As the Church approaches Holy week, Pope Leo XIV and the Holy See intensified their calls for a halt to violence in the Middle East, and for a ceasefire and return to diplomacy to end the conflict.
The pope said the reliance on air strikes in warfare “is not progress; it is regression!” He added that no one may remain silent in the face of suffering by innocent people in the Middle East and other war zones in the world, especially by children. “What harms them harms all of humanity,” he said.
The customary Palm Sunday procession has been cancelled in Jerusalem, where “prayer continues uninterruptedly.”
Easter, said Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, is the time to “renew the invitation” of the peace of the risen Lord and “put an end to this foolishness that is war.”
Fighting continues in Ukraine, Sudan
Elsewhere, Russia launched a spring offensive in eastern Ukraine as the war continues in its fourth year since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
The latest atrocity in Sudan’s three-year civil war is the massacre of dozens of people including children at a hospital in the country’s Darfur region.
Progress Amid Fears on Climate Change
A conference studied young people’s awareness of the climate crisis and what it holds for their future. A study showed they increasingly express uncertainty, fear, and a lack of long-term planning about climate change.
Climate experts and policymakers from 50 countries identified Tunisia as a leader in Africa’s climate action efforts, unveiling national strategies aimed at adaptation, emissions reduction, and ecological transition through the adoption of clean technologies.
The Vatican this week released the Synod’s report on the environment and poverty.
Archbishop Sheen Among Sainthood Causes Advancing
Pope Leo advanced the causes for sainthood for six individuals, including Irish Father Edward Flanagan, founder of Boys Town.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the popular and dynamic American preacher on television and radio in the 20th century, will be beatified Sept. 24 in St. Louis.
Public veneration of St. Francis of Assisi’s relics has ended after one month, with more than 370,000 pilgrims from around the world visiting the beloved saint’s remains.
More Baptisms in Singapore, More Questions for France
The Church in Singapore will welcome the most Catholics in 10 years entering into full communion this Easter.
With similar signs of growth in France, Pope Leo sent a message to French bishops to consider carefully three areas: education, protection from abuse, and the contentious debate over the traditional Latin Mass in the country.
Pope Offers Prayer for Vocations, ‘God’s Gift’
The pope offered his message for the upcoming World Day of Vocations with its theme, “the Interior Discovery of God’s Gift.”
At the same time, a Carmelite monastery of Korean nuns in Cambodia will close after 21 years due to declining vocations.
New Head of Church of England Hears Support from Pope Leo
The Anglican Church welcomed a new shepherd, Archbishop Sarah Mullally, whom Pope Leo will meet in April in Rome. He offered the first female Archbishop of Canterbury a prayerful message invoking “grace, mercy, and peace … in truth and love.”
Art of Poetry Precedes Art of Peace
On World Poetry Day March 21, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça — a poet and Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education – reflected on the link between poetry and peace.
“The beating of a butterfly’s wings,” he said in an interview, “or the beating of syllables in a word, ignite dynamics of meaning, light, or darkness in the human heart. Poetry offers us unarmed and even disarming words because it works with surprise. Poetry is a precursor to the art of peace.”
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