Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University, where the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences is located. / Credit: calu777/flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Vatican City, Nov 13, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Pontifical Lateran University, the historic institution founded in 1773 by Pope Clement XIV, will inaugurate the academic year on Nov. 14.

The ceremony — the traditional “Dies Academicus” (“Academic Day”) in university parlance — is held every autumn as the official opening of university activities, but this year it will have a very special guest: Pope Leo XIV.

The rector of the Lateran University, Archbishop Alfonso Amarante — the only rector of all the pontifical universities directly appointed by the pope — emphasized that the Holy Father’s visit not only evokes the long tradition of the bond between the popes and the university but also highlights his “pastoral care for the formation of the future of the Church and society.”

“The pope is very clear that formation is the future of the Church. His visit will be a very important moment for the entire university community and also a sign of the pontiff’s commitment to education as a path to peace and hope,” Amarante told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

The rector said Pope Leo’s presence at the Pontifical Lateran University, which boasts over two and a half centuries of intellectual work, “is as if he were visiting all the pontifical universities.”

“Certainly, he will also visit others in the future, but starting from here means recalling this special bond with his university and, at the same time, sending a message of hope to the world of education, as he did during the Jubilee of the World of Education,” the rector noted.

‘This is his home’

“This is his home, according to the statutes,” the Italian archbishop pointed out, noting that the Pontifical Lateran University is the only university with a special title indicating that it is the pope’s university.

It was founded after the closure of the historic Roman College, where priests were initially formed. “The aim was to ensure continuity to the formation of the Roman clergy,” he explained. “At first, it was spread out across various parts of Rome, but since the beginning of the 20th century, it has been located here.”

The bond between this pontifical university and the Apostolic See of the Vatican was strengthened above all by Pope Pius XI. On Nov. 3, 1937, he inaugurated the new headquarters for the Athenaeum, which had been built under his papacy. Furthermore, “he wanted this to be the first university to implement the new norms for the reform of Catholic universities,” he noted. 

“With John XXIII, this relationship intensified even further,” he pointed out. The rector also recalled that before being elected successor of Peter, Pope Paul VI taught here. “It has always been the place of formation for the Petrine magisterium,” he emphasized.

A living papal tradition

The rector remarked that all the popes of the modern era have visited the Lateran University, but Leo XIV’s presence at the opening of the academic year is a first. 

“All the popes I can recall have come to the university. But the pontiff’s presence at the opening of the academic year is a gesture full of meaning. It makes us understand how important the formation is to him, not only for future priests but also for the laity. Because this university has a dual soul: Here philosophy, theology, and canon law are studied but also civil law and a new discipline called peace studies, a kind of degree in politics with a focus on the subject of peace,” he explained.

Enthusiasm and hope in the academic community

In the days leading up to the pope’s visit, anticipation and joy fill the Lateran University. “There is a great deal of enthusiasm here,” Amarante noted.

“There is joy and hope. We trust that we will hear his words at the beginning of the academic year, not only to be encouraged in our work but also to receive guidance on where he wants us to make progress, on what we should focus on more,” he emphasized.

Currently, the Pontifical Lateran University has around 1,100 students, of whom more than 40% are laypeople, according to the rector. This diversity, he noted, reflects the current mission of the pontifical university: a place for formation at the service of the universal Church and society.

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

The beatification ceremony for Mother Elisva Vakha’i was held in the square in front of the Basilica-Shrine of Our Lady of Ransom in Vallarpadam, Kochi, Kerala, India, Nov. 8, 2025. / Credit: Congregation of the Teresian Discalced Carmelite Sisters; Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Nov 12, 2025 / 16:24 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV spoke of the beatification this week of Mother Elisva Vakha’i, a 19th-century Indian religious and founder of the Third Order of the Teresian Discalced Carmelites, highlighting her “courageous commitment to the emancipation of the poorest girls.”

