A Holy Year, or jubilee, is a “great religious event” in the Catholic tradition, according to the Vatican. The Holy See describes it as one of “forgiveness of sins and also punishment due to sin … reconciliation between adversaries, of conversion and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and consequently of solidarity, hope, justice, commitment to serve God with joy and in peace with our brothers and sisters.”
Mayor Eric Adams will be traveling to the Vatican later this week, where he will meet with Pope Francis, City Hall officials confirmed on Monday, May 6.
Just as Jesus removed the stone that sealed his tomb on the morning of the Resurrection, on Easter Christ alone “has the power to roll away the stones that block the path to life” and which trap humanity in war and injustice, Pope Francis said.
As an expression of ongoing affection and gratitude for the late Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis led tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square in a round of applause for his predecessor on the first anniversary of his death.
In the hours that followed release of a Vatican note outlining the pastoral grounds for same-sex blessings, reactions among American Catholics seemed to run the gamut from styling it as a major step forward to insisting on hitting the brakes, on the grounds that not much has really changed.
Pope Francis Monday, Nov. 6, opted not to give a planned speech to a delegation of European rabbis, saying he was unwell, but maintained the rest of the day’s various audiences and gave all of his other prepared speeches, including some off-the-cuff remarks.
On the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi setting up the first Nativity scene, the creche in St. Peter’s Square in 2023 will come from the Diocese of Rieti, Italy, and pay tribute to the scene set up in the diocese in 1223.
Archbishop Zbigņev Stankevičs of Riga, Latvia, a participant in this month’s Synod of Bishops on Synodality, has said homosexuals are called to live in chastity in accord with Church teaching, but credited Pope Francis for what he called his own “personal conversion” on the issue, becoming less judgmental.
As Americans know well, the Super Bowl is no longer just a football game. It’s an entire fortnight of pre-game festivities, collectively creating one of the most frenzied periods on the country’s annual calendar.
It will always be a point of pride for Peter Paolo that he interned at the United Nations headquarters this past summer. At age 22, he was able to overcome the initial awe he felt when he first walked into the hallowed halls of the famed intergovernmental peacekeeping organization and focus on holding down a job there.
