VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Gospel parable of the "wasteful sower" who casts seeds on fertile soil as well as on a rocky path "is an image of the way God loves us," Pope Leo XIV told visitors and pilgrims at his first weekly general audience.

The parable can strike people as odd because "we are used to calculating things -- and at times it is necessary -- but this does not apply in love," the pope told an estimated 40,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square May 21.

Pope Leo read his full prepared text in Italian and also read the summaries of the talk in English and in Spanish.

At the end of the audience, Pope Leo drew attention to ongoing Israeli military operations in Gaza and its limitations on the delivery of humanitarian aid to the area.

"The situation in Gaza is increasingly worrying and agonizing," he said. "I renew my heartfelt appeal to allow the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid and to end the hostilities, the heartbreaking price of which is being paid by children, the elderly and the sick."

The pope also told the crowd that he could not conclude the gathering without remembering "our beloved Pope Francis, who exactly one month ago returned to the house of our Father."

It had been more than three months since the Vatican hosted a weekly general audience; Pope Francis met pilgrims and visitors Feb. 12 and was hospitalized two days later. He died April 21. 

Mercy Sister Maria Juan Anderson, coordinator of the Bishops' Office for U.S. Visitors to the Vatican, which is housed in the Casa Santa Maria of the Pontifical North American College in Rome, told Catholic News Service that the office distributed 1,800 free tickets to the pope's first audience -- "a record!"

"We had eight priests hearing confessions for two and a half hours" as visitors came to collect their tickets May 20 and get information about the audience, the Vatican and the new pope, she said.

Pope Leo arrived in the popemobile for the audience, riding through the crowd in St. Peter's Square and stopping often to bless infants, tracing the sign of the cross on their foreheads.

The pope began his audience explaining he would continue the series of talks his predecessor had begun on the Jubilee-related theme, "Jesus Christ Our Hope."

Focusing specifically on the parable of the sower from the Gospel of Matthew 13:1-17, Pope Leo said Jesus' parables were stories "taken from everyday life" but meant to lead listeners "to a deeper meaning." 

The parable of the sower, he said, is about "the dynamic of the word of God and the effects it produces. Indeed, every word of the Gospel is like a seed that is thrown on the ground of our life."

The soil where the seed in the parable lands "is our heart, but it is also the world, the community, the church," he said. "The word of God, in fact, makes fruitful and provokes every reality."

What happens to the seed depends on the quality of the earth it lands on, he said.

"But first and foremost, in this parable Jesus tells us that God throws the seed of his word on all kinds of soil, that is, in any situation of ours," the pope said. "At times we are more superficial and distracted; at times we let ourselves get carried away by enthusiasm; sometimes we are burdened by life's worries, but there are also times when we are willing and welcoming."

"God is confident and hopes that sooner or later the seed will blossom," Pope Leo said. "This is how he loves us: he does not wait for us to become the best soil, but he always generously gives us his word."

When people see how God loves and trusts them, the pope said, it should encourage them to be "better soil."

Pope Leo urged people to ask God for the grace to welcome his word in their lives, "and if we realize we are not a fruitful soil, let us not be discouraged, but let us ask him to work on us more to make us become a better terrain."
 

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CNA Staff, May 20, 2025 / 17:58 pm (CNA).

A new biography of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States, will be available May 21 from EWTN and is now available for preorder. 

“Leo XIV: Portrait of the First American Pope,” written by Matthew Bunson, vice president and editorial director at EWTN News, is the first authoritative biographical portrait of Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, who was elected the new Holy Father on May 8. 

The book will be officially launched at a May 22 event set to be held at the Vatican’s Campo Santo Teutonico in the Aula Benedict XVI at 5:30 p.m. local time.

The biography provides an “assessment of his three fundamental roles as a successor to the apostles: his sanctifying role as a priest, his governing role as a bishop, and his prophetic role as a teacher and missionary,” EWTN said. 

Michael Warsaw, EWTN’s CEO and chairman of the board, told CNA that he is “excited that EWTN Publishing is releasing this biography of Pope Leo XIV so soon after his election.”

“As the leading Catholic media platform, our aim is to share the Holy Father’s story with the world, starting with his early life, to help people connect with the man now serving as the vicar of Christ,” Warsaw said.

“EWTN is uniquely positioned to publish this biography of the first pope born in the United States and the second pope from the Americas. Like Pope Leo, the EWTN family is global, but our roots are American.”

