Zuppi path or the Cobo path?

There are two ways to be a progressive bishop. One is Zuppi’s: progressive yet transversal, not very sectarian, genuinely tolerant. 

The other is Cobo’s: progressive and monolithic, polemical and hard. If the cardinal archbishop of Madrid were wise, he would opt for something closer to the style of governance of his counterpart in Bologna.

Matteo Zuppi is not a conservative in disguise. He comes from Sant’Egidio, has written the foreword to James Martin, and is the friendly face of Italian ecclesial progressivism. 

Yet the traditionalists of Bologna do not regard him as an enemy. He has confirmed according to the ancient rite, has allowed communities attached to the traditional liturgy to live in peace when others used Traditionis custodes to settle old scores, and has written sympathetically about liturgical authors who are not exactly of his stripe. 

That is why even those who do not share his ideas respect him. Anyone can govern well for their own; a shepherd is proven by how he treats the others.

Cobo, by contrast, seems to want a diocese in his own image and likeness: a kind of perpetual convivium where everyone sings catchy pop hymns, the kind that thrill the cardinal. 

But life is more complex than a refrain. Madrid does not fit into a single songbook, and governing a diocese like Madrid requires balance.

Cobo is making enemies at a pace he cannot afford. He is already paying—perhaps clumsily—for broken dishes that belonged to Parolin: the infamous betrayal of the Valley has been entirely laid at his door, with all the wear on his mitre and the gain for other offices. But if you have decided to shoulder the bills of the Secretariat of State, you cannot afford, on top of that, to manufacture free adversaries at home.

You bring Crismhom into the seminary and provoke a major scandal? Compensate for it: for example, allow your seminarians who wish to learn the traditional Mass; it does not burn. You want to make a progressive mark? That is your sensibility and no one will dispute it at this point. 

But do not slam the door on the faithful who respectfully request the ancient rite with signatures in hand, nor turn the seminary into a filter of uniformity that will end up emptying it. 

A bit of stick and carrot, Your Eminence; not stick and stick. Give us the lime if you wish, but carefully: without the sand, quicklime burns. And no cardinal, however progressive, wishes for a burned-out diocese.

A fact, in case it has not yet reached the archiepiscopal palace: the faithful of Madrid attached to the traditional Mass fill every Sunday a small chapel in a former nursing home that had to be purchased, and where, despite five Sunday Masses, they cannot fit comfortably. 

The response to a petition, made respectfully and with signatures in hand, for a few more Masses in some parish has been a violent door slammed in the face of the faithful who requested it in writing from his vicar, using Traditionis custodes as a pretext and without a single word of welcome.

Zuppi understood long ago: one can have an editorial line in one’s writings and not be sectarian in governance; one can be unequivocally of one sensibility without reading every traditional community as a threat and every disagreement as disloyalty. 

Breadth is not lukewarmness: it is catholicity. And besides—this Cobo should note—it is profitable.

Priest hits out at proposal to light up Belfast City Hall in support of abortion rights

A WEST Belfast priest has hit out at plans to light up Belfast City Hall in support of abortion rights.

The National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWC) want to illuminate the building in green on September 28 to mark International Safe Abortion Day.

At a council committee meeting last week the proposal was endorsed by Green, Alliance, Sinn Féin and SDLP councillors with the DUP voting against.

It will go before the next full Council meeting on Tuesday, September 1.

Fr Paddy McCafferty from Corpus Christi Parish described the proposal as "grotesque" and "deeply offensive".

"This proposed spectacle is grotesque and deeply offensive to many citizens who value human life at all of its stages from conception to natural death," he said in a letter to Belfast City Council which he published on social media.

"It is a disgusting abuse of an iconic building which is supposed to be a space for all persons of all views and opinions. It is not acceptable at any level and displays a deep seated ideological bias against and contempt for the pro-life community, which includes persons of varied religious and political persuasions.

"I hope that this proposed illumination does not take place. Belfast City Hall has been lit up to highlight many good causes which unite decent people. This pro abortion stunt is not one of them.

"Belfast City Hall must not become a billboard for such macabre and iniquitous propaganda which celebrates the murder of unborn babies."

Chain of Negligence: A Salesian Accused Before Artime of Sexual Abuse Ended Up Running a Youth Center

In 2015, a Mexican Salesian priest named Pedro Mario Ayala Ceja, then a missionary in Amsterdam, traveled to Rome to meet with the worldwide superior of his congregation. 

He had just received a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and had written to the Vicar of the Rector Major stating that during his adolescence he had suffered abuse at the hands of another Salesian priest. He wanted to leave the congregation and the ministry.

He was received by Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major of the Salesians since March 25, 2014 — the superior of an order that at the time had 16,000 religious in 136 countries, today a cardinal and Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life, the Holy See’s body that oversees religious life throughout the Church.

Two accounts exist of that meeting, the victim’s and the cardinal’s, and they essentially coincide. Artime describes it this way in his response to the questions sent by InfoVaticana:

“I tell him something very important: I tell him that, once he has entrusted to me what happened to him, I ‘CANNOT BE AN ACCOMPLICE TO THIS’ and therefore he must authorize me to ask the person who holds juridical authority (the Superior of the Province in which the Salesian he was denouncing was incardinated) to open an investigation.”

The Rector Major arranged for Ayala a year of therapeutic and spiritual accompaniment in a Salesian community in Madrid, paid for by the congregation, and offered him support if he decided to file a civil complaint, an offer that—according to both accounts—the victim declined at that time because he did not feel ready. 

The victim himself has publicly acknowledged this treatment.

The controversy is everything that came afterward. To understand it, one must go back to the beginning.

Irapuato, 1993-1996

According to Ayala’s testimony, the events occurred while he was in formation with the Salesians in Irapuato (Guanajuato, Mexico) under the authority of Father Jaime Reyes Retana, who was his formator and spiritual director. 

The complainant places the start of the abuse in the 1993-94 academic year: “I was 15 years old, I had just turned 15,” he states in the interview with Aristegui Noticias. 

He describes spiritual-direction sessions with sexual content, “massages” the priest taught him to give him, “wrestling games” involving touching, and nighttime visits to his bed in the common dormitory, from which he claims to have awakened “on more than three occasions.” 

He also points to two more serious episodes: one in December 1994 and another in April 1996.

The ages matter, because they would later determine the entire juridical handling of the case: 15 at the start, according to the testimony; 16 years and four months in the 1994 episode; 17 years and eight months in the 1996 episode.

The first warnings: 1998

According to his testimony, Ayala reported the abuse to his novice master in 1998. The response he says he received: “there are brothers we have to put up with.” 

Years later he told it again to the director of the theologate, who is said to have replied: “maybe you provoked it yourself.” 

The cardinal’s letter does not mention these episodes; his account begins in 2015.

The formal complaint and the investigation: 2016

On March 11, 2016, Ayala signed his written statement, received by the Vicar of the Rector Major. 

Deemed credible, the complaint was forwarded to the provincial superior of Guadalajara, to whom the accused was juridically subject, and who on April 12, 2016 opened the preliminary investigation provided for in canon 1717 of the Code of Canon Law. 

