Homily of His Holiness Pope FrancisChristmas Midnight Mass25 December 2013 1. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Is 9:1).This prophecy of Isaiah never ceases to touch us, especially when we hear it proclaimed in the liturgy of Christmas Night. This is not simply an emotional or sentimental matter. It moves ...read more

Pope Francis is gearing up for his first Christmas. Pope Francis paid an early Christmas visit to his predecessor, Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI, on Monday afternoon in the monastery Mater Ecclesia in the Vatican gardens. The two warmly greeted each other and prayed briefly in Benedict’s chapel. They had a private conversation and exchanged Christmas wishes. Pope ...read more

Pope Francis issued his Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia on Saturday. In his message, the Pope expressed the three hallmarks of a Curial official: professionalism, service and holiness of life. He urged the Curia to be “conscientious objectors to gossip” and expressed his gratitude for the dedicated service of the retiring members of the ...read more

  Watch Vatican Connections LIVE on Salt and Light at 8:00pm ET/5:00pm PT If  the year-in-review articles, videos and talk show segments are anything to go by, 2013 will be remembered not as the year Pope Benedict XVI resigned from the papacy, but the year Pope Francis was elected as his successor. From the moment ...read more

The following letter from the Superior General of the Society of Jesus was posted on the order’s website.in reaction to the canonization of Peter Faber. On Tuesday December 17 Pope Francis enrolled Peter Faber, SJ in the catalog of saints, performing what is known as an Equivalent Canonization.  Peter Faber was one of the companions ...read more

Today is Pope Francis’ 77th Birthday. He has already had several Birthday celebrations over the past few days. The children from the St. Martha Pediatric Dispensary presented him with a birthday cake on Saturday (complete with lit candles). Sunday, before the Angelus, the faithful gathered at St. Peter’s sang Happy Birthday to the pope. This ...read more

This week we look at why TIME named Pope Francis “Person of the Year”, we get the details on the story of one Franciscan community currently undergoing an Apostolic Visitation, and we speak to a representative from Development and Peace, the Canadian member of Caritas Internationalis about the Pope-promoted campaign to end hunger: “One Human ...read more

At the end of his weekly General Audience on December 11, Pope Francis had this message for the faithful of the American continent. Tomorrow is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Patroness of the Americas. I would like to greet all my brothers and sisters on that continent, and I do so thinking ...read more

Pope Francis decided to create a Vatican commission for the protection of minors, a cardinal involved in Curial reform announced this week. Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston told reporters on Thursday that the eight member Council of Cardinals which advises the pope on curial reform, had proposed the creation of a commission for the protection ...read more

Pope Francis knows what challenges are facing the church and he has a few ideas on how to overcome those challenges while admiting he doesn’t have all the answers. The pope made the statements in his Apostolic Exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium” released November 26. During the first months of his pontificate Pope Francis has addressed all ...read more