Cardinal Pietro Parolin celebrates a Mass for peace in Ukraine on Nov. 17, 2022, in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 22, 2025 / 10:54 am (CNA).

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and an organization of Vatican-accredited journalists have spoken out in support of a free press after the recent attacks on two journalists in Italy.

In a statement released Tuesday, the International Association of Journalists Accredited to the Vatican (AIGAV) condemned last week’s assault on Venezuelan Vatican journalist Edgar Beltrán by businessman Ricardo Cisneros, a member of the Venezuelan government delegation present in Rome for the Oct. 19 canonization of two Venezuelan saints.

During an Oct. 17 event at the Vatican-connected Lateran University in Rome, Beltrán’s interview with the Vatican’s substitute for the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Edgar Robinson Peña Parra, was forcibly interrupted by Cisneros after the prelate was asked about the Maduro government’s “apparent politicization” of the canonizations, according to Catholic news outlet The Pillar.

In its statement, AIGAV condemned “this act of violence against a fellow journalist who was simply doing his job.” 

“The recent incident, which occurred during an official reception attended by various civil and ecclesiastical representatives, confirms the need to continue supporting the free gathering of news. We therefore call upon all individuals and competent authorities to defend and promote this freedom,” it continued.

The statement was sent to event organizers — the Pontifical Lateran University and the Archdiocese of Caracas — and to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication.

The Holy See has not yet issued an official comment on the incident. However, several Vatican-accredited correspondents expressed their concern over what they consider a serious and unprecedented event in an environment generally characterized by respect and open reporting.

Parolin also weighed in on the issue on the sidelines of a Rome event promoting religious freedom Oct. 21.

Asked about the recent violent intimidation on Italian journalist Sigfrido Ranucci, host of the investigative TV program “Report,” he said: “We are increasingly at risk of living in a climate of intolerance where free expression is no longer accepted.”

“It is a source of great concern that acts of intimidation against the press may occur,” Parolin added, expressing his solidarity with the journalist, who was threatened when bombs exploded on his car outside his home on the evening of Oct. 16.

“I’m truly concerned; I express my sympathy to anyone who has been the target of this intimidation. We want everyone to be able to express their point of view without falling victim to this type of threat,” the cardinal added.

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

St. John Henry Newman near the end of his life, in 1887. / Credit: Babouba, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Oct 22, 2025 / 09:07 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV will name St. John Henry Newman a patron saint of Catholic education in a document to be published on Oct. 28 for the 60th anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis, the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on Christian education.

The Holy Father will designate Newman as an official co-patron saint of education, together with St. Thomas Aquinas, during the Vatican’s Jubilee of the World of Education from Oct. 27 to Nov. 1, which is expected to draw 20,000 pilgrims.

The saint will also be declared the 38th doctor of the Church by Leo at the jubilee’s closing Mass on Nov. 1, the solemnity of All Saints. 

Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, the prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, announced the upcoming designation during an Oct. 22 press conference.

Newman, de Mendonça said, is an “extraordinary educator and great inspiration for the philosophy of education.”

The pope will also publish a document on Oct. 28 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis.

Leo’s document will “reflect on the topicality of the declaration and on the challenges that education must confront today, in particular the Catholic schools and universities,” de Mendonça said.

Gravissiumum Educationis, the cardinal said, is a “fundamental document with a strong impact on the contemporary vision of education. The document had a fundamental role in and outside of the Church, and it should be recognized.”

In addition to reaffirming the universal right to education, the Vatican II declaration marked “an important change in the language, that is, the mentality, for speaking about school, not in terms of institutions but rather in terms of educational communities,” he added.

The cardinal quoted at length from the pope’s document to be published Oct. 28, which says that Gravissimum Educationis “has lost none of its bite” since its publication. 

“Since its reception, a constellation of works and charisms has been born ... a spiritual and pedagogical heritage capable of crossing the 21st century and responding to the most pressing challenges,” the pope says in the document.

