Pope Francis today released his 2017 Lenten Message for World Youth Day, in anticipation for World Youth Day Panama 2019. Below, find the full text of his address: ...read more

Salt + Light Producer and Host Sebastian Gomes recalls Pope Francis’ visit to a favela in Rio during World Youth Day in 2013. ...read more

Corporal Works of Mercy: A Reflection on Mother Teresa of Calcutta. ...read more

Words of the Archbishop of Panama, Jose Domingo Ulloa Mendieta at the press conference announcing the date of WYD 2019. We would like to reiterate our gratitude to Pope Francis in choosing Panama to host World Youth Day (WYD) in 2019, with the motto: “I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done ...read more

One of the defining celebrations of the 2016 Jubilee Year of Mercy was the canonization of Mother Teresa. Beloved around the world by believers and non-believers alike, her relentless care for the poor and abandoned struck the heart of humanity. Her story continues to spread through the ministry of her postulator, Fr. Brian Kolodiejchuk, MC, ...read more

The Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy (Dec. 8, 2015 to Nov. 20, 2016) was the 27th holy year in history, and the first since the Great Jubilee of 2000, called by Pope John Paul II. In calling the 2016 holy year, Pope Francis said, “At times we are called to gaze even more attentively on ...read more

On a Friday night in July 2002, during the World Youth Day celebration in Toronto, I was standing just down the street from the Royal Ontario Museum. As a member of the World Youth Secretariat under the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs, I was assigned to stand by a viewing area for local dignitaries ...read more

Two years ago I was home, in Panama for my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary. They were married December 26, 1964. Of course, the priest had to make a comment about how St. Stephen was the first martyr and how Marriage is like martyrdom. We laughed but he had a point. Martyrs are not killed against ...read more

The Vatican announced the themes for the next World Youth Days to culminate at the International World Youth Day in Panama in 2019. They are taken from the Gospel of Luke and are inspired by the three theological virtues of faith, charity and hope. A new website for Peter’s Pence was launched today, making it ...read more

At 10:00 this morning, the Solemnity of Christ the King, in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis celebrated the closing Mass of the Holy Year of Mercy, with the new Cardinals, with the College of Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops and Priests. At the beginning of Mass, the Holy Father led the Rite of closing of the Holy ...read more