Friday, October 2, 2026

Bishop Robert Barron meets Pope Leo XIV and ordains 18 new Deacons from the Pontifical North American College

Bishop Barron meets Pope Leo XIV at Vatican, ordains 18 deacons in St. Peter’s Basilica

written by Courtney Mares October 1, 2026

Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minn., is pictured at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See Sept. 30, 2026, speaking in a video to OSV News. (OSV News screenshot/Courtney Mares)

ROME (OSV News) — Bishop Robert E. Barron met Pope Leo XIV for a private audience at the Vatican Oct 1, describing his first extended, one-on-one conversation with a pope as covering “a lot of different topics.”

The Chicago-born pope opened with a hometown connection, “‘Well, two guys from Chicago,'” Bishop Barron recalled Pope Leo telling him.

“It was just a very comfortable conversation. We covered a lot of different topics, but it was just delightful to be with him and, you know, to be with the successor of Peter and our spiritual father,” he said in a video posted to social media shortly after the meeting in the Apostolic Palace.

In an interview with OSV News the day before the papal audience, Bishop Barron, who has led the Minnesota Diocese of Winona-Rochester since 2022, reflected on the influence of Pope Leo and signs of renewed religious interest in the United States.

‘His papacy means a lot to our country’

“There is a revival going on for a lot of different reasons and some of that antedated Pope Leo, but I think his papacy means a lot to our country,” Bishop Barron said in the interview at the U.S. Embassy in Italy on Sept. 30.

“When you hear the pope speaking in the dulcet tones of Chicago, I think that has an impact on Americans,” he added, noting that he sees Pope Leo’s presence and charisma positively influencing young people.

“They say, well, look, I can understand this fellow,” he said. “And just his presence, his charisma. And precisely as an American, I think sure has a positive impact on our country.”

Bishop Barron was in Rome to ordain 18 American seminarians from the Pontifical North American College to the diaconate during an evening Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 1. In his homily, the bishop told the seminarians to imitate the example of Blessed Fulton Sheen in preaching the Gospel.

“Preaching is not sharing your opinions on culture or politics, not even offering your point of view on matters spiritual, nor is it talking about Jesus or God or the Church,” Bishop Barron said.

How ‘authentic preaching’ happens

“Authentic preaching happens when you allow Jesus to use you to speak his Word to his people,” he emphasized. “You preach when Jesus has so seized your heart, your mind, your personality that he effectively speaks through you.

Bishop Baron, 66, is the founder of the Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, a global Catholic media apostolate. He gained national prominence more than a decade ago as the host of the television series “Catholicism” and through his regular YouTube videos exploring popular culture, faith and Catholic teaching.

His latest documentary, “Heaven in Stone and Glass,” which explores the Gothic cathedrals of France, was shown in U.S. movie theaters on the eve of Pope Leo’s visit to France.

Reflecting on the papal visit, Bishop Barron told OSV News he was particularly moved by the stadium prayer vigil celebrating France’s Catholic heritage attended by 80,000 young people.

“It was a wonderful celebration of the Catholic culture of France, which I think is much needed today when an aggressive secularism is trying to push religion out,” he said.

A ‘bold reaffirmation’ of France’s Catholic heritage

Bishop Barron described the event as a “bold reaffirmation” of France’s Catholic heritage, adding that he found it especially encouraging that the event was held “in the presence of the Pope, who was clearly moved himself by it.”

“I think it is part of this trend of revival that you can find all across the West,” he said. “Spiritual hunger meeting social media, which allows us now to reach out to that world. That’s a powerful combination.”

Bishop Barron also said that a papal visit to the U.S. by Pope Leo would be “a wonderful event for our country” that could help revive “the hearts and minds” of American Catholics.

During his visit to the Eternal City, Bishop Barron also addressed diplomats and scholars at an event hosted by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See on Sept. 30 celebrating the 250th anniversary of America’s independence this year.

In his remarks, he highlighted President Abraham Lincoln and civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as examples of prominent Americans whose understanding of public life was shaped by biblical principles.

‘Points of contact’ between American political sensibility and Catholicism

“There are very important points of contact between the American political sensibility and Catholicism,” Bishop Barron told OSV News after the event. “It’s not perfectly congruent, but there are important points of contact. You can’t really talk, I think, coherently about freedom and about rights without talking about God. And if God is removed from the conversation, those are severely threatened,” he said.

