Category: Diocese of Scranton News

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – A bishop is a man of deep faith who is filled with hope and stays close to his people, Pope Leo XIV said.

He is “not offering easy solutions,” but rather, he is helping his flock be a community that strives “to live the Gospel in simplicity and solidarity,” he said in a reflection with bishops celebrating the Jubilee of Bishops June 25.

The heart of a bishop “is open and welcoming, and so is his home,” he said. But he “must be firm and decisive in dealing with situations that can cause scandal and with every case of abuse, especially involving minors, and fully respect the legislation currently in force.”

More than 400 bishops from 38 countries gathered for the pope’s reflection at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica after taking part in a pilgrimage through the Holy Door and concelebrating Mass presided over by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, retired prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery of Bishops.

Going through the Holy Door — the symbol of Christ the savior — is important, Pope Leo said, because “each of you, like myself, before being a shepherd, is a sheep, a member of the Lord’s flock.”

“If we are to lead the churches entrusted to our care, we must let ourselves be profoundly renewed by Jesus, the Good Shepherd, in order to conform ourselves fully to his heart and to the mystery of his love,” he said.

The Holy Year dedicated to a hope that “does not disappoint,” he said, is a reminder that “we, as bishops, are the primary heirs of that prophetic legacy, which we must preserve and transmit to the people of God by our words and the way we live our lives.”

At times, preaching that message “means swimming against the tide, even in certain painful situations that appear to be hopeless,” he said. Yet, “if we are truly close to those who suffer, the Holy Spirit can revive in their hearts even a flame that has all but died out.”

“Dear friends, a bishop is a witness to hope by his example of a life firmly grounded in God and completely devoted to the service of the church,” Pope Leo said. “This will be the case only insofar as he is conformed to Christ in his personal life and in his apostolic ministry.”

The pope then detailed several characteristics of “the theological core of the life of a bishop,” whose way of thinking, feelings and actions are formed by the Holy Spirit.

“The bishop is a man of hope,” he said, “especially at moments of difficulty in people’s lives.”

“The bishop, by this theological virtue, helps them not to despair: not simply by his words but by his closeness,” he said.

“When families are greatly burdened and public institutions fail to provide adequate support; when young people are disillusioned and fed up with empty promises; when the elderly and those with grave disabilities feel abandoned, the bishop is close to them, not offering easy solutions, but rather the experience of communities that strive to live the Gospel in simplicity and solidarity,” the pope said.

The bishop is a man of faith, much like Moses, “who, by the grace of God, sees ahead, glimpses the goal and perseveres in times of trial,” interceding for his people before God, he said.

“Faith and hope then come together in him as a man of pastoral charity,” he said, so that whether he is “preaching, visiting communities, listening to priests and deacons, or making administrative decisions, all that he does is inspired and motivated by the charity of Christ the shepherd.”

Through God’s grace, prayer and the daily celebration of the Eucharist, the bishop can be an example of “fraternal love” that is open to everyone, especially those experiencing moments of difficulty or illness, he said.

Pope Leo then told bishops their life and ministry needed to be marked by some other essential virtues: pastoral prudence, poverty, perfect continence in celibacy and human virtues.

“To bear witness to the Lord Jesus, the bishop lives a life of evangelical poverty,” marked by “a simple, sober and generous lifestyle, dignified and at the same time suited to the conditions of the majority of his people,” he said. “The poor must find in him a father and a brother, and never feel uncomfortable in meeting him or entering his home.”

“In his personal life, he must be detached from the pursuit of wealth and from forms of favoritism based on money or power,” he said, because, like Jesus, the bishop has been anointed and sent “to bring good news to the poor.”

“Together with material poverty, the life of the bishop is also marked by that specific form of poverty which is celibacy and virginity for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven,” Pope Leo said.

It is not just a question of living a celibate life, he said, “but of practicing chastity of heart and conduct,” which presents “the authentic image of the church” to everyone.

Pastoral prudence, the pope said, “is the practical wisdom that guides the bishop in his decisions, in his governance, in his relations with the faithful and with their associations.”

“A clear sign of prudence is his exercise of dialogue as a style and method, both in his relationships with others and in his presiding over participatory bodies: in other words, in his overseeing of synodality in his particular church,” he added.

