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ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 18, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Chiclayo is celebrating following the inauguration and blessing of a large statue of Pope Leo XIV, located in a central roundabout in the city. The statue now welcomes visitors to the northern Peruvian city where Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, served as bishop and apostolic administrator from 2014 to 2023.

The 16-foot white statue, standing atop a 6-foot pedestal, weighs half a ton and is made of fiberglass and resin. The statue was created by artist Juan Carlos Ñañake of Piura, Peru, who collaborated with six other artists over a three-month period.

“It has been an artistic and spiritual challenge. We wanted Pope Leo XIV to reflect serenity and approachability. His smile will welcome all who come to Chiclayo,” said the artist, according to the Andina news agency.

“This work symbolizes the gratitude of the people of Lambayeque to the Holy Father for his message of love, hope, and unity,” highlighted Félix Mío Sánchez, regional manager of foreign trade and tourism for the Peruvian government. The provincial municipality of Chiclayo also participated in the unveiling of the monumental sculpture.

The statue will be part of the Pope Leo tourist route.

The bishop of Chiclayo, Edinson Farfán, emphasized that “by blessing this sculpture, we renew our commitment to walk together: Church, state, institutions, and citizens under God’s gaze, to continue serving Pope Leo XIV with humility and generosity.”

“Our bishop emeritus is the pope of communion; may his example inspire our public and community actions, and may his witness remind us that governing and serving is also an act of love,” he added.

Jorge Pérez, governor of the Lambayeque region, highlighted that the image is also an act of thanksgiving “to one of our brothers, a Peruvian at heart, a Peruvian who walked with us and I am sure walks with us today through his prayers for the well-being of our people.”

Pope Leo XIV obtained Peruvian citizenship in 2015 and this year updated his information to obtain a new Peruvian ID. 

The Augustinian friar spent more than 20 years in Peru, serving in Chulucanas and Trujillo, and eventually as the bishop of Chiclayo.

The mayor of Chiclayo, Janet Cubas Carranza, also thanked Pope Leo XIV “for having put Chiclayo on the world map.”

The unveiling of the statue last week included the traditional northern marinera dance, a performance by Donnie Yaipén, who played his song “La Cumbia del Papa,” a fireworks display, and the inaugural lighting of the sculpture of the first American and Peruvian pope.

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

Archbishop Luis Argüello, the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), says Pope Leo XIV is aware of the ongoing investigation into Bishop Rafael Zornoza of Cádiz and Ceuta, and that his resignation “may be accepted soon” by the pontiff.

Vatican City, Nov 18, 2025 / 05:00 am (CNA).

Nov. 18 is celebrated in the Catholic Church as the feast day of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul. Here are three things to know about the historical, architectural, and spiritual significance of these two papal basilicas:

1. Historical significance of the Nov. 18 feast day 

In the fourth century, the world’s first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine, commissioned the construction of two separate basilicas over the burial sites of St. Peter and St. Paul to enable the public veneration of the two great apostles, martyrs, and evangelizers of Rome.

After Christianity was legalized in the Roman Empire following the Edict of Milan issued by Constantine in 313, construction of the first Basilica of St. Peter began in 319 and was consecrated by Pope Sylvester on Nov. 18, 326. Historical records indicate that Sylvester consecrated the first basilica built by Constantine dedicated to the apostle St. Paul on Nov. 19 around the year 330.

The masses of pilgrims who came to pray at the tombs of the “Prince of the Apostles” and the “Apostle to the Gentiles” required constant repairs, renovations, and expansion of the two basilicas built by Constantine.

In 1506, Pope Julius II ordered the demolition of the original basilica dedicated to St. Peter to construct the second Basilica of St. Peter, which still stands today. Pope Urban VIII solemnly consecrated the magnificent Basilica of St. Peter 120 years later on Nov. 18, 1626.

Over the centuries the basilica dedicated to St. Paul underwent several renovations and two major reconstructions. The current Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls is the third basilica built above the apostle’s burial site. In 1854 — after the great fire of 1823 and over 30 years of construction work — Pius IX consecrated the newly-built basilica and fixed Nov. 18 as its commemoration date.

2. Architectural significance of the two basilicas 

With histories that span nearly two millennia, both the Basilica of St. Peter and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls bear the marks of changing architectural designs dating back from the Paleo-Christian period to the present day.