“This heritage is not set in stone: It is a compass that continues to point the way,” Leo says. “Today’s expectations are no less than those the Church faced 60 years ago. Indeed, they have expanded and become more complex. ... History challenges us with new urgency. Rapid and profound changes expose children, adolescents, and young people to unprecedented fragility. It is not enough to preserve: We must relaunch.” 

“I ask all educational institutions to inaugurate a season that speaks to the hearts of the new generations, recomposing knowledge and meaning, competence and responsibility, faith and life.”

According to the latest Vatican statistics shared at the Oct. 22 press conference, there are 230,000 Catholic universities and schools present across 171 countries, serving almost 72 million students.

In 1984, Pope John Paul II met in Rome with 300,000 young people from all over the world in a meeting that laid the foundations for today’s World Youth Day. / Credit: Gregorini Demetrio, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Oct 22, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

You probably know that St. John Paul II was the second-longest-serving pope in modern history with 27 years of pontificate, and he was the first non-Italian pontiff since the Dutch Pope Adrian VI in 1523.

But did you know that he also changed the Catholic Church in lasting ways during those 27 years? Here are five ways he did that:

1. He helped bring about the 1989 fall of communism in Eastern Europe.

The pope’s official biographer, George Weigel, who for decades chronicled the pope’s engagement with civic leaders, noted that the way Pope John Paul II influenced the political landscape was enormous. His political influence is seen best in the way his engagement with world leaders assisted the downfall of the U.S.S.R.

Just days before President Ronald Reagan called on Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down” the Berlin Wall, he met with the pope. According to historian and author Paul Kengor, Reagan went so far as to call Pope John Paul II his “best friend,” opining that no one knew his soul better than the Polish pontiff who had also suffered an assassination attempt and carried the burden of world leadership.

In the course of 38 official visits and 738 audiences and meetings held with heads of state, John Paul II influenced civic leaders around the world in this epic battle with a regime that would ultimately be responsible for the deaths of more than 30 million people. 

“He thought of himself as the universal pastor of the Catholic Church, dealing with sovereign political actors who were as subject to the universal moral law as anybody else,” Weigel said. 

“He was willing to be a risk-taker, but he also appreciated that prudence is the greatest of political virtues. And I think he was quite respected by world political leaders because of his transparent integrity. His essential attitude toward these men and women was: How can I help you? What can I do to help?”

More than anything, John Paul II understood his role primarily as a spiritual leader.

According to Weigel, the pope’s primary impact on the world of affairs was his central role in creating the revolution of conscience that began in Poland and swept across Eastern Europe. This revolution of conscience inspired the nonviolent revolution of 1989 and the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, an astounding political achievement. 

2. He beatified and canonized more saints than any of his predecessors, making holiness more accessible to ordinary people.

One of John Paul II’s most enduring legacies is the huge number of saints he recognized. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies, during which he proclaimed 1,338 blesseds, and celebrated 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints. That is more than the combined tally of his predecessors over the five centuries before.

St. Teresa of Calcutta is perhaps the best-known contemporary of John Paul II who is now officially a saint, but the first saint of the new millennium and one especially dear to John Paul II was St. Faustina Kowalska, the fellow Polish native who received the message of divine mercy. 

“Sister Faustina’s canonization has a particular eloquence: By this act I intend today to pass this message on to the new millennium,” he said in the homily of her canonization. “I pass it on to all people, so that they will learn to know ever better the true face of God and the true face of their brethren.”

St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, whom Pope John Paul II beatified in 1990 and nicknamed the “man of the beatitudes,” is another popular saint elevated by the Polish pope who loved to recognize the holiness of simple persons living the call to holiness with extraordinary fidelity. At the time of his death, the 24-year-old Italian was simply a student with no extraordinary accomplishments. But his love for Christ in the Eucharist and in the poor was elevated by John Paul II as heroic and worthy of imitation.

It bears noting that Pope Francis would later surpass John Paul II when he proclaimed 800 Italian martyrs saints in a single day.

