Blessed Carlo Acutis (left) and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. / Credit: Diocese of Assisi/Public domain via Wikimedia Commons Vatican City, Jun 13, 2025 / 04:42 am (CNA). The Vatican announced Friday that Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, two young Catholics beloved for their vibrant faith and witness to holiness, will be canonized together on Sept. 7.The date was set during the first ordinary public consistory of cardinals of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate, held June 13 at the Apostolic Palace. Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15, will become the first millennial to be declared a saint by the Catholic Church.Acutis’ canonization had originally been scheduled for April 27 during the Vatican’s Jubilee of Teenagers. That ceremony was postponed following the death of Pope Francis on April 21. Despite the change, thousands of young pilgrims from around the world who had traveled to Rome for Acutis’ canonization attended the late

Pope Leo XIV meets with priests of Rome in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Thursday, June 12, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media Vatican City, Jun 12, 2025 / 09:22 am (CNA). The priests of Rome met for the first time on Thursday with their new bishop, Pope Leo XIV, to whom they are looking for greater leadership and fatherly care after several years of administrative disruption.“We are very hopeful; you perceive a lot of enthusiasm, anyway, whether from brother priests or from the people of God,” the 32-year-old newly ordained Father Simone Troilo told CNA this month. “The fact that he even set this meeting [with priests] as a priority a little more than a month after his election … is a very important sign as well.”The pope is not only the head of the universal Catholic Church, but he is also the bishop of the Diocese of Rome, though he does not manage the diocese like a typical diocesan bishop. A cardinal vicar general, vice regent (deputy), and

The Institute for the Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican Bank. / Credit: Andrea Gagliarducci/CNA Vatican City, Jun 11, 2025 / 15:48 pm (CNA). The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR, by its Italian acronym), popularly known as the Vatican Bank — a small financial institution with just over 100 employees founded by Pope Pius XII in 1942 — obtained a net profit of 32.8 million euros (about $37.7 million) in 2024, compared with 30.6 million euros (about $35.1 million) in 2023.As indicated in the annual report published Wednesday by the Holy See Press Office, the net profit of 32.8 million euros represents a 7% increase compared with 2023.This result, according to the report, is due to growth in interest income (+5.8%), commission income (+13.2%), and brokerage income (+3.6%), along with other measures implemented to ensure strict cost control.The report also included information on the profits redistributed to the pope and to other Holy See budget it

A group of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square. / Credit: EWTN News Vatican City, Jun 11, 2025 / 11:32 am (CNA). “Rome ’25-the Way of St. James ’27-Jerusalem ’33” is the name of an initiative led by young people who, through pilgrimages, evangelization, and healing, aim to “restore the soul of Europe.”The initiative encourages young Christians from across the continent to open up a pathway to faith and hope for a new European generation in preparation for the Jubilee of Redemption, which will be celebrated in 2033.“It’s not just about making the pilgrimage but about rediscovering God and our Christian identity, walking the pilgrim paths of Europe with a new, courageous, and joyful perspective,” the young people stated in a press release issued by the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, one of the promoters of the initiative.Young Christians in Europe ‘raising their voices’In this way, young Christians in Eu

Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims from the back of a pickup style popemobile before his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on June 11, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA Vatican City, Jun 11, 2025 / 05:50 am (CNA). Pope Leo XIV reflected on Christian hope — one of the three theological virtues, along with faith and charity — during his general audience on Wednesday. “There is no cry that God does not hear, even when we are unaware that we are addressing him,” the pope said, illustrating this idea with the story of Bartimaeus, described in the Gospel of Mark as a blind beggar who encountered Jesus as he was leaving Jericho. Pope Leo explained that this story helps us understand that “we must never abandon hope, even when we feel lost.” The Holy Father today spoke on the healings performed by Jesus and invited Catholics to bring before the heart of Christ their “most wounded or fragile parts” or those areas of lif