Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu in 2019. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN

Jan 14, 2026 / 11:45 am (CNA).

The Vatican’s Court of Cassation has cleared the way for the appeal phase of the Secretariat of State funds trial — commonly tied in headlines to Cardinal Angelo Becciu — rejecting last-ditch procedural challenges and accepting the recusal of Vatican Promoter of Justice Alessandro Diddi from the case.

In two separate rulings — one brief and another running eight pages — the court closed the remaining disputes that had stalled the appeal proceedings over the Holy See’s investment in a luxury property on Sloane Avenue in London.

The Cassation decisions mean the appeal will proceed without Diddi, and they also uphold the appeal court’s earlier finding that the promoter’s office filed its own appeal improperly and outside required procedures and deadlines. As a result, the appeal phase will now focus primarily on defense appeals — which could at most lead to reduced sentences or even acquittals for some defendants.

The appeal trial is scheduled to resume Feb. 3.

What the Cassation court decided

The case reached the Court of Cassation after a series of procedural clashes in the appeal court, including:

— defense motions seeking Diddi’s recusal following intercepted communications suggesting contacts with individuals involved in the wider case;

— defense arguments that the promoter’s appeal was inadmissible because it failed to follow procedural rules and timelines; and

— a countermove from the promoter’s office seeking to challenge the appeal court itself — effectively attempting to halt proceedings by disputing the court’s authority to declare the promoter’s appeal inadmissible.

The Vatican’s Court of Cassation accepted Diddi’s decision to abstain from the case, a move that effectively ends the push to force a formal ruling against him. In its more detailed ruling, the court reaffirmed that the promoter’s appeal was filed incorrectly and that the appeal court acted properly in declaring it inadmissible.

The court is presided over by Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, with Cardinals Matteo Zuppi, Augusto Paolo Lojudice, and Mauro Gambetti among the judges, alongside other members of the panel.

Background: London deal and first verdicts

The broader trial centers on Vatican financial management tied to the Secretariat of State and its London real estate investment. Vatican prosecutors argued that intermediaries worked together to extract money from the Holy See as control of the property shifted between financiers.

Becciu — the first cardinal tried by a Vatican civil tribunal following a decision by Pope Francis — was convicted in the first-instance verdict and sentenced to five years and six months in prison on charges including embezzlement and fraud. Other defendants received prison sentences as well, including Enrico Crasso (seven years), Raffaele Mincione (five years and six months), Cecilia Marogna (three years and nine months), and Gianluigi Torzi (six years). In total, first-instance convictions amounted to about 37 years of prison time, along with an order to confiscate 166 million euros ($193.6 million), though several defendants were acquitted on some counts.

The appeal phase has unfolded in a changed Vatican context after the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV, who has signaled he intends to let Vatican justice proceed without the kinds of papal interventions that marked earlier stages of the case.

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

Pope Leo XIV gives the first general audience of 2026 in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Jan. 7, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 14, 2026 / 06:20 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV urged Christians on Wednesday to set aside time in their daily lives to speak with God in prayer and warned about the harm to one’s relationship with him when this is ignored.

“Time dedicated to prayer, meditation, and reflection cannot be lacking in the Christian’s day and week,” the pontiff said during the catechesis at his general audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Jan. 14.

The pope devoted the second week of his series of teachings on the documents of the Second Vatican Council to a closer examination of the dogmatic constitution Dei Verbum dedicated to divine revelation.

Pointing to the document, he highlighted listening and dialogue with God as foundations of a Christian life.

“From this perspective, the first attitude to cultivate is listening, so that the divine Word may penetrate our minds and our hearts; at the same time, we are required to speak with God, not to communicate to him what he already knows but to reveal ourselves to ourselves,” Leo said.

The Holy Father also drew on the human experience of friendship to warn about the dangers of neglecting one’s spiritual life: “Our experience tells us that friendships can come to an end through a dramatic gesture of rupture, or because of a series of daily acts of neglect that erode the relationship until it is lost.”

