Pharrell Williams (left) and Andrea Bocelli. / Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images; Jakub Janecki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Aug 29, 2025 / 11:51 am (CNA).

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and American songwriter Pharrell Williams will direct a concert featuring musicians John Legend, Teddy Swims, Jelly Roll, Karol G, BamBam, and Angélique Kidjo in St. Peter’s Square next month.

The Sept. 13 concert, which is free and open to the public, will also include a drone light show and talks on themes including peace, justice, food, freedom, and humanity.

Called “Grace for the World,” the show will close the third edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, organized by the Fratelli Tutti Foundation and St. Peter’s Basilica, and will be preceded by roundtables on social issues in Rome and Vatican City on Sept. 12–13.

Pope Francis established the Fratelli Tutti Foundation at the end of 2021. It is named after his 2020 encyclical on fraternity and social friendship, which expanded on themes in the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” signed with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar, in Abu Dhabi in 2019.

The final event of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity 2025 is intended “to communicate to the whole world, with a symbolic embrace, the joy of fraternal love,” Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, president of the Fratelli Tutti Foundation and archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, said at an Aug. 29 press conference at the Vatican.

Gambetti said organizers tried to “broaden our international scope” with the choice of music artists.

In the press conference, the cardinal said Karol G — a Grammy-winning Colombian reggaeton and urban pop artist — was asked to take part because she is Latin American and “because she is involved in important social work” with women and children. “It seemed relevant to the theme we are trying to address,” Gambetti said.

Prominent U.S. artists will also take the stage in front of the Vatican basilica: rapper Jelly Roll and singer-songwriters John Legend, Teddy Swims, and Pharrell Williams.

Thai rapper BamBam, who is also a member of the South Korean boy band Got7, will perform, as well as Angélique Kidjo, a Beninese-French singer, actress, and activist. The concert will also feature the choir of the Diocese of Rome and the Voices of Fire Gospel choir.

Andrea Bocelli, who has performed in St. Peter’s Square on previous occasions, shared in a video message Aug. 29 that his participation in the concert is “a great honor.”

“I sincerely hope that it will truly succeed in spreading, in everyone’s hearts, a sense of brotherhood and great humanity, which is so badly needed,” the world-famous singer added.

The World Meeting on Human Fraternity 2025 will start with a meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 12. The program will then focus on roundtables on topics including artificial intelligence, education, economics, literature, children, health, and the environment. 

Sept. 13 will include an assembly on the topic of “What It Means to Be a Human Today” and a visit to St. Peter’s Basilica and the Holy Door of the Jubilee of Hope.

“While the world suffers from wars, loneliness, even new poverty, we have decided to stop and ask ourselves what it means to be human today,” Father Francesco Occhetta, SJ, Fratelli Tutti Foundation secretary-general, said Aug. 29.

“It is not an easy question, it even seems a little naive, but it is the only one that can save us if we ask it together,” he added.

Pope Leo XIV accepts the Medal of St. Augustine from Father Robert P. Hagan, OSA, prior provincial of the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova (right) and Father Joseph Farrell, OSA, vicar general of the Order of St. Augustine (left) in a video released on Aug. 28, 2025. / Credit: Screenshot from the YouTube page of the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 29, 2025 / 05:10 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV expressed his gratitude to receive the Medal of St. Augustine, awarded by the United States Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, and affirmed that the spirituality of the doctor of the Church has marked his life and ministry.

“To be recognized as an Augustinian, it’s an honor held dearly. So much of who I am I owe to the spirit and the teachings of St. Augustine,” he said in a video message shared on St. Augustine’s feast day, Aug. 28.

The Augustinian Province said on Facebook that the Medal of St. Augustine is the highest honor the province can bestow, “given to those who embody the spirit and teachings of St. Augustine, living with deep commitment to truth, unity, and charity.”

The province added: “From his early years in formation to his decades of service in Peru, leadership as prior general, and now as the first Augustinian pope, Pope Leo XIV has witnessed to a life of generosity, faith, and service. In him, we see a true son of Augustine — dedicated to building unity in the Church, teaching with wisdom, and shepherding with a heart rooted in love. We are honored to bestow upon him this award.”

In his video message, recorded from Castel Gandolfo, where he spent a few days of prayer and rest in mid-August, the pope recalled that the life of St. Augustine still inspires the faithful today.

