St. Maria Goretti Parish

ROME (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV was given the keys to the Church of St. Anselm on Rome's Aventine Hill, a church whose history is closely tied to his namesake.

In 1888, Pope Leo XIII entrusted a Benedictine archbishop with reopening the former College of St. Anselm and building a church, which was dedicated Nov. 11, 1900. 

Abbot Jeremias Schröder, abbot primate of the international Benedictine Confederation, gave Pope Leo XIV the keys when the pope went to celebrate an evening Mass there and mark the 125th anniversary of the church's dedication Nov. 11.

In his homily, Pope Leo said his predecessor was convinced the Benedictines "could greatly contribute to the good of the entire People of God at a time full of challenges, such as the transition from the 19th to the 20th century."

"In our own time, too, there is no shortage of challenges to face," the pope said. "The rapid changes we are witnessing provoke and question us, raising problems previously unknown."

The Benedictines and members of other monastic orders have a role to play in helping people deal with those challenges while keeping their hearts, minds and lives firmly anchored on Christ, he said.

Celebrating the anniversary of the dedication of a church, he said, "marks the solemn moment in the history of a sacred building when it is consecrated to be a place of encounter between space and time, between the finite and the infinite, between humanity and God: an open door toward eternity."

A church building, the pope said, is called to be "a place of joy where we experience the beauty of sharing with others what we have freely received."

The Benedictines have a history of doing that, he said.

"Monasticism from its very beginnings has been a 'frontier' reality, prompting courageous men and women to establish centers of prayer, work and charity in the most remote and difficult places," the pope said. Often their efforts transformed "desolate areas into fertile and rich lands, agriculturally and economically, but above all, spiritually."

Monasteries have been places of "growth, peace, hospitality and unity, even in the darkest periods of history," he said. 

Like St. Peter, St. Benedict and other saints, the pope said, "we too can respond to the demands of our vocation only by placing Christ at the center of our lives and mission, beginning with that act of faith which leads us to recognize him as the savior, and translating it into prayer, study and the commitment to a holy life."

The center of life at the monastery, he said, is the liturgy and the prayerful reading of Scripture, but also the academic research of the monks, the pastoral care they offer and the creation of a community with monks who come from all over the world.

Pope Leo prayed that the monastery and its connected university, liturgical institute and pastoral outreach would continue to be "an authentic school of the Lord's service," helping all Catholics be "the people God has made his own, that we may proclaim the marvelous works of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light."
 

BALTIMORE – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is meeting in Baltimore this week for their plenary assembly. Earlier today, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, was elected as Conference president, and Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville was elected as Conference vice president. They succeed Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, the Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, who are concluding their terms as Conference president and vice president, respectively.

The president and vice president were elected from a slate of 10 nominees. Archbishop Coakley was elected president with 128-109 votes over Bishop Flores in a runoff on the third ballot. In the vote for vice president, Bishop Flores was elected vice president on the first ballot from the remaining nine candidates. Both bishops will assume their respective new offices for a three-year term after the adjournment of the plenary assembly on Thursday.

Archbishop Coakley currently serves as Conference secretary, a position he has held since 2022 when he was elected to complete the term left vacant when Archbishop Broglio, who had been serving as Conference secretary was elected as president. Archbishop Coakley was then re-elected to serve a full three-year term as Conference secretary through November 2027. The bishops will vote tomorrow for a Conference secretary to complete the term that will be vacant as a result of Archbishop Coakley assuming the presidency.

Read Archbishop Coakley’s biography.

Read Bishop Flores’ biography.

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BALTIMORE - At their November Plenary Assembly, the bishops of the United States held a canonical consultation on a possible cause of beatification and canonization for Reverend Richard M. Thomas, a priest of the Society of Jesus. Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, and Bishop Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces, facilitated the discussion by the bishops. With 206 votes in favor, 4 votes against, and 1 abstention, the bishops affirmed their support for the advancement of the cause of beatification and canonization on the diocesan level.