The cardinal’s letter stresses that this was the legally established channel: competence to investigate belongs to the provincial superior of the accused, not to the Rector Major.

Regarding the content of the complaint, the cardinal’s letter defines the object of the investigation in these terms:

“The complaint referred to two incidents: the first occurring in December 1994 (when P.M.A. was 16 years and 4 months old) and the second occurring in April 1996 (when P.M.A. was 17 years and 8 months old). According to the canonical legislation in force at that time, a person under 16 years of age was considered a ‘minor’ (can. 1395 §2 CIC 1983). This fact was highlighted by the canonists consulted by the Provincial of Mexico.”

From that premise, always according to the letter, the canonists drew three conclusions: that there had been no offense “with a minor,” because of the victim’s age in both episodes; that consequently the case did not fall under the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; and that the remaining offense—“against the sixth commandment with violence,” since the victim “was in no way consenting”—was prescribed, twenty years having elapsed since the events against the five-year period then in force. 

The cardinal writes:

“According to the information I received, the facts reported by P.M.A. were not transmitted to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, because they were not within the competence of that Congregation, but of the Provincial.”

Here appear the first two open questions of the case.

The first concerns scope. If the 2016 statement included the events prior to December 1994—the ones that, according to the testimony, occurred when he was 15—the premise of the reasoning changes: acts with a minor under 16 did constitute an offense “with a minor” under the same legislation of the time that the letter invokes. 

InfoVaticana expressly asked the cardinal whether the March 11, 2016 statement included those events and whether they were the object of the investigation. 

He has not replied. 

The document that would settle it—the signed statement—is in the possession of the congregation. What is indisputable is that the victim, in his public testimonies, does clearly describe acts of abuse at age 15.

The second concerns procedure. 

The Circular Letter of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of May 3, 2011, addressed to bishops and major superiors, established that credible cases of abuse of minors under 18 should be sent to that dicastery after the preliminary investigation, with the CDF—and not the local superior—deciding on competence and, where appropriate, on the derogation of prescription, a faculty it habitually exercised in historical cases. 

In this case, the classification, competence, and prescription were resolved at the provincial level.

“We sent it to Rome, but Rome sent it back”

On this point there is also a direct contradiction between the two versions. 

Against the cardinal’s assertion that the file was not transmitted to the CDF, the victim told Aristegui Noticias that, when he asked for explanations, his superiors told him the opposite: “we sent the file to Rome, but Rome sent it back,” specifying that “Rome” was the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. 

According to his account, it was after that communication that he was informed the case would be taken up “not as abuse, but as a violation of the sixth commandment.”

Both statements cannot be true at the same time. If the file was sent, there is a protocol, a date, and a response that can be produced. 

If it was not, the information given to the victim does not correspond to what happened. InfoVaticana asked the cardinal whether there was any communication, consultation, or referral of the case to the CDF, at any time and in any form. So far he has not replied.

The 2019 decree

On February 21, 2019, almost three years after the investigation was opened, the provincial resolved the case by decree, without a canonical penal process or the intervention of an ecclesiastical tribunal. 

The cardinal’s letter details its content:

“It has taken into account J.R.R.Z.’s admission of guilt and his full willingness to ask P.M.A. for forgiveness; it has imposed on J.R.R.Z. the prohibition of being part of formation communities and the obligation for three years to undergo a program of psychological and spiritual accompaniment, with successive evaluations at the end of the program.”

The central fact is therefore provided by the cardinal himself: the accused admitted his guilt. 

The measures taken in response to that admission were the prohibition of formation communities and psychological accompaniment. 

There is no record of suspension from ministry, nor of a penal process, nor of communication to civil authorities.

According to the victim’s account, the resolution was communicated to him in April 2019 in Piedras Negras. 

Before reading him the document, he claims, the then-provincial asked him three questions: “Are you doing this for money? Do you want money?”; “Do you want him expelled from the congregation?”; and “You are the only victim; we have not found other victims.” 

This last phrase indicates that a search for other possible victims was carried out, the scope and results of which have not been publicly documented. 

Ayala also states that he was not given full access to either the file or the resolution, because it was a confidential decree addressed to the accused. 

The cardinal’s letter maintains, for its part, that the victim “was presented with the resolution of the decree” and that he was offered “welcome, listening, and accompaniment.”

Tijuana, August 2019

In May 2019 Vos estis lux mundi came into force, Pope Francis’s universal norm on abuse and the responsibility of superiors. 

In August 2019, six months after the decree, Jaime Reyes Retana was appointed director of the Youth Center of the Oratory of St. Joseph in Tijuana (Baja California): a Salesian work dedicated to minors and young people. He was removed from the post after the case appeared in a press release. He was subsequently assigned to another youth center as assistant director.

The CDF Circular of 2011 established that readmission of a cleric to the public exercise of ministry should be excluded “if such readmission may pose a danger to minors or a risk of scandal to the community.” 

The February 2019 decree prohibited the sanctioned priest from formation communities. It is up to the reader to judge whether a youth oratory is compatible with either of those restrictions.

Asked about these appointments, the cardinal replies in his letter:

“Any reasonable person can understand that, with two thousand Salesian presences spread across 136 nations and with 16,000 Salesians at that time, it is altogether illogical to think that each of the Provincials (92 at that moment) must consult and inform the Superior General about the decisions he makes regarding each of the Salesians under his jurisdiction.”

The same letter states, however, a few lines earlier:

“Throughout this entire period and in the course of the whole process I have asked for information from the then Provincial, who has told me he met with P.M.A. 4 or 5 times during all this time.”

Both statements sit uneasily together: the volume argument describes the cases the Rector Major does not follow; this one, according to the letter itself, was followed “in the course of the whole process.” 

InfoVaticana asked the cardinal on what date he learned of the Tijuana appointment and the subsequent assignment as assistant director of another youth center, and what actions he took upon learning of each. So far the cardinal has not replied.

One further fact completes this chapter: the provincial who conducted the investigation, signed the decree, and under whose mandate the Tijuana appointment occurred, Hugo Orozco, was elected in 2020 a member of the congregation’s General Council, the worldwide governing body presided over by Artime. 

InfoVaticana asked whether at any time consideration was given to examining his handling of the case in accordance with Vos estis lux mundi or Como una madre amorosa. He has not replied.

The review after Vos estis

To InfoVaticana’s questionnaire on whether the case was reviewed after the entry into force of Vos estis lux mundi to verify its conformity with the Church’s universal standards, and whether its handling satisfied the diligence criteria of Como una madre amorosa, the cardinal answered: “The answer is affirmative in both cases.” 

The letter provides no date, body, act, or document of that review. It is worth recalling that the Tijuana appointment came after Vos estis entered into force.

The juridical framework, in two paragraphs

To assess all of the above, the reader must know two norms. Since the motu proprio Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela (2001), sexual abuse of a minor under 18 committed by a cleric is reserved to the Congregation—today Dicastery—for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the 2011 Circular ordered bishops and major superiors to send credible cases there, reserving to Rome the decision on prescription.

