Pope Leo XIV hands a crucifix to a newly instituted catechist during Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sept. 28, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 28, 2025 / 07:15 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday entrusted the ministry of catechist to 39 men and women in St. Peter’s Square, personally handing each one a crucifix as a sign of their mission during the Jubilee of Catechists.

The candidates, representing several countries, were called by name and responded “Here I am” before receiving the crucifix. The rite took place during a Mass that highlighted both the vocation of teaching the faith and the Church’s universal call to hand it on.

Among those commissioned was Catherine Miles-Flynn, an American mother of eight who has lived in the United Arab Emirates since 1995. For two decades she has served as director of Christian formation in the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. “There is a lot of joy in my work because I get to talk about Jesus all day,” she told reporters ahead of the jubilee, noting that Catholic churches in Abu Dhabi are “packed all the time.”

The Jubilee of Catechists is one of several thematic celebrations taking place during the Holy Year 2025, which has as its central theme hope. More than 20,000 pilgrims from 115 countries traveled to Rome for the weekend gathering, which included a prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica and pilgrimages to the Holy Door before Sunday’s Mass.

Preaching in his homily on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the pope said that “the words of Jesus convey to us how God sees the world, at every moment and in every place.” He warned that the passage remains “very relevant today” as “at the doorstep of today’s opulence stands the misery of entire peoples, ravaged by war and exploitation.”

The pope reminded the catechists that their ministry is rooted in witness: “The name of your ministry comes from the Greek verb ‘katēchein,’ which means ‘to teach aloud, to make resound.’ This means that the catechist is a person of the word — a word that he or she pronounces with his or her own life. Just as we learned our mother tongue, so too the proclamation of the faith cannot be delegated to someone else; it happens where we live, above all in our homes, around the family table.”

Leo also described the catechism as a “travel guidebook” that protects believers from “individualism and discord” because it expresses the faith of the entire Church. He urged Christians not to fall into greed and indifference, saying the “many ‘Lazaruses’ of today remind us of Jesus’ words” and serve as a catechesis of conversion, forgiveness, and hope.

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

St. John Henry Newman near the end of his life, in 1887. / Credit: Babouba, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Sep 28, 2025 / 06:25 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV announced on Sunday that he will proclaim St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the Church on Nov. 1, the solemnity of All Saints.

“I will confer the title of doctor of the Church on St. John Henry Newman, who gave a decisive contribution to the renewal of theology and to understanding Christian doctrine in its development, in the context of the Jubilee of the World of Education,” the pope said after celebrating Mass for the Jubilee of Catechists in St. Peter’s Square.

With the proclamation, Newman will become the 38th doctor of the Church, joining a select group of saints recognized for their enduring contribution to Catholic theology and spirituality. He is especially noted for his insights on the development of doctrine and the role of conscience.

A 19th-century English theologian, Newman was first a renowned Anglican priest before entering the Catholic Church in 1845 under the guidance of Blessed Dominic Barberi. Ordained a Catholic priest two years later, he founded the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in England and was created a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879.

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

Father Marco Billeri with Pope Leo XIV. / Credit: Diocese of San Miniato

Vatican City, Sep 27, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Bishop Giovanni Paccosi of San Miniato announced Sept. 27 that Pope Leo XIV has named Father Marco Billeri, a priest of the Italian diocese, as his second personal secretary.

Billeri, ordained in 2016, continued his studies in Rome where he earned a doctorate in canon law. He has served as a judge at the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Tuscany, defender of the bond at the diocesan tribunals of San Miniato and Volterra, episcopal master of ceremonies, and secretary of the presbyteral council. Until now he has been associate pastor of the Parish of Sts. Stephen and Martin in San Miniato Basso.

In a statement, Paccosi called the appointment “a great gift” for the diocese. He recalled receiving a personal phone call from the pope the previous week asking his consent to release Billeri for this new mission.

“I felt both joy and a sense of vertigo, thinking that Father Marco will now be at the heart of the Church of Christ,” the bishop said. He invited the faithful to pray for Billeri and for the diocese, noting that closer ties with the pope and the universal Church should strengthen awareness of their own mission.

Billeri will work alongside the pope’s first personal secretary, Peruvian Father Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga.

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

Pope Leo XIV greets an audience at the Jubilee of Catechists at the Vatican, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 27, 2025 / 09:50 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has chosen as the theme for World Day of the Sick 2026: “The Compassion of the Samaritan: Loving by Bearing the Pain of Others.”

The theme focuses on the Gospel figure of the Good Samaritan, “who shows love by taking care of the wounded and abandoned man on the road,” according to a press release issued by the Holy See. 

The Vatican said the theme is meant to emphasize an essential aspect of love of neighbor, one requiring concrete gestures of closeness while being capable of assuming the fragility and suffering of others, particularly those who experience illness accompanied by poverty, isolation, or loneliness.

