Category: 2026 News

SCRANTON – While many teenagers spend their summer vacation sleeping in, hanging out with friends, or simply scrolling through social media, dozens of young Catholics from across the country spent a week rolling up their sleeves and putting their faith into action in northeastern Pennsylvania.

As part of Catholic HEART Workcamp, a national Catholic youth mission program, the young adults traveled to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area July 12-17, volunteering at nearly 30 sites, including schools, parishes, nonprofit organizations, and other outreach ministries.

At Saint Clare/Saint Paul School in Scranton, volunteers painted walls and playground areas, stained door frames, cleaned classrooms, organized school merchandise, and tackled numerous projects at both the primary and main campuses, helping to prepare the school for the upcoming academic year.

“We come here to serve others, but primarily we come here to grow closer to Christ through our service,” Father Matthew Conley, a priest from the Archdiocese of Boston who was serving as the group chaplain, said. Catholic HEART Workcamp fundamentally is an organization that exists to give teenagers an opportunity to serve while being uplifted by Christ Himself. It’s service through Christ.”

For Deacon Timothy Dolan, Director of Social Concerns for the Diocese of New Ulm in Minnesota, the week is about far more than just completing projects.

“Catholic HEART Workcamp is a mission to empower our youth to understand who Christ is in their life, enhance their faith, build relationships with others and be able to see Christ in whoever they meet,” he said. “These projects always seem to be able to build character in the kids and camaraderie.”

For many of the young volunteers, the opportunity to give back was just as meaningful as the work itself.

“I love taking part in Catholic HEART Workcamp. I did it last year and had a lot of fun. It’s nice to see the joy that we see in the people we’re helping,” Eva Cox, a senior from Aurora, Illinois, said. “At the Primary campus, we painted a bunch of door frames. We dusted all the lights and fans in the school. We painted dots on the playground that were faded. We brought color back into the playground.”

“I love serving and I love seeing the smiles and happiness that we bring,” Layla Vilone, a sophomore from Dover, Delaware, added.

Throughout the week, the students stayed at King’s College and faith remained at the center of their experience. Participants celebrated Mass each morning and had many other opportunities for prayer, Eucharistic Adoration and Reconciliation.

Olivia Chapman, an eighth grader from Poquoson, Virginia, said the experience reminded her that even ordinary tasks can become an act of discipleship.

“It’s giving back to the community and working for God and His servants,” she said.

SCRANTON – Under two pop-up tents near the Connell Park pool, children and families browsed through brightly colored beach towels and swimsuits on Saturday, July 11, 2026, searching for just the right size and design.

But the display wasn’t a summer sale.

It was another act of quiet generosity by parishioners from Mary Mother of God Parish, who were distributing free swim supplies to local kids as part of the parish’s 10th annual Summer Swim Drive.

The giveaway at Connell Park was the third of several poolside distributions coordinated by volunteers from the parish’s Community and Service Coordinating Team. Throughout late spring, the group collected hundreds of new towels and swimsuits, along with sunscreen, goggles, flip flops, and other swimming essentials from parishioners.

“It is our tenth anniversary that our group has collected swim supplies for children and families that don’t necessarily have what you and I have,” Jennifer Pitts, Coordinating Team leader, explained.

The colorful display included everything from Bluey-themed towels to striped swim trunks and bathing suits carefully organized by size, making it easy for children to find just what they needed before enjoying a day at the pool.

The ministry effort began a decade ago after Pitts’ daughter took her first summer job as a lifeguard at Weston Park.

“She would come home at night and say there were people swimming in their clothes, people swimming in their pajamas, people swimming in their jeans, and they would go home dripping wet because they had no towels,” Pitts recalled. “That is how it all started. She came and told us about a need and our group decided to get together and do mission that is now 10 years strong.”

Prior to the Connell Park distribution, volunteers had already visited Weston Park and Weston Field, distributing at least 120 towels at each location along with many other swimming essentials.

For volunteer Lisa Michaels, the outreach reflects what parish life is meant to be.

“This is important because it’s part of being Church in the community, doing good things for people who might be less fortunate, but just being kind and doing random acts of kindness,” Michaels said. “It is such a wonderful feeling to give back to the community, to do God’s work and help others.”

