Bulletins, Newsletters, and Flocknotes

This morning, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in Audience the President of the Republic of Lebanon, His Excellency Mr Joseph Aoun, at the Vatican Apostolic Palace. The President subsequently met with His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of His Holiness, accompanied by His Eminence Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations.

The cordial discussions at the Secretariat of State focused essentially on the Trilateral Framework Agreement, signed by the United States, Israel and Lebanon aimed at stabilizing the southern borders of the Republic of Lebanon and at achieving a just and lasting peace. While expressing satisfaction at the signing of the Document, the Holy See voiced serious concerns about the difficulties that are being encountered in implementing it, and assured the President of its support for efforts in this regard.

From the Vatican, 20 August 2026

The following is the text of the Message of the Holy Father Leo XIV for the 11th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, which will be celebrated on Tuesday, 1 September 2026, and which will have as its theme: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” ( Is 2:4).

Message of the Holy Father

“They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Isaiah 2:4)

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our Lord Jesus Christ came so that we might have life and have it in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10).  This gift of life lies at the very heart of our mission as disciples and of our shared calling to build a civilization of love.  As we observe this World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, we are once again invited to contemplate the gift of life and to cherish the earth that sustains it, for they are tangible ways of offering praise to our Creator.

Today, we are witnessing many crises and much human suffering.  At the same time, it seems that the disruption to the harmonious balance of creation is accelerating.  These phenomena are not unrelated; they are a single plea for healing and peace arising from a wounded world.

The God of life, revealed in Jesus Christ, offers a peace that the world cannot give: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” ( Jn 14:27).  This peace is neither superficial nor fleeting; it flows from the enduring love of Christ and his care for every human person.

Yet this promise of peace stands in stark contrast to the realities we see in many parts of the world.  The prophet Isaiah spoke of a time when nations “shall beat their swords into plowshares” ( Is 2:4), transforming what destroys life into what sustains it.  But today, we too often witness the very opposite, as efforts continue to be directed toward violence and war.

War leaves wounds that extend far beyond the battlefield.  It claims lives, tears families apart and forces millions to flee their homes, thereby deepening fear, injustice and division (cf. Gaudium et Spes , 77-82).  War also leaves behind social and ecological destruction that endures for generations.  Moreover, the interaction between armed conflicts and environmental degradation often creates a vicious cycle, which destroys ecosystems, contaminates essential resources, such as air and water, and undermines food security.  This fuels poverty, inequality, and new social tensions that can contribute to the emergence of further conflicts.

What is more, war creates wounds that damage the whole fabric of life, harming not only individual persons and communities, but also their broader network of relationships with the whole human family, and their harmony with creation.  It reveals a deeper failure to live in God’s image and likeness, to respect life and to care for the earth entrusted to us.  This is not only a political failure, but also a moral and spiritual one.  Rooted in distorted desires and the misuse of human freedom and power, war stands as a counter-witness to the Gospel of peace.

The above-mentioned crises call not only for responsibility but also for a conversion of heart that will bear fruit in a deeper fidelity to God, love of one another and respect for the gift of creation.  Indeed, the discord we see in the world, such as violence, injustice and ecological degradation, is not simply the result of flawed systems or structures; it is a “symptom of the deeper dichotomy that is rooted in humanity itself” ( Gaudium et Spes , 10).  In fact, the human heart is the place where the deepest struggles unfold and our fallen condition reveals itself.  It is not merely the seat of emotion, but the center of the person — the place where reason, desire, will and conscience converge.  It is here that we wrestle with the contradictory desires within us between love and indifference, truth and illusion, justice and injustice (cf. Jas 1:14–15).  The wounds of war and the degradation of the earth, then, are profoundly linked to the condition of the human heart.  The conflicts that torment humanity are in many ways the outward expression of interior discord and division.  When the heart is distorted, relationships suffer, and the structures we build begin to reflect that disorder.

Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that “the external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast” ( Homily for the Solemn Inauguration of the Petrine Ministry, 24 April 2005).  This calls us to recognize that, in some way, what is broken around is also broken within us.  In order to build a peaceful society, therefore, we must not only reform structures but also renew our hearts.  The deep-set causes of conflict and the exploitation of creation stem from an ethical and cultural crisis, including the loss of a sense of limits, the desire for domination, the pursuit of immediate profit, and the inability to recognize the God-given dignity of each human person.

