Pope Francis on the Thirst for Peace

 

Written by WPI Contributor

Forty years ago, on October 27, 1986, Pope John Paul II gathered religious leaders in Assisi to pray for peace. The Community of Sant’Egidio is marking that anniversary with a meeting that Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to close on Tuesday, October 27, as Leo presses for a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine. Ten years ago, on September 20, 2016, Pope Francis stood in the same city for the 30th anniversary and said this.

We cannot remain indifferent. Today the world has a profound thirst for peace. In many countries, people are suffering due to wars which, though often forgotten, are always the cause of suffering and poverty. In Lesbos, with our beloved Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, we saw the sorrow of war in the eyes of the refugees, the anguish of peoples thirsting for peace. I am thinking of the families, whose lives have been shattered; of the children who have known only violence in their lives; of the elderly, forced to leave their homeland. All of them have a great thirst for peace. We do not want these tragedies to be forgotten. Rather together we want to give voice to all those who suffer, to all those who have no voice and are not heard. They know well, often better than the powerful, that there is no tomorrow in war, and that the violence of weapons destroys the joy of life.

We do not have weapons. We believe, however, in the meek and humble strength of prayer. On this day, the thirst for peace has become a prayer to God, that wars, terrorism and violence may end. The peace which we invoke from Assisi is not simply a protest against war, nor is it “a result of negotiations, political compromises or economic bargaining. It is the result of prayer” (John Paul II, Address, Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels, 27 October 1986: Insegnamenti IX,2 [1986], 1252). We seek in God, who is the source of communion, the clear waters of peace for which humanity thirsts: these waters do not flow from the deserts of pride and personal interests, from the dry earth of profit at any cost and the arms trade.

— Pope Francis, Address at the World Day of Prayer for Peace, Assisi, September 20, 2016

The unitive and procreative dimensions of marriage

56 Years Serving the Sick in Syria: Recognizing the Inspiring Story of Sister Arcangela

ZENIT Staff

The Italian Ambassador to Syria presented the religious sister with an award for her long service at Saint-Louis Hospital. She dedicatedthe recognitionto the sick and the poor shemetover more than half a century.For her,“Syria has become my second homeland,”

This is the team tasked with addressing AI within the Catholic Church in the U.S., and these are the 8 principles established by the European episcopate

Tim Daniels

The wider intellectual framework comes from Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which calls for cooperation and a shared culture of responsibility in confronting the challenges posed by artificial intelligence. The bishops are thus positioning the Church neither as an opponent of technological progress nor as a passive observer of developments driven by commercial interests

Seven Million Pilgrims, 25,077 Volunteers, social media and a podcast: Argentina Prepares to Welcome Pope Leo XIV

Enrique Villegas

Argentina’s security minister, Alejandra Monteoliva, has announced what she described as the largest security operation in the country’s history for the occasion

Israel goes to the polls: the battle for the ultra-Orthodox Jewish vote

ZENIT Staff

With their stable voting blocs, Shas and United Torah Judaism have been key allies for Netanyahu. However, the row over conscription for Yeshiva students has changed the equation. Meanwhile, a (minority) reformist religious faction is also on the ballot with a woman as a leading candidate.

Leo XIV is cancer-free and will not need chemotherapy or any other treatment

ZENIT Staff

It is confirmed that with the removal of a portion of the right lung on Tuesday, October 13, all of the cancer has been removed, and thus no additional therapy will be necessary

The unitive and procreative dimensions of marriage, as explored in depth by Leo XIV

ZENIT Staff

Pope’s General Audience, October 21, 2026, on Commitment to the Family in Today’s Society

Archbishop of Denver Orders Famous American Exorcist to Fast in Public

ZENIT Staff

According to a statement issued by the Archdiocese of Denver, Golka proposed a yearlong “fast” from public speaking and interviews so that the priest could devote more time to his community and the people it serves. Ripperger accepted the request, the archdiocese said, and the two are expected to review the arrangement after a year.