“If Jesus calls us to be friends, let us not leave this call unheeded. Let us welcome it, let us take care of this relationship, and we will discover that friendship with God is our salvation,” he said.

The pope insisted that this living relationship with God is cultivated above all through prayer, understood as an authentic friendship with the Lord.

This experience, he explained, is achieved first of all in liturgical and community prayer, “in which we do not decide what to hear from the Word of God, but it is he himself who speaks to us through the Church.” It is also achieved in personal prayer, which takes place “in the interiority of the heart and mind,” and which should form part of every believer’s day and week.

‘Only when we speak with God can we also speak about him’

The pontiff stressed that only from a personal relationship with God is it possible to bear authentic witness to the faith: “Only when we speak with God can we also speak about him.”

Referring to the dogmatic constitution Dei Verbum, promulgated by St. Paul VI in 1965, Leo emphasized that Christian revelation is grounded in a living and personal dialogue between God and humanity. Through this dialogue, God reveals himself as an ally who invites each person into a true relationship of friendship.

The pope noted that divine revelation has a profoundly dialogical character, proper to the experience of friendship: It does not tolerate silence but is nourished by the exchange of true words capable of creating communion.

Leo XIV also distinguished between “words” and “chatter,” explaining that the latter remains on the surface and does not create authentic relationships. In genuine relationships, he said, words do not serve merely to exchange information but to reveal who we are and to establish a deep bond with the other.

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) -- If Christians are to speak about God, then they must dedicate time each day and week to listening to God's word in prayer and the liturgy, Pope Leo XIV said.

"We are called to live and cultivate friendship with the Lord" through prayer, he said Jan. 14 during his weekly general audience.

"This is achieved first of all in liturgical and community prayer, in which we do not decide what to hear from the Word of God, but it is he himself who speaks to us through the Church," he said. "It is then achieved in personal prayer, which takes place in the interiority of the heart and mind."

"Time dedicated to prayer, meditation and reflection cannot be lacking in the Christian's day and week," he said. "Only when we speak with God can we also speak about him." 

Speaking to visitors gathered in the Paul VI Audience Hall for the general audience, the pope continued a new series of talks dedicated to the Second Vatican Council, which "rediscovered the face of God as the Father who, in Christ, calls us to be his children," Pope Leo said in his first talk introducing the series Jan. 7.

He dedicated his Jan. 14 catechesis to the Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, "Dei Verbum," calling it "one of the most beautiful and important" documents of the council.

The document, published in 1965, affirms "a fundamental point of Christian faith," that "Jesus Christ radically transforms man's relationship with God," who is no longer invisible or distant, but has been made flesh, he said.

Out of the abundance of his love, the Lord "speaks to men as friends and lives among them, so that he may invite and take them into fellowship with himself," he said. "The only condition of the New Covenant is love." 

While the Covenant is eternal, and "nothing can separate us from his love," the revelation of God has "the dialogical nature of friendship," which "does not tolerate silence, but is nurtured by the exchange of true words," he said.

Just as human friendships can end with "a dramatic gesture of rupture or because of a series of daily acts of neglect that erode the relationship until it is lost," one's friendship with Jesus must be cultivated and cared for daily, Pope Leo said.

Therefore, the first step is to cultivate an "attitude of listening, so that the divine Word may penetrate our minds and our hearts," he said. "At the same time, we are required to speak with God, not to communicate to him what he already knows, but to reveal ourselves to ourselves."

"If Jesus calls us to be friends, let us not leave this call unheeded," he said.

"Let us take care of this relationship, and we will discover that friendship with God is our salvation," he said.

Pope Leo: Accept God's invitation of friendship!

A look at Pope Leo's general audience Jan. 14, 2026. (CNS video/Robert Duncan)

WASHINGTON - “We are tremendously grateful for the Administration’s work to address certain challenges facing foreign-born religious workers, their employers, and the American communities they serve,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration. 

