Ernest Board (1877-1934), “Albertus Magnus Teaches in the Streets of Paris.” / Credit: Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 4.0

National Catholic Register, Nov 15, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

St. Albert the Great, the teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas, was an assiduous Dominican whose accomplishments and gifts to the Church are difficult to exaggerate.

New outpatient clinic for people in need in St. Peter’s Square. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 16:50 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Nov. 14 visited a new outpatient clinic in the Vatican, built beneath the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square, in the lead-up to the ninth World Day of the Poor, which will be celebrated on Sunday, Nov. 16.

The new health center aims to strengthen assistance and increase health care services for those in need, according to a statement from the Office of the Papal Almoner, also known as the Dicastery for the Service of Charity. 

The center was made possible through the collaboration of the Health and Hygiene Directorate of the Governorate of Vatican City State and features two new medical consultation rooms equipped with state-of-the-art instruments and a new radiology service.

This equipment, including a cutting-edge X-ray machine, will allow for the rapid and accurate diagnosis of pneumonia, bone fractures, tumors, degenerative diseases, kidney stones, and intestinal obstructions — conditions often overlooked by those living in poverty.

“Early diagnosis of these conditions will make it possible to start appropriate treatments in a timely manner, contributing to improving the quality of life of those who have nothing,” the statement reads.

At the Office of the Papal Almoner’s other outpatient clinic, more than 2,000 health care services are offered completely free of charge each month thanks to the work of 120 volunteers, including doctors, nurses, and health care technicians.

Thanks to the two clinics located beneath Bernini’s colonnade, general and specialized medical consultations, dental visits, blood tests, and X-rays will continue to be available to the poor. In addition, removable dentures, eyeglasses, and hearing aids will be donated.

Finally, the necessary medications will be delivered directly to the poor person, always completely free of charge. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity and papal almoner, emphasized that in these places dignity is restored to the poor, “in whom we see not a homeless person or a poor person, but the face of Jesus.”

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

Pope Leo XIV receives cloistered Augustinian nuns at the Vatican on Nov. 13, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 15:43 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV praised the “silent and hidden love” of cloistered nuns who, he said, are free from the slavery of society’s focus on outward appearances.

Focusing on the contemplative dimension of the Augustinian nuns, Pope Leo recalled that their founder, St. Augustine, reflected in his book “Confessions” on the joy granted “to those who serve the Lord out of pure love.”

In his address, delivered from the Paul VI Audience Hall on Nov. 13, the pope offered his reflection during an audience at the Vatican with participants in the Ordinary Federal Assembly of the Federation of Augustinian Monasteries of Italy.

He invited the nuns to embrace “the cloistered life with enthusiasm,” which, he assured them, will give them “peace and consolation, and to those who knock on the doors of your monasteries, a message of hope more eloquent than a thousand words.”

The pope then emphasized the witness of charity of the cloistered Augustinian nuns and counseled them, in order to spread the fragrance of God throughout the world,” to strive to “to love one another with sincere affection, as sisters, and to carry in your hearts, in secret, every man and woman in this world, to present them to the Father in your prayers.”

“In a society so focused on outward appearances, where people sometimes do not hesitate to violate the respect of others and their feelings in pursuit of a spotlight and applause, may your example of silent and hidden love help others to rediscover the value of daily and discreet charity, focused on the substance of loving one another and free from the slavery of appearances,” he said.

At the end of his address, the pope emphasized the communal nature of the federation with the “form of association” promoted by Venerable Pius XII and reaffirmed by Pope Francis to foster fraternity among monasteries with the same charism.

“It is a demanding challenge, but one we cannot shy away from, even at the cost of making difficult choices and sacrifices, and overcoming a certain temptation to ‘self-referentiality’ that can sometimes seep into our circles,” Leo XIV cautioned.

The pope thanked the Augustinian nuns for all they do and promised them his prayers and heartfelt blessing.

