China pressures underground Catholics to join state church, rights group says
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is increasing its pressure campaign on underground Catholics, according to a report from Human Rights Watch.
“A decade into Xi Jinping’s Sinicization campaign and nearly eight years since the 2018 Holy See-China agreement, Catholics in China face escalating repression that violates their religious freedoms,” Yalkun Uluyol, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in an April 15 report. “Pope Leo XIV should urgently review the agreement and press Beijing to end the persecution and intimidation of underground churches, clergy, and worshippers.”
Human Rights Watch said it conducted interviews with “nine people outside the country who had firsthand knowledge of Catholicism in China” for its report, who said the 2018 Vatican-China agreement has “provided an overarching structure for the authorities to pressure underground Catholics.”
Witnesses in the report said Catholics in China felt the agreement left them with “no other choice but to join the official church” and that those who have remained in the underground Church “felt betrayed by the Vatican.”
Human Rights Watch also highlighted the Chinese government’s persecution of Catholic bishops and clergy, citing instances of detention and forced disappearance as well as China’s move to ban Catholic priests from teaching or evangelizing online.
“Catholic clergy released from detention continue to face harassment,” the report said. “One person said in January that a priest he knew was barred from having bank accounts, SIM cards, and a passport, and thus has ‘no means of survival and can barely make ends meet for even a day or two.'”
“The Vatican’s agreement and policy regarding the Catholic Church in China in recent years has been disastrous,” Nina Shea, Hudson Institute senior fellow, told EWTN News. “Faithful Catholic bishops are subjected by the government to being disappeared, detained indefinitely without due process, sidelined but ‘recognized’ or being actively threatened with detention if they resist swearing fealty to only the Chinese Communist Party and not Rome.”
Shea, who also serves as director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, urged Pope Leo XIV to lead a global prayer vigil for Chinese bishops who have been forcibly disappeared or detained.
“Pope Benedict XVI designated May 24 as the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China but it’s been virtually forgotten in the last few years and never robustly embraced by the Vatican, which probably sees it as implicit criticism of the CCP, something it is loath to do,” she said.
Bishop reminds Venezuelan people: ‘Christ’s resurrection is a source of solace and strength’
To Venezuelans gripped by anxiety and fear after years of political violence, economic collapse, famine, and family separation, the newly-appointed bishop of Caracas said the hardships they have endured for too long can be faced with the certainty that the Lord has triumphed over sin and death.
José Dionisio Gómez, who was recently appointed by Pope Leo XIV as auxiliary bishop of Caracas, reminded the Venezuelan people that Christʼs resurrection is “a source of solace and strength.”
“In Venezuela, we have the hope of rising again at every moment in the face of every suffering and obstacle that confronts us,” Gómez said in an interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.
“To rise with Christ is to strive to be better people and better witnesses to his resurrection,” Gómez said. “Throughout history, it has been demonstrated that human beings possess the capacity through the grace of God and with the solidarity of their brothers and sisters to overcome situations of suffering caused by wars, pandemics, holocausts, abuses of power, and harassment.”
The capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife by the United States military in the early hours of Jan. 3 ushered in “a new political era," presenting a scenario that was previously unimaginable.
The prelate cited the episcopate’s latest pastoral exhortation, published in mid-February, in which the bishops stated that “Jesus Christ consoles us and encourages us to move forward with hope.”
Gómez noted that Venezuelans are not alone amid their daily lives: “We are all aware of [the need to] and are eager to move our country forward, a country we love so much.”
On March 18, Gómez and José Manuel León were named the two new auxiliary bishops-elect of Caracas. They join Auxiliary Bishop Carlos Márquez in assisting Archbishop Raúl Biord in the governance of the Church in the Venezuelan capital.
Venezuelans ‘bear signs of Christ’s passion’
Reflecting on Venezuelaʼs political situation, Gómez, who also serves as rector of St. Rose of Lima archdiocesan seminary in Caracas, said that, regrettably, “all Venezuelans bear signs of Christ’s passion, whether through imprisonment, exile, or migration under duress; through acute poverty as wages aren’t enough to have a decent life; or because we witness others suffering even more and we are powerless to help them.”