Today, the Trump Administration issued an Interim Final Rule that will soon be published in the Federal Register, which will impact foreign-born religious workers seeking to continue their ministries in the United States. Catholic priests, religious, and others who hold religious worker (R-1) visas are generally required to depart the United States upon reaching the maximum period of stay for that visa (five years) and then can possibly return to the country on a subsequent R-1 visa. Previously, they were required to spend at least one full year outside of the United States between R-1 visas. The rule announced today amends federal regulations to require no minimum time outside of the country before religious workers can return on a subsequent R-1 visa, provided they meet all other requirements. 

This modification gives relief to religious workers and the communities they serve while the religious workers await legal permanent residency (commonly referred to as a “green card”). The wait time for a green card for religious workers has grown to several decades long. For multiple years, the USCCB has been alerting policymakers to the hardship this situation creates for religious organizations and people of faith, especially in more isolated or rural parts of the country. Together with interfaith partners, the bishops have been advocating since 2023 for the specific regulatory change published today. 

Archbishop Coakley and Bishop Cahill’s full statement follows: 

“We are tremendously grateful for the Administration’s work to address certain challenges facing foreign-born religious workers, their employers, and the American communities they serve. The value of the Religious Worker Visa Program and our appreciation for the efforts undertaken to support it cannot be overstated. This targeted change is a truly significant step that will help facilitate essential religious services for Catholics and other people of faith throughout the United States by minimizing disruptions to cherished ministries. 

“In order to provide the full extent of the relief needed and truly promote the free exercise of religion in our country, we continue to urge Congress to enact the bipartisan Religious Workforce Protection Act.” 

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St. Patrick Cathedral in the Diocese of Charlotte. | Credit: Diocese of Charlotte

Jan 13, 2026 / 11:41 am (CNA).

Reacting to Bishop Michael Martin’s Dec. 17, 2025, pastoral letter announcing the impending abolishment of altar rails and kneelers in the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, 31 of the diocese’s priests have signed a letter to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Legislative Texts containing a set of questions, or “dubia,” related to the matter.

According to The Pillar, which obtained a leaked copy of the diocesan priests’ letter last week, the priests directly question “whether a diocesan bishop may prohibit the use of kneelers to assist members of the faithful who, of their own accord, wish to receive holy Communion kneeling.”

In December, Martin issued a pastoral letter saying that by Jan. 16, the use of altar rails, kneelers, and “prie-dieus” (movable kneelers) will no longer be permitted in the diocese, and any “temporary or movable fixtures used for kneeling for the reception of Communion” must be removed.

In his pastoral letter, Martin said while an “individual member of the faithful” is free to kneel to receive and should not be denied Communion, the “normative posture for all the faithful in the United States is standing,” per guidelines from the U.S. bishops.

“The faithful who feel compelled to kneel to receive the Eucharist as is their individual right should also prayerfully consider the blessing of communal witness that is realized when we share a common posture,” he wrote.

In their letter to the Vatican, the diocesan priests specifically question the bishop’s actions to impede the faithful from kneeling at built-in altar rails when that is the norm for a parish, a practice the bishop has insisted upon when he celebrates Mass at such churches in the diocese, according to Brian Williams, an advocate for Charlotte’s Traditional Latin Mass community.

When Martin concelebrated a Mass with several other bishops last summer at a parish whose commmunicants usually receive at temporary kneelers, per the bishop’s direction, according to Williams, Communion was distributed in front of the kneelers to discourage parishioners from kneeling.

“Since an altar rail is a common and traditional ‘structure and ornamentation’ that marks off the sanctuary from the body of the church within the Roman rite, it is asked whether a diocesan bishop has the legitimate authority to prohibit the erection of altar rails within churches or other sacred places in his diocese,” the diocese’s priests query in their letter, as reported by The Pillar.

A priest in the Charlotte Diocese who wished to remain anonymous due to an alleged “atmosphere of fear, retaliation, and mistrust” told CNA that the actual number of the dubia’s supporters is “well north” of the 31, or a quarter of all priests in the diocese, who actually signed it.

