The Vatican’s head of charities visited two cities in Ukraine this week. Archbishop Luis Marín de San Martín witnessed children standing alone in line waiting for bread, the joy of students in their colorful school classrooms and the tireless work of volunteers and religious communities who refuse to surrender to the brutality of war.
Vatican employees organized a collection of goods for Ukrainians filling several trucks and including 600 boxes of winter clothing, blankets, and food. Archbishop Marín de San Martín said the war, which began in February 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “cannot leave us indifferent as Christians, for whom love is central.”
Meanwhile, a truce for a southern Ukraine town under siege has resulted from the personal appeals by Pope Leo XIV and diplomatic efforts involving U.S. First Lady Melania Trump. The truce will allow humanitarian convoys to reach more areas, although fighting continues elsewhere in the war-torn country.
Pope Leo Votes by Mail, Greets Migration Advocates from Chicago
Pope Leo connected with his American roots this week, as he greeted activists supporting migrants at a detention center of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Chicago, the pope’s hometown.
The Holy Father also cast his mail-in ballot for the U.S. midterm elections, to be held in-person on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez of Philadelphia posted a special message on social media urging people to vote in the election.
Meeting in Assisi Stresses Prayer, Dialogue for Peace
A three-day international meeting in Assisi, Italy focused on peace through prayer and dialogue. Pope Leo sent a video greeting to the gathering in which he said, “may our prayers obtain from God that peace for the world’s nations for which we long,” and he prayed that the Lord may “make us unarmed instruments of His peace.”
The meeting included the Archbishop of Nagasaki, Japan on a panel discussing nuclear weapons, and the Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad, Iraq urging dialogue and unity.
In a separate message, Pope Leo urged the faithful to look to the Blessed Virgin Mary to rediscover the path to peace.
Pope Leo Mourns Lives Lost in Spain Train Collision
The Holy Father offered his prayers for the victims of a train disaster in Spain that has so far claimed the lives of 69 people and injured more than 100.
South America Prepares to Welcome Pope Leo for Visits to 3 Countries
Preparations are underway for Pope Leo’s visit to South America Nov. 6-17 including to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, where he once served as bishop. A priest serving in the high Andes mountain city of Cusco described the culture of the area and the Church’s presence there.
Inmates of a women’s prison in Lima, Peru are anticipating Pope Leo’s visit to their country. As part of a reintegration project, they are sewing velvet dolls depicting the Pope and making rosaries, necklaces and other items to be sold outside the prison.
ACN Report: 220 Million Christians Face Persecution Worldwide
A new report by the organization Aid to the Church in Need said that persecution of Christians around the world, especially in Africa, continues to worsen, with no signs of improvement in the 18 countries studied. More than 220 million people worldwide are now directly exposed to the most severe forms of persecution, according to the report.
An armed group in Ethiopia killed at least 60 people in attacks targeting Orthodox Christians in an area of the country inhabited by Muslims, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians.
An attack against the faithful at an Orthodox church in Jordan left nine people dead and 40 wounded, for which Pope Leo offered his prayers.
A priest in Jordan observed that following the attack, “demonstrations of national solidarity between Muslims and Christians” arose throughout Jordan, led by expressions of concern by Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
“The crime shocked and grieved Muslims just as deeply as Christians, because the attack struck not only a church but also human dignity and the values of coexistence in which generations of Jordanians have been raised” wrote Father Rifat Bader.
Faith Enriches Culture With its Positive Outlook, Pope Says
Pope Leo returned to his catechesis on the Second Vatican Council during his weekly General Audience. Examining “Gaudium et Spes,” the pope reflected on the relationship between culture and the Christian faith.
The Church draws what is good, beautiful, and true from all cultures, the pope said, in order to transmit the faith and the Gospel message. “Faith, therefore, enriches and brings to fulfillment every culture it encounters, and is itself called to become a culture that is shaped by Christ,” Pope Leo said.
In his Sunday Angelus message, Pope Leo said, “We cannot truly love God unless this love overflows into love for our brothers and sisters.”
Abuse Settlement Reached in New York Archdiocese
Elsewhere in the U.S., the Archdiocese of New York agreed to an $800 million litigation settlement with some 1,300 people who reported sexual abuse.
The proposed settlement, expected to be signed in the week of Nov. 6, is the second largest involving a Catholic diocese in the United States after the $880 million agreement reached by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2024.
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