Finally, he said, “the bishop is called to cultivate those human virtues which the Council Fathers also chose,” which include “fairness, sincerity, magnanimity, openness of mind and heart, the ability to rejoice with those who rejoice and to suffer with those who suffer, as well as self-control, delicacy, patience, discretion, great openness to listening and engaging in dialogue, and willingness to serve.”

“These virtues, which each of us possesses to a greater or lesser extent by nature, can and must be cultivated in conformity to the Lord Jesus, with the grace of the Holy Spirit,” the pope said.

Before leading the bishops in reciting the profession of faith together, Pope Leo encouraged them to be “men of communion, always promoting unity in the diocesan presbyterate” and to make sure “every priest, without exception,” can sense the fatherhood, brotherhood and friendship of his bishop.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – A ceasefire between Israel and Iran seemed to be holding after President Donald Trump expressed frustration June 24 with both countries, telling reporters at the White House that initially Iran violated the deal but “Israel violated it too.”

“Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I’ve never seen before,” Trump said. “The biggest load that we’ve seen. I’m not happy with Israel. You know, when I say, ‘OK, now you have 12 hours. You don’t go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them. So I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran either.”

Trump said both Iran and Israel “have been fighting so long and so hard” that they do not know what they are doing, using a common obscenity to emphasize the point.

Previously, Trump announced on social media June 23 a ceasefire deal had been reached — a day after Pope Leo XIV warned world leaders they were headed for an “irreparable abyss.”

Trump said on his social media website Truth Social that the ceasefire, which would be phased in over the following 24 hours as each nation completed “their in progress, final missions,” and would bring an “Official END” to the war.

“During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL,” Trump wrote. “On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, ‘THE 12 DAY WAR.’ This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will! God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!”

Both Israel and Iran eventually confirmed the ceasefire.

Israel launched strikes against Iran June 13 in what it called a “preemptive” strike to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapon capabilities. At Trump’s order, the United States joined that conflict June 21, attacking three nuclear facilities in Iran.

Trump’s post came several hours after Iran launched a retaliatory strike against a U.S. military base in Qatar. Trump called that strike “very weak” in a post suggesting he would not retaliate.

“I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done,” he said. “Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE.”

He also suggested Iran gave the U.S. “early notice” of the missile attack, leading to no loss of life or injury.

“Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same,” he said.

Pope Leo XIV had earnestly warned leaders to back off from war, saying they had a “moral responsibility” to “stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss.”

In his remarks following his June 22 Angelus address, he said, “Today more than ever, humanity cries out and calls for peace.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – When facing despair, exclusion and disappointment, do not be afraid to turn to Jesus and pray for the healing power of his love, Pope Leo XIV said.

“A very widespread ailment of our time is the fatigue of living: reality seems to us to be too complex, burdensome, difficult to face,” he told thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his general audience June 25. It was the last public general audience Pope Leo was scheduled to lead until July 30.

“At times we feel blocked by the judgment of those who claim to put labels on others,” he said, and people may be tempted to “switch off, we fall asleep, in the delusion that, upon waking, things will be different.”

“But reality has to be faced, and together with Jesus, we can do it well,” he said.

The pope centered his catechesis on two accounts of miracles in St. Mark’s Gospel: Jairus’ daughter who awakens from death and the woman who is healed of a hemorrhage.

These two miracles “reveal the healing power born of faith in Jesus,” he said.

“These two Gospel accounts teach us to be unafraid to turn to Jesus in prayer and to entrust ourselves to the healing power of his love, which can transform apparently hopeless situations and even bring life out of death,” he said.

“For God, who is eternal life, death of the body is like sleep. True death is that of the soul: of this we must be afraid!,” Pope Leo said.

When Jesus revives Jairus’ child, he “tells the parents to give her something to eat,” which conveys an important message for parents today, he said.

‘When our children are in crisis and need spiritual nourishment, do we know how to give it to them? And how can we, if we ourselves are not nourished by the Gospel?” he asked.

The woman afflicted with hemorrhages had been condemned by others to stay hidden and isolated, he said. “At times, we too can be victims of the judgment of others, who presume to put a robe on us that is not our own. And then we suffer and cannot come out of it.”

But she is brave, has faith and emerges from the crowd to touch Jesus, resulting in her healing, he said. Others in the crowd who touched Jesus experienced no similar transformation because they lacked faith.

“Perhaps today, too, many people approach Jesus in a superficial way, without truly believing in his power. We walk the surfaces of our churches, but maybe our heart is elsewhere!” the pope said.

