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During the Mass for the Jubilee of Young People at Tor Vergata, Pope Leo XIV reminds the young people that Jesus is our hope, and urges them to "adventure with the Lord toward eternity" as the Lord is "gently knocking" at the window of their soul.

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Pope Leo XIV sends a message to the 20th Plenary Assembly of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), praying their deliberations on the theme of 'Christ, Source of Hope, Reconciliation and Peace' will highlight "the importance of fostering an intense experience of the love of God that awakens in hearts the sure hope of salvation in Christ..."

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Vatican City, Aug 2, 2025 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV addressed the largest crowd of his pontificate in Rome’s outskirts on Saturday, telling an estimated 1 million young adults to “study, work, and love according to the example of Jesus” and to pray: “Stay with us, Lord.”

The pontiff was greeted Aug. 2 by joyous crowds on the 237-acre grounds of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, 10 miles east of Rome, where teenagers and young adults will stay all night in anticipation of the closing Mass of the Jubilee of Youth on Sunday morning.

Pope Leo, who arrived at the largest event of his pontificate by helicopter, drove through the grounds before the prayer service waving to cheering young people from the popemobile as the sun set.

He then carried the pilgrim cross of the Jubilee of Hope on foot from the crowd up to the 15,000-square-foot stage for prayers and Eucharistic adoration. The pontiff will return to the outdoor venue to celebrate the jubilee Mass at 9 a.m. on Aug. 3.

Clare Fletcher, 29, from Omaha, Nebraska, told CNA she was so grateful she decided to come to Rome for the Jubilee of Hope during the Jubilee of Youth.

“I’ve never been to World Youth Day, but everyone I’ve talked to is comparing the two,” she said.

She described the crowd as singing along to the hymns and worship music with joy.

Fletcher’s 24-year-old brother, Paul, who attended the prayer vigil with her, said he had “never seen an event of this scale and with this level of reverence.”

During the first part of the prayer service, Leo answered questions from young adults about friendship and loneliness, making good choices, and how to truly encounter Christ.

In his answers to the questions, one in each of the three languages he speaks fluently — Spanish, Italian, and English — Leo encouraged youth to seek good relationships with others and with God.

“And we can say thank you, Jesus, for loving us,” he said in a moment of improvisation in the midst of his prepared remarks. 

“Each time we adore Christ in the Eucharist, our hearts will be united in him,” the pontiff added, and he recommended saying to the Lord: “Stay with us, because without you we cannot do the good we desire.”

Fletcher, who traveled to Rome with a group of young adult friends who work in Catholic schools, called the question-and-answers with Pope Leo “poignant and so relevant! Each spoke for us. Each spoke to our hearts.”

“This is a pope who knows the youth. His response was savvy, beautiful, and worth remembering, not to mention worth praying with for some time,” she said.

Leo’s advice to young people included having Jesus, “who always accompanies us in the formation of our conscience,” as a friend.

“If you truly want to encounter the risen Lord, then listen to his word, which is the Gospel of salvation. Reflect on your way of living, and seek justice in order to build a more humane world. Serve the poor, and so bear witness to the good that we would always like to receive from our neighbors,” he recommended.

“Adore Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, the source of eternal life,” he said. “Study, work, and love according to the example of Jesus, the good Teacher who always walks beside us.”

Elodie, from France, told EWTN News at the prayer vigil that the Jubilee of Youth felt like “a huge family.”

“You feel the heart of the Church beating. I think, really, it’s beautiful,” she said.

The Jubilee of Youth, held July 28 through Aug. 3, is the most-attended event during the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, with an estimated 1 million young adults, teens, and their chaperones flocking to Rome from 146 countries.

Leo left the vigil after 10 p.m., more than 30 minutes past the scheduled time. After Eucharistic adoration, the crowd broke out in loud chants of “Papa Leone,” Italian for “Pope Leo.”

Young Catholics began arriving at the site of the vigil as early as 3 p.m., where they braved sun, humidity, and temperatures in the upper 80s during an afternoon listening to live performances and the personal stories of young people from different countries.

During his remarks, the pope asked for prayers for two female pilgrims who died this week, a 20-year-old Spaniard, Maria, and an 18-year-old Egyptian, Pascale Rafic. He also asked the young people to pray for another Spaniard, Ignazio Gonzales, who was hospitalized in Rome.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 2, 2025 / 16:25 pm (CNA).

