Saint John Gaulbert, Abbot - Feast day is July 12th The city of Florence gave to the world Saint John Gaulbert. Although he enjoyed the benefits of an early Christian education, his youthful heart was soon attracted to the vanities of the world. A painful incident was the means God made use of, to open his eyes. Hugo, his only brother, had been murdered and St. John had resolved to avenge his death. On a certain Good Friday he met his enemy in a place where there was no escape for the latter. ...

After praying the Angelus in Piazza della Libertà in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV turned his thoughts to the renewed conflict in the Middle East and the crisis in Ukraine, urging a return to diplomatic solutions. On Sea Sunday, he also expressed his closeness to all seafarers and port workers, whose working conditions have been made more difficult by military tensions. Finally, he recalled the traditional Marian pilgrimage of the Polish faithful to Jasna Góra.

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At the Angelus in Castel Gandolfo, where he is taking a summer break, Pope Leo XIV reflects on the Parable of the Sower, reminding Christians that God's Word has the power to transform every heart and encouraging the faithful to make space this summer for silence, prayer, and meditation on Scripture.

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Pope Leo XIV will visit the Vatican Apostolic Library on Monday, September 14, and will inaugurate the first chapter of the exhibition cycle “Catastrophe and Wonder,” entitled “AQVA.”

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The Bishop of Labuan Bajo on the Indonesian island of Flores launches a weeks-long pilgrimage dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption before the annual Golo Koe Festival in August. This year's pilgrimage aims to link Marian devotion with ecological responsibility.

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Thousands of people gather near Srebrenica on Saturday to mark the 31st anniversary of Europe’s worst single atrocity since World War Two.

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In a Letter to Cardinal Oswald Gracias, his Special Envoy to the 12th Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC), to be held in Jakarta from 20 to 26 July, Pope Leo XIV urges the Church in Asia to place God "on the horizon of our actions and the human person at the center of our decisions," without fearing "to get our hands dirty at the building site of our time."

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The United States has called on Iran to publicly state that the Strait of Hormuz is open and to pledge to stop firing on commercial ships.

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St. Benedict is believed to have been born around 480, as the son to a Roman noble of Norcia and the twin to his sister, Scholastica. In the fifth century, the young Benedict was sent to Rome to finish his education with a nurse/housekeeper. The subject that dominated a young man's study then was rhetoric -- the art of persuasive speaking. A successful speaker was not one who had the best argument or conveyed the truth, but one who used rhythm, eloquence, and technique to convince. The power ...

During a special "Lunch with the Pope" in Borgo Laudato si' in the Pontifical Gardens of Castel Gandolfo with some 200 poor and socially vulnerable people, Pope Leo XIV says he came with "hunger for justice" and "hunger for genuine charity," as he invited everyone to build a Church of justice, peace, and love.

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