Detail of a mural showing Blessed Stanley Rother being welcomed into heaven at the new Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine in Oklahoma City. / Credit: Joe Holdren/EWTN News

CNA Staff, Nov 1, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Nov. 1 is the solemnity of All Saints — known more popularly as All Saints’ Day — the day on which the Catholic Church celebrates all who have attained eternal life with God in heaven. 

The Catholic Church formally recognizes thousands and thousands of saints. But how exactly does the Church come to declare someone a saint in heaven? The process has been developed and refined throughout the centuries, starting from the earliest days of Christendom to the present day. 

Early Church’s canonization was local, bishop-led

The Christian communities of early centuries were nascent, decentralized, and often persecuted. The formal procedures of the Church in these years often developed in relative isolation.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) says on its website that in the first 500 years of the Catholic Church, there was “no formal canonical process as understood by today’s standards.” 

“Beginning in the sixth century and continuing into the 12th century, the intervention of the local bishop was required before someone could be canonized,” the bishops’ website says. Local Christians often requested for their bishop’s intervention to determine the sainthood of a faithful departed. 

The bishop would study both the request and the biography of the candidate in question; if deeming the request “favorable,” he would “typically issue a decree, legitimize the liturgical cult, and thereby canonize the person.”

As the decades and centuries went on, the process became more formalized. In addition to the earlier modes of review, starting in the 10th century, the bishop would “collect eyewitness testimony of those who knew the person and who had witnessed miracles” associated with the candidate. 

The entire petition would be provided to the pope, who would rule on the matter himself. This process led to the first official papal canonization, that of Swiss bishop St. Ulric in 993, by Pope John XV.

This process remained the same for several more centuries; in the late 1500s, Pope Sixtus V established the Congregation for Sacred Rites, one of the functions of which was to “assist the pope with reviewing causes.”

The process remained largely unchanged from then until 1917 with the promulgation of the universal Code of Canon Law. A new promulgation in 1983 gave the Church the code still in effect today. 

Modern 3-stage process

The present process for canonization by the Catholic Church plays out across three stages.

First, in stage 1, Church authorities examine “the life of a candidate for sainthood.” The process, which generally may only begin five years after a candidate’s death, is first enacted at the diocesan or eparchial level. 

After receiving a petition, consulting with the episcopal conference and the local faithful, and permission from the Holy See, the bishop will convene a tribunal, which will investigate the life of the candidate (or his/her potential martyrdom). “Witnesses will be called and documents written by and about the candidate must be gathered and examined,” the USCCB notes. 

The diocese subsequently sends its report on to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints; nine theologians subsequently “vote on whether or not the candidate lived a heroic life or suffered martyrdom.” 

If they vote favorably, and after an examination by cardinals and bishops who are members of the dicastery, the prefect of the dicastery “presents the results of the entire course of the cause to the pope,” who gives his approval and directs the congregation to draft a decree declaring the candidate either ”venerable” (if ”they have lived a virtuous life”) or ”blessed” (“if they have been martyred”). 

In stage 2, a venerable is beatified when he or she has “a miracle attributed to [his or her] intercession.” The miracle “must be proven through the appropriate canonical investigation.” Upon beautification, a venerable is given the title blessed (that title is automatically granted to a martyr upon determination of his or her martyrdom). 

In stage 3, a blessed is officially canonized with the determination of another miracle “attributed to the intercession of the blessed and having occurred after his or her beatification.”

Canonization “allows for the public veneration of the saint by the universal Church,” the USCCB notes.

The first saints to be canonized by Pope Leo XIV were St. Carlo Acutis and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati on Sept. 7.

This story was first published on Nov. 1, 2023, and has been updated.

As part of Jubilee of the World of Education, Pope Leo XIV held an Oct. 31, 2025 audience with teachers. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 31, 2025 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV said Catholic educators can learn four fundamental values from St. Augustine’s teachings: interiority, unity, love, and joy.  

During his Oct. 31 audience with teachers in Rome for the Oct. 27 to Nov. 1 Jubilee of the World of Education, the Holy Father said these four values, taught by the “Doctor of Grace,” are key elements to be incorporated into the mission and work of all educators. 

Regarding the value of interiority, Pope Leo said both teachers and students need to “get in touch with their inner selves” in order to discover truth and overcome superficiality in a world dominated by “technological screens.”

