Pope Leo XIV meets USCCB leadership and other prominent American bishops
Pope Leo XIV met on Monday at the Vatican with several prominent U.S. bishops and the leadership of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
From Oct. 1–5, the U.S.-born pontiff held private audiences with five U.S. bishops and is scheduled to meet with three U.S. cardinals in a Vatican conference marking the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical Amoris Laetitia, to be held from Oct. 7–14.
On Oct. 5, Leo met separately with four U.S. bishops, including the USCCB president, Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, and the vice president, Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas. They will represent the USCCB at the meeting “Ten Years After Amoris Lætitia: Proclaiming the Gospel with Families Today.”
Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, met with Leo on Oct. 1. The evangelist and founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries also served as a keynote speaker at a conference at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in Rome on Sept. 30, where he described Catholicism as deeply aligned with American ideals. He also ordained 18 deacons for the Pontifical North American College at St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 1, the same day as his private audience with the pontiff.
Three U.S. cardinals will also join Coakley and Flores on the U.S. delegation. Cardinals Blase Cupich of Chicago, Robert McElroy of Washington, D.C., and Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, will be present at the meeting as the only three U.S. cardinals who are diocesan bishops.
Leo XIV also met with Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, 11 days after the bishop participated in the beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, also of Peoria. Tylka also announced the first-ever parish named after Sheen in Peoria on Sept. 26.
The pope also met with Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami. As required by canon law, Wenski submitted his resignation to the pope upon reaching his 75th birthday in October 2025.
Catholics and Public Life Congress extols the faith that unites Spain and the Americas
With the aim of "living up to our heritage and fostering its growth,” next month’s Catholics and Public Life Congress in Madrid, Spain, aims to exalt the legacy of “Hispanidad,” a term for the faith-based civilization and union between Spain and the Americas that was first championed by Queen Isabella (1451–1504).
The theme for this year’s Nov. 13–15 congress is “The Americas and Spain: The Faith That Unites Us — A Round-Trip Journey,” and features a joint statement on the subject titled “Manifesto for Hispanidad.”
The text highlights the institutions that emerged from the Spanish enterprise in the Americas such as municipalities, universities, parishes, and hospitals, which “no international treaty has managed to replicate.”
“None of this is artificial. None of this needs to be invented. It simply needs to be recognized and put at the service of the future,” the manifesto proclaims.
“Isabella the Catholic Monarch did not set a mere promise in motion; she set a civilization in motion,” the manifesto continues. Isabella and her husband, King Ferdinand, were given the title “the Catholic Monarchs” by Pope Alexander VI through the papal bull Si Convenit for their defense of the Catholic faith.
From this transatlantic civilization emerged the Laws of the Indies governing the Spanish territories in the Americas through which Spain imposed limits on itself, along with the humanist thought of Francisco de Vitoria at the University of Salamanca, the cradle of international law and human rights.
This legacy, the manifesto continues, resulted in nonnegotiable principles such as “the dignity of the human person; the Greco-Latin heritage that gave us reason and the rule of law; the Christian tradition that shaped our concept of community; respect for the law as a limit on power; civil liberties as a condition for a decent life; and a legal framework capable of protecting property, contracts, and enterprise as engines of prosperity.”
More than 500 years after its inception, this civilization comprises a community of 600 million people who share a common language and presents “a demographic outlook that no other Western project can match.”
Furthermore, the manifesto notes that “Hispanidad is not limited to the political sphere or relations between governments and nations” but rather “demands a profound and, if necessary, radical change of attitude to defend, expand, and develop it” as well as a “cultural and moral dimension worthy of its history.”
Ultimately, the organizers of the Nov. 13–15 congress, the Catholic Association of Propagandists (who says its goal is to propagate or spread the Catholic faith), hold that “reclaiming Hispanidad does not mean looking to the past: It is acting with the confidence of those who start from a position of strength.” For this reason, it urges people to “stop treating as a minor legacy what is, in reality, our greatest competitive and moral advantage in the world to come.”
“Isabella the Catholic Monarch founded it. Vitoria conceived it. The Laws of the Indies codified it. Five hundred years of shared institutions have sustained it. It falls to us, quite simply, to live up to what we have inherited and to make it grow. Together, we are stronger. That is the starting point and also the conclusion,” the manifesto declares.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
University of Notre Dame’s ethics center gives 2027 pro-life award to Dominican sisters
The University of Notre Dame’s de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture on Oct. 4 announced that its 2027 Evangelium Vitae Medal would be awarded to the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne for what the center described as more than a century of “truth and love” serving poor and dying people.