3. He transformed the papal travel schedule.

John Paul II visited some 129 countries during his pontificate — more countries than any other pope had visited up to that point.

He also created World Youth Days in 1985 and presided over 19 of them as pope.

Weigel said John Paul II understood that the pope must be present to the people of the Church, wherever they are.

“He chose to do it by these extensive travels, which he insisted were not travels, they were pilgrimages,” Weigel said.

“This was the successor of Peter, on pilgrimage to various parts of the world, of the Church. And that’s why these pilgrimages were always built around liturgical events, prayer, adoration of the holy Eucharist, ecumenical and interreligious gatherings — all of this was part of a pilgrimage experience.”

In the latter half of the 20th century — a time of enormous social change and upheaval — John Paul II’s extensive travels and proclamation of the Gospel to the ends of the earth were just what the world needed, Weigel said.

4. He made extraordinary contributions to Church teaching.

John Paul II was a scholar who promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1992, reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law during his pontificate, and authored 14 encyclicals, 15 apostolic exhortations, 11 apostolic constitutions, and 45 apostolic letters.

This is why Weigel said the Church has only begun to unpack what he calls the “magisterium” of John Paul II in the form of his writings and his intellectual influence.

For example, John Paul’s theology of the body remains enormously influential in the United States and throughout the world, though Weigel said even this has yet to be unpacked.

5. He gave new life to the Catholic Church in Africa.

John Paul II’s legendary evangelical fervor took fire in Africa. 

He had a particular friendship with Beninese Cardinal Bernardin Gantin and visited Africa many times. His visits would inspire a generation of JPII Catholics in Africa as well as other parts of the globe.

“John Paul II was fascinated by Africa; he saw African Christianity as living, a kind of New Testament experience of the freshness of the Gospel, and he was very eager to support that, and lift it up,” Gantin said.

“It was very interesting that during the two synods on marriage and the family in 2014 and 2015, some of the strongest defenses of the Church’s classic understanding of marriage and family came from African bishops; some of whom are first-, second-generation Christians, deeply formed in the image of John Paul II, whom they regard as a model bishop,” Gantin said.

“I think wherever you look around the world Church, the living parts of the Church are those that have accepted the magisterium ... as the authentic interpretation of Vatican II. And the dying parts of the Church, the moribund parts of the Church are those parts that have ignored that magisterium.”

John Paul II’s influence in Africa and around the globe transformed the world. It also forever transformed the Church.

This story was first published on Oct. 22, 2021, and has been updated.

A view of the Vatican Apostolic Library in 2021. / Credit: Franco Origlia/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 15:56 pm (CNA).

Reports circulating in media outlets and on social media in October 2025 allege that the Vatican has opened a prayer room for Muslims in the Apostolic Library.

Claim: The Vatican Library has opened a prayer room for Muslims.

CNA finds: The library does allow Muslim scholars a room in which to pray while they are on site doing research in the Vatican’s extensive archives.

Breakdown: In mid-October 2025, sensational news coverage rocketed around internet media outlets and social media feeds: The Vatican is “allow[ing]” a “designated Muslim prayer room” in its Apostolic Library (National Review); the library has “add[ed] a Muslim prayer room” (The Dallas Express); the Vatican has “[set] up [a] dedicated Muslim prayer room at [the] heart of [the] pope’s 500-year-old library” (GB News); the Holy See has “open[ed]” a “Muslim prayer room in [the] Apostolic Library” (EuroWeekly News).

The headlines are not technically inaccurate. But they appear to suggest a sort of proactivity on the Vatican’s part, as if the Holy See opened up a Muslim prayer room in order to cater to Rome’s Islamic population. And readers could be forgiven for thinking the endeavor is more significant than it appears to be. 

Indeed, the reports generated passionate criticism online; one deacon, for instance, claimed the prayer room constitutes “a total betrayal of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” while the news outlet Zenit noted the policy had sparked a “quiet storm” in response.

