SiouxlandFirst

Pope Leo XIV warns against ‘false mercy’ in marriage annulment proceedings

Pope Leo XIV holds an audience with the Roman Rota on Nov. 21, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 22, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

In a firm call to avoid “false mercy” in marriage annulment proceedings, Pope Leo XIV reminded that compassion cannot disregard the truth.

During a Friday audience with participants in the legal-pastoral training course of the Roman Rota, the Holy See’s court of appeals, the Holy Father read a lengthy speech in which he recalled the importance of the reform of marriage annulment processes initiated by Pope Francis 10 years ago.

The pontiff emphasized that theology, law, and pastoral care must be understood in a harmonious way, not as separate or opposing areas, and pointed out that annulment proceedings are not merely technical procedures to obtain the “free status of persons” but rather an ecclesial service based on the search for truth and on family pastoral care.

Judicial processes at the service of truth

In this context, Pope Leo stressed that ecclesial judicial processes must be “at the service of the truth” and also reiterated that “the mystery of the conjugal covenant” must be kept in mind.

“A fundamental aspect of pastoral service operates in judicial authority: the diaconia [ministry] of truth. Every faithful person, every family, every community needs truth about their ecclesial situation in order to walk well the path of faith and charity. The truth about personal and community rights is situated in this context: the juridical truth declared in ecclesiastical processes is an aspect of existential truth within the Church,” he stated.

Consequently, the Holy Father pointed out that “the sacred authority is participation in the authority of Christ, and its service to truth is a way of knowing and embracing the ultimate truth, which is Christ himself.”

A manifestation of justice and mercy

He then recalled that in God’s judgment on salvation, “his forgiveness of the repentant sinner is always at work, but human judgment on the nullity of marriage cannot however be manipulated by false mercy.”

“Any activity contrary to the service of the process of truth must certainly be deemed unjust. However, it is precisely in the proper exercise of judicial authority that true mercy must be practiced,” he emphasized.

In this regard, Pope Leo XIV insisted that the process of matrimonial nullity can be seen as “a contribution by legal practitioners to satisfy the need for justice that is so deeply rooted in the conscience of the faithful, and thus to accomplish a just work motivated by true mercy.”

“The aim of the reform,” he added, “which is to make the process more accessible and expeditious, but never at the expense of truth, thus appears as a manifestation of justice and mercy.”

The pontiff also emphasized the urgency of ensuring realism in annulment cases and appealed to the responsibility of the judges of the Roman Rota. He thus encouraged them to view the institution of the judicial process “as an instrument of justice” in which there is “an impartial judge” and the aim is to seek “a great benefit for all concerned and for the Church herself.”

He stressed the importance of making “efforts to promote reconciliation between spouses are very important, including, where possible, through the validation of the marriage.”

“Behind the procedural technicalities, with the faithful application of the current legislation, the ecclesiological presuppositions of the matrimonial process are therefore at stake: the search for truth and the ‘salus animarum’ itself [the salvation of souls],” he noted.

Synergy between justice and pastoral care

Pope Leo recalled in this regard that, in recent years, there has been “a growing awareness of the inclusion of the Church’s judicial activity in the field of marriage within the overall pastoral care of the family.”

“This pastoral care,” he pointed out, “cannot ignore or underestimate the work of ecclesiastical tribunals, and the latter must not forget that their specific contribution to justice is a piece in the task of promoting the good of families, with particular reference to those in difficulty.”

Thus, he emphasized that “the synergy between pastoral attention to critical situations and the judicial sphere has found significant expression in the implementation of preliminary investigations aimed at ascertaining the existence of grounds for initiating a case of nullity.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Leo XIV visits Augustinian nuns he has known for years

Pope Leo XIV meets with the Augustinian nuns of Montefalco on Nov. 20, 2025, in Italy. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 22, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

“A moment of great familiarity” is how Abbess Maria Cristina Daguati of the Augustinian convent in Montefalco, Italy, described Pope Leo XIV’s visit on Thursday.

After visiting the tomb of St. Francis in Assisi and meeting with the Italian bishops on Nov. 20, the pope traveled to the Italian city of Montefalco to celebrate Mass at the monastery of the Augustinian nuns, erected in the 13th century and one of the oldest and most significant spiritual centers in the Umbria region.

After meeting with the Italian bishops in Assisi, Pope Leo XIV traveled to the Augustinian monastery of St. Clare of Montefalco, where he wished to spend some time with the cloistered nuns. The Holy Father spoke informally with the community, celebrated Mass, and shared lunch with the nuns.

The pope arrived by helicopter in the city, known for its medieval architecture, and landed in the sports field, where he was greeted by Mayor Alfredo Gentili and Deputy Mayor Daniele Morici.

