Pope Leo XIV embarks on his first international apostolic trip to two lands of profound biblical and historical significance: Turkey and Lebanon. This trip has a deep ecumenical dimension, linked to interreligious dialogue and the promotion of justice and peace in the world. Turkey is a country with a predominantly Muslim population but with a millennial Christian heritage. There he will participate in several ecumenical celebrations, including the commemoration of the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, which in the year 325 proclaimed the profession of faith in Jesus Christ, Son of God. The Pope described the anniversary as «a moment of authentic unity in the faith» with the Orthodox Christians. The greatest challenge lies in the priority declared by Pope Leo from the beginning of his pontificate: “To disappear so that Christ may remain”, the transmission of the faith, the return to the fundamentals and to kerygma , the fundamental Christian “proclamation”.
Leo XIV received in audience the members of the International Theological Commission , gathered for their annual plenary session. The meeting took place on the eve of the Pope’s departure for his first apostolic trip to Turkey and Lebanon, which will also take him to Iznik, the ancient Nicaea, on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of the year 325. The International Theological Commission was founded on April 11, 1969 by Saint Paul VI , following the proposals of the First Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to offer a qualified contribution to the study of the most relevant doctrinal issues for the benefit of the Holy See, and in particular of the Dicastery (formerly Congregation) for the Doctrine of the Faith. Its mission is clear: to help the Magisterium discern, understand and evaluate the advances in theological thought , the new emerging issues and the novelties that permeate the history of the Church and humanity. The definitive statutes of the Commission were promulgated by Saint John Paul II through the motu proprio Tredecim anni iam on August 6, 1982.
The Commission is composed of a maximum of 30 theologians from all over the world, representing different schools and perspectives, chosen for their scientific experience, fidelity to the Magisterium and ability to dialogue with local Churches and contemporary cultures. The members are appointed for a five-year term by the Holy Father on the proposal of the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, after consulting the Episcopal Conferences. Currently: The President is Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández , Prefect of the Dicastery; the Secretary General is Reverend Monsignor Piero Coda , theologian and professor of Systemic Theology at the Sophia University Institute in Loppiano. The Commission meets in plenary assembly at least once a year , while part of its work is carried out in thematic subcommittees.
In April 2025, the Commission published the text “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. 1700th Anniversary of the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325-2025)” , a broad work of dogmatic theology that traces the relevance of the Nicene Creed in the life of the Church and in the ecumenical path today. Leo XIV entrusted the Commission with three fundamental guidelines for contemporary theology: the catholicity of the faith; the presence of theologians from diverse cultures allows for a clearer understanding of the problems and hopes of today’s humanity. The Church, the Pope reiterated, must enrich itself with the experiences of local churches. The interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary dialogue. Referring to Veritatis gaudium , the Pope emphasized the need for theology to dialogue with all branches of knowledge, because revealed truth does not isolate reason, but enriches it. The wisdom of the great spiritual masters. The Pope pointed to Augustine, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Thérèse of Lisieux and Newman as models: for them, theology and prayer were inseparable. Only in this way, he explained, can theology avoid being reduced to a «commentary on formulas» and become a living experience of Revelation.
Knight Ledo, Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, speaks of «favorable dynamics», but does not hide the need for prudence, realism and continuity to consolidate this significant progress. «It is not just a matter of maintaining a balanced budget but of strengthening the Holy See’s capacity to optimize every contribution received», thus making its service to the mission of the universal Church «more solid and sustainable». The Secretariat for the Economy publishes the Consolidated Budget for last year: a possible and expected financial turning point that will require future confirmations that always remain up in the air, whenever we talk about these data we do so knowing that they are self-confessed, more political than financial. It states that «the improvement recorded in 2024, with the reduction of the structural operating deficit from 83.5 to 44.4 million euros, is the result of the increase in revenues, which rose to nearly 79 million euros compared to the previous year. This increase is attributed to the increase in donations, to the positive results of hospital operations and to advances in real estate and commercial management. Despite the significant improvement achieved, an operating deficit of 44.4 million euros persists».