In the Midst of a Crisis, Jesus Won Over the Atheistic Heart of a Young Stock Market Operations Analyst

ZENIT Staff

«If you discover that something is missing, you must go in search of it. You need to leave behind the life you once had in order to pursue the life you desire, or the life you feel called to live.»

3 Aspects of the Relationship Between Holiness and History, According to Leo XIV

ZENIT Staff

Papal Audience with Participants in the Symposium “Holiness in History,” Organized by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints

The words of Pope Leo XIV that everyone working in school and university ministry should read

ZENIT Staff

The Pope’s Address to Participants in the International Congress on School and University Ministry

We put people in boxes as a way to degrade them

 

We call this SoNoGo - South Park-North Park-Golden Hill & Our Mission: to see the baptized who live in SoNoGo worship in SoNoGo

New wesite: https://www.stpatrickschurchsd.org/ 

Saint Patrick Catholic Parish

The Catholic Church Explained

We, the church of Saint Patrick, in the community of North Park,

of the Roman Catholic Diocese and City of San Diego,

declare this to be our primary mission:

to come together to celebrate the Eucharist,

hear God’s word proclaimed,

give praise and thanksgiving to God,

and develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

We believe that by freely sharing our faith, talents, and treasures,

we discover Christ’s presence among us and bring Him to others.

We have a strong desire to give and receive love, service, peace, support,

and fellowship, within our families, our parish, our community, and the world.

Open to the power of the Holy Spirit, we pursue this mission faithfully and lovingly.

Chastity “includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom”

 

“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart”

 

Irish synod marks the “end of an era.”

Leo’s doctors: “No further treatment is necessary”

Pope Leo XIV’s lung cancer was localized and needs no further treatment, his doctors said Wednesday evening. Dr. Luigi Carbone and surgeon Stefano Margaritora said final histopathology and molecular tests on the tissue removed Oct. 13 “confirmed that the tumor was a lung adenocarcinoma and that the disease was localized,” and that “a subsequent oncological assessment has confirmed that no further treatment is necessary.” The news came hours after Leo, eight days out of surgery, spoke with a strong voice and sang the Our Father in Latin at his general audience. In America, Barbara Mahany, who had the same type of cancer, reflects on what it taught her about living. — Vatican News · America (Gerard O’Connell) · National Catholic Reporter (Justin McLellan) · Vatican News [IT] · America (Barbara Mahany)

Ten years on, Amoris Laetitia is “a settled part of the life of the Church”

“We’re in a different place now” was a phrase commonly heard at this month’s “Amoris at 10” meeting of bishops’ conference presidents in Rome, writes Austen Ivereigh in The Tablet. Opening with his own experience defending the Church’s teaching on marriage in the U.K.’s 2012 same-sex marriage debate, Ivereigh argues the pastoral conversion Pope Francis called for has taken root: isolated attempts to reopen the debates over Chapter 8 “met an overwhelming view in the room that the interpretation of that question is settled,” though implementation of discernment processes “remains poor.” On Third Space, WPI co-founder Paul Fahey and Sarah Carter talk with Hendro Munsterman about what happened at the meeting. — The Tablet (Austen Ivereigh) · Third Space (Paul Fahey, Sarah Carter, and Hendro Munsterman)

Leo to American Jewish Committee: Differences “must never give rise to prejudice and hostility”

Receiving an American Jewish Committee delegation on the feast of St. John Paul II, Pope Leo XIV said Catholic-Jewish friendship calls both communities “to defend human dignity, serve the poor, protect religious freedom and promote justice and peace.” “Essential to this commitment is the rejection of all forms of religious and ethnic hatred and discrimination,” he said, recalling his words for the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate that “the Church does not tolerate anti-Semitism and fights against it, on the basis of the Gospel itself.” — Full text (Vatican) · Holy See Press Office [IT] · Vatican News (Deborah Castellano Lubov) · Vatican News [IT]

