Catholic News Agency

• Pope Leo XIV asks Catholics in Russia to be an example of love, brotherhood, and respect

  Pope Leo XIV greets Catholic pilgrims from Russia during an audience in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace on Oct. 17, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media.

  ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 17, 2025 / 12:42 pm (CNA).

  Pope Leo XIV on Friday asked a group of Catholic pilgrims from Russia, in Rome on a Jubilee pilgrimage, to be an example of love and brotherhood upon their return home.

  In his Oct. 17 address at the Vatican, the Holy Father emphasized that the presence of the Russian pilgrims “is part of the journey of so many generations” who have traveled to Rome. 

  For the Holy Father, “this city can be a symbol of human existence, in which the ’ruins’ of past experiences, anguish, uncertainty, and anxiety are intertwined with the faith that grows every day and becomes active in charity.”

  “And with the hope that does not disappoint and encourages us, because even on the ruins, despite sin and enmity, the Lord can build a new world and renewed life,” he added.

  Bishop Joseph Werth of the Diocese of the Transfiguration in Novosibirsk, Russia, told EWTN News after the meeting that Pope Leo took the time to greet the entire group of around 100 pilgrims, despite being scheduled to only greet the people in the front rows. 

  “It’s a sign that the pope wanted to dedicate time to us,” Werth said.

  Leo encouraged the Catholics from Russia to continue the path of Christian life upon returning home, appealing to their responsibility in their local Church.

  “From your families, from your parish and diocesan communities, may an example of love, fraternity, solidarity, and mutual respect emerge for all the people among whom you live, work, and study,” he urged them. 

  In this way, he affirmed that “the fire of Christian love can be kindled, capable of warming the coldness of hearts, even the most hardened.”

  In Rome, the pontiff specified, “the heart of the Christian soul beats” and it is where “the events of the faith — received and transmitted since apostolic times, from which so many peoples and nations have drunk abundantly and from which they still live today — are intertwined with the concerns and commitments of daily life.”

  Leo XIV also pointed out the monuments scattered throughout the Eternal City, “tangible signs of living faith, rooted in the hearts of people, capable of transforming consciences and motivating them to do good.” 

  He emphasized that every Catholic “is a living stone in the building of the Church” who, even if small, placed by the Lord in the right place, “plays an important role in the stability of the entire structure.”

  Alexey Gotovskiy of EWTN News contributed to this report.

• King Charles and Pope Leo XIV to pray together in historic ecumenical moment at Vatican

  Britain’s King Charles III stands with Britain’s Princess Michael of Kent (left); Britain’s Prince Michael of Kent (second left); Britain’s Lord Frederick Windsor; Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales; Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales; Britain’s Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh; and Britain’s Princess Anne, Princess Royal, following a Requiem Mass for the late Katharine, Duchess of Kent, at Westminster Cathedral in London on Sept. 16, 2025. / Credit: JORDAN PETTITT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

  Vatican City, Oct 17, 2025 / 09:58 am (CNA).

  For the first time since the Protestant Reformation, a reigning British monarch and a pope will pray together publicly during a royal state visit to the Vatican.

  King Charles III will join in ecumenical prayer presided over by Pope Leo XIV for the care of creation inside the Sistine Chapel on Oct. 23, beneath Michelangelo’s frescoed ceiling, during the king’s first state visit to the Vatican with Queen Camila. 

  The Sistine Chapel Choir will sing together with England’s Choir of St. George's Chapel and the Choir of His Majesty's Chapel Royal for the historic ecumenical prayer which will focus on praising God the Creator, Vatican officials said. 

  Stephen Cottrell, the Anglican Archbishop of York, will also participate.

  The visit will mark the first meeting between King Charles and Pope Leo XIV. The two will first meet privately in the Apostolic Palace in the morning and will later be joined by business leaders in the palace’s Sala Regia for a discussion on care for creation and environmental sustainability. 

  During the state visit, Cardinal James Michael Harvey, the archpriest of the basilica, will confer upon King Charles the title of “Royal Confrater” of the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls during an ecumenical service at the tomb of St. Paul in the basilica on the same day. The pope is not expected to attend. 

  The title, granted with the approval of Pope Leo XIV, is a gesture of “hospitality and ecumenical welcome,” Archbishop Flavio Pace, the secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, said at a Vatican press briefing on Oct. 17. 

