University

Pope calls on Catholic universities to be authentic, instill ‘passion for the truth’ #Catholic Catholic universities should reflect “authenticity as true disciples of Christ” as they guide students’ desire for knowledge into a passion for the truth, Pope Leo XIV told university presidents from the United States on Wednesday.“As young men and women come to your colleges and universities looking to study a specific degree, oftentimes motivated by future job perspectives, yours is the noble task of guiding that desire for knowledge so that they may also ‘learn to seek and love the truth, to reflect on the meaning of life, and to recognize the dignity of every person,’” the pope said June 3, quoting from his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, published in May.Instilling a love for the truth “is not an easy feat,” he continued. “As you are well aware, seeking the truth requires not only learning and mentorship but also great effort. Unless Catholic education instills in students a true passion for the truth — and not only intellectual truth, but the truth that is Christ himself (cf. John 14:6) — we can hardly expect people to be willing to put forth the effort required to recognize truth and adapt one’s life accordingly.”Leo addressed presidents, senior administrators, and faculty leaders from Catholic institutions of higher education belonging to the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. During the Rome Seminar, June 1–5, university leaders are meeting with senior Vatican officials and others to reflect on the opportunities and challenges faced by higher education today.In his speech, the pope acknowledged the challenge of “the increasing fragmentation of knowledge.”“While it is easy to find people who are experts in a particular field of study, many of these individuals ‘struggle to find direction in their lives, partly due to an inability to connect information with deeper knowledge or maintain a sense of purpose,’” he said, quoting from Magnifica Humanitas.Specialized experts “often lack a global vision of reality that is capable of uniting not only the various fields of knowledge but also the multiple aspects of life and the inner longings of the human heart,” he said.He invited Catholic educational institutions to be a “living environment in which the Christian vision permeates every discipline and every interaction,” as Leo wrote in his 2025 apostolic letter Drawing New Maps of Hope.“Your authenticity as true disciples of Christ,” he said, “will certainly assist you in transmitting the living Gospel in such a way that those entrusted to you can truly encounter the Lord and discover in the Catholic faith the unifying vision that truth alone can provide.”On the challenges of technological advances, the pope reflected on the prolific use of artificial intelligence, making it “increasingly difficult to evaluate the work of students, requiring educators to adapt their methods creatively to ensure the integral human formation of those in their care.”“We must be willing to invest generously in the education of future generations,” he said. “It is crucial that young men and women learn to engage positively with new technologies, while at the same time truly developing their God-given skills and capacities to reason, to think critically and commit knowledge to memory, thus preparing them to shape responsibly the world to come.”
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Pope calls on Catholic universities to be authentic, instill ‘passion for the truth’ #Catholic Catholic universities should reflect “authenticity as true disciples of Christ” as they guide students’ desire for knowledge into a passion for the truth, Pope Leo XIV told university presidents from the United States on Wednesday.“As young men and women come to your colleges and universities looking to study a specific degree, oftentimes motivated by future job perspectives, yours is the noble task of guiding that desire for knowledge so that they may also ‘learn to seek and love the truth, to reflect on the meaning of life, and to recognize the dignity of every person,’” the pope said June 3, quoting from his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, published in May.Instilling a love for the truth “is not an easy feat,” he continued. “As you are well aware, seeking the truth requires not only learning and mentorship but also great effort. Unless Catholic education instills in students a true passion for the truth — and not only intellectual truth, but the truth that is Christ himself (cf. John 14:6) — we can hardly expect people to be willing to put forth the effort required to recognize truth and adapt one’s life accordingly.”Leo addressed presidents, senior administrators, and faculty leaders from Catholic institutions of higher education belonging to the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. During the Rome Seminar, June 1–5, university leaders are meeting with senior Vatican officials and others to reflect on the opportunities and challenges faced by higher education today.In his speech, the pope acknowledged the challenge of “the increasing fragmentation of knowledge.”“While it is easy to find people who are experts in a particular field of study, many of these individuals ‘struggle to find direction in their lives, partly due to an inability to connect information with deeper knowledge or maintain a sense of purpose,’” he said, quoting from Magnifica Humanitas.Specialized experts “often lack a global vision of reality that is capable of uniting not only the various fields of knowledge but also the multiple aspects of life and the inner longings of the human heart,” he said.He invited Catholic educational institutions to be a “living environment in which the Christian vision permeates every discipline and every interaction,” as Leo wrote in his 2025 apostolic letter Drawing New Maps of Hope.“Your authenticity as true disciples of Christ,” he said, “will certainly assist you in transmitting the living Gospel in such a way that those entrusted to you can truly encounter the Lord and discover in the Catholic faith the unifying vision that truth alone can provide.”On the challenges of technological advances, the pope reflected on the prolific use of artificial intelligence, making it “increasingly difficult to evaluate the work of students, requiring educators to adapt their methods creatively to ensure the integral human formation of those in their care.”“We must be willing to invest generously in the education of future generations,” he said. “It is crucial that young men and women learn to engage positively with new technologies, while at the same time truly developing their God-given skills and capacities to reason, to think critically and commit knowledge to memory, thus preparing them to shape responsibly the world to come.”

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Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday addressed presidents and senior administrators from Catholic institutions belonging to the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.

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Pope Leo XIV meets with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson #Catholic Pope Leo met with the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, at the Vatican on May 28.Johnson, who has served as mayor since 2023, met with the pontiff for the first time since his election. He also used the occasion to formally invite the pontiff to visit his native city, Chicago.In a press briefing to journalists after the audience, Johnson explained that the two discussed the policies of the United States government under President Donald Trump, including immigration and the Iran conflict.Johnson: Trumpʼs actions in Iran are tyrannicalThe Democratic mayor sharply criticized Trump in remarks to journalists, calling him a “tyrant” as well as a “disgrace” for involving the U.S. in the Israel-Iran conflict. He also said he discussed his concerns about the administration with Pope Leo and described his recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, as a “call to action” to work to avoid wars. “I think the popeʼs encyclical is a call to action for the entire planet,” Johnson told journalists at the briefing. “Illegal wars do not leave just a trail of tears and trauma, but it also harms and brutalize our humanity. The economic drive with which [Trump] is moving is selfish.”Leo XIV has regularly criticized the U.S.-Israel war in Iran as unjust. Johnson, reflecting on his discussions with the pope, stated that “his position around Trump was more about disagreement with his approach.”“In the midst of a brutal, horrific, and ignorant tyrant that is currently occupying the White House, it is imperative that we really walk in the true essence of our faith. The impact of his failures on our global economy is quite severe. It is a disgrace to the sensibility of our humanity,” Johnson said. Mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson holds a press briefing at The American University of Rome on May 28, 2026. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News The Chicago mayor also said the two spoke about the Trump administrationʼs immigration enforcement, specifically raids by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “We did discuss ICE. The pope wanted to know how ICE impacted our city and whether there were still examples of ICE raids happening in our city. I talked about how our rapid response team came together to support families. And then I talked about my executive orders, for which he was very gracious and encouraging, especially those I signed to protect the people of Chicago.”Praise for Leoʼs apology for slaveryLeo XIV presented his first encyclical on May 25 at the Vatican, offering moral guidance amid widespread concern about the dangers posed by artificial intelligence.In the text, Leo issued an apology for the Churchʼs role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Johnson praised the pope for his courage and explained that he had discussed the legacy of slavery with him.“We talked about the conditions that the long legacy of slavery and disinvestment has had on Black Americans and Black people around the world,” Johnson said. “I engaged in a conversation with him around reparations and why it is important to work to repair the harm caused by the brutal legacy of slavery.”Yusef Jackson, the son of renowned civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., was also part of the mayorʼs delegation that visited the pope. He praised Leo for his apology on behalf of the Church for slavery.“The pope is a powerful man. The color of his title commands respect around the world. For him to use the color of that title, coming from Chicago, a very segregated and class-divided city, with the bona fides to be a freedom fighter, meant a lot to me. He is a pope that I agree with,” Jackson said.An invitation to come to ChicagoJohnson also presented the pope with an official letter inviting him to visit Chicago and offer Mass at Grant Park. He wrote the letter after being advised by the Catholic archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich.Speaking about the possibility of a future visit by Leo, he described his feelings and those of the city as hopeful. Official invitation by the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, to Pope Leo XIV, at the American University of Rome on May 28, 2026. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News “We are going to remain hopeful. We have an open invitation for the pope to come to the city of Chicago. Ultimately, it will be his decision whether his schedule allows him to come. Some of the greatest voices for justice come from the city of Chicago. And that beloved city, of course, birthed Pope Leo XIV.”Along with the official invitation letter, the pontiff was presented with a ceremonial key to the city of Chicago.Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled the first name of Cardinal Blase Cupich. (Published May 29, 2026)
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Pope Leo XIV meets with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson #Catholic Pope Leo met with the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, at the Vatican on May 28.Johnson, who has served as mayor since 2023, met with the pontiff for the first time since his election. He also used the occasion to formally invite the pontiff to visit his native city, Chicago.In a press briefing to journalists after the audience, Johnson explained that the two discussed the policies of the United States government under President Donald Trump, including immigration and the Iran conflict.Johnson: Trumpʼs actions in Iran are tyrannicalThe Democratic mayor sharply criticized Trump in remarks to journalists, calling him a “tyrant” as well as a “disgrace” for involving the U.S. in the Israel-Iran conflict. He also said he discussed his concerns about the administration with Pope Leo and described his recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, as a “call to action” to work to avoid wars. “I think the popeʼs encyclical is a call to action for the entire planet,” Johnson told journalists at the briefing. “Illegal wars do not leave just a trail of tears and trauma, but it also harms and brutalize our humanity. The economic drive with which [Trump] is moving is selfish.”Leo XIV has regularly criticized the U.S.-Israel war in Iran as unjust. Johnson, reflecting on his discussions with the pope, stated that “his position around Trump was more about disagreement with his approach.”“In the midst of a brutal, horrific, and ignorant tyrant that is currently occupying the White House, it is imperative that we really walk in the true essence of our faith. The impact of his failures on our global economy is quite severe. It is a disgrace to the sensibility of our humanity,” Johnson said. Mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson holds a press briefing at The American University of Rome on May 28, 2026. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News The Chicago mayor also said the two spoke about the Trump administrationʼs immigration enforcement, specifically raids by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “We did discuss ICE. The pope wanted to know how ICE impacted our city and whether there were still examples of ICE raids happening in our city. I talked about how our rapid response team came together to support families. And then I talked about my executive orders, for which he was very gracious and encouraging, especially those I signed to protect the people of Chicago.”Praise for Leoʼs apology for slaveryLeo XIV presented his first encyclical on May 25 at the Vatican, offering moral guidance amid widespread concern about the dangers posed by artificial intelligence.In the text, Leo issued an apology for the Churchʼs role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Johnson praised the pope for his courage and explained that he had discussed the legacy of slavery with him.“We talked about the conditions that the long legacy of slavery and disinvestment has had on Black Americans and Black people around the world,” Johnson said. “I engaged in a conversation with him around reparations and why it is important to work to repair the harm caused by the brutal legacy of slavery.”Yusef Jackson, the son of renowned civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., was also part of the mayorʼs delegation that visited the pope. He praised Leo for his apology on behalf of the Church for slavery.“The pope is a powerful man. The color of his title commands respect around the world. For him to use the color of that title, coming from Chicago, a very segregated and class-divided city, with the bona fides to be a freedom fighter, meant a lot to me. He is a pope that I agree with,” Jackson said.An invitation to come to ChicagoJohnson also presented the pope with an official letter inviting him to visit Chicago and offer Mass at Grant Park. He wrote the letter after being advised by the Catholic archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich.Speaking about the possibility of a future visit by Leo, he described his feelings and those of the city as hopeful. Official invitation by the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, to Pope Leo XIV, at the American University of Rome on May 28, 2026. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News “We are going to remain hopeful. We have an open invitation for the pope to come to the city of Chicago. Ultimately, it will be his decision whether his schedule allows him to come. Some of the greatest voices for justice come from the city of Chicago. And that beloved city, of course, birthed Pope Leo XIV.”Along with the official invitation letter, the pontiff was presented with a ceremonial key to the city of Chicago.Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled the first name of Cardinal Blase Cupich. (Published May 29, 2026)

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The pontiff met with Johnson at the Vatican on May 28 and was formally invited to visit his native city next year.

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Former Russian Orthodox ‘foreign minister’ freed after Czech drug probe #Catholic Czech police arrested Metropolitan Hilarion, a prominent clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, on suspicion of drug possession during a vehicle stop on May 24. Officers acted “on anonymous information” about the alleged “transportation of narcotics and psychotropic substances.”A few grams of an unidentified substance were found in the vehicle, though the discovery “does not answer the central question: how the items ended up in the vehicle,” Hilarion said, denying “any involvement in the illegal possession or transportation of prohibited substances.”He was released May 26 after protests from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which called the detention a “deliberate, orchestrated provocation” and summoned a Czech diplomat in Moscow. The Russian Orthodox Church likewise defended him, saying the incident “looks like a classic farce” since drug smuggling is often used by “unscrupulous police officers around the world.”No charges have been brought, and Hilarion is free without restrictions while the investigation continues, according to a statement on his Telegram account. His team also called the arrest “a provocation,” claiming he had received anonymous death threats demanding he leave the country.Who is Hilarion?Metropolitan Hilarion, whose secular name is Grigory Alfeyev, headed the Moscow Patriarchateʼs Department for External Church Relations from 2009 to 2022, a role often described as the Russian Orthodox Churchʼs “foreign minister.” He was widely regarded as a close ally of Patriarch Kirill and a possible successor.In June 2022, he was removed from the post and appointed to the Budapest diocese, a move widely interpreted as a demotion. During Pope Francis' apostolic trip to Budapest in April 2023, the two held a private meeting at the apostolic nunciature.In July 2024, Hilarion was accused of sexual harassment by George Suzuki, a former personal attendant. Hilarion denied the allegations. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church subsequently declared “the inconsistency of the nature of his relations with his immediate environment and his life with the image of a monk and clergyman” and removed him from the Budapest diocese on Dec. 27, 2024. He has since been serving at the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary, a spa town in western Czech Republic.Rising tensions over the Russian Orthodox Church in Czech RepublicSergei Chapnin, a Russian church affairs scholar at Fordham University and former employee of the Moscow Patriarchate, offered two possible explanations for the incident. First, Hilarion may serve “as a high-level courier” who “moves sensitive documents and other items around Western Europe” since “Russian diplomats are closely monitored and constrained in their movements.” Second, Hilarion was operating “inside a very rough political and ecclesiastical game … over assets and influence” involving local Orthodox communities.The Church of Sts. Peter and Paul was recently registered under the Russian Orthodox Church in Hungary to prevent Czech authorities from freezing Russian assets. Patriarch Kirill, the churchʼs head, is personally listed on the Czech national sanctions list for his support of Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine.Concerns about the churchʼs role in Czech Republic have been escalating. The Czech security agencyʼs annual report said the Russian Orthodox Churchʼs local representatives are loyal to the Moscow leadership and their “support for the Russian official line is evident.”A study titled “Security Risks of the Orthodox Church,” published by the Czech Academy of Sciences in 2025, called for systematic monitoring of the Russian Orthodox Church in the country. The authors recommended investigating “activities with regard to the danger of money laundering, purposeful export of funds and property, smuggling of goods and people, passing information to the enemy, for example the Russian side, [and] influencing the opinions of Czech society through social networks.”The study also noted that the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary allegedly hosted meetings involving Russian military intelligence (GRU) officials.In a related case, a Prague court recently convicted former Orthodox abbess Taťána Hanhur for the unauthorized transfer of a monastery and property worth 73 million Czech crowns (approximately $3.2 million). The property had belonged to the autocephalous Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.
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Former Russian Orthodox ‘foreign minister’ freed after Czech drug probe #Catholic Czech police arrested Metropolitan Hilarion, a prominent clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, on suspicion of drug possession during a vehicle stop on May 24. Officers acted “on anonymous information” about the alleged “transportation of narcotics and psychotropic substances.”A few grams of an unidentified substance were found in the vehicle, though the discovery “does not answer the central question: how the items ended up in the vehicle,” Hilarion said, denying “any involvement in the illegal possession or transportation of prohibited substances.”He was released May 26 after protests from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which called the detention a “deliberate, orchestrated provocation” and summoned a Czech diplomat in Moscow. The Russian Orthodox Church likewise defended him, saying the incident “looks like a classic farce” since drug smuggling is often used by “unscrupulous police officers around the world.”No charges have been brought, and Hilarion is free without restrictions while the investigation continues, according to a statement on his Telegram account. His team also called the arrest “a provocation,” claiming he had received anonymous death threats demanding he leave the country.Who is Hilarion?Metropolitan Hilarion, whose secular name is Grigory Alfeyev, headed the Moscow Patriarchateʼs Department for External Church Relations from 2009 to 2022, a role often described as the Russian Orthodox Churchʼs “foreign minister.” He was widely regarded as a close ally of Patriarch Kirill and a possible successor.In June 2022, he was removed from the post and appointed to the Budapest diocese, a move widely interpreted as a demotion. During Pope Francis' apostolic trip to Budapest in April 2023, the two held a private meeting at the apostolic nunciature.In July 2024, Hilarion was accused of sexual harassment by George Suzuki, a former personal attendant. Hilarion denied the allegations. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church subsequently declared “the inconsistency of the nature of his relations with his immediate environment and his life with the image of a monk and clergyman” and removed him from the Budapest diocese on Dec. 27, 2024. He has since been serving at the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary, a spa town in western Czech Republic.Rising tensions over the Russian Orthodox Church in Czech RepublicSergei Chapnin, a Russian church affairs scholar at Fordham University and former employee of the Moscow Patriarchate, offered two possible explanations for the incident. First, Hilarion may serve “as a high-level courier” who “moves sensitive documents and other items around Western Europe” since “Russian diplomats are closely monitored and constrained in their movements.” Second, Hilarion was operating “inside a very rough political and ecclesiastical game … over assets and influence” involving local Orthodox communities.The Church of Sts. Peter and Paul was recently registered under the Russian Orthodox Church in Hungary to prevent Czech authorities from freezing Russian assets. Patriarch Kirill, the churchʼs head, is personally listed on the Czech national sanctions list for his support of Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine.Concerns about the churchʼs role in Czech Republic have been escalating. The Czech security agencyʼs annual report said the Russian Orthodox Churchʼs local representatives are loyal to the Moscow leadership and their “support for the Russian official line is evident.”A study titled “Security Risks of the Orthodox Church,” published by the Czech Academy of Sciences in 2025, called for systematic monitoring of the Russian Orthodox Church in the country. The authors recommended investigating “activities with regard to the danger of money laundering, purposeful export of funds and property, smuggling of goods and people, passing information to the enemy, for example the Russian side, [and] influencing the opinions of Czech society through social networks.”The study also noted that the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary allegedly hosted meetings involving Russian military intelligence (GRU) officials.In a related case, a Prague court recently convicted former Orthodox abbess Taťána Hanhur for the unauthorized transfer of a monastery and property worth 73 million Czech crowns (approximately $3.2 million). The property had belonged to the autocephalous Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.

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Metropolitan Hilarion, once tipped as successor to Patriarch Kirill, was released without charges after Czech police found an unidentified substance in his vehicle.

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Students Build Moon Robots for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge – Katherine Rauscher, of Michigan Technological University, prepares her team’s prototype lunar robot for its turn during the finals for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge competition on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, inside the Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Forty-seven teams from around the U.S. designed and built remote-controlled robots capable of traversing challenging lunar terrain while constructing regolith-based berm under conditions similar to those the agency will face as it returns to the lunar surface through Artemis.
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Students Build Moon Robots for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge – Katherine Rauscher, of Michigan Technological University, prepares her team’s prototype lunar robot for its turn during the finals for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge competition on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, inside the Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Forty-seven teams from around the U.S. designed and built remote-controlled robots capable of traversing challenging lunar terrain while constructing regolith-based berm under conditions similar to those the agency will face as it returns to the lunar surface through Artemis.

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Katherine Rauscher, of Michigan Technological University, prepares her team’s prototype lunar robot for its turn during the finals for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge competition on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, inside the Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Forty-seven teams from around the U.S. designed and built remote-controlled robots capable of traversing challenging lunar terrain while constructing regolith-based berm under conditions similar to those the agency will face as it returns to the lunar surface through Artemis.

