The Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue visited Bangladesh for a week to meet with religious leaders, government officials and members of the community. The President of the Supreme Court called for overcoming religious, gender and racial divisions in order to achieve a peaceful and inclusive society. The cardinal's homily focused on humility and the dangers of pride.
A “beautiful celebration” in St Peter's Square for the canonisation of Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis. Two young lay people from different eras and contexts, but both “in love with Jesus and ready to give everything for Him”. Prevost to the 80,000 present: “All of you, all of us, are called to be saints!”. At the Angelus, peace was invoked in the Holy Land and Ukraine: “To the rulers: listen to the voice of conscience”.
The canonisation of the young man who lived between 1991 and 2006 and used the internet to spread the faith will take place tomorrow in St Peter's, together with Piergiorgio Frassati. Some of his relics are also travelling to Asian countries, where his peers are getting to know him. A ‘great message of hope’ for young Koreans preparing for the next World Youth Day. In Bangkok, young people say: ‘He is one of us.’ A new seminary named after him in Laos.
Strongly backed by Francis, the project has been inaugurated in Castel Gandolfo covering 55 hectares of the Pontifical Villas to give substance to the principles of the eponymous encyclical, 10 years after its publication. Farming and higher education go hand in hand in the name of social inclusion, integral ecology, and sustainability. Some 2,000 students and 250,000 visitors are expected each year. For Leo XIV, it is “tangible model”.
During today’s general audience in St Peter's Square, the pope delivered the catechesis on the final moments in the earthly life of Jesus, whose thirst is that of humanity: a "profound desire" for love. Salvation lies "in the art of asking without shame and offering without ulterior motives”. Leo also offered a prayer for the people of Sudan, devastated by war, famine, and now a devastating landslide that caused countless deaths.
In a reflection for AsiaNews, Archbishop Mathieu criticises the ‘colonial hegemony’ that distorts the reality of an ‘intrinsically multipolar’ region. ‘Peace cannot be built on the ideology of a so-called free interventionist world that dehumanises parts of populations that are not aligned with them.’ Tension rises over nuclear issue: “E3” countries want to reactivate snapback mechanism, Tehran threatens to withdraw from Non-Proliferation Treaty.
At the Angelus, the pope called for an "immediate ceasefire" and a "serious commitment to dialogue" for peace in Ukraine. He remembered the victims of the shooting in Minnesota and expressed sorrow for the deaths of more than 60 migrants off the coast of Mauritania. In his Gospel commentary, he expressed hope that “the Church will always be a school of humility for everyone, a home where all are always welcome”.
At the general audience, Leo makes a new appeal for the release of Israeli hostages, a permanent ceasefire, and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. He expressed his support for yesterday's declaration by the Latin and Greek Orthodox Patriarchs of Jerusalem. In his catechesis to the faithful, commenting on Jesus's attitude at the start of his Passion, he said that “even in the darkest hour, we can remain free to love to the very end.”
Today's news: In Aceh two men jailed for homosexual relations were whipped 76 times. “Peace be with you all" is the theme chosen by Pope Leo XIV for 2026 World Peace Day. Israeli drones kill six Syrian soldiers on the outskirts of Damascus. At least 30 people died in Jammu after a landslide hit a route used by Hindu pilgrims.
Pope Leo XIV addressed the faithful in St Peter's Square highlighting the Gospel image of the “narrow gate”. He made an appeal for the people of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, victims of violence. He also urged the faithful to continue praying for peace in communion with the Ukrainian Church.
Fr Romanelli says that "the entire Gaza Strip is dangerous," but Gaza City is "even more so." There are “constant bombardments”, but the parish has not yet received an "evacuation order." The Custody of the Holy Land and the Latin Patriarchate are with Pope Leo fasting and praying for peace. According to Israeli military sources, 83 percent of the deaths in the Palestinian enclave are civilians.
The Maronite patriarch said that the pontiff is expected by “December”. This visit could be part of the trip to Nicaea, in the footsteps of John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. The Holy See has not provided any official information. A cautious approach prevails due to tensions in the southern Lebanon (one death today) and the controversy over Hezbollah's demilitarisation.
This morning, the pontiff asked for prayers at the Paul VI Hall for a "disarmed and disarming" peace in “Ukraine and the Middle East.” For 22 August, the Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he called for a day of "fasting and prayer" for the Earth "wounded by war”. In the catechesis dedicated to forgiveness, Leo explained that “betrayal can become an opportunity for salvation”.
In his Angelus address delivered from Castel Gandolfo, the Pope asks urges that ongoing negotiations “place the common good of peoples first”. Prayers for the victims of the violent floods in Pakistan, India and Nepal. In his homily during Mass with a group of poor people and Caritas Albano: in a “Church of the poor [...] no distinction between those who help and those who are helped”.
Today, 15 August, Assumption of Mary, from Castel Gandolfo the Pope speaks of “deaf and insensitive violence towards every movement of humanity” in the world. He calls for ‘not giving up hope’ on the day of the meeting between Trump and Putin on Ukraine. At the Angelus, he quotes Pius XII: never again ‘the destruction of human lives.’ In his homily: ‘God interrupts despair with brotherhood.’
