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This is Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of July

Pope Leo XIV prays with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for his general audience on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

CNA Staff, Jul 3, 2025 / 16:50 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of July is for formation in discernment.

“Let us pray that we might again learn how to discern, to know how to choose paths of life and reject everything that leads us away from Christ and the Gospel,” the pope said in a video released July 3.

The Holy Father offered the faithful a prayer to guide them in learning how to discern. In the prayer he also encourages Catholics to call upon the Holy Spirit to help inform their decisions.

According to a press release, this month’s video was made in collaboration with the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, and DeSales Media, a diocesan organization that specializes in communication and media.

“In the rush of daily life, we must learn to pause and create sacred moments for prayer,” said Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn in the press release. “It is in these quiet spaces of attentive listening that we discover which paths truly matter and find the discernment to choose what truly leads to joy that comes only from God.”

Here is Pope Leo’s full prayer for discernment:

Holy Spirit, you, light of our understanding,
gentle breath that guides our decisions,
grant me the grace to listen attentively to your voice
and to discern the hidden paths of my heart,
so that I may grasp what truly matters to you,
and free my heart from its troubles.

I ask you for the grace to learn how to pause,
to become aware of the way I act,
of the feelings that dwell within me,
and of the thoughts that overwhelm me
which, so often, I fail to notice.

I long for my choices
to lead me to the joy of the Gospel.
Even if I must go through moments of doubt and fatigue,
even if I must struggle, reflect, search, and begin again…
Because, at the end of the journey,
your consolation is the fruit of the right decision.

Grant me a deeper understanding of what moves me,
so that I may reject what draws me away from Christ,

and love him and serve him more fully.

Amen.

The video prayer intention is promoted by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which raises awareness of monthly papal prayer intentions.

Pope Leo XIV speaks about war with visiting children from Ukraine

Pope Leo XIV receives a drawing from a girl participating in the “Estate Ragazzi in Vatican” summer camp on July 3, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 3, 2025 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV visited the Paul VI Hall on Thursday to meet with about 310 children and adolescents participating in the “Estate Ragazzi in Vaticano” (summer camp for kids at the Vatican).

In addition, another 300 children and adolescents from Ukraine, hosted by Caritas Italy during the summer, participated in the encounter with Pope Leo XIV.

Pope Leo XIV meets with children and adolescents participating in the “Estate Ragazzi in Vatican” summer camp on July 3, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV meets with children and adolescents participating in the “Estate Ragazzi in Vatican” summer camp on July 3, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media

This is the sixth edition of this summer camp for the children of employees of the Holy See. The theme this year is “When the Other Person Is Everything.”

On July 3, shortly before noon, at the end of the audiences, the Holy Father continued with the tradition of visiting these little ones. He was received by the summer camp volunteers and later he spoke with the children, responding to some questions.

As he spoke with them, the pope shared some memories from his childhood, such as attending Mass, where he met other children and friends, but above all “the best friend of all, Jesus,” the Holy See said in a statement.

Pope Leo XIV receives a drawing from a participant in the “Estate Ragazzi in Vatican” summer camp on July 3, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV receives a drawing from a participant in the “Estate Ragazzi in Vatican” summer camp on July 3, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media

The pontiff also spoke about diversity and acceptance, and offered a few words of welcome in English to the Ukrainian children, emphasizing that “it’s important to respect one another, look beyond differences, to build bridges, create friendship; we can all be friends, brothers, sisters.”

Responding to a question about war, he explained that even from a young age, it is necessary to learn to be builders of peace and friendship, to not get into wars or conflicts, and to never promote hatred or envy.

He noted that “Jesus calls us all to be friends” and advised the children to “learn from a young age to have mutual respect, to see the other person as someone like myself.”

Pope Leo XIV meets with Ukrainian children who were welcomed by Caritas Italy during the summer on July 3, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV meets with Ukrainian children who were welcomed by Caritas Italy during the summer on July 3, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media

The children and adolescents offered the Holy Father some gifts they had made during the summer camp as well as drawings and artwork made by the Ukrainian children and adolescents.

At the end of the encounter, after taking group photos with them, Pope Leo XIV invited them to pray the Hail Mary together and gave his blessing to all those present.

