In 1984, Pope John Paul II met in Rome with 300,000 young people from all over the world in a meeting that laid the foundations for today’s World Youth Day. / Credit: Gregorini Demetrio, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Nov 27, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).

The Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education is sponsoring a four-day event in Rome to honor the spiritual and intellectual legacy of Pope Saint John Paul II while marking the 25th anniversary of his encyclical Fides et Ratio.   

Twenty years into his pontificate, John Paul II released Fides et Ratio — ”Faith and Reason” — on the Sept. 14 feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in 1998. 

Describing faith and reason as “two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of the truth,” the pope emphasized that the human heart ultimately seeks to know and love God. 

Organized by the John Paul II Vatican Foundation, the Church and Hospice of Saint Stanislaus Martyr in Rome, and the Pontifical John Paul II University of Krakow, the “Days of Saint John Paul II at the Pontifical Universities of Rome” event includes a series of seminars to be hosted by three pontifical universities in Rome.  

From Nov. 26-29, the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas — also known as the “Angelicum” — alongside the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross and the Pontifical Gregorian University will hold panel discussions in Rome to delve deeper into the teachings of St. John Paul II on a variety of topics.

The talks will include the compatibility of faith and reason; the 1981-1992 pontifical study commission on the Galileo case; and the significance of intergenerational dialogue in the development of culture.

In an interview with EWTN News, Sister Mary Angela Woelkers, SCTJM, who works at the Angelicum, said this year’s inaugural event will be the first of annual conferences hosted by pontifical universities in Rome dedicated to the legacy of the great pope saint.   

“We hope to be able to bring to university students here in the city, and also a larger audience, renewed reflection — not only to rediscover the gift of this document and this theme [Fides et Ratio] which was so present throughout the teaching of John Paul the Second — but also to think together with him to address so many challenging situations that we confront in our current moment,” Woelkers told EWTN News.

“John Paul knew that the youth had a powerful potential to not only live the faith but be witnesses of the faith in a generation where there is an eclipse of God,” she added.   

Recognizing John Paul II as the “most distinguished alumnus” of the Angelicum, Father Benedict Croell OP, public relations director at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, said he hopes this year’s conference will inspire many young students to follow in the saint’s footsteps by using faith and reason to face the challenges of our times.

“We know that he [John Paul II] walked the same halls that our students walked today, and he studied the same fundamental truths that our students study today,” he told EWTN News. 

“It's incredibly important to not only remember his story and his legacy, but know that he walks with us, and he has so much to say to us today,” he said. 

“It's a great joy to recognize the importance that he still has for the Church [and] for everybody.”

Guest panelists invited to speak at the event include Richard Swinburne, emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Oxford and Father Melchor Sánchez de Toca Alameda, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education and Vatican official of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

Pope Francis receives Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Vatican, Nov. 27, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Newsroom, Nov 27, 2024 / 10:45 am (CNA).

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Pope Francis on Wednesday morning at the Vatican.

While the Holy See did not comment on the nature of the audience, the State Department said discussions focused on ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine amid a broader European diplomatic tour.

During the Vatican meeting on Nov. 27, Blinken reportedly referenced “wonderful memories’” of his previous encounter with Pope Francis in June 2021, highlighting the ongoing dialogue between the Holy See and Washington on matters of shared concern.

Key agenda items included the recently announced Israel-Lebanon ceasefire and efforts to address the humanitarian impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a State Department readout shared with reporters.

The encounter was followed by separate talks with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States.

G7 context and European tour

Blinken’s Vatican visit took place amid his attendance at the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Italy, where representatives of the world’s leading democratic economies are gathering to address multiple international crises.

The G7 discussions, running from Nov. 23-27 under Italy’s 2024 rotating presidency, have focused heavily on conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as Indo-Pacific security and the ongoing crises in Haiti and Sudan.

Last Saturday, G7 leaders reinforced their commitment to supporting Ukraine through continued sanctions on Russia and other measures.

Italy currently holds the rotating G7 presidency. The other member states are the United States, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, and Britain.

Pope Francis greets pilgrims at his general audience on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Nov 27, 2024 / 09:45 am (CNA).

Pope Francis called on Italian children to pray for their Ukrainian peers facing a harsh winter amid ongoing war at his general audience on Wednesday.

“Think of the Ukrainian children and young people who suffer at this time without heating in a very harsh winter,” the pope said on Nov. 27, addressing youngsters gathered around him in St. Peter’s Square at the start of the weekly event.

