We Are Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish

CNA Staff, May 10, 2025 / 13:42 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday visited and prayed at a Marian shrine outside of Rome, greeting the community there and urging them to “be faithful to the Mother.”

The Holy Father visited the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano on Saturday afternoon. The sanctuary, located about an hour east of Rome, is run by the religious of the Order of St. Augustine and “houses an ancient image of the Virgin, dear to the order and to the memory of Leo XIII,” according to the Vatican.

The pope greeted the religious at the shrine before praying at both the altar and the Marian image there, according to the Vatican. The Holy Father also prayed St. John Paul II’s prayer to the Mother of Good Counsel with the assembly.

“I wanted so much to come here in these first days of the new ministry that the Church has entrusted to me, to carry out this mission as the successor of Peter,” Leo told those present.

The pope told the community that the shrine was “such a great gift” to them.

“As the Mother never abandons her children, you must also be faithful to the Mother,” he said. The Holy Father also offered a blessing to those present.

Leo on Saturday also visited the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he prayed in front of the tomb of Pope Francis, his immediate predecessor.

Francis is one of eight popes buried in the papal basilica.

CNA Staff, May 10, 2025 / 11:45 am (CNA).

An effort backed by the U.S. bishops to protect a centuries-old Native American religious site from destruction scored a win in federal court on Friday when a district judge blocked the sale of the location while the matter is considered by the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. District Judge Steven Logan said in the Friday order that the federal government would be prohibited from selling the Oak Flat site in Arizona while the coalition group Apache Stronghold waits for the Supreme Court to potentially consider its case.

The federal government several years ago moved to transfer Oak Flat to the mining company Resolution Copper after having protected the site for decades. The group’s proposed mining operations would largely obliterate the site, which has been viewed as a sacred site by Apaches and other Native American groups for hundreds of years and has been used extensively for religious rituals.

Apache Stronghold filed a challenge to the transfer, arguing that it violates both the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and an 1852 treaty protecting Apache territory. The religious liberty law group Becket is representing the group in the case. Several lower courts have already ruled against the Native American group.

Logan in his Friday ruling said he was persuaded by “the fundamental freedoms at stake in this case.”

“It is undisputed that if the transfer goes forward and Resolution Copper’s mining plans are effectuated, [the Native American groups] will suffer irreparable harm in the long term,” he wrote. The injunction, meanwhile, would “not stop Resolution from mining a single ounce of copper should the transfer ultimately be upheld.”

The “balance of equities” in the dispute is in favor of Apache Stronghold, Logan said, insofar as they have “established a likelihood of irreparable harm should the transfer proceed” and have raised “serious questions” about the merits of the case.

The injunction will hold until the Supreme Court either refuses to hear the case or else issues a decision should it take the case up, Logan ordered.

U.S. bishops say transfer ‘jeopardizes religious liberty’

Last year the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) joined an amicus brief with the Christian Legal Society and the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, arguing that the lower court decisions allowing the sale represent “a grave misunderstanding of RFRA that fails to apply its protections in evaluating that destruction.”

The transfer of the land “jeopardizes Native American religious practice and religious liberty more broadly,” the groups argued.

The Knights of Columbus similarly filed a brief in support of the Apaches, arguing that the decision to allow the property to be mined “reads into RFRA an atextual constraint with no grounding in the statute itself.”

The decision is devastating not just to the Apaches but to “the myriad religious adherents of all faiths and backgrounds who use federal lands every day for their religious exercise,” they said. 

Religious liberty scholars from the Notre Dame Law School, Seton Hall University, and the University of St. Thomas School of Law also filed a brief backing the Native Americans. Numerous other religious groups also filed amicus briefs.

Vatican City, May 10, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).

The Vatican unveiled Pope Leo XIV’s official portrait and signature Saturday, revealing the American pontiff’s embrace of traditional papal elements just two days after his historic election.

The formal portrait shows the 69-year-old pope wearing the red mozzetta (short cape), embroidered stole, white rochet, and golden pectoral cross — traditional papal vesture that present a visual contrast to the simpler style preferred by his predecessor.

Vatican Media published the portrait alongside the pope’s personal signature, which includes the notation “P.P.” — an abbreviation traditionally used in papal signatures that stands for “Pastor Pastorum” (“Shepherd of Shepherds”). Pope Francis had departed from this convention, signing simply as “Franciscus.”

This return to traditional elements accompanies Leo’s papal coat of arms.

The heraldic design features a fleur-de-lis on a blue background, symbolizing the Virgin Mary, while the right side displays a heart pieced by an arrow, resting on a book against a cream background. This is based on the traditional symbol of the Augustinian order.

