[The following article was written by the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus Carl Anderson, and originally appeared in the Monday March 26th edition of Zenit.] Twenty-five years ago, Pope John Paul II inaugurated the celebration of World Youth Day — to be celebrated on Palm Sunday each year. He understood — as does ...read more

I met the Pope on Friday. The president of Guatemala was in Italy and, as per protocol, he also stopped by the Vatican to see Benedict XVI. Because I speak Spanish and Italian, I was included in the press pool that was allowed into the San Damaso Library for the visit. The pool of journalists ...read more

The last two weeks have been difficult ones for faithful Catholics as the clergy sexual abuse scandal has stained headlines and the Church worldwide. There is no denying that crimes of abuse are appalling and must be dealt with properly.  However, media outlets are now taking reports of abuse as an opportunity to abase our ...read more

Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Palm Sunday with thousands of faithful in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday.  Palm Sunday is also the weekend that World Youth Day is celebrated at the diocesan level, and this year marked the 25th anniversary of the event established by Venerable John Paul II.  The anniversary was the focus on his ...read more

As many of our parish priests can attest to Holy Week marks one of the busiest times of the year — and of course this is no different for the Bishop of Rome. Tomorrow, March 25th, marks the beginning of a number of major events that Pope Benedict is participating in, including a meeting with ...read more

At 10am this morning, Rome time, media accredited to the Holy See received a copy of the Pope’s letter to Irish Catholics. Vatican spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ held a press briefing at 11am in the Holy See Press Hall. The letter was to be released to the public at 12:00 pm (Rome time). Journalists ...read more

[Signed at the Vatican on the feast of St. Joseph, March 19th, Pope Benedict’s letter to the Catholics of Ireland was released today, Saturday March 20th in Rome.  What follows is the official text of the document.  Visit the Vatican website for more resources.] PASTORAL LETTER OF THE HOLY FATHER POPE BENEDICT XVI TO THE ...read more

The Pope has written a Pastoral Letter to all the Catholics of Ireland, expressing his dismay at the sexual abuse of young people by Church representatives and the way this was addressed by local bishops and religious superiors. He asks that the Letter be read with attention and in its entirety. The Holy Father speaks ...read more

It’s hard to believe but World Youth Day is celebrating its silver anniversary! Twenty-five years ago Venerable John Paul II launched the annual meeting for young people and Pope Benedict XVI reflected on this milestone in his annual World Youth Day message which was released on Monday. Apart from the international World Youth Day gatherings, ...read more

These days it’s easy to be discouraged reading the news about never-ending scandals popping up here and there, or about the shortcomings of various role models, or the interviews of well-known people criticizing one another, and so on. I’m sure that we all can think of examples and that we all recognize an overwhelming flow ...read more