Pitts credits the generosity of fellow parishioners for making the ministry possible year after year.

“We’re very grateful for our parish which has come through once again to donate all these items,” she said. “They do it year after year.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Singing and playing music during the liturgy is an integral and necessary part of the celebration, which means it is much more than something “decorative,” Pope Leo XIV said.

“In the liturgy, to sing and to play music means to pray, attuning one’s heart to that of our sisters and brothers and to God, through active participation in the mystery that is being celebrated,” he said during his general audience talk in St. Peter’s Basilica Aug. 19.

“Far from being merely decorative, therefore, sacred music is a treasure of profound value. It should always be dignified, draw inspiration from Sacred Scripture and reflect the grandeur of the mystery celebrated,” he added.

During the audience, the pope also invited all Catholics to continually cultivate “a genuine awareness of peace.”

“May you sincerely recognize that peace is a precious and great gift, and that it requires a strong and constant commitment to achieve it, by honestly and truthfully following the paths that build and sustain it in society,” he said in Italian.

In his main talk, Pope Leo continued his series of talks on the Second Vatican Council, focusing on the importance of sacred music as outlined in the council’s constitution on the sacred liturgy, “Sacrosanctum Concilium.”

“Indeed, singing and playing a musical instrument are acts of prayer,” he told English-speakers in his summary. “Music thus fosters our unity in praising God and opens our hearts to be fashioned by his grace.”

The council’s text “confirms and deepens the ministerial function of music in the liturgy, which had already been highlighted by St. Pius X” in 1903 with his document, “Tra Le Sollecitudini” (“Among the Concerns”), Pope Leo said in his main talk in Italian.

The Council Fathers recognized that “certain requirements” are, therefore, necessary, the first being that “it must respond at every level to what is most appropriate for the liturgical moment, beyond fashions or the particular sensitivities of composers,” he said.

“Its form, especially in its melodic aspect, must be at once noble and simple, of high musical quality and easily performable, particularly when it is intended to be sung by the whole assembly,” he added, referring to the teachings in the conciliar document.

The council recommended that “the texts too should be suitable, profound and at the same time readily understandable, inspired mainly by Sacred Scripture, the liturgical books and the spiritual tradition of the Church,” so that “the law of prayer,” which is also “the law of faith, may remain alive and continue to grow,” the pope said.

“‘Sacrosanctum Concilium’ devotes considerable attention to the theme of the active participation of the faithful,” because the emphasis is on fostering a “greater awareness of the mystery being celebrated and its relationship to daily life” in a “spirit of constant conversion,” he said, quoting Pope Benedict XVI.

Each minister and member of the faithful is called to perform those parts which pertain to their office in a “harmonious balance between the different ministries” and with appropriate moments of “reverent silence,” he added.

The council attributes “great value to Gregorian chant, without excluding other genres of sacred music from the celebration,” as well as to the organ, he said. The use of other instruments is permitted as long as the instruments are suitable for sacred use “and truly contribute to the edification of the faithful,” he added, citing “Sacrosanctum Concilium.”

Because inculturation was part of the council’s reform, including in the field of sacred music, the Council Fathers underlined the importance of taking the musical traditions of different cultures seriously into consideration, making every practical effort to promote traditional music.

The formation and practice of sacred music should be encouraged in seminaries, novitiates and other Catholic institutions, he said, while composers of sacred music must “know and preserve the musical heritage of the Church.”

To guarantee the “dignity and excellence” of new compositions, they should be “at the service of the liturgy, while respecting contemporary sensibilities and the different cultural traditions, so as ‘purify worship from ugliness of style, from distasteful forms of expression, from uninspired musical texts which are not worthy of the great act that is being celebrated,'” Pope Leo said, quoting from St. John Paul II’s 2003 document on sacred music.

“Dear brothers and sisters, the Fathers of the Church held liturgical singing in great esteem as a symbol of ecclesial communion,” Pope Leo said, asking that “we join together in love, and — in the words of St. Ignatius of Antioch — ‘with one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ.'”

(OSV News) – Christians are called to reflect Mary’s authentic beauty, which is revealed through a life of enduring love rather than worldly aesthetic standards, Pope Leo XIV said.

