Before a crowd of over 150,000 people in St. Peter’s Square this morning, April 20, 2014, Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of Easter Sunday. He did not deliver a homily during mass but gave the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) Message and Blessing to the crowd at the conclusion of ...read more

With rosary in hand, Pope John Paul II scans the crowd as his helicopter circles Colorado’s Cherry Creek State Park before the closing Mass for World Youth Day Aug. 15, 1993. “Place your intelligence, your talents, your enthusiasm, your compassion and your fortitude at the service of life,” the pope told the hundreds of thousands ...read more

People light candles in Warsaw, Poland, to pay tribute to Pope John Paul II on the second anniversary of his death April 2, 2007. (CNS photo/Katarina Stoltz, Reuters)    ...read more

“JUDAS WAS STANDING WITH THEM” (JN 18:5) Following the tradition, the homily for this afternoon’s Good Friday Service for the Passion of the Lord is preached by Capuchin Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa. In the divine-human history of the passion of Jesus, there are many minor stories about men and women who entered into the ray of ...read more

Pope John Paul II looks at the faithful gathered at the Colosseum during the traditional Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) Good Friday service in Rome, 2003. (CNS photo/Max Rossi, Reuters)  ...read more

Pope John Paul II prays the rosary in this L’Osservatore Romano photo dated May 4, 1991. This image, captured by a Vatican photographer, is the second most requested photo from the L’Osservatore Romano archives. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano) ...read more

Pope John Paul II places a prayer in a crevice of the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, March 26, 2000. Speaking to ecumenical leaders on the historic trip that included visits to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories, the pontiff prayed that the Holy Land would be a homeland to all faiths and peoples. (CNS ...read more

Pope John Paul II waves to the throngs of people gathered for Mass in Poznan during his 1983 visit to Poland. Visiting seven cities, the pontiff defended Poland’s right to sovereignty and demanded political reforms. He offered support to Polish bishops who were defending human rights under martial law and urged fellow Poles to find ...read more

Archbishop Karol Wojtyla receives the cardinal’s red biretta from Pope Paul VI at the beginning of the consistory in the Sistine Chapel June 26, 1967. The future Pope John Paul II had a warm relationship with Pope Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini), who served as a priest in Warsaw in 1923. (CNS file photo)  ...read more

Pope John Paul II holds his crosier as he prays during Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in this undated photo. (CNS photo/Catholic Press Photo) ...read more