  The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls has a historic connection to England’s monarchy. After the arrival in England of Roman monk-missionaries such as St. Augustine of Canterbury and St. Paulinus of York in the 6th and 7th centuries, Saxon rulers including Kings Offa and Æthelwulf contributed to the upkeep of the apostles’ tombs in Rome. 

  By the late Middle Ages, the kings of England were recognized as “protectors” of the Basilica of St. Paul and abbey, and its heraldic shield came to include the insignia of the Order of the Garter. That tradition was interrupted by the Reformation and the ensuing centuries of estrangement. 

  It was King Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who was the first British monarch since the Reformation to make an official visit to the Holy See, meeting with John XXIII in 1961. A few years later, Pope Paul VI met with Archbishop Michael Ramsey of Canterbury in 1966 in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, launching formal dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans for the first time since the 16th century.

  “Without establishing a formal role for King Charles and his successors, the title of ‘Royal Confrater’ is to be understood as a gesture of hospitality and ecumenical welcome that bears witness to these historical ties and the progress that has been made since 1966,” Pace said. 

  The basilica will also install a specially commissioned chair for the monarch, decorated with his coat of arms and a verse from the Gospel of John in Latin,  “Ut unum sint” (“That they may be one”). The chair will remain in the basilica for Charles and his heirs to use during future visits.

  The ecumenical service in the Basilica of St. Paul on Oct. 23 will be presided over by Father Donato Ogliari, the abbot of the basilica, with the participation of Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell of York and the Rev. Rosie Frew, moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. 

  ​​The service will conclude with a hymn composed to a text by St. John Henry Newman — the English cardinal and convert from Anglicanism whom Pope Leo XIV will declare a Doctor of the Church on Nov. 1. King Charles attended Newman’s canonization in 2019 and recently became the first monarch to visit the Birmingham Oratory, the priestly community founded by Newman in 1848.

• Theologians, scholars who deny the virginity of Mary a ‘challenge’ for the Church

  The president of the Pontifical International Marian Academy (PAMI), Franciscan friar Stefano Cecchin, OFM. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News

  Vatican City, Oct 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

  Father Stefano Cecchin, OFM, president of the Pontifical International Marian Academy, (PAMI by its Italian acronym), which reports directly to the Roman Curia, said in a recent interview that the Church faces persistent challenges regarding truths about the Virgin Mary. 

  Cecchin told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that PAMI encounters challenges every day from Protestants as well as certain groups within the Catholic Church, both openly and indirectly, who deny the dogma of the virginity of Mary established at the Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431 and the Lateran Council of 649.

  “There are theologians and biblical scholars who are saying that the virginity of Mary is a myth, and this is very dangerous because the … Fathers of the Church, and even the Quran, defend the virginity of Mary,” the priest stated.

  Devil is behind attacks on Immaculate Conception

  Cecchin is an expert in Mariology and the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which refers to Mary’s preservation from original sin from the moment of her conception in her mother’s womb and was officially defined by Pope Pius IX on Dec. 8, 1854.

  Mary has always been the target of attacks from the devil, Cecchin explained, especially because of her role in the economy of salvation.

  “The devil works hard; I’ve seen it a great deal, especially against the Immaculate Conception,” he said. “I see how he continues to attack the figure of Mary, and right now he’s attacking her within the Church with those who, for example, say that Mary is not a virgin.” 

  “The first attack against Christ was an attack on the virginity of Mary, who [supposedly] had slept with a Roman soldier, so Jesus was not the true son of God. If we question Mary’s virginity, we put into doubt all of Christianity,” he pointed out.

  Cecchin recalled that, from a biblical and theological perspective, Mary occupies a unique place in the history of salvation as the mother of God and a figure of the Church. He explained that her role is not limited to the Incarnation in the past, but she continues to be active in the spiritual life of believers.

  “The point is that it is not we who seek God, but he who seeks us. And that is why, after Jesus ascended to heaven, the angels said [the apostles] would not see him again until he returned on the glorious day. But Jesus entrusts the Church to Mary: ‘Behold, your mother.’ That is why Mary continues to care for us and tries to bring us back to him,” he explained.

  ‘God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell’

  The director of PAMI, which is charged with coordinating all Mariological scholars and societies around the world, emphasized that Marian apparitions and calls to conversion must be understood as expressions of divine mercy, not as manifestations of fear or punishment.