According to the Holy Father, the lack of material resources in classrooms is not the main obstacle for teachers, but rather the “real risk” is becoming “tired and overburdened with bureaucratic tasks.”

“Truth does not spread through sounds, walls, and corridors, but in the profound encounter between people, without which any educational endeavor is doomed to fail,” he said.

On the value of unity, Pope Leo said the “dimension of ‘with’ is consistently present in the writings of St. Augustine” and is fundamental as it challenges educators to “de-center” themselves and focus on their pupils.

“‘Your soul belongs not just to you but to your brothers and sisters,’” he said, quoting St. Augustine.

According to Pope Leo, the third value, love, should never be separated from teaching.

“Sharing knowledge is not enough for teaching: Love is needed. Only then will knowledge be beneficial to those who receive it, in itself and above all, for the charity it conveys,” he said.

“The love of God is the First Commandment, the love of neighbor is the first practice,” he said, quoting St. Augustine’s work, “Ten Sermons on the First Epistle of John.”

The fourth and last value Pope Leo asked teachers to consider during their jubilee journey was joy. He said true teachers “educate with a smile” in order to “awaken smiles in the depths of their students’ souls.” 

Noting the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and its capacity to impart knowledge in a technical, cold, and standardized way, the pontiff warned teachers to not “further cut off students who are already isolated.”

“The role of educators, on the other hand, is a human endeavor; and the very joy of the educational process is a fully human engagement, a ‘flame to melt our souls together, and out of many to make but one,'” he said, quoting St. Augustine’s “Confessions.”

Australian pilgrim Clare Andreallo, a senior institutional researcher and insights analyst for the University of Notre Dame Australia, attended the papal audience and said it was “affirming to see Catholic education academics, professional staff, students from around the world come together” in St. Peter’s Square on Friday morning.   

Melissa Villalobos suffered severe bleeding while pregnant. St. John Henry Newman interceded and saved her and her daughter Gemma, now 11 years old. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Villalobos family

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 31, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

The sainthood of John Henry Newman, who will be declared a doctor of the Church on Nov. 1, rested on two inexplicable healings that the Catholic Church officially recognized as miracles that paved the way for his beatification in 2010 and his canonization in 2019.

The second and most recent of these miracles was lifesaving. During her fifth pregnancy, Melissa Villalobos, a lawyer from Chicago, suffered severe internal bleeding caused by a partial placental abruption, a condition that seriously endangered both her life and that of her unborn child.

The day it happened, Villalobos, alone at home and without the strength to call for help, turned to prayer. “Please, Cardinal Newman, stop the bleeding,” she said with difficulty. As she later recounted: “Just as I finished those words, the bleeding stopped, and I noticed in the bathroom the strongest scent of roses in my life. When it stopped, I asked, ‘Cardinal Newman, did you do this?’ and the scent returned a second time. I knew it was him.”

That same afternoon, the doctors confirmed what they could not explain: The tear in the placenta had disappeared. Months later, Villalobos gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby girl, whom she named Gemma.

Five years later, Gemma and her entire family participated in the canonization ceremony for Newman officiated by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 13, 2019.

For Sister Kathleen Dietz, FSO, a renowned specialist on St. John Henry Newman, the healing of the pregnant woman should be seen as a “sign of the times” when “the culture of death permeates everything.”

“He performed this miracle for the sake of life, not only the life of the young mother but also that of her child. It’s very significant,” she told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

Unexplained healing of a debilitating spinal disorder

The first miracle attributed to Newman’s intercession was on behalf of American deacon Jack Sullivan, who was suffering from a severe degenerative spinal cord disease that had left him almost paralyzed.

In great pain and with little hope of recovery, he prayed for Newman’s intercession. According to his own testimony, on Aug. 15, 2001, he experienced a sudden and complete recovery, which allowed him to walk unaided and shortly afterward to be ordained a permanent deacon.

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints officially recognized the healing as scientifically inexplicable, and on July 3, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI officially announced that it constituted a genuine miracle. It led to Newman’s beatification on Sept. 19, 2010, in Birmingham, England, the city where the saint lived for much of his ministry.

Sullivan served as deacon and read the Gospel at the Mass celebrated by Benedict in Rednal, England, very near Newman’s burial site.

