Por Cindy Wooden BEIRUT (CNS) – Reconociendo la existencia de “circunstancias muy complejas, conflictivas e inciertas”, el Papa León XIV llegó a Líbano predicando la paz. Apenas una semana antes de la llegada del pontífice, el 30 de noviembre, Israel había lanzado su último ataque contra el Líbano, matando a un comandante de Hezbolá y a cuatro militantes en un suburbio de Beirut. Tras un vuelo de dos horas desde Estambul, el Papa León fue recibido en el aeropuerto de Beirut por el presidente libanés Joseph Aoun, el primer ministro Nawaf Salam y el cardenal Bechara Rai, patriarca de la Iglesia católica maronita, la más grande de las iglesias católicas del Líbano. Tras una salva de 21 cañonazos y la interpretación de los himnos del Líbano y del Vaticano, se dirigieron al palacio presidencial de Beirut.
Pope Leo XIV delivers a reflection during an ecumenical and interreligious meeting in Martyrs’ Square in Beirut, Lebanon, Dec. 1, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Cientos de personas se alinearon en las calles cercanas al palacio presidencial para ver al Papa, y muchas se quedaron incluso cuando comenzó a llover intensamente. La lluvia tampoco impidió que un grupo de baile actuara fuera del palacio interpretando una danza tradicional llamada “dabke”. Tras las reuniones privadas, el presidente y el Papa se dirigieron a unos 400 funcionarios gubernamentales, así como a líderes religiosos, empresariales, culturales y cívicos. Sin mencionar a Israel por su nombre, el Papa León elogió al pueblo libanés como “un pueblo que no se rinde, sino que, ante las pruebas, siempre sabe renacer con valentía”. “Su resiliencia es una característica imprescindible de los auténticos constructores de paz: la obra de la paz, en efecto, es un continuo recomenzar”, dijo el Santo Padre. “El compromiso y el amor por la paz no conocen el miedo ante las aparentes derrotas, no se dejan doblegar por las decepciones, sino que saben ver más allá, acogiendo y abrazando con esperanza todas las realidades”. “Se necesita tenacidad para construir la paz”, dijo el Papa León. “Se necesita perseverancia para engendrar vida y custodiarla”.
Fátima Bosch Fernández, de México, reacciona junto a otras concursantes tras ser coronada Miss Universo 2025 durante el 74.º certamen de Miss Universo celebrado en Bangkok el 21 de noviembre. (Foto de OSV News/Chalinee Thirasupa, Reuters)
NACIÓN WASHINGTON (OSV News) – La mayoría de los latinos del país desaprueban las políticas económicas y migratorias de línea dura del presidente Donald Trump, y más de la mitad temen que ellos o un ser querido puedan ser deportados, incluyendo aproximadamente uno de cada tres puertorriqueños, que son ciudadanos estadounidenses por nacimiento. Además, casi tres cuartas partes (71%) de los latinos del país creen que la administración Trump está actuando de forma excesiva en sus campañas de deportación, lo que supone un aumento con respecto al 59% registrado en febrero. Los resultados fueron publicados el 24 de noviembre por el Pew Research Center en un informe basado en datos de dos encuestas bilingües realizadas en septiembre y octubre. La tendencia se observa en varios grupos demográficos, según Pew, que descubrió que el 75% de los católicos latinos y el 58 % de los protestantes latinos desaprueban la labor de Trump. En materia de inmigración, el 70% de los católicos hispanos y el 55% de los evangélicos hispanos dijeron que desaprueban las políticas de la administración Trump. Los datos se dan a conocer pocos días después de que la Conferencia Católica de Obispos de Estados Unidos emitiera un mensaje pastoral especial sobre inmigración, respaldado por el papa León XIV, en el que se afirma “nuestra preocupación por los inmigrantes” en medio de la campaña de Trump contra la inmigración. Pew afirma en su informe que “los latinos se han vuelto pesimistas en el año transcurrido desde las elecciones presidenciales de 2024” y que “la mayoría afirma que su situación en Estados Unidos ha empeorado”. La mayoría de los latinos (59%) afirma haber visto u oído hablar de detenciones o redadas del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas – que la administración Trump ha llevado a cabo en todo el país – en su comunidad durante los últimos seis meses.
