Vatican News

Bishop Vitalij Skomarovskyj, president of the Latin Rite episcopate in Ukraine, expresses his gratitude to Pope Leo XIV for proclaiming 22 August as a day of prayer and peace for regions affected by conflict. Read all  

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres renews his call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip following Israel’s launch of a military operation aimed at capturing Gaza City. Read all  

Ahead of the Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace on August 22, called by Pope Leo XIV, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem highlights the power of prayer to open people to trust and seek to do good, even in the Holy Land, where finding common ground is nearly impossible. Read all  

Rome’s Vicar General, Cardinal Baldo Reina, and the Bishops of Italy join in Pope Leo XIV’s invitation for all faithful to live Friday, August 22, in fasting and prayer, imploring the Lord to grant us peace and justice and to wipe the tears of those who suffer due to ongoing conflicts.” Read all  

Pope Leo XIV invites participants in the 46th Meeting of Friendship Among Peoples to remember that peace is made up of daily gestures, and warns that the digital revolution poses a series of risks and challenges. Read all  

The Holy See has reiterated the Church’s closeness to the people of Haiti, reaffirming its constant support for efforts to promote peace and stability in the violence-ridden nation. Read all  

Israel begins calling up around 60,000 reservists Wednesday ahead of a planned offensive in Gaza City. Read all  

International NGO Human Rights Watch accuses the M23 rebel group of massacring civilians in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Read all  

At the General Audience, Pope Leo XIV reflects on the meaning of Christian mercy — a free embrace given without any preconditions, so essential for peace. Read all  

“The people of Katsina State deserve to live in security and not in fear.” These are the words of Farouk Lawal Jobe, the acting Governor of Katsina. The Governor has since appealed to the President of the Nigerian Federation, Bola Tinubu, to take urgent action to address the dramatic situation of insecurity affecting this state located in the far north of Nigeria. Read all  

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has warned that violations of religious freedom continue to rise globally, affecting “hundreds of millions of people,” and cautioned that threats to one faith community inevitably endanger others. Read all  

Pope Leo XIV urges moral theologians to follow the example of St. Alphonsus Liguori and other saints as they reflect on the “challenges, changes, and conflicts” of the modern world in the light of divine revelation. Read all  

As the Plenary Assembly of the Episcopal Conference of Peru gathers this week in Lima, Cardinal Grech sends greetings as they reflect on synodality, with a method, which he says, will help them to discern, amid so much noise, the voice from on high, and entrusts their time of grace together to the Blessed Mother. Read all  

The Dicastery for Culture and Education is aimed at evangelization through the development of human and Christian values. The Dicastery is divided into “Culture” and “Education” sections, which work together, within their respective areas of expertise, in an integrated and coordinated manner. Read all  

Inspired by their foundress, Blessed Mary of the Passion, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in India are dedicating their lives to the service of the poor and marginalized. In the St. Francis Region, the sisters primarily serve children, adults, and women by providing education, rescuing individuals from trafficking, supporting rehabilitation, and bringing hope and transformation to their lives. Read all  

Pope Leo XIV invites the faithful to unite in prayer and fasting on 22 August for peace, and calls for a “disarmed and disarming peace” in all places torn by armed conflict. Read all  

During his weekly General Audience, Pope Leo XIV illustrates to the faithful how Jesus’ love, despite being betrayed, did not allow evil to have the last word, and “that there is always a way to continue to love, even when everything seems irredeemably compromised.” Read all  

We must “truly seek the way forward, to find peace,” the Pope told journalists Tuesday night before returning to the Vatican from Castel Gandolfo, where he had gone for a second period of rest on 13 August. Read all  

The United Nations reveals at least 383 humanitarian workers have been killed globally since the beginning of 2024, describing the toll as a “shocking record” and a stark reflection of the growing dangers faced by aid personnel. Read all  

Church leaders have voiced alarm about the state of the earth ahead of the annual “Season of Creation,” when Christians worldwide dedicate more than a month to prayer for creation. Their concern comes as officials say that climate-linked disasters intensify across Europe and Asia. Read all  

The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches is the Curial department responsible for dealing, on behalf of the Pope, with matters that affect the Eastern Catholic Churches, whose proper territories extend from Ethiopia to the Middle East, from Europe to India, and of all the diaspora communities which are children of these “sui iuris” Churches throughout the world. Read all  

Fr. Piotr Zelazko recently led a group of Hebrew-speaking Catholics from Israel on a pilgrimage to Rome, where they attended the Pope’s weekly General Audience and prayed for peace. Read all  

At the opening of Festival Golo Koe 2025, Bishop Maksimus Regus urged that tourism in Indonesia’s Labuan Bajo must unite communities, protect creation, and resist the lure of profit-driven exploitation. Read all  

Nigerian sisters have recently been meeting at the Lux Terra Foundation in Abuja for a specialised training on Trauma-Informed Care. This programme was organised for religious women who are under the auspices of the Nigerian Conference of Women Religious Against Human Trafficking and was facilitated by Father George Ehusani, founder of the Lux Terra Foundation; Father Richard Ehusani, director of the Psycho-Spiritual Institute at Lux Terra; and their team. Read all  

Pope Leo XIV travels to a Marian shrine of Our Lady of Grace in a village within the Diocese of Palestrina, and holds a private meeting with the Resurrectionist religious dedicated to caring for the sanctuary. Read all