Category: Diocese of Scranton News

SCRANTON – As the Jubilee Year of Hope draws to a close, the Diocese of Scranton is placing renewed emphasis on one of its quiet, but critical, ministries – the Diocesan Tribunal.

Often working without fanfare or attention, the Tribunal assists the Bishop in matters of canon law related to marriage – including declarations of nullity (commonly known as annulments), dispensations, and permissions that help couples prepare for the sacrament of matrimony.

Father Thomas J. Petro, J.V., J.C.L., the newly appointed Judicial Vicar, said a series of significant reforms and new staff appointments aims to make the Tribunal “more accessible, more pastoral, and more responsive to the needs of the People of God.”

Father Petro said the changes respond not only to pastoral realities in parishes but also to themes raised repeatedly during Synod on Synodality listening sessions – particularly the desire for greater accompaniment for those who are divorced, those who feel distant from the Church, and newly arrived Spanish-speaking Catholics.

“We are striving to put a more pastoral face on the whole process. We’ve always joked that canon law is the ‘dark side’ of the Good News. But we all see ourselves as ministers of justice – serving the People of God in a ministry of healing. That is so important for us.”

The Tribunal is currently focusing on three major areas of renewal.

1. Assigning Priest Advocates from Day One

Recognizing that petitioners may feel unsure or anxious when beginning the annulment process, every person who applies for a declaration of nullity will now immediately be assigned a priest advocate who will accompany them throughout the process. That applies to both the petitioner and the respondent.

“That is significant because sometimes people feel intimated by the process or they have questions, especially of a personal nature, and our priests who have proficiency in canon law can help,” Father Petro explained.

2. Reintroducing an In-House Assessor

For the first time in more than a decade, the Tribunal will again have an in-house assessor, who will assist Tribunal judges by offering a psychological perspective that helps explain the circumstances surrounding a marriage at its beginning.

Monsignor Neil Van Loon, V.F., pastor of Saint Paul Parish, Scranton, and a trained pastoral counselor, has been appointed to serve in this capacity.

“Petitioners and respondents will be able to meet with our in-house assessor and have a conversation about aspects of their lives and their emotions that can help us reach a decision based upon what was really going on in their hearts and minds when they said, ‘I do,’” Father Petro said.

3. Expanded Service to Spanish-Speaking Catholics

Recognizing the growing Hispanic population throughout the Diocese, and that 25-percent of all Tribunal cases involve Spanish-speakers, two native Spanish-speaking priests have also been appointed as auditors and advocates.

Father Neftalí Féliz Sena, Assistant Pastor of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina Parish, Hazleton, and Father Fidel Ticona, Assistant Pastor of Saint Nicholas-Saint Mary Parish, Wilkes-Barre, will help conduct interviews, assist with documentation from other countries, and help individuals navigate the process in their native language.

“Both priests are currently serving in parish communities that have sizable Hispanic populations, so oftentimes they’ll know these people personally before they even apply,” Father Petro noted.

In addition to the two Spanish-speaking priests who will serve as auditors, two other priests have also been appointed to assist Tribunal judges by conducting interviews with people seeking annulments. They are Father Michael J. Boris, Assistant Pastor of Saint Ignatius Loyola Parish, Kingston, and Father Michael S. Drevitch, Assistant Pastor, Corpus Christi Parish, West Pittston.

The Tribunal’s leadership team has also expanded.

Myles McAliney, J.D., a retired civil attorney and parishioner of Saint Paul Parish, Scranton, has been hired to serve as Moderator of the Tribunal Chancery. He will oversee day-to-day operations, manage archives, coordinate dispensations and permissions, and assist administrative notaries Judy Myerski and Heather Betts. In addition to currently serving as Diocesan chancellor, Linda Price, J.C.L., will continue to serve as a Judge on the Tribunal.

A full slate of judges, auditors, and defenders of the bond – including Monsignor Patrick J. Pratico, Father Jeffrey D. Tudgay, Father Brian J.W. Clarke, Father Anthony J. Generose, Father Alex J. Roche, and Father Edward Shestak – will continue their service to the Diocesan community.