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Pope Leo unveils his encyclical: AI has ‘even greater consequences’ than Industrial Revolution #Catholic VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV on Monday personally attended the presentation of his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, in an uncustomary gesture. Upon his arrival at the event, held in the Vaticanʼs Synod Hall, he was greeted with sustained applause from an audience made up of members of the Roman Curia, representatives of academia, and the diplomatic corps.Among the speakers was Canadian Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, one of the leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies. The firm has recently had tensions with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump after prohibiting the U.S. Department of Defense from using its software for military purposes.Some observers had raised concerns about including a representative of a major tech company like Anthropic in an event of this kind. The Holy Father himself dispelled any hesitation by thanking Olah for his presence: “What a great sign of hope it is that with our differences we can listen to one another,” he said in his remarks.“This interchange clearly bespeaks the gravity of the moment, as well as confidence that together we can discern the major questions of our time, and so the future of humanity,” he added.In his remarks prior to the pope’s address, Olah echoed the same idea: "That is why, if we want this technology to go well, it is enormously important that there be people outside those incentives — people who care about things going well and insist on safety, who are paying close attention, who are willing to say hard things, who are willing to be our earnest, thoughtful, critics. It is through dialogue and mutual effort, through the push and pull, that humanity will achieve great things. That is what I see in Magnifica Humanitas, and it is why I am grateful to His Holiness and the Church for taking up this work of discernment.” Christopher Olah, co-founder of AI company Anthropic, says he is grateful to Pope Leo XIV and the Church for “taking up this work of discernment” on artificial intelligence, during his address at the presentation of the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas on May 25, 2026, in the Synod Hall of the Vatican. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News/Vatican Pool Olah, who is not a believer, also issued a call to various sectors — religious communities, civil society, academics, and governments — to follow the pope’s example with this document: “to take this seriously, to look closely, and to push events in a better direction. We need informed critics who will tell the labs when we are failing. We need moral voices that the incentives cannot bend.”It is no coincidence that Leo XIV signed his first encyclical on May 15, the same date on which his predecessor Leo XIII promulgated Rerum Novarum (“On New Things”) in 1891 in response to the dehumanization brought about by the Industrial Revolution. As the pope explained, the world today faces a transformation of perhaps even greater scope.“Today we find ourselves facing a transformation of similar magnitude, with perhaps even greater consequences. Artificial intelligence already touches many areas of our lives and affects decisions that shape human coexistence,” he said.The pope expressed particular concern about the impact of new technologies on the conduct of war, which, he warned, is changing dramatically.“Like the earlier Leo, I feel entrusted to look upon another huge transformation with eyes of faith, with lucidity of reason, with openness to mystery, and with cries of the poor and the earth resounding in my heart,” he said.The Holy Father also described the method behind the drafting of this magisterial document, which began in July 2025 at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo. In it, he seeks to reaffirm what makes us human in a society shaped by technology.He emphasized that Magnifica Humanitas was born from listening: “I have listened to scientists and engineers who work with sincere enthusiasm on technologies capable of alleviating immense suffering, to political leaders and public officials who have perseveringly sought just rules, to parents and teachers who are deeply concerned for the future of younger generations,” he said, without naming individuals.At the same time, he acknowledged hearing “Other very troubling voices have also reached me about increasingly autonomous weapons systems practically beyond any human reach to govern them effectively.”“I hear very troubling accounts of algorithms that can block access to healthcare, employment, and security on the basis of data tainted by prejudice and injustice. And Iʼve heard the silence of those who have no voice when decisions are made — decisions likely to generate new forms of exclusion and suffering,” he lamented.In line with the document — which states that artificial intelligence is not morally neutral — the pope called for AI to be “disarmed.”“The word is strong, I know, but deliberately chosen because this moment needs words capable of attracting attention, awakening consciences, and indicating paths forward for humanity,” he warned.“The Church has long been working for nuclear disarmament, aware that every great technical power can affect peopleʼs lives, and so must be accompanied by adequate moral discernment and public control. Nuclear disarmament remains a service to peace and the dignity of the human family,” he added.Also speaking at the presentation were three cardinals of the Roman Curia: Secretary of State Pietro Parolin; Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.Two theologians also took the floor: Anna Rowlands, a specialist in Catholic social teaching and migration ethics at Durham University, and Leocadie Lushombo, an expert in political theology and Catholic social thought at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in California.This story was originally published by ACI Prensa, EWTN News' Spanish-language news service. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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Pope Leo unveils his encyclical: AI has ‘even greater consequences’ than Industrial Revolution #Catholic VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV on Monday personally attended the presentation of his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, in an uncustomary gesture. Upon his arrival at the event, held in the Vaticanʼs Synod Hall, he was greeted with sustained applause from an audience made up of members of the Roman Curia, representatives of academia, and the diplomatic corps.Among the speakers was Canadian Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, one of the leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies. The firm has recently had tensions with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump after prohibiting the U.S. Department of Defense from using its software for military purposes.Some observers had raised concerns about including a representative of a major tech company like Anthropic in an event of this kind. The Holy Father himself dispelled any hesitation by thanking Olah for his presence: “What a great sign of hope it is that with our differences we can listen to one another,” he said in his remarks.“This interchange clearly bespeaks the gravity of the moment, as well as confidence that together we can discern the major questions of our time, and so the future of humanity,” he added.In his remarks prior to the pope’s address, Olah echoed the same idea: "That is why, if we want this technology to go well, it is enormously important that there be people outside those incentives — people who care about things going well and insist on safety, who are paying close attention, who are willing to say hard things, who are willing to be our earnest, thoughtful, critics. It is through dialogue and mutual effort, through the push and pull, that humanity will achieve great things. That is what I see in Magnifica Humanitas, and it is why I am grateful to His Holiness and the Church for taking up this work of discernment.” Christopher Olah, co-founder of AI company Anthropic, says he is grateful to Pope Leo XIV and the Church for “taking up this work of discernment” on artificial intelligence, during his address at the presentation of the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas on May 25, 2026, in the Synod Hall of the Vatican. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News/Vatican Pool Olah, who is not a believer, also issued a call to various sectors — religious communities, civil society, academics, and governments — to follow the pope’s example with this document: “to take this seriously, to look closely, and to push events in a better direction. We need informed critics who will tell the labs when we are failing. We need moral voices that the incentives cannot bend.”It is no coincidence that Leo XIV signed his first encyclical on May 15, the same date on which his predecessor Leo XIII promulgated Rerum Novarum (“On New Things”) in 1891 in response to the dehumanization brought about by the Industrial Revolution. As the pope explained, the world today faces a transformation of perhaps even greater scope.“Today we find ourselves facing a transformation of similar magnitude, with perhaps even greater consequences. Artificial intelligence already touches many areas of our lives and affects decisions that shape human coexistence,” he said.The pope expressed particular concern about the impact of new technologies on the conduct of war, which, he warned, is changing dramatically.“Like the earlier Leo, I feel entrusted to look upon another huge transformation with eyes of faith, with lucidity of reason, with openness to mystery, and with cries of the poor and the earth resounding in my heart,” he said.The Holy Father also described the method behind the drafting of this magisterial document, which began in July 2025 at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo. In it, he seeks to reaffirm what makes us human in a society shaped by technology.He emphasized that Magnifica Humanitas was born from listening: “I have listened to scientists and engineers who work with sincere enthusiasm on technologies capable of alleviating immense suffering, to political leaders and public officials who have perseveringly sought just rules, to parents and teachers who are deeply concerned for the future of younger generations,” he said, without naming individuals.At the same time, he acknowledged hearing “Other very troubling voices have also reached me about increasingly autonomous weapons systems practically beyond any human reach to govern them effectively.”“I hear very troubling accounts of algorithms that can block access to healthcare, employment, and security on the basis of data tainted by prejudice and injustice. And Iʼve heard the silence of those who have no voice when decisions are made — decisions likely to generate new forms of exclusion and suffering,” he lamented.In line with the document — which states that artificial intelligence is not morally neutral — the pope called for AI to be “disarmed.”“The word is strong, I know, but deliberately chosen because this moment needs words capable of attracting attention, awakening consciences, and indicating paths forward for humanity,” he warned.“The Church has long been working for nuclear disarmament, aware that every great technical power can affect peopleʼs lives, and so must be accompanied by adequate moral discernment and public control. Nuclear disarmament remains a service to peace and the dignity of the human family,” he added.Also speaking at the presentation were three cardinals of the Roman Curia: Secretary of State Pietro Parolin; Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.Two theologians also took the floor: Anna Rowlands, a specialist in Catholic social teaching and migration ethics at Durham University, and Leocadie Lushombo, an expert in political theology and Catholic social thought at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in California.This story was originally published by ACI Prensa, EWTN News' Spanish-language news service. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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The pope thanked Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah for his presence at the presentation: “What a great sign of hope it is that with our differences we can listen to one another.”

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Vatican warns that AI ‘deepfakes’ threaten the human experience #Catholic Cardinal Jose Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, on Thursday criticized AI deepfakes as a threat to human encounter.Speaking at a conference on AI in Rome on May 21, Mendonça warned of the dangers of AI, saying that it can “have painful consequences on the destiny of individuals.”“When a deepfake lends a personʼs face to words they have never spoken … it is the very grammar of the human encounter that is altered,” Mendonça said. “Technology that exploits our need for relationship … can not only have painful consequences on the destiny of individuals, but it can also damage the social, cultural, and political fabric of societies.”Preserving humanity in the age of AIComing a few days before of the release of Pope Leo XIVʼs Magnifica Humanitas, which will treat moral and social questions related to AI, the theme of the conference was “Preserving Human Voices and Faces.”Organized by the Dicastery for Communication and held at the Pontifical Urban University, the conference brought together professors, journalists, and engineers who offered insights into the risks AI poses to authentic human experiences.Mendonça, citing the popeʼs message for the 60th World Day of Social Communications, clarified that the goal “lies not in stopping digital innovation but in guiding it.”Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, added: “The greatest danger consists in passively accepting the idea that knowledge no longer belongs to us.”Magnifica Humanitas: Keeping the human at the centerSome of the conference panelists expressed their hopes for Leoʼs upcoming encyclical on AI.One of those was Bishop Paul Tighe, secretary of the Section of Culture of the Dicastery for Culture and Education. Speaking to EWTN News on the sidelines, Tighe gave his impressions about what the pope intends to contribute with this document.“I think the pope is doing two things: First, he will be offering perspectives that enable people to reflect and think critically about AI and its role in society. Second, he is initiating a dialogue,” Tighe told EWTN News. “He wants to create an environment where all the various people who have a part in the development of AI are attentive to keeping the human at the center.”
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Vatican warns that AI ‘deepfakes’ threaten the human experience #Catholic Cardinal Jose Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, on Thursday criticized AI deepfakes as a threat to human encounter.Speaking at a conference on AI in Rome on May 21, Mendonça warned of the dangers of AI, saying that it can “have painful consequences on the destiny of individuals.”“When a deepfake lends a personʼs face to words they have never spoken … it is the very grammar of the human encounter that is altered,” Mendonça said. “Technology that exploits our need for relationship … can not only have painful consequences on the destiny of individuals, but it can also damage the social, cultural, and political fabric of societies.”Preserving humanity in the age of AIComing a few days before of the release of Pope Leo XIVʼs Magnifica Humanitas, which will treat moral and social questions related to AI, the theme of the conference was “Preserving Human Voices and Faces.”Organized by the Dicastery for Communication and held at the Pontifical Urban University, the conference brought together professors, journalists, and engineers who offered insights into the risks AI poses to authentic human experiences.Mendonça, citing the popeʼs message for the 60th World Day of Social Communications, clarified that the goal “lies not in stopping digital innovation but in guiding it.”Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, added: “The greatest danger consists in passively accepting the idea that knowledge no longer belongs to us.”Magnifica Humanitas: Keeping the human at the centerSome of the conference panelists expressed their hopes for Leoʼs upcoming encyclical on AI.One of those was Bishop Paul Tighe, secretary of the Section of Culture of the Dicastery for Culture and Education. Speaking to EWTN News on the sidelines, Tighe gave his impressions about what the pope intends to contribute with this document.“I think the pope is doing two things: First, he will be offering perspectives that enable people to reflect and think critically about AI and its role in society. Second, he is initiating a dialogue,” Tighe told EWTN News. “He wants to create an environment where all the various people who have a part in the development of AI are attentive to keeping the human at the center.”

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A top Vatican official warned of the dangers of AI at a conference ahead of the pope’s upcoming encyclical.

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Archdiocese of Baltimore proposes nearly 0 million settlement for abuse victims #Catholic The Archdiocese of Baltimore is proposing nearly 0 million in compensation for abuse victims amid its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings there.A May 15 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court revealed that the archdiocese would contribute just under million to an abuse settlement for survivors, while “settling insurers” would pay a total of 5 million into the fund.The insurance amount represents a 25% increase from an earlier proposed contribution of 0 million.In a statement on the filing, the archdiocese said the overall plan “seeks to provide equitable compensation to survivors while sustaining the Church’s mission and ministries.”The proposal “reflects a commitment to transparency and a realistic assessment of available resources,” it said. The archdiocese noted that “no final agreement has yet been achieved.” The proposal would also establish a “Survivor Compensation Trust” to “evaluate claims and distribute compensation to survivors.”The archdiocese “will continue to listen, to learn, and to seek a resolution that honors the dignity of survivors and strengthens the mission of the Church for generations to come,” the statement said. In 2024 the Baltimore Archdiocese sued multiple insurers over what it claimed was a failure to pay abuse claims for which the insurers were contractually obligated.U.S. dioceses in recent years have frequently turned to insurers to help cover major abuse settlements, though insurers have at times challenged claims from dioceses on the grounds that their insurance policies did not cover instances of sex abuse. Marie Reilly, a professor of law at Penn State University and an expert in bankruptcy litigation, including Catholic diocesan bankruptcy proceedings, told EWTN News in 2025 that starting in the 1990s, insurance companies mostly changed how they cover sexual abuse.“Up until about the mid-’90s, a general liability policy used to include coverages for employee liability,” she said. “It would cover sex abuse claims against the diocese stemming from an employee’s abuse.”“After 1996, insurance policies issued under new revised standards just don’t provide that coverage anymore,” she said.
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Archdiocese of Baltimore proposes nearly $170 million settlement for abuse victims #Catholic The Archdiocese of Baltimore is proposing nearly $170 million in compensation for abuse victims amid its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings there.A May 15 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court revealed that the archdiocese would contribute just under $44 million to an abuse settlement for survivors, while “settling insurers” would pay a total of $125 million into the fund.The insurance amount represents a 25% increase from an earlier proposed contribution of $100 million.In a statement on the filing, the archdiocese said the overall plan “seeks to provide equitable compensation to survivors while sustaining the Church’s mission and ministries.”The proposal “reflects a commitment to transparency and a realistic assessment of available resources,” it said. The archdiocese noted that “no final agreement has yet been achieved.” The proposal would also establish a “Survivor Compensation Trust” to “evaluate claims and distribute compensation to survivors.”The archdiocese “will continue to listen, to learn, and to seek a resolution that honors the dignity of survivors and strengthens the mission of the Church for generations to come,” the statement said. In 2024 the Baltimore Archdiocese sued multiple insurers over what it claimed was a failure to pay abuse claims for which the insurers were contractually obligated.U.S. dioceses in recent years have frequently turned to insurers to help cover major abuse settlements, though insurers have at times challenged claims from dioceses on the grounds that their insurance policies did not cover instances of sex abuse. Marie Reilly, a professor of law at Penn State University and an expert in bankruptcy litigation, including Catholic diocesan bankruptcy proceedings, told EWTN News in 2025 that starting in the 1990s, insurance companies mostly changed how they cover sexual abuse.“Up until about the mid-’90s, a general liability policy used to include coverages for employee liability,” she said. “It would cover sex abuse claims against the diocese stemming from an employee’s abuse.”“After 1996, insurance policies issued under new revised standards just don’t provide that coverage anymore,” she said.

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The vast majority of the settlement would come from insurance contributions, according to a filing from the archdiocese.

