Bulletins, Newsletters, and Flocknotes

This morning, 8 November 2025, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV received in Audience, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa.

During the cordial talks, mutual appreciation was expressed for the valuable contribution that the Catholic Church provides to South Africa, particularly in the areas of education and healthcare, and its ongoing commitment to foster dialogue and reconciliation within society.

On  Wednesday 12 November  at  12.30 , at the  Holy See Press Office , Via della Conciliazione 54, at “ Meeting Point ” will be held with the conclusions of the  International Conference “AI and Medicine, the challenge of Human Dignity” (10-12 November 2025) , co-organized by the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC) and the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAL).

The following will participate:

-  Msgr. Renzo Pegoraro , president of the Pontifical Academy for Life;

-  Dr. Bernard Ars , president of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations;

-  Dr. John Lane , vice-president of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations;

-  Professor Therese Lysaught , theologist and bioethicist, member of the Pontifical Academy for Life;

-  Dr. Otmar Kloiber , secretary-general of the World Medical Association.

Accreditation and participation procedure

Journalists and media operators who wish to attend the Meeting Point 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:  Meeting Point “AI e Medicina, la sfida della Dignità Umana” .

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

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

On 12 September 2025, the Holy Father appointed His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, as his Pontifical Legate for the celebrations on 13 November 2025 at the Shrine of Pompeii, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Icon of Our Lady of the Rosary, which marked the birth of the Shrine and of the new City.

The Pontifical Legate will be accompanied by a Pontifical Mission composed of the following ecclesiastics:

1. The Reverend Msgr. Pasquale MOCERINO, rector of the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii;

2. The Reverend Don Enrico GARGIULO, chancellor of the Territorial Prelature of Pompeii.

 

Letter of the Holy Father

Venerabili Fratri Nostro

PETRO S.R.E. Cardinali PAROLIN

Secretario Status

Locum obtinet in Ecclesia «post Christum altissimum nobisque maxime propinquum» (Lumen gentium 54) Beata Maria Virgo, cuius actuosus amor in domo Nazarethana, apud Elisabeth, in Cana Galileae atque in loco Calvariae per ipsam maternam Ecclesiae curam diligentemque voluntatem, ut omnes homines ad agnitionem veritatis perveniant (cfr 1 Tim 2, 4), continuatur et producitur «in eius vigilantia parvorum et egenorum et infirmorum, in perpetuo eius studio pacis concordiaeque ordinum confirmandae, in perseveranti industria et navitate» (s. Paulus VI, Marialis cultus 28).

Haud dubium est quin, postquam veneranda Beatae Mariae Virginis a Rosario imago Vallem Pompeianam die XIII mensis Novembris anno MDCCCLXXV allata est, tum eiusdem Virginis munus in Verbi Incarnati et Corporis Mystici mysterio, tum ibidem christifidelium officia feliciter usque adeo coniungantur, ut, per diligentem admodum novelli s. Bartholi Longo operam, illa humillima initia grandium caritatis operum, quae prae oculis habemus, baiulent exordium.

Pacis maxime conciliandae simulque tuendae factum praesidium, praeclarum Vallis Pompeianae Templum CL ab eiusdem Beatae Virginis imaginis adventu grato corde revocare memoriam adornat, cuius praecipua proximo mense Novembri celebratum iri eventa didicimus.

Quocirca libentes volentesque postulatis subvenire volumus Venerabilis Fratris Thomae Caputo, Archiepiscopi Praelati Pompeiani seu Beatissimae Virginis Mariae a SS.mo Rosario ac pariter Delegati Pontificii ad Sanctuarium, qui, eventus ille quo magnificentius ageretur, a Nobis humanissime rogavit ut praestantem Praesulem mitteremus, vices Romani Pontificis in Valle Pompeiana gerentem ad celebrationem Eucharisticam ibi agendam. Ad te, ergo, Venerabilis Frater Noster, mentem convertimus, quem, munus Secretarii Status studiose exercentem, peraptum omnino ad hanc permagni momenti circumstantiam putamus. Idcirco, Nostram tibi fraternam confirmantes benevolentiam, harum Litterarum virtute, te LEGATUM NOSTRUM renuntiamus atque constituimus, mandatis tibi factis, ut nomine Nostro insigne apud Sanctuarium Vallis Pompeianae proximo die XIII mensis Novembris Missarum sollemniis et aliis celelebrationibus CL anniversariae memoriae adventus imaginis Virginis a Rosario, uti supra diximus, praeesse valeas.