“This woman, silent and anonymous, conquers her fears, touches the heart of Jesus with her hands, considered unclean because of her illness. And she is immediately healed,” he said, because as Jesus said to her, “your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

“Dear brothers and sisters, in life there are moments of disappointment and discouragement, and there is also the experience of death. Let us learn from that woman, from that father: let us go to Jesus,” he said.

“He can heal us, he can revive us. Jesus is our hope!” he said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV condemned the suicide bombing at a Damascus church, calling it “a cowardly terrorist attack” as he appealed to the international community not to give up on Syria.

He also called for dialogue, diplomacy and peace for the whole Middle East, quoting from the prophet Isaiah, “One nation will no longer raise its sword against another nation. They will no longer learn the art of war.”

“Let this voice from the Most High be heard!” he said at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square June 25.

“Let the lacerations caused by the bloody actions of these last days be healed. Let all logic of bullying and revenge be rejected and may the path of dialogue, diplomacy and peace be resolutely chosen” he said.

At least 25 people were killed and 63 others wounded after a suicide bomber opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest at St. Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus, Syria, June 22, during a Sunday Divine Liturgy.

The jihadist group, Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the AFP June 24. It was the first such attack in Damascus since former President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by Islamist-led rebels in December, ending 13 years of civil war.

Pope Leo sent a telegram expressing his sadness over the “loss of life and destruction caused by the attack.”

He also expressed his solidarity with and prayers for all those affected by the tragedy in the telegram, sent on the pope’s behalf by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, June 24.

After offering his greetings in multiple languages at the end of his weekly general audience in the square, the pope said the bombing Sunday was “a cowardly terrorist attack.”

Offering his prayers for the victims and their families, the pope said, “This tragic event recalls the profound fragility that still marks Syria after years of conflict and instability.”

“It is therefore crucial that the international community does not look away from this country, but continues to offer it support through gestures of solidarity and with a renewed commitment to peace and reconciliation,” he said.

Pope Leo then addressed all Christians in the Middle East, saying, “I am close to you, the whole church is close to you.”

“We continue to follow developments in Iran, Israel and Palestine closely and with hope,” he said.

“The words of the prophet Isaiah resonate more urgently than ever,” he said, quoting from the vision of Zion where nations will beat their swords into plowshares and end the art of war.

“Let this voice from the Most High be heard!” he said to applause, calling for a rejection of revenge and a return to dialogue.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Do not be afraid to grapple with your innermost thoughts, feelings and problems so that your heart can be filled with God and his compassion, Pope Leo XIV told seminarians.

Also remember to listen to the “voices” of nature, music, poetry, the humanities and the cries of the poor, the oppressed and people who are looking for the meaning of life, he told them.

Learn “to live the style of welcome and closeness, of generous and selfless service, letting the Holy Spirit ‘anoint’ your humanity even before ordination,” the pope said in a reflection June 24.

The pope led a mediation with hundreds of seminarians and those involved in priestly formation from around the world in St. Peter’s Basilica as part of the Jubilee of Seminarians.

When the pope arrived and began walking down the central aisle, the men cheered enthusiastically, ending with a hand-clap chant of “Papa Leone” or “Pope Leo” in Italian.

He thanked them for their joy and enthusiasm, “because with your energy you fuel the flame of hope in the life of the church.”

Speaking in Italian, Pope Leo punctuated a few key points by repeating them in Spanish, such as thanking them for having accepted God’s call to pursue the priesthood and encouraging them to “be brave and have no fear!”

Their journey is saying “yes” with “humility and courage” to Christ’s invitation to become “meek and strong” in proclaiming the Gospel and to become “servants of a church that is open and a missionary church on the move.”

“Jesus, you know, calls you first and foremost to an experience of friendship with him and with your fellow priests” and to deepen this experience in all aspects of life, he said.

“For there is nothing about you that must be discarded, but everything is to be taken up and transfigured in the logic of the grain of wheat to become happy persons and priests, ‘bridges’ and not obstacles to the encounter with Christ for all who approach you,” the pope said. “Yes, he must increase and we must decrease, so that we can be shepherds according to his heart.”

Pope Leo spent a large part of his reflection on the importance of caring for one’s heart — the inner workings, thoughts and feelings one keeps inside — because that is “where God makes his voice heard and where all the most profound decisions are made.”