VATICANO CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) – Una comisión creada por el Papa Francisco para estudiar la cuestión de las “mujeres diaconisas” ha votado en contra de la posibilidad de ordenar a las mujeres al diaconado, al tiempo que ha apoyado la realización de más estudios sobre el tema. También ha expresado su esperanza de que se amplíe el acceso de las mujeres a otros ministerios. El Papa Francisco creó la “Comisión de Estudio sobre el Diaconado Femenino” en 2020 como continuación de un grupo anterior que estudió la historia de las mujeres diaconisas en el Nuevo Testamento y las primeras comunidades cristianas. El Vaticano publicó la síntesis, incluidos los resultados de las votaciones que los miembros de la comisión realizaron sobre ocho declaraciones o “tesis” diferentes. Una proposición que dividió a los miembros exactamente por la mitad fue: “La masculinidad de Cristo, y por tanto la masculinidad de quienes reciben la ordenación, no es accidental, sino que forma parte integrante de la identidad sacramental, preservando el orden divino de la salvación en Cristo. Alterar esta realidad no sería un simple ajuste del ministerio, sino una ruptura del significado nupcial de la salvación”. Cuando esta declaración se sometió a votación entre los diez miembros en febrero, recibió cinco votos a favor, lo que confirmó su forma actual, mientras que los otros cinco miembros votaron a favor de eliminarla. Una declaración que recibió seis votos en contra, dos a favor y dos abstenciones fue: “El abajo firmante está a favor de la institución en la Iglesia del diaconado femenino, entendido como el tercer grado de las órdenes sagradas”.
MUNDO BANGKOK (OSV News) – La mexicana Fátima Bosch Fernández es la nueva Miss Universo, y está acaparando titulares por algo más que su corona. La joven de 25 años, originaria de Tabasco, ganó el certamen mundial celebrado en Tailandia el 21 de noviembre, convirtiéndose en la cuarta mexicana en obtener el título. Momentos después de su victoria, Bosch se quedó sola en el escenario, llorosa y agradecida, haciendo la señal de la cruz y señalando al cielo en una expresión pública de su fe católica. Bosch ya había llamado la atención internacional al principio del concurso cuando se enfrentó a un director del certamen que la llamó “estúpida”, lo que provocó una protesta de las concursantes que terminó con la destitución del director. La presidenta de México, Claudia Sheinbaum, elogió a Bosch por alzar la voz, diciendo: “Somos más guapas cuando hablamos y participamos”. Bosch publicó una foto en X antes del concurso, en la que aparecían símbolos católicos: una imagen de María, un rosario rosa con una cruz rosa, una imagen de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, patrona de México, junto con una bandera mexicana y varios aperitivos y dulces. Graduada por la Universidad Iberoamericana, dirigida por los jesuitas, Bosch suele compartir abiertamente su fe, llegando incluso a gritar “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” en un video viral. Su victoria sigue a la de otras ganadoras del título de Miss Universo que se declaran abiertamente católicas, como la ganadora de 2023, Sheynnis Palacios, de Nicaragua.
Únase a lista de correos electrónicos Mande un texto: MSCATHOLIC a 84576
LÍNEA DIRECTA DE PREVENCIÓN DE FRAUDE El Departamento de Asuntos Temporales de la Diócesis de Jackson ha contratado a Lighthouse Services para proporcionar una línea directa anónima de fraude financiero, cumplimiento, ética y recursos humanos. Esta línea directa permite un método adecuado para reportar sucesos relacionados con la administración temporal dentro de parroquias, escuelas y la oficina de cancillería.
CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) – El Papa León XIV instó a los estudiantes de secundaria estadounidenses a ser “conscientes” o “intencionales” del tiempo que pasan frente a las pantallas, del tiempo que dedican a la oración y de su participación en su parroquia local.
“Uno de mis héroes personales, uno de mis santos favoritos, es San Agustín de Hipona”, dijo el Papa a 16.000 jóvenes católicos reunidos en Indianápolis. “Buscó la felicidad por todas partes, pero nada le satisfacía hasta que abrió su corazón a Dios. Por eso escribió: ‘Señor, nos creaste para ti, y nuestro corazón está inquieto, hasta que descanse en ti’”.