The Senate has confirmed former CatholicVote president and founder Brian Burch to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. 

In a 49-44 vote on Aug. 2, the Senate confirmed the Catholic father of nine from Chicago. 

“I am profoundly grateful to President [Donald] Trump and the United States Senate for this opportunity to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to the Holy See,” Burch said in a statement shared with CNA reacting to news of his confirmation. “As a proud Catholic American, I look forward to representing President Trump, Vice President [JD] Vance, and Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio in this important diplomatic post.” 

He added: “I ask for the prayers of all Americans, especially my fellow Catholics, that I may serve honorably and faithfully in the noble adventure ahead.”

News of Burch’s confirmation comes after Senate Democrats initially blocked it, along with more than 50 other nominations, in May ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s installation Mass. CatholicVote has since named Kelsey Reinhardt as its new president.

“I have the honor and fortune of serving in this role following the historic election of the first American pope,” Burch said in the statement, adding: “In a remarkable coincidence, or what I prefer to attribute to providence, Pope Leo XIV is from Chicago, which is also my hometown.” 

He continued: “The relationship between the Holy See and the United States remains one of the most unique in the world, with the global reach and moral witness of the Catholic Church serving as a critical component of U.S. efforts to bring about peace and prosperity.”

In a Saturday statement, CatholicVote President Kelsey Reinhardt said the organization "joyfully celebrates" Burch's confirmation.

"For the past 17 years, Brian has faithfully championed CatholicVote’s mission to inspire American Catholics to live their faith in public life," she said. "We are confident that he will similarly excel in this new role and are forever grateful for the foundation he laid and the impact he had on millions of Catholics across the Nation.”

Burch’s confirmation had been in limbo for several months after Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz placed a blanket hold on all State Department nominees, making good on a pledge he made in protest of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Senate majority leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, filed cloture on Burch’s confirmation on July 31, putting an end to the delay. 

Burch’s nomination had been previously advanced by the Foreign Relations Committee, with the committee’s 12 Republicans voting in favor and 10 Democrats opposed. During his confirmation hearing, Burch faced questions on foreign aid cuts, the China-Vatican agreement, and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

At the time, Burch expressed his support for Rubio’s attempts at “recharging and refocusing our foreign aid on places that would make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.” He further pledged to encourage the Holy See to push back against the Chinese government’s intervention in the election of Catholic bishops.

On the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Burch said he believed the Holy See “can play a very significant role” in permanently ending the conflict and bringing about the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.

An estimated million young people gather in the outskirts of Rome for the Jubilee of Youth prayer vigil. Three of them ask him questions: about friendship, life choices, and encountering Jesus.

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Vatican City, Aug 2, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday offered heartfelt prayers for Pascale Rafic, a Jubilee of Youth pilgrim from Egypt who died in Rome.

According to the Holy See Press Office, the pope privately met with the group of pilgrims traveling with Rafic at the Vatican on Saturday morning to give spiritual comfort to the young people left shaken by the tragic event.

“All of a sudden, we are reminded in a very powerful way that our life is not superficial nor do we have control over our own lives nor do we know as Jesus himself says, neither the day nor the hour when for some reason our earthy life ends,” Leo told the young people from Egypt.

“And so in a certain way, as we celebrate this Jubilee Year of Hope,” he continued, “we are reminded in a very powerful way how much our faith in Jesus Christ needs to be part of who we are, of how we live, of how we appreciate and respect one another, and especially of how we continue to move forward in spite of such painful experiences.”

The Italian religious news service Agensir reported Aug. 2 the young woman died from cardiac arrest. 

Prior to his meeting with the pilgrim group, Pope Leo contacted Greek Melkite religious leader Bishop Jean-Marie Chami of the Patriarchate of Antioch to express his spiritual closeness with Rafic’s family and her community.

“The Holy Father assures all of his heartfelt prayers and invokes the Lord’s comfort and consolation upon Pascale’s family members, friends, and all of those who grieve her loss,” the Vatican statement read.

Speaking to the pilgrims traveling with Rafic, Pope Leo recalled that while it is natural and human to cry at the pain of someone dying — as Catholics, we have hope in the Resurrection.

“Our hope is in Jesus Christ who is risen,” he said. “And he calls all of us to renew our faith, calls all of us to be friends, brothers and sisters to one another, to support one another, and he says you too must be witnesses to that Gospel message. And for all of you it has touched your lives in a very personal and direct way today.”