U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch, who also spoke to OSV News after the bishop’s speech, commented on how “Bishop Barron pointed to is this deep compatibility between the Church’s understanding of democracy, of freedom, of rights, of equality, and the American founding.”

“There’s some real, I think, specialness to that compatibility that I think is worthwhile thinking about as we map where this papacy will go and how the Holy Father will be thinking about these very important questions that are important to the United States,” the ambassador added.

For the month of the Rosary, Pope Leo XIV is joined by 1,300 people in person with 1 million joining worldwide by television

Pope

A rosary in the Vatican for ‘peace for all the children in the world'

At the Grotto of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens, 1,300 people—700 of whom are children—join Pope Leo in praying the Rosary in five languages, offering up the Marian prayer for an end to violence around the world.

By Kielce Gussie

While one million children around the world offered up the Rosary for peace, about 1,300 of those voices were coming from the Vatican Gardens on the first day of the month dedicated to the Rosary—October 1. Children from parishes and schools around Rome gathered at the Grotto of Lourdes with Pope Leo XIV to kick off the Aid to the Church in Need initiative “One Million Children Praying the Rosary”.

Representing the global dimension of this initiative, each of the five decades was recited in a different language: Italian, Spanish, Urdu, German, and Arabic.

This rosary starts a weeklong initiative drawing attention to “the wounds and hopes of peoples” globally—the children of Ukraine and all the victims of war; families in Lebanon, Syria, and the Holy Land; persecuted Christians in Pakistan and around the world; reconciliation in South Sudan; and families in Cuba and Venezuela.

Before reciting the Marian prayer, Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, explained that this initiative is an invitation for children to discover that “together with Mary, they can bring the sufferings of the world to Jesus.”

“It is precisely the voices of the youngest, who entrust themselves to him with confidence, that find a special welcome in the heart of God,” he stressed. Throughout the week—October 1-7—communities around the world, separated by language and distance, will be united in their prayer for peace.

“As we contemplate the risen Christ, we ask that fear and hatred may not have the final word,” Cardinal Koch said.

A special gift

In his message, Pope Leo XIV stressed the importance of this initiative and his joy at being present with the children, parents, and priests.

Encouraging the children, the Pope reminded them that they are asking Jesus and Mary for “a special gift: peace for all the children of the world, especially those who live in places where there is war, in so many countries around the world.”

He described the rosary as a “simple prayer that everyone can pray” and called the flowers the children had offered at the beginning of each decade as a sign of love.

About 1,200 people gathered in the Vatican Gardens to pray the Rosary for peace (VATICAN MEDIA)

The Pope urged them to think about Jesus at the important moments of his life, “when he brought light and peace to many people.” These included Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, turning water in wine at the wedding of Cana, proclaiming the Kingdom of God, his Transfiguration, and when he instituted the Eucharist in the Upper Room.

Pope Leo urged the children never to forget and be thankful for these moments when Jesus “gave us wonderful gifts” and to “ask him with confidence, all united: Give us peace”.

Fifty million ‘Hail Marys’

Concluding his message to the children and families, the Pope highlighted how those present in the Vatican Gardens throughout this week (October 1-7) are not the only ones praying. About one million voices are joining them in this prayer.

“Think about it”, Pope Leo stressed: “Fifty million ‘Hail Marys’ rising to Heaven from every part of the world and in every language, asking for peace, joining together like one enormous Rosary, embracing all the continents, peoples, and nations of the world.”

Each of the five decades of the Luminous Mysteries was prayed in a different language: Italian, Arabic, Urdu, German, and Spanish (VATICAN MEDIA)

By praying the rosary together at the Grotto of Lourdes, he reminded everyone present that they are committing themselves to behaving well wherever they are: at home, school, in catechism class, with their parents, and when they play.

“Prayers must also be accompanied by good deeds and acts of love,” Pope Leo explained. “That is how peace grows.”