The world-famous 16th-century Basilica of St. Peter, visited by millions of tourists and pilgrims yearly, took more than 100 years to construct and was heavily influenced by Western artistic styles of the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Designed by the Italian architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the 94-foot-tall bronze canopy, known as the baldacchino, is a Baroque masterpiece that towers above the central altar and stands directly above the tomb of St. Peter. To highlight the primacy of Peter among the apostles, the baldacchino features sculptures of cherubs holding the papal tiara as well as the “keys to the kingdom of heaven,” which Jesus entrusted to St. Peter and his successors. Bernini also designed the keyhole shape of St. Peter’s Square.

Throughout its history, the Roman basilica dedicated to St. Paul was a testimony to the Catholic Church’s ancient past. Before the 1823 fire, the basilica housed artworks and historical artifacts from the Paleo-Christian, Byzantine, Renaissance, and Baroque periods.

Reconstructed to be identical to the basilica destroyed by fire, the art and architecture of St. Paul Outside the Walls has taken its inspiration from different architectural styles dating back from the 11th century to contemporary designs of the 21st century.

The Holy Door of this major basilica was designed by Enrico Manfrini in preparation for the 2000 Jubilee Year. Inside this door stands the Byzantine door, created in 1070, depicting scenes of the life of Christ and the first Christians.

3. Spiritual significance of the two basilicas 

The burial sites of the two patron saints of Rome remain significant places of pilgrimage for Christians.

St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Paul Outside the Walls, two of the four papal basilicas of Rome, are visited by millions of tourists for their historical, architectural, and artistic importance. For Christian pilgrims, the two major basilicas hold a greater spiritual significance that links their faith in Jesus and his Church to two of its most faithful apostles who led the way for Christians throughout the ages through their teachings and witness.

On the June 29, 2024, solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Francis invited all of the Catholic faithful to imitate their example and “open the doors” of the Church during the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. 

“The jubilee will be a time of grace, during which we will open the Holy Door so that everyone may cross the threshold of that ‘living sanctuary’ who is Jesus,” the Holy Father said in his homily.

The Holy Door in the Basilica of St. Peter opened on Christmas Eve 2024 to usher in the jubilee year and the Holy Door of St. Paul Outside the Walls opened on Jan. 5, 2025. The former wil close on Jan. 6, 2026, and the latter will close on Dec. 28, 2025.

This story was first published on Nov. 18, 2024, and has been updated.

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CNA Staff, Nov 18, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Nov. 18 the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, a French religious sister who came to the United States as a missionary in the 1800s. 

Rose was born on Aug. 29, 1769, in Grenoble, France. On the day of her baptism, she received the names Philip, honoring the apostle, and Rose, honoring St. Rose of Lima. She was educated at the Convent of the Visitation of Ste. Marie d’en Haut and became drawn to contemplative life. At the age of 18, she became a novice at the convent. 

During the revolution in France, Rose’s community was dispersed and she ended up returning to her family home. After the Concordat of 1801, she tried to rebuild her community’s monastery but was unable to do so. 

In 1804, Rose heard of a new congregation — the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She became a novice in the society that same year. 

Despite her great desire for contemplative life, Rose also felt a calling for missionary work. 

In a letter she wrote to Mother Madeleine Sophie Barat, the foundress of the society, Rose described an experience she had during adoration: “I spent the entire night in the New World ... carrying the Blessed Sacrament to all parts of the land ... I had all my sacrifices to offer: a mother, sisters, family, my mountain! When you say to me ‘now I send you,’ I will respond quickly, ‘I go.’”

In 1818, Rose was finally sent to do missionary work. Bishop Louis William Valentine DuBourg, the St. Louis area’s first bishop, was looking for a congregation of educators to help him evangelize the children of the diocese. At St. Charles, near St. Louis, Rose founded the first house of the society outside of France.

That same year, Rose and four other sisters opened the first free school for Native American children in the United States. By 1828 Rose had founded six schools.

The saint once said: “You may dazzle the mind with a thousand brilliant discoveries of natural science; you may open new worlds of knowledge which were never dreamed of before; yet, if you have not developed in the soul of the pupil strong habits of virtue, which will sustain her in the struggle of life, you have not educated her.”

Rose always carried a desire to serve Native Americans. In 1841, at the age of 71, she established a school for Potawatomi girls in Sugar Creek, Kansas. She spent a year with the Potawatomi, spending much of her time in prayer because she was unable to help with much of the physical work. They gave her the name “Quah-kah-ka-num-ad,” which means “woman who is always praying.”

In 1842, Rose returned to St. Charles and died there on Nov. 18, 1852, at the age of 83. She was declared a saint by Pope John Paul II on July 3, 1988, and is buried at the Shrine of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne in St. Charles, Missouri.

This story was first published on Nov. 18, 2024, and has been updated.

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