(CNS) – Pope Francis will host a meeting of cardinals Sept. 30 to formally approve the canonization of Blesseds John Paul II and John XXIII; the date for the canonization will be announced at that time, said Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes. The cardinal told Vatican Radio Aug. 20 that […]
by Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) – With admiration and big smiles all around, the lifelong soccer fan Pope Francis met the star players and coaches of the Argentine and Italian national soccer teams hoping to compete for the World Cup in 2014. The teams were led to the Clementine Hall in the Apostolic Palace Aug. […]
by Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis’ order restricting the use of the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass in communities of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate addresses problems within the religious order and does not contradict retired Pope Benedict XVI’s permission for wider use of the old Mass throughout the Church, the Vatican […]
by Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – One could say it all started with St. Peter’s fishing boat. One day, that humble vessel turned into a powerful pontifical fleet, particularly during the life of the Papal States. While St. Peter’s boat was clearly used for fishing and helping Jesus preach to the crowds on shore, […]
by Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – After more than a week with no word from Jesuit Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, an Italian priest who worked for decades in Syria, Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said, “it seems he has been kidnapped by an Islamist group” that is a “local version of al-Qaida,” the terrorist group. […]
RIO DE JANEIRO (CNS) – Reducing the faith to a worldly ideology, prizing administrative efficiency over missionary zeal and exalting the role of clergy to the detriment of the laity are some of the major “temptations” undermining evangelization in Latin America, Pope Francis told Church leaders from the region. “The decision for missionary discipleship will […]
by Cindy Wooden ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM BRAZIL (CNS) – Pope Francis said he was responding to the clear wishes of the College of Cardinals when he set up commissions to study the Vatican bank, Vatican financial and administrative procedures and the reform of the Roman Curia. The pope also said he knows people […]
by Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The war in Syria is like a factory churning out nothing but death, destruction and suffering, said Archbishop Mario Zenari, Vatican nuncio to Syria. Even though the Vatican was unable to confirm July 30 news reports that a Jesuit priest had been kidnapped in Syria, the nuncio said […]
by Antonina Zielinska RIO DE JANEIRO – Following Pope Francis’ footsteps, Father Ray Roden, spiritual director at the Cathedral House of Formation, Douglaston, took two local seminarians to the Varginha “favela,” or slum neighborhood. “It wasn’t cardboard houses or anything, but the standard of living was low,” said seminarian Mike Plona. “They were so cramped.” […]
Lumen Fidei 1. The light of Faith: this is how the Church’s tradition speaks of the great gift brought by Jesus. In John’s Gospel, Christ says of himself: “I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (Jn 12:46). St. Paul uses the same image: “God […]