“Certain priests have prudentially decided to withhold their signature,” he told CNA.

According to a social media post by the Traditional Latin Mass community in Charlotte: “Several diocesan sources in Charlotte have confirmed that the actual support for the dubia is closer to 50% of priests, nearly double the number of signers.”

In his December pastoral letter, Martin also specified norms for extraordinary ministers, prohibited the practice of intinction (when the consecrated bread is dipped into the wine before being placed on the tongue), and encouraged the reception of Communion under both kinds — the bread and the wine — which he says fell out of practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In May 2025, a draft of a letter detailing several other of Martin’s intended reforms of traditional practices in the diocese was leaked. In that letter, the bishop said that because “there is no mention in the conciliar documents, the reform of the liturgy, or current liturgical documents concerning the use of altar rails or kneelers for the distribution of holy Communion, they are not to be employed in the Diocese of Charlotte.”

The diocesan priests’ Jan. 5 letter to the Vatican manifests that “both the leaked letter from this past summer and the pastoral letter of Dec. 17 have caused a great deal of concern amongst the priests and faithful of the Diocese of Charlotte, especially in those parishes that have allowed the faithful to use an altar rail or prie-dieu for the reception of holy Communion.”

The diocesan priests’ letter also addresses issues from Martin’s leaked May letter in which the prelate suggested that certain liturgical practices and elements such as the use of Latin, ornately decorated vestments, certain prayers, and altar ornaments will be prohibited because they are not in accord with changes made after the Second Vatican Council.

Asked about the Jan. 5 letter containing the dubia, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Charlotte told CNA that the bishop “has not ‘restricted kneeling.’”

In a Jan. 8 statement to CNA, Martin stated: “My brother priests are always welcome to ask questions and seek clarification about the application of liturgical norms. To be clear, the only modifications that have been made since the Diocese of Charlotte last updated its liturgical norms in 2011 involve the distribution of holy Communion, as spelled out in my letter to the faithful in December.”

Apparently referring to the leaked May letter, Martin continued: “Questions arising from the internal and confidential conversations of the Presbyteral Council are premature and lack substance, since no definitive action has taken place outside of the December 2025 letter. The norms highlighted in the letter keep our diocese aligned with the broader norms of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the universal Church.”

Grand Master Fra’ John Dunlap addresses the diplomatic corps accredited to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta at the Magistral Villa on Rome’s Aventine Hill on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. | Credit: Order of Malta

Jan 13, 2026 / 11:11 am (CNA).

The Order of Malta’s Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem is facing severe operational constraints and its mobile clinics remain unable to reach Bedouin villages in the West Bank due to movement restrictions and violence, the order’s grand master told diplomats Jan. 10.

Fra’ John Dunlap said in his annual address to the diplomatic corps that the 900-year-old Catholic order is committed to help reconstruction efforts in Gaza City led by Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, and other partners.

Middle East operations central

The ties to the Middle East are central to the order’s mission, particularly in Lebanon and the Holy Land, Dunlap told the diplomatic corps accredited to the order at the Magistral Villa on Rome’s Aventine Hill.

He expressed concern about restrictions on movement, violence, and persistent shortages of essential services in the West Bank, citing the operational challenges facing Holy Family Hospital and the inability of mobile clinics to reach Bedouin communities.

Latin America remains a region of paramount importance, Dunlap said, announcing a regional conference of the Order of Malta for the Americas in Buenos Aires in autumn 2026 to streamline regional humanitarian initiatives.

Africa continues to receive substantial investment through specialized programs of Ordre de Malte France and Malteser International, with newly established relations with Gambia and Burundi yielding rapid progress, he said.

Ukraine constituted a major focus, with Dunlap calling for hostilities to cease and full protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure. The order expressed readiness to support dialogue initiatives “in full respect of its principles of neutrality and impartiality.”

