Pope Leo XIV was ‘confident South America trip would go ahead’

After Pope Leo XIV underwent lung surgery at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, many doubted whether he would be able to travel to Latin America. The Pope, however, said he “was convinced that this trip had to go forward.”

On board the ITA Airways flight at the start of his visit to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, he repeatedly expressed his happiness at being able to make the journey.

The itinerary spans 12 days, more than 30,000 kilometers, and 14 locations, with travel by car, plane, and helicopter, more than 50 engagements, and around 40 speeches.

An American Pope with a Latin American pastor’s heart, Pope Leo spoke proudly of his nationality and his right to vote in the US midterm elections.

He was happy to undertake this mission, he told the 82 journalists accompanying him from around the world, including ten from the countries he will visit.

He described it as the “mission of the Bishop of Rome, of the Pope,” “sharing the joy of the Gospel,” “announcing the Good News,” and “walking together with people, expressing that closeness which is so important for people, whether it be in their moments of joy or in their moments of sorrow.”

About an hour and a half after takeoff from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, the Pope greeted the reporters, correspondents, and camera operators with a smile as they stood ready with their smartphones and equipment.

He began in three languages: “Buongiorno a tutti, buenos dias, good morning, everyone.” He then thanked them “for your service, for the work that you do,” which is “so important” in helping to spread “God’s message of peace and goodwill for all people.”

“I know some people were doubtful about this trip taking place,” Pope Leo said, reiterating his conviction that the journey should go ahead. He praised the Lord and thanked the medical staff accompanying him, saying he was in “fairly good shape.”

“So, you’re the witnesses of that,” he told the journalists. “And I’m happy that you’re joining us.”

The Pope also took the opportunity to formally introduce the new Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, Maria Montserrat “Montse” Alvarado, someone “that many of you already know.” She had “joined the Vatican team of the Holy See” on November 1 to take on “this challenging role as Prefect of Communications,” succeeding Paolo Ruffini, “who has completed his term of service.” 

He praised her “wonderful experience,” “creativity,” “life and liveliness,” saying she would accompany them on the visit and help the Vatican and the Pope “in the very important dimension of communication.”

Before making his customary way down the aisle to greet the journalists individually, Pope Leo reiterated the priority of his sixth Apostolic Journey, namely to encounter the peoples and cultures of three Latin American countries and bring them “the message of hope in today’s world.”

Each country, he said, has “a very particular history,” with “many things in common” and “many differences.”

The longest part of the visit will be in Peru, a homecoming to the country where he spent more than 20 years as a missionary. It will include Chiclayo, the northern diocese where he served as Bishop.

Peru, he said, is “one of my many homes,” adding, “I’m very happy to be going back there.”

As he moved among the journalists, the Pope received books, letters, and gifts of all kinds, from a traditional Andean hat from Chulucanas, where his mission in Peru began, to a Chicago White Sox baseball.

As he signed the ball, he joked with the journalist who handed him the marker: “Careful, I’ve ruined other cassocks that way.” Asked where he found the strength to make the journey, he replied, “In faith. The Lord is very generous to me.” He attributed his health to “good doctors and a healthy lifestyle.”

Responding to correspondents from US news outlets who asked about the ballot he had mailed in for the midterm elections, Pope Leo said, “I have already made a statement about this. I am proud to be American and to exercise the right to vote.”

He explained that he had not voted in Peru, where he also holds citizenship, because there was no way for him to vote remotely. Had it been possible, however, he would have done so. “It is a good thing,” he said.

Many of the questions concerned his health. One journalist asked if had he prayed about his illness at Lourdes during his visit to France. “At that point there was no sign of any problems,” Pope Leo responded. “Surprisingly, in all the essential respects, everything was fine. I was much more concerned about the health of the people who were there.”

Asked what he now saw as an urgent priority for his pontificate following the operation, he replied, “A sense of commitment to continuing to be close to those who are ill, but I would also like to tell people that health care should be a right for everyone.”

He had a particular message for people with cancer: “Do not be afraid. Early diagnosis is the best approach, so regular checkups are a blessing.”

Pope Leo also said he had spent his stay at Gemelli reading “the breviary, the prayer book, and the newspapers.” He said he has not yet returned to playing tennis: “Not yet, but I will.”

Turning to Ukraine, he commented on the truce in Oleshky that he had called for and worked to promote: “Thank God for what has been achieved, but there is still much work to be done to achieve peace.”

Regarding the Argentine leg of the journey, the Pope described it as “a tribute” to Pope Francis, “in the sense that I am visiting his country, which he was unable to visit,” while emphasizing that the priority is to visit this important country.

Asked whether he felt different, perhaps more at ease, when speaking Spanish, the language he learned during his missionary years, Pope Leo replied: “Wait and see. Some people say there are significant differences.”

One of the more unusual gifts came from Eva Fernández, the Spanish correspondent for Radio COPE: a plaque for an imagined aircraft that could take him to the Camino de Santiago during the Año Jacobeo, the Holy Year of Santiago de Compostela, in 2027.

Pope Leo previously traveled the route by car before he was elected Pope. Spanish Catholics now hope he will return by plane, and as Pope.

Asked whether he would, he replied: “I would like to. What you want to do is one thing; what you can do is another.”

Pope sends prayers for peace to nations on flight to Uruguay

Pope Leo XIV offered prayers for peace, unity, and prosperity in telegrams to the heads of state of six countries during his flight from Rome to Uruguay on November 6.

The messages accompanied the start of his Apostolic Journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru.

Addressing Italian President Sergio Mattarella upon departure, the Pope entrusted the aspirations for peace and fraternity of the peoples he would visit to the intercession of the Virgin Mary and the saints who brought them the Gospel of charity. He also offered prayers for Italy’s well-being and prosperity.

In his telegram to French President Emmanuel Macron, Pope Leo recalled with gratitude his recent visit to France and assured the nation of his prayers for “God’s blessings of peace and concord.”

He similarly recalled his visit to Algeria earlier this year in his message to President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, praying that the Most High would bestow blessings of peace and prosperity upon its people.

The Pope greeted Mauritanian President Mohamed Cheikh El Ghazouani and the country’s people, asking the Almighty to bless the nation with “his gifts of unity and concord.”

In his telegram to Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, he invoked divine protection upon Senegal.

Finally, addressing Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Pope Leo extended cordial greetings to him and his fellow citizens, invoking “Almighty God’s gifts of unity and peace” upon the nation.

Vatican upholds excommunication of former deacon, who plans to appeal

The Vatican has upheld the excommunication of a former permanent deacon in Louisiana who formally left the Church and joined an Anglican congregation for a period of time after his son was sexually abused by a priest.

In a declaration dated May 22 and signed Oct. 16, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith confirmed the 2024 excommunication of Scott Peyton by Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of Lafayette.

A copy of the declaration was posted online in an Oct. 19 Acadiana News First interview with Peyton, following an Oct. 16 meeting he and his canon lawyer, Dawn Eden Goldstein, had with the bishop, during which Peyton was informed of the dicastery’s decision.

The Vatican response comes as Father Michael Guidry, convicted in 2019 of molesting Peyton’s then-teenaged son, is set to be released from prison Nov. 14 after serving a seven-year sentence.

The priest — who had been pastor of St. Peter Catholic Church in Morrow, Louisiana, where Peyton served as deacon — confessed to abusing the teen.

Settled civil lawsuit against diocese in 2021

The family settled a civil lawsuit against the Diocese of Lafayette in April 2021, with the diocese issuing a statement on May 7, 2021, saying it had found the allegations against Father Guidry credible and formally apologizing to the family.

