Earlier today, Pope Francis took possession of his Cathedral, the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran. In fact, the Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. The local Church or diocese established in Rome was founded by the two Apostles Peter and Paul and sanctified by the lives of many ...read more

On April 7, 2013, celebrated by the Church as Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis recited the traditional Regina Caeli devotion from his window overlooking St. Peter’s Square. During his address before the Marian prayers, he spoke about the “beatitude of faith” of those who have not seen the Risen Jesus as the apostles did, and ...read more

Vaticanists have been waiting with baited breath to see who will be Pope Francis’ personal secretary and who is named Secretary of State. The first appointment he made as pope, however, was the new Archbishop of Buenos Aires. The move shows two things: first, that the Holy Father still has his head and his heart ...read more

In another departure from recent papal tradition, Pope Francis held a general audience this week. His predecessor used to take the week after Easter off to rest. Showing that he is full of energy, the Holy Father gave the following catechesis during the audience, focusing on the role of the women who first saw the ...read more

In 2008 Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was invited to be one of the catechists at the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City. Below is the full text of the talk he gave during his catechesis session. The Lord proclaims: I am the Eucharist, gift of God for the live of the world. This theme of ...read more

The shared experience of this historic papal transition has made the new Pope headline news. The media, along with the international community, has been sharing this buzz for weeks. Francis is now a public figure and a celebrity. He’s smart, humble, social, and poor in spirit. What a fresh face for Catholics worldwide! Amidst the ...read more

Pope Francis delivered his Urbi et Orbi message — to the city (of Rome) and to the world — today at noon, Rome time.  The traditional message and blessing is given at Christmas and Easter.  The underlying theme of his address was peace throughout the world. The Holy Father called on the faithful to ask ...read more

Preaching at the first Easter Vigil of his pontificate, Pope Francis urged us not to be closed to the newness that God wants to bring into our lives. The Holy Father said that nothing remains as it was before, not only in the lives of the women at the tomb, but also in our own ...read more

From the Office of Readings for Holy Saturday; From an ancient homily for Holy Saturday Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in ...read more

After presiding over the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis now heads to Rome’s Colosseum to pray the traditional Way of the Cross. This year, the meditations for the Stations of the Cross were prepared by Lebanese young people, at the request of Benedict XVI. Before his resignation, the Pope ...read more