The Holy See also recalled that today, Christ, the “Good Samaritan,” continues to draw close to wounded humanity and, through the sacraments of the Church, pours out “the oil of consolation and the wine of hope.” 

In this way, he “[inspires] actions and gestures of help and closeness for those who live in conditions of fragility due to illness,” the Holy See said. 

The upcoming World Day of the Sick will take place on Feb. 11, 2026. 

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 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sept. 27, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Sep 27, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV marked the Jubilee of Catechists on Saturday, urging practitioners of the Church’s lay teaching ministry to hand on the faith in a way that helps others encounter Christ personally, rooted in humility and hope.

In his general catechesis, the pope spoke to all the faithful: “God reveals himself to those who are simple and humble of heart because they are open to receiving him,” he said.

Leo recalled the election of St. Ambrose as bishop of Milan, chosen by popular acclaim while still preparing for baptism. “It was also docility that led Ambrose to respond to that call, trusting in the grace of God,” he said.

Christians today, he added, are likewise invited “to become childlike. Whether we are parents, students, or catechists; businesspeople, priests, or religious, we are all called to live our Christian faith authentically by humbly following the Lord’s inspirations.”

The Jubilee of Catechists is one of a series of themed celebrations during the Holy Year 2025, which centers on the theme of hope. Each gathering highlights how different vocations and ministries can bear witness to the renewal of the Church and the world. This weekend, more than 20,000 pilgrims from 115 countries have come to Rome for the celebration dedicated to catechists.

The jubilee opened Friday evening with a prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica following a day of pilgrimages to the Holy Door. It will conclude Sunday morning with a Mass in St. Peter’s Square at 10 a.m., during which the pope will confer the lay ministry of catechist on 39 men and women. Among them is Catherine Miles-Flynn, an American mother of eight serving in the Arabian Peninsula, profiled here.

At the end of the Saturday audience, the pope offered a special word to catechists: “As you instruct others in the faith, keep in mind the importance of teaching them to cultivate a relationship with Jesus. May his love revive in all of us the hope that does not disappoint.”

The longtime pro-life advocate Anna Záborská served in both the Slovak and European Parliaments during her political career. / Credit: The Collegium of Anton Neuwirth

Rome, Italy, Sep 27, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Anna Záborská, 77, built a career spanning both Slovak and European Parliaments while championing traditional family values, religious freedom, and the rights of the unborn.

St. Vincent de Paul. / Credit: Public domain

CNA Staff, Sep 27, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Sept. 27 the Catholic Church remembers St. Vincent de Paul, the 17th-century French priest known as the patron of Catholic charities.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla view items on display during a visit to the Royal Collection exhibition in the Green Drawing Room during the state visit by the president of the United States of America at Windsor Castle on Sept. 17, 2025, in Windsor, England. The royal couple have announced a state visit to the Vatican in late October 2025. / Credit: Aaron Chown - WPA Pool/Getty Images

London, England, Sep 26, 2025 / 19:01 pm (CNA).

King Charles III and Queen Camilla will be making their first state visit to the Vatican in late October, Buckingham Palace has announced.

The palace said in a Sept. 27 statement that the king and queen “will join His Holiness Pope Leo XIV in celebrating the 2025 Jubilee Year,” which, it noted, is a “special time” for the Catholic Church, “traditionally marked every 25 years.”

The palace also said the visit would “celebrate the ecumenical work by the Church of England and the Catholic Church, reflecting the jubilee year’s theme of walking together as ‘Pilgrims of Hope.’”

The king and queen last visited the Holy See on April 9 this year when they had a private meeting with Pope Francis at his Casa Santa Marta residence just 12 days before he died.

Francis reportedly blessed their marriage during the 20-minute audience, which coincided with Charles and Camilla’s 20th wedding anniversary. Camilla is divorced from her first husband, Andrew Parker-Bowles, a Catholic who is still living.

That audience was meant to be a state visit, but that was not possible due to Francis’ ill health. The British royals were also making a state visit to Italy at the time.

State visits to the Vatican by the British monarch are, like their secular equivalents, more formal occasions than private visits, emphasizing ecumenical as well as diplomatic relations with full formal recognition of the pope’s dual role as head of state and religious leader. A private audience, by contrast, focuses more on spiritual and personal relationships with fewer formalities and no official state status.

British monarchs have made several state visits to the Holy See in modern history: King Edward VII met Pope Leo XIII in April 1903, followed by Queen Elizabeth II in October 1980, where she met Pope John Paul II. She made another state visit to John Paul II in 2000. Elizabeth also made two non-state visits, to Pope John XXIII in May 1961 and Pope Francis in April 2014.