“I definitely think this reform of our Tribunal is part of Bishop Bambera’s vision to put a pastoral face on the annulment process, that we have accessibility to our Spanish speaking parishioners, and we make the process as expeditious as possible,” Father Petro added.

People interested in learning more about the Tribunal’s ministry or the declaration of nullity process may call (570) 207-2246 or speak to their local pastor who can direct them.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The powerful and violent cannot control, suppress or commodify God’s grace, friendship and will to usher in a new dawn, Pope Leo XIV said.

“Around us, a distorted economy tries to profit from everything. We see how the marketplace can turn human yearnings of seeking, traveling and beginning again into a mere business,” he said, celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Jan. 6, the feast of the Epiphany, and officially closing the celebration of the Holy Year dedicated to hope.

“Let us ask ourselves: has the Jubilee taught us to flee from this type of efficiency that reduces everything to a product and human beings to consumers?” he asked. “After this year, will we be better able to recognize a pilgrim in the visitor, a seeker in the stranger, a neighbor in the foreigner and fellow travelers in those who are different?”

Before the Mass, the pope, cardinals and bishops present in Rome, gathered in the atrium of the basilica and gave thanks to God for the gifts received during the Holy Year. Dozens of the world’s cardinals were in Rome to attend the pope’s first extraordinary consistory Jan. 7-8, to pray, support and advise the pope on the life and mission of the church.

Pope Leo went to the threshold of the Holy Door and pulled each side shut. The door will be sealed until the next Holy Year, which is likely to be 2033, the 2000th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

While the last of the Holy Doors in the city was closing, “the gate” of God’s mercy will never be shut, Pope Leo said before shutting the door. God “will always sustain the weary, raise up those who have fallen” and offer “good things” to those who place their trust in him.

In his homily, Pope Leo compared the millions of men and women who came to Rome on pilgrimage to modern-day Magi, “who left palace and temple behind” in search of a new “king,” which they found in the baby Jesus in a humble grotto in Bethlehem.

“Yes, the Magi still exist today. They are the people who sense the need to go out and search, accepting the risks associated with their journey, especially in a troubled world like ours that may be unpleasant and dangerous in many ways,” he said.

However, Pope Leo cautioned, today’s seekers must encounter in today’s churches and sacred places the same humble source of life, hope and joy that the Magi encountered in Bethlehem.

“How important it is that those who pass through the doors of the church perceive therein that the Messiah has just been born, that a community gathers in which hope springs forth and that a story of life is unfolding!” he said.

“Jesus encountered and allowed himself to be approached by all people,” he said, because “the Lord wants his presence to grow among us as God-with-us.”

“No one can sell this to us. The child whom the Magi adore is a priceless and immeasurable good,” the pope said, criticizing “a distorted economy,” which even tries to exploit and commodify the human desire for freedom and true fulfillment.

God revealing himself to humanity as man is “a gift,” Pope Leo said. “He reveals himself and lets himself be found.”

“His ways are not our ways, and the violent do not succeed in controlling them, nor can the powers of the world block them,” he said, recalling the great joy the Magi felt upon finding the Messiah and despite Herod’s efforts to destroy what had been promised.

The fear and violence unleashed by King Herod “make us think of the many conflicts by which people resist and even damage the new things that God has in store for everyone,” he said. “Loving and seeking peace means protecting what is holy and, consequently, that which is newly born like a small, vulnerable, fragile baby.”

“God challenges the existing order,” the pope said. “God is determined to rescue us from both old and new forms of slavery. He involves young and old, poor and rich, men and women, saints and sinners in his works of mercy and in the wonders of his justice.”

“Let us ask ourselves: is there life in our church? Is there space for something new to be born? Do we love and proclaim a God who sets us on a journey?” Pope Leo asked.

“Fear does indeed blind us. Conversely, the joy of the Gospel liberates us. It makes us prudent, yes, but also bold, attentive and creative; it beckons us along ways that are different from those already traveled,” he said.

“It is wonderful to become pilgrims of hope,” who journey together and are amazed by God’s faithfulness, he said.

“If we do not reduce our churches to monuments, if our communities are homes, if we stand united and resist the flattery and seduction of those in power, then we will be the generation of a new dawn,” he said. In Jesus, “we will contemplate and serve an extraordinary humanity, transformed not by the delusions of the all-powerful, but by God who became flesh out of love.”