Celebrating the Feast of the Assumption Aug. 15, the pope said the artistic depictions of a youthful Mary ascending to heaven stand in stark contrast to the reality of aging that all people experience.

“The glorification of Mary, body and soul, teaches us that our true beauty does not lie in hiding the signs of aging, but in revealing the signs of love that never end, and are even impressed on our flesh,” he said.

“With this in mind, we are invited to reexamine many of the aesthetic standards, predominantly hedonistic and consumerist in nature, that the world imposes on us,” he added.

Pope Leo, who is staying at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo Aug. 12-18, celebrated Mass at the parish of St. Thomas of Villanova. The 17th-century church, named after the Spanish Augustinian friar, was designed by the famed Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini and is the only pontifical parish located outside the Vatican.

The parish’s celebration of the Marian feast day was a tradition started by St. John XXIII and continued by St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Although Pope Francis broke with custom by staying in Rome during the summer, Pope Leo XIV revived the practice.

In his homily, the pope began by reflecting on the day’s first reading from the Book of Revelation. The reading’s description of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet,” he said, signified “that in Mary’s heart, heaven and earth, time and eternity, meet.”

To understand what one has in common “with the beautiful young woman depicted on the altarpieces of our churches,” the pope said Christians must “unite the two signs we have mentioned: the incorrupt body of the Mother of God and her immaculate heart.”

“For it is the purity of the soul that, in Mary — as in us — by the grace of God, illuminates and transfigures the whole person, leading us to the glory of Heaven,” he said.

Reflecting on modern beauty standards, Pope Leo said they “risk trapping us in burdensome expectations, causing us to waste precious energy on what does not really matter and does not last forever.”

“In everyday life, we encounter people whose faces are marked by the years and by suffering, yet who are capable of radiating serenity, kindness and peace around them; just as we may observe others who are perhaps outwardly attractive but hard and cold at heart,” he said. “It is easy to see where true beauty lies and where, on the other hand, there is still a need for conversion, forgiveness and healing.”

In order “to discover and nurture” divine beauty, the pope continued, Christians must learn to see it in “the wrinkles of an elderly person as in the tender face of a child as well, in the maturity of an adult as in the liveliness of a young person as well, in work clothes and tools as well as in festive decorations.”

Each of those realities, he added, contains unique stories of love that offer “small glimpses of heaven.”

“Love is humanity’s most beautiful adornment,” the pope said. “Love transfigures, transforms, ennobles and lifts us up, making us light, free and close to God, even amid life’s ups and downs.”

Turning to the Gospel reading from St. Luke, in which Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth and “proclaims the greatness of the Lord,” Pope Leo said Christians need not look far to understand Mary’s humble exclamation of “the magnificent mysteries she experienced.”

Those mysteries, he explained, are visible wherever true charity exists. The pope noted the examples of weary parents to their children “after a long day,” grandparents caring for grandchildren, morally courageous young people, and ordinary workers who “help bring a little bit of heaven to Earth.”

“The beautiful face of Our Lady of the Assumption is unique; it transcends any possible representation, and yet, at the same time, is familiar to us,” Pope Leo said. “Even at this very moment, we can see her face in the people who are close to us, such as the brothers and sisters with whom, in faith, we share the daily offering of our lives.”

ORLANDO, Fla. (OSV News) – The future of religious life depends on different congregations, with different charisms, working together like a symphony, the president of the United States’ largest leadership conference for Catholic sisters told the group’s members.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents about two-thirds of the nation’s nearly 35,000 sisters, held its annual assembly Aug. 11-14 in Orlando. More than 1,300 congregational leaders and their guests were in attendance.

LCWR’s outgoing president, Sister Vicky Larson, a member of the Presentation Sisters of South Dakota, told attendees in her Aug. 12 presidential address that the assembly’s theme, “Many Charisms, One Spirit, One Call” can best be seen through a musical lens. Good music requires the group to listen to each other.

“The Holy Spirit is asking us to lead by listening,” Sister Vicky said. “Not indifferent listening. Not surface listening. But deep, contemplative, Spirit-led synodal listening — the kind that changes us.”

A song with only one note on one instrument would be “flat, lifeless and unrecognizable,” she said.

“Yet when we weave many different notes together — when melody meets harmony, something far more beautiful emerges,” Sister Vicky said. “Something layered, textured and alive.”