Sullivan, who has the only first-class relic of Newman outside the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in England, has given numerous presentations with it and has held healing prayer services. 

Dietz — who has collaborated on various studies on the spirituality and legacy of St. John Henry Newman — emphasized that miracles authenticate Newman’s holiness and reflect his ongoing mission within the Church.

“Miracles show that Newman continues to have a role as an example and intercessor. He will soon be named a doctor of the Church and thus will also be a teacher of truth,” she noted.

Inspiration for daily life

For the religious, Newman can inspire the faithful in their daily lives with a faith “lived in everyday circumstances.”

Dietz cited Newman’s 1856 work “A Short Road to Perfection” in which he points out that to be saints, “we need nothing more than to fulfill the ordinary duties of the day well.”

“It’s not a matter of heroic or extraordinary feats but of performing the actions of each day with rectitude and consistency: getting up on time, dedicating one’s first thoughts to God, visiting the Blessed Sacrament, praying the Angelus and the rosary, keeping one’s thoughts in order, examining oneself daily, and going to bed at a reasonable hour. If this is done consistently, one is already on the path to perfection,” the saint counseled.

Joy: An essential Christian virtue

Dietz emphasized that Newman saw joy as an essential Christian virtue, even in the midst of sadness, and that his example can guide believers to live their faith in a “practical, tangible, and consistent” way in daily life.

For Dietz, Newman’s life and miracles remind us that holiness is not an unattainable ideal but a “reality accessible to all” through faithfulness to small daily acts and trust in God’s providence.

“His teaching combines theological depth with pastoral application, showing how a saint can be a model and guide for the contemporary Church and for every believer in their daily life,” she explained.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

St. Thomas Aquinas/St. John Henry Newman. / Credit: Public domain

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 31, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV declared St. John Henry Newman, along with St. Thomas Aquinas, as a patron saint of the Catholic Church’s educational mission in his recent apostolic letter on education, “Drawing New Maps of Hope.”

In the letter, the pontiff draws a connection between the two saints, separated by six centuries but united by the same mission: teaching within the Catholic Church.

Paul Gordon, professor of Catholic social doctrine and contemporary history and literature at the Ángel Ayala Institute of Humanities, reflected on the Holy Father’s letter in a recent conversation with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

Union between faith and reason

As the Scottish professor noted, both Newman and Aquinas were theologians who promoted dialogue between the sciences, especially between faith and reason, positioning the gift of faith as a guide in the search for truth. 

In the apostolic letter, published on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration Gravissimum Educationis, the pope recalls the words of Newman, who will also be declared a doctor of the Church on Nov. 1: “Religious truth is not only a part, but a condition of general knowledge.”

According to Pope Leo, this involves an invitation to “renew the commitment to knowledge that is as intellectually responsible and rigorous as it is profoundly human.”

A keen insight into modern times

Aquinas, known as the “angelic doctor,” plumbed the depths of the Christian faith “in the light of Aristotle’s philosophy” and Christianized the ideas of the Greek philosopher, Gordon explained.

“St. Thomas Aquinas introduced Aristotle’s philosophy into the Catholic Church at the beginning of the modern world, in the 13th century,” he added.

For his part, Newman, who was the first rector of the Catholic University of Ireland, “unified faith and reason” with his keen insight into modern times.

Gordon also noted that Newman is one of the most celebrated converts to Catholicism in recent times, making the pope’s gesture “another milestone marking the return to Rome” that Newman himself experienced.

Though criticized by many at the time, Newman “was among the first” who ”dared to leave Anglicanism, which is still the official and established Church” in Great Britain, and go “over to the Catholic Church because he knew that’s where the truth resided,” Gordon said.

Newman’s conversion paved “the way for many other converts in my country and in English-speaking countries.”

Gordon said he thinks Pope Leo XIV intends to emphasize the importance of ecumenism in light of Newman’s courageous and brave example: “He shows us that we must pray for the unity of the body of Christ, because division is a sin.” 

A light for teaching today

Both saints can serve as a light for the teaching profession in today’s world, Gordon emphasized, where “education, especially at the university level, has become a kind of utilitarian vocational training where spirituality has no place.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV encouraged an international group of young adults to reach out to their peers and invite them to be active members of a parish community rather than trying to live their faith alone.

