ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, SLATERSVILLE RI

Pope Leo XIV speaks in front of the famous icon at the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, on Saturday, May 10, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Newsroom, Jun 1, 2025 / 19:56 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV urged French Catholics to embark on a profound spiritual renewal by following the example of three beloved saints as France commemorated the centenary of their canonization.

In his first message to the French bishops’ conference, released by the Holy See Press Office on Saturday, the Holy Father highlighted St. John Eudes, St. John Mary Vianney, and St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus as powerful models for contemporary evangelization.

The pope emphasized their shared spiritual trait: “They loved Jesus unreservedly in a simple, strong, and authentic way” and experienced his goodness in daily closeness.

The pontiff presented these saints as Catholics whose lives demonstrate the transformative power of Christ’s tender love.

Leo noted St. John Eudes as the first to celebrate liturgical worship of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, St. John Mary Vianney as the priest who declared “The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus,” and St. Thérèse as the great doctor of “scientia amoris” who “breathed” Jesus’ name with spontaneity and freshness.

Pope Leo framed this anniversary not as mere nostalgia but as an opportunity for missionary momentum. He expressed hope that God can “renew the marvels he has accomplished in the past” through these saints’ intercession.

The pope specifically addressed the shortage of priestly vocations, asking whether these saints might inspire young people to embrace the priesthood’s “beauty, greatness, and fruitfulness.”

The message concluded with papal gratitude for French priests’ “courageous and persevering commitment” amid contemporary challenges, including “indifference, materialism, and individualism.”

Pope Leo invoked the saints’ intercession for France and placed the nation under the maternal protection of Our Lady of the Assumption.

The Veil of Manoppello, which is kept in a church in Manoppello, Italy, known as the Santuario del Volto Santo. / Credit: Sonovision

CNA Staff, Jun 1, 2025 / 10:12 am (CNA).

Over the centuries, many people have asked: “What did Jesus look like?” A new documentary attempts to answer this question.

“The Face of Jesus” examines two acheiropoietic images of Christ — the Shroud of Turin and the Veil of Manoppello, both believed to be divinely created — as well as the Vilnius image of the Divine Mercy, one of the most extraordinary hand-painted depictions of Jesus.

Jaroslaw Redziak, the film’s producer and director, spoke to CNA about the inspiration behind the documentary and his hope that viewers, when they view these images, will come to see just how much Jesus loves them.

To discover what our Savior might have looked like, the film takes viewers back 2,000 years to Jesus’ tomb in Jerusalem and then on to Rome and the small Italian village of Manoppello. 

The Polish filmmaker explained that the movie was inspired by the Veil of Manoppello. He and his wife have a personal devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus and have visited the veil in Manoppello several times, he said.

“It’s a beautiful place. You can stand in this small, small church. There are only a few people inside and you … can almost touch the monstrance, which holds this image, and you can look at his face,” he told CNA. “It’s something incredible.”

The least known of the three images, the Veil of Manoppello gained popularity after Pope Benedict XVI’s 2005 visit to the remote village where it is preserved. Also known as the Veil of Veronica, it was discovered in the early 1900s and reveals an image of the face of Jesus, which, according to experts, corresponds to the face in the Shroud of Turin. 

Unlike the Shroud of Turin, however, the Veil of Manoppello has no bloodstains and the eyes are open, which, experts suggest, means the cloth shows the face of the risen Lord. Additionally, many believe that the veil is one of the burial cloths seen in the tomb by the disciples Peter and John as told in the Gospels.

Known throughout the world, the Shroud of Turin is an ancient linen cloth that shows the image of what many believe to be the face of Jesus Christ himself. The shroud is kept in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, and has been the subject of extensive scientific study and public curiosity. The shroud has the imprint of the body of a man wearing a crown of thorns and is covered in bloodstains. 

The last time the shroud was publicly displayed was in 2015. While the Vatican does not have an official position on its authenticity, the shroud continues to attract pilgrims from around the world and remains the subject of public interest.

Perhaps more well known than the Shroud of Turin is the Vilnius image of the Divine Mercy, a divinely inspired, hand-painted image based on visions and messages from Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska. 

