For forty-four young people, Sunday will be one of the most (if not the most) important days of their lives.  Pope Francis will confer the Sacrament of Confirmation on each of them at a Mass in St. Peter’s Square. (The above photo from 2012 shows then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio leading a confirmation service in a poor ...read more

The papal General Audiences on Wednesdays follow pretty much the same formula. There are some variables: the special guests on the “sagrario” and the choirs who are introduced and sing for the pope. Recently the St. Michael’s Choir School from Toronto did just that. This brought a wave of questions about just how a choir ...read more

Part 2 in a series of blogs about the experience of working at the Holy See during the papal transition. We arrived in Rome on Tuesday, February 19th just one week after Pope Benedict announced his resignation.  A few days later Fr. Rosica was sitting next to Fr. Federico Lombardi at the daily press briefings, ...read more

Archbishop Francis Chullikatt (above), the Apostolic Nuncio to the United Nations, recently presented a statement in the Ad Hoc Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals in New York City.  The Working Group met specifically to exchange and discuss views on poverty eradication.  Below is the full text of Archbishop Chullikatt’s statement, in which he argues ...read more

As a 22 year old, it is always humbling to have to ask for money from those whom I know, in many cases, are struggling financially themselves. There seems to be a financial need everywhere these days – coming to us from places like our homes, workplaces and places of worship. It is sobering to ...read more

Pope Francis celebrates his name day, the Romanian Greek Orthodox Eparchy of St. George is expanded to cover all of Canada, and we take a look at what’s happening across the country. ...read more

Following is the homily prepared by Cardinal Seán O’Malley at a Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross for the victims of Monday’s bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The delivery of the homily, as seen in the video above, has several additions: Jesus said “they will strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter”; ...read more

Pope Francis chose a fitting day to preside at the first priestly ordinations of his pontificate. Tomorrow, April 21, is the 50th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, an occasion instituted by Servant of God Paul VI in the midst of the Second Vatican Council. The fourth Sunday of Easter also represents Good Shepherd Sunday, ...read more

An inter-faith service was held at Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Thursday. Below is the text of remarks by Cardinal Sean O’Malley. Religious and Political leaders took part in the service. My dear brothers, sisters and friends. On behalf of our Catholic community, I wish to welcome all of you here to the ...read more

The headlines proclaimed an epic showdown: Jesus versus the zombies. This wasn’t an imaginative retelling of a familiar story (an increasingly popular subgenre of historical fiction). Rather, this was a battle for cable TV ratings, pitting “The Bible” miniseries on the History channel against AMC’s zombie hit “The Walking Dead”. When their season finales aired ...read more