Author: Eric Deabill

BRODHEADSVILLE – More than 1,200 Hispanic Catholics from parishes around the Diocese of Scranton gathered in Monroe County on Sept. 19, 2026, to celebrate their faith, culture and heritage.

The sixth annual Hispanic Heritage Mass and celebration brought together families and faithful at Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Brodheadsville under the theme “Unidos Somos Más – United We Are More.”

The event began with Mass celebrated by the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, and concelebrated by 17 priests.

In his homily, Bishop Bambera reflected on Jesus’ parable of the sower, encouraging those gathered to continue planting seeds of faith through their words, actions, service and witness.

“There will always be challenges to our efforts to nurture the seeds of faith that we sow in our world,” Bishop Bambera said. “But by the grace of God, those seeds will take root and will yield a harvest far greater than we might ever believe possible.”

He encouraged Hispanic Catholics to remain united in faith, particularly during difficult times.

“In your willingness to sow the seeds of faith and to live the values of the Gospel, you provide hope to many,” the Bishop continued. “And that, my friends, is all that the Lord asks any of us to do – for together we are more than when we stand alone.”

Nereida Cruz, a parishioner of Saint Nicholas/Saint Mary Parish in Wilkes-Barre, said the celebration provided an important reminder of that unity.

“It is very nice to come together and celebrate the same faith – the Catholic faith,” Cruz said. “It is very nice to see how each country brings a little bit of its culture and a little bit of their beliefs.”

Father Neftali Feliz Sena, Assistant Pastor of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina Parish in Hazleton, said the gathering demonstrated how the Catholic faith transcends language and cultural differences.

“It doesn’t matter the language you speak,” he said. “We just get together as one Church. We all believe in Jesus, and we are the Catholic Church and everywhere we go, we all celebrate our faith.”

The celebration also emphasized passing that faith onto future generations.

“This is an opportunity to pass our faith to the new generation,” Nelson Anaya of Saint Nicholas/Saint Mary Parish in Wilkes-Barre said. “They have the opportunity to see how we got this faith from our grandparents.”

After Mass, a large outdoor festival with food, music, dancing and cultural activities brought the Hispanic parish communities together.

International Catholic evangelist and speaker Salvador Gomez also addressed the gathering, offering a message of faith and hope for families and young people.

The day ended with a youth soccer tournament. Four parish teams competed in the men’s tournament, with Saint Matthew Parish in East Stroudsburg capturing the championship. Three parish teams competed in the women’s division, won by Saint Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Scranton.

Attendees hope the annual celebration will continue, and events might even be held outside Hispanic Heritage Month.

“It would be great to have these types of activities twice per year because we willingly want to share and we willingly want to have a great time,” Anaya said.

WILLIAMSPORT – While there were no traditional classes held at Saint John Neumann Jr./Sr. High School on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, the school campus was still filled with first responders, emergency medical personnel and plenty of students.

It was the first ‘Innovative Friday’ at the Williamsport Catholic school as its new four-day academic model takes shape.

This year, students in grades 6 through 12 now attend classes Monday through Thursday, with extended school days to meet required instructional hours. Fridays are reserved for enrichment, tutoring, field trips, career exploration, service opportunities, and other experiences that extend learning beyond the traditional classroom.

For the inaugural ‘Innovative Friday,’ the school hosted an Emergency Preparedness and Safety Day, bringing together representatives from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), South Williamsport Fire Department, Loyalsock Volunteer Fire Department, Williamsport Bureau of Fire, Clearview Asset Protection, NOAA Weather Safety, PPL, Pennsylvania State Police, Williamsport Police and the Lycoming County Emergency Management Agency.

Students were encouraged to visit each agency’s outdoor station, learning everything from CPR to electrical safety, while also having the opportunity to tour emergency vehicles.

“Students don’t have to be here today and yet they’re here, they’re having fun and they’re learning about things,” Dr. Chad Greevy, Assistant Principal and Curriculum Director, said. “You don’t have to learn always in a school setting.”

The optional nature of the day was what made it significant.

Seventh-grader Zale McPherson appreciated the flexibility the ‘Innovative Friday’ schedule provided. After missing school earlier in the week, she was able to use the day to make up tests, quizzes and homework without sacrificing additional classroom time.

“I think it’s a really good opportunity,” she said.

McPherson also enjoyed the chance to socialize with classmates, describing the day as a “different kind of learning experience.”