“His life was full of much trial and error, like our own lives. But through God’s grace, through the prayers of his mother, Monica, and the community of good people around him, Augustine was able to find the way to peace for his restless heart,” he said.

Leo emphasized that the example of St. Augustine invites us to put our talents at the service of others: “The life of St. Augustine and his call to servant leadership reminds us that we all have God-given gifts and talents, and our purpose, fulfillment, and joy comes from offering them back in loving service to God and to our neighbor.”

He assured the members of the Augustinian province that they are called to continue the legacy of the first Augustinians in the United States — such as Father Matthew Carr and Father John Rosseter — whose missionary spirit led them to proclaim the Gospel to immigrants in Philadelphia: “Jesus reminds us in the Gospel to love our neighbor, and this challenges us now more than ever to remember to see our neighbors today with the eyes of Christ: that all of us are created in the image and likeness of God through friendship, relationship, dialogue, and respect for one another.”

He also encouraged the U.S. Augustinians to become instruments of reconciliation. “As a community of believers and inspired by the charism of the Augustinians, we are called to go forth to be peacemakers in our families and neighborhoods and truly recognize God’s presence in one another.”

The pope emphasized the importance of listening, following the advice of St. Augustine: “It is within our hearts where God speaks to us.” He added: “The world is full of noise, and our heads and hearts can be flooded with many different kinds of messages. These messages can fuel our restlessness and steal our joy. As a community of faith … may we strive to filter the noise, the divisive voices in our heads and hearts, and open ourselves up to the daily invitations to get to know God and God’s love better.”

The pontiff expressed his confidence that, like Augustine, every believer can find in God the strength to overcome anxiety, darkness, and doubt, and “through God’s grace, we can discover that God’s love is truly healing. Let us strive to build a community where that love is made visible.”

Leo XIV concluded his message by asking for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Good Counsel, and by offering a prayer for the Church: “May God bless you all and bring peace to your restless hearts, and help you continue to build a community of love, one in mind and heart, intent upon on God.”

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 speaks to pilgrims at the general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican City, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 28, 2025 / 15:02 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV recalled what the “life and witness” of St. Augustine means for Christians on the day the Catholic Church celebrates his feast day, Aug. 28.

Pope Leo XIV addresses a delegation of political representatives and civic leaders from the Diocese of Créteil, France, on Aug. 28, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 28, 2025 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday encouraged Catholic politicians to live coherently as Christians and follow the Gospel, even when performing their public duties in a secular polity. 

During an Aug. 28 meeting with a delegation of political representatives and civic leaders from the Diocese of Créteil, France, accompanied by Bishop Dominique Blanchet, the Holy Father stated that “a more just, more human, more fraternal world” can only be “a world more imbued with the Gospel.”

Thus, he added, “in the face of the various deviations present in our Western societies, we can do nothing better, as Christians, than to turn to Christ and ask for his help in carrying out our responsibilities.”

For this reason, the pope highlighted the importance of political and social leaders being committed to acting in coherence with their faith, because “beyond mere personal enrichment, it carries great importance and usefulness for the men and women they serve.” 

In this regard, he underlined that such determination “is all the more praiseworthy considering that, in France, due to a sometimes-misunderstood secularism, it is not easy for an elected representative to act and decide consistently with their faith.” 

‘Christianity cannot be reduced to a mere private devotion’ 

Because the Christian message embraces every dimension of the human person, Leo XIV stressed that “Christianity cannot be reduced to a mere private devotion, since it entails a way of living in society infused with love for God and neighbor, who in Christ is no longer an enemy but a brother.” 

To face social challenges, the Holy Father said Catholic politicians must rely “on the virtue of charity that dwells within them since baptism,” a gift of God that, as he cited from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, constitutes a “force capable of inspiring new paths to address today’s problems and to renew profoundly from within structures, social organizations, and legal norms,” bringing charity from the personal realm into the social and political one because “it makes us love the common good and leads us to effectively seek the good of all.” 

Pope Leo XIV also noted that the Christian politician “is better prepared to face the challenges of today’s world, provided, of course, that he lives and bears witness to his faith in him, to his personal relationship with Christ.” 

In this sense, he warned against the temptation to promote values “however evangelical they may be, but ‘emptied’ of Christ, their author,” since they will be “incapable of changing the world.” 

Responding to Blanchet’s request for advice to Catholic politicians, Leo XIV replied: “The first and only one I will give you is to unite yourselves more and more to Jesus, to live and bear witness to him.” 