Charles has been a frequent visitor to the Vatican, making five visits as the Prince of Wales in total, beginning in April 1985 when he met Pope John Paul II and again in April 2005 when he attended his funeral.

He visited Benedict XVI in April 2009 and April 2017, both times accompanied by Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall, and lastly in October 2019 for the canonization of St. John Henry Newman. Charles also met and accompanied Pope St. John Paul II in Canterbury in 1982, the first ever papal visit to the U.K.

King Charles has shown a keen interest in the life and works of St. John Henry Newman, and earlier this month became the first monarch to visit the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Birmingham, the priestly community Newman established there in 1848. He said during that visit that he was hoping it would “not be too long” before he met Pope Leo.

Details to be announced

Buckingham Palace said further details of their majesties’ state visit to the Vatican “will be announced in due course.”

It is possible that it might coincide with the formal proclamation of St. John Henry Newman as the 38th doctor of the Church, which the Vatican announced in July. The Vatican has yet to confirm when that might take place.

Asked if it might time with the proclamation, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said this evening that he “did not have much to share at this time.”

Catherine Miles-Flynn, who has served as director of Christian formation for the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia for twenty years, spoke at an EWTN news conference on Sept. 26, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN

Vatican City, Sep 26, 2025 / 16:58 pm (CNA).

An American mother of eight who has spent nearly 30 years in the Arabian Peninsula helping form Catholics in their faith will receive the ministry of catechist from Pope Leo XIV this weekend during the Vatican’s Jubilee of Catechists.

Catherine Miles-Flynn, who has served as director of Christian formation for the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia for two decades, said there is “a lot of joy” in her work in Abu Dhabi, where she gets to “talk about Jesus all day.”

The Jubilee of Catechists, running Sept. 26–28, has drawn more than 20,000 Catholics from 115 countries to Rome. 

In a press conference Friday at EWTN’s Vatican bureau, she described the vitality of Catholic life in Abu Dhabi, where “churches are packed all the time,” including at daily Masses. “For an evening Mass on a Wednesday, you would have to get there early to get a seat.”

In St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Abu Dhabi, Masses are offered in Arabic, English, French, Malayalam, Urdu, Tamil, Konkani, German, Italian, Korean, Ukrainian, and other languages for its 100,000 expatriate parishioners.

“People are very hungry to understand more about their faith,” she said. 

Miles-Flynn, who has lived in the United Arab Emirates with her husband since 1995, will be among 39 Catholic men and women upon whom Pope Leo XIV will formally confer the lay ministry of catechist crucifix during a Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday morning. 

Pope Francis established the lay ministry of catechist in 2021 as a lifelong vocation of teaching the faith. Catechists from Brazil, India, Mozambique, South Korea, England, and other countries will receive the ministry from the pope on Sunday along with a crucifix as a sign of their mission. 

The American mother said she accepts the ministry “with humility and gratitude.”

“For me, it means a lot … because I will do this on behalf of all of these more than 3,600 catechists [in the UAE] from … at least 80 different nationalities,” she said.

The vicariate, which covers the UAE, Oman, and Yemen, has fewer than 100 priests but nearly 3,800 catechists. “And we need a lot more catechists,” Miles-Flynn added, citing the demand for more faith formation programs “from womb to tomb.”

She recalled her first Christmas in Abu Dhabi when Muslims outside a mosque next to the church greeted worshippers with “Merry Christmas.” She also noted how during Pope Francis’ 2019 visit, authorities canceled schools so Emirati families could attend the papal Mass. The mosque near her parish is now named Mary, Mother of Jesus Mosque.

Bishop Paolo Martinelli, apostolic vicar of Southern Arabia, also highlighted the challenges facing Catholics in the region. In the UAE and Oman, he said, “we have the freedom to celebrate Masses and to have catechism … we are free to communicate faith with our people.” 

But in Yemen, he said, after 10 years of civil war and the murder of four Missionaries of Charity, “the situation is very, very delicate.”

Martinelli described the UAE church as “very unique” because it is made up of about 1 million Catholics from dozens of countries. “Never we can take for granted faith. Always we have the task to deepen our faith,” he said.

“When I meet our catechists, I always say to them, you are pillars of our church,” the bishop added.  

“Parents, first of all, have the first task to communicate faith to the new generations,” he said. Speaking of catechists, he said there is a “long tradition in the church to have people dedicated for helping families in the communication of faith.”

Cardinal Lucian Mureşan, major archbishop of the Greek Catholic Church in Romania, died Sept. 25, 2025, at age 94. / Credit: Mihai Andrei, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 26, 2025 / 15:58 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Lucian Mureşan carried out his ministry clandestinely until 1989. According to Vatican News, he died at his residence in Blaj, Romania, after several months of illness.