Pilgrims passing through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica during the Holy Year 2025, going to confession, receiving Communion and praying for the intentions of the pope can receive an indulgence, but so can inmates in prison and those who work to defend human life or assist migrants and refugees.
The world was left stunned when the first images of the rebuilt Notre Dame were published and spread with viral speed as President Emmanuel Macron walked through the bright, unrecognizably beautiful Parisian cathedral on Nov. 29, a week ahead of the Dec. 7-8 official reopening.
President-elect Donald Trump will attend the upcoming reopening ceremony for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, he said Dec. 2. The trip will mark his first foreign trip since his election to a second term.
With the opening of the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis’ schedule of liturgies in December and January has expanded.
The devastating images — whether viewed from the banks of the Seine River in Paris or on millions of glowing screens around the world — stunned onlookers. Many wept, clutching tissues to smoke- and sorrow-reddened eyes, others prayed aloud or in silence, some even sung hymns.
Calling recent attacks on Jewish soccer fans in Amsterdam “horrifying,” Bishop Robert Brennan condemned the violence and issued a call for prayers for peace.
The pope will canonize Blessed Carlo Acutis during the Jubilee for Adolescents in Rome April 25-27 and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati during the Jubilee of Young People in Rome July 28-Aug. 3.
The “silent acceptance” of famine in the world is a “scandalous injustice and a grave offense” that requires the unified attention of the international system, Pope Francis said.
A Christian faith that does not disturb the powers that be and cannot generate a serious commitment to charity becomes an innocuous devotion, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis said the international community should investigate whether Israel’s military actions in Gaza constitute genocide.
