New release seeks to revive St. Bartolo Longo’s ‘Fifteen Saturdays’ devotion
When Pope Leo XIV visits Pompeii, Italy, on May 8, the one-day trip will highlight the legacy of St. Bartolo Longo, whose dramatic conversion, influential writings, and promotion of the Fifteen Saturdays of the Most Holy Rosary devotion left a lasting mark on the city.
Ahead of the papal visit, Seek What Is Above, an initiative encouraging “people to lift their minds and hearts to God,” has released a new version of the Fifteen Saturdays with the hopes of reintroducing “the forgotten Marian devotion."
The devotion is a series of 15 meditations on the mysteries of the rosary derived from the writings of Longo, who promoted the prayer by publishing a book with the same title in the late 1800s.
Longo, canonized by Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 19, 2025, developed a powerful devotion to the Blessed Mother after he was brought back to the Catholic faith following many years as a Satanic “priest.”
Following his intense conversion, Longo devoted his life to spreading the fruits of the rosary and played an instrumental role in establishing the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii.
“Bartolo really popularized the Fifteen Saturdays devotion through the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii,” Dominican Father Joseph-Anthony Kress told EWTN News. “It started when he met a noblewoman who had a … pamphlet translated from French that discussed the Fifteen Saturdays.”
Using the mysteries of the rosary, the devotion encourages “a 15-week spiritual journey,” Kress, the promoter of the holy rosary for the Province of St. Joseph, explained. “Every Saturday you dedicate to one of the 15 mysteries of the rosary, and you meditate on that mystery for the rest of the week.”
Inspired by it, Longo then expanded on the original pamphlet in his book.
“He compiled all of the Scripture quotations and citations pertaining to each of the mysteries so that they would be collected in one place for … the individual praying, so itʼd be easier for them to enter into the mysteries in their totality,” Kress said.
Seek What Is Above’s new edition provides both written and image-based meditations with a series of paintings from St. Paul’s Church, a historic Dominican church in Antwerp, Belgium.
The 15-week-long devotion “encourages us to approach the rosary focused on the mysteries themselves,” Kress said. It also “encourages the reception of the Eucharist on each Saturday as well as confession as a part of the structure to make sure that youʼre spiritually prepared.”
St. Bartolo: ‘Apostle of the Rosary’
On the feast of Our Lady of Pompeii, Pope Leo will visit the Shrine to Our Lady of the Rosary and the Chapel of Blessed Bartolo Longo, which houses Longo’s relics and remains. The Holy Father will also celebrate Mass in the city’s central square — Piazza Bartolo Longo.
While there is now a lasting presence of the saint in Pompeii, Longo was not always a strong example of the Catholic faith. He lived during the late 19th century when the Church was fighting to combat the growing popularity of the occult.
Born into a devout Catholic family, Longo fell away from the faith while studying law in Naples. He began to visit some of the cityʼs infamous mediums who introduced him into the occult. His interest in the supernatural led him into Satanism and he began to preside over Satanic services, preaching blasphemously against God and the Church.
Simultaneously, Longo was struggling with anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. A university professor, Vincenzo Pepe, urged him to abandon Satanism and introduced him to his future confessor, Dominican Father Alberto Radente.
With guidance from Radente and others, Longo repented and returned to the Church but still couldn’t forgive himself or see how God could ever forgive him.
One day in Pompeii Longo despaired over his past with Satanism, but God helped him to see how he could be saved and how he could save others.
“I heard an echo in my ear of the voice of Friar Alberto repeating the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary: ‘One who propagates my rosary shall be saved,’” Longo wrote.
“Falling to my knees, I exclaimed: ‘If your words are true that he who propagates your rosary will be saved, I shall reach salvation because I shall not leave this earth without propagating your rosary,'” he wrote.
From then on he helped others “not just in their physical poverty but also in deep spiritual poverty” by “promoting the rosary,” Kress said.
“He extended himself to care for the most vulnerable in his own city, and he put his professional skill set to work for the good of the poor — being a lawyer by trade and offering free legal services to the poor who were being taken advantage of.”