And since 2016, the motu proprio Como una madre amorosa—promulgated while this case was under instruction—establishes that major superiors of religious institutes, equated with bishops, may be removed from office for grave negligence in the exercise of their office; in matters of abuse of minors, the norm specifies, it is enough that the lack of diligence be grave, without need of intention or malice. 

Vos estis lux mundi (2019) added the obligation to investigate actions or omissions by superiors aimed at interfering with or evading investigations. These are the norms according to which any competent ecclesial instance would have to examine the handling of this case.

What remains open

The Ayala case today presents the following uncontested elements: a complaint deemed credible in 2016; an accused who admitted his guilt; a resolution without a penal process, adopted at the provincial level without referral to Rome according to the cardinal’s version; two subsequent assignments of the sanctioned priest to youth centers, the first after Vos estis came into force; and a victim who has not had full access to the file of his own case.

And it presents four questions whose answers lie in documents that exist and can be produced: the March 11, 2016 statement, which would say whether the events at age 15 formed part of the investigation; the possible protocol of referral to the CDF, which would settle which of the two versions about “Rome” is accurate; the record of the review after Vos estis that the cardinal claims was carried out; and the files of the Tijuana appointment and the second youth-center assignment.

InfoVaticana sent these questions to the cardinal in explicit form. At the close of this article, they have not received a response. 

Ángel Fernández Artime is today the Pro-Prefect of the dicastery that oversees consecrated life throughout the Church, the same body that would ordinarily be competent to examine the conduct of a superior general. 

The documents that would clear up each of the doubts set out here are in the archives of the congregation he governed for ten years. This editorial staff remains willing to publish in full whatever is provided to it.

21 bishops in 15 months: Leo XIV more than doubles Francis's pace of early departures

Pope Leo XIV has accumulated 21 early episcopal resignations during his first fifteen months as pontiff, compared to the 87 recorded during Francis’s slightly more than twelve years, according to an investigation by Rodolfo Soriano-Núñez published by Los Angeles Press. 

The study includes in this category departures that occurred before the ordinary retirement age, as well as other disciplinary measures and cases of bishops-elect who never received episcopal consecration. 

The figure represents a considerably higher rate than that recorded during the previous pontificate, although the Holy See does not publicly identify all these departures as forced resignations.

The investigation maintains that Francis forced 36 bishops out during his last two years and counts at least 87 cases throughout his pontificate. 

The acceleration had already begun before Leo XIV’s election: between 2023, 2024 and the first weeks of 2025, 30 resignations classified by the study as “early” or “forced” were documented, a period that coincides with Robert Prevost’s tenure at the Dicastery for Bishops.

Prevost’s role before becoming Pope

Francis brought Prevost from the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, to Rome at the beginning of 2023 to place him at the head of the body responsible, among other functions, for intervening in the complex process of selecting new bishops.

His position also gave him a relevant role in monitoring serving prelates. Soriano-Núñez therefore considers it “almost impossible” to understand the thirty early resignations recorded during Francis’s final years without taking into account the participation and opinion of the then-prefect.

The trend has intensified since his election as Pope. The 21 cases in fifteen months equate to an annualized rate of approximately 16.8 departures, compared to about 7.2 if the 87 cases attributed to Francis are spread across his slightly more than twelve years as pontiff.

The comparison requires caution: a complete pontificate is being contrasted with barely the first fifteen months of the current one. 

Nevertheless, the data do show that, so far, the rate under Leo XIV far exceeds the average of his predecessor.

From the American continent to Europe, Africa and Asia

The geographical distribution of these departures has also changed.

According to the investigation, during Francis’s pontificate they were concentrated especially in the Western Hemisphere. The United States, Argentina and Chile together accounted for more than 40% of the cases recorded.

Under Leo XIV, by contrast, Europe accounts for 42.9%, while cases have also spread across Francophone Africa and East Asia, which together represent another 33.3%.

The study uses early episcopal resignations as one of the indicators to examine structural problems in dioceses, including those related to sexual abuse and its cover-up. 

The method itself, however, requires distinguishing between the different cases: resignation before the age of 75 does not necessarily imply a sanction nor does it by itself prove the existence of irregularities.

Canon Law provides that a bishop may submit an early resignation due to illness or other grave cause, while at the age of 75 he must submit it to the Roman Pontiff.

When the appointment fails before consecration

One of the changes highlighted by Soriano-Núñez during the current pontificate occurs even before some candidates are consecrated bishops.

The investigation cites the cases of Krzysztof Dukielski, appointed to Radom, Poland; Matthew Choi Kwang-hee, named for Seoul, South Korea; and Gerardo Fortich Saco Jr., elected for Tagbilaran, Philippines. All three ultimately stepped aside before receiving episcopal consecration.

These episodes raise a different issue from the possible mismanagement of a bishop after years at the head of a diocese: the suitability of the candidate and the filters applied before making the appointment public.

Precisely the episcopal selection process was one of Prevost’s main responsibilities since his arrival at the Dicastery for Bishops. 

The body gathers and evaluates information on candidates before submitting proposals to the Pope, who ultimately makes the appointments.

The differences between an early resignation and a removal

The main difficulty in interpreting the figures lies in determining what actually happened behind each departure. 

Official announcements from the Holy See usually limit themselves to stating that the Pope has “accepted the resignation from pastoral governance” presented by a particular bishop, without necessarily specifying the circumstances that led to that decision.

For this reason, early resignation, forced resignation and removal are not equivalent terms.

A bishop may leave a diocese before the age of 75 due to illness, inability to continue performing his duties, personal reasons, governance difficulties or as a consequence of an intervention from Rome. 

The mere publication of an early resignation does not reveal which of these situations occurred unless additional information exists.

A recent example is Msgr. Karl-Heinz Wiesemann, bishop of Speyer, Germany, whose resignation Leo XIV accepted at the age of 66. 

In this case, the prelate himself publicly explained that episcopal responsibility had taken a serious toll on him physically and psychologically and that he had personally requested to step down.

The Los Angeles Press investigation precisely highlights the lack of public information as one of the obstacles to understanding the real scope of the problems that lead to early episcopal resignations. 

Soriano-Núñez links this opacity especially to the difficulty of measuring the incidence of sexual abuse and other governance problems within dioceses.

A problem that begins with selection

The succession of early resignations also raises a question about the very system by which Rome selects those who will later govern the dioceses. 

If a prelate must leave office only a few years after his appointment—or a candidate resigns even before receiving consecration—it is reasonable to ask to what extent the prior procedures adequately assessed his suitability and circumstances.

The increase did not begin with Leo XIV. The 30 cases recorded during 2023, 2024 and the first weeks of 2025 show that the trend had already accelerated during Francis’s final stage, precisely while Prevost headed the Dicastery for Bishops.

The first fifteen months of the new pontificate, however, show that this dynamic has not slowed. With 21 early departures recorded, Leo XIV so far maintains a rate more than twice the annual average registered during Francis’s pontificate. 

