All posts tagged: Pope Leo XIV

Pope calls for more efforts to stop Ebola in DR Congo

Pope calls for more efforts to stop Ebola in DR Congo

Published by Sam Flores

VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV called on the international community Sunday (Aug 23) to help contain the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which health officials warn is spreading exponentially. “In my prayers I often remember the Democratic Republic of the Congo, especially because of the spread of the Ebola epidemic, which unfortunately is causing many victims,” said the pope following his Angelus prayer in St Peter’s Square. “I encourage a response from the international community that also involves local communities in efforts to save many human lives,” added the pope, who visited Africa in April. The deadliest Ebola outbreak in the DRC’s history has already killed thousands of people, hitting regions in the north and east where the presence of the state is weak, health infrastructure is largely lacking and numerous armed groups have sown decades of violence. Source link

Trump faces AI backlash from unions and data-center critics: Analysis

Trump faces AI backlash from unions and data-center critics: Analysis

Published by Sam Flores

Demonstrators march during a protest against artificial intelligence (AI) in San Francisco, California, US, on Saturday, July 11, 2026. Jason Henry | Bloomberg | Getty Images The emerging coalition of religious leaders, labor unions and local activists that worries about artificial intelligence and the broader economic upheaval it portends poses a political problem for anyone who gets on the wrong side of that issue. And President Donald Trump is the person most at risk. AI is positioned right in his blind political spot. The industry and its rapidly developing technology threaten to overwhelm Trump’s often-uncanny ability to sense changes in the political winds and could damage his party’s fortunes in the midterm election and the longer-term legacy he values.  Trump seems aware of the danger, yet can’t help himself from hurtling toward it. On Thursday, he touted commitments by data center developers and utilities not to raise electricity prices, nodding to fears across the country that a surge in data center construction will spike Americans’ energy bills. The pledge is a no-brainer for the likes …

Pope Leo doesn’t mess around

Pope Leo doesn’t mess around

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Last week, Vatican Media published an article by editorial director Andrea Tornielli that began, “Even when he speaks about war and peace, migration or how to remain human in the age of artificial intelligence, the Successor of Peter remains, above all, a spiritual leader.” You might be tempted to say, “Well, duh.” But not, it seems, if you happen to be Donald Trump’s ambassador to the Vatican, Brian Burch. In an interview with The New York Times earlier this month, Burch sought to minimize Pope Leo’s criticism of the U.S. war with Iran by claiming that the pontiff was speaking not as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church or the Vicar of Christ but as just another secular head of state. “When the pope acts as the sovereign leader of the Holy See, he is coequal with world leaders,” he said. To which Tornielli responded by quoting from Pope Paul VI’s 1965 speech to the U.N. General Assembly, in which the pontiff described himself as “your brother, and even one of the …

The Catholics who broke with Rome. Again.

The Catholics who broke with Rome. Again.

Published by Sam Flores

On the side of a mountain in Switzerland, in the shadow of the Alps, a fanciful event attracting a small but ardent group of Catholic traditionalists gathered to celebrate the consecration of four new bishops …  … who were then promptly excommunicated from the Catholic Church along with the bishop who appointed them. The group is called the Society of St. Pius X, or SSPX. It has spent decades claiming to defend the true Catholic tradition against a church it sees as too modern, too open, too willing to change. But this time, by moving ahead without Rome’s approval, SSPX triggered excommunications and pushed its whole society into schism.  And it’s not the first time this group has run up against the disapproval of the Holy See. Today, Vatican reporter Claire Giangravè joins us to talk about SSPX, Pope Leo XIV, the Latin Mass and what happens when longing for an older church ruptures the church itself. Source link

Traditionalist Catholic group appeals over excommunications

Traditionalist Catholic group appeals over excommunications

Published by Sam Flores

GENEVA: A breakaway Catholic group has lodged an appeal with the Vatican against the excommunication of all six of its bishops, having defied Pope Leo XIV by consecrating four new ones. The ultra-traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X consecrated the four new bishops on Jul 1, despite Pope Leo pleading with them to turn back from a “schismatic act”. The following day, the SSPX’s new bishops, and the two who consecrated them in a ceremony in Econe, Switzerland, were excommunicated. In response to that decree, issued by the Church’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the society said it had submitted “a preliminary recourse to the same dicastery” on Saturday. The request “has the effect of suspending the execution of the decree” it said. “By this recourse, the Society intends to exercise the right which the Church recognises to any person who considers himself harmed by an administrative act to seek its correction, in a spirit of respect for ecclesiastical authority and of faithful attachment to justice, truth and the good of the Church.” …