For ninth-grader Audrey Blenman, a new student who said the four-day schedule was one reason she chose Saint John Neumann, the first ‘Innovative Friday’ allowed her to experience something new.

“I want to be an engineer, so I’m not sure if there is a connection,” Blenman said after donning a hard-hat and getting a first-hand lesson in electricity from a PPL lineman. “It is something different.”

Since announcing its new four-day school week, Saint John Neumann Jr./Sr. High School has seen a 20 percent increase in enrollment.

“I absolutely love it. All the staff and students are so nice,” Dalila Morales, a brand-new eighth grader, explained. “You can really count on everyone in this school. They always have your back.”

The school even incorporated an incentive into their first ‘Innovative Friday.’ Students who visited each participating agency could have a card signed and they became eligible for prizes, including tuition vouchers, gift cards and school merchandise.

Principal Alicia McNamee said the response to the day exceeded her expectations.

“We are over the moon with the attendance and the feedback and the amount of community partners willing to come out and support us,” she said.

The school’s ‘Innovative Friday’ calendar is filled through the fall semester, and administrators are already developing opportunities for the spring.

“We have so many companies, businesses and individuals willing to partner with us, we almost don’t have enough Fridays,” McNamee added.

Students have also offered ideas for upcoming ‘Innovative Fridays,’ including learning American Sign Language and touring local hospitals.

“We’re offering students a lot of opportunity. We are not just in tune with what the students need, we’re starting to learn what their passions are,” Dr. Greevy said. “The list of ideas that they have for ‘Innovative Fridays’ is incredible.”

SCRANTON – An independent on-site audit has once again determined that the Diocese of Scranton is in compliance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People established by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

StoneBridge Business Partners, an independent auditing firm based in Rochester, N.Y., recently completed an on-site audit of the Diocese’s child protection policies, procedures and records.

In a July 13, 2026, letter addressed to the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, StoneBridge reported that the Diocese was found compliant with all audited Articles within the Charter for the audit period of July 1, 2023, through March 31, 2026.

According to StoneBridge, the conclusions regarding the Diocese’s compliance were based on inquiry, observation and the review of specifically requested documentation provided during the course of the audit.

The audit examined the Diocese’s protocols related to training, reporting and maintaining safe environments for children and young people in accordance with the requirements of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

The Diocese of Scranton has remained in compliance with the USCCB’s child protection requirements through every annual audit since the review process was established following the adoption of the Charter in 2002.

Bishop Bambera said the latest independent review reinforces the Diocese’s ongoing commitment to protecting children and young people.

“We are grateful to StoneBridge Business Partners for its careful review of our child protection efforts and are grateful that the Diocese has been found in compliance with the requirements of the Charter for the last 24 years,” Bishop Bambera said. “As Bishop, I pledge to continue to do all within my power to keep our churches, schools and all Diocesan facilities safe for our children and for all our people to worship, pray, learn and grow in their faith.”

Diocesan Safe Environment Coordinator Addie Rocco added that the audit results confirm the Diocese of Scranton is following the promises of the Charter.

“As a mother of four daughters and a former member of law enforcement, I understand how important our safety measures are and that education on reporting and looking for warning signs of behaviors can help to stop abuse before it starts,” Rocco stated. “Ensuring safety is a team sport. If you see something, say something. Be present, be aware, ask questions and get involved.”

The Diocese of Scranton’s Safe Environment Office oversees the implementation of the Diocese’s child protection policies and works with parishes, schools and other Diocesan entities to ensure that required training, background checks, reporting procedures and safe environment protocols remain in place.

The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, enacted by the USCCB in 2002, requires dioceses to establish programs for the prevention of child sexual abuse, the reporting of allegations and the creation of safe environments for children and young people. Every U.S. diocese undergoes an annual audit to determine compliance with the provisions of the Charter.

For more information about the Diocese of Scranton’s Safe Environment Program and its policies and protocols, visit dioceseofscranton.org.

To report sexual abuse by a member of the clergy, an employee or volunteer of the Catholic Church, contact your local police department or county District Attorney and Mary Beth Pacuska, victim assistance coordinator for the Diocese of Scranton, at (570) 862-7551.

To report sexual misconduct by a bishop or eparch, contact the national reporting website at ReportBishopAbuse.org or call 1-800-276-1562.

The Diocese of Scranton remains committed to supporting survivors of sexual abuse and to taking every appropriate measure to prevent abuse and protect children and young people within the Church.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Catholic and evangelical leaders issued an ecumenical statement Oct. 13 as part of a joint effort to call for compassionate immigration reform.

Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, and Rev. Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, are the co-chairs of the Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue on Immigration. Their joint statement, “A Call for Christian Compassion and Wisdom in the Immigration Debate,” marks the first such statement on immigration in U.S. history to be jointly issued by senior leaders of their respective traditions, they said.

The pair said that although they have “doctrinal differences,” they are “united in our conviction that God calls us to stand both with our fellow Americans who are experiencing economic and cultural anxieties and with our immigrant neighbors who are facing existential challenges.”

The statement articulated shared principles that every human being is “created with dignity, bearing God’s image,” and that government “is responsible for protecting its citizens and providing for the common good, including the establishment and enforcement of reasonable immigration policies.”

Those policies should include targeted, humane border enforcement, clear legal pathways to citizenship and efforts to prevent the separation of families, they said.

They also highlighted risks to religious liberty presented by certain immigration enforcement efforts.

Catholic and other faith leaders have pointed to recent cases where religious liberty challenges have intersected with immigration issues, such as a recent lawsuit from the Archdiocese of St. Louis against the federal government over a policy it said prohibits priests from distributing holy Communion and hearing the confessions of people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“We especially commit to upholding the right to religious liberty,” the statement said. “This right extends to all people, of all faiths and none, no matter their immigration status. It is implicated in a particular way for those in detention, for whom we as Christians are specifically compelled by Christ to offer our pastoral care (Matthew 25:31–46). We are resolute in our commitment to working with the relevant authorities to ensure access to religious and pastoral services for all in detention, that each person may have the opportunity for spiritual counsel and active participation in the sacraments.”

Faith leaders have also raised alarm about the need to prevent immigration enforcement actions at places seen as sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals.

In a joint statement issued through the USCCB, Bishop Cahill — currently bishop of Victoria, Texas, but was recently appointed the next bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois — and Rev. Kim said, “What is unique about this statement is not the content, which is grounded in centuries of Christian teaching and tradition that we have already affirmed separately, but the clear unity that exists between us in this moment.”

“As pastors devoted to proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we share a responsibility to articulate our convictions, even when it comes to subject matter as challenging as immigration. In doing so together, we seek to embrace our common heritage as both Christians and Americans,” they said. They added that through Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue on Immigration, “we have found a strong sense of fraternity and common purpose. It is from this sincere and patriotic perspective, and with deep concern for those affected by current immigration policies, that we offer this statement with both conviction and hope.”

A joint report issued last year by the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and World Relief, found that more than 10 million Christians living in the U.S. would be vulnerable to deportation under Trump administration policies implemented in 2025. A majority of them were Catholic followed by a sizable number of evangelicals.

The joint statement from Bishop Cahill and Rev. Kim noted the report’s findings.

“Roughly one in 12 believers in this country either faces the loss of legal status or shares a home with someone who does,” they said. “Their fear is our fear; their tears are ours to wipe.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – A U.S.-based Catholic association dedicated to mental health ministry released two new online resources to help lay Catholics understand the signs of mental health struggles and how to better accompany those seeking help.

Sometimes a loved one or acquaintance seems “irritable, emotional or just absent from things they used to love. But you’re not sure what’s wrong. Most of us don’t. We weren’t trained to recognize mental illness,” a trailer for the free video courses said.

“We want to help. But we’re afraid of saying the wrong thing, making it worse,” it said, especially by offering the usual platitudes: “Time heals all wounds”; “God has a plan”; and “God never gives us more than we can handle.”

Different members of the International Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers presented the trailer for the courses at Vatican News headquarters Oct. 10, World Mental Health Day. The news conference was part of its international meeting being held in Rome and at the Vatican, dedicated to “A Healing Presence: The Church’s Call to Mental Health Ministry.”

The new one-hour-plus video course on “mental health literacy” aims to help people recognize some of the signs and symptoms of the most common forms of mental illness, such as depression, bipolar disorder, addiction and trauma.

The two-hour course on “psychological first aid,” said Deacon Ed Shoener, founder and president of the CMHM global association, is “much like physical first aid, where you can approach someone who may be in trouble or hurting, patch them up, so to speak, help them along, accompany them, and then direct them to professional care.”

The courses are not meant to train people how to diagnose problems or to provide clinical treatment or advanced spiritual care, the video said. What they do is merge faith resources with the skills to recognize, speak about and support people showing signs of a mental health struggle or crisis so that everyday Catholics can learn how to be part of a mental health ministry team for their parish — not how to be a licensed therapist or counselor.

