Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said that a “significant shift in the approach to debt is necessary to promote integral human development, social inclusion, and equity.”

FfD4, an upcoming forum on global finance, is “an opportune moment to implement new forms of solidarity in the actions to reverse growing economic imbalances,” Archbishop Caccia said at an April 24 UN meeting. “Through debt forgiveness and debt restructuring, developing countries are released from unsustainable debt, enabling them to make critical investments in healthcare, education, job creation, and social protection.”

Citing the 2024 Global Report on Food Crises, the Vatican newspaper reported that over 281 million people in 59 countries suffered from high levels of acute food insecurity in 2023—up from 105 million people in 48 countries in 2016.

“In addition to the dramatic situation in Gaza, where 81% of families do not have access to safe and clean water, Sudan has also suffered the greatest deterioration in its condition” because of the civil war there, L’Osservatore Romano reported. “Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Yemen also suffer from food crises.”

Pope Francis received pilgrims from Hungary in Paul VI Audience Hall on April 25, a year after his apostolic journey there.

In his address, the Pope recalled the different events of his three-day visit there. He concluded by thanking the pilgrims for their “fidelity to Christ, manifested in the testimony of faith and in lived ecumenism, in relationships with your neighbors, in welcoming charity even for those who are different, in respect for every human life and in responsible care for the environment.”

The Pontiff also received Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok in a private audience.

The devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel originated at Gennazzano, Italy, a village in the neighborhood of Rome, where an Augustinian church, in which is enshrined a miraculous picture of our Lady, had been for centuries a place of popular pilgrimage. Canada observes this feast as an Optional Memorial.

Actor Gary Sinise shares the inspiring story of his late son who wrote, produced, and performed music as he battled a rare form of cancer.

State police in Louisiana have obtained a warrant to search for documents in the files of the New Orleans archdiocese pertaining to the handling of sex-abuse complaints.

A police spokesman said that the search is part of an investigation begun in 2022, prompted by “numerous complaints of child sexual abuse.”

The archdiocese is cooperating with the search, the police spokesman said.

In a truly bizarre incident during an Easter Vigil ceremony, an Episcopalian bishop ripped the clerical collar off a female priest who had evidently forgotten her part in the liturgy.

Bishop Alan Gates of Boston has apologized for taking the collar from Rev. Tamra Tucker; she has not issued any public comment on the incident, which caused a shocked silence from the congregation.

The confrontation occurred during what a spokesman for the Episcopal diocese described as a “non-traditional” ceremony that included other Protestant communities and made a special point of welcoming homosexuals.

Father Ademire Marques “sustained only a superficial injury” when he was stabbed in the head while serving as a homeless center in Dublin.

Police arrested a man, who was described as cognitively impaired, in connection with the attack. Father Marques was expected to resume his ministry immediately after medical treatment.

God is beautiful, totally aesthetic, Instagrammable, and pleasing to the eye. He and all his works have perfection and order that is beautiful.

    
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The most important outcome of the current Synod of Bishops on synodality is the synodal process itself and not the hot-button topics discussed, Pope Francis said.

With the second synod assembly scheduled for October, the pope said the synod process is approaching its "most challenging and important" stage -- the point at which it must become "prophetic."

"Now it is a matter of translating the work of the previous stages into choices that will give impetus and new life to the mission of the church in our time," he told members of the Italian Catholic Action lay association in a packed St. Peter's Square April 25.

But he noted that "the most important thing of this synod is synodality, the subjects and topics (discussed) are there to advance this expression of the church that is synodality."

"For this, there is a need for people forged in the Spirit, for 'pilgrims of hope,'" Pope Francis said, "men and women capable of charting and walking new and challenging paths."

In March, Pope Francis decided that some of the most controversial issues raised at the first synod assembly "requiring in-depth study" will be examined by study groups; the groups are to issue preliminary reports to the synod assembly in October and give their final reports to the pope by June 2025.

The 10 themes to be explored by the study groups include the guidelines for priestly formation, the role of women in the church and their participation in community leadership, listening to the poor and the criteria for selecting bishops.

While some questions require deeper study, Pope Francis told the crowd to "be athletes and standard bearers of synodality in the dioceses and parishes of which you are part, for a full implementation of the (synodal) path taken so far."

The Vatican said that 60,000 children, young people and adults were gathered in and around St. Peter's Square for the association's meeting with the pope.

Italian Catholic Action is a lay Catholic association with roots going back to 1867. In 2021, Vatican News reported that the group had more than 270,000 members.

Looking out into the crowd gathered within the arms of Bernini's colonnade, the pope asked them to promote peace by being witnesses of the human embrace.

"At the origin of wars are often missed or rejected embraces, which are followed by prejudice, misunderstanding, suspicion, to the point of seeing the other as an enemy," he said. "All this is unfortunately before our eyes these days in too many parts of the world."

Pope Francis also encouraged them to let themselves be embraced by God's love which is revealed in the Eucharist and in Christ on the cross.

"Brothers and sisters, let us be embraced by him, like children," he said. "We each have something childlike in our hearts that needs a hug. Let us be embraced by the Lord, that way, in the embrace of the Lord we learn to embrace others."