“The compassion of the Samaritan: loving by bearing the pain of the other” is the theme chosen by Pope Leo XIV for the next World Day of the Sick marked annually on 11 February. The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development released the theme on Friday 26 September through the Holy See Press Office.

The theme centres on the Gospel figure of the Samaritan, who demonstrates love by caring for the suffering man who fell in with robbers. It highlights a key dimension of love for one’s neighbour: love must be expressed through concrete acts of closeness, by taking on the suffering of others — especially those who are ill, and often also vulnerable due to poverty, isolation, or loneliness.

The Dicastery writes, in the information provided for the World Day, that “the World Day of the Sick, established by St. John Paul II in 1992, offers a privileged moment of prayer, spiritual closeness, and reflection for the entire Church and for civil society, who are all called to recognize the face of Christ in our sick and vulnerable brothers and sisters. Like the Good Samaritan that bent down to help the injured man along the road, the Christian community is also called to stop and help those who suffer and be evangelical witnesses of closeness and service to the sick and most vulnerable.”

On Friday, 26 September, Pope Leo XIV appointed Archbishop Filippo Iannone, until now Prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a role that also includes presidency of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. The announcement of Archbishop Iannone’s appointment came in the daily Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office, which noted that the Archbishop will take up his new post on 15 October 2025. Archbishop Iannone’s appointment is the first nomination of a head of a Dicastery made by Pope Leo. The only other appointment to a senior role in a Roman Curia body had been made on May 22 – just days after his election – when he named Sister Tiziana Merletti, a nun of the Institute of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, as secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Apostolic Societies.

Archbishop Iannone, a native of Naples who will turn 68 on December 13, is a Carmelite, jurist, and canon lawyer with extensive experience in courts, pontifical universities, and the archdiocese. Archbishop Iannone is now charged with continuing the work that the future Pope had undertaken for two years. The role of Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops is a delicate one: assisting the Pope in choosing the pastors to whom he will entrust the ecclesial communities throughout the world. After identifying priests to propose for the episcopate, the final decision rests with the Pope. To assist in this mission, Francis appointed three women as members of the Dicastery for Bishops in July 2022: Sister Raffaella Petrini, current president of the Governorate of Vatican City State; Yvonne Reungoat, former superior general of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians; and Maria Lia Zervino, former president of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations (WUFC).

On October 4, Assisi will once again become the beating heart of Italy’s spiritual life. This year’s feast of St. Francis, already a fixture of the Italian calendar, takes on a heightened significance as the government moves toward recognizing it as a full national holiday. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, accompanied by Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli, will join pilgrims and church leaders in the Umbrian town for the annual liturgy and civic ceremonies. The timing is striking: just days after the Italian Chamber of Deputies overwhelmingly approved the bill to establish October 4 as a new public holiday in honour of the country’s patron saint. The measure now awaits approval by the Senate, with full implementation expected by 2027.

The initiative carries more than symbolic weight. Declaring a thirteenth national holiday means changes in labour contracts, wage supplements, and state spending to cover essential services on the new day off, projected at more than 10 million euros annually. Yet lawmakers across the political spectrum have backed the idea, seeing in Francis of Assisi a figure whose legacy transcends religious affiliation. In a time of cultural divides, the saint of peace, fraternity, care for creation, and solidarity has once again been cast as a unifying emblem of Italian identity.

Over a century in the making, the Tower of Jesus Christ, designed by famed Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí, will soon crown the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, making it the tallest Catholic church in the world. In a pre-recorded statement sent to OSV News Sept. 23, Jordi Faulí, the head architect overseeing the basilica’s construction, said that while the central spire and its terminal have been completed, workers are now focused on the cross that will crown it. “The cross is made up of seven large pieces that are assembled here and will then be lifted with the crane. The intention is to finish the cross in the next few months,” Faulí said.

At over 564 feet in height, the tower, upon completion, will make it the tallest Catholic church in the world, surpassing the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, which stands at 518 feet. It will also surpass the Ulmer Münster Lutheran church in Germany, which stands at 530 feet, making it the tallest church of any denomination in the world.

Professor Sanjose A. Thomas, Head of the Department of Sociology at Thevara Sacred Heart College, has been granted a copyright by the Canadian government. The copyright was awarded for his research on the role of artificial intelligence in social entrepreneurship.

