Pope Paul VI is carried on the “sedia gestatoria,” a ceremonial throne, during a meeting of the Second Vatican Council in 1964. Pope Francis will beatify Pope Paul Oct. 19 during the closing Mass of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family. The miracle needed for Pope Paul’s beatification involved the birth of a ...read more

Pope Paul VI  makes a special appeal for world peace in 1965 at the United Nations headquarters in New York. “No more war, war never again,” he declared to the General Assembly. (CNS photo/Yutaka Nagata, U.N.) If you’re interested to find out more about the Holy See’s role at the United Nations check out watch ...read more

Pope Paul VI, right, greets Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople during the pontiff’s 1964 trip to the Holy Land. Pope Paul inaugurated many of the bilateral and multilateral ecumenical dialogues that continue today. (CNS file photo) Want to learn more about the Church’s work to promote Christian Unity? Check out episode 8 of The ...read more

President John F. Kennedy shakes hands with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican July 2, 1963. The White House called Kennedy’s meeting with Paul VI an “unofficial” visit, although the pope spoke to the president about race relations, space exploration, world peace and U.S. aid to developing nations. (CNS file photo) Curious about the role ...read more

Pope Paul VI is seen in an undated official portrait. Pope Francis will beatify Pope Paul Oct. 19 during the closing Mass of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family. The miracle needed for Pope Paul’s beatification involved the birth of a healthy baby to a mother in California after doctors had said both ...read more

These days it’s easy to be discouraged reading the news about never-ending scandals popping up here and there, or about the shortcomings of various role models, or the interviews of well-known people criticizing one another, and so on. I’m sure that we all can think of examples and that we all recognize an overwhelming flow ...read more

Salt and Light Producers Cheridan Sanders and Sebastian Gomes review the script of an episode of The Church Alive, a series dedicated to Vatican II and the New Evangelization.  The 13-part series, was filmed at the CBC studios in downtown Toronto. Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI was the last Bishop of Rome to participate in the ...read more

Today we celebrate the feast of the Archangels — St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael. Take some time today to look up  Scripture references to the different Archangels and meditate on the work of these heavenly messengers. For St. Michael flip to Revelations 12 (there’s also references in Daniel 10 and 12), St. Gabriel of ...read more

Here’s one from the Salt and Light archives for you! Today’s photo comes from the United Nation’s General Assembly hall. Sebastian Gomes interviews Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, the former Apostolic Nuncio to the United Nations in New York City. The interview was featured in Episode 6: Politics of The Church Alive, a show dedicated to the New ...read more

In 1997 Pope John Paul II established The World Day for Consecrated Life. It’s a wonderful opportunity to give thanks for the invaluable witness that consecrated religious give to the world. We’re all greatly indebted to those men and women who have proclaimed the gospel in a variety of contexts around the globe, throughout the ...read more