Read & Reflect
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Vatican News
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV sends message after surgery to Vatican conference, asks for prayers
Pope Leo XIV, recovering from lung cancer surgery in Rome, sent a request for prayers to participants in a Vatican conference.“As you know, I have been unable to be among you during these days,” Pope Leo wrote in the Oct. 14 message to clergy members and Catholics. “I thank you warmly for your praye...
Vatican News
Cardinal Parolin: Pope Leo’s demanding Latin America trip now depends on doctors
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said on Thursday that Pope Leo XIV, still hospitalized after surgery, may have to “adjust his pontificate” to his doctors’ advice, including his November trip to Latin America, if necessary.Parolin, as reported by Ansa.it, spoke on the sidelines of...
Vatican News
Vatican releases first photos of Pope Leo XIV following surgery
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass at Gemelli Hospital on Friday after undergoing surgery Oct. 13 for a cancerous tumor in his right lung.In two photographs released by the Vatican, the first since his hospitalization, the Holy Father can be seen standing and wearing the green liturgical vestments used du...
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV calls world hunger a ‘terrible offense’ against human dignity
Pope Leo XIV on Friday called world hunger a “terrible offense” against human dignity and emphasized that adequate food is a basic human right.“It is a terrible offense against human dignity to prevent bread from reaching any person or to destroy the means by which it is produced,” the pontiff wrote...
Vatican News
Pope Leo speaks with Russian President Putin by phone
Pope Leo XIV and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone Oct. 16 while the pope remains hospitalized.According to a Holy See statement, the pope expressed concern about Oleshky in the Kherson region, a city in the Russian-occupied portion of Ukraine where a severe humanitarian crisis is...
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV cleared to leave hospital Saturday after successful surgery
Doctors have cleared Pope Leo XIV to leave the hospital; he will return to the Vatican on Saturday afternoon, according to the Vatican.The pope’s personal physician Dr. Luigi Carbone and surgeon Dr. Stefano Margaritora said Oct. 17 that “based on the blood tests and chest X-ray performed this mornin...
Vatican News
For the first time in 5 years, the number of priests worldwide rose
The number of Catholic priests worldwide has risen again after five years of no growth, according to statistics published by the Vatican agency Fides ahead of the 100th World Mission Sunday, which will be celebrated Sunday, Oct. 18.According to the Fides report, the total number of priests rose from...
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV leaves Gemelli Hospital, returns to Vatican
Pope Leo XIV left the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital shortly after 3:30 p.m. local time on Saturday to return to the Vatican. TweetThe 71-year-old pope had been admitted last Tuesday and underwent surgery just hours later to remove the lower lobe of his right lung. The procedure, which lasted...
Vatican News
Pope’s surgeon green lights Nov. 6–17 apostolic trip to Latin America
Pope Leo XIV has received the green light from his surgeon to proceed with his planned Nov. 6–17 apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru.In an interview with Vatican News following the Holy Father’s Oct. 17 discharge from the Gemelli Hospital, Dr. Stefano Margaritora, who operated on Pope...
Vatican News
International rosary in Rome held in advance of 100th World Mission Sunday
An international rosary in Rome united clergy, religious, and lay faithful to mark the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday.The rosary was held on the grounds of the Pontifical Urban University on Oct. 17, the eve of this year’s World Mission Sunday on Oct. 18. Led by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagl...
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV to resume Wednesday general audience this week, skips Castel Gandolfo
Pope Leo XIV will resume his Wednesday general audience at the Vatican this week. But he will skip his usual Monday-evening-through-Tuesday-evening stay at the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo southeast of Rome.The pontiff returned to the Vatican on Saturday, four days after surgery to remove a cancer...
Vatican News
Pope leads pilgrims in prayer 1 day after leaving hospital
Pope Leo XIV appeared at the window of his private study in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on Sunday, just one day after being discharged early from the hospital following surgery last Tuesday.The pontiff thanked “all those who have prayed for me in recent days” and expressed “particular gratitude t...