Vatican & World News

- Pope Leo meets with 15,000 teachers from around the world - Eyewitnesses say that men are being shot by the hundreds in the city of El-Fasher in Sudan, which has fallen to paramilitary forces - We speak to a member of the Vatican’s International Youth Advisory Board, which met earlier today with Pope Leo

- Pope Leo XIV prays for the victims of Hurricane Melissa - The US bishops raise the alarm about the effects of the ongoing government shutdown on the poor - At the General Audience, the Pope reiterates the Church’s position against anti-Semitism

- Pope Leo highlights synodality as “a promising path forward” during an audience with the Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East - The Holy See Press Office releases details of the Pope’s upcoming Apostolic Journey to Turkiye and Lebanon - Israel is set to lift the “special situation” designation for the southern part of the country for the first time since 2023

- The Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations calls for an elimination of conventional weapons as obstacles to peace. - Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva announces he’ll run for a fourth non-consecutive term as President of Brazil. - The Pope urges Jubilee audience members to hold onto hope even when we do not have all the answers.

In the headlines this Thursday, October 23rd: - Pope Leo joins King Charles III and Queen Camilla for a historic ecumenical prayer service in the Sistine Chapel - King Charles is welcomed as Royal Confrater to the Abbey community And - the International Court of Justice calls on Israel to guarantee humanitarian access in Gaza

- Pope Leo XIV encourages Catholics in Burundi to persevere in their efforts towards integral development and justice - The Holy See reiterates its call to eliminate nuclear weapons - During his catechesis at the weekly General Audience, the Pope reflects on how the resurrection of Jesus radically changes our perspective

- Aid to the Church in Need releases its annual World Report on Religious Freedom - Cardinal Pietro Parolin denounces ongoing violence in the Middle East - Young people in Gaza reaffirm their commitment to be beacons of hope in troubled times

- Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims in Rome for Sunday’s canonizations noting that the ceremony highlights how the Church embraces all faithful, across time and space - Catholics in violence-torn Myanmar celebrate Mission Sunday - US and arab negotiators scramble to shore-up the fragile Gaza ceasefire agreement

- Pope Leo XIV welcomes pilgrim groups of Roma, Sinti and Travelling Peoples as they celebrate their Jubilee - The UN calls for the urgent reopening of all border crossings into Gaza to deliver vitally needed aid - We listen to the Pope’s words of encouragement to young people aboard a peace training ship sailing the Mediterranean