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From Budapest to Princeton, Catholic scholars mobilize to reconnect faith and political life #Catholic Catholic political and social thought, one of the foundational intellectual traditions of Western civilization, is poised for renewal as a new international initiative seeks to bring it back into conversation with new generations and decision-makers of tomorrow.CatholicPOST, the Association for the Renewal of Catholic Political and Social Thought, was born from the conviction — shared by a group of European scholars during the COVID-19 lockdowns — that the health crisis had exposed not only the fragility of modern Western societies but also a deeper anthropological confusion threatening their social foundations.That vision took concrete form at the inaugural conference of the association, titled “The Renaissance of Catholic Social Teaching,” held March 9–10 at the Ludovika University of Public Service in Budapest and attended by international academics and Vatican and Hungarian Catholic Church officials.“COVID was a tragic moment in contemporary history, and it required thinking back again on the basics of social life,” Professor Ferenc Hörcher — a Hungarian professor of political philosophy, historian of ideas, and the association’s president — told EWTN News. “And that is something you can do best on the grounds of the Catholic tradition, pointing back to Aristotle and forward to the social teaching of the Church.”For Hörcher — also director of the Research Institute for Politics and Government at Ludovika — the timing has only gained relevance with the election of Pope Leo XIV, whose choice of name evokes Pope Leo XIII, author of the landmark 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, widely regarded as the founding text of modern Catholic social teaching.Neglected intellectual inheritanceOne of CatholicPOST’s most urgent tasks is to restore Catholic social doctrine to its rightful place in intellectual life and academic discussion — a place it has progressively lost over the past century.Secularization, according to the association’s founders, has pushed Catholic intellectual traditions to the margins of public discourse. Even conservative academic circles, in their view, have often drawn more from Anglo-Saxon traditions with Protestant roots than from Catholic social thought.“Catholicism finds itself in the second row,” Hörcher said, “despite the fact that our modern and postmodern civilization is essentially built on it.”The association presents itself as a scholarly, nonpartisan platform, open not only to Catholics but also to thinkers willing to engage seriously with the tradition.“The Church cannot enter directly into political debate — that is not its mission,” Hörcher said. “But we, as Catholic intellectuals and practitioners in our own professions, can take that on.”Deeper stakesThe initiative of the group, consisting of, among others, American, Swedish, Maltese, and Hungarian scholars, emerges at a moment of mounting polarization across Western societies, as clashes over gender identity, family, bioethics, and the very understanding of the human person grow increasingly confrontational — and, at times, violent.For Hörcher, this is precisely why a recovery of serious Catholic political and social thought matters. CatholicPOST, he said, aims to reconnect contemporary debates with an intellectual tradition capable of addressing questions of philosophical anthropology that go far beyond basic politics.That ambition also helps explain the caliber of thinkers already orbiting the initiative, from French political philosopher Pierre Manent, a leading contemporary thinker on natural law and the moral foundations of political life, to scholars at the University of Notre Dame, home to the natural law tradition developed by John Finnis, and Princeton’s James Madison Program, led by natural law theorist Robert George — a circle Hörcher is set to join for a year as a visiting scholar to Princeton’s Department of Politics.The initiative has also attracted attention in Rome. In his keynote speech at the Budapest conference, Father Avelino Chico, head of office at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, presented Catholic social teaching as a living intellectual tradition still evolving in response to the “new things” of each age — from industrial modernity in the time of Rerum Novarum to contemporary social challenges such as artificial intelligence, migration, ecological crisis, and widening inequality.Chico portrayed Pope Leo XIV as continuing that trajectory, seeking to integrate the legacy of Leo XIII and Pope Francis through the lens of integral human development — an approach that takes seriously not only economic realities but also the spiritual, cultural, and political dimensions of human life.Supporting new generationsThe association is already planning a second conference in Kraków, a deliberate choice honoring Poland’s enduring Catholic intellectual tradition and the legacy of St. John Paul II.Registration in the U.S. is also underway, as CatholicPOST has roots in American educational institutions like Christendom College, as a result of its aim to strengthen its international footprint and deepen transatlantic academic ties.For Hörcher, however, the deeper hope is not merely institutional growth but helping provide intellectual substance to what he sees as a broader spiritual movement among younger Westerners rediscovering Christianity. “We hope to give munition,” he said, “intellectual support for those young people.”He sees CatholicPOST as part of a recurring pattern in Catholic history. “Each century brought a revival of Catholic political thought,” he said, citing the neo-scholastic revival of 16th- to 17th-century Spain, the Holy Alliance of the post-Napoleonic Age, the social teaching inaugurated by Leo XIII, and the contribution of Catholic thinkers such as Jacques Maritain to the postwar rise of the human rights framework.“These historical precedents help us envision what a new renaissance might look like — and why it is needed now."
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From Budapest to Princeton, Catholic scholars mobilize to reconnect faith and political life #Catholic Catholic political and social thought, one of the foundational intellectual traditions of Western civilization, is poised for renewal as a new international initiative seeks to bring it back into conversation with new generations and decision-makers of tomorrow.CatholicPOST, the Association for the Renewal of Catholic Political and Social Thought, was born from the conviction — shared by a group of European scholars during the COVID-19 lockdowns — that the health crisis had exposed not only the fragility of modern Western societies but also a deeper anthropological confusion threatening their social foundations.That vision took concrete form at the inaugural conference of the association, titled “The Renaissance of Catholic Social Teaching,” held March 9–10 at the Ludovika University of Public Service in Budapest and attended by international academics and Vatican and Hungarian Catholic Church officials.“COVID was a tragic moment in contemporary history, and it required thinking back again on the basics of social life,” Professor Ferenc Hörcher — a Hungarian professor of political philosophy, historian of ideas, and the association’s president — told EWTN News. “And that is something you can do best on the grounds of the Catholic tradition, pointing back to Aristotle and forward to the social teaching of the Church.”For Hörcher — also director of the Research Institute for Politics and Government at Ludovika — the timing has only gained relevance with the election of Pope Leo XIV, whose choice of name evokes Pope Leo XIII, author of the landmark 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, widely regarded as the founding text of modern Catholic social teaching.Neglected intellectual inheritanceOne of CatholicPOST’s most urgent tasks is to restore Catholic social doctrine to its rightful place in intellectual life and academic discussion — a place it has progressively lost over the past century.Secularization, according to the association’s founders, has pushed Catholic intellectual traditions to the margins of public discourse. Even conservative academic circles, in their view, have often drawn more from Anglo-Saxon traditions with Protestant roots than from Catholic social thought.“Catholicism finds itself in the second row,” Hörcher said, “despite the fact that our modern and postmodern civilization is essentially built on it.”The association presents itself as a scholarly, nonpartisan platform, open not only to Catholics but also to thinkers willing to engage seriously with the tradition.“The Church cannot enter directly into political debate — that is not its mission,” Hörcher said. “But we, as Catholic intellectuals and practitioners in our own professions, can take that on.”Deeper stakesThe initiative of the group, consisting of, among others, American, Swedish, Maltese, and Hungarian scholars, emerges at a moment of mounting polarization across Western societies, as clashes over gender identity, family, bioethics, and the very understanding of the human person grow increasingly confrontational — and, at times, violent.For Hörcher, this is precisely why a recovery of serious Catholic political and social thought matters. CatholicPOST, he said, aims to reconnect contemporary debates with an intellectual tradition capable of addressing questions of philosophical anthropology that go far beyond basic politics.That ambition also helps explain the caliber of thinkers already orbiting the initiative, from French political philosopher Pierre Manent, a leading contemporary thinker on natural law and the moral foundations of political life, to scholars at the University of Notre Dame, home to the natural law tradition developed by John Finnis, and Princeton’s James Madison Program, led by natural law theorist Robert George — a circle Hörcher is set to join for a year as a visiting scholar to Princeton’s Department of Politics.The initiative has also attracted attention in Rome. In his keynote speech at the Budapest conference, Father Avelino Chico, head of office at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, presented Catholic social teaching as a living intellectual tradition still evolving in response to the “new things” of each age — from industrial modernity in the time of Rerum Novarum to contemporary social challenges such as artificial intelligence, migration, ecological crisis, and widening inequality.Chico portrayed Pope Leo XIV as continuing that trajectory, seeking to integrate the legacy of Leo XIII and Pope Francis through the lens of integral human development — an approach that takes seriously not only economic realities but also the spiritual, cultural, and political dimensions of human life.Supporting new generationsThe association is already planning a second conference in Kraków, a deliberate choice honoring Poland’s enduring Catholic intellectual tradition and the legacy of St. John Paul II.Registration in the U.S. is also underway, as CatholicPOST has roots in American educational institutions like Christendom College, as a result of its aim to strengthen its international footprint and deepen transatlantic academic ties.For Hörcher, however, the deeper hope is not merely institutional growth but helping provide intellectual substance to what he sees as a broader spiritual movement among younger Westerners rediscovering Christianity. “We hope to give munition,” he said, “intellectual support for those young people.”He sees CatholicPOST as part of a recurring pattern in Catholic history. “Each century brought a revival of Catholic political thought,” he said, citing the neo-scholastic revival of 16th- to 17th-century Spain, the Holy Alliance of the post-Napoleonic Age, the social teaching inaugurated by Leo XIII, and the contribution of Catholic thinkers such as Jacques Maritain to the postwar rise of the human rights framework.“These historical precedents help us envision what a new renaissance might look like — and why it is needed now."

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CatholicPOST seeks to restore Catholic social doctrine to its rightful place in intellectual life and academic discussion.

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Pope Leo XIV: AI communication must preserve ‘human voices and faces’ #Catholic VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged Catholics and communicators to promote forms of communication that respect the truth of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence, while also calling for renewed care for creation and peace as Laudato Si’ Week begins.Speaking after praying the Regina Caeli May 17 from the window of the Apostolic Palace, the pope noted that many countries were marking World Communications Day, whose theme this year, he said, is “Preserving Human Voices and Faces.”“In this era of artificial intelligence, I encourage everyone to commit themselves to promoting forms of communication that always respect the truth of the human person, on which every technological innovation should be focused,” Pope Leo XIV said.The appeal comes as the Vatican is preparing for the pope’s first encyclical, expected to treat extensively the ethical and social questions raised by artificial intelligence through the lens of Catholic social teaching.The pope also marked the start of Laudato Si’ Week, which runs through next Sunday and is dedicated to the care of creation, inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical.“In this jubilee year of Saint Francis of Assisi, we recall his message of peace with God, with our brothers and sisters, and with all creatures,” he said. “Sadly, in recent years, due to wars, progress in this direction has been greatly impeded.”Pope Leo encouraged the members of the Laudato Si’ Movement and all those who promote an “integral ecology” to renew their commitment, adding: “Indeed, caring for peace is caring for life!”In his catechesis before the Marian prayer, the pope reflected on the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, celebrated Sunday in many countries.The image of Jesus “lifted up from the earth and ascending toward heaven,” he said, may make the mystery seem like “a distant event from long ago.”“Yet this is not so, for we are united to Jesus as the members of one body united to the head,” Pope Leo said. “By ascending into heaven, then, he draws us with him toward full communion with the Father.”Quoting St. Augustine, the pope said that “the head’s advance is the hope of the members.”Christ’s whole life, he continued, is “a movement of ascent,” through which he embraces the world, redeems humanity from sin, and brings “light, forgiveness and hope where previously there was darkness, injustice and desperation.”“The Ascension, therefore, does not speak to us of a distant promise, but of a living bond, which draws us also toward heavenly glory, already elevating and expanding our horizon in this life and directing our way of thinking, feeling and acting more closely to the measure of God’s heart,” he said.The pope said this path of ascent is found in Christ’s life, example, and teaching, and is also marked out by the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints.He also recalled Pope Francis’ teaching on the saints “next door” — ordinary fathers, mothers, grandparents, and people of every age and condition who “with joy and commitment, make the effort to live sincerely according to the Gospel.”“With them, with their support and thanks to their prayer, we too can learn to ascend day by day toward heaven,” Pope Leo said.The pope urged Christians, with God’s help, to put into practice all that they have “heard and seen,” so that the divine life received in baptism may grow and “spread the precious fruits of communion and peace in the world.”“May Mary, the Queen of Heaven, who illuminates and guides us in every moment, support us on our path,” he said.At the end of the Regina Caeli, the pope greeted pilgrims from Rome and abroad, including marching bands from Germany, the “Sant’Antonu di u Monti” Confraternity from Ajaccio, students from the University of Montana, young people from Oppido Mamertina, youth leaders from Lorenzaga in the Diocese of Concordia-Pordenone, and confirmation candidates from the Archdiocese of Genoa.This story was first published in two parts by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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Pope Leo XIV: AI communication must preserve ‘human voices and faces’ #Catholic VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged Catholics and communicators to promote forms of communication that respect the truth of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence, while also calling for renewed care for creation and peace as Laudato Si’ Week begins.Speaking after praying the Regina Caeli May 17 from the window of the Apostolic Palace, the pope noted that many countries were marking World Communications Day, whose theme this year, he said, is “Preserving Human Voices and Faces.”“In this era of artificial intelligence, I encourage everyone to commit themselves to promoting forms of communication that always respect the truth of the human person, on which every technological innovation should be focused,” Pope Leo XIV said.The appeal comes as the Vatican is preparing for the pope’s first encyclical, expected to treat extensively the ethical and social questions raised by artificial intelligence through the lens of Catholic social teaching.The pope also marked the start of Laudato Si’ Week, which runs through next Sunday and is dedicated to the care of creation, inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical.“In this jubilee year of Saint Francis of Assisi, we recall his message of peace with God, with our brothers and sisters, and with all creatures,” he said. “Sadly, in recent years, due to wars, progress in this direction has been greatly impeded.”Pope Leo encouraged the members of the Laudato Si’ Movement and all those who promote an “integral ecology” to renew their commitment, adding: “Indeed, caring for peace is caring for life!”In his catechesis before the Marian prayer, the pope reflected on the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, celebrated Sunday in many countries.The image of Jesus “lifted up from the earth and ascending toward heaven,” he said, may make the mystery seem like “a distant event from long ago.”“Yet this is not so, for we are united to Jesus as the members of one body united to the head,” Pope Leo said. “By ascending into heaven, then, he draws us with him toward full communion with the Father.”Quoting St. Augustine, the pope said that “the head’s advance is the hope of the members.”Christ’s whole life, he continued, is “a movement of ascent,” through which he embraces the world, redeems humanity from sin, and brings “light, forgiveness and hope where previously there was darkness, injustice and desperation.”“The Ascension, therefore, does not speak to us of a distant promise, but of a living bond, which draws us also toward heavenly glory, already elevating and expanding our horizon in this life and directing our way of thinking, feeling and acting more closely to the measure of God’s heart,” he said.The pope said this path of ascent is found in Christ’s life, example, and teaching, and is also marked out by the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints.He also recalled Pope Francis’ teaching on the saints “next door” — ordinary fathers, mothers, grandparents, and people of every age and condition who “with joy and commitment, make the effort to live sincerely according to the Gospel.”“With them, with their support and thanks to their prayer, we too can learn to ascend day by day toward heaven,” Pope Leo said.The pope urged Christians, with God’s help, to put into practice all that they have “heard and seen,” so that the divine life received in baptism may grow and “spread the precious fruits of communion and peace in the world.”“May Mary, the Queen of Heaven, who illuminates and guides us in every moment, support us on our path,” he said.At the end of the Regina Caeli, the pope greeted pilgrims from Rome and abroad, including marching bands from Germany, the “Sant’Antonu di u Monti” Confraternity from Ajaccio, students from the University of Montana, young people from Oppido Mamertina, youth leaders from Lorenzaga in the Diocese of Concordia-Pordenone, and confirmation candidates from the Archdiocese of Genoa.This story was first published in two parts by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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The pontiff marked World Communications Day by urging technology to remain centered on human dignity.

