By Matthew Trojacek with CNA Reports – Grzegorz Galazka and CNA photos
October
Wednesday 16
Pope Francis to release groundbreaking autobiography Hope in 2025
In a historic move, Pope Francis is set to become the first sitting pontiff to release an autobiographical memoir. Titled Hope, the much-anticipated book will be published worldwide on January 14, 2025, in what is being described as an unprecedented literary event. The announcement came from Random House Publishing on October 16, marking a significant moment not only for the Vatican but also for the global literary and religious communities.
In a statement accompanying the announcement, Pope Francis explained his motivations: “´Hope´ is the story of a journey—one that I cannot separate from the journey of my family, my people, and the people of God. In every chapter and passage, it is also the story of those who have walked with me, those who came before, and those who will follow.” He further reflected on the nature of autobiography, describing it as “not just our private history, but the luggage we carry with us. Memory is not only what we recall, but what surrounds us, and it speaks not just of what was, but of what is yet to come.” (Zenit)
Wednesday 30
Pope Francis to parents of aborted children: “evil does not have the last word”
On October 30, Pope Francis received in audience members of Project Hope, a program of accompaniment for the spiritual and emotional healing of women and men who suffer the consequences of having chosen abortion.
The members of the initiative, which has spread to most Latin American countries, aim to help those who seek “reconciliation and forgiveness” and experience God’s mercy.
Project Hope came about from women and also men asking for help “with tears in their eyes and expressing the need to know how to cope with unbearable pain.”
“But we must not lose hope,” the Pope reminded. “Evil does not have the last word; it is never definitive. Like the angel in Saint Joseph’s dream, God announces to us that, after this desert, the Lord will return to take possession of his house.” (CNA)
Thursday 31
Vatican opens visitors’ center for Saint Peter’s Basilica for Holy Year
The Vatican has opened a new center to welcome pilgrims and tourists before they visit Saint Peter’s Basilica. The space, which was inaugurated October 31, is intended to provide practical, artistic, and spiritual information to visitors of the Vatican basilica — especially during moments of higher than usual influx, as is expected during the 2025 Jubilee Year.
The “Official Area,” as the Vatican is calling the center, is located about a five-minute walk from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has partnered with two Italian organizations, the nonprofit BeHuman and the for-profit company Civita Mostre e Musei, to create the welcome center, which will also have priests, religious, and laypeople available for spiritual discussions, “listening, and empathy,” a press release said.
Pope Francis said earlier that while many people come to the Vatican “to pray at the tomb of the first of the apostles, to confirm their faith and their communion with the Church, to entrust dear intentions to the Lord… Others, even of different faiths, enter it as ‘tourists,’ attracted by the beauty, the history, the charm of the art.”
“But in everyone there is one great quest, conscious or unconscious: the quest for God, beauty, and eternal goodness,” he said. (NCRegister)
November
Monday 4
Vatican publishes new edition of funeral rites for Roman Pontiff
The Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff has produced and released the second edition of the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, used for the funeral of the Roman pontiff. It was approved on April 29, 2024 by Pope Francis, who received the first copy of the printed volume on November 4.
A number of new elements for papal funerals have been introduced. The ascertainment of death will no longer take place in the room of the deceased but in the chapel, and his mortal remains will be placed immediately inside the coffin.
The faithful will be able to venerate the Pope’s body inside the open coffin, and the tradition of having three coffins of cypress, lead, and oak has been eliminated.
“A second edition became necessary,” explained Archbishop Diego Ravelli, Master of Apostolic Ceremonies, “first of all because Pope Francis has requested it, as he himself has stated on several occasions the need to simplify and adapt certain rites so that the celebration of the funeral of the Bishop of Rome may better express the faith of the Church in the Risen Christ.”
