The offices of Catholic World News are closed on Thursday, November 27, so that our staff may celebrate Thanksgiving Day.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Thanksgiving is a "beautiful feast" that reminds everyone to be grateful for the gifts they have been given, Pope Leo XIV said.

"Say thank you to someone," the pope suggested two days before the U.S. holiday when he met reporters outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo before returning to the Vatican after a day off.

Pope Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, was scheduled to spend his Thanksgiving Nov. 27 in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey, the first stops on his first foreign trip as pope.

A reporter asked the pope what he was thankful for this year.

"Many things I'm thankful for," he responded.

He described Thanksgiving as "this beautiful feast that we have in the United States, which unites all people, people of different faiths, people who perhaps do not have the gift of faith."

The holiday is an opportunity "to say thank you to someone, to recognize that we all have received so many gifts -- first and foremost, the gift of life, the gift of faith, the gift of unity, to encourage all people to try and promote peace and harmony and to give thanks to God for the many gifts we have been given." 

Pope Leo was asked about his upcoming trip, particularly about relations with Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who will host the pope for several prayer services in addition to having a private meeting and lunch with him.

"This trip was born precisely to celebrate 1,700 years of the Creed of Nicaea, the Council of Nicaea" and what it affirmed about Jesus, the pope said.

In his apostolic letter, "In Unitate Fidei" ("In the Unity of Faith"), published Nov. 23, Pope Leo highlighted the importance of the anniversary and of the Creed that all mainline Christians still share.

"Unity in the faith," he told the reporters, "can also be a source of peace for the whole world." 

Pope Leo also was asked if he was concerned about going to Lebanon when Israel continues to strike what it says are Hezbollah and Hamas positions in Lebanon. Israel said it killed Hezbollah's top military leader Nov. 23 in a suburb of Beirut; Lebanon said the strike killed five other people as well and wounded 28 more.

"It's always a concern," the pope said. "Again, I would invite all people to look for ways to abandon the use of arms as a way of solving problems and to come together, to respect one another, to sit down together at the table, to dialogue and to work together for solutions for the problems that affect us."

"I am very happy to be able to visit Lebanon," the pope said. "The message will be a word of peace, a word of hope, especially this year of the Jubilee of hope."
 

The new regulations:

• Downgrade the use of Latin as the language of the Curia. The former regulations stated that curial acts should be drafted “as a rule in Latin”; the new regulations state that “Curial Institutions shall draft their acts as a rule in Latin or in another language.”
• Require offices of the Roman Curia to “examine and, if necessary, adjudicate on matters that the faithful, exercising their right, directly refer to the Holy See”—ensuring that the laity receive responses to pleas.
• Mandate a six-day work week, with regular hours, and puts tighter controls on absences due to illness.
• Stipulate that religious superiors and diocesan bishops must be consulted on matters involving their communities.

The Italian blog Silere Non Possum has published an English-language summary of the new regulations, which replace those issued by St. John Paul II in 1999.

“As happens to sailors, if you lose sight of the North Star, it is not uncommon for the ship to drift,” Pope Leo said. “For Christian education, the compass is Christ. Without its light, the educational mission itself is emptied of meaning.”

Christian identity “is the foundation that articulates the educational mission, defines its horizon of meaning and guides its daily practices,” the Pope continued. “When identity does not inform pedagogical decisions, it runs the risk of becoming a superficial ornament that fails to sustain educational work in the face of the many cultural, ethical and social tensions that characterize our times of polarization and violence.”

In the ninth special jubilee audience of 2025, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to the Servant of God Dorothy Day (1897-1980).

The trip—the first foreign travel of this pontificate—will be highlighted by an ecumenical celebration of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea. Pope Leo will also attend the celebration of the Divine Liturgy with Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I on November 30, the feast of St. Andrew, the patron of the Constantinople archdiocese.

From Turkey the Pope will fly to Lebanon, where he will pray at the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion. He will visit several Catholic shrines, as well as the seat of the Maronite Catholic patriarchate, before returning to Rome on December 2.

Continuing his series of talks on hope, the Pope said: “To hope in life means to have a foretaste of the goal.” He continued:

Hope acts as the deep-seated drive that keeps us walking in difficulty, that prevents us from giving up in the fatigue of the journey, that makes us certain that the pilgrimage of existence will lead us home.

Hope also encourages believers to share their lives with others, the Pope said, adding that this sharing reaches a “marvellous crescendo” in marital love.