Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City was elected to serve as the next president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in a secret ballot on Nov. 11. Bishops chose Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, to serve as vice president. Flores, who serves in the southernmost diocese in Texas, finished second in balloting for president. Coakley subsequently won a runoff.

Coakley, who was previously secretary of the USCCB, will serve a three-year term as president, succeeding the former president, Archbishop Timothy Broglio. The bishops held the election at the Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore.

He has a history of promoting a culture of life, opposing gender ideology, and supporting migrants. The archbishop, who turned 70 years old in May, became a bishop in 2004. He has served in the Oklahoma City Archdiocese since 2011. He holds a licentiate in sacred theology.

Coakley’s defense of a culture of life is a continuation of Broglio’s leadership on the subject. Under Broglio, the bishops maintained that abortion is the “preeminent priority” in elections. In 2022, Coakley praised Oklahoma lawmakers “for supporting pro-life measures” following a law that banned nearly all abortions. He said, to build a culture of life, one must recognize “the inherent dignity of every person [and it] requires the protections afforded by pro-life legislation and a profound change of heart.” Coakley has criticized the Oklahoma government for its support of the death penalty. In 2022, he said: “The use of the death penalty only contributes to the continued coarsening of society and to the spiral of violence.”

The Pontifical Swiss Guard this week opened an internal investigation to clarify an alleged act of antisemitism committed by one of its guards against two Jewish women in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican confirmed. 

“The Pontifical Swiss Guard received a complaint regarding an incident that occurred at one of the entrances to Vatican City State in which elements interpreted as antisemitic were allegedly detected,” Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni stated on Monday.

The reported incident took place during Pope Leo XIV’s Oct. 29 general audience commemorating the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the 1965 declaration on the Church’s relations with non-Christian religions.

According to a Nov. 7 report published in Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Israeli writer and theater director Michal Govrin said a Swiss Guard “hissed at” her and a female colleague, saying “les juifs, the Jews,” before “making a gesture of spitting in our direction with obvious contempt.”

The two women were part of an international Jewish delegation in Rome to participate in Nostra Aetate anniversary celebrations, which included the Oct. 29 audience with Pope Leo in St. Peter’s Square.

During that audience dedicated to interreligious dialogue, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that “the Church does not tolerate acts of antisemitism in any form” and reiterated “the Holy See’s commitment to friendship and respect towards our elder brothers in faith.”

According to the Vatican’s preliminary investigation, the complaint stems from “a dispute that arose regarding a request for a photograph while on duty.” Members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard are strictly prohibited from taking photographs with tourists or pilgrims while on duty.

Bruni on Monday explained that “the case is currently the subject of an internal verification procedure” and that this process “is being carried out in accordance with the principles of discretion and impartiality, in compliance with current regulations.”

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Augustinian Father Edward Daniang Daleng, O.S.A., as the new vice regent of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household. He has previously served as General Counsellor and Procurator General of the Order of Saint Augustine.

Born on April 4, 1977, in Yitla’ar, Kwalla, Plateau State (Nigeria), he made his first profession in the Order of Saint Augustine on November 9, 2001, and his solemn vows on November 13, 2004. He was ordained a priest on September 10, 2005, and obtained a Doctorate in Moral Theology from the Alphonsian Academy in 2012.

In an interview with Vatican media shortly after the election of Pope Leo XIV, Father Daleng spoke of the special bond that the new pope has with Africa. “He has Africa in his heart,” Daleng said. “He has visited all our African missions several times and has come to my country, Nigeria, on at least ten occasions, including in 2016, when we celebrated for the first time the intermediate General Chapter.”

The free action of the Spirit—at times, as Saint Augustine said, “against nature,” blowing where He wills—is manifested in a mysticism open to all. Such experiences allow us to “taste” deeply the relationship with God, and can today serve as a “therapeutic path” in a world increasingly losing its “sensitivity toward God.” These were among the themes addressed on November 11, during the second day of the conference “Mysticism, Mystical Phenomena, and Holiness,” organized by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints at the Pontifical Urban University.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, spoke at the conference on 11 November, explaining the norms adopted by the Dicastery regarding the discernment of alleged supernatural phenomena. These norms rest on key principles, he said: “The Holy Spirit works in the Church with full freedom.”

In Catholic teaching, there is a firm conviction in the “freedom of the Spirit,” who may manifest in history in diverse ways, even through supernatural events such as apparitions or visions. In ordinary practice, the study of such cases often ends with a nihil obstat, which authorizes public devotion without pronouncing on the supernatural origin of the phenomenon.

Over the past fifty years, noted Cardinal Fernández, there have been about 3,500 cases of beatifications and canonizations. In the same period, however, only three or four declarations of supernatural origin have been issued—demonstrating the difficulty of reaching an official recognition of this kind.

A principal concern, added the Cardinal Prefect, is the risk that once a phenomenon is declared of divine origin, its messages may be taken as “revealed Word.” Such a declaration does not guarantee absolute certainty of authenticity. Even in cases recognized by the Church, they remain “private revelations,” which the faithful are free to believe or not.

The Church’s declaration therefore has a “prudential” nature, and in many cases is not even necessary: numerous manifestations have produced shrines and spiritual fruits without any official recognition.

Discernment, he said, helps distinguish genuine phenomena from those exploited for profit or control over others—situations that are “very, very concerning” and can lead to serious “abuses.”

The Dicastery’s norms propose possible “prudential conclusions” to be adopted before a phenomenon reaches proportions that make intervention more complex.

Some cases can be resolved locally, while others require direct involvement from the Dicastery when elements of confusion or potential risks emerge that demand careful discernment, concluded Cardinal Fernández.

The Pontifical Academy for Life has organized an international congress dedicated to “AI and Medicine: The Challenge of Human Dignity,” which took place on November 10-12.

As the meeting began on 10 November, Pope Leo XIV sent a message to participants, offering his “prayerful good wishes” for their deliberations about the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare. The Pope noted the pervasive influence of AI and other technological advances on humanity, which he said “heavily influences the way we think” and alters how we perceive ourselves and others. “We currently interact with machines as if they were interlocutors, and thus become almost an extension of them,” he said. “In this sense, we not only run the risk of losing sight of the faces of the people around us, but of forgetting how to recognize and cherish all that is truly human.”

Pope Leo highlighted the benefits technological developments have brought to the fields of medicine and health. However, he added, true progress requires that individuals and public entities uphold human dignity and the common good. Though AI and other technologies can be used to devastating effect on humanity when used maliciously, those same technologies have the potential to be “transformative and beneficial” if placed at the true service of the human person, said the Pope.

Pope Leo XIV invited healthcare professionals to employ AI responsibly in their field, so that they may fulfill their vocation to be guardians and servants of human life.” “The fragility of the human condition,” he said, “is often manifest within the field of medicine, but we must never forget the ‘ontological dignity that belongs to the person as such simply because he or she exists and is willed, created, and loved by God’.”

The Pope then focused on the “irreplaceable nature” of human relationships in providing care for individuals. Medical professionals, he said, must have both the expertise to offer care and the ability to communicate effectively while expressing closeness to their patients. Healthcare cannot be reduced to solving a problem, he said, adding that technological devices must never take away from the patient-carer relationship.

“If AI is to serve human dignity and the effective provision of healthcare,” said the Pope, “we must ensure that it truly enhances both interpersonal relationships and the care provided.”

In conclusion, Pope Leo XIV recalled the “vast economic interests often at stake in the fields of medicine and technology, and the subsequent fight for control.” Given the interests involved, the Pope urged participants in the conference to promote a broad collaboration between healthcare professionals and politics in the field of artificial intelligence that extends beyond national borders.