virginia Catholic community already possesses a beautiful parish life and really beautiful, authentic Catholic communities of parents, priests, and … kids,” Shivone said. “This seems to be a perfect addition to a community that already exists.”

A curriculum modeled after classical ‘innovation’

Faculty at the St. Jerome Institute will meet this week for their annual summer curriculum symposium, Shivone told CNA. There, teachers will work with the school’s curriculum board to review what works “and seek even deeper integration, philosophically and theologically, with all of the subjects.”

Integration, Shivone noted, is key to the school’s curriculum model.

“We aspire to cultivate and develop what is most human in our students precisely by incorporating them into the rich tradition of Catholic humanism,” the institute’s education plan states.

It continues: “This is their birthright as Catholics and children of the West. Included in this twofold integration are those aptitudes and attitudes belonging to a well-educated person, fully alive: the capacity for wonder, and the ability to read well, write well, speak well, and think well.”

Ultimately, the structure of the curriculum is modeled according to several themes, Shivone explained: God in nature, God in the person, and God in the community. Students end on a “major in-depth study of the Trinity.”

“It’s not simply that they’re able to translate Cicero or something like that, which is a good thing,” Shivone reflected. He said the institute typically interviews its students a few months after graduation, and what they most often report having retained from their experience is “the habit of wonder.”

Vision for the new school

The new school’s curriculum would contain many of the same “essential” elements as the existing school, according to Shivone.

However, he said, “we want the new school to receive what we are, and then from that, develop it in freedom,” since the aim of the school is to pursue an “education in freedom.”

Its class sizes will be similar to the D.C. school, with 16 to 18 students in a section and two sections per class.

Shivone said he expects the new school to enroll “anywhere between 30 and 60 [ninth- and 10th-grade] students” in the fall of 2026.

Ultimately, St. Jerome will cap its overall student population at 120 to 140 students in order to maintain the ideal class size for its seminar-style courses. If the demand for enrollment goes beyond that number, Shivone said the institute would consider the possibility of opening another school to accommodate.

“For us, a school is a community of people learning together,” he said. “And there is, just by necessity, a certain size to that. Once it gets larger, it ceases to be a community.”

This story was updated on June 19, 2025, at 3:02 p.m. ET with updated information and to note that the plan is still pending approval from the Arlington Diocese.

Demand among Catholic families in northern Virginia has spurred the leadership of the St. Jerome Institute, a classical liberal arts high school in Washington, D.C., to announce plans to open a second campus in the Diocese of Arlington. / Credit: St. Jerome Institute

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 19, 2025 / 09:36 am (CNA).

Demand among Catholic families in northern Virginia has spurred the leadership of the St. Jerome Institute, a classical liberal arts high school in Washington, D.C., to announce plans to open a second campus in the Diocese of Arlington.

The proposed opening of the new school comes six years after the institute first launched in the nation’s capital, where enrollment has grown from three to 65 students. Pending final approval from the Diocese of Arlington, the school will operate independently with an education plan developed by its own curriculum board. 

“The school has been and remains in communication with St. Philip’s pastor and the diocese about the possibility of St. Philip being the location for SJI NOVA and both sides continue to work through the details of the potential arrangement,” Mary Shaffrey, a spokeswoman for the Arlington Diocese, told the Washington Times.

“We see that one of the great problems in American culture is the fragmentation between faith and reason,” Andrew Shivone, president of the St. Jerome Institute (SJI), told CNA regarding the school’s mission. “What we want to do is structure our curriculum, structure our culture, structure even the common life that we live together in the truth of Christ and have that truth ordering everything else that we do at the school.” 

Students at St. Jerome’s participate in small seminar-style classes, engaging with the school’s unique liberal arts curriculum.

“From the epic tales of Odysseus and Beowulf to the quiet heroism of Walter Ciszek in Soviet Russia, from the deceptive simplicity of counting to the surprising complexity of the natural logarithm, SJI presents the inspiring beauty of our world in ways that lead students to deeper understanding and lifelong mastery,” the school’s website states.

Students at the St. Jerome Institute experience a tight-knit and active community, whether it be through their seminar discussions, communal morning prayer, extracurricular activities, or rigorous observance of feast days on the liturgical calendar.

“There are a lot of really good Catholic schools in the Arlington Diocese,” Shivone emphasized. “But for those families who are particularly interested in a Catholic liberal arts education, we fit that niche.”

Much like the founding of the original school, the St. Jerome Institute’s decision to launch plans for its second location in northern Virginia comes at the request of local Catholic parents. 

“The northern Virginia Catholic community already possesses a beautiful parish life and really beautiful, authentic Catholic communities of parents, priests, and … kids,” Shivone said. “This seems to be a perfect addition to a community that already exists.”

A curriculum modeled after classical ‘innovation’

Faculty at the St. Jerome Institute will meet this week for their annual summer curriculum symposium, Shivone told CNA. There, teachers will work with the school’s curriculum board to review what works “and seek even deeper integration, philosophically and theologically, with all of the subjects.”