  “All the apparitions, the calls she makes regarding hell, are not to frighten us, but to convert us, because God doesn’t want to punish us; he wants to convert us. This is a fundamental point taught by the Catechism of the Catholic Church. God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell, but if you don’t behave well, you will go to hell, because hell exists and is not empty,” he explained.

  Cecchin also emphasized that the defense of Marian dogmas is not a secondary or devotional issue but a pillar of the Christian message. He recalled that, according to St. Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of St. Peter and one of the earliest Fathers of the Church, denying the virginity of Mary means jeopardizing the truth about the incarnation of the Son of God.

  “St. Ignatius of Antioch speaks of Mary and of Mary’s virginity. That is why it is important to educate oneself,” Cecchin said, “and to see that our Franciscan vision, according to which God desires the salvation of all, compels us to evangelize. The evangelization we propose today is a Marian evangelization.”

  The friar noted that throughout the history of the Church, controversies and heresies have also been opportunities to delve deeper into the truth.

  “In the struggle for the Immaculate Conception, for example, there were those who thought one thing and those who thought another. The Church is always alive, and we normally see that, in history, heretics help us delve deeper into the truth. They are an incentive to delve deeper, but we must defend the truth,” he maintained.

  Shrines as a place of healing

  In 2023, the Vatican established, within PAMI, the International Observatory on Apparitions and Mystical Phenomena, whose mission is to study and discern without issuing judgments.

  “Its only task is to study, not to give opinions,” emphasized the Italian Franciscan, who noted that apparitions have always existed throughout history. “All shrines have a story behind them, an experience of encounter with the divine.”

  

  “We want shrines to be not only a place of prayer but also of healing,” he added.

  Currently, the International Observatory on Apparitions and Mystical Phenomena is conducting a theological and historical analysis of Marian shrines.

  “We are conducting a study of the sanctuaries from Nazareth, which is the shrine that housed the relics of the Virgin, which were then taken to Constantinople, to Blacherne... We have seen that in the Middle Ages there are always minor apparitions that are at the origin of the shrines we have around the world,” he explained.

  With Guadalupe, the great apparitions begin

  Over time, these manifestations of faith took on an increasingly universal dimension. The great apparition of the Virgin Mary to the Indian St. Juan Diego in 1531 begins a long series of great apparitions, according to Cecchin.

  “The first ones were a little more local, but with Guadalupe, the apparitions that interest nations, that interest continents, begin. Then come Lourdes, Fátima, Medjugorje, Kibeho… all these great apparitions that attract people because the shrine is always a special place where the Mother asks to see, as in all apparitions, the construction of a shrine,” he explained.

  Cecchin pointed out that shrines, from a biblical perspective, are always a place of encounter.

  “In the Old Testament, in the apparitions of God, there was always a place, a shrine. Therefore, the shrine becomes a moment of encounter with God through Mary, what Paul VI called the clinics of the spirit. That’s why we truly want shrines to be not only places of prayer but also of healing, of well-being, because Jesus told us: ‘Preach and heal,’” he emphasized.

  

  PAMI’s work extends to the creation of study centers and the promotion of interreligious and ecumenical dialogue.

  “Our task is to create centers and societies to study the figure of Mary in diverse cultures and also in dialogue with other Christian churches and other religions, because Mary plays this fundamental role in the history of the Church,” he explained.

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

• Pope Leo XIV appoints Cardinal Schönborn’s successor to lead the Archdiocese of Vienna

  Cardinal Christoph Schönborn (left) shakes hands with now Archbishop-elect of Vienna Josef Grünwidl at the time of his appointment as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Vienna on Jan. 22, 2025, and on Oct. 17, 2025. / Credit: Archdiocese of Vienna / Stephan Schönlaub

  Rome Newsroom, Oct 17, 2025 / 06:02 am (CNA).

  Pope Leo XIV on Friday appointed Father Josef Grünwidl to succeed Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, OP, as head of the Archdiocese of Vienna, Austria’s most populous archdiocese.

  Grünwidl has overseen the Vienna archdiocese on an interim basis since January, when the 80-year-old Schönborn concluded three decades at its helm following the acceptance of his resignation by Pope Francis.

  The 62-year-old Grünwidl, born in lower Austria, was chairman of the Vienna Priests’ Council and episcopal vicar of the Vienna archdiocese’s southern vicariate before being named apostolic administrator.