Father Guidry appears on the diocese’s list of credibly accused priests.

OSV News has not yet received a response from the diocese regarding the post-incarceration priestly status of Father Guidry, who will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release.

Shortly after joining the Anglican congregation, Peyton and his family moved to a nondenominational church. 

The former deacon chose to appeal the excommunication by Bishop Deshotel, which resulted in the Vatican’s response.

Peyton plans to appeal the dicastery’s decision, said Goldstein, who is representing Peyton on a pro bono basis.

Bishop Deshotel had issued a March 2024 decree of excommunication following Peyton’s December 2023 email stating his intention to resign from the diaconate and leave the Catholic Church. 

Officially joined an Anglican church

In January 2024, Peyton and his family officially joined Trinity Anglican Church in Lafayette, with the former deacon announcing the news on Facebook several weeks later. 

In his 2024 decree, Bishop Deshotel specified that Peyton had “incurred the ‘latae sententiae’ censure of excommunication,” which — unlike a “ferendae sententiae” canonical penalty, which is not binding until it is formally imposed on an offender — is “incurred automatically upon the commission of an offense” specifically prohibited under canon law, such as apostasy, heresy, schism and abortion.

The Vatican agreed that the charge of schism was accurate.

But Goldstein told OSV News that while Peyton “has always maintained that he was willing to abide by the terms of the ‘latae sententiae’ excommunication,” he “contests that he acted with ‘dolus,'” the canon law term for “malice.”

“He never became Anglican because he preferred the Anglican Church to the Catholic Church on any kind of theological level,” Goldstein said. “What he wished was to keep his kids worshipping in a Christian church.”

She pointed to the “religious trauma” experienced by Peyton, his son and the entire family amid “multiple pastoral failures” made by the bishop.

Bishop’s warning could have been ‘more explicit’

In its declaration, the dicastery said it “acknowledges that Bishop Deshotel could have been more explicit in warning Deacon Peyton about the canonical consequences of his proposed course of action.”

At the same time, the dicastery noted “it was not evident what Deacon Peyton meant by ‘leave the Catholic Church and the diaconate’ until after he joined the Anglican Communion.”

Msgr. John Paul Kimes, a canon law scholar and a Maronite priest, told OSV News that that the Vatican’s decision “was confirmed” by the former deacon’s official entrance “into a religious community not in communion with the Church.”

Under canon law, a crime — termed a “delict” — “contains an objective element and then a subjective one,” said Msgr. Kimes, who is the Mark Moritz and Family Memorial Professor of the Practice at the University of Notre Dame Law School, as well as the Raymond of Peñafort Fellow of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the university.

Peyton’s “arguments are all based on the subjective element; the objective element — that he left the Catholic Church — is clear and not contested,” said Msgr. Kimes. “His arguments about the subjective element are based on emotional arguments, not actual legal ones.”

Msgr. Kimes said that “while there is certainly a path for Deacon Peyton to return to the Catholic Church,” returning to future ministry “is a different question.”

If Peyton “wanted to return to the Church as a functioning deacon, he would not only have to seek the remission of his excommunication, but also the dispensation” from an additional canonical penalty of “irregularity” for the holy orders he received.

In its declaration, the dicastery underscored the “medicinal nature of the censure of excommunication,” and expressed hope that Peyton’s “reconciliation” to the Church “may in fact come about.”

Pope Leo starts South America ‘homecoming’ tour a month after lung cancer surgery

Pope Leo is starting an ambitious 12-day trip across South America expected to attract millions-strong crowds, as the first US-born pope returns to a Catholic stronghold where he lived for decades as a missionary.

Leo, who is 71 and underwent lung cancer surgery last month, will visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru through November 17 on one of the most demanding overseas tours taken by a Catholic leader in decades.

The Vatican said this week that the pope had completely healed from his operation and no special precautions were being taken for the tour, on which Leo will travel some 31,000 km (19,300 miles) across 10 cities and give 36 speeches.

The pope, who was born in Chicago but spent decades in Peru and became a Peruvian citizen, considers the tour a “homecoming to places where he spent a long time and to which he feels closely connected,” said Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni.

Leo told pilgrims at his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday that during the trip he was hoping to “strengthen the faith, renew hope, (and) rekindle the fire of charity”.

Pope expected to address regional instability

The pope, who departed fromRome’s Fiumicino airport early on Friday morning, is due to arrive in Uruguay at 4:30 p.m. (1930 GMT). He will stay in the country until Sunday, visiting three cities before continuing on for three days in Argentina and six days in Peru.

Leo, who has forcefully decried the direction of global leadership in recent months, will address the governments in each country in closely watched speeches. He will also lead outdoor Masses at major local sites, visit a prison in Argentina and head to remote Andean communities in Peru by helicopter.

On Sunday, Leo will give an address to Argentine President Javier Milei, a ​right-wing libertarian seen as a close ally to US President Donald Trump, who lambasted Leo earlier this year after the pope criticized the Iran war.

Bruni said the pope’s speeches during the tour would address a range of issues facing the continent, including environmental destruction, arms trafficking and regional political instability.

“The pope brings a message of communion and unity, an invitation to recognise one another ... as members of one same family,” he said.

The late Pope Francis, who was Leo’s predecessor and from Argentina, visited Peru in 2018 but never returned home. A pope has not visited Argentina or Uruguay since the late 1980s.

Argentine officials have said some 7 million people will attend events with Leo.

Vatican not taking additional medical precautions

Latin America has long been the world’s largest Catholic region in absolute numbers, but the Church has been losing ground recently to fast-growing evangelical denominations and has struggled to respond to progressive social attitudes and individualized forms of worship.

Local Catholic leaders hope Leo’s visit can reenergize the faith across the region and also help repair the Church’s standing after abuse scandals have tarnished its reputation.

Leo will hold several meetings with survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy during the trip, the Vatican has said, without yet providing further details.

The pope was treated in October for lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer. His doctors have said the disease was localized and he would not require any further treatments.

Bruni said Leo had recovered enough that no additional medical measures would be necessary during his trip.

Medical experts told Reuters the decision by Leo’s doctors to clear him to fly should indicate the risk of complications from his surgery was low, that his operated lung had fully expanded and any surgical wounds were healing without signs of infection.

They suggested, however, that Leo might need to take rest breaks to deal with the trip’s intense itinerary and consider using supplemental oxygen as needed, especially during his high-altitude visits in the Peruvian Andes.

Pope Leo heads to a divided Argentina still reckoning with Francis’s legacy

When Pope Leo XIV arrives in Argentina Nov. 8, he will become the first pope to set foot in the country in nearly four decades – and the first to encounter a nation still wrestling with the legacy of the Argentine who preceded him.

Pope Francis remained deeply loved by many Argentines, particularly for his closeness to the poor. 

But he also became entangled in the country's political divisions, criticized from the right as Peronist and from other sectors for positions they considered conservative. 

His decision never to return home during his 12-year pontificate remained a source of disappointment and speculation.

Pope Leo will arrive in a country that Archbishop Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva of Buenos Aires recently described as "a wounded Argentina, a divided Argentina," marked for decades by poverty, intolerance and the political fracture Argentines call la grieta, or "the rift."

But the four-day visit also offers an unusual opportunity: to gather Argentines around a figure who does not yet belong to either side of their disputes.

As is often the case with a papal trip, it begins in the most political setting. 