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

Cardinal Fernández says judges selected to hear Rupnik sexual abuse trial

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, speaks during a press conference about a new Vatican document on human dignity on April 8, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Jul 3, 2025 / 13:02 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said Thursday that judges have been selected to hear the trial of Father Marko Rupnik, a former Jesuit accused of sexual abuse against women.

The cardinal told journalists that the judges chosen are “independent and external” to the dicastery but did not indicate when the Slovenian priest’s trial is set to take place in the Vatican.

“The idea was, if possible, to eliminate the idea that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith or the Holy See had any interest or were subjected to pressure,” he said.

Rupnik, whose religious artworks can be found in shrines and churches around the world, has been accused by at least a dozen women, mostly former nuns, of sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse that reportedly occurred over the past three decades.

In May 2019, the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith launched a criminal administrative process against Rupnik after the Society of Jesus reported credible complaints of abuse by the priest to the Vatican.

One year later, the congregation declared Rupnik to be in a state of “latae sententiae” excommunication in May 2020. His excommunication lasted only two weeks.

The Society of Jesus subsequently expelled Rupnik from the religious congregation in June 2023 for his “stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience.”

Since allegations of abuse against Rupnik first became public in 2018, several Church leaders and Catholic groups around the world have increasingly called for the removal of sacred art created by the former Jesuit.

On March 31, the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France announced its decision to cover Rupnik mosaics found at the entrances to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary.   

The Dicastery for Communication, meanwhile, removed digital images of Rupnik’s art from its Vatican News website on June 9. 

The changes came days after Pope Leo met with members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors on June 5.

The Holy Father also met with Cardinal Seán O’Malley, president of the Vatican body commissioned with safeguarding vulnerable adults and children, within the first week of his pontificate on May 14.

In June 2024, O’Malley sent a letter to the dicasteries of the Roman Curia expressing hope that “pastoral prudence would prevent displaying artwork in a way that could imply either exoneration or a subtle defense” of those accused of abuse.

“We must avoid sending a message that the Holy See is oblivious to the psychological distress that so many are suffering,” O’Malley wrote in a letter to Curia leaders last year.

Vatican hopes new Mass prayers will renew care for God’s creation

Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ (right), leads a press conference announcing the Mass for the Care of Creation at the Vatican on Thursday, July 3, 2025. / Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

Vatican City, Jul 3, 2025 / 12:18 pm (CNA).

The Vatican on Thursday presented new Mass prayers and biblical readings to be used to support the Church’s appreciation for God’s creation.

The “Mass for the Care of Creation,” inspired by Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si’, has prayers and Mass readings designed “to ask God for the ability to care for creation,” Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, said at a July 3 presentation.

“With this Mass, the Church is offering liturgical, spiritual, and communal support for the care we all need to exercise of nature, our common home. Such service is indeed a great act of faith, hope, and charity,” the cardinal added.

The “Mass for the Care of Creation” is part of the Catholic Church’s Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions. It can be celebrated on a weekday when other liturgical celebrations do not take precedence.

The Vatican published the “formulary” of the Mass, which includes options for biblical readings and the formulas of prayers recited by the priest: the entrance antiphon, collect, prayer over the offerings, Communion antiphon, and prayer after Communion.

Czerny said Pope Leo XIV will celebrate a private Mass using the new prayer formulas in Castel Gandolfo on July 9. The Mass will be for employees of the Borgo Laudato Si’ initiative, which aims to put into practice the principles for integral development outlined in Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’.

The formulary of the “Mass of Care for Creation” is part of a group of Masses that can be said for various civil needs, such as for the country, for the blessing of human labor, for planting and for harvest time, in time of war, and after a natural disaster.

According to Bishop Vittorio Francesco Viola, OFM, secretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, bishops’ conferences can indicate a day for the Mass to be celebrated if they wish.

Viola also noted that “the theme of creation is already present in the liturgy,” but the Mass for the Care of Creation helps emphasize what Pope Francis wrote in paragraph 66 of Laudato Si’, that “human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbor, and with the earth itself.”

The Vatican’s liturgy dicastery was responsible for the new Mass formulary, requested by Francis and approved by Leo, but Czerny said the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity were also happy to collaborate on the project.

