USCCB News

USCCB NEWS

Pope tells U.S. high school students their voice, ideas, faith matter

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV urged U.S. high school students to be "intentional" with their screen time, their prayer time and their involvement in a local parish."One of my own personal heroes, one of my favorite saints, is St. Augustine of Hippo," the pope told 16,000 young Catholics meeting in Indianapolis. "He searched everywhere for happiness, but nothing satisfied him until he opened his heart to God. That is why he wrote, 'You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."With a livestream connection, Pope Leo spoke for close to an hour Nov. 21 with participants at the National Catholic Youth Conference meeting at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.The pope responded to questions from five high school students: Mia Smothers from the Archdiocese of Baltimore; Ezequiel Ponce from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; Christopher Pantelakis from the Archdiocese of Las Vegas; Micah Alcisto from the Diocese of Honolul

Bishop Garcia Appointed Inaugural Chairman of Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation

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WASHINGTON - Bishop Daniel E. Garcia has been appointed as the inaugural chairman of the newly established Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation, which commenced its work on November 13. His appointment was made by Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. The subcommittee’s work falls under the mandate of the domestic justice and human development committee, which includes Catholic social teaching on issues of domestic concern such as poverty, housing, the environment, criminal justice, and other challenges that often have a disproportionate impact on communities of color.The subcommittee was approved by the USCCB’s Administrative Committee in September and is a new, permanent structure replacing the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, which was formed in 2017 to address the sin of racism in the Church and in society. In a recent

Pope to bishops: Be prophets of peace, harmony in your dioceses

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Following the example of St. Francis of Assisi, bishops are called to be close to the people in their dioceses and peacemakers in a world marked by division and tension, Pope Leo XIV told the bishops of Italy.Standing in front of the Porziuncola, the small church where St. Francis founded the Franciscan order, Pope Leo said bishops must be "artisans of friendship, fraternity and authentic relationships within our communities, where -- without reluctance or fear -- we must listen to and harmonize tensions, cultivating a culture of encounter and thus becoming a prophecy of peace for the world."Pope Leo traveled to Assisi by helicopter Nov. 20 to speak at the closing session of the fall meeting of the Italian bishops' conference. The session was closed to the press, but the Vatican released the pope's text and some video clips of his speech a few hours later. Pope Leo XIV prays before the tomb of St. Francis in the Basilica of St. Francis of Ass

Believers must care for the poor and creation, pope says

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- If people do not see themselves as "caretakers of the garden of creation, we end up becoming its destroyers," Pope Leo XIV said.As the U.N. Climate Conference continued in Brazil, the pope dedicated his weekly general audience talk Nov. 19 to explaining how Jesus' death and resurrection should lead Christians to "a spirituality of integral ecology," which seeks the good of the human person and the planet.Believing in Christ does not isolate Christians from the world and its concerns, the pope said, but rather it motivates them to share with others how faith generates hope and action, including the kind of conversion needed to provide greater care for the poor and for the earth.Without concrete commitments, he said, "the words of faith have no hold on reality, and the words of science remain outside the heart." Pope Leo XIV gives his blessing at the conclusion of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vati

Nationwide Prayer Vigil for Life to Take Place January 22-23

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WASHINGTON – Catholics across the country are encouraged to observe a nationwide prayer vigil from Thursday, January 22 to Friday, January 23, 2026, to pray for an end to abortion and a greater respect for all human life in post-Roe America. “Together, we must pray to change hearts and build a culture of life as we advocate for the most vulnerable. I look forward to opening our Vigil with Holy Mass together with many other bishops, hundreds of priests, consecrated religious, seminarians, and many thousands of pilgrims,” said Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities.The National Prayer Vigil for Life is hosted each January by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Pro-Life Secretariat, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and The Catholic University of America’s Office of Campus Ministry. This yea

Pope calls treatment of migrants in U.S. 'extremely disrespectful'