“The witness of Mother Elisva Vakha’i,” the pope affirmed during his greetings in Italian at the end of his general audience on Nov. 12, “is a source of inspiration for all who work in the Church and in society for the dignity of women.”

The beatification ceremony on Nov. 8 was held in the square in front of the Basilica-Shrine of Our Lady of Ransom in Vallarpadam, Kochi, in the Indian state of Kerala, and was presided over by Cardinal Sebastian Francis, bishop of Penang, Malaysia.

Before thousands of faithful and men and women religious from across the country, the cardinal emphasized that the new blessed represents “a beacon of hope” for all “consecrated women, for all mothers, and for all those who suffer in silence and yet choose to love,” according to Vatican News.

A mother and widow called by God

Before embracing religious life, Vakha’i was married and had a daughter. She decided to take religious vows after becoming a widow, an experience that profoundly shaped her vocation and endowed her with a special sensitivity to the needs of women in her time. In a society marked by rigid cultural and religious divisions, she recognized the dignity of every person and offered concrete opportunities for education and support.

In the mid-19th century, she founded an orphanage and a primary school for the poorest and most marginalized young women. Her work was not limited to mere assistance: It was a genuine commitment to the integral formation of women; she was convinced that education was the key to the social recognition of their dignity and active participation in social and ecclesial life.

A pioneer of consecrated life for women in India

Vakha’i opened a new path for the women of Kerala, allowing them enter religious life in both the Latin and Syro-Malabar rites. Her project, deeply rooted in Carmelite and Teresian spirituality, united contemplation, service, prayer, and education.

Her example inspired her own sister, Thresia, and her daughter, Anna, who joined her in founding the first Discalced Carmelite convent in Kerala in 1866, under the spiritual guidance of Italian Carmelite missionaries. Together, they fostered a community experience that, as Cardinal Francis emphasized in his homily during her beatification, anticipated ecclesial insights now associated with the synodal journey of the Church.

An ‘inclusive” and ‘synodal’ vision

During the homily at the beatification, the cardinal emphasized the “inclusive vision” of Vakha’i, with which she “was ahead of her time and is a true expression of synodality in action: walking together in communion.”

The new blessed, he added, “shows the way” to the Church on its synodal journey “listening, discerning, and walking together.”

The foundation of her “unwavering faith,” he affirmed, “lies in her spirituality, vision, and mission, all rooted in her identity as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ through baptism, the very heart of synodality.”

With the official recognition of her holiness, the Church proposes Vakha’i as a model of evangelical life embodied in service to the poor, in the promotion of women, and in the building of fraternal communities.

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

St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. / Credit: Xosema (CC BY-SA 4.0)

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 12, 2025 / 14:54 pm (CNA).

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) has declared that the alleged apparitions of Jesus in Dozulé, France, do not have an authentic divine origin and are therefore “not supernatural.”

The prefect of the dicastery, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, confirmed the declaration based on the Norms for Discerning Alleged Supernatural Phenomena in a document released Nov. 12 and addressed to the bishop of Bayeux-Lisieux, Jacques Habert.

In 1972, Madeleine Aumont claimed that Jesus had appeared to her, asking the Church to build a giant “glorious cross” in Dozulé, next to a “shrine of reconciliation.” Furthermore, the alleged visionary claimed that Jesus had announced his “imminent” return.

In the document, the Vatican authority notes that the alleged apparitions in the Normandy town “have elicited spiritual interest” but also “not a few controversies and difficulties of a doctrinal and pastoral nature” that require clarification.

Only the cross of Jerusalem is the universal sign of the Redemption

First, the DDF clarifies that it is erroneous to compare the “glorious cross” with the “cross of Jerusalem,” as Aumont did after the fifth alleged apparition. The Vatican says that “that wood, raised upon Calvary, has become the real sign of Christ’s sacrifice, which is unique and unrepeatable” and that any other “sign” of the cross “cannot be considered on the same plane.”