Pope and Holy See

• Leo to Catholic schools: “Beneath the armor that so many teenagers build around themselves to avoid suffering lies the desire to love and be loved.” Opening the Dicastery for Culture and Education’s international congress on pastoral care in schools and universities, the pope warned of “a performance-driven culture that constantly compares and ranks people, sometimes ruthlessly.” — Full text (Vatican) · Holy See Press Office [IT] · Vatican News (Isabella H. de Carvalho)
• Cardinal Czerny on sustainability, AIDS, and AI. “Sustainability is because we all pull in the same direction,” Czerny said after receiving the inaugural Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal. — America (Colleen Dulle)
• [IT] Parolin prays for peace at the tomb of St. John Paul II. The secretary of state celebrated Mass at the Polish pope’s tomb on his feast day. — Vatican News [IT]
• Holy See at OAS: Respect the dignity and culture of indigenous peoples. At a session on “The Encounter of Two Worlds,” Msgr. Juan Antonio Cruz Serrano acknowledged the “suffering and injustices inflicted upon indigenous peoples” and pointed to Our Lady of Guadalupe as a symbol of encounter. — Vatican News (Davide Dionisi)

United States

• U.S. Catholic voters see the economy as a major issue in the midterms. With high gas prices, stagnant wages, and housing costs squeezing families, polling suggests many voters are frustrated with the economy. — National Catholic Reporter (Brian Fraga)
• Catholic groups raise alarm about DOJ guidance on institutionalizing people with disabilities. Organizations including the USCCB urged Congress to reject guidance they say weakens protections for people with disabilities. — National Catholic Reporter (Kate Scanlon, OSV News)
• AI, migration, and Church renewal top the U.S. bishops’ fall meeting agenda. The USCCB named the three topics as likely issues for its annual November meeting. — National Catholic Reporter (Gina Christian, OSV News)

Around the World

• Irish synod marks the “end of an era.” At a national gathering, Bishop Niall Coll said cultural Catholicism “is over” and the Church needs to form “intentional disciples.” — America (Ruadhán Jones)
• Survey shows a rise in Christian nationalism in Britain. The movement is new in Britain but has worried bishops, who have tried to distance the Church of England from it. — Religion News Service (Catherine Pepinster)
• Canadian bishops pledge prayer after a deadly military base fire. An Oct. 17 blaze at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright killed four service members and injured 39 others. — National Catholic Reporter (Gina Christian, OSV News)

Liturgy and Church Life

• How England’s newest community of sisters is bucking religious decline. The Community of Our Lady of Walsingham aims to tap a new openness to religion among young Britons. — Global Sisters Report (Jonathan Luxmoore)
• Zambian sisters shelter young girls in Chirundu’s red-light district. Mudzi-wa-Moyo, founded by the Sisters of Charity of Sts. Bartolomea Capitanio and Vincenza Gerosa, cares for 60 girls. — Global Sisters Report (Derrick Silimina)

Video and Podcasts

• American Catholics are souring on Trump. Here’s why. A new explainer video from America Media. — YouTube (America Media)

Commentary

• Opinion: Whatever the high court decides, Catholic schools must choose inclusion. “No Supreme Court decision can substitute for the choice that we have to make,” NCR’s editors write. — National Catholic Reporter (Editorial)
• Opinion: Leo’s encyclical is a north star for the new space race — and alien encounters, too. Scott Hurd on what Pope Leo’s teaching offers as nations and companies push into space. — National Catholic Reporter (Scott Hurd)

Also today

• Polish bishop defends unborn as abortion bills advance — Luke Coppen, The Pillar
• Pope Leo’s alma mater Villanova traveling to Rome for hoops doubleheader vs. Notre Dame — Andrew Dampf, National Catholic Reporter (AP)
• AME Church retirees to receive tens of millions more in funds lost amid scandal — Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service
• Landslides, fires, El Niño: Big Sur’s spiritual centers “living with precariousness” — Hayden Royster, Religion News Service
• A Native Weed — Tom Deignan, Commonweal. Book review on fascism in the American tradition.

