#popeleo — Public Fediverse posts

U.S. Embassy debunks claim Vatican honored Iran with top diplomatic award

The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has publicly rejected online claims that the Vatican granted Iran a…
#NewsBeep #News #BreakingNews #breakingnews #CatholicNews #HolySee #Iran #popeleo #us-ambassador-to-the-holy-see
https://www.newsbeep.com/537347/

LIVE: Pope Leo leaves Papal residence in Castel Gandolfo

Pope Leo leaves the Papal residence in Castel Gandolfo to head back to the Vatican. #popeleo #vatican #castelgandolfo #papalresidence #pope Keep up with the latest news from around the world:

https://fllics.com/en/video/live-pope-leo-leaves-papal-residence-in-castel-gandolfo/

Encyclical Coming!

If reports are true, Pope Leo XIV will release his first encyclical on May 15th, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent humanity). Since this is unrelated to my day job, I will almost certainly not be among the first to read and report on this, so I wanted to try to flag a few things in advance for my friends who do not live and breathe this kind of thing.

1. Papal encyclicals: These are relatively rare doctrinal teaching documents that a pope issues. (Pope Francis released four in his 13-year pontificate.) While not making dogmatic declarations, (and not speaking infallibly), when a pope releases an encyclical, it’s meant to contribute to church doctrine in a significant way. Popes have lots of other channels for sending messages, but encyclicals tend to be the big deals.
2. Legacy of Rerum Novarum: You might remember that, when he was elected pope, then-Cardinal Prevost selected the name Leo as a reference to Pope Leo XIII, whose encyclical Rerum Novarum, written to outline Catholic social teaching in response to the economic, political, and cultural disruption of the Industrial Revolution, is generally considered to be the first papal contribution to Catholic social teaching. Several popes intentionally released (or planned to release) encyclicals on major anniversaries of the May 15, 1891 release of Rerum Novarum as a way of highlighting, updating and expanding Church social teaching: Pius XI (40th), John XXIII (60th), Paul VI (80th), and John Paul II (90th1 and 100th) all followed this model. Thus the release date for this one, on Rerum Novarum’s 135th anniversary marks a return to this tradition after Benedict XVI and Francis did not release social encyclicals on anniversaries. (Francis’ two major social encyclicals, Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti, were released on non-anniversary years.)
3. Title: The title is the first two words of the Latin (official) version of the document. That, plus a Friday release (a slow news day), show that the Vatican still sides with tradition over marketability and communications sensibilities.
4. Expect big things: It’s been said that Leo wants to talk about artificial intelligence (AI), but I would expect this not to be a relatively narrow document (like Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, which focused specifically on articulating Catholic teaching on birth control), but one that treats AI as a source of broad disruption of the economy, politics and culture, just as the Industrial Revolution was. Whether or not you’re Catholic, you may not be aware with the breadth of Catholic social teaching, because the Church only gets attention for a few hot-button culture war issues.2 The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been highlighting seven different principles of Catholic social teaching during the Easter season on social media, but you can also catch up through the resources on their website. When you think about it, all seven themes – the life and dignity of each human person; subsidiarity and the ordering of community; rights and responsibilities; the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable; the dignity of work and the rights of workers; solidarity; and care for God’s creation – all face challenges by the current trajectory of AI’s development and adoption. I would be surprised if this encyclical is “only” a primer on ethical use of AI, as much as that is needed.
5. Avoid the temptation to make this all about the US: One thing that I haven’t seen reported on much that could become a big deal is that Leo has consistently criticized an obsession with stock market results over other measures that better reflect how an economy is or isn’t serving the common good, especially the most vulnerable. I keep waiting for someone to portray this as a Leo-vs-Trump item, given that the Administration regularly uses the record-setting stock market as a justification for any attack on their agenda. Truthfully, Leo’s critique of a Dow Jones-centric view of the economic world is consistent with what popes across the board have said since Rerum Novarum. I would be surprised if it weren’t a theme in this encyclical, nor would it surprise me if it’s played up by those who want to spark another anti-Leo response from President Trump.
6. Media matters: I see a lot of social media posts about the pope from sources that are primarily engines of American partisanship. Sometimes they are completely untrue; other times they are misconstruing facts to fit within an ideological context. I wish that Ad Fontes would put out a media bias chart specific to Catholic journalism, similar to the ones they do for US and world journalism in general. Lacking that, know that there are Catholic and secular media outlets across the ideological spectrum who have dedicated Vatican reporters. Ideally, you should try reading the encyclical itself – it will be available at vatican.va for free, and should be really well-written, based on what we’ve seen from this pope – but if you really just want a quick rundown, at least try to restrict yourself to outlets with a dedicated Vatican beat. Start with the Vatican’s in-house shop, Vatican News, which will have a suite of stories. OSV News, and Religion News Service are two I’d recommend for down-the-center coverage, as well as secular wire services like AP and Reuters. Thoughtful commentary outlets range from Commonweal on the left to America, National Catholic Reporter, Crux, First Things, The Pillar and EWTN, the Fox News of Catholic media. There are even some blogs worth reading, lol.

One off-the-beaten path angle: When I get a chance to read it, I’ll try to share my thoughts, unless they’re redundant to the great analysis that I know will be coming from the pros. The one thing I’m likely to focus on (that others may not) is the footnotes. Not because they are likely to be a source of controversy (which they can be!3), but because Francis was unusual in the breadth of sources he cited in his encyclicals. Normally, you see references to the Bible (obviously), predecessor popes, Vatican II documents, and other things that the particular author-pope has written or said. Sometimes, you’ll see references to prominent Catholic theologians (there should probably be a prediction market on how many references to Augustine we see). But Francis included poets, non-Catholics, and (my favorite) statements by bishops’ conferences from all over the world in a way that broadened the Church’s understanding of where wisdom resides. I’ll be curious if Leo follows that example or returns to tradition. My guess is that he sticks to the basics, since there are so many anniversary documents, he’s already said a lot in his various addresses (and his apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te), plus Augustine. But if he does call out the bishops of, say, Oceania, or Africa, it would be a subtle way of underscoring the need for a synodal church to listen to those at the margins.

