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Feast date: Oct 14

Pope Callistus I is celebrated in churches throughout the world as a saint and martyr on October 14. The saint caused a major controversy, including a schism that lasted almost two decades, by choosing to emphasize God's mercy in his ministry. However, the early Pope's model of leadership has endured, and his martyrdom in the year 222 confirmed his example of holiness.

Because no completely trustworthy biography of Pope Callistus I exists, historians have been forced to rely on an account by his contemporary Hippolytus of Rome. Although Hippolytus himself was eventually reconciled to the Church and canonized as a martyr, he vocally opposed the pontificate of Callistus and three of his successors, to the point of usurping papal prerogatives for himself (as the first “antipope”). Nevertheless, his account of Callistus' life and papacy provides important details.

According to Hippolytus' account, Callistus – whose year of birth is not known - began his career as a highly-placed domestic servant, eventually taking responsibility for his master's banking business. When the bank failed, Callistus received the blame, and attempted to flee from his master. Being discovered, he was demoted to serve as a manual laborer in Rome. Thus, under inauspicious circumstances, Callistus came as a slave to the city where he would later serve as Pope.

Matters went from bad to worse when he was sent to work in the mines, possibly for causing a public disturbance, if Hippolytus' account is to be trusted. However, Callistus may also simply have been sentenced due to a persecution of Christians, as he was among the many believers eventually freed on the initiative of Pope St. Victor I.

During the subsequent reign of Pope Zephyrinus, Callistus became a deacon and the caretaker of a major Roman Christian cemetery (which still bears his name as the “Cemetery of St. Callistus”), in addition to advising the Pope on theological controversies of the day. He was a natural candidate to follow Zephyrinus, when the latter died in 219.

Hippolytus, an erudite Roman theologian, accused Pope Callistus of sympathizing with heretics, and resented the new Pope's clarification that even the most serious sins could be absolved after sincere confession. The Pope's assertion of divine mercy also scandalized the North African Christian polemicist Tertullian, already in schism from the Church in Carthage, who also erroneously held that certain sins were too serious to be forgiven through confession.

Considered in light of this error, Hippolytus' catalogue of sins allegedly “permitted” by Callistus – including extramarital sex and early forms of contraception - may in fact represent offenses which the Pope never allowed, but which he was willing to absolve in the case of penitents seeking reconciliation with the Church.

Even so, Callistus could not persuade Hippolytus' followers of his rightful authority as Pope during his own lifetime. The Catholic Church, however, has always acknowledged the orthodoxy and holiness of Pope St. Callistus I, particularly since the time of his martyrdom – traditionally ascribed to an anti-Christian mob - in 222. 

St. Callistus' own intercession after death may also have made possible the historic reconciliation between his opponent Hippolytus, and the later Pope Pontian. The Pope and former antipope were martyred together in 236, and both subsequently canonized.

There are Catholic among those hopeful the Nobel Prize is a harbinger of change in Venezuela.

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 13, 2025 / 17:43 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and vicar general of the pope for Vatican City, presided Oct. 13 over a penitential rite of reparation at the main altar of the church following a serious act of desecration that had taken place on Oct. 10.

After a penitential procession that began at 12:45 p.m. local time, Gambetti sprinkled the altar with holy water and incensed it to purify it.

The rite, attended by members of the chapter of the Vatican basilica, emphasized asking God for “forgiveness” for the desecration, Father Enzo Fortunato, director of communications for St. Peter’s Basilica, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

On Friday, Oct. 10, a man whose identity has not been revealed was arrested by security guards after he climbed onto the Altar of the Confession, located under Bernini’s baldachin, and urinated on it while tourists looked on in astonishment.

Pope Leo XIV expressed his consternation upon learning of the incident and asked Gambetti to perform an act of reparation to restore the sanctity of the place and ask forgiveness for what had happened.

This is the second instance of desecration in St. Peter’s Basilica in less than a year. In February, a man severely damaged part of the main altar, breaking several candelabras. In June 2023, an individual of Polish origin stripped naked in the same place as a form of protest against the war in Ukraine. 

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

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 13, 2025 / 16:13 pm (CNA).

In a Mass marking the first liturgical memorial of St. Carlo Acutis, who was canonized by Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 7, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on Sunday said the saint spoke of Jesus with a “radiant” and “smiling” face.

“Many when they see his picture are touched by his smile: Carlo spoke of Jesus above all with his radiant, luminous, and smiling face. He taught us to live out St. Paul’s exhortation: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always,’” Parolin said in his homily at the Mass he celebrated Oct. 12.

The Mass took place in St. Mary Major Church in Assisi at the Shrine of the Renunciation (Santuario della Spogliazione). The body of St. Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 of fulminant leukemia at the age of 15, rests in a glass case on the side of the nave of the church.

Before the Mass, which was attended by civil, military, and religious authorities — as well as the young saint’s parents, Antonia Salzano and Andrea Acutis — the Italian cardinal prayed for a few minutes before the saint’s final resting place.

“Carlo is a new pearl of this city of saints and a great gift for the Church: May his witness bear abundant fruits of holiness among young people,” Parolin said.

‘The word of God portrays Carlo’

“The word of God that we have just heard portrays Carlo and his spirituality almost photographically, and he in turn helps us understand it with the example of his life,” the cardinal noted, according to Vatican News. 

“From prison, Paul invites everyone to communion,” the cardinal said, citing the second Mass reading, in which St. Paul addresses the faithful of Philippi, the first evangelized European community.