A través de una conexión en directo, el Papa León habló durante casi una hora el 21 de noviembre con los participantes en la National Catholic Youth Conference (Conferencia Nacional de la Juventud Católica, conocida como NCYC por sus siglas en inglés), celebrada en el Lucas Oil Stadium de Indianápolis.
El Santo Padre respondió a las preguntas de cinco estudiantes de secundaria: Mia Smothers, de la Arquidiócesis de Baltimore; Ezequiel Ponce, de la Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles; Christopher Pantelakis, de la Arquidiócesis de las Vegas; Micah Alcisto, de la Diócesis de Honolulu; y Elise Wing, de la Arquidiócesis de Dubuque, Iowa.
Las preguntas se elaboraron en reuniones con otros estudiantes y adultos y se enviaron al Papa con antelación.
El Papa León respondió a una pregunta y un comentario de Katie Prejean McGrady, quien moderó el evento. Ella mencionó que le había regalado al Papa un par de calcetines hacía algún tiempo y dijo que quería saber qué palabra utiliza como palabra inicial cuando jugaba al Wordle cada día.
“Solo quiero decir que solo uso calcetines blancos (White Sox) y que uso una palabra diferente para Wordle cada día, así que no hay una palabra inicial fija”, dijo el Papa, antes de pasar a las preguntas de los jóvenes adolescentes.
Pantelakis pidió consejos al Papa sobre cómo equilibrar el uso de los teléfonos inteligentes y las redes sociales con “establecer conexiones de fe fuera de la tecnología”.
El Papa León, utilizando la tecnología para dirigirse a los estudiantes, enumeró muchas cosas buenas que aporta la tecnología. Por ejemplo, “nos permite estar conectados con personas que están lejos”, dijo, y hay “herramientas increíbles para la oración, para leer la Biblia, para aprender más sobre lo que creemos, y nos permite compartir el Evangelio con personas que quizá nunca conozcamos en persona”.
“Pero, a pesar de todo eso, la tecnología nunca podrá sustituir las relaciones reales y personales; las cosas sencillas (como) un abrazo, un apretón de manos, una sonrisa… Todas esas cosas son esenciales para el ser humano y es importante tenerlas de forma real, no a través de una pantalla”.
El Papa León animó a los estudiantes a seguir el ejemplo de San Carlo Acutis, quien utilizó la tecnología para difundir la devoción eucarística, pero limitó su tiempo en Internet y se aseguró de asistir a Misa, dedicar tiempo a la adoración eucarística y servir a los pobres.
“Sean conscientes del tiempo que pasan frente a la pantalla”, dijo el Papa a los jóvenes. “Asegúrense de que la tecnología sirva a su vida y no al revés”. Alcisto pidió consejos sobre el uso de ChatGPT y otras formas de inteligencia artificial.
Aunque el Papa León ha seguido presionando a los desarrolladores de inteligencia artificial (IA) y a los gobiernos para que formulen directrices éticas e incluyan controles para proteger a los jóvenes, dijo a los estudiantes de secundaria que “la seguridad no se trata solo de reglas. Sino también se trata de educación y de responsabilidad personal. Los filtros y las directrices pueden ayudarte, pero no pueden tomar decisiones por ti. Solo tú puedes hacerlo”.
“Usar la IA de forma responsable significa usarla de manera que los ayude a crecer, nunca de manera que los distraigan de su dignidad o de tu llamada a la santidad”, dijo el Papa. “La IA puede procesar información rápidamente, pero no puede sustituir a la inteligencia humana. ¡Y no le pidas que haga tu tarea!”.
La IA, dijo, “no juzgará entre lo que es verdaderamente correcto e incorrecto. Y no se maravillará auténticamente ante la belleza, la belleza de la creación de Dios. Así que sean prudentes. Sean sabios. Tengan cuidado de que su uso de la IA no limite su verdadero crecimiento humano”.