After arriving from Uruguay, the pope will visit the monument to Gen. José de San Martín, father of Argentina's independence, attend a welcoming ceremony at the Casa Rosada presidential palace, meet President Javier Milei and address government officials, civil society and the diplomatic corps.

Milei directed fierce criticism at Pope Francis before becoming president. 

Once elected, however, he invited the pope to Argentina and met with him at the Vatican in February 2024, and his government later initiated the diplomatic process that led to Pope Leo's visit.

Relations between Milei's government and the Argentine bishops have nonetheless remained tense. 

Church leaders have regularly warned about poverty, unemployment and the effects of fiscal austerity, while the president has argued that Argentina must abandon economic policies that perpetuate dependency on state assistance.

Expectations from the papal visit

The economic picture resists a simple political reading. 

Official poverty figures fell sharply from 52.9 percent in the first half of 2024 to 28.2 percent in the second half of 2025, but rose again to 32.3 percent in the first half of 2026. In August, economic activity was down 1.7 percent from a year earlier.

Those pressures are shaping what Argentines expect from the pope. 

A survey by the Observatory of Beliefs and Religions in Argentina, or OCREAR, found that 43 percent of respondents believed poverty should be the principal priority of Pope Leo's pontificate.

Peace came second, while doctrinal issues, Church transparency and sexual abuse ranked lower. 

Only 49 percent considered the visit very or somewhat important, and 65 percent expected it to have little or no effect on their own religious practice – though approximately 57 percent of Argentines continue to identify as Catholic, and another 17 percent as evangelical.

Roberto Bosca, a scholar of religion and public life and former dean of the law school at Austral University, said the bishops' attention to social questions is sometimes read as populist, Peronist or left-wing, particularly by a largely secularized middle class that believes they have displaced God with social activism.

"If the bishops' teaching is read without ideological blinders, it is Christ-centered," he told OSV News in Spanish. But in Argentina, he said, even Christian language about placing the needy at the center is frequently translated into partisan categories.

On Nov. 9, Pope Leo will visit residents and caregivers at the Don Orione "Little Cottolengo" in Claypole, a center serving people with disabilities. 

He will celebrate Mass in Buenos Aires for a crowd expected to surpass 1.5 million people, meet representatives of the world of work, address Christian and interreligious leaders, and celebrate vespers with the Argentine bishops and diocesan synodal teams.

The following morning, he will travel to Córdoba, before returning to Buenos Aires for a youth vigil on Nov. 10. 

On his final day, before heading to Peru, he will visit the federal prison of Devoto and celebrate what organizers are calling the "Mass of Charity" at the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, the country's national Marian shrine.

Unlike in neighboring Uruguay, where Pope Leo will enter the disadvantaged Montevideo neighborhood of Casavalle, the Argentine schedule includes no visit to one of Buenos Aires's villas, or informal settlements – places closely associated with Pope Francis’s ministry.

Instead, its encounters with vulnerability are distributed across a disability center, a prison, a meeting focused on labor and the Luján Mass, where organizations including Caritas and the Hogar de Cristo network for people struggling with addiction will receive priority among approximately 8,000 invited guests.

Meeting with abuse survivors

The Vatican also has announced that Pope Leo will hold private meetings with survivors of abuse by clergy or other Church personnel during his three-country journey, without disclosing where.

The announcement is particularly relevant in Argentina, where survivors continue to demand transparency and canonical accountability in cases including the abuse of deaf children at Mendoza's Antonio Próvolo Institute and that of Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, convicted by an Argentine court of abusing seminarians.

OSV News confirmed that in October 2024 he was seen in his former Diocese of Orán riding a fire truck while wearing clerical attire. There has been no public update on his canonical status.

Inés Franck, a member of Argentina's commission for the protection of minors and a former Vatican consultant on the issue, said the region "is developing its tools for prevention and care with little resources, because these are also countries going through financial and development crisis."

There is still "plenty of work to do, resistances to overcome, resources to optimize and practices to implement," she told OSV News, "but the meetings of the pope with the victims speak to us about the will of the Church not to look the other way and to be there where there was pain and there still is."

Córdoba will give the visit a more federal character. Located near Argentina's geographical center, the city is more accessible for pilgrims from the northern and interior provinces. 

It is also the land of St. José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, the "gaucho priest" who traveled the Sierras of Córdoba by mule, evangelizing isolated communities.

Papal visit to the 'blessed land'

Pope Leo will celebrate Mass at the Military Aviation School and meet clergy, religious, seminarians and lay pastoral workers at Córdoba's cathedral.

Cardinal Ángel Sixto Rossi of Córdoba, described the visit as both a source of immense joy and of "healthy fear" because of the responsibility involved in receiving the pope and pilgrims from throughout the country.

"Córdoba is not only 'La Docta,'" Cardinal Rossi said, using the city's traditional title as Argentina's historic center of learning. "It is a blessed land, walked by saints who knew how to transform faith into service, closeness and self-giving."

In a reflection submitted to OSV News, Cardinal Rossi described the visit as a sign of continuity with Pope Francis, but said the new pope would give it "his own imprint."

"The shepherd comes to meet his people, to confirm us in faith, renew our hope and give us a pat on the back so that we do not lose heart," he wrote.

The visit will conclude at Luján, the shrine of Argentina's national patroness and one of the few religious spaces capable of gathering Argentines across social and political divisions.

Authorities are preparing for as many as 1.7 million people in a city of approximately 95,000 residents. 

Access roads will begin closing the day before the Mass, 1,500 extraordinary ministers are expected to distribute Communion, and Buenos Aires province plans to deploy about 11,000 police officers and cadets. 

The original 17th-century image of Our Lady of Luján will be brought out of the basilica for the celebration.

Political rivals working hand in hand on papal visit organization

Organizing the event required cooperation among Milei's national government, the provincial administration of Axel Kicillof – one of the president's principal political opponents and Peronist governor of Buenos Aires – the local municipality and church authorities.

The papal visit has obliged competing political sectors to work together before Pope Leo has spoken a word.

If anything connects people divided by harsh polarization, it's the local Church's most revered shrine.

Father Lucas García, rector of Argentina's major Marian shrine, said devotion to Our Lady of Luján reaches Argentines who rarely take part in Church life but may still carry a family photograph, a promise or a prayer inherited from their grandparents.

"In an Argentina that often experiences divisions, differences and difficulty encountering one another, the Virgin remains a point of unity," he told OSV News.

"Luján is much more than a place of pilgrimage," he said. "It is a home where Argentines can recognize one another as brothers and sisters."

Different sectors will inevitably try to fit the pope's words and gestures into their familiar divisions. But for four days, his itinerary will also invite the country to meet outside those categories: alongside people with disabilities, workers, prisoners, young people, pilgrims and the Virgin whom Argentines call their mother.

Whether that encounter lasts beyond the crowds will determine whether the visit becomes merely a historic event – or, as Cardinal Rossi hopes, leaves Argentina with "tasks for the heart."

Manila Archdiocese orders immediate safety checks of churches, schools

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila (RCAM) has ordered immediate safety inspections of churches, schools and other facilities to protect clergy, employees, parishioners, students and visitors.

In Circular No. 2026-101 dated 3 November, RCAM vicar general and moderator of the curia Msgr. Reginald Malicdem directed parish priests, rectors, chaplains, school directors and other church officials to inspect their respective facilities.

“To ensure the safety of our clergy, employees, parishioners, students, and visitors, all concerned are directed to immediately inspect their respective churches, schools, and other Archdiocesan facilities,” Malicdem said.

