By Michael Cook, The Catholic Weekly, OSV News Excitement and anticipation is building across the local Catholic community with the news that Pope Leo XIV is expected to visit Australia in 2028 to preside over the International Eucharistic Congress. According to Bishop Richard Umbers, Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney and CEO of the Eucharistic congress organising committee, during a recent vis...

The compassion of the Samaritan: loving by bearing another’s pain. That was the theme - drawn from the parable of the Good Samaritan - that Pope Leo XIV selected for the 34th World Day of the Sick which was celebrated on February 11. In his message to commemorate the day, Pope Leo said, “we live immersed in a culture of speed, immediacy and haste - a culture of ‘discard’ and indifference...

By Josephine Peterson, Catholic News Service When scripture loses touch with reality, with human hopes and sufferings, or is proclaimed in language that is incomprehensible, uncommunicative or anachronistic, it becomes ineffective. That was the message delivered by Pope Leo XIV during his weekly general audience. Emphasising that the Bible is the word of God expressed through human autho...

By Carol Glatz Humanity must not allow technology, especially AI, to obscure, exploit or suppress human voices, needs, knowledge, talents, creativity and critical thinking abilities, Pope Leo XIV has said. Algorithms designed to maximise engagement on social media can lock people into "bubbles" of easy consensus and rage, weakening people's ability to listen and think critically, and inc...

Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed a special Jubilee Year marking the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, highlighting the saint’s enduring message of peace, holiness, and care for creation. In a decree issued by the Apostolic Penitentiary and announced by the Franciscan Friars, the Vatican declared a Year of St Francis that runs from 10 January 2026 to 10 January 2027. P...

Pope Leo XIV has commenced the new year with an extraordinary consistory of cardinals in Rome, signalling an active start to his pontificate as the Jubilee Year concludes. Held from January 7-8, the extraordinary consistory involved cardinals from around the world, some of whom described the roundtable discussions as “historic, fraternal, and refreshingly synodal.” Pope Leo XIV celebrate...

Australian Catholics have been encouraged to study the first Apostolic Exhortation released by Pope Leo XIV at the end of 2025 that sets poverty as a priority for the Church. Described as a powerful reflection on love for the poor and a call to bring compassion back to public life, the document is entitled Dilexi te (‘I have loved you’ - Revelations 3:9). Pope Francis had begun writing t...

The cause for sainthood for Australian-born doctor and missionary in India Mary Glowrey has advanced after Pope Leo XIV recognised her ‘heroic virtues’ late last year. Venerable Mary of the Sacred Heart Glowrey, as she will now be titled, is only the second Australian, after St Mary Mackillop, to be accorded this status. Dr Mary Glowrey was medical graduate of the University of Melbourne...

Applecross Parish Priest Fr Nelson Po, CEWA Bunbury Regional Officer, Kerrie Merritt, Archdiocese of Perth Chief Mission Enhancement & Outreach, Dr Debra Sayce, Diocese of Broome Pastoral Projects Officer, Naomi Martin, SJOG Mission Integration Group Director, Tara Peters and Archdiocese of Perth Chancellor and Executive Director, Daniel Lynch. Photo: Supplied. By Jamie O'Brien Perth...

The “Pathways” document, structured into four chapters, aims to provide an interpretive guide for the implementation phase of the synodal process.