The truth appears to be somewhat more mundane. The prayer room’s existence became widely known after the Oct. 8 publication of an interview between the Italian newspaper La Repubblica and the priest Father Don Giacomo Cardinali, the vice prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library.

In the wide-ranging interview, Cardinali described the library as a “universal institution” and “the most secular of the entire Holy See.”

“Our interlocutors are research centers, public universities, the Louvre, the Metropolitan, NASA,” the priest told the newspaper. “They don’t really know what a priest is, much less how to distinguish him from a bishop or a cardinal.” 

Asked if “scholars of other religions” ever come to the library, the priest responded: “Of course.”

“Some Muslim scholars asked us for a room with a carpet to pray, [so] we gave it to them: We have incredible ancient Korans,” the priest said. 

“We are a universal library,” he added. “There are Arabic, Jewish, Ethiopian collections, unique Chinese pieces. Years ago we discovered that we have the oldest medieval Japanese archive that exists outside the Rising Sun.”

The verdict: The Vatican Apostolic Library does indeed allow Muslims a room for prayer. But, importantly, it does not appear to be a generally accessible Islamic prayer space but rather one designated for the “Muslim scholars” that may be on site at the time. Further, it was only opened at the request of scholars themselves.

And though it is understandable that a Muslim prayer room in the Holy See may inspire a bit of cognitive dissonance, the vice prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library describes the space as nothing more than “a room with a carpet.”

Amid the sensational news coverage, Britain’s Daily Mail may have said it best when it reported, simply: “The Vatican has granted Muslim scholars’ request for a prayer room.”

We rate this claim true, with important context.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin speaks at the release of Aid to the Church in Need’s “Religious Freedom in the World Report 2025” at the Vatican on Oct. 21, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 21, 2025 / 14:07 pm (CNA).

Authoritarian regimes are among the main drivers of religious discrimination and persecution in 52 countries, according to an Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) report. 

The pontifical foundation, alongside Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, released the Religious Freedom in the World Report 2025 at the Vatican on Tuesday, highlighting the need for the Church to bear witness to the millions of people who face threats of persecution and violence.

The cardinal decried the “year on year” increase of violations affecting more than 5.4 billion people worldwide at the report’s launch and stressed the need for governments to acknowledge religious freedom as an “inalienable right,” as asserted by both the Second Vatican Council document Dignitatis Humanae and Article 18 of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Men and women everywhere deserve freedom from any form of compulsion in matters of faith — whether that be subtle social pressures or overt state mandates,” Parolin said at the Oct. 21 report launch at the Augustinian Patristic Pontifical Institute in Rome.

The 2025 biennial report, which provides a global overview of the state of religious freedom affecting all faith communities in 196 countries from January 2023 to December 2024, found that governments in 52 countries employ “systematic strategies to control or silence religious life.”

“In China, Iran, Eritrea, and Nicaragua, authorities use mass surveillance technologies, digital censorship, restrictive legislation, and arbitrary detention to suppress independent religious communities,” the ACN press release stated. 

During the report launch, ACN Editor-in-Chief Marta Petrosillo said that authoritarian regimes present in parts of Latin America and Asia have attempted to “erase religious identity” by shutting down churches, preventing or banning religious education, and even renaming entire villages.  

“In North Korea, the regime criminalizes all belief, punishing worship with imprisonment, torture, or even execution,” she said.

“In Nicaragua, the government has taken extreme measures to silence the Church — a religious group has lost its legal status, and public worship and religious services have been banned,” she added.

Other key factors driving religious freedom violations identified in the report include jihadism and religious nationalism across Africa and Asia, and armed conflicts, forced migration, and organized crime affecting countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas.

ACN also noted the erosion of religious freedom in Europe and North America, reporting increased incidences of attacks on places of worship, assault of clergy, and disruption of religious services in France, Spain, Italy, Greece, and the U.S.

Artist Raúl Berzosa works on the portrait of St. Peter To Rot. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Raúl Berzosa

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Malaga, Spain-born artist Raúl Berzosa has painted portraits of popes for the Vatican, and his works have graced the covers of booklets at Vatican ceremonies and even the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum. However, as he himself confessed on X, none had ever hung on the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica.

