Vatican City, Jun 18, 2025 / 06:03 am (CNA).

After a turn in the popemobile to greet thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his general audience on Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV continued his catechesis on “Jesus Christ, Our Hope.”

The pope reminded listeners that Jesus is capable of healing and unblocking the past, which at times paralyzes us — inviting us to move forward and decide what to do with our own history.

The Church: A house of mercy

The Holy Father invited the faithful to reflect on moments in which “we feel ‘stuck’ and trapped in a dead end,” where it seems “pointless to keep hoping — we resign ourselves and no longer have the strength to fight.”

Referring to the Gospel passage from John 5:1–9, which recounts the healing of a paralytic, the pope said that it is Jesus who “reaches people in their pain” — the sick and those who had been cast out of the Temple for being considered unclean.

These people, the Holy Father recalled, hoped to get well in a pool whose waters were believed to have healing powers. According to the custom of the time, the first person to plunge into the pool when the water stirred would be healed.

“That pool was called ‘Betzatà,’ which means ‘house of mercy.’ It could be seen as an image of the Church, where the sick and the poor gather, and to which the Lord comes to heal and bring hope,” he added.

The paralysis of disillusionment

Jesus then approaches a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years and had never managed to enter the pool. The pope pointed out that “what often paralyzes us is precisely disillusionment. We feel discouraged and risk falling into neglect.” When Jesus speaks to the paralytic, he asks a “necessary” question: “Do you want to be healed?”

“Sometimes we prefer to remain in the condition of being sick, forcing others to take care of us. It can also become an excuse to avoid deciding what to do with our lives. But Jesus leads this man back to his true and deepest desire,” Leo XIV said.

The paralytic, feeling defeated, replies that he has no one to help him into the pool — an attitude that, according to the pope, “becomes a pretext for avoiding personal responsibility.”

Regarding the man’s fatalistic view of life, the pope said that at times “we think things happen to us because we are unlucky, or because fate is against us. This man is discouraged. He feels defeated by life’s struggles.”

With Jesus, we discover that life is in our hands

Nevertheless, Jesus “helps him discover that his life is also in his own hands. He invites him to rise up from his chronic condition and take up his mat. That mat is not thrown away or abandoned: It represents his past illness — his history,” the pope continued.

The past, he explained, had kept the man stuck, forcing him “to lie there like someone already dead.” But thanks to Jesus, he is able to “carry that mat and take it wherever he wants — he can decide what to do with his history. It’s a matter of walking forward, taking responsibility for choosing which path to take.”

Finally, the pope invited the faithful to ask the Lord “for the gift of understanding where in our life we have become stuck. Let us try to give voice to our desire for healing. And let us pray for all those who feel paralyzed and see no way out,” he said.

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

Vatican City, Jun 18, 2025 / 06:03 am (CNA).

After a turn in the popemobile to greet thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his general audience on Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV continued his catechesis on “Jesus Christ, Our Hope.”

The pope reminded listeners that Jesus is capable of healing and unblocking the past, which at times paralyzes us — inviting us to move forward and decide what to do with our own history.

The Church: A house of mercy

The Holy Father invited the faithful to reflect on moments in which “we feel ‘stuck’ and trapped in a dead end,” where it seems “pointless to keep hoping — we resign ourselves and no longer have the strength to fight.”

Referring to the Gospel passage from John 5:1–9, which recounts the healing of a paralytic, the pope said that it is Jesus who “reaches people in their pain” — the sick and those who had been cast out of the Temple for being considered unclean.

These people, the Holy Father recalled, hoped to get well in a pool whose waters were believed to have healing powers. According to the custom of the time, the first person to plunge into the pool when the water stirred would be healed.

“That pool was called ‘Betzatà,’ which means ‘house of mercy.’ It could be seen as an image of the Church, where the sick and the poor gather, and to which the Lord comes to heal and bring hope,” he added.

The paralysis of disillusionment

Jesus then approaches a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years and had never managed to enter the pool. The pope pointed out that “what often paralyzes us is precisely disillusionment. We feel discouraged and risk falling into neglect.” When Jesus speaks to the paralytic, he asks a “necessary” question: “Do you want to be healed?”

“Sometimes we prefer to remain in the condition of being sick, forcing others to take care of us. It can also become an excuse to avoid deciding what to do with our lives. But Jesus leads this man back to his true and deepest desire,” Leo XIV said.

The paralytic, feeling defeated, replies that he has no one to help him into the pool — an attitude that, according to the pope, “becomes a pretext for avoiding personal responsibility.”

Regarding the man’s fatalistic view of life, the pope said that at times “we think things happen to us because we are unlucky, or because fate is against us. This man is discouraged. He feels defeated by life’s struggles.”

With Jesus, we discover that life is in our hands

Nevertheless, Jesus “helps him discover that his life is also in his own hands. He invites him to rise up from his chronic condition and take up his mat. That mat is not thrown away or abandoned: It represents his past illness — his history,” the pope continued.

The past, he explained, had kept the man stuck, forcing him “to lie there like someone already dead.” But thanks to Jesus, he is able to “carry that mat and take it wherever he wants — he can decide what to do with his history. It’s a matter of walking forward, taking responsibility for choosing which path to take.”

Finally, the pope invited the faithful to ask the Lord “for the gift of understanding where in our life we have become stuck. Let us try to give voice to our desire for healing. And let us pray for all those who feel paralyzed and see no way out,” he said.

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

Mosul, Iraq, Jun 18, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Amid renewed tensions in the Middle East, the Syriac Catholic Archeparchy of Mosul and its surrounding areas has continued its tradition of celebrating first holy Communion for children in Qaraqosh (Baghdeda), Iraq. Over 450 boys and girls received the sacrament during liturgies held over the past month in various churches of the town.

