CNA Staff, Jul 31, 2020 / 06:53 pm (CNA).- The Pontifical Academy for Life has defended its latest document on the coronavirus crisis following criticism that it did not mention God.
A spokesman said July 30 that the text, “Humana Communitas in the Age of the Pandemic: Untimely Meditations on Life’s Rebirth,” was addressed to “the widest possible audience.”
“We are interested in entering into human situations, reading them in the light of faith, and in a way that speaks to the widest possible audience, to believers and non-believers, to all men and women ‘of good will,’” wrote Fabrizio Mastrofini, who serves in the press office of the pontifical academy, which is led by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia.
The spokesman’s comments came in response to a stinging July 28 article in the La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, an Italian Catholic website founded in 2012.
The article, written by the philosopher Stefano Fontana, said that the document did not contain a single “explicit or implicit reference to God.”
Noting that this was the pontifical academy’s second text on the pandemic, he wrote: “Just like the preceding document, this one too says nothing: above all it says nothing about life, which is the specific competence of the pontifical academy, and it also says nothing Catholic, that is to say anything inspired by the teaching of Our Lord.”
He continued: “One wonders who actually writes these documents. From the way these authors write, they seem to be anonymous functionaries of an anonymous institution of sociological studies. Their goal is to coin slogan-phrases in order to capture a snapshot of unspecified processes that are currently underway.”
Fontana concluded: “There is no doubt: it is a document that will please many people among the global elite. But it will displease — if they even read it and understand it — those who want the Pontifical Academy for Life to actually be the Pontifical Academy for Life.”
In response, Mastrofini urged critics to read three texts relating the pontifical academy together. The first was Pope Francis’ 2019 letter “Humana Communitas” to the pontifical academy. The second was the academy’s March 30 note on the pandemic and the third was the most recent document.
He wrote: “As John XXIII said, it is not the Gospel that changes, it is we who understand it better and better. This is the work that the Pontifical Academy for Life is doing, in constant discernment: faith, the Gospel, the passion for humanity, expressed in the concrete events of our time.”
“This is why a debate on the merits of the contents of these three documents, to be read together, would be important. I do not know, at this point, whether philological ‘accounting’ work on how many times a few key words recur in a text is useful.”
In a reply published under Mastrofini’s response, Fontana stood by his criticisms. He argued that the document had reduced the pandemic to “a problem of ethics and the functioning of institutions.”
He wrote: “Any social agency could understand it that way. To resolve it, if it is really only this, there would be no need of Christ, but it would be enough to have medical volunteers, European Union money and a government that is not totally unprepared.”
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Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Wednesday, June 25, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Rome Newsroom, Aug 16, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).
Saturday, Aug. 16, marks Pope Leo XIV’s 100th day as pope. Since his May 8 election as the first pope born and raised in the United States, the 69-year-old Chicago native has already left his mark on a jubilee year filled with papal liturgies and a surge in pilgrim enthusiasm.
Here are some of the highlights of the first 100 days of the new Holy Father:
Papal jubilee: Pope Leo offers 16 public Masses in 14 weeks
Pope Leo XIV began his papacy in the heart of the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, and he made the most of this opportunity to interact with Catholic pilgrims from across the globe by offering many Masses with the public.
Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for the Jubilee of Sport on June 15, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
Leo XIV offered 16 large public Masses in just 14 weeks — an average of more than one per week — including seven Masses in June alone. The pace marks a significant shift from the final years of Pope Francis’ pontificate when the aging pope was unable to offer Mass himself at the altar. Francis was present at only four Masses with the public in the same time period last year.
The papal Masses have drawn large crowds and significant attention, beginning with his first inaugural Mass, which brought 200 foreign delegations — including heads of state and royalty — to the Vatican. Since then, Leo has celebrated liturgies for the jubilees of Families, Priests, and Youth as well as on major solemnities and feasts including Pentecost, Corpus Christi, the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Holy Trinity, Sts. Peter and Paul, and Mary, Mother of the Church.
Leo XIV is the first pope elected during a jubilee year since 1700.