The inspections must cover sacred images, crucifixes and statues to ensure they are securely mounted and stable.

Church officials were also instructed to examine hanging fixtures, electrical installations, ceilings, walls and other supporting structures for signs of damage, deterioration or instability.

Fire safety measures, including overloaded electrical circuits and flammable materials near heat sources, must also be assessed.

“If any item or structure appears unsafe, immediately restrict access to the affected area and arrange for inspection and necessary repairs by qualified professionals,” Malicdem instructed.

“Do not attempt repairs without the proper expertise and safety equipment,” he added.

The archdiocese also ordered officials to document their findings and submit reports to the RCAM Engineering Department for assessment and appropriate action.

The circular did not specify what prompted the inspections.

The directive follows an incident in Ecuador on 17 October in which Catholic priest Patricio Sánchez died after a large crucifix fell on him during a livestreamed Mass.

However, the archdiocese did not indicate whether the incident influenced its decision to order the inspections.

Vote passes on $327 million settlement plan to Diocese sexual abuse survivors

A vote from nearly 900 child sexual abuse survivors who filed claims against the Buffalo Diocese worth nearly $327 million has passed.

The vote marks the end of the yearslong legal battle that is part of the diocese’s ongoing bankrupty proceedings.

The diocese first filed for bankruptcy in February 2020. 

The process has been one of the longest settlement processes involving priest sexual abuse cases in the country. 

Throughout the process, the diocese has merged and closed dozens of churches throughout Western New York in order to

An allocator hired by the survivors committee will look through all proofs of claim and will allocate the amounts based on the severity of each individual claim.

The vote is set to be reported to a judge on Nov. 18 and lawyers from the diocese and creditors committee are working with insurance companies to finish paperwork, which they hope to have complete by the Nov. 18 court date.

The diocese is set to go back to court on Dec. 8 to introduce evidence of the bankruptcy plan. 

If all goes according to plan, the plan will become effective in January.

Pope: Safeguard Church's treasure of communion, a source of peace for all

Pope Leo XIV sent a video message on Thursday to an international conference entitled “The Face of the Universal Church in China: 100 Years Since the Consecration of the First Chinese Bishops.”

Taking place in Rome, the conference was organized by the Dicastery for Evangelization – Section for First Evangelization, in collaboration with the Pontifical Urbaniana University.

In his message, the Pope recalled the first six Chinese Catholic Bishops consecrated in modern times, and their journey from Shanghai to Rome to receive episcopal ordination in St. Peter’s Basilica at the hands of Pope Pius XI on October 28, 1926.

“Their consecration was an event of great significance, not only for the journey of the Catholic Church in China but also for the universal Church,” he said.

Pope Leo pointed to Pope Benedict XV’s 1919 apostolic letter Maximum illud, which affirmed that the Church’s missionary work must not be confused with colonization or cultural imposition.

The Gospel, he said, grows wherever it is sown through the grace of God, not through human strategies.

“The Church, which is born of mission and the first proclamation of the Gospel,” he added, “is happy to take on the characteristics and nuances of the people and nations among whom she is called to bear witness to Christ in charity.”

At the first General Council of the Church in China—the Council of Shanghai in 1924—the Church expressed the urgent desire to entrust leadership of local communities to native-born Chinese priests and Bishops.

“It was necessary to initiate and foster that process in order to remain faithful to the very nature of the Church, whose unity is not uniformity but communion in diversity,” said Pope Leo.

The Catholic faith embraces the differences and—wherever possible—the characteristics of individuals and peoples in every culture, he noted, recalling that this aspect mirrors God’s way of calling each person with their unique qualities.

“The Church lives among the peoples with friendship and sympathy for their hopes and noble aspirations,” he said.

Recalling the missionary Bishop St. Toribio de Mogrovejo, Pope Leo said each Bishop receives and carries out the mission in communion with the Successor of Peter and other Bishops spread throughout the world.

He said the six Chinese Bishops consecrated in 1926 crossed the globe “to bear witness to the communion that blossoms from the faith of the Apostles,” in communion with the Bishop of Rome.

“It is a beautiful, gratuitous, and comforting sign; a liberating bond; a closeness that instills confidence; and above all, a manifestation of the mystery of the Mystical Body of Christ,” said Pope Leo.

He noted with Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis that the Catholic Church in China has never been deprived of the “ministry of legitimate shepherds who have preserved the apostolic succession intact.”

Pope Leo XIV concluded his video message by recalling the “joy and pride” which the consecration of the six Bishops kindled in Chinese Catholics, saying the event consigned “mistrust, suspicion, and hostility to oblivion.”

“Today, in a world torn apart by conflicts and overwhelmed by wars,” said the Pope, “the Bride of Christ continues that same mission, praying that, in the face of every threat, the Lord may preserve the treasure of ecclesial communion, a fruitful source of goodness and peace for all.”

Catholic Priest Attorneys Object to Use of Term “Grooming” in Upcoming Trial

Attorneys for a Roman Catholic congregation of priests and brothers want a judge to exclude the word “grooming” from being employed in the case of an upcoming trial alleging sexual abuse by a priest, saying the term was not in use at the time of the 1970s events.

The plaintiff is identified only as John SB Roe LA in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit brought against the Oblate Fathers Western Province Inc., a corporate entity associated with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. 

Roe alleges he was sexually molested by the Rev. Ruben Martinez, a former assistant pastor at Holy Family Catholic Church in Wilmington.

According to the lawsuit filed in January 2022, the alleged abuses occurred in 1973-75 when Roe was 9 to 13 years old. His attorneys’ court papers state that the plaintiff was groomed by Martinez and that the priest convinced the plaintiff into going into the rectory along with other altar boys under the pretext of being shown new wrestling moves.

Roe contends that once inside the rectory he and the other altar boys were forced to strip down and either lie on the floor blindfolded or wrestle each other in their underwear while Martinez took photos of them. 

Roe did not tell anyone about the alleged abuse until 1996, three years after Martinez had already been removed from any contact with children, the defense lawyers write in their court papers.

Defense attorneys further state that the term “grooming” should not be utilized by the plaintiff’s lawyers to describe Martinez’s alleged initial tactics with the plaintiff because allowing them to do so would be a “retroactive application of some additional duty” owed by the Oblates that is improper as a matter of law and evidence.

The use of the term “grooming” was not adopted by society or even the FBI until 1979 or later, long after the relevant time frame of Roe’s alleged molestations, making the type of testimony irrelevant and prejudicial, according to the Oblates’ attorneys’ court papers.

“Even if this court were to find some arguable relevance — which (the Oblates maintain) that it should not — the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues and misleading the jury is overwhelming,” the Oblates’ lawyers further write in their court papers.

The limited probative value of such evidence, if any, derives only from showing the “evolution of societal expectation,” not from establishing whether the Oblates’ conduct at the time of the alleged actions was reasonable under the then-existing norms, the Oblates’ attorneys state in their pleadings.

Trial is scheduled Monday. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is not a defendant in the lawsuit.

US watchdog calls for truth commission to investigate Church abuses cases in Peru

A US-based clergy abuse watchdog on Thursday called for the creation of a truth commission in Peru to investigate sexual abuse in ​the Catholic Church, on the eve of a visit by Pope Leo ‌to South America where the Vatican says he will meet abuse survivors.

Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, which tracks Catholic clergy abuse allegations worldwide, accused Peru's Church hierarchy of secrecy and ​of failing to adequately confront allegations of abuse.