At the gates of the monastery — where 13 nuns currently live — residents of this small region of Perugia gathered, awaiting his arrival with great anticipation.

“We have known him for years; it was a moment of familiarity. He has a very peaceful personality,” Mother Maria Cristina explained in a statement to Vatican News.

Leo XIV had already been to the convent when he served as superior of the Order of St. Augustine, and on Nov. 20, he returned as pope, becoming the first pontiff to do so.

This convent is intrinsically linked to the figure of St. Clare of Montefalco (1268–1308), also known as St. Clare of the Cross, an Augustinian mystic whose contemplative life left a profound mark on the spiritual tradition of the Catholic Church.

“It’s a great friendship, because obviously we’ve known him for many years, so I would say that everything unfolded in an atmosphere of great familiarity,” the abbess said.

The pope spoke with the Augustinian nuns, then celebrated Mass and shared lunch with them. For the nuns, the day was characterized by “great simplicity” spent with “a disarmed and disarming man” with a personality that sets you at ease. 

“Pope Leo XIV brings with him a great atmosphere of prayer. So it wasn’t that he inconvenienced us too much; it was truly beautiful,” Daguati added. Before lunch, the pope celebrated Mass in the convent church, built in the 17th century and designed by the Peruvian architect Valentino Martelli.

Before returning to the Vatican, the nuns presented the pope with a 2026 calendar titled “Toward an Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” featuring texts from his speeches and homilies as well as from St. Augustine.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

4 out of 5 Americans have concerns with embryonic screening, study finds

null / Credit: Andrii Vodolazhskyi/CNA

CNA Staff, Nov 22, 2025 / 08:20 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

4 out of 5 Americans have concerns with embryonic screening, study finds

Four in five voters have some at least some concerns about embryo screening, a recent Ethics and Public Policy Center poll found.

Embryonic screening is the practice of selecting some babies to be born because of their genetic traits — such as appearance, health, or predicted intelligence — while discarding other unborn babies. 

The Ethics and Public Policy Center poll, led by center fellow Patrick Brown, comes in the wake of some Silicon Valley-funded startups saying they will give parents the ability to screen embryos.  

The poll found that very few Americans want Silicon Valley to “hack” reproduction.

“While Americans support measures to help infertile couples have children, they express concerns about broader implications of these technologies,” the report says. 

Across demographic groups, voters voiced support for “commonsense regulations.” 

Women were more likely to have concerns about embryo screening than men, while older voters (ages 46+) were more likely to have concerns than younger voters (ages 18-45).  

South Carolina right-to-life group opposes proposed bill to criminalize women who have abortions

A South Carolina bill would enable prosecution of women who have abortions — a practice that South Carolina Citizens for Life (SCCL) and most pro-life groups oppose. 

The bill, which would designate abortion as equivalent to the homicide of a born person, contains no provisions protecting women who obtain abortions. 

While pro-life groups tend to support prosecution of abortionists who illegally perform the deadly procedure, most groups oppose the prosecution of abortive mothers themselves, whom they also consider to be victims of abortion. 

Holly Gatling, who heads South Carolina Citizens for Life, called the bill “unacceptable.” 

“This provision of the law alone would shut down post-abortion ministries such as Rachel’s Vineyard and jeopardize the livesaving, compassionate work of pregnancy care ministries,” she told CNA.

The Catholic bishops ask that Project Rachel, a counseling resource for post-abortive women, be present in every diocese in the U.S.

Gatling said she opposes the bill “because it criminalizes post-aborted women, jeopardizes the work of pregnancy care centers and post-abortion ministries, and undermines the pro-life legislation previously passed by the General Assembly.” 

“Not only are post-aborted women subject to criminal prosecution, but pastors, counselors, and any ‘person’ also can be compelled to testify in the criminal prosecution of a post-aborted woman,” Gatling said. 

Gatling noted that South Carolina’s current heartbeat law has saved thousands of lives while explicitly protecting women from prosecution. 

“SCCL and many other pro-life and pro-family organizations in South Carolina oppose legislation that reverses this protection for women,” Gatling said. 

U.S. government can’t compel Christian employers to accommodate abortions, judge rules

A federal court has issued a permanent injunction ruling that Christian employers will not be compelled to accommodate abortions.

The Herzog Foundation in a lawsuit had argued that a Biden-era rule requiring employers to accommodate abortions for pregnant employees violated the First Amendment. 

On Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri granted the permanent injunction protecting faith-based employers.

Herzog Foundation spokeswoman Elizabeth Roberts lauded the court’s decision in a Nov. 20 statement, saying that the ruling “solidifies that the government cannot overstep its authority by trying to dictate or suppress our beliefs.” 