Outside on a cold, rainy winter morning, St. Peter’s Square was filled with thousands of people watching the Mass on big screens and awaiting the pope to recite the Angelus at noon.

Hundreds of people dressed in traditional and festive costumes took part in an annual folkloric Epiphany procession along the main boulevard in front of the basilica. Marching bands and people in Renaissance costumes paraded up the street behind the Three Kings on horseback.

Before reciting the Angelus from the balcony of the basilica’s loggia, the pope prayed that God’s words “come to fulfillment in us, may strangers and enemies become brothers and sisters.”

“In the place of inequality, may there be fairness, and may the industry of war be replaced by the craft of peace,” he said. “As weavers of hope, let us journey together toward the future by another road.”

 

(OSV News) – As deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro made his first appearance Jan. 5 in a New York courtroom on narco-terrorism charges after the Trump administration carried out what President Donald Trump called on social media “a large scale strike against Venezuela,” uncertainty about immigration status lingered for some Venezuelan migrants in the U.S.

Astrid Liden, communications officer for the Hope Border Institute, a group that works to apply the perspective of Catholic social teaching in policy and practice to the U.S.-Mexico border region, and a Venezuelan-American, told OSV News, “In recent years, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have sought protection in the United States, many passing through the US-Mexico border. Millions of Venezuelans live abroad due to the situation in Venezuela, and we share their hope in the end of the reign of Maduro, whose rule led to the displacement of so many.”

However, she added, “The recent end of TPS for Venezuelans by the Trump administration sets a very dangerous precedent and puts hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans at risk.”

Maduro was arraigned in a Manhattan federal court by Judge Alvin Hellerstein. Cameras are prohibited in most federal court proceedings, but according to reporters, Hellerstein said, “It’s my job to assure this is a fair trial.”

At the brief hearing, Maduro said through an interpreter that he was “innocent” and “still president of my country.”

Maduro’s regime was seen as illegitimate by many countries around the world, including the European Union. Venezuela’s opposition demonstrated through collecting digitized voter tallies that their candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the 2024 presidential election with 67% of the vote; but Maduro refused to cede power. The Biden administration, which recognized González as Venezuela’s rightful president-elect, in January 2025 said Maduro “clearly lost the 2024 presidential election and has no right to claim the presidency.”

However, world leaders also expressed concern that the U.S. military action to remove Maduro flouted international law.

At an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council just prior to Maduro’s hearing, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned that rules of international law have not been respected,” while U.S. ambassador Mike Waltz called the action a “surgical law enforcement operation.”

The previous day, Pope Leo XIV expressed “deep concern” following Maduro’s capture.

“This must guarantee the country’s sovereignty, ensure the rule of law enshrined in the Constitution, respect the human and civil rights of all, and work to build together a serene future of collaboration, stability, and harmony, with special attention to the poorest who suffer due to the difficult economic situation,” he said after reciting the Angelus prayer with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square Jan. 4.

At a Jan. 3 press conference, Trump said the U.S. will “run the country” of Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” but questions remained about that process.

But the action also highlighted uncertainty for some Venezuelans in the U.S.

In 2025, the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status for about 600,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S., stripping their legal status to remain in the U.S. TPS status is sometimes granted to countries where natural disasters or civil unrest have fueled displacement.

Asked during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” Jan. 4 whether Venezuelans in the U.S. who were previously under TPS can apply for asylum, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem suggested they can do so, but did not directly address whether deportations to that country would continue.

“Every individual that was under TPS has the opportunity to apply for refugee status and that evaluation will go forward,” Noem said, without elaborating on how those evaluations would be made.

In a comment on the subject at his press conference, Trump said, “Frankly, some wanna stay and some probably wanna go back.”

Catholic immigration advocates previously urged the Trump administration to leave TPS status in place for countries including Venezuela in part because of its political instability.

“The dismantling of a corrupt autocratic regime does not occur simply through the removal of its head — we know this well,” Linden said. “This protection in the United States must be maintained until voluntary and safe return truly becomes a viable option. As Pope Leo XIV has said, we must ensure that ‘the good of the beloved Venezuelan people’ — both those in the country and those abroad — remains enshrined. We must see Venezuelans, including the leaders elected in 2024, involved in a process of democratic transition for there to be a country where Venezuelans can one day return to.”

