Cardinal Koch: Peace among Churches is a responsibility for Europe

At a conference in Rome on “Religions and Diplomacy,” Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, speaks to Vatican News about the responsibility of Churches in Europe to take responsibility for rediscovering unity and peace, so that they can help build it in society.

“First, we must rediscover peace within the Church and among all the Churches. Ecumenism can help us live in balance amid diversity.”

With these words, Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, explained how Christians’ first contribution to peace must be to seek greater unity and peace among the Churches themselves.

He said this in Rome at the conference “Religions and Diplomacy,” taking place from September 28 to 30 at Palazzo San Calisto, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the International Association Political Charity.

What can religions offer in the search for peace? What role can diplomacy play in resolving conflicts? These questions are at the heart of the initiative.

The presentation also pointed to a growing demand for moral reference points in public life, while scientific and technological developments are raising new questions for societies and governments.

The opening session also brought together diplomatic representatives accredited to the Holy See and Maria Angela Falà, former president of the Italian Buddhist Union.

A Europe that is more than its economy

The Cardinal began with a familiar image of the continent: the European Union, its institutions, the common market and the euro.

It is a decisive achievement, born in part from the determination to prevent a repetition of the wars that devastated Europe. Yet its identity does not end with its economic and political structures.

For Cardinal Koch, Europe is also a historical, spiritual and cultural reality, and this raises the question guiding his presentation—can Europe have a future if it loses awareness of its origins? He also pointed to the relationship between the words “culture” and “worship” (culto), drawing attention to the religious dimension that has helped shape cultures, even though culture and worship are often regarded today as separate.

To understand Europe’s roots, he proposed the image of three hills: Golgotha in Jerusalem, the Acropolis in Athens and the Capitoline Hill in Rome. In them, he sees the encounter between the biblical heritage, Greek thought and the Roman legal tradition, echoing Pope Benedict XVI, who in his 2011 address to the Bundestag identified this encounter as one of the origins of European culture.

In the Greek heritage, the Prefect recognized the search for the good and the true—a democracy, he observed, needs a law and a criterion of justice that do not depend solely on the will of the majority.

In encountering Greek philosophy, the Christian faith embraced the rational search for truth as part of its own history. Turning to ancient Rome, the Cardinal emphasized its legal tradition and its ability to bring Christianity and political power into dialogue, developments that also contributed to the distinction between Church and State—essential to freedom of conscience.

In his view, these roots concern more than the past. Europe is called to pass on three principles: reference to God, the dignity of the human person and social responsibility.

Human beings, he argued, cannot be understood as isolated individuals, because they realize their freedom through relationships with others. Cardinal Koch spoke of a profound weakening of respect for human life, which he connected to the loss of awareness of God’s presence in public life.

Remembering Europe’s Christian roots, he clarified, does not mean asking for a privileged position for the Church, but recognizing a component of Europe’s cultural history and asking about its vitality today.

Peace also begins with the Churches

Asked what contribution the Churches can make when politics and diplomacy struggle to find a way forward, Cardinal Koch first turned his attention to the Christian world itself.

The starting point, he recalled, must be the misunderstandings, differences and polarization present today, adding the need to “rediscover peace among all the Churches.”

Only on the basis of relationships lived in this way, he argued, can Christians help society seek unity and peace. The ecumenical journey can offer an experience of living together in which diversity does not prevent the search for unity.

It is in this sense that Cardinal Koch invoked the Augustinian motto of Pope Leo XIV—In illo uno unum—a reference for the Catholic Church, for ecumenism and, in his perspective, also for civil coexistence.

Frustrations rise over school drop off as church outlaws public parking

Frustrations over school drop-offs and car parking in the Newtown area of Waterford City have been mounting in recent weeks, with the public closure of the parish car park at St. Joseph and St. Benildus’ Church in Newtown, Waterford City, at the start of the new school year.

A large notice was erected in the church’s car park explaining the new parking restrictions in recent weeks, to the frustration of many parents.

The car park has long served as an informal pick-up and drop-off for families and schoolchildren in the area but will not serve as such anymore.

The notice placed outside the church states that only those attending the church, or partaking in activities attached to or associated with the church, may use the car park going forward, as the church cannot facilitate a ‘public’ car park any longer.

A public meeting was held last week on Monday, September 21, at the Woodlands Hotel where members of the parish, parents' associations, school boards and Waterford Council representatives proposed potential solutions for the issue.

Parish Priest Fr Liam Power spoke to the Waterford News & Star after the meeting, detailing why the church had to take a stance against the use of the parish car park in St Joseph and St Benildus to drop off and collect pupils of nearby schools, and of the alternatives for school drop-offs and collections.

“I regret having taken the action that we did, in closing the use of the car park for parents to drop off and collect children,” Fr Power said, continuing to say he felt he had no choice but to close the car park from public use after a risk assessment deemed the situation unsafe.

Feeling that the car park couldn’t hold the volume of traffic it was seeing during school drop-off and collection times, and that an injury was bound to happen, Fr Power ordered a risk assessment for the car park.

The assessment, which was carried out by professional Health and Safety Consultants Eurosafe, assessed the practice of parents using the church car park in St Joseph and St Benildus to drop off children in the morning and, in the afternoon, to pick up children attending the local schools of De La Salle College, Waterpark Primary and Secondary Schools, and Newtown National School.

The Eurosafe report concluded that the parish car park was not designed to cope with the volume of traffic using it at the peak hours of school opening and closing, as there are over 2,000 pupils attending schools in the vicinity, Fr Power explained.

“The risk assessment is very clear in that there’s a high risk of injury to a child if we continue (operating as a public car park),” Fr Power said, adding that the legal advice given to him was to close the car park to parents.

At the recent public meeting, Fr Power outlined many proposals he believes may solve the congestion issues facing parents in the area, from the implementation of a river bus to the reintroduction of a vacant car parking facility.

Where do we go from here?

"The long-term solution, I think they all agree, is the introduction of the bus connects network,” Fr Power told this newspaper, saying, “My big thing was to plead for that as soon as possible.” 

He added that Waterford Council representatives confirmed the programme would be rolled out within the next year, “So that was very, very good news.” 

In the short term, however, a number of proposals were floated by Fr Power and members of the community, including the reintroduction of a vacant, derelict site on the Newtown Road, which has sought planning permission for a car park in recent days.

Other solutions include a designated walking/cycling trail for pupils travelling to and from school, a designated drop off and collection point for parents to leave children to walk the rest of the way in line with the stride to school programme, potential carpooling and bus hiring organised by parents travelling in the same direction and the introduction of a river bus from Ballygunner to a constructed pontoon near Waterpark College, designed similarly to the river taxis along London’s River Thames.