1. John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens was scheduled for release on May 15th, but he was the victim of an assassination attempt a few days before, so it was postponed until September.  ↩︎
2. To be fair, until very recently, the leadership of the USCCB seems to have been pretty content to just focus on the culture war issues. ↩︎
3. One of the biggest controversies of Francis’ pontificate stemmed from a footnote (#351!) in an apostolic exhortation (not even an encyclical!) about married love, Amoris Laetitia; in fact, Pope Leo has scheduled a big meeting of bishops this fall to come back to that document, probably in part to smooth over the kerfuffle of the footnote. Remind me why the Church has a rap for being too self-absorbed? ↩︎

Encyclical Coming!

If reports are true, Pope Leo XIV will release his first encyclical on May 15th, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent humanity). Since this is unrelated to my day job, I will almost certainly not be among the first to read and report on this, so I wanted to try to flag a few things in advance for my friends who do not live and breathe this kind of thing.

1. Papal encyclicals: These are relatively rare doctrinal teaching documents that a pope issues. (Pope Francis released four in his 13-year pontificate.) While not making dogmatic declarations, (and not speaking infallibly), when a pope releases an encyclical, it’s meant to contribute to church doctrine in a significant way. Popes have lots of other channels for sending messages, but encyclicals tend to be the big deals.
2. Legacy of Rerum Novarum: You might remember that, when he was elected pope, then-Cardinal Prevost selected the name Leo as a reference to Pope Leo XIII, whose encyclical Rerum Novarum, written to outline Catholic social teaching in response to the economic, political, and cultural disruption of the Industrial Revolution, is generally considered to be the first papal contribution to Catholic social teaching. Several popes intentionally released (or planned to release) encyclicals on major anniversaries of the May 15, 1891 release of Rerum Novarum as a way of highlighting, updating and expanding Church social teaching: Pius XI (40th), John XXIII (60th), Paul VI (80th), and John Paul II (90th1 and 100th) all followed this model. Thus the release date for this one, on Rerum Novarum’s 135th anniversary marks a return to this tradition after Benedict XVI and Francis did not release social encyclicals on anniversaries. (Francis’ two major social encyclicals, Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti, were released on non-anniversary years.)
3. Title: The title is the first two words of the Latin (official) version of the document. That, plus a Friday release (a slow news day), show that the Vatican still sides with tradition over marketability and communications sensibilities.
4. Expect big things: It’s been said that Leo wants to talk about artificial intelligence (AI), but I would expect this not to be a relatively narrow document (like Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, which focused specifically on articulating Catholic teaching on birth control), but one that treats AI as a source of broad disruption of the economy, politics and culture, just as the Industrial Revolution was. Whether or not you’re Catholic, you may not be aware with the breadth of Catholic social teaching, because the Church only gets attention for a few hot-button culture war issues.2 The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been highlighting seven different principles of Catholic social teaching during the Easter season on social media, but you can also catch up through the resources on their website. When you think about it, all seven themes – the life and dignity of each human person; subsidiarity and the ordering of community; rights and responsibilities; the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable; the dignity of work and the rights of workers; solidarity; and care for God’s creation – all face challenges by the current trajectory of AI’s development and adoption. I would be surprised if this encyclical is “only” a primer on ethical use of AI, as much as that is needed.
5. Avoid the temptation to make this all about the US: One thing that I haven’t seen reported on much that could become a big deal is that Leo has consistently criticized an obsession with stock market results over other measures that better reflect how an economy is or isn’t serving the common good, especially the most vulnerable. I keep waiting for someone to portray this as a Leo-vs-Trump item, given that the Administration regularly uses the record-setting stock market as a justification for any attack on their agenda. Truthfully, Leo’s critique of a Dow Jones-centric view of the economic world is consistent with what popes across the board have said since Rerum Novarum. I would be surprised if it weren’t a theme in this encyclical, nor would it surprise me if it’s played up by those who want to spark another anti-Leo response from President Trump.
6. Media matters: I see a lot of social media posts about the pope from sources that are primarily engines of American partisanship. Sometimes they are completely untrue; other times they are misconstruing facts to fit within an ideological context. I wish that Ad Fontes would put out a media bias chart specific to Catholic journalism, similar to the ones they do for US and world journalism in general. Lacking that, know that there are Catholic and secular media outlets across the ideological spectrum who have dedicated Vatican reporters. Ideally, you should try reading the encyclical itself – it will be available at vatican.va for free, and should be really well-written, based on what we’ve seen from this pope – but if you really just want a quick rundown, at least try to restrict yourself to outlets with a dedicated Vatican beat. Start with the Vatican’s in-house shop, Vatican News, which will have a suite of stories. OSV News, and Religion News Service are two I’d recommend for down-the-center coverage, as well as secular wire services like AP and Reuters. Thoughtful commentary outlets range from Commonweal on the left to America, National Catholic Reporter, Crux, First Things, The Pillar and EWTN, the Fox News of Catholic media. There are even some blogs worth reading, lol.

One off-the-beaten path angle: When I get a chance to read it, I’ll try to share my thoughts, unless they’re redundant to the great analysis that I know will be coming from the pros. The one thing I’m likely to focus on (that others may not) is the footnotes. Not because they are likely to be a source of controversy (which they can be!3), but because Francis was unusual in the breadth of sources he cited in his encyclicals. Normally, you see references to the Bible (obviously), predecessor popes, Vatican II documents, and other things that the particular author-pope has written or said. Sometimes, you’ll see references to prominent Catholic theologians (there should probably be a prediction market on how many references to Augustine we see). But Francis included poets, non-Catholics, and (my favorite) statements by bishops’ conferences from all over the world in a way that broadened the Church’s understanding of where wisdom resides. I’ll be curious if Leo follows that example or returns to tradition. My guess is that he sticks to the basics, since there are so many anniversary documents, he’s already said a lot in his various addresses (and his apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te), plus Augustine. But if he does call out the bishops of, say, Oceania, or Africa, it would be a subtle way of underscoring the need for a synodal church to listen to those at the margins.

