At the end of today’s event on Marian Day – Year of Faith, October 12, 2013, the Pope addressed Marian shrines around the world with a video message: Dear Brothers and Sisters, I greet all the pilgrims present in this Shrine of Divine Love, and all those who join us from the Marian shrines of ...read more

Pope Francis led a Marian prayer vigil on Saturday, Saturday October 12, 2013 in St. Peter’s Square. During the vigil, Pope Francis gave a special catechesis. Here is the text of the Holy Father’s message: Dear Brothers and Sisters, We are all gathered for this event of the Year of Faith devoted to Mary, Mother ...read more

Yesterday, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, explained in a press conference that at the beginning of the Year of Faith it was decided that it would be fundamental to retrace the history of our faith, and for this reason Benedict XVI placed in the foreground the figure ...read more

It’s true that in order to be declared a saint you have to be dead; you also have to have two confirmed miracles! But is that what sainthood is about? Do you really have to be dead in order to be a saint? Is there anyone you know whom you’d call a saint? Does being ...read more

Today is the feast of Blessed John XXIII, soon to be Saint John XXIII. In a break from tradition, his feast day is not the day of his death (the day he was born into eternal life) but the day that the Second Vatican Council was officially opened. For those who wish to mark this ...read more

Following the mass in St. Francis Square yesterday, Pope Francis had lunch in the Caritas Soup Kitchen with a group of homeless persons and refugees living in the Caritas Centre, which aims to provide basic assistance to those who have nowhere else to go. He also spent a few moments of private prayer in the ...read more

    On the surface, it may appear that the theme of this week at the Vatican was “reform.” The Council of Cardinals appointed by the pope to help him study and find ways to fix the Roman Curia – among other things- met for the first time this week. The three days of meetings ...read more

“I give you thanks, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to babes” (Mt 11:25). Peace and all good to each and every one of you! With this Franciscan greeting I thank you for being here, in this Square so full of ...read more

This post was submitted by Catherine Mulroney, the editor of  Living with Christ which is published by Novalis. St. Jean de Brébeuf is a giant of Canadian history. His writings in the Jesuit Relations, for example, offer an invaluable window into life in 17th-century Canada, while his gift for languages, which prompted him to create ...read more

By Carol GlatzCatholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Helping the church get the Gospel message out to the digital world depends more on a loving passion for reaching out to others than being tech savvy or a verbal warrior, Pope Francis told Catholic communicators. “I believe that the goal is to understand how to ...read more