Staggering school start and finish times may also help to avoid congestion, Fr Power added.

Following the public meeting held last week, a committee will be set up to consider both short and long-term solutions for parents in the area.

Another major step forward, Fr Power told this newspaper, comes in the form of political pushback, as Deputy David Cullinane pledged to raise the issue at Dáil Éireann, while Deputies John Cummins and Mary Butler pledged to raise it with the Minister for Transport.

“I was very pleased council officials came,” Fr Power said, reiterating the point made by the council that the culture in the area needs to shift away from cars and move towards public transport options.

Three Italian priests killed by Nazis beatified in Bologna

On Sunday, three Italians priests murdered by the Nazis during World War II were beatified, as they edge towards canonization and official recognition as saints.

Fathers Ubaldo Marchioni, Elia Comini and Martino Capelli were beatified at the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna, with the Mass presided over by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

The three men were killed during the Monte Sole massacre, perpetrated by the Nazis which left 770 dead between Sept. 29 and Oct. 5, 1944, as the Germans tried to kill local partisans.

The beatified, who now have the title of “blessed,” had the chance to save themselves, but decided to stay behind to serve the faithful.

“The secret of the martyrs is not heroism, but love that is given completely,” Semeraro said. “The death of the martyrs may seem like a plant without fruit or flower; however, that very emptiness became the place where God made charity flourish.”

“Just as Christ held nothing back for himself, so too did Father Ubaldo, Father Elia, and Father Martino hold nothing back, not even their own lives,” he added.

Even though the three men had the opportunity to save themselves, they stayed and “freely renounced their own safety to fully share in the fate of the brothers entrusted to them. Brothers and sisters, here the beauty of their holiness is revealed.”

“It was precisely this disposition that prepared them to accept martyrdom when hatred against the faith assailed them. Distinct but intimately united, oblatio vitae (the offering of life) and martyrdom illuminate each other in the evangelical logic of the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep,” Semeraro explained.

The blood of Jesus, according to Semeraro, is “the fragrance of a Church that does not flee, that does not abandon, that stands in solidarity with those who suffer.”

A big turnout

There were over 150 concelebrants at the Mass, including Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna.

“Our new blesseds did not remain neutral; they stayed with their brothers and sisters. ‘We must touch the flesh of those who suffer, look into their faces, listen to their stories, and acknowledge their wounds,’ Pope Leo XIV tells us,” Zuppi said.

“Our three blesseds taught us how to do this: They stayed and fulfilled the Father’s will,” he added.

Marchioni was born in 1918 and after ordination became parish priest of San Martino di Caprara in May 1944. He was murdered on Sept. 29 while trying to help faithful who had taken refuge from a Nazi raid in the church of Casaglia.

Comini was born in 1910, and Capelli in 1912, and the two were shot together Oct. 1, 1944, as they tried to help people in Creda.

Decades later, Marcioni’s father, Augusto Marchioni, forgave the man responsible for his son’s death, a SS major named Walter Reder.

"First European Parliament" was in a monastery, Aveline recalls

Europe did not begin with the community institutions or the treaties of the twentieth century. 

Centuries before the current European Union, monasteries had woven an extensive spiritual, cultural, and intellectual network that crossed borders and connected peoples from the Atlantic to the eastern reaches of the continent. 

Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline claimed this Monday in Metz that this monastic heritage was one of the historical realities that made Europe possible.

The president of the French Episcopal Conference addressed the issue during his speech before Leo XIV at the Robert Schuman Congress Center, on the final day of the Pope’s apostolic journey to France. 

Aveline maintained that “Europe, whose roots are strongly imbued with Christianity, predates the political constructions that currently attempt to give it a face.”

Cîteaux and a kind of “first European Parliament”

To explain this claim, Aveline drew on a recent experience at the abbey of Cîteaux, cradle of the Cistercian Order.

The cardinal recalled having visited the building of the Definitorium there, where the leaders of the monastic communities periodically gathered.

Aveline described it as “a kind of first European Parliament,” an image he used to illustrate the breadth of the relations that religious orders had established across the continent long before the current supranational institutions existed.

The leaders of the communities met every year, he explained, “patiently weaving the fabric of Europe, from the shores of the Atlantic to the far reaches of the great plains of the East.”

The comparison was not intended to equate those monastic structures with a parliament in the modern political sense, but to highlight that for centuries there existed stable networks capable of transcending the territorial, linguistic, and political divisions of Europe.

A Europe prior to its political institutions

Aveline’s argument placed the formation of the continent in a much longer history than the European integration that began after the Second World War.

“For centuries, in fact, Europe has been taking shape, thanks to the genius of the peoples that compose it, in the diversity of their languages and cultures, and through a constant debate between faith and reason,” he stated.

The monasteries played a decisive role in that history. Religious communities shared rules, spirituality, knowledge, and forms of organization while maintaining relations between territories separated by great distances.

Monastic life thus helped create bonds that did not depend on the existence of a common political authority. Monks, manuscripts, knowledge, and traditions circulated among communities belonging to different kingdoms and peoples, while the great orders extended their houses across much of the continent.

Aveline also incorporated into his reflection the contribution of the Jewish people. “And who could ignore, in the diversity of Europe’s spiritual components, the immense part played by the Jewish people, whose intellectual contribution was so great and whose martyrdom was so appalling?” he asked.

Leo XIV: “Without this monastic heritage, European civilization would not exist”

Leo XIV’s subsequent intervention reinforced the historical reading presented by the cardinal.

The Pope recalled the figure of Saint Benedict of Nursia, proclaimed patron of Europe by Paul VI, and emphasized that the monasteries were not merely centers dedicated to prayer, but places from which a decisive work for the cultural and social configuration of the continent was carried out.

Leo XIV pointed to the monastic contribution to education, universities, hospitals, medicine, the sciences, law, and the organization of cities.

“Without this monastic heritage, European civilization as we know it would not exist,” he stated.

The Pontiff’s conclusion was even more explicit: “One cannot speak of Europe without mentioning Christianity.”

The words spoken in Metz thus positioned Christianity not as an element added later to an already formed European identity, but as one of the historical factors that participated in its configuration.

From the monasteries to Schuman

Aveline linked that Christian Europe predating the modern states with the project of reconciliation that emerged after the two world wars.

The choice of Metz to close Leo XIV’s journey responded precisely to that purpose. The cardinal revealed that, when he proposed to the Pope a visit to Lorraine to speak “of war and peace, of Europe and reconciliation,” Leo XIV replied: “Metz, for Europe.”

In a region marked for generations by conflicts between France and Germany, Aveline recalled Robert Schuman, Alcide De Gasperi, and Konrad Adenauer, three Christian leaders who played a fundamental role in the process of European integration after the Second World War.