“Úsenla de tal manera que, si desapareciera mañana, seguirían sabiendo cómo pensar, cómo crear, cómo actuar por su cuenta, cómo formar amistades auténticas”, dijo el Papa. Y “recuerden, la IA nunca podrá sustituir el don único que eres para el mundo”.
En respuesta a Wing, que preguntó sobre el futuro de la Iglesia, el Papa León dijo a los jóvenes que ellos son una parte importante de su presente. “Sus voces, sus ideas, su fe importan ahora mismo, y la Iglesia los necesita”, dijo.
Pero, mirando hacia el futuro, les pidió que se preguntaran: “¿Qué puedo ofrecer a la Iglesia para el futuro? ¿Cómo puedo ayudar a otros a conocer a Cristo? ¿Cómo puedo construir la paz y la amistad a mi alrededor?”.
Smothers le preguntó al Papa si alguna vez le resultaba difícil aceptar la misericordia de Dios.
“Todos luchamos con esto a veces”, respondió el Papa. “La verdad es que ninguno de nosotros es perfecto”.
Pero, añadió, también es cierto que Dios siempre perdona.
“Puede que nos cueste perdonar, pero el corazón de Dios es diferente”, dijo el Papa León a los adolescentes. “Dios nunca deja de invitarnos a volver.”
“Experimentamos esta misericordia de Dios de un modo especial en el sacramento de la reconciliación; en la confesión, Jesús se encuentra con nosotros a través del sacerdote. Cuando confesamos honestamente nuestros pecados y aceptamos nuestra penitencia, el sacerdote nos da la absolución y sabemos con certeza que somos perdonados”.
“No te enfoques solo en tus pecados. Mira a Jesús, confía en su misericordia y acércate a Él con confianza. Él siempre te recibirá en casa”, dijo el Papa León entre aplausos.
(OSV News) – We radiate the life of Jesus to the world to the extent that we live with the conviction that we are divinely loved. Advent calls us beyond the false security of the merely virtuous person and into the daring surrender to God’s love of the saint.
But our feelings and the circumstances of our lives and the world around us so often make it difficult for us to be rooted and grounded in the love of God. Thankfully, what the Advent season calls us to, it also makes possible. These weeks are fertile ground for cultivating trust in the truth that no matter how things may seem to us, we are intimately and tenderly loved by God. And in living this conviction, we may ever more radiantly learn to bear Christ to others.
As we contemplate Advent themes in this spirit, we welcome into our company four radiant women, all doctors of the church, who put all their hope in God’s love: Thérèse of Lisieux, Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila and Catherine of Siena.
– Thérèse of Lisieux on consistency
It is natural for us to live by the changing weather patterns of our emotions. One day, we are anxious about finances or deadlines or the results of health tests, so we withdraw into a cocoon or snap at those around us. The next day, we are feeling in control of life and rather successful at being human, so we beam joviality and peace upon the world.
Advent stirs us from the slumber of following our feelings and urges us to “stay awake” to what faith demands of us (Mk 13:33-37).
As important and compelling as our emotions are, faith calls us not to be absorbed in them or to identify with them. Rather, we are to dive beneath their variability and deliberately to live ever alert to the truth that God’s love is holding us in being, moment by moment. Our fears or moods may remain, but as we consistently choose to live by faith, to live awake to the reality that we are unstintingly and passionately loved, we will be for others the living presence of God.
A particular genius of St. Thérèse of Lisieux was to live in constant trusting vigilance to God’s love for her and thus to be an unwavering beacon of divine goodness. The sweetness of Thérèse’s writing style perhaps makes it easy to miss her tenacious refusal to conform herself to the contours of her changing emotions. However, this consistent decision to be attentive and receptive to the flood of God’s love is unmistakable in Thérèse’s response to the trial of faith that blanketed the last 18 months of her life.
After first describing to her prioress her experience of a relentless “night of nothingness” in which “everything has disappeared,” Thérèse goes on to articulate her stance of steadfast trust. She writes: “My dear Mother, I may perhaps appear to you to be exaggerating my trial. In fact, if you are judging according to the sentiments I express in my little poems composed this year, I must appear to you as a soul filled with consolations and one for whom the veil of faith is almost torn aside; and yet it is no longer a veil for me, it is a wall which reaches right up to the heavens and covers the starry firmament. When I sing of the happiness of heaven and of the eternal possession of God, I feel no joy in this, for I sing simply what I want to believe.”