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Insisting that the dignity of all people, including immigrants, must be respected, Pope Leo XIV asked U.S. Catholics and "people of goodwill" to read and listen to the U.S. bishops' recent pastoral message on the topic."When people are living good lives -- and many of them (in the United States) for 10, 15, 20 years -- to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful, to say the least," is not acceptable, the pope said Nov. 18.Meeting reporters outside his villa in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo was asked what he thought of the "special pastoral message on immigration" approved overwhelmingly by members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 12. Pope Leo XIV is seen speaking to journalists outside the Palazzo Barberini in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, in a screen shot from a video taken Nov. 4, 2025. (CNS photo/screen grab, Vatican Media) "We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiet

'Creation is crying out,' pope says in new message to COP30

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While "creation is crying out" and millions of people suffer the effects of climate change and pollution, politicians are failing to act, Pope Leo XIV said.As the U.N. Climate Conference, COP30, began its final week of meetings Nov. 17, the pope sent a video message to Christian representatives and activists from the global south who were holding a side event to the conference in Belem, Brazil.The Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 at COP21 "has driven real progress and remains our strongest tool for protecting people and the planet," Pope Leo said in the video."But we must be honest: it is not the agreement that is failing, we are failing in our response," he said. "What is failing is the political will of some." Pope Leo XIV is seen giving his blessing to Christian representatives and activists at the U.N. Climate Conference, COP30, in a screen grab from a video released by the Vatican Nov. 17, 2025. (CNS photo/sc

Help everyone access the Bible, including online, pope urges

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- At a time when young people spend so much time in "digital environments," members of the Catholic Biblical Federation need to ask how they are fulfilling the Second Vatican Council's mandate to give everyone access to the Bible, Pope Leo XIV said."What does 'easy access to Sacred Scripture' mean in our time? How can we facilitate this encounter for those who have never heard the Word of God or whose cultures remain untouched by the Gospel?" the pope asked members of the federation's steering committee and its regional representatives.Pope Leo welcomed the group to the Apostolic Palace Nov. 17, expressing particular concern for people who "find themselves in cultural spaces where the Gospel is unfamiliar or distorted by particular interests."At the end of the audience, Mary Sperry, associate director of the U.S. bishops' Office for the Biblical Apostolate, presented Pope Leo with two large white binders. They contained a preview copy o

Pope assures the poor they are loved by God, calls on governments to act

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Before joining hundreds of people for lunch, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the Jubilee of the Poor and prayed that all Christians would share "the love of God, which welcomes, binds up wounds, forgives, consoles and heals."With thousands of migrants, refugees, unhoused people, the unemployed and members of the trans community present in St. Peter's Basilica or watching from St. Peter's Square, Pope Leo assured them, "In the midst of persecution, suffering, struggles and oppression in our personal lives and in society, God does not abandon us."Rather, "he reveals himself as the one who takes our side," the pope said in his homily Nov. 16, the church's celebration of the World Day of the Poor. Pope Leo XIV gives his homily as he celebrates Mass for the Jubilee of the Poor in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Nov. 16, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez) Volunteers with Vatican, diocesan and Rome-based Catholic charities

Pope asks big names in film to continue to challenge, inspire, give hope

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Meeting an international cast of film directors and actors, Pope Leo XIV spoke about the power of cinema to help people "contemplate and understand life, to recount its greatness and fragility and to portray the longing for infinity." Pope Leo XIV greets Australian actor Cate Blanchett during a meeting with film directors and actors in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Nov. 15, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) Sitting in the front row of the Vatican's frescoed Clementine Hall Nov. 15 were, among others: directors Gus Van Sant and Spike Lee and actors Monica Bellucci, Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen and Sergio Castellitto, who played the traditionalist Cardinal Tedesco in the 2024 film "Conclave."In a video released a few days before the meeting, Pope Leo said his four favorite films were: "It's a Wonderful Life," the 1946 film directed by Frank Capra; "The Sound of Music," the 1965 film b

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