For the cardinal, the institutions created in the twentieth century did not arise on empty ground. They were built upon a much older European reality, formed over centuries through diverse languages and cultures, the dialogue between faith and reason, and Christian networks capable of crossing borders.

The image chosen in Metz summarized that historical continuity: long before Brussels, Strasbourg, or Luxembourg, the leaders of monasteries scattered across Europe were already meeting and, in Aveline’s words, “patiently weaving the fabric of Europe.”

Argüello denounces three "evictions": housing, Ceuta, and the maternal womb

The president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference and archbishop of Valladolid, Mons. Luis Argüello, has brought together in a single reflection three highly topical issues —housing, the situation in Ceuta, and abortion— to denounce three forms of “eviction” and to question the different ways in which legality and the “right to decide” are invoked depending on the debate at hand.

In a text published this Monday, September 28, by the Archdiocese of Valladolid, under the title Three types of “evictions” are in the news: housing, Ceuta, and the maternal womb, Argüello speaks explicitly of “invasions” provoked by geopolitical interests, defines what happened in Ceuta as an “exodus-invasion-occupation,” and denounces abortion as an “eviction from the maternal womb” with irreversible consequences.

The eviction of an elderly woman and the housing problem

Argüello begins with the case of Mari Carmen, the 87-year-old woman threatened with losing the rented home she lives in Madrid, whose situation has sparked a strong political and media reaction.

The archbishop considers it necessary to reach a social agreement that recognizes the seriousness of the housing problem: scarcity of supply, closed properties, empty houses in rural Spain, high prices and rents, and rooms rented in apartments where even the kitchen ends up being converted into an additional living space.

He warns, however, of the danger that the consensus generated by specific cases may be “emotional rather than moral” and end up subject to “ideological manipulation and political and social conflict over the causes and possible solutions.”

Argüello proposes placing housing within the “new social contract” that workers and employers referred to during their meeting with Leo XIV on the Pope’s recent visit to Spain.

Ceuta: “exodus-invasion-occupation”

The second “eviction” leads Argüello to Ceuta. The president of the CEE states that “the people of Ceuta are experiencing the eviction of their streets, squares, and their normal life,” while some of the migrants who have arrived in the city have been “evicted from their countries of origin” and others have been “displaced by geopolitical interests.”

The archbishop openly acknowledges the reaction among the city’s population and in much of Spain.

The people of Ceuta, he writes, “want a quick and total eviction of those who have entered the city as ‘squatters.’” But at the same time he recalls that there is “a humanitarian crisis —physical, psychological, and moral— that affects everyone, migrants and Ceutans alike.”

Argüello rejects reducing the situation to a merely migratory issue and warns that the Ceuta crisis is shaping the perception of migrants in the rest of Spain.

The president of the bishops therefore calls for “a national agreement to help the people of Ceuta and resolve the humanitarian crisis,” accompanied by a State and European pact that also addresses the causes of population movements.

States that use exoduses to “provoke invasions”

Argüello’s proposal includes acting in the countries of origin, combating mafias, regulating immigration flows, and receiving those who arrive while respecting a dignity “that is not lost when crossing the border,” even when they must later be returned to their countries.

The archbishop also explicitly introduces the geopolitical dimension of the crisis and calls for confronting States “that use the exodus of people to provoke invasions for geopolitical interests with mafia-like behavior.”

When assessing the different responses proposed for Ceuta, he uses an even more significant expression. Some positions, he explains, advocate immediate expulsions even disregarding legality; others “refuse to see that many Ceutans are also victims of the humanitarian crisis triggered by the exodus-invasion-occupation.”

The expression adds to other episcopal interventions that in recent weeks have rejected interpreting what happened in Ceuta exclusively as a migration phenomenon. Mons. Jesús Sanz Montes denounced the invasion and spoke of a “calculated stalking,” although he also recalled that many of the young people who arrived in the city “are equally victims.”

Argüello also introduces a warning about the European demographic crisis: if the current birth rate situation continues, he states, “in a few years Europe will compete for the scarce immigrant.”

Abortion, “eviction from the maternal womb”

The third eviction pointed out by the president of the CEE is “that of the maternal womb caused by abortion,” which, unlike the others, has “irreversible consequences.”

Argüello here directs an express criticism at the Government for its institutional campaign on abortion. The Executive, he denounces, presents it as a good act because it is legal —“you have the right”— and autonomous —“whatever you decide will be fine.”—

Faced with this approach, the archbishop recalls that the issue does not affect only the will of the pregnant woman.

“Science shows that in the womb of a pregnant woman there is a human being, a child, distinct from her, over whom she cannot decide without considering the morality of that decision,” he states.

Argüello calls for social, labor, and housing assistance and “full support” for pregnant women. He admits that there may be cases of “great ethical conflict,” but rejects that they can be resolved by simply appealing to a right recognized by legislation.

“It can never be justified by a legal right that denies the child the life on whose dignity all rights are based,” he maintains.

The reflection comes after the Government launched an institutional campaign on abortion under the message “Whatever you decide, it will be fine,” an initiative that has drawn criticism for presenting as morally indifferent a decision that ends the life of the conceived child.

From the “right to decide” of the owner to that of the pregnant woman

It is precisely in the “right to decide” that Argüello finds the thread connecting the three debates.

“Faced with these three types of evictions, the ethical argumentation varies in a self-interested way,” he denounces.

The archbishop contrasts “the staunch defense of the right to decide of the owner or the pregnant woman, if the decision is legal, without taking into account who suffers the consequences,” with the rejection of the owner’s free decision when, despite being legal and judicially confirmed, it affects a person considered especially vulnerable.

A similar contradiction appears in Ceuta. While some call for immediate expulsion even disregarding legality, other positions, according to Argüello, ignore that the city’s inhabitants have also become victims of the crisis.

“The three issues call for serene dialogue and major agreements,” he maintains.

The fourth eviction

From the three cases, Argüello finally draws a fourth “eviction,” which he places in the public debate itself.

“Reason and the will for agreement in defense of human dignity and the common good” seem, he laments, “to have been expelled from our common home.”

The reflection of the president of the CEE thus places three very different realities under the same moral question: who bears the consequences when another’s decision is presented as legitimate because it is backed by law, whether it be the owner of a home, the management of the invasion of Ceuta, or the decision to abort.

"Would be a fatal blow to the credibility of the synodal process": Bonny insists on ordaining married men

The Bishop of Antwerp, Johan Bonny, maintains his intention to ordain married men as priests in 2028 and trusts that the pontificate of Leo XIV will allow a formula to be found before that date that makes his project possible. 

The prelate has also warned that the absence of a solution would, in his view, represent a «fatal blow» to the credibility of the synodal process.