1. John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens was scheduled for release on May 15th, but he was the victim of an assassination attempt a few days before, so it was postponed until September.  ↩︎
2. To be fair, until very recently, the leadership of the USCCB seems to have been pretty content to just focus on the culture war issues. ↩︎
3. One of the biggest controversies of Francis’ pontificate stemmed from a footnote (#351!) in an apostolic exhortation (not even an encyclical!) about married love, Amoris Laetitia; in fact, Pope Leo has scheduled a big meeting of bishops this fall to come back to that document, probably in part to smooth over the kerfuffle of the footnote. Remind me why the Church has a rap for being too self-absorbed? ↩︎

Encyclical Coming!

If reports are true, Pope Leo XIV will release his first encyclical on May 15th, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent humanity). Since this is unrelated to my day job, I will almost certainly not be among the first to read and report on this, so I wanted to try to flag a few things in advance for my friends who do not live and breathe this kind of thing.

1. Papal encyclicals: These are relatively rare doctrinal teaching documents that a pope issues. (Pope Francis released four in his 13-year pontificate.) While not making dogmatic declarations, (and not speaking infallibly), when a pope releases an encyclical, it’s meant to contribute to church doctrine in a significant way. Popes have lots of other channels for sending messages, but encyclicals tend to be the big deals.
2. Legacy of Rerum Novarum: You might remember that, when he was elected pope, then-Cardinal Prevost selected the name Leo as a reference to Pope Leo XIII, whose encyclical Rerum Novarum, written to outline Catholic social teaching in response to the economic, political, and cultural disruption of the Industrial Revolution, is generally considered to be the first papal contribution to Catholic social teaching. Several popes intentionally released (or planned to release) encyclicals on major anniversaries of the May 15, 1891 release of Rerum Novarum as a way of highlighting, updating and expanding Church social teaching: Pius XI (40th), John XXIII (60th), Paul VI (80th), and John Paul II (90th1 and 100th) all followed this model. Thus the release date for this one, on Rerum Novarum’s 135th anniversary marks a return to this tradition after Benedict XVI and Francis did not release social encyclicals on anniversaries. (Francis’ two major social encyclicals, Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti, were released on non-anniversary years.)
3. Title: The title is the first two words of the Latin (official) version of the document. That, plus a Friday release (a slow news day), show that the Vatican still sides with tradition over marketability and communications sensibilities.
4. Expect big things: It’s been said that Leo wants to talk about artificial intelligence (AI), but I would expect this not to be a relatively narrow document (like Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, which focused specifically on articulating Catholic teaching on birth control), but one that treats AI as a source of broad disruption of the economy, politics and culture, just as the Industrial Revolution was. Whether or not you’re Catholic, you may not be aware with the breadth of Catholic social teaching, because the Church only gets attention for a few hot-button culture war issues.2 The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been highlighting seven different principles of Catholic social teaching during the Easter season on social media, but you can also catch up through the resources on their website. When you think about it, all seven themes – the life and dignity of each human person; subsidiarity and the ordering of community; rights and responsibilities; the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable; the dignity of work and the rights of workers; solidarity; and care for God’s creation – all face challenges by the current trajectory of AI’s development and adoption. I would be surprised if this encyclical is “only” a primer on ethical use of AI, as much as that is needed.
5. Avoid the temptation to make this all about the US: One thing that I haven’t seen reported on much that could become a big deal is that Leo has consistently criticized an obsession with stock market results over other measures that better reflect how an economy is or isn’t serving the common good, especially the most vulnerable. I keep waiting for someone to portray this as a Leo-vs-Trump item, given that the Administration regularly uses the record-setting stock market as a justification for any attack on their agenda. Truthfully, Leo’s critique of a Dow Jones-centric view of the economic world is consistent with what popes across the board have said since Rerum Novarum. I would be surprised if it weren’t a theme in this encyclical, nor would it surprise me if it’s played up by those who want to spark another anti-Leo response from President Trump.
6. Media matters: I see a lot of social media posts about the pope from sources that are primarily engines of American partisanship. Sometimes they are completely untrue; other times they are misconstruing facts to fit within an ideological context. I wish that Ad Fontes would put out a media bias chart specific to Catholic journalism, similar to the ones they do for US and world journalism in general. Lacking that, know that there are Catholic and secular media outlets across the ideological spectrum who have dedicated Vatican reporters. Ideally, you should try reading the encyclical itself – it will be available at vatican.va for free, and should be really well-written, based on what we’ve seen from this pope – but if you really just want a quick rundown, at least try to restrict yourself to outlets with a dedicated Vatican beat. Start with the Vatican’s in-house shop, Vatican News, which will have a suite of stories. OSV News, and Religion News Service are two I’d recommend for down-the-center coverage, as well as secular wire services like AP and Reuters. Thoughtful commentary outlets range from Commonweal on the left to America, National Catholic Reporter, Crux, First Things, The Pillar and EWTN, the Fox News of Catholic media. There are even some blogs worth reading, lol.

One off-the-beaten path angle: When I get a chance to read it, I’ll try to share my thoughts, unless they’re redundant to the great analysis that I know will be coming from the pros. The one thing I’m likely to focus on (that others may not) is the footnotes. Not because they are likely to be a source of controversy (which they can be!3), but because Francis was unusual in the breadth of sources he cited in his encyclicals. Normally, you see references to the Bible (obviously), predecessor popes, Vatican II documents, and other things that the particular author-pope has written or said. Sometimes, you’ll see references to prominent Catholic theologians (there should probably be a prediction market on how many references to Augustine we see). But Francis included poets, non-Catholics, and (my favorite) statements by bishops’ conferences from all over the world in a way that broadened the Church’s understanding of where wisdom resides. I’ll be curious if Leo follows that example or returns to tradition. My guess is that he sticks to the basics, since there are so many anniversary documents, he’s already said a lot in his various addresses (and his apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te), plus Augustine. But if he does call out the bishops of, say, Oceania, or Africa, it would be a subtle way of underscoring the need for a synodal church to listen to those at the margins.

