Written by Kiara Smyth and St. Dominic Savio World Youth Day Group Excited.  Nervous.  Hopeful.  Energized.  Overwhelmed. These are some of the words my group and I used to explain how we are feeling as we sit on our first airplane heading to World Youth Day in Krakow.  Two of us have been to WYD ...read more

This blog post is part of a 6-part series on World Youth Day. Read them all: Deacon-structing WYD: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 Last time we saw how WYD is an opportunity to “proclaim it from the rooftops.” Today, we have some models that we can follow when ...read more

Story and Photos by James Ramos I really couldn’t feel my legs anymore. My knees lean against the concrete bench that won’t move in front of my group, almost like a church pew kneeler. The crowd behind me presses against my back and 10 a.m., the supposed time of Pope Francis’ arrival to Philadelphia’s Cathedral ...read more

This blog post is part of a 6-part series on World Youth Day. Read them all: Deacon-structing WYD: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 Last week we looked at the importance of pilgrimage of Catechesis and Mary during World Youth Days. In 1993 WYD came to North America: Denver, ...read more

The following is the transcript of the video message that Pope Francis has sent on the occasion of the campaign for peace in Syria promoted by Caritas Internationalis on the theme: “Syria, peace is possible”: Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today I want to speak to you about something that saddens my heart a lot: the ...read more

Join us in prayer for the intentions entrusted to us by Pope Francis. For February 2016, we join the Holy Father in praying for: Indigenous Peoples.   That indigenous peoples, whose identity and very existence are threatened, will be shown due respect. Latin America and the Caribbean.  That the Church in Latin America and the Caribbean, by means ...read more

This blog post is part of a 6-part series on World Youth Day. Read them all: Deacon-structing WYD: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 Last week we learned that World Youth Days are a meeting of the hierarchical Church with the Lay Church and it happens under the Cross. ...read more

By now you may have heard of Bill C-14. It is the bill that regulates medically assisted dying in Canada. This bill will affect all of us, but in a special way, it will affect our medical practitioners, many who argue the restrictions are not adequate. The issue is complicated further by the fact that ...read more

During mass for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, at 9.30 am in the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father Pope Francis blesses the Pallia, (plural of pallium) taken from the Confession of the Apostle Peter for new the Metropolitan Archbishops appointed during the past year. The Pallium will then be imposed on each Metropolitan ...read more

At 4:05 pm in the Aposotolic Palace of Etchmiadzin, the Holy Father Pope Francis and the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All the Armenians, His Holiness Karekin II, signed a joint declaration. Below, find the full text of the common declaration: Common Declaration of His Holiness Francis and His Holiness Karekin II at Holy Etchmiadzin, ...read more