Last Sunday, Pope Francis visited the parish of Santa Maria Josefa del Cuore di Gesù in Ponte di Nona, in the eastern outskirts of Rome, an area of ??town that suffers problems such as poverty and unemployment. It was his thirteenth visit to a parish in his diocese. John Paul II had also visited that ...read more

Last Saturday the Pope appointed Henryk Hoser, Archbishop of Warsaw, as the special envoy to Medjugorje. In the official statement by the Holy See, it reads that: The mission has the aim of acquiring a deeper knowledge of the pastoral situation there, and above all, of the needs of the faithful who go there on pilgrimage, ...read more

It’s February 14. Love is in the air as a all sorts of people rush to overwhelm the Hallmark store, the florist and the fancy restaurants. Everyone, it seems, is out in full pursuit of love and affection. Valentines Day has become a major secular annual holiday, so much so that many Catholics forget that there is a “saint” missing ...read more

Dozens of poster posted by anonymous protestors opposing the Pope were plastered along streets in the center of Rome last Saturday morning. The posters depict a very stern looking Pope Francis and a clear message – criticizing some of his policies, and referring to specific events, such as the most recent events concerning the Order ...read more

On the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, the Church also marked the World Day of Consecrated Life with Mass in Saint Peter’s basilica. In his homily, Pope Francis encouraged those present to rekindle “what originally set their hearts afire” to answer God’s call, which he came back to when meeting with a ...read more

The Spanish daily newspaper El País published last Sunday a long interview with Pope Francis, who spoke to the journalist Pablo Ordaz on January 20th. For more than one hour, inside a normal room in Casa Santa Marta, the pontiff explained that “in the Church there are saints and sinners, decent men and corrupt men” ...read more

This week on Vatican Connections, the Church marks the Week of prayer for Christian Unity. In Rome, the Holy Father kicks it off with an ecumenical delegation from Finland and Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, shares with Vatican Radio what ecumenism looked like last year. The ...read more

The Vatican released a statement Tuesday morning, regarding the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, saying the Holy See “wishes to reiterate its support and encouragement for the commendable work that members and volunteers carry out in various parts of the world, in fulfilment of the aims of the Order.” The statement came during a recent ...read more

A Pastoral Reflection on Amoris Laetitia By His Eminence Donald Cardinal Wuerl Archbishop of Washington The Salt and Light Catholic Television Network and related media platforms have played a key role in transmitting the message of the Synods of Bishops of 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2015 and the subsequent Apostolic Exhortations – Verbum Domini, Evangelii ...read more

This week Vatican Connections takes a look at Vatican diplomacy once again after Pope Francis delivered a traditional New Year’s address to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See. The Church gears up for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. The Papal charities open their doors to the homeless as temperatures dropped in Rome and ...read more