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

French press reports on the jihadist terror attacks the night of Nov. 13, 2015. / Credit: BalkansCat/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 11:34 am (CNA).

Ten years ago on Nov. 13, armed jihadists stormed the Bataclan concert hall in Paris and elsewhere in the city, murdering over a hundred innocent people.

Pope Leo XIV waves to those gathered at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome on Nov. 14, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 10:04 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday urged academics to “think the faith” in order to confront what he called an increasingly pervasive “cultural emptiness.”

The pope spoke at a ceremony inaugurating the academic year at Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University, the ecclesiastical university under the direct control of the Holy See, an event that brought together more than a thousand students and professors.

In his address, Pope Leo XIV highlighted what he called the Lateran University’s unique and “altogether special” bond with the successor of Peter, a characteristic that he said has shaped its identity and mission from the beginning. He recalled the contributions of various pontiffs since its founding in 1773 and described the Lateran as “a privileged center where the teaching of the universal Church is elaborated, received, developed, and contextualized.”

“Today we urgently need to think the faith so that we can express it in contemporary cultural settings and challenges, but also to counter the risk of cultural emptiness, which in our time is becoming increasingly invasive,” he said.

The pope noted that the faculty of theology is called “to reflect on the deposit of faith and to manifest its beauty and credibility in today’s diverse contexts,” while the study of philosophy “must be oriented toward the search for truth.”

Turning to the university’s canon and civil law faculties, he encouraged students and professors “to consider administrative processes in depth, an urgent challenge for the Church.” He also pointed to the cycles of study in peace sciences and ecology and the environment, instituted by Pope Francis, describing them as “an essential part of the Church’s recent magisterium.”

The “formation of people,” he said, is at the heart of the Lateran University’s mission. For this reason, he urged its members to keep “their eyes and hearts directed toward the future” and to face contemporary challenges with courage.

The pope encouraged the academic community to be a “prophetic sign of communion and fraternity,” and said authentic academic formation serves as an antidote to individualism, self-reference, prejudice, and what he called “solitary leadership.”

He also underlined the importance of scientific rigor, noting that it is “often not appreciated as it should be” because of “deeply rooted prejudices that unfortunately persist even within the ecclesial community.” Scientific research and intellectual effort, he said, are indispensable. “We need well-prepared and competent laypeople and priests,” he added.

“The purpose of the educational and academic process must be to form people who, guided by the logic of gratuity and the passion for truth and justice, can become builders of a new, fraternal, and solidary world,” the pope said.

He concluded by insisting that Catholics must take seriously the task of “thinking in faith,” and invited the university to explore the mystery of Christian belief with passion and in dialogue with the world.

“The Lateran University holds a special place in the pope’s heart,” he said, “and the pope encourages you to dream big, to imagine new spaces for the Christianity of the future, and to work with joy so that all may discover Christ and in him find the fullness they seek.”

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

Archbishop Bernard Bober, chair of the Conference of Slovak Bishops. / Credit: Bohumil Petrik/EWTN News

EWTN News, Nov 14, 2025 / 09:18 am (CNA).

The Day of Repentance on Nov. 16 will acknowledge failures “in relation to God, each other, and society at large.”

Pope Leo XIV gives his apostolic blessing at the end of the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Nov. 12, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Nov 13, 2025 / 15:54 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV during an address at the Vatican on Thursday called for the “prudent” evaluation of supernatural phenomena to avoid falling into superstition.

“To avoid falling into superstitious illusion, it is necessary to evaluate such events prudently, through humble discernment and in accordance with the teachings of the Church,” the Holy Father said to participants in a Nov. 13 meeting organized by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints that reflected on the relationship between mystical phenomena and holiness of life.