The specific nature of each case requires individual examination and does not allow them to be collectively labeled as removals, but the frequency of these departures once again places both the governance of dioceses and the process by which Rome chooses its bishops under scrutiny.

Churches apologise after graveside ornaments 'dumped in bin'

Churches in a York benefice have apologised after ornaments were removed from graves in a local churchyard and dumped in a bin.

Relatives of those buried at St Martin's Church in Hayton, near Pocklington say they’re “heartbroken” and “disgusted” after items including teddies were taken away by church wardens.

Diocese of York regulations state that certain items including garden ornaments, pictures or some artificial flowers and toys are not permitted on graves. 

But Pocklington Group of Churches said the Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the authority to apply the regulations locally. 

It is now planning to meet the affected families to hear their concerns, but accepted that some families may have wrongly believed it was OK to place the items on their loved one’s grave. 

It added: “We are sorry that the decision to remove these items was not carried out with the compassion families deserved.

"Immediate steps are being taken to establish what was removed and whether missing belongings can be located and returned."

Faye Smith who lost her baby in 2003 told the BBC: "It's heartbreaking to see that he's been here all 23 years with a little teddy at the side of his grave, and they've taken it away and smashed it up, but it isn't only that; it's what they've done to everybody else.

"It's heartbreaking that they can do this. To have no warning that they were going to do this, and actually just smash everything up and throw it away with no warning whatsoever."

Planning row as locals object to new pastoral centre and offices at landmark Cork church

A Catholic diocese has been embroiled in a planning row with locals, with a pastoral centre it hoped to build at a landmark church in Cork rejected following opposition from residents.

The Diocese of Cork and Ross is hoping to build a three-storey pastoral centre containing offices, meeting rooms and communal facilities on lands it owns at The Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, Dennehy’s Cross, Model Farm Road, in Cork city.

The large church is a protected structure and “local landmark building”, known for its large dome roof and tall flanking side towers.

The proposed project sparked a backlash from the Dennehy’s Cross Action Group, which submitted a formal objection signed by 54 residents. It followed the diocese submitting a planning application for the pastoral hub last December.

“Regretfully, the neighbourhood of the church believes this structure proposed is gross and totally out of character for the area,” the objection said. “We regard this church and its curtilage as our church community ‘green space’ and residential amenity.

“This planning application is not a community initiative, but rather it’s the hierarchy of the church diocesan authorities imposing what is essentially a commercial office-type premises on us.

“We see it as the outsiders imposing what takes from our amenity values and open space and to the viewing of the church itself, which is a protected structure.”

The planning application was recently rejected by Cork City Council. 

In the decision, planning authorities noted that the proposed development had failed to “respect the character and significance of the protected structure”.

“The proposed development would therefore have an adverse visual impact on the setting of the protected structure, would detract from local views of this landmark structure within the locality, and would seriously injure the visual amenities of the area,” they said.

Other individual objections were filed against the proposed building. Most of these listed concerns over blocking sunlight, the removal of green space, loss of privacy and the availability of parking.

A spokesman for the Catholic Diocese for Cork and Ross told the Irish Independent that it was “actively considering” an appeal of the rejection.

“This was actually a diocesan centre, a building that is being proposed which would serve all of the parishes, not just the one in Dennehy’s Cross,” he said.

“The hope is that it would be a resource building to provide training to a lot of people, lay people especially, as the church evolves into the future to help people to participate in leadership, ministry and a whole host of other roles in the diocese.

The bishop’s advisers and the trustees’ advisers have to make a decision now... but the project is still alive

“The reason this particular site was chosen was because it is owned by the diocese already, and it is very central and accessible from all the surrounding parishes and from the rural parts of the diocese.

“The concept of the pastoral centre is still active. The bishop’s advisers and the trustees’ advisers have to make a decision now in the light of the council’s refusal of permission as to what next steps might be taken. But the project is still alive.”

The pastoral centre would accommodate a range of functions, including education, youth ministry, safeguarding, communications and the Bishop’s office, according to a planning report seen by the Irish Independent.

The planning report also noted the project would look to include new green areas to compensate for the loss of the previous ones.

Dennehy’s Cross was recently the subject of a separate planning row.

In January, An Coimisiún Pleanála granted permission for a new multi-storey residential development and artisan food market at the long-vacant Dennehy’s Cross Garage, close to the Church. 

The part three and part five-storey residential development will comprise 30 apartments.

The site is also set to be redeveloped into a complex with planning for a cafe/restaurant on the ground floor level and an artisan food market also approved.

The plans were lodged by Galway firm Dennehy’s Cross Construction Ltd, which is headed by Brian McHugh, Finian Hanley and Finn Hill, according to the Irish Examiner.

The plans were approved by Cork City Council in May 2024, but were met by opposition by the Dennehy’s Cross Action Group.

The group collected 124 signatures of local residents objecting to the scheme. It claimed the proposed structure, which it branded a “monstrosity”, was totally out of character with the area and would result in “a visual blight on this pleasant suburban streetscape”.

Despite the objections, An Coimisiún Pleanála approved the plans, granting permission with revised conditions for the development. 

These included that no part of the ground floor retail unit shall be used as a hot-food or fast-food takeaway outlet, each residential unit shall be used as a single dwelling and not be sub-divided, and public lighting shall be provided along pedestrian routes through open spaces. 

Former priest and confessed rapist Geoff Drew released from prison to Cincinnati halfway house Monday

A former priest and confessed rapist was released from prison on Monday morning after completing his 7-year sentence, and authorities are warning the public that he is still very dangerous.

Geoff Drew was released from the Noble Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison for men in rural Noble County between 8:30 and 8:45 a.m., according to an Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokesperson.

Now Drew is set to live in a two-story halfway house in Over-the-Rhine, Volunteers of America, a re-entry program on W. McMicken Avenue that currently houses 35 registered sex offenders, according to the Ohio sex offender locator website.

“He mastered his craft,” said retired Cincinnati police detective Dana Jones, who led the case against Drew with Green Township police detective James Conforti. “His title of being a priest gave him the arrogance and the confidence to have his victims submit to him in a way that I haven’t seen before,” Jones said. “I don’t think our community is safe with him out. They’re going to be at risk. People will be at risk. Young men will be at risk.”

Jones spoke publicly for the first time about Drew for a new WCPO 9 I-Team podcast, What They Knew: The Father Geoff Drew Investigation.

New episodes of the podcast will be released on Tuesday and Thursday mornings on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Former Madison priest surrenders on new warrant for grooming, bail jumping

A former Madison priest already facing child sex crime charges in Waupaca County is now accused of attempted grooming of a child for sexual activity and bail jumping in Marathon County.

Andrew Showers, 38, turned himself in Friday after a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to the Diocese of Madison. 

Court records list the offense date in the new case as March 8, 2026, which is after Showers’ August 2025 arrest in Clintonville.

Showers was first arrested in Clintonville after police said he believed he was communicating with a 14-year-old girl in an online undercover investigation. 

He is facing charges in Waupaca County including child pornography, attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child, attempted child enticement and attempting to use a computer to facilitate a child sex crime. He has pleaded not guilty.