The suffering world needs the melody and harmony of religious life, she said.

“Look for bridges and connections with one another. Listen for harmony,” said Sister Vicky, whose one-year term as president was to end with the close of the assembly. “Just as a choir or symphony brings together many diverse voices or instruments, each taking its turn to carry the melody — we need all charisms in religious life, as well as all people in all vocations around the world, to come together to create the integrated music of humanity.”

Even dissonance — when notes seem to clash against each other — is part of music, forcing patience as your ear waits for resolution, she said. Dissonance can be a problem or it can be part of the story the music tells.

“We live in a world filled with dissonance between people, political parties and nations,” Sister Vicky said. “I believe that we can help the world learn to either create space to hold dissonance or else help the world move through it toward resolution.”

Music also has context, and the context of religious life in the United States right now is one of change, especially demographically.

Sister Vicky talked about how her own congregation has had to let go of many of its sponsored ministries, closing its college and deconstructing its motherhouse. At its chapter in March, the congregation discerned it would be their final one, as they will not have enough members with capacity for another in 2030. They will move toward an appointed leader, or commissary, by 2028.

“This is not a sad song. This is a courageous act of listening to the future,” Sister Vicky said before being interrupted by applause. “This is a courageous act of recognizing that we are part of a bigger picture of God’s call to the world and the Spirit’s unity.”

And all of it is part of how God uses religious life.

“The profound transformation of religious life is part of a continual cycle — growing in some places, merging in others and coming to fulfillment in still others,” she said. “This is not a sign of decline. This is a natural sign of evolution.”

And religious life, just as music is meant to be shared, is not about serving itself.

“The call we hear is not for ourselves alone. Religious life has never existed for its own sake. It exists for the transformation of the world,” Sister Vicky said. “We are called to listen to the cries of the Earth and the cries of those made poor. We are called to stand with migrants, survivors of violence and those who are marginalized.”

Religious life, she said, has always shaped itself to the needs of the time, and the needs of this time require unity and harmony.

“We have the opportunity to create music together none of us could compose alone,” Sister Vicky said. “The Spirit is drawing us into a shared rhythm — not a uniform sound, but a courageous weaving of our distinct charisms into a living, evolving symphony. Harmony gathers our differences into something more beautiful and whole.”

As the second day of the LCWR assembly opened, Pope Leo XIV sent a video message encouraging the sisters to foster vocations to religious life in the United States.

“The work of fostering religious vocations is of vital importance,” noting that despite secularization, there is also “a growing hunger for God” among the young.

“As many of us have personally experienced, Christ’s call to follow him with an undivided heart through vows of poverty, chastity and obedience brings joy, peace and fulfillment,” he said.

The morning also included an address by Xavière Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican, on synodality and religious life.

“As consecrated women and men coming from so many different places and congregations across the Americas, you are not on the margins of the synodal journey. You are at its heart,” Sister Nathalie said.

She also thanked the men and women religious of the United States she met while studying at the Chicago Theological Union and Boston College.

“I come to this conversation not as an outsider explaining synodality to you, but as a sister among sisters and brothers who shares the same vocation, and who has had the extraordinary privilege of accompanying the synodal journey of the whole church from the inside, doing so aware of how much I have received from many women and men religious in the United States,” Sister Nathalie said.

“I would not be the woman religious I am today, serving at the Vatican, without the support, the formation and the accompaniment I received from so many U.S. sisters and other religious,” she added. “And I am here to listen to what you carry — because the exchange of gifts is not a metaphor. It is what this assembly is actually for.”

With the close of the assembly the evening of Aug. 14, LCWR’s new president was to begin her one-year term: Sister Debra Sciano, 68, provincial leader of the School Sisters of Notre Dame’s Central Pacific province.

Whether representing abused children as a prosecutor, navigating years of tension between U.S. Catholic sisters and the Vatican, or helping lead one of the country’s largest communities of Catholic sisters, colleagues told Global Sisters Report that Sister Debra approaches every challenge with the same attentiveness, empathy and instinct to listen.

(OSV News) – Numismatists take note. The Vatican City State Mint has issued a new set of coins to mark Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate and the Jubilee Year of St. Francis of Assisi.

