Vatican & World News 27.03.2026

0:00Laudatoa Jesus Christos, Vatican, and World News. In the headlines this Friday, March 27, US President Donald Trump says he will delay plans to begin striking Iranian-engined facilities for another 10 days. Theresa Morris-Katalkamp steps down from her role as Aldrinth Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minus, and the preacher of the papal household Father Roberto Pasolini holds his final lantern meditation on the theme, the freedom of the children of God, perfect joy, and death as a sister. In the Vatican, I'm Joseph Taric. Donald Trump has said that he will further delay plans to begin destroying Iranian-energy facilities. As Nathan Mori reports, the US President has indicated he will delay the attacks for yet another 10-day period. Iran has not publicly responded to the decision.

1:02Earlier, Taran said it was awaiting Washington's reply to its conditions for a ceasefire. At a cabinet meeting, the US Special Envoy, Steve Wyckoff, confirmed the United States had sent Iran a 15-point-piece proposal. Elsewhere, the UN Human Rights Chief said a deadly strike on an Iranian school on the first day of the war triggered visceral horror. Volka Turk called for the investigation into the school attack to be completed as soon as possible. Mr Turk also said US-Israeli strikes have increasingly destroyed civilian infrastructure as the conflict has continued, and he described the targeting of nuclear facilities as being reckless beyond comprehension. India, the UN nuclear watchdog, urged maximum restraint to avoid a nuclear incident in Iran after a reported strike near the busher nuclear plant on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Israel and Iran have continued to exchange strikes.

2:03Local media in Iran reported 18 people were killed in an overnight attack on the city of Homme. With the FAR's news agency saying the strike hit the Party Sound District. People so Saudi Arabia's defence ministry say six ballistic missiles were launched towards the area of Riyadh. Israel said it targeted a major missile and sea mining production site in central Iran. For Vatican radio, this is Nathan Morley reporting. 30 years ago today in Algeria, seven trappist monks were kidnapped and killed in the middle of the country's black decade, a period of civil violence and unrest. Today, even though their monastery is no longer run by the trappist community, the monks' spirit of prayer and fraternity remains very much alive. Kelsey Gussie reports on the legacy of the Tiberian monks today. In 1996, Algeria was in the midst of the black decade, marked by terrorist attacks carried up by various Islamist groups and by armed repression. A dark chapter that claimed tens of thousands of victims among the Algerian people.

3:07Despite the threats, the seven trappist monks remained firm in their decision to stay at the monastery. A letter written by the prior of the monastery read, If one day it should happen to be me, to become a victim of the terrorism, then now seems to be targeting all foreigners living in Algeria. I would like my community, my church, my family to remember that my life was given to God and to this country. Then during the night of March 26th to 27th, the monks were abducted by armed men. A few days after a statement by the armed Islamic group announcing their beheading, their heads were discovered on May 30th. Their murder sent shockwaves throughout the world. Brother Christian, brother Luke, brother Michel, brother Celestine, brother Christophe, brother Bruno, and brother Paul, all embodied a community living in peace and serving the poor. Today, the legacy of the seven trappist monks is immeasurable. Along with 12 other martyrs, the monks were beatified on December 8th, 2018, by Pope Francis. Although the monks' bodies were never found, a small cemetery with seven grave markers

4:10has been erected in the garden near the monastery. Around the world, memorials commemorate the monks' sacrifice, from Norway to the United States, and from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Cameroon. In Tiberine, the spirit of the monks continues to live on. The monastery's orchard and vegetable garden have been cared for with the help of Samir and Yosef, friends of one of the brothers. In 2016, the Archbishop of Algiers entrusted the Shemin-Nuf community with the responsibility of preserving the vitality of the site. Many pilgrims from around the world come to the Tiberine monastery and remember the spirit of the monks, three decades after their deaths. I'm Kelsey Gussi. Theresa Morris Kettlecamp has stepped down from her role as adjunct secretary of the Pontivical Commission for the Protection of Miners for Family Reasons. In a statement, she emphasised her continued support for the church's work to safeguard children. It's about a car value. Tells us more. In the statement, the President of the Commission for the Protection of Miners,

5:13Archbishop Tiberine explained with immense gratitude and deep sadness that Theresa Morris Kettlecamp will be stepping down on April 1st. Archbishop Vinny wrote that for the past decade, Theresa Kettlecamp has been dedicated to the Commission for the Protection of Miners, bringing her experience in law enforcement and safeguarding to the service of the global church. Her wisdom, professionalism and unwavering commitment to victim survivors have left a lasting mark on the work of the Commission he continued. The statement then shared one written by Kettlecamp on her resignation, in which she expressed her gratitude to the Holy Father for having had the privilege of serving the church in this important mission. For more than a decade, I have been honored to contribute to the Commission's vital work, a mission in which I wholeheartedly believe she explained, adding that her commitment to safeguarding children in vulnerable persons is rooted in a conviction shared by all Christians that every human being possesses inherent dignity created in the image and likeness of God. She went on to describe some of her work since joining the Commission in 2015. She explained how she helped develop universal guidelines for safeguarding and supporting victims and survivors of abuse. She recalled being appointed in 2018 and again

6:17in 2022 by Pope Francis as a member of the Commission, serving as moderator of the working group focused on healing for survivors and integrating their voices into the life and ministry of the church. Throughout this period, she wrote, my guiding priorities have remained constant, God, family and work. It is now clear that I must give precedence to my family. She explained that her granddaughter was born prematurely in April 2025 and underwent emergency heart surgery. She continues to face persistent challenges so Kettlecamp has decided to leave her work in order to be of support to her daughter and granddaughter. I'm Isabella de Carvalho. The leadership conference of Women Religious is an association of Catholic Women Religious congregations in the United States. The presidency of the organization is currently in Rome for their annual visit and the president of the conference sister Vicki Larsen and the executive director, sister Carol Zinn, stopped off at Vatican Radio's offices and spoke to Isabella de Carvalho about how the work has been focusing on building relationships between people, especially in the polarized context of the United States. When there are many divided sides,

7:23pitted against one another, one of the things that we need to do to work for justice is to work on relationships and build bridges across divides so that people understand one another and can work together. The issue of polarization, as you certainly can see, is alive and well, not only in the United States, but it's pretty raw in the United States. There's a tendency to other just about everybody and to set up camps, if you will. And so this whole response to the polarization is to try to build relationships not at the level of issue, but at the level of human being to human being. What does it mean to you as you look at the world for your family, your children, and so forth? So we're trying to learn those skills, even though consecrated religious life has as its elements, this notion of deep listening, a communal discernment, we're really having to learn new skills also, because many of us in our families have people in our families who are of a certain political ideology. It's very difficult to even try to figure

8:25out how to have a conversation. So we're trying to learn the skills ourselves and then invite others, our partners in ministry, the boards of our ministers, our sponsored ministries that are all laypeople, trying to invite them into this kind of learning process also. I think it really builds on what Pope Francis called all of us to in in calling the Synod on Synodality. I think he really gifted us with a call to look at the way that we are church together and that we communicate and share to wisdom together. So that's kind of the center of your work right now. This focus on building relationships and trying to overcome these kind of polarization. That's the focus of your work right now. Yes, the exact focus is the transformation of consciousness, which again we have to almost trip over the word. Most people can't even say it, but basically it means how do we transform the way we think about one another? And then the words that we use when we speak to each other, it sounds so basic, but we've discern that the issues are that basic. They are at a very human level of really not knowing how to be

9:28with each other and how to have a conversation with each other. That was sister Vicki Larsen, the president of the US Leadership Conference of Women Religious and Executive Director, sister Carol Zinn speaking there to Vattincum Radio's Isabella de Carvalho. This month, bishops from the personal ordinariats, communities established by Pope Benedict XVI gathered in Rome to reflect on their unique spiritual heritage in a new report from the Vatican's DeCastrio for the Doctrine of the Faith. They highlighted seven key traits that define their identity within the Catholic Church. These communities said that they share a deep sense of belonging, rooted in the worthy patrimony of piety, usage of the Anglican tradition. The bishops emphasised the broad participation of clergy and the faith and the lady, as well as a commitment to the poor and the family as the domestic church where faith is first lived and taught. They also pointed to evangelisation through beauty, a pastoral culture that weaves liturgy into daily life, and a strong tradition of scripture-based preaching and spiritual direction.

10:31Colonel Victor Mangelfanandas, the prefect of the DeCastrio for the Doctrine of the Faith, spoke of this heritage as a precious gift that enriches the whole church. The Ordinariats, the bishops said, offer a distinctive witness to the mystery of the incarnation, welcoming individuals and communities into full communion while contributing to the church's unity and to its mission. The preacher of the papal household, Father Roberto Pazellini, has held his final lenta meditation on the theme, the freedom of the children of God, perfect joy and death as a sister. In his reflection, the preacher touched on the final stages of the earthly journey of Saint Francis of Assisi, who he says learns to accept his own fragility and smallness. Francesca Merle tells us more. Father Roberto Pazellini's final lenta meditation reflected on the last stage of Saint Francis of Assisi's life, highlighting his journey towards spiritual freedom and acceptance of human fragility. The theme, the freedom of the children of God,

11:37perfect joy and death as a sister, emphasised that nothing, not rejection, illness or death, can separate us from God's love. Francis' holiness, Pazellini explained, came from allowing God to guide him in the concreteness and poverty of life, becoming a living prayer. Yet near the end, he faced a deep trial. As his order grew, he felt sidelined and useless. In this moment, he described perfect joy to brother Leo, not as success or recognition, but as the ability to remain at peace amid rejection and suffering. True joy, Pazellini said, depends not on circumstances, but on how we respond to them. It is not the absence of wounds, but freedom from being defined by them. This message echoes the gospel's Beatitudes, which reveal happiness already present in life in every hardship. They invite us not to escape reality, but to embrace it fully, discovering a joy that transforms suffering, rather than erasing it. Pazellini also reflected on Francis' stigmata, explaining that God does not add pain, but transforms existing wounds into signs of love.

12:41Francis' suffering, misunderstanding, failure and lowliness, became a place of communion with Christ and others. In his final months, Francis learned to receive to depend on others for care and consolation. Pauling death, sister, he expressed reconciliation with life's end. His final act, dying naked on the earth, symbolised complete surrender and freedom, echoing a life spent letting go. Francis' journey shows that true freedom comes from accepting our smallness and allowing ourselves to be loved. His path is not exceptional, but reveals the gospel's promise, a life capable of enduring suffering without being overcome by it, and of loving fully to the end. I'm Francesca Merlo. That's all we've got time for on this edition of Vatican and World News. For more on these and other stories, you can visit our website at vaticannews.va. You can also catch the latest updates

13:41on our Facebook, X and Instagram pages, just search Vatican news. Many thanks go to Domiano Caprio in the studio. In the Vatican, I'm Joseph Tolic. Goodbye.