Vatican releases itinerary for Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic journey to Africa
The Vatican has released the official itinerary for the first apostolic journey of Pope Leo XIV to Africa, scheduled for April 13–23. The visit will take the Holy Father to four countries — Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea — marking his first trip to the continent since his election to the papacy in May 2025.
The 11-day visit combines pastoral encounters with Catholic communities, meetings with political leaders and civil society, and symbolic gestures of interreligious dialogue and reconciliation.
The itinerary, officially released on Monday, March 16, reflects a focus on peace, youth engagement, and the Church’s social mission across Africa.
Opening leg in Algeria
The pope’s journey is to begin on Monday, April 13, when he departs Rome for Algiers. Upon arrival at Houari Boumédiène International Airport, he is to be welcomed during an official ceremony before visiting the Maqam Echahid Martyrs’ Monument, a national memorial honoring those who died in Algeria’s struggle for independence.
The pontiff is to then pay a courtesy visit to the president of Algeria at the presidential palace and later address representatives of government, civil society, and the diplomatic corps at the Djamaa el Djazair Conference Center.
In a gesture highlighting the importance of interreligious dialogue in the Muslim-majority country, Pope Leo XIV is to visit the Great Mosque of Algiers, one of the largest mosques in the world. The day is to conclude with a meeting with members of the local Catholic community at the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa.
On Tuesday, April 14, the American-born member of the Order of St. Augustine is to travel to Annaba, where he is to visit the historic archaeological site of Hippo Regius, closely associated with St. Augustine of Hippo.
He is also scheduled to meet the elderly residents cared for by the Little Sisters of the Poor before celebrating Mass at the Basilica of St. Augustine.
Cameroon: Emphasis on peace and youth
The second stage of the apostolic journey is to begin on Wednesday, April 15, with the pope’s arrival in Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon. After a welcome ceremony, he is to meet the country’s president and address authorities, civil society leaders, and diplomats.
Pope Leo XIV is also to visit the Ngul Zamba Orphanage and meet privately with members of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC).
During his time in Cameroon, the Holy Father is expected to place particular emphasis on reconciliation and social healing. On Thursday, April 16, he is to travel to Bamenda, where he is scheduled to hold a “Meeting for Peace” with the local community at St. Joseph’s Cathedral and celebrate Mass at Bamenda International Airport.
The papal visit to Bamenda carries symbolic significance given the region’s experience of political and social tensions in recent years.
On Friday, April 17, the pontiff is to visit Douala, where he is scheduled to preside over a large Eucharistic celebration at Japoma Stadium. The program also includes a private visit to St. Paul Catholic Hospital and a dialogue with university students and professors at the Catholic University of Central Africa.
Before leaving the central African nation to travel to the southern African nation of Angola on Saturday, April 18, the pope is to celebrate a final Mass in Yaoundé with the faithful gathered at Yaoundé-Ville Airport.
Angola: Marian devotion and pastoral encounters
The Holy Father is scheduled to arrive in Luanda, the capital city of Angola, on the afternoon of April 18, where he is to meet the country’s president and address government authorities and representatives of civil society.
The following day, Sunday, April 19, the Holy Father is to celebrate Mass in the Kilamba district of Luanda before traveling by helicopter to the Marian shrine of Mama Muxima. There, he is to lead the recitation of the rosary with pilgrims gathered at one of Angola’s most significant places of Catholic devotion.
On Monday, April 20, Pope Leo XIV is to visit Saurimo in Angola’s eastern region. His program includes a visit to a nursing home and the celebration of Mass in the Saurimo esplanade.
Later that day in Luanda, the Holy Father is scheduled to meet Catholic bishops, priests, women and men religious, and pastoral workers at Our Lady of Fátima Parish.
Final stage in Equatorial Guinea
The final leg of the apostolic journey will take the Holy Father to Malabo on Tuesday, April 21. Following the official welcome ceremony, he is to meet the president of Equatorial Guinea and address political leaders, civil society representatives, and the diplomatic corps.
In the afternoon, Leo is to engage with academics and artists during a meeting with representatives of the world of culture at the León XIV Campus of the National University. The day is also to include a pastoral visit to patients and staff at the Jean Pierre Olie Psychiatric Hospital.
On Wednesday, April 22, the pope is to travel to Mongomo to celebrate Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception before visiting the Pope Francis Technology School.
Later in the day, he is to continue to Bata, where he is scheduled to visit a prison, pray at a memorial dedicated to victims of the March 7, 2021, explosion, and meet young people and families at Bata Stadium.
Concluding Mass and return to Rome
The apostolic journey to Africa is to conclude on Thursday, April 23, with a final Mass celebrated by the pope at Malabo Stadium.
Following the farewell ceremony at Malabo International Airport, the Holy Father is to depart for Rome, arriving later that evening at Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport.
Preparations and mottos
The four nations have intensified preparations ahead of the Holy Father’s arrival in their respective nations, releasing logos, mottos, and prayers ahead of the pastoral visit.
