Courtney Mares

Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.

Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu. | Credit: Christian Peschken/EWTN News

Meet the New Nigerian Secretary for the Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization

From a childhood as a war refugee to a career as a Holy See diplomat, Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu will now...

A detail from Joseph with the Child and the Flowering Rod, by Alonso Miguel de Tovar (1678–1752). Public Domain.

How a Forgotten Nun’s Visions Shed "new light" on the Life of St. Joseph

St. Joseph does not have any words recorded in sacred Scripture, but the published meditations of an 18th-century Italian nun...

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher. | Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican-China Deal "not the best deal possible," Top Holy See Diplomat Says

The Vatican’s foreign minister has said that the Vatican-China deal was “not the best deal possible” and that negotiations are...

Pope Francis speaks at the general audience in Vatican City's Paul VI Hall on Feb. 22, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis: Gender ideology "one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations" Today

Pope Francis has said that gender ideology is “one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations” today.

Pope Francis prays in St. Peter's Square on March 8, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis Says Imprisonment of Nicaraguan Bishop Reminds him of Hitler’s Dictatorship

Pope Francis called Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega “unstable” and likened Nicaragua’s Sandinista government to Nazi Germany in an interview published Friday.

Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on March 8, 2023. | Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Pope Francis Discusses Revising Priestly Celibacy in New Interview

In a new interview, Pope Francis has discussed the possibility of revising the Western discipline of priestly celibacy.

Pope Francis greets pilgrims from the popemobile in St. Peter’s Square on March 8, 2023. | Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Pope Francis: There is no Option to be Passive Catholics when it Comes to Evangelization

Pope Francis said Wednesday that there is no option to be “passive subjects” when it comes to evangelization because every...

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich celebrates Mass at the International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 10, 2021. | Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.

Pope Francis Appoints Five New Cardinals Tasked with Assisting Him Govern Universal Church

Pope Francis appointed five new members to his council of cardinals advisers on Tuesday, including Synod organizer Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich...

Pope Francis greets the crowd at his Sunday Angelus address on Jan. 29, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis: The Devil Uses "three widespread and dangerous temptations" to Divide Us

On the first Sunday of Lent, Pope Francis warned of three “widespread and dangerous temptations” that the devil uses to...

Father Vyacheslav Grynevych gave Pope Francis with a cross made out of broken glass and rubble from destroyed buildings in Kyiv on Feb. 21, 2023. | Photo courtesy of Father Vyacheslav Grynevych

Catholic Priest from Ukraine Gives Pope Francis Cross Made out of War Rubble

Father Vyacheslav Grynevych vividly remembers the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine one year ago.

Pope Francis with the Pontifical Academy for Life on Feb. 20, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Asks Pontifical Academy for Life to Study Ethics of Emerging Technologies

The rapid acceleration of new technologies can produce significant consequences for human life and the environment Pope Francis said Feb....

Pope Francis greets the crowd at his Angelus address on Feb. 19, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis: God Asks us to Love Beyond "the logic of self-interest"

Instead of acting out of self-interest or convenience, the Lord challenges us to love others in excess “without calculation,” Pope...

Wiktoria Ulma with six of her children. / The Ulma Family Museum of Poles Saving Jews in World War II.

Beatification Date Announced for Married Couple with Seven children Martyred by Nazis

The entire Ulma family, including one unborn child, will be beatified in Markowa, Poland.

Pope Francis greets pilgrims at his general audience in Paul VI Hall on Feb. 15, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis: Bring the Gospel into the World Without Becoming Worldly

Pope Francis said Wednesday that Christians are called to bring the Gospel into the world without becoming worldly.

Cardinal Peter Ebere Okpaleke offers Mass in Rome at his titular church, the Holy Martyrs of Uganda Catholic Parish, on Feb. 5, 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Nigeria’s Newest Cardinal Shares Secret Behind the Highest Mass Attendance in the World

Cardinal Peter Ebere Okpaleke said Nigerian society as a whole has “a traditional worldview” that recognizes the presence of God...

Pope Francis (left); Bishop Rolando Álvarez (right) / Vatican Media; Diocese of Matagalpa

After Bishop’s 26-Year Sentencing Pope Francis Asks Virgin Mary to Intercede for Nicaragua

“The news from Nicaragua has grieved me a great deal,” the pope said.

Synod delegates listen to presentations at the European Continental Assembly in Prague on Feb. 7, 2023. / CCEE

European Catholics Debate Final Outcome of Synod on Synodality Assembly in Prague

European Catholics debated Thursday morning the contents of a final document that will influence the discussions of the Synod of...

Synod on Synodality: Europe’s Continental Assembly in Prague discusses tensions in the Church

Two hundred delegates are meeting this week in the capital of the Czech Republic for the last stage of regional...

Pope Francis speaks to the media on Feb. 5, 2023, during his return flight to Rome from his visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis’ In-flight Press Conference: God Accompanies People with Same-sex Attraction

On his return flight from South Sudan on Sunday, Pope Francis said that God loves and accompanies people with same-sex...

Pope Francis greets a young boy a Mass in Juba, South Sudan on Feb. 5, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope at Mass in South Sudan: In the Name of Jesus, Lay Down the Weapons of Hatred

At a Mass in South Sudan on Sunday, Pope Francis urged Christians in the war-torn African country to make “a...