Pope Francis appoints San Diego auxiliary to lead Phoenix diocese

Rome Newsroom, Oct 23, 2020 / 08:00 am (CNA).- Vatican prosecutors have requested evidence from Rome in an ongoing investigation into allegations that Cardinal Angelo Becciu used Secretariat of State funds to help family members, according to an Italian newspaper.

La Repubblica reported Friday that Vatican prosecutors have sent letters rogatory to Rome’s public prosecutor’s office as they investigate claims that Becciu used his position to give money to companies owned by several of his brothers. Letters rogatory are a formal request from courts in one country to the courts of another country for judicial assistance.

The Italian cardinal has insisted that the accusations that he misused Vatican funds to benefit his brothers are false.

Becciu resigned as prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints and from the rights extended to members of the College of Cardinals Sept. 24, reportedly in relation to concerns about his management of Vatican financial affairs, including the controversial purchase of a London apartment.

But following the resignation, new reports emerged claiming that Becciu, the former “sostituto,” or second-ranking official, at the Vatican’s Secretary of State, may have directed Vatican and Italian bishops’ money to go toward “loans” for projects owned and operated by his brothers.

The Vatican’s recent request to Rome’s prosecutor’s office was for information to help “clarify” some of the financial and familial relationships of Becciu, according to the La Reppubblica report.

The Vatican request, which has not been independently confirmed by CNA, was reportedly asking for information about the relationship between Caritas of Rome, the charitable arm of the Diocese of Rome, and a company called Angel’s srl, of which Becciu’s brother, Mario, is majority partner and legal representative.

Angel’s produces a beer, and the company has a partnership with Caritas of Rome to affix the charity’s label to its bottle and, in return, give the charity 5% of its sales. There appear to be questions about whether the charity ever received the sales money.

The Vatican’s promoter of justice is reportedly looking into this agreement, which may also violate Italian fiscal law.

Vatican prosecutors are also reportedly looking into three non-repayable “loans” sent to an Italian company called Spes Cooperative, which is the operational arm of the diocesan Caritas of Becciu’s former diocese of Ozieri in Sardinia. The owner and legal representative of Spes Cooperative is Becciu’s brother, Tonino.

The business is reported, according to La Repubblica, to have received 600,000 euros from the Italian bishops’ conference for repairs and adjustments to structures, as well as the modernization of a furnace for the Diocese of Ozieri, between 2013 and 2015.

An additional 100,000 euros received by Spes Cooperative in 2018 reportedly came from Peter’s Pence, the pope’s charitable fund made up of Church-wide donations, managed by the Secretariat of State, and under the control of Becciu while he was sostituto. There seem also to be questions about whether these funds were used for their ostensible charitable purpose.

After initial reports at the end of September, Becciu denied any guilt, saying that he “may have made a mistake out of too much love for my diocese, but I do not see the crime. I am ready to shout the truth,” Il Fatto Quotidiano reported. 

The Becciu family also released a statement Sept. 25, saying that news reports that members of their family received financial favors from their brother, the cardinal, were “unfounded and maliciously false, in particular for the imaginative and unprovable references to alleged donations from Peter’s Pence.” 

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Pope Leo XIV arrives in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience on Oct. 29, 2025. / Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Oct 29, 2025 / 08:55 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday strongly condemned antisemitism during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square marking the 60th anniversary of Nostra aetate, the Second Vatican Council document on the Church’s relations with other religions.

The pope underlined that since the publication of Nostra aetate, “all of my predecessors have condemned antisemitism with clear words.”

“And so I too confirm that the Church does not tolerate antisemitism and fights against it, on the basis of the Gospel itself,” Leo said on Oct. 29.

The pope expressed thanks for what has been achieved in the past 60 years of Jewish-Catholic dialogue while acknowledging the challenges that have arisen along the way. “We cannot deny that there have been misunderstandings, difficulties and conflicts in this period, but these have never prevented the dialogue from continuing,” he said.

“Even today, we must not allow political circumstances and the injustices of some to divert us from friendship, especially since we have achieved so much so far.”

Pope Leo was joined by Jewish rabbis, Muslim imams, Buddhist monks and other religious leaders for the general audience. He called on them to act together to alleviate human suffering, care for the planet, and restore hope.

“More than ever, our world needs our unity, our friendship and our collaboration,” he said. “Each one of our religions can contribute to alleviating human suffering and taking care of our common home, our planet Earth.”

Those present included representatives of Hinduism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism and Taoism, along with Christian leaders. Many had participated the previous evening in a peace ceremony at the Colosseum organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio, which brought together about 300 representatives of world religions and cultures.

Pope Leo also prayed for those affected by Hurricane Melissa, which hit Jamaica on Tuesday as the strongest Category 5 storms on record to hit the Caribbean island before sweeping across Cuba.

“Thousands of people have been displaced, while homes, infrastructure and several hospitals have been damaged,” he said. “I assure everyone of my closeness, praying for those who have lost their lives, for those who are fleeing and for those populations who, awaiting the storm’s developments, are experiencing hours of anxiety and concern.”

The pope’s catechesis centered on Nostra aetate, issued Oct. 28, 1965, during the Second Vatican Council, which opened what Leo called “a new horizon of encounter, respect and spiritual hospitality.”

“This luminous document teaches us to meet the followers of other religions not as outsiders, but as traveling companions on the path of truth; to honor differences affirming our common humanity,” he said.

Recalling the document’s historical importance, Leo noted that Nostra aetate offered for the first time “a doctrinal treatise on the Jewish roots of Christianity … which on a biblical and theological level would represent a point of no return.”

Quoting the council text, he added: “The Church, ‘mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.’”

The pope warned against religious extremism and fundamentalism. He told the leaders of different religions present, “Our respective traditions teach truth, compassion, reconciliation, justice and peace,” he said.

“Together, we must be vigilant against the abuse of the name of God, of religion, and of dialogue itself, as well as against the dangers posed by religious fundamentalism and extremism.”

He also called on religious leaders to work together on the challenges posed by artificial intelligence. “We must also face the responsible development of artificial intelligence because, if conceived as an alternative to humans, it can gravely violate their infinite dignity and neutralize their fundamental responsibilities,” he said.

Leo underlined that religion can play a fundamental role in promoting peace and restoring hope to the world. “This hope is based on our religious convictions, on the conviction that a new world is possible,” he said.

“Sixty years ago, Nostra aetate brought hope to the world after the Second World War. Today we are called upon to rekindle that hope in our world, devastated by war and our degraded natural environment.”

At the end of the audience, Leo led those gathered in a moment of silent prayer. “Prayer has the power to transform our attitudes, our thoughts, our words and our actions,” he said.

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Vatican City, Mar 30, 2020 / 11:16 am (CNA).- In a private letter to an Argentine judge, Pope Francis is reported to have warned that government decisions to prioritize the economy over people could result in a “viral genocide.”

“The… […]