In Algeria, the Holy Father is to visit as an apostle of peace. The motto guiding the visit is “As-Salam Alaykum” (“Peace be with you”). Catholic bishops in Algeria also released an official prayer ahead of the papal visit.
The North African nation of Algeria is a country where Christianity has ancient roots but where Catholics today constitute a statistically negligible minority. It is an African country, where the memory of martyrs is recent. Interreligious coexistence in Algeria is both a theological imperative and a civic necessity.
Cameroon presents a different ecclesial landscape. The Catholic Church in Cameroon is demographically significant, institutionally entrenched, socially influential, and politically attentive.
The people of God in Cameroon are expected to welcome Pope Leo XIV as a messenger of peace. “May they all be one,” taken from the Gospel of John 17:21, is the motto of the visit that Catholic Bishops in Cameroon unveiled alongside the logo and prayer.
In Angola, Pope Leo XIV is to visit as a pilgrim of hope. “Pope Leo XIV, Pilgrim of Hope, Reconciliation, and Peace” is the motto of the visit announced by Catholic bishops in the country, alongside the logo and prayer.
Equatorial Guinea is expected to welcome Pope Leo XIV as light that brings hope to the nation. The motto “Christ, Light of Equatorial Guinea, Towards a Future of Hope” unveiled by Catholic bishops encapsulates the identity and mission of the local Church.
More than four decades after the last papal visit, the announcement, which the Press Department of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) published on Jan. 23, generated anticipation in a nation where Catholicism is deeply woven into culture, language, and public life.
Africa’s only Spanish-speaking country, Equatorial Guinea, occupies a singular place on the continent — linguistically, historically, and ecclesiastically.
This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa. It has been adapted by EWTN News English.
Millionaire businessman plans to preserve churches in the UK
Millionaire businessman and philanthropist Samuel Leeds is on a mission to preserve U.K. churches that are being put up for sale and repurposed: “When something was built as a church to honor God, it cannot end up being something else,” he said.
His story made headlines in much of the British press in 2023 when, at age 25, he had amassed a fortune in the real estate market. After founding his first investment firm, he now gives educational talks on investing and is the author of several bestsellers.
The Christian businessman informed his hundreds of thousands of social media followers last week that he was willing to buy churches in the U.K. that were up for sale before they were demolished or sold to investors to be converted for other uses.
“If a building was built for God and for the work of generations, it shouldn’t be sold for profit,” he stressed in one of his Instagram posts.
In his view, the U.K. is experiencing “a revival of faith among younger generations,” emphasizing that “we need our historic churches of Great Britain open.”
“I am proud of the rich history of the U.K.’s churches and I want to transform our streets, minister to the poor, and build a better country with the church at its heart,” he said, insisting that England “needs open churches” and that his plan is to preserve them because “we need them alive.”
In one of his most recent posts, he mentioned that on March 11 he made a 225,000-pound (about $300,540) offer for a Methodist church in Darlaston.
He also said he will buy churches that have already been converted into businesses such as shops, restaurants, or shopping centers to return them to their original purpose. “We need places to worship God,” he emphasized.
Despite the demolition of numerous churches in the U.K. in recent years due to lack of funding, the Catholic Church in London recently recorded its highest number of Easter converts since 2011.
In a statement, the Archdiocese of Westminster indicated that the 2026 group is the “fourth largest since diocesan records began in 1993 and the highest level of participation in 15 years.”
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.
Only surgeon for 2 million, American doctor perseveres in war-torn Sudan
As the only doctor at a hospital serving more than 2 million people, Dr. Tom Catena works seven days a week and is on call every night — and still makes time for morning Mass.
An American Catholic missionary and the only surgeon at Mother of Mercy Hospital in the remote Nuba Mountains of Gidel, Sudan, Catena has spent more than two decades in Sudan in spite of civil war and conflict.
Catena told EWTN News that Sudan is “home to one of the worst humanitarian crises. The United Nations has described the civil war, which began in April 2023, as the most devastating humanitarian crisis, killing more than 150,000 people and displacing another 12 million people. In the region, the mother and infant mortality rate for maternity care is among the highest in the world.
“There really is no such thing as an average day here, and that’s part of what makes this work so demanding,” Catena said. “At Mother of Mercy Hospital, we are the only major medical facility serving more than 2 million people in the Nuba Mountains, so the volume and variety of what we see is staggering.”
“On any given day, I might be performing emergency surgery on a trauma victim from a bombing or drone strike, then turning around to treat a child with malaria or malnutrition and then delivering a baby,” he said.
The Sudanese army reportedly killed 48 people, mostly children and students, in a December 2025 drone strike that was the deadliest attack on civilians in the Nuba Mountains since the civil war began in April 2023.
“The crisis in Sudan is not new but continues to make delivering humanitarian and medical aid exponentially harder,” Catena said. “Supply lines are disrupted, so we are perpetually short on medications, surgical supplies, and even basic necessities like clean water and food for patients.”
