By the express wish of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments published a new Decree on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 3 June 2016, in which the celebration of Saint Mary Magdalene was elevated and inscribed in the General Roman Calendar with the rank ...read more

The significance of today’s announcement from the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments decrees that the liturgical memory of Mary Magdalene becomes a feast, like that of the other apostles. In the Mass and in the Divine Office to be celebrated on July 22, Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, the ...read more

At 10:30 am on the 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Pope Francis celebrated mass in St. Peter’s Square and presided over the rite of canonization of Blesseds Maria Elisabetta Hesselblad (1870-1957) and Stanislaus Papczyński (1631-1701). Below you will find the homily given by Pope Francis following the Gospel of the day. Also included are two brief ...read more

A couple of months before arriving in Jerusalem, I was driving my six-year-old daughter to school and she asked me about Jesus’ footprints. Not the real one located inside the Chapel of the Ascension, rather, she wanted to talk about the ones from famous poem called Footprints. She had seen the poster of it hung ...read more

A timeless memorial to the millions… During our Pilgrimage to the Holy Lands, we made a visit to a place the name of which I never knew, but which now I will never forget. It was a place of silence, a time to listen to the silenced, to the echoing cries of suffering, and to ...read more

We know very little about the woman who is described as the apostle of the apostles, so this village helps fill in some background. ...read more

I have many memories of April 2, 2005, when St. John Paul II died after a lengthy illness and much suffering. I remember the succession of news reports the evening before his death,  people praying in St. Peter’s Square and the shared sense of concern and sadness that most people felt; this was not limited just ...read more

Our recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land offered the chance to visit the ancient sites where key events in our faith story took place, and meet people living there today who are making sure those sites do not become museums. Visiting Qubeibeh, the West Bank, we met the Salvatorian sister who helped found the Qubeibeh ...read more

A reflection for the second Sunday in Easter, year C: Acts 5:12-16: Revelation 1:9-11, 12-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31 Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe… I don’t know about you, but when I imagine this scene, I don’t think Jesus is giving Thomas a hard time. I think he’s ...read more

A video tribute to a great saint who walked among us on the 11th Anniversary of his death. ...read more