Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus in the series “The Chosen,” greets Pope Leo XIV at the end of Wednesday’s general audience on June 25, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media
ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 25, 2025… […]
Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Wednesday, June 25, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 25, 2025 / 13:54 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV expressed his closeness to persecuted Christians during the Wednesday general audience on June 25, referring to the “heinous terrorist attack” on Sunday by the Islamic State against the Greek Orthodox community in Damascus, in which 25 faithful lost their lives while attending the Divine Liturgy.
On Sunday, June 22, the solemnity of Corpus Christi, eyewitnesses reported that two armed men stormed the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Elias in Douailah on the outskirts of the Syrian capital. The brutal attack, the first since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, also left 63 injured.
During his greetings to the Italian-speaking faithful, the pontiff entrusted the deceased “to the mercy of God” while offering prayers for the wounded and their families.
“To the Christians of the Middle East, I say: I am close to you! The whole Church is close to you!” Pope Leo exclaimed.
This tragic event, according to the pontiff, “recalls the profound fragility that Syria still faces after years of conflict and instability.”
Leo XIV emphasized that it is essential that the international community “not ignore this country but continue to offer support through gestures of solidarity and a renewed commitment to peace and reconciliation.”
The Holy Father said he continues “to follow carefully and with hope the developments in Iran, Israel, and Palestine” while recalling that the words of the prophet Isaiah resonate today with more urgency than ever: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Is 2:4).
“May this voice, which comes from the Most High, be heard! May the wounds caused by the bloody actions of recent days be healed,” he urged.
Finally, before the thousands of faithful listening to him in St. Peter’s Square, he called for the rejection of “arrogance and revenge, and instead resolutely choose the path of dialogue, diplomacy, and peace.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Wednesday, June 25, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Vatican City, Jun 25, 2025 / 07:15 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday addressed what he called the “fatigue of living” as one of the ailments afflicting modern society, and he urged the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square to face reality with the grace of Jesus.
“A very widespread ailment of our time is the fatigue of living: Reality seems to us to be too complex, burdensome, difficult to face,” the pope said at his final Wednesday general audience before summer break, when he is expected to reduce his schedule and public engagements for all of July.
“And so we switch off, we fall asleep, in the delusion that, upon waking, things will be different. But reality has to be faced, and together with Jesus, we can do it well,” the pope said.
The pontiff continued his cycle of catechesis on hope, focusing on the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ miraculous healings. He highlighted two specific miracles as “signs of hope:” the healing of Jairus’ daughter — Jairus being a synagogue leader who humbly begged Jesus to save his dying daughter — and the healing of the anonymous woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years.
To illustrate his point, Leo recalled how Jairus, upon being told that his daughter had died and not to bother the master anymore, still held onto his faith and continued to hope.
The Gospel of Mark tells how Jesus said, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” and the child got up and began to walk. For the pope, this gesture by Jesus shows that he “not only heals every disease but also awakens from death.”
“Because for God, who is eternal life, bodily death is like sleep. The real death is the death of the soul — and that is what we should truly fear,” he added.
The pope also praised the great courage of the bleeding woman, who — despite being condemned to remain hidden and isolated — approached Jesus.
“At times, we too can be victims of the judgment of others, who presume to put a robe on us that is not our own. And then we suffer, and cannot come out of it,” he said.
Leo emphasized the woman’s faith: “This woman, silent and anonymous, conquers her fears, touches the heart of Jesus with her hands, considered unclean because of her illness,” he told the thousands of pilgrims gathered in the square on Wednesday despite the scorching temperatures.
“Every time we perform an act of faith addressed to Jesus, contact is established with him, and immediately his grace comes out from him,” he said.
Leo lamented that many people merely skim the surface of faith in Jesus “without truly believing in his power” while their hearts are elsewhere. Yet, he pointed out, “in a secret and real way,” grace reaches us and slowly transforms life from within.
Before beginning the catechesis, Pope Leo XIV greeted pilgrims for half an hour and blessed many infants.
He then issued a challenge: “When our children are in crisis and need spiritual nourishment, do we know how to give it to them? And how can we, if we ourselves are not nourished by the Gospel?”
He concluded with a powerful reminder: “In life there are moments of disappointment and discouragement, and there is also the experience of death. Let us learn from that woman, from that father: Let us go to Jesus. He can heal us, he can revive us. He is our hope!”
Wednesday’s general audience began half an hour earlier than usual due to the pope’s busy schedule, which included delivering a catechesis to bishops and meeting with a group of seminarians from northern Italy.
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Vatican City, Jun 23, 2025 / 16:43 pm (CNA).
More than 6,000 seminarians, bishops, and priests from five continents are in Rome this week to celebrate their jubilee as part of the Holy Year 2025.
According to the Dicastery for Evangelization, the program, which runs June 23–27, includes prayer, catechesis, concerts, jubilee pilgrimages, Masses, and various meetings with Pope Leo XIV.
A welcome event for the seminarians took place Monday at St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica at 5 p.m. local time. A community rosary and a concert by Rome’s diocesan choir and the “Fideles et Amati” orchestra, conducted by Monsignor Marco Frisina, were also held.
On Tuesday, the seminarians are scheduled to make the pilgrimage to the Holy Door of St. Peter’s at 8 a.m. local time. In addition, at 11 a.m., they will hear a catechesis by Pope Leo XIV in what will be his first official meeting with seminarians from around the world. The day will conclude with Masses in a number of languages at 6 p.m. in 10 churches in central Rome offered by various bishops.
June 25 marks the Jubilee of Bishops. The prelates have come, according to data from the Dicastery for Evangelization, from nearly 50 countries, including Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, the United States, and the Philippines.
At 10:30 a.m., the bishops will concelebrate Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica with Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Bishops, as the main celebrant. Pope Leo XIV will then offer a special catechesis to the prelates, concluding with a joint profession of faith above the tomb of the Apostle Peter.
That same afternoon, the Jubilee of Priests will begin with several catecheses organized by language groups, given by bishops in 12 churches in central Rome.
On June 26, priests will participate in a jubilee Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica celebrated by Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik, prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. the priests are scheduled to make pilgrimages to the Holy Doors of the four major basilicas. The day will culminate with a prayer vigil at 7 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica presided over by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, with testimonies from a seminarian, a bishop, and a priest.
The week will culminate on June 27, the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with a Mass to be celebrated by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Basilica.
During the Mass, the pope will ordain 31 new priests from around the world from Italy, India, Sri Lanka, Romania, the Central African Republic, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Cameroon, Angola, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, South Korea, Mexico, Uganda, Australia, Brazil, Croatia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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