Pope Leo XIV addresses the Italian Bishops’ Conference on June 17, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jun 17, 2025 / 15:56 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV received on June 17 at the Vatican the bishops of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI, by its Italian acronym), with whom he shared four “coordinates” for being a Church that embodies the Gospel: proclamation of the Gospel, peace, human dignity, and dialogue.

At the beginning of his address, following a welcome from the president of the CEI, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Holy Father thanked the Italian prelates for their prayers while recalling the bond between the Church in Italy and the Vatican, a “common and particular” relationship.

In this context, he focused on the principles of collegiality elaborated by the Second Vatican Council, urging the bishops to live that unity in their ministry and also with the successor of Peter.

Leo XIV then cited the challenges facing the Church in Italy: “secularism, a certain disaffection with the faith, and the demographic crisis.”

Reviving “the special bond between the pope and the Italian bishops,” he highlighted several “pastoral concerns” that require reflection, concrete action, and evangelical witness.

Putting Jesus Christ at the center

First, the pope emphasized the need for “renewed zeal in the proclamation and transmission of the faith.”

“In a time of great fragmentation, it is necessary to return to the foundation of our faith, to the kerygma. This is the first major commitment that motivates all the others: to bring Christ “into the veins” of humanity, renewing and sharing the apostolic mission,” he affirmed.

He therefore encouraged the bishops to discern ways to reach people “with pastoral actions capable of intercepting those who are most distant, and with tools suitable for the renewal of catechesis and the languages of proclamation.”

He specifically mentioned urban peripheries and the need to bring peace to those places, where “a Church capable of reconciliation must make herself visible,” inviting each diocese to promote pathways of education in nonviolence and for each community to become a “house of peace.“

“Peace is not a spiritual utopia: It is a humble path, made up of daily gestures that interweave patience and courage, listening and action, and which demands today, more than ever, our vigilant and generative presence,” the pope noted.

In this regard, Leo XIV cited several factors that are transforming society, such as artificial intelligence and social media. For the pontiff, in this scenario, “human dignity risks becoming diminished or forgotten, substituted by functions, automatism, simulations.”

“But the person is not a system of algorithms: He or she is a creature, relationship, mystery. Allow me, then, to express a wish: that the journey of the Churches in Italy may include, in real symbiosis with the centrality of Jesus, the anthropological vision as an essential tool of pastoral discernment,” the Holy Father said.

Faced with the danger of faith becoming “disembodied,” Pope Leo XIV recommended that bishops “cultivate a culture of dialogue” between different generations, “because only where there is listening can communion be born and only where there is communion does truth become credible.”

“The proclamation of the Gospel, peace, human dignity, dialogue: These are the coordinates through which you can be a Church that incarnates the Gospel and is a sign of the kingdom of God,” the Holy Father emphasized.

At the end of his address, the pope encouraged the prelates to maintain unity while considering the synodal journey. “Synodality becomes a mindset, in the heart, in decision-making processes and in ways of acting,” he indicated.

He also urged them to look to tomorrow with serenity, asking them not to be afraid of making courageous decisions and to “walk with the last, serving the poor.”

“No one can prevent you from proclaiming the Gospel, and it is the Gospel that we are invited to bring, because it is this that everyone, ourselves first, need in order to live well and to be happy,” he affirmed.

Pope Leo also asked the bishops to care for the lay faithful and make them “agents of evangelization” in all areas of life.

“Let us walk together, with joy in our heart and song on our lips. God is greater than our mediocrity: Let us allow ourselves to be drawn to him! Let us trust in his providence,” the Holy Father concluded.

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 the Italian Bishops’ Conference on June 17, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jun 17, 2025 / 15:56 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV received on June 17 at the Vatican the bishops of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI, by its Italian acronym), with whom he shared four “coordinates” for being a Church that embodies the Gospel: proclamation of the Gospel, peace, human dignity, and dialogue.

At the beginning of his address, following a welcome from the president of the CEI, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Holy Father thanked the Italian prelates for their prayers while recalling the bond between the Church in Italy and the Vatican, a “common and particular” relationship.

In this context, he focused on the principles of collegiality elaborated by the Second Vatican Council, urging the bishops to live that unity in their ministry and also with the successor of Peter.

Leo XIV then cited the challenges facing the Church in Italy: “secularism, a certain disaffection with the faith, and the demographic crisis.”

Reviving “the special bond between the pope and the Italian bishops,” he highlighted several “pastoral concerns” that require reflection, concrete action, and evangelical witness.

