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Vatican equates Ramadan and Lent in message to MuslimsThe Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue expressed hope that 'through the shared season of Ramadan and Lent, our inner transformation becomes a catalyst for a renewed world.' The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue has sent a message to Muslims “on the occasion of the month of Ramadan.” The Islamic season of fasting coincides with Lent this year in what the message calls “a providential convergence of calendars.”Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, Prefect for the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, expressed his hope that “through the shared season of Ramadan and Lent, our inner transformation becomes a...

Border czar Tom Homan dismissed Pope Leo’s criticism of President Donald Trump’s deportation policies on Wednesday by comparing the fortified walls around the Vatican to the United States’s own border security efforts. During a brief encounter with reporters, Homan was asked about Leo’s comments condemning mass deportations, including that the U.S. is doing them in a “disrespectful” way. Homan said Vatican City itself is a walled state and that the pontiff should focus on the Catholic Church’s “own issues.”

The Vatican has a long memory when it comes to blocking American-led peace initiatives — and a short one when it comes to recognizing Jewish rights in the Land of Israel. When Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, announced Tuesday that Pope Leo would not be joining U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly formed Board of Peace, he framed the decision in procedural language about the United Nations. But for anyone who has watched the Holy See’s decades-long pattern of hostility toward Israeli sovereignty, the refusal carries a familiar echo. Parolin made the announcement on the sidelines of a...

[Catholic Caucus] Abortion, the UN Agenda, and the Vatican: Inside the Transformation of the Pontifical Academy for LifeThe Vatican’s pro-life academy now features a pro-choice economist tied to the UN’s 2030 Agenda. Abortion, climate policy, immigration, and healthcare—now all “pro-life”? This article looks inside the Vatican’s moral reset under Francis and Leo XIV.On February 16, Mariana Mazzucato, an influential economist and ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, delivered an address during the Academy’s plenary meeting in Rome, as part of a two-day event entitled “International Workshop – Healthcare for All. Sustainability and Equity.” The workshop focused on “the...

[Catholic Caucus] Chinese bishops side with communist regime to restrict worship, ‘unregistered clergy’The government-sanctioned bishops in China have backed limits on public worship introduced by the communist regime, supporting a ban on clergy who refuse state registration.The government-approved Chinese Catholic bishops have backed the Communist Party’s limitation on public worship.EWTN reports that the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China (BCCC), sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), supported the government’s ban on “unregistered clergy” engaging in religious pastoral work or doing so in “unapproved sites for worship.”In a February 4 statement, the BCCC stated that “religious groups must...

The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X has officially announced that it will proceed with new episcopal consecrations starting from July 1, 2026, a decision of enormous ecclesial significance that reopens one of the most delicate chapters in its relationship with the Holy See. The announcement was made public on February 2, the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, by the superior general of the Fraternity, Father Davide Pagliarani, during a ceremony held at the International Seminary of Saint Curé of Ars, in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, France. According to the statement issued from the Fraternity’s General House, the decision has...

The FBI searched the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson Wednesday morning, as part of a classified document leak investigation. Agents reportedly executed a search warrant at her residence in suburban Alexandria, Va., seizing her phone, a Garmin watch, and two laptops (a personal computer and a Washington Post-issued device). Natanson was reportedly told she is not the target of the investigation. The suspected leaker, Aurelio Perez-Lugones, is a Maryland-based government system administrator with top-secret clearance. The Justice Department alleges in its complaint that he took home classified material, including documents found in his lunchbox and basement. Attorney General...

[Catholic Caucus] Why won’t the Vatican clarify Catholic doctrine on homosexuality, women’s ordination?Bishop Marian Eleganti joins me on this episode of The John Henry Westen Show, filmed at this year's Rome Life Forum.Bishop Marian Eleganti joins me on this episode of The John Henry Westen Show, filmed at this year’s Rome Life Forum. We discussed doctrinal ambiguity and confusion in the early months of Pope Leo’s pontificate on key issues such as same-sex “marriage,” women’s ordination, and more. I began the episode by noting that some of the most controversial bishop appointments made by Pope Leo have been those who...

Pope Leo XIV is expected to name Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, to succeed retiring 75 year old Timothy Cardinal Dolan as archbishop of New York, sources briefed on the transition say. About Bishop Hicks Pope Leo is from Illinois, and he has tapped a fellow Illinois native to lead the archdiocese of New York. Hicks, 58, and Pope Leo have much in common. They were both born and raised in suburban Chicago, with Hicks being born in Harvey and raised in South Holland. Both men also speak fluent Spanish after spending years ministering to the poor in South...

In an effort to boldly affirm a pro-life message during the Christmas season, the Vatican is set to unveil a massive nativity scene that was designed with the help of pro-life advocates from 40 Days for Life. Entitled, “Nacimiento Gaudium,” (Joyful Birth), the scene was created by Costa Rican artist Paula Senoto with the aid of pro-life champions. The nativity will be located in the Vatican and blessed by Pope Leo on Dec. 15. One of the unique features of the display will be the use of 25,000 ribbons in place of the straw that typically goes in the manger....