Longo devoted himself to works of charity by starting orphanages and institutions for children of prisoners.
“His conversion from the spiritualisms of the day in which he lived in the occult to rejecting all of that to follow Christ and being devoted to the mother of Christ is such a moving conversion,” Kress said.
“It really speaks to the hope that we as Christians cling to, that thereʼs never a situation, never a particular life circumstance, that eliminates the hope of a conversion and union with Christ,” Kress said.
Longo became a Third Order Dominican and would return to the exact places he once participated in occult activities. There, with a rosary in his hand, he would encourage those present to reject their ways and turn to the Blessed Mother for protection.
His love for the rosary and the Blessed Mother not only led to the establishment of Marian shrines and lasting devotions but also served as inspiration for Pope John Paul II’s addition of the luminous mysteries to the rosary.
“As a true apostle of the rosary, Blessed Bartolo Longo had a special charism,” St. John Paul wrote in his 2002 apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae proposing the new mysteries.
“By his whole lifeʼs work and especially by the practice of the ‘15 Saturdays,’ Bartolo Longo promoted the Christocentric and contemplative heart of the rosary, and received great encouragement and support from Leo XIII, the ‘Pope of the Rosary.’”
Why pray the Fifteen Saturdays devotion?
The Fifteen Saturdays is a unique devotion to pray and meditate on, as it is both devotional and sacramental.
“Committing to a Fifteen Saturdays devotion may seem like a large chunk of time — itʼs a few months,” Kress said. “But it shows us that the rosary itself is, in a small sense, the summary of the Gospel thatʼs lived out over a time.”
“Itʼs treated as a presentation of the mysteries of the life of Christ and the Gospels, but … it also incorporates a sacramental life, as it incorporates the reception of the Eucharist, incorporates confession, alongside mental prayer,” Kress said.
It portrays “that our life with Christ isnʼt just this private secluded thing that we do in these interiors, but we join together in the public worship of the Church in the sacraments,” he said.
“The greater sacramental life that we live fuels our mental prayer and our contemplation” and “disposes us to a more worthy reception of the sacraments,” Kress said.
“Then on a human level, I think it helps us to live in the gift of perseverance.”
“This isnʼt just a quick fix. It takes a little bit of a commitment,” Kress continued. “But it slowly unfolds and allows the grace of God to nourish and nurture our souls over the course of time.”
“So we grow in the virtue of hope and grow in the grace of perseverance by pursuing such a devotion like the Fifteen Saturdays,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV’s first year: 10 powerful moments
On May 8, 2025, white smoke billowed from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, signaling that a new pope had been chosen. On that day, the world was introduced to Pope Leo XIV, known just hours before as Cardinal Robert Prevost, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops.
One year later, Pope Leo has captured the hearts of the faithful through his papal trips, events like canonizations and special liturgies, as well as through his spoken and printed words, including an apostolic letter, and much more.
Here are 10 of the most significant events and moments of Leo XIV’s first year as pope:
The new pontiffʼs inaugural Mass
On May 18, 2025, Pope Leo XIV inaugurated his pontificate with a Mass in St. Peter’s Square calling for a united Church. Addressing approximately 150,000 attendees, he emphasized fraternal communion, servant leadership, and reconciliation, marking the official start of his ministry as the 266th successor of St. Peter.
At the Mass, concelebrated with the members of the College of Cardinals, Leo expressed his intention to “come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united in one family.”
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Visit to Pope Francis’ tomb
Less than 48 hours after his election, Pope Leo made his first visit outside of the Vatican visiting the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, located about an hour east of Rome and run by the religious of the Order of St. Augustine.
On his way back to the Vatican, the new pontiff stopped at the Basilica of St. Mary Major where he prayed before the tomb of Pope Francis and the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary there, “Salus Populi Romani.”
Pope Leo left a white rose, which is said to have been Pope Francis’ favorite flower.
Impactful addresses to youth
Throughout his first year as pope, the Holy Father has had powerful experiences with young people. Two in particular that stand out are his addresses to roughly 1 million young adults during the Jubilee of Youth and his live talk with young people gathered at the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC).
