Bulletins, Newsletters, and Flocknotes

This morning’s General Audience took place at 10.00 in Saint Peter’s Square, where the Holy Father Leo XIV met with groups of pilgrims and faithful from Italy and all over the world.

In his address in Italian, the Pope continued the cycle of catechesis to continue throughout the entire Jubilee Year, “ Jesus Christ our hope ”, focusing on the theme The healing of the paralytic. “When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be well?’” ( Jn 5:6).

After summarizing his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father addressed special greetings to the faithful present. Then, in view of the “cry of pain rising from places devastated by war, especially Ukraine, Iran, Israel and Gaza”, he made an appeal for peace.

The General Audience concluded with the recitation of the  Pater Noster  and the Apostolic Blessing.

 

Catechesis of the Holy Father

Dear brothers and sisters,

Let us continue to contemplate Jesus who heals. In a particular way, I would like to invite you to think about the situations in which we feel “blocked” and stuck in a dead end. At times, in fact, it seems to be pointless to continue to hope; we become resigned and no longer have the desire to fight. This situation is described in the Gospels with the image of paralysis. This is why today I would like to dwell on the healing of a paralytic, narrated in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Saint John (5:1-9).

Jesus goes to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. He does not immediately go to the Temple; instead, he stops at a door, where the sheep were probably washed before being offered as a sacrifice. Near this door there were also many sick people who, unlike the sheep, were excluded from the Temple because they were considered unclean! And so it is Jesus himself who reaches out to them in their suffering. These people hoped for a miracle that might change their fate; indeed, next to the door there was a pool, whose waters were considered thaumaturgical, that is, capable of healing: at certain moments the water would stir and, according to the belief of the time, whoever immersed themselves first would be healed.

In this way a sort of “war among the poor” came to be created: we can imagine the sorry scene of these sick people who wearily dragged themselves to enter the pool. That pool was called  Bethesda , which means “house of mercy”: it could be an image of the Church, where the sick and the poor gather and where the Lord comes to heal and give hope.

Jesus specifically addresses a man who has been paralyzed for some thirty-eight years. By now he is resigned, because he never manages to immerse himself in the pool when the water stirs (cf. v. 7). In effect, what paralyzes us, very often, is disappointment. We feel discouraged and risk falling into apathy.

Jesus asks the paralytic a question that may seem superfluous: “Do you want to be well?” (v. 6). Instead, it is a necessary question, because when one is stuck for so many years, even the will to heal may fade. Sometimes we prefer to remain in the condition of sickness, forcing others to take care of us. It is sometimes also an excuse for not deciding what to do with our lives. Jesus instead takes this man back to his truest and deepest desire.

Indeed, this man replies in a more articulate way to Jesus’ question, revealing his true vision of life. He says first of all that he has no-one to immerse him in the pool: so he is not to blame, but the others who do not take care of him. This attitude becomes the pretext for avoiding responsibility. But is it really true that he had no-one to help him? Here is Saint Augustine’s enlightening answer: “Truly he had need of a ‘man’ to his healing, but that ‘man’ one who is also God. … He came, then, the Man who was needed: why should the healing be delayed?”.  [1]

The paralytic then adds that when he tries to immerse himself in the pool, there is always someone who arrives before him. This man is expressing a fatalistic view of life. We think that things happen to us because we are not fortunate, because destiny is against us. This man is discouraged. He feels defeated in the struggle of life.

Instead, Jesus helps him to discover that his life is also in his hands. He invites him to get up, to raise himself up from his chronic situation, and to take his stretcher (cf. v. 8). That mat is not to be left or thrown away: it represents his past of sickness, his history. Until that moment, the past had blocked him; it had forced him to lie like a dead man. Now it is he who can take that mat and carry it wherever he wishes: he can decide what to make of his history! It is a matter of walking, taking responsibility for choosing what road to take. And this is thanks to Jesus!

Dear brothers and sisters, let us ask the Lord for the gift of understanding where our life is stuck. Let us try to give voice to our desire to be healed. And let us pray for all those who feel paralyzed, who do not see a way out. Let us ask to return to dwell in the Heart of Christ, which is the true house of mercy!

______________________

[1]  Tractate  17, 7.

 

Greeting in English

I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, Northern Ireland, Norway, Cameroon, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Canada and the United States of America. My special greeting goes to the members of the “HOPE80” international delegation at the start of the “Flame of Hope” pilgrimage as they seek to promote reconciliation and peace in this year marking the 80 th  anniversary of the end of the Second World War. 

May the light of divine love and fraternity always burn brightly in the hearts of the men and women of our one human family.

Upon all of you, and upon your families, I invoke the Lord’s gifts of wisdom, strength and joy. God bless you.

