• Readings for the Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi, religious

Reading 1 Neh 2:1-8

Responsorial Psalm Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

Alleluia Phil 3:8-9

Gospel Lk 9:57-62

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

WASHINGTON – Today, Pope Francis released Laudate Deum, the follow-up to the Holy Father’s groundbreaking encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’. The new apostolic exhortation is addressed “to all people of good will on the climate crisis.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued the following statement from James L. Rogers, chief communications officer.

“USCCB President Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio has been on retreat with the Synod delegates and is participating in the opening sessions.  Archbishop Broglio and his brother bishops in the United States look forward to spending time with the exhortation in prayer and identifying ways to continue their shared witness on behalf of God’s creation.”

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- After warning the world against ignoring the cries of the earth and the poor with his 2015 encyclical, "Laudato Si', On Care for Our Common Home," Pope Francis intensified his critique with "Laudate Deum" ("Praise God"), warning against the selfish obsession with human power and the "irresponsible derision" of the reality of climate change.

"When human beings claim to take God's place, they become their own worst enemies," he said, explaining the title of the document released at the Vatican Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology.

The new document, addressed "to all people of good will on the climate crisis," is a follow-up to "clarify and complete" his 2015 encyclical because, he wrote, over the past eight years, "our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point."

The bulk of the 15-page "apostolic exhortation" is dedicated to a severe rebuke of the "resistance and confusion" regarding the global climate crisis and its link to human activity as well as of the growing "technocratic paradigm underlying the current process of environmental decay."

"I feel obliged to make these clarifications, which may appear obvious, because of certain dismissive and scarcely reasonable opinions that I encounter, even within the Catholic Church," he wrote.

In fact, the Pew Research Center released survey results Sept. 28 reporting that U.S. Catholics' views on climate change are similar to those of the general public. A majority of U.S. adults -- 54% -- described climate change as a major threat to the country’s well-being, but it remains a lower priority than other issues, the survey showed.

"Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident," the pope wrote, detailing the serious and irreversible damage already done and "dangerous changes" underway according to evidence supported by most scientists specializing in climate science. 

"Only a very small percentage of them seek to deny the evidence," he added.

The pope blamed the resistance and confusion about the climate crisis on the lack of information on climate science, people choosing to "deride" facts and "ridicule those who speak of global warming," and inertia or indifference by "the great economic powers, whose concern is with the greatest profit possible at minimal cost and in the shortest amount of time."

Consequently, the pope wrote, "a broader perspective is urgently needed, one that can enable us to esteem the marvels of progress, but also to pay serious attention to other effects that were probably unimaginable a century ago."

People need to assume "responsibility for the legacy we will leave behind" and let go of this "technocratic paradigm" that believes "goodness and truth automatically flow from technological and economic power" and pursues "infinite or unlimited growth."

The great problem, he wrote, is an "ideology underlying an obsession: to increase human power beyond anything imaginable, before which nonhuman reality is a mere resource at its disposal."

"Everything that exists ceases to be a gift for which we should be thankful, esteem and cherish, and instead becomes a slave, prey to any whim of the human mind and its capacities," he wrote.

"Never has humanity had such power over itself, yet nothing ensures that it will be used wisely, particularly when we consider how it is currently being used," he wrote.

Pope Francis called for "rethinking our use of power," which requires an increased sense of responsibility, values and conscience with "sound ethics, a culture and spirituality genuinely capable of setting limits and teaching clear-minded self-restraint."

Also, unhealthy notions about hard work, talent and "meritocracy" without "a genuine equality of opportunity" can easily become "a screen that further consolidates the privileges of a few with great power," he wrote. "In this perverse logic, why should they care about the damage done to our common home, if they feel securely shielded by the financial resources that they have earned by their abilities and effort?"

A healthy ecology requires a healthier relationship "between human beings and the environment, as occurs in the Indigenous cultures," and a more humane economy, which is not ruled by "the mentality of maximum gain at minimal cost," but shows "sincere concern for our common home" and assists "the poor and the needy discarded by our society," he wrote.

The pope appealed for more effective international organizations that have the authority and power to provide for the global common good, eliminate hunger and poverty, and defend fundamental human rights.

He also called for a new kind of international, multilateral cooperation and action in which "groups and organizations within civil society help to compensate for the shortcomings of the international community."

Pope Francis also encouraged activists from different countries put pressure "from below" on the varying elites and "sources of power."