For at least one day this week, try to live in the spirit of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, acting not according to your changing feelings, but rather according to what you want to believe.
– St. Hildegard of Bingen on transformation
How can we possibly live as Advent stirs us to live? The messiness and anxieties of our everyday lives frequently exert an all-consuming claim over us. Within the grip of life’s contingency, not to mention its banality, how can we live in the security of being divinely loved and so be for others the presence of the living God? Is it simply a matter of dogged spiritual will-power?
John the Baptist promises that Jesus “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mk 1:1-8). The Holy Spirit enables us to enter into and live by the life of Jesus. This means that every decision we make to live in the truth that we are loved by God, while certainly our own decision, is mysteriously enabled; it is a sharing in Jesus’ trusting “yes” to live as the beloved Son of God.
At every moment, no matter our internal or external circumstances, the Holy Spirit is holding us in the flow of Trinitarian love; we simply have to choose to participate.
The writings of St. Hildegard of Bingen crackle with a living awareness of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. For Hildegard, the Holy Spirit is the source of “viriditas,” or greenness — that vitality, freshness, dynamism which makes all life, both physical and spiritual, alive.
We glimpse Hildegard’s perception of what it means to be baptized with the Holy Spirit in the closing lines of a letter she wrote to a friend: “May He anoint you with the viridity of the Holy Spirit, and may He work good and holy works in you through that devotion with which true worshipers worship God.” The strength to live confidently as loved sons and daughters of God is not something we muster from our own interior resources. It is what, with our cooperation, the Holy Spirit causes to spring up within us.
We again hear Hildegard portraying the Holy Spirit’s power to make the divine life take root within us in her “Antiphon to the Holy Spirit.” Ringing out across the centuries and greening our Advent journey with healing and hope, she sings:
“The Spirit of God / is a life that bestows life, / root of world-tree / and the wind in its boughs. / Scrubbing out sin, / she rubs oil into wounds. / She is glistening life / alluring all praise, / all-awakening, / all-resurrecting.”
Take some time this week to notice the creation around you. Seek out any surprising signs of life and hopefulness amongst that which seems dormant and barren. Ask the Holy Spirit to stir such surprising vitality in the dormant and barren areas of your interior life, bringing about new vigor, joy and commitment.
– St. Teresa of Avila on encounter
It is perhaps easy for committed Catholics to gloss over the description of Jesus in the first chapter of John as one we “do not recognize.” We know him! We go to Mass every Sunday; we grasp the gist of the Gospels. But Advent challenges us to confront the comfortable presumption that we know the Lord and beckons us to deepen our personal relationship with him.
After all, our decision to cooperate with the divine enablement of the Spirit and to live radiant with the steadfast conviction that we are beloved by God is all about growing in our living union with Jesus. We are invited in the Advent season to expose our minds and hearts anew — or maybe even for the first time — to the ecstasy of self-giving love, the torrent of utterly attentive affection, incarnate and accessible to us in the person of Jesus.
The Christian spiritual tradition teaches that praying with the Gospels is a singularly effective way of coming to know Jesus more intimately. St. Teresa of Avila has precious wisdom to offer us in this regard. For Teresa, the Gospels are a fruitful context for focusing our attention on Jesus and speaking with him in faith.
She gives us a beautiful demonstration of doing just this when she contemplates keeping Jesus company in the Garden of Gethsemane. She had been writing to her sisters about prayer, but she spontaneously bursts into prayer: “O Lord of the world, my true Spouse! … Are You so in need, my Lord and my Love, that You would want to receive such poor company as mine, for I see by your expression that you have been consoled by me?”
Teresa makes the stunning claim here that we can console the Lord in his sufferings. When she teaches us about encountering Jesus in the Gospels, she is not merely suggesting some imaginative exercise or reconstructing in our minds a historical scene. She is talking about encountering a living person.
