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St. John Gualbert
Posted on 07/12/2025 07:00 AM (CNA - Saint of the Day)

Feast date: Jul 12
Born in Florence, Italy, around the year 993, John was born into a noble family, and led a predictably frivolous life as a youth, being concerned only with the pursuit of vain amusements and romantic intrigues.
However, when he was still a young man, his elder brother Hugh was murdered, and John was so overtaken with grief that he vowed to avenge him. His only desire was to find the murderer and kill him.
One day – it was Good Friday - as he was riding through the town, John spotted his brother’s murderer and drew his sword to kill him. The man fell to his knees and begged for mercy. At this instant John had a vision of Christ on the Cross, and powerfully moved by the example of the love of Christ who forgave His enemies, and he did the same.
After this encounter, he went straight to a monastery and begged to join. As a sign of his earnest desire, he shaved off all his hair. The abbot, who had been reluctant to admit John because he feared the displeasure of his influential father, agreed and John lived in the monastery for a few years before moving on to find a more solitary and strict life.
Discovering that many of the orders that he had looked into joining were tainted with the corruption that was rampant in the Church at the time, he decided that God was calling him to found something new.
On a plot of land east of Florence called Vallombrosa, together with men who were equally committed to a more austere and stricter following of the Rule of St. Benedict, he founded a humble monastery devoted to contemplation and prayer and care of the poor and sick.
Renowned for his humility, holiness of life, and his wisdom – he refused any office of privilege, and declined to receive holy orders of any kind – he was often consulted by popes.
John died at the age of 80, in 1073, and was canonized in 1193.
The Vallombrosan Benedictines are still existent today, mainly in the region of Tuscany and Lombardy, and number a handful of monasteries.
Parish of Castel Gandolfo joyful ahead of Pope Leo’s Mass
Posted on 07/12/2025 05:14 AM ()
Ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s visit and celebration of Mass on Sunday, the parish priest of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo shares the excitement and faith of his parishioners.
Cardinal Zuppi: Pope Leo XIV asks us to make every community a 'home of peace'
Posted on 07/12/2025 05:13 AM ()
Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, the President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, speaks to Vatican Media about Pope Leo XIV’s invitation to develop a pastoral approach to peace in all Dioceses.
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Posted on 07/12/2025 02:01 AM ()
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World Bank mobilises $80 billion to reconstruct Ukraine
Posted on 07/12/2025 00:54 AM ()
Anna Bjerde, Managing Director of Operations at the World Bank, speaks to Vatican News about the organisation’s support for war-torn Ukraine – from financing repairs to energy infrastructure to helping farmers increase their yields.
Disrupted schooling in Ukraine has led to ‘emotional instability in children’
Posted on 07/11/2025 07:32 AM ()
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‘Social Hackathon’ allows Thai youth to experience synodality
Posted on 07/11/2025 06:54 AM ()
‘Mission Possible’ is the title of the Second Edition of the Youth Social Hackathon, which offers students in Thailand the opportunity to identify issues in their communities, propose creative responses, and present their ideas to a panel of experts with the possibility of receiving funding to make their solution a reality.
West African communities facing crisis as fishing industry under strain
Posted on 07/11/2025 06:02 AM ()
In West Africa, traditional fishing communities are facing a profound crisis as industrial fishmeal production, driven by foreign fleets and global demand, destroys local stocks and livelihoods.
California Bishop dispenses migrants from Mass obligation due to raid fears
Posted on 07/11/2025 05:03 AM ()
Bishop Alberto Rojas of San Bernardino in California has issued a decree dispensing those at risk of deportation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass, after immigration officials entered two Catholic parishes and detained people in June.
Gaza: The “Humanitarian Transit Areas“ mystery
Posted on 07/11/2025 03:56 AM ()
A proposal seen by Reuters and bearing the name of a disputed U.S.-backed aid group describes a plan to build camps called “Humanitarian Transit Areas” inside - and possibly outside – Gaza.