"It is no longer helpful for us to support institutions in order to preserve the rights of the more powerful without caring for those of all," he added.

With world leaders set to meet at the 28th U.N. Climate Change Conference in Dubai Nov. 30-Dec. 12, Pope Francis said that "this conference can represent a change of direction, showing that everything done since 1992 was in fact serious and worth the effort, or else it will be a great disappointment and jeopardize whatever good has been achieved thus far."

COP-28 will need to present "binding forms of energy transition" that are "efficient, obligatory and readily monitored," he wrote, and this transition must be "drastic, intense and count on the commitment of all." 

He urged individuals and families to be active in exercising healthy pressure on leaders.

If the actions of groups "negatively portrayed as 'radicalized' tend to attract attention" at these conferences, he added, "in reality they are filling a space left empty by society as a whole."

"It is necessary to be honest and recognize that the most effective solutions will not come from individual efforts alone, but above all from major political decisions on the national and international level," the pope wrote.

He encouraged people, especially those with an "irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model," to reduce pollution and waste, and "consume with prudence." Even though these everyday actions will not produce an immediate, notable effect on climate change, "we are helping to bring about large processes of transformation" and a new culture of care.

"Let us put an end to the irresponsible derision that would present this issue as something purely ecological, 'green,' romantic, frequently subject to ridicule by economic interests," he wrote. "Let us finally admit that it is a human and social problem on any number of levels."

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The full document of "Laudate Deum" can be found here.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops are not gathered in Rome to implement a "plan of reformation" but to walk together as a church that discerns God's will for the present moment, Pope Francis said at the assembly's opening Mass.

With cardinals from across the world at his side, including 20 new cardinals from 16 nations created just four days prior, the pope urged people to avoid looking at the synod through the lens of "human strategies, political calculations or ideological battles."

Asking "whether the synod will give this or that permission, open this or that door, this is not useful," he said at the Mass Oct. 4 in St. Peter's Square.

Instead, Pope Francis said the primary task of the synod is to "refocus our gaze on God, to be a church that looks mercifully at humanity, a church that is united and fraternal -- or at least tries to be united and fraternal."

The pope acknowledged that some people have fears about the synod, but he asked them to remember that it is "not a political gathering, but a convocation in the Spirit; not a polarized parliament, but a place of grace and communion."

"The Holy Spirit often shatters our expectations to create something new that surpasses our predictions and negativity," he said.

Through "synodal dialogue," the pope said, "we can grow in unity and friendship with the Lord in order to look at today's challenges with his gaze," becoming a church "which does not impose burdens" and is "open to everyone, everyone, everyone."

"The blessing and welcoming gaze of Jesus prevents us from falling into some dangerous temptations: of being a rigid church -- a customs office -- which arms itself against the world and looks backward; of being a lukewarm church which surrenders to the fashions of the world; of being a tired church, turned in on itself," he said.

Lay members and ecumenical delegates to the assembly of the Synod of Bishops led the procession into St. Peter's Square -- still decorated with flowers from the consistory that created 21 new cardinals Sep. 30 -- followed by priests, bishops and then cardinals. Synod members had participated in a retreat outside Rome Oct. 1-3, during which they reflected on ways to overcome differences of opinion and to listen to each other and to the Holy Spirit.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re was the main celebrant at the altar for the Mass; Cardinals Mario Grech, synod secretary-general, and Robert Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, one of the new cardinals, joined him at the altar. The Vatican said some 25,000 people were present in St. Peter's Square.

Celebrating the Mass on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, a day when Pope Francis also published an apostolic exhortation on the environment, he recalled the story that Jesus told the medieval saint to "repair my church."

"The synod serves to remind us of this: our mother the church is always in need of purification, of being repaired, for we are a people made up of forgiven sinners," he said.

St. Francis lived in a time of "struggles and divisions between temporal and religious powers, between the institutional church and heretical currents, between Christians and other believers," Pope Francis said. But the saint "did not criticize or lash out at anyone." Rather, he took up the "weapons of the Gospel: humility and unity, prayer and charity."

"Let us do the same!" urged the pope, noting that the "most fruitful moments of the synod are the moments and prayer and the environment of prayer in which the Lord acts in us."

After the Mass, Pope Francis individually greeted the 20 new cardinals with him on stage, some of whom will remain in Rome to participate in the synod assembly while others were to return to their dioceses. Cardinal Luis Pascual Dri, a 96-year-old Capuchin friar from Argentina, did not travel to Rome to receive his red hat because of his health.