The pope met Oct. 31 with members of the International Youth Advisory Body, a group of 20 young adults from around the world who serve three-year terms as advisers to the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life.

The North American members are Sally Yasmine from the Archdiocese of Montreal and Wyatt Olivas from the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Pope Leo had a prepared speech for the group but handed them a copy of the text rather than reading it. 

"You know that in recent years many young people have approached the faith through social media, successful programs and popular online Christian witnesses," the pope wrote. "The danger is that a faith discovered online is limited to individual experiences, which may be intellectually and emotionally reassuring, but are never 'embodied.'"

The risk, he wrote, is that those spiritual experiences "remain 'disembodied,' detached from the 'ecclesial body,'" which is the church.

Another danger, he said, is that they are not lived "alongside others in real-life situations, relationships or sharing. All too often, social media algorithms merely create a sounding board for individuals, picking up on personal preferences and tastes, and 'sending them back' magnified and enriched with appealing proposals."

In that kind of digital echo chamber, he said, "everyone remains alone with themselves, prisoners of their own inclinations and projections."

Young people are essential members of the church, the pope said, especially a church that is striving to be "synodal," listening to all members, praying and discerning together and calling on each person to contribute their talents.

"Authentic synodality leads to mission," the pope wrote. And part of that is being involved so that the church understands "how to bring the Gospel to everyone." 

"All of this requires that you, young people, have open hearts, ready to listen both to the 'inspirations' of the Spirit and the deep 'aspirations' of each person," Pope Leo wrote.

"You must look beyond appearances in order to seek the true answers that give meaning to life.  You must have hearts that are open to God's call and not engrossed in your own plans and are willing to understand and sympathize before forming judgments."

Pope Leo asked the young people particularly to help the church "hear the voices of the weak, the poor and the lonely, refugees and those who struggle to integrate into society, or to access educational opportunities."

"All too often," he said, "these voices are drowned out by the noise of the powerful, the successful and those who live in 'exclusive' realities."

Being missionary, the pope wrote, "entails freedom from fear, because the Lord loves to call us to forge new paths. In this sense, as young people, you can be leaders of creativity and courage."
 

WASHINGTON - “With the Administration signaling a severely limited continuation of this historically bipartisan program, we urge due consideration for all those who have long awaited their opportunity for relief,” said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration. Bishop Seitz’s remarks follow the Administration’s formal publication of the Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2026, which allows up to 7,500 refugees to be resettled over the next year. This is the lowest ceiling since the program was created by Congress in 1980. 

At the start of this year, over 100,000 people had already undergone extensive screening by the U.S. government and were conditionally approved for refugee status in the United States, including vulnerable children and those seeking to reunify with family members. However, on the first day of his second term, President Trump signed an executive order indefinitely suspending refugee resettlement. Since then, very few refugees have been permitted to travel to the United States as exceptions to the executive order, largely consistent with recent presidential actions prioritizing Afrikaners from South Africa under Executive Order 14204. 

Bishop Seitz’s full statement follows: 

“For over 45 years, the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program has been, and continues to be, a safe and secure legal pathway for people from around the world who meet the requirements for humanitarian protection. It is a vital mechanism through which our nation can exist as a beacon of hope for those facing persecution and promote respect for the sanctity of human life. What President Reagan said in 1981 about refugee policy being ‘an important part of our past and fundamental to our national interest’ very much rings true today. With the Administration signaling a severely limited continuation of this historically bipartisan program, we urge due consideration for all those who have long awaited their opportunity for relief. We also pray for the broad, indefinite suspension of refugee admissions to be lifted, and we implore the President to make the program available to those truly in need. 

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the disparate treatment of refugees currently taking place. As exemptions are considered, it is essential that they be applied consistently and without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or national origin, in accordance with longstanding domestic and international norms. Resettlement tainted by the perception of unjust discrimination is contrary to Catholic teaching and quintessential American values, grounded in our Constitution and refugee laws, including the equality of every person from the moment of their creation by God.”

Earlier this year, the USCCB announced that it would discontinue its role as a national resettlement agency. However, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the USCCB, emphasized that the decision would not mean the Catholic Church would be walking away from helping refugees and others, but rather, that the USCCB would find other ways to uphold the Gospel’s call to do what we can for the least among us.

