It’s Saturday, we finish the week and we’re left with abundant current topics and interesting news that analyze the situation in more detail.
We start with the most eye-catching. Pope Leo responded to questions from five young Catholics, in the first direct encounter of the pontiff with American teenagers through a live broadcast. A young Catholic, Mia, from Baltimore, Maryland, asked Pope Leo: “Is it difficult for you to accept God’s mercy when you make mistakes or feel like you’ve disappointed people?” “The truth is that none of us is perfect.” “Saint Paul teaches that we have all sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.” It may be hard for us to forgive, but God’s heart is different. When we sincerely confess our sins and accept our penance, the priest absolves us and we know for certain that we are forgiven. So yes, it can be discouraging when we sin, but don’t focus only on your sins. Look to Jesus, trust in his mercy and approach him with confidence.” “Jesus doesn’t just understand our struggles from a distance,” “He wants us to hand them over to him because he loves us. And that kind of trust begins when we have a real relationship. We can’t entrust our problems to someone we barely know.” “We need to have a relationship with Him. In silence, we can speak sincerely about what’s in our heart.” “During Eucharistic Adoration, you can look at Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. You know that He looks at you, and He looks at you with love. He often speaks to us sweetly in silence.” “That’s why daily moments of silence are so important, whether through adoration, reading the Scriptures, conversing with Him or seeking those little moments to be with Him.” “Little by little, we learn to hear his voice, to feel his presence, both in us and through the people he sends us.”
Another young Catholic, Christopher from Nevada, asked: “How do you suggest we balance all these excellent tools (social media, smartphones, tablets and any other device) and, at the same time, establish faith connections outside of technology?” Pope Leo referred to Saint Carlo Acutis, recently canonized, who balanced technology with personal relationships, including Eucharistic adoration. “AI will not discern between good and evil, nor will it marvel at the beauty of divine creation. Therefore, be prudent, be wise, take care that your use of AI does not limit your true human growth.”
Pope Leo encouraged young people to have hope, rather than fear, regarding the future, citing Jesus’ promise to Saint Peter that “the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church.” “It’s not true that life is just about doing what makes you feel good.” “What makes you comfortable, as some say. Sure, comfort can be nice, but as Pope Benedict XVI reminded us, we are not made for comfort. We were created for greatness. We were created for God himself.” “One of my personal heroes, one of my favorite saints, is Saint Augustine of Hippo, he learned it young. He sought happiness everywhere, but nothing satisfied him until he opened his heart to God.” That’s why he wrote: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart will be restless until it rests in you.” Augustine “discovered that his desire for greatness was actually a desire for relationship with Jesus Christ.” Young Catholics are known for their devotion to the Church’s tradition, particularly the Traditional Latin Mass. Generation Z, those between 18 and 24 years old, is also leading a resurgence of religious interest. According to a recent survey conducted among American Catholic priests, younger generations are more theologically orthodox and less interested in LGBT issues than their older counterparts.
Pope Leo XIV received in audience the participants of the Juridical-Pastoral Training Course of the Roman Rota . Before a room full of judges, canonists and ecclesiastical law professionals, he addressed the theme chosen for the tenth anniversary of the reform of the marriage nullity process initiated by his predecessor: “Ecclesiological, Juridical and Pastoral Dimension .” He recalled that the truth of justice in the Church is a unique reality, where theology, law and pastoral care are inseparable parts of the same service. He focused on the sacred power exercised in ecclesiastical tribunals. Quoting Lumen Gentium , he recalled that all power in the Church is “a true service, significantly called diaconate ” . Judicial jurisdiction is an integral part of this service: it is the way the Church exercises a diaconate of truth , because families and communities need a declared truth about their ecclesial condition to walk in faith. The second presupposition refers to the object of the process: marriage itself .
The Pope recalled his speech during the Jubilee of Families, where he stated that “marriage is not an ideal, but the canon of true love.” He recalled the enormous responsibility of justice operators, strongly reminded by Benedict XVI : the nullity process is “an instrument for the ascertainment of the truth.” Why does the Church continue to prefer the judicial process over the administrative one? Quoting the Preamble of Mitis Iudex , he reiterated that the judicial process offers the best guarantees to protect the truth of the marital bond. It is not a technique, but ecclesiological presuppositions: the search for truth and the salus animarum . The Pope concluded by affirming that the three dimensions—ecclesiological, juridical and pastoral—lead to a single purpose: the salus animarum , the supreme law of the Church.