The crisis is aggravated by blockades that in some areas prevent humanitarian teams and supplies from entering. In addition, the humanitarian response only has about 5% of the funding it needs to address the famine, according to Action Against Hunger.
“We lose people that we shouldn’t lose simply because we don’t have the resources,” Catena said. “That is the most heartbreaking part of this work — knowing that lives are being lost not because medicine doesn’t exist to save them but because it cannot reach us.”
“Despite all of this, we keep going because if we stop, there is no one else,” he said. “The people here have no other option, and neither do I.”
Sudan ‘receives a fraction’ of attention, resources
“What I wish people understood is that Sudan is home to one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world right now, and yet it receives a fraction of the attention and resources that other conflicts do,” Catena said.
The Nuba Mountains are considered one of the most remote places in the world. Spanning 30,000 square miles, the region relies on dirt roads and is further isolated due to blockades.
Catena said that local humanitarian groups and grassroots efforts are “critical.”
“Large international organizations often cannot access places like the Nuba Mountains due to the conflict and logistical barriers,” he continued. “It is the people on the ground who keep things running when no one else can get in.”
“The people of the Nuba Mountains have been suffering for years — from bombings, from displacement, from starvation,” he said. “These are real people, families, children, who deserve the same dignity and care as anyone else on this planet.”
From 1989 to 2019, Sudan faced 30 years of political upheaval and violence, including the Darfur genocide in the early 2000s. In 2023, violence erupted again between the government’s army, the Sudanese Armed Forces, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces — both of which have been accused of war crimes.
Catena called the hospital “a symbol of hope.”
“Mother of Mercy Hospital is the only major referral hospital for more than 2 million people in this region,” Catena said. “We provide surgical care, maternal health services, treatment for infectious diseases, malnutrition programs — everything that a community needs to survive.”
“But beyond the medical work, the hospital has become a symbol of hope and stability for the people here,” Catena said. “It tells them that they have not been forgotten, that someone cares enough to stay.”
Faith in the Nuba Mountains: ‘Called to serve’
“My faith is really the foundation of everything I do here,” Catena said. “It’s what brought me to the Nuba Mountains in the first place, and it’s what keeps me here when things get incredibly difficult.”
Catena founded the hospital and has been providing care there since 2008 as the only surgeon permanently in the region.
“I am a Catholic, and I believe deeply that we are called to serve the most vulnerable among us,” Catena said. “This belief motivates me through each day in the operating room, at the bedside, in the chaos of mass casualty events.”
When asked about Catholic social teaching on solidarity, Catena said that solidarity “demands action.”
“Solidarity is not just a theological concept for me — it is something I live every single day,” he said. “Solidarity means more than feeling sympathy from a distance. It means being present with people in their suffering, standing alongside them, and refusing to leave even when the situation becomes challenging.”
“True solidarity demands more than thoughts and prayers — it demands action,” Catena continued. “It demands that people advocate for the forgotten, that resources flow to the places where they are needed most, and that we refuse to accept a world where millions of people are left to suffer in silence.”
Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, a nonprofit founded on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, exemplifies this solidarity, according to Catena.
“Aurora embodies the principle of solidarity in a tangible way by identifying and supporting humanitarians who are on the ground, doing the difficult and often invisible work of saving lives,” he said. “They recognize that solidarity is not charity from above, it is showing up and staying.”
Alongside his work in Sudan, Catena has chaired Aurora’s advisory board since 2018.
“Aurora’s mission is to support humanitarians working at the grassroots level, people who are embedded in their communities and who will remain long after the cameras leave,” Catena said. “That model of empowering local actors is not just effective, it is essential.”
“The people of the Nuba Mountains deserve nothing less than our full solidarity, and I will continue to call on the world to provide it,” he said.
Catena stressed the “critical importance of getting resources directly to the humanitarians working on the ground in crisis zones like this one.”
“There are local health workers and small organizations operating in some of the most dangerous and forgotten places on earth, doing extraordinary things with almost nothing,” Catena said.
Amid the countless daily challenges the hospital faces, Catena is inspired by the faith that surrounds him.
“I find that in the midst of suffering, God’s presence becomes even more real,” Catena continued. “The people here have an extraordinary faith themselves, and that inspires me tremendously.”
“We carry each other through the darkest moments, and I believe that is the Holy Spirit at work among us,” he said.
For more information about Dr. Tom Catena’s work, visit https://www.healthfornuba.com/.
Pope Leo XIV: God ‘cannot be enlisted by darkness’
Pope Leo XIV said Sunday that God cannot be used to justify violence or war, warning that “God cannot be enlisted by darkness.”
The pope made the remarks March 15 during a pastoral visit to the Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Ponte Mammolo, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Rome, where he celebrated Mass on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, known as Laetare Sunday.
Before the Mass, Leo XIV met with various parish groups, including children, young people, families, the sick, the elderly, and the poor assisted by volunteers from Caritas, the Catholic Church’s charitable aid network, and the Community of Sant’Egidio, a Rome-based Catholic lay community known for its service to the poor and peacemaking efforts.
