Entrance to St. Clare’s Monastery in Belorado, Burgos, Spain. / Credit: Nicolás de Cárdenas/EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 5, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A Spanish court has ruled in favor of the Catholic Church in the eviction lawsuit against the former Poor Clare nuns of Belorado.

Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney told a packed basilica of young jubilee pilgrims in Rome on Aug. 4, 2025, that holy relics are “not just a quirky Catholic thing — they are a quirky God thing.” / Credit: Ivanka Ranic/Archdiocese of Sydney

Vatican City, Aug 4, 2025 / 16:29 pm (CNA).

Standing before the casket containing the incorrupt body of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and the tomb of St. Catherine of Siena in Rome, Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney told a packed basilica of young jubilee pilgrims that holy relics are “not just a quirky Catholic thing — they are a quirky God thing.”

The Australian Dominican archbishop delivered the homily at the closing Mass of the weeklong public veneration of Frassati’s body during the Jubilee of Youth, a celebration that drew 1 million Catholic young people to the Eternal City.

“It’s a quirky thing, that Catholics so honor their dead and the remains of the dead,” Fisher said. “I was asked once by a radio host, ‘What’s this thing with Catholics and bones?’ I explained that the relics of saints are sacramentals: Sites where God imparts graces of healing and strength through the intercession of the faithful ones whose relics they are.”

“Through ‘this Catholic thing with bones,’” he added, “we honor the person who was and look forward to the person who will be again — but now purified, restored, glorified.” 

“In reverencing the remains of our loved ones and especially the saints, we proclaim our faith in the holy Catholic Church and the communion of saints, but also in the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting!” 

The Mass in the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva on Aug. 4 had standing room only, as young pilgrims crowded in for a chance to pray before the incorrupt body of Frassati, a 20th-century Italian layman whose body was found intact 60 years after his death, which is considered a miracle. 

“When Pier Giorgio’s mortal remains were transferred from Pollone cemetery to Turin Cathedral, they were found to be incorrupt after 60 years,” Fisher explained. “In miraculously preserving his body for so long, God was saying something powerful about the purity of this incorruptible man, about the significance of life in the flesh, and about the promise of resurrection to us all.”

Following the Mass, Dominican friars carried Frassati’s casket in a solemn procession down the basilica’s central aisle. Outside, pilgrims lined the steps, waving as the vehicle carrying Frassati’s body departed for the eight-hour drive back to Turin, where his tomb is located in the city’s cathedral.

Evangeline Jenan, 16, from Arizona, was one of the few who were able to reach out and touch the casket after it was processed outside of the basilica.

“Being able to touch his casket is just an absolutely powerful experience,” she told CNA.

“His love for God is just so inspiring and amazing to me. And I want to be like him.”

Fisher recalled how Frassati’s body was brought to Sydney for World Youth Day in 2008. “To offer Mass again beside his casket is a real privilege,” he said, welcoming Frassati’s niece, Wanda Gawronska, who has played a vital role in sharing her uncle’s story with the world.

The liturgy coincided with the feast of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, and Fisher reminded the youth that sainthood comes in many forms.  

“Male and female, tall and short, young and old, clerical and lay, alive or dead at the moment: Sainthood is not one-size-fits-all,” he said.

Frassati, who died at age 24 in 1925, has long inspired young Catholics with his deep piety, charity for the poor, and love of the outdoors. He famously said: “To live without faith is not living, but merely existing.”

Fisher described Frassati as someone who showed that “faith is fun.”

“Mountain climbing or skiing, study or socializing — all could be apostolate,” he said.

Young pilgrims in attendance said the encounter with Frassati’s relics and Fisher’s message left a deep impression.

Rebecca Calabrese, 27, from Sydney, traveled with 64 young Australians for the jubilee. “It really inspires a lot of young people who are searching for their vocation and looking for a deeper relationship with Christ,” she said, “to see someone so ordinary but also extraordinary… who lived out his faith with such zeal and joy and passion in the normal, everyday aspects of life.”

For Dylan Staub, 21, of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the jubilee was a life-changing experience. “I’ve never even been out of the country before,” he said. “It’s just so many people, so many people filled with grace and on fire with their faith.” 

He added that the jubilee really makes one reflect on how “you’re here for a purpose, and you were created and chosen by God and loved by God.” 

In his final exhortation, Fisher urged the youth to ask Frassati’s intercession for courage and clarity in their vocations.  

“Ask Pier Giorgio to intercede for wisdom about your calling, for courage to embrace it, and for the holy joy of flourishing in that vocation in the years ahead,” he said.