UN status sought

The order aspires to attain “enhanced status” within the United Nations that more accurately reflects the nature and breadth of its worldwide activities, Dunlap concluded.

The order currently holds permanent observer status at the U.N. and maintains diplomatic relations with 115 countries.

Ambassador Antoine Zanga of Cameroon, dean of the diplomatic corps, praised the order’s “humanitarian diplomacy” in his response speech and invited Dunlap to continue promoting “charity, solidarity, peace, and defense of international humanitarian law in a world where the rules are fading.”

Dunlap described 2025 as a year of exceptional intensity, marked by the jubilee, the death of Pope Francis, and the election of Pope Leo XIV, which “profoundly resonated across both the life of the universal Church and the broader international community.”

“The order is truly the institution of the Gospel, which it follows as Jesus taught it through his apostles,” Bolivian Ambassador Teresa Susana Subieta Serrano shared with CNA after the speech of the grand master. She noted that the grand master mentioned Latin America as a region of paramount importance for the order.

“We recognize many good things that the order is doing. I am also the special envoy of my country to Africa, so I appreciate the particular mention of this continent. My intention is to do projects in Africa together with the order,” Slovenian Ambassador Franc But told CNA.

WASHINGTON – “Dr. King encouraged people to be leaders in the priorities that Christ gave us in the Gospel,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in a reflection commemorating the late civil rights leader’s life and legacy. Archbishop Coakley focused his reflection for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on a portion of Dr. King’s sermon, Drum Major Instinct:

“Let us take a moment to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose prophetic voice was a ‘drum major for justice.’ His inspiring words continue to speak to our hearts today: 

‘Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.’

“What does it mean to be ‘a drum major’ in our own communities? Dr. King’s sermon encouraged people to be leaders in the priorities that Christ gave us: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit those in prison. Through the social service and charitable ministries of the Catholic Church, we strive to embody the Gospel mandate at the local and community levels. But just as important is the challenge to help the faithful to authentically live out this call. Our special message on immigration and our commitment to continue addressing the sin of racism are two recent examples that serve as efforts to be drum majors of love in our communities.

“In our pastoral letter against racism, we bishops affirm Dr. King’s leadership in bringing together people of faith in the work of racial justice, noting ‘that spirit is integral to the fight today.’ As we remember Dr. King and commemorate his legacy, let us continue this work as drum majors and engage in actions of compassion and mercy. 

“I encourage you to take time to reflect on how the Holy Spirit may be inviting you to join with others in addressing challenges within our families, neighborhoods, or communities. May we lead the way in building a society rooted in justice, peace, righteousness, and the dignity of every human person.”

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WASHINGTON – “We must continue to support pregnant and parenting mothers in need and offer spiritual and emotional help to all who have participated in abortion,” said Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, marking the 53rd anniversary of the decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide. Noting there have been several pro-life victories since Roe was overturned in 2022, he cautioned that human life is still gravely threatened by legalized abortion as it continues to be aggressively promoted at the state and federal level.

Bishop Thomas’ full statement follows:

“January 22 marks the anniversary of the tragic U.S. Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, that legalized abortion nationwide and led to the loss of over 65 million children and immeasurable harm to their parents and family members. This solemn day is commemorated each year with the observance of the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children for prayer, penance, and our personal recommitment to the cause of life.

“We continue to give thanks to God for the opportunity to defend human life in law through the overturn of Roe in 2022. Since that time, we have seen several pro-life victories. Most recently, at the national level, Congress acted heroically last year in largely defunding Planned Parenthood of federal taxpayer dollars. Meanwhile the Administration has reversed several of its predecessor’s pro-abortion policies.

“Despite these successes, human life is still gravely threatened by legalized abortion as it continues to be aggressively promoted at the state and federal level. Many challenges remain, including pro-abortion ballot initiatives, the increased use and availability of abortion pills, and the need to protect the Hyde Amendment to keep taxpayer funded abortion out of national health care bills. We must continue to support pregnant and parenting mothers in need and offer spiritual and emotional help to all who have participated in abortion. Our united prayers, sacrifices, and efforts to protect human life and heal the wounds inflicted by abortion remain as important as ever. 