Pope Francis gives his homily at the Mass opening the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 4, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Francis gives his homily at the Mass opening the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 4, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, nuncio to the United States, arrives to concelebrate with Pope Francis the opening Mass of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 4, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

A woman holds a rosary during the Pope Francis’s Mass opening the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 4, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Cardinals and bishops process to the altar to concelebrate with Pope Francis the opening Mass of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 4, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Cardinals and bishops process to the altar to concelebrate with Pope Francis the opening Mass of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 4, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Altar servers lead the procession for Pope Francis’ Mass opening the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 4, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Francis receives Communion during his Mass opening the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 4, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope: Trust God, don't fear the synod

Pope Francis celebrated Mass to open the assembly of the Synod of Bishops with recently created cardinals.

Reading 1 Zec 8:20-23

Responsorial Psalm Ps 87:1b-3, 4-5, 6-7

Alleluia Mk 10:45

Gospel Lk 9:51-56

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

ROME (CNS) -- U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said when he and four other cardinals formally asked Pope Francis to respond to questions related to the synod on synodality, they were seeking reassurances about the "perennial truths" taught by the church and not attacking the person of Pope Francis.

"The five 'dubia' deal exclusively with the perennial doctrine and discipline of the church, not the agenda of the pope and certainly not the agenda of the five of us cardinals," Cardinal Burke said Oct. 3 at a conference in Rome about perceived problems with the synod, which was to begin the next morning.

"They have nothing to do with the person of the Holy Father and, in fact, by their nature they are an expression of the veneration owed to the Petrine office and the successor of St. Peter," the cardinal said.

Cardinal Burke, a former Vatican official now without a portfolio, spoke at a conference the day after he made public the questions, called "dubia," and the Vatican published the lengthy reply that Pope Francis had written to the cardinals in July when they first posed the questions.

In writing the questions to the pope, Cardinal Burke was joined by German Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, Mexican Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah and Chinese Cardinal Joseph Zen. The questions regarded: the interpretation of Scripture; the possibility of blessing same-sex unions; the pope's assertion that synodality is a "constitutive dimension of the Church"; the ordination of women; and whether repentance is necessary for a person to receive absolution.

In a theater near the Vatican, Cardinal Burke was joined by U.S. Father Gerald E. Murray, a canon lawyer and frequent commentator on EWTN, and by an Italian philosophy professor at a conference titled, "The Synodal Babel."

Riccardo Cascioli, editor of the Italian Catholic news site that sponsored the conference, said the title was chosen because Babel, like the synod in his opinion, describes a situation of confusion.

The conference took place as the 364 full members of the synod, mainly cardinals and bishops, were ending a three-day spiritual retreat outside of Rome.

When Cardinal Burke mentioned the "dubia" in his speech, he was greeted with applause by an audience of about 200 people, including laity and priests. Cardinal Sarah was seated in the front row.

The cardinal said the purpose of the synod on synodality was to "profoundly modify the hierarchical constitution" of the Catholic Church and to weaken its teaching on moral issues.

"Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our only savior, is not at the root and center of synodality," he told the conference. "This is why it overlooks and, truthfully, forgets the divine nature of the church."

Much of Cardinal Burke's talk focused on similarities he found in Pope Francis' reform of the Roman Curia and the pope's vision of a "synodal church," both of which he said seek to "profoundly modify the hierarchical constitution of the church."

A weakening of the church's identity as "one, holy, catholic and apostolic" in favor of a "synodal" church, he said, "has as a further consequence a weakening of its teaching in moral matters as well as in church discipline."

"Bishops and cardinals today need much courage to confront the grave errors that are coming from within the church itself," Cardinal Burke said. "The sheep depend on the courage of the shepherds who must protect them from the poison of confusion, error and division."

The first half of Father Murray's presentation focused on Pope Francis' decision that some "non-bishops" -- priests, religious, lay men and women -- would participate in the synod assembly as full members, including with the right to vote.

The change, Father Murray said, ignores "the essential distinction between the ordained and non-ordained in the church. Christ's establishment of a hierarchical church means that certain roles pertain to the shepherds that do not pertain to the sheep."

"When non-bishop members with voting rights are introduced into an assembly of bishops with voting rights, the assembly ceases to be episcopal in nature," he said, and thus has no standing in the church's canon law.