Archbishop Eamon Martin. / Credit: Irish Jesuits, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 4, 2025 / 14:23 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Eamon Martin of Ireland commemorated St. John Vianney, the patron saint of all priests and especially parish priests, whose memorial is celebrated Aug. 4.

Pope Leo XIV prays during Mass for more than 1 million young pilgrims at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, in Rome’s outskirts, on Aug. 3, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

CNA Staff, Aug 4, 2025 / 13:22 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of August is for mutual coexistence.

In a video released July 29, the Holy Father asked the faithful to pray “that societies where coexistence seems more difficult might not succumb to the temptation of confrontation for ethnic, political, religious, or ideological reasons.”

According to a press release, this month’s video was made in collaboration with the Jesuit Communications Foundation (JesCom).

In the video, Pope Leo recites a prayer composed specifically for this month’s prayer intention.

Here is Pope Leo’s full prayer:

Jesus, Lord of our history,

Faithful companion and living presence,

You who never tire of coming to meet us,

Here we are, in need of your peace.

We live in times of fear and division.

Sometimes we act as if we were alone,

Building walls that separate us from one another,

Forgetting that we are brothers and sisters.

Send us your Spirit, Lord,

To rekindle within us

The desire to understand one another, to listen,

To live together with respect and compassion.

Give us the courage to seek paths of dialogue,

To respond to conflict with gestures of fraternity,

To open our hearts to others without fear of differences.

Make us builders of bridges,

Able to overcome borders and ideologies,

Able to see others through the eyes of the heart,

Recognizing in every person an inviolable dignity.

Help us create spaces where hope can flourish,

Where diversity is not a threat

But a richness that makes us more human.

Amen.

The video prayer intention is promoted by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which raises awareness of monthly papal prayer intentions.

Young Korean pilgrims gather for Mass during the Jubilee of Youth in the Basilica of San Crisogono in Trastevere offered by Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung on July 31, 2025. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Vatican City, Aug 4, 2025 / 12:05 pm (CNA).

The next World Youth Day, scheduled for Aug. 3–8, 2027, will mark a historic milestone for the Catholic Church: the first time the global gathering of Catholic youth will be held in a non-Christian country, South Korea.

Bishop Paul Kyung-sang Lee, general coordinator of World Youth Day Seoul 2027 and auxiliary bishop of Seoul, emphasized the significance of the event in an interview with CNA during the recent Jubilee of Youth in Rome.

“Korea is the first non-Christian country to host World Youth Day,” Lee said. “At the same time, it’s the only nation that is divided in two. So, the main theme should be peace — peace between religions, peace between two countries.”

“I want to see the young people enjoying the immense love of God,” he added. “So that the next generation won’t send their children to war. … This is my hope.”

South Korea, where approximately 31% of the population is Christian and 51% reports no religious affiliation, has seen a steady growth in conversions to Catholicism. Father Isaac Severo of Seoul’s Myeongdong Cathedral told CNA that about 40 young adults are baptized each month at the cathedral alone.

“They go to the church and they ask, ‘How can I receive the baptism?’” he said.

In 2023, more than 51,000 people in Korea were baptized — 75% of whom were adult converts or people in danger of death.

Catholics make up about 11% of South Korea’s population of 52 million people. More than half of the population lives in Seoul’s metropolitan area, making the city among the largest metropolitan areas in the world.

Pope Leo XIV formally announced the 2027 World Youth Day dates during the closing Mass of the Jubilee of Youth on Aug. 3 in Tor Vergata in Rome in the presence of about 1 million young people.

“After this jubilee, the ‘pilgrimage of hope’ of young people continues and will take us to Asia,” Pope Leo said.

“You, young pilgrims of hope, will be witnesses of this to the ends of the earth! I look forward to seeing you in Seoul: Let us continue to dream together and to hope together.”

The 2027 youth gathering will be the second World Youth Day to take place in Asia. The first was in Manila, Philippines, in 1995, which drew millions. For the Church in Korea, the upcoming event will be a historic moment.

More than 1,000 young Korean Catholics traveled to Rome for the Jubilee of Youth to both participate in and promote the upcoming World Youth Day. Among them was 22-year-old Jiyeon Maeng. “I’m really looking forward to it and looking forward for the people here to come to Korea and enjoy the festival with us,” she said. “We are telling them, ‘Come to Korea, please.’” 

