Last week, the season of fall officially began. Soon we will see the leaves fade and fall and many living things will enter a long, deep sleep. Imagine how much we would despair seeing the skeletons of trees in the wintertime if we did not remember the new life to come in spring. Like our falling asleep at night and reawakening in the morning, the changing of the seasons foreshadow our dying and rising again in Christ.

This past June, a book appeared by a veteran Italian intellectual named Alberto Vacca, the title of which seemed to perfectly capture the tawdry reality of the Vatican’s so-called “Trial of the Century.” It was: What an Ugly Mess in the Becciu Trial: A Surreal Case of Unjust Justice. “Ugly mess” seems about right, given that we’re talking about a trial riddled with procedural irregularities...

Since the election of Pope Leo XIV in May, there has been no shortage of speculation about what the priorities of the new pope will be. To Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, it is clear that social issues including migration, world peace, and the environment are close to the heart of Pope Leo. Czerny is prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. In this role, he helps lead the Vatican’s response to migration, ecology, and other social matters.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla will be making their first state visit to the Vatican in late October, Buckingham Palace has announced. The palace said in a Sept. 27 statement that the king and queen “will join His Holiness Pope Leo XIV in celebrating the 2025 Jubilee Year,” which, it noted, is a “special time” for the Catholic Church, “traditionally marked every 25 years.” The palace also said

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