A posthumous book by Pope Francis, "Il mio San Francesco" (My St Francis), will be available in Italian bookstores from 18 September. The volume presents a dialogue between the late Pope and Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints.

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The parish priest of Gaza’s Holy Family church says his phone call on Tuesday with Pope Leo XIV was a blessing. The parish continues to shelter 450 people, including elderly, sick, and children, as many residents remain despite the danger.

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WASHINGTON – The Administrative Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) approved the transition of the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism into a permanent subcommittee of the Conference on September 9. The new Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation will fall under the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, whose mandate includes Catholic social teaching on issues of domestic concern such as poverty, housing, the environment, criminal justice, and other challenges that often have a disproportionate impact on communities of color.

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the USCCB, noted the significance of the move as affirmation of the bishops’ ongoing commitment to addressing the sin of racism. Referencing the bishops’ 2018 pastoral letter against racism, Open Wide Our Hearts, he said, “The Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation continues the important work of the temporary ad hoc committee. As we call for a genuine conversion of heart that will compel change at both individual and institutional levels, I invite all Catholics to join us as we carry forward this work to recognize and uphold the inherent dignity of every person made in the image and likeness of God.”

Bishop Joseph N. Perry, who has been serving as chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism shared his support, saying, “I speak on behalf of the bishop members, staff and consultants of the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism in expressing gratitude for the transition of our committee to a standing subcommittee so that the important work of evangelization of the faithful and the community at large may continue in the spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” 

The new subcommittee will begin its work following the conclusion of the November Plenary Assembly. For more information and ongoing updates, please visit the USCCB’s racial justice webpage: https://www.usccb.org/committees/ad-hoc-committee-against-racism. 

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Crying out to God during moments of extreme trial does not mark a crisis of faith but can reflect an act of total surrender to and enduring trust in God, Pope Leo XIV said.

"In the journey of life, there are moments in which keeping something inside can slowly consume us," the pope told thousands of people huddled under umbrellas or dressed in rain gear in St. Peter's Square Sept. 10 for his weekly general audience. 

"Jesus teaches us not to be afraid to cry out, as long as it is sincere, humble, addressed to the Father," he said.

"A cry is never pointless if it is born of love, and it is never ignored if it is delivered to God," he said. "It is a way to not give in to cynicism, to continue to believe that another world is possible."

During the audience, the pope offered special greetings to Arabic-speaking faithful, especially those from the Holy Land.

"I invite you to transform your cry in times of trial and tribulation into a prayer of trust, because God always listens to his children and responds at the moment he deems best for us," he said.

Pope Leo also asked the faithful to find inspiration in Sts. Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, the two young men he canonized Sept. 7, and, like them, "learn from Christ the cry of hope and the desire to open our hearts to the will of the Father who wants our salvation."

In his main talk, the pope continued his series of reflections on lessons of hope from the Gospel stories of Jesus' last days, focusing specifically on the crucified Christ's cry to God and his death on the cross.

Before he cried out on the cross, Pope Leo said, Jesus asked "one of the most heart-rending" questions that could ever be uttered: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

"The Son, who always lived in intimate communion with the Father, now experiences silence, absence, the abyss. It is not a crisis of faith, but the final stage of a love that is given up to the very end," the pope said. "Jesus' cry is not desperation, but sincerity, truth taken to the limit, trust that endures even when all is silent." 

"We are accustomed to thinking of crying out as something disorderly, to be repressed," the pope said. However, "the Gospel confers an immense value to our cry, reminding us that it can be an invocation, a protest, a desire, a surrender," even an "extreme form of prayer, when there are no words left."

Crying out can express "a hope that is not resigned," he said. "One cries out when one believes that someone can still hear."

"Jesus did not cry out against the Father, but to him. Even in silence, he was convinced that the Father was there," Pope Leo said. "And, in this way, he showed us that our hope can cry out, even when all seems lost."

"We come into the world crying: it is also a way of staying alive," he said. "One cries when one suffers, but also when one loves, one calls, one invokes. To cry out is saying who we are, that we do not want to fade away in silence, that we still have something to offer."

When the hour of extreme trial comes, he said, "let us learn the cry of hope," which is not a cry meant to hurt or to shout at someone, "but to entrust ourselves" and "to open our hearts."

If one's cry is genuine, it can usher in a new beginning, he said. "If it is made manifest with the trust and freedom of the children of God, the suffering voice of our humanity, united with the voice of Christ, can become a source of hope for us and for those around us."