“Sacred Scripture exhorts humankind to contemplate the mystery of creation and to give endless thanks to the Holy Trinity for this sign of his benevolence, which, like a precious treasure, is to be loved, cherished, and simultaneously advanced as well as handed down from generation to generation,” the divine worship dicastery’s decree states.

“At this time it is evident that the work of creation is seriously threatened because of the irresponsible use and abuse of the goods God has endowed to our care,” it continues. “This is why it is considered appropriate to add a Mass formulary ‘pro custodia creationis’” to the Roman Missal.

Vatican downplays leaked documents on Latin Mass

The Confiteor at a Traditional Latin Mass. / Credit: James Bradley, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Jul 3, 2025 / 09:15 am (CNA).

A Vatican spokesman has played down the significance of recently leaked Vatican documents that appear to cast doubt on Pope Francis’ rationale for restricting the Latin Mass, calling the documents “partial and incomplete.”

The documents appear to show that bishops had a more favorable outlook on the Traditional Latin Mass than Pope Francis suggested when he issued controversial restrictions on its celebration in 2021.

Vatican journalist Diane Montagna published two excerpts from an internal Vatican report on a global consultation of bishops in a Substack newsletter July 1. The publication of the texts has sparked renewed controversy over Francis’ decision to restrict the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass at a time when some liturgical traditionalists are voicing hopes that Pope Leo will reverse or moderate his predecessor’s action.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, said July 3 the leaked information “presumably concerns part of one of the documents on which the decision [to restrict the Latin Mass] is based.”

Answering a question from CNA during a press conference on another topic, Bruni called published reports “a very partial and incomplete reconstruction of the decision-making process.” At the same time, he refused to confirm the documents’ authenticity.

The spokesman added that “other documentation, other reports, also the result of further consultations” were also taken into consideration with regard to restrictions on the Latin Mass.

An official at the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the department responsible for the application of Traditionis Custodes, Pope Francis’ July 2021 decree restricting the Mass, told CNA on July 3 that the dicastery “has nothing further to add” to Bruni’s response.

The leaked texts, which summarize consultation results and selected quotations from bishops, have been hailed by critics of Traditionis Custodes as evidence that Pope Francis was misleading when stating his reasons for placing strict restrictions on the celebration of the Latin Mass.

Francis’ decree revoked the permissions granted by Pope Benedict XVI in his 2007 decree Summorum Pontificum.

“The claim that a majority of bishops around the world wanted restrictions on the ancient Mass [Traditional Latin Mass] was always dubious, but this document shows for all to see that it is completely false,” Joseph Shaw, president of the Latin Mass federation Una Voce International, wrote in a newsletter on July 2.

Shaw said the leaked documents show “only the views of the minority of bishops who really disliked the TLM were being acted upon. The majority view was ignored.”

Traditionis Custodes placed significant restrictions on the celebration of the Mass according to missals from before the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. In the decree, Pope Francis said he had taken into consideration “the wishes expressed by the episcopate” and “the opinion of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.”

Pope Francis explained in a letter accompanying the decree that in 2020 he had asked the now-Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to carry out a survey of bishops around the world about the results of the implementation of the 2007 norms on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.

“The responses reveal a situation that preoccupies and saddens me, and persuades me of the need to intervene,” Francis wrote in the letter. He added that the intention of his predecessors, to foster unity among Catholics with diverse liturgical sensibilities, “has often been seriously disregarded” and the opportunity “exploited to widen the gaps, reinforce the divergences, and encourage disagreements that injure the Church, block her path, and expose her to the peril of division.”

According to one of the leaked documents, a five-page “overall assessment” that according to Montagna was part of a never-published report more than 200 pages long on the results of the 2020 questionnaire, the consultation found “the majority of bishops who responded … and who have generously and intelligently implemented the MP [motu proprio] Summorum Pontificum, ultimately express satisfaction with it." But “some bishops state that the MP Summorum Pontificum has failed in its aim of fostering reconciliation and therefore request its suppression.”

The leaked assessment said some bishops stated they would prefer to return to the pre-2007 rules for the Traditional Latin Mass, when its celebration required permission from the local bishop, “in order to have greater control and management of the situation.”

