August moves forward, today we have plenty of news about the shifting winds between the Vatican and Russia. Pope Leo XIV’s audiences seem to be becoming more selective, leaving some for Parolin. A day with interesting books hitting the market and the usual chatter about synodality.
Prayer for the care of creation.
On September 1 Pope Leo XIV will celebrate Holy Mass for the Care of Creation in the Garden of the Madonnina at the Borgo Laudato si’, in the Pontifical Gardens of Castel Gandolfo . Faith teaches us to see our common home not primarily as a resource to be exploited, but as a gift to be received with gratitude and cared for with love. Each year, September 1 also marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, the ecumenical journey of prayer and commitment to the care of our Common Home, which concludes on October 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
Audience with Marsodeto.
The Pope received the Spanish Federation ‘Marsodeto’, which assists more than 2,700 people with disabilities and their families, encouraging them to discover Christ’s gaze in the most vulnerable. “Looking back, we give thanks to God for the inspiration of Don Marcelino Casas Puente, who more than forty years ago began what then seemed like a dream and which today we see as a reality: that no family with a member who has an intellectual disability would be left without support.”
The Shalom method.
Everything sounds very Catholic-correct, with language typical of the lodge brothers. We’ve improved a bit and spared ourselves the blessing alongside Pope Leo. Audience with Parolin, one hour on the “Shalom method”: focused on work in Africa, youth education, and interreligious dialogue. The Cardinal praised how the “Shalom method”—based on acceptance, listening, and dialogue—is the best path forward. Topics of the meeting: An alliance for the future of our work in Africa: We requested the possibility of establishing a form of patronage from the Holy See (through an agreement) to systematically entrust local Churches with the solidarity works carried out over the years around the world, especially in African countries. Building a harmonious society: We analyzed contemporary challenges to building a cohesive community, based on mutual respect and understanding of others. Education and youth in Europe: Considerable time was devoted to the crisis in transmitting the Christian faith in Europe. Among the proposals that emerged was the need to introduce the comparative study of different religions in schools to foster interreligious dialogue. The Cardinal was given the book “The Outlaw,” a work born from the conviction that new languages are needed, capable of speaking to men and women today to rediscover the figure of Jesus beyond the bonds of history, returning to the essence of the Gospel. A meeting that fills us with gratitude and renews our commitment to walk together for peace and fraternity.
“This war must end.”
According to Massimo Faggioli, this is “a new attempt that starts from different premises than those of the previous pontificate.” “Pope Francis,” Faggioli recalls, “had always said he would go to Ukraine if he could also go to Russia, and had never expressed his support for Kiev as Leo XIV did, albeit with a very cautious tone. This is a fundamental difference. Pope Leo cannot be accused of equating Russia and Ukraine. This has also been seen in the Vatican press in recent months, where it is clear that the narrative is that of an attacked nation defending itself, and where the pseudo-justification that the Russians attacked because they felt surrounded by NATO is missing. The vision has changed.” Today the central figure is much more the Secretariat of State than the special envoy Matteo Zuppi, who remains present, but in the background. “It is a more Western Vatican. Pope Leo XIV has a more Atlanticist vision of international relations (although with Trump it is unclear what that means) and is much less oriented toward the Global South than Pope Francis, who, on the other hand, saw the Ukrainian issue as a matter of U.S. foreign policy.” “The Vatican does not comment on the military situation, but it is certainly aware of what is happening. Perhaps it is an initiative based on an assessment of how long this war can last. It is a relaunch that takes into account that the situation on the ground has changed or is likely to change in the coming months, something that was not possible in previous years, and it relies on a partner who has the full weight of the Vatican apparatus, and not only on the Pope’s appointment as special envoy.”
The Vatican states it is willing to put its services at the disposal “in every possible way” to contribute to a peaceful solution to the war, Sergei Lavrov: “We are ready to lend our services in every possible way, in the hope that the long-awaited peace will be reached as soon as possible .” Lavrov thanked the Vatican for its “balanced” stance on Ukraine and the active role it plays in the conflict resolution process. “We thanked our colleagues for their balanced stance on the situation in Ukraine and the surrounding areas”; and “our recognition of the Vatican’s active participation in resolving several urgent humanitarian issues in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.”
According to Russian media, Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia had submitted a report to the Vatican on the illegal actions of Ukrainian authorities against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its clergy and recalled that the report in question was published by the department recently. “This is already the third report, and it is being sent to the relevant international organizations and we are sending a copy to our colleagues at the Vatican.”
The CIA in Russia.
On the same day that the Vatican’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paul Richard Gallagher, visits Moscow, with the Holy See’s offer of “diplomatic support” and “a space for dialogue,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe also arrived in the Russian capital. Ratcliffe’s mission—his first to Russia as CIA chief—had not been announced, but the U.S. agency did little to keep it secret, since he arrived on a military plane. The Ukrainian conflict is at stake, with U.S. mediation stalled. But Iran may also have been on the agenda, given that the trip coincided with the announcement of extremely harsh U.S. sanctions aimed at suffocating the Islamic Republic by also punishing countries that maintain trade relations with it, among them Russia. The enigmatic American agency has a strange art collection; our image today is by Thomas Downing, “Iambic Time,” 1962/63.
The National Liturgical Week.