He continued, saying that St. Paul recalled “the liturgical hymn in which it is said that Jesus emptied himself of all his divine glory to become one of us, even to death on the cross.”

“It’s beautiful to recall this here in this Shrine of the Spogliazione, which evokes not only St. Francis’ gesture of stripping himself of everything to make Christ his only treasure, but even more so the self-emptying of Christ, which St. Francis wished to imitate,” he explained, noting that the shrine bears the name of “Spogliazione” (“renunciation”) because it recalls the moment when St. Francis of Assisi renounced material goods to follow Christ.

His mother ‘misses most his jokes’

Parolin emphasized in this first liturgical memorial of St. Carlo Acutis that the Gospel contains a clear “call to joy.”

“The entire Gospel proclamation is oriented toward joy: The Son of God came down from heaven to make us happy. And who better than Carlo can explain this? His mother, Antonia, has often said that what she misses most about him are his jokes and his good humor, with which he knew how to make us laugh and smile,” the cardinal noted.

“Christianity is a message of salvation and Jesus our savior: How can we not rejoice?” he added, noting that “sad and complaining Christians are not good witnesses of the Gospel.”

“And although life knows suffering — just think of the many horrendous wars that are fought today with so much bloodshed — this invites us to also live out Paul’s other command: ‘Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.’ But this weeping must be one of compassion and love, which doesn’t take away joy, peace, or hope,” he noted.

Carlo, ‘teacher of beauty and goodness’

The Vatican secretary of state also referred to St. Francis of Assisi, recalling a verse from the “Canticle of the Creatures: “Blessed are those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High, shall they be crowned.”

In light of the first reading, he explained, “we see how the Christian way of life described by Paul fits perfectly with Carlo’s life: His existence, marked by normality, makes him a young man of our time. He loved all the beautiful things in life, and Paul’s words resonate in him: ‘Whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.’”

‘Jesus takes nothing away from the beautiful things in life’

Parolin also noted that St. Carlo Acutis was “a teacher of beauty and goodness, because he used the things of the world with a pure heart, making Jesus the center of his life.”

“Today more than ever, young people must be reminded that Jesus takes nothing away from the beautiful things in life; everything comes from God and is good in itself. What makes things bad is sin,” he pointed out.

“This was his program,” the cardinal noted, “‘always be united to Jesus,’ and that was also the secret of his originality. When he said that we are all born as originals and die as photocopies, he was also speaking of himself: He did not want to be a copy or follow fashions, but to be fully himself, filled with the Lord Jesus.”

‘The Eucharist, his highway to heaven’

“To be filled with Jesus,” the Vatican secretary of state continued, “Carlo understood that we have it within our reach. Thanks to the Eucharistic presence, we don’t need to look for him elsewhere in the world. He said there is a way, or better yet, a special highway, free of tolls, traffic jams, and accidents: That highway is the Eucharist.”

Parolin noted that many people come to the shrine that holds Acutis’ remains, and others receive his relics because the first millennial saint “attracts many to the path of goodness.” 

“From this shrine, together with St. Francis, he speaks to the world and reminds us that we are all called to holiness. With the simplicity of his life, he teaches us that holiness is possible at any age and in any state of life,” Parolin said.

“Carlo,” he concluded, “is a new pearl of this city of saints and a great gift for the Church: May his witness bear abundant fruits of holiness among young people.”

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

Scenes of joy, relief and tearful welcomes flooded media across the world Oct. 13 as the remaining Israeli hostages were freed from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip as part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement.

ACI Africa, Oct 13, 2025 / 15:12 pm (CNA).

The Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization has suspended the formation of seminarians in the Diocese of Wamba in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), citing a “difficult ecclesial environment,” which it says undermines priestly training.

In a letter issued Oct. 7, the apostolic administrator of the Congolese episcopal see, Bishop Sosthène Ayikuli Udjuwa, informed the seminarians of the dicastery’s decision, alluding to the challenge of transition.

The Wamba Diocese has been experiencing a leadership crisis since the January 2024 appointment of Bishop Emmanuel Ngona Ngotsi as its local ordinary. Although he was ordained a bishop in the Congolese capital city, Kinshasa, Ngotsi has yet to take canonical possession of his episcopal see amid opposition from some members of the clergy and laity who insist that the diocese should be led by a native of the region.

In the Oct. 7 letter, Ayikuli, who also leads the Mahagi-Nioka Diocese, said the Dicastery for Evangelization has noted that the “formation of future priests in such a difficult ecclesial environment would be entirely inappropriate and has therefore ordered its suspension until further notice.”

“Therefore, the dicastery has decided that seminarians who wish to continue their priestly formation may contact other bishops who are willing to receive them after proper discernment,” Ayikuli said. 

He continued: “This means that the seminarians of the Diocese of Wamba will only be able to continue their priestly formation after fulfilling the above condition. Implicitly, this also means that if a seminarian wishes instead to pursue a vocation to religious life, he may request admission as a candidate in an institute of consecrated life or a society of apostolic life, continuing his formation according to the norms of that institute or society.”

The Vatican decision affects St. Leo Minor Seminary in Lingondo, one of the key formation centers in the diocese. Its operation has been deemed noncompliant with current ecclesial standards.

In his letter, the apostolic administrator reassured the seminarians of his support and said he is ready to facilitate their transitions.

“I am prepared to accompany the seminarians in their choices and in carrying them out, particularly concerning the written application to the local ordinary of the chosen diocese,” the bishop said.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.