Most Popular News Within Last 30 Days
Pope Leo on poverty: Not just the voice of Pope Francis (News/Analysis)
“For us Christians,” the problem of the poor leads to the very heart of our faith,” writes Pope Leo XIV in his apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te, released on October 9. In this, the...
Younger American priests more conservative, traditional, survey shows
An extensive new survey of American Catholic priests has found major differences between older and young priests, strong confidence in Pope Leo, but less confidence in the American Catholic...7 saints canonized during Mass in St. Peter’s Square
Pope Leo XIV canonized seven saints yesterday during a Mass in St. Peter’s Square (video, booklet). The new saints are St. Ignatius Choukrallah Maloyan (1869-1915), the Armenian...Pope Leo outlines his vision for John Paul II Institute
In a lengthy address that the Vatican has not yet published in English, Pope Leo XIV outlined his vision for the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences,...Morocco cardinal: ‘We must abandon the false paradigm of true religion, false religion’
In a reflection for the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the archbishop of Rabat, Morocco, said that “we must abandon the false paradigm of ‘true religion, false religion.’”“Religions, for their part, have the responsibility to offer paths of meaning and truth, not of domination,” said Spanish-born Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, SDB. “No religion can appropriate the truth, as if it were its sole owner. No one possesses the truth; if anything, it is the truth that possesses us all, and in every religion there are glimmers of truth.”
The prelate also called for “conditions that allow everyone to live in religious freedom and to find answers to the questions that arise in religions.” (The US State Department has documented restrictions on religious freedom in Morocco, including prison terms for the crime of “undermining the Islamic religion.”)
Bishop resigns from Libyan see at 63; said he would leave only if ordered by Pope
Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Bishop George Bugeja, OFM, from the leadership of the apostolic vicariate of Tripoli, Libya. The prelate, a native of Malta and only 63, had led the...Pope Leo appoints new archbishop of Vienna
Pope Leo XIV today named Msgr. Josef Grünwidl, 62, as the new archbishop of Vienna, a see whose last ten archbishops have been created cardinals, dating back to 1858.Ordained to the priesthood in 1988, Archbishop-designate Grünwidl was appointed by Pope Francis as the archdiocese’s apostolic administrator in January upon the retirement of Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, OP.
The Austrian bishops’ news agency noted that the archbishop-designate has called several times for the end of the discipline of mandatory priestly celibacy in the Latin rite—a discipline highly praised by the Second Vatican Council in its Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests.
The bishops’ news agency also reported that the archbishop-designate believes that the discussion of the ordination of women to the diaconate “should not be suppressed,” and that he is open to the appointment of women as cardinals.
New papal directive on investments overturns rules by Pope Francis
Pope Leo has issued a motu proprio on Vatican investments, reversing some of the rules issues by his predecessor, Pope Francis.In August 2022, Pope Francis had ruled that all investments by Vatican agencies should be handled by the Vatican bank, the Institute for Religious Works (IOR). The new document, Conjuncta Cura, repeals that rule and says that investments should ordinarily be made through the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), which handles the Vatican’s investment portfolio. The new document adds, however, that individual investments might also be made through other financial institutions when “the competent bodies...deem it more efficient or convenient.”
The motu proprio emphasizes “co-responsibility” for investments within “a dynamic of mutual collaboration.” This approach—recommended by the Vatican Committee for Investments—reverses the previous drive to consolidate all investment decisions in a single institution.
Cardinal Parolin assesses promise, pitfalls of AI in health care
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, delivered a lecture yesterday on the promise and perils of AI in health care.Speaking at the inauguration of the Center for the Study and Development of Artificial Intelligence at the Italian National Institute of Health, Cardinal Parolin spoke of AI as potentially a “powerful tool at the service of life, an ally of humanity in the fight against disease and suffering.”
Cardinal Parolin, however, warned of the potential “dehumanization of care” and said that “an algorithm can provide a diagnosis, but it cannot offer a word of comfort.” He expressed concern that AI could transform a doctor “from a wise clinician into a mere supervisor of an automated process.” He also warned of a lack of accountability for algorithmic errors, which “risks generating ‘systemic irresponsibility’ in which, ultimately, no one is truly responsible.”