Cardinal Parolin conveys Leo XIV’s greetings to the 76th National Liturgical Week in Catania under the theme “A Church that generates. Liturgy and Christian initiation.” He quotes Leo XIV on the generative character of Christian initiation, described as the “womb” in which a community generates faith, introducing it into paschal life, communion with the Lord, and ecclesial fraternity. Parolin links this image to the account in the Acts of the Apostles about the first Christians “devoting themselves to the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, to the breaking of bread and to prayer,” and then recalls the Pontiff’s invitation to return to the source of Christian formation, strengthening the value of the liturgy.
The National Liturgical Week originated in the Center for Liturgical Action, founded in 1947 in Parma on the initiative of the Bishop of Bergamo, Adriano Bernareggi. Two years later, in 1949, the same Center organized the first edition of the Week in Parma, which has since been held annually.
Animal ethics.
A little-explored topic in Catholic theology, with the exception of a text by Professor Father Martin Lintner, published in 2020 by Queriniana and dedicated to animal ethics. A review, though not exhaustive, can be found in the 2023 volume “Animal Theologians” , edited by Anglicans Andrew Linzey and Clair Linzey. Andrew Linzey founded the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. The starting point is that Christian theology has spoken extensively about God and humanity, but surprisingly little about animals. In practice, the modern debate on animal rights, often attributed to Peter Singer and the animal rights movement of the 1970s, actually has much older religious antecedents. It is not enough to simply incorporate the animal world into theology; we need to rethink some fundamental categories of Christian theology: from Creation to suffering, from human dominion to a different anthropological vision in a renewed relationship between God and the world. It shows how redemption must concern all of Creation and all beings that inhabit it; animals cannot be considered mere instruments destined for humanity.
Books about the devil.
“Face to Face with the Devil: A True Story” by Ania Golędzinowska. The author recounts a journey that the publisher presents as six years of exorcisms, involving Father Gabriele Amorth, SSP, Brother Cipriano de Meo, OFM Cap., and Father Antonio Mattatelli, and includes recordings of their experiences. It is precisely these elements that make the book striking and, inevitably, delicate. Because when one enters the terrain of demonic possession and exorcism, the line between testimony, faith, curiosity, and sensationalism becomes blurred. Ania Golędzinowska decides to cross it by sharing her own story.
The material provided by the publisher explicitly mentions dialogues between the exorcist and the devil, particularly striking episodes, and unpublished recordings. It is understandable that these elements immediately attract attention. Curiosity about evil can become a trap when it distracts us from what truly matters to Christians: Christ. A personal testimony is not a treatise on demonology, nor a masterful definition of the discernment of the individual phenomena narrated. Christianity takes evil very seriously, but never equates it with God. There are no two equivalent principles, one good and one evil, locked in a battle with an uncertain outcome. Satan is a creature.
History of Catholicism in China.
The new publication is titled “Research on the History of Catholicism in China.” It is a systematic work, the result of many years of research on the history of Catholicism in China carried out by Professor Liu Zhiqing and Associate Professor Shang Haili of Anyang Normal University. The work, published by China Religious Culture Publisher, integrates institutional history, regional history, and biographies of the protagonists of Catholicism’s journey in China, based on a broad analysis of Chinese and foreign documents, local annals, archives, and original ecclesiastical sources. This new publication brings together 28 essays that systematically reconstruct the historical trajectory of the expansion of Catholicism in China over the last 600 years, focusing in particular on key themes such as the evolution of dioceses, the development of dioceses entrusted to Chinese clergy, and the process of inculturation, combining academic depth with attention to contemporary issues. The appendix contains a general table of Catholic dioceses in China, a list of foreign religious congregations dedicated to missions, and a chronology of the evolution of the dioceses.
An interview on synodality that raises blisters.
And rightly so, this synodality thing is something no one understands, and when that happens, it is most normal that we are facing a mockery, one more, which, at best, is a waste of time that leads nowhere. In a recent interview with the portal AdVaticanum , Bishop Rob Mutsaerts, auxiliary bishop of ‘s-Hertogenbosch since 2010, once again frankly expressed his reservations about the synodal process initiated during Francis’s pontificate and now inherited by Leo XIV. The starting point of his reflections is a question as simple as it is crucial: how is an ecclesial process judged? The ultimate criterion must be the one indicated by the Code of Canon Law: the salvation of souls. The Church does not exist to generate participatory processes, build efficient organizational structures, or ensure that all opinions are duly represented. It exists to proclaim Christ, guide people to conversion, administer the sacraments, and accompany the faithful toward holiness and eternal life . Mutsaerts poses an inevitable question: if synodality is proposed as an ordinary modality of ecclesial life, what concrete fruits does it produce in Christian life?
Synodality, in itself, can be considered a tool through which the Church listens, discerns, and walks together. The problem arises when the simple fact of “walking together” becomes the result being sought. The question is no longer: where does this path lead us?, but simply: how far have we managed to go together? Synodality cannot become a kind of autonomous criterion of ecclesial truth, consensus does not create truth, participation does not replace Revelation, and listening does not replace proclaiming. “Christ did not found a discussion group. He called the apostles. He gave them authority.” Christianity is not simply about feeling welcome; it consists in being saved by Christ.
What is the ultimate criterion by which the Church evaluates itself? If the criterion is participation, consultations will increase. If the criterion is listening, spaces for debate will increase. If consensus is the criterion, mediations will be sought continuously. But if the criterion is the salvation of souls, then the perspective changes radically. We will have to ask ourselves whether people are having an encounter with Christ. Whether they are returning to confession. Whether they participate in the Eucharist. Whether they pray. Whether they abandon sin. Whether they live in grace. Whether they grow in the faith. Whether they become saints. This is, ultimately, the crucial question.
“…you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”
Happy reading.