Pope Leo XIV Reveals the Key to Demonstrating Holiness

ROME REPORTS in English

Oct 21, 2026  #RomeReports #Vatican #CatholicChurch

Behind every canonization lies a lengthy process: the Church must determine who that person was, how they lived, and what legacy they left behind. A reputation for holiness can pave the way, but for the pope, that alone is not enough. 

  Rome Reports is an international news agency covering the Pope, the Vatican, Rome and the Catholic Church, as well as major social, cultural and religious debates

No Halloween at Hobby Lobby? Founder Explains Why

 No Halloween at Hobby Lobby? Founder Explains Why

Newsmax

Oct 15, 2026 

Why doesn’t Hobby Lobby sell Halloween merchandise? Founder David Green says the decision is rooted in his Christian beliefs, even though it means walking away from millions in potential sales. NEWSMAX correspondent Heather Myers examines the company’s faith-driven stance and why Green says integrity matters more than short-term profit.

'We're in business to be a glorifier of God': Chick-fil-A CEO talks decision to close on Sundays, LGBT controversy

By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter Saturday, October 17, 2026

Chick-fil-A | Getty Images

Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy says the chain now prioritizes welcoming all customers through food and service after reflecting on a turbulent chapter in the company’s history involving public opposition to same-sex marriage.

Cathy, who followed in his father and grandfather's footsteps and became CEO in 2021, told NBC's "Today" show that his family tradition as Southern Baptists was a key factor in the decision to close Chick-fil-A on Sundays.

“My grandfather, my great-uncle, Ben, when they started that little restaurant back in Atlanta, it was very common back in the 1940s that a lot of places were closed on Sunday,” said Cathy. “They had to do that. They wanted to have a chance to take a break, go to church, and for others just to take some rest.”

The decision to stay closed on Sunday has endured, said Cathy, because it’s central to Chick-fil-A’s corporate DNA.

“It was a company that was built on God, if you will, and that still seems to be very much a part of the DNA of Chick-fil-A,” he added. “It is our anchor, in the sense of what our corporate purpose states, that we're in business to be a glorifier of God.”

The corporate purpose of Chick-fil-A came under intense scrutiny in 2012 when Cathy’s father, then-CEO Dan Cathy, publicly stated the company’s opposition to gay marriage. Public documents later revealed that Chick-fil-A had donated millions of dollars to conservative Christian organizations whose biblical values ran contrary to the LGBT movement.

At the time, Dan Cathy’s remarks triggered widespread protests, boycotts, and political pushback from both supporters and critics. While he never altered his personal position on gay marriage, Dan Cathy later expressed regret for drawing the company into the public debate.

The episode left a lasting mark on the brand’s public image, if not its revenues: in 2012, the company's sales totaled roughly $4.6 billion, and by 2019, they had grown to nearly $11 billion.

 

Full text: Pope Leo XIV’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees message

written by Pope Leo XIV 

6:30 AM September 27, 2026

Pope Leo XIV smiles at a child at the Plaza del Cristo de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, June 12, 2026, on the day he meets with migrants and humanitarian organizations. On Aug. 14, the Vatican published Pope Leo XIV's message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees which reflects on the theme: "Even Just One of These Children." (OSV News photo/Yara Nardi, Reuters)


(OSV News) — The following is the full text of Pope Leo XIV’s 2026 message for the 112th World Day of Migrants and Refugees celebrated by the Church on Sept. 27.

Even Just One of These Children (cf. Mt 18:10)

Dear brothers and sisters,

Each year the World Day of Migrants and Refugees invites us to turn our attention to different aspects of the complex phenomenon of migration. For this 112th World Day, the theme, “Even just one of these children,” draws our attention to the minors directly involved in the experience of migration and flight, to the care owed to them, and to the Lord’s promise that “whoever receives one such child in my name receives me” (Mk 9:37).
Displaced minors: a complex reality of vulnerability

Minors are the most vulnerable group within the global movements of migration. They are concrete faces, who have unique stories, and call on our conscience. Every year, millions of children and adolescents are forced to leave their homeland because of war, poverty, violence, environmental disasters and other tragedies. Sadly, their number continues to grow. The economic, political and military consequences of this disaster are immense. The suffering of migrant children does not end with their relocation. There are very young children who have lost parents, brothers, sisters and friends, and who have witnessed unspeakable acts of violence. Others, separated from their families for long periods, try to reunite with them while enduring the anguish of separation. There are also minors who make the journey together with their parents, yet are exposed to extreme and traumatic conditions. Finally, we cannot forget the tragic situation of those separated from their parents because of repatriation.


To this already appalling situation are added further tragedies: deaths along migration routes, trafficking and exploitation, the recruitment of minors for use in armed conflicts, sexual violence, forced marriages, and the atrocities they have suffered or witnessed during their travels. Their dignity is trampled upon in countless ways.

In his Message for the 2017 World Day of Migrants and Refugees, dedicated to the theme “Child Migrants, the Vulnerable and the Voiceless”, Pope Francis recalled that migrant children “in a threefold way are defenseless: they are children, they are foreigners, and they have no means to protect themselves. I ask everyone to help those who, for various reasons, are forced to live far from their homeland and are separated from their families.”

Yet, amid so much darkness, the light of solidarity is not lacking. Individuals, families, civil institutions and ecclesial communities choose not to pass by on the other side (cf. Lk 10:29-37). We think of the families who open the doors of their homes in order to restore to these children the warmth of a family hearth; the educators who serve in reception centers; the volunteers and aid workers who each day devote themselves to healing the invisible wounds of these little ones along migration routes and in our cities. They bear witness through their commitment that love can overcome indifference.

