The Cardinal Secretary of State speaks to journalists about the Israel-Hamas agreement signed in Egypt, the Holy See-China agreement on the appointment of bishops, and the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado.

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Following the first formal meeting of Pope Leo XIV with the leadership of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Timothy Broglio speaks of the American bishops’ unity with the Holy See and its shared mission to proclaim the Gospel amid polarization and social challenges.

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Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, tells journalists to search for alternatives to the “toxic consumption of manipulated information.”

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 10, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:

Ancient traces of St. Mark reveal Christianity’s deep roots in Libya

In the eastern Libyan city of Derna, archaeological remains linked to St. Mark the Evangelist continue to bear witness to the country’s early Christian heritage, ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, reported Oct. 8. Though not explicitly named in the Gospels, Mark, believed to have been among the 72 disciples sent out by Christ, became one of the four Evangelists and the first patriarch of Alexandria.

Researchers note that Mark may have been born in Cyrene — present-day eastern Libya — before carrying the Christian message across the region’s “Pentapolis” cities. The scenic Mark Valley in the Green Mountain area, with its waterfalls and caves, is thought to have sheltered him and his followers during Roman persecutions. Nearby, “Gospel Valley” is believed to be where he began writing his Gospel. The enduring local veneration of “Mark of Cyrene” underscores how deeply the Libyan landscape is intertwined with the faith’s earliest chapters.

Church schools in northeast Syria face closure after 7 decades

In northeast Syria, Christian churches are warning that more than 70 years of faith-based education may soon come to an end, according to ACI MENA. The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria has ordered the closure of 22 church-run schools in cities such as Qamishli, Hasakah, and Malikiya for refusing to adopt its new curriculum, insisting instead on teaching Syria’s national syllabus.

Local educators describe the move as a direct blow to the Church’s historic role in education. Negotiations have failed despite appeals to international organizations, leaving families torn between relocating their children or losing access to recognized exams. The dispute, which has already driven emigration among Christian communities, highlights the precarious status of minorities in postwar Syria and the growing tension between Church autonomy and regional political agendas.

Crude bombs detonated in front of Bangladesh’s oldest Catholic church

An investigation is underway in Bangladesh after four assailants on motorbikes reportedly threw makeshift bombs at the gate in front of Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Tejgaon, central Dhaka, before fleeing the scene, according to a report from UCA News.

A security guard who witnessed the attack on Oct. 8 said he saw white smoke go up around the gate in wake of the explosion that “shook the surrounding area.” A bomb disposal team deployed to the site managed to diffuse two unexploded bombs.

Holy Rosary Church was founded by Portuguese missionaries in 1677 and is nestled among several buildings, including a convent, two schools, a college, and a hospital. It is home to approximately 10,000 Catholics, according to the report.

American citizen, 2 Indian nationals arrested on ‘conversion’ charges in India 

Police in India have arrested an American citizen and two Indian nationals for violating the country’s stringent anti-conversion laws by allegedly attempting to convert Hindu villagers to Christianity at a prayer meeting, according to UCA News. 

After an Oct. 3 incident in the western state of Maharashtra, American James Watson, 58, and Indian nationals Ganpati Sarpe, 42, and Manoj Govind Kolha, 35 have been charged with “attempting to hurt religious sentiments and violating provisions of Maharashtra’s anti-black magic law by allegedly promising miracle cures and prosperity through conversion.” The three were arrested after a local Hindu villager, Ravinath Bhurkut, told police that the group had said during the meeting that “Hinduism was based on superstition and that conversion to Christianity would bring happiness and success,” UCA reported. 

Bishop condemns corruption scandal at South African hospital

South African Bishop Thulani Victor Mbuyisa has condemned a corruption scandal at Tembisa Hospital, where more than $109 million was looted from the institution in what he has said is a grave injustice and direct assault on the poor’s right to health care, ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, reported Oct. 8. 

“This scandal constitutes not only a grave betrayal of public trust but also a direct attack on the dignity and rights of the poor who depend on public health care,” he said in a statement welcoming an investigative report on the matter. Dating back to 2021, the scandal saw a whistleblower assassinated outside her home in southern Johannesburg after exposing suspicious and irregular payments at the hospital. 