3 state attorneys general file challenge to mail-in chemical abortion drugs

Attorneys general of Idaho, Kansas, and Missouri filed a challenge to stop mail-order abortion drugs and block the recent approval of generic mifepristone.

The Nov. 20 challenge claims that the FDA “cut corners when it removed safeguards from this dangerous drug.” 

Mifeprisotone’s label says that 1 in 25 women will go to the emergency room after taking the drug, while other studies have found that it poses a risk to the women and girls who take it.  

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said in a statement that Missouri “will not stand by while manufacturers gamble with women’s lives.” 

“Mifepristone is sending women to the hospital with life-threatening complications, and yet drug companies continue pushing new versions of it into the market without basic medical safeguards,” Hanaway said.

Texas sees decrease in minors getting abortions

After Texas implemented a heartbeat law protecting unborn children when their heartbeats are detectable, the state has seen a marked drop in abortions among minors, a recent study found. 

Published online on Nov. 13 by the American Journal of Public Health, the study found that abortions decreased by more than 25% among minors in Texas.

Additionally, among Texans ages 18-24, abortions decreased by about 20%; for Texans aged 25-29, abortions decreased by 17%, the study found. 

The study, which cited concerns about “young people’s reproductive autonomy,” has several authors affiliated with abortion clinics including Planned Parenthood as well as two authors affiliated with a pro-abortion research center, Resound Research for Reproductive Health.

LIVE UPDATES: NCYC 2025 — Pope Leo XIV’s historic first digital encounter with young U.S. Catholics

Pope Leo XIV greets young American Catholics from the Vatican during a digital dialogue held between the Holy Father and participants in the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025 / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Nov 22, 2025 / 07:56 am (CNA).

The 2025 National Catholic Youth Conference features prayer, community, evangelization, and service among Catholic teenagers from Nov. 20–22 in Indianapolis. Follow CNA’s live coverage of the event below.

Watch the Day 3 of the event:

New book by Pope Leo XIV: Human fraternity is ‘the antidote against all extremism’

The Holy Father in a new Italian-language book states that faith “unites us beyond our personalities, our cultural and geographical origins.” / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Nov 22, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Vatican Publishing House published Nov. 20 a new Italian-language book by Pope Leo XIV titled “The Power of the Gospel: The Christian Faith in 10 Words,” a compilation of the pontiff’s speeches and addresses that also includes a previously unpublished text in which he invites readers to dream of a “reconciled, peaceful, and harmonious humanity.”

The Holy Father affirms that faith “unites us beyond our personalities, our cultural and geographical origins, our language, and our histories” and presents the Church as “a plurality that strives for unity and that does not fall into the disorder of confusion.”

In today’s world, “marked by so many wars,” the pope asks Christians “to be witnesses of this harmony, this fraternity, this closeness.”

“We must look our world squarely in the face: We cannot continue to tolerate structural injustices by which those who have the most receive even more, and those who have the least become increasingly impoverished,” the pontiff says.

Similarly, he warns of the risk that hatred and violence will cause “misery to spread among peoples.”

“Peace is not the fruit of oppression or violence; it is not related to hatred or revenge,” he says, noting that the saints have taught that “only goodness disarms perfidy and that nonviolence can annihilate oppression.”

“Precisely the desire for communion, the recognition of ourselves as brothers and sisters, is an antidote against all extremism,” he says.

‘We are not condemned to live in perpetual conflict’

For the pope, this model of fraternity is replicable in other areas. He thus affirms that the Church, “a home for diverse peoples, can become a sign that we are not condemned to live in perpetual conflict” and can “embody the dream of a reconciled, peaceful, and harmonious humanity.”

“It is a dream that has a foundation: Jesus, his prayer to the Father for the unity of his followers. And if Jesus prayed to the Father, all the more reason we should ask him to grant us the gift of a peaceful world,” the pope writes.

In this way, he emphasizes the centrality of Christ and says that faith has nothing to do with “the titanic effort to reach a supernatural God” but rather with the discovery that “the face of God is not far from our hearts.”

Leo XIV recalls that Christ’s entire existence was marked by the “will” to be a bridge.

“The Church is this communion of Christ that continues in history. And it is a community that, in unity, lives diversity,” he explains after using the metaphorical image of a garden that St. Augustine used to illustrate the beauty of a community of believers.

In the text, the pope includes the words of the prior of the monastery of Tibhirine in Algeria, Christian de Chergé, who was kidnapped by Islamic terrorists in March 1996 and executed two months later. He was beatified along with 18 other men and women religious who were martyred.

