As flames engulfed Notre Dame Cathedral one year ago, two critical moments standout among many of the first responders in Paris: The moment the Crown of Thorns was retrieved from a glass safe in the reliquary and the decision to send 50 firefighters into the north tower to directly fight the blaze.
Dating back to March 8, when the bishops’ conference announced the suspension of all public Masses in keeping with government measures to combat the coronavirus, Italy’s ecclesiastical lockdown is the longest-running in the world, and to date support at the leadership level has been remarkably compact.
Pope Francis Easter Sunday prayed for those suffering due to either global conflict or the coronavirus, saying Christ’s resurrection brings both light and hope to the darkness of an oppressed and suffering world.
Pope Francis celebrates the Easter Vigil in a dark and nearly empty St. Peter’s Basilica.
The COVID-19 quarantines, lockdowns and stay-at-home orders are the perfect opportunity for conversion: for individuals, for the church and for governments, Pope Francis said in an interview.
On Easter Sunday, there will be music for hope as one of the world’s most talented artists, Andrea Bocelli, performs from inside the Duomo, Milan’s most famous cathedral.
Obviously, the primary beneficiary of Tuesday’s decision by Australia’s High Court to overturn the sexual abuse conviction of Cardinal George Pell is Pell himself. The 78-year-old prelate was definitively acquitted and is now a free man after more than 400 days in prison, mostly in solitary confinement.
Australia’s highest court unanimously acquitted Cardinal George Pell of child abuse on Wednesday, marking a stunning turn of events for the 78-year-old prelate who had previously been the most senior Catholic official to be found guilty of sexual abuse.
With a small procession down the vast and empty central nave of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis began the first of a series of Holy Week liturgies celebrated without the presence of the faithful from the general public.
Saints can get a bad rap because sometimes people assume they lived in deep piety removed from the burdens of everyday life. But a quick look at the saints known for their ministry to the poor and outcast, the sick and dying, particularly during times of plagues, casts these men and women in a different light.