In statements to the October edition of Herder Korrespondenz, Bonny assured that he expects a decision before the implementation phase of the Synod on Synodality concludes. «I trust that, by the end of the synodal process in autumn 2028, an appropriate regulation can be found,» he stated. «It would be a fatal blow to the credibility and implementation of the entire synodal process if no regulation had been reached by then.»

Bonny places his trust in Leo XIV

The Bishop of Antwerp explicitly linked his expectations to the way Leo XIV is exercising the pontificate.

According to Bonny, his confidence stems especially from the way the Pope carries out his mission as a «bridge builder.»

«Like a good father, he knows what his children need, and that is not the same everywhere or for everyone,» the prelate stated.

Bonny also considers that his request does not constitute an isolated initiative. As he explained, other bishops from different parts of the world also face a serious shortage of priests and support allowing the priestly ordination of married men.

«We are not alone,» he assured.

The candidates are already being prepared

The new statements come less than two weeks after it became known that the project has moved from words to practical preparation.

Bonny recently confirmed that he has already begun training several married men with the intention of ordaining them as priests in 2028. The candidates receive theological and pastoral preparation while the bishop awaits the necessary authorization from Rome.

The criteria used to select them are similar to those applied to married candidates for the permanent diaconate: they must be at least 35 years old, have the consent of their wives, maintain a stable family life, and not have young children.

Bonny justifies his initiative by the situation of the clergy in Flanders. According to the data he provided in September, the Diocese of Antwerp has fewer than 70 priests under 70 years of age and nearly two-thirds of them come from abroad.

A trip to Rome with the support of the Belgian bishops

Bonny has now provided new details about the trip he made on his own initiative to Rome last June to present what he describes as a situation of «necessity.»

The bishop explained to Herder Korrespondenz that he brought with him a letter from the Belgian Episcopal Conference supporting his request. During the visit, he held conversations with Vatican authorities and with the General Secretariat of the Synod.

Bonny himself had previously revealed that he met with Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, and with Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod. According to the bishop’s account, both committed to bringing the matter to Leo XIV. So far, the Holy See has not publicly communicated an authorization for the planned ordinations.

The issue has broader support within the Belgian episcopate. The Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and president of the Episcopal Conference, Luc Terlinden, has shown himself favorable to opening the debate on the ordination of married men, although he has specified that the concrete project of beginning to ordain candidates in Antwerp belongs to Bonny and that it cannot be carried out without the Pope’s authorization.

The ordination of married men as a consequence of the synodal process

Bonny first presented his timeline in a pastoral letter published last March. At that time, he announced that he would work to identify and prepare candidates with the goal of being able to ordain married men before 2028.

The bishop went so far as to maintain that «it is an illusion to think that a serious synodal-missionary process in the West still has any possibility without the priestly ordination of married men.»

His approach affects the discipline of celibacy in force for priests of the Latin Church. The Catholic Church recognizes legitimately married priests—particularly in the Eastern Catholic Churches and, under certain circumstances, among married Protestant ministers who enter into full communion with Rome and subsequently receive ordination—but in the Latin Church the general norm continues to be the selection of presbyters from among celibate men.

Bonny now argues that the very sacramental structure of the Church requires having sufficient priests to preserve and develop Catholic identity. The sacraments and sacramental ministry constitute, according to the bishop, the driving force of all missionary activity.

The timeline set by the prelate aligns his project with the end of the implementation phase of the Synod in 2028. 

Unlike his earlier statements, Bonny now does not limit himself to justifying the ordination of married men due to the shortage of clergy: he explicitly links a possible response from Rome to the «credibility» of the synodal process and places in Leo XIV his expectation that before that date an «appropriate regulation» will be found.

Pope Leo XIV appoints the president of the Canadian episcopate to lead a diocese marked by the secularization of Quebec

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Mons. Pierre Goudreault, current president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), as bishop of Trois-Rivières in the Canadian province of Quebec, transferring him from the diocese of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière.

The Holy See announced this Tuesday, September 29, the appointment of the 63-year-old prelate, who has presided over the Canadian episcopate since September 2025 and whose mandate at the head of the Conference extends until 2027. 

Goudreault will occupy a see that had remained vacant after Leo XIV transferred its previous bishop, Martin Laliberté, in February as coadjutor of Saint-Jean-Longueuil. Laliberté assumed that diocese definitively last July.

A pastoral theologian at the head of the Canadian episcopate

Pierre Goudreault was born on May 27, 1963, in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. After obtaining a certificate in Administration, he entered the Seminary of Saint Paul University in Ottawa and was ordained a priest on May 18, 1991.

He earned a doctorate in Theology from the same university and developed much of his ministry in parish work, seminary formation, and pastoral theology. He has published a dozen books and around thirty articles devoted mainly to ecclesiology and liturgy, in addition to having taught at the university level.

Francis appointed him bishop of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière on December 8, 2017. He received episcopal consecration on March 10, 2018. After progressively joining the governing bodies of the Episcopal Conference, he was elected vice-president in 2023 and president in September 2025 for a two-year term.

His pastoral motto in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière —“Proclaim the Gospel everywhere”— summarizes a trajectory especially linked to practical theology and the pastoral reorganization of communities in a deeply secularized Quebec.

Synodality among his priorities

As president of the Canadian bishops, Goudreault has placed the implementation of synodality among the priorities of the Church in Canada.

In the report he presented just a week ago at the opening of the CCCB Plenary Assembly in Montreal, he expressly highlighted “the ongoing implementation of synodality in the Church in Canada” among the main works carried out during the past year. 

The letter sent at that time to Leo XIV also included synodality among the issues on which the Canadian bishops continue their discernment.

His former diocese actively participated since 2021 in the consultations of the Synod on Synodality, both at the diocesan level and in the successive provincial, national, and continental phases.

There are no known public statements by Goudreault, however, defending some of the doctrinally controversial reforms that have been associated with certain sectors of the European synodal process. 

His public profile has focused more on the synodal method, evangelization, social justice, and the coordination of the Episcopal Conference.

A Canadian Church facing the expansion of euthanasia

Goudreault arrives in Trois-Rivières while the Canadian Church faces one of the most extensive euthanasia regimes in the world.

In June, on the tenth anniversary of the federal legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide —legally termed “medical assistance in dying”— the Permanent Committee for the Family and Life of the Episcopal Conference urged Catholics to remain “firm in their opposition” to both practices and to accompany the sick and vulnerable persons.

The document was issued by the Conference presided over by Goudreault, not as a personal statement. For his part, in his own institutional interventions, the prelate has also insisted on the defense of “human life and the dignity of every person” as one of the areas sustained by the common action of the Canadian bishops.