AI as we call it today can revolutionize the way mankind think and take decisions on almost all matters including personal preferences. Online algorithms will change in near future to accommodate this dimension and beyond. The Canadian government granted the copyright to a research team of four—including Professor Sanjose and two American researchers—who demonstrated how artificial intelligence can drive significant advances in social and industrial entrepreneurship.

This is the first time a social scientist from Kerala has received an international copyright. Prof. Sanjose is the son of Adv. Jose Thomas, a former Kerala High Court lawyer from Palarivattom St. Martin’s De Porres Parish, and Mrs. Sheela Jose, a former manager at the Reserve Bank of India.

Bishops representing the Catholic Churches of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean have issued a strong appeal to world leaders gathering in New York for the UN General Assembly and the High-Level Event on Climate Action. In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, to the President of the 80th General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, and to Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Frameowrk Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the bishops express “good will and great concern” for the future of the planet, and urge leaders not to fall short of the 1.5°C limit agreed in Paris. “We the Bishops of the Global South are honoured to bring to your attention the Message… on the occasion of COP30 – A Call for Climate Justice and the Common Home: Ecological Conversion, Transformation and Resistance to False Solutions” the letter states. The statement, they add, has already been presented to Pope Leo XIV and to local Churches, as a sign of “shared responsibility and commitment to our common home.”

Recalling the words of Pope Francis in Laudato Si’ and Pope Leo XIV’s call for an integral ecology rooted in justice, the bishops stress that the urgency of the crisis leaves no space for delay or half-measures. “The Church will not remain silent,” they write. “We will continue to raise our voice alongside science, civil society, and the most vulnerable, with truth, courage and consistency, until justice is done.” The bishops underline that global warming, which reached 1.55°C in 2024, is not merely “a technical problem: it is an existential issue of justice, dignity and care for our common home.”

Rejecting false solutions

The letter denounces what it calls “false solutions” such as green capitalism, technocracy, the commodification of nature and extractivism, which, the bishops warn, “perpetuate exploitation and injustice.” Instead, they call for policies that prioritise equity, justice and protection. “Rich nations must pay their ecological debt with fair climate finance without further indebting the Global South,” the bishops demand, insisting on the need for a just transition that does not leave the most vulnerable behind.

Addressing world leaders as they prepare for COP30 in Brazil, the bishops express confidence in the power of dialogue: “We remain confident that genuine dialogue, grounded in truth and justice, can guide the international community towards the profound transformations required,” the letter reads. “The urgency of this moment leaves no room for delay, compromise, or half-measures.” The statement is signed by Cardinal Jaime Spengler of Brazil, President of CELAM; Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao of India, President of FABC; and Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of the Democratic Republic of Congo, President of SECAM.

Mexican migrants attempting to cross the U.S. border are facing increasingly dangerous and inhumane conditions. Following a recent meeting in Piedra Negras, Coahuila, the bishops from along the Mexico-U.S. border once again denounced the dire circumstances affecting thousands of people. They issued a strong appeal—not only to governments but also to civil society—calling for accountability of the violations against human dignity faced by those fleeing war, violence, and extreme poverty.

The bishops described the migratory route through Mexico as “the most dangerous in the world.” According to the International Organization for Migration, migrants escaping devastating conditions in their home countries face exponentially greater risks as they travel through Mexican territory.

Since January, the U.S. has blocked key legal avenues for seeking asylum, including applications via the CBP One app and humanitarian permits. On top of that, there have also been forced transfers, families separated, and deportations to third countries. The level of insecurity along the route is deeply concerning as kidnappings, extortion, forced labour, and sexual violence have become everyday dangers.

The dismantling of migrant shelters, driven by U.S. policy, has further deepened migrants’ vulnerability and invisibility—particularly in peripheral areas where they live in fear of being detained or forcibly removed and where they lack access to basic services.

In their final statement, the bishops called for immediate and coordinated action to “open safe and legal humanitarian corridors for the most vulnerable migrants and refugees.” They reaffirmed their belief that while every nation has the right to protect its borders, it also has the responsibility to safeguard human life and ensure migration is safe, orderly, and humane—this includes respecting the right to asylum.