In 1931, Jesus appeared to St. Faustina in a vision. She saw him clothed in a white garment with his right hand raised as if giving a blessing. His left hand touched his chest, near his heart. From there emanated two large rays, one red and the other white. 

Eugeniusz Kazimirowski painted the image under the guidance of St. Faustina and her confessor, Blessed Michael Sopocko. The Divine Mercy image gained popularity in the 1930s thanks to St. Faustina’s writings and in 2000, the Vatican declared the second Sunday of Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday.

Redziak called the four-year process of making the documentary a “spiritual adventure.”

He explained that the documentary was initially going to be a 20-minute short film that would be shared online only. However, as he traveled, researched, and spoke to more people, it became clear he needed to make it a full-length documentary.

During the making of the film, Redziak said he had the opportunity to see the Shroud of Turin, which is not often on public display. He said that while everyone is familiar with the photos and copies of the shroud, seeing the original “is very painful.”

“You can see there is a lot of blood, a lot of bruises — it’s something very, very hard, and you see that Jesus Christ suffered a lot for us,” he said.

Redziak said he hopes this film will leave viewers feeling closer to God.

“I think this is a chance for people to sit in the theater and look at the face of God, the face of Jesus, into his eyes. So this is a chance to be, for an hour and a half, closer to Jesus.”

He added that while the film tries to show what Jesus may have looked like, the film also tries to answer the question: Why did Jesus show us his face?

For Redziak, the answer is: “Because he loves us and he wants us to be closer to him.”

“The Face of Jesus” will be in theaters across the United States for one night only on Tuesday, June 3.

Pope Leo XIV smiles at the crowds at St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, June 1, 2025, gathered for the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Jun 1, 2025 / 07:31 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV declared marriage is “not an ideal but the measure of true love between a man and a woman” and families are “the cradle of the future of humanity” as he celebrated Mass for thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly on Sunday.

Speaking to families from nearly 120 countries on a sunny morning in Rome, the pontiff emphasized the fundamental role of family relationships in God’s plan for salvation, drawing from the Gospel reading of Jesus’ prayer at the Last Supper.

“Dear friends, we received life before we ever desired it,” Pope Leo XIV said in his homily on June 1. “As soon as we were born, we needed others in order to live; left to ourselves, we would not have survived. Someone else saved us by caring for us in body and spirit. All of us are alive today thanks to a relationship, a free and freeing relationship of human kindness and mutual care.”

The Holy Father made an extended tour of the square in the popemobile before Mass, blessing children and greeting the crowds of families who had traveled to Rome for this major event of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.

Marriage as measure of true love

In his homily, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that marriage represents “not an ideal but the measure of true love between a man and a woman: a love that is total, faithful, and fruitful.” He cited Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, noting that conjugal love “makes you one flesh and enables you, in the image of God, to bestow the gift of life.”

The pope highlighted several married couples as exemplars for today’s world, including Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, parents of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus. He also remembered the Polish Ulma family, “parents and children, united in love and martyrdom” during World War II.

“By pointing to them as exemplary witnesses of married life, the Church tells us that today’s world needs the marriage covenant in order to know and accept God’s love and to defeat, thanks to its unifying and reconciling power, the forces that break down relationships and societies,” the pontiff said.

Practical counsel for families

Pope Leo XIV offered specific guidance to different generations present at the celebration. To parents, he recommended being “examples of integrity to your children, acting as you want them to act, educating them in freedom through obedience, always seeing the good in them and finding ways to nurture it.”

Children received counsel to “show gratitude to your parents,” with the pope noting that saying “thank you” each day “is the first way to honor your father and your mother.”

To grandparents and elderly people, he recommended watching “over your loved ones with wisdom and compassion, and with the humility and patience that come with age.”

The Holy Father emphasized the family’s role in transmitting faith, declaring that “in the family, faith is handed on together with life, generation after generation. It is shared like food at the family table and like the love in our hearts.”

Prayer for peace amid global conflicts

Following the Mass, Pope Leo XIV led the Regina Coeli prayer, using the occasion to remember families suffering from war.

“May the Virgin Mary bless families and sustain them in their difficulties. I think especially of those who suffer because of war in the Middle East, in Ukraine, and in other parts of the world,” he said.