The inaugural euro coin set of Pope Leo’s pontificate features both the face and coat of arms of the 267th successor of Peter. The set also includes a special five-euro commemorative coin depicting the moment that St. Francis renounced his worldly possessions before the bishop of Assisi to mark the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi on the opposite side of Pope Leo’s visage.

It is the first time that the Vatican has issued coins featuring a pope’s portrait in nearly a decade. In 2017, Pope Francis requested that his portrait no longer appear on Vatican coins, making the Vatican at the time the only euro-issuing state without a depiction of its head of state on circulating coins.

The euro became Vatican City’s official currency in 2002. Vatican euro coins garner considerable collector premiums due to limited minting quotas and high demand for the smallest mintages of all euro coins, according to Coins Weekly.

The current commemorative coin set, whose nominal value is 3.88 euros, is currently on sale for 39 euros (about $45) on the official website of the Vatican’s numismatic office. In 2009, the Vatican agreed to put at least 51% coins minted into circulation at face value, rather than only as collectors’ items, leading the gift shops in the Vatican Museums and other businesses in the microstate to begin giving the 50-cent coins with the papal coat of arms as change.

Sister Raffaella Petrini, a Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist, who is president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, recently described the Vatican City State Mint as “not merely a place of production, but also a repository of historical and economic memory because, through the processes of engraving, casting, and minting, it creates coins that imprint on metal a message of universal significance.”

Distinctive elements from Pope Leo XIV’s coat of arms is featured on the new two-euro Vatican coins, which depict a lily symbolizing purity and Marian devotion, and the flaming heart pierced by an arrow above an open book, emblematic of Augustinian spirituality.

The design of the new Vatican coins is by Italian artist Daniela Longo, who also designed the coins for Pope Francis, Benedict XVI and the special “sede vacante” coins issued in 2005 upon the death of John Paul II. “Sede vacante” is the period when the see of Rome is vacant before the election of a new pope.

(OSV News) – Jordan announced the start of its preparations for the historic 2,000th anniversary of the Baptism of Jesus Christ in 2030 at the site where it took place at Bethany Beyond the Jordan, also known as Al-Maghtas.

So far, four popes have visited the site of great religious importance, including St. Paul VI in 1964, followed by St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Jordan is the only country to host visits of the four popes, all affirming the site’s significance.

Jordanian Prime Minister Jafar Hassan signed agreements Aug. 12 to begin work on the development of the lands adjacent to the Baptism Site to commemorate the second millennium of Christ’s baptism in 2030 at the direction of Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

Projects totaling $120 million include the construction of a Baptism museum and a pilgrim’s and visitor’s village as well as the development of ecological walking trails near the World Heritage site, in line with UNESCO recommendations for the site’s conservation.

King Abdullah and his government are working with Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the Council of Church Leaders in Jordan, including Auxiliary Bishop Iyad Twal, the Latin Patriarchal Vicar in Jordan, while coordinating with churches and Christian institutions worldwide.

Organizers said they hope to see millions of Christian pilgrims and other participants coming to Jordan to engage in this historic commemoration of the Baptism Site, the starting point of Christ’s earthly mission after his baptism in the Jordan River.

During a May 18 meeting with King Abdullah and the country’s clerics, Cardinal Pizzaballa stressed that “baptism of the Lord is not just an historical event of the past, but an eternal moment that still speaks to each of us.”

“In it we see the humility of the Son of God who entered the waters of Jordan to sanctify creation and open to all of us the way of salvation,” the cardinal said.

“Baptism marks the beginning: the beginning of the mission of Christ and the beginning of our new life in it,” he said.

Acknowledging King Abdullah’s custodianship of Christian holy sites and peacemaking efforts, Cardinal Pizzaballa said that through the commemoration of Christ’s baptism, “we can make 2030 not just a memory of the past, but a prophetic sign of unity, peace and living faith for the whole world.

“May God accompany us all on this preparatory process for this important event,” he said.

Hassan, Jordan’s prime minister, highlighted Jordan’s message of coexistence, respect for others, peace, love and human fraternity. He also said the second millennium of the Baptism of Jesus Christ reflects Jordan’s historical and religious standing and its role as a global destination for Christian pilgrimage,

Hassan said the government is mobilizing all available resources to support the occasion, describing it as an opportunity to reinforce Jordan’s position as a land of religious heritage and a global destination for Christian pilgrims.