“Speaking of [the terrorist] who had violently broken into the monastery, he wrote: ‘Do I have the right to ask [God]: Disarm him, if I don’t first ask; disarm me and disarm us, as a community? This is my daily prayer,’” the pope recalls, noting that in that same land of North Africa, some 1,600 years earlier, St. Augustine remarked: “Let us live well and the times will be good. We are the times.”

“We can have an impact on our time ourselves, with our witness, with our prayer to the Holy Spirit that he would make us men and women with a peace that is contagious, welcoming the grace of Christ and spreading in the world the fragrance of his charity and mercy,” the pontiff emphasizes in the new book.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Report links rising childlessness to abortion amid record-low fertility in England, Wales

Kevin Duffy'’s analysis of ONS conceptions data over the 10 years to 2022 illustrates that approximately half of women who have not had a child by the age of 30 would not have been childless without abortion in the years before this. Duffy says: “For these women it was a decision upon becoming pregnant, not to continue into motherhood at that time, for a whole myriad of reasons.” / Credit: Courtesy of Kevin Duffy

London, England, Nov 22, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Many women in England and Wales who have abortions in their 20s may end up childless in their 40s, according to key research by a pro-life activist and former employee of Marie Stopes International.

A report issued by Catholic independent public health consultant Kevin Duffy titled “Abortion and Childlessness” shows that many women who have abortions in their 20s may be faced with the real risk of remaining childless at 45. However, Duffy states that this risk is rarely, if ever, highlighted by abortion providers to those considering abortion.

Duffy’s projections in the report suggest that, by 2045, as many as 1 in 4 women may reach the age of 45 having not given birth to any children, with abortion given as a major factor in about half of these cases.

While Duffy does not suggest abortion causes infertility, his data shows that if an abortion leaves a woman childless at 30, she may find herself in a situation where timing pressures and a natural decline in fertility become major factors, leading to a 50/50 chance she will still be childless at 45.

One troubling statistic from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that in 2022, women aged up to 25 had a total of 190,970 conceptions, of which 90,753 — 48% — ended in abortion. These figures highlight how Gen Z (people born between 1997 and 2012) approaches procreation and family planning, with abortion playing a significant role in this approach.

The report pinpoints concerns over declining fertility rates. Duffy states: “In 2022, it is very likely that more than 5,000 childless women aged 29, presenting for an abortion, were not warned of the 50% chance that they would remain childless at 45.”

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed in August 2025 that the total fertility rate (TFR) in 2023 in England and Wales was 1.41, which was described as “the lowest value on record for the third year in a row.” Duffy highlights the fact that, since 1973, the TFR total has remained below the replacement level of 2.1 and has dipped dramatically since 2012. He shows that abortion plays a role in about half of all childlessness.

“Abortion is a significant factor in the falling birth rate,” Duffy told CNA. “Women are still having broadly the same number of children. The average hasn’t really changed [since the 1970s]. It’s still around about 2.3, even though the fertility rate has been plummeting. And that plummeting is because childlessness has been increasing.”

During his research, Duffy found that, of women up to the age of 30 who had remained childless, about half have had abortions. Regarding this risk, he said: “They need to be told. Abortion providers should be letting them know that there is a risk. That abortion may be ending the only chance you have of becoming a mother.”

Noting that a continued plummeting fertility rate will have grave consequences for society, Duffy — who previously helped Marie Stopes International promote abortion in Africa and Asia — believes action is necessary.

“From workforce shortages to an unsustainable age structure, the consequences will be far-reaching. If we are to address this issue responsibly, we must confront all contributing factors — including the role of abortion — with honesty and urgency.”

Focusing on abortion, Duffy — who is now firmly pro-life — said “a risk this high demands to be fully investigated and women need to be told.”

Duffy’s report comes at a critical time for the pro-life movement in the U.K. 

A highly controversial abortion up to birth amendment was inserted into the U.K. government’s Crime and Policing Bill earlier this year. If this amendment becomes law, it would mean women would be legally allowed to perform their own abortions for any reason at any point of pregnancy. This would raise the alarming risk of women performing their own late term- abortions in their homes.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a Catholic pro-life activist who has been repeatedly arrested for praying silently near an abortion facility in Birmingham, England, underlined the Catholic teaching that life begins at conception. 

Vaughan-Spruce told CNA: “When discussing ‘childlessness,’ we frequently overlook a crucial fact: Many women counted as childless have conceived a child but have then had an abortion. The truth is that life begins at conception, meaning motherhood and fatherhood begin then as well. No act, not even abortion, can erase that reality.”

“Doctors are careful to emphasize the permanence of sterilization but rarely acknowledge the lifelong impact of abortion. Each conception brings into existence an irreplaceable human being whose loss leaves a real absence in both family and society.”