Putting Jesus Christ at the center

First, the pope emphasized the need for “renewed zeal in the proclamation and transmission of the faith.”

“In a time of great fragmentation, it is necessary to return to the foundation of our faith, to the kerygma. This is the first major commitment that motivates all the others: to bring Christ “into the veins” of humanity, renewing and sharing the apostolic mission,” he affirmed.

He therefore encouraged the bishops to discern ways to reach people “with pastoral actions capable of intercepting those who are most distant, and with tools suitable for the renewal of catechesis and the languages of proclamation.”

He specifically mentioned urban peripheries and the need to bring peace to those places, where “a Church capable of reconciliation must make herself visible,” inviting each diocese to promote pathways of education in nonviolence and for each community to become a “house of peace.“

“Peace is not a spiritual utopia: It is a humble path, made up of daily gestures that interweave patience and courage, listening and action, and which demands today, more than ever, our vigilant and generative presence,” the pope noted.

In this regard, Leo XIV cited several factors that are transforming society, such as artificial intelligence and social media. For the pontiff, in this scenario, “human dignity risks becoming diminished or forgotten, substituted by functions, automatism, simulations.”

“But the person is not a system of algorithms: He or she is a creature, relationship, mystery. Allow me, then, to express a wish: that the journey of the Churches in Italy may include, in real symbiosis with the centrality of Jesus, the anthropological vision as an essential tool of pastoral discernment,” the Holy Father said.

Faced with the danger of faith becoming “disembodied,” Pope Leo XIV recommended that bishops “cultivate a culture of dialogue” between different generations, “because only where there is listening can communion be born and only where there is communion does truth become credible.”

“The proclamation of the Gospel, peace, human dignity, dialogue: These are the coordinates through which you can be a Church that incarnates the Gospel and is a sign of the kingdom of God,” the Holy Father emphasized.

At the end of his address, the pope encouraged the prelates to maintain unity while considering the synodal journey. “Synodality becomes a mindset, in the heart, in decision-making processes and in ways of acting,” he indicated.

He also urged them to look to tomorrow with serenity, asking them not to be afraid of making courageous decisions and to “walk with the last, serving the poor.”

“No one can prevent you from proclaiming the Gospel, and it is the Gospel that we are invited to bring, because it is this that everyone, ourselves first, need in order to live well and to be happy,” he affirmed.

Pope Leo also asked the bishops to care for the lay faithful and make them “agents of evangelization” in all areas of life.

“Let us walk together, with joy in our heart and song on our lips. God is greater than our mediocrity: Let us allow ourselves to be drawn to him! Let us trust in his providence,” the Holy Father concluded.

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

The Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission meets in Washington, D.C., on Monday, June 16, 2025. / Credit: Tessa Gervasini/CNA

Washington D.C., Jun 17, 2025 / 15:22 pm (CNA).

The White House Religious Liberty Commission held its first hearing in Washington, D.C., on Monday where members received a number of recommendations on how to protect religious freedom in the United States.

Chairman of the commission Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Vice Chairman Ben Carson hosted the meeting with members Ryan Anderson; Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota; Carrie Prejean Boller; Allyson Ho; and other figures in the religious liberty movement. 

The June 16 hearing featured guest speakers Josh Blackman, associate law professor at South Texas College of Law; Stephanie Barclay, law professor at Georgetown Law School; and Kristen Waggoner, CEO and president of the law firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

The three lawyers offered numerous suggestions for the commission to report to President Donald Trump on how to help preserve and strengthen religious liberty in the U.S. 

Pointing to multiple religious freedom court cases over the last few decades, Blackman said: “If you’re giving money to nonreligious groups, you can’t discriminate against religious groups.” Religious groups, he said, should be treated “the same as everything else.” 

Blackman’s other recommendations were for the commission to “bring more cases from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) perspective” to the Supreme Court and “have more amicus briefs” from the Justice Department. 

“If the DOJ was willing to file more amicus briefs and look for good vehicles to overrule a case … to broaden an establishment clause jurisprudence, I think that would be a helpful recommendation from this commission,” Barclay said. 

Waggoner, who works directly with those affected by religious liberty violations at ADF, offered five main recommendations to the committee. 

“The United States right now is the last Western country in the world to provide robust religious freedom and free speech protections,” she said. 

“One of the things that I hope that this commission recommends to the president is that he use the platform he has in the administration … to help Americans understand what the threat is and the goodness of practicing one’s faith.”

It is “critical” for Americans to be educated “on what their rights are,” Waggoner said. 