During the Jubilee of Youth, which took place July 28–Aug. 3 and was part of the yearlong Jubilee of Hope, young adults from around the world filled the streets of Rome. Each day was filled with different opportunities and events for the young people to experience the richness of the Catholic faith.
On Aug. 2, Pope Leo was greeted by the largest crowd he had addressed during his pontificate so far for the evening vigil at Tor Vergata, an outdoor venue 10 miles east of Rome. An estimated 1 million people were in attendance. The Holy Father arrived by helicopter and then drove through the grounds on the popemobile, waving to the cheering young people before the prayer service began.
The Jubilee of Youth concluded on Aug. 3 with a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo on the 237-acre grounds of Tor Vergata, where more than a million young pilgrims had spent the night following a prayer vigil and Eucharistic adoration.
In his homily, Pope Leo invited the pilgrims to open their hearts to God and venture with him “towards eternity.”
NCYC took place in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium from Nov. 20–22. On Nov. 21, Pope Leo held a historic digital encounter with American teenagers.
During this live conversation, five teenagers asked the pope questions regarding using technology, recovering from mistakes, giving worries to Jesus, avoiding distractions, and preparing for the future of the Church. The pope gave guidance to the young crowd with words applicable to both teenagers and the universal Church.
Canonizations of Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis
On Sept. 7, 2025, Pope Leo canonized Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis in his first canonization ceremony before an estimated 70,000 people in St. Peter’s Square.
“Today we look to St. Pier Giorgio Frassati and St. Carlo Acutis: a young man from the early 20th century and a teenager from our own day, both in love with Jesus and ready to give everything for him,” he said during his homily.
He added: “Dear friends, Sts. Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis are an invitation to all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives but to direct them upwards and make them masterpieces.”
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Release of his first apostolic letter
Pope Leo XIV released his first apostolic letter, Dilexi Te, on Oct. 9, 2025. The document emphasizes the idea that the poor are not simply objects of charity but also evangelists who can prompt us to conversion through their example of weakness and reliance on God.
“The poor can act as silent teachers for us, making us conscious of our presumption and instilling within us a rightful spirit of humility,” Leo writes in Dilexi Te (“I Have Loved You”). “The elderly, for example, by their physical frailty, remind us of our own fragility, even as we attempt to conceal it behind our apparent prosperity and outward appearance. The poor ... remind us how uncertain and empty our seemingly safe and secure lives may be.”
The pontiff quotes his predecessor throughout the document, which was first drafted during Pope Francis' pontificate and draws heavily on the late popeʼs first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, on the joy of the Gospel.
First major international trip: Turkey and Lebanon
Pope Leo made his first international papal trip to Turkey and Lebanon Nov. 27–Dec. 2, 2025. The wide-ranging international visit included historic ecumenical encounters, deeply symbolic gestures of prayer, and pastoral visits to Christian communities under pressure. Pope Leo highlighted the importance of unity, peace, and fraternity, and brought encouragement to a region marked by ancient faith and present suffering.
One highlight from his time in Turkey included the commemoration of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea alongside Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople in the Turkish city of Iznik, the site of the Council of Nicaea, historically known as the birthplace of the Nicene Creed.
In Lebanon, Pope Leo became the first pope in history to visit the tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf when he arrived at the Monastery of St. Maron in Annaya.
An extraordinary consistory
In his opening address at an extraordinary consistory — which convened from Jan. 7–8 — Pope Leo assured the cardinals from around the world gathered at the Vatican that “I am here to listen.”
This extraordinary consistory — different from the ordinary ones, which are more limited and frequent — was scheduled to take place immediately after the Jubilee of Hope to “offer support and advice to the Holy Father in the exercise of his high and arduous responsibility of governing the Church,” according to a statement from the Holy See.
The consistory was a closed-door meeting to which no media were admitted, and cardinals were asked to keep the proceedings confidential. However, the cardinals were expected to offer the new pontiff their views on two specific topics: the Synod and synodality, and the mission of evangelization and the missionary character of the Church.
