August 21, 2023

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - Pope Francis announced during an audience with lawyers Monday that he is writing a second part to his 2015 environmental encyclical Laudato Si’. The pope said with this new writing he is updating Laudato Si’ to cover current issues. The Holy See Press Office Director, Matteo Bruni, confirmed to CNA August 21 that “the pope is working on a letter updating Laudato Si' with regard to the recent environmental crises.” He could not provide any information on when the letter will be released. Laudato Si’ is the second of three encyclicals published in Pope Francis’ pontificate thus far. It was released in June 2015. The title, which means “Praise be to you,” was taken from Saint Francis of Assisi’s medieval Italian prayer “Canticle of the Sun,” which praises God through elements of creation like Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and “our Sister Mother Earth.” The theme of the encyclical is human ecology, a phrase first used by Pope Benedict XVI. The document addresses issues such as climate change, care for the environment, and the defense of human life and dignity. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255138/pope-francis-writing-a-second-environmental-document-after-laudato-si Pope Francis called the mother of a young man, Luca Re Sartù, 24, who passed away after apparently contracting a bacterial staph infection during his trip to Portugal for World Youth Day. The infection likely turned into septicemia leading to organ failure, and the youth died on August 11. The autopsy results are pending. On Thursday, August 17, the day before the funeral, Pope Francis called Luca’s mother. According to the auxiliary bishop of Milan, Bishop Luca Raimondi, who celebrated the youth’s funeral with 13 other priests, “the pope and Luca’s mother cried together.” Bishop Américo Aguiar, auxiliary bishop of Lisbon and the direc