Bishop of Albi and a friend of Pope St. Gregory I the Great. Also called Sauve, he was a native of Albi and, originally a lawyer, he entered a monastery and served for a time as a monk before receiving election as abbot. Then, after, hying as a hermit, he became a bishop, serving as shepherd of Albi from 574-584. He reportedly died while caring for the sick during an outbreak of some epidemic. He also ransomed prisoners and brought King Chilperic back to orthodox teachings.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church needs the theological study and model of Mary, Pope Leo XIV said, calling for a great promotion of Mariology in parishes, religious life and educational centers.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, "never ceases to open doors, build bridges, break down walls and help humanity to live in peace and in the harmony of diversity," he said Sept. 6 during an audience with some 600 scholars attending a conference on Mariology.

The Pontifical International Marian Academy organized the 26th International Mariological Marian Congress in Rome Sept. 3-6, discussing the theme, "Jubilee and Synodality: A Church with a Marian Face and Practice." Participants included Orthodox, Protestant and Muslim scholars.

In his address, Pope Leo underlined the pontifical academy's importance as being "a forum for thought, spirituality and dialogue, tasked with coordinating the studies and scholars of Mariology, in the service of a genuine and fruitful" Marian piety.

"The Virgin Mary, mother of the church, teaches us to be the holy people of God," he said.

"Mary is always ready to respond by first listening to the Word," he said. 

He highlighted St. Augustine's warning against praying to Mary to hear what one wants by quoting the saint: "All consult you about what they want, but they do not always hear the answer they want. Your most faithful servant is the one who does not seek to hear from you what he wants, but rather to want what he hears from you."

Mary is a "synodal" woman, he said, because she is "fully and maternally engaged in the action of the Holy Spirit, who summons those who previously believed they had reasons to remain divided due to mutual distrust and even enmity as brothers and sisters."

"A church with a Marian heart always better preserves and understands the hierarchy of truths of faith, integrating mind and heart, body and soul, universal and local, person and community, humanity and cosmos," Pope Leo said.

"It is a church that does not shy away from asking herself, others and God uncomfortable questions -- 'How shall this be?' -- and to walk the demanding paths of faith and love," he said. 

"A Marian piety and practice oriented toward the service of hope and consolation frees us from fatalism, superficiality and fundamentalism; it takes all human realities seriously, starting with the least and the discarded; it contributes to giving voice and dignity to those who are sacrificed on the altars of ancient and new idols," he said. 

"Since the vocation of the mother of the Lord is understood as the vocation of the church," he said, "Marian theology has the task of cultivating in all the people of God, first of all, a willingness to 'start afresh' with God, his Word and the needs of our neighbor, with humility and courage."

"It must also cultivate the desire to walk toward the unity that flows from the Trinity, in order to bear witness to the world, to the beauty of faith, the fruitfulness of love and the prophecy of hope that does not disappoint," he added.

"Contemplating the mystery of God and history of Mary's inner gaze protects us from the distortions of propaganda, ideology and unhealthy information, which can never speak a disarmed and disarming word, and opens us to divine gratuitousness, which alone makes it possible for people, populations and cultures to walk together in peace," the pope said.

"This is why the church needs Mariology," he said. "It should be considered and promoted in academic centers, shrines and parish communities, associations and movements, institutes of consecrated life, as well as in places where contemporary cultures are forged, valuing the limitless inspiration offered by art, music and literature."

 

WASHINGTON - Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of the Most Reverend Michael J. Boulette, 75, from the Office of Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio.

The resignation was publicized in Washington, D.C. on September 9, 2025, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The Archdiocese of San Antonio is comprised of 23,180 square miles in the State of Texas and has a total population of 2,925,226, of which 1,148,253, are Catholic.

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St. Peter Claver was born at Verdu, Catalonia, Spain, in 1580, of impoverished parents descended from ancient and distinguished families. He studied at the Jesuit college of Barcelona, entered the Jesuit novitiate at Tarragona in 1602 and took his final vows on August 8th, 1604. While studying philosophy at Majorca, the young religious was influenced by St. Alphonsus Rodriguez to go to the Indies and save "millions of perishing souls." In 1610, he landed at Cartagena (modern ...

According to legend Adrian was a pagan officer at the imperial court of Nicomedia. Impressed by the courage of a group of Christians who were being tortured, he declared himself a Christian and was imprisoned with them and suffered excruciating tortures before he was put to death. His young wife, Natalia, who was present at his death, comforted him in his agony, recovered one of his severed hands, and took it to Argyropolis near Constantinople, where she fled to escape the importunities of an ...

On the death of Clovis, King of the Franks, in the year 511 his kingdom was divided between his four sons, of whom the second was Clodomir. Thirteen years later he was killed fighting against his cousin, Gondomar, leaving three sons to share his dominions. The youngest of these sons of Clodomir was St. Clodoald, a name more familiar to English people under its French form of Cloud from the town of Saint-Cloud near Versailles. When Cloud was eight years old, his uncle Childebert plotted with his ...