That honor came this week with the portrait of St. Peter To Rot, which Berzosa painted for the saint’s canonization ceremony on Oct. 19. The Vatican commissioned the Catholic artist to paint the official portrait, which has been displayed since Oct. 17 on the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica. Berzosa considers the work to be a fruit of grace and the culmination of a life dedicated to reflecting the light of faith in art.

Peter To Rot, who was born in Papua New Guinea, served as a catechist and died a martyr for the faith in 1945. He was canonized on Oct. 19 along with six others. 

In 1995, during his trip to Papua New Guinea, St. John Paul II described To Rot’s life as “a beacon shining bright, a signal fire leading you to hold aloft the noble ideals which inspired him: faith in God, love of family, service of neighbor, and unswerving courage in the face of trials and sacrifice.”

Berzosa, 46, renowned worldwide for his realistic style and religious themes, explained to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that with his work depicting the Papuan saint, he sought to convey the inner light of which the Polish pope spoke.

“If the portrait manages to convey some of Peter To Rot’s bright inner light and helps others strengthen their faith, then the work will have fulfilled its true function,” the Spanish painter said.

“I hope that the faithful see in his gaze not only a martyr but a man full of peace, love for his family, and fidelity to the Gospel,” he added.

For Berzosa, To Rot’s essential witness lies in the conviction that holiness “can be lived out in everyday life, even in the midst of suffering, as in his case.”

The artist said he wanted the lighting effects in the portrait “to emerge from within the face itself, something serene that engages the viewer and seeks to convey hope.” Berzosa also noted that the “light blue and green brushstrokes” create a warm atmosphere, with the color and the overall composition seeking to accompany “this luminous message.”

The challenges of painting the first Papuan saint

“The main challenge was to approach Peter To Rot’s image itself with respect and accuracy. To achieve this, I had some black and white photographs as well as a color portrait based on one of the photographs. All of this helped me create my painting,” he said.

In Berzosa’s portrait, To Rot is dressed in the traditional attire of local catechists: a white shirt and a type of blue wrap.

“When the Japanese threatened the catechists and prohibited any apostolic activity, the vast majority — out of fear — hid the cross. Peter To Rot was the only catechist who continued to proudly display the white cross that identified him as a catechist,” Berzosa noted.

“In one hand he holds a Bible and in the other [open hand he shows] two rings, a reference to his defense of marriage. A cross hangs from his neck,” the artist explained. To Rot wanted to die wearing that cross, which would later be key to identifying his mortal remains. Behind the figure of the saint, the countryside of his native land at the time can be seen.

For the most accurate depiction, the painter researched photographs, traditional clothing, and other local references. 

“Throughout this work, I was assisted by Father Tomás Agustín Ravaioli, vice postulator of the cause,” Berzosa explained.

Portraying a martyr

The artist noted that the lives of martyrs, although often short, are “full of meaning, dedicated out of love and fidelity to the Lord.” He said he always seeks to convey the serenity of these witnesses to the Gospel in the most decisive moment of their lives.

“I try to understand that mixture of strength and peace of someone who gives his life for Christ,” he said.

“When I paint portraits of martyrs, there is a special respect for the person portrayed. Their witness transcends cultures and eras,” he noted.

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 meets the president of the Italian Anti-Usury Council, Luciano Gualzetti, on Oct. 18, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 20, 2025 / 15:53 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday condemned usury, a practice that is sometimes an extremely grave sin that speaks to the corruption of the heart of those who see others only as “objects of exploitation.”

Usury can be defined as charging too much interest on a loan, a practice that has existed since ancient times. Traditionally, the Catholic Church taught that the sin of usury was the act of demanding any benefit or profit for the sole purpose of lending. This understanding has evolved over time, and the Church no longer condemns the general practice of lending with interest, as long as it is moderate.

