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“In a dramatic display of symbolism, Pope Leo XIV blessed a block of ice to challenge climate change deniers and urge political leaders to act. The gesture was performed at a global gathering south of Rome marking the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si, the late Pope Francis' ecological encyclical. Standing before a melting glacier fragment, Pope Leo invoked his predecessor's environmental legacy while chastising those who mock climate science. He called on leaders to act with courage rather than delay, and invited attendees to join the effort.”

VATICAN CITY — The supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church issued a sharp criticism of the Almighty Creator of the universe this week, as Pope Leo XIV publicly condemned God for instituting the death penalty. When asked by the media to comment on critics of the death penalty, the pope singled out the Lord, offering a stinging critique of the Almighty for instituting capital punishment and questioning whether or not God was actually pro-life. "I question God's moral standing here," Pope Leo told reporters. "Someone who says, ‘I'm against abortion,' but says, ‘I'm in favor of the death penalty,'...

Pope Leo XIV raises pro-LGBT UK archbishop to key Vatican rolesAbp. Bernard Longley, tied to the controversial Soho 'LGBT Masses' and synodal LGBT 'outreach,' has been granted a third Vatican role under the new Pope’s agenda.Pope Leo XIV has promoted a bishop who has supported LGBT-themed liturgies to a consulting position within the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, part of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity under Cardinal Kurt Koch.Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham, England, has received three Vatican appointments since June, despite his long record of support for initiatives in the Church that stand in contradiction to...

Pope Leo chides climate skeptics, embraces Francis’s environmental legacyPope Leo XIV took aim Wednesday at climate skeptics who “ridicule those who speak of global warming,” as he strongly embraced Pope Francis’ environmental legacy and made it his own in some of his strongest and most extensive comments to date.Leo presided over a 10th anniversary celebration of Francis’ landmark ecological encyclical, Laudato si’, at a global gathering held at Castel Gandolfo, the pope’s traditional summer residence south of Rome. That encyclical cast care for the planet as an urgent and existential moral concern, and launched a global grassroots movement to advocate...

On Tuesday evening, the Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV spoke out against anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States, as well as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bellicose rhetoric. At an unusual gathering of military leaders earlier that day, Hegseth had told the top brass to be “prepared for war, not for defense,” while espousing the use of “overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy” and promising to “untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country.” Speaking to reporters in Italian, Leo called Hegseth’s rhetoric “worrying,” per the Catholic News Agency, “because it shows...

Pope Leo XIV criticized those who question the prevailing narrative on climate change during a recent gathering in Rome.The pontiff slammed those who “ridicule those who speak of global warming” and affirmed the efforts of his predecessor, Pope Francis, according to The Guardian.Leo presided over the 10th-anniversary celebration of Francis’s landmark ecological encyclical, Laudato Si (Praised Be), at a global gathering south of Rome. The encyclical cast care for the planet as an urgent and existential moral concern and launched a global grassroots movement to advocate for caring for God’s creation and the peoples most harmed by its exploitation.Leo told...

Pope Leo XIV has hit out at those who minimise the "increasingly evident" impact of rising temperatures in his first major statement on climate change. Reiterating the words of his predecessor Pope Francis, the new pontiff lambasted critics who "ridicule those who speak of global warming". The Pope's remarks, at a speech in Castel Gondolfo near Rome, will be seen as an implied criticism of US President Donald Trump, who last month called climate change a "con". Pope Leo also called for greater action from citizens the world over on climate change, saying there was no room for indifference or...

Fr. James Martin applauds Pope Leo’s remark that ‘attitudes’ must change before doctrineThe Jesuit adviser says Leo XIV is right that doctrine could shift once Catholic ‘attitudes’ change.In a public commentary on Thursday, Father James Martin, S.J., said that Pope Leo XIV’s recent remarks on homosexuality mean that Catholic doctrine on sexual morality could be changed.Martin, writing in response to Leo’s interview with Crux Now correspondent Elise Ann Allen, said the new Pontiff was “100% correct” that it was “a matter of changing ‘attitudes.’”“No amount of argumentation or debate, no matter how well reasoned or informed, can substitute for what...

Pope Leo to preside at ecumenical commemoration of modern martyrsPope Leo will join with representatives of other Churches and Ecclesial Communities on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross for an ecumenical ceremony commemorating 21st century martyrs and witnesses of the faith. Pope Leo XIV is set to preside at a prayer service to remember the many Christians of our time who have been killed on account of their faith in Christ.The Holy Father will be joined by representatives of other Christian Churches and ecclesial communities for an “Ecumenical Commemoration of Martyrs and Witnesses of the Faith of...

Leo XIV's Personnel Decisions of Paramount Importance - Bishop ...On September 4, Gloria.tv published a German video interview with Bishop Athanasius Schneider (below). Main points - shortened and slightly summarised.- The freedom of the classical Roman Rite is a matter of justice. The Church cannot commit such a major fracture by prohibiting a form of Mass that it itself valued and recommended for over a thousand years."I would like to talk to Leo XIV about the classical Mass"- The Roman Rite is not the 'Tridentine Mass'. The missals before and after the Council of Trent (1545–1562) are the same. Minor...

