NATION/WORLD

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Almost four years after Pope Francis opened the Catholic Church's path toward synodality -- a term many in the church had never heard before -- his successor has thrown his support behind the last leg of the church's synodal journey. The Synod of Bishops, which admitted women, lay and other non-bishop voting members among its ranks during its two universal assemblies in October 2023 and 2024, "naturally retains its institutional profile and at the same time is enriched by the mature fruits of this season," Pope Leo XIV told the ordinary council of the synod June 26. "You are the body appointed to reap these fruits and make a prospective reflection."

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- After more than a decade without its most famous vacationer, the quiet town of Castel Gandolfo once again counts the pope among its summer residents. Pope Leo XIV became the 16th pope to reside in the papal summer residence when he moved there July 6, following the recitation of the Angelus in St. Peter's Square. "This afternoon, I will travel to Castel Gandolfo, where I intend to have a short period of rest," the pope told pilgrims gathered in the square. "I hope that everyone will be able to enjoy some vacation time in order to restore both body and spirit."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV called on every parish and church group or association to become part of a "revolution" of care and gratitude by regularly visiting older people. "Christian hope always urges us to be more daring, to think big, to be dissatisfied with things the way they are," the pope wrote in his message for World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, a church celebration that will take place July 27.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- To believe in and follow a loving and compassionate Christ is to allow him to enter one's heart and take on his same feelings, Pope Leo XIV said. "It means learning to have a heart that is moved, eyes that see and do not look away, hands that help others and soothe their wounds, shoulders that bear the burden of those in need," he said in his homily, celebrating a morning Mass July 13. The pope celebrated the Mass in the small Church of St. Thomas of Villanova, just across the main square from the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo. The pope arrived in the hilltop town south of Rome July 6 for a brief vacation until July 20.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Summer should be spent cultivating time with God, relaxing and caring for others, Pope Leo XIV said at Mass in a breezy hilltown during his brief summer break. "During the summer, we have more free time in which to gather our thoughts and reflect and also to travel and spend time with each other," he said in his homily during Mass July 20 in the Cathedral of St. Pancras Martyr in the town of Albano Laziale, southeast of Rome.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Peering at the sunlit skies through a Vatican-owned space telescope and calling the last surviving member of the Apollo 11 spaceflight mission was how Pope Leo XIV celebrated the anniversary of the first crewed moon landing. U.S. astronaut Michael Collins flew the command module around the moon while Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first humans to land and walk on the lunar surface.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- With their courage and tenacity in the pursuit of happiness, migrants and refugees are "messengers of hope," Pope Leo XIV said. "Their courage and tenacity bear heroic testimony to a faith that sees beyond what our eyes can see and gives them the strength to defy death on the various contemporary migration routes," the pope wrote in his message for the celebration of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees Oct. 4-5, which will coincide with the Jubilee of Migrants.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Greeting tens of thousands of visitors crowded in St. Peter's Square, Pope Leo XIV welcomed all the young people who arrived in Rome for the Jubilee of Youth. "I greet with particular affection the young people from various countries who have gathered in Rome for the Jubilee of Youth, which begins tomorrow," he said after reciting the Angelus July 27. The U.S. pope gave the same greeting in Italian, English and Spanish, eliciting huge cheers from the young people from each language group.

ROME (CNS) -- Volunteers watching over the relics of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati gently placed items from the faithful on top of his casket to make a third-class relic for the visitors to the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, near Rome's Pantheon, one afternoon during the Jubilee of Youth. About 16 small dark burgundy pillows lined the marble steps before the simple wooden casket marked by a cross, four red wax seals and one of the blessed's favorite sayings, "Verso l'alto," ("To the top"), engraved in his handwriting.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a message of solidarity and peace, Pope Leo XIV said the Catholic Church stands with young people suffering in war-torn areas, including Gaza and Ukraine. Before praying the Angelus with more than 1 million young people attending the closing Mass of the Jubilee of Youth Aug. 3, the pope said the church was "closer than ever to young people who suffer the most serious evils, which are caused by other human beings."