Bulletins, Newsletters, and Flocknotes

The Holy Father Leo XIV, on 24 April 2026, granted the Ecclesiastica Communio requested of him in accordance with Can. 76 § 2 of the CCEO by His Beatitude Polis III Nona, canonically elected Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans on 12 April 2026 by the Synod of Bishops of his sui iuris Church, celebrated in Rome.

The following is the text of the Letter addressed by His Holiness Leo XIV to the Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans granting of the Ecclesiastica Communio :

His Beatitude

POLIS III NONA

Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans

I have received your esteemed letter in which Your Beatitude, having been canonically elected Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans on 12 April 2026 by the Synod of Bishops of the same Church, held in Rome, requested, in accordance with Canon 76 § 2 of the Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium , the granting of Ecclesiastical Communion.

It is, therefore, with a heart filled with joy that I grant you the Ecclesiastica Communio , as an expression and bond of full communion with the Apostolic See, in the common service to unity in the Church and to the edification of the Body of Christ.

It is my pleasure to offer fervent prayers that Your Beatitude, as Father and Head of this beloved sui iuris Church, may exercise the ministry entrusted to you with pastoral care, guiding the People of God according to the Heart of Christ and confirming them in faith, hope and charity.

May the Holy Spirit sustain you in the fulfilment of the mission you have received, so that the Chaldean Church, rich in its ancient apostolic tradition and marked by the shining witness of numerous martyrs and confessors, may continue to bear fruit through the proclamation of the Gospel, as it did with a marvellous missionary spirit, strengthening ecclesial communion within its own territory and in those of the increasingly vast diaspora.

As I extend my paternal greetings to the Bishops of the Synod, the clergy, men and women religious, seminarians, candidates for consecrated life and all the lay faithful, I entrust Your Beatitude to the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, and to the protection of Saints Addai and Mari.

The election of Your Beatitude took place on the day on which the Chaldean liturgy commemorates the Risen Lord’s encounter with Saint Thomas, from whom the living tradition of this Church originates; May the Apostle, who recognized in the luminous wounds of Jesus the merciful manifestation of his Lord and God, accompany your patriarchal ministry in the name of faith, which demands so much courage and perseverance from many of the faithful in the Chaldean communities who, as true believers and the pride of the Church, face often arduous trials.

I cordially impart to Your Beatitude the Apostolic Blessing, as a pledge of consolation in the Lord.

From the Vatican, 24 April 2026

LEO PP. XIV

This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Leo XIV blessed the first stone of the “Centro Cuore – Papa Francesco” of the “A. Gemelli” Hospital in Rome.

The following is the address delivered by the Pope to those present during the rite of blessing:

 

Address of the Holy Father

Dear friends, good morning and welcome!

I welcome with pleasure your desire for the Pope to bless the first stone of the “Centro Cuore”, the new great work of the Gemelli Hospital, dedicated to Pope Francis. The name Cuore (Heart), given to the new structure, offers me a starting point for the brief reflection I will share with you.

In its primary, let us say functional, meaning, it stands for Cardiovascular Unique Offer ReEngineered . In other words, it indicates, through an acronym that is effective in its immediacy, that part of the vast complex that is the “Gemelli” where the treatment of cardiovascular diseases will be concentrated. You describe it as a new person-centred organizational model. It is a demanding challenge, which I hope you will tackle with enthusiasm, collaboration and also prayer.

But the word cuore , heart, for your hospital, means much more, because it is part of the very name of the university to which it belongs: the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.

In this regard, I would like to recall an important historical detail. When the long-awaited moment came to seek state recognition for the new university, many people advised Father Gemelli not to name it after the Sacred Heart, as that title would have been too devotional. And the founder honestly considered the issue. But Blessed Armida Barelli had no doubts: the University had to be “of the Sacred Heart”, because it was precisely to the Heart of Christ that the series of “miracles” which had made the undertaking possible was owed. Gemelli listened to his trusted collaborator, and the name was also approved by the government authorities.

Today, we can say that this choice, which was prophetic at the time, remains so today, given that Pope Francis chose to dedicate his last Encyclical, Dilexit nos – almost a testament – to “the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ”.

In its first part, it recalls Christian anthropology, which understands the heart as the centre and synthesis of the human person. I would like to quote just one passage: “This profound core, present in every man and woman, is not that of the soul, but of the entire person in his or her unique psychosomatic identity. Everything finds its unity in the heart, which can be the dwelling-place of love in all its spiritual, psychic and even physical dimensions. In a word, if love reigns in our heart, we become, in a complete and luminous way, the persons we are meant to be, for every human being is created above all else for love. In the deepest fibre of our being, we were made to love and to be loved” (no. 21). In this part of the Encyclical, you can find the framework of principles and values that underpin the formation at your hospital, a formation which, on this occasion, I simply wish to encourage: the more “Gemelli” grows, the greater the care that must be taken over the human and Christian formation of those who work there.

The central message of Dilexit nos is, however, theological and spiritual, centred on the mystery of love of the Heart of Christ, the primary source of inspiration and support for our life and our work. Like an everlasting flame, this love has inspired countless witnesses of charity within the Church, including in the fields of educational and social charity. Among these we may count Father Gemelli, Blessed Armida Barelli and the other founders of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.

We know how much Gemelli had longed for the Faculty of Medicine, and we are certain that from above he continues to accompany its developments, especially this initiative of the Centro Cuore . With these sentiments, I bless you all and the first stone of the new building, invoking the intercession of Mary Most Holy, Seat of Wisdom and Health of the Sick. Thank you!

This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience Her Grace Sarah Mullally, Archbishop of Canterbury.

The following is the address delivered by the Pope to those present at the meeting:

 

Address of the Holy Father

Your Grace,

Peace be with you!