"The stubborn secrecy of Peruvian ​Church leaders puts children at risk, deprives victims of validation, and prevents ⁠civil authorities from identifying and prosecuting the complicit," Barrett Doyle said at a ​press conference in Lima.

Representatives of the Archdiocese of Lima and the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, ​which represents the country's Catholic bishops, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Peru's Church has faced a series of abuse scandals in recent years, most prominently involving Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, an ultraconservative ​Peru-founded Catholic group that expanded internationally. 

Pope Francis ordered the organization dissolved in ​2025 after a Vatican investigation into allegations including sexual and psychological abuse.

Leo, the first US-born pope, ‌will ⁠spend the final leg of his November 6-17 South American tour in Peru, the country where he arrived as a missionary in the 1980s, later became a citizen and served as bishop of Chiclayo. 

The Vatican has said he will meet with ​survivors of physical and ​sexual abuse during ⁠his visit to the region.

"Pope Leo has spoken compassionately about the need to accompany victims and to listen to them, but ​he has said almost nothing about holding bishops in his ​Church accountable. ⁠We hope we hear that message from him during this visit," Barrett Doyle said.

BishopAccountability.org on Thursday published a database identifying dozens of Peruvian clergy and religious figures it says ⁠have ​been accused of sexually abusing children or vulnerable ​people.

The group also called on Leo to condemn what it described as judicial persecution of journalists who have ​investigated abuse cases.

High Court judge 'not ruling out' contacting Pope over Canon Law in Christian Brothers abuse case

Further names have been added to a list of Christian Brothers previously published in a national newspaper in the hope that they come forward over their time in the Order in the 1970s regarding an abuse case, with a High Court judge "not ruling out" writing to the Pope over Canon Law interpretation into Irish law.

In July, the High Court granted permission for the publication in a national newspaper of the names of more than 300 former Christian Brothers who are now co-defendants accused of a breach of duty in a sexual civil abuse claim.

The court heard that none of those to be named are accused of abuse, but their names were to be published in the hope that they will come forward.

The civil case was before Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty on Wednesday brought by a plaintiff who was abused by Christian Brother Liam Coughlan (aged 90) while the victim attended school in Co Kilkenny in the 1970s.

In 2023, Coughlan of Pine Grove, Tramore, Co Waterford, received two jail terms, of three years and two months and four-and-a-half years, for 49 counts of indecent assault.

The High Court has previously criticised the head of the Christian Brothers, David Gibson, for an “obstructive” approach towards civil lawsuits alleging abuse.

Legal 'nominee'

As an unincorporated association, the Christian Brothers cannot be directly sued if it does not provide a legal 'nominee'. 

Christian Brother Gibson has refused to act as a nominee for the congregation, leaving litigants needing to bring legal action against all individual members or former members of the Order.

At the High Court on Wednesday, Andrew Nugent BL successfully argued to join a combined total of 435 parties to proceedings as they are, or were, members of the Congregation of the Christian Brothers between July 1, 1971, to June 30, 1977.

The case has been taken by the male survivor of abuse, who cannot be named, against Coughlan as the first named defendant and against Brother Gibson, who is the second named defendant.

In July, Ms Justice Gearty granted permission for the plaintiff's lawyers to publish in the Irish Independent the names of 341 Christian Brothers, who are now co-defendants in the case, but who are not accused of any assaults.

Ms Justice Gearty was again told by Mr Nugent, for the plaintiff, because Mr Gibson would not accede to him being a 'legal nominee' to represent the Christian Brothers that the case was obliged to be taken against "everybody during the time of the complaint who was a member of the Christian Brothers".

"The reason this comes before the court is that Mr Gibson declined to act as a nominee himself, so what we are now obliged to do is to sue everybody involved, who was a member of the Christian Brothers during that time period," said Mr Nugent.

Mr Nugent said, therefore, his side were obliged to then get names of members and former members of the Christian Brothers during the time period in question, which was provided, but without a complete list of addresses or contact numbers.

As it was "unlikely" that Mr Gibson could assist in locating the former members, he said, "what we did was to ask for an order to serve former members in the Irish Independent".

Court application

"I am looking to join all now 435 defendants together," he said, in a sub-service court application, again through national newspaper communication.

Ms Justice Gearty said, in granting Mr Nugent's application to join all 435 members and former members, that she would agree to the serving of an additional warning letter to all members named by Mr Gibson to be sent to the Christian Brothers' European headquarters in Marino, Dublin.

She said it was "very difficult" to put a person in the shoes of any plaintiff having to take "extraordinary steps" to pursue the case and "somewhat less" was the disturbing of innocent old men, former members of the Christian Brothers, "who may have a complete defence in these proceedings"

Ms Justice Gearty said "all of which could have been avoided if Mr Gibson, current leader of this extraordinary organisation, the Christian Brothers, would simply allow himself to be nominated in respect of this matter".

"I don't know enough about Canon Law to know whether Mr Gibson would have any duty to obey what he was asked to do by the Pope, I don't.

"I am not suggesting, at this stage, to serve the Pope but I am not ruling it out. Mr Gibson is in a better position to know better than anyone in this court," she said.

Ms Justice Gearty then ordered the matter to be adjourned for four weeks.

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread (Opinion)

Fr Patrick Corish was a native of County Wexford and a historian in Maynooth College. For years he taught church history in the seminary before moving, after a short term as college president, to Maynooth University. 

Better known as Paddy Corish, we students privately regarded his use of ‘Patrick’ on his impressive history books as almost an affectation. 

It wasn’t really but it was a handy rejoinder in our skirmishes with him which he clearly enjoyed.

A conservative Catholic whose enthusiasm for the promise of the Second Vatican Council he kept well under control – if it existed at all – every week he lectured a few hundred students in Loftus Hall and enjoyed teasing liberal students who, at the time, comprised most of his audience. 

Corish never sat down to lecture and preferred to wander, almost prowl around the lecturer’s podium throwing a piece of chalk a modest distance in the air and catching it again. I never remember him using it to write anything on the blackboard.

As well as generally setting out to disparage the (mainly) liberal tendencies of his long-suffering charges, a particular target of his was the then growing tendency of bishops to accept young men as students who didn’t in his opinion measure up to his exacting academic expectations for future priests. 

He ritually disparaged the Irish bishops – it was all a pose, of course – for ordaining ‘holy fools’ on the basis that ‘once they lost their holiness, what have you got left?’ He would then quote St Teresa of Avila’s famous response to a question as to whether if she was had a choice of spiritual director between a very holy priest and an intelligent priest, she would unhesitatingly opt for the intelligent guy.

So where is this going? Apart from the reminiscing of an old man, not very far you might say. But I thought of Paddy Corish when I read the news that 12 American bishops, including three archbishops, had responded to an invitation from President Donald Trump to pray with him in the Oval Office little more than a week before the American mid-term elections. 

The spirit of Corish and his ‘holy fools’ concept suddenly rang a bell. Could pious fools in losing their piety, inevitably be unmasked as mere fools? Could the experience of the ‘Twelve Apostles of the Oval Office’ prove Corish’s working thesis?

The poet Alexander Pope, in An Essay on Criticism (1711) wrote 'Fools rush in where angels fear to tread' – giving even more substance to Corish’s commentary. And even though nine of the Oval Office 12 are usually addressed respectfully (as is the case with Catholic bishops in America) as ‘Your Excellency’ and the three archbishops as ‘Your Grace, the nine suspects stand accused and convicted of an untold, incredible, outrageous level of foolishness that simply beggars belief.