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“Use technology wisely, but don’t let technology use you,” Pope Leo XIV said during his address to hundreds of university students gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Oct. 30, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 30, 2025 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday urged young people to cultivate their “interior life” and to listen to their restlessness without “fleeing from it” or “filling it” with things that don’t satisfy, lest they fall into existential emptiness.

“Having a great deal of knowledge is not enough if we do not know who we are or what the meaning of life is,” the pope told the hundreds of university students he received Oct. 30 in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican for an event held as part of the Jubilee of the World of Education.

In his message, he invited the students to rediscover the inner dimension of life and pointed out that “without silence, without listening, without prayer, even the light of the stars goes out.”

“We can know a great deal about the world and still ignore our own hearts,” he noted, while encouraging the students to constantly strive “toward the heights,” being “the beacon of hope in the dark hours of history.”

Leo XIV acknowledged that many young people experience a sense of emptiness or inner restlessness and emphasized that this disorientation is not solely due to personal reasons.

“In the most serious cases, we see episodes of distress, violence, bullying, and oppression — even young people who isolate themselves and no longer want to relate to others,” the pope observed. In his view, these deep wounds are “the reflection of “a void created by a society that has forgotten how to form the spiritual dimension of the human person, focusing only on the technical, social, or moral aspects of life.”

The pope was especially approachable and relaxed with the young people, with whom he shared several spontaneous moments. He introduced himself to them twice as a “former math and physics teacher,” recalling his teaching past, and even joked with them: “Perhaps you have a math exam soon?” he asked, going off script and eliciting laughter and applause.

The pope affirmed that a life that remains “stifled by fleeting pleasures will never satisfy us.” Instead, he asked each person to say in his or her heart: “I dream of more, Lord, I long for something greater, inspire me!”

“This desire is your strength and expresses well the commitment of young people who envision a better society and refuse to be mere spectators,” he emphasized after noting that the “desire for the infinite” is the compass they should use.

Instead of looking at your phone, ‘look to the sky, to the heights’

He urged the university students to not be satisfied “with appearances or fads” and instead of “being fixated on your smartphones, to look to the sky, to the heights.”

“How wonderful it would be if one day your generation were remembered as the ‘generation plus,’ remembered for the extra drive you brought to the Church and the world,” he exclaimed.

During his address, Pope Leo cited as role models St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, who had “the courage to live life to the fullest” and “to the heights,” and St. Carlo Acutis, “who did not become a slave to the internet but rather used it skillfully for good.” The pontiff canonized these two young saints together on Sept. 7.

The pope also cited St. Augustine as an example, describing him as “brilliant but deeply unsatisfied” because he found “neither truth nor peace until he discovered God in his own heart.”

The Holy Father focused much of his address on the challenges posed by the digital world and the development of artificial intelligence, urging that these areas not become “a cage where you lock yourselves in” nor “an addiction or an escape.”

“You live in [digital education] and that’s not a bad thing; there are enormous opportunities for study and communication. But don’t let the algorithm write your story! Be the authors: Use technology wisely, but don’t let technology use you,” he urged.

‘It is not enough to silence weapons, we must disarm hearts’

Leo XIV emphasized the urgency of a “disarmed and disarming education” that forms new generations in respect, justice, and equality.

“You can see how much our future is threatened by war and hatred, which divide people. Can this future be changed? Certainly! How? With an education for peace that is disarmed and disarming,” the pope said. Furthermore, he warned that it is not enough to “silence the weapons,” but rather “we must disarm hearts, renouncing all violence and vulgarity.”

As in his recent document on education, “Drawing New Maps of Hope,” Leo XIV called for avoiding all forms of exclusion or privilege in education, “recognizing the equal dignity of every young person, without ever dividing young people between the privileged few who have access to expensive schools and the many who do not have access to education.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Leo XIV prays during a Mass on Oct. 27, 2025, marking both the start of the academic year at Rome’s pontifical universities and the opening day of the Jubilee of the World of Education. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 30, 2025 / 13:05 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV will celebrate All Souls’ Day with Mass for the faithful departed at Rome’s largest cemetery as well as a Mass for the soul of the late Pope Francis and deceased cardinals the following day. 