Bunson, a longtime Vatican journalist and Church expert who has written over 50 books, said he hopes to help to inform readers about the importance of Pope Leo’s membership in the venerable Order of St. Augustine and the fact that he is both a mathematician and canon lawyer, and how those credentials will help him address the Vatican’s financial woes. 

Bunson will also discuss the significance of the choice of the name “Leo” and what that says about the pope’s vision for his pontificate. 

“He has also taken the name Leo XIV in honor of Leo XIII, the great pope from 1878 to 1903, who is like Pope Leo XIV taken up profoundly with the concerns of the encounter between the Church and modernity,” Bunson said May 15, speaking to “EWTN News Nightly.” 

“We had the great industrial revolution at the end of the 19th century; [Leo XIV] is very concerned about the technological and digital revolutions that are taking place right now in the 21st century. So he’s a man very much of his times but somebody who understands the importance of the perennial aspects of Church teaching, to apply them to all the modern situations that we can find ourselves in.”

Additionally, Bunson’s book touches on some of the moral and theological issues currently being debated in the Church and public arena, offering the “informed, balanced, accurate picture of our new Holy Father that the world has been waiting for.”

“We saw that with Pope Benedict XVI [elected] in 2005 and Pope Francis in 2013, many of the things that you read or watch in secular media either weren’t accurate or were sort of a deliberate misrepresentation,” Bunson said.

“So what we want to do with this book is to offer a first portrait of the life, formation, and journey of Robert Francis Prevost from Chicago all the way to Rome, and now, of course, as Pope Leo XIV.”

The future Pope Leo XIV was born on Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago. He studied at an Augustinian minor seminary in Michigan and later earned a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Villanova University in Pennsylvania. He joined the Order of St. Augustine, taking solemn vows in 1981, and was ordained to the priesthood in June 1982 after studying theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago.

After being ordained, Leo earned a doctorate in canon law from Rome’s Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (also known as the Angelicum) in 1987. He spent over a decade ministering in South America before being called back to the U.S. to head the Midwest Augustinians and was later elected prior general of the Augustinian order, serving in that role for a dozen years. 

He returned to South America after Pope Francis in 2014 appointed him bishop in Chiclayo, Peru. Francis later called him to Rome in 2023 to head the highly influential Dicastery for Bishops.

The book about Leo’s life is available for preorder on EWTN Religious Catalogue.

CNA Staff, May 20, 2025 / 17:58 pm (CNA).

A new biography of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States, will be available May 21 from EWTN and is now available for preorder. 

“Leo XIV: Portrait of the First American Pope,” written by Matthew Bunson, vice president and editorial director at EWTN News, is the first authoritative biographical portrait of Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, who was elected the new Holy Father on May 8. 

The book will be officially launched at a May 22 event set to be held at the Vatican’s Campo Santo Teutonico in the Aula Benedict XVI at 5:30 p.m. local time.

The biography provides an “assessment of his three fundamental roles as a successor to the apostles: his sanctifying role as a priest, his governing role as a bishop, and his prophetic role as a teacher and missionary,” EWTN said. 

Michael Warsaw, EWTN’s CEO and chairman of the board, told CNA that he is “excited that EWTN Publishing is releasing this biography of Pope Leo XIV so soon after his election.”

“As the leading Catholic media platform, our aim is to share the Holy Father’s story with the world, starting with his early life, to help people connect with the man now serving as the vicar of Christ,” Warsaw said.

“EWTN is uniquely positioned to publish this biography of the first pope born in the United States and the second pope from the Americas. Like Pope Leo, the EWTN family is global, but our roots are American.”

Bunson, a longtime Vatican journalist and Church expert who has written over 50 books, said he hopes to help to inform readers about the importance of Pope Leo’s membership in the venerable Order of St. Augustine and the fact that he is both a mathematician and canon lawyer, and how those credentials will help him address the Vatican’s financial woes. 

Bunson will also discuss the significance of the choice of the name “Leo” and what that says about the pope’s vision for his pontificate. 

“He has also taken the name Leo XIV in honor of Leo XIII, the great pope from 1878 to 1903, who is like Pope Leo XIV taken up profoundly with the concerns of the encounter between the Church and modernity,” Bunson said May 15, speaking to “EWTN News Nightly.” 

“We had the great industrial revolution at the end of the 19th century; [Leo XIV] is very concerned about the technological and digital revolutions that are taking place right now in the 21st century. So he’s a man very much of his times but somebody who understands the importance of the perennial aspects of Church teaching, to apply them to all the modern situations that we can find ourselves in.”