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Newman Guide schools honor Catholic leaders at 2026 commencements #Catholic Here are some of the distinguished individuals receiving honorary degrees at many of the Catholic institutions the Cardinal Newman Society recommends for their commitment to a faithful Catholic education. The Catholic University of AmericaThe Catholic University of America (CUA) will confer honorary degrees on three “notable individuals” at its May 16 commencement ceremony, including Lisa Brenninkmeyer, Dr. John Bruchalski, and Iqbal Z. Quadir.Brenninkmeyer is the founder and CEO of Walking with Purpose, a Catholic Bible study group for women and girls, while Bruchalski is the founder of Tepeyac OB-GYN and Quadir is a distinguished fellow at the CUA’s Busch School of Business “who has pioneered technology-based and for-profit entrepreneurship for the economic empowerment of low-income people,” according to a press release from the university.Monsignor James Patrick Shea, president of the University of Mary, will serve as commencement speaker.Thomas More College of Liberal ArtsThomas More College of Liberal Arts in New Hampshire will award former Wyoming Catholic College President Glenn Arbery, PhD, and his wife, Virginia, with honorary doctorates at its commencement ceremony May 16.“Thomas More College is glad to have old friends and teachers — Glenn and Virginia Arbery — returning,” Thomas More College President William Fahey said. “A community is healthy when it remembers and honors important moments and people of its history. The Arberys are well known and influential teachers and scholars at several institutions of higher learning, but our college was profoundly shaped and ennobled by their learning and generous hearts. We are glad to have them return for this most solemn and joyful of occasions.”University of MaryCatholic businessman and lawyer Timothy Busch received an honorary degree from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, in addition to delivering the commencement address during the university’s April 25 commencement.The university also honored Dan Butler, chairman of the board of trustees at the University of Mary, as well as his wife, Heather Butler, who co-chaired the university’s 2030 Capital Campaign with U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-North Dakota, raising over 0 million for the university’s advancement, according to the university.Franciscan University of SteubenvilleBusch also served as commencement speaker for graduates of science and professional programs at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, and received an honorary doctorate in humane letters during its May 9 commencement.Busch’s NAPA Institute co-founder, Father Robert Spitzer, SJ, also delivered a commencement address for graduates from the arts, humanities, and social scientists at the university. Spitzer received an honorary doctorate in catechetics and evangelization.University of DallasIn addition to delivering the school’s commencement address, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop emeritus of New York, will receive an honorary degree of doctor of humane letters from the University of Dallas.“Cardinal Dolan is one of the Church’s most joyful and widely respected shepherds, and we are honored to welcome him to the University of Dallas,” said President Jonathan J. Sanford said in a press release. The university’s commencement ceremony will take place May 16.Benedictine CollegePeter Cancro, the founder and chairman of the popular sandwich chain Jersey Mike’s, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters at Benedictine College’s May 16 commencement.Cancro, who is renowned for his charitable contributions to faith-based organizations, including a million gift to Ave Maria School of Law, will also deliver the commencement address.Ave Maria UniversityFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis received an honorary degree from Ave Maria University during its May 9 commencement ceremony. “The faith does not depend on what is fashionable or who holds power. It is, in fact, the truth that ultimately will set you free,” DeSantis said during his speech, urging Ave Maria’s class of 2026 to put on “the full armor of God” as they go out into the world.Walsh UniversityEWTN “Real Life Catholic” host Chris Stefanick received an honorary doctorate of applied theology at Walsh University’s May 2 commencement ceremonies.“Your formation as men and women of character is the primary end of Catholic education,” Stefanik told graduates during his speech at the Ohio Catholic school. “The secondary end is the formation of useful citizens. Your greatest achievement will forever be marked not by what you do, but by what you do for others.” Walsh University also conferred an honorary doctorate of applied engineering upon Michael White, former principal director for hypersonics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
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Newman Guide schools honor Catholic leaders at 2026 commencements #Catholic Here are some of the distinguished individuals receiving honorary degrees at many of the Catholic institutions the Cardinal Newman Society recommends for their commitment to a faithful Catholic education. The Catholic University of AmericaThe Catholic University of America (CUA) will confer honorary degrees on three “notable individuals” at its May 16 commencement ceremony, including Lisa Brenninkmeyer, Dr. John Bruchalski, and Iqbal Z. Quadir.Brenninkmeyer is the founder and CEO of Walking with Purpose, a Catholic Bible study group for women and girls, while Bruchalski is the founder of Tepeyac OB-GYN and Quadir is a distinguished fellow at the CUA’s Busch School of Business “who has pioneered technology-based and for-profit entrepreneurship for the economic empowerment of low-income people,” according to a press release from the university.Monsignor James Patrick Shea, president of the University of Mary, will serve as commencement speaker.Thomas More College of Liberal ArtsThomas More College of Liberal Arts in New Hampshire will award former Wyoming Catholic College President Glenn Arbery, PhD, and his wife, Virginia, with honorary doctorates at its commencement ceremony May 16.“Thomas More College is glad to have old friends and teachers — Glenn and Virginia Arbery — returning,” Thomas More College President William Fahey said. “A community is healthy when it remembers and honors important moments and people of its history. The Arberys are well known and influential teachers and scholars at several institutions of higher learning, but our college was profoundly shaped and ennobled by their learning and generous hearts. We are glad to have them return for this most solemn and joyful of occasions.”University of MaryCatholic businessman and lawyer Timothy Busch received an honorary degree from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, in addition to delivering the commencement address during the university’s April 25 commencement.The university also honored Dan Butler, chairman of the board of trustees at the University of Mary, as well as his wife, Heather Butler, who co-chaired the university’s 2030 Capital Campaign with U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-North Dakota, raising over $100 million for the university’s advancement, according to the university.Franciscan University of SteubenvilleBusch also served as commencement speaker for graduates of science and professional programs at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, and received an honorary doctorate in humane letters during its May 9 commencement.Busch’s NAPA Institute co-founder, Father Robert Spitzer, SJ, also delivered a commencement address for graduates from the arts, humanities, and social scientists at the university. Spitzer received an honorary doctorate in catechetics and evangelization.University of DallasIn addition to delivering the school’s commencement address, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop emeritus of New York, will receive an honorary degree of doctor of humane letters from the University of Dallas.“Cardinal Dolan is one of the Church’s most joyful and widely respected shepherds, and we are honored to welcome him to the University of Dallas,” said President Jonathan J. Sanford said in a press release. The university’s commencement ceremony will take place May 16.Benedictine CollegePeter Cancro, the founder and chairman of the popular sandwich chain Jersey Mike’s, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters at Benedictine College’s May 16 commencement.Cancro, who is renowned for his charitable contributions to faith-based organizations, including a $5 million gift to Ave Maria School of Law, will also deliver the commencement address.Ave Maria UniversityFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis received an honorary degree from Ave Maria University during its May 9 commencement ceremony. “The faith does not depend on what is fashionable or who holds power. It is, in fact, the truth that ultimately will set you free,” DeSantis said during his speech, urging Ave Maria’s class of 2026 to put on “the full armor of God” as they go out into the world.Walsh UniversityEWTN “Real Life Catholic” host Chris Stefanick received an honorary doctorate of applied theology at Walsh University’s May 2 commencement ceremonies.“Your formation as men and women of character is the primary end of Catholic education,” Stefanik told graduates during his speech at the Ohio Catholic school. “The secondary end is the formation of useful citizens. Your greatest achievement will forever be marked not by what you do, but by what you do for others.” Walsh University also conferred an honorary doctorate of applied engineering upon Michael White, former principal director for hypersonics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.

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With graduation season underway, here is a roundup of individuals who will receive honorary degrees from Catholic colleges at commencement ceremonies across the country.