“Indeed, Jesus came to have compassion on us. That is why he drew near to and remained alongside the abandoned and suffering members of society, inviting them to bear that suffering with love and patience,” he noted.
Gómez also referred to Pope Leo’s Lenten message, which echoed the words God addressed to Moses: “I have seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cries of pain” (Ex 3:7).
Law on amnesty and national reconciliation
In mid-February, the National Assembly, which is controlled by the ruling socialist party, approved the Law on Amnesty and National Reconciliation, which led to the release of hundreds of political prisoners.
However, various independent organizations have said the new law has not benefited all detainees and have charged that its application serves the interests of the regime. According to the Foro Penal, 485 people remain unjustly detained in Venezuela.
“There is not the slightest doubt that we all wish to live in justice and truth. The amnesty law is also the law of God’s mercy, who desires that all men be saved. For this reason, he offers his forgiveness to all,” Gómez explained.
“A wounded country and a wounded human being are healed through forgiveness and reconciliation by setting aside interests of any kind and always seeking paths toward the common good and brotherhood, where we are all one despite our differing ways of thinking, accepting one another. Therefore, it is important to set aside what divides us and embrace what unites us,” he said.
‘Let us make our lives a journey of peace and reconciliation’
Gómez noted that “the new era” for Venezuela coincides with the Franciscan Jubilee Year, which serves as “a good opportunity to embark on a path of education for peace, one that entails nonviolence and reconciliation.”
“It’s not about forgetting but rather about remembering, repairing the damage, and building bonds of fraternity. A society achieves reconciliation and rebuilds itself not with heroes but with free, responsible people capable of living together with dignity and building a future worthy of hope,” the auxiliary bishop-elect emphasized.
Finally, he prayed that Catholics might make their “great contribution” to Venezuela, following the example of St. José Gregorio Hernández, who offered his life for the end of World War I.
“Let us make our lives a journey of peace and reconciliation so that all Venezuelans may return to the source of our essence: a people of solidarity — friendly, humorous, and joyful — with a simple faith and fervent religious expressions, and ready to help anyone in need,” he urged.
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.
Young U.S. men overtake women in saying religion is ‘very important’
Young men in the United States surpass young women in regard to the importance of religion in their lives.
Findings from 2024-2025 Gallup data revealed that 42% of young men ages 18 to 29 said religion is “very important” to them, up 14 percentage points since 2022-2023. This jump pushes them above the 29% of young women who reported the same.
Gallupʼs data comes from 4,015 interviews with U.S. adults, including 295 men under 30 and 145 women under 30. The survey had a margin of error of between plus or minus 7 and 10 percentage points. It also used information from separate reports of 26,601 U.S. adults, including 1,905 men under 30 and 832 women under 30, and a report of 27,616 U.S. adults, including 1,839 men 18 to 29 and 796 women 18 to 29. The margin of error was between plus or minus 3 and 4 percentage points.
Gallup found that young women are significantly the least likely age group of women to report religion is “very important” to them, compared with 47% of women ages 30 to 49, 53% of women ages 50-64, and 64% of women 65 or older.
While young women’s stance on religion has held steady at about 30% since 2020-2021, young menʼs has been less stable. In 2020-2021, 34% of young men said religion was “very important” in their lives; this declined to 28% in 2022-2023 and has increased again.
Further findings from Gallup’s religious data also found that from 2000-2001 through 2024-2025, young men have returned to the high point of how many find religion important.
The percentage of young men who reported monthly or more frequent attendance at religious services has risen. In 2022-2023, 33% of young men reported attending, compared with 40% in 2024-2025.
According to Gallup’s monthly measurement of religious attendance in 2026 so far, 40% of young men continue to attend religious services weekly or monthly, consistent with 2025.
Young women’s attendance has also increased since 2022-2023, rising three points to 39% in 2024-2025. However, this rate remains below the levels recorded in the early 2000s, when the group was at 54%.
Impact of political party and religious affiliation
The research looked at how political affiliation affects how often young men and women attend religious services.
Republican women and men are far more likely to attend religious services than Democratic women and men, with 58% of Republican women and 52% of men attending at least monthly, compared with 31% of Democratic women and 26% of men.
The report noted that the partisan shifts affect the trends among young men and women differently, because of differences in party identification between them.