The fleur-de-lis has particular significance in Catholic iconography as a symbol of purity and the Virgin Mary.

The three-petaled lily design has also been connected to the Holy Trinity. It is prominently featured in French heraldry, which may hold personal meaning for the pope, who has French ancestry through his father’s lineage.

Beneath the shield runs a scroll displaying the pope’s episcopal motto: “In illo uno unum” (“In the one Christ we are one”), a phrase taken from St. Augustine’s commentary on Psalm 127. The motto reflects Leo’s roots in the Augustinian order and his commitment to unity in the Church.

These profound presentations of papal symbols — the portrait, signature, and coat of arms — traditionally occur in the early days of a new pontificate and provide insights into the theological priorities and pastoral style the new pope intends to emphasize.

Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, made history on May 8 after becoming the first U.S.-born pope.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story described the heart in the coat of arms as a rendering of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The story was updated on May 12, 2025, at 11:24 a.m. ET to reflect the fact that it is a heart pierced by an arrow, a traditional symbol of the Augustinian order.

CNA Staff, May 10, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV’s pontifical name is a reflection of his intent to lead the Catholic Church with a “clear vision” amid a turbulent world, Italian Cardinal Fernando Filoni said Friday.

The Italian prelate, who was one of the voting members of the conclave that elected Leo to the papacy this week, told EWTN News Vice President and Editorial Director Matthew Bunson in Rome that the cardinals were “surprised by the name” chosen by the new pope, born Robert Prevost.

But “it [was] a wonderful surprise,” the cardinal said.

“I asked him why he took this name,” Filoni said. “He’s an Augustinian. ... He told me: ‘In this moment, we need a man with a clear vision of the Church.’”

Filoni pointed to what was until this week the most recent Leonine pope, Pope Leo XIII, who led the Church from 1878 to 1903 during a time of great global upheaval and change.

“[It was] a moment when society was reorganizing itself, especially the social [aspects] and the work, the organization,” Filoni said.

Leo XIII worked to articulate the social positions of the Catholic Church in the midst of those transformations, including with the encyclical Rerum Novarum, which in part addressed deplorable working conditions and asserted the rights of workers.

Leo XIII has been hailed for decades as the “social pope” for those efforts. Filoni also pointed out that Pope Leo I — who served in the fifth century — is remembered as “Leone Magno,” or “Leo the Great,” and who among his accomplishments worked to clarify doctrines related to Christ’s human and divine natures.

“I think [Leo XIV] had a lot of these aspects in his heart” in picking his name, Filoni said. “And we will see it.”

The cardinal further noted the new pope’s first address to the world, which he opened with: “Peace be with you all.”

Filoni — the grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre — said the significance of this blessing cannot be missed, particularly in the context of ongoing unrest in the Holy Land.

“I am sure it will remain an essential part of his pontificate, but not in the sense of a sociological aspect or political aspect,” he said.

“If there is no peace of the Lord, men never will make peace,” he said. “They will make an agreement [and] after a while it will be completely abandoned. So he put at the center of peace the person of Jesus, the risen Lord.”

ACI Africa, May 10, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Members of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap) in Nigeria are appealing for prayers following a car accident that claimed the lives of seven of their brothers and left several others injured.

In a statement shared with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, on May 5, the order’s leadership in Nigeria provided details of the accident that occurred on May 3 in the Ridgeway Community in Nigeria’s Enugu state.

“With deep sorrow but in the hope of the Resurrection, the Capuchin Friars of Nigerian Custody announce the death of some of our brothers in a tragic incident that took place on the evening of May 3, 2025,” said the statement, signed by Brother John-Kennedy Anyanwu, OFM Cap, custos of the order.

The statement continued: “Thirteen of our brothers departed the Ridgeway Community, Enugu state, for Obudu, Cross Rivers state, Nigeria, but unfortunately had a fatal accident. Seven of the brothers died as a result of the accident, while six of them sustained various degrees of injuries. The injured brothers have been transferred to Enugu for proper treatment.” 

In the statement, Anyanwu entrusted the souls of his deceased confreres to the “merciful love of God” and invited the people of God to “join us in praying for the happy repose of their souls.” He said funeral arrangements will be “communicated in due course.”

The deceased Capuchin friars have been identified as:

Brother Somadina Ibe-Ojuludu, OFM Cap

Brother Chinedu Nwachukwu, OFM Cap

Brother Marcel Ezenwafor, OFM Cap

Brother Gerald Nwogueze, OFM Cap

Brother Kingsley Nwosu, OFM Cap

Brother Wilfred Aleke, OFM Cap

Brother Chukwudi Obueze, OFM Cap

“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen,” the statement concluded. 