«The trend in donations in 2024 is an encouraging sign. After years of slowdown, the growth in contributions offers hope for renewed participation by the faithful and local Churches in the mission of the Holy See. This is a positive advance that suggests a climate of greater confidence, while at the same time recognizing that these dynamics can change over time and always require prudence and realism in their interpretation». And here begins to reveal the secret of the apparent improvement: «It is important to remember that part of these results comes from extraordinary operations related to the reallocation of the portfolio in accordance with the new investment policy and the recommendations of the Investment Committee. This was a necessary step for the management to be more consistent with the established criteria, but the capital gains generated during this phase cannot be replicated with the same intensity in subsequent years and reflect the natural volatility of financial activity». So that’s it, surplus yes, but…
To understand the data it is necessary to compare it with the financial statements of 2022 and 2023, analyzed in their most significant context: the one that excludes hospital entities , which constitute an autonomous economic sector and do not represent the ordinary management of the Curia. Contrary to what was officially reported the picture that emerges from the official documents is much more complex and does not justify triumphalism by any means. The figures show a progressive improvement in operating profit , from a deficit of -52.4 million in 2022, to -46.5 million in 2023 and, finally, to -33.5 million in 2024. A significant reduction, no doubt, but one that does not change the nature of the problem: the deficit remains structural and continues every year.
In 2024 things have improved due to external and non-repeatable factors. On the one hand, the increase in donations, which rose significantly compared to 2023 (from 217.6 million to 237.6 million ), but which remained characterized by strong volatility and, above all, by a high incidence of funds earmarked for specific purposes. On the other hand, the true engine of the improvement was the financial boom, with revenues increasing from 45.8 million euros in 2023 to 71.1 million euros in 2024, thanks in part to the sale of historical investments, in other words, we have sold, and continue to sell, the grandmother’s jewels to eat and there are fewer and fewer left. The 2024 budget itself explicitly acknowledges that these are one-off effects, with little likelihood of repeating in the coming years.
Commenting on some specific data we see that the increase in property maintenance expenses, which went from 13.2 million euros in 2023 to 24.2 million euros in 2024: an increase of 11 million euros in a single year, without adequate justifications or a parallel increase in the profitability of the properties, which, however, represent almost half of the independent revenues. The apostolic mission also shows clear signs of programmatic instability: in 2022, a significant part of the budget was allocated to the communication of the message (23%), nunciatures (20%) and Churches in difficulty (20%); in 2023, the priority shifts to needy Churches (39%), while in 2024 a similar focus is maintained, but without a perceptible criterion of multi-year continuity. This variability raises questions about strategic planning, which responds more to unavoidable emergencies than to a structured project.
The Holy See has still not resolved any of the underlying problems in its financial management. Independent revenues increase, but remain insufficient (217.8 million euros in 2024), donations are essential, but unstable, and finances play an increasingly decisive role, exposing the budget to external fluctuations. Without structural reforms in personnel, real estate, revenue model and mission planning, the system remains fragile and dependent on variables beyond the will of the Holy See. The language used by Vatican News —»positive direction», «consolidation», «significant recovery»— reflects the communication strategy of the Secretariat for the Economy more than an independent analysis of the data.
Pope Leo XIV has done what many Roman parish priests had been waiting for more than a year: repair a structural error that had paralyzed the diocese , uniting the five Prefectures of the Central Sector under a single pastoral unit. Pope Francis had created more chaos without either pastoral or administrative sense with his Motu Proprio of 2024. Francis’s disposition dismembered the Central Sector, distributing the Prefectures among the four cardinal sectors. Everything was presented as a «synodal» gesture, the result of «numerous interventions» and «requests already formulated». The parishes, supposedly involved, knew nothing about it. The number of priests interviewed was zero. The vast majority of Roman priests learned about everything after the fact and were speechless. Leo XIV has finally decided to put an end to this period of confusion. With the Motu Proprio Immota Manet , in just a few lines the Pope has restored what everyone has always known: the five Prefectures of the Central Sector constitute a natural, pastoral and historical organic unit. So the priests of Rome are very grateful for undoing the absurd decision of his predecessor and hope that their bishop will once again dedicate true attention to his diocese and his priests.
Of all the problems he might have expected with his election as pope, Leo XIV certainly never imagined that he would have to face legal actions, especially over an old story from when he was bishop of Chiclayo. The protagonists, much to their regret, were three minor sisters and a very popular priest, Father Eleuterio «Lute» Vásquez González, who had the habit of taking the girls from home and then abusing them. A story that in 2022, when the three sisters went to tell him about it, must have seemed trivial to Prevost, just another accusation of sexual abuse, banal and ordinary, that deserved little attention. Only now the eldest of the three sisters, Ana María Quispe Díaz, 28 years old, has declared her intention to initiate legal action before the competent canonical authorities against all the ecclesiastical officials who participated or were responsible for such negligence, including Robert Prevost, who, according to the victims, is responsible for not properly conducting the necessary investigation into the accused priest. The thorny matter became world-famous on the night of May 8, 2025, immediately after the election of Pope Leo XIV. On April 5, 2022, the three Quispe sisters reported to the then bishop of Chiclayo, Robert Francis Prevost, that they had been abused in their childhood by two priests of the diocese: «Lute» Gonzáles and Ricardo Yesquén. The Quispe sisters also appealed to the civil authorities, who dismissed the complaint due to statute of limitations.