Coherence in public life 

“There is no split in the personality of a public figure: There is not, on one side, the politician and, on the other, the Christian. Rather, there is a politician who, under God’s gaze and before his conscience, lives his commitments and responsibilities as a Christian!” he added.

To achieve such coherence of life, the pope recalled the call for Catholic politicians “to strengthen themselves in faith, to deepen their knowledge of doctrine — especially social doctrine — that Jesus taught the world, and to put it into practice in carrying out their duties and in drafting laws.” 

He also affirmed the enduring validity of natural law, a norm “that all can recognize, even non-Christians. Therefore, we should not fear proposing it and defending it with conviction: It is a doctrine of salvation that seeks the good of every human being, the building of peaceful, harmonious, prosperous, and reconciled societies.”

Courage in the face of difficulties 

At the end of his address, the pope acknowledged that “an openly Christian commitment by a public official is not easy, especially in certain Western societies where Christ and his Church are marginalized, often ignored, and at times ridiculed.” 

Such a commitment also means facing political pressures, including that of “ideological colonization,” Leo said, using a term coined by his predecessor Pope Francis to refer to campaigns by wealthy countries and organizations to influence the values of developing nations.  Leo said that Christian public officials “need courage: the courage sometimes to say ‘no, I cannot,’ when the truth is at stake.” 

“Only union with Jesus — Jesus crucified! — will give you that courage to suffer for his name,” the pontiff declared, recalling Christ’s words: “In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage: I have overcome the world.” 

In conclusion, the pope expressed his support for Catholic politicians and encouraged them not to lose hope in a better world: “Remain certain that, united to Christ, your efforts will bear fruit and receive their reward.”

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 prays during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 13, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Aug 27, 2025 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday said he was offering prayers for the victims of the Minneapolis Catholic school shooting, one he described as an “extremely difficult” and “terrible” tragedy.

Two children were killed in a shooting incident at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis on Aug. 27, with the gunman taking his own life after the deadly attack during the parochial school Mass.

Law enforcement were still working to determine a motive to the shooting on Wednesday afternoon. In his telegram to Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop Bernard Hebda, meanwhile, Leo said he was “profoundly saddened” at the news of the killings.

The pope “sends his heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness” to the victims of the shooting, said the telegram, signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. 

Leo “sends his heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness to all those affected by this terrible tragedy, especially the families now grieving the loss of a child,” the message said. 

“While commending the souls of the deceased children to the love of Almighty God, His Holiness prays for the wounded as well as the first responders, medical personnel, and clergy who are caring for them and their loved ones,” the message continued. 

The pope offered an apostolic blessing to the archdiocese “as a pledge of peace, fortitude, and consolation in the Lord Jesus.”

U.S. bishops: ‘Let us all beg the Lord for protection’

Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a statement lamenting the loss of life in the deadly shooting. 

“Whenever one part of the Body of Christ is wounded, we feel the pain as if it were our very own children,” USCCB Vice President Archbishop William Lori said in the statement. 

“Let us all beg the Lord for the protection and healing of the entire Annunciation family.”

The remarks from the pope and the U.S. bishops come amid an outpouring of grief and support from around the U.S. and the world.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning said the White House was monitoring the situation. “Please join me in praying for everyone involved!” he wrote. The president subsequently ordered the U.S. flags at the White House to be lowered to half staff in honor of the victims of the shooting.

Numerous other U.S. bishops responded to the tragedy as well. “Please join me in praying for all those who were injured or lost their lives — along with their families,” Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron said. “Let us also pray for the students, faculty, and entire parish community.”

The New York State Catholic Conference, meanwhile, wrote that the state’s bishops were “devastated” by the shooting.

St. Augustine and St. Monica stained glass at St. Augustine Cathedral Catholic Church Basilica in Tucson, Arizona. / Credit: Bill Perry/Shutterstock

Rome Newsroom, Aug 27, 2025 / 13:40 pm (CNA).

Since the fourth century, Christians have revered St. Monica, the mother of Church Father St. Augustine, as a woman of unwavering faith in God.

In an interview with EWTN News reporter Valentina Di Donato, two Augustinian priests living in Rome explain why the woman they refer to as their “grandmother” continues to be a source of hope and inspiration, especially for Catholic wives and mothers.