The pontiff also commemorated the beatification of Blessed Cristofora Klomfass and 14 companion religious sisters of the Congregation of St. Catherine Virgin and Martyr, who were killed by Soviet soldiers in 1945 in territories of present-day Poland.

“Despite the climate of hatred and terror against the Catholic faith, they continued to serve the sick and orphans,” he noted.

During his remarks, Pope Leo XIV expressed particular joy at welcoming so many children to today’s celebration, calling them sources of renewed hope. He praised grandparents and elderly people as “genuine models of faith and inspiration for young generations.”

This story was last updated Sunday, June 1, 2025, with corrected details and link for Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin.

Pope Leo XIV celebrates the Mass for Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly at St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, June 1, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Jun 1, 2025 / 07:18 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV gave the following homily on Sunday, June 1, for the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly on St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

The Gospel we have just heard shows us Jesus, at the Last Supper, praying on our behalf (cf. Jn 17:20). The Word of God, made man, as he nears the end of his earthly life, thinks of us, his brothers and sisters, and becomes a blessing, a prayer of petition and praise to the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we ourselves, full of wonder and trust, enter into Jesus’ prayer, we become, thanks to his love, part of a great plan that concerns all of humanity.

Christ prays that we may “all be one” (v. 21). This is the greatest good that we can desire, for this universal union brings about among his creatures the eternal communion of love that is God himself: the Father who gives life, the Son who receives it, and the Spirit who shares it.

The Lord does not want us, in this unity, to be a nameless and faceless crowd. He wants us to be one: “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us” (v. 21). The unity for which Jesus prays is thus a communion grounded in the same love with which God loves, which brings life and salvation into the world. As such, it is firstly a gift that Jesus comes to bring. From his human heart, the Son of God prays to the Father in these words: “I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (v. 23).

Let us listen with amazement to these words. Jesus is telling us that God loves us as he loves himself. The Father does not love us any less than he loves his only-begotten Son. In other words, with an infinite love. God does not love less, because he loves first, from the very beginning! Christ himself bears witness to this when he says to the Father: “You loved me before the foundation of the world” (v. 24). And so it is: In his mercy, God has always desired to draw all people to himself. It is his life, bestowed upon us in Christ, that makes us one, uniting us with one another.

Listening to this Gospel today, during the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly, fills us with joy.

Dear friends, we received life before we ever desired it. As Pope Francis said: “All of us are sons and daughters, but none of us chose to be born” (Angelus, Jan. 1, 2025). Not only that. As soon as we were born, we needed others in order to live; left to ourselves, we would not have survived. Someone else saved us by caring for us in body and spirit. All of us are alive today thanks to a relationship, a free and freeing relationship of human kindness and mutual care.

That human kindness is sometimes betrayed. As for example, whenever freedom is invoked not to give life but to take it away; not to help but to hurt. Yet even in the face of the evil that opposes and takes life, Jesus continues to pray to the Father for us. His prayer acts as a balm for our wounds; it speaks to us of forgiveness and reconciliation. That prayer makes fully meaningful our experience of love for one another as parents, grandparents, sons, and daughters. That is what we want to proclaim to the world: We are here in order to be “one” as the Lord wants us to be “one,” in our families and in those places where we live, work, and study. Different, yet one; many, yet one; always, in every situation and at every stage of life.

Dear friends, if we love one another in this way, grounded in Christ, who is “the Alpha and the Omega,” “the beginning and the end” (cf. Rev 22:13), we will be a sign of peace for everyone, in society and the world. Let us not forget: Families are the cradle of the future of humanity.

In recent decades, we have received a sign that fills us with joy but also makes us think. It is the fact that several spouses have been beatified and canonized, not separately, but as married couples. I think of Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus; and of Blessed Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi, who raised a family in Rome in the last century. And let us not forget the Ulma family from Poland: parents and children, united in love and martyrdom. I said that this is a sign that makes us think. By pointing to them as exemplary witnesses of married life, the Church tells us that today’s world needs the marriage covenant in order to know and accept God’s love and to defeat, thanks to its unifying and reconciling power, the forces that break down relationships and societies.

