Chilling rain and the “City of Lights” completely locked down due to high profile guests did not stop the crowds from arriving as close to Notre Dame Cathedral as possible for its inaugural Mass celebrated Dec. 8. The beloved Paris icon also opened its doors to the public for the first time after the devastating fire in 2019, with the second Mass that Sunday for Parisians and tourists.
By Caroline de Sury PARIS (OSV) — The solemn reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral put Paris in the center of the Catholic world on the evening of Dec. 7 as the archbishop of France’s capital struck the magnificent door with his pastoral staff, marking the moment of the iconic Catholic church’s rebirth. The Gothic masterpiece […]
After hosting the summer Olympics earlier this year, France this weekend will mark one of the most significant events of the century with the reopening of its famed Cathedral of Notre Dame, five years after vast portions were destroyed in a fire.
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.
Since Pope Francis was elected in March 2013, his pontificate has emphasized a particular concern of the Church — the pastoral care of migrants, displaced people, and refugees. Migration is a complex and challenging mission. Many dioceses have taken steps to help migrants and the displaced people in their region. The Diocese of Brooklyn has an office to help migrants, those seeking asylum, refugees, and displaced people.
The Archdiocese of New York has announced staff cuts and a major revamp of its pastoral offices as it sheds its longtime Manhattan headquarters building and wrestles in court with its insurer to cover abuse claim payouts.
The Venerable Andrei Sheptytsky, who died eighty years ago on November 1, 1944, was one of 20th century Catholicism’s outstanding figures, whose remarkable life and heroic ministry as leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church spanned 43 years, two world wars, five pontificates, Stalin’s terror-famine (the “Holodomor,” in which at least six million Ukrainians were deliberately starved to death), and a half-dozen changes of government in the territories in which he served.
Celebrating a Stroke of Faith in Brooklyn, Defeating Communism, The Positive Role of Catholic Education
George Washington, an American Revolution military hero and the nation’s first president, seldom mentioned the Lord Jesus Christ in speeches, conversations, or writings. Yet Washington, “The Father of His Country,” often talked and wrote about “providence” — that guiding and protective care of a creator God.
As a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame of the United States, Sister Colette Theobald said she spent some of the best years of her life serving with her congregation in Uganda from 2015 to 2022.