The prophetic call to “beat swords into plowshares” ( Is 2:4) is therefore not only a vision for nations, but a call to each person.  It invites us to transform harm into life.  Yet this transformation cannot be achieved through external change alone.  It requires, through cooperating with God’s grace, a deeper personal and collective conversion — a returning to God, who will reorder our desires, heal our wounds and help us grow in virtue.

Without this inner transformation, peace will remain fragile and short-lived.  But where hearts are renewed, new possibilities begin to open.  What has been used for destruction can be redirected toward life, toward the care of the poor, the nourishment of the hungry, and the safeguarding of creation.  This is the path of authentic ecological conversion, where the effects of our encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in our relationship with the world around us (cf. Francis, Laudato Si’ , 217).  Peace, then, begins in the heart and flows outward to our relationships, communities and the broader world.

Although the challenges before us are enormous, God does not leave us without the means of healing and transformation.  In place of the weapons of war, the God of peace grants us the strength to heal, to reconcile and to build a civilization of love.  In this way, we are called to safeguard the many “ecosystems” entrusted to us: the ecosystems of creation, of human relationships and of the human heart itself.

Let us imagine a world in which the energies currently invested in war are directed toward integral human development, to overcoming poverty, protecting human dignity and reconciling divided peoples. Such a vision reflects faith in the coming of God’s Kingdom.

The true tools for building peace are not weapons of destruction, instead they are truth, dialogue, patience, goodness, justice, mercy, understanding, care and love.  These flow from hearts shaped by the Gospel and sustained by God’s grace.  Only these qualities possess the power to transform individuals, renew communities and heal the wounds of our world.

Dear brothers and sisters, the path before us is clear, though it is not easy.  We are called to allow our hearts to be renewed, so that we might seek peace and care for creation.  Scripture tells us to guard our hearts, for everything we do flows from them (cf. Prov 4:23).

If we take up this task with humility and faith, we will become collaborators in God’s work of renewal.  We will move, slowly but surely, from desert to garden, from division to communion, and from violence to peace.

May the Lord grant us the courage to walk along this path, so that in our time, swords may indeed be beaten into plowshares, and the promise of the Gospel may take deeper root in our world, and the peace of Christ may reign over all of creation.

 

From the Vatican, 15 August 2026, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

LEO PP. XIV

[01216-EN.01] [Original text: English]

This morning the Holy Father received in Audience:

- H. E. Mr Joseph Aoun, President of the Republic of Lebanon.

This morning the Holy Father received in Audience:

H.E. Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.

Resignation of the Bishop of Speyer (Germany)

Appointment of Auxiliary Bishop of Toamasina (Madagascar)

 

Resignation of the Bishop of Speyer (Germany)

The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Speyer (Germany), presented by H.E. Msgr. Karl-Heinz Wiesemann.

Appointment of Auxiliary Bishop of Toamasina (Madagascar)

The Holy Father has appointed the Rev. Fr. Mariusz Kasperski, O.M.I., until now Superior of the Community of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Toamasina and Parish Priest of Saint Eugène de Mazenod in Tsarahonenana, as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Toamasina (Madagascar), assigning him the titular See of Burca.

Curriculum vitae

H.E. Msgr. Mariusz Kasperski, O.M.I., was born on 15 August 1963 in Wolsztyn, in the Archdiocese of Poznań (Poland). He completed his studies in Philosophy and Theology at the Major Seminary of the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Obra, Poland. He took perpetual vows on 8 September 1991.

He was ordained a priest on 21 June 1993 in Obra.

After his priestly ordination, he served as Parochial Vicar of Saint Stanislaus Kostka in Lubliniec, Poland (1993-1995).

In 1995, he was sent as a missionary to Madagascar, where he held the following positions: missionary en brousse in Ambinanindrano, in the Diocese of Ambositra (1996-1997); Parish Priest of Saint John the Baptist in Analakininina, in the Archdiocese of Toamasina (1997-1999); Director of the O.M.I. Pre-Novitiate (1999-2006); Member of the Council of the O.M.I. Delegation in Madagascar (2003-2015); Parish Priest and Superior of the Community of Antananarivo in Soavimbahoaka (2006-2012); Parish Priest of Saint John Paul II in Tsimahavaobe, Diocese of Morondava (2012-2015); Superior of the O.M.I. Delegation in Madagascar (2015-2022); Superior of the O.M.I. Community in Toamasina and Parish Priest of Saint Eugène de Mazenod in Tsarahonenana, Toamasina (since 2023).