For this reason, with a heart filled with gratitude and hope, I would remind all married couples that marriage is not an ideal but the measure of true love between a man and a woman: a love that is total, faithful, and fruitful (cf. St. Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, 9). This love makes you one flesh and enables you, in the image of God, to bestow the gift of life.

I encourage you, then, to be examples of integrity to your children, acting as you want them to act, educating them in freedom through obedience, always seeing the good in them and finding ways to nurture it. And you, dear children, show gratitude to your parents. To say “thank you” each day for the gift of life and for all that comes with it is the first way to honor your father and your mother (cf. Ex 20:12). Finally, dear grandparents and elderly people, I recommend that you watch over your loved ones with wisdom and compassion, and with the humility and patience that come with age.

In the family, faith is handed on together with life, generation after generation. It is shared like food at the family table and like the love in our hearts. In this way, families become privileged places in which to encounter Jesus, who loves us and desires our good, always.

Let me add one last thing. The prayer of the Son of God, which gives us hope on our journey, also reminds us that one day we will all be “uno unum” (cf. St. Augustine, “Sermo Super Ps. 127”): one in the one Savior, embraced by the eternal love of God. Not only us, but also our fathers, mothers, grandmothers, grandfathers, brothers, sisters, and children who have already gone before us into the light of his eternal Pasch, and whose presence we feel here, together with us, in this moment of celebration.

Father Robert Bedard – more commonly known as Father Bob – was a priest for the Diocese of Ottawa in Canada and the founder of the Companions of the Cross. / Credit: Companions of the Cross

CNA Staff, Jun 1, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Father Bob Bedard, a priest in the Diocese of Ottawa in Canada, was teaching his Grade 13 religion class on Oct. 27, 1975, when a lone gunman — another Grade 13 student — entered the classroom and opened fire.

Students began to throw themselves onto the floor in order to hide. Bedard immediately jumped in front of the students and began to shield them with his body. After about 10 seconds of shooting, the gunman backed out of the classroom and went back into the hallway where he took his own life. Six students were injured and one student, whom Bedard was unable to shield, was fatally shot. 

Bedard survived the shooting and went on to become the founder of the relgious order Companions of the Cross in 1985. He began hosting a weekly, evangelistic, Catholic television broadcast called “Food for Life” in 1992 alongside Father Roger Vandenakker. In 2009, Bedard’s health began to decline and he was diagnosed with Miller Fisher Syndrome, a rare autoimmune neurological disorder, and dementia. On Oct. 6, 2011, Bedard died peacefully surrounded by members of his community.

The story of this beloved and heroic priest is now being told in a new documentary, scheduled to be released June 8. The film, “Permission: Fr. Bob Bedard’s Vision for the Church,” directed and produced by Kevin Dunn, looks at the life and ministry of Bedard. 

The new film delves into Bedard’s humble beginnings as a child growing up in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, his calling to the priesthood, his time spent as a high school teacher, and his creation of the Companions of the Cross, which currently has 59 members including priests and seminarians. The film features interviews with Bedard’s past students, fellow priests from his order, close friends, and colleagues. 

CNA spoke with Dunn about what inspired him to make the documentary.

Dunn grew up hearing Bedard’s name due to his mother’s involvement in the charismatic movement. However, it wasn’t until later in life when Dunn was asked to help with a mini documentary for the Companions of the Cross that he was left inspired by Bedard’s story. 

While doing research and interviewing individuals for the mini documentary, “everybody spoke about this passion for this priest who changed their lives,” Dunn told CNA in an interview. “And not just in a small way, but we’re talking about people who went into ministry, people who went into priesthood, people who changed their lives, turned their lives around from addiction. The stories are endless, and it just blew me away.”

“I thought, ‘Here’s a hero of the Church that has not been celebrated,’” he added.  

Dunn said the school shooting Bedard lived through and how he dealt with it further inspired him to make the film. 

“That for me in the story of his life was a pivotal moment that really could have taken him in a very different direction, but instead he called upon the Lord, called upon the Holy Spirit,” Dunn said. “So, when I read about those accounts of that horrific time in his life and how it kind of catapulted and strengthened his faith, I think for me that was a real poignant moment of his life and one that will speak to me especially as a father with six children.”