In 2024-2025, 48% of young men identified as or leaned Republican, compared with 41% who identified as or leaned Democratic. Among young women, 27% identified as or leaned Republican, compared with 60% who identified as or leaned Democratic.
The report also examined trends in how many young adults practice specific religions. The data found that as young men have become more religious since 2022-2023, more identify with a specific religion, but they still remain the least likely male age group to do so.
In 2024-2025, 63% of young men reported identifying with a specific religion including Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, or another religion. This was nearly the same as the 61% who reported the same in 2022-2023. However, it is the highest number reported by young men since 2012-2013, when the group was at 67%.
Donald Trump on tensions with Pope Leo XIV: ‘I have nothing against the pope’
U.S. President Donald Trump on April 16 downplayed his recent public criticism of Pope Leo XIV, stating that he has “nothing against the pope” while continuing to falsely suggest that Leo wants Iran to develop nuclear weapons.
While speaking to the press on April 16, Trump was asked why he was “fighting with the pope.” Trump responded that he himself “[has] to do whatʼs right.”
“Itʼs very simple, I have nothing against the pope,” Trump said. “... Iʼm not fighting with him. The pope made a statement, he says Iran can have a nuclear weapon. I say Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
The president had slammed Leo as “weak on crime” and “weak on nuclear weapons” in an April 12 social media post while suggesting that the pope “thinks itʼs OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Leo has several times in recent weeks called for peace while criticizing the ongoing U.S.-led war against Iran, but it is unclear why Trump has repeatedly claimed that Leo has advocated for nuclear weapons in Iran.
The pope has spoken out explicitly against the expansion of global nuclear armaments in the recent past.
‘I want him to preach the Gospel’
Asked at the April 16 press gaggle about the popeʼs obligation to preach the Gospel, the president responded: “I want him to preach the Gospel.”
“Iʼm all about the Gospel,” Trump told reporters. “But I also know that you cannot let [Iran] have a nuclear weapon. If they did, they would use it, and I think theyʼd use it quickly, and they would kill many millions of people.”
“As president of the United States of America, I canʼt allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” he said. “And hereʼs the story: They wonʼt have [it]. Theyʼve already agreed not to have [it]. Thatʼs good news. And I think the pope will be very happy.”
Asked by a reporter if he would meet with the pope “to even out your differences,” Trump said: “I donʼt think thatʼs necessary.”
During a press conference at the White House on Monday, Trump claimed that Iranian officials had contacted him seeking a peace deal. “Theyʼd like to make a deal very badly,” the president said.
Earlier peace talks in Islamabad, led by Vice President JD Vance, collapsed last weekend after Iran refused to meet U.S. demands to end its nuclear program.
Trumpʼs support among Catholics dipped notably after the launch of the Iran war, with bipartisan polling finding that 48% of Catholic voters approve of the job Trump is doing as president and 52% disapprove. The president won 55% of the Catholic vote in the 2024 election.
The poll found that most Catholics disapprove of Trump’s actions in Iran and the use of military force against the country but still favor some American influence in the region.
PHOTOS: Highlights from Pope Leo XIV’s first full day in Cameroon
Pope Leo XIV spent his first full day in Cameroon on April 16 meeting with local Catholics and other officials, hosting a meeting for peace and saying Mass in the central African country.
The Holy Father will ultimately spend several days in Cameroon before heading on to Angola and then Equatorial Guinea during his first apostolic journey to Africa. The trip is scheduled to last through April 23.
Here is a look at the popeʼs activities in Cameroon:
Punk legend Patti Smith, Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao to represent Vatican at Venice Biennale
For the fourth consecutive year, the Holy See will have its own pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in Italy.
The Dicastery for Culture and Education announced the participation of several influential figures in contemporary art and culture — including American singer Patti Smith and Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao — in the Holy See Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, which will be held May 9 through Nov. 22.
This edition of the Italian cultural event, titled “In Minor Keys,” is a sensory and meditative experience that seeks to reconnect participants with the emotional and affective roles of art in society.
In a press release, the Dicastery for Culture and Education announced the 24 artists who will form part of the Holy See’s selection this year, reflecting the eventʼs concept for 2026, which invites visitors to slow down the pace of life and open up spaces for reflection and silence.
