Christ crucified and risen has tamed and transfigured death with his love, Pope Leo XIV said.

The same day Pope Leo XIV proclaimed St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the church, he also named the British saint patron of the Pontifical Urbanian University in Rome.

The pope celebrated Mass Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls, at Rome’s largest cemetery, Verano, which covers more than 200 acres.

After reciting the Angelus prayer Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls, the pope offered special prayers for the victims in el-Fasher, capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state.

The lives of St. John Henry Newman and of all the saints teach Christians that “it is possible to live passionately amidst the complexity of the present without neglecting the apostolic mandate to ‘shine like stars in the world,'” Pope Leo XIV said.

Pope Leo XIV encouraged an international group of young adults to reach out to their peers and invite them to be active members of a parish community rather than trying to live their faith alone.

A human connection of love and care between a teacher and student is a key part of the educational process, Pope Leo XIV said, and one that is even more important at a time when so many students experience fragility.

Pope Leo XIV’s recognition of St. John Henry Newman as a “doctor of the church” will be an ecumenical celebration, a sign of esteem for the excellence and ongoing relevance of his teaching, first as an Anglican and then as a Roman Catholic, said a key figure in preparing the declaration.

Young people must take control of technology and “humanize” online spaces to be friendly, creative places — not isolated echo chambers, forms of addiction or ways to escape, Pope Leo XIV said.

With Pope Leo XIV set to proclaim of St. John Henry Newman as a doctor of the church Nov. 1, let’s consider what criterion is used to make this decision, whether a layperson could be named a doctor and what sort of writings church doctors must have produced to be given this title.