“For so long, we would see laws that were being passed that were blatant violations of constitutional rights,” but now “we see this vibe shift,” Waggoner said. “I would submit it’s a temporary one. It’s a change of power, not a change of heart. We need a change of heart.”

Waggoner suggested the government should “restore the conscience and religious freedom division at [the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] and establish similar divisions within other department’s civil rights offices, and ensure equal access to federal funding is consistent with recent Supreme Court precedent.”

She highlighted that “all federal conscience laws” must be enforced and “recipients that violate those laws” need to be held accountable.

She also said the government should “end the financial targeting of people of faith.”

Authorities need to “ensure the IRS doesn’t discriminate against houses of worship or religious organizations and protect these entities from unjust penalties” and “guarantee that prior weaponization of financial regulations and markets against people of faith never, ever happens again,” she said. 

Waggoner also said the government should “protect people of faith from the regulatory state” by developing “rules that prevent future administrations from labeling as domestic terrorists Americans who simply purchased a religious text or spoke at a school board meeting.”

The U.S. should also “promote religious freedom on the international stage,” she said, working “in collaboration with the ambassador at large for international religious freedom” to “implement President Trump’s 2020 executive order on advancing international religious freedom to ensure that religious freedom remains a central priority of U.S. foreign policy.”

Trump, meanwhile, should “appoint judges with an established record of courage, character, and conviction who will apply the law without fear of public opinion,” Waggoner said. 

The commission was established on May 1 to “vigorously enforce the historic and robust protections for religious liberty,” according to Trump. 

Since its creation, a number of prominent Catholics have been appointed by the president including Barron, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco.

The committee will hold its next hearing on religious liberty in September.

The Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission meets in Washington, D.C., on Monday, June 16, 2025. / Credit: Tessa Gervasini/CNA

Washington D.C., Jun 17, 2025 / 15:22 pm (CNA).

The White House Religious Liberty Commission held its first hearing in Washington, D.C., on Monday where members received a number of recommendations on how to protect religious freedom in the United States.

Chairman of the commission Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Vice Chairman Ben Carson hosted the meeting with members Ryan Anderson; Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota; Carrie Prejean Boller; Allyson Ho; and other figures in the religious liberty movement. 

The June 16 hearing featured guest speakers Josh Blackman, associate law professor at South Texas College of Law; Stephanie Barclay, law professor at Georgetown Law School; and Kristen Waggoner, CEO and president of the law firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

The three lawyers offered numerous suggestions for the commission to report to President Donald Trump on how to help preserve and strengthen religious liberty in the U.S. 

Pointing to multiple religious freedom court cases over the last few decades, Blackman said: “If you’re giving money to nonreligious groups, you can’t discriminate against religious groups.” Religious groups, he said, should be treated “the same as everything else.” 

Blackman’s other recommendations were for the commission to “bring more cases from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) perspective” to the Supreme Court and “have more amicus briefs” from the Justice Department. 

“If the DOJ was willing to file more amicus briefs and look for good vehicles to overrule a case … to broaden an establishment clause jurisprudence, I think that would be a helpful recommendation from this commission,” Barclay said. 

Waggoner, who works directly with those affected by religious liberty violations at ADF, offered five main recommendations to the committee. 

“The United States right now is the last Western country in the world to provide robust religious freedom and free speech protections,” she said. 

“One of the things that I hope that this commission recommends to the president is that he use the platform he has in the administration … to help Americans understand what the threat is and the goodness of practicing one’s faith.”

It is “critical” for Americans to be educated “on what their rights are,” Waggoner said. 

“For so long, we would see laws that were being passed that were blatant violations of constitutional rights,” but now “we see this vibe shift,” Waggoner said. “I would submit it’s a temporary one. It’s a change of power, not a change of heart. We need a change of heart.”

Waggoner suggested the government should “restore the conscience and religious freedom division at [the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] and establish similar divisions within other department’s civil rights offices, and ensure equal access to federal funding is consistent with recent Supreme Court precedent.”

She highlighted that “all federal conscience laws” must be enforced and “recipients that violate those laws” need to be held accountable.

She also said the government should “end the financial targeting of people of faith.”

Authorities need to “ensure the IRS doesn’t discriminate against houses of worship or religious organizations and protect these entities from unjust penalties” and “guarantee that prior weaponization of financial regulations and markets against people of faith never, ever happens again,” she said. 