In his homily, the pope reflected on the suffering caused by armed conflicts around the world.
“Many of our brothers and sisters today suffer because of violent conflicts, caused by the absurd claim that problems and differences can be resolved with war,” he said. “Instead, we must tirelessly pursue dialogue for peace.”
“Some even claim to involve the name of God in these choices of death,” the pope continued. “But God cannot be enlisted by darkness. Rather, he always comes to give light, hope, and peace to humanity — and it is peace that those who invoke him must seek.”
Reflecting on the Gospel story of the man born blind, Leo XIV said the passage teaches believers to see others with the eyes of God.
To see in this way, he said, means overcoming prejudice — especially the tendency to look at someone who suffers “only as an outcast to be despised or a problem to be avoided,” retreating into “the fortified tower of selfish individualism.”
Jesus, by contrast, looks at the blind man with love, “not as an inferior being or a nuisance, but as a person who is dear and in need of help,” the pope said.
By healing him, Jesus reveals his divine power and restores the man’s dignity as a creature made in the image and likeness of God. Having regained his sight, the man becomes “a witness to the light,” the pope said.
Leo XIV also warned of another form of blindness — the refusal to recognize God’s presence.
Those who accused Jesus and the healed man, he said, showed a deeper blindness: failing to see “right before them the face of God,” preferring instead the sterile security of rigid legalism.
“Jesus does not stop before such obstinacy,” the pope said, showing that “there is no Sabbath that can hinder an act of love.”
The pope also urged Christians to examine their own lives.
“We too can be blind when we fail to notice others and their problems,” he said. The first Christian community, he added, understood the call to live differently — sharing their goods, persevering in prayer, and living in communion and peace despite trials.
Addressing the parish community directly, Leo XIV praised its outreach to the poor and marginalized, including its attention to inmates at the nearby Rebibbia prison and its efforts to assist migrants with learning the language, finding housing, and securing stable employment.
He also commended the parish’s charitable initiatives, including family homes that welcome women and mothers in difficulty.
The pope concluded by encouraging the faithful to continue nurturing the “gift of light” entrusted to them through prayer, the sacraments, and charity.
“Let it grow within you and among you in all its gentleness,” he said, “and spread it throughout the world.”
Earlier, greeting children and young people, the pope also addressed parishioners who could not enter the church because of limited space, telling them that a vibrant parish community can be a sign of hope even in places marked by hardship.
“We who believe in Jesus Christ and live as brothers and sisters united can be a sign of hope in a world where these signs are often lacking,” he said. “In Jesus Christ there is salvation, and we want to live, receive, and share this great love that the Lord offers us.”
This article was originally published by ACI Stampa, EWTN News’ Italian-language news partner, and has been adapted by EWTN News.
Pope urges ceasefire in Middle East
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged those responsible for the escalating war in the Middle East to declare a ceasefire and open paths of dialogue, warning that violence can never lead to justice or peace.
“In the name of the Christians of the Middle East and of all women and men of goodwill, I address those responsible for this conflict: Let the fire cease and let paths of dialogue be reopened,” the pope said after praying the Angelus with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
The appeal came amid continuing regional tensions and exchanges of attacks in the Middle East. Earlier Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a telephone interview with NBC that Iran is seeking a ceasefire agreement to end U.S. and Israeli bombing, though he said he is not prepared to accept the proposal for now because the “terms are not good enough yet.”
Israel also struck targets in Lebanon, where at least 14 people were reported killed, including four minors. Pope Leo described the situation in the country as “a cause for great concern.”
“I hope that paths of dialogue will open that can help the authorities of the country implement lasting solutions to the serious crisis underway, for the common good of all Lebanese,” he said.
The pope noted that for the past two weeks the peoples of the Middle East have been suffering “the atrocious violence of war.”
“Thousands of innocent people have been killed and many others have been forced to abandon their homes,” he said, expressing his prayerful closeness to those who have lost loved ones in attacks on schools, hospitals, and residential areas.
“Violence will never lead to the justice, stability, or peace that peoples hope for,” he added.
‘Faith is not a renunciation of reason’
Earlier during the Angelus reflection, Pope Leo emphasized that Christian faith does not require abandoning reason but instead allows believers to see reality more clearly.
Reflecting on the Gospel account of the healing of the man born blind (John 9:1–41), the pope said the episode reveals the deeper meaning of salvation.
“While humanity walked in darkness, God sent his Son as the light of the world to open the eyes of the blind and illuminate our lives,” he said.
The pope stressed that faith “is not a blind act,” nor “a renunciation of reason,” nor a conviction that turns believers away from the world.
Rather, he explained, “faith helps us to look from the point of view of Jesus, with his eyes.”
“It is a participation in his way of seeing,” he said, quoting Lumen Fidei, the first encyclical of Pope Francis.
For this reason, Christians are called to open their eyes to the suffering of others and to the wounds of the world.
The Gospel, the pope said, contradicts the idea — widespread for centuries and still present today — that faith is a “leap into darkness.”