Teresa is alive to the truth that the Gospel episodes are not over and done with, irretrievably in the past. The Jesus who lived then, lives now and all his earthly life is alive in him; the way he was for the people he encountered in the past is the way he is now for us. So, we can, in fact, be the person touching his cloak, or asking him for mercy, or pleading for living water or consoling him. The episodes of the Gospels truly are pathways to deepening our knowledge of the living Jesus.
– St. Catherine of Siena on Christian identity
Was Mary’s personal identity eradicated at the Annunciation (Lk 1:26-38)? Did her generous, “I am the handmaid of the Lord” signal the end of her own life story as she began her life as the God-bearer? On the contrary, with her “yes” to the unfolding of God’s plan, Mary leaned more fully into her unique selfhood. Her witness prompts us to step back and discern the same flourishing at work in our own lives — or at least potentially so.
Throughout Advent we have prayed that our lives may more and more bear the radiant glory of God to others. We radiate God’s presence inasmuch as we live from the truth that God loves us; this means coming to know more intimately the God revealed in Jesus, cooperating with the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, and surrendering unreservedly to that love which sustains us in being through thick and thin. To be alive with the divine life means the blossoming of our deepest identity. We become light to the world and more fully ourselves as we let ourselves be loved.
St. Catherine of Siena had a vivid insight into the reality that our true self flourishes as we grow in union with God. Her prayer “My Nature is Fire” takes our self-understanding to audacious new depths and profoundly enriches our sense of what our life in Christ offers others.
The prayer reads: “In your nature, eternal Godhead, I shall come to know my nature. And what is my nature, boundless love?
“It is fire, because you are nothing but a fire of love. And you have given humankind a share in this nature, for by the fire of love you created us. And so with all other people and every created thing; you made them out of love. O ungrateful people! What nature has your God given you? His very own nature! Are you not ashamed to cut yourself off from such a noble thing through the guilt of deadly sin? O eternal Trinity, my sweet love! You, light, give us light. You, wisdom, give us wisdom. You, supreme strength, strengthen us. Today, eternal God, let our cloud be dissipated so that we may perfectly know and follow your Truth in truth, with a free and simple heart. God, come to our assistance! Lord, make haste to help us! Amen.”
Advent both reminds us of our transcendent calling and nurtures its fulfillment within us. Throughout this sacred season, we are created into beacons of divine tenderness as the Holy Spirit shapes our lives into Jesus’ “yes” to the Father’s love.
This Advent, guided by the wisdom of the women doctors of the church, let us throw our hearts open to God’s transforming work of love as never before. Our world needs us to do nothing less.
(Michelle Jones writes from Australia.)
A combination photo show images of Sts. Thérèse of Lisieux, Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila, and Catherine of Siena. (OSV News files)
SOUTHAVEN – During Sacred Heart School’s “Living Museum of Saints” on Oct. 31, a student portraying St. Thérèse of Lisieux (B.J.) shares her story with classmates dressed as Mary (Vivian) and St. Clare (Maddie). (Photo by Sister Margaret Sue Broker)JACKSON – St. Richard School invites families to join the First Friday Rosary in the Father Brian Kaskie Chapel on campus. This event serves a special opportunity for parents and families to pray together, spend time with students, and experience the faith-filled spirit that makes our school shine. Pictured: Caroline Compretta and son, Andrew Compretta. (Photo by Celeste Saucier)
JACKSON – At St. Richard Catholic School’s Halloween celebration, sixth graders led Pre-K students trick-or-treating through the halls. (Above) Teacher Sheila Foggo high-fives students as they pass her classroom. (Left) JD Poole and Drue Beal visit older students who handed out candy to the youngest trick-or-treaters. (Photos by Celeste Saucier)
By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) – In many ways, the Catholic Church is always a “construction site” where God is constantly shaping its members who must dig deep and work diligently but patiently, Pope Leo XIV said.
The construction site is “a beautiful image that speaks of activity, creativity and dedication, as well as hard work and sometimes complex problems to be solved,” the pope said as he celebrated Mass at Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran Nov. 9, the feast of the basilica’s dedication in the fourth century.