The issue has acquired special relevance in Canada after even the Canadian Anglican Church developed liturgical forms to pastorally accompany situations of death caused through the MAiD system, a step that has raised concern over the “religious normalization” of euthanasia.

Religious freedom versus the Canadian Government

During his presidency, Goudreault has also intervened before the federal government in defense of religious freedom.

In December 2025, he signed a letter addressed to the Canadian prime minister in which the bishops expressed their concern over a legislative reform against hate crimes that could affect the legal protections of religious expressions.

The letter defended that it was possible to combat real hatred without undermining “the constitutional rights of millions of Canadians who draw moral and spiritual guidance from their religious traditions” and warned that the legislation should not inadvertently undermine fundamental freedoms.

The tension between secularization and religious freedom continues to be particularly visible in Canada. Last week, the Catholic Military Ordinariate denounced a regulation of the Armed Forces that prevents expressly mentioning God in certain official ceremonies.

Relationship with Leo XIV and indigenous peoples

Goudreault has already maintained direct and relevant contact with Leo XIV during the current pontificate.

In November 2025, he was received by the Pope together with Archbishop Richard Smith and the secretary general of the Canadian Episcopal Conference. 

During that audience, Leo XIV handed over to the bishops 62 pieces from the ethnological collections of the Vatican Museums for their transfer to indigenous organizations in Canada.

Goudreault then presented the gesture as a new step in the process of “reconciliation” between the Church and indigenous peoples, one of the great institutional priorities of the Canadian episcopate since Francis’s trip to the country in 2022.

The issue again occupied a prominent place in his presidential report of September 2026, where he mentioned both the return of the objects and the continuity of the process of “healing, reconciliation, and relationship-building” with indigenous communities.

Immigration and coordination of the Churches of North America

Another of the issues to which Goudreault has devoted attention during his presidency is immigration.

At the beginning of September, he participated in Cuernavaca in the first meeting of this kind between representatives of the Episcopal Conferences of Canada, the United States, and Mexico. 

There he described “human mobility” as one of the common challenges of the Churches of the continent and highlighted the role of families and priests who have come from other countries in the revitalization of some Canadian parishes.

A historic diocese in a de-Christianized Quebec

Trois-Rivières is one of the historic dioceses of Quebec and belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Quebec. 

According to statistics published by the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Quebec corresponding to 2023, it has nearly 290,000 Catholics, 61 diocesan priests, 21 religious priests, and 29 permanent deacons, grouped into 14 parishes and missions.

The historical evolution, however, shows the magnitude of the religious transformation of Quebec. In 1966, Trois-Rivières had more than 400 priests, both diocesan and religious, and more than 1,700 religious sisters; the current figures are a fraction of those recorded before the Quiet Revolution and the subsequent process of secularization of the province.

The diocese also houses the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Cape, one of the main Marian centers in Canada.

Goudreault will thus assume a historically Catholic diocese but located in one of the Western societies where secularization has been most rapid, while simultaneously retaining the presidency of the Canadian episcopate. 

His appointment places in Trois-Rivières a prelate closely linked to the national structure of the bishops and to several of their current priorities: synodality, indigenous reconciliation, immigration, religious freedom, and the defense of human dignity.

Pope Leo XIV calls on Russia and Ukraine to sit down and talk and denounces the arms trade

Pope Leo XIV addressed sexual abuse in the Church, the war between Russia and Ukraine, the arms industry business, and the risks of artificial intelligence during the extensive press conference he held this Monday aboard the plane that took him from Metz to Rome, at the end of his apostolic journey to France.

According to the transcript published by Vatican News, the Pontiff answered questions from the journalists accompanying him after four intense days in France. He also spoke about the recent legalization of euthanasia in the country, the housing crisis in Spain, the situation of the Church in Germany, and the growth of extremist political movements.

«Four days full of blessings»

Before the questions, Leo XIV gave a brief summary of the trip and especially highlighted his stay in Lourdes and the meeting with the sick and suffering people.

«These four days have been, literally, full of blessings. Almost miracles, I would say», the Pope stated, recalling having seen how «the grace of God’s presence» touches people’s hearts, transforms their lives, and «restores dignity to the sick, the elderly, and those who, in some sectors of society, are marginalized».

Leo XIV also highlighted the meeting with 80,000 young people from all over France, in whom he said he had found «enthusiasm», «joy», and a «sense of hope» that they can now pass on to others.

Abuse: Leo XIV qualifies the term «systemic»

The first question was related to the meeting Leo XIV held on Sunday in Lourdes with seven abuse victims, four men and three women. After the meeting, some of the participants stated that the Pontiff had recognized the «systemic» nature of sexual abuse in the Church.

The Pope wanted to clarify his words.

«Many of them have spoken of systemic abuse. Personally, I prefer to express it differently», he noted. Leo XIV acknowledged that «some organizations within the Church» have at times been able to act «abusively as a system», but insisted on the importance of making a distinction.

«Sexual abuse is, above all, a human problem. When it occurs within the Church, it actually takes on another dimension, because people’s life of faith is deeply wounded and, at times, even destroyed», he explained.

Leo XIV stated that the Church has a «special responsibility» to accompany those who have suffered abuse and help them on their path to healing.

«Wars no longer make sense»

His most extensive response was dedicated to the war between Russia and Ukraine. Asked about the real possibilities of negotiation and his denunciation of the «illusion of rearmament», Leo XIV started from the principles of the Church’s social doctrine and rejected «violence, hatred, weapons», and the reappearance of nuclear weapons discourse.

The Pope criticized the continuous increase in military spending and pointed to the economic interests behind the arms industry.

«A few are getting enormously rich from an industry that promotes war», he stated.

Leo XIV contrasted the billions allocated to armaments with basic needs that remain unresolved: «With these billions of euros or dollars, problems like world hunger, housing, and unemployment situations could be solved».

Against the logic of rearmament, he called for a voice that proposes «another path» and warned that continuously increasing weapons spending fuels tensions that can lead «to the outbreak of another war, another conflict».

Russia and Ukraine must «sit down» and dialogue

The Pontiff expressly defended negotiations between Moscow and Kiev and maintained that the Church must continue to offer an alternative to imposition by force.

Leo XIV stated that powers seeking to «impose through power instead of dialoguing and promoting negotiations» bring the world ever closer to new wars.

The Church, he explained, has the responsibility to defend human dignity, life, and the possibility of «spending more on health and education and less on weapons».

In that context, he called for continuing to invite «leaders like those of Russia and Ukraine» and from other countries «to come, to sit down, to dialogue, to seek how to solve problems without continuing those wars that no longer make sense».

The Pope admitted the limits of ecclesial mediation: «We cannot force anyone; sometimes it seems it may be useless, but we will continue speaking, we will continue inviting, we will continue proclaiming the Gospel».

