Prince of Peace Parish

Father Mattia Ferrari, coordinator of the World Meeting of Popular Movements (EMMP), speaks to Vatican News, as the network and its members prepares to gather in Rome for their fifth world meeting, which will include an audience with Pope Leo.

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Cardinal Pietro Parolin celebrates a thanksgiving Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the canonisation of Venezuela’s first two saints, José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros and Maria Carmen Rendiles Martínez.

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Pope Leo XIV meets with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia in the Vatican, and during subsequent discussions in the Secretariat of State, the Prime Minister and Cardinal Parolin addressed "the need for a stable and lasting peace in the South Caucasus."

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Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims, in Rome for the recent canonisation of seven new saints, describing them signs of hope and examples for all faithful.

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The Episcopal Justice and Peace Commission recently issued the document, “A Political Guide for National Dialogue,” which contains concrete proposals for reforms of the State, the electoral system, natural resource policies, economic inclusion, and national reconciliation, aiming to strengthen democracy, social justice, and lasting peace in Mozambique.

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Pope Leo XIV gives several recommendations to future priests when addressing in the Vatican the Pontifical Portuguese College in Rome, and also thanks the religious sisters who assist, suggesting that the sense of motherhood they offer is precious.

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Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, makes a visit to several structures of the Apostolic Prefecture of Azerbaijan.

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Despite ongoing suffering, more than 1,500 children of Myanmar's Archdiocese of Yangon celebrate World Mission Sunday, with a call by Myanmar's Cardinal Charles Maung Bo to love the Lord like the recently-canonized young Saint Carlo Acutis and to be missionaries full of faith and joy despite all the difficulties.

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Vatican City, Oct 19, 2025 / 08:15 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV proclaimed seven new saints on Sunday before an estimated 70,000 people in St. Peter’s Square, including the first saints from Venezuela and Papua New Guinea and a former Satanist who underwent a dramatic conversion to become an “apostle of the rosary.”

“Today we have before us seven witnesses, the new saints, who with God’s grace kept the lamp of faith burning,” Pope Leo XIV said in his homily on Oct. 19. “Indeed, they themselves became lamps capable of spreading the light of Christ.”

“May their intercession assist us in our trials and their example inspire us in our shared vocation to holiness,” he said.

The canonization Mass unfolded under a bright Roman sun, with Venezuelan flags waving across the square as the pope declared two of the country’s beloved figures saints: St. José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros, known as “the doctor of the poor,” and St. María del Carmen Rendiles Martínez, a religious sister born without her left arm who went on to found the Servants of Jesus in Caracas in 1965.

Among the new saints were also two martyrs. St. Peter To Rot, a lay catechist martyred in Papua New Guinea during the Japanese occupation in World War II, became the country’s first saint. To Rot defied Japanese authorities who permitted polygamy, defending Christian marriage until his death.

St. Ignatius Maloyan, an Armenian Catholic archbishop, was executed during the Armenian genocide after refusing to convert to Islam. “I consider the shedding of my blood for my faith to be the sweetest desire of my heart,” Maloyan said before his death. “If I am tortured for the love of him who died for me, I will be among those who will have joy and bliss, and I will have obtained to see my Lord and my God.”

After the crowd prayed the Litany of the Saints, Pope Leo XIV pronounced the canonization formula in Latin, greeted by enthusiastic cheers.

Among the most well known of the new saints is St. Bartolo Longo, a 19th-century Italian lawyer who abandoned his Catholic faith for Satanism before returning to the Church with zeal. After his conversion, Longo dedicated his life to promoting the rosary and built the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, now one of Italy’s most beloved Marian pilgrimage sites.

In his homily, Pope Leo XIV said that “what is most precious in the Lord’s eyes” is “faith, namely, the bond of love between God and man.”

“Our relationship with God is of the utmost importance because at the beginning of time he created all things out of nothing and, at the end of time, he will save mortal beings from nothingness,” the pope said. “A world without faith, then, would be populated by children living without a Father, that is, by creatures without salvation.”

Three women were also declared saints. In addition to Venezuela’s St. María del Carmen Rendiles Martínez, the Italian foundress St. Vincenza Maria Poloni was also canonized. Poloni founded the Sisters of Mercy of Verona and is remembered for her tireless service to the poor, including at the risk of her life during the cholera epidemic of 1836.

Pope Leo also canonized St. Maria Troncatti, an Italian Salesian sister who spent 44 years as a missionary among the Indigenous Shuar people in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest. Known affectionately as “Madrecita,” or “little mother,” she served as a nurse, surgeon, and catechist with missionary zeal.

The canonization coincided with World Mission Sunday. Before praying the Angelus, Pope Leo XIV, who was once an Augustinian missionary himself in Peru, urged the faithful to pray for today’s missionaries.

“The Church is entirely missionary, but today we pray especially for those men and women who left everything to bring the Gospel to those who do not know it. They are missionaries of hope among the people. May the Lord bless them,” he said.

The pope also made a heartfelt plea for peace, expressing sorrow over renewed violence in Myanmar.

“The news coming from Myanmar is sadly distressing,” he said. “I renew my heartfelt appeal for an immediate and effective ceasefire. May the instruments of war give way to those of peace through inclusive and constructive dialogue.”

Pope Leo XIV entrusted his prayer for peace to the intercession of the new saints, praying in particular for the Holy Land, Ukraine, and other places of conflict.

“May God grant all leaders wisdom and perseverance to advance in the search for a just and lasting peace,” he said.

ACI Africa, Oct 19, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Children from across Africa, including those in countries experiencing persecution and instability, joined their peers in the “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” campaign held on Oct. 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

The campaign by Catholic Pontifical and charity foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International is a global prayer initiative inspired by St. Pio of Pietrelcina’s vision of children changing the world through prayer.



In Mozambique, a southern African country weighed down by insurgency against Christians, some children prayed the rosary for the first time in their lives.

One of the testimonies shared with ACN from a parish in Mozambique’s Diocese of Lichinga recounted how the community brought together 100 young people to pray for peace in their country and beyond.

The testimony stated: “The children were very interested … We had met with them twice before, to prepare them. Many of the children didn’t know about the rosary or had never prayed it, so the initiative was the first of many opportunities to pray the rosary with them in the future.”

Nigeria’s Diocese of Jalingo also wrote to ACN explaining that the children of their diocese also joined in the prayer campaign, which was held in parishes, chaplaincies, and pastoral areas across the diocese.

“We also added Holy Hour adoration to the Blessed Sacrament as pilgrims of hope among the peoples. May God hear our prayers and grant us unity and peace in our troubled world,” the message from Jalingo said.

According to statistics gathered by ACN, almost 500,000 children from 111 countries were officially registered online by Oct. 8.

ACN estimated that many more participated in the campaign, saying: “Previous experience shows that many groups, families, and individuals around the world take part in the campaign without registering online, so the full number is likely to far exceed that.”

This initiative began in 2005 in Caracas, Venezuela, when a group of children praying the rosary sparked inspiration for a worldwide movement. Today, it connects millions of young believers across continents.

“Inspired by the words of St. Padre Pio, who believed that “when 1 million children pray the rosary, the world will change,” the campaign has grown into a significant spiritual movement, drawing participation from schools, parishes, and families across continents,” ACN said.

In this year’s campaign, Poland was the country with the most participants, totaling over 86,000, followed by Brazil with almost 50,000.  

The United States is said to have doubled its official participation this year, reaching 22,000.

ACN said that despite more modest numbers, the participation of countries such as Liberia or Algeria, with 100 participants each, “show the global reach of this campaign.”

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