First Holy Week and Easter celebrations as pope
During Holy Week and Easter 2026, Pope Leo presided over the Church’s most solemn liturgies in Rome, beginning with Palm Sunday and continuing through the chrism Mass on Holy Thursday, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the Good Friday Passion celebration, the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum, the Easter Vigil at St. Peter’s Basilica, and finally Easter Sunday Mass with the “urbi et orbi” blessing from St. Peter’s Square.
This was the first time in several years that a pope participated in all the liturgies of Holy Week and Easter. Due to Pope Francis’ declining health toward the end of his papacy, he had to scale back his participation in many of these events.
Pope Leo was also the first pope since John Paul II in 1994 to carry the wooden cross to all 14 stations during the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum on Good Friday.
Historic 11-day trip to Africa
Pope Leo spent 11 days in Africa — from April 13–23 — and visited four countries: Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea. During this trip, he traveled more than 11,000 miles on 18 separate flights. With stops in 11 cities across those countries, the Holy Father met with the youth, political leaders, prisoners, families, and many more to share the Gospel message.
Throughout his journey, he emphasized themes of peace, reconciliation, and economic justice, meeting with local leaders, clergy, and lay faithful. Large crowds gathered for outdoor Masses, reflecting the vibrancy and rapid growth of Catholicism in many African communities.
One of the highlights of the trip was Pope Leo’s visit to Annaba — ancient Hippo — in what for the Augustinian pontiff amounted to a return to the roots of his faith and vocation. Despite pouring rain, the pope walked through the ruins and, at the end of the route, laid a wreath of flowers and stopped for a moment of prayer, visibly moved.
The pope also paid a visit to the Bata penitentiary in Equatorial Guinea and told inmates that “no one is excluded from God’s love” and urged them to see that even behind bars, there remains the possibility of change, reconciliation, and hope. This prison is one of the country’s harshest, known for its difficult conditions.
Strong messaging on war and peace
The Holy Father has made peace a defining theme of his pontificate from the very beginning, opening his first public remarks with the words “Peace be with you.” That simple greeting set the tone for a broader vision — one rooted in the Gospel but directed squarely at a world marked by conflict and division.
In homilies and international addresses, he has consistently framed peace not as the absence of war but as an active, daily commitment grounded in justice, reconciliation, and respect for human dignity.
The pope has urged world leaders to reject cycles of violence and instead foster what he has called a “culture of peace.” Speaking in the context of ongoing global tensions, he has warned against the normalization of war as a tool of policy, insisting that lasting solutions can only come through dialogue and mutual understanding.
The pope has also addressed the dangers of modern warfare, including the threat of nuclear escalation. He has called for renewed international efforts toward disarmament and de-escalation, emphasizing that the destructive power of nuclear weapons demands a moral as well as political response.
Reiterating the Church’s long-standing teaching, Pope Leo has encouraged nations to pursue diplomacy over aggression, presenting dialogue not as weakness but as the strongest and most enduring path to peace.
U.S. bishops recount year since Pope Leo XIV’s election
U.S. bishops marked the first anniversary of Pope Leo XIV’s election by recalling the moment they learned he had been chosen, describing their reactions in a video message.
“When we were watching the white smoke come out of the chimney at the Vatican, the last thing that any of us were thinking of as we were watching on TV back in Chicago was that there would be a native of Chicago who was elected the Holy Father,” Auxiliary Bishop Robert Lombardo of Chicago said in a May 7 video message marking Pope Leo XIV’s first anniversary as pope.
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The message also included testimonies from Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois; Bishop Ronald Hicks of New York; Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago; Bishop Paul Etienne of Seattle; Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski of St. Louis; Auxiliary Bishop Christopher Cooke of Philadelphia; Bishop Douglas Lucia of Syracuse, New York; Bishop Robert McClory of Gary, Indiana; and Bishop Michael Barber, SJ, of Oakland, California.
Several bishops recalled their shock at learning the new pope was an American.
“When I heard of Pope Leoʼs election, I couldnʼt believe it. I really had to do a double take because conventional wisdom has been that there will never be a pope from the United States,” Rozanski said.