1. John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens was scheduled for release on May 15th, but he was the victim of an assassination attempt a few days before, so it was postponed until September.  ↩︎
2. To be fair, until very recently, the leadership of the USCCB seems to have been pretty content to just focus on the culture war issues. ↩︎
3. One of the biggest controversies of Francis’ pontificate stemmed from a footnote (#351!) in an apostolic exhortation (not even an encyclical!) about married love, Amoris Laetitia; in fact, Pope Leo has scheduled a big meeting of bishops this fall to come back to that document, probably in part to smooth over the kerfuffle of the footnote. Remind me why the Church has a rap for being too self-absorbed? ↩︎

Encyclical Coming!

If reports are true, Pope Leo XIV will release his first encyclical on May 15th, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent humanity). Since this is unrelated to my day job, I will almost certainly not be among the first to read and report on this, so I wanted to try to flag a few things in advance for my friends who do not live and breathe this kind of thing.

1. Papal encyclicals: These are relatively rare doctrinal teaching documents that a pope issues. (Pope Francis released four in his 13-year pontificate.) While not making dogmatic declarations, (and not speaking infallibly), when a pope releases an encyclical, it’s meant to contribute to church doctrine in a significant way. Popes have lots of other channels for sending messages, but encyclicals tend to be the big deals.
2. Legacy of Rerum Novarum: You might remember that, when he was elected pope, then-Cardinal Prevost selected the name Leo as a reference to Pope Leo XIII, whose encyclical Rerum Novarum, written to outline Catholic social teaching in response to the economic, political, and cultural disruption of the Industrial Revolution, is generally considered to be the first papal contribution to Catholic social teaching. Several popes intentionally released (or planned to release) encyclicals on major anniversaries of the May 15, 1891 release of Rerum Novarum as a way of highlighting, updating and expanding Church social teaching: Pius XI (40th), John XXIII (60th), Paul VI (80th), and John Paul II (90th1 and 100th) all followed this model. Thus the release date for this one, on Rerum Novarum’s 135th anniversary marks a return to this tradition after Benedict XVI and Francis did not release social encyclicals on anniversaries. (Francis’ two major social encyclicals, Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti, were released on non-anniversary years.)
3. Title: The title is the first two words of the Latin (official) version of the document. That, plus a Friday release (a slow news day), show that the Vatican still sides with tradition over marketability and communications sensibilities.
4. Expect big things: It’s been said that Leo wants to talk about artificial intelligence (AI), but I would expect this not to be a relatively narrow document (like Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, which focused specifically on articulating Catholic teaching on birth control), but one that treats AI as a source of broad disruption of the economy, politics and culture, just as the Industrial Revolution was. Whether or not you’re Catholic, you may not be aware with the breadth of Catholic social teaching, because the Church only gets attention for a few hot-button culture war issues.2 The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been highlighting seven different principles of Catholic social teaching during the Easter season on social media, but you can also catch up through the resources on their website. When you think about it, all seven themes – the life and dignity of each human person; subsidiarity and the ordering of community; rights and responsibilities; the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable; the dignity of work and the rights of workers; solidarity; and care for God’s creation – all face challenges by the current trajectory of AI’s development and adoption. I would be surprised if this encyclical is “only” a primer on ethical use of AI, as much as that is needed.
5. Avoid the temptation to make this all about the US: One thing that I haven’t seen reported on much that could become a big deal is that Leo has consistently criticized an obsession with stock market results over other measures that better reflect how an economy is or isn’t serving the common good, especially the most vulnerable. I keep waiting for someone to portray this as a Leo-vs-Trump item, given that the Administration regularly uses the record-setting stock market as a justification for any attack on their agenda. Truthfully, Leo’s critique of a Dow Jones-centric view of the economic world is consistent with what popes across the board have said since Rerum Novarum. I would be surprised if it weren’t a theme in this encyclical, nor would it surprise me if it’s played up by those who want to spark another anti-Leo response from President Trump.
6. Media matters: I see a lot of social media posts about the pope from sources that are primarily engines of American partisanship. Sometimes they are completely untrue; other times they are misconstruing facts to fit within an ideological context. I wish that Ad Fontes would put out a media bias chart specific to Catholic journalism, similar to the ones they do for US and world journalism in general. Lacking that, know that there are Catholic and secular media outlets across the ideological spectrum who have dedicated Vatican reporters. Ideally, you should try reading the encyclical itself – it will be available at vatican.va for free, and should be really well-written, based on what we’ve seen from this pope – but if you really just want a quick rundown, at least try to restrict yourself to outlets with a dedicated Vatican beat. Start with the Vatican’s in-house shop, Vatican News, which will have a suite of stories. OSV News, and Religion News Service are two I’d recommend for down-the-center coverage, as well as secular wire services like AP and Reuters. Thoughtful commentary outlets range from Commonweal on the left to America, National Catholic Reporter, Crux, First Things, The Pillar and EWTN, the Fox News of Catholic media. There are even some blogs worth reading, lol.

One off-the-beaten path angle: When I get a chance to read it, I’ll try to share my thoughts, unless they’re redundant to the great analysis that I know will be coming from the pros. The one thing I’m likely to focus on (that others may not) is the footnotes. Not because they are likely to be a source of controversy (which they can be!3), but because Francis was unusual in the breadth of sources he cited in his encyclicals. Normally, you see references to the Bible (obviously), predecessor popes, Vatican II documents, and other things that the particular author-pope has written or said. Sometimes, you’ll see references to prominent Catholic theologians (there should probably be a prediction market on how many references to Augustine we see). But Francis included poets, non-Catholics, and (my favorite) statements by bishops’ conferences from all over the world in a way that broadened the Church’s understanding of where wisdom resides. I’ll be curious if Leo follows that example or returns to tradition. My guess is that he sticks to the basics, since there are so many anniversary documents, he’s already said a lot in his various addresses (and his apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te), plus Augustine. But if he does call out the bishops of, say, Oceania, or Africa, it would be a subtle way of underscoring the need for a synodal church to listen to those at the margins.

1. John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens was scheduled for release on May 15th, but he was the victim of an assassination attempt a few days before, so it was postponed until September.  ↩︎
2. To be fair, until very recently, the leadership of the USCCB seems to have been pretty content to just focus on the culture war issues. ↩︎
3. One of the biggest controversies of Francis’ pontificate stemmed from a footnote (#351!) in an apostolic exhortation (not even an encyclical!) about married love, Amoris Laetitia; in fact, Pope Leo has scheduled a big meeting of bishops this fall to come back to that document, probably in part to smooth over the kerfuffle of the footnote. Remind me why the Church has a rap for being too self-absorbed? ↩︎

Encyclical Coming!