J. Kevin Appleby, senior fellow for policy at the Center for Migration Studies in New York and the former director of migration policy for the USCCB, told OSV News, “TPS should be renewed at least until a democratically-elected government is in power, so that people feel they will not face persecution upon return.”

He added, “Moreover, the remittances that would flow to the country from half a million Venezuelans with TPS would help steady the country economically.”

In comments to reporters on Maduro’s hearing, Notre Dame Law School professor and organized crime expert Jimmy Gurulé, a former federal prosecutor and former assistant U.S. attorney general, said the hearing is likely the first part of what will be a lengthy legal process.

“While justice will ultimately be served in the Maduro case, it won’t be anytime soon,” he said.

A jury trial in the Maduro case, Gurulé said, “is unlikely to commence until sometime in 2027” in part because “the list of pretrial issues goes on and on.”

“Initially, defense attorneys will challenge the legality of the court’s jurisdiction over Maduro,” he said. “Defense counsel will argue that the U.S. military invasion of Venezuela and subsequent apprehension of Maduro not merely violated principles of international law, but constituted the crime of aggression.”

“Maduro’s defense attorneys will seek broad criminal discovery, which could include a request for the disclosure of classified evidence,” he added. He said that could involve lengthy litigation under the Classified Information Procedures Act, which “balances the government’s needs to protect secrets with a defendant’s rights to a fair trial.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – An estimated 33 million visitors and pilgrims came to the Vatican to celebrate the Jubilee Year, exceeding early forecasts, officials said at a news conference at the Vatican Jan. 5.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s section for new evangelization and chief organizer of the 2025 Holy Year, said the figure is based on estimates from a study by Roma Tre University, online registrations for the Holy Year, and the number of people who passed through the Holy Doors of Rome’s major basilicas and attended papal events.

By the time the Holy Year ends Jan. 6, he said, at least 33 million people will have taken part, which breaks down to more than 90,000 people a day. The period with the most pilgrims in Rome was during the Jubilee of Young People from July 21 to Aug. 10, which registered more than 13 million people.

Early estimates had expected that the Jubilee Year would bring 30 million to 35 million visitors to the Vatican. The city saw about 22 million people come to Rome in 2024, Roberto Gualtieri, mayor of Rome, said during the news conference.

Based on data collected solely from registered pilgrims, visitors from the United States ranked second only to Italy, accounting for nearly 13 percent of the total number of registered visitors, Archbishop Fisichella said. Pilgrims from more than 185 countries participated in the Jubilee Year.

“It is inevitable that such a milestone also brings with it an assessment of this year, which in many respects has been extraordinary. Begun under Pope Francis, the Jubilee concludes under Pope Leo XIV,” the archbishop said in Italian. “The funeral and the new election were added to the entire Jubilee program, showing the whole world the ability to act with determination and confidence amid an exceptional series of events.”

Archbishop Fisichella thanked Rome’s officials for their hard work in supporting the inflow of visitors, and said that the increase also led to increased visitor rates across the city’s tourist sites.

Gualtieri agreed, saying it was a year of unprecedented tourism across the city. To accommodate the Jubilee Year and the influx of visitors, construction crews completed 110 projects across Rome, including the restoration of historic squares, monuments and holy sites.

Lamberto Giannini, Rome’s prefect, who coordinates maintaining law and order in the city, said that city and Vatican teams worked together to complete the many construction projects “without serious accidents or workplace injuries and with extensive oversight to prevent mafia infiltration — something clearly possible given the scale of the investments.”

Vatican leaders have already begun planning the next Jubilee Year, which will take place in 2033 to commemorate the 2,000th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

“The journey, therefore, is not finished,” Archbishop Fisichella said. “This was only a significant step, preparing the way for another event of grace that must be planned with foresight and a strong awareness of an upcoming global event.”

(OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV expressed “deep concern” following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, by the United States in a large-scale attack.

After reciting the Angelus prayer with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square Jan. 4, the pope said the “well-being of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over all other considerations and lead to overcoming violence and pursuing paths of justice and peace.”

