Bulletins, Newsletters, and Flocknotes

This morning, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in Audience, in the Apostolic Palace, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, who subsequently met with His Excellency Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations.

During the cordial talks, held at the Secretariat of State, the existing good bilateral relations were highlighted, and reference was made to the historic and significant contribution of the Catholic Church to the social life of the Principality. As the conversation continued, the Parties focused on some topics of mutual interest, such as care for the environment, humanitarian aid, and the defence and promotion of human dignity.

Finally, there was also an exchange of opinions on current international affairs, with particular emphasis on peace and security, and on the general situation in the Middle East and some regions of Africa.

From the Vatican, 17 January 2026

On Tuesday 20 January 2026, at 11.30, a press conference will be held at the Holy See Press Office, Via della Conciliazione 54, to present the  Message of the Holy Father Leo XIV for the 34th World Day of the Sick 2026, to be celebrated on 11 February 2026 ,   on the theme:  “The compassion of the Samaritan: loving by bearing another’s pain” .

The panel will be composed of:

-  Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J. ,  prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; official delegate of Pope Leo XIV for the World Day of the Sick in Chiclayo, Peru;

-  Fr. Michel Daubanes ,  rector of the Shrine of Notre Dame of Lourdes;

-  Dr. Giulia Civitelli ,  physician responsible for the Caritas Clinic – Rome (Scalabrinian Secular Missionary);

-  Marina Melone ,  of “Casa Gelsomino” in the parish of San Gregorio XII, centre for hosting and helping the families of children admitted to Bambino Gesù Hospital.

The press conference will be livestreamed in the original language on the  Vatican News  YouTube channel, at  https://www.youtube.com/c/VaticanNews

Remote participation

Journalists and media operators who wish to participate remotely in the press conference must apply, no later than two hours before the event, via the Holy See Press Office online accreditation system, at  https://press.vatican.va/accreditamenti , selecting the event:  CS Messaggio Giornata Mondiale del Malato 2026.

During the request phase, select the option “Sì” in the box “Partecipazione da remoto”.

Journalists and media operators who are admitted will receive confirmation of participation via the online accreditation system and, at the same time, the link to access the virtual platform and to participate actively in the press conference, with the possibility to ask questions.

Participation in person

Journalists and media operators who wish to participate in the press conference in person must apply, no later than 24 hours before the event, via the Holy See Press Office online accreditation system, at  https://press.vatican.va/accreditamenti , selecting the event:  CS Messaggio Giornata Mondiale del Malato 2026.

Journalists and media operators who are admitted will receive confirmation of participation via the online accreditation system.

Simultaneous translation

Both by connecting to the respective  Vatican News  linguistic YouTube channels and by using the virtual participation platform indicated in the paragraph “Remote participation”, it will be possible to access the simultaneous translation channels and to listen to the press conference in  Italian ,  French ,  English  and  Spanish .

Simultaneous translation will also be available to those present at the Holy See Press Office.

* * *

Journalists and media operators accredited for the press conference are requested to arrive 30 minutes before the start time.

This morning, the Holy Father received in audience:

- Archbishop Filippo Iannone, O. Carm., prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops;

- Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund;

- Bishop Ariel Edgardo Torrado Mosconi of Nueve de Julio, Argentina;

- His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, and entourage;

- Members of the Presidency of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM);

- Archbishop Nikola Eterović, titular of Cibale, apostolic nuncio in the Federal Republic of Germany;

- Archbishop Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva, metropolitan of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The following is the Letter sent by the Holy Father Leo XIV to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy on the occasion of the 325 th anniversary of its founding:

 

Letter of the Holy Father

To the Community of the

Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy

On the occasion of the 325th anniversary of its founding, together with you, I give thanks to the Lord for the long and fruitful history of this distinguished Institution placed at the service of the Successor of Peter.