The diocese says the new Marathon County complaint, filed Thursday, also stems from an online undercover investigation involving an officer posing as a 15-year-old girl.

“The allegations of attempted grooming of a child for sexual activity and bail jumping are once again incredibly disturbing and, if proven, represent behavior we unequivocally condemn,” the diocese said in a statement.

Following his 2025 arrest, the Diocese of Madison restricted Showers from public ministry. 

In June, Pope Leo XIV granted Showers’ request to be released from the clerical state, meaning he can no longer serve as a priest or perform acts of ministry.

“We are appalled and deeply distressed by these additional charges and continue to pray for anyone affected by this profoundly troubling situation,” the diocese said.

Former priest who inappropriately texted underage girl leaves Syracuse Diocese

A 39-year-old man, who previously worked in the Syracuse Catholic Diocese and was convicted of inappropriately messaging an underage girl, has officially left the priesthood.

Nathan W. Brooks, 39, was accused in 2024 of grooming, touching and messaging an underage girl since she was 14 years old. The incidents happened between 2019 and 2021, authorities said.

At the time, Brooks was a priest in the Syracuse Catholic Diocese and working as an administrator at the Church of the Nativity at St. Joseph in LaFayette, Immaculate Conception in Pompey, St. Leo in Tully and St. Patrick Mission in Otisco.

When the allegations came out, he was placed on administrative leave and removed him from all public priestly duties pending the outcomes of the criminal and internal investigations.

In a news release Thursday, the Syracuse Diocese announced Brooks is no longer a priest.

“After further investigation, the Diocesan Review Board advised [Bishop Douglas J. Lucia] that the allegations were credible and substantiated,” the statement said.

After the internal investigation was complete, Brooks ultimately decided to petition the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine for the Faith to be removed from the clergy, according to the diocese.

Danielle Cummings, a spokesperson for the diocese, said he was “laicized” and he can’t have a position in the church.

His removal went into effect on Aug. 7, the statement said.

Brooks pleaded guilty to one count of endangering the welfare of a child on Dec. 17, 2024.

He admitted to inappropriately messaging the victim throughout 2020 and 2021, according to a news release from the Cortland County District Attorney’s Office.

He was sentenced to probation.

He was arrested in September 2023 and accused of touching a young girl between 2019 and 2021 as well as texting the teen “flirty” messages, according to court documents filed in Homer Town Court.

He was also charged in Cortland City Court. He was accused of having inappropriate contact with a minor on a bus for a church-sponsored trip.

Ultimately, the Cortland County district attorney could not prosecute those charges because the trip originated in Onondaga County. The forcible touching charges were dropped as a result.

The charges were filed after the victim, who had turned 18, came forward to police with concerns that Brooks may be inappropriately interacting with other young girls, according to a deposition the girl gave to the Cortland County Sheriff’s Office.

At the time, The DA’s office said that the diocese disclosed the allegations late, failed to confirm the submission of the reported incident to law enforcement and minimized the conduct of the offender.

The diocese said in a statement they received the report on June 28, 2023 and submitted a letter containing the complaint to the police on July 1, 2023.

In its statement Thursday, the Diocese said it is “fully committed to protecting the young and vulnerable.”

‘Hot new baby’: Pedophile former Catholic priest willing to pay child $50 for sex

A former Catholic priest who said he was looking for a “hot new baby” was willing to pay a child $50 for sex before he was caught in a police sting, a court has been told.

Guy Norman Hartcher, 79, admitted to a raft of child abuse offences including three counts of procuring teenagers to engage in sex and eight counts of transmitting, accessing or soliciting child abuse material (CAM) using a carriage service.

The former Catholic priest used online messaging applications to speak with a series of people both in Australia and overseas about child sexual activity, with Hartcher transmitting and receiving a series of CAM – including 32 images relating to children aged between five and 15 – as well as videos throughout 2024.

Then aged 77, he wrote “depraved”, “highly offensive, descriptive CAM” that included “highly sexualised content including detailed graphic descriptions of children engaging in sexual acts”, Judge Phillip Mahony SC told the NSW District Court on Friday.

This included a text Hartcher sent which stated: “I’m looking for a hot new baby”.

Much of Hartcher’s offending is too distressing to publish.

His web of child abuse was unravelled when he began speaking with a user by the name of Ben, who told Hartcher he was “nearly 15”.

In reality, Ben was a police officer from the NSW Child Exploitation Sex Crimes Squad.

Hartcher sent several sexualised messages and CAM images to “Ben” before they agreed to meet up on December 23, 2024 in Pendle Hill in Greater Western Sydney.

When police approached his car, Hartcher said “I thought I was meeting this fellow, Ben, who I met online”.

“I knew he was underage and I’m assuming he is not here, and I’m assuming he is you,” Hartcher told officers during his arrest.

Hartcher later said he did not believe Ben was 14 and that he “wanted to meet him solely to talk”, according to a sentencing assessment report summarised in court, with the former priest describing his actions as “dangerously stupid”.

Hartcher was also going to give one of the alleged victims $50 to meet up for sex, the court was told, and in another instance he replied “f**k baby you are so hot” when he was sent an image of an exposed female child.

“It is pernicious offending which involves callous and predatory conduct towards the most vulnerable people in the community,” Judge Mahony said.

He branded the dissemination of CAM a “callous and predatory crime” given that it comes into existence by way of exploiting children.

“It is not a victimless crime,” Judge Mahony said.

Hartcher will spend at least three years behind bars after Judge Mahony sentenced him to an overall term of six years and six months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of three years.

Hartcher had said his behaviour was driven by a need for “sexual resurrection” according to a sentencing assessment report, with the former priest also telling a psychiatrist that it “was all fantasy”.

Judge Mahony accepted Hartcher feels “great shame” over his offending and that impaired judgment arising from an acquired brain injury he acquired in 2002 contributed to his offending behaviour, along with his intellectual decline.

He also found that he “had a clear interest in pedophilia”.

However, this does not justify the “significant depravity” of the offending, Judge Mahony ruled.

Hartcher was escorted out of the courtroom by corrective services officers.

He will be eligible for release on parole in August 2029, and will be subject to a registrable person order for a period of 15 years.

The staff and the whip…..(Contribution)

A few days ago, I received this interesting article: “When the crozier becomes a whip” (published on June 16, 2025 on ataquealpoder.es). 

It is a harsh, sarcastic, and necessary critique of what the author considers a “widespread and structural practice” in the Church: the silent, methodical, and piously justified mistreatment of priests by their bishops. 

It is presented under the guise of “canonical discernment,” “pastoral accompaniment,” or “integral care for the presbyter,” but it produces deeply destructive consequences.

The denunciation targets the Archbishop of Oviedo, who sent a message to Father “Lito,” Manuel García Velasco. 

During an illness, the archbishop fraternally encouraged the presbyter in his suffering; however, between the lines, he invited him to retire, leave his home, and withdraw from ministry. 

The author presents it as an example of “digital pastoral care” that replaces face-to-face conversation with a mobile message that pushes the priest toward ecclesial irrelevance.