“I remember my reaction to his election being one of surprise because everybody said, ‘Well, it could never be an American,’” Lucia said. “So when his name was announced, I was actually in a diocesan admin meeting and everybody said, ‘Whoʼs that?’ And I go, ‘Itʼs an American.’”
McClory described his reaction as “a tremendous kind of excitement and joy” and echoed his brother bishops, saying: “Never in my lifetime did I think we would have a pope from the United States. I just didn’t think it was a possibility.”
Bishop William Byrne of Springfield, Massachusetts, recalled “flying home” from the grocery store when he heard the news that a new pope had been elected, and that he “was so excited” when he made it to his computer to watch the results.
“Being from Chicago, we also have a double sense of pride,” Cupich said. “After all, we like to say that Chicago produced a pope, and that we take great pride in.”
Leo was elected as the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church on May 8, 2025.
‘Families fight, but family is forever’: Pope Leo’s brother says the brothers limit political talk
John Prevost, Pope Leo XIV’s older brother, said he, Leo, and Louis, the eldest of the three, talk every week, but “we keep politics to a limit.”
CNN’s Erin Burnett on her show “OutFront” on May 6 asked Prevost to talk about how the brothers, who have differing political views, can still “be brothers and family” and have love.
“Can you just talk about that, because I think so many people want to hear how they, too, can have that in their lives?” she asked.
Prevost told her that when the brothers talk, topics about which they disagree “may come up, but nothing” his brother might say “is going to change my opinion, and nothing I say is going to change his opinion, so why discuss it?”
“Families fight, but family is forever,” Prevost, who said he speaks to Leo every day, told her.
He said the brothers discuss “what we’re doing, what’s new in our lives, what we’re doing next … There is that brother connection. And really, what brothers do not fight? You know?”
“That’s fair,” Burnett said.
The CNN host also asked how Prevost rises above President Donald Trump’s recent accusation that Leo is “endangering a lot of Catholics; [is] terrible for foreign policy,” and asked how his “life has changed because of your brother’s role?”, mentioning the death threats Prevost has received.
“You just keep going,” Prevost said. “There is a matter of what is known as faith, and it deepens our faith, because we do what we’re doing because itʼs a role we’ve been put into, and we just go ahead and do it.”
Prevost told “EWTN News in Depth” in an April interview that faith “starts in the home,“ saying that ”periodically our dad would take the Bible out and read Bible stories. We always prayed before dinner. Our parents always, every evening after dinner, prayed the rosary.”
In April, police in New Lenox, Illinois, responded to a “reported bomb threat at a private residence” that local media said belonged to Prevost. After an investigation, the police determined the threat was “unsubstantiated and that no explosive devices or hazardous materials were present.”
The hoax threat came several days after President Donald Trump praised Pope Leo XIVʼs eldest brother, Louis, in a Truth Social post in which he derided Pope Leo XIV as “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” after Leo repeatedly criticized the ongoing U.S.-led war in Iran.
Burnett also noted how Trump has talked about Louis, who visited the president at the White House last year, calling him “a supporter, a MAGA all the way.”
“I like [Leoʼs] brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!” Trump said in April.
India’s religious liberty on ‘downward trajectory,’ commission says
WASHINGTON — Witnesses called for U.S. intervention to end the ongoing persecution of religious minorities in India, including Christians, at a hearing on Capitol Hill.
“Religious freedom in India is abysmal. Religious minority communities and their places of worship remain particularly vulnerable to discriminatory legislation, surveillance, and harassment,” U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Vice Chair Asif Mahmood said during a May 7 hearing. “Members of the clergy are also routinely arrested and released under accusation of conducting forced conversions.”
USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler also highlighted persecution in India on the national, state, and local level through discriminatory legislation, arbitrary detention of religious leaders, failure to intervene in attacks against religious minorities, anti-conversion laws in 13 out of 28 states, anti-terrorism laws targeting minorities, and citizenship laws. She described religious freedom in India as continuing in “a downward trajectory.”
The hearing comes as the commission warns of escalating attacks against Christians in India, including mob violence and property destruction. The Catholic population in India is about 23 million, about 1.6% of the countryʼs population, according to the Vatican.