Pope Leo XIV on the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul in Rome, June 29, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media
A singing pope
One of Pope Leo’s most unexpected moments came during his first Regina Caeli address, when he stunned a crowd of 200,000 in St. Peter’s Square by singing the Marian hymn rather than reciting it in Latin like his recent predecessors. Since then, he has continued chanting during liturgies and leading crowds in sung versions of the Our Father in Latin.
The move inspired the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music to launch “Let’s Sing with the Pope,” an online series aimed at making Gregorian chant more accessible.
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First American pope on White Sox stadium jumbotron
In June, the first pope born and raised in the United States appeared on the jumbotron at a gathering of American Catholics at Chicago’s Rate Field — home of his beloved White Sox. In a video message delivered entirely in English, Pope Leo urged young people to be “beacons of hope” and invited all to see that “God is reaching out to you, calling you, inviting you to know his son, Jesus Christ.”
It was the pope’s first direct address to his hometown since his election and one of the earliest papal speeches given entirely in English.
Pope Leo XIV addresses Catholic faithful on the scoreboard at Rate Field, home to the Chicago White Sox, during a celebration and Mass to honor his election as pope on June 14, 2025, in Chicago. Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images
The new pope’s love of sports has led to some memorable moments. He blessed 159 cyclists as they passed through Vatican City in the final leg of the Giro d’Italia.
A self-described “amateur tennis player,” Pope Leo XIV joked with tennis star Jannik Sinner, ranked the world’s No. 1, whether his white cassock would meet Wimbledon’s requirement for all white attire.
Pope Leo XIV meets with Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner on May 14, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
The pope has also been gifted White Sox and Bears jerseys and has signed baseballs for enthusiastic pilgrims.
A voice for peace in Gaza and Ukraine
Pope Leo XIV’s first words were “Peace be with you all,” recalling the first greeting of the risen Christ recorded in Scripture. As wars continued and at times intensified during Pope Leo’s first months, the pope has continued to be a voice for peace.
In June, after U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Pope Leo urged world leaders “to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss.” Following an Israeli strike that killed three people at Gaza’s only Catholic church in July, he appealed for “a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and full respect for humanitarian law.”
“Today more than ever, humanity cries out and pleads for peace,” the pope said during an Angelus from the window of the Apostolic Palace.
Leo also met with bishops and pilgrims from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Castel Gandolfo in July, where the two discussed the urgency of “just and lasting paths of peace,” according to the Vatican.
Pope Leo XIV greets Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Castel Gandolfo on July 9, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media
Leo carries the Eucharist through the streets of Rome
Pope Leo personally carried the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of Rome during a Corpus Christi procession from the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran to the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
“Together, as shepherds and flock, we will feed on the Blessed Sacrament, adore him, and carry him through the streets,” he said. “In doing so, we will present him before the eyes, the consciences, and the hearts of the people.”
More than 20,000 people turned out for Leo XIV’s first Eucharistic procession as pope.
Pope Leo XIV leads a Eucharistic procession in Rome on June 22, 2025, for the feast of Corpus Christi. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN
Return to Castel Gandolfo
Pope Leo revived the papal tradition of spending summer days at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo. During his two-week stay in July, he led public Masses in local parishes, greeted pilgrims as he led the Angelus prayer in Liberty Square, and received visiting dignitaries. His stay marks the first papal summer retreat in the lakeside town since the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI.
The sun burst through raindrops right as Pope Leo XIV appeared in front of the apostolic palace of Castel Gandolfo to give the Angelus address on July 13, 2025. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA
Pope Leo introduces the world to great quotes by St. Augustine
A member of the Augustinian order, Pope Leo has quoted St. Augustine in nearly every one of his homilies as pope. In his first public words on May 8, he said: “I am an Augustinian, a son of St. Augustine, who once said, ‘With you I am a Christian, and for you I am a bishop.’”
Addressing 1 million young people at the Jubilee of Youth in August, he quoted Augustine’s “Confessions”: “You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness… I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more.”
Pope Leo XIV greets crowds at the Jubilee of Youth on Aug. 3, 2025, at Tor Vergata in Rome. Credit: Vatican Media
A focus on artificial intelligence
Pope Leo has frequently spoken about artificial intelligence (AI), which is already shaping up to be a topic of interest in his pontificate with many hoping that he will address it in an encyclical.