Integration, Shivone noted, is key to the school’s curriculum model.

“We aspire to cultivate and develop what is most human in our students precisely by incorporating them into the rich tradition of Catholic humanism,” the institute’s education plan states.

It continues: “This is their birthright as Catholics and children of the West. Included in this twofold integration are those aptitudes and attitudes belonging to a well-educated person, fully alive: the capacity for wonder, and the ability to read well, write well, speak well, and think well.”

Ultimately, the structure of the curriculum is modeled according to several themes, Shivone explained: God in nature, God in the person, and God in the community. Students end on a “major in-depth study of the Trinity.”

“It’s not simply that they’re able to translate Cicero or something like that, which is a good thing,” Shivone reflected. He said the institute typically interviews its students a few months after graduation, and what they most often report having retained from their experience is “the habit of wonder.”

Vision for the new school

The new school’s curriculum would contain many of the same “essential” elements as the existing school, according to Shivone.

However, he said, “we want the new school to receive what we are, and then from that, develop it in freedom,” since the aim of the school is to pursue an “education in freedom.”

Its class sizes will be similar to the D.C. school, with 16 to 18 students in a section and two sections per class.

Shivone said he expects the new school to enroll “anywhere between 30 and 60 [ninth- and 10th-grade] students” in the fall of 2026.

Ultimately, St. Jerome will cap its overall student population at 120 to 140 students in order to maintain the ideal class size for its seminar-style courses. If the demand for enrollment goes beyond that number, Shivone said the institute would consider the possibility of opening another school to accommodate.

“For us, a school is a community of people learning together,” he said. “And there is, just by necessity, a certain size to that. Once it gets larger, it ceases to be a community.”

This story was updated on June 19, 2025, at 3:02 p.m. ET with updated information and to note that the plan is still pending approval from the Arlington Diocese.

Galaxy M74. / Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Collaboration

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 19, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV encouraged young astronomy students at the Vatican this week to “be generous in sharing what you learn and what you experience, as best you can and however you can.”

“Surely, this must be an exciting time to be an astronomer,” Pope Leo said to scholars at the Vatican on June 16. The students gathered as part of a monthlong astronomy and astrophysics summer school program hosted by the Vatican Observatory.

The biannual summer program is taking place at the observatory’s headquarters in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, where students come from across the globe to participate. The Vatican Observatory only accepts a small group of students in their final year of undergraduate studies or first year of graduate school.

Each summer the program has a different theme and area of study. The 2025 group is exploring the universe with data from the James Webb Space Telescope, which is currently the largest telescope in space. Pope Leo called it a “truly remarkable instrument,” according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“Do not the James Webb images also fill us with wonder, and indeed a mysterious joy, as we contemplate their sublime beauty?” the pope asked. 

Students will focus on the telescope’s contributions over the last three years to the evolution of galaxies, birth of stars, and planetary systems and the origin of life.

“For the first time, we are able to peer deeply into the atmosphere of exoplanets where life may be developing and study the nebulae where planetary systems themselves are forming,” Pope Leo said.

“The authors of sacred Scripture, writing so many centuries ago, did not have the benefit of this privilege, yet their poetic and religious imagination pondered what the moment of creation must have been like.”

Pope Leo discussed scientists’ ability to trace “the ancient light of distant galaxies,” which he said “speaks of the very beginning of our universe.”

Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, president of the Vatican Observatory, told CNA that they “were thrilled that Pope Leo was able to meet with the students and faculty of our summer school.” He said “the students have told me how much they enjoyed, and felt honored by, the chance they each had to speak briefly with him.”

“From his remarks, it’s clear that he embraces our mission to find joy in the study of God’s creation,” Consolmagno said.

He also shared that he “was especially touched” by Pope Leo’s “reference to St. Augustine’s description of the ‘seeds’ God has sown in the harmony of the universe.”

“Each of you is part of a much greater community,” Leo told the young scientists. 

“Along with the contribution of your fellow scientists, engineers, and mathematicians, it was also with the support of your families and so many of your friends that you have been able to appreciate and take part in this wonderful enterprise, which has enabled us to see the world around us in a new way.” 

“Never forget, then, that what you are doing is meant to benefit all of us,” the pope added.

“The more joy you share, the more joy you create, and in this way, through your pursuit of knowledge, each of you can contribute to building a more peaceful and just world,” he said. 

Galaxy M74. / Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Collaboration

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 19, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV encouraged young astronomy students at the Vatican this week to “be generous in sharing what you learn and what you experience, as best you can and however you can.”

“Surely, this must be an exciting time to be an astronomer,” Pope Leo said to scholars at the Vatican on June 16. The students gathered as part of a monthlong astronomy and astrophysics summer school program hosted by the Vatican Observatory.

The biannual summer program is taking place at the observatory’s headquarters in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, where students come from across the globe to participate. The Vatican Observatory only accepts a small group of students in their final year of undergraduate studies or first year of graduate school.