  A former concert organist, the archbishop-elect has served in numerous roles in the archdiocese since his ordination in 1988, including as a pastor and parish moderator. The priest was also secretary to Cardinal Schönborn from 1995 to 1998, at the beginning of Schönborn’s term as archbishop of Vienna.

  According to Austria’s public broadcasting service, ORF, Grünwidl is a former member of the controversial “Pastor’s Initiative,” a dissident Catholic group founded in Austria in 2006 on a call to “disobedience” on certain Church issues. The group advocates for the ordination of women, optional priestly celibacy, and Communion for the divorced-and-remarried and members of other Christian faiths.

  ORF reports that Grünwidl, who is not listed among current members of the “Pastor’s Initiative,” has “recently emphasized that celibacy is a consciously chosen way of life for him personally, but ‘not a matter of faith’ and should therefore not be a mandatory requirement for priests.”

  “On the subject of women in the Church, he identified an ‘urgent need for clarification,’” ORF continued. “The diaconate for women should be discussed further, and Grünwidl also considers the admission of women to the College of Cardinals to be conceivable.”

  Speaking on the broadcaster’s program “Orientation” early this year, Grünwidl said he left the “Pastor’s Initiative” because he felt that Pope Francis’ ideas had “overtaken” the group’s proposals, and he could no longer support a motto of “disobedience.” He emphasized “critical obedience,” and said he “can’t imagine an open opposition to the bishop in the Church.”

  The Catholic news agency Kathpress describes the archbishop-elect as a “pastorally grounded leader, valued preacher, and insightful conversationalist.”

  Archbishop emeritus Cardinal Schönborn

  Schönborn, a theologian who led the Archdiocese of Vienna for 30 years, helped write the Catechism of the Catholic Church and chaired the Austrian bishops’ conference for 22 years.

  The Church leader was born to a titled family in 1945 in Bohemia in what was then Nazi Germany and is now part of the Czech Republic.

  He grew up in western Austria, close to the border with Switzerland, and joined the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans, in 1963. 

  He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Vienna in 1970. He went on to study sacred theology in Paris and in Regensburg, Germany, under the then-Father Joseph Ratzinger — the future Pope Benedict XVI.

  Schönborn was awarded a doctorate in sacred theology in the 1970s and was later made a member of the prestigious International Theological Commission of the Vatican.

  He was editorial secretary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and in 1991, Pope John Paul II named the theologian an auxiliary bishop of Vienna.

  After being appointed coadjutor archbishop of Vienna in April 1995, he succeeded Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër, OSB, as archbishop of Vienna on Sept. 14, 1995.

  Schönborn was made a cardinal by St. Pope John Paul II in 1998.

• Jimmy Lai’s wife, daughter meet Pope Leo XIV in Rome ahead of trial verdict

  Teresa Lai greets Pope Leo XIV after the general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

  CNA Staff, Oct 16, 2025 / 12:48 pm (CNA).

  The wife and daughter of imprisoned democracy activist and Catholic Jimmy Lai met Pope Leo XIV in Rome on Oct. 15, greeting the Holy Father ahead of the expected verdict in Lai’s yearslong trial in Hong Kong.

  Teresa and Claire Lai spoke to Leo after the general audience on Wednesday, appearing in the formal black attire traditionally worn by women greeting the pope.

  

  The 77-year-old Lai has been imprisoned in Hong Kong for years on what advocates have argued are political charges including fraud and participation in unauthorized protests.

  A longtime free speech activist and human rights advocate, Lai — who converted to Catholicism in 1997 and who has spoken publicly about his faith on numerous occasions — was first arrested just over five years ago, in August 2020, on charges related to Hong Kong’s then-new national security law.

  The former media mogul’s national security trial commenced in December 2023. Closing arguments in the trial occurred in August, but Lai’s son Sebastian said earlier this year that Lai was “not going to get sentenced until either [the] end of this year or the start of next year.”

  Lai’s imprisonment has drawn criticism and rebuke from advocates around the world, including U.S. President Donald Trump, who earlier this year vowed to do “everything [he] can” to “save” the activist.

  “[Lai’s] name has already entered the circle of things that we’re talking about,” Trump said in August.

  Lai has also been the recipient of numerous accolades and awards since his imprisonment. In April the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation announcedthat he would be an honorary recipient of a 2025 Bradley Prize for being an “inspiration to all who value freedom.”

  On Oct. 14, meanwhile, the International Press Institute named Lai a recipient of its 2025 World Press Freedom Hero award.