On July 3, 2023, just before leaving for Rome, where he was about to take up his post as Prefect of Bishops, Prevost made sure to send to the Holy See the sentence of the civil court dismissing the case. Approximately one month later, on August 10, 2023, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith also archived the case «for lack of evidence». However, Ana María Quispe disagrees, denouncing that the Church did not conduct a serious investigation into Lute, who was never questioned and continued his ministry despite the emergence of new victims against him. The preliminary investigation sent to Rome was nothing more than a simple paper, Ana María accuses, and the case was archived too hastily. The fact is that in November 2023, the apostolic administrator who replaced Prevost at the head of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Guillermo Cornejo Monzón, reopened the case, summoning the victims for the first time the following month, and the new conclusions were sent back to Rome.
In mid-2024, a new twist arrives: the lawyer for the three sisters, Father Ricardo Coronado Arrascue, a former Augustinian friar close to the Sodalizio di Vita Cristiana, a powerful lay association founded by Luis Fernando Figari (later suppressed by Pope Francis in early 2025), is disqualified from practicing canon law by the Peruvian Episcopal Conference following an accusation of sexual abuse. The canon lawyer, who will soon be dismissed, is a staunch enemy of Prevost and supposedly saw the Quispe sisters’ case as a golden opportunity for revenge, according to supporters of the pope, who interpret the whole Chiclayo affair as a plot against the new pontiff.
On April 23, 2025, just 24 hours after the death of Pope Francis, the Quispe sisters, alone and without a lawyer, met in Chiclayo with Father Giampiero Gambaro, a Genoese Capuchin friar who had been living in Latin America for years, tasked with preparing a new case against Father Lute. Gambaro, perhaps not without embarrassment, told the victims that the ecclesiastical investigation, led by the then bishop of Chiclayo, Robert Prevost, suffered from serious deficiencies: «The preliminary investigation was a farce. Very poorly done. Even with formal errors», these are the exact words that Ana María Quispe remembers from that conversation, recorded in a press release published recently. Upon saying goodbye, Father Gambaro announced to the Quispe sisters that Father Lute would be dismissed from the clerical state in a few months: the decision was presented as positive to the three sisters, who, without the assistance of a lawyer, did not know what to respond.
A few days later, Prevost became Pope, and the Chiclayo scandal broke in the Peruvian press and in complaint letters from victims’ associations, such as the U.S. group SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), to become public worldwide. Recognized figures such as theologian Rocío Figueroa and journalist Pedro Salinas immediately came to the defense of the new pontiff, stating that the accusations were invented by Figari’s friends to discredit Prevost, who had distinguished himself in Peru for his fight against abuses within the Order. The euphoria over the recent election of Peter to the throne is still palpable in the Church, and in general (especially in Italy) public opinion tends to give credit to the new pope and to the conspiracy theory propagated by his detractors. However, Prevost appears uneasy and, in his agitation, makes the mistake of talking too much: in July 2025, he is interviewed for an autobiographical book, LEO XIV – Citizen of the World, Missionary of the 21st Century, written by his friend Ann Ellen Allen (also a former member of the Society), in which he returns ambiguously and, certainly, not conclusively to the Chiclayo case, as Giorgio Meletti has analyzed in a series of articles .
The controversial resignation of Father Lute arrived punctually on November 13, 2025 and it was communicated by letter to the Quispe sisters, who responded harshly, stating that they would report all those responsible for the mismanagement of the Chiclayo case to the competent canonical authorities. «Granting the indult to Eleuterio Vásquez seems particularly irresponsible, knowing that there are witnesses who have publicly declared to the media that he often took other children to the same place where we were abused». «It is incomprehensible that, instead of seeking the truth and offering reparation to the victims, the case has been closed by means of a papal indult that exempts the abuser from assuming his responsibilities and leaves us in a vulnerable situation, without reparation, with the only offer to pay for psychotherapy». It seems that Robert Prevost underestimated this young Peruvian woman, who has no intention of silencing herself before the offer of a few psychotherapy sessions and has very clear ideas about what it means to do justice in cases of abuse in the Church.