The video lessons include scenes shot at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Chicago with professional local actors recreating scenarios of what to do and not to do.

The National Institute of Mental Health estimated that more than 1 in 5 adults in the United States was living with a mental illness in 2022. Women, young people between 18 and 25 years old, and people of two or more races or ethnicities were just some segments of the population showing the highest reported incidence of a mental illness according to gender, age or ethnicity.

That means, in a parish of just 500 people, there could be well over 100 parishioners that might be struggling, the video said, encouraging Catholics to “look, listen and link” someone to the right resources.

Andrea Sarubbi, director of outreach for the association, encouraged parishes, dioceses, media outlets and broadcasters to write info@catholicmhm.org for more information, and to look at its online learning center at learn.catholicmhm.org to create or strengthen a parish mental health ministry team, so that mental health ministry can be an integral part of every Catholic parish and community worldwide. The new videos are at catholicmhm.org/act-videos.

Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for October 2026 is dedicated to praying specifically for mental health ministries.

He asked that the Church be a “safe space where everyone has a place — a community that accompanies and never excludes, that listens without judging and draws near without fear” and he prayed that God give strength and compassion to all those who provide care.

The pope also underlined the need to ask for forgiveness for every time a Christian looked the other way or contributed to stigmatizing or discriminating against people with mental illnesses.

According to the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which produces and distributes the papal prayer videos, more than 1 billion people worldwide live with a mental disorder, and less than 2% of national health budgets are dedicated to public spending on mental health.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – After Pentagon officials said they planned to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad in December, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops denounced the plan as “barbaric.”

President Donald Trump recently approved the execution by firing squad of Hasan, the former U.S. Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Oct. 8 in an interview with the pro-Trump TV outlet Real America’s Voice News that the execution would take place at Fort Hood on Dec. 3, and that it would be made public.

“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” said Hegseth, who uses the moniker “secretary of war” since Trump signed an executive order last year adding the “Department of War” as a secondary, ceremonial title for the Department of Defense.

Hegseth later confirmed his comments on X.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the USCCB, said in an Oct. 9 statement that he learned of the plans “with shock and great sorrow.”

“Our God is the God of life,” Archbishop Coakley said. “In no way can Hassan’s actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered. The word of God exhorts us: ‘do not repay anyone evil for evil’ (Romans 12:17). The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people.”

The Catholic Church’s official magisterium opposes the use of capital punishment as a violation of the inherent sanctity of human life, and advocates for the abolition of the practice worldwide.

The late Pope Francis revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 2018 to clarify the church’s teaching that capital punishment is morally “inadmissible” in the modern world “because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”

In his 2020 encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti,” Pope Francis cited the teaching of St. John Paul II, writing that his predecessor “stated clearly and firmly that the death penalty is inadequate from a moral standpoint and no longer necessary from that of penal justice.”

Earlier this year, Pope Leo XIV delivered a video message to Catholic death penalty abolitionists marking 15 years since the abolition of the death penalty in his home state of Illinois.

If carried out, Hasan’s execution would mark the first time U.S. officials livestreamed an execution to the public. Some legal analysts noted that appeals and other legal processes could delay Hasan’s execution beyond Dec. 3.

The last public execution in the U.S. took place in Missouri in 1937, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

In his statement, Archbishop Coakley added, “I pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel that we as a nation may always choose life even in the most trying times and circumstances.”

VATICAN CITY (OSV News) – The aim of World Mission Sunday (Oct. 18), established 100 years ago by Pope Pius XI, has “borne fruit in my own life,” said Pope Leo XIV.

The pope reflected on the annual observance in a video message posted by Vatican News to its YouTube channel Oct. 7.

A transcript of the message was also published on the Vatican’s website.

In January, Pope Leo XIV announced he had chosen the theme “One in Christ, united in mission” for this year’s celebration, with his message for the day encouraging “the whole Church to continue its missionary journey with joy and zeal in the Holy Spirit.”

Established by Pope Pius XI in 1926 and universally observed by 1927, World Mission Sunday is a dedicated day of “prayer and missionary promotion throughout the Catholic world,” according to its founding decree.

In his video message, Pope Leo said, “Looking back on my youth, I can see how the prayers offered to the Lord of the harvest mysteriously helped prepare my heart to hear Jesus’ call to follow him as an Augustinian missionary.”