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After stillbirth loss, mother of 7 returns to school to help others heal #Catholic After experiencing an unimaginable loss, Kelly Helsel felt called to begin a new chapter. Following 17 years as a stay-at-home mother, she returned to school to pursue her dream of becoming a counselor — hoping to offer others the same compassionate support and Catholic guidance that helped bring healing to her own life.In 2023 Helsel’s daughter, Mary Catherine, was stillborn. The experience and grief was ultimately “a huge catalyst to me going back to school,” Helsel told EWTN News.“I think death has an interesting way of snapping your priorities in line,” she said. “And through the death of our daughter, I understood that tomorrow was not promised. And I had been holding this dream very closely for 17 years, just trusting,” she said.“Much of my healing process after the stillbirth of our daughter was helped along by solid Catholic counseling,” she said. “So I just felt a whisper at first, and then I felt like, ‘I can turn around and be this for someone else in need.’ And so I did.”Path back to schoolA native of Arizona, Helsel met her now-husband, Doug, in high school. She then attended Northern Arizona University to receive a bachelorʼs degree in psychology with the hopes of becoming a counselor, but motherhood ultimately became her first priority.“My firstborn … was born during finals week of my bachelorʼs degree,” Helsel said. “I actually had a positive pregnancy test the day before I was scheduled to take the GRE [Graduate Record Examination].”“I just knew that motherhood was the priority and that Godʼs timing would take care of things. So I stayed at home,” she said.Helsel decided to put her plans of working as a counselor on the side and focus on her growing family. She and her husband had seven children over the next 17 years, but after the loss of their sixth child she felt called to switch her plans and return to school. “We just started taking one step in front of the other,” she said. Helsel started by applying to the University of Mary’s master’s program for counseling about six months after her daughter’s passing but was thrown an unexpected “curveball” during the process.“On the feast of the Annunciation, I got in. But then I also had a positive pregnancy test with my daughter, Isabel, on the very same day.”“I remember standing in the bathroom with my husband with my phone in one hand with an acceptance letter, and on the counter was a positive pregnancy test with our seventh baby.”Motherhood provided ‘the skills to be a fantastic student’Despite navigating grief, welcoming a new baby, and continuing to care for the rest of her family, Helsel not only decided to return to school but also opted for a five-semester accelerated program.She graduated on April 25 with a 4.0 GPA and her whole family by her side. It was all possible not in spite of her 17 years as a stay-at-home mom but because of the experience. Kelly Helsel, her husband Doug Helsel, and their children at her graduation a the University of Mary on April 25, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Kelly Helsel “I actually think that motherhood, 17 years of motherhood, gave me the skills to be a fantastic student,” she said. “I learned time management. I learned prioritization. I learned how to ask for help. I learned all kinds of things in the trenches of motherhood that gave me the opportunity to really thrive at UMary.” “I guess the loss of my daughter really showed me that like all things are ‘figure-out-able,’” she said. “When youʼve gone through something like that, it makes you unafraid to do really big things.”“I knew that I could just cannonball into the deep end and we could do this. And my husband was an amazing support throughout the program. But, Isabel was the curveball of all curveballs,” she said.“She was born during Christmas break and I just jumped back in in January. I didnʼt take any time off,” she said. "I would be in a rocking chair breastfeeding her, and my laptop is sitting next to me and Iʼm listening to a lecture.”“I became a pro at using the dictation tool on Microsoft Word” so “I could hold my baby and dictate a paper,” she said. “It was just a really wild time. I learned to be extremely flexible and gentle with myself ... But I just knew God was like, ‘go, go right now.’”“It was super bumpy at some points,“ she said. ”But I chose the University of Mary because I feel like [University of Mary president] Monsignor [James] Shea and the university really put their money where their mouth is in terms of supporting nontraditional students — especially mothers.”“All of my professors were extremely accommodating with extensions if I needed one. A few professors gave me early finals because Isabel was born right at the end of that first semester,” she said. “So the University of Mary was really crucial to my success because everyone was behind me.” Helsel noted that her professors, especially counseling professor Olivia Wedel, and other facility members and students were champions in cheering her “all the way to the finish line.”Waddell “would always remind me that ‘Iʼm surrounded by support,’” Helsel said. “When youʼre super tired and youʼre on your fourth Crock-Pot meal of the week and you donʼt have anymore bandwidth left, I just thought, ‘I am surrounded by support.’”“Jesus is real and his promises are too,” Helsel said. “I just remember really having to trust the Lord in a new way and also having to be very open to my dream not looking exactly like I wanted.”“So yes, I went back to school and I got a masterʼs degree, but it looked absolutely nothing like I thought it was going to, but it was also better, just like he had promised me.”“Your dreams matter to him,“ she said. ”Trust him, and especially Our Lady, with your dreams. Because he wants both. He wants your motherhood and your dreams.”Catholic counseling offers ‘the keys to real human flourishing’Officially a licensed counselor, Helsel is ready to jump in headfirst to help others in need by utilizing the guidance offered by the Catholic Church.“I believe very deeply that the Catholic Church has the keys to real human flourishing,” she said. “So I knew I wanted to become a mental health professional with those guardrails in place, because I benefited so much from Catholic counseling.”“I want to turn back around and help the next woman or couple or … anyone in line that needs to hear the good news, coupled with solid mental health formation. Like St. Thomas Aquinas says, ‘faith and reason.’ We need both.”With her “perinatal mental health training,” Helsel hopes to primarily work in the womenʼs health category “to support other women, pregnant women, postpartum women,” she said. “And obviously I have a love for people who may have lost a child in a particular way.”Helsel is interested in helping those discerning vocations, as her oldest son plans to apply to the priesthood. She is also hoping to support the vocation of marriage as it is “under a particular attack at this time.”To accomplish all of this, Helsel has already started her own private practice called Concordia Counseling.“I chose Concordia because Mary Catherine had a congenital heart condition,” she said. “Concordia means heart to heart or to bring two hearts into harmony. I wanted to honor my baby in heaven and Our Lord with my work. And so I started Concordia Counseling.”“Iʼm just getting it started. I have a caseload of about 10 clients, but Iʼm hoping to accept more,“ Helsel said. ”I know that the work I want to do most of all involves not just mental health but the teachings of the Catholic Church.”“I just think the framework needs to be formed properly, and that is the Catholic understanding of the whole person. And from there we can jump off anywhere,” she said.
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After stillbirth loss, mother of 7 returns to school to help others heal #Catholic After experiencing an unimaginable loss, Kelly Helsel felt called to begin a new chapter. Following 17 years as a stay-at-home mother, she returned to school to pursue her dream of becoming a counselor — hoping to offer others the same compassionate support and Catholic guidance that helped bring healing to her own life.In 2023 Helsel’s daughter, Mary Catherine, was stillborn. The experience and grief was ultimately “a huge catalyst to me going back to school,” Helsel told EWTN News.“I think death has an interesting way of snapping your priorities in line,” she said. “And through the death of our daughter, I understood that tomorrow was not promised. And I had been holding this dream very closely for 17 years, just trusting,” she said.“Much of my healing process after the stillbirth of our daughter was helped along by solid Catholic counseling,” she said. “So I just felt a whisper at first, and then I felt like, ‘I can turn around and be this for someone else in need.’ And so I did.”Path back to schoolA native of Arizona, Helsel met her now-husband, Doug, in high school. She then attended Northern Arizona University to receive a bachelorʼs degree in psychology with the hopes of becoming a counselor, but motherhood ultimately became her first priority.“My firstborn … was born during finals week of my bachelorʼs degree,” Helsel said. “I actually had a positive pregnancy test the day before I was scheduled to take the GRE [Graduate Record Examination].”“I just knew that motherhood was the priority and that Godʼs timing would take care of things. So I stayed at home,” she said.Helsel decided to put her plans of working as a counselor on the side and focus on her growing family. She and her husband had seven children over the next 17 years, but after the loss of their sixth child she felt called to switch her plans and return to school. “We just started taking one step in front of the other,” she said. Helsel started by applying to the University of Mary’s master’s program for counseling about six months after her daughter’s passing but was thrown an unexpected “curveball” during the process.“On the feast of the Annunciation, I got in. But then I also had a positive pregnancy test with my daughter, Isabel, on the very same day.”“I remember standing in the bathroom with my husband with my phone in one hand with an acceptance letter, and on the counter was a positive pregnancy test with our seventh baby.”Motherhood provided ‘the skills to be a fantastic student’Despite navigating grief, welcoming a new baby, and continuing to care for the rest of her family, Helsel not only decided to return to school but also opted for a five-semester accelerated program.She graduated on April 25 with a 4.0 GPA and her whole family by her side. It was all possible not in spite of her 17 years as a stay-at-home mom but because of the experience. Kelly Helsel, her husband Doug Helsel, and their children at her graduation a the University of Mary on April 25, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Kelly Helsel “I actually think that motherhood, 17 years of motherhood, gave me the skills to be a fantastic student,” she said. “I learned time management. I learned prioritization. I learned how to ask for help. I learned all kinds of things in the trenches of motherhood that gave me the opportunity to really thrive at UMary.” “I guess the loss of my daughter really showed me that like all things are ‘figure-out-able,’” she said. “When youʼve gone through something like that, it makes you unafraid to do really big things.”“I knew that I could just cannonball into the deep end and we could do this. And my husband was an amazing support throughout the program. But, Isabel was the curveball of all curveballs,” she said.“She was born during Christmas break and I just jumped back in in January. I didnʼt take any time off,” she said. "I would be in a rocking chair breastfeeding her, and my laptop is sitting next to me and Iʼm listening to a lecture.”“I became a pro at using the dictation tool on Microsoft Word” so “I could hold my baby and dictate a paper,” she said. “It was just a really wild time. I learned to be extremely flexible and gentle with myself … But I just knew God was like, ‘go, go right now.’”“It was super bumpy at some points,“ she said. ”But I chose the University of Mary because I feel like [University of Mary president] Monsignor [James] Shea and the university really put their money where their mouth is in terms of supporting nontraditional students — especially mothers.”“All of my professors were extremely accommodating with extensions if I needed one. A few professors gave me early finals because Isabel was born right at the end of that first semester,” she said. “So the University of Mary was really crucial to my success because everyone was behind me.” Helsel noted that her professors, especially counseling professor Olivia Wedel, and other facility members and students were champions in cheering her “all the way to the finish line.”Waddell “would always remind me that ‘Iʼm surrounded by support,’” Helsel said. “When youʼre super tired and youʼre on your fourth Crock-Pot meal of the week and you donʼt have anymore bandwidth left, I just thought, ‘I am surrounded by support.’”“Jesus is real and his promises are too,” Helsel said. “I just remember really having to trust the Lord in a new way and also having to be very open to my dream not looking exactly like I wanted.”“So yes, I went back to school and I got a masterʼs degree, but it looked absolutely nothing like I thought it was going to, but it was also better, just like he had promised me.”“Your dreams matter to him,“ she said. ”Trust him, and especially Our Lady, with your dreams. Because he wants both. He wants your motherhood and your dreams.”Catholic counseling offers ‘the keys to real human flourishing’Officially a licensed counselor, Helsel is ready to jump in headfirst to help others in need by utilizing the guidance offered by the Catholic Church.“I believe very deeply that the Catholic Church has the keys to real human flourishing,” she said. “So I knew I wanted to become a mental health professional with those guardrails in place, because I benefited so much from Catholic counseling.”“I want to turn back around and help the next woman or couple or … anyone in line that needs to hear the good news, coupled with solid mental health formation. Like St. Thomas Aquinas says, ‘faith and reason.’ We need both.”With her “perinatal mental health training,” Helsel hopes to primarily work in the womenʼs health category “to support other women, pregnant women, postpartum women,” she said. “And obviously I have a love for people who may have lost a child in a particular way.”Helsel is interested in helping those discerning vocations, as her oldest son plans to apply to the priesthood. She is also hoping to support the vocation of marriage as it is “under a particular attack at this time.”To accomplish all of this, Helsel has already started her own private practice called Concordia Counseling.“I chose Concordia because Mary Catherine had a congenital heart condition,” she said. “Concordia means heart to heart or to bring two hearts into harmony. I wanted to honor my baby in heaven and Our Lord with my work. And so I started Concordia Counseling.”“Iʼm just getting it started. I have a caseload of about 10 clients, but Iʼm hoping to accept more,“ Helsel said. ”I know that the work I want to do most of all involves not just mental health but the teachings of the Catholic Church.”“I just think the framework needs to be formed properly, and that is the Catholic understanding of the whole person. And from there we can jump off anywhere,” she said.

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After navigating loss and grief, Kelly Helsel is officially now a licensed counselor thanks to the guidance given to her by the Catholic Church and her desire to use her experience to help others.