Dunn said Bedard lived his life by a simple motto: “Give God permission.” It’s these words that Dunn has also chosen to live his life by. 

“He’s taught me in my work and my life as a filmmaker, as a family man, as a speaker on Church issues to continually give God permission,” he shared. “That it is not my will, or my work for that matter, that really matters in the long run. It’s allowing God permission to work in my life wherever he takes me.”

“It’s calling on the Lord daily and saying, ‘Where do you want me to go?’ and he just keeps saying, ‘Just do the next great thing and give me permission, and I’m going to put you in places where you would never have dreamed of.’ That’s what he has done and continues to do and glory be to God for all that.”

As for his hopes for the film, Dunn said: “I hope people walk away feeling that the Church does have hope” and “I really pray that through watching this film, we can encourage prophets of hope to rise all over the world through the remembrance and the memory of Father Bob at his life and through the work of the Companions.”

“All we have to do is give God permission and when we do, all of a sudden despair turns to hope, and hope is active, and we can create this explosively alive Church.”

“Permission: Fr. Bob Bedard’s Vision for the Church” will be available to watch on June 8 for free directly on the film’s website. 

The Ascension of Jesus Christ. Giotto di Bondone, 1305. / Credit: Public domain

National Catholic Register, Jun 1, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Christ’s ascension is meant to help us to grow to full stature in Christ as we respond to his confidence in making us his missionaries, together with the Holy Spirit, to renew the face of the earth.

The celebration of the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord is an annual opportunity for us not only to focus on heaven, where the Lord Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us (Jn 14:1-6) and on the joy that “eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor the human heart conceived,” which “God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9; Is 64:4), but also on the implications Jesus’ return to the Father means for each of his followers. 

Jesus could have stayed on earth until the end of time as the Good Shepherd, crisscrossing the globe after every lost sheep, saving them one by one. As he ascended, however, he placed his own mission in our hands, commanding us to “go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). 

He took the training wheels off our discipleship and removed any excuses we might have to pass the buck of sharing and spreading the faith. “You will be my witnesses,” he told us, “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). 

His confidence and trust in us, despite all our weaknesses, is astonishing. He wanted to incorporate us into — actually entrust to us — his mission of the redemption of the world. 

But he didn’t leave us orphans (cf. Jn 14:18). 

St. Luke gives us a beautiful image and detail, that Jesus “led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he was blessing them, he parted from them and was taken up to heaven” (Lk 24:50-51).

Jesus departed in the very act of blessing us. Pope Benedict XVI in his trilogy “Jesus of Nazareth” commented on how the risen Jesus in heaven is perpetually blessing us. 

“Jesus departs in the act of blessing,” he states. “He goes while blessing, and he remains in that gesture of blessing. His hands remain, stretched out over this world … [which] expresses Jesus’ continuing relationship to his disciples, to the world. … That is why the disciples could return home from Bethany rejoicing. In faith we know that Jesus holds his hands stretched out in blessing over us. That is the lasting motive of Christian joy.” 

Jesus is continuously blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens (cf. Eph 1:3). He’s seeking to transform us into his incarnate benediction of the world. 

The great manifestation of that blessing is the descent of the Holy Spirit, for whose renewed coming we pray in the annual decenarium from the 40th to 50th days of Easter. St. Luke recalls Jesus’ words: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). That’s the power, the blessing, that came down upon the Church on Pentecost.

During the Last Supper, Jesus said something startling: “I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (Jn 16:7). He was describing the incredible gift of the Holy Spirit’s presence as a blessing even greater than his own. That’s what the Church, huddling around the Blessed Virgin Mary, incessantly begs for after the Ascension.

The Holy Spirit helps us to fulfill, and not shirk, the awe-inspiring responsibility Christ has given us. This is the duty to give witness that Christ is alive, that he is the Way, the Truth, the Resurrection, and the Life, that he came to give us life to the full, so that his joy may be in us and our joy may be complete; he came to give and leave us the peace of his kingdom in a war-torn world; he came to help us and others to change our lives, to believe wholeheartedly in the good news, and to follow him, so that where he is we also may be and so that we might recognize that God the Father loves us just as much as he loves Jesus (cf. Jn 14:6; 11:25; 10:10; 15:11; 14:27; Mk 1:15; Jn 16:27; 15:9).