The de Nicola Center said it would present the award to Mother Superior Marie Edward, OP, during a special Mass and dinner at the university on April 24, 2027. This year’s is the 16th annual award the center has presented.
Founded in 1900 by Mother Mary Alphonsa — born Rose Hawthorne, the daughter of famed novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne — the congregation is headquartered in Hawthorne, New York. The sisters there are devoted to caring for impoverished men and women dying from cancer.
Notre Dame President Father Robert Dowd, CSC, said in a press release that the sisters in their work “radiate the very mercy of God.”
“Since their founding, they have proclaimed the Gospel of Life through direct service to God’s beloved poor, fulfilling Christʼs command to comfort the sick and give shelter to the homeless,” Dowd said.
The sisters’ ministry, he said, “highlights the inherent, God-given dignity of every human person, regardless of worldly success or social status.”
Jennifer Newsome Martin, director of the ethics center at the school, likewise described the sisters as “a shining example of Christian charity in action.”
The Evangelium Vitae Medal is presented annually on Respect Life Sunday. It is named after St. John Paul II’s famed 1995 encyclical that testifies in part to the inherent dignity of human life and the need to care for and protect the most vulnerable.
Mother Mary Alphonsa died in 1926 and is buried at Rosary Hill Home at the congregation’s headquarters. She was declared venerable by Pope Francis in 2024.
Italian Catholic community establishes new presence in Muslim-majority area of Ethiopia
The Villaregia Missionary Community has established a new presence in Ghinnir, in Ethiopia’s East Bale, seeking to reach communities where the Catholic Church has a limited presence.
Ethiopiaʼs East Bale region is in the Oromia region of the country and encompasses the eastern areas of Bale Mountains National Park.
According to a report on Sept. 29 by Agenzia Fides, the Villaregia Missionary Community has been visiting communities in East Bale where they have been raising awareness about femFRICA/ETHIOPIA, including the issues of female genital mutilation and early marriage.
Teresa Zullo, a missionary from the Community of Villaregia who has been in Ethiopia for seven years, following an invitation from Father Angelo Antolini, prefect of the Apostolic Prefecture of Robe, said that missionary work is not permanent. She said it is about taking the Gospel and pastoral services to places in most need.
“There are moments when mission asks us to stay, to put down roots, and build relationships, and there are others when it asks us to set out again and cross new horizons. The time has come for us to begin again,” Zullo said.
“We moved to Ghinnir, in the heart of East Bale. This decision was born from a journey of discernment and from the years of experience we gained in a territory that we have gradually come to know more closely.”
The missionary described the relocation as a new stage in the journey, saying they are “leaving what is familiar, entering a new reality and learning how to be present where there is not yet a Catholic community,” especially in Muslim-dominant areas where they are seeking to offer “a presence of relationship, listening, service, and fraternity.”
The missionaries establishing a new presence in Ghinnir hope their decision will enable them to extend some of their services to remote areas of East Bale, especially those near the Somali Region in Ethiopia.
“The move is therefore not simply a change of place. It is a new step: a new reality to discover, new people to meet, and new roads to travel. A home to inhabit, but a tent in our hearts: ready to stay, to meet others, and, when the time comes, to set out again,” Zullo said.
The move follows seven years of missionary service in Robe and Goba parishes, where the community has been involved in pastoral activities and gradually developed relationships with local communities.
“We began taking our first steps in this challenging context. The slow process of learning the language, our encounters with people, and the time spent traveling allowed us, little by little, to begin our pastoral activities and to become part of this new reality,” Zullo said.
The missionary said the community’s experience in other parts of Ethiopia has inspired them to move to East Bale, where many have fled due to extreme drought, and that this has encouraged them to support vulnerable communities there.
“Three years ago, a prolonged period of drought forced many people to leave the East Bale region and head towards Robe in search of opportunities. As we passed near the bus station in Robe, we noticed their presence. We approached them, asked some questions, and discovered that they came from East Bale. We thus found ourselves facing a vast territory that was almost completely neglected by the Church’s missionary activity. For us, this became an insistent call to our identity as missionaries ‘ad gentes,’” she said.
Zullo said the community sees its small numerical presence as an opportunity to build closer relationships with local people and spread the Gospel effectively.