Commenting on Duffy’s findings, Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern’s Christian Legal Centre, said: “Abortion providers fail to give women the full picture of what the choice to abort will mean for them in the long term. How many women would make different decisions if they knew of the 50/50 chance that they would never have children?”

Duffy called on the Church to support pregnant women so that “they don’t feel so much pressure” to have an abortion. Duffy said: “What can we do, as a Church, to give that moral, emotional, and spiritual support to young parents? How can we support our young people to become parents and to have more children?”

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales in a Nov. 14 statement confirmed its opposition to decriminalize abortion, describing it as “an assault on the value of human life” and calling for laws that “protect life, preserve human dignity, and promote the common good.”

PHOTOS: St. Cecilia, martyr and patron saint of music, rests in Roman basilica named for her

A close-up of the tomb of St. Ceclia at the basilica dedicated to her in Trastevere, Rome, Italy. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Nov 22, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

St. Cecilia, widely known as the patron saint of music and musicians, is buried in the Basilica of St. Cecilia in the Roman neighborhood of Trastevere where a famous Baroque sculpture of her still puzzles scholars.

According to popular belief, Cecilia was a Roman noblewoman who lived in the third century. Despite being forced by her family to marry, she remained a virgin, as she had vowed to do as a young girl.

Her pagan husband, Valerian, converted to Christianity after their marriage, and Valerian’s brother, Tiburtius, was also baptized a Christian. Both men were martyred. St. Cecilia, too, would later be tortured and martyred. It is said she took three days to die after the executioner hit her three times on the neck with a sword.

After her martyrdom, St. Cecilia was buried in the Catacomb of St. Callixtus. The underground burial place of early Christians was created around the turn of the first century A.D. by Callixtus, a deacon who later became pope.

Located under the Appian Way, an ancient Roman road connecting the city to southeast Italy, the Catacomb of St. Callixtus once held the bodies of more than 50 martyrs, including St. Cecilia, and popes from the second to the fourth centuries.

After the end of Christian persecution, the relics of the Christians buried in the city’s many catacombs were moved to churches for veneration. St. Cecilia’s remains were transferred in the early 800s to a church built on the ruins of her former home.

It is said that hundreds of years later, during a restoration of the church in 1599, her tomb was opened, revealing her body to be, miraculously, incorrupt. Artist Stefano Maderno was commissioned to create a marble sculpture of the saint.

Sources disagree about whether the Baroque artwork, still on display today at Cecilia’s tomb in the Basilica of St. Cecilia in Trastevere, is a depiction of how the saint’s body was found in 1599 or an invention of Maderno. Either way, the sculpture — which depicts Cecilia lying on her right side, her hands tied, her face turned toward the ground, and the wound of her martyrdom visible upon her neck — is considered a masterpiece.

There are several widely-told legends about St. Cecilia and her husband. One of the oft-repeated beliefs, dating to the fifth century, is that she sang to God “in her heart” as musicians played at her wedding feast.

This story about the saint comes from a Latin antiphon, but there is a competing interpretation, however.

“Cantantibus organis, Caecilia virgo in corde suo soli Domino decantabat dicens: fiat Domine cor meum et corpus meum immaculatum ut non confundar,” the Latin antiphon says. In English it means: “While the instruments played, the virgin Cecilia sang in her heart to the Lord alone, saying, ‘Let my heart and my body be made pure, that I may not be confounded.’”

Another version of the antiphon gives a slightly different opening word, “candentibus,” instead of “cantantibus,” which would change the translation from musical instruments playing to “glowing” instruments of torture.

Scholars continue to disagree about which Latin version is the correct one and which may be a copy error. What is without dispute, however, is St. Cecilia’s selfless example of faithfulness to God, even to the point of the sacrifice of her own life.

St. Cecilia’s feast day in the Church is celebrated Nov. 22.

This story was first published on Nov. 22, 2024, and has been updated.

Notre Dame returns ‘Catholic Mission’ to its core values after ‘confusion’ 

Notre Dame President Robert A. Dowd, CSC, said he is reinstating “Catholic Mission” among staff values on Nov. 21, 2025. / Credit: Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 21, 2025 / 18:30 pm (CNA).

The University of Notre Dame has reinstated “Catholic Mission” among its staff values after it opted to drop the language in an effort to reprogram the school’s Catholic identity as overarching. 

In a Nov. 21 staff announcement, Notre Dame President Robert A. Dowd, CSC, said commitment to the school’s Catholic mission was referenced in the preamble to the new four staff values announced at a town hall meeting last week “as a way to show its overarching importance.” 