If reports are true, Pope Leo XIV will release his first encyclical on May 15th, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent humanity). Since this is unrelated to my day job, I will almost certainly not be among the first to read and report on this, so I wanted to try to flag a few things in advance for my friends who do not live and breathe this kind of thing.

1. Papal encyclicals: These are relatively rare doctrinal teaching documents that a pope issues. (Pope Francis released four in his 13-year pontificate.) While not making dogmatic declarations, (and not speaking infallibly), when a pope releases an encyclical, it’s meant to contribute to church doctrine in a significant way. Popes have lots of other channels for sending messages, but encyclicals tend to be the big deals.
2. Legacy of Rerum Novarum: You might remember that, when he was elected pope, then-Cardinal Prevost selected the name Leo as a reference to Pope Leo XIII, whose encyclical Rerum Novarum, written to outline Catholic social teaching in response to the economic, political, and cultural disruption of the Industrial Revolution, is generally considered to be the first papal contribution to Catholic social teaching. Several popes intentionally released (or planned to release) encyclicals on major anniversaries of the May 15, 1891 release of Rerum Novarum as a way of highlighting, updating and expanding Church social teaching: Pius XI (40th), John XXIII (60th), Paul VI (80th), and John Paul II (90th1 and 100th) all followed this model. Thus the release date for this one, on Rerum Novarum’s 135th anniversary marks a return to this tradition after Benedict XVI and Francis did not release social encyclicals on anniversaries. (Francis’ two major social encyclicals, Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti, were released on non-anniversary years.)
3. Title: The title is the first two words of the Latin (official) version of the document. That, plus a Friday release (a slow news day), show that the Vatican still sides with tradition over marketability and communications sensibilities.
4. Expect big things: It’s been said that Leo wants to talk about artificial intelligence (AI), but I would expect this not to be a relatively narrow document (like Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, which focused specifically on articulating Catholic teaching on birth control), but one that treats AI as a source of broad disruption of the economy, politics and culture, just as the Industrial Revolution was. Whether or not you’re Catholic, you may not be aware with the breadth of Catholic social teaching, because the Church only gets attention for a few hot-button culture war issues.2 The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been highlighting seven different principles of Catholic social teaching during the Easter season on social media, but you can also catch up through the resources on their website. When you think about it, all seven themes – the life and dignity of each human person; subsidiarity and the ordering of community; rights and responsibilities; the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable; the dignity of work and the rights of workers; solidarity; and care for God’s creation – all face challenges by the current trajectory of AI’s development and adoption. I would be surprised if this encyclical is “only” a primer on ethical use of AI, as much as that is needed.
5. Avoid the temptation to make this all about the US: One thing that I haven’t seen reported on much that could become a big deal is that Leo has consistently criticized an obsession with stock market results over other measures that better reflect how an economy is or isn’t serving the common good, especially the most vulnerable. I keep waiting for someone to portray this as a Leo-vs-Trump item, given that the Administration regularly uses the record-setting stock market as a justification for any attack on their agenda. Truthfully, Leo’s critique of a Dow Jones-centric view of the economic world is consistent with what popes across the board have said since Rerum Novarum. I would be surprised if it weren’t a theme in this encyclical, nor would it surprise me if it’s played up by those who want to spark another anti-Leo response from President Trump.
6. Media matters: I see a lot of social media posts about the pope from sources that are primarily engines of American partisanship. Sometimes they are completely untrue; other times they are misconstruing facts to fit within an ideological context. I wish that Ad Fontes would put out a media bias chart specific to Catholic journalism, similar to the ones they do for US and world journalism in general. Lacking that, know that there are Catholic and secular media outlets across the ideological spectrum who have dedicated Vatican reporters. Ideally, you should try reading the encyclical itself – it will be available at vatican.va for free, and should be really well-written, based on what we’ve seen from this pope – but if you really just want a quick rundown, at least try to restrict yourself to outlets with a dedicated Vatican beat. Start with the Vatican’s in-house shop, Vatican News, which will have a suite of stories. OSV News, and Religion News Service are two I’d recommend for down-the-center coverage, as well as secular wire services like AP and Reuters. Thoughtful commentary outlets range from Commonweal on the left to America, National Catholic Reporter, Crux, First Things, The Pillar and EWTN, the Fox News of Catholic media. There are even some blogs worth reading, lol.

One off-the-beaten path angle: When I get a chance to read it, I’ll try to share my thoughts, unless they’re redundant to the great analysis that I know will be coming from the pros. The one thing I’m likely to focus on (that others may not) is the footnotes. Not because they are likely to be a source of controversy (which they can be!3), but because Francis was unusual in the breadth of sources he cited in his encyclicals. Normally, you see references to the Bible (obviously), predecessor popes, Vatican II documents, and other things that the particular author-pope has written or said. Sometimes, you’ll see references to prominent Catholic theologians (there should probably be a prediction market on how many references to Augustine we see). But Francis included poets, non-Catholics, and (my favorite) statements by bishops’ conferences from all over the world in a way that broadened the Church’s understanding of where wisdom resides. I’ll be curious if Leo follows that example or returns to tradition. My guess is that he sticks to the basics, since there are so many anniversary documents, he’s already said a lot in his various addresses (and his apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te), plus Augustine. But if he does call out the bishops of, say, Oceania, or Africa, it would be a subtle way of underscoring the need for a synodal church to listen to those at the margins.

1. John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens was scheduled for release on May 15th, but he was the victim of an assassination attempt a few days before, so it was postponed until September.  ↩︎
2. To be fair, until very recently, the leadership of the USCCB seems to have been pretty content to just focus on the culture war issues. ↩︎
3. One of the biggest controversies of Francis’ pontificate stemmed from a footnote (#351!) in an apostolic exhortation (not even an encyclical!) about married love, Amoris Laetitia; in fact, Pope Leo has scheduled a big meeting of bishops this fall to come back to that document, probably in part to smooth over the kerfuffle of the footnote. Remind me why the Church has a rap for being too self-absorbed? ↩︎

https://www.europesays.com/people/65044/ Italy foreign minister gives Marco Rubio family tree tracing his Itali #FamilyTree #ItalianRoots #Italy #MarcoRubio #Meloni #PopeLeo #Tajani #US

@europesays (Fake) #Christians in the #UnitedStates - aka #Talibangelicals - are giving #Christianity a bad name around the world.