She called it “a big honor” that Pope Leo XIV will travel to Korea in 2027. “It’s a big honor to Korea and a big honor to us all Koreans. And I think many Koreans will be waiting for him.”

The young Korean pilgrims gathered for Mass during the jubilee at the Basilica of San Crisogono in Trastevere, a church with ties to Korea as the titular church of Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung of Seoul, who offered Mass for the pilgrims.

Lee, who preached the homily, encouraged the youth to seek “the small daily graces — the ‘little gifts’ that the Lord offers us” and to “fill your hearts with joy, eliminating sadness.”  

The basilica was so crowded that many young people sat on the floor and in the side aisles. After Mass, Yeom surprised the pilgrims by announcing he had bought ice cream for all of them to enjoy in the sweltering Roman heat.

Stephany Sun, the global communications manager for the Archdiocese of Seoul, explained the Korean delegation’s “Project 1004” — a play on the word “angel” in Korean — to bring 1,004 youth to Rome for the jubilee.

“We wanted them to kind of experience World Youth Day in advance since World Youth Day is not that popular yet in Korea,” she said. “They were very surprised by all of the crowds and the different young people who share the same faith … so I would say they’re having a great time here now.” 

Some pilgrims described deep spiritual encounters during their visit. “My group had a very big experience of the Holy Spirit in the Lateran Basilica,” Father Joseph Sung-jae Lee said.  

Severo echoed that sentiment. “We go to the important basilicas, we go to the holy stairs, the catacombs, and we see that Christ is there for the youth,” he said. “Christ looks for the lost. He’s like the shepherd — the young shepherd. And the young are looking for this joy, for this happiness, for this pleasure in the world. But that’s not the truth. The real thing is that Christ … is everything for us.”

As preparations begin for 2027, Sun had a few tips for young pilgrims planning to make the journey to Seoul: Learn a few phrases in Korean, bring a little fan or umbrella to help with the summer heat, and “train your capacity to eat spicy food!” she said. 

St. John Vianney. / Credit: Herwig Reidlinger via Wikimedia Commons CC 3.0

CNA Newsroom, Aug 4, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

The patron saint of priests, St. John Vianney, died Aug. 4, 1859. A century later, Pope John XXIII reflected on the life of the saint.

Pope Leo XIV waves at pilgrims from South Korea before the closing Mass of the Jubilee of Youth at the University of Rome Tor Vergata on Aug. 3, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Aug 3, 2025 / 07:35 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday announced that the dates of the next World Youth Day, to be held in Seoul, South Korea, will be Aug. 3–8, 2027.

“After this jubilee, the ‘pilgrimage of hope’ of young people continues and will take us to Asia,” the pontiff said in a message before praying the Angelus at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, 10 miles east of Rome, where he had just celebrated Mass for 1 million participants from 146 countries.

“I renew the invitation that Pope Francis extended in Lisbon two years ago,” he added, referring to World Youth Day in Portugal in 2023.

This new edition of World Youth Day, he said, will mark an important stage in the faith journey of the new generations. The theme will be: “Take courage, I have overcome the world.”

Leo XIV concluded his Angelus address with a powerful missionary call: “You, young pilgrims of hope, will be witnesses of this to the ends of the earth! I look forward to seeing you in Seoul: Let us continue to dream together and to hope together.”

The 2027 World Youth Day will be the first to be held in South Korea and the second in Asia, following the historic gathering of young people in Manila, Philippines, in 1995.

The pontiff defined the Jubilee of Youth, held in Rome from July 28 to Aug. 3, as “an outpouring of grace for the Church and for the whole world!” He also thanked the 1 million pilgrims who attended for their witness and enthusiasm.

In English, the pope recalled the teens and young adults who suffer in “every land bloodied by war” and mentioned in particular the young people of Gaza and Ukraine, whose lives are marked by the violence and uncertainty of war.

Leo XIV also spoke in Spanish, telling those present they are “the sign that a different world is possible.” He concluded in Italian with the affirmation that with Christ, faith is possible: “with his love, with his forgiveness, and with the power of his Spirit.”

Mass at Tor Vergata

The pope could not contain his emotion at his second and final grand meeting with young people on the 237-acre grounds of Tor Vergata, where more than 1 million young pilgrims had spent the night following a prayer vigil and Eucharistic adoration led by Leo on Aug. 2.

A burst of joy swept through the area upon seeing the pontiff descend from the helicopter on the morning of Aug. 3. After an intense night of vigil, marked by a moving moment of silent Eucharistic adoration, Leo XIV told the young people that they are not made for a life that is “taken for granted and static, but for an existence that is constantly renewed through gift of self in love.”