“However,” the text continued, “the majority of bishops who responded to the questionnaire state that making legislative changes to the MP Summorum Pontificum would cause more harm than good.”

Pope Leo XIV encourages Ukrainian bishops during meeting at the Vatican

Pope Leo XIV greets Sviatoslav Shevchuk, primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, on July 2, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 2, 2025 / 17:47 pm (CNA).

Following last week’s meeting with pilgrims from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday received in audience the bishops who are members of the Ukrainian church’s synod.

Noting that the encounter is taking place in the context of the jubilee year, in the July 2 meeting Leo recalled the words of Pope Francis, who said that “hope does not disappoint, because it is founded on the love of God in Christ Jesus, Our Lord.”

In the context of the bloody war in Ukraine, the Holy Father acknowledged that “it is not easy to talk about hope to you.”

“It is not easy to find words of consolation for the families who have lost their loved ones in this senseless war,” he said.

Addressing the Ukrainian bishops, he noted that they are “in contact every day with people wounded in their heart and in their flesh.” Despite these wounds, the pope said he has received “many testimonies of faith and hope on the part of men and women of your people.”

For the pontiff, this is a sign of the power of God, “which manifests itself in the midst of the rubble of destruction.”

“I am aware that you have many needs to meet, in both the ecclesial and humanitarian spheres. You are called to serve Christ in every wounded and distressed person who turns to your communities asking for concrete help,” he noted.

In this context, Pope Leo expressed his closeness to the prelates of the region and to all the faithful of the Church and encouraged them to remain “united in the one faith and the one hope.”

“Our communion is a great mystery: It is also a real communion with all our brothers and sisters whose lives have been taken from this earth but are accepted in God. In him everything lives and finds fullness of meaning,” he emphasized.

Finally, he emphasized that “we are always comforted by the certainty that the holy Mother of God is with us, aids us, and guides us toward her Son, who is our peace.” Before concluding the audience, the pontiff invited those present to sing the Lord’s Prayer in Ukrainian.

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

Young European Catholics release manifesto: ‘The revolution has begun’

Representatives of the International Committee of the “Rome 25 - Santiago 27 - Jerusalem 33” initiative present their project on July 2, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 2, 2025 / 16:47 pm (CNA).

A project conceived as a true “spiritual revolution” was presented at the Vatican on July 2, promoted by young Christians from all over Europe who, in their search for meaning, aspire to place Christ at the center of their lives and, with hope, restore the soul of the Old Continent.

The initiative began to take shape two years ago when, acting on an inspiration, Bishop Mikel Garciandía — bishop of Palencia, Spain, and former rector of St. Michael Shrine in Navarre — saw the possibility of coordinating the participation of young people in a project through the Network of St. Michael Shrines in Europe.

However, what initially appeared would end with the Jubilee of Hope in 2025 has taken on an international dimension and a broader horizon, with its sights now set on the Jubilee of Redemption in 2033, to be celebrated in Jerusalem. “Things are happening that seemed impossible a month ago,” Garciandía commented during the July 2 presentation.

With the support of the Bishops’ Subcommission for Youth and Children of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference as well as the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela, the Church in Jerusalem, and, more recently, the Vatican, a new proposal has taken shape, inviting young Christians across the continent to open up a pathway to faith and hope for a new European generation.

As a result, “Rome ‘25, the Way of James ‘27, Jerusalem ‘33” is underway. It’s a project created by young people for young people, including those who do not believe but who nonetheless seek meaning in their lives. Specifically, the initiative invites Christians to encounter the Lord through pilgrimage, healing, and evangelization.

In June, the project’s promoters presented the initiative to Pope Leo XIV. “We are convinced that he supports the project,” Garciandía stated Wednesday, adding that this conviction is what led them to officially present it today at the Vatican.

Foundational to the project has been the development of a manifesto, discerned and written by thousands of young Europeans: a “living voice” of a generation “that doesn’t give up, that believes, that dreams, and above all, that loves,” as stated in the document’s presentation.

“This text didn’t originate in an office or from an institutional strategy. It is born from the wound of a generation that has suffered, that is looking for meaning, and that, even so, believes. We believe that Christ is alive, that the Church remains a home, and that Europe can rediscover its soul if it dares to listen to it,” explained Fernando Moscardó, a spokesman and one of the project’s coordinators.