Early on in his pontificate, Leo drew parallels between his namesake Pope Leo XIII, who responded to the industrial revolution with Rerum Novarum, and today’s digital revolution, explaining that the rise of AI poses “new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.”
“Humanity is at a crossroads, facing the immense potential generated by the digital revolution driven by artificial intelligence,” he warned in a message to the Geneva-based AI for Good Summit. “The impact of this revolution is far-reaching, transforming areas such as education, work, art, health care, governance, the military, and communication.”
Pope Leo XIV smiles during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 13, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
The Vatican website received a revamp shortly after Leo’s election, and insiders noted Leo’s relatively tech-savvy background, including a personal Twitter account prior to his papacy.
The pope also expressed concern in a speech to another AI conference about the negative effects that AI can have on the “intellectual and neurological development” of rising generations and the “loss of the sense of the human” that societies are experiencing.
Leo declares a new doctor of the Church
In one of his most significant theological gestures, Pope Leo named St. John Henry Newman, a 19th-century English convert from Anglicanism, a doctor of the Church — a rare title given to just 37 other saints. The title is granted in recognition of an already canonized saint’s significant contribution to advancing the Church’s knowledge of doctrine, theology, or spirituality.
Pope Leo XIV greets hundreds of thousands of youth and pilgrims ahead of a vigil at Tor Vergata, Rome, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. Credit: Mateusz Opila
Leo also approved the upcoming canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati in September as the first saints of his pontificate. He greenlit seven additional causes for canonization, including that of Blessed Bartolo Longo, a former satanist turned founder of the Marian shrine in Pompeii.
Carrying the cross before a million young people at the Jubilee of Youth
Pope Leo addressed the largest crowd of his papacy to date at the Jubilee of Youth, where an estimated 1 million young adults camped out in fields in Tor Vergata, southeast of Rome.
He surprised them by walking through the crowd to the stage, personally carrying the jubilee cross. During the evening vigil, he answered youth questions in English, Italian, and Spanish, offering reflections on loneliness, discernment, and friendship with Christ.
Pope Leo XIV leads young people from around the world in a procession, carrying the Jubilee Year Cross during the Jubilee of Youth this evening in Tor Vergata, on the outskirts of Rome. pic.twitter.com/XPjOnQg9p9
After Eucharistic adoration, chants of “Papa Leone!” echoed long into the night. Leo stayed past 10 p.m. — well beyond the scheduled end.
Earlier in the week, he made a surprise appearance at the opening Mass, joyfully proclaiming in English: “Jesus tells us: You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world!” and the crowd erupted in cheers.
Pope Francis speaking on St. Peter’s Square, Vatican, Oct. 12, 2022 / Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
Rome Newsroom, Oct 12, 2022 / 03:35 am (CNA).
At his public audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis spoke about the role desire plays in spiritual discernment, comparing it to a compass that points one in the right direction.
“Desire is not the craving of the moment. No. The Italian word, desiderio, comes from a very beautiful Latin term, desidus, literally ‘the lack of the star,’” Pope Francis said in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 12.
“Desire is ‘the lack of the star,’ of the reference point that orients the path of life,” he continued. “It evokes a suffering, a lack, and at the same time a tension to reach the good that is missing.”
Pope Francis greeting pilgrims on St. Peter’s Square, Oct. 12, 2022. Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
On Aug. 31, Francis began a series of weekly catecheses, or messages, on discernment, which he described as “an exercise of intelligence, and also of skill and also of will, to seize the opportune moment” in order to make a good choice about one’s life.
“Desire, then,” he said in the live-streamed address on Wednesday, “is the compass to understand where I am and where I am going. Actually, it is the compass for whether I am standing still or going.”
Pope Francis addressed how someone can recognize desire within themselves in his message. “A sincere desire,” he said, “knows how to touch deeply the chords of our being, which is why it is not extinguished in the face of difficulties or setbacks.”
“Unlike a momentary craving or emotion, desire lasts through time, even a long time,” he explained.
General audience on St. Peter’s Square, Oct. 12, 2022. Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
Pope Francis pointed to some of the pitfalls to knowing the desires of one’s heart; for example, society’s promotion of “the maximum freedom of choice,” while those “choices” are mostly reduced to just what is wanted most in the moment, not what will truly satisfy over the long term.
