In recent years, the tug-of-war between the archdiocese of New York and the diocese of Peoria over the body of Fulton Sheen provided American Catholics a glimpse into the extreme lengths church leaders would go in order to influence the process of canonization.
The saints were flesh-and-blood people whose lives included real struggles and joys, and whose holiness reminds all the baptized that they, too, are called to be saints, Pope Francis said.
The Vatican hung banners of the Catholic Church’s newly canonized saints four days before the Mass that officially recognized they are in heaven with God.
A new film on the life of St. Faustina Kowalska, the Polish nun whose visions of Jesus led to the Divine Mercy devotion, will have a one-night-only showing Oct. 28 at about 700 screens across the United States.
Argentina’s labor union has launched a campaign to see Evita Peron, the actress who became a popular first lady in the 1940s and ‘50s and who was once declared by the country’s congress as “Spiritual Leader of the Nation,” formally declared a saint by the Catholic Church.
In a new book, award-winning journalist Colleen Carol Campell writes that for years she was burdened by her self-imposed expectations and quest for perfection, and was only able to be rescued through the help of the saints.
A recent article in the Italian newspaper La Stampa states that Blessed Pope Paul VI sent the Synodal Fathers an invitation to let the pope know what they thought about birth regulation. Most bishops did not respond, and only seven were opposed to the use of artificial contraception.
My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,
This past week we celebrated three important days in our Church year. The Vigil of All Saints, commonly known as Halloween, which has become a secularized observance that soon may outspend the expenditures of Christmas itself. Halloween has become an opportunity for spending money on costumes, candies, pumpkins, and decorations which underneath it all is a search for spiritual meaning as I have interpreted this observance.
Recognizing St. Mary Magdalene’s role as the first to witness Christ’s resurrection and as a “true and authentic evangelizer,” Pope Francis raised the July 22 memorial of St. Mary Magdalene to a feast on the Church’s liturgical calendar, the Vatican announced.
ROME – Amidst all the Sturm und Drang of Synod 2015, something genuinely new in the life of the Church began, and it shouldn’t escape our notice.