On Oct. 18, the Holy Father received the National Anti-Usury Council of Italy in the Vatican Apostolic Palace. For 30 years, the council has been dedicated to “combating a problem that has a devastating impact on the lives of so many people and families,” according to the Vatican Press Office.

In his address, the pontiff stated that “the phenomenon of usury points to the corruption of the human heart. It is a painful and ancient story, already attested to in the Bible. The prophets, in fact, denounced usury, along with exploitation and every form of injustice toward the poor.”

“How far God is from the attitude that crushes people to the point of enslaving them! It is a grave sin, at times very grave, because it cannot be reduced to a mere accounting issue; usury can bring crisis to families, it can wear down the mind and heart to the point of leading people to think of suicide as the only way out,” the pope said.

Although there are forms of usury that appear to be helpful to those in financial difficulties, in the end it reveals itself “for what it is. The consequences are paid especially by fragile people, such as those who are victims of gambling” or like those facing “difficult moments, such as for instance extraordinary medical treatment or unexpected expenses beyond their means or those of their families. What first presents itself as a helping hand in reality becomes, in the long run, a torment.”

Leo XIV continued, saying “usurious financial systems can bring entire peoples to their knees. Similarly, we cannot overlook ‘those whose usurious and avaricious dealings lead to the hunger and death of their brethren in the human family’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2269): their responsibilities are grave and they fuel structures of iniquitous sin.”

After urging respect for the dignity of all, especially the weakest and most vulnerable, the Holy Father urged: “Either we regain our moral and spiritual dignity or we fall into a cesspool.”

Jesus, Zacchaeus, and a path to conversion of usurers

Pope Leo then referred to the Gospel passage (Luke 19:1-10) in which Jesus meets Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector of Jericho, who “was accustomed to abuse, oppression, and bullying. It was normal for someone like him to take advantage of his position to exploit people and earn money by robbing the weakest.”

“And so Jesus seeks out Zacchaeus: He calls him and tells him that he wants to stay at his house. And then the unthinkable happens: Jesus’ generosity completely takes the man aback and puts him with his back against the wall. Coming to his senses, Zacchaeus realizes that he has done wrong and decides to repay ‘with interest’!” Leo continued.

“No one asked him for so much, not even the Mosaic law. But the fact is that his encounter with Christ transformed his heart, and then everything changed. Only generosity is so effective that it reveals to us the meaning of our humanity,” the pope emphasized.

The pontiff pointed out that “when the pursuit of profit prevails, others are no longer people, they no longer have a face, they are just objects to be exploited; and so we end up losing ourselves and our souls. The conversion of those who engage in usury is just as important as closeness to those who suffer from usury.”

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

Seven new saints were canonized on Oct. 19, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 20, 2025 / 14:53 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Monday highlighted the life testimony of the saints canonized Sunday, Oct. 19, as “luminous signs of hope” for today’s Catholics.

“The men and women we proclaimed saints yesterday are luminous signs of hope for all of us, because they offered their lives for love of Christ and their brothers and sisters,” the pontiff said in his address to the pilgrims, representatives of the clergy, and civil authorities who had traveled to Rome to participate in the canonization of the seven new saints.

Leo XIV expressed his hope that the canonization of Venezuela’s first two saints, Carmen Rendiles and José Gregorio Hernández, would be “a strong incentive for all Venezuelans to come together and recognize themselves as children and brothers and sisters of the same homeland, reflecting on the present and the future in the light of the virtues that these saints lived in a heroic manner.”

Pointing to the faith of both saints, the pope emphasized that “God was present in their lives and transformed them, turning the simple existence of a normal person, like any one of us, into a lamp that illuminated everyone with a new light in their daily lives.”

The Holy Father emphasized that these two saints, whose lives can illuminate the present, were “people very similar to ourselves, who lived confronting problems that are not unfamiliar to us and which we ourselves can face as they did, following their example.”

The Holy Father also indicated that “if God is our eternal reward, our work and our struggles cannot end in goals that are not only unworthy and degrading but also ephemeral.”

