Bulletins, Newsletters, and Flocknotes

This afternoon, the Holy Father Leo XIV went to the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls to venerate the “Trophaeum” of the Apostle Paul.

Upon arrival, the Holy Father was welcomed by the Father Abbot and the Archpriest of the Basilica. Then, in procession, together with the Benedictine monks, he entered the Basilica from the Holy Door and walked towards the apse. Arriving at the Confession, Pope Leo XIV came down to venerate the tomb of Saint Paul. The Holy Father then addressed those present to introduce the reading of a passage from the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans. Then, after a brief moment of silence, he went to the altar to venerate the Trophaeum of the Apostle.

At the end, after the Apostolic Blessing, the Pope took his leave to return to the Vatican.

The following is the homily delivered by the Holy Father during the celebration:

 

Homily of the Holy Father

The passage of Scripture that we have just heard is the opening of a beautiful letter written by Saint Paul to the Christians of Rome. Its message revolves around three great themes:  grace ,  faith  and  justification . As we entrust the beginning of this new Pontificate to the intercession of the Apostle of the Gentiles, let us reflect together on that message.

Saint Paul starts by saying that he received from God the  grace  of his vocation (cf.  Rom  1:5). He acknowledges, in other words, that his encounter with Christ and his own ministry were the fruit of God’s prior love, which called him to a new life while he was still far from the Gospel and persecuting the Church. Saint Augustine, who was also a convert, spoke of the same experience in these words: “How can we choose, unless we have first been chosen? We cannot love, unless someone has loved us first” ( Serm.  34, 2). At the root of every vocation, God is present, in his mercy and his goodness, as generous as that of a mother (cf.  Is  66:11-13) who nourishes her child with her own body for as long as the child is unable to feed itself (cf. SAINT AUGUSTINE,  Enn. in Ps.  130, 9).

In the same passage, Paul also speaks of “the obedience of faith” ( Rom  1:5), and here too he shares his own experience. When the Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus (cf.  Acts  9:1-30), he did not take away his freedom, but gave him the opportunity to make a decision, to choose an obedience that would prove costly and entail interior and exterior struggles, which Paul proved willing to face. Salvation does not come about by magic, but by a mysterious interplay of  grace  and  faith , of God’s prevenient love and of our trusting and free acceptance (cf.  2 Tim  1:12).

As we thank the Lord for the calling that changed Saul’s life, let us ask him to enable us to respond in the same way to his grace, and to become, ourselves, witnesses of the love “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” ( Rom  5:5). Let us ask the Lord for the grace to cultivate and spread his charity, and to become true neighbours to one another (cf. FRANCIS , Homily at Second Vespers of the Solemnity of the Conversion of Saint Paul , 25 January 2024). Let us compete in showing the love that, following his encounter with Christ, drove the former persecutor to become “all things to all people” (cf.  1 Cor  9:19-23), even to the point of martyrdom. In this way, for us as for Paul, the weakness of the flesh will show the power of faith in God that brings  justification  (cf.  Rom  5:1-5).

For centuries, this Basilica has been entrusted to the care of a Benedictine community. How can we fail to mention, then, as we speak of love as the source and driving force of the preaching of the Gospel, the insistent appeals of Saint Benedict, in his Rule, to fraternal charity in the monastery and hospitality towards all ( Rule,  cc. LIII; LXIII).

I would like to conclude, though, by recalling the words that, more than a thousand years later, another Benedict, Pope Benedict XVI, addressed to young people: “Dear friends,” he said, “God loves us. This is the great truth of our life; it is what makes everything else meaningful.” Indeed, “our life originates as part of a loving plan of God,” and faith leads us to “open our hearts to this mystery of love and to live as men and women conscious of being loved by God” ( Homily at the Prayer Vigil with Young People , Madrid, 20 August 2011).

Here we see, in all its simplicity and uniqueness, the basis of every mission, including my own mission as the Successor of Peter and the heir to Paul’s apostolic zeal. May the Lord grant me the grace to respond faithfully to his call.