“On the contrary, the Gospel tells us that in contact with Christ the eyes are opened,” he said.
Pope Leo added that the Gospel invites believers to view the world with Christ’s eyes and not remain indifferent to human suffering.
“Today, in particular, faced with the many questions of the human heart and the dramatic situations of injustice, violence, and suffering that mark our time, there is a need for an awake, attentive, and prophetic faith,” he said.
Such faith, he explained, “opens our eyes to the darkness of the world and brings there the light of the Gospel through a commitment to peace, justice, and solidarity.”
The pope concluded by encouraging Christians to live a “Christianity with open eyes,” with simplicity and courage.
“Brothers and sisters, we too, healed by the love of Christ, are called to live a Christianity with open eyes,” he said.
This story was first published in two parts by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Preacher of the Papal Household: ‘Fraternity is where true conversion takes place’
Preacher of the Papal Household Father Roberto Pasolini continued on March 13 with the second Lenten homily, inspired by the conversion of St. Francis of Assisi and titled “If Anyone Is in Christ, He Is a New Creation: Conversion to the Gospel According to St. Francis.”
Before Pope Leo XIV and members of the Roman Curia gathered in the Paul VI Audience Hall, the Capuchin friar meditated on fraternity, referring to it as both a gift and a “serious and urgent” responsibility — especially in a society marked by division.
In his sermon reported by Vatican News, Pasolini explained that conversion is truly realized within fraternity, describing it as “the most eloquent sign of what the Gospel can accomplish in our lives.”
He also exhorted his listeners to “go beyond” and to view our brothers and sisters not merely as a source of support or sustenance but as someone entrusted to us “so that our lives may change.”
In this context, Pasolini emphasized that brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, do not merely serve to confirm “what we are” but rather call us to a true transformation: “They become the concrete space in which God works on our humanity, loosening our rigidities and teaching us to live with a truer heart, one more capable of love.”
In light of the biblical account of Cain and Abel, the preacher to the papal household noted that a rift between brothers stems “from a problem of perspective” and urged the pope and the Roman Curia to ask themselves “who is Cain within us” and how much space resentment occupies.
He also recalled that, for St. Francis, fraternity is an opportunity “to learn the merciful logic of the Gospel toward a neighbor who makes mistakes.”
“When relationships crack and communion is wounded,” Pasolini noted, “the Gospel does not first suggest defending one’s own rights. Instead, it urges seeking the greatest and always possible good: the good that allows us to recognize in the other no longer an adversary or a debtor but a brother loved by the Lord,” he affirmed.
Pasolini thus invited his audience to focus on the conversion that arises “precisely from what others do to us, even when they hurt us or put us to the test,” and, for this reason, “we must never lose sight of the horizon” or the perspective of eternal life.
“Faith does not separate but reminds us that no one can be excluded from our hearts,” he remarked.
By way of conclusion, Pasolini noted that, amid the divisions, wars, and conflicts of the present day, Christians “cannot limit ourselves to speaking of fraternity as an ideal to be achieved.”
“We are called to receive it as a gift, and, at the same time,” he urged, “to take it on as a very serious and urgent responsibility.”
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.
Ave Maria University to send first student group to new Ireland campus at former abbey
Ave Maria University in Florida is setting out to make its students a fixture in the historically Catholic community surrounding Mount Melleray Abbey in County Waterford, Ireland.
“We are not here to give our students a cultural exchange; we’re here to have a campus that is steeped both in our culture and the tradition of Ireland,” Daniel Schreck, chief strategy officer for Ave Maria University, told EWTN News.
“That means understanding the people of Ireland, County Waterford, the town of Cappoquin, and the Cistercian order,” he said. “I think that’s how you really make this a permanent home and not just a building we’re coming to once a semester with our given cohort of students.”
Ave Maria University acquired the abbey after it closed in January 2025, prompted by dwindling numbers among the Cistercian community, which announced its plans to consolidate with monks from St. Joseph Abbey in Roscrea and Mellifont Abbey in Louth in December 2024.
Ave Maria plans to bring its first cohort of 100 students to the abbey for the fall 2026 semester. The university had a launch event for the campus earlier this year, which Schreck said was attended by roughly 500 students, and saw 300 applications to the program. The university has accepted 150 so far and hopes one day to accept Irish students as well.
Schreck appeared on “EWTN News Nightly” on March 5.
An American liberal arts encounter with Irish tradition
“The program will be a sort of encounter between the charisms and liberal arts curriculum at Ave Maria University, and the practices and charisms of the Cistercian community,” Mount Melleray Campus Executive Director Samuel Shephard told EWTN News.
Students who participate in the program will take classes from Ave Maria’s liberal arts core curriculum of theology, philosophy, and science, as well as Ireland-specific courses, including Irish language courses, Irish Church history, and a course on Irish saints and their holy places.
In addition to their studies, Shephard said, students will live the Cistercian tradition of not only study but also work and prayer. The university is planning to rehabilitate the monastery’s farm so students can work on it. Shephard said he hopes to have animals on the land again and restore the abbey’s workshops.