MOMENTS: Pope Leo Shares Lunch With Vulnerable People, Says He Came With 'Hunger for Justice'

 

Street Church Speaking in Tongues outside of Delaney Hall ICE detention facility 6.7.26

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 P.S. 

Louise Scott-Rountree Councilmember At-Large, City of Newark   

Newark's Councilwoman At Large, Reverend Louise Scott-Rountree Speaks

How a Catholic nun provides 'radical hospitality' outside Delaney Hall detention center

How a Catholic nun provides 'radical hospitality' outside Delaney Hall detention center

RNS

May 27, 2026

Sister Susan Francois, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, has been showing up at Delaney Hall, the immigrant detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, since May 2025. In late May 2026, detainees inside Delaney Hall started a hunger and labor strike, citing inhumane conditions at the Newark, New Jersey immigration detention center. Days later, protests intensified outside its gates. Francois documents her work along the way. This is a day in her life.

“Faith on the Immigration Frontline” is an RNS short-form documentary series about clergy and religious community members putting their faith to work on the front lines of America's immigration crisis. Each episode follows a single subject as they navigate detention, border enforcement and the human stakes of immigration policy — through pastoral care, faith and conscience. 

Produced by Fiona Murphy

Music by Kelly Ribiat

Mike Pence stokes backlash for calling Pope Francis 'Holy Father,' posting anti-Trump op-ed

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter
Monday, March 03, 2025

Pope Francis speaks with former Vice President Mike Pence during a private audience at the Vatican, Jan. 24, 2020. | ALESSANDRO DI MEO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Former Vice President Mike Pence drew criticism over the weekend for a Friday X post in which he referred to Pope Francis as "the Holy Father," prompting some to accuse him of affirming Roman Catholicism despite being an outspoken Evangelical Protestant.

"One of my greatest honors as Vice President was the hour I spent with Pope Francis at the Vatican in January 2020," Pence tweeted. "[Karen Pence] and I join Catholics around the world Praying for this humble and godly man. God Bless the Holy Father."

Pope Francis remains at Rome's Gemelli Hospital recovering from double pneumonia. According to the Vatican, he remained in stable condition and did not require any mechanical ventilation Sunday, though he suffered two episodes of "acute respiratory failure" on Monday.

Pence was raised Roman Catholic but later left the Catholic Church to become an Evangelical when he was in college, according to a profile in The New York Times.

Read more

About Ganoune Diop's Claim that The GC Never Promoted the C-19 Jab . . .

September 23, 2024 Fulcrum7 Staff

In June of this year, Ganoune Diop (Religious Liberty Director of the General Conference) experienced a sudden attack of myocarditis while in Europe.

He was flown back to the US where he spent over 50-days in Johns Hopkins hospital. He was placed in a coma and near death. After 8 weeks he was released from the hospital. Two weeks ago he was in Nairobi, where he spoke at the Newlife SDA church there.

After the church service, there was a religious liberty panel discussion, of which Diop was one of four participants. During the panel discussion, Diop stated that the General Conference / SDA Church never promoted the C-19 vaccine. See it for yourself at 40:36.

 “The GC (Seventh-day Adventist Church General Conference) Never Promoted the Vaccine.”

True or false witness?

In this video, Mark Finley said that Seventh-day Adventist members who prefer natural immunity could be doing so for selfish reasons. 20:30

Pope asks world leaders for clemency for prisoners in run-up to Christmas

Pope Francis washes the feet of prison inmates during Holy Thursday Mass (ANSA)
POPE

Pope Francis writes a letter to Heads of State asking them to grant a pardon to prison inmates who are "are held to be eligible to benefit from such a provision."



By Salvatore Cernuzio

Pope Francis has asked for a "gesture of clemency" for prison inmates in the run-up to Christmas.

In a letter addressed to all Heads of State, he invites them to make a symbolic gesture "towards our brothers and sisters who are deprived of their liberty and who are held eligible to benefit from such a provision".

“So that this time marked by tensions, injustice and conflicts may be opened to the grace that comes from the Lord.”

This is the motivation reported in a statement issued on Monday by the Director of the Vatican Press Office, Matteo Bruni.
Washing the feet of prisoners: "God always forgives"

The request for clemency for prisoners has distant roots that go back to the Great Jubilee Year 2000 when St. Pope John Paul II asked the world's rulers for a pardon for prisoners in the 11-page document for the Jubilee in Prisons.

It was late June, a little over a week later, when on 9 July Pope John Paul II visited Rome's Regina Coeli prison as part of the Jubilee of Prisoners, and in the name of Jesus who was "imprisoned, mocked, judged and condemned", asked "the competent authorities" for a reduction of the sentence to allow prisoners to build a new life once out of prison.

This request was reiterated again on 14 November 2002 to senators and deputies he met during his visit to the Italian Parliament.
The 2016 Jubilee for Prisoners

Following in his predecessor's footsteps, Pope Francis has shown his closeness to prison inmates in the course of many of his apostolic visits and in other instances, in particular during the Holy Thursday ceremony of the washing of the feet.

During the 2016 Holy Year of Mercy, on the occasion of the Jubilee of Prisoners on 6 November, during the Angelus after Mass in St. Peter's Basilica with prisoners, he urged governments to grant them "an act of clemency".

On that occasion, Pope Francis issued an appeal “in favour of improving the living conditions in prisons throughout the world, that the human dignity of detainees be fully respected.“

He also reflected on "the need for a criminal justice system that is not exclusively punitive, but open to hope and the prospect of reintegrating the offender into society.“

“In a special way, I submit for the consideration of the competent civil authorities of every country the possibility that, in this Holy Year of Mercy, an act of clemency be carried out for those prisoners who are held to be eligible to benefit from such a provision.”

Today, as we near Christmas, he issues a similar invitation.

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