That’s a message and a mission that many no longer easily receive. 

Whether they think erroneously that science has disproven faith, or the problem of evil has refuted the possibility of a good God, or the clergy sex-abuse scandals have invalidated the Church’s witness, or the frigidity with which so many secularized Christians live their faith has revealed its incapacity to inspire, or a score of other possible reasons people cite to deaden the appeal of Christian faith and life, it’s clear that proclaiming the Gospel effectively to every creature is challenging work — but so was trying to convince down-to-earth first-century pagans and Jews that a crucified carpenter had not only risen from the dead but also was the Savior of the world. The same blessing of the Holy Spirit that made their joint witness fruitful desires to give tandem testimony with us. 

One of the most effective ways to do so is through charity. 

Back in 1985, the future Pope Benedict XVI gave a radio address in which he focused on the “delightfully naive pictures” of the Ascension in which the disciples are looking upward as Jesus is passing through the clouds and all we see are Jesus’ feet, the same feet the women wanted to grasp onto after the Resurrection. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger commented that we need to recognize his feet and reverence them in disguise in the feet around us as we follow Christ’s example of washing the feet of others just as he cleansed the apostles’ feet in the upper room. 

“The true ascent of mankind,” he stated, “takes place precisely when a man learns to turn in humility to another person, bowing deeply at his feet in the position of one who would wash the feet of the other. It is only in the humility that knows how to bow down that can raise a person up.” 

In order to ascend, we need first to descend humbly in acts of corporal and spiritual works of mercy, including passing on the faith to those who don’t know it or who reject what they mistakenly believe it to be. 

Christ’s ascension is meant to lead us on an exodus not merely in the future, but here and now: an exodus from the self toward God and others, a journey from fear to trust, a passover from the flat earth of a world without God to the multidimensional reality of Christ’s kingdom. 

Christ’s ascension is meant to lift up our hearts as it helps us to drop to our knees. It is meant to help us to grow to full stature in Christ as we respond to his confidence in making us his missionaries, together with the Holy Spirit, to renew the face of the earth. It is meant to fill us, even now, with lasting joy.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and then published by CNA on May 9, 2024. It has been updated.

Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful in St. Peter's Basilica, May 31, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, May 31, 2025 / 17:58 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has praised an international bioethics summit in Rome for advancing an “authentically human” approach to science, urging researchers to pursue truth grounded in the dignity of the human person.

In a message delivered by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the pope expressed his “vivid appreciation” for the third International Bioethics Conference, held May 30–31 at the Patristicum.

The event was organized under the theme “The Splendor of Truth in Science and Bioethics.”

The pope described the initiative as “a valuable opportunity to reflect on the ethical implications of scientific progress” and encouraged “interdisciplinary dialogue grounded in the dignity of the human person,” according to the Vatican message. He expressed his hope that such efforts would “foster approaches to science that are increasingly authentically human and respectful of the integrity of the person.”

Held under the patronage of the Pontifical Academy for Life and the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the conference brought together nearly 400 participants — including researchers, physicians, philosophers, and legal scholars — from universities across Latin America, Europe, and Africa.

‘Science must serve the truth,’ cardinal says

Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk of the Netherlands opened the conference with a keynote address outlining three foundational principles for bioethics and scientific research in service of truth.

The archbishop of Utrecht, who is also a medical doctor, on Friday said the Pontifical Academy for Life should give more attention to the bioethical issues linked to “transgender” treatments and the push for “gender theory.”

Eijk emphasized that human reason must recognize its ability to know metaphysical truth, that human beings possess only relative autonomy, and that human life is an intrinsic value.

The cardinal warned: “Without metaphysics and a proper anthropology, science becomes dangerous because it loses its moral compass.”

Scholars highlight the role of philosophy in science

Spanish philosopher Juan Arana, a member of the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, argued that modern science too often neglects the pursuit of deeper philosophical truths. While acknowledging the empirical advances of science, he emphasized that “great truths of philosophy and the small truths of science” are still connected “by threads that, though subtle, are effective.”