“We are bombarded by a thousand proposals, projects, possibilities, which risk distracting us and not permitting us to calmly evaluate what we really want,” the pope said, adding that many people go around “with their cell phones in their hands and they are searching, looking,” but never stopping to think or reflect.
“Desire cannot grow like that,” he said. “You live in the moment, satiated in the moment, and desire does not grow.”
Francis said that distraction can cause people a lot of suffering “because they do not know what they want from their lives; they have probably never got in touch with their deepest desire.”
Another pitfall the pope mentioned was the knowledge that one wants to do something but never actually takes action.
“And so certain changes, though desired in theory, when the opportunity arises are never implemented,” he said.
“Often,” he said, “it is indeed desire that makes the difference between a successful, coherent and lasting project, and the thousands of wishes and good intentions with which, as they say, ‘hell is paved with.’”
The moon was visible over St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican, on the morning of Oct. 12. 2022. Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
He recalled that Jesus, before performing a miracle, often questions a person about his or her desires, like he does with the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda in chapter five of the Gospel of John.
“Jesus asks him: ‘Do you want to be well?’ How come?” the pope said.
He explained that “Jesus’ question was an invitation to bring clarity to his heart, to welcome a possible leap forward: to no longer think of himself and his own life ‘as a paralytic,’ transported by others. … By engaging in dialogue with the Lord, we learn to understand what we truly want from life.”
The paralytic, he continued, is an “example of people [who say,] ‘Yes, yes, I want, I want,’” but in the end, never do anything.
Instead of taking action, we find excuses or complain: “But be careful,” he said, because “complaints are a poison, a poison to the soul, a poison to life because they don’t make you grow the desire to move forward.”
“If the Lord were to ask us, today, the question he asked the blind man in Jericho: ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ how would we answer?” the pope said. “Perhaps we could finally ask him to help us know his deepest desire, that God himself has placed in our heart.”
“Concrete events of our time” suggest the greater reality, elicited from concrete situations Amoris Laetitia. The newer new testament alluded to by Archbishop Paglia. Appeal to a “widest” of audiences all inclusive except for practicing Catholics. NGO or Baháʼí. The latter created in Persia 19th century teaches benefit of all religions unity of all peoples. George Soros’ idea of an NGO is disassemble so as to reassemble egalitarianism. Parallel to Vatican efforts for global unity with singular purpose of planetary salvation universal equality. Except for the unborn as insisted by select Academy member Jeffrey Sachs, who fears they might tip that comfortable balance. To the contrary philosopher worth his salt Stefano Fontana rebuts what of God, what of those “who want the Pontifical Academy for Life to actually be the Pontifical Academy for Life?” That is what of those Catholics who actually want eternal life with Christ?
Considering that this document was authored by Bishop Gay Porn Mural, does it really come as a surprise that it’s not even remotely Christian? The good thing about it is that there are no pictures.
“There is a need for reparation for this blasphemous work. And it is blasphemy because of the effeminate depiction of Christ in a context that the artist himself said was meant to be erotic”, said Dr. Thomas Ward, president of the National Association of Catholic Families and former corresponding member of the Pontifical Academy for Life (1P5). Johann the fresco artist said he wanted to show copulation, probably homosexual in the dragnet of ‘fish’. Seemingly forgetful that Christ’s parable warns of the refuse thrown overboard. The message to Church and world is approbation of deviant behavior. That coincides with the elevation to communications prominence of Fr James Martin SJ, homosexual advocate Cardinal Kevin Farrell’s appointment as prefect Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life as well as Camerlengo. We are prone to be harshly critical although these men if we take Christ’s words and Apostolic Tradition seriously are in spiritual jeopardy. They need our prayers. We need to be aware too of the magnitude of what’s occurring in the Church and where this can lead.
We read: “…constant discernment: faith, the Gospel, the passion for humanity, expressed in the concrete events of our time.”
But, one could hardly expect Paglia to link the concrete pandemic to anything as universal as God, as in Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment” wall mural in the Sistine Chapel—-but why did he not hook-up to the wide-audience/concrete message (likewise combined with discrete omission!) as displayed in his very own wall mural at the cathedral church of the Diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia?