#PopeLeo is the anti-#Trump. ✅

@europesays (Fake) #Christians in the #UnitedStates - aka #Talibangelicals - are giving #Christianity a bad name around the world.

#PopeLeo is the anti-#Trump. ✅

@europesays (Fake) #Christians in the #UnitedStates - aka #Talibangelicals - are giving #Christianity a bad name around the world.

#PopeLeo is the anti-#Trump. ✅

@europesays (Fake) #Christians in the #UnitedStates - aka #Talibangelicals - are giving #Christianity a bad name around the world.

#PopeLeo is the anti-#Trump. ✅

@europesays (Fake) #Christians in the #UnitedStates - aka #Talibangelicals - are giving #Christianity a bad name around the world.

#PopeLeo is the anti-#Trump. ✅

#PopeLeo #Rubio

https://www.europesays.com/africa/227609/ Nigerians, other Africans threatened by spread of radical Islamic terrorism: U.S. Govt #Africa #Algeria #angola #BolaTinubu #Cameroon #ChristianAssociationOfNigeria #Economics&Peace(IEP) #EquatorialGuinea #IslamicTerrorism #MarcoRubio #news #Nigeria #NigerianNews #PopeLeo #Rome #UNSecretaryGeneralAntónioGuterres

Trump understands the BIBLE better than Pope Leo — Pastor Jeffress

‘Iran was WEEKS from weapon that would destroy Israel & Middle East’

‘I THANKED him for having courage to fulfil GOD-GIVEN RESPONSIBILITY’

https://t.me/newsvideofa/8046

#PopeLeo #ChristianZionists #USpol #WTAF #Iran

Pope Leo XIV expected to visit France in late September, bishops announce

While the Holy See has yet to make an official announcement, the French Bishops’ Conference announced in a…
#France #FR #Europe #EU #Apostolicvisit #catholicchurch #catholic-news #Frenchbishops #Paris #PopeLeo #PopeLeoXIV
https://www.europesays.com/france/12986/

https://www.europesays.com/videos/23258/ Rubio cites ‘positive’ meeting with pope after meeting Meloni #DonaldTrump #gdnpfpnewsworld #GiorgiaMeloni #guardian #GuardianNews #Iran #IranWar #Italy #MarcoRubio #pope #PopeLeo #RubioItaly #RubioMeloni #RubioPope #Trump #TrumpAdministration #TrumpPope #TrumpPopeLeo #UsIran #UsIranWar #world

LIVE: Pope Leo marks the first anniversary of his election

Pope Leo marks the first anniversary of his election with visits to Pompeii and Naples, beginning his Italy tour at the Marian pilgrimage shrine in Pompeii. After Pompeii visit, he will travel to Naples for meetings with clergy at the cathedral and a public gathering in Plebiscito Square. #PopeLeo #Anniversary #Italy #Naples #Pompeii #Catholic #live #Reuters #News Keep up with the latest news from around the…

https://fllics.com/en/video/live-pope-leo-marks-the-first-anniversary-of-his-election/

Like many #Episcopalians I was thrilled when Dame Sarah Mullally became the first female #archbishopofcanterbury I watched, with considerable interest, when she visited the Vatican and #PopeLeo knowing that their meeting was a diplomatic and theological threading of a needle for the leader of the #CatholicChurch even after the Pope’s historic meeting with #KingCharlesIII Now I am reading about U.S. Secretary of State #MarcoRubio ‘s trip to Rome and the contrast in welcome is sharp. Learn how and why in THE POPE DIDN’T PRAY WITH HIM https://notd.io/notes/6239800789827584_1_1778243689574/the%20pope%20didn%E2%80%99t%20pray%20with%20him:%20reading%20the%20shape%20of%20vatican%20welcome

Like many #Episcopalians I was thrilled when Dame Sarah Mullally became the first female #archbishopofcanterbury I watched, with considerable interest, when she visited the Vatican and #PopeLeo knowing that their meeting was a diplomatic and theological threading of a needle for the leader of the #CatholicChurch even after the Pope’s historic meeting with #KingCharlesIII Now I am reading about U.S. Secretary of State #MarcoRubio ‘s trip to Rome and the contrast in welcome is sharp. Learn how and why in THE POPE DIDN’T PRAY WITH HIM https://notd.io/notes/6239800789827584_1_1778243689574/the%20pope%20didn%E2%80%99t%20pray%20with%20him:%20reading%20the%20shape%20of%20vatican%20welcome

Like many #Episcopalians I was thrilled when Dame Sarah Mullally became the first female #archbishopofcanterbury I watched, with considerable interest, when she visited the Vatican and #PopeLeo knowing that their meeting was a diplomatic and theological threading of a needle for the leader of the #CatholicChurch even after the Pope’s historic meeting with #KingCharlesIII Now I am reading about U.S. Secretary of State #MarcoRubio ‘s trip to Rome and the contrast in welcome is sharp. Learn how and why in THE POPE DIDN’T PRAY WITH HIM https://notd.io/notes/6239800789827584_1_1778243689574/the%20pope%20didn%E2%80%99t%20pray%20with%20him:%20reading%20the%20shape%20of%20vatican%20welcome

Like many #Episcopalians I was thrilled when Dame Sarah Mullally became the first female #archbishopofcanterbury I watched, with considerable interest, when she visited the Vatican and #PopeLeo knowing that their meeting was a diplomatic and theological threading of a needle for the leader of the #CatholicChurch even after the Pope’s historic meeting with #KingCharlesIII Now I am reading about U.S. Secretary of State #MarcoRubio ‘s trip to Rome and the contrast in welcome is sharp. Learn how and why in THE POPE DIDN’T PRAY WITH HIM https://notd.io/notes/6239800789827584_1_1778243689574/the%20pope%20didn%E2%80%99t%20pray%20with%20him:%20reading%20the%20shape%20of%20vatican%20welcome