Raqib Naik, founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, called for the State Department to designate India as a country of particular concern (CPC).
“I believe that acknowledging the problem is the first step,” Naik said. “I think the U.S. should designate India as a CPC. I think that should be the first step because you cannot have a solution without acknowledging the problem.” Naik further called for sanctions and heightened awareness of transnational repression, which he said poses a “national security threat.”
Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice Stephen Rapp called for “methods that have a bite to them” to place pressure on the Indian government to end religious persecution in the country. Rapp encouraged heightened reporting of religious freedom violators to “build cases” against them so that it may be possible to prosecute them internationally in the future.
“Maybe many of the perpetrators may never travel, but basically you send a signal that if you commit crimes like these there will be no rest in this life,” Rapp said. “It’s not enough, but it’s something.”
Religious freedom advocate David Curry called for the State Department to demand that its international partners uphold religious liberty as a preliminary requirement in all negotiations.
“The international religious freedom infrastructure within the State Department should be part of every discussion and negotiation,” Curry said. “Human rights and international religious freedom should be part of these discussions.”
Indian anthropologist Angana Chatterji echoed Curry, urging the U.S. “to examine seriously the impossibility of economic benefit and profit from relations with India under the current extreme conditions.”
Georgetown Law professor Arjun Sethi noted that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was banned under the George W. Bush administration from entering the U.S. from 2005 to 2014. “And now he’s courted by this country,” he said.
“I think we should just have a much deeper understanding of who he is, what he stands for, and what he’s about,” Sethi said.
Commission sees opportunities to expand targeted sanctions on religious liberty offenders
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a fact sheet on May 6 that highlights opportunities to expand targeted sanctions against religious liberty violators.
“There are various opportunities to expand the usage of targeted sanctions, particularly in countries that rank among the world’s worst violators of religious freedom,” the USCIRF document said.
In the fact sheet, the USCIRF recommended the U.S. federal government not simply sanction entire countries but impose targeted sanctions against individuals and entities directly responsible for the violations.
“While countrywide trade embargoes impose broad restrictions on countries to exert maximum pressure, these can cause collateral damage on civilian populations,” it states.
“In contrast, targeted sanctions focus narrowly on the individuals or entities responsible for abuses,” it adds. “Depending on the program, these measures can include banning visas, freezing assets, and blocking financial transactions.”
Specific perpetrators
The document lays out certain perpetrators who violate religious liberty in foreign countries, which was detailed in the USCIRF’s 2026 annual report published in March.
In Afghanistan, for example, the USCIRF recommends sanctions against high-ranked Taliban officials of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which is the body tasked with enforcing Sharia law.
People involved in Iraqi militias, like the Popular Mobilization Forces, are recommended for sanctions, as are non-state actors and those affiliated with transnational authorities in Syria, which perpetuate religious freedom violations. It also lists government and non-state actors in Libya.
It recommends targeted sanctions against government agencies and officials in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.
Individuals in two sub-Saharan African countries are also included: Nigerian government and military officials who tolerate or are complicit in attacks on religious communities and Eritrean government officials, including those in the police, judiciary, and correctional system.
The fact sheet recommends targeted sanctions against Chinese government agencies, entities, and officials. It also suggests sanctions against individuals and entities in neighboring India, like intelligence officials and the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Two Latin American countries are included. It suggests sanctions against Nicaraguan officials who tolerate or are complicit in targeting religious communities. It encourages sanctions against Cuban officials, including Caridad Diego Bello, the head of the Office of Religious Affairs.
Russia is the only European country listed. It suggests sanctions against officials and state agencies, including the Federal Security Service, which is an intelligence agency.
Ways to sanction
The document notes that several policies can be used to implement targeted sanctions related to human rights abuses.
The policies permit economic sanctions and visa bans against any foreign individual or entity engaged in “extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights” and those involved in “serious human rights abuse.”
Other policies permit visa bans on individuals and — when appropriate — immediate family members for participating in religious freedom violations or gross violations of human rights.