The Vatican has announced that Pope Leo will offer Mass at Campo Verano Cemetery near the Basilica of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls on Sunday, Nov. 2, at 4 p.m., continuing the practice of Pope Francis, who made a point of visiting a cemetery each year on All Souls’ Day. 

On Monday, Nov. 3, at 11 a.m. Leo will also offer Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis, who died in April, and for the bishops and cardinals who have died over the past year, following a long papal custom of commemorating deceased Church leaders at the beginning of November, a month the Church devotes to praying for the dead. 

All Souls’ Day, observed annually on Nov. 2, is a day of prayer for the souls of all who have died, especially those believed to be in purgatory, undergoing final purification before entering the presence of God. The Church encourages the faithful to offer prayers, sacrifices, and Masses for the souls in purgatory. 

Pope Francis, the first pope from Latin America, offered All Souls’ Day Mass in the Campo Verano cemetery for the first three years of his papacy before choosing to pray at other cemeteries in and around Rome, including in the Roman catacombs, at a cemetery for American personnel killed in World War II, and at a cemetery for unborn babies.

Visiting cemeteries is a prominent custom in parts of Latin America at this time of year, exemplified by the famous celebration of Día de los Muertos in Mexico on Nov. 1–2. Before his election as pope, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, served for two decades as an Augustinian missionary and later as a bishop in Peru, where Catholics customarily mark All Souls’ Day by visiting cemeteries, cleaning and decorating tombs with flowers and candles, and praying for their loved ones who have died.

Pope Leo XIV will mark the feasts of All Saints and All Souls this weekend with three consecutive days of papal liturgies in Rome.

On Saturday, Nov. 1, the solemnity of All Saints, Pope Leo will preside over a 10:30 a.m. Mass in St. Peter’s Square, during which he will declare St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the Church. Tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected to take part, many of them participating in the Vatican’s Jubilee of Education, which Pope Leo opened earlier in the week. 

All Saints’ Day is a solemnity honoring all who have reached heaven and enjoy the beatific vision — the saints both canonized and uncanonized.

After the Mass, Pope Leo XIV will lead the Angelus, a traditional Marian prayer, at noon Rome time, as he does on every holy day of obligation. Because the feast falls on a Saturday this year, the U.S. bishops’ conference has lifted the obligation for American Catholics to attend Mass that day.

Before heading to Campo Verano cemetery for the All Souls’ Day Mass on Sunday afternoon, Pope Leo will pray the Angelus at noon from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, presides over a press conference on Friday, May 17, 2024, on the Vatican’s new document on Marian apparitions. / Credit: Rudolf Gehrig/EWTN News

Vatican City, Oct 30, 2025 / 09:14 am (CNA).

The Vatican’s doctrine office announced Thursday it will release a document on Nov. 4 about titles of Mary that refer to her “cooperation in the work of salvation.”

Mary’s contribution to human salvation, specifically the title of “Co-Redemptrix” (“Co-Redeemer”) has been a point of theological debate for decades — with proponents calling for Mary’s role in redemption to be declared a dogma but critics saying it exaggerates her importance and could damage efforts for unity with other Christian denominations.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, will present the doctrinal note on the topic, titled “Mater Populi Fidelis” (“Faithful Mother of the People”), at the Jesuit Curia in Rome.

Fernández told journalists in July the dicastery was working on a text on “various Marian themes” but did not reveal more about its content.

Theologian Father Matteo Armando, secretary of the dicastery’s doctrine department, will also speak at the presentation Nov. 4, along with an expert consulter of the dicastery, Father Maurizio Gronchi, who teaches Christology — the Church’s teaching on the person, nature, and role of Christ — at Rome’s Pontifical Urban University.

Recent popes have held varying positions on the use of the title “Co-Redemptrix” for Mary.

In 2017, the International Marian Association submitted a request to Pope Francis for public recognition of the title of Mary as “Co-Redemptrix with Jesus the Redeemer,” one of multiple petitions sent to the Vatican in the last century.

But the pope expressed his reservations about the title on more than one occasion during his pontificate.

In his general audience address on March 24, 2021, Francis said that while Christians had always given Mary beautiful titles, it was important to remember that Christ is the only redeemer, and that Mary was entrusted to us “as a mother, not as a goddess, not as co-redeemer.”