“As Christ loved with the heart of man, you are called to love with the heart of Christ,” he said.

The heart must be continuously converted so that one’s whole being “smells of the Gospel,” he said.

Exploring deep inside one’s heart, where God has always left his mark, can sometimes cause fear, he said, “because there are also wounds in there.”

“Do not be afraid to take care of them (these wounds), let yourself get help, because it is precisely from those wounds that the ability to stand with those who suffer will emerge,” he said.

“If you learn to know your heart, you will be increasingly more authentic and will not need to put masks on,” he said.

The best way to enter into one’s inner being is through prayer, he said, which is increasingly difficult in such a “hyper-connected” age, where it is hard to find “silence and solitude.”

“Without the encounter with him, we cannot even truly know ourselves,” he said.

Pope Leo invited the seminarians to “invoke the Holy Spirit frequently, that he may mold in you a docile heart, capable of grasping God’s presence, even as you listen to the voices of nature and art, poetry, literature and music, as well as the humanities.”

As they delve into their theological studies, “know how to also listen with an open mind and heart to the voices of culture, such as the recent challenges of artificial intelligence and social media,” he told them.

“Above all, as Jesus did, know how to listen to the often silent cry of the little ones, the poor and the oppressed, and the many people, especially young people, who seek meaning for their lives,” he added.

“Have a meek and humble heart like that of Jesus,” he said. “May you take on the sentiments of Christ to grow in human maturity, especially affective and relational” maturity.

It is important and necessary “to focus a lot on human maturity, rejecting every kind of masking and hypocrisy,” he said.

“Keeping our gaze on Jesus, we must learn to give a name and voice even to sadness, fear, anguish, indignation, bringing everything into relationship with God,” he said. “Crises, limitations and frailties are not to be hidden; rather, they are opportunities for grace and a paschal experience.”

“In a world where ingratitude and thirst for power often dominate, where the logic of exclusion can prevail, you are called to witness to the gratitude and gratuitousness of Christ, the exultation and joy, the tenderness and mercy of his heart,” Pope Leo said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The huge economic divide between rich and poor today is unacceptable with so much wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, Pope Leo XIV said.

Political leaders have a responsibility to promote the good of the entire community, especially by defending the vulnerable, the marginalized and the poor, he told speakers and members of parliament attending a Rome conference about democracy and interfaith dialogue during the Jubilee of Governments.

“Sound politics,” he said, promotes “the equitable distribution of resources,” which “can offer an effective service to harmony and peace both domestically and internationally.”

The pope met with the group during an audience at the Vatican June 21. The group was made up of people attending the June 19-21 Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Rome. The conference brought together speakers and members of parliament with representatives of religions, governments, international organizations, faith-based and civil organizations, and academia.

In his speech, the pope said they have a “responsibility to promote and protect, independent of any special interest, the good of the community, the common good, particularly by defending the vulnerable and the marginalized.”

“This would mean, for example, working to overcome the unacceptable disproportion between the immense wealth concentrated in the hands of a few and the world’s poor,” he said. “Those who live in extreme conditions cry out to make their voices heard and often find no ears willing to hear their plea.”

“This imbalance generates situations of persistent injustice, which readily lead to violence and, sooner or later, to the tragedy of war,” he said, calling for a more equitable distribution of resources.

Pope Leo also underlined the importance of religious freedom and interreligious dialogue.

“Political life can achieve much by encouraging the conditions for there to be authentic religious freedom and that a respectful and constructive encounter between different religious communities may develop,” he said.

“Belief in God, with the positive values that derive from it, is an immense source of goodness and truth for the lives of individuals and communities,” he added.

“In order to have a shared point of reference in political activity, and not exclude ‘a priori’ any consideration of the transcendent in decision-making processes, it would be helpful to seek an element that unites everyone,” which, he said, is found in natural law.

“Natural law, which is universally valid apart from and above other more debatable beliefs, constitutes the compass by which to take our bearings in legislating and acting, particularly on the delicate and pressing ethical issues that, today more than in the past, regard personal life and privacy,” he said.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights also “can contribute greatly to placing the human person, in his or her inviolable integrity, at the foundation of the quest for truth, thus restoring dignity to those who do not feel respected in their inmost being and in the dictates of their conscience,” he added.

Lastly, Pope Leo said, politics cannot ignore the challenge of artificial intelligence. “On the contrary, it is called to respond to many citizens who rightly look with both confidence and concern at the issues raised by this new digital culture.”