The author of this account warns that priests who think, speak, question, or have social and theological sensitivity are labeled as “troublesome.” 

In contrast, those who are obedient without judgment, submissive, and who repeat the official narrative are considered “exemplary pastors.” 

Vocation or charism is not valued, only obedience, ideally tinged with fear.

The article does not reveal what happened to Father Lito, but the singular opinion denounces the enormous gap between the discourse of mercy and synodality and the actual practice of power in particular dioceses and archdioceses, using concrete examples and deliberately provocative language to highlight what it considers a betrayal of the original meaning of the episcopal ministry.

In short, the metaphor of the crozier turned into a whip.

The full article can be read below as it was published on ataquealpoder.es

In the Church, where fraternal love, forgiveness, mercy, and pastoral accompaniment are preached, there is a very widespread practice, though carefully disguised as “canonical discernment”: the silent, methodical, and piously justified mistreatment of priests by their bishops. 

In many cases, it is a subtle but devastating violence, exercised from above with white gloves and episcopal smiles, yet with deeply destructive consequences.

Special mention should be made of those bishops who come from religious orders, supposedly trained in community life, shared obedience, and listening to the Spirit. 

How curious that, once vested with the mitre and crozier, they seem to forget all that. 

The charism disappears, humility fades, and the only thing that remains is authority… well understood as a tool of control.

These bishops, trained in the liturgy of conventual silence, arrive in the diocese like someone landing in a 19th-century African colony: they do not understand the language, they do not know the culture, but they have orders to carry out and structures to impose. 

 They surround themselves with loyal courtiers, issue decrees in sweetened and merciful language, and deploy all their capacity for “accompaniment” with a lapidary phrase: “after deep pastoral discernment, it has been deemed appropriate to dispense with his services.”

This is how many priests are “accompanied” today: with forced transfers, unsigned letters, cold calls, premature retirements, or simply with absolute administrative silence.

The case of Rafael Palomino is already paradigmatic. 

A committed priest, with a solid pastoral trajectory, independent thought, and a critical sensibility, he became inconvenient for doing what should be normal: thinking out loud, questioning the obvious, expressing in conscience what many keep silent out of fear. 

His bishop’s response? 

Not dialogue, but sudden removal. Of course, with a merciful tone, impeccable form, and institutional piety. Not a stain, not a sound, not a word too many. Only a clear conclusion: better out than in.

But the irony peaks with the episode of the “priest Lito,” Manuel García Velasco, to whom his archbishop, Jesús Sanz Montes, sent a WhatsApp message during his illness to convey his “fraternal encouragement.” 

And yes, it was fraternal: because the same message included, between the lines, the invitation to retire, leave his home, and withdraw from ministry. What a detail! 

It cannot be denied that digital pastoral care is on the rise. 

In the absence of face-to-face conversation, a mobile message is enough to “accompany” a priest on his way to ecclesial irrelevance. All with affection, of course. 

Because in this Church, abandonment is also managed with emojis.

All of this, of course, is done invoking the name of Christ, ecclesial communion, and “integral care for the presbyter.” What fine sarcasm: the care consists of leaving him without a parish, without a community, without a space, and, if lucky, with a modest pension. 

But always maintaining the paternalistic tone that envelops everything. 

Because in the Church, even contempt comes wrapped in liturgical cellophane.

Priests who think, who speak, who question, who have social or theological sensitivity, are seen as “troublesome.” 

In contrast, those who are obedient without judgment, submissive without soul, those who repeat the official narrative in a monotone voice, those are indeed “exemplary pastors.” 

There is no need for vocation; it is enough to have obedience and, if possible, a little fear.

The problem is not anecdotal; it is structural. It is not that there is a clueless or authoritarian bishop: it is that there is a system that protects power and leaves people unprotected. 

Dioceses become small fiefdoms where the bishop acts like a medieval lord, surrounded by a court of vicars, delegates, and secretaries who shield his figure and prevent any criticism. 

And if any priest, naively, expects dialogue, he will only find closed windows, scripted phrases, and decisions already made.

Meanwhile, the faithful watch the spectacle with bewilderment. They wonder why priests they admired disappear, why living parishes are closed, why voices that gave hope are silenced. 

And the answer never comes, because in this Church much is said about synodality, but little is practiced. Listening is preached, but silence is enforced. Fraternity is proclaimed, but punishment is applied.

The Church that punishes its own priests with a white glove is digging its own grave. Not because of external persecution, nor secularization, nor ideological conspiracies. 

But because it has turned the crozier, a symbol of guidance and care, into a sophisticated whip with which to mark territory and crush dissent.

And as a theological-pastoral conclusion, it is worth remembering that the episcopal crozier, a symbol of the shepherd who guides, was designed to protect the sheep, not to strike them. 

But in certain offices, its function has been reinterpreted: it is no longer a tool of shepherding, but an institutional rod of correction. If a sheep strays, it is not sought: it is sanctioned. If it speaks, it is silenced. 

If it falls ill, it is thanked via WhatsApp. And if it dies, a brief note is dedicated on the diocesan website. 

What a beautiful ministry, striking in the name of the Good Shepherd! Ironies of the Spirit.

The "Seoul model": prayer and lay support behind an archdiocese with more than a thousand priests

While numerous dioceses face a sustained decline in vocations, the Archdiocese of Seoul, South Korea, maintains a presbyterate of more than a thousand priests and a lay structure dedicated for half a century to supporting vocations through prayer, financial assistance to seminarians, and formation. 

Following the new ordinations celebrated in February 2026, the number of priests belonging to the archdiocese rose from 994 to 1,009.

The current figure updates a milestone reached the previous year. 

On February 7, 2025, 26 new priests were ordained—25 from the archdiocese and one from the Redemptoris Mater seminary—bringing Seoul to the symbolic number of one thousand presbyters. The local Church also counts more than 1.5 million Catholics.

Fifty years of praying and funding the formation of seminarians

One of Seoul’s distinctive features is the Association for the Support of Vocations, founded on April 17, 1975. It began as a small support group for seminarians, promoted by seminary staff and fifteen lay women, under the spiritual direction of Father Kim Deok-jae. In 1977 it adopted its current name and became linked to the Archdiocese’s Department of Vocations.

Its activity has been sustained for five decades on three pillars. Its members pray and offer Masses for vocations, make contributions to cover the studies and maintenance of seminarians, and receive formation to continue promoting priestly vocations in their communities.

The Archbishop of Seoul, Peter Chung Soon-taick, highlighted the role of this network during the Mass celebrated in April 2025 for its 50th anniversary, attended by around 700 people.

“This growth would not have been possible without the grace of God and without the dedicated efforts of the priests and members who have served in this mission,” Chung noted.

The archbishop also summarized the principle that has guided the association’s work: “A vocation is a gift given by God, but it is also a gift that must be nourished and cultivated so that it may flourish”.

A Church that was born without priests

The importance that the laity has had in promoting vocations is linked to the very origins of Korean Catholicism. The Church in South Korea has the peculiarity of having begun to develop at the end of the 18th century through the initiative of laypeople who came to know Christianity through books that arrived from China.