Artificial intelligence: «I am not in panic»

Artificial intelligence was another of the major topics of the press conference. Journalist Justin McLellan, from the National Catholic Reporter, asked the Pope about warnings from specialists who even raise catastrophic scenarios for humanity.

Although he assured that the topic lets him «sleep well», the Pope nevertheless refused to downplay those warnings. «I believe that the concerns raised by many experts and specialists in AI should be taken seriously», he stated.

The issue occupied a significant part of his speech before UNESCO in Paris, where he warned of the risks of artificial intelligence separated from ethics and recalled that machines cannot answer the fundamental questions about the meaning of human life.

During the press conference, Leo XIV considered it irresponsible to merely affirm that the risks will not materialize and to «turn a blind eye» to the possible consequences of technological development.

The Pope also revealed that the Vatican has created an Artificial Intelligence Commission to coordinate the use of these technologies in the Holy See and to study both their possibilities and their risks.

The objective, he explained, is to help ensure that artificial intelligence does not reach a point where it can «destroy humanity or exclude it from the debate».

«I am relatively optimistic that we can achieve this», he stated, although he insisted on the need to continue working and promote dialogue among political leaders, technology companies, social organizations, and specialists.

Euthanasia, housing, and Germany

The press conference also addressed three other topics of special relevance. Leo XIV defended the Church’s legitimacy to intervene publicly in defense of life after being asked about his criticisms of euthanasia during the trip. 

The Pontiff maintained that «when the Church speaks about the defense of life or issues of social doctrine, it is not doing politics, but applying the Gospel to people’s lives». During his time in France, he had already claimed before the bishops the public voice of the Church against a conception of secularism that seeks to relegate faith to the private sphere.

Asked about the case of Maricarmen, an 87-year-old woman with a disability affected by an eviction in Madrid, the Pope called for solutions to the housing crisis and asked what «the problem in the system» is that allows similar situations. He also pointed to the responsibility of political authorities in seeking responses.

Leo XIV finally referred to Germany. He confirmed that he has received an invitation to visit the country, although there is not yet a date, and assured that World Youth Day in Korea is, for the moment, the only confirmed trip for next year. In the face of the decline in religious practice in Germany, he defended the recovery of the «true missionary spirit» and also referred to the relationship between certain religious expressions and political movements classified as far-right.

Before concluding, the Pope thanked those who worked on organizing his trip, from Holy See staff and French authorities to the bishops and numerous laypeople who participated in the various activities.

«There are so many people who work behind the scenes and who do not receive the applause that the Pope receives when he passes by», Leo XIV concluded.

Pope advocates for the defense of life against euthanasia and the culture of discard: "We are not doing politics, we are applying the Gospel"

Pope Leo XIV has claimed the right and duty of the Church to intervene publicly in defense of human life against euthanasia and has rejected the notion that doing so constitutes interference in politics. 

“When the Church speaks about the defense of life or matters of social doctrine, it is not engaging in politics, but applying the Gospel to people’s lives”, he stated during the press conference held this Monday, September 28, aboard the return flight from France.

The question was raised by Xavier Le Normand of Le Pèlerin, who recalled that the end of life had repeatedly appeared in the speeches delivered by the Pontiff during his four days in France. 

The journalist specifically mentioned the words spoken in Lourdes—“what is legal is not necessarily moral”—in the context of the recent legalization of euthanasia in France and asked the Pope whether, on matters of particular gravity, the boundary imposed by secularism between religion and politics should be crossed.

“I have not crossed that line”

Leo XIV rejected the premise that his interventions had amounted to entering the realm of partisan politics.

“According to the Church’s understanding of the separation between Church and politics—or between Church and State—I have not crossed that line,” he replied.

The Pope referred to Magnifica humanitas and explained that the Church’s social doctrine cannot be confined to the private sphere simply because its principles have consequences on politically debated issues.

Leo XIV referred to those who, “on the left or on the right,” maintain that “religion must remain exclusively in the private sphere” and that each person may believe whatever they wish as long as the State remains uninvolved.

In response to that view, he recalled the fundamental purpose of his trip: “When I traveled to France, I did so primarily to preach the Gospel, to proclaim the Good News, to reaffirm what Jesus Christ himself says: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’”

“The defense of life” is part of what the Church teaches

The Pontiff was explicit in placing the defense of life within the doctrine that the Church is called to proclaim publicly.

“The defense of life is a principle that, as you all know, the Church teaches and in which it deeply believes,” he stated.

Leo XIV acknowledged that he was fully aware of the political and legislative context in which he had delivered his speeches. France has recently approved legislation on end-of-life issues, and the matter continues to be debated in other European countries.

Precisely during his stay in the country, the Pope made the defense of life one of the central themes of his interventions. Before Emmanuel Macron, he denounced “programmed death,” as well as abortion, surrogacy, and certain genetic manipulations. The issue resurfaced with particular clarity during his day in Lourdes.

From euthanasia to the individual patient

The Pope’s response on the plane referred directly to what he had experienced the day before at the Marian shrine. Leo XIV explained that Lourdes allows the question of the end of life to be viewed through the concrete reality of those who suffer from illness, disability, or severe suffering.

These are people, he noted, who discover that “their life, even amid illness, disability, or various forms of suffering, has meaning.”

“The Church, in the name of Jesus, wants to be close to these people and reaffirm the values that, in my opinion, life itself holds for all of us,” he added.

On Sunday, during his meeting with the sick and caregivers of Accueil Notre-Dame, Leo XIV formulated the Church’s position with even greater clarity. “The human person is ‘worthy’ simply by the fact of existing and having eternity as their end. Their dignity is neither measured nor debated,” he stated.

The Pope then called for a firm rejection of “the temptation to take life under the pretext of false compassion” and added: “It is impossible to consider normal the act of ending a life. What is legal is not necessarily moral.”

The defense of life marked a significant part of Leo XIV’s day in Lourdes, where the Pontiff also urged healthcare professionals to remember that their vocation consists in “caring for a person who suffers, and not eliminating them.”

“Medicine can never become the servant of programmed death”

In Lourdes, Leo XIV urged doctors and other healthcare professionals to be “passionate servants of life” and called for the development of palliative care structures, research, and accompaniment of the sick.

“No one has the right, ever, based on laboratory algorithms, to decide on the life of a specific embryo or a specific elderly person,” the Pope recalled, citing his speech last June before the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation. “Medicine can never become the servant of programmed death.”

The message continued on Monday in Metz, where Leo XIV affirmed before representatives of various religions the sacred value of life “to the very end”. “Religions are guardians of life,” he stated, calling for care, presence, and tenderness toward the most vulnerable.