“Thanks to some constructive feedback we received, we now realize that placement is causing confusion and that some could interpret that not as elevating our mission as we intended but as a sign of diminishing commitment,” he said. “To avoid any further confusion, we have now included the language on Catholic mission as the first of our five core values.”

“Catholic Mission” is now listed first in the university’s staff values, with the description: “Be a force for good and help to advance Notre Dame’s mission to be the leading global Catholic research university.” 

Dowd emphasized that the school’s Catholic mission “guides and informs all that we do and how we work together,” adding: “Our Catholic mission has animated our common work from the university’s founding, and it will always be our guiding force.”

“I could not be more grateful for the many ways you embody the very best of Notre Dame,” he concluded, addressing Notre Dame staff. “As I have said on many occasions, you inspire me with your generosity, kindness, and dedication to Our Lady’s university.”

‘It felt like history’: Teens, organizers on cloud nine after live dialogue with Pope Leo

Ezequiel Ponce, a high school senior from Downey, California (left), and Elise Wing, a senior from Waterloo, Iowa (right), speak at a press conference following their digital dialogue with Pope Leo XIV on Nov. 21, 2025. / Credit: Jonah McKeown/National Catholic Register

Indianapolis, Indiana, Nov 21, 2025 / 18:10 pm (CNA).

At a press conference Friday following Pope Leo XIV’s historic “digital visit” with 16,000 young people at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis, leaders and young participants praised Pope Leo’s warmth, humility, authenticity, and pastoral clarity, highlighting his central message: a personal relationship with Jesus is essential.

“Walking up on that stage felt like history. It really did,” said Elise Wing, a high school senior from Waterloo, Iowa, and one of the teens selected to ask Pope Leo a question during the live dialogue, which was facilitated digitally by EWTN on Nov. 21. 

“It’s beautiful to see somebody so holy really coming to us like that, like Jesus would — like Jesus does,” Wing said. 

“Because in the end … we’re not excited because we got to talk to the pope. We’re excited because this is Jesus working through the Church, working through the pope in this conversation. I just think that knowing that, and feeling that it wasn’t just about us in that moment, makes this experience all the more incredible.”

Joining the young people on the press conference stage were Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez of Philadelphia, episcopal adviser to the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM); Archbishop Charles C. Thompson of Indianapolis; Montse Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News; Christina Lamas, executive director of NFCYM; and Katie Prejean McGrady, an author, radio host, and moderator for the dialogue with the pope.

Ezequiel Ponce, a senior from Downey, California, said his heart was thumping as he approached the microphone, but the extensive preparation that the teens had received before the dialogue gave him confidence.  

“I was really able to live in a moment. I felt at ease. When I was talking to the pope, I felt like I was talking to my dad or someone close to me. It felt personal because he addressed us. He said my name. He said it right,” Ponce said. 

During the dialogue, five teens from around the country asked Pope Leo probing questions about mental health, artificial intelligence (AI), and the future of the Catholic Church, while tens of thousands of their peers in the stadium and at least 50,000 people online watched live. The dialogue was also picked up by several major secular news outlets globally.

If you want to help the Church prepare for the future, the pope told the young attendees, start by “being involved today” — stay connected to your parish, attend Sunday Mass, join youth activities, and say yes to faith-nurturing opportunities, the pontiff advised. 

“I will accept Pope Leo’s challenge of really being involved in the Church,” Ponce commented. “He talked about finding people that you can really trust … that not only will listen to you, but help guide you with your faith in the Lord, push you to ask questions and push you to better your understanding and be there for you truly.”

Wing expressed amazement that the pope addressed the teens by name and engaged directly with their questions during the face-to-face call.

“The pope just kept bringing it back to the Lord. That’s why we’re here. That’s why all of us are doing what we’re doing,” she said. 

“Jesus is what we’re longing for. And I think that that is the message that was really conveyed.”

Ponce, who is involved in a Catholic summer camp back home in California, said it was “super refreshing” to hear Pope Leo vocalize a sentiment that Ponce’s youth leader has also told him: that young people aren’t merely the future of the Church, they are also “the present.”

“To hear that basically being put into Pope Leo’s words and being shown by him directly nodding and agreeing with us … It felt super, super refreshing to hear that. [And] not only is that message going to be sent across to us, and back home, but all over the world,” Ponce said. 

Wing agreed, saying that the pope modeled for young Catholics respectful, non-polemical dialogue that she hopes will shape wider Church and cultural engagement.

“I think that the pope set an amazing example for how we should really communicate with each other. All the bishops and people that are here at NCYC are people who want to talk to teenagers, and who are willing to listen, but not everybody in the world is like that,” Wing said. 