Without priests at first, those early Catholics studied the doctrine, were baptized, and formed communities while awaiting the arrival of missionaries. Subsequent persecutions left around 10,000 martyrs, whose witness continues to occupy a central place in the identity of Korean Catholicism.

Among them is Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon, the first Korean priest, ordained in 1845 and martyred the following year at the age of 25. The growth of Seoul’s clergy to surpass one thousand therefore occurred barely 180 years after that first ordination.

The number of seminarians is also falling in Korea

Seoul’s figures do not mean, however, that the South Korean Church has remained unaffected by the vocational crisis. Archbishop Chung himself warned during the association’s anniversary that a “constant decline in priestly vocations” is currently being recorded and called for intensified prayer and support from parishes and communities.

National data show a considerable drop. In 2013 there were 1,264 candidates for the priesthood in the Korean dioceses; ten years later, 790 remained—approximately 40% fewer. This is compounded by South Korea’s demographic crisis, whose fertility rate is among the lowest in the world.

The weight of Catholicism is also diminishing among younger generations. According to statistics from the Korean Episcopal Conference cited by the Fides Agency, Catholics represented 11.5% of the country’s population, but the percentage was significantly lower among children and adolescents.

Seoul’s case thus combines a still-numerous presbyterate with clear signs of vocational decline. In the face of this trend, the archdiocese maintains a formula that predates the current crisis by decades: constant prayer for vocations, direct involvement of the laity, and material support for those who enter the seminary.

The South Korean Church will also be especially exposed to international attention in 2027, when Seoul will host the next World Youth Day.

Pope Leo XIV warns in the Angelus against a faith based on "hearsay": "It is not enough to proceed as we have always done"

Pope Leo XIV warned this Sunday, August 23, against the risk of turning faith into a habit and settling for a Christian experience based on what has been “heard said.” 

During his reflection before the Angelus prayer, before the faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican, the Pope commented on Christ’s question to his disciples—“But who do you say that I am?” (Mt 16:15)—and stated that every Christian needs to continually rediscover the face of Christ, deepen their understanding of his Gospel, and renew their decisions to make them consistent with the faith they profess.

The Pontiff extended this reflection “to the path of the Church and to pastoral decisions”, where he warned that sometimes people think “it is enough to proceed as we have always done,” and called for remaining open to new paths and decisions. 

After the Angelus, Pope Leo XIV requested a response from the international community to the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, remembered the victims of a mine collapse in Zamboyé, in the Central African Republic, and prayed for those who died and were affected by the earthquake that struck central Italy ten years ago.

Following are the words of Pope Leo XIV:

Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday!

This Sunday’s Gospel (Mt 16:13-20) presents us with a question that challenges each of us on our journey of faith: who is Jesus really for me?

From the Gospel account, we understand how decisive this question is for the experience of discipleship. Indeed, although the twelve apostles had already shared much of the Master’s life and ministry, Jesus did not want to take for granted that they truly knew him and had understood the mystery of the Kingdom of God. Therefore, after asking what people thought about him, he turns directly to them: “But who do you say that I am?” (Mt 16:15).

Brothers and sisters, this is a fundamental step for disciples of all times, for each one of us. Faith, in fact, is not given to us once and for all; on the contrary, we always need to rediscover the face of Christ and his Gospel, to deepen his message and renew the decisions of our lives, so that they may be consistent with what we profess, overcoming the temptation to think we already know everything and to make faith a habit.

The question that is posed to us each day—who Jesus is for me and what his presence means in my life—arises especially in prayer and when we meditate on the Gospel; but also when we encounter the wounds and needs of our brothers and sisters, or in relationships and situations that most challenge our conscience. In the field of our life, ultimately, we can verify whether for us the Lord Jesus is merely a great figure in history who said and did important things, or the Christ of God, the One who was sent to bring us into the love of the Father and to transform our life and the world in which we live.

Dear friends, let us learn not to close ourselves off in our religious convictions and certainties, so as to remain open to an authentic relationship with Christ. Sometimes, with regard to the Christian faith, we settle for what we have “heard said,” with commonplaces, with what has been handed down to us perhaps even with good intentions; but Jesus calls us to a personal response, to know him closely, to allow ourselves to be penetrated by friendship with him, in an ever-new encounter that may even ask us to take unfamiliar paths and make decisions different from those we had imagined.

This applies both to our personal journey and to the journey of the Church and to pastoral decisions, where sometimes we think it is enough to proceed as we have always done. It is important, instead, to ask ourselves frequently: who is the Lord for me? Do I truly know him? What does his Gospel ask of me today? What steps and what decisions should I take?

Let us invoke the Virgin Mary, who in her heart sought the will of God through her Son, that she may always guide us on the path of faith.

After the Angelus

Dear brothers and sisters:

In my prayer I often remember the Democratic Republic of the Congo, especially because of the spread of the Ebola epidemic which, unfortunately, is claiming many victims. I encourage a response from the international community that also involves local communities in prevention efforts, to save many human lives.

I am also close to the people of the Central African Republic, who mourn the victims of the collapse that occurred in a mine in Zamboyé. May the Lord welcome those who have lost their lives and support efforts to ensure the safety and legality of mining sites.

Tomorrow marks the tenth anniversary of the earthquake that struck central Italy, between Lazio, Umbria, and the Marches. I pray for the deceased and their families, and for all the affected communities. May faith and solidarity continue to support the work of reconstruction.

I greet with affection all of you, Romans and pilgrims from different countries.

In particular, I welcome the Primatial Choir of the Cathedral of Gniezno, in Poland; as well as the seminarians and superiors of the Pontifical North American College; and the young people from Bormio and Valfurva, in Lombardy (Italy).

I wish you all a happy Sunday!

Pope Leo XIV to Communion and Liberation: "Synodality is not the name of a process, but the nature of a people"

Pope Leo XIV dedicated the afternoon of Saturday, August 22 to Rimini, in Emilia-Romagna (Italy), where he participated in the 47th Meeting for Friendship among Peoples, organized by Communion and Liberation, met with the sick, persons with disabilities and the poor assisted by Caritas, and presided over Holy Mass in the port area. 

Before the participants of the Meeting, the Pontiff addressed the identity and renewal of ecclesial movements, synodality, unity with the Church and evangelization in secularized societies, as well as warning against ideology in education, the idolatry of profit and the “businesses of death”.

In his address, Pope Leo XIV expressly exhorted the members of Communion and Liberation to “always love the Church” and preserve unity with those called to lead the movement, with the Apostolic See and with the Successor of Peter. 

The Pope affirmed that “synodality is not the name of a process, but the nature of a people” and maintained that this path also requires the renewal of ecclesial associations and movements. 

Later, during the Mass celebrated in the port of Rimini, he recalled that authority within the Church must be understood as service and pointed to the Pope, bishops, priests and deacons as the first called to exercise it in that way.

“Freeing education from ideology”

In the Rimini fairgrounds, Pope Leo XIV started from the international situation and the need for a “social friendship” capable of overcoming divisions and conflicts. He recalled that “before borders, definitions and institutions there are always persons” and presented the encounter between human beings as a central dimension of the Christian experience.