What, in God’s name, were they thinking? More to the point, what were they thinking Pope Leo would be thinking? After confronting Trump’s anti-migrant phobia, Leo had courageously pointed out the scriptural imperative to Christians everywhere ‘to welcome the stranger’ and, by visiting the migrant port of Lampedusa instead of joining Trump to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, Leo had underlined a moral truth that it seems never crossed Trump’s mind and that clearly he was seemed incapable of understanding. 

When Trump decided, as now almost everyone accepts to be the case, to declare war on Iran as a way of deflecting public attention away from his apparently stellar role in the Epstein files, Leo quoted scripture and verse from Isaiah (1:15): Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.

When Leo confronted Trump, in the knowledge that the eyes of the world were trained on him as he outlined Catholic teaching on what was and what wasn’t a just war and when Leo made it clear that he wasn't afraid to confront Trump and to continue to explain and repeat Catholic teaching, he was indicating that he would use his position to frame publicly an unapologetically moral profile, an understanding of which this American president seems totally bereft.

In response Trump, who seemed to believe that because Leo was born in America he should do and be at Trump’s bidding, did his usual rant of bullying and abusing those who didn't bow to his every wish and command. 

Trump attacked Leo as ‘WEAK on Crime and terrible on foreign policy’, accused him of being influenced by the radical left, suggested that he (Leo) owed his position to his American birth and to Trump's importance in the world and that Leo was comfortable with Iran possessing nuclear weapons. 

Leo rejected the criticism, indicating that proclaiming the Gospel involves critiquing the moral consequences of political decisions. What Trump can't fathom is that Leo as pope cannot and clearly will not allow his moral authority to be ‘trumped’ by the outrageous presumption of being subordinated to Trump's political authority as president.

Trump simply doesn't ‘get’ it. But you'd expect that the 12 Catholic bishops should ‘get’ it! Or that they'd ‘get’ Trump. Where have they being living for the last 10 years? Don't they know or has no one told them that the shameless cavalier approach of Trump to electoral rectitude is summed up in the phrase: In America it’s not who votes that counts, it’s who counts the votes. 

Don't they know or has no one ever explained to them that, though habitually dishonest and with a well-known reputation as a serial liar, almost nobody believes a word that Trump says. Haven’t they heard that Trump is a walking nightmare when it comes to mendacity. 

Didn’t they suspect that when Trump extended an invitation to them to join him at the White House and to pray with him in the Oval Office, less than two weeks ahead of the mid-terms, did it not strike them that with the upcoming key election – and with Trump's ratings being worse than that of any American president in history – something other than prayer might be the reason for his invitation.

When they were ushered into the Oval Office, where Trump presented them with ‘commemorative tokens’ and they were directed to stand behind him and pray while several photos were taken and a video was recorded and the bishops were ushered out, at what point in the proceedings did it dawn on the bishops that the whole scenario was a set-up? 

Was it when pictures circulated on social media in effect celebrating the support of 12 Catholic bishops for Trump and the Republican party in the coming elections and seeing themselves pretending to be praying that some at least had a light bulb moment and eventually realised the unexpected import of their outing?

It is simply beyond belief. So logically I have to rest my case with as much grace as I can muster and salute the unassailable verdict of Paddy Corish: the Catholic Church (or any other church) ordaining ‘pious fools’ is not a good idea.

American papers, as we used to say, please copy.

Pope Leo: In Christ, life has been redeemed

“Remember me at the altar of the Lord, wherever you may be.” These words, spoken by Saint Monica in her final farewell to her sons Augustine and Navigius, provide the central theme of the homily delivered by Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, November 5.

Presiding at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican for the repose of the souls of Cardinals and Bishops who have died over the past year—seven Cardinals and 136 bishops, who passed away between October 2025 and the end of last month—the Pope reflected on the spiritual value of remembrance, emphasizing that praying for the dead is one of the Church’s “fundamental duties.”

Hope in the Resurrection

From this starting point, the Pope invites the faithful to reflect on “two truths” underlying prayers for the deceased. The first is “hope in the resurrection”:

" For our remembrance of our departed brothers and sisters at the altar of the Lord is founded on the promise that our life, in Christ, is not lost, because it has been redeemed. (…) For, as Scripture emphasizes, if there were no resurrection, it would be futile to pray for the dead," he said.

Celebration of life

“To pray for the repose of the dead is to celebrate life,” the Pope emphasized, with steadfast trust and by virtue of the great hope bestowed upon the world by the Risen Christ.

"Let us not, therefore, allow the remembrance of the dead to become mere nostalgia. In faith, let us contemplate the mystery of death without fear, because the Lord is alive, awaits us and has already prepared a place for us in His Father’s house."

Communion of Saints

Pope Leo XIV then highlighted “the communion of saints.” When we pray for the deceased, he explained, we pray both for them"but also with them, drawn into a reciprocity” made alive by the Holy Spirit, with the certainty that the communion we experienced with one another on earth, despite its limitations and failings, does not come to an end when entrusted into God's hands.

"In Christ, death does not dissolve our bonds," he said. "Rather, it transfigures them into a new dimension, which can be understood only in the mystery of his love, given to the very end on the cross and poured out after his paschal victory."

The Pope concluded by encouraging the faithful to preserve and nurture this communion always, as they journey toward the radiant face of God.

Loving embrace of the merciful Father

Several Bishops and Cardinals attended the celebration, including Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle and Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, respectively Dean and Vice-Dean of the College of Cardinals, who were at the altar during the Eucharistic Prayer.

During the Liturgy of the Word, the first reading, in French, was taken from the Second Book of Maccabees (12:43–46). The Psalm, sung in Italian, was Psalm 142: “Lord, hear my prayer.” The second reading, in English, was a passage from the First Letter of Saint John (3:14–16). The Gospel reading, proclaimed in Italian by the deacon, was also from John: “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (12:23–28).

The Prayer of the Faithful was offered in Italian. Among the intentions, special prayers were raised for those entrusted with civil and social responsibilities, that they might pursue “projects of justice and peace for the good of the entire human family,” and for all the deceased, that they may be welcomed into the “paternal embrace” of the merciful Father.

Hungary’s bishops respond to release of Communist-era secret files

The Hungarian bishops’ conference asked for forgiveness Wednesday on behalf of Church members who collaborated with the Communist state, following the release of secret police files.

But the bishops’ conference also called Nov. 4 for recognition of the Church’s resistance to the regime that held power from 1949 to 1989, as well as for careful appraisal of the newly published documents.

It said: “The names of individuals associated with the Church who appear in the documents that have now been made public conceal a wide variety of stories. Some of them genuinely collaborated with the communist regime, passing on confidential information about members of the community and others. On their behalf, we ask the victims and their families for forgiveness.”

The bishops’ conference said that others had been tortured or blackmailed.

“Some produced reports that contained little or no meaningful information. And among the names on the list are also people whom the authorities merely attempted to recruit, but who refused; nevertheless, a 6-os karton [a type of index card] was created for them too,” it said.

“Moreover, some of the documents were destroyed, meaning that the surviving archival material does not give us a complete picture.”

Killala priest questions whether some conservative synod delegates are even Catholic

A prominent west of Ireland priest has sparked fury by suggesting that some conservative groups at the recent National Synodal Assembly may not have had a legitimate right to be there as Catholics.

In an extraordinary broadside, Fr Brendan Hoban, a co-founder of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), wrote that the Meath gathering “saw the emergence of a flush of groups and entities – mainly conservative Catholics attempting to control or manage the synodal way – some of whose legitimate attendance as Catholics may be open to question”.