The campus will have a live-in priest, either from the university or the local diocese, and students will have access to two Masses per day as well as adoration, confession, and hopefully, Shephard said, Cistercian chant.
“One thing I find so wonderful is [the Cistercians] make a vow of stability,” Shephard said. “They’re really focused on this rhythm of life in a particular place. So that’s one of the things we love to jump into, is that real sense of place, and history, and prayer.”
Maintaining a local ‘beacon of faith’
Shephard, who is originally from Ireland, emphasized the monastery’s historic importance as “a beacon of faith” to the town of Cappoquin. “It was very sad for them [when] the monks moved out,” he said of the local community. “Now that they know another authentic Catholic institution is coming back, and that we’re going to embrace that history, they seem to be generally very excited about the project.”
The abbey was first established in 1832 by a group of Cistercian monks who were expelled from France during the French Revolution. “The townspeople of Cappoquin built Mount Melleray by hand, and so did the Cistercians,” Schreck said. “So, it’s important for the people of Ireland and our students who go there and for Americans reading this article to realize we’re part of that continuity of the faith that’s happened there in that county in Ireland.”
Shephard also noted the shop, café, and pilgrim’s hostel located on the campus will remain open to those traveling along the Declan’s Way pilgrimage that runs through the property. “For us is very symbolic that there’s still this very public statement and purpose of Mount Melleray, even well beyond our students studying there,” he said regarding the pilgrimage.
“We’re going to keep those open, but not in a proselytizing manner, just in the quiet friendship, ‘come and see’ type of quiet,” he said: “Come and see what we’re doing, come and meet the students, come and go to Mass. Just keep that Cistercian tradition of welcome.”
A hope for vocations
One aspect Schreck said is close to the hearts of Ave Maria University President Mark Middendorf and the university’s founder and chancellor, Tom Monaghan, is vocational discernment.
Schreck emphasized that students will be encouraged to discern their vocations more clearly while studying at the Ireland campus, with limited Wi-Fi access, opportunities for silent retreats, and a prohibition on inter-visitation between men and women’s dorms.
Ultimately, he said, “we hope this benefits the Cistercians because part of the reason the Cistercians have now moved from Mount Melleray is because there weren’t enough vocations.”
“We feel like bringing 200 students per year, and in their case, 100 young men per year that believe in the Catholic Church and are happy and are smart, I’m sure we’ll get a few vocations for them each year,” Shephard said.
Pope Leo XIV to move into papal apartment of Apostolic Palace
Pope Leo XIV on March 14 took possession of the traditional papal apartment within the Apostolic Palace, moving into the quarters traditionally reserved for his predecessors.
The move was announced on March 14 by the Holy See Press Office, more than 10 months after Leo’s election.
The Holy Father had been staying at an apartment at the Palace of the Holy Office but will now reside in what has long served as the home of the reigning pontiff. The custom was discontinued in March 2013 by Pope Francis, who chose to reside at Casa Santa Marta from the beginning of his pontificate.
Pope Leo XIV has also reinstated the papal tradition of staying at the summer residence of Castel Gandolfo. In the summer of 2025 the pope stayed at Villa Barberini; subsequently, he decided to travel to Castel Gandolfo almost every week, staying from Monday evening until Tuesday evening.
The papal apartment has undergone a lengthy and meticulous restoration, having remained unoccupied since the conclusion of Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate on Feb. 28, 2013.
The previous renovation dated back to the spring of 2005, following the death of Pope John Paul II and prior to Benedict XVI taking up residence in the quarters.
In addition to the bedrooms, the apartment comprises a private study for the pope — from the window of which he appears every Sunday to recite the Angelus — as well as a dining room and a private chapel, where pontiffs have traditionally celebrated Mass at the start of each day.
Residing alongside Pope Leo XIV in the papal apartment within the Apostolic Palace will likely be his two secretaries, Peruvian Monsignor Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga and Italian Father Marco Billeri.
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.
Psychiatrist Paul McHugh speaks about decades-long career, opposition to sex-reassignment surgeries
Psychologist Dr. Paul McHugh spoke with “EWTN News In Depth” about his decades-long career, detailing how sexual reassignment surgeries are not the answer for transgender individuals.
McHugh is a 94-year-old American psychiatrist and educator. He is a distinguished service professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he was previously the Henry Phipps professor and psychiatrist-in-chief from 1975 to 2001.
McHugh has conducted years of research on sexual reassignment surgeries, which are medical procedures that alter a person’s physical sex characteristics such as the chest, genitals, or facial features. McHugh found they do not resolve underlying psychological issues. While some may believe McHugh’s view on the surgeries comes from his faith as a Catholic, he said it is also based in research.
“I am Catholic, and I can’t tell in what way my faith influences any of the things I do. I’m sure it’s important in everything I do. So I can’t deny that it may play a role,” he said. “But … I try to use the information that everybody else uses in determining the fixity or the ‘born that way’ idea.”