Salesians of Don Bosco in Kenya prepare to launch 5-year Integral Ecology Plan 

Members of the Salesians of Don Bosco in Kenya are preparing to launch a five-year Integral Ecology Plan (2026–2030) aimed at ending the long-standing “piecemeal” approach to projects across their institutions in the east African nation, ACI Africa reported Oct. 8. 

“The Integral Ecology is inspired by Pope Francis, and it is a response to his call,” the executive director of Don Bosco Development Outreach Network told ACI Africa in an interview on Oct. 7. “Often what happens is that our Don Bosco institutions have been doing things piecemeal, one by one,” he explained. “What we wanted to do is to have a comprehensive plan for all the Don Bosco institutions in Kenya.”

German diocese complains of rising number of burglary and vandalism cases 

The Diocese of Passau in Germany has reported 15 cases of burglaries and vandalism in churches for the month of September, CNA’s German-language news partner, CNA Deutsch, reported Oct. 9. 

“We usually have about 15 to 20 burglaries in a whole year, and now we currently have 15 cases that have been reported to us in the month of September alone. That’s very worrying,” the financial director of the diocese, Josef Sonnleitner, said.

According to the diocese, incidents have included damage to doors and windows, sacrificial candlesticks broken, and a holy water vessel and stars from a Madonna statue stolen.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) --The apostolic exhortation "Dilexi Te" ("I Have Loved You") on the church's love for the poor, "is Pope Leo's document. It is the magisterium of the church," although Pope Leo himself wrote that it was begun by Pope Francis, said Cardinal Michael Czerny.

The Canadian cardinal, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, presented the exhortation at a Vatican news conference Oct. 9, the day it was published.

Asked what percentage was completed by Pope Francis before his death in April and what percentage Pope Leo added, Cardinal Czerny responded, "It is 100 % Francis, and it is 100 % Leo."

"No new pope starts with an empty desk and a clear agenda," he told reporters. "We always receive from our predecessors, and we always hand on to our followers."

Given that some pundits have already claimed that Pope Leo speaks more about Jesus and less about politics than Pope Francis did, the cardinal also was asked whether it is valid to say Pope Francis addressed poverty from a political point of view and Pope Leo in the exhortation is addressing it from a theological perspective.

"The distinction is valid in the sense that there are emphases, which one can read, one can compare texts, but it's not very helpful and it's not very true," he said. "Pope Leo is making things more explicit that Pope Francis left less explicit, and we could say vice versa."

"The richness, the wealth, the beauty of this exhortation is certainly matched by the richness, wealth and beauty of the things that Pope Francis said and did and published," the cardinal said. "But you will never find a way of putting this on scales and say, 'Oh, Francis is more social and Leo is more theological.' You're not going to get anywhere with that."

When talking about the Christian obligation to help the poor and decrying the injustice of the global market system -- points repeated in Pope Leo's exhortation -- Pope Francis was accused of being communist or Marxist. Cardinal Czerny was asked if the same would happen to Pope Leo.

"Pope Francis always thought that the attacks were a sign that he was actually doing something," he said, so it is not something to be worried about.

And anyway, the cardinal said, the accusations "say much more about the person who is using the label" than they do about the pope. 

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity and papal almoner under both Pope Francis and Pope Leo, said the popes are simply saying what the Gospel says, "so we will have to accuse Jesus" of being a communist or Marxist if that's what advocating for the poor is.

The exhortation "is not throwing stones at somebody," but it is looking at the world and saying there are unjust people and unjust structures hurting the poor, who are loved by God and the church, Cardinal Czerny said. "It's inviting us to take responsibility for our choices and our options. That is what the Gospel does, and that is what this does."

Cardinal Krajewski said Pope Leo has asked him to keep doing what he was doing under Pope Francis, which is spending all day, every day giving concrete assistance to the poor.

"We are Pope Leo's emergency room; we are the ambulance that is always ready to go to help the needy in his name," the cardinal said.

"What did Jesus do all day? He went out early -- we know this -- and from morning to night, he looked for people who needed him," Cardinal Krajewski said. "He did not set up an office with visiting hours from 4 to 6 p.m. saying, 'Come to me then and I will help you.' No, that did not exist. He went out looking for people -- those who needed his help: the suffering, the unfortunate, the sick, the beaten, the marginalized, the refugees -- and he healed them immediately, the same day." 