Vatican Includes LGBTQ Pilgrimage and Rainbow Crucifix in 2025 Jubilee Celebrations The Vatican is preparing to host a series of events for the LGBTQ community in Rome next week, including a Mass, prayer vigils and a procession to St. Peter’s Basilica. But the nature of these events raises a troubling question: is Pope Leo allowing apostasy to enter the Vatican for the whole world to see? On Sept. 5, the international meeting “Listening to the Experiences of LGBTQ Catholics” will take place inside the Vatican, organized by Outreach, a U.S. organization founded by Jesuit Father James Martin. According to the...

Pope Leo XIV met Monday with one of the most prominent advocates for greater LGBTQ inclusion in the Catholic Church and encouraged his ministry, just days before a planned Holy Year pilgrimage of LGBTQ Catholics to the Vatican. The Rev. James Martin, a New York-based Jesuit author and editor, said Leo told him he intended to continue Pope Francis’ policy of LGBTQ acceptance in the church and encouraged him to keep up his advocacy. The message he received from Leo was “that if people were happy with Pope Francis’ approach to LGBTQ Catholics, they’re going to be happy with Pope...

Is Pope Leo XIV Committed to the False Irenism Condemned by Pope Pius XII?If serious Catholics remain unwilling to condemn the “benign heresies” promoted by Vatican II and John Paul II, then perhaps it is better for Leo XIV to sustain the most visible aspects of the crisis. In that way, we might not be deceived into thinking the cancer is cured merely because the most painful symptoms have temporarily subsided. But the far better course would be for all sincere Catholics to finally renounce the errors condemned by Pius XII that have become so prevalent today.When Robert Francis Prevost...

Pope Leo XIV has issued a clarion call to Catholic politicians worldwide, urging them to align their actions with the Church’s teachings on the sanctity of life. This new message follows on the heels of a recent pro-life message where the Pope emphasized the need to reject “voices of death” and embrace a culture of life. Pope Leo firmly rejected the false notion of Catholic politicians saying they are “personally pro-life” but voting for abortion: “There is no division within the personality of a public figure: there is not on one side the politician, and on the other the Christian.”...

Pope Leo must stand up to Muslim immigrants seeking to remake EuropeAs Muslim migration roils Europe, some Catholic bishops are starting to notice.“For decades, the Islamization of Europe has been progressing through mass immigration,” Polish Bishop Antoni Długosz said July 13, adding that illegal immigrants “create serious problems in the countries they arrive in.”Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Kazakhstan spoke more bluntly in March: “We’re witnessing an invasion. They are not refugees. This is an invasion, a mass Islamization of Europe.”Yet Pope Leo XIV lives in a different dimension.“In a world darkened by war and injustice . . . migrants and...

[Catholic Caucus] LEO AND THE RADICALS - Part III in the Series "The First Year of Leo XIV"This is the third of several analyses written for Rorate by our contributor Serre Verweij on Leo XIV's first year.Series: The First Year of Leo XIVIII - Leo and the Radical Modernists[Part I - Leo and the Germans.][Part II - Leo and Synodality.]There were some rumours during the conclave that Prevost could be a candidate more radical than Parolin. So far, Pope Leo has acted completely the opposite. While extremists on both sides try to frame him as one who will consolidate ‘the...

Pope Leo XIV acknowledges that the faith of Ukrainian Greek Catholics is being put to a severe test, "amid this senseless war," but stresses that the Lord will have the final word and life will triumph over death. The Holy Father also greeted and blessed some mothers of soldiers who had fallen at the front who were participating in the pilgrimage.

[Catholic Caucus] Did Pope Leo just warn the Amazon bishops away from heterodoxy?Leo appears to have warned the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon that the glory days they may have dreamt of under Francis are no more. In a key move, Pope Leo has written to the bishops’ conference of the Amazon as they meet for the first time in such numbers since the 2019 Amazon Synod.A telegram sent from Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to the head of the Amazon bishops’ conference conveys the thoughts and instructions of Pope Leo XIV to the relatively young group of bishops....

Pope Leo needs to reaffirm that the Church is the true Israel of GodSince the New Covenant, theologies which justify taking lands without divine mandates, along with the accompanying ethnic cleansing and war crimes, are akin to Christian apostasy.The Ninth station in the Via Dolorosa is where Jesus falls for the third time. Jerusalem, Israel (Catholic 460) — [Editorial note: The following essay is the reprint of an introduction to a three-part essay explaining why the state of Israel, founded in 1948, has never had a divine mandate, or authentic theological claim, to the occupied Palestinian territories. The author rejects...

Young people from 146 countries celebrated with Pope Leo XIV at the concluding Mass of the World Youth Jubilee at Rome's University of Tor Vergata on Sunday.The Vatican put the number of youths attending the event at more than a million, based on official estimates. Leo arrived by pope mobile to cheers and applause.He urged the celebrants "to adventure with the Lord toward eternity" saying that the Lord was "gently knocked" at the window of their souls.