Archbishop Ravelli also noted that “the renewed rite also [is] needed to emphasise even more that the funeral of the Roman Pontiff is that of a pastor and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful person of this world.” (VaticanNews)
Tuesday 12
Pope Francis moves part of Vatican Library and Archive to Rome Seminary
A hall in the Vatican Library
Pope Francis has called for the expansion of the Vatican library and archives to a building outside Vatican City to make more “available this precious patrimony.”
In a letter dated October 29 and issued on November 12, the Pope declared that part of the archives and library would be moved to a building on extraterritorial Vatican property at the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran.
“The centuries-old care for the custody of the acts and documents concerning the government of the universal Church, combined with a commitment to the development and dissemination of culture, are the characteristic features of the activity of the Vatican Archives and Library,” Pope Francis wrote in a papal chirograph.
The Vatican Library “preserves over 180,000 manuscripts (including archival units), 1,600,000 printed books, about 9,000 incunabula, over 300,000 coins and medals, more than 150,000 prints, thousands of drawings and engravings, and over 200,000 photographs.” (CNA)
Wednesday 20
Ukrainian First Lady before the Pope
During the General Audience on November 20: Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska (first from right) with First Ladies of Lithuania, Serbia, and Armenia. The First Ladies participated together in the Holy Mass presided over by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi (below, left) on the occasion of the 1,000th day since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On November 20, Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, stood amidst the solemn beauty of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome. Alongside global dignitaries, including the First Ladies of Lithuania, Serbia, and Armenia, she marked a grim milestone: the 1,000th day since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Yet her message transcended grief, offering a defiant hope rooted in faith and humanity.
The commemorative Mass, organized by Ukraine’s Embassy to the Holy See, united voices of faith and diplomacy.
Presided over by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Pope’s special envoy for peace in Ukraine, the service emphasized unity and the pursuit of justice. Cardinal Zuppi, a tireless advocate for peace, used the occasion to reflect on the spiritual and moral imperative of ending the war. Earlier in the day, Zelenska met privately with Pope Francis, whose unwavering support for Ukraine has been a beacon of hope during the war.
The Pope, who publicly denounced the conflict as “a disgraceful catastrophe for humanity” during his general audience that morning, offered both spiritual solace and tangible solidarity. (Zenit)
Wednesday 27
Pope provides assistance to homeless people in Calabria’s tent cities
It is a matter of dignity, even more than clean clothes and blankets. In the tent city — or rather, “shantytown” — of San Ferdinando, a Calabrian city of around 175,000 inhabitants, hundreds of African immigrants live in poverty and squalor, waiting for their residency permits. Many work in the fields, often without work contracts.
On November 27, the Pope’s charitable outreach arrived in this industrial area of Reggio Calabria with the opening of the seventh “Pope Francis Laundry,” following those opened in the Italian cities of Rome, Genoa, Turin, Naples, and Catania.
The initiative, developed and promoted by Procter & Gamble Italy, in collaboration with Haier Europe and supported by the Apostolic Almoner and the Diocese of Oppido Mamertina–Palmi, caters to migrants, the poor, and the homeless, enabling them to wash their clothes and blankets and maintain personal hygiene. All services are completely free. (VaticanNews)
December
Saturday 7
21 new Cardinals created
Pope Francis created 21 new Cardinals from all over the world at a Vatican consistory December 7.
The Holy Father continued the precedent he has set in previous years of selecting Cardinals from dioceses and countries that rarely receive the red hat. This includes Archbishop Joseph Mathieu of Tehran-Ispahan, Iran; Archbishop Ladislav Nemet of Belgrade, Serbia; and Eparch Mykola Bychok of Sts. Peter and Paul of Melbourne, the eparchy for Ukrainian Catholics throughout Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania.
There are five new cardinals from Italy, but only one from North America — Archbishop Francis Leo of Toronto, Canada.
After Saturday’s consistory, the College of Cardinals will increase in size to 256 members. There will be 141 Cardinals eligible to vote in the next Conclave. However, 15 of them will turn 80 (thus losing voting privileges) in 2025. (SLMedia.org)
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