Prayer of his Holiness Benedict XVI To our Lady of Sheshan on the Occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China (24 May 2008) ...read more

In the previous installment of this series on obscure Marian devotions, we met Father Jakob Rem, a German Jesuit who had a hand in the devotion to Mary Untier of Knots. It turns out Fr. Rem had a deep devotion to Mary and wanted to promote devotion to Mary as a way of renewing the ...read more

On Saturday, May 18, Pope Francis celebrated the vigil of the feast of Pentecost at St. Peter’s Square with members of New Movements. Aside from leading a prayer service, the Holy Father also took part in a question and answer session with members of these movements. Below is a report from Vatican Radio about that ...read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today we contemplate and re-live in the liturgy the outpouring of the Holy Spirit sent by the risen Christ upon his Church; an event of grace which filled the Upper Room in Jerusalem and then spread throughout the world. But what happened on that day, so distant from us and yet ...read more

This weekend, 120,000 members of lay movements and ecclesial associations are gathering in Rome to celebrate Pentecost and the Year of Faith. Around 150 different groups from around the world are registered for the events. Under the slogan, “I Believe! Increase our Faith”, the pilgrimage begins at the tomb of St. Peter on Saturday morning. ...read more

Pictured above with Pope John Paul II is Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare movement (1982). Learn more about the fascinating lay woman who founded one of the Church’s great ecclessial movements. Tune in this Saturday May 18 at 8:30 pm ET / 6:30 pm PT for the premiere of Centro S.Chiara Audiovisivi’s documentary, Trail ...read more

This past week Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna participated in the Leadership Conference at Holy Trinity Brompton, an Anglican parish in the heart of downtown London. Cardinal Schoenborn’s presentation was more of a Question and Answer session with Holy Trinity pastor Nicky Gumbel. He spoke about Christian Unity, Pope Francis, the Conclave, and was also ...read more

On Thursday May 17, 2013, Pope Francis met with the ambassadors of Kyrgystan, Antigua and Barbuda, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and Botswana. Below is the full text of his address to the ambassadors, which focused on the need for ethics, especially in relation to the financial crisis. Your Excellencies, I am pleased to receive ...read more

The Early Renaissance is considered one of the most crucial and dynamic periods in Western art history. Wealthy 14th-century Florentine citizens commissioned extravagant works of art, spurring artists to explore new materials and innovate new artistic techniques. In a type of new evangelization of their era, these artists also turned to the New Testament stories ...read more

An integral part of any successful pilgrimage is that moment of self-doubt when you ask yourself, “What have I gotten myself into?” This was a question often uttered along the route of the Camino de Santiago in Spain, which I walked last fall. On the rough days, as we shuffled along the seemingly interminable path, ...read more