In 1701, at the behest of Pope Clement XI, a most meritorious mission was launched, whose spirit many of my predecessors have preserved and whose growth they have guided, accompanying its development in light of the needs that the Church and diplomacy have manifested over the centuries. In more recent years, Pope Francis, with the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium , confirmed the Academy's place within the structure of the Secretariat of State, connecting it with the Section for Diplomatic Staff of the Holy See; then, with the Chirograph The Petrine Ministry of 25 March 2025, he qualified it as an advanced centre of higher academic formation and research in the Diplomatic Sciences , as a direct tool of the diplomatic action of the Holy See.

These latest reforms manifest the aim to offer a formative curriculum that, with a solid scientific base, is able to integrate legal, historical, political, economic and linguistic skills and to combine them with the human and priestly gifts of young presbyters. I thank the Superiors and the Students of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy for the journey of communion and renewal, undertaken with a spirit of faith and willingness, welcoming changes without forgetting their roots.

I hope that this auspicious anniversary will inspire in the students a renewed commitment to persevere in their formation, remembering that the diplomatic service is not a profession but a pastoral vocation: it is the evangelical art of encounter, which seeks paths of reconciliation where men raise walls and mistrust. Indeed, our diplomacy is born of the Gospel: it consists not of tactics, but of thoughtful charity; it seeks neither winners nor losers, it does not build barriers, but rebuilds authentic bonds.

To build this communion, every word spoken must be preceded by listening: listening to God and listening to the little ones, to those whose voices are often not heard. The Pope's diplomats are called to be bridges: invisible bridges to support, solid bridges when events seem difficult to contain, and bridges of hope when goodness falters.

Imitating Saint Anthony the Abbot, your patron, who knew how to transform the silence of the desert into fruitful dialogue with God, be priests of deep spirituality, to draw from prayer the strength of the encounter with others. And as your gaze opens to the mission that awaits you, I entrust each of you to Mary, Mother of the Church, that she may watch over you and make you docile to God's will in your service to the See of Peter.

With these wishes, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and to all those taking part in this significant anniversary.

From the Vatican, 21 November 2025

LEO PP. XIV

“ Hold fast to the memory of our father and brother, Francis, for the praise and glory of Him who made him great among us and glorified him in the sight of the angels. Pray for him, as once he asked us, and pray to him that God may make us sharers with him of his holy grace ”. [1]

While the fruits of grace of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025, which has just ended, in which we have all been urged to become pilgrims of that hope that does not disappoint (cf. Rm 5:5), are still present and effective, a new occasion for jubilation and sanctification is added to it as an ideal continuation: the eighth centenary of the happy passing of Saint Francis of Assisi from earthly life to his heavenly homeland (3 October 1226).

In recent years, other important Jubilees have concerned the person and the words of the Saint of Assisi: the eighth centenary of the creation of the first Nativity Scene in Greccio, the composition of the Canticle of the Creatures, hymn to the holy beauty of creation, and the impression of the Holy Stigmata, which took place on Mount Verna, almost a new Calvary, two years before his death. The year 2026 will mark the culmination and fulfilment of all the preceding celebrations: indeed, it will be the Year of Saint Francis and we are all called to become saints in the contemporary world, following the example of the Seraphic Patriarch .

If it is admirably true that “there is no other name under heaven given among men” (cf. Acts 4:12) except Jesus Christ, Redeemer of humanity, it is equally extraordinarily true that between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, in an era of so-called holy wars, relaxed morals and misguided religious fervour, “a sun was born into the world” [2]: Francis, who, as the son of a wealthy merchant, became poor and humble, a true alter Christus on earth, providing the world with tangible examples of evangelical life and a real image of Christian perfection. Our times are not very different from those in which Francis lived, and precisely in light of this, his teachings are perhaps even more valid and understandable today. When Christian charity languishes, ignorance spreads like bad habits, and those who extol harmony among peoples do so more out of selfishness than out of a sincere Christian spirit; when the virtual takes precedence over the real, social discord and violence are part of everyday life, and peace becomes more uncertain and distant every day; may this Year of Saint Francis urge us all, each according to our own possibilities, to imitate the Poverello of Assisi, to mould ourselves as much as possible on the model of Christ, to not let the intentions of the Holy Year just passed be in vain: may the hope that saw us as pilgrims now be transformed into zeal and fervour of active charity.