The following brief biography of Father Richard Thomas, SJ, was drawn from information provided by the Diocese of Las Cruces:

Richard Thomas was born on March 1, 1928, in Seffner, Florida. He was educated in Catholic schools and graduated from Jesuit High School in Tampa. He entered the Jesuit order in 1945, and was ordained to the priesthood in San Francisco, California in 1958. In 1964, he was assigned to lead Our Lady’s Youth Center in El Paso, Texas, a ministry to the poor in south El Paso. He expanded the reach of Our Lady’s Youth Center to New Mexico and across the border to areas of Juarez, Mexico. 

On Christmas Day in 1972, prompted after reading Luke 14:12-14 where Jesus tells his followers to invite the poor - not their rich friends - to dine, Father Thomas invited a prayer group from El Paso to join him in serving dinner to the poor who lived and worked at a garbage dump in Juarez, Mexico. While Father Thomas and his group only took enough food to feed 150 people, more than 300 people came to dinner and each was served a full meal. With leftovers that were donated to three orphanages after the dinner, the group later realized that the Lord had multiplied the food; the event prompted the group to not only return to the garbage dump on a regular basis, but also led them to advocate for better income for the trash pickers, and start additional ministries to the poor such as food banks, a prisoner outreach program, a medical and dental clinic, and student scholarship assistance. It is said that while Father Thomas believed in miracles such as what happened at the Christmas dinner in 1972, he did not assign them a central place in his work or his message; instead, he chose to see them as ways that God would occasionally intervene to encourage and guide Christians to do His will. Father Thomas considered it the duty of every Christian to share with the poor and preached on Catholic social teaching and living out the Gospel values taught by Christ. 

As a gifted preacher and teacher, Father Thomas was a sought-after speaker and gave talks at conferences, seminars, and workshops around the world, and had a special charism in mobilizing lay people to get involved in the Church and in helping the poor in their local area. Father Thomas lived the virtue of fortitude heroically, having the courage of his convictions and courageously facing the opposition that arose as he did what he felt God was calling him to do. He also lived the virtue of justice in an extraordinary way. Working for a just society and championing people who were victims of inequality or oppression was an ever-present emphasis of his ministry. In trying to live a just life and work for justice for others, Fr. Thomas lived an ascetic lifestyle, profoundly exemplifying the virtue of temperance: he slept on an army cot or on the floor, lived without heating or cooling in the houses or cars he used, wore his clothes until they were threadbare, and gave away many things of his that the poor needed.

Father Richard Thomas died on May 8, 2006, in Las Cruces, after several years of declining health including a battle with cancer. He was laid to rest in the Jesuit plot of Concordia Cemetery in El Paso and leaves behind a legacy of a strong commitment to social justice and an unwavering obedience to God's word. 

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Over the weekend, Pope Leo XIV speaking during the Saturday Jubilee Audience on 8 November 2025, in Saint Peter Square, reflected on the life of Blessed Isidore Bakanja, a young Congolese martyr. The testimony of Bakanja, “reminds us that we have much to learn from our persecuted brothers and sisters in Africa,” said Pope Leo XIV.

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Attending a conference on “Mysticism, Mystical Phenomena, and Holiness” at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith affirms the Holy Spirit's many different ways of manifesting God's presence throughout Church history.

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Even after seeing tidal floods destroy homes and livelihoods, Sr. Vincentia Sabarina, HK, and those around her continue to assist residents of the Indonesian coastal village of Sidodadi.

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Bishop Paolo Bizzeti, former Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia, speaks to Vatican News about the Pope’s upcoming apostolic journey to Türkiye, a “mosaic” of different religious communities.

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The Vatican Dicastery for Communication presents the documentary "Leo from Chicago," with interviews, footage, and images that trace the history and explore the roots of Robert Francis Prevost in his native United States, including in-depth interviews with Louis and John Prevost. A production by journalists Deborah Castellano Lubov, Salvatore Cernuzio, and Felipe Herrera-Espaliat.

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The Director of the Holy See Press Office responds to journalists’ questions regarding an incident near one of the entrances to Vatican City, in which “elements interpreted as having antisemitic connotations” were reportedly observed.

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Thousands more people flee their homes in Sudan as fighting intensifies between the army and the RSF in central Kordofan region, deepening a conflict that has already displaced 14 million and killed an estimated 120,000.

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