Many reflections on the closing speech of Pope Leo XIV at the 81st Assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference. A clear and orderly speech, centered on Christ, that does not caress reality, but pierces through it. Cardinal Zuppi had chosen the tone of the social climate: fragility, distance, fraternity, acceptance, dialogue, but he lacked some essential pillars for those who must strengthen their brothers in the faith. Leo XIV put Christ back at the center, not as a spiritual framework, but as the decisive criterion for interpreting history. The crucified and risen Christ is the measure of the episcopal ministry, and everything starts from there. The Pope calls for broader and more participatory consultations, sincere listening to communities and closer collaboration with the Nunciature for appointing bishops.
On the other hand, it is missed that there is no explicit reference to doctrinal confusion, the liturgical crisis or the educational collapse affecting parishes and families. The theological drifts that contaminate common sense are not judged. The fragility of faith in its content, its transmission, its forms is not analyzed. It is a heavy silence, which the CEI will probably fill with the reassuring language of recent years. This is where the game will be played. It is positive that the Pope addressed the bishops as successors of the apostles. He did not treat them as cultural mediators or administrators of a system. He reminded them that the heart of the mission is Christ. This is a decisive advance compared to a period in which episcopal assemblies seemed exhausted, more concerned with managing balances than confirming the faith.
The Italian bishops are also called to address the final document approved last October 25 by the National Synodal Assembly, which introduces controversial pastoral guidelines : from relations with people who identify as LGBT to the study of the female diaconate, as well as guidelines for liturgical reform and new forms of governance. The president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), the ineffable Zuppi, has said that secularization was God’s will to deprive the Church of its cultural hegemony. Zuppi explained to his confreres why secularism should not be considered a defeat, but rather a providential opportunity to rethink the way Christians live their faith: “What is fading is an order of power and culture, not the living force of the Gospel.” “Today’s believer is no longer the custodian of a Christian world, but the pilgrim of a hope that continues to make its way into hearts. In this horizon, the end of Christendom is not a defeat, but a kairòs : the opportunity to return to the essential, to the freedom of the beginnings, to that ‘yes’ pronounced from love, without fear or guarantees.”
This vision of Zuppi belongs to a now very widespread theological current—shared, for example, by the cardinal archbishop of Marseille, Aveline, according to which Western secularization must be considered a starting point for rethinking faith, mission and the organization of the Church. Zuppi also referred to the Holy Father’s firm insistence on the dignity of every person, from conception to natural death, and the Pope’s call for pastors to make bold decisions looking to the future with confidence. Quoting the papal speech of June 17 to the Italian bishops, Zuppi reaffirmed the irreplaceable role of closeness to the people, service to the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel as the primary task of the entire Church. He also recalled the speech of the Pope to the Diplomatic Corps, centered on the triad “peace, justice, truth,” in which themes such as the defense of religious freedom, the revitalization of multilateral diplomacy, the critique of the arms race, the centrality of the family and attention to the most vulnerable were highlighted. Very sad is the Italian religious landscape described by Zuppi marked by new forms of distancing: not hostility, but indifference and loneliness, often aggravated by economic difficulties and lack of family support. Many now live far from ecclesial practice not by polemical choice, but because they are immersed in a different cultural context. In this scenario, he stated, Christianity does not disappear, but is situated within a more personal form of adherence.
In his speech before the American bishops gathered in Baltimore last week for their annual meeting, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio in the United States, argued—almost obsessively—that Vatican Council II must be considered the guide for the present and future of the Church. And he clarified that the Council is the interpretation recently offered by Pope Francis. (“Pope Leo is also convinced of this”). It is significant that Pierre felt the need to insist so much on this point before the American bishops, suggesting that he knows they do not fully agree Something that no one could foresee at the time of the Council, all developed countries in the world are facing a demographic crisis. The American bishops, with a few rare exceptions, remain mostly aligned with John Paul II and Benedict XVI. As a group they are fundamentally committed to maintaining their stance on issues such as life, marriage, family and religious freedom. The same cannot be said of all episcopal conferences, especially the Italian and German ones. Pope Leo XIII—at least so far—seems to have followed the example of figures like Cardinal Cupich of Chicago, who represent a clear minority within the American hierarchy. The Pope has even spoken of “problems” among the American bishops.
