Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 21 October 2026

Today's Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 21 October, contains three communications: the audience with participants in the conference "Holiness in History", organised by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints (N. 0823, Bulletin); the General Audience in St Peter's Square (N. 0824, Bulletin); the audiences and the appointment of the Bishop of Guajará-Mirim, Brazil (N. 0825, Bulletin). The address was published in Italian; the quotations below are our translation.

Audience with the conference "Holiness in History". This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, Pope Leo XIV received the participants in the conference on its closing day. The Bulletin publishes his address, in Italian. The Pope pointed to three aspects of the relationship between holiness and history.

The first concerns historical work in causes. The Pope recalled that it was Pope Pius XI who established the Historical Section in what was then the Sacred Congregation of Rites, and said that "recent causes" too cannot do without «una verifica seria e rigorosa di tutto il materiale raccolto» ("a serious and rigorous review of all the material gathered", our translation).

The second is how the concept of holiness develops across eras. The profile of saints may evolve «non per seguire gli stereotipi del momento, ma per leggere l'esperienza contingente attraverso le categorie del Vangelo vissuto» ("not to follow the stereotypes of the moment, but to read contingent experience through the categories of the lived Gospel", our translation). But, he added, «l'atto solenne della canonizzazione trascende la contingenza storica» ("the solemn act of canonisation transcends historical contingency", our translation).

The third is the way saints have transformed history: «La storia del mondo senza i santi e le sante sarebbe immensamente più povera, cioè meno umana» ("The history of the world without saints would be immensely poorer, that is, less human", our translation).

According to ANSA, it is the Pope's first meeting in the Apostolic Palace since his hospitalisation.

The General Audience. At 10 a.m. in St Peter's Square, Pope Leo XIV held the General Audience, resuming his catechesis series on the Documents of the Second Vatican Council with the theme "Constitution Gaudium et spes. Commitment to the family in today's society" (reading: Eph 5:31-33). After summaries in various languages and greetings to the faithful, the Audience concluded with the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.

Appointment. Pope Leo XIV has appointed Leandro Machado Silvestre, a priest of the Diocese of Mogi das Cruzes, until now a fidei donum priest in the Archdiocese of Porto Velho, vicar general and parish priest, as Bishop of Guajará-Mirim (Brazil). He was born on 7 April 1978 in Itaquaquecetuba, in the State of São Paulo, and was ordained a priest on 28 March 2004.

Our flash reports on the catechesis and the appointment:

vaticanreport.com/flash/2ac0915c-c189-445c-9661-b3aac3db1aec?lang=en

vaticanreport.com/flash/e2c0d90b-a4c1-4ba6-a1ee-0654ddca2065?lang=en

Our flash report on the audience:

vaticanreport.com/flash/28e44c4f-6b0e-40b0-8423-33b4bb455b7a?lang=en

Sources: Holy See Press Office, Bulletin of 21 October; ANSA

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