‘The revolution has begun’

Speaking before the media gathered at the Holy See Press Office, the young Spaniard emphasized that “we’re not coming to engage in politics” but to “proclaim the Gospel, to joyfully raise a banner that is not ideological but profoundly spiritual and ecclesial.”

“This manifesto is an act of faith and a call to hope. It’s the voice of young people who do not want to stay on the sidelines, who do not have to say forcefully, ‘We want more’; we want Christ at the center... The revolution has begun, the Spirit is blowing,” he said.

The document will be published on the project’s official website, and all those “who feel part of it” are encouraged to sign it. In addition, all information, updates, and progress on the initiative will be shared through social media under the name J2R2033 (Journey to Redemption 2033).

Also participating in the press conference was Father Antonio Ammirati, secretary-general of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, who reiterated his support for the initiative to accompany young people in their “search for meaning.”

The presentation included a video address by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, where the project will conclude. The cardinal said that the young people of the Church in the Holy Land “also want to be part of this beautiful project.”

After lamenting that due to the political situation and the war ravaging the region, many young people are unable to make the pilgrimage to Rome, he assured them of his prayers that “in 2033 the world will be different and there will be peace.”

The religious dimension of pilgrimage

Monsignor Graziano Borgonovo, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization, explained the meaning of the word “pilgrim” and emphasized that following Christ does not mean standing still but rather “setting out on a journey” to “proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, present and alive.”

Archbishop Paolo Giulietti of Lucca, Italy, representing the Italian Bishops’ Conference, emphasized the need to restore to pilgrimage sites and routes their “religious dimension,” sometimes obscured by consumerism and tourism.

“These places were established for spiritual quests and the celebration of faith,” the Italian prelate said.

Also participating in the extensive briefing — via remote connection — was the archbishop of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Francisco José Prieto Fernández, who recalled the invitation St. John Paul II extended to Europe to return to its roots: “Europe, be yourself,” the sainted pope exhorted in 1982.

The prelate highlighted the path toward the “horizon of transcendence” that this initiative presents, a “beautiful metaphor for following Christ” throughout life.

Finally, Monsignor Marco Gnavi, parish priest at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere and host of the upcoming Aug. 1 event, where the manifesto will be presented in the context of the July 28 to Aug. 3 Jubilee of Youth, said he was “surprised by the enthusiasm of young people,” especially in a time of “painful changes.”

“In a desperate world, full of conflict, it is important to be oriented toward the horizon,” remarked the prelate, who envisions this event as “a waystation of prayer and joy” for young people, who will return home “having received something more,” a special grace.

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

Pope Leo XIV: Environment should not be a ‘bargaining chip’ to wield power, exploit poor

The Vatican Gardens at Castel Gandolfo in Italy. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Vatican City, Jul 2, 2025 / 12:35 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV declared that nature should not be a “bargaining chip” in his message announcing the theme “Seeds of Peace and Hope” for the 10th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, set for Sept. 1.

Drawing inspiration from Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, released 10 years ago, the Holy Father said the “Bible provides no justification for us to exercise ‘tyranny over creation’” and should therefore not be exploited.

“Nature itself is reduced at times to a bargaining chip, a commodity to be bartered for economic or political gain,” Leo said. “As a result, God’s creation turns into a battleground for the control of vital resources.”

The pope said poor nations, marginalized societies, and Indigenous communities are destabilized and penalized as a result of conflicts over water and natural resources as well as the destruction of forests and agricultural areas.

“These various wounds are the effect of sin,” he added. “This is surely not what God had in mind when he entrusted the earth to the men and women whom he created in his image.”

In his July 2 message, the pope said three things are necessary for genuine environmental justice: prayer, determination, and concrete actions.

Leo invited Catholics to prayerfully consider the significance of seeds as a metaphor of coming of the kingdom of God in Scripture, saying: “Jesus often used the image of the seed.”

“In Christ, we too are seeds, and indeed, ‘seeds of peace and hope,’” he said. “The prophet Isaiah tells us that the Spirit of God can make an arid and parched desert into a garden, a place of rest and serenity.”