Entrusting Venezuela to its patroness, Our Lady of Coromoto, as well as the country’s recently canonized saints – Sts. José Gregorio Hernández and Carmen Rendiles – Pope Leo called on Catholics to pray and highlighted the need to respect Venezuela’s right to autonomy and self-determination.

“This must guarantee the country’s sovereignty, ensure the rule of law enshrined in the Constitution, respect the human and civil rights of all, and work to build together a serene future of collaboration, stability, and harmony, with special attention to the poorest who suffer due to the difficult economic situation,” he said.

After months of tension, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the nighttime military operation Jan. 3, capturing Maduro and his wife, and transporting them to New York to face narco-terrorism conspiracy charges, The Associated Press reported.

According to AP, Venezuelan officials said some people were killed in the U.S. attack but did not disclose the number of casualties.

Reactions from around the world have been mixed, with many, particularly Venezuelans in the diaspora, hailing Maduro’s capture, while others expressed concerns that the U.S. attack violated international law.

The country’s bishops issued a brief “message of accompaniment and closeness with the People of God” via Instagram and X that did not comment directly on the capture of the Venezuelan president and his wife, but instead urged for “prayer for the unity of our people.”

“In light of the events that our country is experiencing today, let us ask God to grant all Venezuelans serenity, wisdom, and strength,” the bishops said. “We express our solidarity with those who were wounded and the families of those who died.”

Less than an hour later, the bishops issued a second brief statement calling on the people of Venezuela “to live more intensely in hope and fervent prayer for peace in our hearts and in society, rejecting any type of violence.”

“May our hands open for encounter and mutual aid, and may the decisions that are taken always be made for the well-being of our people,” the bishops wrote.

The statement was shared by other Latin American bishops’ conferences, including the bishops of Argentina and Mexico.

The Mexican bishops’ conference said it was “united in prayer with the bishops of Venezuela to ask God for serenity, wisdom, and strength for the Venezuelan people.”

In a brief comment to SIR, the news agency of the Italian bishops’ conference, Archbishop Jesús González de Zárate of Valencia, Venezuela, president of the country’s bishops conference, said he had been “awake since 2 a.m. to follow what was happening” and that he was accompanying “our people with prayer.”

While Venezuelans are still in shock, Archbishop Zarate said, “the facts are still in development to properly assess” the situation and emphasized his “trust in God and the values of our people.”

Bishop Juan Carlos Bravo Salazar of Petare, a diocese located east of the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, issued a statement Jan. 3 on the diocese’s Instagram account acknowledging that the people of Venezuela “are living through moments of confusion, uncertainty, and pain, in which we do not see clearly what is happening.”

“Our strength and hope are in the Lord of life and peace,” Bishop Bravo said, urging the need “to maintain serenity, peace, and above all a climate of prayer.”

He also urged caution, asking people to “take shelter and not go out.”

“For the good of our people, do not make calls to (take to) the streets, nor disseminate unverified and unconfirmed information, nor from sources that are not reliable or official. Let us stay in communication among ourselves, between pastoral zones, and with our closest collaborators,” he said.

(OSV News) – “Be open to what the Lord has in store for you,” Pope Leo XIV said in a video address to thousands of youth and young adults attending the SEEK 2026 conference.

The annual gathering — taking place Jan. 1-5 at event locations in Columbus, Ohio, Denver and Fort Worth, Texas — has drawn an estimated 26,000 participants for talks and workshops on encountering Christ, with the schedule including daily Mass, Eucharistic adoration, the sacrament of reconciliation and fellowship.

Among the scheduled keynote speakers were Father Mike Schmitz, Matt Fradd, Chris Stefanick, Sister of Life Mary Grace and Sister Josephine Garrett, a sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

For 2026, conference organizer FOCUS — an international Catholic outreach ministering on more than 200 college campuses in the U.S., Mexico and Europe, as well as at some 20 parishes — selected the theme “To the Heights,” a favorite exhortation of the recently canonized St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, an avid mountaineer and patron of young adults.

As of midday Jan. 2, FOCUS reported that attendees numbered 16,115 in Columbus, 5,907 in Denver and 4,503 in Fort Worth.