Bishop Stefano Russo of Velletri-Segni expressed his condolences to Rafic’s family on behalf of the diocesan community who hosted Rafic in the town of Artena during her jubilee pilgrimage.

“A guest in our diocese, along with her group, on their way to Rome, Pascale left us in Christian hope, embraced by the Father’s mercy,” he said. “We are convinced of this, having accompanied her on the final leg of her earthly journey.”

“We pray for Pascale, her family, and her friends,” he said.

This story was updated Aug. 2, 2025, at 10:55 a.m. ET with Pope Leo XIV's words to the pilgrims from Egypt.

An important alliance has been signed to promote the conservation of cultural heritage and sustainable development in African countries. The innovative project will offer new opportunities for young local artisans and artists, helping to build stronger and more prosperous communities.

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CNA Staff, Aug 2, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

A federal district court on Friday ordered that a Colorado medical clinic run by two Catholic nurses can continue its abortion-pill reversal ministry, partially blocking a state law that had sought to ban the practice.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico said in his Friday ruling that Colorado’s abortion pill reversal ban interfered with the religious rights of nurses Dede Chism and Abby Sinnett.

The Catholic mother-daughter team runs the Denver-area Bella Health and Wellness clinic. Part of their services include administering the hormone progesterone that can counteract the effects of chemical abortions.

Colorado in 2023 banned abortion pill reversal alleging that it constitutes a “deceptive trade practice.” That same year the nurses sued the state over the ban, arguing that it impeded their religious beliefs and those of their clients.

Domenico in October 2023 issued a temporary block on the state’s ban. His ruling on Friday made the ban permanent.

It is “not disputed that by effectively prohibiting them from using a particular treatment for pregnant women, this law burdened [the nurses’] sincerely held religious beliefs,” the judge wrote in part.

And “while the clinical efficacy of abortion pill reversal remains debatable, nobody has been injured by the treatment and a number of women have successfully given birth after receiving it,” he said.

The state failed to show it had “a compelling interest in regulating this practice,” he ruled in making the injunction permanent.

The judge noted that Colorado in numerous other contexts allows “off-label” use of progesterone, The state, he said, did not provide compelling evidence that using progesterone to counteract an abortion pill “sets medication abortion reversal apart from other off-label uses of progesterone.”

Domenico said his ruling only prohibits action against the Bella clinic and does not impact the overall law itself.

In a press release from the religious liberty law firm Becket, which had represented the clinic in the suit, the nurses said the state “tried to deprive pregnant women of the life-affirming care that is best for them and their babies.”

“We are overjoyed that the court has recognized our constitutional right to continue offering this support to the many women who come to our clinic seeking help,” they said.

Becket attorney Rebekah Ricketts, meanwhile, said the ruling “ensures that pregnant women in Colorado will not be denied this compassionate care or be forced to have abortions against their will.”  

In addition to abortion pill reversal, the clinic also offers primary care, gynecology, infertility help, and surgery for women’s health, as well as pediatric care and men’s health care.

In this letter from Gaza, a young woman, displaced by Israeli bombings, who has found shelter in the compound of the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, reflects on how, despite the pain and fear her community is subjected to every day, their faith in God remains the only light that illuminates our dark paths.

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Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug 2, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Just a few meters from Immaculate Conception Cathedral in the Argentine city of La Plata stands the world’s largest mural dedicated to Pope Francis, painted by renowned artist Martín Ron. This work represented a great technical challenge and aims to be a message of peace, of union “between earth and heaven,” and — why not? — a place of prayer and pilgrimage.

Ron’s career spans both time and space, with more than two decades of painting and works that beautify cities around the world. In his native Argentina, a soccer-loving land par excellence, two of his most talked-about murals are those depicting star players Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, just a sample of the hundreds that bear his signature.

On July 26, in the presence of city officials and the archbishop of La Plata, Gustavo Carrara, a 50-meter-high (164-foot) mural depicting Pope Francis, another of the “popular idols” Ron was tasked with painting, was inaugurated and blessed.

“As muralists, beyond painting our own works, we are constantly identifying those figures that have a strong popular following,” because muralism “is still pop art,” the artist told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

“Painting them in these dimensions and contributing to enhancing the collective memory of these figures, especially in places where art doesn’t reach, is very important,” he said.