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Saturday returned 62 artifacts to Indigenous peoples from Canada as part of the Catholic Church’s reckoning with its role in helping suppress Indigenous culture in the Americas. Pope Leo XIV gave the artifacts, including an iconic Inuit kayak, and supporting documentation to a delegation of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops during an audience. According to a joint statement from the Vatican and Canadian church, the pieces were a gift and a “concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity.” The items were part of the Vatican Museum’s ethnographic collection, known as the Anima...

Pope Leo XIV met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time on Thursday, and the two men discussed the urgent need to provide assistance to civilians in Gaza and to pursue a two-state solution to end the conflict in the region. The meeting, which lasted about an hour and was described as “cordial” in a brief Vatican statement, comes nearly a month after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement came into effect in the Gaza Strip. The pope and Abbas had not met in person previously. They had spoken over the phone in July to talk about developments in the conflict...

The document of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, approved by Pope Leo XIV, offers clarifications on titles applied to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and calls for special attention to the use of the expression, “Mediatrix of all graces.”The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on Tuesday, 4 November 2025, published Mater populi fidelis (“The Mother of the Faithful People”), a Doctrinal Note “On Some Marian Titles Regarding Mary’s Cooperation in the Work of Salvation.” Signed by the Prefect, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, and the Secretary for the Dicastery’s Doctrinal Section, Monsignor Armando Matteo, the Note was...

[Catholic Caucus] Latin Mass, Exorcism in St. Peter’s Basilica with Record CrowdsAbove: Holy Mass at the High Altar in St. Peter’s (behind the main altar). All photos by Don Elvir unless noted.“Ooh la, la!” In many ways the instinctive and sotto voce reaction of the parish priest of St. Peter’s Basilica to the immense crowd he saw on Saturday could be an apt representation of the response of many in the Catholic Church today, when faced with the vibrancy of the traditional movement.Walking out into the crowds gathered at the Altar of the Chair in the Vatican, the Italian Franciscan...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo’s Vatican quadruples down on support for the green agendaDuring his first five months in office, Pope Leo XIV has indeed continued the green legacy of his predecessor, Francis.The Vatican is quadrupling down on its support for the green agenda.Last month, the Holy See submitted to the United Nations its plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent over the next decade.Among other things, the plan, which is part of the Church’s obligation to the Paris Climate Accords – which the Trump administration withdrew from earlier this year – will include developing a 1,000-acre solar panel...

The Vatican Apostolic Library, located in Vatican City, has designated a prayer space for visiting Muslim scholars, marking a notable gesture of inclusivity at one of the world’s most important centers of religious and cultural scholarship. The move, confirmed by Vice Prefect Giacomo Cardinali, comes after several Muslim academics requested a quiet area for daily prayers during their research visits. In response, the library provided a room equipped with a prayer rug to meet their needs. Cardinali told La Repubblica, an Italian daily, that the request was modest and easily fulfilled. He emphasized that the library serves a global academic...

Apparently, when Pope Leo isn’t busy blessing a block of ice, he is approving prayer rooms for Muslim scholars visiting the Vatican Apostolic Library.Fr. Giacomo Cardinali, Vice Prefect, told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, “Some Muslim scholars have asked us for a room with a carpet for praying and we have given it to them.”How very inclusive of them.Actually, that’s apostasy.But, incredibly, today’s Vatican appears more willing to offend Christians than Muslims and more terrified of engaging in apostasy against the world view of the left/progressives than of the dictates of their own religion.This is disturbing to say the least.Care...

Vatican Creates Muslim Prayer RoomHow many Christian prayer rooms are there in Mecca?Pope Leo has been vocally championing the Muslim mass invasion of Europe, so at least he’s being consistent.Muslim scholars visiting the Vatican Apostolic Library are being accommodated with prayer spaces, its Vice Prefect has confirmed.Fr Giacomo Cardinali, Vice Prefect, said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that Muslim academics had requested a small area in which to pray, and the library had agreed. “Some Muslim scholars have asked us for a room with a carpet for praying and we have given it to them,” he...

Vice Prefect: Muslims can also pray in the Vatican LibraryEven in the most important library in Christendom, Muslims do not have to give up their prayers. "Of course, some Muslim scholars have asked us for a room with a carpet for praying and we have given it to them," said Giacomo Cardinali, Vice-Prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library, to the newspaper "La Repubblica" (Wednesday). The Vatican's book collection contains "incredibly old Korans", Cardinali continued. "We are a universal library, there are Arabic, Jewish, Ethiopian collections and unique Chinese items."

[Catholic Caucus] Catholics invited to make reparation this weekend for ‘abomination’ of Vatican LGBT eventFour bishops will lead an act of reparation and a rosary in atonement for a sacrilegious pilgrimage that saw thousands of so-called 'LGBT Catholics' process into St. Peter's Basilica.Michael Matt, editor of the Remnant newspaper, is inviting Catholics across the globe to join attendees of this weekend’s Catholic Identity Conference (CIC) in Pittsburgh in making an act of reparation and reciting the holy rosary in reparation for the abomination that took place at the Vatican during the recent LGBT pilgrimage.Matt invites the faithful to join Bishop...