“To compare the cross requested at Dozulé with the cross of Jerusalem risks confusing the sign with the mystery and risks giving the impression that what Christ has accomplished once and for all could be ‘reproduced’ or ‘renewed’ in a physical sense,” the letter explains.

In this context, the declaration clarifies that the power of the cross “does not need to be replicated, for it is already present in every Eucharist, in every church, in every believer who lives united to the sacrifice of Christ.” Thus, it warns against the risk of fostering a “material sacrality” that does not belong to the heart of Christianity.

Fernández also cautioned against the risk of this cross becoming “a symbol of an autonomous message” and pointed out that “no cross, no relic, and no private apparition can replace the means of grace established by Christ” nor be considered a “universal obligation.”

The cardinal emphasized that the cross is not merely a religious ornament: It is a sign that speaks to the heart. “Those who wear the cross around their neck or keep it in their home proclaim, even without words, that the crucified Christ is the center of their life and that every joy and sorrow finds its meaning in him.”

Forgiveness comes from Christ

The letter emphasizes what it considers one of the most troubling claims: the reference to the “remission of sins” through contemplation of the Dozulé cross.

Aumont went so far as to claim: “All those who will have come to repent at the foot of ‘the glorious cross’ [of Dozulé] will be saved.”

The Vatican points out the theological error of these statements, which are “incompatible with the Catholic doctrine on salvation, grace, and the sacraments.” Fernández clarified that “no material object can replace sacramental grace” and that forgiveness comes from Christ through the sacrament of penance.

Regarding the ‘imminent return of Christ’

Regarding the warnings that Jesus allegedly revealed about his “imminent” return as the Risen One, Fernández pointed out that, although the return of Christ is a truth of faith, “no one can know or predict the precise date or its signs.”

Consequently, the declaration states that the Church “remains alert against millenarian or chronological interpretations, which risk setting the time or determining the modalities for the final judgment.”

“The danger of reducing Christian hope to an expectation of an imminent return with extraordinary events must be firmly avoided,” the text emphasizes.

With these clarifications, the DDF concludes that the phenomenon of the alleged apparitions in Dozulé “is to be regarded, definitively, as not supernatural in origin, with all the consequences that flow from this determination.”

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

St. Nicholas Church in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. / Credit: Kirill Neiezhmakov/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 12, 2025 / 12:15 pm (CNA).

Nearly a quarter of Czechs declare themselves atheist, according to the 2017 Pew Survey on European Values.

null / Credit: LookerStudio/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 12, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Ana Lazcano of the University Institute of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Francisco de Vitoria University in Spain warned that AI is not all-powerful.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller. / Credit: La Sacristía de la Vendée

Madrid, Spain, Nov 11, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has called for overcoming ideological divisions within the Catholic Church.

The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Scotland’s Catholic bishops and pro-life groups have raised alarms about the effects a proposed assisted suicide bill may have upon disabled and vulnerable people after a number of key amendments were rejected. / Credit: Reinhold Möller, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Edinburgh, Scotland, Nov 11, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Scotland’s Catholic bishops and pro-life groups have raised alarms about the effects a proposed assisted suicide bill may have upon disabled and vulnerable people.

Paul Badde. / Credit: “EWTN News Nightly”/Screenshot

CNA Staff, Nov 10, 2025 / 16:36 pm (CNA).

Paul Badde, author of many well-known books such as “Benedict Up Close,” “The Face of God,” and “The True Icon,” died Monday morning after a long illness.

Pro-life advocates participate in a prayer procession in Regensburg, Germany. / Credit: ADF International

Regensburg, Germany, Nov 7, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

The town lifted a 100-meter (328-foot) censorship zone around abortion clinics after courts ruled the restrictions violated constitutional freedoms.

Blessed Clemens August von Galen. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Münster/Domkapitular Gustav Albers (CC BY 2.5)

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 7, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed.