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Vatican's Deepavali message: With shared values, let's join hands
Posted on 10/11/2025 09:28 AM ()
The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue sends well wishes to those celebrating the Hindu feast of Deepavali, and invites Christians and Hindus to "join hands in both small and great ways to nurture peace in our homes, communities and societies."
'No idea, faith or policy justifies killing,' pope says at prayer vigil
Posted on 10/11/2025 08:30 AM (USCCB News Releases)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In the presence of the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which has one of the bullets from the attempted assassination in 1981 of St. John Paul II embedded in its crown, Pope Leo XIV called for the warring to lay down their weapons.
"'Lay down your sword' is a message addressed to the powerful of this world, to those who guide the fate of peoples: have the courage to disarm!" the pope said Oct. 11 as he led a prayer vigil and the recitation of the rosary for peace in St. Peter's Square.
On the night he was arrested, Jesus told St. Peter, "Lay down your sword." While Jesus says the same to warmongers today, the pope said, it also is "an invitation to each one of us to recognize that no idea, faith or policy justifies killing."
Before the evening prayer service, part of the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality, the statue brought from the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal was on display in the Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina near the Vatican. Thousands of people lined up to see the statue up close and to pray in front of it.
As the statue was carried in procession into St. Peter's Square, people applauded and shouted, "Viva la Madonna" ("Long live Our Lady").
Pope Leo placed a gold rose in a small vase at the foot of the statue and prayed silently before beginning the prayer vigil.
Each of the joyful mysteries of the rosary was led in a different language -- Italian, English, Spanish, French and Portuguese -- and each decade concluded with the prayer, "Queen of Peace, pray for us."
As darkness fell, Pope Leo offered a meditation, urging everyone to "persevere tirelessly in praying for peace, a God-given gift that we must strive to receive and to which we must make a strong commitment."
With Mary as a model, both as a human being and as the first disciple of Jesus, the pope said, Christians should "ask for the gift of compassion toward every brother and sister who suffers and toward all creatures."
"Let us look to the mother of Jesus and the small group of courageous women at the foot of the cross," the pope suggested. "May we learn from them to stand beside the countless crosses of the world, where Christ is still crucified in his brothers and sisters, in order to bring them comfort, communion and help."
At the wedding feast of Cana, he said, Mary told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them.
The words of Jesus that must be obeyed today, the pope said, are those he addressed to St. Peter: "Lay down your sword."
"Disarm your hands and, even more importantly, your hearts. As I have said before, peace is unarmed and disarming," Pope Leo said. "It is not deterrence, but fraternity; it is not an ultimatum, but dialogue. Peace will not come as the result of victories over the enemy, but as the fruit of sowing justice and courageous forgiveness."
Jesus calls his followers to see the world "through the eyes of those who suffer rather than the mighty; to view history through the eyes of the little ones, rather than through the perspective of the powerful; to interpret the events of history from the viewpoint of the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the wounded child, the exile and the fugitive; to see things through the eyes of the shipwrecked and of the poor man Lazarus lying at the rich man's doorstep," the pope said,
"Otherwise, nothing will ever change," he said, "and a new era, a kingdom of justice and peace, will never dawn."
Mary, in the Magnificat, points out "the contrast between the humble and the powerful, the poor and the rich, the satiated and the hungry," the pope said. "She chooses the little ones; she stands with the least powerful in history, to teach us to imagine and to dream together with her of new heavens and a new earth."
"Take courage, continue on your journey, you who are building the conditions for a future of peace, justice and forgiveness," Pope Leo said. "Be gentle yet determined and never give up. Peace is a journey, and God walks with you."
The prayer service ended with silent Eucharistic adoration and Benediction.
Pope Leo to make official visit to Italy's president
Posted on 10/11/2025 08:06 AM ()
Pope Leo will visit the Quirinale Palace on Tuesday, where he will meet with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, reciprocating the Head of State's visit to the Vatican in June.
St. John XXIII: Saint of the Day for Saturday, October 11, 2025
Posted on 10/11/2025 06:00 AM (Catholic Online > Saint of the Day)
Holy See at UN: Build lasting peace through development, not military spending
Posted on 10/11/2025 05:25 AM ()
In 2024 global military spending reached $2.7 trillion, while the funding gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains at $4 trillion per year. For every dollar invested in peace, two are spent on war. Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations tells the UN that: “Every increase in military spending represents resources that could have been used to meet people’s basic needs and to establish a lasting peace.”
CELAM to launch global training on the study and implementation of the Synod
Posted on 10/11/2025 04:03 AM ()
Starting 20 October 2025, the Council of Catholic Bishops from Latin America and the Caribbean, widely known by its acronym, CELAM, will launch a global digital training platform focused on the study and implementation of the Final Document of the Synod on Synodality.
Pope Leo meets with group of Italian hermits in Rome for Jubilee
Posted on 10/11/2025 03:52 AM ()
Pope Leo meets with a group of hermits in Rome for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life and encourages them to continue living out their vocation, helping the Church and all the faithful rediscover the importance of intimacy with God.
Pope: 'Faith and reason support and complement one another'
Posted on 10/11/2025 01:00 AM ()
Pope Leo XIV writes a message to the International Congress on Philosophy taking place in Asuncion, Paraguay, and reaffirms the complementary role of faith and reason, and the role of Christian believers who are called to be part of the dialogue and to 'account for the reason of their hope.'
Lord's Day Reflection: Mercy, Miracles, and Missed Thank-You Cards
Posted on 10/11/2025 00:00 AM ()
As the Church celebrates the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jenny Kraska offers her thoughts on the day's Gospel reading.
Cardinal Parolin expresses ‘satisfaction’ over Gaza agreement
Posted on 10/10/2025 10:48 AM ()
The Cardinal Secretary of State speaks to journalists about the Israel-Hamas agreement signed in Egypt, the Holy See-China agreement on the appointment of bishops, and the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado.