Pope Francis has been on retreat this week, along with the members of the Roman Curia. Continuing a practice the pope started during his first year on the chair of St. Peter, he and his collaborators are spending the week at a retreat house in the Roman hillside town of Arriccia. Carmelite Father Bruno Secondin ...read more

Here are some of the stories getting attention across the country this week: In preparation for October’s Synod on the Family, the Vatican has asked bishops to consult as many lay people, priests and religious as possible on topics related to the family. Canadian dioceses are going forward whole heartedly to reach as many Canadian ...read more

Pope Francis told Ukrainian bishops to avoid politicizing their role in the face of the ongoing conflict in the country. He made the comment in a text handed out to the bishops during their Ad Limina visit this week. Ukranian Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk told reporters earlier in the week his goal, and the goal ...read more

by Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The day Pope Francis announced he would be making Italian Archbishop Luigi De Magistris a cardinal, the archbishop was doing what he usually did in retirement on Sundays: He was administering the sacrament of confession in the cathedral of Cagliari, his hometown. The cardinal-designate, who ...read more

Here’s what’s been making headlines in the Church across Canada: More reaction to the Supreme Court ruling on assisted suicide. Archbishop Michael Miller sent this letter to Vancouver’s Catholics Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto and representatives of various groups focused on life issues also issued statements in the days after the ruling. Similarly, Bishop Donald ...read more

This week was bursting at the seams with things happening inside Vatican walls. Several key meetings were lined up back to back. The Council of Cardinals, known colloquially as “the C9”, met again this week to continue their work towards a reformed curia. This time they had a more immediate task: presenting the fruit of ...read more

By Lise Alves Catholic News Service SAO PAULO, Brazil (CNS) — Cardinal-designate Julio Duarte Langa, retired bishop of Xai-Xai, Mozambique, is best known for staying close to his congregation and always looking out for the poorest in his community. “He is a true pastor,” said Auxiliary Bishop Joao Hatoa Nunes of Maputo, Mozambique. “While others ...read more

By David Agren Catholic News Service MEXICO CITY (CNS) — Cardinal-designate Luis Hector Villalba of Tucuman, Argentina, was watching the Angelus prayer from the Vatican on television Jan. 4 when he heard Pope Francis — an old colleague and countryman — read his name as one of 20 new cardinals. He then went to the ...read more

By David Agren Catholic News Service. MEXICO CITY (CNS) — Cardinal-designate Daniel Sturla Berhouet of Montevideo, Uruguay, was ministering in a working-class barrio when he learned of his elevation to cardinal — circumstances not lost on Uruguayan church officials. The Jan. 4 announcement that the archbishop was one of 20 men who would be elevated ...read more

By Catholic News Service BANGKOK (CNS) — When Cardinal-designate Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij of Bangkok learned he would be elevated to cardinal, there was no formal announcement, no courier from Rome to tell him the news. Instead, a friend called to say he read a report on the Internet, reported the Asian Catholic news portal ...read more