Pope Leo XIV sprinkles ashes on the head of a woman as he celebrates Ash Wednesday Mass at Santa Sabina Basilica in
Rome February 18, 2026. Photo: OSV News/Remo Casilli, Reuters In Week 1 of his Lumen Gentium catechesis, Pope Leo XIV explains that the Church is both a sign and an instrument of God’s plan of salvation. Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome! When the Second Vatican Council, to whose documents we are dedicating the catecheses, wanted to describe the Church, it…
