The two-day workshop on “Healthcare for all: Sustainability and equity," organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life, is presented at the Holy See Press Office, with experts noting that where there is a will, there can be a way to make healthcare possible for all.

Read all

 

Founder and mystic, one of the first Servants of Mary or Servites. The son of a wealthy merchant in Florence, Italy, Alexis and six companions joined the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin in Florence in 1225. Gathered together on the Feast of the Assumption in 1233, the group experienced a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary which inspired them to found a new religious community dedicated to prayer. They founded such a group at La Camarzia, near Florence, moving eventually to Monte Senario, on ...

Faith and culture come together as Catholic communities across Asia mark the Lunar New Year through family gatherings, prayer, and acts of charity.

Read all

 

Fr. Giulio Cesareo, director of the Communications Office of the Sacred Convent of Assisi, speaks to Vatican News about the significance of exposing the relics of St. Francis of Assisi and the message he still bears for today’s world.

Read all

 

OSTIA LIDO, Italy (CNS) -- An authentic Christian community knows how to sincerely and joyfully welcome everyone: Catholics, non-Catholics and people of no faith at all, Pope Leo XIV said.

"A true parish" is where "we all learn to say 'Welcome,' not only with words, but with a spirit of hospitality, opening the door and welcoming everyone," he said, speaking to members of the community during his first visit to a parish in his Diocese of Rome.

The pope also celebrated Mass during which he encouraged the faithful to cultivate humble and peaceful hearts that are open to Christ, because "the evil we see in the world has its roots precisely there, where the heart becomes cold, hard and lacking in mercy." 

The pope's early evening visit Feb. 15 was to the Roman parish of Santa Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia Lido -- a seaside community 16 miles southwest of Rome.

Although it was his first visit to Ostia as pope, he had been to the area many times as an Augustinian friar because of the port town's close connection to the story of St. Augustine and, especially, his mother, St. Monica, who died there in 387; her remains were moved to Rome in the 15th century.

Pope Leo emphasized the need to convert one's heart for there to be peace in the world, in his homily during Mass inside the large 20th-century church of Santa Maria Regina Pacis.

The path to human fulfillment is fidelity to God based on respect and care for others, he said. But that has to be "cultivated first and foremost in the heart, even before in gestures and words." 

The heart is home to noble feelings and "painful profanations: closed-mindedness, envy, jealousy," he said. "Those who think badly of their brother, harboring evil feelings toward him, are as if they were already killing him in their hearts."

He recalled some of the difficulties facing residents in Ostia, including violence, substance abuse and criminal organizations.

He encouraged the parish community to continue its courageous efforts with other organizations "to spread the good seed of the Gospel in your streets and in your homes."

"Do not resign yourselves to the culture of abuse and injustice. On the contrary, spread respect and harmony, beginning by disarming language and then investing energy and resources in education, especially for children and young people," he said.

"Unfortunately, even today, many clouds still darken the world, with the spread of ideas contrary to the Gospel, which exalt the supremacy of the strongest, encourage arrogance, and fuel the seduction of victory at all costs, deaf to the cries of those who suffer and those who are defenseless," the pope said. 

"Let us oppose this tendency with the disarming power of meekness, continuing to ask for peace, and to welcome and cultivate its gift with tenacity and humility," he said. 

Pope Leo began the visit by greeting young people and families gathered behind the church. A clutch of gold mylar balloons -- depicting a smiling lion and the numbers "one" and "four" -- bopped and twisted in the strong breeze coming in off the Mediterranean Sea.

"You are the hope! And you must recognize that in your hearts, in your lives, in your youth, there is hope for today and tomorrow. Hope already begins here, because Jesus walks with us," he told the small enthusiastic crowd outside.

Inside a nearby gym, home of the local "Starfish" basketball team, the pope thanked the community for their warm welcome. "This is one of the many signs of an authentic Christian community, of a true parish," he said, emphasizing the need to receive "anyone who comes: Catholic, non-Catholic, believer, non-believer." 

Speaking to the young people, the elderly, people with disabilities, Caritas volunteers and the people they serve, the pope told those gathered that "Everyone is part of this parish family, and everyone has something to say, something to give, something to share."

"May you have the courage to say 'yes' to the Lord!" he said. "Each person's life has great value: whether I am young, whether I am old, whether I have difficulties or not, human life is a gift from God."

Speaking to members of the parish's pastoral council, the pope thanked them for generously offering their time and talent, helping the local clergy, church and faithful. However, "I also encourage you to go out and seek others."

"Do not remain inside the church and say, 'It's OK, those who come are enough.' It is never enough. Invite, welcome, accompany," Pope Leo said.
 

Died in 309, He and four companions, Elias, Isaias, Jeremy and Samuel were Egyptians who visited Christians condemned to work in the mines of Cilicia during Maximus persecution, to comfort them. Apprehended at the gates of Caesarea, Palestine, they were brought before the governor, Firmilian and accused of being Christians. They were all tortured and then beheaded. When Porphyry, a servant of St. Pamphilus demanded that the bodies be buried, he was tortured and then burned to death when it was ...

Walfrid or Galfrido della Gherardesca was born in Pisa, of which he became a prosperous and honored citizen. He married a wife to whom he was deeply attached, and they had five sons and at least one daughter. After a time, Walfrid and his wife Thesia felt that God was calling them to enter the religious life. Walfrid had two friends - A kinsman named Gunduald and a certain Fortis, a native of Corsica: like him they were living in the world, but were drawn to a closer service of God under ...

WASHINGTON - Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of the Most Reverend Patrick J.  Zurek, 77, from the Office of Bishop of Amarillo. At the same time, he has appointed His Eminence Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, archbishop emeritus of Galveston-Houston, as the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Amarillo to serve until the appointment and installation of the new bishop.

The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, D.C. on February 14, 2026, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. 

The Diocese of Amarillo is comprised of 25,800 square miles in the State of Texas.

###

Click Here for St. Valentine Prayer's Discover More About St. Valentine Saint Valentine, officially known as Saint Valentine of Rome, is a third-century Roman saint widely celebrated on February 14 and commonly associated with "courtly love." Although not much of St. Valentine's life is reliably known, and whether or not the stories involve two different saints by the same name is also not officially decided, it is highly agreed that St. Valentine was martyred and then buried on the Via ...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican released Pope Leo XIV's message for Lent, which begins Feb. 18 on Ash Wednesday.

Titled, "Listening and Fasting: Lent as a Time of Conversion," the papal message asked Catholics to come together as a community to listen to the word of God and to the vulnerable.

The pope also invited the faithful to engage in a "very practical and frequently unappreciated form of abstinence: that of refraining from words that offend and hurt our neighbor."

Instead, he asked, "let us strive to measure our words and cultivate kindness and respect in our families, among our friends, at work, on social media, in political debates, in the media and in Christian communities. In this way, words of hatred will give way to words of hope and peace."

Lent is a time to "place the mystery of God back in the center of our lives, in order to find renewal in our faith and keep our hearts from being consumed by the anxieties and distractions of daily life," the pope wrote. 

The pope's full message can be found in English and in Spanish.