In the case of Francis, “beyond the fact that he’s the pope, who is the most important person in Argentina, and his position in the Catholic Church, he still has the imprint of a pop idol — although the word ‘idol’ is, in this case, in quotation marks — because he has that reach, he’s still a healthy pop idol,” he noted, because there’s something about these idols “that has to do with how they become incarnated in the culture.”

The great challenge

Located at the intersection of 54th and 14th Streets, the mural of Pope Francis completes the already imposing landscape of La Plata Cathedral. Painting it there was a request from the La Plata City Council and represented a major technical challenge.

Although he had complete freedom to choose an image that represented the recently deceased Argentine pontiff, the limitations had to do with the “hardest aspect of the project, which is the dimensions, the format of the wall, and the angles from which it will be viewed.”

“In this case, the path was quite clear, because it’s right next to the cathedral, it overlooks the plaza, and it’s very central. But the only limitation I had, which is what can sometimes filter out the best photos, is the particular format of this building. While tall, it’s very narrow: 50 meters by 5 meters [164 feet by 16 feet].”

This detail meant that in that place” maybe the best photo, the one with the best story to tell, isn’t compositionally suitable for the location.” The first requirement, then, was “to create a composition that gains height and progresses vertically to interpret it from the bottom up, or from the top down.”

“It’s the pope. One can fall into the commonplace of saying: ‘Well, Pope Francis, any photo will do, as long as he looks good in the photo, is photogenic, and we all recognize him.’ But it has to have something more; it has to tell a story,” he stated.

Knowing that the work ‘will transcend’

The chosen image was a well-known one from the first months of Francis’ pontificate, where he can be seen smiling and looking up, holding a dove in his hand as it begins to spread its wings.

“It’s a very tender photo. I think it’s one of the best. It’s very well known, and it says a lot because it connects with heaven, through all the symbolism of the dove within the Catholic faith,” he noted.

Furthermore, technically, “it solved the issue of verticality for me, because it begins with the cassock, the cross of the Good Shepherd, then the neck appears, the portrait, and then there’s the arm that emerges from the frame and reenters, and above it, a crown with the dove and the sky, which merges with the real sky. That’s it. In slang, we say we ‘nailed’ it.”

“When you have all those variables, you already know that the work will transcend, it will be talked about, and it will become a new landmark of the city of La Plata,” he summarized.

Ron said he anticipates that the mural will become a landmark in the city, “because of the power of the image, because it’s about who he is, because it’s the first, because it’s in such a central location, in Plaza Moreno, next to the cathedral,” he stated, emphasizing that “when things like this happen, you’re helping to generate new landmarks. There’s something else to see and discover in La Plata.”

A believer but not a practicing Christian, Ron said he felt it was a positive thing that his work “be crowned with a blessing,” because he believes that “beyond who paints it, the important thing is how it reaches people.”

“I’m the channel, the person responsible for a work, but when I sign it, the work belongs to the people,” he explained. “All of us artists who paint murals let go of the work,” he said, especially when traveling around the world, because “the place takes ownership of it, the people take ownership of it, and the artist may never see it again,” he explained. Therefore, each work “is like a gift, an opening.”

In this case, “the fact that a lot of things start happening around us, related to this personage, is the best thing that can happen, not only for me but for the people.”

“That the work is blessed and that, in the future, this even might become a place of pilgrimage, that for some it is an opportunity to be closer to the figure of Pope Francis, going to La Plata, going to the cathedral, saying a prayer, asking him for something there, would be fabulous.”

Francis transmits the peace the world needs

On a personal level, Ron noted that Pope Francis transmits peace to him. “He is a popular figure who made a certain symbolic rupture, by stripping away absolutely everything material.”

“Beyond his more political legacy, he is a person whom you listen to, and he transmits peace, beyond what he says, even from the look on his face,” he commented.

Therefore, “I wanted to capture that image, which, beyond the dove, is an image that greatly represents peace, and we need it at this time in the world,” he said.

Big turnout for the dedication 

The mural was inaugurated with a massive event attended by the mayor of La Plata, Julio Alak; representatives of the Catholic community; school representatives; members of political parties; and other institutions. In addition to artistic performances, the event included a blessing by the local archbishop, Gustavo Carrara.

“The city must be a place of encounter, of integration, where neighbors help each other walk together,” the prelate said, hoping “that the figure of Francis will inspire us in this city to work for a culture of encounter and inspire us on paths toward fraternity and social friendship.”

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