The second half of his speech focused on the synod assembly's working document and what he described as its "hoped-for 'soft' revolution in the church." As drafted, he said, the document aims to "jettison" church teachings that exclude people who embrace "decadent Western sexual mores and radical feminist" claims about the equality of women.

"The church of 'me, myself and I,' where each person recognizes himself in his personally curated set of beliefs, may promise satisfaction," he said. But "it's a make-belief, delusional religion of self-worship in which God is relegated to the role of the 'divine affirmer' of whatever each one decides to believe."

• Readings for the Memorial of the Guardian Angels

Reading 1 Zec 8:1-8

Responsorial Psalm Ps 102:16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23

Alleluia Ps 103:21

Gospel Mt 18:1-5, 10

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church, in pursuit of "pastoral prudence," should discern if there are ways of giving blessings to homosexual persons that do not alter the church's teaching on marriage, Pope Francis said.

Writing in response to a "dubia" letter delivered to him by five cardinals seeking clarification on doctrinal questions, the pope addressed issues surrounding the authority of the synod, women's ordination and blessing homosexual unions in a letter made public Oct. 2.

Marriage is an "exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to conceiving children," wrote the pope. "For this reason, the Church avoids all kinds of rites or sacramentals that could contradict this conviction and imply that it is recognizing as a marriage something that is not."

But pastoral charity also is necessary, and "defense of the objective truth is not the only expression of that charity, which is also made up of kindness, patience, understanding, tenderness, encouragement," he added. "For that reason, pastoral prudence must adequately discern if there are forms of blessing, solicited by one or various persons, that don't transmit a mistaken concept of marriage."

Pope Francis added that decisions made in specific circumstances should not necessarily become a norm regulated by a diocese or bishops' conference, noting that "the life of the Church runs through many channels in addition to regulatory frameworks."

The pope's comments came in response to a "dubia" letter dated July 10 seeking clarification on doctrinal questions written by five retired cardinals: U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, German Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, Mexican Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah and Chinese Cardinal Joseph Zen.

The pope's response is dated July 11, but it was made public on the website of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith only Oct. 2 after the cardinals released a follow-up letter. They had given the pope the second letter Aug. 21 with rephrased questions to solicit "yes" or "no" answers but did not receive a response from the pope.

"Given the gravity of the matter of the dubia, especially in view of the imminent session of the Synod of Bishops, we judge it our duty to inform you, the faithful, so that you may not be subject to confusion, error and discouragement," the cardinals wrote in an open letter explaining their decision to make the document public Oct. 2.

"The pope already responded to them," Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, told the Spanish newspaper ABC the day the letter was released. "And now they publish new questions as if the pope were their slave for running errands."

The cardinals had asked the pope about St. John Paul II's declaration that "the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women."

"Nobody can publicly contradict" the church's current rules prohibiting women's ordination, the pope wrote, "however it can be a subject of study, as is the case with the validity of ordinations in the Anglican Communion."

The letter asked if synodality could form part of the church's governing structures as an exercise of the church's supreme authority, to which Pope Francis replied that synodality "as a style and energy, is an essential dimension in the life of the Church." He noted that the church's mission "implies real participation: not just the hierarchy but all of the People of God to make their voice heard and feel part of the church's journey in different ways and at different levels."

Besides, he told the cardinals, "with these very questions you manifest your need to participate, to freely express your opinion and to collaborate, thus calling for a form of synodality in the exercise of my ministry."

The pope also answered a question on whether divine revelation should be reinterpreted "according to the cultural changes of our time and according to the new anthropological vision that these changes promote."

"Divine Revelation is immutable and always binding," the pope responded, though "the Church must be humble and recognize that it never exhausts its unfathomable wealth and needs to grow in its understanding."

"Cultural changes and new challenges of history do not modify Revelation, but they do encourage us to better explain some aspects of its boundless richness which always offer more," he wrote.

Responding to a question on the need for repentance to receive absolution in the sacrament of reconciliation, Pope Francis said that "we should not demand overly precise or certain proposals of reform from the faithful that end up being abstract or even egocentric."

The pope underscored that priest "are not owners, but humble administrators of the sacraments that nourish the faithful."

• Readings for the Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church

Reading 1 Ez 18:25-28

Responsorial Psalm Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Reading 2 Phil 2:1-11

or Phil 2:1-5

Alleluia Jn 10:27

Gospel Mt 21:28-32

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.