The basilica is the pope’s cathedral as bishop of Rome and is referred to as “the mother of all churches.” Standing at the “cathedra” or bishop’s chair, Pope Leo preached about the basilica as “a sign of the living church, built with chosen and precious stones on Christ Jesus, the cornerstone.”
He also spoke about the feast day when he returned to the Vatican for the midday recitation of the Angelus prayer.
Pope Leo XIV sits in the “cathedra” or bishop’s chair at Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran as he celebrates Mass Nov. 9, 2025, the feast of the basilica’s dedication. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)
“We are the church of Christ, his body, his members called to spread his Gospel of mercy, consolation and peace throughout the world, through that spiritual worship that must shine forth above all in our witness of life,” he told people gathered to pray with him in St. Peter’s Square.
“So often, the frailties and mistakes of Christians, together with many clichés and prejudices, prevent us from grasping the richness of the mystery of the church,” he said. However, the holiness of the church “is not dependent upon our merits, but on the ‘gift of the Lord, never retracted,’ that continues to choose ‘as the vessel of its presence, with a paradoxical love, the dirty hands of men,’” the pope said, quoting Pope Benedict XVI’s 1968 book, “Introduction to Christianity.”
In his homily at the basilica, Pope Leo asked the congregation to consider the foundations of the church they were standing in.
“If the builders had not dug deep enough to find a solid base on which to construct the rest, the entire building would have collapsed long ago or would be at risk of doing so at any moment,” he said. “Fortunately, however, those who came before us laid solid foundations for our cathedral, digging deep with great effort before raising the walls that welcome us, and this makes us feel much more at ease.” As members of and laborers in the church, he said, Catholics today also “must first dig deep within ourselves and around ourselves before we can build impressive structures. We must remove any unstable material that would prevent us from reaching the solid rock of Christ.”
The church and its members must constantly return to Christ and his Gospel, the pope said, “otherwise we risk overloading a building with heavy structures whose foundations are too weak to support it.” Building up the church of Christ is a time-consuming labor requiring hard work and patience, he said. Part of that work, the pope said, is being humble enough to allow God to work on each member, the “living stones” who make up the church.
“When Jesus calls us to take part in God’s great project, he transforms us by skillfully shaping us according to his plans for salvation,” Pope Leo said. “This implies an uphill journey, but we must not be discouraged. Instead, we should continue with confidence in our efforts to grow together.”
By Peter Jesserer Smith (OSV News) – From the start of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ fall plenary assembly to its end, a resounding concern for the God-given dignity of immigrants, and for unity in teaching the faith clearly and renewing the country spiritually, dominated the days’ proceedings.
The first order of business for the bishops, at the start of the Nov. 10-13 gathering was to invoke the intercession of the Holy Spirit. More than 320 active and retired bishops joined the opening Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore Nov. 10. Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the USCCB and archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, reminded bishops in his opening homily of “their duty to be servants of truth,” and shared the story of a young airman who asked him “how to be a saint.”
The fall meeting was also Archbishop Broglio’s farewell as USCCB president after leading the bishops for the past three years through a National Eucharistic Revival, its first National Eucharistic Congress in more than eight decades, the recently concluded Synod on Synodality, and the election of the first American pope.
Bishops pray during a Nov. 12, 2025, session of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)
In his final presidential address, he emphasized the need for the bishops to model unity and help “convince people to listen to each other” amid polarization.
“We have to draw on our unity to illustrate that civil discourse is not only possible, but the most authentically human way forward,” he said.
For Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal ambassador, it was his first opportunity to address the bishops as Pope Leo XIV’s representative to the U.S. since the pope’s election in May. On the theme of unity, he emphasized continuity between the late Pope Francis and Pope Leo’s pontificates, while encourging them to look to the Second Vatican Council as their guide. As he has for the past several years, he encouraged them to develop a synodal culture that could help them unify the church at a time when many Catholics “identify more with tribes and ideologies than with the body of Christ.”
He said, “The synodal path invites us to a different way: a style of being church that makes communion concrete, allows dialogue to become discernment, and catholicity to become shared mission.”
