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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The secret to living an authentic life is praying to understand what is truly beneficial according to God's plan and letting go of the superfluous, Pope Leo XIV said.

In fact, death "can be a great teacher of life. To know that it exists, and above all to reflect on it, teaches us to choose what we really want to make of our existence," the pope said Dec. 10 at his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.

"Praying, in order to understand what is beneficial in view of the kingdom of heaven, and letting go of the superfluous that instead binds us to ephemeral things, is the secret to living authentically, in the awareness that our passage on earth prepares us for eternity," he said.

It was the pope's first general audience after returning from his first apostolic trip, a visit to Turkey and Lebanon Nov. 27-Dec. 2. An 82-foot-tall Christmas tree, which arrived Nov. 27 and will be fully decorated and unveiled with the Nativity scene Dec. 15, could be seen near the obelisk in the square. 

Instead of using his general audience talk to recap his trip as had been the custom of his immediate predecessors, the pope did so after reciting the Angelus Dec. 7. At the audience, he continued his series of talks on the Jubilee theme of "Jesus our hope," focusing on "death in the light of the Resurrection."

"Our present culture tends to fear death and seeks to avoid thinking about it, even turning to medicine and science in search of immortality," Pope Leo said in his English-language remarks.

However, Jesus' victory of passing from death to life with his Resurrection "illuminates our own mortality, reminding us that death is not the end, but a passing from this life into eternity," he said. "Therefore, death is not something to be feared, but rather a moment to prepare for."

"It is an invitation to examine our lives and so live in such a way that we may one day share not only in the death of Christ, but also in the joy of eternal life," the pope said.

"The event of the Resurrection of Christ reveals to us that death is not opposed to life, but rather is a constitutive part of it, as the passage to eternal life," he said in his main catechesis in Italian.

"He has prepared for us the place of eternal rest, the home where we are awaited; he has given us the fullness of life in which there are no longer any shadows and contradictions," Pope Leo said.

Awaiting death "with the sure hope of the Resurrection preserves us from the fear of disappearing forever and prepares us for the joy of life without end," he said. 

In a two-page document entitled “Asylum Update,” the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Department of Migration and Refugee Services addressed four questions about the federal pause in applications for asylum.

The questions include “What is the status of asylum adjudications by USCIS [ US Citizenship and Immigration Services]?” and “Does this pause on the adjudication of asylum claims apply to noncitizens in immigration court proceedings?”

The Vatican’s Secretariat of State and the Dicastery for Communication have, for the first time, made the Annuario Pontificio [Pontifical Yearbook] available online—for a fee of 68.10 euros per year ($79, before processing fees).

“In a time when communication is ever faster and more global, offering immediate and reliable access to information on the life of the Church—with certified data—means putting technology at the service of the ecclesial mission,” said Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State. “It is a sign of attentiveness, transparency, and responsibility towards the Catholic community and towards all those who seek to understand the reality of the Church in the world.”

The martyrs of Chimbote, Peru—slain by Communist rebels in 1991—“gave a glimpse of the essential message of Christianity,” Pope Leo XIV wrote in a message for the tenth anniversary of their beatification.

The blood of the three missionary priests “was not shed to serve personal plans or ideas, but as a unique offering of love to the Lord and to his people,” Pope Leo wrote. “Their martyrdom shows us—with the authority of life given—what true communion is.”

“As we face the pastoral and cultural challenges confronting the Church, their memory asks us to take a decisive step: to return to Jesus Christ as the measure of our choices, our words and our priorities,” the Pope added.

In 2019 Pope Francis added the Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto to the Universal Roman Calendar. The title Our Lady of Loreto refers to the Holy House of Loreto, the house in which Mary was born, and in which the Word was made flesh at the Annunciation. Tradition says that a band of angels scooped up the little house from the Holy Land, and transported it first to Tersato, Dalmatia in 1291, then Recanati, Italy in 1294, and finally to Loreto, Italy where it has been for centuries. It was this translation of the Holy House and the longstanding of the structure Our Lady of Loreto is the patron of builders, construction workers, and aviation. It is the first shrine of international renown dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and has been known as a Marian center for centuries. Popes have always held the Shrine of Loreto in special esteem, and it is under their direct authority and protection. A replica of an ancient statue of Our Lady which is found there, one of the "Black Madonnas." The original statue made of cedar from Lebanon was destroyed in a fire in 1921.

Speaking on December 10 to a group of European political leaders from Conservative and Reform parties, Pope Leo XIV underlined the insistence of previous Pontiffs that “European identity can only be understood and promoted in reference to its Judeo-Christian roots.”

The Pope added that the recognition of Christianity’s role in Europe is not a plea for special treatment but a “recognition of fact.” The purpose of that recognition, he continued, is “not about the restoration of a past epoch, but of guaranteeing that key resources for future cooperation and integration are not lost.”

At the conclusion of his weekly public audience on December 10, Pope Leo XIV issued a call for peace, pointing to a new trouble-spot in Asia.

“I am deeply saddened by the news of the renewed conflict along the border between Thailand and Cambodia,” the Pontiff said. Clashes on that border have led to casualties among civilians, and forced thousands of people to flee their homes.