In that cathedral and with a “discernment of faith, the Gospel,” Paglia also “speaks to the “widest possible audience”[widest cross-dressed as “universal”], but then omits the only normal and graced sexual expression possible to members of redeemed “humanity”. Instead, the fantasy-land of a purple-hat cerebral cortex demonstrably immune to the opening and call for discipleship amidst the “concrete events of our time.” The difference between a concrete “passion for humanity” and the uncentered/unbounded passions of a fallen race.
Said Paglia’s mural artist Cinalli: “The one thing that they didn’t permit me to insert [in the catch-all mural] was the copulation of two people within this net where everything [else !!!] is permitted.” The edifying coherence of natural law in the human substance, as with any mention of God in connection with COVID-19, is “inadmissible.”
But please, how can you expect anything else from Paglia & Co?
Lame defense. I’ve had it with the phony Church bureaucracy and clerical bureaucrats. No church of God would behave this way.
“Concrete events of our time” suggest the greater reality, elicited from concrete situations Amoris Laetitia. The newer new testament alluded to by Archbishop Paglia. Appeal to a “widest” of audiences all inclusive except for practicing Catholics. NGO or Baháʼí. The latter created in Persia 19th century teaches benefit of all religions unity of all peoples. George Soros’ idea of an NGO is disassemble so as to reassemble egalitarianism. Parallel to Vatican efforts for global unity with singular purpose of planetary salvation universal equality. Except for the unborn as insisted by select Academy member Jeffrey Sachs, who fears they might tip that comfortable balance. To the contrary philosopher worth his salt Stefano Fontana rebuts what of God, what of those “who want the Pontifical Academy for Life to actually be the Pontifical Academy for Life?” That is what of those Catholics who actually want eternal life with Christ?
St. Paul tried to reach the widest possible audience too, but he didn’t shy away from proclaiming Christ in so doing.
With eyes of faith one is able to see more than what meets the naked eye.
Considering that this document was authored by Bishop Gay Porn Mural, does it really come as a surprise that it’s not even remotely Christian? The good thing about it is that there are no pictures.
“There is a need for reparation for this blasphemous work. And it is blasphemy because of the effeminate depiction of Christ in a context that the artist himself said was meant to be erotic”, said Dr. Thomas Ward, president of the National Association of Catholic Families and former corresponding member of the Pontifical Academy for Life (1P5). Johann the fresco artist said he wanted to show copulation, probably homosexual in the dragnet of ‘fish’. Seemingly forgetful that Christ’s parable warns of the refuse thrown overboard. The message to Church and world is approbation of deviant behavior. That coincides with the elevation to communications prominence of Fr James Martin SJ, homosexual advocate Cardinal Kevin Farrell’s appointment as prefect Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life as well as Camerlengo. We are prone to be harshly critical although these men if we take Christ’s words and Apostolic Tradition seriously are in spiritual jeopardy. They need our prayers. We need to be aware too of the magnitude of what’s occurring in the Church and where this can lead.
We read: “…constant discernment: faith, the Gospel, the passion for humanity, expressed in the concrete events of our time.”
But, one could hardly expect Paglia to link the concrete pandemic to anything as universal as God, as in Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment” wall mural in the Sistine Chapel—-but why did he not hook-up to the wide-audience/concrete message (likewise combined with discrete omission!) as displayed in his very own wall mural at the cathedral church of the Diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia?
In that cathedral and with a “discernment of faith, the Gospel,” Paglia also “speaks to the “widest possible audience”[widest cross-dressed as “universal”], but then omits the only normal and graced sexual expression possible to members of redeemed “humanity”. Instead, the fantasy-land of a purple-hat cerebral cortex demonstrably immune to the opening and call for discipleship amidst the “concrete events of our time.” The difference between a concrete “passion for humanity” and the uncentered/unbounded passions of a fallen race.
Said Paglia’s mural artist Cinalli: “The one thing that they didn’t permit me to insert [in the catch-all mural] was the copulation of two people within this net where everything [else !!!] is permitted.” The edifying coherence of natural law in the human substance, as with any mention of God in connection with COVID-19, is “inadmissible.”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/leading-vatican-archbishop-featured-in-homoerotic-painting-he-commissioned