Father Angelo Di Berardino, OSA, who has worked and lived at the Augustinian International College of Santa Monica in Rome for 50 years, said St. Monica had a great interior strength that influenced all members of her family.

“Respecting her husband, she was able to convert him,” Di Berardino told EWTN News. “Then, she was a strong woman to educate her three children, especially Augustine.”

“I think she was so strong in her life, in her prayer, that she had a great influence on the great theologian Augustine,” he added.

According to Order of St. Augustine procurator general Father Edward Daleng Daniang, OSA, St. Monica is the saint to turn to for spouses who feel alone in their desire to create a Christian family home.

“St. Monica did not have it easy with her husband Patrick,” he said. “She tried to win him with her love, with her patience and endurance and tolerance and, above all, bringing her husband to God through prayer.”

Describing the ancient saint as a “living example” of a mother who does not give up on her children, Daniang said those struggling with their children can have hope that their prayers, and tears, are never wasted.

“St. Monica was struggling with her son St. Augustine who wandered away from home,” he said. “He left Monica, his mother, to come to Italy in those days and Monica did not give up.”

“He left the faith which she tried to transmit to him but she did not give up,” he emphasized.

Following her son to Italy, Daniang said her main intention of leaving Africa was not to bring her son back home but to lead her son to Jesus Christ for the salvation of his soul.

“St. Monica stands as someone who led her husband to God, to Christ, and also brought her son St. Augustine to Christ,” he said.

“That’s bringing the unity of family together,” he added.

Pilgrims reach out to Pope Leo XIV at the general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican City, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 27, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

We find true hope when we give of ourselves freely and with love — encountering suffering, not running away from it, Pope Leo XIV said at his weekly audience with the public on Wednesday.

Addressing thousands of pilgrims in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall, the pope emphasized Jesus’ embrace of suffering, when he gave himself up to be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion.

Jesus “is not the victim of an arrest but the giver of a gift,” Leo said on Aug. 27. “In this gesture, he embodies a hope of salvation for our humanity: to know that, even in the darkest hour, one can remain free to love to the end.”

The pontiff said Jesus’ actions show us what it is to be free.

“In life, it is not necessary to have everything under control. It is enough to choose to love freely every day,” he underlined.

Leo’s general audience message centered on the scene that begins Jesus’ passion: his arrest. Despite knowing what is going to happen to him, the Lord does not retreat but “gives himself up” out of love to the soldiers who have come to arrest him.

“In the middle of the night, when everything seems to be falling apart, Jesus shows that Christian hope is not evasion, but decision,” the pope said.

Speaking to a packed hall, he recalled that Jesus prepared every day of his life for the moment of his arrest and subsequent passion and death. “For this reason, when it arrives, he has the strength not to seek a way of escape. His heart knows well that to lose life for love is not a failure.”

“Jesus too is troubled when faced with a path that seems to lead only to death and to the end,” Leo continued. “But he is equally persuaded that only a life lost for love, at the end, is ultimately found.”

“This,” the pontiff said, “is what true hope consists of: not in trying to avoid pain but in believing that even in the heart of the most unjust suffering, the seed of new life is hidden.”

He asked those listening to reflect on their lives and to think about how often they defend themselves and their own plans, without realizing that it leaves them, ultimately, alone.

“The logic of the Gospel is different: Only what is given flourishes; only the love that becomes free can restore trust even where everything seems lost,” he said, adding that “this is true hope: knowing that, even in the darkness of trial, God’s love sustains us and ripens the fruit of eternal life in us.”

During his greeting to Spanish-speaking pilgrims, Pope Leo recalled the Church’s Aug. 27 celebration of the feast of St. Monica and the Aug. 28 feast of St. Augustine, Monica’s son.

“Let us ask the Lord, through the intercession of these beloved saints, that we may know — following the logic of the Gospel — how to love and give our lives freely and generously, as Christ, our hope, did,” he said.

At the end of the Wednesday audience, the pope added an appeal for the end of wars, especially the conflict in the Holy Land.

“I implore that all hostages be released, that a permanent ceasefire be reached, that safe access for humanitarian aid be facilitated, and that humanitarian rights be fully respected: in particular, the obligation to protect all civilian areas and the prohibition of collective punishment, indiscriminate use of force, and forced displacement of the population,” he said.

“We implore Mary, Queen of Peace, source of consolation and hope, to intercede for reconciliation and peace in that land so dear to us all,” Leo added.

