Pope Leo XIV on war in Iran:
"I think this has already been made very clear: the notion of a just war no longer applies. The problem is that just war theory developed in centuries when no one could have imagined the weapons we have today or humanity's capacity for destruction."
San Antonio's Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco have arrived for Game 1 of the NBA Finals at the Frost Bank Center.
The 'Spurs nuns' have gone viral ever since fans began seeing their presence at home playoff games as a sort of divine lucky charm.
At the Wednesday general audience at the Vatican on June 3, Pope Leo XIV called Catholics to be open to an “encounter with God by rediscovering the signs and symbols of the sacred liturgy.”
“We need to let ourselves be educated by the rites of the liturgy, tending to the beauty of our celebrations with a delicate hand and without arbitrariness,” Leo said to the faithful.
Leoʼs remarks were part of his catechesis on the liturgy, focusing on the Second Vatican Councilʼs document Sacrosanctum Concilium. In his remarks, the pope explained the councilʼs teaching about participation in the liturgy through its signs and symbols.
“In the liturgy, we are invited to participate — body, mind, and heart — and enter into a dimension inhabited by the Holy Spirit. In order to enter into this dimension, the liturgy is woven with signs and symbols that have a performative and transformative dimension,” Leo said.
He also called on Catholics to recall the meaning of the various gestures associated with the liturgy, such as the sign of peace and kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament. He explained that these symbols and signs are not arbitrary gestures, but are important for helping Catholics experience “the presence of God through Jesus Christ.”
“The rites of the Christian liturgy are not an outward covering of the sacramental mystery or a set of arbitrary ceremonies,” Leo said. “Rather, they are the ecclesial mediation through which the divine gift reaches us. Through the sacred rite, we are thus formed in listening to the Word of God, in thanksgiving and adoration, in fraternal sharing, and in ecclesial communion.”
In an appeal at the end of the general audience, Leo invited Catholics to bear public witness to the mystery of the Eucharist during the upcoming eucharistic processions for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.
“The processions with the Blessed Sacrament that take place in the streets of many towns are an expression of popular eucharistic piety; in this regard, I encourage you to keep alive this beautiful manifestation of public witness to the faith,” Leo said.
He also gave a special greeting to priests serving in the Middle East amid continuing armed conflicts in the region.
https://t.co/Bv8mpI81sV
During his address to representatives of the Pontifical Mission Societies, Pope Leo XIV invites the entire Church to participate in World Mission Sunday and recalls longtime PMS director in the United States, Venerable Fulton Sheen, who will be beatified in September, as a "light of faith and hope in the Gospel," noting: "I myself am a witness of his evangelization when I was growing up."
https://t.co/2nr614hqAm
To close the month of Mary, Pope Leo XIV prays a Rosary for peace at the Grotto of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens, urging everyone to make the daily commitment to achieve peace, which is “possible when we choose to listen to the cry of those deprived of it.”
https://t.co/emyQS4dE0V