“Being numerically insignificant can represent a great opportunity for the Gospel, a precious opportunity to draw close to others, not to frighten them, to recognize the positive forces within the local community and to build networks with them,” she said.
“Mobility, therefore, is not merely a practical matter; it is part of the way we understand mission. A Church that moves, a Church that goes out, a Church that draws near. This choice concerns not only our fraternity but is part of the journey of the Apostolic Prefecture of Robe, which is called to grow and continually broaden the scope of its evangelizing mission,” Zullo added.
Regarding the missionaries settling in Ghinnir, Zullo expressed hope that despite the challenges they are going to face, their focus will remain on their main agenda, which is to spread the Gospel and support the local communities in the region.
“We left Robe just a few days ago, and now here we are in Ghinnir, without knowing what awaits us. We would like to set out again with a home to live in, but with a tent in our hearts, ready to stay, to meet others, and, when the time comes, to set out again,” Zullo said.
The Villaregia Missionary Community is a Catholic community made up of consecrated men and women, clergy, married couples, and single people of different nationalities, united by the same spirituality and the same mission: to be a community for the “ad gentes” “to the nations” mission.
This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.
Pope Leo XIV: ‘The charism of St. Francis continues to bear fruit even today’
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV on Sunday reflected on the Gospel parable of the tenants and the enduring witness of St. Francis of Assisi, saying that “the charism of St. Francis continues to bear fruit even today” eight centuries after the saintʼs death.
Introducing the Angelus before pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the pope noted that the Gospel recounts how Christ came to bring salvation but was rejected by those who should have welcomed him.
“The Son of God sent into the world is rejected by the very people who should have welcomed him with open arms. The One who came to bring salvation is condemned; the One who wishes to give life is put to death,” the pope said.
While such realities lead Christians to reflect on “the many cruelties that plague the world and the history of peoples,” he added, “Christ’s teaching reveals the ever-greater mercy of his Father.”
Despite humanityʼs rejection of God, Leo emphasized that divine providence continues to guide history toward redemption.
“This is how the Almighty guides history, coming to our aid in all our falls: God never discards our lives!” he said.
Drawing on the Gospel image of the vineyard, the pope said the Church is entrusted to Christians' care and can be built up or damaged by their choices.
On the eighth centenary of St. Francis’ death, Leo highlighted the saintʼs role in renewing the Church after Christ called him to “repair” it.
“Inspired by the Crucified One, Francis first and foremost built his own life upon the foundation of Christ, sharing in his poverty, joy, and sufferings, even to the point of receiving the mystical sign of the stigmata,” the pope said.
The saint, he continued, “repaired the Church by virtue of his faith in the Lord Jesus, healing the rifts of discord through the witness of fraternal love.”
Leo said the Franciscan spiritual legacy remains alive today.
“The charism of St. Francis continues to bear fruit even today,” he said. “This is attested to, not only by the great and vibrant Franciscan family but also by the many gifts that his spiritual legacy bestows upon the people of God.”
As Catholics celebrate the Franciscan Jubilee Year, the pope encouraged the faithful to persevere in prayer for peace and to work actively for reconciliation among nations.
After praying the Angelus, Leo renewed his appeal for peace during the month of October, highlighting the “A Million Children Praying the Rosary” initiative organized by Aid to the Church in Need from Oct. 1–7.
“I wholeheartedly thank all the boys and girls who are joining in this prayer in so many parts of the world,” he said. “Let us all follow their example, invoking the intercession of the Virgin Mary so that peoples may be freed from the scourge of war.”
The pope asked in particular for prayers for the Holy Land and for innocent victims of violence.
Leo also announced a Vatican gathering marking the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on marriage and family life. The meeting will bring together the heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches and the presidents of bishops’ conferences from around the world.
“It will be a time of synodal discernment for identifying the steps to be taken in order to proclaim the Gospel today among families and the younger generations,” he said.
The pope entrusted both the meeting and families worldwide to the prayers of the faithful, describing families as “a sign of hope and an inestimable treasure for the Church and for society.”
He concluded by greeting participants in celebrations marking the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death, including commemorations held in Assisi attended by Italy’s highest civil authorities.
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
‘Those who seek Christ will find him’: Another philosopher at Princeton converts to Catholicism
Noah McKay was always “at least slightly” more confident than not that God existed.
The philosophy doctoral student at Princeton University recently announced his conversion to Catholicism, but he told EWTN News that he struggled for years with what he saw as uncertainties related to faith, including the problem of evil and the “problem of divine hiddenness.”
