Read & Reflect
Articles, reflections, news, and homilies — thoughtful Catholic content for the faithful, published regularly.
Vatican News
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV: I still have a great love for America
Leo XIV, the first pope born in the United States, has emphasized his continued love for his native country, even as head of the global Catholic Church.The pontiff made these remarks in an interview with Tom Llamas of NBC News on July 29 at Castel Gandolfo. The interview followed the “Canticle of Pe...
Vatican News
Explaining the Vatican’s engagement with contemporary art
The Vatican is participating in the international art exhibition “La Biennale di Venezia” in Italy for the fourth consecutive year. A senior Vatican official explained the Vatican’s support for the exhibition and its recent focus on contemporary art.Irish Bishop Paul Tighe, secretary of the Culture...
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV: Use AI prudently because it can project ‘an unreal world’
Pope Leo XIV encouraged young people to use social media and artificial intelligence (AI) prudently because “they can immerse us in an unreal world.”In a video message to participants at the 2026 Halleluya Festival in Fortaleza, Brazil, the pontiff proposed St. Carlo Acutis, known for using digital...
Vatican News
Vatican urges UN to combat homelessness
The Vatican has urged the United Nations (U.N.) to include the homeless in efforts to create sustainable cities, stating that the “persistence of homelessness should trouble the conscience of the international community.”The Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the U.N. made these remarks i...
Vatican News
Vatican to launch first conference of Christians and Confucians
The Vatican will launch its first conference of Christians and Confucians to expand the Catholic Church’s outreach to the Asian ethical tradition.The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue will hold the colloquium “Dialogue on the Contribution of Christianity and Confucianism to an Ideal Society: New...
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV urges halt to Mideast attacks, return to diplomacy
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged parties across the Middle East to suspend their attacks and reopen diplomatic negotiations, warning that escalating military operations were endangering civilians and worsening shortages of drinking water and electricity.“I continue to follow with deep concern the ongoin...
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV to attend musical prayer service with Andrea Bocelli
Pope Leo XIV, having just concluded his vacation at Castel Gandolfo in Italy, will return there on July 29 for a musical prayer service featuring the renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.As announced on July 27 by the Holy See Press Office, the pontiff will lead a moment of prayer at the “Canticle...
Vatican News
San Francisco archbishop among new members of Vatican’s highest court
Pope Leo XIV has appointed San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and Kalamazoo, Michigan, Bishop Edward M. Lohse among seven new members of the Apostolic Signatura, the Catholic Church’s highest court.Cordileone has led the Archdiocese of San Francisco since 2012. Previously an auxiliary bis...
Vatican News
The peace proposed by Pope Leo XIV is not a naive hippie ideal, expert says
The peace proposed by Pope Leo XIV is “not abstract, ideological, or naive” but one that “passes through the pain, contradictions, and wounds of the world,” according to Alessandro Banfi, communications director of the Oasis Foundation and coordinator of a new book collecting the pope’s teachings on...
Vatican News
Vatican calls for assessment of synodality implementation ahead of 2028 assembly
Ahead of the 2028 ecclesial assembly for the Synod on Synodality, the Vatican has called on dioceses to provide an assessment of their implementation of synodality.The General Secretariat of the Synod published the document “Recollecting” on July 27, providing diocesan synodal teams with a resource...
Vatican News
Summer advice from Pope Leo XIV: Don’t forget the less fortunate
In response to a question about summer advice, Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of remembering those most in need during the holidays.The question and answer were both published in the July/August 2026 issue of Piazza San Pietro, the official magazine of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. As...
Vatican News
5 things to know about St. Bridget of Sweden, mystic and mother
On July 23, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. Bridget of Sweden, a mystic of the Middle Ages who was a wife, mother to a large family, lady-in-waiting to a queen, and founder of a religious order that still exists today.1. St. Bridget experienced her first vision at age 10.Bridget,...