Bernard Schumacher of the University of Fribourg criticized the modern scientific method for reducing reality to the mathematical and quantifiable, while French philosopher Thibaud Collin challenged assumptions within natural law theory.

Two roundtables tackled practical bioethical challenges in genetics and conscience rights. Geneticist Teresa Perucho, surgeon Emmanuel Sapin, and neonatologist Robin Pierucci discussed the moral foundations of genetic counseling and the need to support parents with compassion and clarity when faced with difficult prenatal diagnoses.

Upholding a Catholic vision of science

The conference was organized by the International Chair of Bioethics Jérôme Lejeune and supported by more than 40 academic institutions worldwide. Since its founding in 2023, the event has become a leading forum for Catholic engagement with contemporary bioethical issues.

Jean-Marie Le Méné, president of the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation, closed the gathering by recalling the late French geneticist’s legacy: “The scientist is one who admits without shame that what he knows is microscopic compared to all that he does not know — and is fascinated by the adventure of intelligence on the path toward the intelligible.”

Jérôme Lejeune, a devout Catholic and pioneer in genetics, discovered the chromosomal cause of Down syndrome and became a passionate defender of the unborn, laying the foundation for much of the Church’s engagement in bioethics today.

Pope Leo XIV concluded his message with a call for scientists to “contribute to the search for truth, so that science may remain at the service of humanity, never becoming its master.”

The faithful march in the Drexel Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, Tulsa, Friday, May 30, 2025. / Credit: 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrims

CNA Staff, May 31, 2025 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

Eucharistic pilgrims in Oklahoma are being urged by leaders to respond to anti-Catholic protests during pilgrimages and processions with peace, humility, and prayer.

The Diocese of Tulsa this week was host to the St. Katharine Drexel Route of the 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which launched in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis on May 18 and is set to finish in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in late June.

On Friday, Eucharistic pilgrims marching through Tulsa were met at multiple points by counter-protesters shouting anti-Catholic rhetoric and slogans at the faithful, including through amplifiers.

At times protesters appeared to follow the crowd while chanting at them. Footage showed the faithful ignoring the demonstrations and continuing to follow the Blessed Sacrament. 

Organizers of the national pilgrimage said the protest began with a few demonstrators following the procession and slowly grew over time to a reported 50 people regularly walking alongside the route.

Jason Shanks, the president of National Eucharistic Congress, said in a statement: “We know that bringing Christ to the streets will be met with resistance, and our prayerful message to them is one of conversion and hope.”

Organizers estimated that between 17,000 to 20,000 participants have traveled the procession so far. Images of the procession shared on social media showed a large turnout in downtown Tulsa on Friday. 

“A beautiful evening in the [Diocese of Tulsa] as we welcomed pilgrims from the National Eucharistic Procession to the cathedral,” diocesan priest Father Brian O’Brien wrote on X. 

The procession will next head to the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City before heading through Texas and then on through the Southwest. 

A shanty town in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in November 2013. / Credit: Ilona Budzbon/Aid to the Church in Need

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 31, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week:

Sierra Leone limits physical contact at Mass amid mpox outbreak

Freetown Archbishop Edward Tamba Charles has issued new directives in line with public health orders to guide public worship following a rapid increase in mpox cases in the West African nation of Sierra Leone.

“As a local Church, we need to do everything possible to protect ourselves from the disease and also contain its spread by carefully observing the guidelines announced by health authorities,” he said in a May 25 statement shared with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa.

Most of the directives limit physical interactions during public liturgical celebrations, including Mass.

The country has registered a total of 3,011 cases of the virus — formerly known as monkeypox — since the start of the outbreak in January, with 14 deaths reported. 

Caritas Angola launches initiative to combat gender-based violence

Caritas Angola launched a new “Women and Life” initiative on Thursday, aimed to empower and address the challenge of gender-based violence in the southern African nation, ACI Africa reported.