Pope defends migrants on symbolic visit to key immigration hub Lampedusa

Pope defends migrants on symbolic visit to key immigration hub Lampedusa

Published by Sam Flores

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday visited Italy’s Lampedusa island, a major port of call for migrants risking the perilous crossing from Africa, in a stark message to US and EU leaders. The Catholic Church’s first US pope, who has clashed with the administration of President Donald Trump over its treatment of migrants, is marking July 4, the United States’ 250th anniversary of independence, on a migration frontline. Leo’s visit also comes just two weeks after the European Union’s approval of new migrant rules allowing much broader detention powers and the creation of deportation centres outside the bloc. Read moreWhat’s in the landmark EU migration reform hardening border protections? After praying at the unmarked graves of shipwreck victims, the 70-year-old stood alone on the island’s rocky shoreline, buffeted by the wind as he looked out to sea, where countless migrant boats have been lost to the waves. He spoke to a migrant family before taking the children by the hand and standing along with their pregnant mother at the “Door of Europe”, a monument dedicated to …

Vatican excommunicates six ultraconservative bishops over ordination

Vatican excommunicates six ultraconservative bishops over ordination

Published by Sam Flores

The Vatican excommunicated six bishops from the ultraconservative Society of St Pius X on Thursday, while warning that any lay believers who “formally adhere” to the fraternity would suffer the same fate. Reporting from Rome, FRANCE 24’s Seema Gupta explains that the breakaway group deny key tenets of the Catholic Church, specifically its modernisation, interreligious dialogue and repairing ties with other Christian denominations. Keywords for this article Source link

War is ‘never blessed by God,’ says Pope Leo in opening cardinals summit

War is ‘never blessed by God,’ says Pope Leo in opening cardinals summit

Published by Sam Flores

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Leo XIV opened his summit of cardinals at the Vatican on Friday (June 26) by appealing to unity within the church, which he said is called to build a “civilization of love” amid rising conflicts and ongoing wars around the world. “War is never worthy of humanity, and it is never blessed by God, because even if we are equipped with high-tech weapons, the Creator has endowed us with intelligence and free will to resolve conflicts as human beings and not as beasts,” the pope said in his homily at Mass, which he celebrated with the cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica. Cardinals from all over the world — a total of 178 — are gathering at the Vatican from June 26-27 for what’s known as an extraordinary consistory, a gathering meant to address how the church can promote peace in the world and unity in its ranks. Leo drew from the day’s reading to remind the prelates to “share in the true freedom of faith,” which allows the church to …

Pope Leo to convene cardinals to rethink war and peace in the age of AI

Pope Leo to convene cardinals to rethink war and peace in the age of AI

Published by Sam Flores

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Leo XIV will host his second major summit of cardinals Friday and Saturday (June 26-27) at the Vatican, where they are expected to address questions of war, peace and whether Catholic teaching can still rely on the centuries-old theory of a “just war” in an age of drones, nuclear weapons and artificial intelligence. The summit, called an extraordinary consistory, invites the 241 members of the College of Cardinals to Rome with the goal of assisting and advising the pope on important church matters. An extraordinary consistory is considered among the pope’s most consequential consultations with cardinals, planned “when the special needs of the Church and more serious matters suggest it,” according to canon law. The gathering underscores the pope’s intention to heed the cardinals’ request to be more active participants in leading the church after his election last year. Pope Benedict XVI never convened an extraordinary consistory, while Pope Francis only convened two, one in 2014 and the other in 2015. Leo has promised to hold such a gathering every …

These traditionalist Catholics are defying Pope Leo XIV, and embracing their outsider status

These traditionalist Catholics are defying Pope Leo XIV, and embracing their outsider status

Published by Sam Flores

VATICAN CITY (AP) — A breakaway group of traditionalist Catholics will challenge Pope Leo XIV’s authority next week by consecrating four bishops without his consent. Rather than shying away from the confrontation, the Society of St. Pius X seems intent on embracing its notoriety. The group, which celebrates the traditional Latin Mass and rejects the modernizing reforms of the Catholic Church, is planning a highly organized, four-day, livestreamed extravaganza for the consecrations at its Swiss seminary — complete with a souvenir wine set offered to those attending. The July 1 event, nearly four decades after the group first became a thorn in the Vatican’s side, suggests it is leaning in even more ardently to its schismatic status for a new generation of Catholics who prefer their Masses in Latin and don’t mind that their bishops are out of communion with Rome. “To me, they look really like Traditionalism 2.0,” said Massimo Faggioli, professor of theology at Villanova University, Leo’s alma mater. The group, known as the SSPX, has embraced a digital branding of its religious …