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

Pope Francis has issued his first Apostolic Exhortation on Tuesday, Evangelii Gaudium, translated into English as The Joy of the Gospel. The 224-page document outlines the Pope’s vision for a missionary Church, whose “doors should always be open”. The Pope speaks on numerous themes, including evangelization, peace, homiletics, social justice, the family, respect for creation, ...read more

Today’s solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, the crowning of the liturgical year, also marks the conclusion of the Year of Faith opened by Pope Benedict XVI, to whom our thoughts now turn with affection and gratitude. By this providential initiative, he gave us an opportunity to rediscover the beauty of ...read more