In his pre-recorded video message to the SEEK attendees, which was posted along with a transcript to the Vatican website, Pope Leo appeared to echo St. Frassati’s sentiment, urging SEEK attendees to reflect on the call of the first two disciples of Jesus as detailed in John 1:35-51.

The pope said that Andrew and the other disciple — initially followers of John the Baptist — pursued Jesus, whose first recorded words in John’s Gospel were a question posed to the two: “What do you seek?”

“Jesus asks the disciples this question because he knows their hearts,” said Pope Leo. “They were restless — in a good way. They did not want to settle for the normal routine of life. They were open to God and were longing for meaning.”

And, said the pope, “today, Jesus directs this same question to each one of you.”

Pope Leo noted that conference attendees’ hearts may also be “restless, searching for meaning and fulfillment” as well as for “direction in your lives.”

To such profound questions, said the pope, “The answer is found in a person. The Lord Jesus alone brings us true peace and joy, and fulfills every one of our deepest desires.”

John’s Gospel passage details the process of discovering Christ and developing a life-changing relationship with him, said the pope, noting that the first two disciples replied to Jesus’ question by asking where he was staying.

“They wanted to get to know him personally by spending time with him,” said Pope Leo.

Although “the two disciples were initially with Jesus only for a few hours,” said the pope, “that encounter changed their lives forever.”

Andrew immediately sought out his brother Simon (whom Jesus later renamed Peter), excitedly sharing that he had found the Messiah — “in other words, ‘We have found the one we were looking for!'” said the pope.

Such a response to meeting Christ “is the answer that all of us can give once we too get to know the Lord,” said Pope Leo, adding that the Gospel passage “also therefore speaks to us of what it means to be a missionary. … We desire to share with others what we have received so that they, too, can come to know the fullness of love and truth found only in him.”

As they “draw close to Jesus” during the SEEK 2026 conference, Pope Leo urged attendees, “Do not be afraid to ask him what he is calling you to,” whether that vocation is the priesthood, religious life, or marriage and family life.

“If you sense the Lord calling you, do not be afraid,” said Pope Leo. “Once again, let me emphasize that he alone knows the deepest, perhaps hidden, longings of your heart, and the path that will lead you to true fulfillment. Let him lead and guide you!”

Pointing to the conference start date of Jan. 1, the feast of Mary, Mother of God, Pope Leo entrusted attendees to her maternal intercession.

He concluded his message with a blessing, saying, “I gladly invoke upon all of you and upon your families the divine blessings of this Christmas season.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The world is not saved by threatening violence or by judging, oppressing or getting rid of others, Pope Leo XIV said.

“Rather, it is saved by tirelessly striving to understand, forgive, liberate and welcome everyone, without calculation and without fear,” the pope said during Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and World Peace Day Jan. 1.

Therefore, at the beginning of a new year with “new and unique days that await us, let us ask the Lord to help us experience at every moment, around us and upon us, the warmth of his fatherly embrace and the light of his benevolent gaze,” he said in his homily.

The Mass marked the 59th World Day of Peace celebrated by the church. The pope’s message for the world day, published in December, was dedicated to the humble, “unarmed and disarming” peace of the risen Christ who loves unconditionally.

Thousands of people were present in the basilica for the celebration on New Year’s Day, including young people dressed as the three kings who visited Jesus. A figurine of the infant Jesus was before the altar, in keeping with the Christmas season of celebration, and an image of Our Lady of Hope was to the side of the main altar as a sign of the Jubilee of hope, which will end Jan. 6.

In his homily, Pope Leo reflected on the mystery of Mary’s divine motherhood, which “helped give a human face to the source of all mercy and benevolence: the face of Jesus. Through his eyes — first as a child, then as a young man and as an adult — the Father’s love reaches us and transforms us.”

By being born of Mary in a grotto, he said, “God presents himself to us ‘unarmed and disarming,’ as naked and defenseless as a newborn in a cradle.”

“He does this to teach us that the world is not saved by sharpening swords, nor by judging, oppressing or eliminating our brothers and sisters,” he said. Rather, the world is saved by seeking to understand, forgive, free and welcome everyone with love.