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Catholics weigh in as Supreme Court faces deadline on telemedicine abortion ruling #Catholic The U.S. Supreme Court’s stay on the 5th Circuit’s ruling restricting access to telemedicine abortions is set to expire May 11, a deadline that could bring an extension, allow the restrictions to take effect, or prompt the justices to take up the case in full.Michael New, assistant professor of social research at The Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business, told “EWTN News Nightly” on May 8: “The Supreme Court may extend the stay if they need more time to deliberate; they may simply uphold the 5th Circuit Courtʼs decision that bans tele-abortion, and the ban will go into effect; or they may want to do a full hearing [and] conduct oral arguments.”The Supreme Court on May 4 temporarily blocked a lower court order requiring in‑person dispensing of mifepristone after two manufacturers asked the justices to intervene, prompting Justice Samuel Alito to issue an administrative stay that restores mail‑order access until May 11 at 5 p.m. ET while the court weighs the request.Although Alito instructed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the state of Louisiana to respond by 5 p.m. ET on May 7, the Justice Department failed to do so.New described the development as “odd,” saying the failure by the Justice Department, which represents the FDA, to meet the filing deadline could be that “they don’t want to defend the FDA’s position any longer” or that it may signal a policy change.“Sometimes when people think theyʼre going to lose a case, they change public policy because theyʼd rather change policy than, you know, lose a court case,” New said. “Itʼs really hard to say at this point.”Ultimately, New said the Supreme Court should “absolutely” reinstate in-person requirements to obtain abortion pills, saying: “Thereʼs some real serious public health issues at play here.”Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino gave context for the latest developments in a May 7 interview on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo,” noting that the FDAʼs ongoing approval of nationwide mail-order abortion effectively circumvents Louisiana law protecting unborn human life. “The court should decide hopefully by the 11th, because thatʼs when the stay expires,” she said. “If they donʼt make any decision, then the 5th Circuit ruling goes back into effect and the FDA will have to disallow mailing of these pills, at least during the pendency of litigation,” said Severino, who is also a former Supreme Court clerk.U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the FDA to carry out a review of the abortion drug in May 2025, which is still ongoing.Ultimately, Severino said, the Supreme Court will not be ruling on “what the FDA needs to do at the end of the day” but on whether abortion drugs will be allowed to be mailed into Louisiana or not.“Eventually, you know, then itʼs going to go back and the district court and the 5th Circuit are going to have to reconsider it,” she said. “It could well return to the Supreme Court ultimately, but thatʼs going to be a ways down the litigation.”The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has spoken out against the dangers of mail-order abortion drugs for women and urged the FDA to restore in-person visits to screen for life-threatening conditions such as ectopic pregnancies as well as abuse and human trafficking.
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Catholics weigh in as Supreme Court faces deadline on telemedicine abortion ruling #Catholic The U.S. Supreme Court’s stay on the 5th Circuit’s ruling restricting access to telemedicine abortions is set to expire May 11, a deadline that could bring an extension, allow the restrictions to take effect, or prompt the justices to take up the case in full.Michael New, assistant professor of social research at The Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business, told “EWTN News Nightly” on May 8: “The Supreme Court may extend the stay if they need more time to deliberate; they may simply uphold the 5th Circuit Courtʼs decision that bans tele-abortion, and the ban will go into effect; or they may want to do a full hearing [and] conduct oral arguments.”The Supreme Court on May 4 temporarily blocked a lower court order requiring in‑person dispensing of mifepristone after two manufacturers asked the justices to intervene, prompting Justice Samuel Alito to issue an administrative stay that restores mail‑order access until May 11 at 5 p.m. ET while the court weighs the request.Although Alito instructed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the state of Louisiana to respond by 5 p.m. ET on May 7, the Justice Department failed to do so.New described the development as “odd,” saying the failure by the Justice Department, which represents the FDA, to meet the filing deadline could be that “they don’t want to defend the FDA’s position any longer” or that it may signal a policy change.“Sometimes when people think theyʼre going to lose a case, they change public policy because theyʼd rather change policy than, you know, lose a court case,” New said. “Itʼs really hard to say at this point.”Ultimately, New said the Supreme Court should “absolutely” reinstate in-person requirements to obtain abortion pills, saying: “Thereʼs some real serious public health issues at play here.”Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino gave context for the latest developments in a May 7 interview on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo,” noting that the FDAʼs ongoing approval of nationwide mail-order abortion effectively circumvents Louisiana law protecting unborn human life. “The court should decide hopefully by the 11th, because thatʼs when the stay expires,” she said. “If they donʼt make any decision, then the 5th Circuit ruling goes back into effect and the FDA will have to disallow mailing of these pills, at least during the pendency of litigation,” said Severino, who is also a former Supreme Court clerk.U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the FDA to carry out a review of the abortion drug in May 2025, which is still ongoing.Ultimately, Severino said, the Supreme Court will not be ruling on “what the FDA needs to do at the end of the day” but on whether abortion drugs will be allowed to be mailed into Louisiana or not.“Eventually, you know, then itʼs going to go back and the district court and the 5th Circuit are going to have to reconsider it,” she said. “It could well return to the Supreme Court ultimately, but thatʼs going to be a ways down the litigation.”The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has spoken out against the dangers of mail-order abortion drugs for women and urged the FDA to restore in-person visits to screen for life-threatening conditions such as ectopic pregnancies as well as abuse and human trafficking.

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U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered a review of the abortion drug mifipristone in May 2025, which is ongoing.

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Vatican prepares Pope Leo XIV summit on marriage crisis #Catholic Pope Leo XIV is aware that among the vocations to which men and women are called by God, marriage is one of the “noblest and highest.”He said as much last October, on the 10th anniversary of the canonization of Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus. Now, the pope has set in motion a process to address both marital crises and the growing fear among young people of getting married and forming a family.Leo XIV has called the presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences to Rome this October to seek a response to an issue he considers crucial not only for the Church but also for society.In preparation for the high-level meeting, the Vatican organized a study day Tuesday titled “The Sacrament of Marriage, Faith, and Munus Docendi” at the Casina Pio IV.The initiative, hosted by the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, brought together about 75 participants by invitation, including representatives of various dicasteries of the Roman Curia as well as rectors, lecturers, and others involved in the formation of future pastors.According to the dicastery, the study day was devoted to the formation of priests in accompanying “young people, engaged couples, and married couples in faith.”How can the Church form pastors capable of accompanying young people, engaged couples, and spouses so that they live Christian marriage as an authentic experience of faith in a cultural context marked by secularization? Several speakers addressed that question, including Father Andrea Bozzolo, rector of the Pontifical Salesian University.Speaking with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, the Italian priest — who has taught theology of marriage at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family — emphasized the urgent need to form priests who are prepared to accompany young people and help them live Christian marriage as a true event of faith rather than as a mere “formality or social rite.”According to Bozzolo, in large sectors of contemporary society, marriage is no longer perceived as a decisive moment in the formation of a family.“For many couples, marriage today seems to be a less decisive step in the emergence of the family covenant,” he said.In that context, he added, cohabitation before marriage has become widespread as a kind of trial stage. For many young people, the strength of that relationship, tested in daily life, “has become the condition for eventually considering access to marriage,” he said.Bozzolo explained that this mentality fuels the now widespread phenomenon of couples living together before going to the altar.Unlike in past decades, when de facto unions were presented as an ideological alternative to marriage, today “they are often understood as a preparatory path,” he said.In what he described as a “liquid society,” cohabitation frequently functions as a first family experience, open to being consolidated over time into a more stable relationship.“Cohabitation in most cases does not seek to exclude the marriage covenant but rather to verify its viability,” he said, noting that the increase in separations also reflects this way of understanding the bond.Not blaming, but not trivializingIn response to this reality, Bozzolo said the Church should “not blame” young people who ask to marry after living together, but it also should not “trivialize” premarital cohabitation, because “it is not the correct way” to arrive at the altar.He also called on the Church to break with stereotypes that present love as if it were “a simple feeling.”“Love has ontological value — and not merely psychological value — and that is why marriage is a privileged vehicle for the biblical revelation of the face of God,” he said.Bozzolo insisted on the need for priestly formation that helps future priests rediscover the decisive value of marriage as a public and sacramental act.“The public and religious expression of consent,” he said, is no longer usually perceived today as something that substantially affects the stability of the bond — a reality he described as “a pastoral challenge of the first order.”Marriage is not a simple social procedureFor that reason, he said, it is essential for the Church to prepare priests who can accompany young people along a journey of faith that presents Christian marriage not as a “simple social procedure.”The goal, Bozzolo explained, is to help priests accompany married couples so that they learn to “recognize the presence and action of God in the concrete history of their bond.”Such accompaniment, he said, requires a “formative approach” capable of bringing together biblical wisdom, theological understanding, an awareness of contemporary cultural trends, and attentive listening to the real experiences of families.One current problem among couples, he said, is the tendency to absolutize the relationship and place expectations on the spousal bond that the other person cannot sustain alone.“We cannot place the entire responsibility for our happiness on our spouse, because he or she will disappoint us. For that, we have Jesus, the true messiah,” Bozzolo said.Only from a well-grounded faith, he emphasized, is it possible to live marriage in a healthy, realistic way that is open to gratuitousness, without making the other person the ultimate source of meaning.For that reason, and in direct relation to the formation of future priests, Bozzolo highlighted the need to create formation paths in seminaries that integrate these dimensions and prepare pastors for authentic marriage ministry, rooted in life and not reduced to theoretical frameworks.The last time a pope called together all the presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences was in February 2019, when Pope Francis gathered them to address the wound of sexual abuse in the Church. That meeting marked a shift in the global perception of the problem and made it possible to outline a long-term strategy.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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Vatican prepares Pope Leo XIV summit on marriage crisis #Catholic Pope Leo XIV is aware that among the vocations to which men and women are called by God, marriage is one of the “noblest and highest.”He said as much last October, on the 10th anniversary of the canonization of Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus. Now, the pope has set in motion a process to address both marital crises and the growing fear among young people of getting married and forming a family.Leo XIV has called the presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences to Rome this October to seek a response to an issue he considers crucial not only for the Church but also for society.In preparation for the high-level meeting, the Vatican organized a study day Tuesday titled “The Sacrament of Marriage, Faith, and Munus Docendi” at the Casina Pio IV.The initiative, hosted by the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, brought together about 75 participants by invitation, including representatives of various dicasteries of the Roman Curia as well as rectors, lecturers, and others involved in the formation of future pastors.According to the dicastery, the study day was devoted to the formation of priests in accompanying “young people, engaged couples, and married couples in faith.”How can the Church form pastors capable of accompanying young people, engaged couples, and spouses so that they live Christian marriage as an authentic experience of faith in a cultural context marked by secularization? Several speakers addressed that question, including Father Andrea Bozzolo, rector of the Pontifical Salesian University.Speaking with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, the Italian priest — who has taught theology of marriage at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family — emphasized the urgent need to form priests who are prepared to accompany young people and help them live Christian marriage as a true event of faith rather than as a mere “formality or social rite.”According to Bozzolo, in large sectors of contemporary society, marriage is no longer perceived as a decisive moment in the formation of a family.“For many couples, marriage today seems to be a less decisive step in the emergence of the family covenant,” he said.In that context, he added, cohabitation before marriage has become widespread as a kind of trial stage. For many young people, the strength of that relationship, tested in daily life, “has become the condition for eventually considering access to marriage,” he said.Bozzolo explained that this mentality fuels the now widespread phenomenon of couples living together before going to the altar.Unlike in past decades, when de facto unions were presented as an ideological alternative to marriage, today “they are often understood as a preparatory path,” he said.In what he described as a “liquid society,” cohabitation frequently functions as a first family experience, open to being consolidated over time into a more stable relationship.“Cohabitation in most cases does not seek to exclude the marriage covenant but rather to verify its viability,” he said, noting that the increase in separations also reflects this way of understanding the bond.Not blaming, but not trivializingIn response to this reality, Bozzolo said the Church should “not blame” young people who ask to marry after living together, but it also should not “trivialize” premarital cohabitation, because “it is not the correct way” to arrive at the altar.He also called on the Church to break with stereotypes that present love as if it were “a simple feeling.”“Love has ontological value — and not merely psychological value — and that is why marriage is a privileged vehicle for the biblical revelation of the face of God,” he said.Bozzolo insisted on the need for priestly formation that helps future priests rediscover the decisive value of marriage as a public and sacramental act.“The public and religious expression of consent,” he said, is no longer usually perceived today as something that substantially affects the stability of the bond — a reality he described as “a pastoral challenge of the first order.”Marriage is not a simple social procedureFor that reason, he said, it is essential for the Church to prepare priests who can accompany young people along a journey of faith that presents Christian marriage not as a “simple social procedure.”The goal, Bozzolo explained, is to help priests accompany married couples so that they learn to “recognize the presence and action of God in the concrete history of their bond.”Such accompaniment, he said, requires a “formative approach” capable of bringing together biblical wisdom, theological understanding, an awareness of contemporary cultural trends, and attentive listening to the real experiences of families.One current problem among couples, he said, is the tendency to absolutize the relationship and place expectations on the spousal bond that the other person cannot sustain alone.“We cannot place the entire responsibility for our happiness on our spouse, because he or she will disappoint us. For that, we have Jesus, the true messiah,” Bozzolo said.Only from a well-grounded faith, he emphasized, is it possible to live marriage in a healthy, realistic way that is open to gratuitousness, without making the other person the ultimate source of meaning.For that reason, and in direct relation to the formation of future priests, Bozzolo highlighted the need to create formation paths in seminaries that integrate these dimensions and prepare pastors for authentic marriage ministry, rooted in life and not reduced to theoretical frameworks.The last time a pope called together all the presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences was in February 2019, when Pope Francis gathered them to address the wound of sexual abuse in the Church. That meeting marked a shift in the global perception of the problem and made it possible to outline a long-term strategy.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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The October meeting in Rome will bring together presidents of bishops’ conferences from around the world to seek a response to what the pope considers a crucial issue for the Church and society.