Additionally, Bunson’s book touches on some of the moral and theological issues currently being debated in the Church and public arena, offering the “informed, balanced, accurate picture of our new Holy Father that the world has been waiting for.”

“We saw that with Pope Benedict XVI [elected] in 2005 and Pope Francis in 2013, many of the things that you read or watch in secular media either weren’t accurate or were sort of a deliberate misrepresentation,” Bunson said.

“So what we want to do with this book is to offer a first portrait of the life, formation, and journey of Robert Francis Prevost from Chicago all the way to Rome, and now, of course, as Pope Leo XIV.”

The future Pope Leo XIV was born on Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago. He studied at an Augustinian minor seminary in Michigan and later earned a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Villanova University in Pennsylvania. He joined the Order of St. Augustine, taking solemn vows in 1981, and was ordained to the priesthood in June 1982 after studying theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago.

After being ordained, Leo earned a doctorate in canon law from Rome’s Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (also known as the Angelicum) in 1987. He spent over a decade ministering in South America before being called back to the U.S. to head the Midwest Augustinians and was later elected prior general of the Augustinian order, serving in that role for a dozen years. 

He returned to South America after Pope Francis in 2014 appointed him bishop in Chiclayo, Peru. Francis later called him to Rome in 2023 to head the highly influential Dicastery for Bishops.

The book about Leo’s life is available for preorder on EWTN Religious Catalogue.

Denver, Colo., May 20, 2025 / 17:28 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Denver launched a vocations campaign this weekend to connect young men who may be interested in pursuing the priesthood with the archdiocese.

The “Called By Name” campaign invites parishioners across the archdiocese to nominate young men ages 15 to 35 who they think may have the qualities to become a priest.

The archdiocese is one of nine dioceses currently collaborating with Vianney Vocations, an organization founded in 2009 that helps support vocations efforts in Catholic dioceses around the U.S.

Men who are nominated by their fellow parishioners will receive a letter from the archbishop congratulating them for being recognized.

The letter encourages them to be open to God’s call in their lives and invites them to connect with Father Jason Wallace, the archdiocesan director of vocations, who will send a weekly message about discernment to nominees. Nominees are also invited to attend the small discernment groups led by priests or deacons trained by Vianney Vocations.

While Denver is one of the leading dioceses in the U.S. for vocations by size, according to a 2025 report, Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila has in recent years expressed his hope to see more seminarians in the growing archdiocese. 

“Denver is good soil, so we’re really hopeful that there’ll be a lot of fruit from this,” Chris Kreslins, senior client manager for Vianney Vocations, told CNA. 

Rather than recruiting abroad, many bishops are moving toward encouraging “homegrown guys” to discern and apply for seminary, Kreslins noted.

“The hope and the goal is that there will be more men applying for seminary,” Kreslins said. 

With more priests, “parishes will have the priests they need to minister to the people of God” and priests will not be “so thinly stretched,” he noted. 

These vocation campaigns across the country come amid a decadeslong decline in men pursuing the priesthood. Globally, the number of priests has been decreasing in recent years, except in Africa and Asia, where vocations to the priesthood are on the rise.  

To kick off the campaign in Denver on Sunday, priests across the archdiocese shared their vocation stories in their homilies and invited parishioners to nominate young men to consider discerning. 

“Some men may need to hear from others that their faith is recognized and that they possess the qualities of a good priest,” Kreslins explained. “Sometimes, we need another person to lead us to Jesus.” 

Father Brian Larkin, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Englewood, Colorado, shared his own experience discerning the priesthood in a homily on Sunday.

“When I was wrestling with if God was calling me, my first question wasn’t necessarily the office of priesthood,” Larkin said. “My question was, ‘God, are you calling me to give you everything?’”

“I felt this pull on my heart that God was calling me to give up my hopes and my dreams,” Larkin said. “What I saw at first was just a price tag.”  

“Maybe some of you are called to the priesthood. Maybe some of you are called to a consecrated life. I don’t know,” Larkin said to an array of parishioners. “You are called to a radical love, and I do know that. Every single one of us [is].”

“We’ve seen tremendous growth in the faith and the number of Catholics. But then we also have a need when we see that growth, to serve all those people,” Wallace told the Denver Catholic. “The Archdiocese of Denver is in need of many more vocations.”

In his homily, Larkin prayed for more priests who are “on fire” for God.  

“Jesus, we pray for more priests — not just any priests,” Larkin said. “Only priests [who] will be on fire with the love of God. Not men who are perfect, not men who have no mistakes, not men who know everything, but men whose hearts have been transformed.”