Mary bearing the Christ child represents “two immense, ‘unarmed’ realities” that come together, he said: “that of God, who renounces every privilege of his divinity to be born in the flesh, and that of a human person who, trustingly and fully, embraces God’s will.”

“Thus, at the dawn of the new year, the liturgy reminds us that for each of us, every day can be the beginning of a new life, thanks to God’s generous love, his mercy and the response of our freedom,” Pope Leo said. “It is beautiful to view the coming year in this way: as an open journey to be discovered.”

“Indeed, through grace, we can venture forth on this journey with confidence — free and bearers of freedom, forgiven and bringers of forgiveness, trusting in the closeness and goodness of the Lord who accompanies us always,” he said.

Overlooking St. Peter’s Square after Mass, Pope Leo urged Christians to help usher in “an era of peace and friendship among all peoples.”

“The Jubilee, which is about to end, has taught us how to cultivate hope for a new world. We do this by converting our hearts to God, so as to transform wrongs into forgiveness, pain into consolation, and resolutions of virtue into good works,” he said.

The Son of God also illuminates “the consciences of people of goodwill, so that we can build the future as a welcoming home for every man and woman who comes into the world,” he said.

“The heart of Jesus, therefore, beats for every man and woman; for those who are ready to welcome him, like the shepherds, and for those who do not want him, like Herod,” he said.

“His heart is not indifferent to those who have no heart for their neighbor: it beats for the righteous, so that they may persevere in their dedication, as well as for the unrighteous, so that they may change their lives and find peace,” Pope Leo said.

Every unborn child reveals “the divine image imprinted in our humanity,” he said, and he called for prayers for peace: “first, among nations bloodied by conflict and suffering, but also within our homes, in families wounded by violence or pain.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The “confrontational” tone dominating both global and national politics is “deepening instability and unpredictability day by day,” Pope Leo XIV wrote in his message for World Peace Day.

“It is no coincidence that repeated calls to increase military spending, and the choices that follow, are presented by many government leaders as a justified response to external threats,” he wrote in the message for the Jan. 1 observance.

But peace must be protected and cultivated, Pope Leo said. “Even when it is endangered within us and around us, like a small flame threatened by a storm, we must protect it.”

Throughout the coming year, Pope Leo will give visiting heads of state signed copies of his message, which was released by the Vatican Dec. 18, and Vatican ambassadors will distribute it to government leaders in the countries where they serve.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, presented the message at a Vatican news conference.

“In some ways we have been beaten into accepting the logic of war, the logic of armaments, the logic of enemies,” the cardinal said. Pope Leo’s message recognizes that “the first triumph of the logic of war is that we give up our hope for peace.”

“I am not a soldier, I have never been a soldier,” the cardinal said, but “even a soldier can be comforted” by Pope Leo’s appeal to cultivate “peace in his heart and in his relationships and in his prayer and in his aspirations.”

While the message “does not diminish in any way the horrors that we are surrounded with,” he said, “it puts an enormous part of the responsibility on ourselves.”

The theme of the pope’s message, “Peace be with you all: Towards an ‘unarmed and disarming’ peace,” begins with the first words he said to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square May 8, the night of his election.

Pope Leo wrote in the message that he and all religious leaders have an obligation to teach and preach against “the growing temptation to weaponize even thoughts and words” and to condemn the use of religion to justify violence and exaggerated forms of nationalism.

“Unfortunately, it has become increasingly common to drag the language of faith into political battles, to bless nationalism, and to justify violence and armed struggle in the name of religion,” the pope wrote.

“Believers must actively refute, above all by the witness of their lives, these forms of blasphemy that profane the holy name of God,” Pope Leo said.

What is needed instead, he said, is prayer, spirituality and ecumenical and interreligious dialogue “as paths of peace and as languages of encounter within traditions and cultures.”

The message echoed what Pope Leo had told reporters Dec. 2 after meeting Christian, Muslim and Druze leaders in Turkey and Lebanon during his first foreign trip: “The more we can promote authentic unity and understanding, respect and human relationships of friendship and dialogue in the world, the greater possibility there is that we will put aside the arms of war, that we will leave aside the distrust, the hatred, the animosity that has so often been built up and that we will find ways to come together and be able to promote authentic peace and justice throughout the world.”