McHugh’s career
McHugh is known for many actions in his career, including a move to shut down Johns Hopkins Gender Identity Clinic in 1979 that was performing sex reassignment operations.
When McHugh started to work at Johns Hopkins, the treatment had been going on for about 10 years at the clinic. There were some faculty members following up on the cases to decide if the patients were getting better or worse.
While “most of the patients at the time felt that they had done the right thing when they subjected themselves to the surgery,” all of the issues that they were told would be corrected “didn’t improve,” he said.
“Their difficulties in interpersonal relationships, their difficulties in their jobs. They had difficulty with their families, which was the whole reason for doing it. They were not better,” he said.
“So it didn’t seem to me that this experiment was working out,” McHugh said, noting that it was in fact “an experiment,” because “it wasn’t that they knew perfectly well that these patients would benefit from it.”
“And when they weren’t benefiting … I thought: ‘Well, why do it? Let’s find another way of helping them.’” The clinic was then shut down because of “the evidence,” McHugh said. “I didn’t think at the time that we had enough experience to be able to justify such a radical procedure.”
After years of further research, in 2016, McHugh released a special report in The New Atlantis, “Sexuality and Gender: Findings from the Biological and Psychological and Social Sciences.” Among other findings, the report detailed that there’s no scientific evidence to support that sexual orientation is biologically fixed.
At the time, McHugh’s colleagues at Johns Hopkins took out an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun with pushback on his views. “I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised because the truth of the matter is many people want to know the answer to a question, but they don’t want to have an answer that they don’t like,” McHugh said.
“And if you start asking, just asking the question, it causes them anxiety because they want a particular answer. So I wasn’t particularly surprised that it didn’t go down easily. But I just think we ought to continue asking the question because it’s a very important question,” he said.
Transgender movement today
McHugh has been “astonished” by the momentum from 1979 to today of the transgender movement, the social and political effort advocating for the rights and inclusion of people whose say their gender identity differs from their biological sex.
By closing the clinic, “it didn’t seem to me that we were doing anything terribly radical,” McHugh said. “But gradually, the idea became that somehow or another we were denying these people their honest sex. And I kept saying, ‘Look, we have two things here. We have the facts of the body, and we got the ideas of the patient.’”
Instead of the program building upon “facts,” it was “generating more concern about the ideas and giving the ideas primary focus,” McHugh said. “And I thought that was one of the kinds of things where psychiatry has gone wrong in the past and could go wrong again — imagining things rather than knowing things.”
“We don’t know enough” about the psychiatric impact, especially on children who undergo these operations, “because we’re not spending enough time studying them,” McHugh said.
“The whole idea of doing this to children to … presumably get them to think more about what they’re experiencing has been a track towards … persuading them and has not been a good idea,” he said.
“I’ve, after all, seen a lot of young people … especially young girls, being persuaded that there are some aspects of themselves, in their body, that needs correction,” he said. “It’s really the foundation of anorexia nervosa and things of that sort.”
Children need to be “encouraged to just grow up and let their body take it,” McHugh said. “It turns out that 85% to 90% of them drop off of this. So if you don’t treat them with so-called gender affirming treatments, hormones, or surgery, they gradually give it up.”
Puberty is “a very vulnerable time … all kinds of things are changing in your body and in your mind,” McHugh said. “Once you get through puberty, a new kind of person comes to think about what life is going to be like, what they would commit themselves to.”
“Human beings are different from animals,” he said. “Animals, when they go through puberty, just become what they were from the start. Human beings have a rebirth after puberty as they think in terms of who they are, and what they would like to do. And those ideas would be best appreciated, and filled out, if you were what God made you, as it were.”
“But if you are changed, then you have to spend your life committed to this change, and defending it, rather than moving forward,” he said.
‘Many more lawsuits’ to come
McHugh has stated publicly over the years that he thought it would be lawsuits that ultimately cease the surgeries for minors.
In February, a New York jury awarded $2 million to a woman who underwent a double mastectomy at age 16 in what is believed to be the first U.S. malpractice case of its kind to reach a trial verdict.
Following the first malpractice suit, “it should be” the end of transgender surgeries for minors, McHugh said. “But there are going to be many more lawsuits coming down the pike now, as I predicted it would come.”
The “$2 million is a small thing,” McHugh said. “It’s going to be a lot higher as more and more people come to realize, and they’re going to be mostly women in their mid-20s.”
Next steps
At 94, McHugh said “I’m not retiring yet.” He added: “I’m going to see if I can go a bit further. God got me this far. Maybe he’ll carry me on another while. I’ve got wonderful grandchildren I want to see more of and see how they flourish.”
While he has no plans to retire yet, when that day comes he spoke to what he hopes his legacy is. He said: “I want people to think … that I was part of my times and that I didn’t shy away from the things that occupied the attention of my fellow Americans.”
“I think it’s really important to see that the role you have calls for certain kinds of courage. And if you don’t have that, you shouldn’t have that role. And I had some adventures. And it turns out I was right about a lot of things — that’s the fun part.”