Insisting that environmental justice is not an “abstract concept” or a “distant goal,” the Holy Father said “now is the time to follow words with deeds” in his message dedicated to the care of creation.

“By working with love and perseverance, we can sow many seeds of justice and thus contribute to the growth of peace and the renewal of hope,” he said.  

This year, Pope Leo has twice visited sites linked to the Holy See’s integral ecology projects outside of Rome. In addition to visiting the Borgo Laudato Si’ project at Castel Gandolfo in May, he toured the proposed Vatican solar energy project site in Santa Maria di Galeria in June.

The Holy Father praised these initiatives, which serve as examples of “how people can live, work, and build community by applying the principles of the encyclical Laudato Si’.”

“I pray that Almighty God will send us in abundance his ‘Spirit from on high,’ so that these seeds, and others like them, may bring forth an abundant harvest of peace and hope,” the pope said.

Pope Leo XIV’s marriage advice? Keep calm and pray the rosary

Newlyweds Anna and Cole Stevens meet Pope Leo XIV at the general audience in Rome on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of Anna and Cole Stevens

Vatican City, Jul 2, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV recently offered marriage advice to a young American couple days after their wedding, sharing how he was blessed by the example of his own parents who prayed the rosary together every day.

Newlyweds Cole and Anna Stevens received Pope Leo’s personal blessing for their marriage during one of the pope’s first general audiences under the hot Roman summer sun on June 11, just four days after their wedding at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Birmingham, Alabama.

Newlyweds Anna and Cole Stevens meet Pope Leo XIV at the general audience in Rome on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Anna and Cole Stevens
Newlyweds Anna and Cole Stevens meet Pope Leo XIV at the general audience in Rome on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Anna and Cole Stevens

The moment, captured on video, became an unexpectedly intimate exchange with the American pope, who responded warmly to their question of how best to pray together as a married couple.

“First of all, it is very important to go slowly and to find the style of prayer that works for you, we’re all different, many spiritualities,” Pope Leo replied in English.

“My parents prayed the rosary together their whole lives every day,” the pope said. “And I found that I was always blessed I’m sure because of it, their love for one another.”

"They put their faith in God and in the intercession through Mary," he continued. "It's a wonderful thing."

The Stevenses, who now live in Pensacola, Florida, approached the crowded general audience in their wedding attire unsure if they would even get the chance to meet the pope. They were one of about 65 newlywed couples in St. Peter’s Square that day to receive the pope’s “‘sposi novelli’ blessing,” an opportunity that the Vatican offers each week to Catholics within six months of their wedding.

“We prayed a rosary while we were waiting for the audience [to begin] because we were in the square at 8 a.m.,” Cole said. “And the question that really came to my heart while we were praying the rosary [was] how can we deepen our faith, our prayer life inside of our marriage?” 

Anna and Cole Stevens are blessed by Pope Leo XIV at the general audience in Rome on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Anna and Cole Stevens
Anna and Cole Stevens are blessed by Pope Leo XIV at the general audience in Rome on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Anna and Cole Stevens

Anna recalled how Pope Leo responded to Cole’s question as if there was no one else in the crowd at that moment.

“There was no rush in his voice. There was no looking around… He was solely focused on the question that Cole asked and then how could he answer it to the best of his abilities,” she said.

After the exchange, the couple gave the pope a prayer card from their wedding. “Then we asked for his personal blessing, which he gave to us … laying hands on us and blessing us.”

“He just entrusted us to the Holy Family,” Anna added, “and prayed over us that the Holy Family would watch over us, protect us, guide us, and lead us.”

Unbeknownst to Pope Leo, Cole had been holding a relic of the Holy Family — cloth that had touched St. Joseph’s staff, Our Lady’s veil, and Jesus’ manger — when he blessed them.

A match made in heaven

Cole, 24, originally from Colorado, and Anna, 25, a schoolteacher from Birmingham, Alabama, met on a blind date when Cole was pursuing his master’s degree at the University of Alabama. 

“My good high school friend had met Cole and was asking Cole what kind of girl he was interested in,” Anna said. “And Cole threw out there ‘a Catholic volleyball player’ and she said, ‘Well, I have one girl for you.’ And that was me.”