Tennessee's Catholic Bishops call for commutation of the death penalty against Christa Pike who survived 2 lethal injections

Christa Pike enters a Knox County Criminal Court in Tennessee on December 7, 2007

Church

Bishops urge Tennessee to commute death sentence after botched execution

Following the botched execution of Christa Pike, the Catholic and Episcopal Bishops of Tennessee call for the US state’s Governor to commute her death sentence and uphold their opposition to the death penalty.

By Devin Watkins

Tennessee’s Catholic Bishops joined the US state’s Episcopal Bishops to issue an ecumenical appeal in the wake of the twice-failed execution of Christa Pike on September 30.

In their joint statement issued on October 1, the Bishops asked Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to spare Ms. Pike’s life and prevent another attempt to carry out her death sentence.

Ms. Pike, 50, survived two doses of a lethal injection drug and was taken to hospital.

She had been sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.

Governor Lee subsequently suspended executions for the remainder of 2026 and ordered an independent review.

The Bishops acknowledged the gravity of Ms. Slemmer’s murder and the immeasurable suffering of her family, stressing that their appeal upheld the state’s responsibility to hold perpetrators of violence accountable.

“Yet accountability need not require another death,” they wrote.

Affirming that “every human being bears the image of God,” the Bishops stressed that even grave wrongdoing cannot erase a person’s dignity or exclude the possibility of repentance and redemption.

They welcomed the independent review but urged the governor to commute Ms. Pike’s sentence to a punishment that would protect the public while preserving her life.

“Such an act does not deny justice,” wrote Tennessee’s Catholic and Episcopal Bishops. “It declares that justice need not become vengeance and that the State of Tennessee can choose restraint, human dignity, and mercy.”

Separately, Catholic Mobilizing Network, a US-based organization that advocates abolition of the death penalty, called on Americans to “never accept state-sanctioned killing.”

“There is nothing normal about taking a life, and [Wednesday] night’s horrifying events reminds us of that,” Krisanne Valliancourt Murphy, the organization’s Executive Director, said in a statement.

“We pray for Ms. Pike’s current condition, and we pray for the victim Colleen Slemmer’s family as this situation must surely be retraumatizing,” she added.

Ms. Valliancourt Murphy recalled Tennessee’s previous botched execution of Tony Carruthers in May 2026, which also involved an attempted lethal injection of pentobarbital.

“The Church teaches that the death penalty is ‘inadmissible’ because every human life is sacred, no matter the harm one has caused or suffered, and because we have more effective ways to protect society than to take another life,” said Ms. Valliancourt Murphy.

Ahead of the botched execution, Tennessee’s three Catholic Bishops had petitioned Governor Lee to halt Ms. Pike’s execution.

They recalled the Church’s opposition to the death penalty as “an attack on human dignity and unnecessary to protect society while still punishing those convicted of horrible crimes.”

Pope Leo XIV upheld efforts to abolish the death penalty in a video message to an event at the DePaul University on April 24, 2026.

“The right to life is the very foundation of every other human right,” said the Pope. “For this reason, only when a society safeguards the sanctity of human life will it flourish and prosper.”

In 2018, Pope Francis revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church to state that the Church officially opposes the death penalty:

“Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good. Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption. Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,’ (Pope Francis, Address to Participants in the Meeting organized by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, 11 October 2017), and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.” (CCC 2267)

Thursday, October 1, 2026

October 2nd is the Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

Ordinary Time: October 2nd

Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

Each person on earth has a guardian angel who watches over him and helps him to attain his salvation. It has been a common theological opinion that this angelical guardianship begins at the moment of birth; prior to this, the child would be protected by the mother's guardian angel. But this is not certain, and since we now know that the soul is infused at the moment of conception, it may be that the angelic guardianship also begins at that moment. In any case, this protection continues throughout our whole life and ceases only when our probation on earth ends, namely, at the moment of death. Our guardian angel accompanies our soul to purgatory or heaven, and becomes our coheir in the heavenly kingdom.

Guardian Angels
Angels are servants and messengers from God. "Angel" in Greek means messenger. In unseen ways the angels help us on our earthly pilgrimage by assisting us in work and study, helping us in temptation and protecting us from physical danger.

The idea that each soul has assigned to it a personal guardian angel has been long accepted by the Church and is a truth of our faith. From the Gospel of today's liturgy we read: "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father" (Matthew 18:10). The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "the existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls 'angels' is a truth of faith (328)." From our birth until our death, man is surrounded by the protection and intercession of angels, particularly our guardian angel: "Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life (336)." The Church thanks God for our helpers, the angels, particularly on this feast day and September 29 which is the feast of Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael, archangels. Today's feast appeared in Spain during the sixteenth century. It was extended to the universal Church and made obligatory in 1670.

Be alert in your every action as one should be who is accompanied by angels in all your ways, for that mission has been enjoined upon them. In whatever lodging, in whatever nook or corner you may find yourself, cherish a reverence for your guardian angel. In his presence do not dare to do anything you would not do in mine. Or do you doubt his presence because you do not see him? Would it really help if you did hear him, or touch him, or smell him? Remember, there are realities whose existence has not been proven by mere sight.

Brethren, we will love God's angels with a most affectionate love; for they will be our heavenly co-heirs some day, these spirits who now are sent by the Father to be our protectors and our guides. With such bodyguards, what are we to fear? They can neither be subdued nor deceived; nor is there any possibility at all that they should go astray who are to guard us in all our ways. They are trustworthy, they are intelligent, they are strong — why, then, do we tremble? We need only to follow them, remain close to them, and we will dwell in the protection of the Most High God. So as often as you sense the approach of any grave temptation or some crushing sorrow hangs over you, invoke your protector, your leader, your helper in every situation. Call out to him and say: Lord, save us, we are perishing. —St. Bernard

Angel of God - Prayer

Angel of God, my guardian dear,

to whom God's love commits me here,
ever this day (or night), be at my side,
to light and guard,
to rule and guide. Amen.

“Devotion to the Holy Angels gives rise to a certain form of the Christian life which is characterized by:

devout gratitude to God for having placed these heavenly spirits of great sanctity and dignity at the service of man;
an attitude of devotion deriving from the knowledge of living constantly in the presence of the Holy Angels of God — serenity and confidence in facing difficult situations, since the Lord guides and protects the faithful in the way of justice through the ministry of His Holy Angels. Among the prayers to the Guardian Angels the Angele Dei is especially popular, and is often recited by families at morning and evening prayers, or at the recitation of the Angelus.

Don't look now but the Chicago White Sox are on a roll with a little help from Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo sends letter to White Sox, encouraging team to ‘foster friendship, solidarity’

written by Gina Christian

(OSV News) — The Chicago White Sox have headed into the post-season with a bit of inspiration from one of their best-known fans — Pope Leo XIV.

In a Sept. 29 X post, the team shared images of a Sept. 9 letter from the Chicago-born pope, who expressed his hope that the White Sox would promote peace and goodwill among people.

The letter was addressed to White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who had written to Pope Leo following the team’s pope-themed Aug. 11 game against the Cincinnati Reds at Chicago’s Rate Field.

The evening saw more than 38,000 “pope hats” — stylized black-and-gold miters — distributed to fans, with Dominican Sister Mary Jo Sobieck of Springfield, Ill., throwing out the first pitch and fans giving each other the “sign of peace” during the fifth inning.

Pope Leo was reported to have watched the game and lamented the team’s loss to the Reds, according to Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, who had an Aug. 12 audience with the pope.

Pope ‘pleased’ with Reinsdorf’s ‘kind letter’

In his Sept. 9 message, Pope Leo said he was “pleased” to receive Reinsdorf’s “kind letter” and “most grateful for this thoughtful gesture.”

The pope quoted from “Life in Abundance,” his Feb. 6 letter on the value of sport, saying that “sport can truly become a school of life, where all can learn that abundance does not come from victory at any cost, but from sharing, respecting others and from the joy of walking together.”

Pope Leo XIV wears a Chicago White Sox baseball cap during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican June 11, 2025. (OSV News photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters)

In his letter to Reinsdorf, Pope Leo added, “In this spirit, it is my hope that the White Sox will continue to foster bonds of friendship and solidarity among people and thus bear hopeful witness to the possibility of living and working together in peace.”

The pope concluded his letter to Reinsdorf by saying, “I willingly invoke the Almighty’s abundant blessings upon you and your loved ones.”

The White Sox posted the letter the same day the team was in Houston to play the Astros in Game 1 of the American League’s wild card series.

