U.S.
Migration, AI and health care directives on US bishops’ fall meeting agenda
WASHINGTON — At their upcoming annual fall meeting, the nation’s Catholic bishops have a full agenda of both temporal and spiritual matters — including votes for key leadership roles as well as discussions on migration, health care directives, artificial intelligence, eucharistic devotion and liturgical texts. On Oct. 22, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced details regarding its 2025 fall plenary assembly, which will take place in Baltimore Nov. 10-13. Public portions of the assembly will be livestreamed on Nov. 11 and 12 at usccb.org/meetings. The USCCB will vote for a new president and vice president, who will commence their three-year terms Nov. 13, along with chairmen for six USCCB committees. While the agenda has not yet been fully finalized and remains subject to change, the USCCB said in its press release that the public session will feature “discussion and response to the evolving situation impacting migrants and refugees.” The implications of AI, revisions of the USCCB’s “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services,” a vote to consecrate the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and updates on the National Eucharistic Revival are also slated for review. (OSV News)
Sheen Experience breaks ground in Peoria, honoring America’s media evangelist
PEORIA, Ill. — In an Oct. 19 ceremony, Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria led local religious and civic leaders in breaking the ground outside of the Spalding Institute to launch a project to convert Venerable Fulton J. Sheen’s alma mater into a cultural center blending faith, history and innovation. “Just imagine, two years from now when this project is completed, we will see many, many visitors — many more than we currently have — coming to visit and to experience Fulton Sheen,” Bishop Tylka said. Born in 1895 in El Paso, Illinois, Fulton J. Sheen was ordained for the Diocese of Peoria in 1919 and later evangelized using radio and television. During his time as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York (1951-1966), he became one of the first televangelists with his Emmy-award-winning show “Life is Worth Living.” Plans include a studio, interactive displays and a library to research Archbishop Sheen, whose cause for sainthood was opened in 2002. “We want to be able to be a place where people could actually come and be able to say, ‘Well, if he did it using radio and TV, we can do it using podcasts and other types of media that’s out there today,’ and prepare for whatever the media is to come,” Bishop Tylka told reporters. (OSV News)
‘Religious freedom fosters peace,’ USCCB committee chairs say in joint statement
WASHINGTON — Two U.S. bishops are urging Americans to remember that protecting religious freedom is key to building peace around the world. In a joint statement released Oct. 22, ahead of International Religious Freedom Day on Oct. 27, Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles and Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne–South Bend said that repressing or persecuting religion harms the peaceful development of nations. “Religious freedom fosters peace,” the bishops said, echoing Pope Leo XIV’s recent call for every country to respect religious freedom as a vital part of human dignity. The bishops’ message comes as the United States marks the anniversary of the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, which made promoting religious freedom a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. Bishop Zaidan chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, while Bishop Rhoades leads the USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty. (OSV News)
WORLD
Pope, British king share historic prayer in Sistine Chapel
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV welcomed Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla to the Vatican for a unique visit combining ceremonial flourishes and a historic moment of prayer in the Sistine Chapel. According to Buckingham Palace, it was the first time since the Reformation in the early 16th century that the pope and a British monarch prayed together at an ecumenical service at the Vatican. From the moment the royal couple arrived Oct. 23 in the San Damaso Courtyard of the Apostolic Palace, the high formality of the official visit was clear as a larger-than-usual contingent of Swiss Guards welcomed the king and queen, and the Vatican police band played the Vatican anthem and “God Save the King,” which is the British national anthem. After their private meeting and exchange of gifts, Pope Leo and Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell of York, the ranking prelate of the Church of England, led midday prayer in the Sistine Chapel with a focus on “care for creation.” (CNS)
Changing world calls for new commitment to Catholic schools, pope says
VATICAN CITY — Catholic education, which has changed over the centuries, must continue to evolve to help young people face the challenges of technology as well as confusion about the meaning and purpose of life, Pope Leo XIV said. “I call upon all educational institutions to inaugurate a new season that speaks to the hearts of the younger generations, reuniting knowledge and meaning, competence and responsibility, faith and life,” he wrote in an apostolic letter. Titled “Disegnare Nuove Mappe Di Speranza” (“Drawing New Maps of Hope”), the letter was issued only in Italian Oct. 28. It marked the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Catholic Education. In the letter, Pope Leo formally declared St. John Henry Newman “patron of the Church’s educational mission alongside St. Thomas Aquinas.” The pope was scheduled to formally proclaim St. Newman a “doctor of the Church” Nov. 1 in recognition of his contribution to “the renewal of theology and to the understanding of the development of Christian doctrine.” (CNS)
Pope recognizes martyrdom of Polish Salesian, Czech priests
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV formally recognized the martyrdom of nine Polish Salesian priests killed by the Nazis at Auschwitz and Dachau and the martyrdom of two Czech priests executed by the communists in the 1950s. The pope signed the decrees of martyrdom Oct. 24, clearing the way for the beatification of the 11 priests. The Polish Salesian case is known as the cause of “Jan Swierc and eight companions.” Father Swierc and seven others died in the Auschwitz camp in 1941-42 while Salesian Father Franciszek Miska was interned in the Dachau concentration camp and died through malnourishment and torture on May 30, 1942. The Czech priests recognized as martyrs are Fathers Jan Bula and Václav Drbola, priests of the Diocese of Brno, who were among 11 people executed after a series of show trials in communist Czechoslovakia in 1951-1952 after the murder of three communist officials in the town of Babice. (CNS)
A synodal Church evangelizes better, works together for justice, pope says
VATICAN CITY — The pursuit of synodality should strengthen the Catholic Church’s mission of proclaiming the Gospel and help all Catholics learn to collaborate to make the world a better place, Pope Leo XIV said. “As Pope Francis reminded us on numerous occasions,” the pope said, the purpose of synodality “is to help the Church fulfill its primary role in the world, which is to be missionary, to announce the Gospel, to give witness to the person of Jesus Christ in every part of the world, to the ends of the earth.” That witness includes speaking up for justice, caring for the planet and promoting peace, Pope Leo said during a meeting late Oct. 24 with participants in the Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies. “The Church has a voice, and we need to be courageous in raising our voice to change the world, to make it a better place,” he told the pilgrims, who included about 150 representatives from the United States with 15 U.S. bishops. (CNS)