“I played volleyball in college and I was her one Catholic friend. And so that was how we started off.”

Their relationship grew through long-distance calls and visits between cities in Alabama. “He took me to the [adoration] chapel on our third date,” Anna remembered. “And that’s where he ended up proposing two years later.”

They prayed novenas together for 90 days leading up to their wedding — to St. Joseph, Our Lady of Lourdes, and the Holy Family.

Their honeymoon, originally planned for the Amalfi coast, took a surprising turn when they realized the Vatican offered special blessings for newlyweds. “We were looking at Sorrento and we’re like two hours away,” Anna said. “Why would we skip out on the jubilee year and the Holy Doors? And then when we heard about the ‘sposi novelli,’ we were like, we have to go.”

It was Cole’s first time out of the country. “There’s no other experience in my life that I can look back on and say it was truly life-changing and just awe-striking at the same,” he said on meeting Pope Leo.

Romantic rosary walks to remember

Back in Pensacola, Florida, Pope Leo’s advice has already shaped the young couple’s routine. “It’s funny,” Anna said. “At the end of the night we’re like, ‘Oh my goodness, we haven’t said the rosary. We have to say the rosary; Pope Leo told us to pray the rosary.’ And so we’ve built it in.” 

Their solution? Rosary walks after dinner. 

“Our new goal now is after dinner we go on rosary walks every night and that has been one of our favorite parts of the night,” Anna said. “It has been so peaceful. It is usually right around sunset.” 

“We use it as a chance to pray for individual intentions throughout the week,” Cole added. 

Anna, reflecting on the papal advice, said it’s important to work at “finding, like Pope Leo said, a way that works for you. So for us right now with our stage of life, it’s been rosary walks. And every couple will have a different stage and life and how they can pray the rosary together.” 

What struck Cole most about the pope’s advice was its applicability. “I was surprised at how real it was… It was very practical in the sense of, here’s what my parents did, and find out what works for you. … I can actually use this advice.”

This article was updated on Thursday, July 3, 2025 at 7 a.m. with more remarks from Pope Leo XIV.

Bishops invite Pope Leo to visit Peru: ‘His presence will renew the hope of our people’

A delegation of Peruvian bishops greets Pope Leo XIV, inviting him to visit Peru, during an audience on June 30, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Peruvian Episcopal Conference

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 1, 2025 / 15:47 pm (CNA).

The Peruvian bishops have officially invited Pope Leo XIV to visit Peru, assuring him that “his presence will renew the hope of our people.”

According to a statement from the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference (CEP, by its Spanish acronym), a delegation of bishops, including the conference president, Bishop Carlos García Camader of Lurín, met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on June 30.

During the audience, “the bishops extended an official invitation to him to make a pastoral visit to Peru,” the CEP stated.

Leo XIV, born in Chicago as Robert Francis Prevost in 1955, lived in Peru for nearly 20 years, serving at different times in various capacities from parochial vicar of Chulucanas in the Piura region to bishop of Chiclayo. He became a Peruvian citizen in 2015.

Greeting the crowd in St. Peter’s Square after he was elected on May 8, Pope Leo XIV addressed a few words to his beloved Diocese of Chiclayo, “where a faithful people accompanied their bishop, shared their faith, and gave so, so much, to continue being the faithful Church of Jesus Christ.”

His missionary work in Peru was featured in the documentary recently released by the Vatican titled “León de Perú.”

According to the CEP, García Camader delivered a letter to the pope on June 30, expressing “on behalf of all the bishops and the Peruvian people, our profound affection for and closeness to the Holy Father” while thanking him for holding a special place in his heart for Peru.

The Peruvian delegation consisted of Bishop Luis Alberto Barrera, Bishop Antonio Santarsiero, Cardinal Pedro Barreto, Archbishop Alfredo Vizcarra, Bishop Pedro Bustamante, Bishop Marco Cortez, Bishop César Huerta, Bishop Ricardo García, Bishop Lizardo Estrada, Bishop Raúl Chau, Bishop Juan Asqui, and Father Guillermo Inca.

In an excerpt from the letter, the president of the CEP assured Leo XIV that “your presence will renew the hope of our people, strengthen the faith of our communities, and be a beautiful sign of communion with the universal Church.”

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