This edition is marked by the unexpected death in May 2025 in Basel, Switzerland, of its curator, Koyo Kouoh, a Cameroonian-Swiss artist globally recognized as one of the most powerful voices in the promotion of contemporary African art.
Patti Smith is popularly known as the “Godmother of Punk.” Her 1975 debut album “Horses” marked a turning point in New York punk by fusing rock and poetry.
The prestigious Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao, internationally renowned for her humanist and social approach to architecture, will also participate in the project. She designed the pavilion for the 2025 Venice Biennale, a project titled “Opera Aperta” (“Open Work”), which received a special mention from the jury.
Inspired by a medieval saint
Inspired by the life and spiritual legacy of St. Hildegard of Bingen, the Holy See’s pavilion as explained by the Vatican is conceived as a space for contemplation and deep listening.
Titled “L’orecchio è l’occhio dell’anima” (“The Ear Is the Eye of the Soul”), the pavilion will be hosted across two historic venues in the city: Cannaregio and Castello.
It has been curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Ben Vickers in collaboration with the Soundwalk Collective and draws upon the life and spiritual legacy of St. Hildegard, a 12th-century Benedictine nun, mystic, composer, and thinker who was proclaimed a saint and doctor of the Church in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.
The works commissioned from the participating artists are conceived as a “sonic prayer”: an art form that unites music, spoken word, film, and silence, and invites the visitor to an experience of contemplative listening.
As explained by the Vatican, the proposal reflects a curatorial vision that conceives of sound as a path to inner knowledge and spiritual experience, reviving a central insight of the thought of Hildegard of Bingen.
The project is curated by Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
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.
Police reveal bomb threat at Chicago-area home of Pope Leo XIV’s brother
The brother of Pope Leo XIV was reportedly the victim of a hoax bomb threat in a suburb outside of Chicago, according to police and media reports.
The New Lenox, Illinois, Police Department said in a Facebook post on April 15 that it had responded to a “reported bomb threat at a private residence” in the Chicago suburb about 40 miles outside of the city center.
The statement did not identify the home as belonging to Leoʼs brother John Prevost, but local media reports said the target of the threat was Prevostʼs home. Public records indicate that Prevost lives on the street to which police responded.
Police evacuated nearby homes during their investigation and called in explosive-detection K9 units. “After careful examination, investigators determined that the threat was unsubstantiated and that no explosive devices or hazardous materials were present,” New Lenox police said.
The police noted that no injuries were reported but that the false bomb threat was “a serious offense and may result in criminal charges.”
New Lenox Police Chief Micah Nuesse told EWTN News via email on April 16 that the matter was an “active and ongoing investigation” and that the police department had “no new updates to share” about the crime or any suspects.
The hoax threat came just several days after President Donald Trump praised Pope Leo XIVʼs other brother, Louis, in a rambling Truth Social post in which he derided Pope Leo XIV as “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” after Leo repeatedly criticized the ongoing U.S.-led war in Iran.
“I like [Leoʼs] brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!” Trump said. Louis Prevost currently lives in Florida.
On April 11 at a Vatican peace vigil, the pope criticized the “madness of war” and urged world leaders: “Stop! Itʼs time for peace!” On March 29, meanwhile, he said that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.”
In Trumpʼs Truth Social post, he suggested that Leo — the first American-born pontiff — was only elected to the papacy as part of a diplomatic strategy to “deal with” Trump himself, due to Leoʼs U.S. background.
“If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump claimed in the post.
Responding to a question about Trumpʼs post on April 13, Leo told media that “people who read it will be able to draw their own conclusions.”
"I am not a politician, and I have no intention of entering into a debate with him,” the pope said, adding that he had "no fear neither of the Trump administration nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel."
Pope Leo XIV in Cameroon says ‘the time has come’ to rebuild peace
BAMENDA, Cameroon — Despite bad weather, at least 20,000 people gathered on the runways of Bamenda International Airport on Wednesday to take part in the Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV, concluding the second day of the pontiff’s visit to Cameroon.
In his homily, Pope Leo praised the faith of the local Church, saying: “The festive celebrations that accompany your liturgies and the joy that flows from the prayers you raise are signs of your trusting surrender to God, of your unshakeable hope and of your clinging, with all your strength, to the love of the Father who draws near and looks with compassion upon the sufferings of his children.”