Continuing the jubilee cycle of audiences on the theme “Jesus Christ, our hope”, Pope Leo XIV commented on the Gospel episode of Judas' betrayal, “Jesus does not denounce in order to humiliate. He tells the truth because he wants to save”. The meeting was moved to the Paul VI Hall due to the extreme temperatures in Rome. In the afternoon, the Pope will travel to Castel Gandolfo.
At the Angelus in St. Peter's Square, Poe Leo XIV points to the example of Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have signed an agreement to end a long conflict. ‘The 80 years since Hiroshima and Nagasaki should reawaken the rejection of war as a solution.’ ‘Works of mercy are the safest bank for our existence’
At the end of Wednesday's audience, the pontiff recalls ‘the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing’, calling on the “contemporary world,” marked by “tensions and bloody conflicts,” to use the instruments of “justice, dialogue, and fraternity.” In his catechesis, he emphasizes that love is not the result of chance, but of a conscious choice. And the Eucharist is not celebrated “only on the altar, but also in everyday life.”
In the large open space outside Rome, one million young people celebrated their Jubilee ahead of the next WYD in Asia. AsiaNews spoke to some of the 1,500 Koreans in attendance, “eagerly waiting” and “diligently preparing for 2027.” One said that his mother’s conversion “brought me here today, to Rome.” Young people from Japan, India, Lebanon, and Iraq will hold in their hearts the unique encounters that rekindled their faith.
The pope and a million young people from around the world gathered in Tor Vergata for their Jubilee. Jesus is awaiting them to satisfy their thirst, and “it is truly beautiful, especially at a young age, to open wide your hearts.” The pontiff turned his thoughts to the young people of Gaza, Ukraine, and many other places affected by war. He extended an invitation to everyone to meet again in Seoul from 3 to 8 August 2027, for World Youth Day in Asia.
More than 600 young men and women from dioceses across India are currently taking part in the large gathering with Leo XIV at Tor Vergata. Many had something to say to AsiaNews. “I came with doubts, but I leave with deep gratitude,” said one. “I felt like I was part of a huge global Catholic family,” said another. “The songs and dances of our culture have found friends here,” said a third. For Father Chetan Machado, these youths show that “the Church is alive and vibrant in India.”
From the Dominican Republic to New Zealand, hundreds of young people are in Rome visiting the exhibition dedicated to the Saint, canonised in 2016. Guided tours are also available to see the room she used during her stays in Rome. Her testimony inspires young people, who tell AsiaNews that “she showed love in small things, not with words, but with actions.”
From Piazza Madonna dei Monti to the streets of the city, young Ukrainians bring to the Jubilee the wounded and tenacious heart of their country, as well as flags, songs, meetings, and the word “Volya”: freedom and the will to resist. A 20-year-old man told AsiaNews that he came “to rest spiritually." For the Brand Ukraine NGO, “We are fighting for a European future.”
Leo XIV has appointed Fr D’Souza as the new director of the Vatican Observatory. A scholar of the origins of galaxies, he grew up in India fascinated by Matteo Ricci. He studied physics in Mumbai before specialising in Germany and the United States. Speaking to AsiaNews, he said: "We don't look to the sky to investigate God, but to the complexity and beauty of the universe,” which offers us “new reasons to praise God through a better understanding of his work.”
Some 21 young people aged 15 to 27 from Hong Kong’s St Patrick's Catholic Church are in Italy for the youth jubilee with Leo XIV. They also stopped off in Assisi, Milan, Florence, and Naples. For PIME missionary Fr Fabio Favata, the experience will help the group, which was recently formed, to "broaden their minds” and “discover the beauty of community”. Educational and psychological challenges await ahead. Friday's meeting with Card Chow Sau-yan is eagerly awaited.
At the general audience, Leo XIV condemned the terrorist attack that killed 40 people in a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday. The 50th anniversary of the agreements that reopened cooperation between East and West, relaunching the issue of human rights, a lesson to be ‘cherished today’. In his catechesis dedicated to the Gospel passage on the healing of the deaf and mute, he looked at incommunicability and withdrawal into oneself as a reaction to ‘social media bulimia’.
The pontiff met with Catholic influencers taking part in the Jubilee in St Peter's Basilica. He invited them to "proclaim peace to the world" by embracing the Church's mission. He appealed for the "new culture" of technology and artificial intelligence to remain "human”. Today, we must mend the nets by giving “space to others more than to ourselves”.
Chinese social media are discussing the corruption and sex scandal investigation against Abbot Shi, the man who turned the temple known for kung fu into a business empire. Similar accusations had surfaced in the past, but failed to dent his power. Some commentators note that his troubles began when he returned to China after a visit to the Vatican, which Beijing never reported. It is speculated that he went too far, undertaking an initiative not agreed with the Communist Party.
Leo XIV appeared at St. Peter's after resting at Castel Gandolfo: “Negotiate a future of peace for all peoples.” Appeal for “full respect for humanitarian law” in Gaza. Comment on the Gospel: “Love as God loves us, without calculation.”
The Holy See Press Office today released the pontiff's message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which the Church will celebrate on 4-5 October during their Jubilee. Migrants “face adversity while seeking a future in which they glimpse the integral human development”. Catholic migrants “can help revitalize ecclesial communities that have become rigid and weighed down,” and should be welcomed as “a true divine blessing”.
