We Are Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish

The Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Mexico City, Monsignor Francisco Javier Acero, issues an appeal to political authorities and all sectors of society to engage in dialogue and cooperate in locating the thousands of people who have gone missing in recent decades amid rising criminal violence.

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Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for officials of the Roman Curia on the Jubilee of the Holy See, and recalls that the Apostolic See draws its fruitfulness from Jesus Christ and the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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At one month since his election to the papacy May 8, Pope Leo XIV has so far demonstrated a continuity with his predecessor, Pope Francis, while also carving out his own personal style characterized by balance and a sense of calm in decision-making.

In the context of the celebrations of the Jubilee Year, on 9 June, the Roman Curia, Apostolic Nuncios, and the Governorate gathered at St Peters’ in Rome for their celebration. Ahead of this event, the Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, Archbishop José Avelino Bettencourt, spoke to Vatican News. He offers some insights related to hope in today’s world context.

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Images of artwork created by a disgraced celebrity cleric accused of serial sexual and other abuse have disappeared from official Vatican Media websites without explanation.

Mike Pothier of the Southern Africa Bishops’ Conference says that “to ignore the reality of race/color” in the country’s social and political development “would mostly serve white interests.

The Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, speaks to Vatican News following his first audience with Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican, reflecting on "the very consoling encounter, full of prayer," and reflects on the dramatic situation in the war-torn country.

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Vatican City, Jun 8, 2025 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

Traveling more than 10,000 miles to take part in this weekend’s Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations, and New Communities, Sister Therese Mills, MGL, spoke to CNA of her great joy as she joined tens of thousands of other pilgrims in Rome.

A leader of the Missionaries of God’s Love Sisters, a charismatic Catholic group founded in Australia in 1987, Mills said her pilgrimage to Rome during the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope has been a time of refreshment and renewal.

She described the “amazing” experience of walking through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, the first day of the special jubilee dedicated to new Catholic movements and associations.  

Mills recalled “just opening my hands and just praying that the Lord would refresh and renew my heart and refresh and renew my faith.”

“The thing that blew me away — and what I loved the most — was we were all on this journey together but everyone was speaking and praying in different languages,” she shared with CNA on Pentecost Sunday.

Mills called her visit to the Blessed Sacrament chapel inside the papal basilica a “God moment” that she will not forget.

“I just sat before Jesus and bawled my eyes out to be honest,” she said with a laugh. “I was very overwhelmed with his love … the gift of being with him in this place, and with the universal Church.”

The approximately 70,000 pilgrims participating in the weekend jubilee had the opportunity to explore different churches in Rome and attend music and entertainment events organized by various ecclesial groups.

A few of the hundreds of new Catholic associations taking part in the June jubilee included the Neocatechumenal Way, Catholic Action, Communion and Liberation, the Catholic Shalom Community, the Community of Sant’Egidio, the Focolare Movement, and CHARIS International.

During his homily at the Vigil Mass, Pope Leo described the new and diverse Church communities gathered around him as “the fruits of the Second Vatican Council” who are “grounded in the one Lord Jesus Christ” entrusted with “a single mission.”

Mills attended both Pope Leo’s Pentecost Masses — the Vigil on Saturday night and one on Sunday morning. 

“I really love being part of a universal Church, being united as one, and coming together to pray for the Spirit,” Mills said.

In the days leading up to the official jubilee festivities, Mills undertook a pilgrimage to holy sites in Rome linked to patron saints of her Australian-based community, including St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and St. Catherine of Siena.

The first Missionaries of God’s Love Sisters household was formed in the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn in 1988. Since then, the religious sisters have lived and ministered in the Australian cities of Adelaide, Darwin, Melbourne, and Sydney, and led outreach missions around the country and in other Asia-Pacific nations, including Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

CNA Newsroom, Jun 8, 2025 / 12:05 pm (CNA).

Follow our live coverage of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, first U.S.-born pope in history.

Vatican City, Jun 8, 2025 / 08:42 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the solemnity of Pentecost in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday with international pilgrims belonging to new Church movements, associations, and communities celebrating this year’s Jubilee Year of Hope in Rome.

Emphasizing the significance of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian, the Holy Father noted that it is the third person of the Blessed Trinity who anoints, heals, and strengthens followers of Jesus to “open borders” in hearts, in relationships with others, and between nations.

“Let us invoke the Spirit of love and peace, that he may open borders, break down walls, dispel hatred, and help us to live as children of our one Father who is in heaven,” the pope said on a hot Sunday morning.

“Brothers and sisters, Pentecost renews the Church and the world!” he said. “May the strong wind of the Spirit come upon us and within us, open the borders of our hearts, grant us the grace of encounter with God, enlarge the horizons of our love and sustain our efforts to build a world in which peace reigns.”

Approximately 70,000 people from more than 100 countries registered to take part in this year’s special Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations, and New Communities taking place over the June 7–8 weekend in Rome.

Celebrating Sunday Mass alongside cardinals, bishops, and other priests wearing red vestments to represent the fire of the Holy Spirit who descended upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Father invited those gathered in St. Peter’s Square and along Via della Conciliazione to also reflect on the words of his papal predecessors. 

“The Spirit opens borders... The Church must always become anew what she already is,” the pope said, quoting Benedict XVI. “She must open the borders between peoples and break down the barriers between class and race.” 

During his homily, Pope Leo reiterated Pope Francis’ pleas for the end of ongoing violence, including femicide, creating “much discord” and “such great division” in the world.

“The Spirit breaks down barriers and tears down the walls of indifference and hatred because he ‘teaches us all things’ and ‘reminds us of Jesus’ words,” he said, reflecting on the Gospel of St. John. 

“Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for ‘security’ zones separating us from our neighbors, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms,” he added.

The pope also prayed to God for his gift of unity and fraternity in the world.

Before concluding the celebration of the Mass with the Regina Coeli prayer in Latin, the Holy Father thanked his brother cardinals, bishops, and all representatives of ecclesial associations, movements, and new communities in Rome for their presence and witness of faith.

“Dear sisters and brothers, with the strength of the Holy Spirit, set out renewed from this jubilee of yours. Go and bring to everyone the hope of the Lord Jesus!” he said. “May the Spirit of the risen Christ open paths of reconciliation wherever there is war; may he enlighten governments and give them the courage to make gestures of de-escalation and dialogue.”