The statement, issued jointly with the Ombudsman’s Office of Bolivia, warned that “violence only generates more violence and that the social wounds that are opening will take decades to heal,” according to a summary published by the bishops’ conference.

The nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square will come from Alessa, a small town in Abruzzo. “With its distinctive straw roofs, the Nativity scene recalls the workplaces of farmers and the ancient traditional dwellings known as Pagliarelli or Pinciare, built from earth and straw,” according to the announcement.

The nativity scene in Paul VI Audience Hall will come from Viareggio, a seaside town in northern Italy, and have a maritime theme in which “the Magi, reinterpreted as fishermen, offer gifts connected to the sea.”

In a message to the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Pope Leo XIV called for stronger data privacy protections in health care.

“The Republic was born through suffering, regaining freedom and rejecting all forms of fascism, with a hope stronger than fear,” said Cardinal Zuppi. “It was born from the desire to no longer be against each other, but citizens together, different yet united by a common destiny and a sense of the common good.”

Italy’s dioceses “look at this anniversary with gratitude for the journey made and with concern for the present wounds: growing poverty, falling birth rates, mistrust, inequality, verbal violence, indifference and the temptation to close oneself off in an individual destiny,” Cardinal Zuppi continued. “Our communities reject war as a means of resolving conflicts and, inspired by the teaching of Pope Leo, feel the urgent task of educating for peace, safeguarding democracy and building community.”

Pope Leo XIV issued a chirograph, with accompanying statutes, establishing the Fratello Sole Foundation (Brother Sun Foundation).

Maria Montserrat (Montse) Alvarado said she was surprised by Pope Leo’s decision to appoint her as prefect of the Dicastery for Communication.

“The Pope makes this clear in the first chapter, where he offers a brilliant review of the initiatives of the Popes since Leo XIII. Pope Leo XIV is clear that this is Church doctrine and not simply a body of teaching that Catholics may choose to accept or ignore,” Cardinal Cupich told Vatican News.

The prelate also said that the encyclical’s “principal contribution comes in the Holy Father’s challenge to humanity to make a choice: either to build the new Jerusalem or another Tower of Babel.”

The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network released the video associated with Pope Leo’s prayer intention for June.

In a prominent front-page article in its June 2 edition, the Vatican newspaper highlighted Israel’s renewed attacks on southern Lebanon.

Pope Leo XIV’s message for the upcoming World Day of Prayer for Creation (background) will highlight the relation between war and environmental degradation, according to an announcement from the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.