McKay is the second Princeton philosophy scholar this year to convert to the Catholic faith; earlier in the summer Joe Schmid announced his own return to the faith after years of having run an agnostic-themed philosophy channel on YouTube.
“I was never an atheist, and I don’t think I was ever agnostic,” McKay told EWTN News. But he experienced profound uncertainties in high school and graduate school, some of which were also related to what he described as “difficulties with the reliability and interpretation of the Bible.”
While he never fully abandoned belief in God, “what firmly convinced me of theism were, first, design arguments based on the fine-tuning of physics for the emergence of life, and, second, the empirical evidence for contemporary Christian miracles,” he said.
“Arguments from consciousness, moral knowledge, and natural beauty also played a role,” he added.
It is perhaps unsurprising that a philosophy scholar would be drawn into the Church in part by scholarly inquiry. Schmid told EWTN News shortly after his conversion, for instance, that “contingency arguments” helped convince him of God’s existence.
McKay, meanwhile, cited “evidence for vindicatory Catholic miracles” as helping lead him to the Catholic Church specifically.
Those miracles “presuppose distinctive teachings of the Catholic Church,” he pointed out, and the evidence for them, he argued, is “as good or better than the evidence for the more generically Christian miracles” in which McKay himself already believed.
He told EWTN News that out of the necessity of consistency he felt he needed to either accept all of those Catholic miracles or reject all of them. “And the evidence was too strong for rejecting all of them to be reasonable!” he said.
The evidence for those miracles wasn’t the only thing that convinced him of the truth of the Catholic faith, he said, but “it did motivate me to look into the history and theology of the Church more carefully,” and the evidence he found for Catholicism was “very strong.”
He urged those considering Catholicism for the first time, or those who are considering returning to it, to start with researching those miracles.
Speaking to Catholic YouTube apologist Cameron Bertuzzi in a recent interview, McKay argued that “if you already accept that Christianity is true, the inference to Catholicism is irresistible.”
He admitted that his decision to join the Church caused his close friends and family “distress” given his Protestant background.
But “I think Catholicism — if you’re fully informed, if you’re really considering all of the evidence — I think Catholicism is basically going to be irresistible,” he said.
Speaking to EWTN News, he also urged potential converts and reverts: “Pray!”
“I found praying the rosary especially helpful when I was discerning Catholicism,” he said. “Just ask God to help you earnestly seek the truth and make the means of discovering it available. Those who seek Christ, earnestly and prayerfully, will find him.”
“I’m going to ask God to make himself known to everyone who reads this article!” he added.
Inaugural edition of Sheen Awards honors Mother Angelica
On Sept. 25, one day after the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, members of the media and entertainment world as well as the Church at large gathered in Peoria, Illinois — the hometown of now-Blessed Fulton Sheen — for the inaugural Sheen Awards.
Among the notable figures in attendance were Bishop Louis Tylka of the Diocese of Peoria; Bishop John Barres of the Diocese Rockville Centre, New York; Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota; Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in “The Chosen”; David Henrie, host of EWTN’s travel series “Seeking Beauty”; and Siobhan Fallon Hogan, host of the EWTN podcast “Catholics and Cappuccinos.”
Tylka said Sheen understood the Gospel deserves to be proclaimed with excellence.
“The Sheen awards recognize men and women carrying that missionary spirit into our own time through film and television, digital media, writing, preaching, music, evangelization, and the missionary spirit,” he said.
Seven awards were presented including the Radio and Podcast Impact Award, the Evangelization Impact Award, the Mission and Humanitarian Impact Award, the Innovation Impact Award, the Digital Creator Impact Award, the Television and Streaming Impact Award, and the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mother Angelica, EWTN’s foundress, posthumously received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was bestowed on Mother Angelica in recognition of her lifetime of service to the Church and her pioneering use of television to proclaim the Gospel through the Eternal Word Television Network.
Sheen “pioneered the use of media to evangelize, and he passed on the torch to others,” Tylka said. “Mother Angelica carried the torch forward, pioneering broadcasting television through what is now a global network.”
EWTN Studios President Peter Gagnon accepted the award on her behalf.
“On behalf of Michael Warsaw, CEO, and myself, we want to thank Bishop Tylka and the Archbishop Sheen Foundation for honoring Mother Angelica with this award,” Gagnon said in his acceptance speech.
Gagnon worked with Mother Angelica for many years and pointed out that “one of her favorite expressions was to say, ‘This is awesome!’”