Bishop Strickland, for example, the bishop dismissed from Tyler, Texas, stood up during a session last week and pointed out that Father James Martin, SJ, had recently received into the Church and given Communion to a prominent New York media figure who was “married” to another man. He asked the bishops to react, as nearly two dozen of them did publicly when Cardinal Cupich tried to award a lifetime achievement award to Senator Dick Durbin, promoter of abortion and “homosexual marriage,” because he was “good” on immigration. And they reacted… by ignoring him.
The Archbishop of Oklahoma City, Paul Coakley, was elected president, described as a “conservative cultural warrior,” which should be considered an honor, given that he is a firm defender of life, as is the Archbishop of Portland, Sample, who was elected to lead the Committee on Religious Freedom. Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville was elected vice president. Flores is, essentially, an exemplary citizen—or at least that’s what they’ve told him—despite having held the difficult position of U.S. representative on synodality. He has expressed extravagant opinions on immigration, stating in 2017 that the detention of undocumented immigrants was a “formal cooperation with intrinsic evil,” similar to accompanying someone to an abortion clinic.
The Mexican government has withdrawn a plan to regulate religious speech in the virtual world after encountering immense opposition. The law amendment would significantly restrict religious freedom of expression online and could establish a draconian censorship regime. The presented text was: «Ministers of worship or religious associations that operate digital media, including digital multimedia content distribution platforms, social networks or any other online service, must comply with the guidelines issued by the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency in coordination with the Ministry of the Interior, ensuring respect for digital rights, network neutrality and the prevention of hate speech.» The group Activate.org.mx launched a petition that gathered more than 12,000 signatures through a campaign titled “They Want to Silence Our Churches.” The legislation would lead to an unprecedented state of surveillance and political control of religious life in Mexico.
Zen does not stay silent and this week has published another harsh criticism of the Synod on Synodality and the late Pope Francis who left behind “chaos and division.” “Our greatest hope is that Pope Leo will unite the Church on the foundation of truth, impelling us all to the mission of evangelization. We must offer our prayers and sacrifices for Pope Leo.” Zen expresses his concern that the Catholic Church has “become something like the Anglican Church” and that it apparently is “committing suicide by assimilating” to the world. “Of course… the faithful must participate in Church affairs, but the leadership of the bishops cannot be excluded”; “the recent Synod on Synodality [of 2024] was no longer a synod in the traditional sense… it became a ‘hybrid consultative assembly of the baptized.’” He also accused Fiducia Supplicans , which allows the blessing of homosexual “couples,” of having caused “great turmoil and deep divisions within the Church.” “My criticism of certain papal actions comes precisely from my deep reverence for the Pope.” Zen denounced the LGBT pilgrimage inside St. Peter’s Basilica. “The Vatican knew about this event in advance and yet issued no condemnation afterward. It is truly incomprehensible to us!”
And we end with the latest legal ‘adjustment’ in the Vatican that attempts to bring order to the immense chaos inherited from Pope Francis, full of lies and contradictions. The Holy See made public a motu proprio signed by Leo XIV on November 19, 2025 , by which the new Pontiff amends the Fundamental Law of the State of Vatican City of May 13, 2023, intervening directly in the composition of the Pontifical Commission for the State of Vatican City . The provision published today repeals article 8, no. 1, and replaces it with a text that allows the presidency of members appointed by the Pope who are not necessarily cardinals. Technically, it is a legislative adjustment, since the appointment of Sister Raffaella Petrini as president of the Governorship was not compatible with the current law. Today we already know that said modification by Pope Francis, announced by the Press Office on February 25 while Pope Francis was entering and leaving the Gemelli Hospital, did not exist.
The note from February 25 was clear in its wording, but lacked the essential: the law . In fact, the Press Office spoke of a legislative amendment never promulgated and never published. This detail casts an unsettling light on the entire pontificate of Pope Francis, characterized by decrees signed and then hidden, and by informal access to Santa Marta that allowed anything to be approved without checks. What happened is very serious: it is not a substantial error, but an attempt to present a non-existent law as valid to justify a despotic act of the Pontiff. Leo XIV inherits an institutional system that in recent years has functioned according to anything but legal logic to the point of putting at risk the very structure of the Holy See and of the Catholic Church which which are battered, day after day, by improvised decisions and public statements that create continuous confusion. The image that emerges—between false statements, failed acts and media coverage—is that of a government that has prioritized arbitrariness over transparency. It will be very complicated to think of serious changes counting on the broken machinery that accompanied Pope Francis. Will Leo XIV be able, and free, to change it?.
«But he is not the God of the dead, but of the living; all live to him.»
Good reading.