Each summer the program has a different theme and area of study. The 2025 group is exploring the universe with data from the James Webb Space Telescope, which is currently the largest telescope in space. Pope Leo called it a “truly remarkable instrument,” according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“Do not the James Webb images also fill us with wonder, and indeed a mysterious joy, as we contemplate their sublime beauty?” the pope asked. 

Students will focus on the telescope’s contributions over the last three years to the evolution of galaxies, birth of stars, and planetary systems and the origin of life.

“For the first time, we are able to peer deeply into the atmosphere of exoplanets where life may be developing and study the nebulae where planetary systems themselves are forming,” Pope Leo said.

“The authors of sacred Scripture, writing so many centuries ago, did not have the benefit of this privilege, yet their poetic and religious imagination pondered what the moment of creation must have been like.”

Pope Leo discussed scientists’ ability to trace “the ancient light of distant galaxies,” which he said “speaks of the very beginning of our universe.”

Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, president of the Vatican Observatory, told CNA that they “were thrilled that Pope Leo was able to meet with the students and faculty of our summer school.” He said “the students have told me how much they enjoyed, and felt honored by, the chance they each had to speak briefly with him.”

“From his remarks, it’s clear that he embraces our mission to find joy in the study of God’s creation,” Consolmagno said.

He also shared that he “was especially touched” by Pope Leo’s “reference to St. Augustine’s description of the ‘seeds’ God has sown in the harmony of the universe.”

“Each of you is part of a much greater community,” Leo told the young scientists. 

“Along with the contribution of your fellow scientists, engineers, and mathematicians, it was also with the support of your families and so many of your friends that you have been able to appreciate and take part in this wonderful enterprise, which has enabled us to see the world around us in a new way.” 

“Never forget, then, that what you are doing is meant to benefit all of us,” the pope added.

“The more joy you share, the more joy you create, and in this way, through your pursuit of knowledge, each of you can contribute to building a more peaceful and just world,” he said. 

Jesus and the disciples during Season 4 of “The Chosen.” / Credit: The Chosen/Mike Kubeisy

Vatican City, Jun 19, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

On June 23, there will be an exclusive presentation at the Vatican of the fourth episode of the fifth season of “The Chosen,” the successful series based on the life of Jesus Christ and the apostles.

According to the Holy See Press Office, next Monday at 11:30 a.m. local time in Sala San Pio X in the Holy See Press Office, the cast and producers of “The Chosen” will hold a press conference to discuss the innovative and impactful series.

Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus, will be in attendance for the presentation of the fifth season, titled “The Last Supper.” Also present will be Dallas Jenkins, creator and director of the series; Elizabeth Tabish, who portrays Mary Magdalene in the series; George Xanthis, who plays St. John; and Vanessa Benavente, who plays the Virgin Mary.

They will also discuss the release of two feature films by “The Chosen” about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The crucifixion episode is currently being filmed in Matera, Italy.

At the press conference, details will be shared about the production and the reasons why the series has achieved international popularity on five continents, even being watched by more than 30% of nonbelievers worldwide.

That same day, at 5 p.m. local time, the Vatican premiere of the fourth episode of the fifth season will take place at the historic Vatican Film Library.

The episode is titled “The Same Coin” and features one of the most powerful scenes in the series’ history: The women’s last supper with the “dayenu,” a beloved song sung during the Jewish holiday of Passover. 

Additionally, the Vatican announced that Roumie will present a gift from “The Chosen” to Pope Leo XIV during the June 25 general audience. Roumie met with Pope Francis twice during his pontificate.

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

Jesus and the disciples during Season 4 of “The Chosen.” / Credit: The Chosen/Mike Kubeisy

Vatican City, Jun 19, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

On June 23, there will be an exclusive presentation at the Vatican of the fourth episode of the fifth season of “The Chosen,” the successful series based on the life of Jesus Christ and the apostles.

According to the Holy See Press Office, next Monday at 11:30 a.m. local time in Sala San Pio X in the Holy See Press Office, the cast and producers of “The Chosen” will hold a press conference to discuss the innovative and impactful series.

Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus, will be in attendance for the presentation of the fifth season, titled “The Last Supper.” Also present will be Dallas Jenkins, creator and director of the series; Elizabeth Tabish, who portrays Mary Magdalene in the series; George Xanthis, who plays St. John; and Vanessa Benavente, who plays the Virgin Mary.

They will also discuss the release of two feature films by “The Chosen” about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The crucifixion episode is currently being filmed in Matera, Italy.

At the press conference, details will be shared about the production and the reasons why the series has achieved international popularity on five continents, even being watched by more than 30% of nonbelievers worldwide.

That same day, at 5 p.m. local time, the Vatican premiere of the fourth episode of the fifth season will take place at the historic Vatican Film Library.

The episode is titled “The Same Coin” and features one of the most powerful scenes in the series’ history: The women’s last supper with the “dayenu,” a beloved song sung during the Jewish holiday of Passover. 

Additionally, the Vatican announced that Roumie will present a gift from “The Chosen” to Pope Leo XIV during the June 25 general audience. Roumie met with Pope Francis twice during his pontificate.

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