He said: “When there would be a papal event, she would say, ‘Wasnʼt that awesome?’ … I think tonight she would say, ‘This is awesome.’”
A little over one year after the death of Sheen — on Dec. 12, 1980 — EWTN was officially incorporated by Mother Angelica. Reflecting on this, Gagnon said: “I donʼt think itʼs a coincidence.”
“Mother Angelica took the torch from Archbishop Sheen because she saw the power of reaching people through the media, through television,” he said. “She, like Archbishop Sheen, could reach through that camera lens and talk to you. And when she was talking to you, she was talking to you directly.”
Gagnon added: “Also like him [Sheen], she had just an incredible love for the Church and a zeal for souls. I never knew anyone who loved Our Lord as much as Mother Angelica did. Her impact on many throughout the world is truly humbling and amazing.”
EWTN has aired “Life Is Worth Living,” Sheen’s popular television show, for over 20 years. Gagnon emphasized that the network is “proud to share his words and message throughout the world.”
In an additional statement commenting on the significance of the award, Michael Warsaw, chairman and CEO of EWTN Global Catholic Network, noted: “Among the great Catholic evangelists of the 20th century, Blessed Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, and our own Mother Angelica, stand out for the extraordinary ways they embraced media to proclaim the Gospel, defend the dignity of the human person and speak the truth to a world desperately in need of Jesus Christ.”
“It is especially meaningful to see Mother Angelica honored in the name of Archbishop Sheen, whose pioneering use of radio and television demonstrated the power of media in service of the Gospel,” Warsaw pointed out. He said the recognition is “particularly poignant as we mark the 10th anniversary of Mother Angelica’s passing.”
“She would have been deeply honored to be recognized at the inaugural Sheen Awards and counted among the innovators and communicators carrying forward Archbishop Sheen’s legacy,” Warsaw added.
Broaching the topic of Mother Angelica’s own potential cause for canonization, Warsaw indicated: “While I remain mindful of the Church’s careful discernment regarding any potential cause for sainthood, I can say personally that I pray and hope that one day Mother Angelica might be numbered among the saints of the Church she loved and served so faithfully.”
Warsaw concluded: “On behalf of the entire EWTN family, I am profoundly grateful for this recognition of Mother Angelica and, more importantly, for the opportunity to remember what animated both Mother Angelica and Blessed Fulton Sheen: the desire to bring souls to Jesus Christ. May their example inspire us all to use the gifts God has given us to proclaim the Gospel with courage, creativity and joy.”
Additional Sheen Award recipients included Katie McGrady, who received the Radio and Podcast Impact Award; Roumie, who received the Television and Streaming Impact Award; and Barron, who received the Evangelization Impact Award.
The Mission and Humanitarian Impact Award went to the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, while Hallow received the Innovation Impact Award. Paul J. Kim was awarded the Digital Creator Impact Award.
Watch EWTN’s livestream of the red carpet at the Sheen Awards here.
This story was updated at 8:15 p.m. ET Oct. 4, 2026, to include comments by Bishop Louis Tylka.
Latin Patriarchate mourns two Christian women killed in Gaza City strike
Two Christian women were killed early on Oct. 3 in an Israeli strike on a residential apartment in western Gaza City, according to Palestinian and Church sources. The women had recently moved into the apartment after spending a prolonged period sheltering at Holy Family Catholic Church during the ongoing war.
The victims were identified as Maysaa Khader Ibrahim Abu Dawoud and Mary Hafez Michel al-Najjar. They had been living in an apartment in the Institutions area of western Gaza City.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.
In a statement to ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, George Anton, the director of operations for the Latin Patriarchate in Gaza, said the two women had stayed at Holy Family Catholic Church throughout the war before recently moving into a rented apartment in an effort to resume a more stable life after months of displacement and sheltering at the church.
Anton said the apartment was struck early on Oct. 3, killing both women. He said their deaths had “left deep sorrow among Christian families in the Gaza Strip.”
In a statement of mourning issued by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa expressed his “profound sorrow and grief” over the deaths of the two women in the strike on Gaza City.
Pizzaballa in the statement offered his condolences to their families and to Gaza’s Christian community, praying that God would grant their loved ones consolation and strength during the painful time.
Holy Family Catholic Parish and the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius in Gaza also mourned the two women and offered condolences to the Abu Dawoud, Ayyad, and al-Najjar families.