“If this is doing politics, then I have done it”

On the return flight, the Pope concluded by directly addressing the question of his opposition to euthanasia as a political intervention.

“If this is doing politics, then I have done it; but certainly it was not my intention to interfere in French politics,” he stated.

He summarized the meaning of his interventions during the trip: “I simply wanted to teach what the Church truly believes.”

The case of Maricarmen: an elderly woman with a disability facing the loss of her home

Íñigo Domínguez of El País asked Leo XIV about Maricarmen, an 87-year-old woman with a disability threatened with losing the home she lived in Madrid after a sharp rent increase.

The journalist presented the case in connection with the “throwaway culture” denounced by the Pope and the marginalization of the elderly and people with disabilities when they are no longer considered productive.

Leo XIV clarified that he was not personally familiar with the circumstances of the case, but questioned how a society could allow such a situation to occur. “How is it possible that a case like this happens? What is the problem in the system that allows an elderly woman, moreover with a disability or some difficulty, to be evicted, so to speak, from her home?” he asked.

For the Pontiff, the response does not rest solely with one institution. He noted that “neighbors, the community, the parish, the diocese, or the State” should intervene in situations of this nature and seek solutions to prevent abandoning a vulnerable person.

From “discarding” to justice

Leo XIV explicitly linked the problem to two issues that run through the Church’s social doctrine: the rejection of the throwaway culture and the demand for justice.

“The Church speaks a great deal about discarding and also about justice,” he stated. The Church, he added, seeks “to awaken in everyone the capacity to respond with a greater sense of being human, of being truly sensitive to the pain and suffering of others.”

The Pope acknowledged, however, that the housing crisis exceeds the capacity of ecclesial communities to provide assistance. “The housing problem that exists in many countries today is one that neither a parish, nor a diocese, nor the Church itself can solve on its own,” he explained.

For this reason, he also called for the intervention of public authorities: “We must perhaps also urge political leaders and authorities to seek a solution to this.”
Leo XIV warned that the problem is growing and urged not to limit intervention to situations where a family or individual is already facing an emergency. “We must truly examine the systemic cause of this problem and how to help,” he concluded.

The response regarding Maricarmen extended into the social sphere a question that occupied much of the trip to France: the dignity of the sick, the elderly, and persons with disabilities does not depend on their productivity, autonomy, or the difficulties their care may entail.

In the face of euthanasia, the Pope called for protecting their life; in the face of exclusion and abandonment, he urged communities, the Church, and authorities to respond so that that life may be lived with dignity.

From decline to mission: the path that Leo XIV proposes to the German Church

Pope Leo XIV has pointed to the recovery of the «true missionary spirit» as a response to the deep decline facing the Catholic Church in Germany. 

During the press conference held this Monday, September 28, aboard the return flight from France, the Pontiff expressed his conviction that there are still «a great many people» in the country willing to live the Catholic faith and cited as an example what occurred in France during the four days of his trip.

The question was raised by Ludwig Ring-Eifel of the German Catholic agency KNA, who asked the Pope about the loss of faithful experienced by the German Church and the growth of far-right movements in the country. Leo XIV addressed both issues and also confirmed that he has received an invitation to visit Germany, although no date has yet been set.

«There are still a great many people in Germany who want to live their faith»

Faced with the description of a German Church in retreat, Leo XIV drew precisely on the experience he had just lived in France.

«In the past, the same was said of France, and yet we have seen what has happened in the last four days,» he replied.

The Pontiff pointed directly to evangelization as the response to the crisis: «I believe that if we recover the true missionary spirit and the right way of acting, there are still a great many people in Germany who want to live and celebrate their Christian and Catholic faith.»

The observation comes at a particularly delicate moment for German Catholicism, marked for years by the loss of faithful, the collapse of religious practice, and a synodal process that has led to successive disagreements with Rome.

Leo XIV did not ignore that reality. He acknowledged «the problems» and «the various causes that have severely affected the Church,» although he noted that the phenomenon also reaches Protestant communities and German society.

Despite this, he stated: «I am optimistic about it.»

The Pope also expressed his willingness to work with the leaders of the German Church to find responses to a crisis for which his proposal, at least in this intervention, did not involve new structures, but rather recovering the missionary impulse.

France, the contrast highlighted by Leo XIV

The Pope’s reference to France is especially significant after a trip in which he was able to witness manifestations of Catholic vitality difficult to reconcile with a reading based exclusively on the advance of secularization.

On the plane, Leo XIV himself highlighted the meeting with some 80,000 young people and spoke of their «enthusiasm,» «joy,» and «sense of hope.»

The president of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), Heiner Wilmer, offered a similar reading this Monday. At the opening of the bishops’ autumn plenary assembly in Fulda, he described France as «the laboratory of an awakening Catholicism» and even spoke of a «tectonic shift.»

Wilmer especially highlighted the role of young Catholic influencers who speak openly on social media about prayer, angels, the Pope, or relations with other religions, describing them as quick, humorous, and «very spiritual.»

The contrast is particularly relevant for Germany: while a large part of German ecclesial structures have for years focused on institutional reforms through the Synodal Path, Leo XIV pointed out on the plane another criterion for addressing the decline: recovering the «true missionary spirit.»

Precisely the episcopal assembly gathered these days in Fulda continues to await the recognitio from Rome for the statutes of the projected Synodal Conference. Wilmer stated that he expects a response from the Vatican before the end of the year. The first meeting of the new body, initially scheduled for November, has already had to be postponed.

Leo XIV addresses the growth of the «far right»

The second part of the question posed to the Pope referred to the growth of far-right groups in Germany and the relationship that some of these currents maintain with certain religious expressions.

Leo XIV avoided presenting a causal relationship as proven and considered that «it would be interesting to study and analyze whether there is, and in what way, a correlation» between both phenomena.

The Pope did question the combination of certain far-right positions with «a certain type of religion» that the leaders of the German Catholic and Protestant Churches, he recalled, consider «does not represent an authentic expression of Christianity.»

Leo XIV contrasted those currents with «the values of the Gospel,» which, he affirmed, «have nothing to do with hatred and division, but with understanding, compassion, and accompaniment.»

The Pontiff also expressed his desire that citizens participate politically in seeking the common good and avoiding «extremist ideas that could cause much more serious harm than we realize at this moment.»

Wilmer acknowledges that there are Catholics who vote for AfD

Leo XIV’s words coincided with the debate that the German bishops themselves are holding about their relationship with Alternative for Germany (AfD).

This Monday, Wilmer again expressed his concern about the political shift to the right in Germany and Europe and reaffirmed the declaration approved by the Bishops’ Conference in 2024 according to which «ethnic nationalism and Christianity are incompatible.»

However, the president of the DBK expressly acknowledged a reality that poses a pastoral challenge to the bishops: there are Catholics who vote for AfD.