The pope said this year’s theme “invites us to reflect on the fundamental task of nurturing the Church’s unity in following Christ, particularly in our commitment and responsibility to spread the Gospel message of salvation to all people.”

VATICAN CITY (OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV opened a Vatican meeting of the world’s bishops’ conference presidents and the heads of Eastern Catholic churches marking the 10th anniversary of “Amoris Laetitia” Oct. 7, saying “the beauty and fragility of families” today will be at the heart of the week’s discussions.

“During these days dedicated to prayer and reflection, we intend to place the beauty and fragility of families at the heart of our journey,” Pope Leo prayed as he opened the meeting in the Paul VI Audience Hall.

“Together, we seek to discern the direction in which the Holy Spirit is guiding us, so as to recognize, support, and promote the work He is already accomplishing within them and to value their precious contribution to the mission of the Church.”

The Oct. 7-14 closed-door meeting of bishops, convened by Pope Leo, is focused on marriage and family and marks the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia,” or “The Joy of Love.”

Speaking in English from one of the many round tables in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall around which more than 150 bishops were seated, the pope encouraged the bishops to face the questions raised by the lived experience of families today, paying special attention to fragile situations.

Pope Leo pointed to the growing distance in many contexts “between the ways in which sex and intimacy are lived and the Christian vision of marriage.”

“Young people continue to long for love, fidelity and belonging, yet many find it difficult to embrace how such a vision of love can take shape in their own lives or to believe that a lifelong commitment is the condition for reaching what they desire,” he added.

The pope said that faith can enlighten all families, including situations marked by difficulties, loneliness and at times even apparent failure, noting that the gap between the good we desire and what we are able to live is a reminder of the need for “grace, forgiveness and new beginnings to accomplish God’s will.”

“The experience of fragility raises the question of whether we are able to remain close to one another when life no longer corresponds to what had been hoped for, and whether we can recognize the work of grace even in situations marked by limits, wounds and apparent failure,” the pope said

Pope Leo asked the bishops from across the world to reflect on what kind of Church people encounter precisely when they are most fragile.

“The Holy Spirit often speaks through the very situations that challenge us, and enlightens us that we may discover how God’s mercy and the salvific grace of Christ can reach our families today, particularly in their weakness and resilience, in their hopes and disappointments, in their longing for communion and their search for meaning,” the pope said.

“Our task, therefore, is not only to interpret these realities but to let them question us and motivate our pastoral responsibility, so that the Church may find renewed ways of proclaiming the Gospel, offering sacramental graces, accompanying families, and making visible the tenderness with which Christ continues to walk among his people.”

The bishops’ family summit is divided into five daily themes for discussion, ranging from discerning the vocation to marriage to accompanying and supporting the difficulties of life. Families from five continents will also share their testimonies with the bishops.

In his opening speech, Pope Leo reminded bishops not to speak to the press, asking them to “preserve the discretion and confidentiality that this time of listening and discernment requires.”

While the meeting is taking place behind closed doors, the Oct. 7 opening session was broadcast via livestream by Vatican Media and the final day of the meeting on Oct. 14 will include a closing Mass in St. Peter’s Square and the publication of a final synthesis document of the week’s discussions.

The afternoon opening session on Oct. 7 featured a meditation by Dominican Sister Helen Alford, the president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, who reflected on how the Gospel account of the Samaritan woman at the well is a biblical example of someone living in “a fragile and irregular family situation.”

Alford said that this woman’s encounter with Jesus, which never would have taken place if it were not for her irregular family situation, ends with the unnamed woman becoming “not only the first public evangelist, but also, despite her disrepute, and perhaps precisely because of it, a very effective evangelist.”

“A story that is more connected with proclaiming the Gospel to and through a person in a fragile family situation, with all the beauty that this story holds, could hardly be imagined,” she said.

The sister urged the bishops to search for ways to “encourage young people to take up the great challenge of marriage and family life, embracing it in the full knowledge that they will experience great fragility as part of the process of realizing its beauty, and that in that fragility, they will find new and unexpected sources of God’s grace and experience a desire for holiness that is their very own.”

“Let us join Jesus in calling them to rise to the challenge, like Jesus called the Samaritan woman, of proclaiming the Gospel to others, precisely in the recognition of their fragility, so as to call others to join them in trusting in God’s grace and in experiencing the Christian desire for holiness,” she said.

The bishops’ meeting is jointly organized by the Vatican Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life and the General Secretariat for the Synod. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the prefect of the family dicastery, and Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, sat at Pope Leo’s right and left respectively as the pope delivered his opening remarks.