“The primary goal of these programs is to drive behavior change by altering perpetrators’ cost-benefit calculations, reducing their sense of impunity, and publicly naming and shaming,” the document reads.
“These measures signal international expectations, restrict access to the resources needed to continue violations, and demonstrate solidarity with victims and survivors,” it adds. “Generally, visa sanctions are legally required to be issued confidentially, which can diminish some of the impacts from ‘naming and shaming’ and decrease transparency.”
Pope Leo XIV urges Catholics to read printed books
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday underscored the enduring value of printed books in the digital age, saying reading “nourishes the mind” and offers Christians a valuable opportunity to proclaim Christ.
The pope made the remarks May 7 during an audience at the Vatican with employees of the Vatican Publishing House, or Libreria Editrice Vaticana, which was founded in 1926 and is celebrating its centenary this year.
The Holy Father said the book “is an opportunity to think,” defending the physicality of printed books in an increasingly digital culture because, he said, they remind readers of the importance of “thought, reflection, and study.”
“Reading nourishes the mind; it helps to foster a conscious and well-formed critical sense, guarding us against fundamentalism and ideological shortcuts,” Pope Leo said.
“For this reason, I urge everyone to read books, as an antidote to closed-mindedness, which is reflected in rigid attitudes and reductive views of reality,” he added.
The pope also emphasized that books offer an opportunity for encounter.
“When we hold a book in our hands, we ideally encounter its author,” he said. “But at the same time, we meet those who have read it before us, or who are reading it now or will read it in the future.”
Pope Leo noted that Pope Francis had taught Catholics “to practice the culture of encounter,” adding that “a book is a bridge to others, a source of dialogue that enriches us, a stimulus to expand our own perspective.”
For Christians in particular, the pope said, books can be “an opportunity to proclaim Christ.”
“We know well how reading a saint’s biography or a well-written spiritual reflection can touch the heart,” he said.
He also pointed to the Virgin Mary, who is often depicted in the Annunciation “intent on reading the holy Scriptures,” and to St. Anthony of Padua, who is commonly shown holding “the open Book of the Gospels, upon which the Infant Jesus stands.”
“We often see St. Augustine seated at a desk before a large book and, at times, holding a heart in his hand: truth and charity,” the pope said.
“At the school of Mary and the saints, let us nourish ourselves with the word of God, so that it may shape our way of thinking and acting,” Pope Leo added.
The pope concluded by recalling the words of St. Paul VI, who in 1976 met with employees of the Vatican Publishing House for its 50th anniversary and urged them to “look ahead, to refine ideas and plans for the future.”
“I thank you for your work, which I hope you will carry out with dedication and passion,” Pope Leo said. “And I cordially bless each of you and your loved ones.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
‘A breath of hope’: Pope Leo XIV encourages Lebanese priests through video call
Pope Leo XIV spoke via video call with about 10 priests working in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel, encouraging them to press ahead with their pastoral work and acts of solidarity while facing the hardships caused by the war.
The call took place May 6 during Pope Leo’s audience in Rome with the apostolic nuncio to Lebanon, Archbishop Paolo Borgia.
During the video call, which took place around 9:45 a.m. Rome time, the Holy Father, who visited Lebanon in December 2025 on his first international trip, reiterated his “encouragement” to the priests “for the work they are doing,” assured them of his prayers, and imparted his blessing, according to Vatican News.
The archbishop, well aware of the suffering endured by the priests there, has been working in the border region with Israel for several months delivering food, basic necessities, and the pope’s encouragement.
Father Toni Elias, parish priest in Rmeish, a village separated from Israel by a forest, said the video call “was beautiful. The pope encouraged us; he told us that he prays for us and supports us, and he gave us his blessing with the hope that peace would soon be achieved.”
“It was a breath of hope and trust that was much needed,” he emphasized.
Regarding Borgia, the priest remarked that “he brings charity; he walks through danger, through bombed-out streets and houses that have been destroyed and razed to the ground. I see in him the mission of his patron saint, St. Paul.”
A priest killed in March
On March 9, Pope Leo XIV expressed his sorrow over the death of Father Pierre al-Rahi, a victim of Israeli shelling that took place that day in southern Lebanon.
