While crowding against the railings of St. Peter’s Square during a Dec. 31 blessing of the Vatican’s Nativity scene, students of Mary Immaculate Catholic School began to take up the tune of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” As they raised the hymn, the students were greatly surprised to discover the addition of a new voice: that of Pope Leo XIV, who had paused in his rounds to join in the festive song.
Jubilee Year
Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed a special Jubilee Year coinciding with the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi.
Amid poinsettias and sparkling Christmas trees, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis told Catholics gathered Dec. 28 at the Cathedral of St. Paul that the promise of the 2025 Jubilee of Hope did not disappoint, as the Church focused on mercy and conversion.
Even in difficult situations and harsh places, like prisons, when people focus on caring for one another, respecting each other, and offering forgiveness, “beautiful flowers spring forth from the ‘hard ground’ of sin and suffering,” Pope Leo XIV said.
The priests who staff nunciatures and other Vatican diplomatic missions around the world must be priests first and diplomats second, Pope Leo XIV told them.
Meeting an international cast of film directors and actors, Pope Leo XIV spoke about the power of cinema to help people “contemplate and understand life, to recount its greatness and fragility, and to portray the longing for infinity.”
A human connection of love and care between a teacher and student is a key part of the educational process, Pope Leo XIV said, and one that is even more important at a time when so many students experience fragility.
Young people must take control of technology and “humanize” online spaces to be friendly, creative places — not isolated echo chambers, forms of addiction, or ways to escape, Pope Leo XIV said.
The supreme rule in the Catholic Church is love, which compels all of the faithful to serve, not to judge, exclude, or dominate others, Pope Leo XIV said.
The NCCHM delegation to the Jubilee included clergy, religious sisters, and lay leaders who minister to Hispanic populations across the U.S. Like Gonzales, many pilgrims carried with them the intercessions, photos, and stories of migrant families back home.