Salt and Light Photo: The National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, Brazil By Sebastian Gomes World Youth Day Rio is about to begin and everyone is wondering what Pope Francis is going to say and do on his first trip back to South America.  Well, last week I may have uncovered a major clue. A ...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

Sebastian prepares to interview Cardinal Donald Wuerl at the headquarters of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C. Look for the interview to be featured in an upcoming S+L documentary about the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization. Cardinal Wuerl served as Relator General during the 2012 Synod.   ...read more

Do we really care about Christian unity? That was the challenging question posed by of one of my colleagues this morning, as he perceived a lack of interest in ecumenical issues in the Catholic community. His observation prompted a few questions of my own. Why might some Catholics feel that ecumenism isn’t a priority? And, ...read more

Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI Pontifical Council for Social Communications 47th World Communications Day Social Networks: portals of truth and faith; new spaces for evangelization Dear Brothers and Sisters, As the 2013 World Communications Day draws near, I would like to offer you some reflections on an increasingly important reality regarding the way in ...read more

Sebastian Gomes attended the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization in Rome this past October as a correspondent for Salt + Light.  In this first of three articles, he discusses the change in mentality at Vatican II to one of openness and adaptation. During the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization for the ...read more

God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”: that is, of Christ Jesus. Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and individuals, so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth: God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the salvation ...read more

At the beginning of week three of the Synod on the New Evangelization, the compiled “List of Propositions” was presented in the General Assembly.  The small language groups had worked tirelessly the week before, on a very tight timeline, to synthesize the interventions and the open discussions of the Synod Fathers.   The Relator General, Cardinal ...read more

We’re finally here! After months of travelling, shooting, scripting and editing, our newest S+L series is now live for the whole world to see. Last night, we launched the premiere of our NEW 15-part series, The Church Alive, on our network. Our pilot episode was filmed, on location, at CBC in Toronto, Canada. The Church ...read more

Our host Alicia Ambrosio brings you this look Inside the Synod with the help of Sebastian Gomes on the ground at the Vatican. Cardinal Wuerl shared his experiences with new movements and communities that renew the church, delegates spoke to Sebastian about their impressions of the first few days, and Archbishop Rino Fisichella talks to ...read more