“The degree of civilization attained in our world and the goals you are charged to achieve are now facing a major challenge in the form of artificial intelligence,” which will be of great help to society as long as it “does not undermine the identity and dignity of the human person and his or her fundamental freedoms,” he said.

“Artificial intelligence functions as a tool for the good of human beings,” he said, and it should not diminish or replace people.

“Our personal life has greater value than any algorithm, and social relationships require spaces for development that far transcend the limited patterns that any soulless machine can prepackage,” he said.

(OSV News) – Christians in Syria are reeling after a suicide bombing struck a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus during a June 22 Divine Liturgy.

At least 20 were killed and more than 60 injured that Sunday after an attacker, reported to be armed and wearing an explosive vest, entered Mar Elias, a Greek Orthodox church in the city’s Dweila neighborhood.

Posting to its official Telegram channel, Syria’s Interior Ministry said the bomber was “affiliated with the terrorist organization ISIS,” and that he had opened fire prior to detonating his vest.

Witnesses quoted by The Washington Post said the attacker, whose face was covered, had been charged by a crowd seeking to eject him from the church.

The outlet quoted Father Fadi Ghattas as saying there were “350 people praying at the church” when the attacker struck.

Another priest, Father Meletius Shahati, reported a second gunman shooting at the church door prior to the explosion.

Churchgoer Issam Nasr said he had seen people “blown to bits,” adding, “We have never held a knife in our lives. All we ever carried were our prayers.”

Photos of the church showed blood-spattered walls and mangled pews, with the altar heavily damaged.

The Syria’s Interior Ministry said that “security units rushed to the scene, cordoned off the entire area, while the competent teams began collecting evidence and investigating the circumstances of the attack.”

The deadly aggression has drawn widespread domestic and international condemnation.

Syria’s information minister Hamza al-Mustafa posted on X, “This cowardly act contradicts the values of citizenship that unite us all. We, as Syrians, affirm the importance of national unity and civil peace, and call for boosting the bonds of brotherhood among all components of society.”

He added, “We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship, which seeks to build a homeland of security and stability. We also stress the state’s pledge to exert all efforts to combat criminal organizations and ensure the protection of society from any attacks that threaten its safety.”

Thomas Barrack, U.S special envoy for Syria, extended condolences, on behalf of President Donald Trump and the American people to the victims, families and people affected by the attack.

“These terrible acts of cowardice have no place in the new tapestry of integrated tolerance and inclusion that Syrians are weaving. We continue to support the Syrian government as it fights against those who are seeking to create instability and fear in their country and the broader region,” Barrack said in a June 22 post on X.

Geir Pederson, the United Nations’ special envoy for Syria, also voiced his “strong condemnation of this heinous crime” and called for “a comprehensive investigation and the necessary measures.”

Pederson urged everyone to “unite in rejecting terrorism, extremism, incitement, and the targeting of any group in Syria.”

France, Germany, Lebanon and Qatar also condemned the attack.

Previously, Maronite Archbishop Antoine Chbair of Latakia and Tartus, Syria, told the Catholic Near East Welfare Association — an initiative of the Holy See — that “no one knows the end” of recent deadly violence and “sectarian strife” in Syria.

The archbishop’s remarks followed the killing of at least 800 in March, as Syria’s security forces battled armed supporters of Syria’s ousted former president Bashar Assad.

Assad — whose family ruled Syria for five decades, with brutal crackdowns on dissent and violent repression — fled to Moscow in December after his regime fell to a lightning rebel offensive. That campaign followed 13 years of civil war in which more than 600,000 were killed.

ROME (CNS) – In carrying Jesus through the city streets in a Corpus Christi procession, Christians are called to be witnesses of his love, sharing both their material and spiritual gifts, Pope Leo XIV said.

A procession with the Eucharist is a way to present Jesus “to the hearts of those who believe, so that they may believe more firmly” and “to the hearts of those who do not believe, so that they may reflect on the hunger present within them and the bread that alone can satisfy it,” the pope said in his homily June 22.

Pope Leo celebrated an early evening Mass outside Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran for the feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord before joining thousands of people — including children who had recently received their first Communion — for the Corpus Christi procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, about a mile away.