The conference focused on the theme “Mysticism, Mystical Phenomena, and Holiness.” Upon receiving the participants at the Vatican, the pope noted that, through constant commitment, the magisterium, theology, and spiritual writers have provided “criteria for distinguishing authentic spiritual phenomena, which can occur in an atmosphere of prayer and a sincere search for God, from manifestations that may be deceptive.”

For the pope, mysticism and spiritual phenomena are “one of the most beautiful dimensions of the experience of faith,” and he expressed his gratitude for the participants’ collaboration in shedding light on certain aspects that require discernment.

The mystical life: Intimate union with God

“Through theological reflection as well as preaching and catechesis, the Church has recognized for centuries that at the heart of the mystical life lies the awareness of the intimate union of love with God,” the pope noted.

The pontiff explained that mysticism is therefore characterized “as an experience that transcends mere rational knowledge, not through the merit of the one who experiences it, but through a spiritual gift, which can manifest itself in diverse ways, even with opposing phenomena, such as luminous visions or dense darkness, afflictions, or ecstasies.” However, he continued, these exceptional events “are secondary and not essential with respect to mysticism and holiness itself.”

The Holy Father said they can be “signs” of holiness insofar as they are “unique charisms,” although the true goal is and always remains “communion with God.”

“Extraordinary phenomena that may connote mystical experience are not indispensable conditions for recognizing the holiness of a member of the faithful,” he emphasized.

Leo pointed out that, if they are present, “they strengthen their virtues not as individual privileges, but insofar as they are ordered to the edification of the whole Church, the mystical body of Christ.”

Maintaining ‘balance’

“What matters most and what must be emphasized in the examination of candidates for sainthood is their full and constant conformity with the will of God, revealed in Scripture and in the living apostolic tradition,” he said. For this reason, he urged the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to maintain “balance.”

He added: “Just as causes for canonization should not be promoted solely in the presence of exceptional phenomena, neither should those same phenomena [be looked upon negatively] if they characterize the lives of the servants of God.”

“At the heart of discernment regarding a member of the faithful is listening to their reputation for holiness and examining their perfect virtue, as expressions of ecclesial communion and intimate union with God,” the pope noted.

At another meeting held this week at the Pontifical Urban University, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, gave a presentation on the dicastery’s norms on the discernment of supernatural phenomena, which were approved last year. The prelate addressed the complexity and challenges the Church faces in recognizing these types of manifestations.

The cardinal noted that, despite approximately 3,500 cases of beatification and canonization in the last 50 years, only three or four declarations of phenomena of supernatural origin have been issued, underscoring the difficulty of obtaining official recognition of this kind.

“It is difficult to recognize them,” he stated, according to Vatican News.

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

The Institute for the Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican bank. / Credit: Andrea Gagliarducci/CNA

Vatican City, Nov 13, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

The Vatican bank has rehired a married couple fired last year for breaking the financial institution’s internal regulations forbidding workplace marriages.

The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) — which manages financial assets entrusted to it by the Holy See, the Vatican City State, and Catholic institutions globally — rehired the couple in a negotiated settlement following the couple’s filing of a wrongful termination lawsuit in January, a union for Vatican lay employees announced Wednesday.

Silvia Carlucci and Domenico Fabiani married on Aug. 31, 2024. The IOR fired the couple a month later, on Oct. 2, citing a rule introduced by the financial institution in September 2024 that explicitly forbids the employment of spouses or other close family members.

The Association of Lay Employees of the Vatican (ADLV) celebrated the outcome of the case — the couple was dubbed by the Italian media as the “Romeo and Juliet of the Vatican” for defying a rule they considered unjust and outdated — as a victory for justice and good sense.

“In the end, justice prevailed, guided by reason: Silvia and Domenico, dismissed from the IOR after marrying, will be reinstated in the Vatican,” the ADLV stated in a press release. 

According to the Associated Press, before firing the couple, the Vatican bank had suggested one of the two quit, but the couple said they were not in a financial position to do so due to obligations to former spouses, children, and a new mortgage.