The cardinal’s remarks about synodality, as a means to help the bishops bring about unity, were underscored by a Leadership Roundtable survey from the prior week. It showed that Catholics tend to give their parish pastors and parish high marks, yet a consistent “trust deficit” pattern prevails at the diocesan and national level.
The bishops elected new leadership for the next three years on Nov. 11, the first day of public meetings, choosing the conference’s secretary, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, as their next president out of 10 possible candidates. Archbishop Coakley won on the third ballot in a close run-off with Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas. The bishops then decisively chose Bishop Flores, the conference’s former doctrine committee chair and its point man on implementing synodality in the U.S., as vice president, succeeding Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori.
The following day, the bishops elected Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, as their next secretary. Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of Portland, Oregon, was selected to succeed Bishop Rhoades as chair of the Committee on Religious Liberty. The bishops then elected five other committee chairs: Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob of Milwaukee, for Canonical Affairs and Church Governance; Auxiliary Bishop Peter L. Smith of Portland, Oregon, for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs; Bishop William A. Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, for Evangelization and Catechesis; Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of Philadelphia, for International Justice and Peace; and Bishop Mark W. O’Connell, newly named bishop of Albany, New York, for Protection of Children and Young People.
While many of the elections were close contests, the bishops’ voice on major issues – from teaching on immigration and gender ideology to public manifestations of Catholic witness and devotion – was overwhelmingly united in every vote.
On Nov. 12, the second public session of the gathering, the prelates approved a special pastoral message on immigration “to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity.” They amended the message on the floor to clearly condemn “indiscriminate mass deportation” alongside their call to end “dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement.” The bishops applauded and many got to their feet after it passed with a resounding 216 votes in favor, five votes against, and three abstentions.
The bishops’ plenary assembly heard a report on the immigration situation in the U.S. under the Trump administration, as well as a new initiative of solidarity with migrants called “You Are Not Alone.” In a press conference, Bishop Rhoades also revealed that the issue of the ability of Catholic immigrants in ICE detention to receive sacraments “is now at the top of our concerns.”
“Obviously, the beliefs of the church have political consequences, but they’re not political in the usual sense of the word,” Archbishop Richard G. Henning of Boston told OSV News, explaining the bishops’ special message was “a pastoral address to our people rather than an attempt to lobby.”
The bishops also heard about promising signs of progress in their ongoing efforts to resolve backlogs for religious worker visas with the Trump administration. Close to 90% of the nation’s Catholic dioceses rely on foreign-born clergy and religious.
The bishops also heard a presentation on revisions to their “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services,” which they approved the following day. They approved the new ERDs – 206 bishops voted yes, with eight abstaining and seven opposing – with substantial revisions from the previous version. They incorporate guidance issued in 2023 by the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine, which prohibited surgical or chemical interventions seeking to exchange or simulate the sex characteristics of a patient’s body for those of the opposite sex.
The bishops also learned that a new English version of the Bible will be called The Catholic American Bible, which aims to unify American Catholics’ reading of Scripture from the Bible they use in the home to the readings they pray with in the liturgy. They also learned that the Vatican approved the new English edition of the Liturgy of the Hours – concluding a 13-year process of revision – and it would be available for everyone by Easter 2027.
As the U.S. marks its 250th anniversary next year, the bishops voted to consecrate the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 2026, during their spring assembly in June, which concludes on the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Before the bishops concluded the second and final day of public proceedings – the last day, Nov. 13, was spent in executive session – they approved holding an 11th National Eucharistic Congress in the summer of 2029 following a presentation by Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota. Bishop Cozzens, chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., which will organize the event, said Nov. 12 that a “Revival Impact Study,” which will be made public in December, has shown that a great deal of fruit resulted from the National Eucharistic Revival effort, which included the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.
Bishop Cozzens said one of the gifts of the National Eucharistic Congress is the unity it brings to the whole church – something he saw at the 2024 event.
“I think we’ll experience that again in 2029,” he told OSV News. He said a theme is in development and the 2029 National Eucharistic Congress itself will be “a beautiful experience of the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Peter Jesserer Smith is the national news editor for OSV News. OSV News’ Gretchen R. Crowe, Gina Christian, Kate Scanlon, Lauretta Brown and Julie Asher contributed to this report.)