The Pope then contrasted what he called “false realism” that “rearms minds, words and nations” with the “realism of mercy.” According to him, for the Christian “there can be no enemies” and even adversaries must be considered brothers and sisters to be looked in the eye and encountered in truth.

In one of the most forceful passages of the speech, Pope Leo XIV called for a conversion that reaches social, economic and technological structures:

“Let us therefore free coexistence from distrust, culture from arrogance, education from ideology, work from the idolatry of profit, and technology and finance from the businesses of death”.

The Pontiff also called for “unmasking unjust relations of power,” which he placed at the root of poverty, inequalities, war and environmental disasters, and urged to “disarm technological development when it becomes omnipresent and destructive”.

Young people: “The future is a promise, not a threat”

Pope Leo XIV devoted a significant part of his address to the numerous young people present, many of them volunteers at the Meeting. “You are the sign that the future is a promise, not a threat!”, he told them.

The Pope asked them to open themselves to a “true catholicity” and to prevent their belonging to movements or communities from ending up enclosing them in too narrow spheres:

“The Movement, the groups, the communities be a springboard from which to launch yourselves into all reality”.

He also exhorted them to oppose anything that seeks to distance them from persons “of different cultures, sensibilities and backgrounds, especially the poorest,” and encouraged them to go out to meet everyone.

He also maintained that Christian love excludes any form of coercion: “In love there is never coercion or indoctrination; there is never seduction, deception or recruitment”. Love, he added, only exists “in freedom, in living confrontation, in the generous gift of oneself.”

Thousands of young people request Baptism in secularized societies

The Pontiff also dwelt on a phenomenon he linked to the contemporary search for meaning. He pointed out that it is currently surprising for many that young people adhere to Christ, feel attracted by his Word and belong to the Church.

“It is not a question of numbers, although the thousands of your contemporaries who request Baptism in societies considered among the most secularized in the world are moving. It is a question of freedom: truth is found only in freedom.”

Pope Leo XIV added that “a certain loss of influence” that adults “perhaps have feared and fought” can allow a better appreciation of “the power of the Gospel”, the bonds it generates and the life it brings forth.

In that context he took up a well-known formulation used by his predecessors: “The Church does not proselytize. It grows rather by attraction.”

“Always love the Church”

Toward the end of his speech, Pope Leo XIV directed a specific exhortation to Communion and Liberation:

“Dear friends, always love the Church! Love and preserve unity.”

The Pope immediately reiterated the request—“Always love the Church!”—and called for preserving “the unity of the ‘company’ through which Christ has reached you and draws you to himself.”

Pope Leo XIV recalled at this point some words of Francis spoken in 2022, on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Fr. Luigi Giussani, founder of Communion and Liberation. Francis had then pointed out that difficult moments could also become “moments of grace” and rebirth and had recalled that Giussani faced the stages of change in the movement “with evangelical courage, trust in Christ and in communion with the mother Church.”

“Synodality is not the name of a process”

Pope Leo XIV then placed this call to unity within the Church’s synodal journey. He pointed out that in recent years “the synodal and missionary dimension of our being Church” has been rediscovered, which requires, above all, learning to listen to one another.

The Pontiff acknowledged that the gift of listening “has often been lost in some sectors of the Church” and called for recovering the listening of the Word of God, mutual listening and also the wisdom that can be found in those who seek the truth even though “they are not yet, and perhaps never will be, members of the Church.”

He applied this reflection directly to ecclesial movements:

“It is a path that also requires the renewal of every associative reality and ecclesial movement.”

The Pope invited the members of Communion and Liberation, both within the movement and in their respective particular Churches, to experience this “walking together,” in which each one listens and allows himself to be transformed by the faith of the other and, “under the guidance of the pastors”, mature new decisions and “courageous obediences to the Holy Spirit.”

It was then that he formulated one of the main ecclesiological affirmations of his address:

“Synodality is not the name of a process, but the nature of a people who, in friendship and in encounter with the other, feel that they belong only to God.”

According to Pope Leo XIV, from this perspective “authority becomes service”, which respects differences and facilitates their harmony.

The Pope concluded this part with a concrete indication to Communion and Liberation: to cultivate unity among its members, “with those called to guide the Movement, with the Apostolic See that has recognized you and with the Successor of Peter.”

The sick, persons with disabilities and the poor “at the center”

After his participation in the Meeting, Pope Leo XIV moved to the Cathedral of Rimini, where he held a meeting with the sick, persons with disabilities and the poor assisted by Caritas.

The Pope recalled that Jesus, when he encountered sick, disabled or poor persons, “welcomed them and placed them at the center” in order to heal them and restore to them a life in accordance with their dignity.

Pope Leo XIV encouraged them to participate actively in the life of the Church, both in parishes and in associations and places of welcome and service, and exhorted them to allow themselves to be healed, forgiven and converted by Christ in order then to “walk together in his Church.”

“In the Church, at all levels, authority is service”

The day concluded with Holy Mass celebrated in the port of Rimini, attended by some 25,000 people, according to the Holy See Press Office.

In his homily, Pope Leo XIV started from the passage of the Gospel of Saint Matthew in which Christ gives the keys to Peter to reflect on the exercise of authority:

“In the Church, at all levels, authority is service.”

The Pontiff expressly applied this principle to those who exercise the ordained ministry: “The Pope, the bishops, the priests and the deacons are the first called to live it this way”, to which the entire People of God must be joined according to the particular vocation of each one.

Pope Leo XIV subsequently developed his reflection from the biblical figure of Shebna, an official to whom King Hezekiah had entrusted an important project of religious, moral and social renewal of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah.

According to the Pope, Shebna, “out of ambition and greed,” began to abuse the authority received, accumulating riches “for himself and for his circle of friends and relatives” and lording it over persons. He had forgotten that economic means and power were to be placed at the service of the renewal and good of the entire community.

“For this reason he was removed and his mission entrusted to Eliakim, an honest man free of conditioning.”

For Pope Leo XIV, the passage contains a precise teaching: “All that we are and have is a gift from God” and has been entrusted to man to become, in his hands, an instrument of salvation and justice for others.

A warning about certain forms of leisure

In the final part of the homily, the Pope also referred to Rimini’s condition as an important tourist destination on the Adriatic coast and encouraged the Catholic community to ensure that the territory is welcoming not only for rest and entertainment, but also “for the spirit.”

Pope Leo XIV warned that the contemporary world offers numerous forms of entertainment, some of which “lead rather to dispersion and ruin” than to a true return to oneself and “leave emptiness in the heart.”

Faced with a conception of leisure as “escape,” as if “ordinary life were a prison from which to flee,” the Pontiff pointed out that true rest and the encounter with God are not found “outside, in the chaos,” but “within us, in the depths of the soul.”

The Eucharistic celebration brought to an end Pope Leo XIV’s pastoral visit to Rimini. The Pope departed by helicopter from the port at 8:20 p.m. to return to the Vatican, after a day that had begun in the morning with his visit to the Republic of San Marino.