Waggoner also said the government should “protect people of faith from the regulatory state” by developing “rules that prevent future administrations from labeling as domestic terrorists Americans who simply purchased a religious text or spoke at a school board meeting.”

The U.S. should also “promote religious freedom on the international stage,” she said, working “in collaboration with the ambassador at large for international religious freedom” to “implement President Trump’s 2020 executive order on advancing international religious freedom to ensure that religious freedom remains a central priority of U.S. foreign policy.”

Trump, meanwhile, should “appoint judges with an established record of courage, character, and conviction who will apply the law without fear of public opinion,” Waggoner said. 

The commission was established on May 1 to “vigorously enforce the historic and robust protections for religious liberty,” according to Trump. 

Since its creation, a number of prominent Catholics have been appointed by the president including Barron, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco.

The committee will hold its next hearing on religious liberty in September.

Actor Al Pacino and Italian film producer Andrea Iervolino give Pope Leo XIV a miniature model of a Maserati car during a private audience at the Vatican on June 17, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Andrea Iervolino

Vatican City, Jun 17, 2025 / 13:38 pm (CNA).

In an unexpected visit, Hollywood actor Al Pacino was received by Pope Leo XIV on June 17 at the Vatican, according to photos shared on Instagram by Italian film producer Andrea Iervolino.

Pacino and Iervolino are currently in Italy filming their next movie, which is dedicated to the origins of the iconic Maserati automobile brand. The film, “The Brothers,” which chronicles the vicissitudes of the Maserati brothers, stars the Oscar-winning actor and is produced by Iervolino.

During the private audience with the pontiff, Leo was presented with a miniature model of a Maserati vehicle, a symbol of the Italian design-and-engineering legacy.

The Holy See Press Office has not issued an official statement about the meeting, nor has it confirmed it. Iervolino’s social media post, which is accompanied by a photo of the meeting, shows Pacino and Iervolino smiling next to the pope, who is holding the small replica of the car.

In a press release posted on social media, Iervolino stated: “We are honored to announce that this morning His Holiness Pope Leo XIV received in private audience at the Holy See a delegation from the film Maserati.”

He also stated that the meeting “was a moment of profound spiritual and cultural inspiration, centered on the shared values ​​that are at the heart of both the Catholic Church and the film: family unity, love, compassion, and the importance of contributing to the common good.”

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

Actor Al Pacino and Italian film producer Andrea Iervolino give Pope Leo XIV a miniature model of a Maserati car during a private audience at the Vatican on June 17, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Andrea Iervolino

Vatican City, Jun 17, 2025 / 13:38 pm (CNA).

In an unexpected visit, Hollywood actor Al Pacino was received by Pope Leo XIV on June 17 at the Vatican, according to photos shared on Instagram by Italian film producer Andrea Iervolino.

Pacino and Iervolino are currently in Italy filming their next movie, which is dedicated to the origins of the iconic Maserati automobile brand. The film, “The Brothers,” which chronicles the vicissitudes of the Maserati brothers, stars the Oscar-winning actor and is produced by Iervolino.

During the private audience with the pontiff, Leo was presented with a miniature model of a Maserati vehicle, a symbol of the Italian design-and-engineering legacy.

The Holy See Press Office has not issued an official statement about the meeting, nor has it confirmed it. Iervolino’s social media post, which is accompanied by a photo of the meeting, shows Pacino and Iervolino smiling next to the pope, who is holding the small replica of the car.

In a press release posted on social media, Iervolino stated: “We are honored to announce that this morning His Holiness Pope Leo XIV received in private audience at the Holy See a delegation from the film Maserati.”

He also stated that the meeting “was a moment of profound spiritual and cultural inspiration, centered on the shared values ​​that are at the heart of both the Catholic Church and the film: family unity, love, compassion, and the importance of contributing to the common good.”

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

U.S. Catholic magazine celebrated its 90th anniversary with a celebration at Catholic Theological Union (CTU) on June 6. As well as members of the current editorial team, several past editors attended, along with multiple writers, journalists, and academics who have contributed to the magazine over the years. The history of U.S. Catholic Founded in 1935 […]

The post U.S. Catholic magazine celebrates its 90th anniversary appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

Listen on: Apple | Spotify What does it mean to belong to a church—and a country—that doesn’t always welcome you? In this episode, Colin Martinez Longmore sits down with Yunuen Trujillo for an open conversation about identity, faith, fear, and belonging. Trujillo is an immigration attorney, LGBTQ+ Catholic advocate, and lay minister. As an immigrant and a queer […]

The post Yunuen Trujillo on LGBTQ+ ministry and immigrant justice appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

Renowned exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth. / Credit: Angela Musolesi (CC BY-SA 4.0)

ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 17, 2025 / 11:54 am (CNA).

