CNS file photo CNS description: Archbishop Karol Wojtyla receives the cardinal’s red biretta from Pope Paul VI at the beginning of the consistory in the Sistine Chapel June 26, 1967. The future Pope John Paul II had a warm relationship with Pope Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini), who served as a priest in Warsaw in ...read more

The term “synod of bishops” seems to have become a household name among certain Catholics. Most have, at least heard of one of these: The Synod on the Word of God, the Synod on the Middle East, or the recent Synod on the New Evangelisation. But 15 years ago, many of you probably did not ...read more

Hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Catholics across the North and South America consider Our Lady of Guadalupe their own and celebrate her every year. Among them is one seemingly unlikely devotee, a Ukrainian bishop from Saskatoon. Bishop Bryan Bayda is the Ukrainian Eparch of Saskatoon. He remembers exactly when the seeds of his ...read more

CNS file photo by W. H. Keeler CNS description: With rosary in hand, Pope John Paul II scans the crowd as his helicopter circles Colorado’s Cherry Creek State Park before the closing Mass for World Youth Day Aug. 15, 1993. “Place your intelligence, your talents, your enthusiasm, your compassion and your fortitude at the service ...read more

CNS file photo Pope John Paul II kisses a rain-soaked tarmac as he arrives in Jakarta, Indonesia, on a pastoral trip in 1989. ...read more

2563 The heart is the dwelling place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place “to which I withdraw.” The heart is our hidden centre, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and ...read more

Where does prayer come from? Whether prayer is expressed in words or gestures, it is the whole man who prays. But in naming the source of prayer, Scripture speaks sometimes of the soul or the spirit, but most often of the heart (more than a thousand times). According to Scripture it is the heart that ...read more

CNS photo from the Vatican The caption on the photograph reads: “Pope John Paul II (center, in red boots) prays with a group of skiers before heading down a slope in this 1984 file photo. The pontiff, who enjoyed skiing in his native Poland before his election, was able to slip away to ski only ...read more

“If you knew the gift of God!” The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink. Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us. ...read more

For me, prayer is the surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy. St Therese of Lisieux Catechism of the Catholic Church, page 673. CNS photo/Paul Haring World Youth Day evening vigil with Pope Benedict XVI in ...read more