Pope Leo encouraged all the bishops participating in the meeting to listen to one another, adding that “remaining attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit can awaken the pastoral creativity we need in the face of new questions.”

“May the Lord give us the freedom to listen to one another, the wisdom to recognize his work among his people, and the courage to follow where he leads us, so that, each day, the Gospel may become ever more fully good news for families throughout the world,” he said.

VATICAN CITY (Vatican News) – The Vatican Publishing House will publish “The Private Diary of Pope Francis,” a book by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, presenting and commenting on the late pope’s notes kept between 1992 and 2024.

The Vatican announced on Oct. 5 that the book will be released simultaneously worldwide in five languages and distributed in 94 countries on Nov. 24. The Italian edition will be published by the Vatican Publishing House; the Spanish, English and Portuguese editions by the respective branches of Penguin Random House; and the French edition by Éditions Albin Michel.

Pope Francis’ notes span more than three decades, including his years as a bishop in Argentina and his 12-year pontificate.

“We are very honoured to publish this text by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, which presents Pope Francis’ diary to the public,” Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication, said.

“Through this book, which we believe readers around the world will appreciate, we will be able to gain an even deeper understanding of the Argentine Pope’s inner life.”

The Vatican Publishing House will present the book to international publishers at the forthcoming Frankfurt Book Fair, which takes place Oct. 7-11.

ROME (OSV News) – At the stroke of midnight Oct. 4, church bells tolled across the Italian hilltown of Assisi to mark the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death.

The Oct. 4 feast of the “the Little Poor Man of Assisi” was the pinnacle event amid a yearlong jubilee celebration, which began with the historic exposition of his relics for public veneration.

The feast day celebrations began on Oct. 3 with a night procession and a solemn commemoration of the “Transitus” (“passage”), the traditional Franciscan prayer service in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels marking St. Francis’ transition into eternal life. The basilica houses the chapel where St. Francis died on the night of Oct. 3, 1226.

About 3,000 people took part in the procession on the eve of the beloved saint’s feast day, singing hymns and voicing prayers as they retraced the route made by St. Francis’ coffin in 1226, walking about 2 miles uphill though the Assisi from the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels to the Basilica of St. Francis where he is currently buried.

The walk ended with a midnight Mass celebrated by Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, the pontifical legate for the papal basilicas of Assisi.

Reflecting on the meaning of St. Francis’ transitus, Cardinal Artime told the congregation, “To live well means learning, day after day, to die to ourselves so that we may belong ever more fully to Christ.”

“The things we owned, our achievements, the image we projected of ourselves” will not matter in the end, the cardinal said. “Love will remain. Christ will remain. Francis dies poor, but he dies rich in the only wealth that never dies: the Lord.”

The following morning, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the president of the Italian bishops’ conference, presided over a packed Mass in the basilica attended by Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella. Assisi’s Bishop Felice Accrocca and Cardinal Artime were among the Mass’ concelebrants.

In his homily, Cardinal Zuppi, who just returned from a diplomatic visit to Moscow, said that St. Francis continues to teach us to be peacemakers, bringing the gift of peace “wherever there is violence, hatred and misunderstanding.”
The way forward when “we are tempted and seduced by a vulgar, overbearing and deceptive culture of power,” the archbishop of Bologna added, is to disarm “our hands and our hearts.”

Following the Mass, Italy’s president addressed the crowd gathered in front of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

“In these times marked by senseless and cruel wars, by so much violence, manipulation and arrogance, as Leo XIV said a few days ago, our hope is that Francis’ sun may illuminate the world, convert minds hardened by hatred, and point the way towards peace, hope and a serene, fraternal life together,” Mattarella said.

Brother Marco Moroni, the custos of the Sacred Convent, announced that, together with local authorities a proposal has been made to establish a children’s hospice in the region as “a lasting, tangible sign of the centenary.”

The celebrations concluded on the evening of Oct. 4 with solemn vespers and a procession led by Bishop Accrocca, who imparted a blessing of Italy and the world from the small dome of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi using the Chartula relic of St. Francis. The Chartula is a small, fragile piece of parchment written on directly by St. Francis of Assisi in September 1224, two years before his death. The parchment contains the “The Praises of God” on one side and “The Blessing for Brother Leo” on the reverse.

The Jubilee Year proclaimed by Pope Leo XIV celebrating the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi will continue until Jan. 10, 2027.