He also invited his listeners to recognize that “those who live alongside me — like me, like them — are called to the same holiness; I must therefore see them, above all, as brothers and sisters to be respected and loved, sharing the journey of life, supporting each other in difficulties and building the kingdom of God together with joy.”

St. Ignatius Maloyan, a pastor after the heart of Christ

Regarding the Armenian Catholic archbishop St. Ignatius Maloyan, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that he was “a pastor after Christ’s own heart, and in times of heavy difficulties, he did not abandon his flock; rather he encouraged them in order to strengthen their faith.”

He also noted that “when he was asked to renounce his faith in exchange for freedom, he did not hesitate to choose his Lord, even to the point of shedding his own blood for God.”

The Holy Father therefore prayed for the intercession of this saint “to renew the fervor of believers and bring fruits of reconciliation and peace for all.”

St. Peter To Rot, defender of truths of the faith

For Leo XIV, St. Peter To Rot, the first native Papuan saint, offers “an inspiring example of steadfastness and fortitude in preaching the truths of the Gospel when confronted by difficulties and challenges, even threats to our lives.”

The pope prayed that the example of this saint from Papua New Guinea “would encourage us to defend the truths of the faith, even at the cost of personal sacrifice, and to rely always on God in our trials.”

Murdered at the age of 33 in 1945 for defending the sanctity of marriage, he demonstrated, according to the pontiff, “extraordinary courage by risking his life to carry out his apostolate in secret, because his pastoral work was prohibited by the occupying forces during the Second World War.”

St. Maria Troncatti, an example of charity

Regarding the new Salesian saint who dedicated her life to serving the Indigenous peoples of Ecuador, Pope Leo noted that “she cared for the bodies and hearts of those she assisted with the love and strength she drew from faith and prayer.”

“Her truly tireless work,” the pontiff continued, “is an example for us of a charity that does not give up in the face of difficulties but rather transforms them into opportunities for free and total self-giving.”

St. Vicenta Maria Poloni: Perseverance in service to the weak

Pope Leo XIV highlighted St. Vicenta Maria Poloni, founder of the Sisters of Mercy, for her compassion toward the sick and marginalized.

Her example, the Holy Father explained, “encourages us to persist in daily service to the most fragile: It is precisely there that holiness of life flourishes!” he exclaimed.

St. Bartolo Longo and love of Mary in the rosary

Finally, he emphasized that the Italian St. Bartolo Longo “devoted all his energy to works of corporal and spiritual mercy, promoting faith in Christ and affection for Mary through charity toward orphans, the poor, the desperate.”

“Grateful to its founder, may the Shrine of Pompeii preserve and spread the fervor of St. Bartolo, apostle of the rosary. I wholeheartedly recommend this prayer to everyone, to priests, religious, families, and young people,” the pontiff encouraged.

With this prayer, the Holy Father said, “we assimilate the Gospel and learn to practice it.”

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

Venezualans celebate their country’s two new saints during the canonization ceremony on Oct. 19, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Oct 20, 2025 / 14:23 pm (CNA).

Underlying political tensions have surfaced among Venezuelans in Rome celebrating the recent canonization of the country’s first two saints, José Gregorio Hernández and Mother Carmen Rendiles Martínez.

A Venezuelan government delegation led by Carmen Meléndez, mayor of Caracas, and hundreds of pilgrims from the Latin American nation were among the 70,000 people who attended the Oct. 19 canonization ceremony led by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square.

However, in the days prior to Venezuelans converging at the Vatican to celebrate their country’s newly-proclaimed saints, reports of evident discord between government officials and citizens regarding President Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian regime have also emerged.

Over the weekend, activists connected to the opposition political movement Vente Venezuela, led by 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, shared posts on Instagram highlighting their cause to free hundreds of men and women political prisoners.

The activists carried posters with photos of men and women detained by Maduro’s government with the slogan “Release All Political Prisoners” at an Oct. 18 protest in Piazza del Risorgimento, a public square near the Vatican, and at the Oct. 19 canonization ceremony held in St. Peter’s Square. 

