The Charlemagne Prize was created in 1949 by Dr. Kurt Pfeiffer in Aachen, Germany as a reminder and a call for European unity. The 2016 prize was awarded to Pope Francis this week. In post-war Europe several new organizations and pacts were in development. These organizations and agreements would unify Europe economically and politically. However, ...read more

While Pope Francis has been personally helping Syrian refugees relocate to Europe, a joint Catholic – Russian Orthodox delegation visited Lebanon and Syria. The delegation identified ways the two churches can work together to help Syrians. Officials from the Catholic aid agency Aid to the Church in Need and officials from the Moscow patriarchate of ...read more

Pope Francis’ long awaited post-synodal exhortation on the family was made public today. As he has made clear over the past two years, there was no doctrinal change announced in this document. The document covers a wide range of topics, from the thorny to the common sense. As is his way, Pope Francis includes some frank ...read more

Among the phrases that captured people’s attention during the Pope’s visit to Mexico was a phrase ad-libbed during his homily in Ecatepec. Lifting his gaze from the text in front of him, lifting his right hand to his forehead, Pope Francis exclaimed “let’s get this in our heads, you cannot dialogue with the devil.”   ...read more

For the first time ever, the pope will meet with the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. The announcement was made in a joint press release issued by the Holy See and the Patriarchate of Moscow. Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill will meet in Cuba on February 12. At the end of their two hour ...read more

The Holy See maintains diplomatic relations with 180 states. Among those are countries that do not have diplomatic relations with each other. Iran is one of those cases. Both Canada and the US do not currently have formal diplomatic relations with Iran. The Holy See, however, has maintained diplomatic relations with all three of these ...read more

With the Christmas season officially over, this week the Vatican got back to business. Pope Francis had a full slate of meetings this week with a wide variety of guests: the priests from the Argentine College, the nuncios to Zimbabwe, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the papal delegate to Palestine and Jerusalem and a ...read more

History On November 16, 1989 on the campus of the Central American University in San Salvador, six Jesuit priests were pulled from their beds in the middle of the night and executed. The military officers who carried out the killing went unpunished for decades. Five of six Jesuits were Spanish citizens. In 2008 the Spanish ...read more

The Jubilee for Mercy is officially open and with it, so too are holy doors around the world. The Vatican inaugurated the holy year with the ceremony for the opening of the holy door. Adding to the festivities was a three hour light show called Fides Lux: Illuminating Our Common Home. Inspired by Pope Francis’ ...read more

The event Pope Francis has been waiting for since his pontificate started will finally kick off December 8. The Jubilee Year of Mercy officially begins on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception with the opening of the Holy Door at the St. Peter’s Basilica, though the jubilee is already in full swing in Bangui, Central ...read more