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Pope Francis speaks to staff and students from St. Paul Theological School in Catania, Italy, during an audience at the Vatican Dec. 6, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Studying theology in Sicily means fighting Mafia, pope says

December 7, 2024
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The study of theology must include reference to the context in which its students live and will minister, Pope Francis said, so in Sicily that means it must have something to say about the Mafia.

“The mission of a theological school cannot ignore the territory in which it is located,” the pope said Dec. 6 during a meeting with staff and students from St. Paul Theological School in Catania, an ancient port city on the Italian island of Sicily.

“Your land has wonderful natural and artistic beauty,” the pope told them, but it also is “unfortunately threatened by Mafia speculation and corruption, which hold back development and impoverish resources,” often leading young people to flee the island or to join criminal gangs.

“The Mafia always impoverishes, always,” he said.

“Sicily needs men and women who can look to the future with hope and train the new generations to be free and transparent in caring for the common good, to eradicate old and new poverty,” the pope said, urging the students to work to build “in this world the kingdom of love and justice” promised by Christ.

The theological school, the pope said, must be a place that trains academics and pastoral workers to serve the people of Sicily, especially the poor and the many migrants who land on the island from North Africa.

Sicily “has always been a crossroads of peoples,” he said. “I urge you to be welcoming, to be creative in fraternity.”

“Please,” the pope told them, “let us not extinguish the hope of the poor, of those poor who are migrants.”

Pope Francis also urged the students and staff to value the diversity found at the theology school, recognizing the gifts that each person brings to the school community and to the local church.

“Over the years, there has been an increasing number of female students, who now have tasks of pastoral responsibility or religious or academic teaching in your ecclesial communities,” the pope noted. “This, too, is a sign of the times in an area where women have often been devalued in their social role. But let us not forget that Sicily is the homeland of the martyr saints Agatha and Lucia, who were ‘seeds’ of robust faith, capable of renewal and of generating ever new witnesses” for Christ.

Holy Spirit opens doors of peace, truth and forgiveness, pope says

Josephine Peterson

May 24, 2026

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Pope Leo XIV celebrated Pentecost by highlighting the role of the Holy Spirit in his repeated calls for peace in recent months, saying the spirit also guides the Church to truth amid a world marked by war, division and ideological fragmentation.

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Continue Reading Holy Spirit opens doors of peace, truth and forgiveness, pope says

Maronite patriarch who championed Lebanese independence among sainthood causes advanced by Pope Leo

Junno Arocho Esteves

May 24, 2026

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Pope Leo XIV advanced the sainthood causes of one woman and five men, including the Maronite patriarch who played an integral role in the establishment of modern-day Lebanon.

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Continue Reading Maronite patriarch who championed Lebanese independence among sainthood causes advanced by Pope Leo

Ukrainian nun on front lines meets Pope Leo, pleads for help to ‘end the war’

Gina Christian

May 22, 2026

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A Ukrainian nun serving in a city on the front lines met with Pope Leo XIV during a private audience with members of a papal society, handing him images of two Ukrainian soldiers in captivity and pleading with him to “end the war.”

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Continue Reading Ukrainian nun on front lines meets Pope Leo, pleads for help to ‘end the war’

What is Anthropic? A look at the company joining Pope Leo for AI encyclical release

Gina Christian

May 22, 2026

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When he releases his highly anticipated first encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” May 25, Pope Leo XIV will be present at the press conference — something atypical for such announcements, which are usually handled by senior Vatican officials.

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Continue Reading What is Anthropic? A look at the company joining Pope Leo for AI encyclical release

Pope will find a living, growing Church in Madrid, Spanish cardinal says

Junno Arocho Esteves

May 21, 2026

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Pope Leo XIV will encounter a living and growing Church when he arrives in Madrid, a revitalization highlighted by his planned blessing of the cornerstones for 12 new parishes, said Cardinal José Cobo of Madrid.

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Continue Reading Pope will find a living, growing Church in Madrid, Spanish cardinal says

What exactly is an encyclical?

Father Joseph Parisi

May 20, 2026

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An encyclical is a pastoral letter addressed by the pope to the whole Church. Encyclical letters generally address matters of faith or morals, encourage a particular commemoration or pious devotion, or deal with matters of Church discipline which are to be universally observed.

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