St. Peter’s Life projected on the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica & New Vatican Dicastery Head

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Pope Francis: Young people are missing the ‘spiritual capital’ that gives life meaning Attending the Economy of Francesco conference in Assisi last Saturday, Pope Francis lamented the loss of spiritual meaning in the lives of many young people today — a lack that is often replaced by an undue focus on material goods, he said. “Human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, are seekers of meaning before being seekers of material goods,“ he told the young people at the conference. “That is why the first capital of any society is spiritual capital.” He continued, telling them that “Young people especially suffer from this lack of meaning. Faced with the pain and uncertainties of life, they often find their souls depleted of the spiritual resources needed to process suffering, frustration, disappointment and grief.” Pope Francis: The Eucharist teaches us to adore God rather than ourselves On Sunday, September 25th, Pope Francis traveled to the ancient Italian city of Matera, where he urged thousands of people to “rediscover” Eucharistic adoration, as they gathered in a soccer stadium for Sunday Mass. “Brothers, sisters, from the city of Matera, this ‘city of bread,’ I would like to tell you: Let us return to Jesus. Let us return to the Eucharist,” Pope Francis said in his homily. “Let us return to the taste of bread because while we are hungry for love and hope, or we are broken by the travails and sufferings of life, Jesus becomes food that feeds us and heals us.” Matera, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, known for its ancient cave dwellings, is also called the “city of bread” due to its traditional sourdough recipe that has been passed down over centuries. Pope Francis appoints Cardinal Mendonça head of Dicastery for Culture and Education New appointments in the Roman Curia: Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça , previously the archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church, as prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, a position to which Monsignor Angelo Vincenzo Zani, the secretary of the former Congregation for Catholic Education, has been called. On June 5, following the official acceptance of the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate evangelium, the Congregation for Catholic Education and the Pontifical Council for Culture was disbanded and their respective responsibilities assigned to the new Dicastery for Culture and Education. St. Peter’s Life projected on the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica Sunday 2 October at 9 pm, a special video showing the life of St. Peter will be projected onto the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica. - Video Archive The video project “Follow Me” is the first leg of the “Art and Faith” program, and invites pilgrims to visit the Basilica and make the pilgrimage to the Tomb of Peter. Proposals for the initiatives include various lectures on the saint and spiritual itineraries to places where St. Peter visited and walked in the city of Rome. They provide visitors with multiple opportunities to encounter St. Peter and meditate on his human and divine experiences. The hope is that by encountering St. Peter in these places and through these experiences, pilgrims may leave renewed, inspired by the example of the saint to focus all their strength toward the Lord. The projections will run every day from Sunday 2 October to Sunday 16 October, lasting approximately 8 minutes. Pope Francis appeals for the release of kidnapped Catholics in Cameroon Pope Francis has appealed for the release of nine Catholics kidnapped in southwest Cameroon.  “I join in the appeal of the bishops of Cameroon for the liberation of [those] kidnapped in the diocese of Mamfe, including five priests and a religious sister,” the pope said on Sept. 25. Speaking in his Angelus address at the end of a Mass in the southern Italian city of Matera, the pope said that he was praying that the Lord may grant peace to Cameroon, where a civil war has been raging since 2017. Thank you for watching this week’s Vaticano Updates.