April 26, 2015 – Fourth Sunday of Easter   Theme: Exodus, a fundamental experience of vocation Dear Brothers and Sisters, The Fourth Sunday of Easter offers us the figure of the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep: he calls them, he feeds them and he guides them. For over fifty years the universal Church has ...read more

On Sunday, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the faithful of the Armenian rite. The Armenians were on hand to see the Holy Father name one of their own, Saint Gregory of Narek, a Doctor of the Church. While not trying to draw significance away from that, or from the Mass that ...read more

Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday morning – the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, sometimes called Quasimodo Sunday after the first word of the entrance antiphon, which sings of how we are to desire, like newborn babes, the pure spiritual milk that shall nourish us on our way to ...read more

On Divine Mercy Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter, Pope Francis celebrated Solemn Mass for the Centenary of the Armenian Martyrdom. Read the full text of his opening address below, along with the message of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians: “On a number of occasions I have spoken of ...read more

1. Gesù Cristo è il volto della misericordia del Padre. Il mistero della fede cristiana sembra trovare in questa parola la sua sintesi. Essa è divenuta viva, visibile e ha raggiunto il suo culmine in Gesù di Nazareth. Il Padre, «ricco di misericordia» (Ef 2,4), dopo aver rivelato il suo nome a Mosè come «Dio ...read more

Francis Bishop of Rome Servant of the Servants of God to all who read this letter Grace, Mercy and Peace, 1. Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy. These words might well sum up the mystery of the Christian faith. Mercy has become living and visible in Jesus of Nazareth, reaching its culmination ...read more

Alicia von Stamwitz is an award-winning freelance author and longtime editor with the religious press. Her essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, The Sun, America, The United Church Observer and St. Anthony Messenger. Her exclusive interviews and profiles of today’s most influential spiritual leaders are published internationally. She lives in ...read more

Pope Francis did not give a homily at the Easter Sunday Eucharistic celebration this morning in St. Peter’s Square due to the long “Urbi et Orbi” address that followed the mass.  The English language version of his address – to the city and the world – is found below. Dear Brothers and Sisters, Jesus Christ ...read more

Here is the official Vatican translation of Pope Francis’ Homily at the Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica on Holy Saturday evening. Tonight is a night of vigil.  The Lord is not sleeping; the Watchman is watching over his people (cf. Ps 121:4), to bring them out of slavery and to open before them the ...read more

Testo della Meditazione del Santo Padre alla conclusione della Via Crucis al Colosseo – Venerdi Santo Originale in italiano (Trascrizione dall’audio) O Cristo crocifisso e vittorioso. La Tua Via Crucis è la sintesi della Tua vita, l’icona della Tua ubbidienza alla volontà del Padre, è la realizzazione del Tuo infinito amore per noi peccatori. E’ la ...read more