We continue with a particularly intense day. So-called sex education in schools has been one of the most sought-after goals by left-wing parties. Sex education, along with divorce, abortion and euthanasia, was part of that package of «civic achievements» promoted in the 1970s by communists, socialists and radicals to undermine Christian society from its foundations. Benedict XVI reiterated that education is one of the so-called «non-negotiable values», along with life and the family, to which the Church is intimately linked. The right of parents to educate their children precedes that of civil society and cannot be expropriated by the State, especially when it attempts to replace religious and moral education with sex education, based on a pagan view of man. Sex education is always bad when it pretends to be school-based, that is, public, whereas it can only be personal and private, and therefore must naturally be entrusted to families; otherwise, it risks becoming a form of cultural and moral corruption.
Good news, more, from the United States. The Trump administration will ask countries to consider abortifacient drugs and transgender surgeries as “human rights violations”. Very good, but at the same time, the government has allowed abortifacient pills to spread across the country. Federal officials will recognize the intentional destruction of innocent unborn babies, as well as the surgical and chemical mutilation of children, as human rights violations, according to the State Department. Spokesman Tommy Pigott said that countries receiving foreign aid must include “child mutilation” in their annual reports to the United States. “In recent years, new destructive ideologies have given shelter to human rights violations”. “The Trump administration will not allow these human rights violations, such as child mutilation, laws that attack freedom of expression and racially discriminatory labor practices, to go unchecked. We say enough”. The recognition that child mutilation is an international human rights problem is the latest positive sign that support for gender ideology may be waning. There is growing evidence that transgender drugs and surgeries are harmful . Moreover, biologists have confirmed that it is not possible to change sex. The Trump administration’s classification of abortions, including abortifacient drugs, as a human rights violation is also a positive sign that the president and his team oppose the murder of unborn babies. “Abortion is a human rights violation and the leading cause of death worldwide, ending the lives of more than 200,000 babies every day”.
Many contemporary problems, big and small, are linked to chastity and its absence. It is very timely the recent book «Achieving Chastity in an Unchaste World», by Father T.G. Morrow. Chastity has always been a challenge for humans, for we are corporeal beings. Sensory impressions are powerful in corporeal-spiritual creatures. And even the devil does not strive more than necessary: why try, at least at first, to tempt people with purely spiritual sins when the flesh offers an easy entry? Pornography is now omnipresent. Where it was once furtively sought in adult stores and at the back of magazine shelves, today it is universally available on any computer and phone. This December marks the 50th anniversary of Persona Humana , the «Declaration on Certain Questions Relating to Sexual Ethics» of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It deals with masturbation, fornication and homosexual acts. Saint John Paul II bequeathed to the Church a rich and modern vision of Catholic sexual ethics, both in his pre-papal writings and in his «theology of the body». These writings are the fruit of years of commitment to young people, both in his university work and as a parish priest and bishop. Father Morrow has condensed the most significant excerpts from that work.
And we end with an article from today that focuses on a more than interesting topic. Pastoral activism has become one of the most respectable ways to escape from God without ever leaving the Church. Our agendas are full of meetings, commissions, projects and synodal debates; acronyms, initiatives and documents multiply. Everything seems generous, even heroic. However, beneath the surface, what should be obvious may be missing: a living relationship with a Presence, a «You» that defines our identity even before our actions. When we talk about a crisis in Christian life, we immediately mention the figures: decline in vocations, fewer practicing members, tight budgets. We rarely dare to say that the crisis, before being quantitative, is qualitative: it refers to the way we face reality, ourselves and others.
Pastoral activism becomes dangerous when it replaces presence with planning. Things can be done —meetings, catechesis, events— and, at the same time, keep life on the sidelines. We work hard «for the community», but our true existence —affections, struggles, fears, desires— remains elsewhere, with the risk of never entering into a true relationship with Christ and our brothers. Activism is often this excuse : to show that one «does» a lot to avoid seeing what no longer works in one’s own faith. The mechanism is subtle. In the name of Christ, one begins to «want to put Christ into things», almost as an add-on that we must impose on life: «Sometimes one has the impression that Christ is the result of an effort, something to achieve «. The result is paradoxical: we wear ourselves out for others without being an «encounter» for them. If the ecclesial environment no longer refers to the Mystery, it becomes a place to shelter from the hustle of life, an “apart world” that, while speaking of mission, actually closes in on itself. What we need is not a new plan, but a radical examination of conscience: in what way have our actions become a «cover-up» instead of a response? In what cases are our activities a way to avoid being touched by reality? In what cases is our community a refuge instead of a place of belonging to Another?
«Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!»
Good reading.