 

Appeal of the Holy Father

Dear brothers and sisters,

The Church is brokenhearted at the cry of pain rising from places devastated by war, especially Ukraine, Iran, Israel and Gaza. We must never get used to war! Indeed, the temptation to have recourse to powerful and sophisticated weapons needs to be rejected. Today, when “every kind of weapon produced by modern science is used in war, the savagery of war threatens to lead the combatants to barbarities far surpassing those of former ages” (SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL ,  Pastoral Constitution   Gaudium et Spes , 79). For this reason, in the name of human dignity and international law, I reiterate to those in positions of responsibility the frequent warning of  Pope Francis : War is always a defeat! And that of  Pope Pius XII : “Nothing is lost with peace. Everything may be lost with war.”

Resignation and succession of metropolitan archbishop of Lecce, Italy

Resignation and appointment of metropolitan archbishop of Brisbane, Australia

Appointment of archbishop of Matera-Irsina, bishop of Tricarico, Italy, and union in persona Episcopi of the two Sees

Appointment of bishop of Januária, Brazil

Appointment of bishop of Murska Sobota, Slovenia

Appointment of apostolic delegate in the Pacific Ocean

 

Resignation and succession of metropolitan archbishop of Lecce, Italy

The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the metropolitan archdiocese of Lecce, Italy, presented by Archbishop Michele Seccia. He is succeeded by Archbishop Angelo Raffaele Panzetta, until now coadjutor archbishop of the same archdiocese.

 

Resignation and appointment of metropolitan archbishop of Brisbane, Australia

The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the metropolitan archdiocese of Brisbane, Australia, presented by Archbishop Mark B. Coleridge.

The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Shane A. Mackinlay of the diocese of Sandhurst as metropolitan archbishop of Brisbane, Australia.

Curriculum vitae

Archbishop-elect Shane Mackinlay was born in Brunswick, Melbourne, on 5 June 1965. He entered the Corpus Christi College Provincial Seminary, and obtained a bachelor’s degree in theology from Melbourne College of Divinity and a three-year degree in physics from Monash University. He was awarded a doctorate in philosophy from KU Leuven .

He was ordained a priest for the diocese of Ballarat on 6 September 1991.

He has held the following offices: parish vicar (1992-1997) in Colac and at the Cathedral of Ballarat; parish priest of Sebastopol, secretary to Bishop Peter J. Connors and lecturer at the Australian Catholic University, Ballarat Campus; member of the College of Consultors of Ballarat (1999-2003 and 2008-2013); lecturer at the Catholic Theological College of Melbourne, as well as president of the Advisory Council of the bishop of Ballarat (2010-2019).

He was appointed bishop of Sandhurst on 23 July 2019, and received episcopal ordination the following 16 October. Within the Australian Episcopal Conference he is a member of the Standing Committee and has served as vice president of the Fifth Plenary Council of the Catholic Church in Australia.

 

Appointment of archbishop of Matera-Irsina, bishop of Tricarico, Italy, and union in persona Episcopi of the two Sees

The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Benoni Ambarus, until now titular bishop of Tronto and auxiliary of Rome, as archbishop of Matera-Irsina and bishop of Tricarico, Italy, uniting the two Sees in persona Episcopi .

Curriculum vitae

Archbishop-elect Benoni Ambarus was born on 22 September 1974 in Somusca-Bacau, Romania. After attending the seminary of Iaşi, Romania, and the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in theology. He was subsequently awarded a licentiate in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome.

He was ordained a priest on 29 June 2000 for the diocese of Iaşi and incardinated in the diocese of Rome in 2007.

He has held the following offices: educator in the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary (2001-2004); collaborator in the parish of San Frumenzio ai Prati Fiscali , Rome (2004-2007); deputy parish priest of San Frumenzio ai Prati Fiscali , Rome (2007-2010) and of Santa Maria Causa Nostrae Laetitiae , Rome (2010-2012); parish priest of Ss. Elisabetta e Zaccaria , Rome (2012-2021); and deputy director (2017) and subsequently director (2018) of Caritas Rome.

On 20 March 2021 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Rome and assigned the titular See of Tronto. He received episcopal consecration the following 2 May.

In the Vicariate of Rome he exercised his episcopal ministry as chargé in the area of the Deaconry of Charity, director of Health Pastoral Care and Prison Pastoral Care, and president of the Culto Caritas Foundation, Rome.

Within the Italian Episcopal Conference he is secretary of the Commission for Migration, while in the Regional Episcopal Conference, he is bishop delegate for Migrations and bishop delegate for Charity.

 

Appointment of bishop of Januária, Brazil

The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Dorival Souza Barreto Júnior as bishop of the diocese of Januária, Brazil, transferring him from the titular see of Tindari and the office of auxiliary of São Salvador da Bahia.

