Jeanie Hannaman

It is my hope that the upcoming international summits of the United Nations — the 2025 Climate Change Conference (COP 30), the 53rd Plenary Session of the Committee on World Food Security, and the 2026 Water Conference — will listen to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor, families, indigenous peoples, involuntary migrants and believers throughout the world. At the same time, I encourage everyone, especially young people, parents and those who work in local and national administrations and institutions, to play their part in finding solutions for today’s “cultural, spiritual and educational challenges” (Laudato Si’, 202), always striving tenaciously for the common good. There is no room for indifference or resignation.

The Holy See - 1. “I HAVE LOVED YOU” (Rev 3:9). The Lord speaks these words to a Christian community that, unlike some others, had no influence or resources, and was treated instead with violence and contempt: “You have but little power… I will make them come and bow down before your feet” (Rev 3:8-9). This text reminds us of the words of the canticle of Mary: “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty” (Lk 1:52-53).

By Michael Pakaluk, The Catholic Thing - Leo XIII did not define socialism as “State ownership of the means of production,” but rather, as a philosophy that denies that the individual in his economic activity is prior to the State, and denies also that the family is a true society prior to the State. In particular, it denies the authority of the father, who, Leo says, has a claim over the resources of his household at least as weighty as the State’s... Leo grapples with socialism in several of his encyclicals. He clearly regards it as the great menacing problem of our time.