Rome Booked for Canonization

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Weeks before the canonizations of Blesseds John XXIII and John Paul II, Rome hotels reported they were almost fully booked, and the Vatican confirmed the Mass will take place in St. Peter’s Square, despite knowing that hundreds of thousands of people will have to watch the ceremony on large video screens.

New Pope-Saints Changed Church’s Worldview

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Blesseds John XXIII and John Paul II left lasting marks on the way the Catholic Church understands other religions and the way it interacts with believers of other faith communities.

Bishop Scharfenberger Wants to Be with People

ALBANY, N.Y. (CNS) – A bishop’s daily schedule is packed with Masses and meetings, phone calls and confirmation ceremonies, answering correspondence and dealing with crises. But Catholics in the Albany Diocese may also glimpse their new bishop dishing up dinner at a soup kitchen.

Cooperating with God

I am having an interesting experience as I am re-reading Evelyn Underhill’s wonderful little book “The Spiritual Life” (Morehouse Press, 1937, pp. 128).

Canonizing the Bookends

Pope Francis’ bold decisions to canonize Blessed John XXIII without the normal post-beatification miracle and to link Good Pope John’s canonization ceremony to that of Blessed John Paul II just may help re-orient Catholic thinking about modern Catholic history.

Two Saintly Popes

The canonizations of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II this weekend are dual reasons for celebration. Both men, of happy memory for many of our readers, were essential to the fulfillment of the mission of the Second Vatican Council.