St. Augustine and St. Monica stained glass at St. Augustine Cathedral Catholic Church Basilica in Tucson, Arizona. / Credit: Bill Perry/Shutterstock

Rome Newsroom, Aug 27, 2025 / 13:40 pm (CNA).

Since the fourth century, Christians have revered St. Monica, the mother of Church Father St. Augustine, as a woman of unwavering faith in God.

In an interview with EWTN News reporter Valentina Di Donato, two Augustinian priests living in Rome explain why the woman they refer to as their “grandmother” continues to be a source of hope and inspiration, especially for Catholic wives and mothers.

Father Angelo Di Berardino, OSA, who has worked and lived at the Augustinian International College of Santa Monica in Rome for 50 years, said St. Monica had a great interior strength that influenced all members of her family.

“Respecting her husband, she was able to convert him,” Di Berardino told EWTN News. “Then, she was a strong woman to educate her three children, especially Augustine.”

“I think she was so strong in her life, in her prayer, that she had a great influence on the great theologian Augustine,” he added.

According to Order of St. Augustine procurator general Father Edward Daleng Daniang, OSA, St. Monica is the saint to turn to for spouses who feel alone in their desire to create a Christian family home.

“St. Monica did not have it easy with her husband Patrick,” he said. “She tried to win him with her love, with her patience and endurance and tolerance and, above all, bringing her husband to God through prayer.”

Describing the ancient saint as a “living example” of a mother who does not give up on her children, Daniang said those struggling with their children can have hope that their prayers, and tears, are never wasted.

“St. Monica was struggling with her son St. Augustine who wandered away from home,” he said. “He left Monica, his mother, to come to Italy in those days and Monica did not give up.”

“He left the faith which she tried to transmit to him but she did not give up,” he emphasized.

Following her son to Italy, Daniang said her main intention of leaving Africa was not to bring her son back home but to lead her son to Jesus Christ for the salvation of his soul.

“St. Monica stands as someone who led her husband to God, to Christ, and also brought her son St. Augustine to Christ,” he said.

“That’s bringing the unity of family together,” he added.

Pilgrims reach out to Pope Leo XIV at the general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican City, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 27, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

We find true hope when we give of ourselves freely and with love — encountering suffering, not running away from it, Pope Leo XIV said at his weekly audience with the public on Wednesday.

Addressing thousands of pilgrims in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall, the pope emphasized Jesus’ embrace of suffering, when he gave himself up to be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion.

Jesus “is not the victim of an arrest but the giver of a gift,” Leo said on Aug. 27. “In this gesture, he embodies a hope of salvation for our humanity: to know that, even in the darkest hour, one can remain free to love to the end.”

The pontiff said Jesus’ actions show us what it is to be free.

“In life, it is not necessary to have everything under control. It is enough to choose to love freely every day,” he underlined.

Leo’s general audience message centered on the scene that begins Jesus’ passion: his arrest. Despite knowing what is going to happen to him, the Lord does not retreat but “gives himself up” out of love to the soldiers who have come to arrest him.

“In the middle of the night, when everything seems to be falling apart, Jesus shows that Christian hope is not evasion, but decision,” the pope said.

Speaking to a packed hall, he recalled that Jesus prepared every day of his life for the moment of his arrest and subsequent passion and death. “For this reason, when it arrives, he has the strength not to seek a way of escape. His heart knows well that to lose life for love is not a failure.”

“Jesus too is troubled when faced with a path that seems to lead only to death and to the end,” Leo continued. “But he is equally persuaded that only a life lost for love, at the end, is ultimately found.”

“This,” the pontiff said, “is what true hope consists of: not in trying to avoid pain but in believing that even in the heart of the most unjust suffering, the seed of new life is hidden.”

He asked those listening to reflect on their lives and to think about how often they defend themselves and their own plans, without realizing that it leaves them, ultimately, alone.

“The logic of the Gospel is different: Only what is given flourishes; only the love that becomes free can restore trust even where everything seems lost,” he said, adding that “this is true hope: knowing that, even in the darkness of trial, God’s love sustains us and ripens the fruit of eternal life in us.”

During his greeting to Spanish-speaking pilgrims, Pope Leo recalled the Church’s Aug. 27 celebration of the feast of St. Monica and the Aug. 28 feast of St. Augustine, Monica’s son.

“Let us ask the Lord, through the intercession of these beloved saints, that we may know — following the logic of the Gospel — how to love and give our lives freely and generously, as Christ, our hope, did,” he said.