The Venezuelan government’s political agenda in Rome had also been called into question by the media in the days preceding the canonizations of the country’s first saints, with critics implying their presence at the Vatican is an attempt to project a positive image of national pride and unity under the Maduro regime.

Last week, Venezuelan Vatican journalist Edgar Beltrán was assaulted by businessman Ricardo Cisneros, a member of the Venezuelan government delegation present at the canonization, at an Oct. 17 event held at the Lateran University of Rome to honor the two new saints.

During the event, Beltrán’s interview with the Vatican’s substitute for the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Edgar Robinson Peña Parra, was forcibly interrupted by Cisneros after the prelate was asked about the Maduro government’s “apparent politicization” of the canonizations, according to Catholic news outlet The Pillar.

Undemocratic measures and human rights violations in Venezuela have continued to garner increasing international attention, particularly since January when Maduro was sworn in for a third term after contested presidential election results.

Meanwhile, earlier this month opposition leader Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work in “promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela” and for “her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”   

On Monday, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin in a Mass of thanksgiving for the two saints held inside St. Peter’s Basilica urged Venezuelans to respect human rights and “create spaces for encounter and democratic coexistence.”

“Only in this way, dear Venezuela, will you be able to respond to your calling for peace, if you build it on the foundations of justice, truth, freedom, and love,” the cardinal said in his Oct. 20 homily.

Correction: An update was made to an earlier version of this story in paragraphs seven and eight. It was also updated to correct the location of the Oct. 18 Release All Political Prisoners protest. (Published Oct. 21, 2025) 

Cardinal Edoardo Menichelli, archbishop emeritus of Ancona-Osimo, in the northern Italian region of Marche, has died at the age of 86 after a long illness. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News

ACI Stampa, Oct 20, 2025 / 13:23 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Edoardo Menichelli, archbishop emeritus of Ancona-Osimo in the northern Italian region of Marche, has died at the age of 86 after a long illness.

“It is with great sadness that I learned that our Cardinal Edoardo Menichelli has returned to the Father’s house. Let us raise our prayers to the good Lord, rich in mercy, that he may welcome his beautiful soul into paradise,” Archbishop Angelo Spina of Ancona-Osimo said on the archdiocese’s website.

“Sick for some time, he faced his illness and heavy treatments with courage, revealing the indomitable spirit that characterized his temperament and his desire to live his consecration to the Lord with unshakeable faith until the end,” said Archbishop Francesco Massara of the nearby Diocese of Camerino-San Severino Marche.

Menichelli was born in Serripola di San Severino Marche on Oct. 14, 1939.

After studying at the Pius XI Regional Pontifical Seminary in Fano, he moved to Rome, where he obtained a licentiate in theology from the Pontifical Lateran University.

Ordained a priest in 1965, he was called to Rome in 1968 to work at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s Supreme Court. He remained there until 1991, when he was transferred to the Congregation for Eastern Churches.

On June 10, 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed him archbishop of Chieti-Vasto in the region of Abruzzo. He was consecrated by Cardinal Achille Silvestrini.

On Jan. 8, 2004, Menichelli was named archbishop of Ancona-Osimo. Pope Francis appointed him a member of the two Synods of Bishops on the Family in 2014 and 2015.

Pope Francis made Menichelli cardinal in the consistory of February 2015, assigning him the titular church of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Tor Fiorenza. 

Menichelli resigned in July 2017 upon reaching the age limit for bishops.

The funeral service for the late cardinal will take place at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 22, in the Madonna dei Lumi Sanctuary in San Severino Marche and will be presided over by Bishop Nazzareno Marconi of Macerata, president of the episcopal conference of the Marche region. 

At the end of the funeral, the coffin will be taken to Ancona and, according to the cardinal’s will, he will be buried in the Cathedral of San Ciriaco. 

The funeral chapel has been set up at the Madonna dei Lumi Sanctuary and will remain open from 5 p.m. to midnight Oct. 20 and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 21.

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