Father Marcello Lanza of the International Association of Exorcists (IAE) recently honored Father Gabriele Amorth on the 100th anniversary of Amorth’s birth as “the most famous exorcist of the 20th century.”

“Don Amorth was the most famous exorcist of the 20th century because, with his great love for the ‘poorest of the poor,’ he was not afraid of attracting negative preconceptions by communicating to the entire world the suffering that many believers were experiencing due to extraordinary diabolical phenomena,” Lanza wrote in an article published this month on the IAE website.

The Italian priest, who knew the late exorcist, emphasized that “one of his main warnings was to point out the presence of Satan behind the seemingly harmless phenomenon of magic.”

Amorth, who was born on May 1, 1925, “exposed the work of Satan behind the illicit activities of magicians, the hidden danger behind spiritualist seances, the spread of Satanism and black masses, but above all, he reestablished the thorny question of evil in theology.”

Why was he so outspoken?

Lanza explained that “from analyzing his writings, his interviews, but above all from having met him, it is clear that he was motivated by love for humanity. Furthermore, his writing apostolate, dedicated to demonology and practice of exorcism, was based solely on the profound charity he felt toward Satan’s victims, both baptized and unbaptized.”

“The psychological aspects of his strong and stable personality helped him not to be afraid to speak about Satan everywhere, from the pulpit to television. But what made him famous was his mystical life, through which he reminded the world that those being exorcised needed the love of the Church.”

In Lanza’s opinion, “the power of [Amorth’s] priestly service was experienced when he helped those exorcised to free themselves from many cursed objects expelled during the liturgical action of the exorcisms, restoring them to peace and serenity.”

This is what Amorth did, the exorcist continued, “reminding even more the theologians who denied the existence of Satan and his extraordinary action that this experience belongs to the exorcist liturgical magisterium.”

“In Father Amorth’s spiritual experience, the mystical life is in authentic conformity to Christ, which involves,” as Amorth explained in “The Sign of the Exorcist” (2013), “a choice that entails a great spiritual battle. Because by choosing Christ, the devil is unleashed,” Lanza emphasized.

After noting that “the mystical life and the fight against Satan are inseparable,” as the late Pope Francis recalled on various occasions throughout his pontificate, Lanza thanked Amorth “for having reminded the Church and theologians that the mystery of redemption is, above all, liberation from Satan, the enemy of God and humanity, constantly acting against man because he is envious of man.”

Who was Gabriele Amorth?

Amorth, born May 1, 1925, in Modena, Italy, was an exorcist for the Diocese of Rome.

In 1937, at just 12 years of age, he discovered his vocation to the priesthood thanks to his active participation in parish Catholic Action and the San Vincenzo Association.

In 1942, he traveled to Rome to meet with the Passionist order, which he wished to join because he felt drawn to community life. However, the Passionists did not have a room for him, so he was accommodated by the Society of St. Paul, the congregation in which he would be ordained a priest in 1954.

He worked in the Spiritual Assistance Office of the Vicariate of Rome and as a chaplain in Regina Caeli prison. He was responsible for the formation of young aspirants and religious of the Society of St. Paul.

In 1986, he was appointed chief exorcist of the Diocese of Rome by Cardinal Ugo Poletti. In 1990, he founded the International Association of Exorcists and was president until his retirement at the age of 75.

Amorth said he performed tens of thousands of exorcisms. He was known for his practical approach and for reaffirming the existence of the devil and demons. He warned about the consequences of Ouija boards, astrology, and other occult practices.

Amorth was the author of several books, including “An Exorcist Tells His Story,” “An Exorcist: More Stories,” and “Exorcism and Psychiatry.” He also frequently contributed to television and radio programs and was consulted by the Vatican on matters related to exorcism.

Amorth died on Sept. 16, 2016, in Rome at the age of 91. Following the release of the trailer for the film “The Pope’s Exorcist,” supposedly based on Amorth’s life, Father José Antonio Fortea, an expert in demonology, explained that the production is an exaggeration of reality and is a distortion of the power of the devil.

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

Renowned exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth. / Credit: Angela Musolesi (CC BY-SA 4.0)

ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 17, 2025 / 11:54 am (CNA).

Father Marcello Lanza of the International Association of Exorcists recently honored Father Gabriele Amorth on the 100th anniversary of Amorth’s birth.