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Different Holy Fathers have used the Wednesday Angelus address as an opportunity to present their thoughts on significant topics. Pope St. John Paul II used the audiences as an opportunity to develop his now famous series on the Theology of the Body. Pope Benedict XVI used the Wednesday audience as a time to talk about the Apostles, the Fathers of the Church, Doctors of the Church, important Women in Church history. I have regularly assigned Benedict’s series on the Fathers and Doctors of the Church in my class on Patristics to those who are studying for the diaconate. I have been very impressed with how Pope Leo XIV is using his Wednesday talk to meet a real pastoral need as the years since the Vatican Council have increased and knowledge of what was taught in the various documents of Vatican II has diminished.

Pope Leo presided over Mass on August 29, 2026, at the Church of Maria Santissima del Lago in Castel Gandolfo—near his summer residence and place where he goes regularly on Tuesday (his day off). In his homily on that day, the Holy Father reflected on the beauty of “simple gestures” of devotion. He stressed that believing in God can become a pathway toward peace in a world that dismisses forgiveness as being naïve.

The World Day of Migrants and Refuges can be traced to an action undertaken by Pope Saint Pius X a few months before the outbreak of World War I. The Holy Father was deeply moved by the plight of millions of Italians who had migrated abroad, particularly to North and South America, since the beginning of the twentieth century. A few months later his successor, Pope Benedict XV instituted the Day of the Migrant to support pastoral outreach, particularly for Italian immigrants.

On August 11, 2026, Pope Leo released his Message for the 112th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which the Church observes on September 27, 2026. Deborah Castellano Lubov, who writes for Vatican News, notes that a major theme of this year’s message is “Even one of these children,” which is taken from the Gospel of Matthew. Pope Leo admonishes his readers that the cries of the displaced should appeal to the conscience of all of us.

On September 24, 2015, Pope Francis visited a joint session of Congress and gave an address to the Senators and members of the House of Representatives. I think it gives us perspective on events taking place today. Let me start by quoting some remarks Pope Francis said to the Senators and Representatives gathered on that memorable Thursday:

On Tuesday, July 28, 2026, I attended a Mass of Solidarity at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Takoma Park. Cardinal Chibly Langlois of Les Cayes, Haiti, served as principal celebrant, joined by Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miani, Florida, Archbishop Roert G. Casey of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Bishop Jacques Fabre-Jeune, C.S., of Charleston, South Carolina, and ten priests.

This week in our series of great Americans, we are looking at our first-citizen saint who was the subject of a movie in 2024 (Cabrini).

On July 1, we celebrated the memorial of Saint Junipero Serra, whom Matthew Bunson lists as one of five heroes of American Catholicism. One of the objectives for the visit of Pope Francis to the United States in 2015 was the canonization of Junipero Serra.

Last week we looked at the life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton who was the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence. This we're looking at his cousin John Carroll who would become the first Archbishop of Baltimore.

As we celebrate the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of adoption and signing of the Declaration of Independence, I thought that I would devote several columns to individual Catholics who have had a profound impact in our nation’s history. Today I want to look at Charles Carroll of Carrolton (1737-1832), the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence and the only Catholic to do so.

Recently a parishioner asked me what an annulment was. He was interested in pursuing it but was concerned if he were successful in obtaining an annulment, that his children be considered illegitimate. I promised to do some research on this question. I found a good explanation of this topic on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Here you are:

Last week we celebrated Father’s Day. I thought that it might be interesting to write a column about the origin of this national observance, which is held on the third Sunday of June in the United States of America.

I want to call your attention to a resource guide published by the Archdiocese of Washington. This document is entitled “End of Life Issues: A Pastoral Resource from the Archdiocese of Washington. “It has been designed to present some important information about end-of-life care, the many options for funerals and burials in our region, and some grief resources.

On May 25, 2026, the Vatican released Magnifica Humanitas (“On safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence”). Cardinal Robert McElroy issued a statement on Pope Leo’s first encyclical that is well worth a careful reading on our part. I produce it here for your convenience.

Last week I devoted the column to the social encyclicals published from the time of Pope Leo XIII to the present day. Pope Leo XIII who reigned from 1878 to 1903. Today I want to devote this column to Rerum Novarum, the ground-breaking encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on May 15, 1891.

On May 15,1891, Pope Leo XIII issued an encyclical entitled Rerum Novarum, which provided the foundation for modern Roman Catholic social teaching. It set forth the late nineteenth century Catholic position on social justice, especially in relation to problems and issues caused by the Industrial Revolution. Pope Leo XIII also asserted in Rerum Novarum the church’s right to make pronouncements on social issues as they relate to social questions. Rerum Novarum is considered by many to be the first social encyclical, a pastoral letter that addresses a specific social issue. Many popes of the 20th and 21st century have issued encyclicals that expand on the teaching of Rerum Novarum. Here is a list of the social encyclicals issued in the twentieth and:

In the summer of 1997, I was a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Washington. James Cardinal Hickey, who was the Archbishop of Washington at that time, used to take the archdiocesan seminarians on a daylong tour of Southern Maryland. That summer Cardinal Hickey and his seminarians visited several parishes in Saint Mary’s County. The last church we visited that day was St. John’s in Hollywood. Cardinal Hickey was the principal celebrant at Mass there with the Pastor, Msgr. Martin P. Harris and the Associate Pastor, Father Gary R. Studniewski. After Mass the parishioners of St. John’s treated us to a fabulous picnic organized by Laverne Schaefer and Betty Johnson. Toward the end of the picnic, Father Gary announced that he was going to be an Army Chaplain and that one of the seminarians at the picnic was likely going to take his place as the Associate Pastor of St. John’s, Hollywood. I was one of four men scheduled for ordination in 1998. I turned to my classmate, David Werning, and said to him, “Well it is 50/50, that it is one of us.” A year later I found out that I was going to succeed him as the Associate Pastor in Hollywood. Once I arrived, Fr. Gary stayed for three weeks before he was to report for a duty in Chaplains’ School. Msgr. Francis Glenn, former long-time Pastor of St. Paul’s Church in Butler, and a mentor to me, died about two weeks after I arrived in Hollywood. Fr. Gary covered for me so that I could concelebrate at Msgr. Glenn’s Funeral Mass. I remain very grateful for that kindness.

On Friday, May 1, 2026, Robert Cardinal McElroy held a press conference at the archdiocesan pastoral center in which he announced that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington would be getting two new auxiliary bishops. one is Bishop--elect Gary Studniewski, and the other is Bishop-elect Robert Boxie. Cardinal McElroy also mentioned that Bishop Roy Campbell, who is currently an Archdiocese of Washington Auxiliary Bishop, will be retiring and that Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, also an Archdiocese of Washington Auxiliary Bishop, has been named the new Bishop of Wheeling Charleston WV. Bishop Mark Brennan, currently Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, will be retiring. Many here will remember that Bishop Brennan was, for many years, Pastor of St. Martin of Tours Parish, in Gaithersburg.

The “just war” doctrine has been in the news a lot these days.  I thought it would be useful to go to a reliable source to see what the Catholic Church teaches about this.   There are six paragraphs in the Catechism of the Catholic Church which I want to cite in this column: 2307-2312.   

On Saturday, April 11, 2026, Pope Leo XIV officiated at a Prayer Vigil for Peace and preached an important message for us to consider. In my column last week, I presented the first half of the message. This week I present the rest of the Holy Father’s remarks.