Curriculum vitae

Bishop Dorival Souza Barreto Júnior was born on 10 April 1964 in Jequié, in the diocese of the same name, in the State of Bahia.

He carried out his studies in philosophy at the Catholic University of Salvador-BA and in theology at the Higher Institute of Theology of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro-RJ. He was awarded a licentiate in liturgy from the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm in Rome, and a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome.

On 10 March 1988, he received priestly ordination and was incardinated in the metropolitan archdiocese of Montes Claros.

He has held the following offices: parish vicar of São João Batista in Montes Claros-MG and of Senhor do Bonfim in Engenheiro Navarro-MG; parish administrator of Santo Antônio da Boa Vista in São João da Ponte-MG; parish priest of Nossa Senhora da Consolação , of Nossa Senhora da Conceição and São José and of the Metropolitan Cathedral; chancellor of the archdiocesan Curia; archdiocesan bursar; vicar forane; member of the Presbyteral Council, the College of Consultors, the Pastoral Council and the Council for Economic Affairs; professor in the archdiocese of Montes Claros-MG and in the archdiocesan seminary of Diamantina-MG.

On 4 November 2020 he was appointed titular bishop of Tindari and auxiliary of São Salvador da Bahia, receiving episcopal ordination on 3 January 2021.

Within the Brazilian Episcopal Conference, he is secretary of the Nordeste 3 Region and member of the Episcopal Commission for the Liturgy.

 

Appointment of bishop of Murska Sobota, Slovenia

The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Janez Kozinc, of the clergy of the diocese of Celje, currently parish vicar of Šmarje pri Jelšah and responsible for the preparatory year, as bishop of Murska Sobota, Slovenia.

Curriculum vitae

The Reverend Janez Kozinc was born on 21 August 1975 in Celje. He carried out his studies in natural sciences and was awarded a research doctorate in chemistry. He then entered the diocesan seminary in Maribor.

He was ordained a priest in 29 June 2010 for the clergy of the diocese of Celje.

After priestly ordination, he held the following offices: parish vicar in the parish of Šoštanj (2010-2014); parish vicar in Šmarje pri Jelšah (2014-2015); and parish priest of Pišece (2015-2019). He is currently parish vicar of Šmarje pri Jelšah and responsible for the preparatory year (since 2019).

 

Appointment of apostolic delegate in the Pacific Ocean

The Holy Father has appointed Archbishop Gábor Pintér, titular of Velebusdo, apostolic nuncio in New Zealand, Fiji, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Vanuatu, the Cook Islands, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Samoa and Nauru, as apostolic delegate in the Pacific Ocean.

This morning, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience:

- Archbishop Javier Augusto del Río Alba of Arequipa, Peru;

- Bishop Mario Fiandri, S.D.B., vicar apostolic of El Petén, Guatemala.

* * *

This afternoon, the Holy Father will receive in audience:

- Participants in the event organized by the Cardinal Domenico Bartolucci Foundation.

Possession of Titular Church

The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff announces the following:

On Sunday 22 June 2025, at 17.00, His Eminence Cardinal Mykola Bychok, C.Ss.R., bishop of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne of the Ukrainians, Australia, will take possession of the Title of Santa Sofia a Via Boccea , Via Boccea, 478.

This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience His Excellency Mr. David Mekvabishvili, Ambassador of Georgia to the Holy See, on the occasion of the presentation of his credential letters.

The following is a brief biography of the new Ambassador:

 

His Excellency Mr. David Mekvabishvili Ambassador of Georgia to the Holy See

 

His Excellency Mr. David Mekvabishvili was born on 2 March 1982, and is married with two children.

He obtained a degree (1999-2003) and a master’s degree (2003-2005) in international relations at Tbilisi Ilia Chavchavadze State University, as well as a master’s degree in human rights (2005-2008) from the University of Padua.

He has held the following offices: Third Secretary, Division of Cultural Policy, Department of International Cultural Relations and Relations with the Diaspora, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2004-2005), assistant to the Ambassador at the Embassy of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in Georgia (2009-2015), assistant to the professor (Msgr. F. Ciampanelli) of Medieval history of the Church at Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University (2011-2013), Director of the Humanitarian Mission Home Health Care for Non-Self-Sufficient and Disabled Individuals at the P.G.N.C. Cardinal Pio Laghi Foundation (2011-2015), Head of the Division of the Management of Events and Relations with Diplomatic Missions at Tbilisi City Hall (2015-2016), Deputy Head of Protocol at Tbilisi City Hall (2016-2021), and Head of Protocol at Tbilisi City Hall (2021-2025).