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

Vatican City, May 10, 2025 / 08:15 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV met with the College of Cardinals on Saturday morning for his first official address since his election, outlining key priorities for his pontificate in the age of artificial intelligence while emphasizing continuity with his predecessors and commitment to the Church’s social teaching.

The U.S.-born pontiff, speaking in Italian, explained his choice of papal name, noting that Pope Leo XIII “addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution” with his encyclical Rerum Novarum.

“In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor,” Pope Leo said.

The 69-year-old pope began the meeting with a prayer, expressing his gratitude to the cardinals while acknowledging his own limitations in assuming the papacy.

“You, dear cardinals, are the closest collaborators of the pope. This has proved a great comfort to me in accepting a yoke clearly far beyond my own limited powers, as it would be for any of us,” he said.

The pope specifically thanked Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, for their service during the sede vacante period.

In his address, Pope Leo emphasized his commitment to continuing the Church’s path following the Second Vatican Council, specifically highlighting Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium as providing “masterful and concrete” direction.

The pope identified several fundamental principles to guide his pontificate, “the return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation; the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community; growth in collegiality and synodality; attention to the sensus fidei, especially in its most authentic and inclusive forms, such as popular piety; loving care for the least and the rejected; courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world.”

After his prepared remarks, the Holy Father engaged in a dialogue session with the cardinals, discussing “advice, suggestions, proposals, concrete things” raised during the pre-conclave meetings.

Pope Leo concluded by quoting St. Paul VI’s hope expressed at the beginning of his pontificate in 1963, praying that the Church would “pass over the whole world like a great flame of faith and love kindled in all men and women of goodwill.”

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 10, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV made history on Thursday when he became the first U.S.-born — and the first Augustinian — to assume the papacy, and many of his fellow Augustinians in the United States are expressing joy about the news and touting the Holy Father’s humility and kindness they encountered firsthand.

“He was Father Bob, [then] Bishop Bob, and now he’s Pope Leo XIV,” Father Barnaby Johns, the prior provincial of the Province of St. Augustine in California, told CNA while reflecting on his interactions with the new pope, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost.

”It’s so beautiful for us to see our brother up there on that balcony,” Johns said.

Leo, born in Chicago in 1955, became a novitiate in the Order of St. Augustine at age 22 after graduating from Villanova University in 1977. He took his solemn vows in 1981 and was ordained a priest in 1982.

He spent 1985 through 1998 as an Augustinian missionary in Peru, where he was part of the leadership of the Catholic charity Caritas Peru.

Then-Father Prevost was the head of the Augustinian Province of Chicago from 1999 to 2001 and then served as the prior general of the Order of St. Augustine from 2001 through 2013. Pope Francis named him the bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2015 and made him a cardinal in 2023.

Johns, who has known Leo for about 20 years, said the current pontiff is “very good at listening attentively” and has tried “to be supportive in my own journey,” calling the Holy Father “certainly very friendly.”

“He’s always been the most personable and friendly human being who would reach out to you,” Johns said.

Johns recalled meetings he had with Prevost around Easter 2024, shortly after Johns was named prior provincial of the Augustinians in California. Then a cardinal, Prevost “came up to me and asked how I was.” 

Johns said there is “something profound in his being down to earth,” noting the “humility” in a cardinal taking the initiative to check up on his well-being.

At the time, Johns, who is a native to the United Kingdom, was “struggling in [his] vocation” due to his assignment in California, outside of his home country. He said Prevost was “very easy to talk to and enjoyable company” and that “he gave me time, he listened to me, [and] he gave me good advice.”

“To me it felt that the personal interaction was something that he wants to give to those that he encounters,” Johns said, adding: “He’ll bring that touch to the Church.”

He said his fellow Augustinians in his province felt the selection of Prevost was “overwhelming and [we were] overjoyed,” adding that it “means so much on such a deep personal level.”

Father James Halstead, a member of the Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Chicago, would often interact with Prevost in social and business situations. He first met the Holy Father before he had joined the novitiate, when Prevost was a senior in high school.

Halstead told CNA that after Prevost had entered the order, the young man would often interact with Halstead’s family, and Halstead recalled his mother would say: “They’re all nice guys, but that Bob Prevost is especially calm and respectful and kind.”

“My mother really liked him,” Halstead said. “My sisters liked him more than they liked me.”

He tearfully spoke about Prevost reaching out to him after Halstead was diagnosed with ALS. He said he had not reached out to Prevost about the diagnosis but that Prevost had found out and “sent a very nice email” providing “words of encouragement” and a “promise of prayer.”

“I just want to say that you are very much in my thoughts and prayers,” the now-pope said, according to a copy of the email provided by Halstead. “May you find the strength and courage to carry this cross.”