Pope Leo carried the monstrance with the consecrated host under a golden canopy held by eight members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. When he reached the Marian basilica about 45 minutes later, he presided over Benediction.

The Gospel reading for the Mass was St. Luke’s account of Jesus multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish to feed a crowd of thousands.

“Jesus responds to the appeal of hunger with the sign of sharing: he raises his eyes, recites the blessing, breaks the bread and feeds all present,” the pope said.

“The Lord’s actions are not some complicated magical rite,” he said. Rather, “they simply show his gratitude to the Father, his filial prayer and the fraternal communion sustained by the Holy Spirit.”

“Jesus multiplies the loaves and the fish by sharing what is available. As a result, there is enough for everyone,” Pope Leo said. “In fact, more than enough. After all had eaten their fill 12 baskets-full were gathered up.”

The Gospel account speaks to people’s hunger for meaning, for God and for eternal life — all of which are fulfilled when Jesus gives himself for the salvation of all, the pope said.

But, he said, the miracle also is a response of compassion to the physical hunger of the crowd.

“Today, in place of the crowds mentioned in the Gospel, entire peoples are suffering more as a result of the greed of others than from their own hunger,” the pope said. “In stark contrast to the dire poverty of many, the amassing of wealth by a few is the sign of an arrogant indifference that produces pain and injustice.”

“Especially in this Jubilee Year,” he said, “the Lord’s example is a yardstick that should guide our actions and our service: we are called to share our bread, to multiply hope and to proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom.”

The Eucharist, the pope said, is the pledge that Jesus not only sates physical hunger, but he can save everyone from death “because his body is the bread of eternal life.”

“By offering himself completely, the crucified and risen Lord delivers himself into our hands, and we realize that we were made to partake of God,” he said. “When we partake of Jesus, the living and true bread, we live for him.”

The grace of the Eucharist satisfies the deepest human hunger, he said.

Pope Leo quoted St. Augustine: “Christ is truly ‘panis qui reficit, et non deficit; panis qui sumi potest, consumi non potest’ — he is bread that restores and does not run short; bread that can be eaten but not exhausted.”

In the Corpus Christi procession, the pope said, all those involved give witness to how Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist transforms them and leads them to become his body, united in the church.

“Together, as shepherds and flock, we will feed on the Blessed Sacrament, adore him and carry him through the streets. In doing so, we will present him before the eyes, the consciences and the hearts of the people.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – “It is urgent that there take root throughout the church a culture of prevention that does not tolerate any form of abuse: of power or authority, of conscience or spiritual or sexual,” Pope Leo XIV wrote to a Peruvian journalist.

“This culture will only be authentic if it is born of active vigilance, of transparent processes and sincere listening to those who have been wounded,” the pope wrote to Paola Ugaz, who has been sued and repeatedly taken to court for her attempts to expose the various forms of abuse that took place within the Peru-based lay movement, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae.

Pope Francis suppressed the movement at the end of January.

A Vatican official read Pope Leo’s message to Ugaz June 20 at a performance in Lima, Peru, of Proyecto Ugaz, a theatrical performance honoring the journalist for her reporting. The pope’s letter was not published on the Vatican website but was covered by Vatican News and released by Ugaz herself.

Pope Leo wrote that the play “gives voice and face to a pain silenced for too long.”

“This play is not only theater: it is memory, denunciation and, above all, an act of justice,” the pope wrote.

The production helps “the victims of the defunct spiritual family of Sodalitium and the journalists who have accompanied them — with courage, patience and fidelity to the truth — illuminate the wounded but hopeful face of the church,” Pope Leo wrote.

“Your struggle for justice is also the struggle of the church,” he said. “For as I wrote years ago, ‘a faith that does not touch the wounds of the human body and soul is a faith that has not yet known the Gospel.”

Many of those wounds, he said, were inflicted by members of the church on “so many children, young people and adults who were betrayed where they sought comfort; and also on those who risked their freedom and their name so that the truth would not be buried.”

Pope Leo thanked Ugaz and others “who have persevered in this cause, even when they were ignored, discredited or even persecuted judicially.”

“Prevention and care are not a pastoral strategy,” the pope insisted. “They are the heart of the Gospel.”

Pope Leo said he prayed the play would be “an act of remembrance, but also a prophetic sign. May it awaken hearts, stir consciences and help us to build a church where no one else must suffer in silence, and where the truth is not seen as a threat, but as a path to liberation.”