CHICAGO (OSV News) – White Sox baseball fans sporting custom-designed black and gold mitre-style hats celebrated Pope Leo XIV, a fellow diehard Sox fan, at a pope-themed game in Chicago Aug. 11.

Dominican Sister Mary Jo Sobieck of Springfield, Illinois, threw the first pitch, and fans shook hands with the “sign of peace,” led by the Chicago Archdiocese’s Father Tom Hurley, during the fifth inning at Rate Field, home of Pope Leo’s favorite baseball team.

White Sox management handed out “pope hats” to over 38,000 fans who showed up at the third game in a series against the Cincinnati Reds. The promo project started out as a fan giveaway for the first 2,500 tickets, which sold quickly and it added another fast-selling 500.

Management expanded the promo to the full stadium capacity and the tickets flew.

“The only anxiety was: Can we get 40,000 here by the time of this day? So as soon as we figured out we could, it’s been a lot of fun to be part of,” Brooks Boyer, White Sox executive vice president, said in a story about the Pope Leo-themed game written for the team’s website.

“We were talking about this before. Is there anything that has rivaled this where we’d have to say, we have to go to 40,000?” he said from the dugout Aug. 11. “We couldn’t remember anything where we’ve had to put it to 40,000.”

“The place was capacity,” Richard King, a die-hard Sox fan who watched the game on TV, told OSV News.

The game also featured its own familiar penitential rite for Sox fans, as the Reds rallied in the 10th inning to beat the White Sox 5-4, giving Cincinnati a lead in the three-game series that concludes Aug. 13. However, the Sox still lead the American League Central Division.

King, 78, grew up on Chicago’s Southside and has been following his team since he was seven. King, a daily Massgoer and a member of the Knights of Columbus, said the fifth inning “sign of peace” and having Catholicism so openly on display was “great!” He expected the event would raise interest and more curiosity about the Catholic faith.

“Very excited about Pope Night, and obviously a lot of people are excited about it,” White Sox manager Will Venable said in the Sox website story. “Any time we get to celebrate the pope and his fandom of the White Sox is something that we’ll lean into.”

Pope Leo, a Chicago native who grew up in Dolton, Illinois, a south suburb, has been pictured sporting a White Sox baseball cap at the Vatican, and has received multiple Sox-themed presents since his election as pontiff in May 2024.

The pope being a close follower of the Sox made him an instant hit in the Chicago area and across the country, where people have mentioned how relatable he is. Video footage of then-Father Bob Prevost attending Game 1 of the White Sox 2005 World Series match against the Houston Astros went viral. The Sox swept the Astros 4-0 in the series, ending an 88-year drought famously known as the “Curse of the Black Sox.”

A thanksgiving Mass for the pope’s election led by Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich was held at Rate Field a month after the conclave.

In the months that followed Pope Leo’s election, the ballpark was outfitted with papal reminders including a mural of the pope at the entrance to the section where he sat during the World Series matchup and markers on the chair he sat in. Then, a major shareholder of the White Sox told the media the pope told him “he’d love to” throw the first pitch in a new stadium — “schedule permitting” — that is being envisioned for the team’s future.

Chicago White Sox Charities, the team’s philanthropic arm, gave the Augustinians — Pope Leo’s religious order — a $14,000 donation on the Pope Leo-themed night. Father Tom McCarthy and Brother David Relstab, the prior provincial and vocations director respectively of the Augustinians’ Midwest province, accepted the gift on the ballfield.

(OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV encouraged sisters to foster vocations to religious life in the United States in a video message sent Aug. 12.

Addressing participants in the Leadership Conference of Women Religious assembly taking place in Orlando, Florida, the pope said “the work of fostering religious vocations is of vital importance,” noting that despite secularization, there is also “a growing hunger for God” among the young.

“As many of us have personally experienced, Christ’s call to follow him with an undivided heart through vows of poverty, chastity and obedience brings joy, peace and fulfillment,” said Pope Leo, who entered the novitiate of the Order of St. Augustine at age 21.