The lay employees’ union expressed its gratitude to those who helped reach the settlement: “We thank all those who made this agreement possible … It has been a victory for common sense, discernment, and the wise will to protect a family.”

The group also stressed that the case highlights the need for “stronger foundations for the application of labor law in the Vatican” and raised questions about the current IOR regulations, which “would clearly be unconstitutional in Italy.”

“In the Vatican there are no social safety nets,” the statement added, calling it “problematic when facing crises of various kinds.”

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

Servant of God Enrique Shaw. / Credit: Acdeano, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Nov 13, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV honored the late Argentine businessman Enrique Shaw as one whose life demonstrates that “one can be both an entrepreneur and a saint” and that “economic efficiency and fidelity to the Gospel are not mutually exclusive.”

In a message to participants of the 31st Industrial Conference of Argentina, taking place Thursday in Buenos Aires, Leo emphasized the harmony between Shaw’s Christian faith and his business practices, which he said showed that Catholic social teaching “is not an abstract theory or an unworkable utopia but a possible path that transforms the lives of individuals and institutions by placing Christ at the center of all human activity.”

Support for just wages, worker formation

Shaw was born in 1921 at the Ritz Hotel in Paris into an elite Argentine family. Despite the comfort his upbringing could have afforded him, he chose a path of generosity, service, and deep humanity. He died at age 41 and was declared venerable by Pope Francis in 2021. His cause for beatification is now at an advanced stage in the Vatican.

During his short life, Shaw promoted fair wages, expanded formation programs, cared for workers’ health, and supported their families in concrete ways.

The pope noted that Shaw “did not conceive profitability as an absolute but as an important aspect to sustain a human, just, and solidarity-based company.”

Recalling that Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum was the “foundational act” of modern Catholic social teaching, he said it is evident that Shaw’s writings and decisions were shaped by that text. In Rerum Novarum, he explained, the Church denounced unjust labor conditions and affirmed strongly that “neither justice nor humanity can tolerate the requirement of such labor that the spirit is dulled by excessive work and the body overwhelmed by fatigue.”

‘The dignity of the worker continues to be violated’

The pope stressed that the encyclical’s insights — born in a time of major industrial transformation — retain “striking relevance in the globalized world we inhabit, where the dignity of the worker continues all too often to be violated.”

He also recalled that Shaw “knew the misunderstanding and persecution foretold by Christ for those who work for justice,” noting that he was imprisoned under the government of Juan Domingo Perón in May 1955.

“Later he faced illness, but he never stopped working or encouraging those around him. He offered his suffering to God as an act of love and, even amid pain, remained close to his workers,” the pope said.

For this reason, he proposed Shaw as a “model for our time” for all who work in the economic and labor sectors, insisting that holiness “must flourish precisely where decisions are made that affect the lives of thousands of families.”

“The world urgently needs entrepreneurs and leaders who, out of love for God and neighbor, work for an economy at the service of the common good,” he concluded.

A pioneer of Catholic social teaching in business

Shaw was a pioneer in applying Catholic social teaching in the corporate world, anticipating what is now known as corporate social responsibility. He held leadership positions in major companies, but his greatest legacy was the founding in 1952 of the Christian Association of Business Leaders (ACDE), which sought to promote an ethical business culture rooted in Christian values.

He maintained a respectful and close relationship with his employees, whom he regarded not as resources but as collaborators.

In 1957, Shaw was diagnosed with an aggressive and incurable cancer. He faced the illness with unshakable faith and serenity, continuing his work and apostolic commitments until his death on Aug. 27, 1962.

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

Representatives of the Roman Curia and the German bishops’ conference meet to discuss the proposed Synodal Conference statute at the Vatican on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. / Credit: Deutsche Bischofskonferenz/Kopp

EWTN News, Nov 13, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Vatican and German bishops held their fourth meeting Wednesday to discuss the statute of a proposed “synodal conference” in Germany.