Halstead noted that there is “great joy and pride” among fellow Augustinians to whom he has spoken, adding that there is “great hope for Bob Prevost, our brother, and [we are] really proud of him and, oh, we’re just delighted.”

An Augustinian papacy

Unlike many orders, the Order of St. Augustine does not have a direct lineage to its patron but was rather established in 1244 by Pope Innocent IV, more than 800 years after Augustine’s death. 

Johns told CNA that the order follows the Rule of St. Augustine and its members seek to mirror his spirituality. He noted that it was “founded to be at the service of the Church by the pope.”

“We are a Christian community living together who are wanting to seek to be brothers and have a sense of fraternity that is contrary to any form of individualism, which is a challenge in today’s society,” Johns added.

Johns noted that in his first speech, Leo said he was a son of Augustine, and Johns referenced the pontiff’s line that paraphrased Augustine: “With you, I am a Christian, and for you, I am a bishop.”

“[His papacy] will have the Augustinian heart at the center of everything,” Johns said, adding that those words demonstrate “that profound sense of fraternity that I think Pope Leo will bring to his papacy.”

Amid some disagreements within the Church on topics such as blessings for same-sex couples and restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass, Johns expects Leo can take “a reconciliatory [approach] as a leader and a brother,” which will “transcend some of these political labels.”

“[Leo will] speak more to the heart and from the heart and that message will — I pray — resonate with all of the divisions … that seem to be occurring within our world, and that’s not an easy [task],” Johns added.

Halstead said there are three primary elements of the Augustinian way of life, which he expects Leo to carry into the papacy: a deep spirituality, community life, and service to the poor and the marginalized. He said Augustinian spirituality teaches one how to cultivate his or her interior life, saying one must “be introspective so you can know yourself.”

“It starts when you enter the novitiate and hopefully it continues until you breathe your last,” Halstead added. 

“He’ll really be able to think deeply and be encouraged to think deeply about the issues that are before him,” he said.

Halstead also referenced some of the divisions within the Church on issues related to same-sex blessings, Communion for the divorced and remarried, and the Latin Mass, saying Leo will need “to deal with those, and not just dialogue about those things, but you’ve got to make a decision.”

“With what he has to handle, I shall pray for him,” Halstead said but expressed confidence in the leadership of the Holy Father.

“Can he deal with them? Yes,” he said. “Is it going to be very difficult? Yes.”

During his first visit outside the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV makes a stop at the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray to the icon of Mary Salus Populi Romani and at the tomb of the late Pope Francis.

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Rome Newsroom, May 10, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Cardinal François-Xavier Bustillo described Pope Leo XIV as a “solid, discreet, and good worker” and expressed confidence that the new pontiff will continue to be “bold” in addressing the needs of today’s world in comments made shortly after the May 8 conclave that elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the Church’s 267th pope.

Speaking with ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner, on the streets of Rome, the bishop of Ajaccio, Corsica — who participated as a cardinal elector — said the College of Cardinals entered the conclave with openness to the Holy Spirit, not political calculation.

“It’s precisely this: We weren’t thinking at all about strategies or political tactics,” Bustillo said.

“We were trusting and wanted not our own good, not the good of us cardinals, but wanted the good of the people of God, and I think we succeeded in giving a good pope to the Church — and this was our objective.”

The cardinal highlighted the significance of the date of Leo’s election. May 8 is marked across much of Europe as Victory in Europe Day, commemorating the end of World War II.

“Our world needs peace — there’s too much violence in our lives, in our families, everywhere, even in international geopolitics — and so there’s a need for peace,” he said. “The pope was right to recall the meaning of peace, and the mission of the Church is to foster peace.”

When asked about similarities between Leo XIV and his predecessor, Pope Francis, Bustillo pointed to their shared pastoral outlook.

“He reminds me of Pope Francis in his contact with people, in his vision of the world, and in his understanding of the Church’s response to the world,” he said. “That’s what’s important.”

Bustillo emphasized that the conclave, which concluded in under 24 hours, was marked by spiritual clarity and fraternal unity.

“He is the pope the Holy Spirit has given us — in less than 24 hours we elected the pope, and there were neither tactics nor strategies. There was freedom and trust,” he said.

Reflecting on the Church’s challenges, Bustillo voiced hope that Leo XIV would offer meaningful guidance for a restless world.

“Faith in a world that is very materialistic, hedonistic — we need to find a spirituality, a soul, in this world that functions but does not live,” he said.

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

Pope Leo XIV pays a visit to the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, just outside Rome, saying he "wanted so much to come here in these first days of the new Ministry ... that the Church has entrusted to me.’

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