5 ways St. John Paul II changed the Catholic Church forever

PHOTOS: Lord of Miracles image enters Peru’s Government Palace for first time in 40 years

The image of the Lord of Miracles entered the Courtyard of Honor at the Government Palace of Peru, where it was received by President Keiko Fujimori and her ministers.

In exchange with religious sister, Vance says government tries to strike ‘balance’ on immigration

The vice president responded to a question by a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary during a CBS interview.

Trump signs bill to reopen SSocial Security, Medicare opt-ins for priests, clergy

The measure, supported by Catholic bishops, allows clergy to reverse their decision to opt out of Social Security and Medicare.

5 ways St. John Paul II changed the Catholic Church forever

St. John Paul II was the second-longest-serving pope in modern history with 27 years of pontificate and the first non-Italian pontiff to be elected since Pope Adrian VI in 1523.

Why Vatican II still matters today

 

At the start of the year, Pope Leo XIV launched a series of general audience talks on the Second Vatican Council. He plans to talk about each of the 16 documents the Council issued.

He is doing that for a reason. It has been 60 years since the Council, and that generation is passing. Here in America, about 70% of all Catholics were born after Vatican II. 

For most Catholics, Vatican II is all they have ever known. But it is probably also true that most Catholics today do not know very much about Vatican II. 

Archbishop Gomez on Vatican II: No Ambiguity, No Retreat

 

The bishop is the chief liturgist of his local Church. What he permits, restricts, and celebrates teaches his people what the Church believes about her worship. That is why Archbishop José Gomez’s recent column in Angelus, “Why Vatican II still matters today,” deserves a wide reading.

At a moment when some American bishops seem to be quietly narrowing the reach of the liturgical reform, whether by opening wide the doors to the pre-reformed rite or by pulling back the cup from the faithful, the Archbishop of Los Angeles speaks with refreshing clarity. He reminds us that every pope since the Council has received it as a work of the Holy Spirit, and that its liturgical reforms are an authentic, organic development of the Church’s living tradition. Catholics, he writes, cannot treat the Council as optional or choose how they want to worship.

He also recalls why the reform was needed. Quoting Pope Benedict XVI, he describes the “two parallel liturgies” of the old rite: the priest at the altar, the faithful in their own prayer books. Participatio actuosa was the Council’s answer, and it remains ours.

What moves me most is his personal witness. He speaks of loving the Mass we have been given, of the collects and prefaces staying with him through the day, and of the “noble simplicity” of the reformed rite prayed with reverence. Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi.

In Los Angeles, that conviction is not merely written; it is practiced: the reformed rite in its fullness, Communion under both kinds, the laity exercising their baptismal ministries. No compromise.

Read it here: https://angelusnews.com/voices/why-vatican-ii-matters/

covenantchurchsd 10.18.2026

We call this SoNoGo - South Park-North Park-Golden Hill & Our Mission: to see the baptized who live in SoNoGo worship in SoNoGo 

Covenant Presbyterian Church

What is the Evangelical Presbyterian Church?

Covenant Church at 30th & Howard  is a Christian church in the tradition of the Protestant Reformation and allied with the EPC [The Evangelical Presbyterian Church] We believe the Scriptures to be the infallible Word of God and our final authority in faith and practice, and we find the historic creeds of the early church (the Apostles’ Creed and Nicene Creed) to be vital expressions of the most important tenets of the global church universal. When the EPC started in 1981, we determined that we would not disagree on the basic essentials of the Christian faith, but on anything that was not essential—such as the issue of ordaining women as officers or practicing charismatic gifts—we would give each other liberty. Above all, we committed ourselves to loving each other and not engaging in quarrels and strife. The result is that when we get together in our regional and national meetings, we spend most of our time in worship and fellowship and almost none in arguing with each other.