Quoting Psalm 34, the pope reminded the crowd that “the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
He then turned to the wounds afflicting the country and the region.
“Brothers and sisters, there are many situations in life that break our hearts and plunge us into sorrow,” Leo said. “Our hope for a future of peace and reconciliation, in which the dignity of every person is respected and their fundamental rights guaranteed, is continually disappointed by the many problems afflicting this beautiful land.”
The pope pointed to “the numerous forms of poverty,” including an ongoing food crisis, as well as “moral, social, and political corruption, seen above all in the management of wealth, which hinders the development of institutions and infrastructure.”
He also cited “the serious problems affecting the education and health care systems, as well as large-scale migration to foreign countries, particularly of young people.”
“Added to these internal problems, which are often fueled by hatred and violence, is the damage caused from outside, by those who, in the name of profit, continue to lay their hands on the African continent to exploit and plunder it,” he said.
Even so, Leo insisted that the present moment is one for action, not despair.
“Yet this is the moment to change, to transform the story of this country,” he said. “The time has come, today and not tomorrow, now and not in the future, to restore the mosaic of unity by bringing together the diversity and riches of the country and the continent. In this way, it will be possible to create a society in which peace and reconciliation reign.”
The pope warned that when difficult situations persist for a long time, people can fall into resignation and helplessness. But, he said, “the word of the Lord opens up new possibilities and brings about transformation and healing.”
“It is capable of stirring our hearts, of challenging the normal course of events to which we so easily risk becoming accustomed, and of making us active agents of change,” he said. “Let us remember this: God is newness, God creates new things, God makes us courageous people who, by confronting evil, build up the good.”
Reflecting on the Acts of the Apostles, Leo said the apostles’ courage became “a voice of conscience, a prophecy, a denunciation of evil,” calling that witness “the first step towards changing things.”
“In fact, obeying God is not an act of submission that oppresses us or nullifies our freedom; on the contrary, obedience to God sets us free, because it means entrusting our lives to him and allowing his word to inspire our way of thinking and acting,” he said.
Those “who obey God rather than human beings and earthly ways of thinking,” he continued, “rediscover their inner freedom, succeed in discovering the value of goodness, and do not resign themselves to evil. They find anew their way in life and become builders of peace and fraternity.”
The pope also cautioned Catholics to remain vigilant in their faith.
“We must, however, always keep the apostle Peter’s exhortation in our hearts and bring it to mind: Obey God, not human beings. To obey him, because he alone is God,” Leo said.
“This calls us to foster inculturation of the Gospel. It also calls us to be vigilant, even regarding our own religious practices, so as not to fall into the trap of mixing the Catholic faith with other beliefs and traditions of an esoteric or Gnostic nature, which in reality often serve political and economic ends.”
“Only God sets us free; only his word opens paths to freedom; only his Spirit makes us new people capable of changing this country,” he said.
At the end of the Mass, Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda thanked the pope for visiting the region “during this time of insecurity, uncertainty, and discouragement,” saying his presence had brought “spiritual uplift, moral encouragement, psychological boost, and physical consolation.”
The archbishop said the people of Bamenda were confident that “the peace you have come to pray for shall return once again” to the ecclesiastical province and pledged, on behalf of the bishops of the region, filial loyalty to the pope.
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.
Pope Leo XIV in Cameroon urges Christians and Muslims to heal wounds of conflict
BAMENDA, Cameroon — From Bamendaʼs Catholic cathedral on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV urged both Christians and Muslims to heal wounds of conflict in Cameroon.
When Leo arrived at the Cathedral of St. Joseph, on the fourth day of his trip in Africa, he first visited the Blessed Sacrament Chapel for a moment of prayer together with Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda.
During the interreligious peace gathering, Nkea said the popeʼs presence was consoling for the people. The meeting included testimonies from local people, including Catholics, Protestants, and Muslims.
"Holy Father, help us to have peace,” Imam Mohammad Abubakar of the Central Mosque of Buea said after speaking about violent episodes that have taken place in recent years.