“And in this I want to know if you love the Lord and love me, his and your servant, if you will do this, namely: that there may never be any friar in the world, who has sinned as much as he could sin, who, after seeing your eyes, may go away without your merciful forgiveness, if he asks for it” [3] .

With these extraordinary words, given in the Epistola ad quendam ministrum , Saint Francis at the same time not only dispenses consolation and advices to an anonymous confrère, but above all outlines and emphasizes the fundamental concept of mercy, which is inextricably linked to that of forgiveness and indulgence. And it is precisely forgiveness, the well-known “Pardon of Assisi” or “Indulgence of the Portiuncola”, that Pope Honorius III granted directly to Francis as an exceptional privilege for those who, having confessed and received communion, visited an ancient church near Assisi on 2 August, built 800 years earlier on a “small portion of land” (hence the name “Portiuncola”).

With the same generous enthusiasm and joy that the Saint radiated to the crowd present at the consecration of the Portiuncola when he announced the grace granted, upon seeing his prayer answered by the Vicar of Christ, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, Minister of our faith and our joy, establishes that, from 10 January 2026, coinciding with the closing of the Ordinary Jubilee, until 10 January 2027, a special Year of Saint Francis shall be proclaimed, in which every faithful Christian, following the example of the Saint of Assisi, shall become a model of holiness of life and a constant witness of peace.

For a more perfect achievement of the intended aims, the Apostolic Penitentiary, through this Decree issued in accordance with the will of the Supreme Pontiff, on the occasion of the Year of Saint Francis, grants a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer according to the intentions of the Holy Father), also applicable in the form of suffrage for the souls in Purgatory:

1)    to members:

-    of the Franciscan Families of the First, Second and Third Orders Regular and Secular;

-    of Institutes of Consecrated Life, Societies of Apostolic Life and public or private associations of the faithful, male and female, who observe the Rule of Saint Francis or are inspired by his spirituality or perpetuate his charism in any form;

2)    to all the faithful without distinction

who, with a heart detached from sin, participate in the Year of Saint Francis by visiting, in the form of a pilgrimage, any Franciscan conventual church or place of worship anywhere in the world dedicated to Saint Francis or connected to him for any reason, and there devoutly follow the Jubilee rites or spend at least a reasonable period of time in pious meditation and raise prayers to God so that, following the example of Saint Francis, feelings of Christian charity towards their neighbours and authentic vows of harmony and peace among peoples may spring forth in their hearts, concluding with the Our Father, the Creed and invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Clare and all the Saints of the Franciscan Family.

The elderly, the sick and those who take care of them, and all those who are unable to leave their homes for serious reasons may also obtain a Plenary Indulgence, provided they detach themselves from any sin and intend to fulfil the three usual conditions as soon as possible, if they unite themselves spiritually to the jubilee celebrations of the Year of Saint Francis, offering to the Merciful God their prayers, the pains or sufferings of their lives.

In order that this opportunity to obtain divine grace through the Power of the Keys of the Church may be more easily realised, this Penitentiary firmly requests all priests, regular and secular, who have the appropriate faculties, to make themselves available, with a ready, generous and merciful spirit, for the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

This decree is valid for the Year of Saint Francis, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary.

Given in Rome, from the seat of the Apostolic Penitentiary, on 10 January 2026, the eve of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

Angelo Card. De Donatis Major Penitentiary

His Reverend Excellency Msgr. Krzysztof Józef Nykiel Titular Bishop of Velia, Regent

 

 

 

[1] Encyclical Letter of Brother Elias, to all the Provinces of the Order, on the Transitus of Saint Francis , 7 (FF 311).

[2] Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy, Paradise, Xl, 50.

[3]Francis of Assisi, Letter to a minister, 7-8 (FF 235)