Sister Clémence, a member of the Little Sisters of Jesus, told the reporters that by issuing "Dilexi Te" as an exhortation, Pope Leo "puts us all in motion. In this sense, I also like the difference between an exhortation and an encyclical. An exhortation, as the word says, exhorts us all, it puts us in motion and calls us to read this document and try to find ways to put it into practice."

Father Frédéric-Marie Le Méhauté, provincial of the Franciscan friars in France and Belgium, told reporters that Pope Leo calls on all Christians to get over their unease with the poor.

The poor are not simply "a problem," he said. As the exhortation insisted, they are family, "they are 'ours,' brothers and sisters to welcome because God himself chose them first."
 

WASHINGTON - “I am immensely grateful to the United States and multilateral partners for their tireless work to begin the process that will, God willing, culminate in the ending of the devastating war in Gaza,” said Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace.

Bishop Zaidan’s statement follows: 

“As we learn that Israel and Hamas have both agreed to begin the first phase of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan—which includes the release of the remaining Israeli hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops to a mutually agreed upon line—I am immensely grateful to the United States and multilateral partners for their tireless work to begin the process that will, God willing, culminate in the ending of the devastating war in Gaza. As the peace process gets underway, I urge all international partners to urgently prioritize humanitarian assistance for the Gazan people, as well as the rebuilding of the Strip; this will lay the foundations not just for peace, but for the Gazan people’s prosperity.  

“As I previously emphasized, we must continue praying ardently that we, as an international community, do not miss this opportunity for peace. Marking the anniversary of the October 7 attacks against Israel, Pope Leo XIV reminded us of the essential link between prayer and dialogue: ‘The Church has asked everyone to pray for peace, especially during this month. We will also seek, in ways available to the Church, to promote dialogue at all times.’ It is precisely through the process of grace-filled dialogue and a culture of encounter that our common humanity, regardless of religious affiliation, emerges, until we see only brothers and sisters working together for peace, mutual respect, and solidarity. Let us continue beseeching almighty God for peace and cooperation for the good of all people in the entire Middle East.”  

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WASHINGTON - Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomed the first apostolic exhortation from Pope Leo XIV, Dilexi te, which invites all the faithful to renew their commitment and closeness to the poor.

“In the first apostolic exhortation from Pope Leo XIV, we are consoled and challenged by his message reminding us of the deep love Christ has for each member of the human family. ‘God’s love is vividly demonstrated by his protection of the weak and the poor,’ our Holy Father writes. Building upon the teaching of his predecessor, Pope Leo XIV has offered to us a powerfully moving invitation to reflect upon the history of the Church’s service to the poor and urges us to allow it to transform our contemporary lives. The Holy Father reminds us of a simple, life-changing truth, ‘love for our neighbor is tangible proof of the authenticity of our love for God.’ This means that ‘charity is not optional but a requirement of true worship.’

“Our lives must reflect the reality of the ultimate, loving sacrifice of Christ. The Holy Father calls upon each of us to respond to a world that is marked by indifference, division, and apathy especially when directed towards the poor and vulnerable. On the challenges we face with contemporary migration, he encourages us to respond with four actions: welcome, protect, promote and integrate. This is a sharp contrast to the culture of fear being imposed upon our sisters and brothers in Christ.

“A radical love for Jesus Christ and a sincere desire to worship God is countercultural, and as we continue to unpack the message of Dilexi te, I invite all people to read, reflect, and pray with the message offered by our Holy Father. May it call us to renewal of our Church and society so that we learn to approach each person with the same love Christ has for that person.”

Find more resources to accompany this new exhortation.

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Pope Leo welcomes a group of students and faculty from Villanova University in the United States where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics in 1977.

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Pope Leo XIV writes a message to the International Congress on Philosophy taking place in Asuncion, Paraguay, and reaffirms the complementary role of faith and reason, and the role of Christian believers who are called to be part of the dialogue and to 'account for the reason of their hope.'

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In an audience for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life, Pope Leo XIV praises the centuries of service that consecrated people have offered the Church, and thanks them for their hidden daily gestures to sustain the Church worldwide.

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