Scotland bishops on assisted suicide legislation: ‘Safeguards do not work’
Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:
Scotland bishops on assisted suicide legislation: ‘Safeguards do not work’
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland is urging Catholics to express opposition to the latest assisted suicide legislation proposed in the country to their representatives in Parliament.
“One of the most serious concerns about assisted suicide legislation is this: Safeguards do not work,” the bishops wrote in a March 6 statement.
“We only have to look at countries that have already introduced these laws. In places such as Holland, Belgium, and Canada, what began with strict limits has steadily expanded. Boundaries shift. Protections weaken. And the most vulnerable are placed at risk.”
The bishops’ latest statement comes ahead of a final vote on March 17 for the bill that would give terminally ill adults access to assisted suicide.
Italian Church calls for day of prayer and fasting for peace
Italy’s bishops designated Friday, March 13, as a national day of prayer and fasting for peace, responding to growing alarm over widening conflict in the Middle East and the risk of broader international destabilization.
The initiative, backed by the presidency of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, aligns with Pope Leo’s repeated warnings against allowing violence to spiral beyond control, ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, reported Thursday.
The bishops said war cannot become a solution and insisted that diplomacy, dialogue, and the pursuit of the common good remain the only serious path forward.
Parishes and Catholic communities across the country were invited to mark the day through special liturgical intentions, the Stations of the Cross offered for the Middle East, and acts of fasting in solidarity with those enduring war, displacement, and deprivation.
The Church in Italy is also urging prayers for world leaders, refugees, the wounded, and grieving families, while calling the faithful to recover charity as the true foundation of peace.
Diocese of Hong Kong anticipates thousands of baptisms this Easter
The Diocese of Hong Kong is preparing for 2,500 baptisms at Easter, according to a report from Fides News Agency.
The new members of the Church in China include 1,600 adults and 900 infants, according to a recent diocesan bulletin cited in the report, which said this year’s numbers were comparable to those in 2025.
Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan celebrated the rite of scrutiny with catechumens in the diocese at Christ the King Church on March 8 and instructed the future members of the Church to “be bearers of hope.”
Syria feeling fallout of Iranian war despite lack of involvement
Syria is once again absorbing the shockwaves of regional war, as Iranian missiles and drones headed toward Israel pass through its airspace, with projectiles frequently falling inside southern Syria and areas with a Christian presence, ACI MENA reported March 9.
Along the Syrian-Lebanese border, the city of Damascus has increased its military deployment, describing the move as defensive and aimed at border control, anti-smuggling efforts, and preventing infiltration as fighting intensifies inside Lebanon.
The war has also deepened Syria’s humanitarian and economic strain: Thousands of Syrians have returned from Lebanon to escape Israeli strikes, fuel stations have seen panic buying, cooking gas has become harder to obtain, and electricity shortages have worsened amid reduced natural gas flows.
Ethiopian bishops call for investigations into Christian killings
Catholic bishops in Ethiopia have expressed “profound sorrow and unequivocal condemnation” of the recent killings of innocent civilians across the country, including the brutal attacks in the Arsi Zone, a major administrative division within the Oromia Region, located in the southeastern highlands.
“The deliberate taking of innocent human life is a grave sin before God and a violation of the sacred dignity bestowed upon every person created in the image of God,” the bishops said in a statement to ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, on March 10.
“Such violence against defenseless civilians can never be justified by religion, ethnicity, or political interest. We call upon the responsible authorities to undertake investigations and to ensure that those responsible for these crimes are brought to justice.”
Tanzanian bishop condemns police use of tear gas at cathedral
Bishop Michael George Msongazila of Tanzania’s Diocese of Musoma has condemned what he described as “the excessive use of force” by the Tanzania Police Force after officers reportedly hurled tear gas canisters at Holy Mother of God Cathedral.
“I condemn this act of police using force at the headquarters of the Catholic Diocese of Musoma,” Msongazila said in a statement on March 10, ACI Africa reported.
In his statement, Msongazila recounted that a group of women reportedly affiliated with an opposition political party joined other faithful for Mass on March 8 at the cathedral and that, as they were leaving, police officers threw tear gas canisters into the cathedral compound.
The bishop further described the police action as “an act of oppression and cruelty,” insisting that such conduct undermines public trust and calls for urgent reform within the country’s law enforcement structures.
Catholic Church in Philippines to establish mission on island disputed with China
Apostolic Vicar Socrates Calamba Mesiona of Puerto Princesa in the Philippines is establishing a Catholic presence on Pag-asa Island, part of the Philippines-occupied Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
The islands are a strategic and contested archipelago in the South China Sea and a source of tension between China and the Philippines due to its natural resources, according to Asia News.
Mesiona met with government officials to discuss building a church on the island. The bishop said he expected to complete initial preparations for the mission by the end of March. A groundbreaking ceremony is also expected to take place by the end of the month. A parish name and patron saint have yet to be announced, the report said.