“In your interactions with the young people, therefore, try to seek ways to introduce them to your way of life, and help them to hear the voice of the Lord, who speaks to us in the depths of our hearts,” he added.

The pope urged sisters to inspire young people “to be courageous in responding to Jesus, who is never outdone in generosity, so that they too may share the joy that comes from following his call.”

LCWR has nearly 1,270 members who are leaders of different women’s congregations, representing about 66% of the 35,000 religious sisters in the United States.

The conference is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year with its Aug. 11-14 assembly, and this year’s gathering brings together women and men religious from Canada, the United States and Latin America for “an historic encounter.”

The pope emphasized how consecrated men and women throughout history have “helped to make the mission and mystery of the Church visible in our world” through the many charisms bestowed by the Holy Spirit.

“The Church needs you and all of the diversity and richness of the forms of consecration and ministry that you represent, for with your vitality and the witness of a life centered on Jesus, you can contribute to waking up the world,” Pope Leo told the religious, noting “the longstanding contributions of your Institutes in the fields of evangelization, education and caring for the poor and marginalized, to name but a few.”

Speakers at the assembly include Sister Nathalie Becquart, a member of the Institut La Xavière Missionnaire du Christ Jésus and the undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, and Sister Vicky Larson, a member of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Aberdeen, South Dakota, and the president of the conference.
Dominican Sister Mila Díaz Solano, originally from Peru, and Sister Mary Gabriel Devlin, a Sister of Life from New York, are among the facilitators for synodal “Conversation in the Spirit” at the assembly.

Pope Leo commended the assembly’s inclusion of a synodal method of listening, discussion and discernment during the proceedings, expressing hope that “through this format of fraternal and receptive dialogue, you will be able to discern what the Holy Spirit is saying about the present and future of consecrated life in the nations where you serve.”

“All Christians are called to be builders of Christ’s communion, formed in a synodal Church in which everyone cooperates in the same mission according to their own charism and ministry,” the pope said.

“In a special way, those in religious life are called to become experts in synodality due to the opportunities afforded by community life to practice it, as well as the very way that your Congregations are organized.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV urged Catholics to gather in person for Sunday Mass and called for working conditions that allow people to attend, saying Sunday is “the foundation and kernel of the whole liturgical year.”

“To sanctify Sunday, it is essential to celebrate the Eucharist,” the pope said at his Aug. 12 general audience in St. Peter’s Basilica. “In this regard, I urge everyone to seek the best possible conditions so that even those who are unable to take time off work on Sundays may take part in Holy Mass.”

Continuing his series on the documents of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Leo reflected on ‘Sacrosanctum Concilium,’ the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. The liturgical year is not a static representation of past events, but an ongoing encounter with Christ, he said.

At its core is Easter, when Christ rose from the dead, and for that reason, the pope said, it is “essential for the faithful to sanctify the Lord’s Day by gathering to celebrate the Eucharist.”

“May our active participation and steadfast witness help us to enter ever more deeply into the reality of belonging to Christ, and may we anticipate with hope his coming in glory,” he said in his remarks to English-speaking pilgrims.

Pope Leo recalled St. John Paul II’s description of Sunday as the “weekly Easter” and “the day of the Lord, the day of the Church, the day of man and, finally, the ‘day of days.'”

Even in languages such as English and German, where the name for Sunday refers to the “day of the sun,” Pope Leo said Christians can discern a reference to Christ, “the true ‘sun of righteousness’ who enlightens every person.”

Listening to the word of God, receiving the body of Christ and gathering together on Sundays, the pope said, allow “the Christian community” to make “visible its communion with the Lord” and bear witness to its fidelity to Christ and the Church.

“This assembly cannot be substituted by a solely virtual presence, nor can it be reduced to a merely passive gathering,” he said, stressing that the liturgical assembly is fulfilled through the active participation of the faithful.

Addressing Spanish-speaking pilgrims, Pope Leo also expressed his closeness to people affected by the powerful earthquake that struck western Colombia Aug. 10, killing hundreds and leaving many others injured or missing. Rescue efforts are still underway.

“While I pray to the Lord for the eternal rest of the deceased, I assure you of my prayers for their families and all those affected by this tragedy,” he said. “I express my gratitude to all those working in the rescue efforts and providing assistance to the victims.”