At the end of the Wednesday audience, the pope added an appeal for the end of wars, especially the conflict in the Holy Land.

“I implore that all hostages be released, that a permanent ceasefire be reached, that safe access for humanitarian aid be facilitated, and that humanitarian rights be fully respected: in particular, the obligation to protect all civilian areas and the prohibition of collective punishment, indiscriminate use of force, and forced displacement of the population,” he said.

“We implore Mary, Queen of Peace, source of consolation and hope, to intercede for reconciliation and peace in that land so dear to us all,” Leo added.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV sent his "heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness" to all those affected by the "terrible tragedy" of a shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis that left two children dead and 17 people injured.

The pope's condolences went particularly to "the families now grieving the loss of a child," said a telegram to Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.

The shooting Aug. 27 took place while the children of Annunciation Catholic School were in the parish church for the first Mass of the school year.

Police said a gunman in his 20s, armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, shot through the church windows at the students in the pews and then killed himself.

The dead children were 8 and 10 years old. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara told reporters 17 other people were injured, including 14 children.

Police did not release the gunman's name or speculate on a motive for the shooting. 

The papal message to Archbishop Hebda said that "while commending the souls of the deceased children to the love of Almighty God, His Holiness prays for the wounded as well as the first responders, medical personnel and clergy who are caring for them and their loved ones."

"At this extremely difficult time, the Holy Father imparts to the Annunciation Catholic School community, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and the people of the greater Twin Cities metropolitan area his apostolic blessing as a pledge of peace, fortitude and consolation in the Lord Jesus," it said.
 

WASHINGTON – In response to the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minn., Archbishop William E. Lori, vice-president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement.

“As a Church, we are following the tragic news from Annunciation School in Minneapolis with heartbreaking sadness. Whenever one part of the Body of Christ is wounded, we feel the pain as if it were our very own children. Let us all beg the Lord for the protection and healing of the entire Annunciation family.”

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV appealed to Israel and Hamas to stop the violence that has caused "so much terror, destruction and death."

"I plead for all hostages to be freed, a permanent ceasefire to be reached, the safe entry of humanitarian aid to be facilitated and humanitarian law to be fully respected," the pope said at the end of his weekly general audience Aug. 27.

Without naming Israel, Pope Leo specified that he was calling for full observance of "the duty to protect civilians and the prohibitions against collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force and the forced displacement of populations."

The pope said he endorsed the statement made Aug. 26 by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Patriarch Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, calling for an end to "this spiral of violence, to put an end to the war and to give priority to the common good." 

The two patriarchs, who both have parishes in Gaza City sheltering the displaced, said, "It seems that the Israeli government's announcement that 'the gates of hell will open' is indeed taking on tragic forms" as the Israeli military campaign against Hamas intensified.

Local media reported that Israel wants civilians in Gaza City, including the hundreds of people in the Greek Orthodox compound of St. Porphyrius and the Catholic Holy Family compound, to evacuate to southern Gaza.

But "among those who have sought shelter within the walls of the compounds, many are weakened and malnourished due to the hardships of the last months," the patriarchs wrote. "Leaving Gaza City and trying to flee to the south would be nothing less than a death sentence. For this reason, the clergy and nuns have decided to remain and continue to care for all those who will be in the compounds."

Praying for the conversion of hearts and for peace, the patriarchs said, "There has been enough devastation, in the (Palestinian) territories and in people's lives. There is no reason to justify keeping civilians as prisoners and hostages in dramatic conditions. It is now time for the healing of the long-suffering families on all sides."

Pope Leo ended the audience asking that "Mary, queen of peace, source of consolation and hope," would intercede "to obtain reconciliation and peace in that land so dear to all."
 

Pope Leo appeals for peace in Holy Land

At the end of his general audience Aug. 27, Pope Leo appealed for peace in the Holy Land.

Pope Leo XIV, whose recent discourses will be published in a book on Aug. 27, waves during his Wednesday audience Aug. 20, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 26, 2025 / 15:27 pm (CNA).

On Aug. 27 the Vatican will publish a compilation of Pope Leo’s discourses from the first months of his pontificate in a book signed by the pontiff titled “Let There Be Peace! Words to the Church and the World.”

According to the Vatican publishing house, the 160-page volume, which will be published in Italian, English, and Spanish, “is a valuable book: It collects the first discourses of Pope Leo XIV, through which we can better understand the pontiff through his own words.”

