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Saints are everywhere: Very often we find holiness in our next-door neighbours (Rejoice and Exult, 7, 2018). Pope Francis is making an important point: I like to contemplate the holiness present in the patience of God’s people in those parents who raise their children with immense love, in those men and women who work hard to support their families, in the sick, in elderly religious who never lose their smile. We are all called to be saints, but the official, canonised ones,

Pope Francis wrote Amoris Laetitia, meaning the Joy of Love, 10 years ago. Leo XIV called the Bishops of the world to reflect on it. The pope’s final homily noted that God entrusts married couples with the gift of love and life: The values of openness to life and respect for life, from conception to natural death, are rooted in love, which is fundamental to our existence and to our life together as human beings (14 October 2026). But, and this is the underlying, cultural prob

Matthew 22 assembles four conflict stories. They demonstrate the brilliant mind of Jesus and his sublime courage. The third story: Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus said to them, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. This is the greatest and first commandment.’ ‘The second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ The Ten Commandments are known as the Decalogue – i.e., Ten Words. The first three commandm

During routine abdominal examinations of Pope Leo XIV, doctors discovered a small spot at the base of the lung. It is known as a ‘lung adenocarcinoma.’ Otherwise called lung cancer. Specialist doctors suggested surgery. The pope acquiesced. From all reports it went well: The lower lobe of the right lung was removed. The operation went ahead without complications. The postoperative recovery has gone well (Prof. Dr. Stefano Margaritora). The pope made things easy for the doctor

We are invited this week to make a joint oblation: To God and to society. Three parables in the Gospel of Matthew are followed by four conflict stories. The first one deals with the perennial issue of the relationship between Church and State: Tell us, Master, is it permissible to pay taxes to Caesar or not? (Matthew 22) The antagonists try to snooker Jesus: If he supports the payment of the highly unpopular poll tax, he will lose standing with the people. If he rejects payme

Pope St. John Paul II once said: The man without a memory is a man without a future. Pope Leo XIV celebrated a Mass for the inauguration of the academic year of pontifical universities (8 October 2026). There are seven pontifical universities in Rome. This is what the pope said: Intelligence must draw on memory. The mind must not simply compile data — as an algorithm now does more quickly than we can — but recall lived experiences, which contain depths of meaning that only t