The Jubilee of Youth, part of the Catholic Church’s yearlong Jubilee of Hope in 2025, has served as a bridge between the American pope and young people, with whom he has been able to strengthen a relationship thanks to his ability to speak three languages.

In his homily, Pope Leo invited the pilgrims to open their hearts to God and venture with him “towards eternity.”

Most of the pontiff’s homily was delivered in Italian, with short paragraphs in English and Spanish.

The pope focused on the human desire for fulfillment and asked the young people not to satisfy the thirst of their hearts with “cheap imitations.”

“There is a burning question in our hearts, a need for truth that we cannot ignore, which leads us to ask ourselves: What is true happiness? What is the true meaning of life? What can free us from being trapped in meaninglessness, boredom, and mediocrity?” he said.

Thus, he invited everyone to turn their desire for more into “a step stool, like children who stand on tiptoe, in order to peer through the window of encounter with God. We will then find ourselves before him, who is waiting for us, knocking gently on the window of our soul.”

During the Mass, the pope also addressed the experience of the limits and finiteness of things that happen, saying that these topics should not be taboo or topics “to be avoided.”

“The fragility they speak of is, in fact, part of the marvel of creation,” he emphasized, after quoting from the reading from Ecclesiastes. 

“Think of the image of grass: Is not a field of flowers beautiful? Of course, it is delicate, made up of small, vulnerable stems, prone to drying out, to being bent and broken. Yet at the same time these flowers are immediately replaced by others that sprout up after them, generously nourished and fertilized by the first ones as they decay on the ground,” he said.

He emphasized: “We too, dear friends, are made this way, we are made for this.”

Reflecting on the readings at Mass, the Holy Father made it clear that “buying, hoarding, and consuming are not enough.”

And he added: “We need to lift our eyes, to look upwards, to the ‘things that are above’ (Col 3:2), to realize that everything in the world has meaning only insofar as it serves to unite us to God and to our brothers and sisters in charity, helping us to grow in ‘compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience’ (Col 3:12).”

Evoking St. John Paul II, the founder of World Youth Days, he proclaimed: “Jesus is our hope.”

“It is he, as St. John Paul II said, ‘who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives ... to commit … to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal,’” Leo said.

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 greets thousands of youth and pilgrims ahead of a vigil at Tor Vergata, Rome, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025 / Credit: Mateusz Opila

Vatican City, Aug 2, 2025 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV addressed the largest crowd of his pontificate in Rome’s outskirts on Saturday, telling an estimated 1 million young adults to “study, work, and love according to the example of Jesus” and to pray: “Stay with us, Lord.”

The pontiff was greeted Aug. 2 by joyous crowds on the 237-acre grounds of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, 10 miles east of Rome, where teenagers and young adults will stay all night in anticipation of the closing Mass of the Jubilee of Youth on Sunday morning.

Pope Leo, who arrived at the largest event of his pontificate by helicopter, drove through the grounds before the prayer service waving to cheering young people from the popemobile as the sun set.

He then carried the pilgrim cross of the Jubilee of Hope on foot from the crowd up to the 15,000-square-foot stage for prayers and Eucharistic adoration. The pontiff will return to the outdoor venue to celebrate the jubilee Mass at 9 a.m. on Aug. 3.

Clare Fletcher, 29, from Omaha, Nebraska, told CNA she was so grateful she decided to come to Rome for the Jubilee of Hope during the Jubilee of Youth.

“I’ve never been to World Youth Day, but everyone I’ve talked to is comparing the two,” she said.

She described the crowd as singing along to the hymns and worship music with joy.

Fletcher’s 24-year-old brother, Paul, who attended the prayer vigil with her, said he had “never seen an event of this scale and with this level of reverence.”

During the first part of the prayer service, Leo answered questions from young adults about friendship and loneliness, making good choices, and how to truly encounter Christ.

In his answers to the questions, one in each of the three languages he speaks fluently — Spanish, Italian, and English — Leo encouraged youth to seek good relationships with others and with God.

“And we can say thank you, Jesus, for loving us,” he said in a moment of improvisation in the midst of his prepared remarks. 

“Each time we adore Christ in the Eucharist, our hearts will be united in him,” the pontiff added, and he recommended saying to the Lord: “Stay with us, because without you we cannot do the good we desire.”

Fletcher, who traveled to Rome with a group of young adult friends who work in Catholic schools, called the question-and-answers with Pope Leo “poignant and so relevant! Each spoke for us. Each spoke to our hearts.”