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Pope Leo XIV appoints new bishop of London, Ontario #Catholic Pope Leo XIV has appointed Daniel J. Miehm as the new bishop of the Diocese of London, Ontario, Canada. Until now, the prelate served as the bishop of Peterborough, Ontario.The prelate succeeds Bishop Peter Fabbro in leading the Diocese of London. Fabbro’s resignation was accepted upon reaching the age of 75, the mandatory retirement age for bishops.After expressing his gratitude for the trust placed in him by the Holy Father for the new role, Miehm stated: “In this Easter season, as the Church celebrates the resurrection of Christ, we are invited to deep faith, trust in God, and hope in the promise of new life. It is in such a spirit that I embrace this new chapter in my continued service to the Church.”“I ask your prayers for me, for all those I have served in Peterborough and for those whom I will meet and serve in my episcopal ministry in the Diocese of London,” the prelate added in a statement from the Diocese of London.Fabbro, who served at the helm of the London Diocese for 24 years, said that Miehm “is a strong, compassionate leader with outstanding pastoral instincts and the wisdom to guide our diocese into the future. Under his episcopal leadership, the Diocese of London will be in very capable hands.”Miehm will be installed as the new bishop of London on June 29, the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, at St. Peter’s Cathedral Basilica in London.Who is the new bishop of London?Miehm was born on Aug. 27, 1960, in Kitchener, Ontario. He studied philosophy at St. Jeromeʼs University in Waterloo, Ontario, and theology at St. Augustineʼs Seminary in Toronto. He earned a licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome, according to the Vatican Press Office.He was ordained a priest on May 6, 1989, for the Diocese of Hamilton, Ontario.He has held the following positions, among others: vicar of the Cathedral of Christ the King; defender of the bond at the ecclesiastical tribunal of Hamilton; pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Hamilton (1998–2004) and of St. Ann in Ancaster (2004–2012); and pastor of St. Benedict in Milton, as well as spiritual assistant to the St. Thomas More Lawyers' Guild (2012).He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Hamilton on Feb. 20, 2013, receiving episcopal consecration on May 7 of that year. On March 10, 2017, he was appointed bishop of Peterborough, where he served until now.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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Pope Leo XIV appoints new bishop of London, Ontario #Catholic Pope Leo XIV has appointed Daniel J. Miehm as the new bishop of the Diocese of London, Ontario, Canada. Until now, the prelate served as the bishop of Peterborough, Ontario.The prelate succeeds Bishop Peter Fabbro in leading the Diocese of London. Fabbro’s resignation was accepted upon reaching the age of 75, the mandatory retirement age for bishops.After expressing his gratitude for the trust placed in him by the Holy Father for the new role, Miehm stated: “In this Easter season, as the Church celebrates the resurrection of Christ, we are invited to deep faith, trust in God, and hope in the promise of new life. It is in such a spirit that I embrace this new chapter in my continued service to the Church.”“I ask your prayers for me, for all those I have served in Peterborough and for those whom I will meet and serve in my episcopal ministry in the Diocese of London,” the prelate added in a statement from the Diocese of London.Fabbro, who served at the helm of the London Diocese for 24 years, said that Miehm “is a strong, compassionate leader with outstanding pastoral instincts and the wisdom to guide our diocese into the future. Under his episcopal leadership, the Diocese of London will be in very capable hands.”Miehm will be installed as the new bishop of London on June 29, the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, at St. Peter’s Cathedral Basilica in London.Who is the new bishop of London?Miehm was born on Aug. 27, 1960, in Kitchener, Ontario. He studied philosophy at St. Jeromeʼs University in Waterloo, Ontario, and theology at St. Augustineʼs Seminary in Toronto. He earned a licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome, according to the Vatican Press Office.He was ordained a priest on May 6, 1989, for the Diocese of Hamilton, Ontario.He has held the following positions, among others: vicar of the Cathedral of Christ the King; defender of the bond at the ecclesiastical tribunal of Hamilton; pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Hamilton (1998–2004) and of St. Ann in Ancaster (2004–2012); and pastor of St. Benedict in Milton, as well as spiritual assistant to the St. Thomas More Lawyers' Guild (2012).He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Hamilton on Feb. 20, 2013, receiving episcopal consecration on May 7 of that year. On March 10, 2017, he was appointed bishop of Peterborough, where he served until now.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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With the retirement of Bishop Peter Fabbro, Bishop Daniel J. Miehm of the Diocese of Peterborough has been appointed the new bishop of London, Ontario, Canada. He will be installed on June 29.

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Pope Leo XIV: Universities must seek truth and form the whole person #Catholic MALABO, Equatorial Guinea — Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday said the inauguration of a new university campus in Equatorial Guinea is “an act of trust in human beings,” praising investment in the education of young people during the final stop of his Africa trip.Speaking at the opening of the Pope Leo XIV University Campus in Basupú, part of the National University of Equatorial Guinea (UNGE), the pontiff said the new institution represents more than new buildings.“This inauguration is an act of trust in human beings, an affirmation of the fact that it is worth the effort to continue wagering on the formation of new generations and on the task, so demanding and yet so noble, of seeking the truth and putting knowledge at the service of the common good,” Leo said.The new campus, in the northern part of Bioko Island, is the country’s largest academic facility. The government chose to dedicate it to the pope in conjunction with his visit. Founded in 1995, the National University of Equatorial Guinea was established to help form national leaders and align academic and professional training with the country’s development needs.Leo was welcomed by Rector Filiberto Ntutumu Nguema Nchama and the archbishop of Malabo, Archbishop Juan Nsue Edjang May. A bust of the pope was unveiled before he met with students and professors gathered in the square outside the main entrance.Students appealed to the pope for encouragement in becoming “a generation characterized by discipline, respect, responsibility, and commitment to the common good,” one aimed not only at personal success but also at contributing to the development of Equatorial Guinea.Faculty members, for their part, pledged themselves to academic excellence, innovation, and the integral formation of students. University officials also stressed that science and technology are powerful tools whose value depends on how they are used and that Christian moral tradition offers essential guidance in that task.In his address, Leo turned to an image deeply resonant in Equatorial Guinea: the ceiba, the country’s national tree.“For the people of Equatorial Guinea, the ceiba, the national tree, has a great symbolic meaning,” he said. “A tree puts forth deep roots and ascends slowly with patience and strength to the heights, embodying in itself a fruitfulness that does not exist for itself.”The pope said the tree offers “a parable of that which a university is called to be”: an institution rooted in serious study, living memory, and the persevering search for truth.Leo then drew on biblical imagery to reflect on the relationship between faith, reason, and knowledge. Referring to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Genesis, he said the biblical account is not a rejection of human intelligence.“It should be emphasized that this story is not about a condemnation of knowledge as such, as if faith was afraid of intelligence or looked with suspicion upon the desire for knowledge,” he said.Instead, he warned against knowledge detached from truth and goodness and reduced to self-interest or domination.“The problem, therefore, does not rest with knowledge but in its deviation towards an intelligence that no longer seeks to correspond to reality but rather to twist it for its own purposes,” he said.Leo said Christian tradition points to another tree — the cross — as the redemption, not the negation, of human intelligence.“Christian tradition contemplates another tree, that of the cross, not as a denial of human intelligence but as a sign of its redemption,” he said.“At the cross, human beings are invited to allow their desire for knowledge to be healed: to rediscover that truth is not fabricated, not manipulated nor possessed like a trophy but welcomed, sought with humility, and served with responsibility.”For that reason, he said, Christ is not an escape from intellectual effort.“From a Christian perspective, Christ does not appear as a religious escape in the face of intellectual endeavors, as if faith began where reason ended,” Leo said. “On the contrary, in him the profound harmony between truth, reason, and freedom are manifested.”The pope said the Church’s concern in education is that young people be formed integrally, “rather than giving the mere appearance of success.”He added that the university should be judged less by its size or number of graduates than by the quality of the people it forms for society.“Here on this campus, the ceiba of Equatorial Guinea is called to bear fruits of progress rooted in solidarity and of a knowledge that ennobles and develops the human being in an integral way,” he said. “It is called to offer the fruits of intelligence and uprightness, of competence and wisdom, of excellence and service.”“If generations of men and women are profoundly shaped in this place by truth and are capable of transforming their own existence into a gift for others, then the ceiba will remain an eloquent symbol rooted in the best things of this land, elevated by wisdom and abounding in fruits that pay tribute to Equatorial Guinea and enrich the entire human family.”Before the university event, the pope also made a brief visit to St. Elizabeth of Hungary Cathedral in Malabo, built in 1897.This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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Pope Leo XIV: Universities must seek truth and form the whole person #Catholic MALABO, Equatorial Guinea — Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday said the inauguration of a new university campus in Equatorial Guinea is “an act of trust in human beings,” praising investment in the education of young people during the final stop of his Africa trip.Speaking at the opening of the Pope Leo XIV University Campus in Basupú, part of the National University of Equatorial Guinea (UNGE), the pontiff said the new institution represents more than new buildings.“This inauguration is an act of trust in human beings, an affirmation of the fact that it is worth the effort to continue wagering on the formation of new generations and on the task, so demanding and yet so noble, of seeking the truth and putting knowledge at the service of the common good,” Leo said.The new campus, in the northern part of Bioko Island, is the country’s largest academic facility. The government chose to dedicate it to the pope in conjunction with his visit. Founded in 1995, the National University of Equatorial Guinea was established to help form national leaders and align academic and professional training with the country’s development needs.Leo was welcomed by Rector Filiberto Ntutumu Nguema Nchama and the archbishop of Malabo, Archbishop Juan Nsue Edjang May. A bust of the pope was unveiled before he met with students and professors gathered in the square outside the main entrance.Students appealed to the pope for encouragement in becoming “a generation characterized by discipline, respect, responsibility, and commitment to the common good,” one aimed not only at personal success but also at contributing to the development of Equatorial Guinea.Faculty members, for their part, pledged themselves to academic excellence, innovation, and the integral formation of students. University officials also stressed that science and technology are powerful tools whose value depends on how they are used and that Christian moral tradition offers essential guidance in that task.In his address, Leo turned to an image deeply resonant in Equatorial Guinea: the ceiba, the country’s national tree.“For the people of Equatorial Guinea, the ceiba, the national tree, has a great symbolic meaning,” he said. “A tree puts forth deep roots and ascends slowly with patience and strength to the heights, embodying in itself a fruitfulness that does not exist for itself.”The pope said the tree offers “a parable of that which a university is called to be”: an institution rooted in serious study, living memory, and the persevering search for truth.Leo then drew on biblical imagery to reflect on the relationship between faith, reason, and knowledge. Referring to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Genesis, he said the biblical account is not a rejection of human intelligence.“It should be emphasized that this story is not about a condemnation of knowledge as such, as if faith was afraid of intelligence or looked with suspicion upon the desire for knowledge,” he said.Instead, he warned against knowledge detached from truth and goodness and reduced to self-interest or domination.“The problem, therefore, does not rest with knowledge but in its deviation towards an intelligence that no longer seeks to correspond to reality but rather to twist it for its own purposes,” he said.Leo said Christian tradition points to another tree — the cross — as the redemption, not the negation, of human intelligence.“Christian tradition contemplates another tree, that of the cross, not as a denial of human intelligence but as a sign of its redemption,” he said.“At the cross, human beings are invited to allow their desire for knowledge to be healed: to rediscover that truth is not fabricated, not manipulated nor possessed like a trophy but welcomed, sought with humility, and served with responsibility.”For that reason, he said, Christ is not an escape from intellectual effort.“From a Christian perspective, Christ does not appear as a religious escape in the face of intellectual endeavors, as if faith began where reason ended,” Leo said. “On the contrary, in him the profound harmony between truth, reason, and freedom are manifested.”The pope said the Church’s concern in education is that young people be formed integrally, “rather than giving the mere appearance of success.”He added that the university should be judged less by its size or number of graduates than by the quality of the people it forms for society.“Here on this campus, the ceiba of Equatorial Guinea is called to bear fruits of progress rooted in solidarity and of a knowledge that ennobles and develops the human being in an integral way,” he said. “It is called to offer the fruits of intelligence and uprightness, of competence and wisdom, of excellence and service.”“If generations of men and women are profoundly shaped in this place by truth and are capable of transforming their own existence into a gift for others, then the ceiba will remain an eloquent symbol rooted in the best things of this land, elevated by wisdom and abounding in fruits that pay tribute to Equatorial Guinea and enrich the entire human family.”Before the university event, the pope also made a brief visit to St. Elizabeth of Hungary Cathedral in Malabo, built in 1897.This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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At the inauguration of a new campus named in his honor in Equatorial Guinea, the pope urged the education of young people in truth, responsibility, and service to the common good.

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