Anton pointed to figures recently cited by Pizzaballa showing a sharp decline in Gaza’s Christian population since the outbreak of the war, as members of the community have either died or left the Gaza Strip.
In September, Pizzaballa said the number of Christians remaining in Gaza — Catholics and Orthodox combined — had fallen to 541, down from 1,017 before the war.
Churches in Gaza have sheltered hundreds of displaced people during the conflict, Anton said, including people who lost their homes or were forced to flee them.
Holy Family Catholic Church and St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church have provided shelter to Christian and non-Christian families, while some families later moved into alternative housing as the war and widespread destruction continued.
The deaths of the two women underscore the precarious situation facing Christians who have remained in the Gaza Strip. Like other Palestinians in Gaza, they continue to endure displacement, the loss of relatives and homes, and deteriorating humanitarian conditions while seeking to preserve their Christian presence and religious life under extremely difficult circumstances.
This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Pope Leo XIV appoints Cardinal Mauro Gambetti to lead the Archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Italian Cardinal Mauro Gambetti to serve as the archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, the Vatican announced on Oct. 3.
Gambetti will leave his post as the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, where he has served for the past five years after being appointed by Pope Francis in 2021.
He will take over the position in Chieti-Vasto from current Archbishop Bruno Forte, who has served there since 2004. Forte turned 77 in August, making him two years past the customary retirement age for prelates.
In a statement after the announcement, Forte described Gambetti’s appointment as “a special sign of the Lord’s benevolence.”
“I am certain that [Gambetti] — rich in both academic background and pastoral experience — will give new impetus to the care of the faithful and the work of evangelization, efforts that have been sustained in recent years through the collaboration of so many,” Forte said.
The outgoing archbishop said he would retire to Naples, his hometown, where he would pray for both Gambetti and the Church.
Born in Castel San Pietro Terme, Italy, Gambetti took his final vows with the Order of Friars Minor Conventual in 1998 and was ordained to the priesthood on Jan. 8, 2000.
He has served various leadership roles in his order in Italy and also served as the episcopal vicar of the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in Umbria.
Pope Francis named him a cardinal in 2020; he was consecrated a bishop the same year. The late Holy Father also named him a member of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State in 2021.
Vatican Observatory scholar says Earth may be rarer than once believed
A Vatican Observatory scholar said modern astronomy suggests Earth may be far less ordinary than scientists once believed, saying decades of research have revealed a universe filled with diverse world rather than countless Earth-life planets capable of supporting intelligent life.
Christopher Graney, an adjunct scholar at the Vatican Observatory, told “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Veronica Dudo on Oct. 2: “From a modern astronomy perspective, Earth is not an ordinary place. Doesn’t mean that there’s no other planets like Earth elsewhere in the universe, but the universe is certainly not full of worlds like Earth.”
Graney asks readers to look at Earth in the context of the vast universe in his new book “A Universe of Earths: Our Planet and Other Worlds, Copernicus to NASA” (Oxford University Press, 2026).
For much of modern history, astronomers believed Earth was unremarkable and that many Earth-like worlds populated the universe, Graney said. However, Graney debunks this theory and argues for a more realistic approach to our solar system.
“Not long ago, at least in terms of Church history, astronomers thought Earth was very ordinary,” he said. “They thought that there were lots of places like Earth. You will find this in historical writings from the 19th century especially.”
For example, Jesuit Father Angelo Secchi, a pioneering Italian astronomer in the 19th century considered one of the founders of astrophysics, favored the idea that the universe contained many inhabited worlds. He wrote that stars were suns distributing “life and goodness” to “innumerable beings blessed by the hand of the Omnipotent,” reflecting a common 19th-century belief that life existed throughout the cosmos.
In modern astronomy, “we know that Mars is completely lifeless, or at least there’s so little life on there if it has any that we haven’t found it yet … we’ve observed planets orbiting other stars. The universe is so diverse. Those star systems, those planets seem very different from Earth,” he said.
At the Vatican Observatory, Graney focuses his research on the history of science by studying asteroids, galaxies, and cosmology.
When asked whether the Vatican was aware of any extraterrestrial sightings or signs elsewhere in the solar system, Graney dismissed theories that the Vatican is concealing evidence of alien life, saying such stories are “a lot more dull” in reality and that any life elsewhere in the universe is likely too far away to have reached Earth.
“It’s more boring, I guess, than the Vatican hiding space aliens. But that’s the way it is,” Graney said.