“This project extends Caritas’ mission — to promote, defend, and uplift the most vulnerable. It’s not just about immediate assistance; it’s about giving women the tools to be self-sufficient and become agents of transformation in their communities,” the organization’s national secretary, João Nicolau Manuel, told ACI Africa. 

The initiative is now being rolled out across the Angolan Catholic dioceses of Luanda, Viana, and Caxito. 

“We aim to form women not only with technical skills but with human and Christian values — love, hope, and peace. These are essential for building a just and compassionate society,” Manuel added.

Myanmar military junta strikes majority-Catholic refugee camp for third time 

Reports have emerged that the ruling military government in Myanmar has bombed a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), home to “hundreds of ethnic, mostly Catholic Karenni, who fled the armed conflict,” for the third time in less than a year, according to an AsiaNews report on Thursday. 

Two bombs were allegedly dropped on the Bangkok IDP camp on May 15, striking a school and several houses. 

While no casualties were reported in the latest attack, according to the Myanmar Peace Monitor, the first attack in September 2024 killed nine civilians while the second in November killed one and caused “serious damage” to a church and its rectory. 

Church in Qatar concludes catechetical year with special Mass

The parish of Our Lady of the Rosary in Doha, the capital of Qatar, concluded the 2024–2025 catechetical year with a “Harvest Mass” celebrated last Friday, according to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner. 

The liturgy was presided over by Marian Father Charbel Mhanna, pastor of the Maronite community in Qatar, and attended by catechism students and their volunteer instructors.

The Catholic Church in Qatar provides catechetical instruction to nearly 1,000 Arabic-speaking students from various Catholic rites. The students receive weekly lessons throughout the academic year, taught by dedicated volunteer educators.

Syrian President Al-Shara meets with heads of churches in Aleppo

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Shara met with the heads of Christian communities and their representatives in the first meeting with bishops of the Syrian city since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, ACI MENA reported on Thursday. 

The Syriac Orthodox archbishop of Aleppo, Boutros Qassis, described the meeting as “frank, open, and far from complimentary,” noting that he made sure to bring the urgent concerns of Christians to the Syrian leader. 

Qassis said Sharaa told them that “establishing security and peace is his main concern in this period.”

In the morning, the Holy Blood is venerated in St. Salvator Cathedral during a Eucharistic celebration, with archbishop of Tehran Cardinal Dominique Mathieu concelebrating. Then during the procession, he carries the reliquary for part of the route on May 29, 2025. / Credit: Thomas P. Reiter

Bruges, Belgium, May 31, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

Over 45,000 people, including visitors from the Americas, lined the streets and walked in procession Thursday for the Holy Blood Procession in Bruges, Belgium, which has taken place annually on Ascension Day since May 3, 1304.

The procession depicts how a relic of the Holy Blood of Christ was brought to the West Flemish city following the Crusades.

Organized by the “Edele Confrèrie van het Heilig Bloed” (“Noble Brotherhood of the Holy Blood”), this year’s procession featured approximately 1,800 participants who reenacted 53 biblical and historical sacred scenes. 

The procession moves through the entire medieval city center, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.

The most prominent participant this year, alongside Bruges Bishop Lode Aerts, was Cardinal Dominique Mathieu, a Belgian religious cleric whom Pope Francis appointed as archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan in 2021 and admitted to the College of Cardinals as a cardinal priest in December 2024. 

Mathieu speaks six languages, including Arabic, and belongs to the Franciscan Minorite order. He was born in the Belgian province of Luxembourg but grew up in Damme, near Bruges. 

In 2009, UNESCO added the Holy Blood Procession to its “List of Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” This World Heritage recognition came 700 years after Pope Clement V officially sanctioned the veneration of the Holy Blood relic in Bruges through the papal bull Licet Is in 1310. 

According to tradition, Thierry of Alsace, count of Flanders, brought several drops of Christ’s blood from Jerusalem during a crusade in 1150. The relic has since been preserved in the Holy Blood Chapel in Bruges and serves as a daily attraction for tourists and pilgrims from around the world. 

Bruges, the capital city of West Flanders in northwest Belgium known for its port, canals, medieval buildings, and cobblestone streets, is widely known to international audiences through the 2008 film “In Bruges” starring Irish actor Colin Farrell.