Read & Reflect
Articles, reflections, news, and homilies — thoughtful Catholic content for the faithful, published regularly.
Vatican News
Vatican News
Peter’s Pence collected more than $65.8 million for the pope’s mission in 2025
Peter’s Pence, the Holy See’s fund that gathers donations for the pope’s charitable works and the needs of the universal Church, closed 2025 with an income of 57.6 million euros ($65.8 million) and expenses of 59.8 million euros ($68.3 million).The Vatican attributes the 2.2-million-euro ($2.5 milli...
Vatican News
2 SSPX bishops hold dubious distinction of being excommunicated twice
Two bishops of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) — Spaniard Alfonso de Galarreta and Swiss Bernard Fellay — incurred automatic excommunication by committing the canonical offense of schism following the ordination of four bishops without the permission of Pope Leo XIV.The Dicastery for the Doctrine o...
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV congratulates the U.S. on its 250th anniversary
Pope Leo XIV celebrated the contributions of Catholics and immigrants to the United States in an open letter to Americans for the country’s 250th anniversary.The letter, dated June 25 and released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Friday, also highlighted the principles of religious free...
Vatican News
EWTN News explains: As a Catholic, can you attend an SSPX Mass?
The Vatican this week issued a decree declaring that the bishops involved in the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X’s illicit consecrations have incurred automatic excommunication and that the group is in schism with the Church.The illicit ordinations occurred in Écône, Switzerland, on July 1 afte...
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV: Migrants lost at sea are victims of choices made and unmade
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass on Saturday on the Italian island of Lampedusa, warning that migrants who have died crossing the Mediterranean Sea are “victims both of decisions that were made and of decisions that were not made.”In his homily at the Arena sports field July 4, the pope cited the Gospel...
Vatican News
SSPX rejects Vatican’s excommunication, calls it ‘objectively’ unjust and invalid
The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), whose members are known as “Lefebvrians,” rejected the recent excommunications decreed by the Vatican after consecrating four bishops without papal authorization on July 1 and asserted that the sanctions imposed are “objectively unjust and invalid.”In a letter addre...
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV says Christ is hope amid the scourge of war
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV on Sunday said Christ remains the Church’s hope amid war, slavery, sin, and the wounds of history, urging Christians to learn from Jesus a “school of freedom” rooted in the cross.Speaking at the July 5 Angelus in a sunny and hot St. Peter’s Square, the pope reflected on t...
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV dines with U.S. ambassador on Independence Day
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV had dinner July 4 at the private residence of U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See said.The dinner took place at the ambassador’s residence on the Janiculum Hill in Rome on the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.“I am deeply ho...
Vatican News
Vatican October meeting to focus on divorce, other family issues
VATICAN CITY — A Vatican meeting of bishops in October will focus on divorce and separation, among other family-related issues, according to the preparatory document published Monday.The gathering of presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences will be a forum to discuss the application today of A...
Vatican News
This is Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of July
Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of July is for respect for human life in all circumstances. “Both you and I have received the most beautiful gift of life — your breath, your heartbeat, your smile, all that you are is God’s work of love,” Pope Leo said in a video shared on Instagram.The...
Vatican News
Training journalists to be peacemakers: EWTN Summer Academy concludes in Rome
Inspired by its mission, EWTN News held its fifth annual EWTN Summer Academy in Rome to train future generations of Catholic journalists.From June 22 to July 1, the EWTN Vatican Bureau hosted 43 young journalists and media professionals from 26 countries, training them in journalism, video editing,...
Vatican News
U.S. ambassador describes July 4 dinner with Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV still has a Peruvian credit card, wakes in the middle of the night and checks soccer results, follows the Chicago White Sox, and uses a cellphone.He is also, according to Brian Burch, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, a pope keenly aware of his role as pastor of the universal Church,...