Libenter tibi potestatem facimus, dum celebrationi Eucharisticae praesidebis, Archiepiscopum Praelatum, clerum, religiosos viros mulieresque, Operum Caritatis hospites et peregrinatores necnon publicas auctoritates atque universos christifideles Nostro nomine salutandi ac benedicendi, quos cohorteris, ut in hoc fidei simulque caritatis Templo humano instructo labore, mentem christologicam et Rosarii contemplativam enodare pergant, iuxta recentis s. Bartholi impulsum, a Decessore Nostro Leone XIII «Rosarii Pontifice» sustentum (cfr s. Ioannes Paulus II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae 8).

Dum missionem tuam, Venerabilis Frater Noster, praesidio Beatae Mariae Virginis a Rosario commendamus, Nostram denique Apostolicam Benedictionem, caelestium gratiarum nuntiam, tibi libenter impertimur, quam ad cunctos celebrationis participes pertinere volumus.

Ex Aedibus Vaticanis, die VII mensis Octobris, in memoria Beatae Mariae Virginis a Rosario, Anno Sancto MMXXV, Pontificatus Nostri primo.

LEO PP. XIV

This morning, the Holy Father received in audience:

- His Excellency Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa, and entourage;

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

This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father received in audience the members of the Fondation Internationale Religions et Sociétés , to whom he addressed the following greeting:

 

Greeting of the Holy Father

In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Peace be with you!

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

I am very happy to meet you: members of the delegation of the International Foundation for Religions and Societies, who are committed to promoting quality Catholic education in Africa and fostering better missionary cooperation between the South and the North.

Your pilgrimage, which takes place a few days after the Jubilee of the World of Education, testifies to your desire to continue the work initiated here in Rome and to take up new challenges in the African context. This is the message of your second Congress, which will be held in two weeks' time in Nairobi, on the theme “Catholic education and the promotion of signs of hope in the African context”.

I am touched by your interest in the formation of African youth and by your efforts to offer them a quality education, imbued with African identity, as recommended by the African Educational Pact. Indeed, “today, in our educational contexts, it is worrying to see the increasing symptoms of widespread inner fragility, at all ages. We cannot close our eyes to these silent cries for help” ( Meeting with educators on the occasion of the Jubilee of the World of Education , 31 October 2025).

I encourage your engagement, which is not limited to Catholic education, but which extends equally to missionary cooperation between North and South. By sending His disciples two by two (cf. Lk 10:1), the Lord Himself also wanted to emphasize the need for collaboration in proclaiming the Good News. Mission requires working in synergy, avoiding isolation and accepting to build strong pastoral solidarity, which is not limited to economic means, but also includes the exchange of pastoral workers between Churches. This work deserves to be well organized, in order to facilitate their smooth integration into the host dioceses. I therefore commend your meeting last May at Maredsous Abbey, which provided an opportunity to reflect on how best to prepare for this missionary cooperation between South and North, and above all on the decision to create an International Centre for Missiology and North-South Pastoral Care. It is my hope that this institution will come into being and, above all, that it will achieve the objectives set out in your resolutions, for “we want to recover, together, a missionary spirit: a missionary outreach that courageously and lovingly proposes the Gospel of Jesus” ( Address to participants in the international meeting of priests organised by the Dicastery for the Clergy , 26 June 2025).

Thank you, dear brothers and sisters, for all that you do: you remind us all of the beauty of evangelization. Let us ask the Lord for the grace to be missionary disciples and pastors according to His will. May He inspire your projects and may the Holy Spirit sustain you in your commitment to the service of the Gospel. Thank you!