Pope Leo XIV marked the centenary of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology by issuing an apostolic letter today on the importance of archaeology.

In the apostolic letter—the sixth of his pontificate—Pope Leo wrote that archaeology “reminds us that God chose to speak in a human language, to walk the earth and to inhabit places, houses, synagogues and streets.”

“By concentrating on the physical traces of faith, archaeology educates us in a theology of the senses: a theology that knows how to see, touch, smell and listen,” he said. “By examining stones, ruins and other artifacts, it teaches us that nothing touched by faith is insignificant ... In this sense, archaeology is also a school of humility.”

At the conclusion of his general audience yesterday, Pope Leo XIV recalled the 60th anniversary of the Letter of Reconciliation of the Polish Bishops to the German Bishops, written two decades after the conclusion of World War II.

The message “changed the history of Europe,” Pope Leo told Polish-speaking pilgrims. “May the words of that document—‘We forgive and ask forgiveness’—be for the peoples in conflict today a testimony that reconciliation and forgiveness are possible when they are born of a mutual desire for peace and a common commitment, in truth, for the good of humanity.”

The Vatican omitted Pope Leo’s words from its English translation of his remarks.

On December 9, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, marked the anniversary in an Italian-language address at Pontifical Gregorian University.

The government of Venezuela has revoked the passport of Cardinal Baltazar Porras, informing him that he will not be allowed to leave the country.

Cardinal Porras, the retired Archbishop of Caracas, has been a leading critic of the Venezuelan government. He was stopped at the airport as he tried to board a flight to Colombia.

The Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of St. Damasus I (306-384), who was Supreme Pontiff from 366 to 384. He was a very learned man, well versed in the Scriptures. He commissioned St. Jerome to complete the translation of the Bible into the Latin language. Shortly after his reign the 72 books of the Bible, hitherto scattered in different parts of the Orient, were collected into one volume. He defended the rights of the Holy See, and beautified the Roman resting places of the Christian dead and of the saints. He also confirmed the practice of singing the Psalms day and night in the churches and adding a Glory Be at the end of each Psalm.

Here’s the totally unofficial, absolutely joyful playlist of the moments that made the Church in 2025 sing, cry, and hit “share.”

“10 million conversions in 10 years. The largest mass conversion in all of human history.”

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 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.

"I asked Saint Thérèse to pray for our safe travels and to say, 'Hey, if you see Ewan up there, please say hello and tell him we love him.'”

Did you know you can find music in the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe?