Friday, February 6, 2026

Pope Leo XIV extends greeting & blessings as the Winter Olympics begins in Milan Italy

Pope

Pope: Sport is important for humanity, respect Olympic truce

Ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games in northern Italy, Pope Leo XIV issues the letter 'Life in Abundance' on the value of sport.

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

Hours ahead of the opening ceremony of the Milano-Cortina Winter Games, the Vatican released Pope Leo XIV’s letter, Life in Abundance, on the value of sport.

READ THE FULL TEXT OF POPE LEO'S LETTER ON SPORT HERE

The Pope begins the letter by expressing that on the occasion of the XXV Winter Olympic Games, 6–22 February, and the XIV Paralympic Games, 6–15 March, he wished to greet and extend his good wishes to those directly involved, while also offering everyone a reflection.

In the text, the Holy Father praises sport and reflects on the many ways it fosters human fraternity and helps individuals pursue what is good and holy.

Pope Leo recalls that during past Olympic Games, his predecessors emphasized the important role sport can play for the good of humanity, particularly in promoting peace.

He reiterates his appreciation that the Olympic Truce has been proposed again in recent years by the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations General Assembly.

Sport as instrument of peace

“In a world thirsting for peace," Pope Leo says, "we need tools that can put an ‘end to the abuse of power, displays of force and indifference to the rule of law.’" Decrying that before our eyes is a culture of death, he insists "that aggression, violence and war are always a defeat for humanity.”

"On the occasion of the upcoming Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games," the Pope reaffirms, "I wholeheartedly encourage all nations to rediscover and respect this instrument of hope that is the Olympic Truce, a symbol and promise of a reconciled world.”

Church called to offer pastoral care

Reflecting on sport, the Pope also reminds the Church to be pastorally present in the realm of sport and to offer accompaniment, discernment, and hope, citing Athletica Vaticana, created in 2018 as the official team of the Holy See and under the guidance of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, as an initiative which bears witness to "how sport can also be experienced as an ecclesial service."

“In this way," he encourages, "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, from respecting others, and from the joy of walking together.”

Sport serves common good and personal development

“The Church," the Pope observes, "is called to be close to the world of sport when it is played professionally, as elite competition, or as an opportunity for success or media exposure, but also through particular concern for grassroots sport, which often lacks resources but is rich in relationships.”

In the reflection, Pope Leo invites the Church to be concretely present and to offer accompaniment, discernment, and hope. In this way, he says, sport can truly become a school of life, teaching that abundance does not come from victory at any cost, but from sharing, respecting others, and the joy of journeying together.

He also calls "for liberating sport from reductive mentalities that would transform it into mere spectacle or product."

Throughout the letter, Pope Leo warns against the exploitation of sport for political or financial gain, urging instead that it remain faithful to its mission of serving personal development and the common good.

Saints of the Day for Friday

6 February: Saints Paul Miki and Companions

February 6, 2026

The First Japanese Martyr

Saint Paul Miki and his companions are shining witnesses of a faith lived without compromise, in joy and suffering. Paul was born in 1556 near Kyoto, Japan, into a family of the Japanese aristocracy. His father, a member of the Samurai class, had become a Christian along with some Buddhist monks. Paul received baptism at a very young age and, as he grew, discovered his vocation. He therefore decided to join the Jesuits, where he pursued his studies until priestly ordination.

During the years of his ministry, Japan was undergoing a period of profound political change. In 1587 the powerful Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the country’s supreme military leader, launched a harsh repression against Christians: conversions were punished by death, places of worship were destroyed, property was confiscated and entire communities were threatened.

Paul Miki holds a special place in the history of the Japanese Church. He was in fact the first religious born in Japan to emerge as a leading figure for that young Christian community, which had arisen through the preaching of Saint Francis Xavier and had quickly grown to number hundreds of thousands of faithful. Paul was able to unite Christian faith with a deep knowledge of his people’s culture, engaging in dialogue with people of every background—from scholars and Buddhist and Shinto religious figures to peasants in the countryside and the poorest in the city, often oppressed by the powerful. His style and way of communicating earned him respect even among those who did not share his faith.

In the climate of anti-Christian violence, Paul was arrested in December 1596. Taken to prison, he found himself with other Christian prisoners: Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries, as well as numerous Japanese laypeople spiritually connected to the Order of Saint Francis.

All were ordered to renounce Christianity. When they refused, they were first subjected to a cruel humiliation: the cutting off of the lobe of the left ear. Wounded and bleeding, they were paraded on carts through the streets, exposed to the mockery of the population.

During imprisonment, Paul was a guide, a support, and an example of steadfastness for his companions. On the scaffold, before dying, Paul spoke his final words as a true sermon: he affirmed that the Christian way is the best path to salvation, because it teaches one to love and to forgive even one’s enemies. He openly declared that he forgave the emperor and all those who had decided his condemnation, inviting them to discover Christian baptism.

At the beginning of 1597 he was forced to undertake a long march to Nagasaki, where, on a hill, on 6 February, together with twenty-five other companions—religious and laypeople, adults and youths—he was put to death by crucifixion. His death did not mark the end of Christianity in Japan. For more than two centuries, despite persecutions and violence, the faith survived thanks to its silent transmission within families, without priests or official structures. When in the nineteenth century the country reopened to the West, missionaries discovered with amazement Christian communities still alive.

The names of the companions in martyrdom are the Saints: John of Goto Soan, James Kisai, religious of the Society of Jesus; Peter Baptist Blázquez, Martin of the Ascension Aguirre, Francis Blanco, priests of the Order of Friars Minor; Philip of Jesus de Las Casas, Gonzalo García, Francis of Saint Michael de la Parilla, religious of the same Order; Leo Karasuma, Peter Sukejiro, Cosmas Takeja, Paul Ibaraki, Thomas Dangi, Paul Suzuki, catechists; Louis Ibaraki, Anthony, Michael Kozaki and Thomas, his son, Bonaventure, Gabriel, John Kinuya, Matthias, Francis of Meako, Joachim Sakakibara, Francis Adaucto, neophytes.

Pope Leo XIV statement for World Day against Human Trafficking

Pope

Pope Leo denounces human trafficking as a ‘crime against humanity’

Pope Leo XIV releases a message to mark the 12th World Day against Human Trafficking and pledges the Catholic Church’s commitment to confront and bring an end to this “grave crime against humanity.”

By Devin Watkins

Ahead of the 12th World Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking, Pope Leo XIV has condemned the scourge of modern slavery, which has taken even more disturbing forms in our online societies.

In his message for the World Day, marked on Sunday, February 8, the Pope renewed the Church’s “urgent call to confront and bring an end to this grave crime against humanity.”

He focused on the Risen Christ’s greeting “Peace be with you,” saying these words offer “a path toward a renewed humanity.”

“True peace begins with the recognition and protection of the God-given dignity of every person,” he said. “Yet, in an age marked by escalating violence, many are tempted to seek peace through weapons as a condition for asserting one’s own dominion.”

Human beings, he lamented, are often considered mere collateral damage in war as they are sacrificed for political or economic interests.

Pope Leo said the same disregard for human life fuels human trafficking, since armed conflict and geopolitical instability create opportunities for traffickers to exploit people on the move.

“Within this broken paradigm, women and children are the most impacted by this heinous trade,” he said.

The Pope went on to note the rise in “cyber slavery,” which sees people lured into online schemes and criminal activities like drug smuggling and fraud.

“The victim is coerced into assuming the role of perpetrator, exacerbating their spiritual wounds,” he said. “These forms of violence are not isolated incidents, but symptoms of a culture that has forgotten how to love as Christ loves.”

In the face of such pain and societal challenges, Christians must turn to prayer and awareness, said Pope Leo.

Prayer, he noted, is the “small flame” that gives us strength to resist injustice and indifference, while awareness helps us identify and overcome exploitative systems in communities and digital spaces.

“Ultimately, the violence of human trafficking can be overcome only through a renewed vision that beholds every individual as a beloved child of God,” he said.

Pope Leo XIV expressed his gratitude to the many people and networks that work to assist victims of human trafficking, some of whom are themselves survivors of the scourge.

In conclusion, the Pope entrusted the World Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking to the intercession of St. Josephine Bakhita, whose life, he said, stands “as a powerful witness of hope in the Lord who loved her to the end.”

“Let us all join the journey toward a world where peace is not merely the absence of war, but is ‘unarmed and disarming,’ rooted in full respect for the dignity of all.

Thursday, February 5, 2026

Notre Dame students built a Catholic chapel out of snow & ice

At Notre Dame, student-built ice chapel draws 2,000 to snowy outdoor Mass

Students at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana built St. Olaf Chapel out of snow and ice on the campus' North Quad over six days at the end of January and the beginning of February 2026. (University of Notre Dame/Michael Caterina)

February 4, 2026

If you build it, they will come.

In baseball parlance, that might mean a ball diamond carved from a cornfield. At the University of Notre Dame, it means an ice chapel out of mounds of snow.

An estimated 2,000-plus students and other members of the Notre Dame community in South Bend, Indiana, gathered the night of Feb. 2 in subfreezing temperatures to celebrate a candlelit Mass at the site of St. Olaf Chapel, a student-constructed fleeting house of worship made from snow, ice and faith on the North Quad.

Roughly 5 feet wide and 15 feet long with 6-foot ceilings, an apse, stained-glass windows and a spire peaking at 20 feet, St. Olaf Chapel was born from the winter daydreaming of two seniors and residence assistants at Coyle Hall: Welsey Buonerba and Martin Soros. Inspired by an igloo another Notre Dame student had built and the annual ice chapel students create at Michigan Technological University, they sought to construct their own monument to the snow day.

"As we got going, we realized this could be a little bit bigger than what we had expected," Buonerba said. "Rather than something fun, as a way to evangelize and to bring joy to our campus and student body. And it definitely proved to do that."

Construction began the afternoon of Jan. 27, near the end of a month that saw more than 38 inches of snowfall in South Bend, the city's eighth-snowiest January on record, according to the local ABC affiliate. Average temperatures oscillated from the single digits to the mid-teens during the students' week of building.

Buonerba, an architecture student from Michigan, and Soros, a civil engineering major from Maryland, compared their process to the stone masonry that raised some of the world's oldest and most well-known churches. They created ice bricks using small recycling bins. To help them freeze, they constantly ferried water from the showers inside Coyle Hall. Arches were constructed using bunk bed ladders on either side of an old car hood they found in the dorm basement.

"Anything scrappy we could get our hands on," Buonerba said.

They modeled their chapel loosely off the University of Notre Dame's Basilica of the Sacred Heart and even Paris' Sainte-Chapelle. While the campus' famed golden-domed basilica took more than 20 years to fully complete, the ice chapel replica took about six days.

As the two seniors labored on the snowy quad, other students often stopped and watched in curiosity. Some even joined in the building. Others gathered icicles that were fused to create crosses along with a crucifix. A freshman named Anna came "from abroad," or the other side of campus, to assist each night.

Soros and Buonerba estimated they logged 60-70 hours on the ice chapel. They worked before classes, between classes, after classes. On Jan. 28, they were out at 6 a.m. as temperatures dropped to 4 degrees below zero. They rotated rapidly through fresh pairs of dry gloves, though at times switched to latex versions to more easily shape the snow.

"It was a lot of very cold, wet hands," Buonerba said in a phone interview with the National Catholic Reporter.

The time in the cold, often alone, lent ample time to think. One topic: what to call their snow creation.

They landed on the name St. Olaf — after the 11th-century Norwegian king and martyr, not the snowman from the Disney movie "Frozen."

Eventually, they decided to hold a Mass at the chapel and gave themselves a deadline of Feb. 2, Candlemas, the feast of the presentation of Jesus in the Temple.

They reached out to Holy Cross Fr. Peter McCormick, assistant vice president for campus ministry, to see if he would celebrate the outdoor liturgy. Their email subject line read "CRAZY IDEA: Ice chapel Mass!"

"My immediate reaction was pure excitement," McCormick said in an email. "Long before I had any sense that thousands of people would show up, I just loved the idea. It was creative, bold, and so easy to get behind."

Holy Cross Fr. Peter McCormick celebrates Mass outside the St. Olaf Ice Chapel on the North Quad at the University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana, on Feb. 2, 2026. (University of Notre Dame/Michael Caterina)

The students recruited from the campus' multiple choirs to provide the music. They pieced together a sound system and lighting. They didn't begin advertising until two days before the Mass.

Soros said they kept expectations in check but anticipated a potentially big crowd, given the chapel's proximity to the dining hall.

"A lot of people had seen the chapel ... so there was a little bit of buzz about, oh, there's something going on," he said.

On Monday night, the crowd quickly snowballed to several thousand. Seeing so many people encircle the chapel left Soros in shock after spending so many hours toiling on its creation, often in isolation.

"It just felt very different and extremely special to be able to share the beauty that we've experienced with this endeavor with others," he said.

Approximately 2,000 students and members of the South Bend community attend an outdoor Mass at St. Olaf Chapel, a student-constructed ice structure on the North Quad at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana Feb. 2, 2026. (University of Notre Dame/Matt Cashore)

The assembly fell silent as the choir of 50 students began singing "In the Bleak Midwinter." Braving temperatures below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, the students prayed and even kneeled in the snow around St. Olaf. After the homily, they sang, with arms locked together, the alma mater "Notre Dame, Our Mother." One of the petitions prayed for those who suffer in the cold. Communion alone took a half hour and the priests ran out of consecrated hosts, the student newspaper reported.

McCormick called the outdoor Mass, infrequent at Notre Dame, "certainly unique." What stood out most for him was the joy, "a real sense that a life of faith can cut through darkness, discouragement, and even the cold."

"Being out in the cold and snow took away some of the usual comforts and made us very aware of where we were and who we were with," he said. "In that setting, you feel your dependence on one another and on God, which actually deepens the sense of communion."

For Buonbera and Soros, both also studying theology, building community was a goal as much as constructing an ice chapel, especially at a moment of political divisions and social unrest.

"When you come together as a community and put the important things, those divisions are going to recede to the background and that unity and love and community are going to stand out," Soros said.

Buonbera added that the experience offered a metaphor about changing focus.

"On your walk to class, you can complain about the cold, frostbite, nipping you as you're looking down, just trying to get to the next place as quick as you can. ... Or you can take a second and look up and look out at the world around you and all the beauty of God's creation, and pitch in to further it and to make something with it," he said.

Looking ahead, the Notre Dame students don't have any future plans for St. Olaf Chapel. Old candle jars inside it will collect money to donate to Our Lady of the Road, the Catholic Worker ministry to the homeless. Meanwhile, temperatures are expected to rise above freezing by Friday.

"We'll let it melt. We'll let it go on," Soros said. "It was all for the glory of God, and it'll just be a good memory soon."

In this Virginia diocese, a successful Hispanic Diaconate Program

Arlington celebrates first ‘harvest’ from its Hispanic diocesan diaconate program

written by Marietha Góngora V.

Jose Amaya, Marco Orozco, Roberto Silva, Rodrigo Ponce, Miguel Correa and Javier Aguilera, aspirants for the Diocese of Arlington's permanent diaconate program, stand for the calling of aspirants during the Mass of Admission Candidacy for Holy Orders at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington, Va., Feb. 1, 2026. While other Hispanic men already serve as permanent deacons in the diocese, the new curriculum was created specifically for Hispanics. (OSV News photo/Jim Hale, courtesy Arlington Catholic Herald)

ARLINGTON, Va. (OSV News) — After completing the two-year aspirancy stage of the Diocese of Arlington’s Hispanic Permanent Diaconate Program, the first group formally presented themselves as candidates ready to continue their formation process, which is expected to culminate in four years with their ordination as deacons.

These six men were recognized in a joyful Mass for the Admission to Candidacy for Holy Orders, celebrated by Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington Feb. 1. The Mass at St. Thomas More Cathedral was attended by hundreds of parishioners, including family and friends of the candidates for the permanent diaconate.

‘Mind and heart for faithful service’

“Know of my prayerful support and confidence in you. I trust your sincerity and your intentions as you come forward today and resolve to form your mind and heart for faithful service to the Lord and his Church,” said the homily written by Bishop Burbidge, which was read in Spanish by Father Joel D. Jaffe, who leads the diocese’s Hispanic diaconate program.

“May God who has begun this good work in you, bring it to fulfillment,” wrote Bishop Burbidge.

During Mass, the six candidates affirmed before the bishop their intention to complete their formation to be made “ready to undertake ministry in the Church” as permanent deacons in due course.

Growth of Spanish-speaking community

Father Jaffe, who also serves as pastor of Christ the Redeemer Church in Sterling, Virginia, told OSV News that this program was designed to respond to the growth of the Spanish-speaking community in Arlington.

Members of this program follow a curriculum designed for Hispanic men, with courses in Spanish and the support of bilingual priests who assist in their formation.

“It is a joy for me to see six men listening to God’s call to serve at another level and to sacrifice a lot for the community, for the Church and for the mission of our diocese. I am very happy about that,” Father Jaffe said.

After the Spanish-language Mass, Bishop Burbidge told OSV News that the candidates — Javier Aguilera, José Amaya, Miguel Correa, Marco Orozco, Rodrigo Ponce and Roberto Silva — are “very dedicated, and they’re working hard.”

Growing in knowledge of the faith

“They are taking very seriously their formation, which is intellectual formation because they have to grow in their knowledge of the faith,” he said. “They have to learn the tools on how to teach it and preach it.”

Javier Aguilera, who was accompanied by his wife, Norma, and other members of his family, originally from El Salvador, described the Feb. 1 Mass as “unforgettable.”

“All Masses are beautiful, but this one has been very special for me, it has touched my heart deeply,” said Aguilera, who had double reason to celebrate, as it coincided with his 58th birthday.

For her part, Norma said that faith has been strengthened within her home. “I feel that I have learned a lot from what he is doing, and I am doing other things that I didn’t do before, such as Lauds and Vespers,” she told OSV News.

Success of formation process

For Bishop Burbidge, the spiritual life of these men is undoubtedly a fundamental part of the success of their formation process.

“We just don’t need deacons. We need holy deacons. And so a big part of the formation is helping them to become disciples and help them in their prayer and in their relationship with the Lord, because they can only give what they have,” he told OSV News.

As the bishop stated in his homily, amid their studies and obligations, the candidates’ “highest priority must always be their spiritual life and their growth in holiness,” underscoring their commitment to the call to the permanent diaconate.

More than following Ten Commandments

Referring to the Sunday Gospel, in which Jesus “conveys to all of us how to grow in all holiness as he teaches us the Beatitudes,” the bishop warned that holiness is “more than simply following the Ten Commandments.”

“You are promising to form your mind and heart for faithful service. You are to be a dedicated learner so you may be formed in the truth and the faith you are preparing to teach, proclaim and preach,” the bishop said in his homily, read by Father Jaffe.

Bishop Burbidge, who urged the candidates to trust fully in the Lord, in his grace and mercy, without forgetting to seek the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, affirmed that by giving us the Beatitudes, Jesus “radically turns upside down worldly values and standards and teaches us the virtues and spiritual practices that serve as the perfect guide for how best to be disciples of the Lord, to follow his ways, to grow in holiness, and to be counted among the ‘blest.'”

Support of family, parishioners, formators

In his homily, the bishop also expressed his gratitude “for the support and encouragement they receive from their spouses, children, family members, fellow parishioners and formators,” referring to Father Paul D. Scalia, episcopal vicar for clergy and director of the Formation Program for Permanent Deacons in the Diocese of Arlington, and Father Jaffe.

Father Jaffe, who has worked with the Hispanic community throughout his priesthood, told the Arlington Catholic Herald, the newspaper of the Diocese of Arlington, that “being able to help the bishop create and lead this program, and then help all these men feel inspired to serve as deacons, is a joy.”

After Mass, in an interview with OSV News, Bishop Burbidge highlighted the Hispanic community’s willingness to serve in his diocese.

‘Vibrant growth’ of Hispanic communities

“We are so blessed in the Diocese of Arlington in the vibrant growth of our Hispanic communities — and their spiritual and pastoral needs must continue to be met. But as we grow, we need assistance. And deacons from the Hispanic community would provide wonderful ministry to an ever-growing community,” he said.

According to the bishop, considering the rigor of the formation program for deacons, they thought “it would be best to have a cohort where they could support each other, learn in their language, and pursue the coursework that would be most meaningful to the ministry that they’ll be doing, God willing, one day as deacons.”

Bishop Burbidge said he was pleased to have a strong group of deacons, although he anticipates that they will need more and more Hispanic deacons. “We thought this program could be inviting for other men to consider, but we started small because this is new for us, and God willing, it will continue to grow,” he added.

‘A historic moment’ for diocese

Joel De Loera, director of the Hispanic Apostolate of the Diocese of Arlington, said that this “is a historic moment” for the diocese “because it is the first time this program is being offered in Spanish, and it is in response to the great need in our Hispanic community and demonstrates Bishop Burbidge’s great pastoral care for the Hispanic community.”

“They have the opportunity to fulfill their calling, their vocation to the diaconate, and it is a great blessing that our bishop has responded to this impulse, which I think is from the Holy Spirit, especially in these times when we are experiencing so much difficulty and anxiety in our Hispanic community,” De Loera said. “It is a prophetic sign of hope for our times and for our diocese.”

Marietha Góngora V. is a correspondent for OSV News.

Cardinal Farrell: local Churches must help laypeople in basic Christian formation

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, addresses plenary assembly

Vatican

Cardinal Farrell: Local Church must help lay people with basic formation

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, opens the Dicastery's plenary assembly taking place this week in Rome with a call for local Churches to help laypeople in basic formation and with the hope that World Meetings be 'authentic experiences of encounter with Jesus.'

By Tiziana Campisi

On Wednesday, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, opened his Dicastery's third plenary assembly, being held from 4 to 6 February at the Jesuit General Curia in Rome, insisting there is a great need for a “basic formation” in the Christian life among lay people, in order to respond to “the alarming increase in the number of people who do not know Jesus Christ at all.”

Specifically, he called for a “formation of the heart,” which involves the whole life: at the origin of Christian life there is an encounter with the person of Jesus Christ, who first changes the heart, then our mindset, and eventually transforms daily conduct and all of life.

Evangelization and Catechesis

Cardinal Farrell stressed that the solution to the challenges facing the Church is not to change structures or the principles of Catholic doctrine or morality. Such changes, he said, will not “bring people back to Mass,” increase vocations, or draw young people back to the Church.

Rather, the Cardinal stressed, every local Church, diocese, and parish must offer, on a permanent basis, "paths of evangelization, catechesis, initial proclamation of the faith, Christian initiation, formation in the faith, and accompaniment in spiritual growth.”

He recalled that Pope Leo, in his Apostolic Letter Drawing New Maps of Hope, affirmed that Christian formation must embrace “the entire person: spiritual, intellectual, emotional, social, and physical,” and he encouraged lively, kerygmatic catechesis, introduction to sacramental life, liturgical celebrations, prayer life, examination of life in the light of Scripture, dialogue, experiences of fraternity, service, charity, and missionary activity.

A key element of this formation, he said, is the synergistic collaboration of all ecclesial components—pastors, lay people, families, single people, consecrated persons, lay associations and movements, youth groups, parish structures and programs, even online formation and “web apostles.”

Formation of families and couples

The Cardinal also insisted on the particular need for Christian formation and accompaniment of families and spouses, explaining that listening to Bishops during ad limina visits, and other interlocutors of the Dicastery, revealed a strong need to provide families with opportunities for formation in married spirituality, married life, family prayer, and the transmission of faith to children.

In this context, Cardinal Farrell encouraged that such formation be led primarily by couples who, through the witness of their own lives, can guide, enlighten, and support other spouses—especially younger couples and those facing moments of crisis.

Thus, He invited the Church to pray that “new saints may arise—whose zeal and creativity help the Church to bring many people closer to the faith”—and to foster “a renewed impetus for evangelization and catechesis.”

Objectives of formation

Summarizing the formation goals of the Dicastery, Cardinal Farrell said that in many ecclesial environments faith is not being generated in people but rather is often taken for granted. Christian formation must therefore generate faith and lead people into “a living relationship with God and with Christ,” fostering a mature Christian life in the Church.”

He emphasized the need for Episcopal Conferences to genuinely commit themselves to formation, and to identify fundamental criteria that can be used to develop guidelines for Christian formation that local Churches can adopt in their pastoral contexts.

World Meetings

Regarding the World Meetings organized by the Dicastery, including World Youth Day, the World Meeting of Families, and the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, Cardinal Farrell said that profound changes around the world must be taken into account, citing "cultural and economic globalization, increased social mobility and interculturality, growing religious indifference, and a renewed search for spirituality among younger generations."

Faced with these scenarios, the Pope called for pastoral creativity and new approaches and expressed his hope that the Meetings "can be evangelically more effective, touch people’s hearts, transmit grace, and have a lasting impact on their lives," becoming “authentic experiences of encounter with Jesus Christ.”

The Dicastery's activities

In his address, Cardinal Farrell also reviewed the Dicastery’s work since its establishment in 2016. In the area of Associations and Movements, eight annual meetings of moderators have been held, with ongoing accompaniment through meetings, statute review, and formation initiatives.

In the field of Family and Life, two World Meetings of Families have taken place, that in Dublin in 2018 and in Rome in 2022, and in 2022, the Dicastery published the Catechumenal Pathways for Married Life to introduce preparation for marriage and accompaniment in the early years of married life.

Regarding pastoral care of life, he recalled the work in this field of numerous Episcopal conferences using the resource Life is Always a Good.

Meanwhile, in youth ministry, World Youth Day was celebrated in Panama in 2019 and Lisbon in 2023, with preparations underway for Seoul in 2027, and, in pastoral care of the elderly, two international congresses have been held in 2020 and 2025.

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