In the joy of this Paschal season, as we continue to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead, I am pleased to welcome you and your Delegation to the Vatican.

Your visit brings to mind the  memorable encounter between Saint Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey sixty years ago , the anniversary of which you marked with Cardinal Koch in Canterbury Cathedral on the morning after your installation.  Since then, Archbishops of Canterbury and Bishops of Rome have continued to meet and pray together, and I am glad that we are continuing this tradition today.  I am likewise grateful for the ministry of the Anglican Centre in Rome, also established sixty years ago, and I greet in a special way the Centre’s Director, Bishop Anthony Ball, whom you will commission this evening as your Representative to the Holy See.

Throughout these days of Eastertide, the first words spoken by the risen Christ resound throughout the Church: “Peace be with you” ( Jn  20:19).  This greeting invites us not only to accept the Lord’s gift of peace, but also to be messengers of his peace.  I have often mentioned that the peace of the risen Jesus is “unarmed.”  This is because he always responded to violence and aggression in an unarmed way, inviting us to do likewise.  Moreover, I believe that Christians must bear prophetic and humble witness to this profound reality together (cf .  Message for the LIX World Day of Peace , 1 January 2026).

While our suffering world greatly needs the peace of Christ, the divisions among Christians weakens our capacity to be effective bearers of that peace.  If the world is to take our preaching to heart, we must, therefore, be constant in our prayers and efforts to remove any stumbling blocks that hinder the proclamation of the Gospel. This focus on the need for unity for the sake of a more fruitful evangelization has been a theme throughout my own ministry; indeed it is reflected in the motto I chose when I became a bishop:  In Illo uno unum , “In the One — that is Christ — we are one”   (Saint Augustine,  Enarr. in Ps.,  127, 3).

In this regard, when Archbishop Michael Ramsey and Saint Paul VI announced the first theological dialogue between Anglicans and Catholics, they spoke of seeking the “restoration of complete communion in faith and sacramental life” ( Common Declaration ,  24 March 1966). Certainly this ecumenical journey has been complex.  While much progress has been made on some historically divisive issues, new problems have arisen in recent decades, rendering the pathway to full communion more difficult to discern.  I know that the Anglican Communion is also facing many of these same questions at this time.  Nevertheless, we must not allow these continuing challenges to prevent us from using every possible opportunity to proclaim Christ to the world together.  As my beloved predecessor,  Pope Francis , said to the Primates of the Anglican Communion in 2024, “it would be a scandal if, due to our divisions, we did not fulfil our common vocation to make Christ known”  (Address to Primates of the Anglican Communion,  2 May 2024).  For my part, I add that it would also be a scandal if we did not continue to work towards overcoming our differences, no matter how intractable they may appear.

As we continue to journey together in friendship and dialogue, then, let us pray that the Holy Spirit, whom the Lord breathed on the disciples on the evening after his resurrection, will guide our steps as we prayerfully and humbly seek the unity which is the Lord’s will for all his disciples.

Your Grace, in thanking you for your visit today, I pray that the same Holy Spirit will remain with you always, making you fruitful in the service to which you have been called.

May God bless you and your family.

Today, Monday 27 April 2026 , at  12.15 , a  press conference  will be held at the Holy See Press Office to present the  Holy See Pavilion  L’Orecchio è l’Occhio dell’Anima  (“The Ear is the Eye of the Soul”)  at the  61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale , to be held from 9 May to 22 November 2026:

 

The speakers will be:

-  His Eminence Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça , prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education;

-  Hans Ulrich Obrist , curator;

-  Ben Vickers , curator;

-  Soundwalk Collective , artist;

-  Fr. Ermanno Barucco, O.C.D. , Discalced Carmelite Mystical Garden of Venice;

-  Michele Coppola , executive director for Art, Culture and Historical Heritage, Intesa San Paolo;

-  Teresa Teixeira , group representative.

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 in the press conference remotely 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 presentazione Padiglione Santa Sede Biennale di Venezia 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, a 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 presentazione Padiglione Santa Sede Biennale di Venezia 2026 .

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

 

Simultaneous translation

It is possible to access the simultaneous translation channels and listen to the press conference in Italian, English and Portuguese, both via the YouTube  Vatican News  channels in the respective languages, and by using the virtual participation platform indicated in the paragraph “Remote participation”.

Simultaneous translation is also available for those attending the press conference in person at the Holy See Press Office.

* * *

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

During the audience granted to His Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the Supreme Pontiff authorized the same Dicastery to promulgate the Decrees regarding:

- the martyrdom of the Servants of God Estanislao Ortega García (né Lorenzo) and 48 companions, professed religious of the Institute of the Brothers of Christian Instruction of Saint Gabriel, and of Manuel Berenguer Clusellas, diocesan priest, killed between the months of July and November 1936 in hatred of the faith, in various parts of Catalonia, Spain, in the context of the same persecution;

- the offer of life of the Servant of God Pedro Manuel Salado Alba, lay faithful, member of the “Hogar de Nazaret” Association, born on 1 January 1968 in Chiclana de la Frontera, Spain, and died on 5 February 2012 in Playa de Tonsupa near Atacames, Ecuador;

- the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Maria Eletta of Jesus (née Caterina Tramazzoli), professed religious sister of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, born on 28 January 1605 in Terni, Italy, and died on 11 January 1663 in Prague (present-day Czech Republic);

- the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Mary Teresa of the Most Holy Trinity (née Teresa Ysseldijk), professed religious sister of the Congregation of the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus, born on 13 November 1897 in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, and died on 10 March 1926 in St. Louis, United States of America;

- the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Maria Raffaella De Giovanni, founder of the Third Order of Minims of Saint Francis of Paula, born on 30 July 1870 in Genoa, Italy, and died there on 11 March 1933.