“The Church reaffirms the urgent need for the rule of law that protects families, especially migrant and refugee families, who are now facing even greater hardships.”

We are on the brink of the abyss because there is a risk of an endless escalation that is frightening. The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, did not hide his concern about “the risk of a wider war” when responding to journalists’ questions about the Russian drone attack that violated Polish airspace. Speaking at the Vatican’s Casina Pio IV, on the sidelines of the international seminar on “Creation, Nature, Environment, for a World of Peace,” Cardinal Parolin said he shared the analysis expressed by the President of the Republic of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, who spoke of a level of tension similar to that which preceded the First World War. In this context, Cardinal Parolin observed, “If there really isn’t a moment of reconsideration regarding the path being taken, there is a risk of an endless escalation and thus also of the outbreak of a wider war.”

Cardinal Parolin also expressed concern about the war in the Middle East and the tragedy unfolding in Gaza. The Israeli escalation in the Strip – he said – “unfortunately does not stop, despite the many appeals that have been made, including by the Catholic Church and by the Latin Patriarch, Cardinal Pizzaballa.”

On the other hand, the Cardinal highlighted the “truly admirable resilience” of the parish priest of the Holy Family Church in Gaza, Father Gabriel Romanelli, and of the people sheltered in the church in Gaza City, “They remain alongside people with disabilities and therefore do not want to give in to violence.”

The Cardinal expressed that the Holy See continues its diplomatic efforts tirelessly. “We are doing everything possible,” Cardinal Parolin said. “Our diplomacy is trying to make contact with all the involved parties; we talk, we insist—these are the tools we have to try to stop this escalation.”

Pope Leo XIV received the President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors XIV, Archbishop Thibault Verny, Archbishop of Chambéry, in the Vatican on September 12. The encounter marks the first official meeting between the President of the Commission and the Holy Father, following Archbishop Verny’s appointment on July 15.

The Commission’s Secretary, Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera, accompanied the Commission President. The audience was requested by Archbishop Verny in order to personally express his gratitude to the Holy Father for the trust placed in him through the appointment, and to present the Second Annual Report on Policies and Procedures for Protection in the Church.

This report, established at the initiative of Pope Francis in 2022, aims to assess the safeguarding capacities of local Churches, offering practical recommendations based on the concrete experiences of various ecclesial regions.

During the meeting, the Commission President underscored, the Commission’s commitment to continuing the mission entrusted to it by Pope Francis through Praedicate Evangelium, in the development of safeguarding policies, the drafting of the annual report, and support for local Churches through the Memorare Initiative.

“With humility and hope,” Archbishop Verny reaffirmed, “the Commission continues the mission entrusted to us, advancing the Holy Father’s vision of rooting throughout the Church a culture of prevention that tolerates no form of abuse: neither of power or authority, nor of conscience or spirituality, nor of sexual abuse.” 

In a meeting with bishops appointed in the last year, Pope Leo XIV exhorted them to address issues related to inappropriate behaviour on the part of the clergy: “They can’t be put away in a drawer.” At the end of his Sept. 11 morning address to the prelates participating in the formation course organized by the Holy See, the Holy Father engaged them in a fraternal dialogue, giving them the opportunity to convey their concerns and worries. The pontiff offered an overview of the challenges and issues bishops face at the beginning of a new ministry, such as fear, a sense of unworthiness, and the different expectations each had for their lives before being called.

As the Vatican noted in a statement released Sept. 12, the Holy Father also offered the bishops some valuable advice: “Remain close to the Lord, set aside time for prayer, and continue to live out unconditional trust in the Holy Spirit, the origin of one’s vocation.” He also exhorted them to be persevering disciples “who do not allow themselves to be frightened by the first difficulty; pastors close to the people and to priests, merciful and firm, even when it is a matter of making a judgment; capable of listening and dialogue, not just preaching sermons.”

Before answering questions, Pope Leo XIV encouraged the bishops to promptly address issues related to inappropriate behaviour on the part of the clergy: “They cannot be put away in a drawer; they must be addressed with a sense of mercy and true justice toward the victims and the accused.” The pontiff thanked the new bishops for accepting the ministry: “I pray for you; the Church appreciates your ‘yes’; you are not alone; together we bear the burden and together we proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”