The pontiff broadened his appeal for peace: “Let us not forget the tormented Ukrainian people, who suffer so much,” he urged. “And let’s also pray for peace in the Holy Land, Palestine, Israel, where people are also suffering so much.”

The joy of the Holy Spirit

In his continuing catechesis on the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church, Pope Francis reflected on the fruits of the Spirit listed by St. Paul in his Letter to the Galatians: “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22-23).

Francis explained the distinction between the fruits of the Spirit, which require cooperation between grace and human freedom, and charisms, which are bestowed directly by the Spirit for the good of the Church.

“The fruits always express the creativity of the person, in which’ faith works through love,’ sometimes in a surprising and joyful way,” he said.

While not everyone receives the call to be apostles or prophets, the pontiff reminded the faithful that all Christians are called to be “charitable, patient, humble workers for peace.”

Pope Francis gave particular attention to joy among these fruits, describing it as “a feeling of fullness and fulfillment.”

He emphasized its unique renewal through a personal encounter with God’s love: “The joy of the Gospel, unlike any other joy, can be renewed every day and become contagious.”

Drawing on the example of St. Philip Neri, known as the “saint of joy,” Pope Francis spoke of the 16th-century priest’s profound love for God, which at times seemed so overwhelming it “might burst in his chest.” St. Philip’s joy, the pope noted, was “a fruit of the Spirit in the fullest sense.”

Francis recalled the saint’s words to the children of his oratory: “My children, be cheerful; I do not want qualms or melancholy; it is enough for me that you do not sin.”

“The word ‘Gospel’ means glad tidings,” the pope explained, adding that it “cannot be communicated with a long face and somber countenance, but with the joy of those who have found the hidden treasure and the precious pearl.”

He concluded by quoting St. Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near” (Phil 4:4-5).

Pope Francis gave a special message to Chinese Catholics at the end of his Mass in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Sept. 3, 2023. / Vatican Media

CNA Newsroom, Nov 27, 2024 / 09:25 am (CNA).

Starting next week, Chinese will be added as the ninth official language at papal general audiences, Pope Francis announced Wednesday.

“Next week, with Advent, the Chinese translation will also begin here publicly,” the pope said on Nov. 27 during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

The addition marks a significant expansion of the languages used at the weekly papal events, where key portions — including Scripture readings, summaries of the pope’s address, and greetings — are delivered in eight languages: Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, and Arabic.

The translations make papal teachings accessible to pilgrims from around the world. They are traditionally delivered by staff members of the Vatican Secretariat of State or Vatican News.

World's most spoken language

Mandarin Chinese is considered the world's most spoken language, with nearly one billion speakers, ahead of Spanish and English. 

Varieties of Chinese — including Mandarin, Wu, Hakka, and others — collectively are used by more than 1.3 billion people worldwide.

The papal move to embrace Mandarin Chinese comes at a complex moment in Vatican-China relations. 

Just last month, the Holy See renewed its controversial agreement with Beijing on the appointment of bishops for another four years.

The renewal followed growing concerns about religious freedom in China, corroborated by recent reports. Some studies also indicate the Christian population has stopped growing after decades of expansion in the 1980s and 1990s.

Facade of St. Peter's Basilica / Credit: Nils Huber / Unsplash

Vatican City, Nov 26, 2024 / 12:40 pm (CNA).

The Vatican may make “spiritual abuse” a formalized crime in Church law, rather than merely an aggravating circumstance of other crimes.

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is forming a working group with the Dicastery for Legislative Texts with “the task of analyzing this possibility and presenting concrete proposals” on the matter, according to a paper from the doctrine office dated Nov. 22 and posted online this week.

According to the note, which was signed by DDF Prefect Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández and approved by Pope Francis, the term "false mysticism" is an "overly broad and ambiguous expression" in need of refining in certain contexts in the Church.

The term appears in the DDF’s regulations related to “problems and behavior connected with the discipline of the faith, such as cases of pseudo-mysticism, alleged apparitions, visions, and messages attributed to supernatural origin,” the note observes.

The expression “false mysticism” is also sometimes used by canon lawyers in the context of crimes of abuse, though it is currently not a delict, or crime, according to canon law, the document said.