As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 2000, Pope Benedict XVI said he thought the title “Co-Redemptrix” was too far from Scripture and could cause misunderstandings about Christ’s status as redeemer — though supporters of the Marian formula felt he showed more openness to the devotion in his pontificate, despite never explicitly using the term.

St. John Paul II, instead, publicly used the word “Co-Redemptrix” at least six times during his pontificate, renewing hopes in an imminent declaration of the dogma in the 1990s.

The title can be traced back to the 10th century, when some Marian litanies included the title of Mary as Redemptrix, along with her son. The prefix of “co-” was added by the 15th century, to clarify that Mary was not the Redeemer but rather someone who uniquely cooperated in the work of redemption.

“Co-Redemptrix” received magisterial recognition only centuries later, in 1908, when the Sacred Congregation for Rites used it in a decree elevating the rank of the feast of the Seven Sorrows of Mary.

Since then, it has been referenced multiple times in Church teaching, including during the Second Vatican Council, which ultimately decided against any formal recognition of the title in the document Lumen Gentium.

ROME (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV's recognition of St. John Henry Newman as a "doctor of the church" will be an ecumenical celebration, a sign of esteem for the excellence and ongoing relevance of his teaching, first as an Anglican and then as a Roman Catholic, said a key figure in preparing the declaration.

Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell of York, currently the ranking prelate of the Church of England, was scheduled to lead an Anglican delegation to the formal proclamation Nov. 1 by Pope Leo of St. Newman as a doctor of the church.

Father George Bowen, a priest of the London Oratory and postulator, or official promoter, of St. Newman being named a doctor of the church, spoke with journalists about the process and its implications Oct. 30.

Becoming only the 38th doctor of the church, Father Bowen said, "is not about being intelligent. It's not about being bright. It's about saying something timeless about the church's teaching, putting into words something eminent, something that stands out."

Father Bowen oversaw the compilation and submission to the Vatican of the 600-page "positio" or position paper outlining why St. Newman should be recognized as a doctor of the church. The process began almost immediately after St. Newman's canonization in 2019 and includes letters of support from bishops' conferences and individual bishops -- including many Anglicans, the priest said.

St. Newman was born in London Feb. 21, 1801, was ordained an Anglican priest, became Catholic in 1845, was made a cardinal in 1879 by Pope Leo XIII. He died in 1890. 

"Newman's journey really began as a nominal Christian, baptized Christian who suddenly found faith in the Church of England through the influence of schoolteachers," Father Bowen said. "For all of his life, he was very conscious that half his life was spent in the Church of England. And this was something that was immensely important to him," and "he always recognized as a Catholic that he brought with him all that he had learned about Christ" as an Anglican.

"So, Newman is a big ecumenical figure in the sense that he owes his faith to his upbringing in the Church of England," the priest said. In fact, later in life, St. Newman republished the works he had written as an Anglican with new prefaces and some notes, "but basically saying, 'I'm proud of all this stuff.'"

Anglican Father William Lamb, vicar of the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin at Oxford, where St. Newman had served as vicar from 1828 to 1843, was at the Vatican for the saint's canonization and returned for the proclamation as doctor of the church.

"No one can stand at the altar or preach from the pulpit from which he preached and be unaware of his legacy," he told Catholic News Service Oct. 30.

"In recognizing St. John Henry Newman as a doctor of the universal church," Father Lamb said, "Pope Leo has made a significant and gracious ecumenical gesture in acknowledging the influence of this Anglican patrimony."

After the visit of Britain's King Charles III, which included prayer with the pope in the Sistine Chapel, the Anglican priest said, "I continue to pray for positive ecumenical relations and an ever-greater commitment to seek the gift of unity in a world which is so often fractured and estranged." 

St. Newman and the "Oxford Movement" within Anglicanism "have shaped the life and spirituality of the University Church in many ways," Father Lamb said. "Every Sunday when we celebrate the Eucharist, we use a chalice that Newman gave to St. Mary's when he was the vicar."

But the saint's legacy also is broader and continues to impact the university, he said.

"Newman contributed to the reform of the tutorial system, one of the hallmarks of an Oxford education, when he was a tutor at Oriel College," Father Lamb said. "We celebrate not only his legacy as a theologian but also his contribution to the world of higher education. His 'Idea of a University' remains a key point of reference for the debate about both the value and the future of higher education."