“To hear the pope do what he did and talk to us, and be able to not debate but understand each other is, like Ezequiel said, just refreshing.”

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, praised the poise and maturity of the teen participants and spoke about how he feels the pope’s words, and the dialogue in general, was valuable for all Catholics. 

“I had the impression that it was a ‘Church event.’ It was not just a ‘show’ of the Holy Father. It was a Church event,” the cardinal said. 

“Because the Church is made of people. The Church is not something above us. We are quite often tempted to put ourselves as the judges of the Church, as if the Church was something else … [but] we are the Church.”

Lamas spoke about the fulfillment of her “dream” that the pope would directly address the thousands of young people at the annual conference. 

“I recall myself sitting there and just looking around the stadium, thinking to myself, ‘This generation that we’re seeing here will now enter into a new phase.’ They have now experienced Pope Leo in a way that none of us as Church [have]. And so what’s to come into the future? I don’t know. But I know hearts have been changed,” Lamas said. 

Lamas also said the pope’s “yes” to taking the time and considerable effort to have a genuine dialogue with the young people of the United States shows an authenticity that resonates with the youth she works with.

“I saw Pope Leo [being] very authentic, and that’s what our young people are craving — authenticity. He said it numerous times in his words and how he answered some of the questions. He wants people to show up … he did that for them,” Lamas said. 

For her part, Alvarado noted that the digital encounter included two breakthroughs: a demonstration of cutting-edge Vatican production, and the pope’s fluency with tech culture — discussing such topics as “screen time” and AI. 

“That shows you that not just the Vatican, but the Church itself, is encountering the world in a new and different way through the person of Pope Leo XIV,” Alvarado said.

10 takeaways from Pope Leo XIV’s address to youth at NCYC

Pope Leo XIV speaks to teenagers during a digital encounter at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis during the 2025 National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) on Nov. 21, 2025. / Credit: Tessa Gervasini/CNA

Indianapolis, Indiana, Nov 21, 2025 / 17:50 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV spoke to teenagers during a digital encounter at Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday in Indianapolis during the 2025 National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC). 

Five teenagers asked the pope questions regarding using technology, recovering from mistakes, giving worries to Jesus, avoiding distractions, and preparing for the future of the Church. The pope gave guidance to the young crowd with words applicable to both teenagers and the universal Church. 

The Holy Father’s advice that Catholics can apply to their lives included:

Sin never has the final word

“All of us struggle,” Leo said. “The truth is that none of us is perfect.”

“St. Paul teaches that everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God … Because of original sin, we sometimes do the opposite of what we know is right. But there’s good news. Sin never has the final word,” the pope said.

“Whenever we ask for God’s mercy, he forgives us. Pope Francis said that God never gets tired of forgiving. We sometimes get tired of asking for forgiveness. So even when we fall again, we should remember St. Paul’s words, ‘Christ Jesus, came into the world to save sinners.’ He came for us, knowing our weaknesses,” he said.

“We may struggle to forgive, but God’s heart is different. God never stops inviting us back. We experience this mercy of God in a special way in the sacrament of reconciliation,” the pope said.

“It can be discouraging when we fall, but do not focus on all your sins. Look to Jesus. Trust his mercy and go to him with confidence. He will always welcome you home,” he said.

Give your worries to God

“In his first letter, St. Peter tells us to give all our worries to Jesus because he cares for us,” Pope Leo said. “Jesus does not just understand our struggles from a distance. He actually wants us to hand them to him because he loves us.”

“That trust starts when we have a real relationship. We cannot give our problems to someone whom we barely know. Think of your closest friends, for example. If they were hurting, you would talk to them. You would listen to them. You would stay close. Our relationship with Jesus is similar,” he said.

“He knows when life feels heavy. Scripture reminds us that he is near to the brokenhearted. Even when we do not feel his presence, our faith tells us that he is there. To entrust our struggles to Jesus, we have to spend time with him in prayer. We have to have a relationship with him,” he said.

“Daily moments of silence are so important, whether through adoration, reading Scripture, talking to him, looking for those little spaces of time where we can be with him. Little by little, we learn to hear his voice, to feel his presence, both within and through the people that he sends to us,” the pope said.

Find real friends 

“It’s … important to pray for the gift of true friends,” the pope said. “A real friend is not only someone who’s fun to be with, oh, that is good, too. But it’s someone who helps you grow closer to Jesus, someone who encourages you to become a better person. Good friends also push us to seek help when life gets difficult or confusing.”

“Good friends will always tell us the truth, even when that’s not easy to do. Scripture says that faithful friends are like a strong shelter and a treasure. I hope you are forming friendships like that, even during this conference. Friendships rooted in faith, rooted in love for Jesus,” the pope said.