The DDF said that “false mysticism” also appears in the dicastery’s 2024 document Norms for Proceeding in the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena, where it is specified that “the use of purported supernatural experiences or recognized mystical elements as a means of or a pretext for exerting control over people or carrying out abuses is to be considered of particular moral gravity.”

At a press conference introducing the norms in May, Cardinal Fernández warned about the ambiguity of the term “false mysticism” and the need to clarify its use.

Church authorities “must be careful…false mysticism is used a lot and in a lot of different ways,” he said.

The term can have “one meaning for one theologian and another meaning for another theologian; for some canonists it has one meaning, for others it has a broader meaning,” he added.

Fernández said the Church “must explain well what the crime is, but not use the term ‘false mysticism.’”

It is “possible to classify a delict of ‘spiritual abuse,’ avoiding the overly broad and ambiguous expression of ‘false mysticism’,” the letter this week says. 

The working group will be chaired by the prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, Italian Bishop Filippo Iannone. 

Nov. 25 marked the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Argentina and Chile, a treaty that was mediated by Pope St. John Paul II. Pope Francis is shown here speaking at the event. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 25, 2024 / 17:40 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis presided over a solemn event Monday at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Argentina and Chile that settled a border dispute between the two countries.

The pontiff denounced the hypocrisy of some countries “where there is much talk of peace” but “the highest yielding investments are in the production of arms.” 

This pharisaical attitude, he continued, always leads “to the failure of fraternity and peace. May the international community make the force of law prevail through dialogue, for dialogue “must be the soul of the international community.”

The agreement between Chile and Argentina resolved the crisis caused by a territorial dispute over the Beagle Channel and sovereignty over several islands. The Vatican played an essential role in this peace agreement after St. John Paul II sent Cardinal Antonio Samorè as mediator, who worked out the agreement between both nations, avoiding an armed conflict.

Speaking before the authorities and the diplomatic corps of both countries, among whom were the Argentine ambassador to the Holy See, Luis Pablo Beltramino and the Chilean foreign minister, Alberto van Klaveren, Pope Francis praised the papal mediation that avoided the conflict that was “about to set two brother peoples against each other.”

In his speech, the Holy Father proposed this agreement as a model to imitate, while renewing his call for peace and dialogue in the face of current conflicts, where “recourse to force” prevails.

Mediating role of St. John Paul II 

He recalled in particular the mediation of St. John Paul II, who from the first days of his pontificate showed great concern and demonstrated a constant effort not only to prevent the dispute between Argentina and Chile “from degenerating into a disgraceful armed conflict,” but also to find “the way to definitively resolve this dispute.”

The pontiff noted that after receiving the request of both governments “accompanied by concrete and stringent commitments,” St. Pope John Paul II agreed to mediate the conflict with the aim of proposing “a just and equitable, and therefore honorable solution.”

For Pope Francis, this agreement deserves to be proposed “in the current world situation, in which so many conflicts persist and degenerate without an effective will to resolve them through the absolute exclusion of recourse to force or the threat of its use.”

The pope recalled the words of Benedict XVI on the 25th anniversary of the treaty, who said that the agreement “is a shining example of the power of the human spirit and the desire for peace in the face of the barbarity and senselessness of violence and war as a means of resolving differences.”

For the Holy Father, this is “a most timely example” of how it is necessary to persevere at all times with ”firm determination to the final consequences in an endeavor to resolve disputes with a real desire for dialogue and agreement, through patient negotiation and with the necessary compromises, always taking into account the just requirements and legitimate interests of all.”

In conclusion, Pope Francis described what is happening in Ukraine and Palestine as “two failures” of humanity today where the “arrogance of the invader prevails over dialogue.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, a native of Seville, Spain, served as prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. Known for his commitment to fostering dialogue between faiths, he was a key figure in the Vatican’s efforts to promote mutual understanding and peace. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Newsroom, Nov 25, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, a Spanish-born prelate and prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, died today aged 72 after a long illness.

Pope Francis asked for prayers for the cardinal earlier this morning, telling an international Jain delegation at the Vatican that the cardinal was “very ill, near the end of his life.”

A respected expert in Islam, Ayuso devoted much of his career to promoting dialogue with the Muslim religion and played a key role in Pope Francis’ “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” signed in Abu Dhabi in 2019.

He took part in Pope Francis’ historic visits to Muslim-majority nations, first as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and after October 2019, as the dicastery’s prefect.