The book’s title underscores the Holy Father’s emphasis on calling for peace, which began from the very moment of his election on May 8, when he exclaimed from St. Peter’s:

“Peace be with you all! Dear brothers and sisters, these are the first words spoken by the risen Christ, the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for God’s flock. I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world. Peace be with you! It is the peace of the risen Christ. A peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering. A peace that comes from God, the God who loves us all, unconditionally.”

According to information provided by the Vatican, the ideas that stand out in the first discourses of Leo XIV’s pontificate include “the primacy of God, communion in the Church, the search for peace.”

The pontiff has also emphasized the fundamental importance of “an irrevocable commitment for anyone who exercises a ministry of authority in the Church: to disappear so that Christ may remain, to become small so that he may be known and glorified.”

Also notable in the book’s first pages are his calls to strive for “a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which may become leaven for a reconciled world.”

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 addresses pilgrims during his general audience on July 30, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 26, 2025 / 12:53 pm (CNA).

“Peace Be With You All: Towards an Unarmed and Disarming Peace” will be the theme for the 2026 World Day of Peace, the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development announced Aug. 26.

This theme, according to a statement from the Vatican Press Office, “invites humanity to reject the logic of violence and war, to embrace an authentic peace, based on love and justice.”

The statement continues: “It is a peace that is unarmed — that is, not based on fear, threats, or weapons; and disarming, because it is capable of dissolving conflicts, opening hearts, and generating trust, empathy, and hope. It is not enough to invoke peace; it must be embodied in a lifestyle that rejects all forms of violence, visible or structural.”

“The greeting of the risen Christ, ‘Peace be with you’ (cf. Jn 20:19), is an invitation to all — believers, nonbelievers, political leaders, and citizens — to build the kingdom of God and to construct together a humane and peaceful future,” the statement concludes.

The World Day of Peace was instituted by Pope Paul VI, who proposed it on Dec. 8, 1967, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The Church first celebrated it on Jan. 1, 1968, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

The observance came amid the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and other conflicts.

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

The Vatican Gardens at Castel Gandolfo. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 26, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to inaugurate on Sept. 5 Borgo Laudato Si’, a development dedicated to the care of creation inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’. Located in Castel Gandolfo, the area will be open to the public. 

According to Vatican News, Borgo Laudato Si’ consists of “135 acres of gardens, villas, archeological sites, and farmland, [and] the project integrates history with a forward-looking commitment to education, sustainability, and community life.”

The site, which has been a summer retreat for popes for centuries, has been dedicated to Pope Francis’ initiative since 2023 to show “how care for creation and respect for human dignity can be made concrete and harmonious according to the principles of faith, through formation, work, and collaboration,” according to a statement released by the Holy See Press Office.

The center will be inaugurated in the year marking the first decade since the encyclical’s publication with a simple ceremony consisting of the Liturgy of the Word and a rite of blessing.

According to the information released by the Vatican, representatives of the Roman Curia, institutions, and those who have collaborated in launching the project will be present.

Singer Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo will join in the prayer with their artistic gift.

Beforehand, Leo XIV will visit the site, “touring its main spaces and meeting with employees, collaborators, their families, and all the people who, in different ways, animate the life of Borgo Laudato Si’: religious, educators, students, local communities, partners, and benefactors.”

The Vatican presents the event as “the fruit of a journey that intertwines spirituality, education, and sustainability with the aim of offering an open, accessible, and inclusive place for formation, reflection, and the experience of a more conscious and respectful relationship with creation.”

In May, a few days after the 10th anniversary of the publication of Laudato Si’, Leo XIV made his first visit to the site. The pontiff subsequently spent a good part of his summer break at Castel Gandolfo, resuming the tradition broken by Pope Francis, who stayed at the Vatican. 

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

WASHINGTON – “As we mark the 20th anniversary of this tragedy, we remember those who were lost and displaced but also renew our commitment to racial equity and justice in every sector of public life,” said Bishop Roy E. Campbell, Jr., chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee on African American Affairs, and Bishop Joseph N. Perry, chairman of the USCCB’s Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism in a statement marking the 20-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. 

The bishops reflected on the inequities revealed by the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, and how the Church has provided a powerful witness and response in the wake of the tragedy. “Over 1,800 people lost their lives and many more suffered traumatic experiences during the aftermath. Today, the impacts of ongoing mental and physical injuries remain and today the cost of the injuries is borne unequally,” said the bishops. “The powerful witness of the Catholic Church filled the gaps of an inadequate governmental response to the tragedy. It was people of faith, moved by their hearts, who assisted in resettlement efforts in new cities, and supported rebuilding when people attempted to return home.” 