It’s OK to get distracted, but then come back to God

When we get distracted in prayer, “sometimes the best thing to do is to follow the distraction for a moment, see why it’s there,” Pope Leo said. Then after acknowledging it, “turn back and remember why you’re there and why you’re in prayer and to say to the Lord, ‘Look I’m distracted right now. I know you understand.’”

“But not to allow yourself to be taken too far away, especially during prayer, because there are all kinds of temptations and all kinds of distractions, but there’s only one Jesus Christ, and we really need to give our time also in prayer to Christ,” the pope said.

Technology should serve your life, not the other way around

“Technology can really help in many ways,” and it “can help us live our Christian faith,” Pope Leo said. “It lets us stay connected with people who are far away … It also gives us amazing tools for prayer, for reading the Bible, for learning more about what we believe.”

“It allows us to share the Gospel with people we may never meet in person. But even with all that, technology can never replace real in-person relationships. Simple things, a hug, a handshake, a smile. All those things are essential to being human,” he said.

“Watching Mass online can be helpful, especially when someone is sick or elderly or cannot attend in person. But actually being there, taking part in the Eucharist, is so important for our prayer, for our sense of community,” the pope said.

“It’s essential for our relationship with God and with each other. There’s nothing that can replace true human presence, being with one another. While technology certainly can connect us, it’s not the same as being physically present.”

Jesus will always protect, guide, and love his Church

“When we face challenges or worries about the future, it might be good to remember that promise that Jesus once made to Peter when he said, ‘The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church.’ Jesus will always protect, guide, and love his Church,” the pope said.

“The day I was elected pope, I said, ‘God loves us, and evil will not prevail,’” the pope said. “We are all in God’s hands. Jesus wants everyone to come close to him.”

“The Church prepares for the future by staying faithful to what Jesus asks of us today. He told us not to be overwhelmed by worries but to seek first the kingdom of God, trusting that everything else will fall into place. He promised that the Holy Spirit would guide us and help us understand what we need to do,” the pope said.

Be involved 

Pope Leo encouraged involvement in the Church, especially among youth. “You are not only the future of the Church, you are the present,” he said to teens. 

“If you want to help the Church prepare for the future, start by being involved today. Stay connected to your parish, attend Sunday Mass, join youth activities and say yes to opportunities … where your faith can grow,” he said.

“Your voices, your ideas, your faith matter right now, and the Church needs you. The Church needs what you have been given to share with all of us,” he said.

“The more you come to know Jesus, the more you will want to serve him and his Church. One great way to build up the Church is by sharing your faith, teaching the faith to others, helping others who need you,” the pope said.

Your vocation is always connected to the greater mission of the Church

“As you discern your vocation, trust Jesus. He knows how to lead you to true happiness. If you open your heart, you will hear him calling you to holiness,” Pope Leo said. 

“As Pope Benedict XVI once said, ‘Jesus takes nothing away, and he gives you everything.’ When we give ourselves to him, we receive far more than we could ever imagine,” he said.

“If you think you may be called to marriage, pray for a spouse who will help you grow in holiness, help you grow in your faith,” the pope said.

“Some of you may be called to the priesthood to serve God’s people through the word and sacraments. If you feel that tug in your heart, don’t ignore it. Bring it to Jesus. Speak with a priest you trust,” Pope Leo said.

“Others may be called to consecrated religious life, to be witnesses of a joyful life completely given to God. If you sense this call, that gentle tug, do not be afraid,” he said.

We were made for something greater 

“Now is the time to dream big, be open to what God can do through your lives. Being young often comes with the desire to do something meaningful, something that makes a real difference. Many of you are ready to be generous, to help those who love, to work for something greater than yourself,” the pope said.

“That is why it is not true that life is only about doing what feels good to yourself, makes you feel comfortable, as some people claim it. Sure, comfort can be nice, but as Pope Benedict XVI reminded us: ‘We weren’t made for comfort. We were made for greatness. We were made for God himself,’” he said.

“Deep down, we long for truth, for beauty, and goodness, because we were created for them,” Pope Leo said. 

Don’t use political categories to speak about faith 

“Joy, hope, with creativity, authentic witnesses in the Gospel can help heal and unite humanity,” Pope Leo said. “Jesus also calls us disciples to be peacemakers — people who build bridges instead of walls, people who value dialogue and unity instead of division.”

“Please be careful not to use political categories to speak about faith, to speak about the Church. The Church doesn’t belong to any political party. Rather, she helps form your conscience … so you can think and act with wisdom and love. As you go closer to Jesus, do not fear what he might ask of you,” the pope said.