World

Millions of people around the world joined Pope Leo's Prayer Vigil for Peace on Saturday evening. Around ten thousand faithful gathered in St Peter's Basilica and the Square outside for the special Prayers, which had been called by the Holy Father during his Easter Sunday Urbi et Orbi address. During the Vigil, Pope Leo appealed to world leaders to stop and sit at the table of dialogue and mediati... Read More

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, Archbishop of Luxembourg and General Relator for the Synod on Synodality, has described the Synod report on women's participation as an important step forward, while stressing that any future development in ordained ministry requires broad ecclesial consensus. The report, produced by Study Group No 5 on 'Women's participation in the life and leadership of the Chu... Read More

The first meeting between the Pope and the French President took place at the Vatican Apostolic Palace. Talks at the Secretariat of State included the hope of restoring peaceful coexistence through dialogue and negotiation around the world. French President Emmanuel Macron met Pope Leo at the Vatican on Friday. Accompanied by his wife, Brigitte, President Macron was greeted by Mgr Leonardo Sapie... Read More

The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, outlined the Apostolic Journey that Pope Leo XIV will begin on Monday 13 April to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. Briefing journalists during a press conference yesterday, he said the eleven day visit will include addresses in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. Among the main themes he will discuss are peace, migration... Read More

People are feeling "scared, angry and sad" after more than 100 bombs fell across Beirut in a single night shattering any remaining sense of safety for those who remain living in their homes, an aid worker has said. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) launched a massive wave of strikes on Beirut on Wednesday, 8th April, killing at least 254 people and injuring more than 2,000. Following US president Do... Read More

More than 3,000 pilgrims gathered in Lourdes this Easter as HCPT marks 70 years of its life-changing pilgrimage. Founded in 1956 by Brother Michael Strode, HCPT began with a simple but transformative vision, which young people should be able to travel to Lourdes with dignity, joy and a true sense of belonging. Today, that vision continues to shape the charity's work, as 3,399 pilgrims gather this ... Read More

In a recent interview with Italian Catholic Action's publication 'Dialoghi,' Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, discussed the fragility of diplomacy, the rise of the logic of the strongest, the importance of the United Nations, and the need to empty nuclear arsenals. "It is a utopia to think that peace is guaranteed by weapons and by balances imposed by the strongest, rather than... Read More

Pope Leo XIV today met the Italian athletes who participated in the Milan-Cortina Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. In his address, the Pope said the competition spread a "noble human, cultural, and spiritual message" throughout the world. "Sport, when it is lived authentically, does not remain merely a performance," he said. "It is a form of language, a story made of gestures, effort, waiting,... Read More

UK spending on foreign aid has hit its lowest level since 2008. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has announced that spending on aid was reduced by one billion pounds in 2025 - just 0.43% of nation income. In response to the news, Christine Allen, Director of the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) said: "Today's statistics showing a £1 billion reduction in ... Read More

Yesterday, Wednesday 8 April, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire in the war, mediated by Pakistan. But it was later announced that this pause in the war did not apply to Lebanon. Within a few hours it became clear that Israel's onslaught on Lebanon was continuing unabated. The escalation of Israeli airstrikes has resulted in significant casualties and destruction, creating a... Read More

Fr Toni Elias, a Lebanese Maronite parish priest at the church of St George in Rmeish - the last village in the south of the country on the border with Israel gave an interview with Vatican Media after the news of the the ceasefire between US/Israel and Iran was announced. Although the two week truce does not extend to Lebanon, Fr Elias said: "We do not give up - on the contrary, we trust in the L... Read More

Pope Leo has welcomed today's news of a ceasefire in the Middle East and asks that all parties engage in prolonged dialogue to reach an end to the conflict. He also invites men and women of goodwill across the world to join him in prayer for peace on Saturday 11 April. At the conclusion of his General Audience on Wednesday, 8 April, Pope Leo turned his thoughts to the weeks of tension that have be... Read More

Jeremy Fowler lived for eleven years in Iraqi Kurdistan and is now based in Oxford, working on a biography of Roger Cumberland, an American Presbyterian missionary in the region who was killed in Duhok in 1938. The Kurdish people live in the largely autonomous Kurdistan Region of Northern Iraq and within the borders of Turkey, Iran and Syria. The region of 'Greater Kurdistan' is actually the setti... Read More

Pope Leo XIV renewed his appeal for peace in a brief statement on Tuesday evening to a group of journalists waiting for him outside Villa Barberini, the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo. Against the backdrop of the US-Israeli war against Iran and the US President's threat to destroy "the whole Iranian civilisation" on tonight if Tehran does not comply with a deadline set by the White House to re... Read More