Post-season spot for Sox was hard-won

The post-season spot was hard-won after the team, having clinched the American League Central Division in 2021, began what Catholic sports journalist and OSV News contributor John Knebels described as a “stunning descent.”

“They slipped to 81-81 in 2022, then fell to 61-101 in 2023,” Knebels told OSV News. “Things somehow became considerably worse in 2024, when Chicago finished an almost unfathomable 41-121.”

Knebels said those 121 losses were a record that surpassed “the 120 losses of the expansion New York Mets in 1962.”

He said a combination of White Sox manager Will Venable, “shrewd off-season additions,” player development and roster improvement have “produced one of baseball’s most remarkable turnarounds.”

Some Sox fans may be hoping the papal blessing evokes the team’s victory over the Astros in Game 1 of the 2005 World Series.

Video footage of then-Father Prevost at World Series game

Video footage of then-Father Robert Prevost at the match went viral soon after Pope Leo’s election. The Sox swept the 2005 series 4-0, ending a decades-long drought known as the “Curse of the Black Sox,” a reference to a 1919 scandal over alleged match-fixing by several players who were later acquitted.

Reflecting on this season’s wild card series, Knebels said the White Sox had, in a sense, already won.

“For an organization that appeared historically lost only two years earlier, simply becoming respectable would have represented significant progress,” he said. “Instead, the Chicago White Sox became a playoff team.”

The Sox certainly played like one in the Sept. 29 wild card game, besting the Astros 6-3.

Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina.

American League American League wild card series baseball Chicago Chicago White Sox

The very Pro-Life states of Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas challenge the pro-death states of New York, California and Massachusetts in Supreme Court

Multistate lawsuit asks Supreme Court to hear challenge to abortion ‘shield laws’

written by Kate Scanlon

The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington May 11, 2026. (OSV News photo/Jonathan Ernst, Reuters)

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — The attorneys general of Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas Sept. 30 announced a lawsuit challenging the abortion “shield laws” of New York, California and Massachusetts.

The Republican-led states asked the Supreme Court to take up their challenge to the so-called “shield laws” passed by the Democratic-led states in an effort to prevent the prosecution of abortion providers within those states by states with bans or other restrictions on abortion.

The attorneys general behind the lawsuit argued that the shield laws allow abortion providers to violate their own states’ abortion restrictions by protecting those who mail abortion-inducing drugs from states that permit them to states that restrict them.

Such laws also “commonly allow anonymous or nearly anonymous mailing of abortion drugs,” the suit said.

‘Louisiana has made its position on abortion clear’

“Louisiana has made its position on abortion clear through the bipartisan will of the people’s representatives in its Legislature,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement. “Louisiana chooses life. We will not allow activist states, activist providers, or distributors profiting from killing babies to threaten Louisiana’s sovereignty, violate Louisiana law, or endanger Louisiana women and babies.”

In a statement in response to the announcement of the lawsuit, New York Attorney General Letitia James said, “Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas are asking the Supreme Court to let them impose their abortion bans on New York and punish our doctors for providing legal health care.”

“New York has always been a safe haven for reproductive freedom,” James said. “It was true before Roe, it has been true since Dobbs, and it will remain true long after this lawsuit inevitably fails. I will fight with everything in my power to defend our shield law and protect every provider and patient who depends on it.”

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, celebrated the lawsuit in a statement, arguing, “The constitutional issue is clear: blue states are playing politics to obstruct justice.”

Concerns over allowing shipment of mifepristone by mail

The lawsuit comes as some pro-life leaders have raised concerns that the Trump administration has not rolled back a Biden administration policy permitting the shipment of mifepristone by mail.

The Trump administration has sought to pause other state lawsuits seeking to roll back the eased restrictions on mifepristone, a drug commonly used for first trimester abortion, but which is also used in some miscarriage care protocols. Thus far the administration has left that regulation in effect while seeking to block those challenges, pending a promised Food and Drug Administration safety review, prompting frustration from pro-life advocates.

“We continue to encourage U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Department of Justice to swiftly set t le the case with Louisiana — saving 15,000 or more lives each month by getting these deadly drugs out of the mail immediately,” Dannenfelser said. “At a minimum, Americans of every political persuasion strongly favor in-person dispensing.”

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death and therefore opposes direct abortion.

Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.

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