Pope Leo XIV, whose recent discourses will be published in a book on Aug. 27, waves during his Wednesday audience Aug. 20, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 26, 2025 / 15:27 pm (CNA).

On Aug. 27 the Vatican will publish a compilation of Pope Leo’s discourses from the first months of his pontificate in a book signed by the pontiff titled “Let There Be Peace! Words to the Church and the World.”

According to the Vatican publishing house, the 160-page volume, which will be published in Italian, English, and Spanish, “is a valuable book: It collects the first discourses of Pope Leo XIV, through which we can better understand the pontiff through his own words.”

The book’s title underscores the Holy Father’s emphasis on calling for peace, which began from the very moment of his election on May 8, when he exclaimed from St. Peter’s:

“Peace be with you all! Dear brothers and sisters, these are the first words spoken by the risen Christ, the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for God’s flock. I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world. Peace be with you! It is the peace of the risen Christ. A peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering. A peace that comes from God, the God who loves us all, unconditionally.”

According to information provided by the Vatican, the ideas that stand out in the first discourses of Leo XIV’s pontificate include “the primacy of God, communion in the Church, the search for peace.”

The pontiff has also emphasized the fundamental importance of “an irrevocable commitment for anyone who exercises a ministry of authority in the Church: to disappear so that Christ may remain, to become small so that he may be known and glorified.”

Also notable in the book’s first pages are his calls to strive for “a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which may become leaven for a reconciled world.”

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 addresses pilgrims during his general audience on July 30, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 26, 2025 / 12:53 pm (CNA).

“Peace Be With You All: Towards an Unarmed and Disarming Peace” will be the theme for the 2026 World Day of Peace, the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development announced Aug. 26.

This theme, according to a statement from the Vatican Press Office, “invites humanity to reject the logic of violence and war, to embrace an authentic peace, based on love and justice.”

The statement continues: “It is a peace that is unarmed — that is, not based on fear, threats, or weapons; and disarming, because it is capable of dissolving conflicts, opening hearts, and generating trust, empathy, and hope. It is not enough to invoke peace; it must be embodied in a lifestyle that rejects all forms of violence, visible or structural.”

“The greeting of the risen Christ, ‘Peace be with you’ (cf. Jn 20:19), is an invitation to all — believers, nonbelievers, political leaders, and citizens — to build the kingdom of God and to construct together a humane and peaceful future,” the statement concludes.

The World Day of Peace was instituted by Pope Paul VI, who proposed it on Dec. 8, 1967, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The Church first celebrated it on Jan. 1, 1968, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

The observance came amid the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and other conflicts.

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

The Vatican Gardens at Castel Gandolfo. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 26, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to inaugurate on Sept. 5 Borgo Laudato Si’, a development dedicated to the care of creation inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’. Located in Castel Gandolfo, the area will be open to the public. 

According to Vatican News, Borgo Laudato Si’ consists of “135 acres of gardens, villas, archeological sites, and farmland, [and] the project integrates history with a forward-looking commitment to education, sustainability, and community life.”

The site, which has been a summer retreat for popes for centuries, has been dedicated to Pope Francis’ initiative since 2023 to show “how care for creation and respect for human dignity can be made concrete and harmonious according to the principles of faith, through formation, work, and collaboration,” according to a statement released by the Holy See Press Office.

The center will be inaugurated in the year marking the first decade since the encyclical’s publication with a simple ceremony consisting of the Liturgy of the Word and a rite of blessing.

According to the information released by the Vatican, representatives of the Roman Curia, institutions, and those who have collaborated in launching the project will be present.

Singer Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo will join in the prayer with their artistic gift.

Beforehand, Leo XIV will visit the site, “touring its main spaces and meeting with employees, collaborators, their families, and all the people who, in different ways, animate the life of Borgo Laudato Si’: religious, educators, students, local communities, partners, and benefactors.”

The Vatican presents the event as “the fruit of a journey that intertwines spirituality, education, and sustainability with the aim of offering an open, accessible, and inclusive place for formation, reflection, and the experience of a more conscious and respectful relationship with creation.”

In May, a few days after the 10th anniversary of the publication of Laudato Si’, Leo XIV made his first visit to the site. The pontiff subsequently spent a good part of his summer break at Castel Gandolfo, resuming the tradition broken by Pope Francis, who stayed at the Vatican. 

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