The visits included the UAE and Morocco in 2019, and then, as dicastery prefect, to Iraq in 2021, and Kazakhstan and Bahrain in 2022. The Vatican said he “remained active in his mission until health challenges overtook him.”

Born on June 17, 1952, in Seville, Spain, Ayuso came from a large, devout Catholic family and was the fifth of nine children.

He initially studied law at the University of Seville but felt called to religious life. In 1973, he joined the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus, taking his perpetual vows in 1980. He was ordained a priest the same year. He pursued further ecclesiastical education in Rome, obtaining a licentiate from the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in 1982 and later a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the University of Granada in 2000.

Following his studies, Ayuso embarked on missionary work in Egypt and Sudan from 1982 to 2002. During this time, he served as a parish priest in Cairo and directed a catechetical center in the diocese of El-Obeid, Sudan. His academic career flourished as he taught Islamology in Khartoum from 1989 and later in Cairo. In 2006, he became the president of PISAI in Rome, solidifying his reputation as an expert in Islamic studies.

Ayuso's expertise in interreligious dialogue led to his appointment as a consultor of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in 2007. His career in the Vatican progressed rapidly: In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named him Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; in 2016, Pope Francis appointed him archbishop and Titular Bishop of Luperciana; in 2019, he was named President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; and in October that same year, Pope Francis elevated him to the rank of cardinal.

One of Ayuso’s most significant achievements was his role in resuming dialogue with Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb of Cairo’s Al-Azhar University.

Renowned as Islam’s most prestigious institution for Islamic learning, Al-Azhar suspended dialogue with the Vatican in 2011 on the grounds that Pope Benedict XVI had made “repetitive and negative statements” about Muslims.

Ayuso’s brokered reconciliation culminated in the landmark but controversial “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” signed in Abu Dhabi in February 2019 by Pope Francis and el-Tayeb. The cardinal had also represented the Holy See on the board of directors of the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) since its founding in 2012.

In response to critics concerned about the Vatican’s current course of interreligious dialogue and its alleged tendency toward syncretism, he emphasized that interreligious dialogue and initiatives like the “Document on Human Fraternity” were not about creating a “melting pot” where all religions were considered equal. Instead, he argued it was about recognizing “that all believers, those who seek God, and all people of good will without religious affiliation are equal in dignity.”

He asserted that the Catholic Church always engages in interreligious dialogue while remembering “the value of her own identity.” Ayuso also noted that pluralism in societies invites reflection on one’s own identity, “without which authentic interreligious dialogue is impossible.”

Responding to criticism that the “Document on Human Fraternity” could lead to syncretism, he reiterated that each faith retains its own identity in these dialogues, and used the metaphor of a “rich mixed salad” to describe how different faiths can come together while maintaining their distinct identities.

In 2023, Cardinal Ayuso strongly endorsed the Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith complex in Abu Dhabi designed to promote mutual understanding, peaceful coexistence, and interfaith dialogue among Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. The cardinal said the complex, which opened in 2023, was a “beacon of mutual understanding” and that he believed it could foster mutual respect and understanding while allowing each faith to maintain its distinct identity. Critics argued that the initiative fostered religious indifferentism and was theologically unsound.

Vatican News said Nov. 25 that Cardinal Ayuso “embodied Pope Francis’ vision of fraternity,” as outlined in the 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers), and that through his “tireless dedication to dialogue, he demonstrated that peaceful coexistence among diverse faiths is both possible and necessary.”

Father Enzo Fortunato, OFM Conv., communications director for St. Peter’s Basilica, holds up a copy of the first issue of the Vatican's new monthly magazine, “Piazza San Pietro.” / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Nov 25, 2024 / 14:35 pm (CNA).

The Vatican on Monday publicized further initiatives undertaken by St. Peter’s Basilica in light of the 2025 Jubilee Year — including a new magazine and a livestream of the tomb of St. Peter.

Pope Francis will inaugurate the live webcam of the tomb of the apostle and first pope on Dec. 2.

The Vatican also announced the publication of a new magazine, under the direction of the leadership of St. Peter’s Basilica, called "Piazza San Pietro." A regular feature of the new monthly will be a “Letters to the Editor” column, in which Pope Francis will respond to readers’ letters.

The periodical, whose pilot issue is out now, will be published in English, Spanish, and Italian. It can be purchased at the new visitor center for St. Peter’s Basilica or via mail subscription.

