Vatican & World News 04.09.2026

0:00Laudator Jesus Christos, Vatican and World News. In the headlines this Friday, September 4th, Pope Leo points to St. John Henry Newman as an example of the inseparability of faith and reason. Almost a month after the earthquake, the Church in Columbia continues to help those affected, and bishops from Mexico, Canada and the United States come together Mexico to reflect on their different realities. In the Vatican, I'm Isabella de Carvalho. Pope Leo XIV met today with members of the Oriol College of Oxford University as the college celebrates its 700th anniversary. The Pope invited them to look to the college's alumnus St. John Henry Newman as an example of the inseparability of faith and reason, Devin Watkins reports. Pope Leo XIV met on Friday with the provost fellows and members of Oriol College as the constituent college of the University of Oxford celebrates its 700th anniversary.

1:03Founded in 1326, Oriol College both St. John Henry Newman among its alumni. In his address, the Pope recalled the college's long and illustrious history and praised it for maintaining its Christian identity throughout many changes and upheavals over time. Indeed, this identity is key to what has made and can continue to make Oriol, not just an academic institution, but a true community of faith and scholarship in its deepest meaning. Pope Leo XIV then upheld the witness of St. Newman calling him a shining example of a scholar who not only showed the inseparability of faith and reason in his works, but even more admirably in his life. The 19th century English Cardinal was canonized by Pope Francis in October 2019 and proclaimed a doctor of the church by Pope Leo XIV in 2025, who also named him Copatron of Catholic education along with St. Thomas Aquinas. There was a great concreteness to his ideas.

2:03Since his religious convictions were rooted in his personal relationship with God, while his scholarship was both sublime and eminently practical. The Pope urged Oriol College to emulate St. Newman's vision of a Christian formation that embraces the entire person and measures the value of education according to human dignity, justice, and the capacity to serve the common good. Pope Leo XIV concluded by inviting the College's academicians to seek the truth courageously and to promote this integral anthropological vision. As a result, he said, your work ingenuently facilitates a heart to heart encounter with your brothers and sisters, and especially with our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. I'm Devin Watkins. 15 dioceses have been affected thousands of homes destroyed and hospitals, schools, universities,

3:04and numerous churches were damaged by the earthquake that struck Western Columbia on Monday, August 10. Alongside the urgent need for material reconstruction, the disaster also opened a deep human wound that will require time, solidarity, and accompaniment. Amid the devastation, however, signs of hope have also emerged. The local Catholic Church has mobilized to accompany the affected populations, not only in their most immediate needs, but also in the pain, grief, and uncertainty of those who have lost their homes, loved ones, or the places that for generations have been at the heart of their communities. Kelsey Gussie has the story. Cardinal Luis José Rue de Aparicio Archbishop of Bogota and Primate of Colombia traveled with four other bishops and 80 priests to some of the areas most affected by the earthquake. The idea was to be present alongside those who were suffering, just as rescuers, doctors and nurses were mobilizing to respond to physical and medical emergencies. Yet amid the many hardships, the Cardinal encountered an extraordinary capacity for solidarity.

4:06One of the faces that impressed him most was that of the women of the Pacific Coast, whose presence sustains much of the community's daily life. Another aspect that deeply moved the Cardinal was the children's and young people's ability to preserve their joy and circumstances that might seem unbearable. This does not mean he clarified that they are unaware of what is happening. Many were born and raised in contexts marked by conflict and neglect, and the earthquake now presents them with another challenge within a history of hardship that has become part of their daily lives. And yet, they smile. For Cardinal Luis Aparicio, seeing the connection between priests and laity, is one of the fruits of the evangelizing work that has been carried out over many years. At a time of trial, he said, a faith emerges that allows people to see themselves as brothers and sisters, close to one another and responsible for one another. The reconstruction will be necessary and in many cases complex. But the church he emphasized must begin with people.

5:09We must rebuild hope. It is very important to accompany people first to accompany families first, the Cardinal stressed. Afterwards, he trusts, God will help rebuild the churches, seminaries and rectories. The destruction of numerous churches will force many communities to celebrate for months and even years in makeshift spaces. For while, families homes are rebuilt and afterward the churches, the life of faith will continue. In the face of so many wounds, the Cardinal said, it is necessary to recover the richest humanism and the most beautiful expression of our human condition. From Colombia, a country facing the consequences of an earthquake, the primate urges us not to allow suffering to have the final word. I'm Kelsey Gussi. Bishops from Mexico, Canada and the United States gathered in Mexico from August 30th to September 4th to reflect on how despite being three distinct countries with different histories and realities, they all share one faith. In an interview with Vatican Radio, Bishop Daniel Flores, the vice president of the United

6:11States Conference of Catholic Bishops, touched on the importance of this meeting, which is the first of its kind in our history and some of the topics the bishops have discussed. We have touched many themes together, conversations both in our meetings but also in as we share at dinner tables and lunch tables just to kind of talk about things and getting to know the church in Mexico a little bit more. We've talked about obviously about the challenges each of our country faces in defending human dignity, especially when it comes to issues like immigration or issues about the just treatment of those who find themselves in vulnerable conditions. The church always has a place, a voice to speak, but also work to do to be able to kind of encourage to support those who find themselves in difficult situations. People's themes have it touching on Magnifica Humanitas, what Pope Leo has said to us in the church about how to work to protect human dignity, especially of the vulnerable in this era of new technological development that has such an impact on the whole movement of communication but also of decisions that are made within the world.

7:14But in our countries, there are special circumstances that it is very fruitful for us to speak about together and frankly in our meetings with a situation in Canada, the situation in the United States affecting our young people, affecting others, but also the situation here in Mexico. I have learned a lot. It's been great experience to listen to and hear the concerns of our brother, Bishop's here in the rest of North America. I was able to share and to kind of give some sort of a sense of the work of the church in the United States, our priorities are issues of evangelization, issues of promotion of vocations, but also issues of our work with the immigrant community, trying to be of support and really opening up our hearts really to support those who are in most vulnerable conditions. The work of the church is an expression of the faith of the church and each of us are expressing it in different ways, but it's a great richness that comes when we're able to share the context of our evangelization and of our catacetical and our vocation ministries and especially as we promote social justice.

8:15In this time, when it's particularly important that the dignity of the human person be something that is recognized and defended in the context of the changing circumstances of our different communities. So in that sense, I mean, there are many things that have covered our conversations and which really ask for deeper conversations in the future, which I very hopefully look forward to. That was Bishop Daniel Flores, Vice President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Claudio Lodati first arrived in Egypt 31 years ago. Today, the talent-combonnie missionary is a bishop and serves as Latin-right apostolic vicar of Alexandria, a city on the Nile Delta, which played a crucial role in the early centuries of Christianity. In Rome for a recent meeting of Celera, an organization bringing together Latin bishops from across the Arab world, Bishop Lodati spoke to Vatican Radio about Alexandria's multi-ethnic, multireligious history. What you see, first of all, is the architecture. If you walk around Alexandria, you see so many styles. You see buildings that are clearly made by Italians or French engineers.

9:18The same can be said about Cairo. And in the memory of people, of course, this time of a multi-ethnic cultural society is still there. Soon after the war, there used to be even a very large Jewish community in Alexandria, which was a community that had been there for over 2,000 years. Some books of the Bible, of the Old Testament, were actually written, according to the scholars, but actually written in Alexandria, a community that was there already at the time of Jesus. But then it disappeared with all the events of the last 60 years. What's the relationship between Christians and Muslims like in Egypt today? The contact is daily because you go out in the street and so nine people out of them are Muslim, so the contact is daily. But on the level of the religious dialogue, of cultural exchange, let me mention especially

10:24what the Dominicans do. They have a community fully dedicated to this. They have a wonderful library and there are many Muslim students that come to benefit from the books that are in the library. And they have an open dialogue with El Azhar University, which is the biggest Islamic institution from the side of the studies. And some of them, they even give some lectures for now in this university. So there is this dialogue going on. That was Bishop Claudio Lurati, a Catholic bicker of Alexandria, speaking there at the Vatican Radio's Joseph Tulloch. Scholars, politicians, businessmen, women, religious leaders, activists, and young people are gathering in Indonesia to reflect on one of the great challenges of our time. How to ensure that our official intelligence is at the service of human dignity, fraternity, and peace. Scholars' chairs, the global academic networks and collaborative spaces connecting universities and researchers through the school's occurrentes movement, are hosting their 11th International

11:28Congress in Indonesia this week, with the goal of inspiring concrete projects with global impact. Christopher Wells tells us more. The three-day Congress from September 4 through the 6th is focusing on the question of artificial intelligence and human sense, seeking practical means to ensure that AI is used to promote human dignity, fraternity, and peace. This year's Congress is also commemorating the Second Anniversary of Pope Francis's Abstalk visit to Indonesia, and the signing of the Interfaith East-Declale Declaration by the Holy Father and Grand Imam Nasriddin Umar in Jakarta's East-Declale Mosque. For their part participants in the School of Chairs Congress, will present their own Bali Declaration, a shared commitment to continue promoting ethical, human-centered, artificial intelligence, oriented towards the common good. In an address to the Congress, the Secretary of the Decastry for Interreligious Dialogue, and Senior Indian Il Jena Karatne Kankanamalige, addressed to the question of artificial intelligence and human meaning in the framework of two words, light and encounter, proposed by Pope Francis

12:32during the signing of the Ithaclale document. In view of Pope Leo's integral Manifika Humanitas, the mon senior spoke about the need of light from God, but also the importance of encounter, encounter with the transcendent, with oneself, with others, and with nature or creation. He asked what humanity is building with AI, recalling Pope Leo's reminder that technology can be used for good or ill. Humanity said Manifika Kankanamalige needs a plurality of voices to find solutions that allow us to use artificial intelligence for the common good. This he continued required ethical principles, including a commitment to human dignity and freedom, preservation of truth and of the inner life, strengthening of human relationships, education, justice, and inclusion, and solidarity and the common good. One senior in Kankanamalige concluded his dress by saying that we must neither reject technology nor worship it, but instead use it to help foster encounters that give meaning and light to our lives. Artasky said is to ensure that artificial intelligence becomes not an instrument of domination,

13:35but an instrument of human flourishing. I'm Christopher Wells. That brings us to the end of this edition of Vatican and World News. Many thanks go to the Gabriel D. Domenico or Sound Engineer in the studio and thanks to all of you for joining us. In the Vatican, I'm Isabella de Carvalho.