Like many #Episcopalians I was thrilled when Dame Sarah Mullally became the first female #archbishopofcanterbury I watched, with considerable interest, when she visited the Vatican and #PopeLeo knowing that their meeting was a diplomatic and theological threading of a needle for the leader of the #CatholicChurch even after the Pope’s historic meeting with #KingCharlesIII Now I am reading about U.S. Secretary of State #MarcoRubio ‘s trip to Rome and the contrast in welcome is sharp. Learn how and why in THE POPE DIDN’T PRAY WITH HIM https://notd.io/notes/6239800789827584_1_1778243689574/the%20pope%20didn%E2%80%99t%20pray%20with%20him:%20reading%20the%20shape%20of%20vatican%20welcome

https://www.europesays.com/people/62612/ Marco Rubio meets Pope Leo amid tensions over Iran war #CatholicChurch #diplomacy #DonaldTrump #IranWar #MarcoRubio #NuclearWeapons #PopeLeo #Vatican

LIVE: Pope Leo marks first anniversary with Pompeii visit

Pope Leo marks the first anniversary of his election with visits to Pompeii and Naples, beginning his Italy tour at the Marian pilgrimage shrine in Pompeii. He will celebrate Mass and recite the Supplication to the Virgin of the Rosary. #PopeLeo #Pope #anniversary #ShrineoftheVirginoftheRosary #mass #Pompeii #Naples #Italy #live #Reuters #news Keep up with the latest news from around the world:

https://fllics.com/en/video/live-pope-leo-marks-first-anniversary-with-pompeii-visit/

LIVE: Pope Leo marks first anniversary with Pompeii visit

Pope Leo marks the first anniversary of his election with visits to Pompeii and Naples, beginning his Italy tour at the Marian pilgrimage shrine in Pompeii. He will celebrate Mass and recite the Supplication to the Virgin of the Rosary. #PopeLeo #Pope #anniversary #ShrineoftheVirginoftheRosary #mass #Pompeii #Naples #Italy #live #Reuters #news Keep up with the latest news from around the world:

https://fllics.com/en/video/live-pope-leo-marks-first-anniversary-with-pompeii-visit/

LIVE: Pope Leo marks first anniversary with Pompeii visit

Pope Leo marks the first anniversary of his election with visits to Pompeii and Naples, beginning his Italy tour at the Marian pilgrimage shrine in Pompeii. He will celebrate Mass and recite the Supplication to the Virgin of the Rosary. #PopeLeo #Pope #anniversary #ShrineoftheVirginoftheRosary #mass #Pompeii #Naples #Italy #live #Reuters #news Keep up with the latest news from around the world:

https://fllics.com/en/video/live-pope-leo-marks-first-anniversary-with-pompeii-visit/

LIVE: Pope Leo marks first anniversary with Pompeii visit

Pope Leo marks the first anniversary of his election with visits to Pompeii and Naples, beginning his Italy tour at the Marian pilgrimage shrine in Pompeii. He will celebrate Mass and recite the Supplication to the Virgin of the Rosary. #PopeLeo #Pope #anniversary #ShrineoftheVirginoftheRosary #mass #Pompeii #Naples #Italy #live #Reuters #news Keep up with the latest news from around the world:

https://fllics.com/en/video/live-pope-leo-marks-first-anniversary-with-pompeii-visit/

LIVE: Pope Leo marks first anniversary with Pompeii visit

Pope Leo marks the first anniversary of his election with visits to Pompeii and Naples, beginning his Italy tour at the Marian pilgrimage shrine in Pompeii. He will celebrate Mass and recite the Supplication to the Virgin of the Rosary. #PopeLeo #Pope #anniversary #ShrineoftheVirginoftheRosary #mass #Pompeii #Naples #Italy #live #Reuters #news Keep up with the latest news from around the world:

https://fllics.com/en/video/live-pope-leo-marks-first-anniversary-with-pompeii-visit/

https://www.europesays.com/ie/473663/ Marco Rubio meets with Pope Leo amid tensions between the pontiff and Trump – The Journal #BreakingNews #BreakingNews #CatholicChurch #DonaldTrump #FeaturedNews #FeaturedNews #Headlines #Iran #LatestNews #LatestNews #MainNews #MainNews #MarcoRubio #News #NuclearWeapons #PopeLeo #PopeLeoXIV #TheVatican #TopStories #TopStories #USSecretaryOfState #World #WorldNews #WorldNews

#DonaldTrump sends #MarcoRubio to meet #PopeLeoXIV as a last warning—next time, he sends #JDVance.

#PopeLeo #Trump #uspol #politics #PopeFrancis #PopeFrancisDead #PopeFrancisDeath #PopeFrancisDied

Rubio dismisses claims that he’s trying to smooth tense relations with the United States.

Ok lil Marco, why are you spending taxpayer dollars on a trip to see the Pope? You’re LYING, just like Trump.

You’re on the wrong side of history. The Pope’s reign will last years. Trump’s will end in 2 years 8 months.

You’re out of your mind if you think Trump will stay for a third term.

If he does, then he’ll be running against Obama. He’ll LOSE.

#TrumpVsPope
#PopeLeo

Rubio dismisses claims that he’s trying to smooth tense relations with the United States.

Ok lil Marco, why are you spending taxpayer dollars on a trip to see the Pope? You’re LYING, just like Trump.

You’re on the wrong side of history. The Pope’s reign will last years. Trump’s will end in 2 years 8 months.

You’re out of your mind if you think Trump will stay for a third term.

If he does, then he’ll be running against Obama. He’ll LOSE.

#TrumpVsPope
#PopeLeo

Rubio dismisses claims that he’s trying to smooth tense relations with the United States.

Ok lil Marco, why are you spending taxpayer dollars on a trip to see the Pope? You’re LYING, just like Trump.

You’re on the wrong side of history. The Pope’s reign will last years. Trump’s will end in 2 years 8 months.

You’re out of your mind if you think Trump will stay for a third term.

If he does, then he’ll be running against Obama. He’ll LOSE.