In a speech introducing the periodical, the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, OFM Conv., called its publication “a courageous choice, which the creativity and energy of Father Enzo [Fortunato] pushed us to do…”

Father Enzo Fortunato, OFM Conv., communications director for St. Peter’s Basilica since January, has been a prominent media personality in Italy since the late 1990s. He also has experience with institutional communications for the Franciscans.

At a Nov. 25 press conference at the Vatican, Fortunato pointed out Pope Francis’ invitation to journalists to “wear out the soles of your shoes,” calling it a “strong reminder of traditional journalism, for deeper immersion in reality, for direct contact with places, but most of all with people.”

“This is our idea of communication, this is our strategy, the heart of the communication plan,” he said, speaking about St. Peter’s Basilica.

Father Orazio Pepe, secretary of the Fabric of St. Peter, read Gambetti’s remarks after the cardinal could not attend the press conference as planned.

The Vatican also announced two other novelties regarding the basilica on Monday.

The Fabric of St. Peter will make available a multipurpose room inside the basilica’s offices for holding press conferences and briefings with journalists and St. Peter’s Basilica will be rebranded with a custom font, to be used on a new website launching in 2025.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is beloved by many Catholic young people today for his enthusiastic witness to holiness that reaches “to the heights.” / Public Domain

Vatican City, Nov 25, 2024 / 12:45 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis recognized a miracle attributed to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati’s intercession on Monday, paving the way for his canonization as a saint during the Catholic Church’s Jubilee of Youth next summer.

Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is beloved by many Catholic young people today for his enthusiastic witness to holiness that reaches “to the heights.”

The young man from the northern Italian city of Turin was an avid mountaineer and third order Dominican known for his charitable outreach.

Frassati’s canonization will occur during the Jubilee of Youth in Rome on Aug. 3, 2025.

The miracle

In a decree on Nov. 25, Pope Francis recognized the miraculous healing of a seminarian of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles — who was recently ordained a priest in June 2023.

Monsignor Robert Sarno, a former official of the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints who served as the archiepiscopal delegate in the diocesan process in Los Angeles that examined the healing, told CNA that the seminarian had damaged his Achilles tendon in a basketball accident while playing with other seminarians. 

After the MRI showed significant damage to his Achilles tendon, his doctor recommended that he see an orthopedic surgeon.

“Being very upset about the whole thing, he started a novena to Pier Giorgio Frassati on Nov. 1,” Sarno explained. 

Midway through the novena, “he was in the chapel crying during his novena and he felt this tremendous warmth in his ankle.” 

"And then when he went to the orthopedic surgeon a week later, the orthopedic surgeon, after seeing the MRI and conducting physical investigations, said to him, 'You must have someone in heaven who likes you'"

The seminarian was able to immediately resume playing the sports that he loved without any difficulties. The healing was verified by a diocesan inquiry and the examination of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints’ medical board, theologians, and the cardinals and bishops.

Sarno noted that it is fitting that a young man playing basketball received the healing given that Frassati was known for his love of sport and outdoor activities.

“To the heights” of holiness

Born on Holy Saturday, April 6, 1901, Frassati was the son of the founder and director of the Italian newspaper La Stampa.

At the age of 17, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and dedicated much of his spare time to taking care of the poor, the homeless, and the sick, as well as demobilized servicemen returning from World War I.

Frassati was also involved in the Apostleship of Prayer and Catholic Action. He obtained permission to receive daily Communion.

On a photograph of what would be his last climb, Frassati wrote the phrase, “Verso L’Alto,” which means “to the heights.” This phrase has become a motto for Catholics inspired by Frassati to strive for the summit of eternal life with Christ.

Frassati died of polio on July 4, 1925. His doctors later speculated that the young man had caught polio while serving the sick.

John Paul II, who beatified Frassati in 1990, called him a “man of the eight beatitudes,” describing him as “entirely immersed in the mystery of God and totally dedicated to the constant service of his neighbor.”

Pope Francis praised Frassati for sharing the love of Jesus with the poor in a speech on June 24.

“I am reminded of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati — soon to be a saint — who in Turin used to go into the homes of the poor to bring help,” the pope said.

“Pier Giorgio was from a wealthy, upper-middle class family, but he did not grow up ‘wrapped in cotton wool,’ he did not lose himself in the ‘good life,’ because within him there was the lifeblood of the Holy Spirit, there was love for Jesus and for his brothers,” he added.