The remarks, published in the Western People, will infuriate the faithful lay Catholics who travelled to the CityNorth Hotel in Gormanston to take part in what organisers billed as an open and listening process for all.

Sinéad Strong of Catholic Mothers, who attended the Assembly, hit back, accusing Fr Hoban of preaching listening while ridiculing those who disagree with him.

“Fr Hoban insists that ‘respect for divergent views was honoured’, yet much of his article is devoted to ridiculing those very divergent views,” she claimed.

“If synodality truly means listening, then surely Catholics who are cautious about change deserve to be heard respectfully rather than caricatured.”

She pointed to his description of those resistant to change as “clinging to the wreckage”, and to his questioning of conservatives’ presence at the gathering.

“One is left wondering whether he genuinely wants synodality, with all the disagreement and discernment that entails, or simply a process that arrives at the conclusions he already favours,” she said.

“Authentic synodality cannot mean that everyone is welcome at the table only until they disagree with the prevailing narrative.”

But Fr Hoban’s upbeat verdict is also flatly contradicted by his own ACP co-founder.

Fr Tony Flannery, who represented the ACP at the previous assemblies in Athlone and Kilkenny, pulled out of the Meath gathering.

Writing on his blog on October 4, Fr Flannery said his decision was partly down to age, but more because “I am generally fairly pessimistic about the process”.

Far from enjoying the bishops’ “full support”, he wrote, synodality was being quietly sidelined by them. “My belief is that many of the middle-ranked bishops don’t really believe in a synodal church, so they are saying and doing as little as they can.”

He also warned there “seems to be very little happening on the ground in parishes and dioceses”, adding: “Many people have told me that they haven’t heard one word about synodality in their church at any stage of the process.”

Vatican looks to Irish monks amid crisis in passing on faith

The Vatican has held up Ireland’s missionary monks as a model for responding to cultural upheaval while calling for an investigation into the “sudden decline in Catholicism” in countries where faith was once deeply rooted.

In Venite ad me, published on October 22, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith says Irish monasticism helped to safeguard Christian learning following the collapse of Roman institutions in Western Europe, developing “new forms of evangelisation” and helping spread private confession.

Historian Dr Catherine Swift of Mary Immaculate College said monks such as Columba and Columbanus sought places away from cities where they could focus on prayer, but often established their communities near crossroads and routes, allowing them to remain engaged with the wider world.

“They were choosing to live secluded from temporal temptations in order to focus more closely on their relationships with God but they were also still engaged with the world around them,” she told The Irish Catholic.

“The Irish were travelling missionaries, going out to new places,” she said. “Leaving behind their own locality was seen as a prestigious form of martyrdom.”

She also highlighted the tradition of establishing communities of 12 in imitation of the Apostles, and explained that “the Irish developed the practice of older men guiding younger monks in private – a pattern which later became associated with the figure of anam chara or soul friend”.

Speaking about Irish Catholicism more broadly, Dr Jessie Rogers of St Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth, said secularism had exposed an “over-reliance on inherited Catholic identity and sacramental preparation without much attention to ongoing faith formation through all of life’s stages”.

“Faith is not simply something that can be passed on through instruction or preparation for particular religious milestones,” she said. “It grows through shared experiences and participation in communities where the Gospel is lived out in ways that people find meaningful and credible.”

As Church historian Prof. Massimo Faggioli, formerly of Trinity College Dublin, put it: “There’s no preservation without transmission.”

Fr Martin Delaney, co-author of the First Communion programme Do This in Memory, recalled his father “on his knees, quietly saying his prayers every morning and every night, then coming around to our beds to bless us with holy water”.

“We ask parents to nurture their children’s faith and teachers to prepare them for First Communion and Confirmation, often without asking whether those adults have a living faith themselves, or what support they need,” he said.

Any investigation into Ireland’s religious decline, he added, must confront “the abuse scandals and failures of leadership that shattered trust in a country like ours”.

“Faith, it says, passes from candle to candle. We must reckon with what happens when people can no longer trust the hand offering the light.”

‘Satanic ritual abuse’: Full testimony of Cardinal Bernardin’s alleged victim (Contribution)

Last week I (Fr. David Nix) had a four-hour dinner with Bernardin’s victim and her husband. She is now 80 years old. 

The Satanic ritual abuse happened to her about 70 years ago by Fr. Joseph Bernardin (later cardinal-archbishop of Chicago). 

The abuse happened at St. Mary’s Church in Greenville, South Carolina.

My mother is from Chicago (and my father is from West of Chicago) so I grew up hearing from extended family that one day Cardinal Bernardin would be canonized. Much in my life has changed since then. Another thing that has changed is Rome’s recent attempt to rehabilitate the reputation of Bernardin.

Keep in mind as you read below that I still support my article from earlier this year describing the gravity of breaking the Eighth Commandment on the public reputation of another. 

But the sins of public members must be exposed if there is evidence. Again, I am 100 percent certain that I had dinner last week with Bernardin’s own victim from 1957. She now breaks her years of silence because of the upcoming attempts to “canonize” Bernardin.

Reader discretion is highly advised going forward. But I promise you the rest of this article in italics contains only Bernardin’s victim’s words:

I am Agnes. Actually, I am not. That name was applied to me by a writer, Malachi Martin, who thought my story to be the perfect overarching explanation for the conditions in the Church that he described in his novel [LSN Ed—Windswept House]. And, yes, it is my story. He used many details I had given him, but changed the date. I believe he did so to make the story fit better with his aim to make it the framework for his narrative. It happened in 1957, not the early 60’s. It happened in Greenville, S.C., and I know nothing of any connection to a ritual in Rome. I saw and heard no telephones.

I had been referred to Martin by a priest, who told me that Martin was the Pope’s on-the-ground source in the United States and had good access. I wanted to get the information about a Cardinal to the Pope because only a pope has jurisdiction over a Cardinal. I was leery of going through official channels.

There were several people there that night in the Fall of 1957. The apparent leader was someone still unknown to me to this day, a man who spoke German. Other than the nature of the activities, his rhyming words were what made me realize the event was a Satanic ritual. In this month of the departed, I pray for his soul, as I do for all the people there that night.

The celebrant was Bishop Russell. He was vested. I had admired him as a child. When he tried to rape me, I recognized and reprimanded him. I had just been confirmed by him a few months prior (this happened in the Fall of 1957 and I was confirmed in February, as I recall). I said, “You are the bishop! You confirmed me. You shouldn’t do this! You should be good!” He was unmoved except for a quick flash of alarm in his blue eyes, an alarm I saw again 40 years later when I visited him in his nursing home.

Bishop Russell came frequently to our parish, and with his white hair and stately bearing he was the holy card image of a bishop. I thought he looked like God the Father. When he came, Father Bernardin always came and was always at his side as MC of the Pontifical High Masses that were often celebrated in the parish.

I have described the rest of what happened that night elsewhere. I resisted and the people there tried to convince me I was evil. I said God made me and God was good, so I was good. I remember a call from Martin, when he told me that the Holy Father wanted to know something personal about the event, how I felt spiritually. Naïve, I told him this story and he put it in his novel. I will never forget the violation I felt on reading his use of what to me was a most sacred moment (when, because of Confirmation grace, I was able to resist and speak something true) to make believable his sensationalized version of the event.

