"Sport in Motion - What Is Essential Is Invisible to the Eyes" is the theme of the international photography competition, promoted by the Dicastery for Culture and Education in the framework of the Jubilee and directed by youths younger than 25. The competition includes five "categories": "Sport and Hope", "Sport and Family", "Sport and Ecology", "Sport and Disability" and "Sport and Politics".

Until April 30, any young person who wishes to participate can send unpublished photographs — not altered by using Artificial Intelligence and taken after 2020 — to the following e-mail address: sportinmotion@dce.va.

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On 28 and 29 July 2025, just before the Youth Jubilee, those dedicated to evangelising through social media will convene for their own Jubilee. This will be a reunion for many who first met at World Youth Day in Lisbon in 2023.

During that event, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, addressed the young influencers in his homily and told them that "today, the Church needs you, dear digital influencers, to bring hope into these new social spaces that are social media and social networks."

Pope Francis has encouraged digital missionaries to see themselves as a community, "part of the Church's missionary life, which has never feared to venture into new horizons and frontiers. With creativity and courage," he said, "proclaim God's Mercy."

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Pope Francis had invited the 107 comics, stand-up comedians and humorists to the meeting. They included Sister Act star Whoopi Goldberg and big name funny men Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien.

Joking with God

Making fun of God as long as the joke is not offensive is ok, Francis told his visitors.

"Can we also laugh at God? Of course, it's not blasphemy. We can, just as we play and joke with the people we love."

But humour "does not offend, humiliate or put people down according to their flaws."

Lightening the gloom

"You are among the most loved, sought after, applauded" he said.

"Certainly because you are good; but there is also another reason: you have and cultivate the gift of making people laugh.

"In the midst of so much gloomy news, immersed as we are in so many social and even personal emergencies, you have the power to spread serenity and smiles.

"In your own way you unite people, because laughter is contagious.

"It is easier to laugh together than alone: joy opens one to sharing and is the best antidote to selfishness and individualism.

"Laughing also helps to break down social barriers, to create connections between people.

"You also succeed in another miracle" he said.

"You know how to awaken the critical sense without spreading alarm or terror and without humiliating anyone. Help us, with a smile, to see reality with its contradictions and to dream of a better world."

That's because comedians can make people smile "even when dealing with problems, small and big facts of history" Francis said.

"You denounce the excesses of power; you give voice to forgotten situations; you highlight abuses; you point out inadequate behaviour...

"But without spreading alarm or terror, anxiety or fear, as much communication does...

"You do this by telling life stories, by narrating reality according to your own original point of view; and in this way you speak to people about small and big problems."

Source

• CNA
• RTE
• Asia News
• Vatican Dicastery for Communications

According to Italian news reports, one of the ideologies he specified was a gay culture, referring to it, however, by using the same derogatory slang term in Italian that he reportedly used in a closed-door meeting with members of the Italian bishops' conference in May when describing some seminaries as being marked by a gay culture. Continue reading

In a written message, he says: "The space, light, acoustics, colours, images, symbols (and) liturgical furnishings constitute fundamental elements of that reality, that event, human and divine at the same time, which is precisely the liturgy".

The message was addressed to Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, the Dicastery for Culture and Education prefect. The Cardinal is also president of the coordinating council of the pontifical academies St John Paul II instituted.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin read the message about liturgical elements at an awards ceremony the Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts and Letters of the Virtuosi organised.

The awards this year were dedicated to sacred architecture.

"We know well how important the celebratory setting is in fostering prayer and a sense of communion," the Pope wrote.

Francis explained sacred architecture and spaces "are as significant and timely as ever, since there is always a lively and sometimes even heated debate on proposals for the renewal of sacred architecture, which has the arduous task of creating ... adequate spaces in which the Christian community can celebrate the holy liturgy with dignity according to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council".

In his 2022 apostolic letter, "Desiderio Desideravi" ("I have earnestly desired"), Francis insisted Catholics need to understand better the Second Vatican Council's liturgical reform and the power and beauty of the Mass.

He highlighted the importance of not losing hope in helping people to become aware of and understand symbolic language.

"There can be no question of renouncing such language," he wrote in the encyclical.

"It is rather a question of recovering the capacity to use and understand the symbols of the liturgy."

The other essential aspect Francis noted in his message concerned the inspiration of artistic and architectural creativity.

This comes from a Christian vision flowing "from liturgical life, from the action of the Spirit and not from human subjectivity alone," he wrote.

The gold medallist for this year's pontifical academies award went to OPPS Architecture Studio in Florence.

The award was for its work renovating a chapel in Rome that belongs to the Sts Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Siena Foundation of Religion.

The silver medal went to architect Federica Frino for her design of the new St Thomas Church in Pontedera, Italy.

Source

• National Catholic Reporter

The role of women in the Vatican hierarchy was one of the many Church and international topics the 85-year-old pontiff discussed in an interview last Saturday.

A new constitution for the Holy See's central administration that came into effect last month allows any baptised Catholic, including lay men and women, to head most Vatican departments.

"For the first time, two women will be named to the Congregation of Bishops' commission that chooses bishops," Francis said.

"In this way, things are opening up a bit."

Francis did not specify who would be appointed to what is now called the Dicastery for Bishops or when these appointments would take place.

Until a few months ago, the idea of women being allowed to select bishops was unimaginable in the eyes of several senior Vatican officials.

Members of the committee, which is now made up cardinals, bishops and priests, usually meet twice a month in Rome.

They vet candidates to govern for roughly half of the world's dioceses, those in countries with a longstanding Christian presence.

The Dicastery for Evangelisation is responsible for dealing with bishops' appointments in places considered mission territory.

Both dicasteries generally examine the top three candidates the apostolic nuncio puts forth to lead a particular diocese. The members of each dicastery decide on one of them and the name is submitted to the pope for his consideration.

Last year, for the first time, Francis named a woman to the number two position in the governorship of Vatican City, making Sister Raffaella Petrini the highest-ranking woman in the city state.

Men or women could head Vatican departments like the department for Catholic Education and Culture and the Apostolic Library. They are currently headed by male clerics.

Francis has already named a number women, both nuns and lay women, to Vatican departments.

Last year, he named Italian nun Sister Alessandra Smerilli to the number two position in the Vatican's development office, which deals with justice and peace issues.

Lay women already holding top jobs in the Vatican include the first female director of the Vatican Museums and the deputy director of the Vatican Press Office. Both were appointed by Francis.

Source

• Reuters
• La Croix