The following is the text of the video message sent by the Holy Father Leo XIV to the Network of Universities for the Care of the Common Home, meeting at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro on the occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of the Encyclical “Laudato si’”:

 

Video Message of the Holy Father

Dear brothers and sisters, I want to send this greeting, a big greeting, to the Network of Universities for the Care of the Common Home. I know you are gathered at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and that you have this beautiful occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Holy Father Francis’ document, the Encyclical Laudato si’ .

I know you are about to carry out synodal work of discernment in preparation for COP30. You will reflect together on a possible remission of the public debt and of the ecological debt, a proposal that Pope Francis had suggested in his message for the World Day of Peace. And in this jubilee year, a year of hope, this message is so important.

I would like to encourage you, university rectors, in this mission you have taken on: to be builders of bridges of integration between the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula, working for ecological, social and environmental justice. I thank you all for your efforts and your work. I encourage you to continue to build bridges.

And I would like to conclude with a blessing, trusting that the grace of God may always be with you: may the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, descend upon you and accompany you always.

Amen.

Appointment of apostolic nuncio in Slovenia and apostolic delegate for Kosovo

Resignation of bishop of Paranaguá, Brazil

Appointment of bishop of Mende, France

 

Appointment of apostolic nuncio in Slovenia and apostolic delegate for Kosovo

The Holy Father has appointed Archbishop Luigi Bianco, titular of Falerone, until now apostolic nuncio in Uganda, as apostolic nuncio in Slovenia and apostolic delegate for Kosovo.

 

Resignation of bishop of Paranaguá, Brazil

The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Paranaguá, Brazil, presented by Bishop Edmar Perón.

 

Appointment of bishop of Mende, France

The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Jean Pelletier, of the clergy of the diocese of Angers, until now superior of the Charles de Foucauld Preparatory House of the ecclesiastical43 province of Rennes in Saint-Pern, as bishop of Mende, France.

Curriculum vitae

Msgr. Jean Pelletier was born on 9 March 1963 in Saint-Sulpice, in the diocese of Angers, in the department of Maine-et-Loire, in the Pays de la Loire region.

He was ordained a priest on 26 June 1994 for the diocese of Angers. He was awarded a licentiate in theology, specializing in biblical and systematic theology, at the Institut Catholique de Paris.

After ordination, he first served as a member of the Segré pastoral team and the chaplaincy of public high schools of Segré (1994). After studying in the Faculty of Theology and Religious Sciences of the Institut Catholique de Paris (1999-2001), he held the roles of cooperator in the parish of Notre-Dame-d’Èvre in Beupréau and in pastoral service in high schools (2001), episcopal delegate for the service of ordained ministers and laypeople in ecclesial mission (2006), member of the chaplaincy of the International Movement of the Catholic Agricultural and Rural Movement (2007), parish priest of Saint-Joseph-des-Basses-Vallées in Tiercé (2008), parish administrator of Saint-Marie-des-Sources-de-l’Èvre in Trémentines (2011), episcopal vicar for the deaconries of Cholet, Coteaux-de-Loire, Mauges et Lyon; parish priest of Espérance-au-Cœur-des-Mauges in Jallais (2014), moderator of Saint-Romain-les-Trois-Provinces in Le Longeron (2018); assistant to the Superior of the Charles de Foucauld Preparatory House of the ecclesiastical province of Rennes in Saint-Pern (2019), parish administrator in Candé (2021), and Superior of the Charles de Foucauld Preparatory House of the ecclesiastical province of Rennes in Saint-Pern (2022).

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

- Bishop Alberto Germán Bochatey, titular of Mons in Mauretania, auxiliary of La Plata, Argentina;

- Archbishop Héctor Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte, emeritus of Trujillo, Peru.

***

Activities of the Holy Father:

- Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls: Visit to the tomb of Saint Paul.

Today, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience, in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia, His Excellency Mr. Anthony Albanese, who subsequently met with His Excellency Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations.

During the cordial discussions which took place in the Secretariat of State, warm appreciation was expressed for the good bilateral relations between the Holy See and Australia, as well as for the contribution of the Catholic Church in service of society, especially in the educational sphere.

An exchange of views then took place on the socio-political situation of the country, focusing in particular on themes of mutual interest, including environmental protection, integral human development and the freedom of religion.

From the Vatican, 19 May 2025