Wilmer therefore maintained that there must be spaces in which the Church can listen to those faithful without limiting itself to directing «slogans» at them. The statement introduces a relevant nuance in a relationship marked by the hard institutional position adopted by the German episcopate toward the party.

Marx brings the debate to the future of Europe

The issue also took on a European dimension during the Pope’s visit. Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, published together with former Italian President Mario Monti, Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, and former French Minister Sylvie Goulard an article in La Croix in defense of the European integration project.

The signatories maintain that Europe is gripped by doubts, divisions, and nationalist tendencies and call on European leaders for greater political ambition.

The text also criticizes the Administration of Donald Trump and the Government of Vladimir Putin for appealing, according to the authors, to Christianity while promoting approaches they consider contrary to Gospel values. This is the interpretation expressed by Marx and the other signatories, who call for recovering the legacy of Robert Schuman and Jean Monnet in the face of what they describe as a «narrow nationalism.»

The publication coincided with Leo XIV’s visit to Metz, a city closely linked to Robert Schuman. There, the Pope recalled the Christian roots of the continent and maintained that «one cannot speak of Europe without mentioning Christianity.»

An invitation to visit Germany

Leo XIV’s response also left open the possibility that the Pontiff may personally verify the situation of the German Church.

«I have received an invitation. I truly hope to return there; that is, I have already been there, but not as Pope,» he explained.

Leo XIV expressed his desire to make the visit, although he specified that there is still no schedule and that he continues working on the travel program for the coming year. For the moment, he indicated, the only confirmed trip is the one corresponding to World Youth Day in Korea.

Until a possible visit, the message he left to German Catholics was fundamentally missionary. Faced with a Church battered by secularization and the loss of faithful, Leo XIV maintained that there are still many Germans who wish to live the faith and placed the response in recovering the capacity to proclaim and celebrate it.

Zuppi arrives in Moscow: children, prisoners and civilians, at the center of the Vatican mission

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi has begun a new three-day mission in Moscow this Monday to continue the humanitarian efforts of the Holy See related to the war in Ukraine. 

The president of the Italian Episcopal Conference will remain in the Russian capital until Wednesday, September 30, with an agenda focused on prisoners of war, minors separated from their families, and the situation of civilians affected by the conflict.

According to Vatican News, this is Zuppi’s third trip to Moscow, following those made in June 2023 and October 2024. The mission, originally entrusted by Francis, has been expressly confirmed by Leo XIV.

A mission confirmed by Leo XIV

“All of this is part of the humanitarian mission that Pope Francis initially entrusted to me and that Pope Leo XIV later confirmed,” Zuppi explained to the Russian agency TASS before beginning his meetings.

The cardinal specified that he has meetings with Russian officials scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and that his mandate consists of supporting the efforts of both parties to address “the problems related to children, prisoner exchanges, and civilian issues arising from the conflict.”

Zuppi also assured that the Holy See is examining requests coming from both Ukraine and Russia within the dialogue channel opened in recent years.

“We wish to continue developing this dialogue, aware of the suffering caused by the war, and we seek to contribute to its end,” he stated.

Ukraine has requested an “all-for-all” exchange

The new visit to Moscow comes after the mission Zuppi carried out in Ukraine last July. 

There he held meetings with Ukrainian authorities and families of military personnel and civilians detained in Russia, and visited a prison in the Lviv region where Russian soldiers were being held.

During those conversations, the families conveyed to the cardinal the request to promote a prisoner exchange under the “all-for-all” formula. 

According to Vatican News at the time, the estimates presented to Zuppi spoke of around 7,000 Ukrainians held in Russia and approximately 4,000 Russians in Ukrainian custody.

The families also asked that the papal envoy be able to visit prisons in Russian territory, following the gesture made with Russian captives in Ukraine.

The issue of prisoners had already been part of the Holy See’s previous efforts. 

During Zuppi’s visit to Moscow in October 2024, the Vatican officially reported conversations about the exchange of prisoners and the wounded, the return of the remains of the fallen, and the reunification of minors with their families.

The civilians of Kursk on the table

This week’s talks also include the situation of Russian civilians displaced from the Kursk region during Ukrainian military operations. 

According to Zuppi’s statements reported by TASS, the parties will verify whether all of them have been able to return to their homes.

Russian Ambassador to the Holy See Ivan Soltanovsky has welcomed the cardinal’s new mission and assured that Zuppi is “always welcome in Moscow.” 

The Russian diplomat acknowledged, however, that a possible exchange of civilian prisoners is a new matter that will require first determining who can be included in that category.

One of the main issues remains that of minors transferred away from their families. Vatican mediation has allowed, in recent years, a channel to be maintained between both parties to facilitate family reunifications and transmit information about detainees.

During his previous visit to Moscow, Zuppi met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov; Yuri Ushakov, advisor to Vladimir Putin on foreign policy; Maria Lvova-Belova, presidential commissioner for Children’s Rights, and Tatiana Moskalkova, Russia’s human rights ombudsman. 

He also met with Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, head of external relations for the Moscow Patriarchate.

Zuppi arrives one month after Gallagher

The mission comes exactly one month after Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations of the Holy See, concluded a five-day visit to Russia marked by political, diplomatic, and ecclesial contacts.

On August 25, Gallagher met with Sergei Lavrov, before whom he defended the need to keep the diplomatic channel open and address “the reality and prospects for peace.” 

“The world needs diplomacy more than ever,” the Holy See representative stated at the time.

During the same visit, Gallagher held a meeting with Yuri Ushakov, advisor to Vladimir Putin on foreign policy, in which they addressed “current issues on the international agenda.” 

He also strengthened the Holy See’s contacts with the Moscow Patriarchate through a meeting with Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk and a visit to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

The final day had a specifically ecclesial dimension. Gallagher presided over Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Moscow, met with priests, religious, and bishops, and conveyed to Russian Catholics “the closeness and prayers” of Leo XIV.

At the conclusion of that visit, Lavrov stated that Gallagher had acknowledged that the situation of religious freedom in Ukraine “is not good” and that he had committed to conveying that concern in his future contacts with Ukrainian authorities. 

The statement corresponded to the version publicly offered by the Russian minister.

The succession of both visits shows the two channels the Holy See currently maintains open with Moscow. Gallagher acts from the Secretariat of State on the diplomatic and institutional relations level, while the mandate entrusted to Zuppi remains focused on the humanitarian consequences of the war.

The current mission thus keeps open a channel initiated more than three years ago. In June 2023, during his first visit to Moscow, Zuppi met with Ushakov, Lvova-Belova, and Patriarch Kirill. 

The Holy See then defined the objective of the initiative as the search for humanitarian measures capable of opening paths toward peace.