After that, the people were very angry. Their plan, whatever it was, could not succeed. They needed to repress my memory of the event. One way to do that would be to make me feel complicit. Father Bernardin took me in his lap and told me I had been a good girl, that this had been a test and I had done well. I started crying and relaxed, letting down my extreme resistance.

That is when he raped me and said he was putting the devil in me, making word associations between semen and demon. He said that if what he did to me felt good, that was the devil in me and meant I was evil. Then he did something sacrilegious with what he said was a consecrated Host and forced me to take it orally, which I did because I wanted to protect it if it were indeed consecrated.

After that the light grew dim. There were lots of people in motion. I was offered something to drink and do not remember anything else. As for the dog Martin mentions, there was no dog there. Malachi Martin specifically asked me if I had a pet. I told him that I had had a dog that I loved, but that it had disappeared, and I was told it was my fault.

A few years later, we got a new associate pastor, Father Condon, who was later adjudicated on many counts of aggravated sexual assault of minors (boys, at least one of whom committed suicide). He had been Bernardin’s roommate, I read much later, and he began to give graphic mixed group sex-ed talks to our class. Within a month or two, the boys in our class, boys I had known since 2nd grade, changed considerably, becoming focused on homosexual jokes and gestures.

Russell was transferred, Bernardin didn’t come back, and my family moved to the DC area. I did not think about Bernardin until 1983. When I lived in the Midwest, I knew that a Ber-NAR-Din had been made Archbishop of Chicago but did not make the connection because his name was mispronounced. But after I returned to the States four years later from abroad, I realized who he was, and I began the journey of trying to get him stopped and disciplined by the Church.

Where there is one such victim, there are many. I wrote a personal letter to Bernardin, asking him to make public repentance. I told him that God had given him that Holy Season (Lent and Holy Week) to come out. He gave the letter to his review board and they wanted me to cooperate with their completely illegal process. I told them no, they had no jurisdiction, so they made up some new rules involving other bishops. Bernardin died before another Holy Week.

I pursued many avenues of report and exposure, risking my safely and that of my family. I could not for years get a lawyer, which anyone needed to deal with the countersuits that always came from the Archdiocese of Chicago. I submitted an amicus brief with Steve Cook’s case. I did not want to sue because I did not want even the appearance of gain. Shortly after, Cook withdrew his suit. He told me he remembered perfectly well but had decided to believe Bernardin’s eyes over his own memories. I said, “Steve, he used those eyes on me when I was 11!” He responded, “I’d hate to think I was conned twice.” Think about what that means.

At the end, my husband and I visited the Congregation of Bishops. While at the Vatican, I went to Confession, a confession of nothing related to these events. The priest told me to go home, to forget about what I had come for, to go back and be a quiet housewife. I was shocked. My husband was in law enforcement and knew what those words implied.

When Bernardin had a press conference about Cook, he actually talked about my accusations, laughing about them. Steve Cook told me that Bernardin lied about him reconciling with the Church. Cook said he had reconciled with Bernardin but not with the Church. Cook also told me he was writing a book about his experiences. Where is it?

Malachi Martin promised to get my testimony directly to John Paul II (which I assumed he already had done when he conveyed the Pope’s question to me). He asked permission to mention my story in connection with “a little thing” he wanted to publish because he thought it would help people understand the situation in the Church. I thought he meant a commentary or letter to the NYT and that he would just mention a credible allegation. I had no idea of his plan.

Over the years, I have kept my identity secret for the sake of my family. One attorney finally agreed to represent me but told me that if I went public, the life of my entire family would be destroyed. By that time, everyone who needed to know had been informed, so there was no point in going public. I have no need for publicity. I thank those journalists who have honorably kept my confidence and I ask them to continue to do so.

I write this now because I hear there is a renewed movement to canonize Joseph Bernardin. Would to God we still had a Devil’s Advocate in the canonization process.

I have copies of all correspondence, and notes of most conversations.

Pope adviser: Urgent need for action at Vatican Bank

The Austrian theologian and papal adviser Peter G. Kirchschläger calls for changes in the Vatican Bank so that it meets its own financial ethical requirements. 

"If the Vatican bank, with its indices, does not translate into action what it 'serves' in words, then unfortunately it is 'ethics-washing'," Kirchschläger criticized in an interview with "kath.ch " the bank's investment products. "Especially an institution like the Vatican Bank has to look here more self-critically and convince with its ethically oriented action." 

In principle, "from an ethical point of view, there is an urgent need for action at the Vatican Bank," the professor said. Pope Leo XIV had appointed him in August as a consultant for the Dicastery for the Holistic Development of Man.

If the Vatican Bank communicates that its investment policy is in line with the Catholic Social Loan, it must "show transparency in this regard and show how it respects the social-ethical principles and how it regularly and independently checks their respect," Kirchschläger demanded. 

Otherwise, the bank would run the risk that its investments would violate human rights and children’s rights and destroy the environment and climate. 

"And beyond that, on a pragmatic level, both credibility and trust in the bank suffer."

What Pope Leo XIV is about

The encyclical "Magnifica humanitas" by Pope Leo XIV also gives reason for the Vatican Bank to adapt its indices, especially in the area of so-called 'artificial intelligence (AI)' - which are better to be described as 'data-based systems (DS)' because of the lack of intelligence," Kirchschläger said. 

The head of the church is not concerned with a moral criticism of technological progress itself, but about progress that serves only a few multinational technology companies and otherwise has a devastating effect on humanity and the planet.

Peter G. Kirchschläger was born in 1977 in Vienna since 2017 Ordinarius for Theological Ethics and head of the Institute of Social Ethics at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Lucerne in Switzerland. Since 2023, he has also been a visiting professor at the Chair of Neuronal Learning and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zurich and the ETH AI Center.

Diocese of Magdeburg needs a new bishop quickly

In about two weeks, the Magdeburg bishop Gerhard Feige will be 75 years old. In doing so, he reaches the age limit for bishops. 

Pope Leo XIV is expected to attend. Feiges will accept a long time ago submitted resignation request in a timely manner. Thus, the sedisvacancy of the Magdeburg bishop's chair is imminent. So far, so normal.

Yet the circumstances in which Fig goes into retirement are anything but normal. Finally, the first AfD-led state government of Germany is in the starting blocks in Magdeburg in these weeks; in December, parliamentary group leader Ulrich Siegmund wants to be elected Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt. 

Socially and politically, this is a deep turning point for the whole of Germany, after all, the AfD is a far-right party.

It is awkward that the Magdeburg bishop's chair will be orphaned in this delicate phase of all places. Because the circumstance is aggravating that the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt is particularly anti-church and plans numerous anti-ecclesiastical measures. 

It would be all the more important that the diocese of Magdeburg would also have a strong and courageous bishop at its head from December, who could clearly contradict the party and represent the interests of the church with authority.

Of course: The diocese is not leaderless even in the sedisvacancy. In the meantime, a diocesan administrator will lead the fate of the diocese (but only with limited powers), and there are also strong church voices on the ground who can take a position against the AfD and for the church. 

Or as Bishop Feige says today in the Catholic.de interview: "I am one of those who have borne responsibility so far. Others will carry on that responsibility well.”

And yet one has to be so honest: the diocese is weakened by the resignation of Feige, one of the most prominent voices of the East German Church, and could thus become an easier "loot" for the AfD. Those involved in the process of seeking and electing a new bishop should therefore do everything possible to keep the time of the sedisvacancy as short as possible. 

In view of the political situation, Magdeburg simply cannot afford to wait longer than necessary for a new bishop.