Other soon-to-be saints announced

In addition to Frassati, Pope Francis also recognized a miracle attributed to Blessed Maria Troncatti (1883-1969), an Italian religious sister from the Congregation of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians who served as a missionary among indigenous peoples in Ecuador.

The pope also approved the martyrdoms of Vietnamese Servant of God Francis Xavier Tru'o'ng Bǚu Diệp (1897-1946) and Congolese Servant of God Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi (1981-2007), making possible their beatifications.

Father Francis Xavier was a Vietnamese priest who defended the rights of local citizens against plunder by armed gangs at the end of the Second World War. On March 12, 1946, he was taken prisoner by a group of militiamen together with others and locked up in a rice warehouse, where he was interrogated. 

A few days later, his disfigured body was found in a ditch. Following his death, Christians began to visit his tomb, asking for his intercession and obtaining graces, according to the Vatican.

Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi was a Congolese layman, lawyer, and member of the Saint Egidio Community. He worked as a commissioner for a customs office controlling food supplies entering the country, a role in which he opposed several attempted acts of corruption. For this, he was kidnapped, tortured, and killed in July 2007. The Vatican recognized his martyrdom in “odium fidei” because his killing was motivated by the fact that “he was a man of faith, animated by a strong sense of justice and a concrete love for his neighbor.”

In the decree, Pope Francis authorized the beatification of Venerable Juana de la Cruz (1481-1534), the abbess of the Convent of “Santa Maria della Croce” in Cubas de Madrid, without the usually required miracle due to the recognition of the longstanding “cult,” or devotion that has spread and continued for centuries. 

The pope also recognized the heroic virtue of Croatian Bishop Josip Lang (1857-1924) who was known for his service to the poor and formation of seminarians.

Pope Francis meets with the academic community of the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in the Vatican, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024 / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 25, 2024 / 11:39 am (CNA).

Pope Francis met with the academic community of the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in the Vatican on Monday morning, encouraging continued collaboration with scholars and cultural institutions to better support Catholic spouses and families. 

Citing Pope St. Paul VI’s 1975 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, which highlights “the rupture between the Gospel and culture,” the pope said it is necessary that the institute continues to develop a “critical understanding” of the anthropological and cultural challenges affecting marriage and family life today.

“The ability to fully carry out the evangelizing mission that engages every Christian depends on the ability to face these challenges,” the pope said to members of the pontifical institute. 

The John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences, which has its main headquarters in Rome, also has branches in other countries including the U.S., Nigeria, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, India and South Korea.   

“It is good that the Institute's branches, present in different countries of the world, carry out their activities in dialogue with scholars and cultural institutions, even those with different approaches,” the Holy Father said during the private audience.

To support the mission of spouses and families as “witnesses of fidelity, service, openness to life, and welcome,” the pope insisted that unmarried couples living together who are “postponing their marital commitment, as well as divorced and remarried people, require particular spiritual accompaniment and must not be excluded.”

“The Church does not close the door to those who struggle on the path of faith, indeed, she throws the door wide open, because everyone ‘needs merciful and encouraging pastoral attention’ (Amoris Laetitia, 293),” he said.

“Without excluding anyone, the Church promotes the family, founded on marriage, contributing in every place and at every time to make the conjugal bond more solid,” he added. 

Following the Vatican’s monthlong global Synod on Synodality meetings in October, the Holy Father said there is a heightened “ecclesial awareness” for the proper recognition and participation of the lay faithful in the life and mission of the Church.

“We know how decisive marriage and the family are for the life of peoples: the Church has always cared for them, supported them and evangelized them,” the pope said.

During the audience, the pope also praised the institute’s work in promoting the “gospel of the family,” particularly in “countries where public authorities do not respect the dignity and freedom to which every human being has an inalienable right as a child of God.” 

Referring to the evangelizing witness of Catholic families, the pope said “it is this gospel that helps everyone, in every culture, to always seek what is in accordance with humanity and with the desire for salvation rooted in every man and every woman.”

“In this regard, let us remember that the first Christian communities developed in a domestic form, expanding family units by welcoming new believers, and they met in homes,” he said.

The John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences was formed in 2017, following Pope Francis’ motu proprio Summa familiae cura and replacing the former institute founded by John Paul II in 1981. 

The institute is affiliated with the Congregation for Catholic Education, the Pontifical Academy of Life, and the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.