The first step in sowing peace, the pope wrote, is to believe that peace is possible and that all people desire it.

“When we treat peace as a distant ideal,” he wrote, “we cease to be scandalized when it is denied, or even when war is waged in its name.”

“When peace is not a reality that is lived, cultivated and protected, then aggression spreads into domestic and public life,” he said. When that happens, “it could even be considered a fault not to be sufficiently prepared for war, not to react to attacks, and not to return violence for violence.”

Statistics show that is already happening, the pope said.

Global military expenditures “increased by 9.4% in 2024 compared to the previous year, confirming the trend of the last ten years and reaching a total of $2718 billion — or 2.5% of global GDP,” he wrote, citing studies by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Pope Leo also decried a shift in education and in the media that instead of focusing on achievements in peacemaking and diplomacy since World War II and on remembering with horror just how many people died in that war, “we now see communication campaigns and educational programs – at schools, universities and in the media – that spread a perception of threats and promote only an armed notion of defense and security.”

That shift becomes especially frightening given advancements in weapons technology, particularly the development of drones, robots and other automated lethal weapons systems that can be controlled by artificial intelligence.

“There is even a growing tendency among political and military leaders to shirk responsibility, as decisions about life and death are increasingly ‘delegated’ to machines,” he wrote.

Pope Leo called on Christians and all people of goodwill to join forces “to contribute to a disarming peace, a peace born of openness and evangelical humility.”

“Goodness is disarming,” he wrote. “Perhaps this is why God became a child.”

Pope Leo prayed that as the Jubilee Year draws to a close, its legacy would be a “disarmament of heart, mind and life.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The tenacious hope of people of faith, believing in a better tomorrow, keeps God’s plan of salvation alive in the world, Pope Leo XIV said.

They keep hope alive even though today, just like in the past, there are other kinds of plans unfolding, he said during an evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 31.

They include plans “aimed at conquering markets, territories and zones of influence. Weaponized strategies, cloaked in hypocritical speeches, ideological proclamations and false religious motives,” he said.

The pope, accompanied by dozens of cardinals and bishops, and thousands of visitors in the basilica, prayed vespers and then sang the “Te Deum” (“We praise you, O God”) in thanksgiving for the blessings of the past year.

The prayer service was held less than a week before the official close of the Holy Year 2025, which was inaugurated by Pope Francis when he opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica during Christmas Eve Mass in 2024. Pope Leo was scheduled to close the door Jan. 6, the feast of the Epiphany, thereby officially marking the end of the Holy Year.

“Let us thank God for the gift of the Jubilee, which has been a great sign of (God’s) plan of hope for humanity and the world,” Pope Leo said in his homily.

In this plan, God has “reserved a special place for this city of Rome,” he said. “Not because of its glories, not because of its power, but because Peter and Paul and so many other martyrs shed their blood here for Christ.”

“That is why Rome is the city of the Jubilee,” he told the congregation, which included Rome’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, who was seated in the front row.

The birth of the Son of God “suggests a plan, a great plan for human history,” the pope said, which will “sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.”

“Sisters, brothers, today we feel the need for a wise, benevolent, merciful plan,” he said. “May it be a free and liberating, peaceful, faithful plan, like the one the Virgin Mary proclaimed in her canticle of praise: ‘His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him.'”

“The Holy Mother of God, the smallest and highest among creatures, sees things through the eyes of God: she sees that with the might of his arm, the Most High disperses the plots of the arrogant, overthrows the powerful from their thrones and raises up the lowly, fills the hands of the hungry with good things and empties those of the rich,” he said.

“God loves to hope with the heart of the least” and the meek, he said, “and he does so by involving them in his plan of salvation.”

“The more beautiful the plan, the greater the hope,” he said. “And indeed, the world goes on like this, driven by the hope of so many simple people, unknown but not to God, who, despite everything, believe in a better tomorrow, because they know that the future is in the hands of the One who offers them the greatest hope.”

After the service, Pope Leo visited the Vatican Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square and prayed at the creche while the band of the Swiss Guard played Christmas carols. He then greeted the faithful gathered there, exchanging small talk and wishing people a happy new year.