“As our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV has said, ‘God's mercy calls us to protect every life, especially those society overlooks—the child yet to be born and the elderly nearing their journey's end—because each bears Christ's face.’

“May we see the face of Christ in every single person, in every pregnant mother, and every child in the womb. Let us remain steadfast in our commitment to ensure that every human life may be protected in law and welcomed in love, and that abortion may be unthinkable.”

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WASHINGTON – Catholics across the country are encouraged to observe a nationwide prayer vigil from Thursday, January 22 to Friday, January 23, 2026, to pray for an end to abortion and a greater respect for all human life.

The National Prayer Vigil for Life is hosted each January by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and The Catholic University of America’s Office of Campus Ministry. The vigil has always taken place on the eve of the March for Life, which marks the date of the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

The Opening Mass will take place in the Great Upper Church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. at 5:00 PM on Thursday, January 22. The principal celebrant and homilist for the Opening Mass will be Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities. 

Following the Opening Mass, a 7:00 PM National Holy Hour for Life will take place in the Crypt Church (lower level) of the Basilica, which will include Recitation of the Rosary and Benediction. Bishop James T. Ruggieri of the Diocese of Portland, will be the presider for the holy hour. The vigil concludes at 8:00 AM on Friday, January 23 with the Closing Mass celebrated by Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, OFM, Cap., archbishop emeritus of Boston. The full event schedule and additional details may be found on the Basilica’s event page at https://www.nationalshrine.org/event/2026-national-prayer-vigil-for-life/. 

The live television broadcasts on January 22 for the 5:00 PM Opening Mass and the January 23 Closing Mass at 8:00 AM will be provided by the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN)
and will be available via live-stream on the Basilica’s website at www.nationalshrine.org/mass.  For more information about on-site attendance at the Basilica for the National Prayer Vigil for Life, please visit the information page on the Basilica’s website.

Overnight seminarian-led holy hours will also be taking place from January 22-23 from 9:00 PM – 8:00 AM. For more information about the overnight holy hours and the accompanying livestream, please visit the USCCB’s website. 

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St. Francis of Assisi. | Credit: Paolo Gallo/Shutterstock

Jan 12, 2026 / 17:21 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed a “Special Year of St. Francis” to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the saint’s death. During this time of grace, which will extend until January 2027, the faithful are granted the opportunity to obtain a plenary indulgence.

This Franciscan Jubilee Year, considered a gift for the entire Church and an occasion for authentic spiritual renewal, was inaugurated on Jan. 10 with a decree issued by the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See.

Until Jan. 10 of next year, the faithful can obtain this grace under the usual conditions — sacramental confession, Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the pope — by making a pilgrimage to any Franciscan conventual church or place of worship dedicated to St. Francis anywhere in the world.

Furthermore, the elderly, the sick, and those who, for serious reasons, cannot leave their homes can obtain the plenary indulgence by spiritually joining in the jubilee celebrations and offering their prayers, pains, or sufferings to God.

In a world where “the virtual takes over the real, disagreements and social violence are part of everyday life, and peace becomes more insecure and distant every day, this Year of St. Francis spurs all of us, each according to our possibilities, to imitate the poor man of Assisi, to form ourselves as far as possible on the model of Christ,” the decree states.

For the Order of Friars Minor, this time is also an opportunity for the faithful to become “models of holiness of life and constant witnesses of peace.”

On the occasion of this anniversary, Pope Leo XIV addressed a letter to the ministers general of the Franciscan Family Conference in which he emphasized that “in this era, marked by so many seemingly endless wars, by internal and social divisions that create distrust and fear, he continues to speak. Not because he offers technical solutions, but because his life points to the authentic source of peace.”

In this regard, he highlighted that St. Francis reminds us that “peace with God, peace among people, and peace with creation are inseparable dimensions of a single call to universal reconciliation.”

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