“It is a joy for me to be with you in this region that has suffered so greatly. As your testimonies have just demonstrated, the lived experience of suffering by your community has only made stronger your conviction that God has never abandoned us! In God, in his peace, we can always begin anew!" the pope said.
“May we all continue on the path of goodness which leads to peace,” he continued. “I am grateful for your words of welcome, because it is true: I am here to proclaim peace. Yet I find it is you who are proclaiming peace to me, and to the entire world.”
Leo praised the witness of local Muslims and Christians in working for peace and said he wishes “this would happen in so many other places of the world.”
“Jesus told us: Blessed are the peacemakers! But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,” Leo said.
The Holy Father also expressed his gratitude to all the laypeople and religious women who care for those traumatized by violence — a work that is dangerous and unseen.
“The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet a lifetime is often not enough to rebuild,” he said. “We must make a decisive change of course — a true conversion — that will lead us in the opposite direction, onto a sustainable path rich in human fraternity.”
“Peace is not something we must invent: It is something we must embrace by accepting our neighbor as our brother and as our sister. We do not choose our brothers and sisters: We simply must accept one another!” he urged.
The pope said: “Let us walk together, in love, searching always for peace.”
Outside of the cathedral at the end of the meeting, Pope Leo, accompanied by representatives of the Bamenda community, released seven doves as a sign of peace.
“My dear brothers and sisters, today the Lord has chosen all of us to be workers who bring peace to this land! Let us all say a prayer to the Lord, that peace will truly reign among us, that as we release these white doves — a symbol of peace — that God’s peace will be upon all of us, upon this land, and keep us all united in his peace. Praise the Lord!” he said.
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.
Pope Benedict XVI’s centenary celebrations planned across the globe in 2027
A series of celebrations marking the centenary of the birth of Pope Benedict XVI will take place across four continents beginning on April 16, 2027.
An international committee for the centenary celebrations established by the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation is coordinating the initiatives, the foundation announced.
“The centenary of Ratzingerʼs birth is an opportunity to fully present his thought and his approach to reality as significant contributions to the current ecclesial and cultural debate,” said Father Roberto Regoli, president of the foundation and of the centenary committee.
“His legacy concerns the interpretation of the Second Vatican Council, the personal experience of Christ, which becomes the key to all branches of theology, and reasonableness as the criterion underlying human reflection on reality,” the priest noted.
Events marking 100 years since the beloved German pontiffʼs birth on April 16, 1927, will take place in several countries in Europe as well as in the U.S., India, Colombia, and Kenya.
Events across the globe
On the first day of the centenary celebrations next April, the fourth volume of selected texts by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI titled “The Faith of the Future: The Future of the Church” will be presented in Rome at Italy’s embassy to the Holy See.
Two events will take place in the U.S. next year. On Nov. 3, at Saint Mary’s University in Minneapolis, the presentation of Volume 6 of the “Collected Works” of Joseph Ratzinger will take place; and on Nov. 4–6, in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, a conference will be held on the theme “Joseph Ratzinger and His Sources.”
On July 10–11 in Bangalore, the bishops of India will hold a colloquium on the theme “A Rereading of the Theological Journey of Joseph Ratzinger.”
On Sept. 10, Péter Pázmány Catholic University in Budapest, Hungary, will host a study day to mark the presentation of Volume 3 of Joseph Ratzinger’s complete works in Hungarian: “The God of Faith and the God of Philosophers: Philosophical Reason, Culture, Europe, Society.”
On Sept. 24–26, the international conference “For the Centenary of Joseph Ratzinger: Paths of Faith, Hope, and Charity” will take place at the University of La Sabana in Bogotá, Colombia.
On Oct. 14 in Paris, the Collège des Bernardins, the Académie Catholique de France, the Institut de France, the journal “Communio,” and the television channel KTO will host an international symposium provisionally titled “The Major Lectures of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI in France.”
The international congress “The Beauty of the Liturgy” will be held in Almería, Spain, on Oct. 28–30, and a statue dedicated to Benedict XVI will be unveiled.
In Nairobi, Kenya, a symposium titled “Constellations of Hope: Africa and the Renewal of the Church in the Vision of Benedict XVI” will be held at Tangaza University on Nov. 18–21.
A schedule with more events will be announced at a later date.
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.