In his homilies during the celebrations, Archbishop Benedictus Hanno praised the steadfast faith of the local Christian community, emphasizing their determination to return to their ancestral homeland despite the suffering they endured due to forced displacement. 

“When we see this radiant group receiving the body of Christ in faith, we know our families remain firm in their commitment, and our Church continues to grow and flourish,” he said.

Hanno also highlighted the vital role of Catholic families in nurturing the faith of their children: “When the father and mother are united in faith, the family becomes a fortified castle, capable of resisting temptation, evil, and moral deviation,” he said.

The archbishop stressed that these celebrations are “a great joy for our Church and a living testimony to the renewal and perseverance of Christian faith.”

Christians from Qaraqosh and neighboring towns were forcibly displaced from their historic homeland in the Nineveh Plain when ISIS seized the region on Aug. 6, 2014. 

“They did not hesitate to give up their homes and possessions in order to preserve their faith... they are persecuted for their belief, and there is nothing more noble than holding onto one’s faith,” Hanno said in an earlier interview with ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

Despite the large-scale emigration of Christians from Iraq, many have returned to Qaraqosh after its liberation in 2017, determined to rebuild their churches and homes and to remain rooted in their land.

Qaraqosh — known in Syriac as “Baghdeda” and located in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province — remains one of the country’s largest Christian towns. However, the number of Christians has declined from about 60,000 before 2014 to around 30,000 today.

According to the Syriac Catholic Archeparchy’s chancery office, the number of Syriac Catholics alone dropped from 55,000 before the ISIS occupation to just 27,000 today, not including Christians from other churches.

During his historic visit to Iraq in 2021, Pope Francis visited Qaraqosh and met with the faithful at the Grand Immaculate Conception Cathedral.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The world must resist the allure of modern weapons which threaten to give conflicts a ferocity surpassing that of previous wars, Pope Leo XIV said.

"The heart of the church is torn apart from the cries that arise from places of war," he said at the conclusion of his general audience in St. Peter's Square June 18. "In particular from Ukraine, from Iran, from Israel, from Gaza."

"We must not become accustomed to war," the pope said. "Rather, we must push against the allure of powerful and sophisticated weapons as a temptation."

Quoting the Second Vatican Council's Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World ("Gaudium et Spes"), Pope Leo said that in modern-day warfare "scientific weapons of all kinds are used," and consequently "its atrocity threatens to lead the combatants to a barbarity far greater than that of past times."

"Therefore, in the name of human dignity and international law, I repeat to those responsible that which Pope Francis used to say: 'War is always a defeat,'" the pope said. And, quoting another of his predecessors, Pope Pius XII, he added: "Nothing is lost with peace. All can be lost with war."

Pope Leo's message came a few days after he expressed deep concern over the "seriously deteriorating" situation in the Middle East shortly after Israeli airstrikes were carried out on nuclear sites in Iran and retaliatory drone attacks on Israel were launched June 13.

"No one should ever threaten the existence of another," the pope had said during an audience with pilgrims in Rome for the Holy Year 2025 June 14. While it is right to hope for a world "free from the nuclear threat," he said, "it is the duty of all nations to support the cause of peace, taking paths of reconciliation and promoting solutions that ensure security and dignity for all."

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, told the Italian news agency ANSA June 17 that the Holy See is advocating for nuclear disarmament and has prepared a document on the immorality of not only the use but the possession of nuclear arms -- a notion previously expressed by the late Pope Francis.

WASHINGTON - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) commemorates  Religious Freedom Week from June 22–29. This year’s theme, “Witnesses to Hope,” builds on the annual report released earlier this year by the Conference’s Committee for Religious Liberty that highlights the impact of political polarization on religious freedom. In addition to issues such as mandates for in vitro fertilization, and threats to Catholic ministries serving migrants, Religious Freedom Week also highlights crucial policy positions such as parental choice in education during a time when the faithful are urged to contact their Senators to express support for educational choice in the Senate’s budget reconciliation bill.

The USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty, in collaboration with the Secretariat of Catholic Education and Our Sunday Visitor Institute, hosted a religious liberty essay contest. The top essays from the competition will be published during Religious Freedom Week.

Through prayer, education, and public action during Religious Freedom Week, the faithful can promote the essential right of religious freedom for Catholics and those of all faiths. For the latest information from the USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty, please visit the Religious Liberty webpage and sign up for the First Freedom News monthly newsletter.

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This week’s poem in the Catholic Poetry Room is by Tim Bete. Adoration at St. Francis In front of monstrance, on his way to work, A man kneels down in prayer, his head on floor; A teen there meditates before she clerks, At a nearby 7-Eleven store; A teacher prays a chaplet, bead by bead, […]

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Husbands, love your wives, wives love your husbands, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her . . . because we are members of his body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is […]

The LORD possessed me, the beginning of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago. The sacred author of Proverbs, writing around 300-400 years before Christ, revealed that from His very beginnings God the creator was not alone. No, someone was with Him when He established the heavens, “beside Him as His craftsman.” […]

It may seem a strange analogy for the spiritual life, but the principle of compound interest can be an inspiration to persevere in continual prayer. We learn about the financial mechanism of the “miracle” of compound interest when we are young, and if we’re smart, we start regularly putting money aside to experience it in […]

A Daily Quote to Inspire Your Catholic Faith “Since the Cross of Christ is the sign of love and salvation, we should not be surprised that all true love requires sacrifice. Do not be afraid, then, when love makes demands. Do not be afraid when love requires sacrifice.” – Pope Saint John Paul II, 22 […]

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