“Pope Leo XIV expresses his profound sorrow for all the victims of the bombings in the Middle East these past few days, for the many innocent people, including numerous children, and for those who were helping them, such as Father Pierre al-Rahi, a Maronite priest killed this afternoon in Qlayaa,” stated a communiqué that day from the Vatican Press Office.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Fidelity, enthusiasm, and faith: Pope Leo XIV welcomes Swiss Guard recruits
Recruits of the Pontifical Swiss Guard took their oath of allegiance to Pope Leo XIV, solemnly pledging to serve and protect him.
The ceremony took place May 6 in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican in the presence of the pontiff, members of the Holy See Diplomatic Corps, and the family and friends of the 28 recruits.
At the high point of the ceremony, in a gesture laden with tradition, each recruit held the banner of the Pontifical Swiss Guard with his left hand, raised three fingers with his right, and recited the oath swearing to protect the pope, even at the cost of his life.
This gesture, more than just an oath of allegiance, also commemorates the 147 Swiss Guards who died defending Pope Clement VII during the Sack of Rome on May 6, 1527.
In his address after the ceremony, Leo thanked the recruits, describing their future service as a “commitment of fidelity, inspired by youthful enthusiasm and grounded in faith in God and love for the Church.”
On Thursday, the pope held a private audience with the new Swiss Guards and their families. Leo took this occasion to remind them of the beauty of their calling and described them as servants of Christ, called not only to serve the Holy See but also those most in need.
“More than soldiers, you are servants who, in the image of Christ, go out to meet those who need your help: not only members of the Curia or officials visiting the Vatican but also pilgrims and tourists,” the pope said. “Always remember these words of Jesus: ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these, my brothers, you did for me’ (Mt 25:40).”
Bethsaida excavation turning ‘Bible stories into Bible realities’
WASHINGTON — The academic director of one of the most celebrated current archaeological digs in Israel was in Washington, D.C., this week to provide an update on the ongoing excavation of Bethsaida, the town the Gospel of John (1:44) records as the home of the apostles Peter, his brother Andrew, and Philip and where Jesus performed various miracles.
In a May 5 presentation at the Catholic Information Center, Steven Notley, the academic director of the El Araj Excavation Project, said the excavation of the last town of apostolic times to be discovered, which began in 2016 and has been ongoing since then, has essentially confirmed that the site, known as El Araj, is indeed the location of the Galilean seaside town of Bethsaida, which is referenced several times in the New Testament.
Notley, who is also executive director of the Center for the Study of Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins, lived in Jerusalem with his wife and four children for 16 years and has been leading groups of students and laypeople to Israel and the eastern Mediterranean region for over 35 years.
Melissa Overmyer, a Catholic evangelist who has participated in the dig at Bethsaida, shared her own testimony at the event, saying being a part of such experiences in the Holy Land turns “Bible stories into Bible realities.”
Notley said excavations at the site in 2018 uncovered the remains of a Byzantine-era basilica and in 2023 a first-century house was located directly under its apse.
These remains, he said, match the historic account of Willibald, an eighth-century bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria, Germany, who traveled to the Holy Land in 725 A.D. and wrote about a church in Bethsaida that was built over the home of Sts. Peter and Andrew.
Among the discoveries made at this basilica is a mosaic, uncovered in 2022, with the inscription “Chief of the apostles and keeper of the keys of heaven, intercede for him and his children George and Theophano."
Last year, the site also endured a wildfire, the results of which Notley said have subsequently allowed the team to uncover evidence of columns and other structures previously overlooked due to dense underbrush.
Notley told EWTN News that the archaeological team was able to identify a structure underneath the apse of the basilica by identifying pottery they discovered there as first-century pottery. The team also found first-century fishing weights.
“So, we have a first-century house wall under the apse. It doesnʼt have a plaque on it that says ‘Peter slept here,’ but from a perspective of archaeology, it doesnʼt get much better than that,” Notley said.
Notley said he welcomes volunteers to participate in the ongoing dig, which he said is entirely privately funded. Information about how to volunteer may be found on the excavation’s website.