#TrumpVsPope
#PopeLeo

Rubio dismisses claims that he’s trying to smooth tense relations with the United States.

Ok lil Marco, why are you spending taxpayer dollars on a trip to see the Pope? You’re LYING, just like Trump.

You’re on the wrong side of history. The Pope’s reign will last years. Trump’s will end in 2 years 8 months.

You’re out of your mind if you think Trump will stay for a third term.

If he does, then he’ll be running against Obama. He’ll LOSE.

#TrumpVsPope
#PopeLeo

Rubio dismisses claims that he’s trying to smooth tense relations with the United States.

Ok lil Marco, why are you spending taxpayer dollars on a trip to see the Pope? You’re LYING, just like Trump.

You’re on the wrong side of history. The Pope’s reign will last years. Trump’s will end in 2 years 8 months.

You’re out of your mind if you think Trump will stay for a third term.

If he does, then he’ll be running against Obama. He’ll LOSE.

#TrumpVsPope
#PopeLeo

‘Whether I make him happy or not...’: Trump clashes with Pope Leo over Iran nuclear remarks https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/world/trump-clashes-with-pope-leo-over-iran-nuclear-remarks-pr4p3d8n?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #DonaldTrump #PopeLeo #Iran #NuclearWeapons #WhiteHouse

https://www.europesays.com/videos/21703/ Pope Leo says church doesn’t support nuclear weapons after Trump tirade #DonaldTrump #gdnpfpnewsworld #guardian #GuardianNews #Iran #IranNuclearWeapons #IranWar #NuclearWeapons #pope #PopeDonaldTrump #PopeDonaldTrumpFeud #PopeIran #PopeIranNuclearWeapons #PopeIranWar #PopeLeo #PopeLeoDonaldTrump #PopeLeoIran #PopeLeoNuclearWeapons #PopeLeoTrump #PopeLeoTrumpFeud #PopeNuclearWeapons #PopeTrump #PopeTrumpFeud #Trump #world

#PopeLeo strikes again! The new Catholic bishop of #WestVirginia is a former undocumented immigrant.

Regardless of belief or unbelief, we can be really glad we have an anti-MAGA Pope. It's doing a lot to shred the #MAGA coalition.

Also, the first US bishop that Pope Leo appointed is a Vietnamese-American immigrant who's been leading a strong anti-#ICE church response in San Diego.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/01/pope-former-undocumented-immigrant-bishop-west-virginia

Pope Leo on Sunday marked World ⁠Press Freedom Day by condemning persistent violations of media freedom around the world and paying tribute to journalists killed while reporting from conflict zones. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/05/03/world/pope-marks-world-press-freedom-day/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #popeleo #worldpressfreedomday #humanrights #pressfreedom #journalism #censorship #media #catholicchurch #christianity

Pope Leo on Sunday marked World ⁠Press Freedom Day by condemning persistent violations of media freedom around the world and paying tribute to journalists killed while reporting from conflict zones. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/05/03/world/pope-marks-world-press-freedom-day/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #popeleo #worldpressfreedomday #humanrights #pressfreedom #journalism #censorship #media #catholicchurch #christianity

Pope Leo on Sunday marked World ⁠Press Freedom Day by condemning persistent violations of media freedom around the world and paying tribute to journalists killed while reporting from conflict zones. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/05/03/world/pope-marks-world-press-freedom-day/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #popeleo #worldpressfreedomday #humanrights #pressfreedom #journalism #censorship #media #catholicchurch #christianity

https://www.europesays.com/videos/19981/ Italian media reports US top diplomat Rubio to meet Pope Leo • FRANCE 24 English #DonaldTrump #FRANCE24 #FRANCE24English #FRANCE24 #FRANCE24English #Italy #MarcoRubio #MarcoRubio #PopeLeo #vatican #Visit

"Pope Leo XIV has appointed a man who had once entered the United States as an undocumented immigrant, hidden in the trunk of a car, as the new bishop of West Virginia.

The pope approved the resignation of Bishop Mark E Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, and selected Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, 55, of Washington to take his place, eported OSV News."

~ Marina Dunbar

#PopeLeo #Trump #WhiteChristianNationalism #Catholics
/7

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/01/pope-former-undocumented-immigrant-bishop-west-virginia

"Catholics, meanwhile, who represent about 22 per cent of the population, have generally lower levels of support for Trump; sixty per cent of white Catholics voted for Trump in 2024. Moreover, Catholics are spread around the country in crucial battleground states. And Trump’s increase in support among Latino Catholics between 2016 and 2024 is now collapsing."

#PopeLeo #Trump #WhiteChristianNationalism #WhiteEvangelials #Catholics
/6

"Many theologians and lay Christians argue that this kind of bloodthirsty religion isn’t recognizably Christian. …

If we look at this as a numbers game, the trouble for Trump is likely on the Catholic side. Over 80 per cent of white evangelicals voted for Trump, but the evangelical vote is concentrated in deep red districts where MAGA can afford to lose a few votes."

#PopeLeo #Trump #WhiteChristianNationalism #WhiteEvangelials #Catholics
/5

Katherine Stewart says that a "recent trifecta of religiously themed Trump controversies" "exposes the nature of the so-called religion that animates the Christian nationalist movement that has sustained Trump in power." The trifecta: his attack on the pope, his Trump-as-Jesus AI meme, and Hegseth's slip in quoting Quentin Tarantino as the bible.

#PopeLeo #Trump #WhiteChristianNationalism #WhiteEvangelials #Catholics
/4

https://writekaths.substack.com/p/trump-v-pope

"A recent NBC News survey of 4,557 American adults gives Pope Leo XIV a net favorability rating of plus thirty-four. Donald Trump’s net favorability in the same poll is negative twelve. That is a 46 point gap between the first American pope and the American president — a gap measured during a month of sustained public attacks from Trump on the Holy Father."

~ Christopher J. Hale

#PopeLeo #Trump #Catholics #authoritarianism
/3

https://www.thelettersfromleo.com/p/pope-leo-xiv-buries-donald-trump

"More dismaying for Trump were the criticisms that almost immediately began emanating from Republican Catholic politicians."

#PopeLeo #Trump #Catholics #authoritarianism
/2