Building a civilization of love against a culture of power

Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas rejects the global culture of military and economic dominance, calling instead for a “civilization of love” centered on human dignity, shared responsibility, and the common good.

Ruben Mendoza

August 25, 2026

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In his encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV criticizes the culture of power that undergirds the problem of war and the development of advanced weaponry.

As he puts it, “In our time, a culture of power is taking hold, in which the availability of resources and the ability to dominate tend to dictate the agenda and criteria for decision-making. In this way, the common good of humanity is relegated to the background and the concrete tragedy of peoples at war is reduced to a secondary consideration in relation to strategic interests” (MH 188).

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Pope Leo explains why Vatican II needed to reform the Catholic Mass

by Carol Glatz - Catholic News Service August 26, 2026

Pope Leo XIV talks to visitors and pilgrims during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Aug. 26, 2026. Credit: (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — “Firmly rooted” in the Church’s living tradition, the liturgical reform put forth by the Second Vatican Council grew from the need for the faithful to celebrate the liturgy more “consciously and actively,” and not “as strangers and silent spectators,” Pope Leo XIV said.

“The faithful ‘cannot and must no longer remain silent and passive. Their physical presence cannot be reconciled with their spiritual absence,'” he said, quoting Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini of Milan, the future Pope Paul VI and saint, who was attending the council’s first session at the time in 1962.

A 3:00 a.m. meditation

 

The Wolf and the Shepherd

A 3:00 a.m. meditation

Timothy P. Schilling

August 12, 2026

The Last Word

Spirituality

Please email comments to letters@commonwealmagazine.org.

Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Good Shepherd, 1902–3 (Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University/Wikimedia Commons)

When I was young, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The next thing I knew, it was morning. A friend once told me, “That’s a blessing.” Now I am older and on most nights I wake at some point. I may lie awake just briefly or for as long as an hour or two. On the whole, I don’t mind it. I figure it’s time God has given me for prayer. I’ve developed a routine. First, I count the day’s blessings. Then I pray, slowly and intentionally, a Glory Be, an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and Psalm 23. Finally, I pray for all the people in my life. I especially like praying Psalm 23, with its green pastures and still waters and high road of righteousness. It’s a lovely nighttime outing. Praying it reminds me of the Hemingway character who, when he couldn’t sleep, mentally fished over the trout streams of his youth. And of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who, in her dreams, chased butterflies and birds.

Pope Leo says Vatican II's liturgical reform was 'necessary' for lay involvement

 

Vatican News

Vatican

Pope Leo says Vatican II's liturgical reform was 'necessary' for lay involvement

Justin McLellan  ncr

Posted inNews

Cardinal Cupich reinstates Chicago priest and outspoken social activist cleared of abuse allegations

by Gina Christian - OSV News August 25, 2026

Father Michael Pfleger, senior pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church in Chicago, is pictured in a file photo. Credit: OSV News photo/Jim Young, Reuters

(OSV News) — Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago has reinstated a diocesan priest — known for his longtime social justice ministry — as pastor after an inquiry cleared the cleric of abuse allegations.

In an Aug. 24 letter addressed to the faithful of St. Sabina Parish, Cardinal Cupich said that a recently made allegation against Father Michael Pfleger had been “thoroughly reviewed” and found unsubstantiated.

Priests are wearing cassocks again. Should you care?

Priests are wearing cassocks again. Should you care?

by Joe Hoover, S.J. August 25, 2026

Credit: Canva illustration by America Media

Let’s not kid ourselves, they look just so very fantastic, long black cassocks on today’s vital young priest. The Roman cassock, 33 buttons all black and slimming, the semi-Jesuit cassock and the complicated way you fasten it. A Catholic clergyman in a cassock walking through the sanctuary or on the city streets: There is a priest. The Year Rounder, the Southport, mandarin collars with a one-inch opening, a man unafraid to be seen, to be visible, to be clergy! 

In a world so denuded of signs and symbols of the sacred, the cassock is back. Has been for several years now, but more and more these days the thing. The timeless priestly garment, draping to the ankles, young men wearing them all over the place. Seminarians strolling the convention hall at the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis or giving out ashes in a New York parish hall; priests attending a Communion and Liberation gathering or presenting at the SEEK youth summit or leaving a West Omaha church. 

Pope Leo places Knights of Columbus leader on Vatican office for laity

 

Vatican

Pope Leo places Knights of Columbus leader on Vatican office for laity

Justin McLellan   ncr

Sept. 6, 2026: Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Scripture for Life

August 25, 2026

Sept. 6, 2026: Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sr. Mary M. McGlone  ncr