Two decades later, the Church must continue to accompany the most vulnerable populations who still feel the effects of Hurricane Katrina: “As Church, let us be a lifeboat in the flood waters of injustice.” 

The full statement is available here.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV will preside over his first canonization Mass Sept. 7, declaring the sainthood of two young Italians whose devotion to the Eucharist nourished a deep involvement in the cultures of their day.

Pier Giorgio Frassati was born April 6, 1901, in Turin and died there July 4, 1925, of polio at the age of 24. Carlo Acutis was born to Italian parents May 3, 1991, in London and died in Monza, Italy, Oct. 12, 2006, of leukemia at the age of 15.

Pope Francis had been scheduled to canonize Blessed Acutis in April during the Jubilee of Adolescents and to canonize Blessed Frassati in early August during the Jubilee of Young Adults.

While Christine Wohar, founder and executive director of FrassatiUSA, initially was disappointed that the canonizations were delayed, she told Catholic News Service that Pope Leo declaring them saints at a Mass apart from the jubilees also sends a message. 

Their lives "are not really a message for just teenagers or young adults. They are a message for every Catholic," she said. "You do not have to be 15 or 24, you just have to be somebody who is serious about living your Catholic faith."

For Father Primo Soldi, a Turin priest and author of a biography of Frassati, the two young men are united by "a deep faith firmly tied to real life who arrived at the perfection of Gospel living, that is, they lived faith, hope and charity and the other cardinal virtues in a heroic way."

"Just think about how both of them lived the ordeal of their illnesses and death -- like saints: Carlo with the joy and faith with which he faced his treatment and Pier Giorgio with the patience with which he endured the agony of those few days" between the onset of symptoms and his death, Father Soldi told CNS.

Frassati and Acutis both had a deep devotion to the Eucharist and went to Mass every day. 

In 1905, just four years after Frassati was born, St. Pius X published the decree "Sacra Tridentina Synodus," encouraging frequent, even daily reception of the sacrament at a time when many Catholics received only a few times a year.

One of his Jesuit high school teachers encouraged him to go to Mass each day, receive the Eucharist and spend time in adoration.

For Frassati, Father Soldi said, it was not simply Eucharistic devotion but the entryway into a real relationship with Jesus and, as Frassati himself said, one that became the nourishment he relied on as he helped the poor, discerned the path of his life and became involved in politics and the struggle against the growth of fascism in Italy.

The same could be said for Acutis, who is well known for the database on global Eucharistic miracles he complied as a young tech-savvy student.

Cardinal Agostino Vallini, Pope Francis' delegate at Acutis' beatification in 2000, said the young man's strength came from "having a personal, intimate and deep relationship with Jesus," one in which the Eucharist was "the loftiest moment." 

Acutis "never withdrew into himself but was able to understand the needs of people, in whom he saw the face of Christ," the cardinal said at his beatification. His was "a luminous life offered completely to others as Eucharistic bread."

Prayer and service to others went hand in hand for both Frassati and Acutis. Both also endured teasing and misunderstanding because of their devotion but gently challenged their peers to embrace faith.

Living a little bit longer and in the tumultuous period between World War I and the rise of fascism in Italy, Frassati had more time to prepare for his vocation -- he wanted to be a mining engineer and work with miners, who were among the poorest workers in the region.

He was born when Pope Leo XIII was pope and he studied "Rerum Novarum," the encyclical published in 1891 that launched Catholic social teaching and focused particularly on the rights of poor workers. And Frassati joined the Italian Popular Party, founded by Father Luigi Sturzo and based on Catholic social principles.

"What gave him a humanity that was so rich, alive, complete, full and happy ultimately was Jesus," Carlo Tabellini, a 38-year-old lawyer in Turin and member of the Pier Giorgio Frassati Cultural Center, told CNS.

When Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass with a million people attending the Jubilee of Young Adults Aug. 3, he urged them to follow Jesus and do something great with their lives, improving themselves and the world.

"Let us remain united to him, let us remain in his friendship, always, cultivating it through prayer, adoration, Eucharistic Communion, frequent confession and generous charity following the examples of Blessed Piergiorgio Frassati and Blessed Carlo Acutis who will soon be declared saints," the pope said.
 

Pope Leo's first saints: Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati

One month after a crowd of more than one million young people came to Rome for the 2025 Jubilee of Young Adults, the church’s mission to inspire the next generation is set to gain new momentum with the Sept. 7 canonizations of Carlo Acutis and Pier...