“This is a pope who knows the youth. His response was savvy, beautiful, and worth remembering, not to mention worth praying with for some time,” she said.

Leo’s advice to young people included having Jesus, “who always accompanies us in the formation of our conscience,” as a friend.

“If you truly want to encounter the risen Lord, then listen to his word, which is the Gospel of salvation. Reflect on your way of living, and seek justice in order to build a more humane world. Serve the poor, and so bear witness to the good that we would always like to receive from our neighbors,” he recommended.

“Adore Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, the source of eternal life,” he said. “Study, work, and love according to the example of Jesus, the good Teacher who always walks beside us.”

Elodie, from France, told EWTN News at the prayer vigil that the Jubilee of Youth felt like “a huge family.”

“You feel the heart of the Church beating. I think, really, it’s beautiful,” she said.

The Jubilee of Youth, held July 28 through Aug. 3, is the most-attended event during the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, with an estimated 1 million young adults, teens, and their chaperones flocking to Rome from 146 countries.

Leo left the vigil after 10 p.m., more than 30 minutes past the scheduled time. After Eucharistic adoration, the crowd broke out in loud chants of “Papa Leone,” Italian for “Pope Leo.”

Young Catholics began arriving at the site of the vigil as early as 3 p.m., where they braved sun, humidity, and temperatures in the upper 80s during an afternoon listening to live performances and the personal stories of young people from different countries.

During his remarks, the pope asked for prayers for two female pilgrims who died this week, a 20-year-old Spaniard, Maria, and an 18-year-old Egyptian, Pascale Rafic. He also asked the young people to pray for another Spaniard, Ignazio Gonzales, who was hospitalized in Rome.

Pope Leo XIV addresses the crowd following his unexpected ride around St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican following the Jubilee of Youth welcome Mass — which was celebrated by Archbishop Rino Fisichella (right) — on July 29, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Aug 2, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday offered heartfelt prayers for Pascale Rafic, a Jubilee of Youth pilgrim from Egypt who died in Rome.

According to the Holy See Press Office, the pope privately met with the group of pilgrims traveling with Rafic at the Vatican on Saturday morning to give spiritual comfort to the young people left shaken by the tragic event.

“All of a sudden, we are reminded in a very powerful way that our life is not superficial nor do we have control over our own lives nor do we know as Jesus himself says, neither the day nor the hour when for some reason our earthy life ends,” Leo told the young people from Egypt.

“And so in a certain way, as we celebrate this Jubilee Year of Hope,” he continued, “we are reminded in a very powerful way how much our faith in Jesus Christ needs to be part of who we are, of how we live, of how we appreciate and respect one another, and especially of how we continue to move forward in spite of such painful experiences.”

The Italian religious news service Agensir reported Aug. 2 the young woman died from cardiac arrest. 

Prior to his meeting with the pilgrim group, Pope Leo contacted Greek Melkite religious leader Bishop Jean-Marie Chami of the Patriarchate of Antioch to express his spiritual closeness with Rafic’s family and her community.

“The Holy Father assures all of his heartfelt prayers and invokes the Lord’s comfort and consolation upon Pascale’s family members, friends, and all of those who grieve her loss,” the Vatican statement read.

Speaking to the pilgrims traveling with Rafic, Pope Leo recalled that while it is natural and human to cry at the pain of someone dying — as Catholics, we have hope in the Resurrection.

“Our hope is in Jesus Christ who is risen,” he said. “And he calls all of us to renew our faith, calls all of us to be friends, brothers and sisters to one another, to support one another, and he says you too must be witnesses to that Gospel message. And for all of you it has touched your lives in a very personal and direct way today.”

Bishop Stefano Russo of Velletri-Segni expressed his condolences to Rafic’s family on behalf of the diocesan community who hosted Rafic in the town of Artena during her jubilee pilgrimage.

“A guest in our diocese, along with her group, on their way to Rome, Pascale left us in Christian hope, embraced by the Father’s mercy,” he said. “We are convinced of this, having accompanied her on the final leg of her earthly journey.”

“We pray for Pascale, her family, and her friends,” he said.

This story was updated Aug. 2, 2025, at 10:55 a.m. ET with Pope Leo XIV's words to the pilgrims from Egypt.

Young people raise their voices from the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere on Aug. 1, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 1, 2025 / 16:49 pm (CNA).

The initiative invites young Christians across the continent to open up a new pathway to faith and hope in view of the Jubilee of the Redemption, which will be celebrated in 2033.